[Collect recommendation tickets like magicians collect gems]
When Silva woke up, the sky was already bright. The surroundings were clear. There were few magical beasts here, and a forest appeared in front of them. Salin recalled Deacon Bai's map and said, "This forest is more than 50 miles wide. If we pass it, we'll be in the Phoenix Duchy's territory. Silva, are you okay? "
"Captain, I'm fine." Silva waved her fists and legs in high spirits. Her body was full of energy.
"Master, she's also a demon?" Neris looked at the recovered Silva in surprise. She couldn't believe it. Yesterday, she had purposely tortured this woman to run so fast.
"What?" Salin didn't understand Neris's question.
Neris quickly shut up. If she continued to ask, her pettiness would be exposed.
Salin's team continued on their way. With the little demon, Salin wouldn't lose his way even without a map. This time, the little demon slowed down. It took them half a day to leave the forest.
In fact, this forest was full of danger. There was a rare magical beast in the forest called the Tree Bee. The Tree Bee was violent and would attack humans for no reason. Little Devil, on the other hand, easily bypassed the Treebees' territory and walked a zigzagging path through the forest. Nothing happened along the way.
No matter how dangerous this forest was, it wasn't as scary as the Demonic Plane. Every creature there was fatal. At least the trees in this forest didn't eat humans, and the magical beasts were relatively friendly.
After passing through the forest, there was a small town. The architectural style here was very different from Scotia. The people of Scotia liked to build their houses with stones. They liked to be beautiful and strong. The buildings in this town were mostly made of wood and brick. They were very detailed and elegant.
Although most of the people here wore simple clothes, they could be clearly distinguished from the people of Ceylon City. The people here were clean and simple. Even if their clothes were old, they were washed clean. There was also a happiness on their faces that Salin couldn't understand.
The town's walls were very high. Although this was the border, there had never been a war here. The layout of the walls was simple to defend against large magical beasts in the forest.
The foreign atmosphere diluted Salin's sadness. He had long read that the Qinyin Empire was a gathering of sages. Now it seemed that even a small town attached to the Qinyin Empire was much stronger than Ceylon City. The city guards didn't take Salin's money and turned a blind eye to his mercenary badge. This meant that Magicians also had special privileges here.
Salin liked this atmosphere. He walked down the street in his magician's robe, and no one showed him any respect. Although it was a little strange, Salin could only understand that there were too many Magicians in the Qin Yin Empire and everyone was used to it.
Salin's guess was right. The town was only one-tenth the size of Ceylon City. There were only a dozen streets and very few shops. Even so, he brushed shoulders with a magician as he walked into a tavern.
It was a Level-2 Mage wearing a white magic robe with two magic marks on his chest. When he saw Salin appear in front of him, the Rank 2 Mage even nodded towards him in a friendly manner.
The taverns in the small town were very different from those in Tilan City. It was obvious that many of the people drinking here were mercenaries. This place was close to the Chaos Swamp, and there were many missions to hunt for magical beasts. However, these mercenaries were not as vulgar as Scochenya, and they spoke gently. Salin was not used to the atmosphere here.
There were many paintings hanging on the walls of the tavern, most of them sketches by painters. There wouldn't be any famous artists in such a small place. These paintings weren't bought from the tavern, but placed here for sale by the painters.
He called for the waiter. Salin didn't have silver coins on hand, only gold coins. He gave one to the waiter. The waiter hurriedly declined. He didn't dare to accept such a large tip.
"I want some smoked meat to take away. I want ten large pieces of bread. Wine and dishes are free, the rest is yours." Salin said politely. Only then did the waiter shyly accept it.
He said to Salin in a low voice, "Sir Mage, do you need any help?"
"Do you have a Professionals Union here?"
"Yes, it's two streets ahead." The waiter answered fluently, obviously used to dealing with professionals.
Salin was relieved. There was a Professionals Union here. His suspicious mercenary identity could be registered, and there wouldn't be any trouble in the Qin Yin Empire. Nelis's outfit was also a little eye-catching. She was wearing clothes that were tens of thousands of years old, and she was barefoot. Salin decided to buy her some equipment. More importantly, Salin had to sell some gems in exchange for some gold coins. His gold coins were almost gone. In the temple, Salin had almost emptied out all the space to store gems. Other than a few scattered gold coins, he only had Scochenya's bank notes.
Nelis seemed to know what Salin was thinking. She lowered her head and ate quietly. After the three hurriedly ate their fill, they followed the waiter's directions to the Professionals Union.
The Professionals Union of the Scochenya Empire and the Professionals Union of the Qin Yin Empire weren't one, but they had frequent exchanges. Mercenaries registered on both sides could also receive missions in other countries.
