Chapter 308: Milesi’s Magic Apprentice

Liszt's magic book sources come from three channels. One is through the flower merchant team purchasing them from the bookstore in Coral City; another is obtaining internal exchange books from Elkson; and the last is commissioning the merchant team from Tulip Castle to purchase books from other regions.

The task reward most likely comes from one of these three channels.

Thinking about this, he felt somewhat disgruntled. Even without this task, the magic books would still end up in his hands. It felt like an unnecessary hassle.

Nevertheless, the task had to be done.

……

Coral City, a nearby town.

Elkson Truth stood at the door of the dilapidated forest cabin, entirely cloaked in a robe. The door creaked open, revealing an elderly woman with ink-green hair. She was also wrapped in a magic cloak, though it was filthy, clearly not washed for a long time.

"You're here, Elkson."

"Yes, Lady Millie," Elkson replied, subtly wrinkling his nose, trying to hold his breath. The smell inside the cabin was unbearable. "Why wasn't your magic apprentice the one to open the door? Why did you do it yourself?"

"The clumsy fool has been turned into flower fertilizer," Millie Truth said casually, as if it were of no consequence.

Elkson twitched the corner of his mouth, attempting but failing to smile.

He quickly changed the subject, "Did your friend bring you new magic books?"

Millie gave a cold smile, "Of course. And you, Elkson, do you have the gold coins you fleeced from that pretty-boy lord?"

"I didn't deceive Baron Liszt; I simply conducted business as usual."

"I've noticed you've been frequenting the Nightingale Tavern more often this year than last year," Millie licked her dry, cracked lips, her eyes glimmering with some unspoken thought, "Young people should exercise more restraint. Don't let earning money lead to indulgence. The path of truth demands solitude."

"Thank you for your advice, Lady Millie. If there's nothing else, I'd like to collect the magic books. I have other matters to attend to."

"Come with me."

Inside the cabin, Millie pointed to a wooden chest, "Here is the new batch of magic books, with no duplicates, fifty-one in total. I'll charge you three gold coins."

"The last batch cost only two gold coins."

"The price has gone up," Millie said with a sinister smile, "Anyway, you can extort more money from that pretty-boy lord. Why worry about one or two gold coins?"

"Lady Millie, don't start spreading baseless rumors. My business with Baron Liszt is always straightforward, with no hidden fees or deductions."

"Hah, you can tell your lies to the ghosts. Three gold coins, not a coin less."

"You're making this hard for me. Fifty-one magic books for three gold coins is beyond my means."

Although he haggled for a while, in the end, Elkson had no choice but to pay the three gold coins, feeling quite frustrated. He instructed a magic apprentice who had accompanied him to carry the chest away, muttered a quick "Goodbye," and left the foul-smelling forest cabin.

On the way back, the magic apprentice curiously asked, "Teacher, Lady Millie's cabin has a strange smell. She... she looks very unkempt."

"Not every magician is as elegant as I am, nor is every magic apprentice as fortunate as you to have a peace-loving teacher... Lady Millie's apprentices are replaced every month on average. There are always foolish youngsters who think magic is some noble pursuit."

"Ah, is Lady Millie really that harsh on her apprentices? She chases one away every month?"

"Expel?" Elkson seemed to hear a joke, "Haha, Hans, you should really speak less, or you'll reveal your profound ignorance."

However, he didn't continue to explain further.

He simply left the puzzled young man, struggling to carry the box, following behind him step by step.

Back in his residence, Elkson instructed Hans to meditate and began organizing the books in the box. It was true that Miller had been quite ruthless in selling him the books for three gold coins, but he could reorganize them, taking out the ones with higher value separately.

"*Quinn's Minotaur Hypothesis*? Hmm, this book, which Miller considers useless, should fetch a good price. Baron Liszt likes... this kind of wild imagination."

He then picked out a few others, such as *The Bigfoot Tracks of Kamchatka Field Investigation*, *Lando Truth's Travels in the Brass Duchy*, and *The Magical Principles of Turning Frogs into Sheep Analysis*.

Finally, he found *The Secret of Sea Serpent-like Monsters* and carefully read a few pages: "This probably won't sell for a good price, just some analyses of the habits of sea monsters." So, he tossed the book back into the box.

The books in the box were sold by the piece, with no bargaining.

Looking at this large pile of organized books, he smiled: "This should fetch five or six gold coins... But next time, I have to contact different magicians to buy books. The old witch Miller is too greedy... They're just too hard to get."

Once you've tasted it, you crave more.

Selling magic, a practice scorned by the magical community, once begun, is difficult to cease.

Especially after receiving the flower brew payment recently, Baron Liszt directly paid twenty gold coins to buy the casting formula for the Rock Grenade spell.

With a net profit of twenty gold coins, Elkson quickly fell in love with this thrill.

"Next, I need to expand my network and connect with other magicians from other islands."

...

Elkson's business tactics did not concern Liszt.

Of course, he knew that whether it was buying magical books or refining magic power potions, Elkson would make a large profit, but that's how monopolies in technology operate.

Hiring any magician for work involved paying significant technical fees.

Unless he personally trained a magician or perhaps the future mermaid Acheronides could help refine magic power potions, but she isn't ready yet.

He needed to pay to hire people.

The income from the second batch of flower brew was soon received, a full two hundred gold coins.

The nobles of Coral Island quickly accepted the flavor of the flower brew. It was even banned to sell juniper wine on the island.

With ample funds, they didn't care about the small amount given to Elkson.

Every day felt delightful.

The ironwood thorn products from the woodworking workshop also began entering the market. The quality of ironwood was slightly higher priced than ordinary wood products and was quickly favored by minor nobles, with orders pouring in continuously.

Coat racks, rocking chairs, and drawer cabinets, these three new styles were also popular, receiving many orders.

All the carpenters in the town were so busy that they had to have meals delivered to them, working early and late to make various wood products, which were sold through caravans to various parts of Coral Island.

"Now, Flower Town is thriving, Charles, you should sense it." Zanbuluota, serving as the diplomat of Flower Town, was receiving a noble.

An elite Earth Knight with lightning attributes.

A knight with the title of Lord, Charles Trapp.

He was an outsider who didn't fit in with the nobles of Coral Island, powerful yet unable to find a place to belong.