Chapter 21: Plurks Guild Hall (Part 1)
The Four Empires Bank, jointly established by the four great empires, spanned the entire Yulan Continent. Only the wealthy could open accounts and obtain magic crystal cards there, as the mere processing fee was one hundred gold coins—something ordinary people could hardly afford.
Ten thousand gold coins, packed in palm-sized pouches, would fill a hundred such bags. Even using the larger sacks for storing rice at home, it would take half a sack, and it would be quite heavy.
"A hundred gold coins, just gone like that." Linley walked out of the Four Empires Bank branch within Ernst Academy, sighing to himself. Yet tucked inside his robes was now a magic crystal card.
Linley understood that he still lived in the Ernst Academy dormitory. Stashing a pile of gold coins there would hardly be safe. Converting them into a magic crystal card was much more secure.
He knew that the production cost of a magic crystal card alone was not low. It was a recent invention by alchemists over the past few centuries, based on the principle that each person's palm lines were unique. Every magic crystal card could only be used by the person who applied for it.
That was precisely why the processing fee for a magic crystal card was a hundred gold coins.
"With these ten thousand gold coins, I'll have more than enough for my living expenses at Ernst Academy, with plenty left over. I can even help my father out a bit." Linley felt delighted.
Yale slung an arm around Linley's shoulder, whistling smugly as he glanced at Rand and Ryan beside them.
Rand and his three companions had handed over their entire allowances. They probably had less than a thousand gold coins left among them. Still, fortunately, the school year was almost over.
Reynolds and George were also chatting and laughing, occasionally teasing Linley.
But in truth, neither Reynolds nor George had suffered much.
"Second bro, third bro, fourth bro, tomorrow is the end of the month. My father's people will be arriving. I can arrange a carriage and some guards. How about we four take a trip to the Holy Capital and have some fun?" Yale suggested.
"The Holy Capital?"
Reynolds, George, and even Linley's eyes lit up.
The Holy Capital, Fenlai City, was no ordinary bustling place.
"The Holy Capital? Sounds great! When I traveled from the O'Brien Empire to Ernst Academy, I only stayed in Fenlai City for two days. I didn't get to see many places," Reynolds said eagerly.
George and Linley nodded in agreement.
"The Holy Capital has plenty of interesting spots. Tomorrow, I'll take you all to broaden your horizons," Yale said mysteriously.
******
The next morning, Yale dragged Linley, Reynolds, and George to breakfast first, then headed straight to the main gate of Ernst Academy to wait for his father's convoy.
After waiting about two hours, the convoy still hadn't appeared.
"Squeak, squeak~~~" Bebe, perched on Linley's shoulder, started chirping impatiently.
"Even Bebe is getting restless. Yale, you dragged us out here early in the morning, and the convoy still hasn't shown up," Reynolds complained beside him. Yale gave an apologetic smile. "I don't know either. It should be here soon." Linley patted Bebe's head.
"Here it comes!" Yale suddenly shouted.
Reynolds, George, and Linley, who had been on the verge of dozing off, looked into the distance. Sure enough, four carriages and several hundred mounted guards were approaching in a grand procession. Above the convoy, seven or eight griffins soared through the air. Among the hundreds of riders, over a dozen were mounted on magical beasts—some on Bloodthirsty Iron Bulls, others on Wind Wolves.
"Even one of Yale's family convoys is this impressive," Linley marveled. Reynolds and George's eyes were gleaming too.
Dellinger was sitting beside Linley at that moment, basking in the sun. His eyes lit up at the sight of the convoy. In just a short while, the four carriages and hundreds of riders reached the academy gate. Three mages from the academy immediately came forward to greet them.
A middle-aged man stepped down from the first of the four carriages. Instead of speaking to the three mages, he first walked over to Yale.
"Uncle, why are you so late?" Yale complained.
Yale's "second uncle" immediately smiled and said, "Heh heh, getting impatient? Alright, I've prepared your carriage. The last of these four carriages has some cargo. I'll have them unload it. You all go ahead to the Holy Capital."
"Kas, take three men and be responsible for protecting Young Master Yale." This second uncle directly gave the order.
A bald knight in the distance immediately dismounted, walked up to Yale, and said respectfully, "Kas greets Young Master Yale."
Dellinger, sitting beside Linley, narrowed his eyes and said to Linley, "Linley, this brother of yours, Yale, is no ordinary person. This Kas—just from the way he dismounts and walks, even from his gaze, I can tell he's much stronger than your Uncle Hillman. He's a true expert. And that eagle on his shoulder should be a rank 7 magical beast—the Verdant Thunder Eagle."
For Dellinger to call him an expert, Kas was clearly something special.
"Linley, come on, get in the carriage. We're heading to the Holy Capital!" Yale called out.
Linley and the other two immediately followed and climbed into that carriage. The interior was spacious; even with four of them sitting inside, it wasn't cramped at all. The driver immediately set off toward the Holy Capital, Fenlai City.
Kas and the other three guard knights flanked the carriage on horseback.
Inside the carriage, the cabinets were stocked with various fruits and even sealed bottles of fine wine. The four brothers chatted and laughed as they ate and drank. Ernst Academy was only about twenty miles from Fenlai City, and after about half an hour of travel, they arrived at the Holy Capital.
They stepped down from the carriage.
Under the protection of Kas and the other three, the four brothers began touring Fenlai City.
"Hey, everyone, where should we go now? Fenlai City has plenty of fun places. The eastern district has lots of luxury entertainment spots, with beautiful attendants to serve you. The western district, on the other hand, has many artistic venues, like the famous Plurks Guild Hall." Yale was very familiar with Fenlai City.
"Beautiful attendants? Great, great! Let's go to the eastern district!" Reynolds, young as he was, immediately had stars in his eyes.
"It's still morning. Those places are more interesting at night. Of course, we could go now if you want," Yale said with a grin.
Linley was a bit reluctant about those kinds of places, so he said, "Yale, forget it. What would a bunch of kids like us be doing there? You mentioned the Plurks Guild Hall earlier? A guild hall named after Master Plurks himself must be something extraordinary. Let's go check it out."
Plurks was the greatest figure in the history of stone sculpture on the Yulan Continent.
"Master Plurks? I've heard of him. I heard one of his works was bought for millions of gold coins. That piece was called 'Hope,' I think. Millions of gold coins—gods, that's a lot of money," Reynolds marveled beside him.
George smiled confidently and said, "From ancient times to the present, countless stone sculptures have been passed down. Among the top ten most famous sculptures, any one of them is worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins. And among those top ten, Master Plurks alone has three works. He can truly be called the greatest sculptor in history!"
Linley drew in a sharp breath.
Millions of gold coins?
What kind of fortune was that? Even if his family sold off their ancestral home, they might barely scrape together a hundred thousand gold coins.
"Let's go take a look," Linley said immediately.