Chapter 23: Surprise
Hillman was lurking in a corner near the academy gate, and now he walked over with a smile. "Ernst Academy's management is really strict. They wouldn't even let me in, just had a guard go inside to find you. I didn't expect you to come out from outside."
"Yale, you guys head back to the dorm first. I'll be back in a bit." Linley turned and said.
Yale, George, and Reynolds all smiled at Hillman before entering Ernst Academy.
"Uncle Hillman, why are you here? Weren't you supposed to wait until the end of the school year to pick me up?" Linley asked, puzzled.
"Come on, let's talk over here." Hillman pulled Linley aside, his face unable to hide his joy. "Linley, I have great news for you, huge news."
Linley's eyes lit up.
"What is it?" Linley urged.
Hillman smiled and said, "Linley, you know Wharton's birthday, right?"
"Yes, January third. What about it? What does this have to do with Wharton's birthday?" Linley asked, confused.
Hillman chuckled. "It's already December now, and Wharton is almost six years old. Just last night, your father tested the concentration of Dragonblood Warrior bloodline in the ancestral hall. When he did that test, haha..." Hillman laughed again as he spoke.
Linley felt his heart suddenly race.
Testing bloodline concentration?
Could the result be...
Linley pressed on. "Did Wharton's Dragonblood Warrior bloodline concentration reach the threshold?"
Hillman nodded heavily with a smile. "Yes! Your father was overjoyed last night. He was so excited he drank with me until midnight. He said the thing he's most proud of in his life is having two sons—one a great magus, and one a Dragonblood Warrior. Haha..."
"That's great."
Linley felt a surge of excitement.
For the Baruch clan, which had passed down the Dragonblood Warrior legacy for over five thousand years, the responsibility had been entirely on Linley's shoulders before Wharton's bloodline concentration was confirmed to have reached the threshold. The greater the past glory of the Dragonblood Warriors, the heavier the burden on Linley's shoulders.
But now...
His little brother's bloodline concentration was sufficient. With just a few decades of hard training, he could become a Dragonblood Warrior who would roam the world.
"I came today to tell you this great news. Your father also told me that right now, the strongest people in Wushan Township are me and your father. We're only level six warriors! Our level of experience and skill can't teach your brother. And your clan's records are just theory on paper." Hillman's expression turned serious. "So your father decided to send your brother to the 'O'Brien Academy' in the O'Brien Empire to study. In the most powerful military empire, in the top warrior academy, your brother will receive the best instruction."
Linley agreed.
If a person only had raw strength but lacked sufficient technique and experience, they'd just be a gorilla with brute force.
"Wait." Linley frowned, looking at Hillman. "Uncle Hillman, the tuition at O'Brien Academy should be very high, right? They waive fees for local students, but they charge foreign students a lot." Linley remembered how much Reynolds had to pay in tuition at Ernst Academy.
Hillman nodded. "O'Brien Academy's annual tuition is about five thousand gold coins. Your father plans to have Steward Hillery accompany Wharton to the O'Brien Empire to take care of him. The tuition is very high—fifty thousand gold coins over ten years."
Fifty thousand gold coins would be enough to force the Baruch clan to sell almost everything they owned.
"By the way, Uncle Hillman."
Hillman looked at Linley curiously, only to see Linley pull a magicrystal card from the inner pocket of his robe. Hillman couldn't help but exclaim, "A magicrystal card?" In the past, Hillman had served as a battalion commander in the army and had seen magicrystal cards before.
"Linley, how do you have a magicrystal card? Even your father doesn't have one." Hillman stared at Linley in surprise.
Linley grabbed Hillman and said, "I got this magicrystal card from a rich young master who lost a magic duel to me. Come on, let's go to the Four Great Empires Bank." By now, the guards at Ernst Academy didn't stop Hillman, because they recognized Linley, who had left the academy that morning.
To Linley, having too many gold coins wasn't very useful. Being able to help his family was enough.
...
In Wushan Township, inside the living room of the Baruch clan estate.
Hogue was deep in thought.
Since the clan had produced a child whose Dragonblood Warrior bloodline concentration met the requirements, he had to be trained well. Even if it meant selling everything the family owned, it had to be done. That was beyond doubt.
"Who should I sell the stone-carved screen in the bedroom to? That miser Philip won't offer a high price." Hogue kept pondering.
Sending little Wharton to O'Brien Academy would cost a staggering amount. How to sell some of the clan's possessions at a high price was the problem Hogue needed to solve.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded.
Hogue looked up and said, "Hillman, you're back. Huh, what's that bag on your shoulder?"
Hillman tossed the bag on his shoulder to the ground. The dull thud of the bag hitting the floor showed it was very heavy.
"Lord Hogue, Linley asked me to bring this back." Hillman untied the bag and poured out its contents. A pile of small yellow sacks formed a little heap, the sound of gold coins inside them unmistakably clear.
These yellow sacks were the ones the Four Great Empires Bank used specifically for holding gold coins, each sack typically holding exactly one hundred coins.
"Gold coins? So many gold coins, must be nearly ten thousand." Hogue stared at Hillman in shock. "Hillman, you're saying Linley asked you to bring this back?"
Hillman said solemnly, "Nine thousand nine hundred gold coins in total. Linley asked me to bring them to you. At Ernst Academy, some rich kid dueled Linley in magic and lost ten thousand gold coins to him. Linley stored them in a magicrystal card, and today he withdrew every single gold coin from that card."
Hillman still remembered Linley's words to the bank teller at the Four Great Empires Bank: "All of it!"
"Nine thousand nine hundred gold coins? Linley's?"
Staring at the pile of gold coin sacks before him, Hogue fell silent.