The town's Union wasn't big. From the outside, it looked like an art gallery. A fiery red phoenix was painted on the wall of the Union's main entrance. This was the symbol of the Grand Duke of Phoenix.
Entering the Union's main entrance, there were no crowds. There was a counter in front, and the service staff of the Union sat behind it, talking in a low voice. There were stairs on both sides, leading to the upper floor. Salin came to the counter and tapped it with his finger.
Behind the counter was a young man with a simple and honest face. The service staff of this Union didn't dress like the swordsmen in the Scochenya Empire. Seeing Salin come to his counter, the young man smiled and said, "Sir Mage, may I ask what help you need?"
"I'm from Scochenya, and I want to register as a mercenary in the Qin Yin Empire. Is this okay?"
"Yes, tell me your name and your mercenary badge."
Salin said his fake name and handed over the badge. The young man quickly filled out the form for Salin. It was done in a minute, and Salin only needed to sign it.
"The fee is three gold coins." The young man didn't even ask for the names and professions of the other members of Salin's mercenary group. Amazing efficiency!
"Well, may I ask if there are escort missions here?" Salin paid the gold coins. He didn't have much money on him. He was afraid that he would have to pay extra to check the missions here. Fortunately, the young man gave Salin an answer without hesitation.
"If you're doing a mission along the way, look for it on the bulletin board over there. If it's targeted, we charge a 5% commission. We can provide a comprehensive contract to ensure there won't be any mistakes. "
"No need, give me a map of the continent."
"One gold coin, Sir Mage."
Salin suddenly felt that the young man's smile was disgusting. No matter how good the service here was, it was still to make money. Helplessly, Salin took out a gold coin and put it on the counter.
Salin looked for missions not because he lacked money, but because he wanted to blend in with a merchant group so he wouldn't attract too much attention. It was hard to say if the lunatics from the Vatican would enter Phoenix.
He took back the badge. There was a metal mark on the badge. With this, he could walk as a mercenary in the area controlled by the Qin Yin Empire. Putting away the copy of the mercenary registration form, Salin left the counter and came to the bulletin board. There were many notes on it, all of which were temporary small missions. Most of them were to buy magic cores, fur, herbs and ores.
There was not a single escort mission on the hundreds of notes. Salin didn't have any extra gold coins, so he had to leave the Union.
After asking passersby for directions, Salin brought Silva and Neris to an equipment store. Like all border cities, even the smallest town would have a good equipment store.
The building of this equipment store was very old, and the board was also full of traces of time. The owner seemed to be too lazy to paint it, so the wooden board was cracked, exposed to the wind and rain. There were vine-like plants on the walls along the street. It was already autumn, and the yellow was bleak.
The words written on the board were in the Qin Yin language — Deep Forest Weapons Store.
Salin stepped in. There was no one in the store. There was a glass counter in front, and shelves on both sides. The shelves were made of high-quality wood, carved with fine patterns. It made people feel that the shelves were also of high quality.
"Boss, boss!"
Salin called out. No one responded, so he raised his voice.
Cough, cough, cough …
Coughing came from behind a door on the east side of the store. A soft voice said, "Customer, please be quiet. Please wait a moment."
It was rare to see such a business. Salin remembered that in Scotia, when customers entered, there would always be someone to serve them. He sat down in front of the counter, bored. The chairs for customers to rest were very comfortable, unlike in Scotia, where there were many long benches.
The goods on the glass counter were indeed very exquisite. Salin even saw a dagger inlaid with neon stone. This was a magical weapon. Neon stone could store magic, and it could be activated without the need of a mage. This kind of gem was not expensive, and was often used as a substitute for rutile.
Cough …
With a light cough, the door on the east side was pushed open, and a sickly looking young man walked out. He glanced at Salin and the others and said, "Sir Mage, sorry to keep you waiting. What would you like?"
"You're the owner?" Salin was surprised. This young man was about the same age as him, but he already owned a store. How impressive.
"Not really, family business." The young man smiled modestly. His sickly face became a little more spirited.
"I want to sell something." Salin answered directly. He had no gold coins on hand.
"Sorry, Sir Mage, we don't accept equipment. The weapons in this store are all made by our family. "The young man refused politely.
"It's a gem."
"Oh? Let me see! " The young man's face became a little livelier, as if a dying person was instantly healed by a Great Recovery Spell.
Salin took out a gem fragment the size of a finger from his leather bag. This was a fragment of a fluorite. Although it was a scrap, it was still crystal clear. People who did not know its value might even mistake it for a Iceland stone.
"Fluorite!" The young man's face became even better. The quality of this fragment was even better than some of the goods in the big city's trading center. From the quality, this fluorite fragment was directly cut from a pure fluorite. Although it was not pure, it could still be made into high-level magical tools.
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