The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 80 - 65: Free Lunch

Chapter 80: Chapter 65: Free Lunch

First, the channel smuggler that Anna had suggested ignored him completely, and all his letters and secret codes went unanswered.

According to her, this was normal; smugglers were always under the threat of searches and arrests by sheriffs, and they would go into hiding when there was a crackdown.

Rod could only turn to less familiar smugglers.

However, upon learning of Rod’s situation, they all quoted prices that were exorbitantly high, beyond Rod’s financial capacity, and none guaranteed success. Some were obviously scammers.

Rod had sought many people’s help, but to no avail.

Until he met a strange fellow.

——

——

Habulin had been suffering greatly during this time.

The life at the academy he had dreamed of brought him no joy, only immense frustration.

As the highly regarded eldest legitimate son of the ancient Manolo Bana family, everyone had always catered to Habulin’s wishes, whether it called for wind or rain, before he joined the academy.

No one dared defy him; he did whatever he pleased. In his estate alone, just the servants attending to him numbered over three hundred, and anyone he took a fancy to at night would end up in his bed.

But everything changed once he was at the academy.

Privileges were gone, family slaves could not be brought in, teachers did not curry favor with him, and the director showed no bias towards him.

Even though he managed to secure the team leader position through influence and money, it brought him no respect.

In here, the Manolo Bana name lost its power; although the students were afraid of him, they did not see him as their master. Female students hardly gave him any attention; not a single one threw herself at him or accepted his advances. Instead, he had been disciplined twice for harassment and bullying.

What disgusted him the most was that someone had insulted him to his face, and he could not punish them. Instead, he was beaten up by them.

In the end, it was he who ended up being punished and put into solitary confinement!

This nearly drove Habulin to fury.

So, when he discovered that this guy might get his hands on a First-Class ’Goldenworth Star’ medal, he immediately instructed his only two underlings, Alger and Gori, to get in touch with the chief examiner.

As expected, once outside the academy, the Manolo Bana name regained its magic power. The chief examiner agreed to give Rod a mathematical question he would never forget in his lifetime, one that would ensure he wouldn’t get the First-Class medal.

Habulin thought he finally had some fun, but unexpectedly, that country bumpkin actually solved this enigmatic problem, smoothly becoming the only one in the three academies to receive a First-Class medal.

During the subsequent celebration, Habulin was so angered that he could only eat a whole roasted cow—and that didn’t even whet his appetite.

He had already planned on dropping out; he couldn’t stand to stay in this hellish place any longer. Those who praised the academy as heaven were all liars.

But on the third day, a turning point came.

His father sent him a letter, instructing him to find a way to sell a Second-Level Hunter’s License to Rod and reminded him not to let anyone else handle it but to do it himself.

As the eldest legitimate son of the Manolo Bana family, it didn’t take Habulin long to understand his father’s intention.

He wanted Rod to fall into great misfortune.

A Second-Level Hunter had obligations, with a certain number of tasks to be completed every week. Failure to complete them would result in demotion or revocation of the Hunter’s License.

With that country bumpkin’s abilities, failure was guaranteed; not only would he be hugely embarrassed, but he could also be expelled from the academy for causing the death of teammates.

Habulin finally began to feel joy and saw hope in life again.

His streak of bad luck at the academy began with this bumpkin. Once he was kicked out, his life might just see the light of day again, Kashan would throw herself into his arms, and countless female students wouldn’t reject his invitations anymore.

Habulin chuckled, he even had a wonderful idea: after the bumpkin was expelled and surely left destitute and homeless, he would give him a bowl of rice to eat and hire him as his personal servant. He’d have him guard his bedroom door every night and let him deeply feel what it was like when his beloved woman rolled in the sheets with him.

This idea excited him so much he couldn’t sleep well all night, and early the next day, he put on a disguise and headed to the market district with his license in hand.

He skipped all his classes that day, to avoid any dimwit stealing his business.

Channels traders in the market district all had legitimate business; they didn’t do many deals like the Hunter’s License within the academy. Most were dropouts from outside the academy, combatants who had committed crimes and been kicked out of the legions, or some who didn’t want to reveal their names and made a quick buck on the side.

But the deals inside the academy were much more lucrative, those willing to engage in these underhanded deals were not short of money.

There were certain risks, though. If a student got into trouble, they would be sought after by the Internal Affairs Court.

So, they generally only dealt with regulars or those introduced by regulars. If the student needed a one-year deal, they would charge an additional fee for the extra risk involved.

But Rod was actually a pauper and couldn’t afford the high price of over ten thousand silver coins, unless he decided not to buy materials.

This made him very disgruntled; he had wasted another three days at the academy, and the invasion time was now only ten days away.

Today, he had decided to buy the license no matter what, even if it meant asking Kashan to lend him money.

There were no classes in the morning, the afternoon was for routine patrol, and in the evening was the important Spiritual Energy class, so Rod could only choose to step into the market district early in the morning.

The market district was slightly deserted in the early morning, many shops were not open yet, and street vendors were nowhere to be seen, with only a few figures on the streets.

Merchants were tidying up their goods, and the shouting had already ceased.

Rod arrived at "Alva’s Jam Room," one of the few merchants who were willing to talk to him yesterday.

But to his disappointment, he found that the owner of the jam room had changed.

"Where’s the owner of this shop?" Rod asked a chubby, burly man.

"He went home to have a baby."

His voice was very awkward, as if he had a mouthful of decade-old sauerkraut he could not spit out, and the answer was absurd as well.

"Mr. Alva is a man!"

The blond, chubby man coughed heavily, "It’s his wife who is having the baby."

