Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

The young man who had just led the way suddenly became quite enthusiastic. As he walked in front, he started chatting more.

"So, your name is Rein, eh? I'm Bask. My father is Baron Randonya from Golden Coast, and I have an older brother..."

Hearing this, Rein glanced at him.

No wonder, judging from what he had sensed, the other party must have just stepped into formal knighthood not long ago; his strength was not strong, and there was a clear gap compared to a few practitioners on the island.

So it was a 'local snake' situation; he must have received some sort of preferential treatment from Master Ganther.

This was also understandable. Although Master Ganther was devoted to studying swordsmanship, there always needed to be someone to help out with miscellaneous chores.

Not to mention eating, which surely required someone to prepare additional food.

Like Rein himself, for instance, who needed to consume dozens of pounds of ordinary food per meal to meet his nutritional needs.

However, if he could add some ferocious beast meat, that would make things much better, but the cooking process was time-consuming and laborious, so having someone to take care of it would definitely save time and effort.

Bask continued, "You'll have to put in some extra effort later on."

"According to Master Ganther's custom, you are given a maximum of three days to complete the first training task. If you can't complete it, then you'll have to leave."

"...."

Rein found it strange why the other had suddenly become so enthusiastic.

But after a moment's thought, Rein seemed to understand something.

Bask's behavior was most likely not due to Master Ganther, nor because of Rein himself.

Then the answer was almost self-evident—it was because of Cleya.

Indeed, it wasn't long before the young man named Bask turned the conversation to Lady Creya.

He rubbed his hands together, seeming a bit embarrassed as he asked, "Rein, you and Lady Creya... you're quite familiar with each other, aren't you?"

"Familiar; otherwise, she wouldn't have written me an introduction letter, right?" Rein said with a smile.

"Right, right, so you two are...?" Bask continued to inquire.

Seeing Rein's slight frown, Bask immediately waved his hands and hurriedly said, "Rein, don't get me wrong. I wanted to ask whether Lady Creya... she doesn't have a fiancé yet, does she?"

This took Rein by surprise!
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Apparently, Cleya's influence was quite far-reaching.

She had been gone for so long and yet her legend was still circulating here.

After a moment's thought, Rein shook his head.

"Ah! Lady Creya actually has a fiancé!" Bask exclaimed, looking shocked and dismayed.

Rein simply looked at him, saying, "I shook my head because I don't know."

"Ah? So that's the case, that's great!" The moods of young people always change so quickly.

"But... you might as well not bother, Cleya likes someone stronger than her, and your strength..." Rein glanced at him and immediately poured a bucket of cold water on the hopes of the young man named Bask.

"Don't underestimate me, Rein! I'm only sixteen and already a formal knight. I'm here training with Master Ganther so that I can stand out in the knightly competition!"

"Although I'm slightly less skilled than Lady Creya, I'm only a little behind and I feel I still have a chance," the youth said confidently, changing his tone.

Rein glanced at him again and did not continue the conversation, but in his mind, he silently added, 'You stand no chance, because your rival...'

Soon, the two arrived at the center of the island near the simple stone huts made of piled stones.

It was then that Rein discovered that from the coastline, due to the angle, he had only seen seven or eight stone huts.

But in reality, some huts were hidden by others in front, so in total there were more than ten huts.

"The doors with circles mean they're taken; those without circles are empty. Rein, you can pick any of them to live in," said the young man on the side, gesturing with his hands for Rein to choose any hut.

Rein walked around and found that someone seemed to clean the huts regularly, they were quite tidy inside, so he randomly chose one and moved his luggage in.

At this point, Bask slapped his forehead and said, "Oh Rein, there's another thing; if you want someone here to take care of your meals, you'll have to pay a fee, and the same goes for your horse."

"How much?" Rein nodded, finding it reasonable.

"If it's a nutritious meal with added ferocious beast meat, it'll be pricier, ten Gold Coins a day for three meals. However, most people choose to add an extra meal in the evening, which is a lot cheaper."

"For the horse, it's one silver coin a day for care."

"Okay! I'll pay for a month upfront."

Rein handed over three hundred and three Gold Coins to Bask right away.

"Tsk tsk, such a wealthy man. Just to be clear, it's not that I don't want to round off the change for you, but this money goes to the family; it has nothing to do with me," Bask remarked after receiving the coins.

Although he was also a noble scion, he was a second son, and the share he could get from the family was mostly divided by his brother—and that was on the premise that he had proven his value as an investment.

Rein didn't mind; he had recently made a good sum of money at the Zaral resistance base, so spending this amount was not painful.

Besides, the very profitable matron Jennifer had also prepared an extra sum of money for him before his departure.

So, money wasn't a problem for Rein at the moment.

"Hmm, who should I entrust the horse to then?" Rein nodded, and then looked around, realizing that there was no stable nearby.