Rod found it hard to believe: "Mr. Alva looks almost seventy years old; can his wife still have children?"

The blond, chubby man said impatiently, "So what if he marries an eighteen-year-old?"

Rod frowned—are people’s capabilities so strong here? A man of seventy could still father children?

But that was not his concern.

"Um... I discussed a business deal with Mr. Alva yesterday, do you know about it?"

The blond, chubby man replied, "I know, Mr. Ash or whatever has already transferred everything to me."

He took out a pure silver badge.

"Second Level Hunter ’Dawn Blade’s’ license, just leave your spirit imprint on the license and the Hunter Holy Grail, and you are him. No need for real names, no need for identity, the fairest price in the business, twenty thousand silver coins."

Rod refused, "That’s too expensive!"

The blond, chubby man said loudly, "This is ready stock! Second Level Hunter! Nowhere else will you find it this cheap; to get into the academy, you’d pay at least half more."

Rod shook his head, "I can’t afford it."

"Alright, fifteen thousand."

Rod had been ready to turn around and leave, but at this, he turned back.

After all, it was in stock, which was much more convenient than those that required various procedures.

"Actually, I don’t even have fifteen thousand, can I maybe..."

Rod was going to suggest paying in installments, but the blond, chubby man cut in directly, "Then let’s make it ten thousand."

Rod looked at him suspiciously, as the swindlers he had met so far were not so easy to bargain with.

Could it be a novice? So eager to close a deal that he showed his hand?

"I don’t have ten thousand on me."

"It’s my first business of the day, so for you, eight thousand."

"Still too expensive."

The blond, chubby man said angrily, "Are you buying or not?"

Rod intentionally pushed to see his limit, feigning helplessness:

"I don’t want it anymore. When I think about it, what’s the use of spending so much money? Following the academy’s regulations might even be good, at least it’s safe."

The blond, chubby man became anxious, "Five thousand! Five thousand!"

"No way, my weekly salary is only forty-two silver coins. Even after a hundred weeks, I wouldn’t have five thousand."

The blond, chubby man’s eyes bulged, "Someone still lives on a weekly salary? What’s the use of that little money? I would just... cough cough, three thousand! Three thousand! That’s the lowest I can go."

Rod still held his ground.

"Two thousand five!"

"Two thousand!"

"One thousand!"

"How much? Name your price!"

Rod scratched his head, "I don’t have any money on me, I was wondering if maybe..."

Before he could mention installments, the blond, chubby man shoved a silver plaque into his hand.

"Fine, it’s yours! I don’t want it anymore! I’m done with this business! I’m closing down!"

Click.

The blond, chubby man closed the door firmly behind him and stormed off.

That worked?

Holding the silver Hunter’s License, Rod watched the blond, chubby man’s retreating back, in disbelief.

I just bargained, and he broke down?

So fragile, and he’s doing business here?

Most of the students in the academy were very poor; their weekly salary was their only source of income. When buying things here, they would haggle even a silver coin down by half.

Now Rod roughly understood that the purchasing power of a silver coin was strong, roughly equivalent to ten dollars. Due to its large denomination, many items needed to be purchased together.

Ten thousand silver coins would be equivalent to a hundred thousand dollars. You’re giving me something worth a hundred thousand dollars just like that?

Rod felt something was off. Could there be a catch?

I need to verify the authenticity of this thing.

But who to ask?

In the academy, Rod had only three close friends, Kashan, Wayne, Zales.

Kashan’s father was a high-ranking official at the Internal Affairs Court, and she was a maintainer of the rules, so it was best not to ask her.

Wayne didn’t have such connections, and probably couldn’t help.

Only Zales, whose family was part of the United Chamber of Commerce, and many merchants in the market area of the academy flew his family’s company banner.

He would likely know how.

There were no classes this morning, and Rod guessed where the green-haired guy usually hung out.

Sure enough.

Rod found Zales at the "Fairy’s Homeland" tavern in the residential area.

He had come to the tavern early in the morning to enjoy an animal performance show from Beast City.

Of course, he had no interest in the animals, only in the beauties performing with them.

Perhaps because of the show, the tavern was bustling even in the early morning, with whistles and calls rising and falling. On the half-human-height wooden stage, a woman in Beast Tamer attire played with several large yellow dogs.

The act was very simple, just the common dog-catching frisbee play. Due to the limited space, the Beast Tamer threw the frisbee at low distance and height.

But every time the yellow dog caught it, the audience would erupt into a thunderous round of applause, as if they had witnessed an incredibly spectacular performance.

This counted as a show?

Rod thought that perhaps pets were a rarity here.

Hmm... considering how hard it is to survive here, it’s amazing that animals and plants can even grow normally – a true miracle.

They say such miracles come from the Holy White Tree, also known as the Tree of Life, after the Holy Fire, the most important thing to humans.

The Royal City had a giant Tree of Life, right beside the Holy Fire, absorbing its light and warmth. Its vast root system purified the water flowing down from the Dark Plain, providing the Royal City with abundant clean water.

Under its lush foliage, known as the Plant Garden, was a veritable paradise of life with a vast variety of rare animals and plants, as well as Spiritual Medicine Grass capable of producing spiritual materials.

Most of the raw materials for the potions used by the students came from here.

Around Royal City, all the agricultural or husbandry settlements had branches of the Holy White Tree. Its life aura nourished all living beings.

Rod snapped back to reality and immediately spotted the conspicuous green hair in the crowd. He was shouting, "Sis, can we have breakfast together?"

Rod squeezed up to him and called out, "Zales, I need to ask you for a favor!"

The green-haired guy turned around, "Stop calling me Zales!"

"Alright, Zales, it’s too noisy here, let’s go outside."