After passing the second ring test, Hallumi and Kaya arranged for a carriage to return as soon as possible under the old woman's insistence. They also pulled a batch of simple goods and prepared to return home.
As the wife of the manager of the Chamber of Commerce, the old woman took good care of the two young girls. All kinds of negotiations for external purchases were also carried out by her. So before leaving Wulian City, they left a sum of money to the old woman.
However, this money was not all for their hard work. Yu Lin transferred all the rewards he received from the Sika branch to Richard the Great Magician's Fund, so he had no funds to operate here. The cost of buying this house had been paid, but the salary for entrusting the woman to clean it regularly was owed for some time.
Fortunately, the woman's husband was the manager of the Chamber of Commerce and knew Lin's ability to make money. The employer didn't say much about letting his wife earn this easy money. The manager's family was still grateful to Lin, this big customer.
Therefore, they didn't use any evil means to force him to pay back the money that he owed. As for the housekeeping and the care of the two apprentices, they didn't reduce it by a single cent.
So the money the two girls left before leaving was nominally for the accumulated debt and the future housekeeping and cleaning costs, but in fact, it was also a reward for their hard work during this period of time. Because of the customs of the Maze World, no one would pay a salary in advance for a few years.
Because there weren't many things to bring back to the Tower of the Great Sage this time, the two girls simply squeezed into the same carriage with the goods. It wasn't a special carriage for people, and there was no soft blanket, so it was even more uncomfortable to sit in. But for people who were anxious to return home, it wasn't bad. It was more important to get home early.
And in the Tower of the Great Sage, today's day was the same as the day before. There was no one in the tower, so the door was closed. The Tower Master, who was training the two dogs, came to a strange place in the forest.
For some days, there would always be someone coming to that spot at midnight, emanating a ratio of magical power and authority that had never been seen before. Lin You had tried to simulate this special ratio of Mana Authority, but failed time and time again.
It was just like on Earth, knowing the chemical formula of some compounds did not mean that one could create the compound. There were a lot of processes and reactions that needed to be considered. If they wanted to commercialize it on a large scale, there were even more things that needed to be considered. In the case of magic in the Maze World, there were certain rituals and conditions that had to be fulfilled.
That was why Lin Feng was more or less curious about this place that gave off such a strange power ratio. In fact, even after bringing the two dogs here, Lin couldn't see anything special about this place. White Nose sniffed left and right, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He looked lazy. Gray Hoof was even more direct. He ran around and peed to mark the area.
Lin, on the other hand, was unfazed by the fact that he had gained nothing. As the saying goes, no news is good news. Similarly, no discovery was a good discovery.
A certain someone didn't want to live as if she was suffering from paranoia, thinking about who was planning to harm her all the time. Since there was nothing to do, he did not want to dig three feet into the ground, so he led the two dogs to another place.
He threw this matter to the back of his mind. Lin returned to the only thing he had been thinking about for the past two months. How to play with … how to train these two good-for-nothing dogs.
At least he had seen what military or police dogs looked like, but a certain someone was still not satisfied, because their spirit had not been trained yet. Gray Hoof and White Nose's current appearance, if compared to a human's image, was like a fat guy with the same waist and height. They dripped saliva and stared at other small, weak animals, making them tremble in fear.
They had the size, but the reason why people were afraid was the unpredictability of idiots. Who knew what the idiots in front of them would do? That was why people trembled. But this was not the appearance that Lin Xiang wanted. He had to train them to be like the tyrants in the Ghost Castle. Even if they stood still, they would still make people feel threatened. Only then would they be qualified.
In the words of an ancestor's great book on the art of war, it said, "Be as swift as the wind, as slow as the forest, as aggressive as fire, as motionless as a mountain, as unpredictable as the dark, and as swift as thunder." Only by training to 70% or 80% of this could they be considered as dogs in a certain someone's eyes.
So the two dogs' suffering continued. It wasn't that they didn't try to resist, but a certain someone who had complete authority over the Magic Tower was more brutal than the dogs could imagine. At the slightest provocation, he would use the Giant Palm Technique, lifting the dog by the neck with one hand and slapping it with the other. Sometimes the two dogs would come together, and even the rhythm of the slapping was the same.
How could the dogs tolerate this! But even if they couldn't bear it, what could they do …
Just when they felt that their lives were meaningless and their future was bleak, Gray Hoof and White Nose ushered in the dawn. The two masters had returned.
Unsurprisingly, it was another welcome ceremony with faces full of saliva. The girls were also happy to finally return to a place they were familiar with.
But the two horses that pulled the carriage and the camel birds that the guards rode were different from usual. They were constantly in a commotion, as if they wanted to escape. It couldn't be helped. After these days of training, the two dogs had more or less built up their momentum. Their murderous aura had also increased along with their hatred, but they couldn't keep it back.
These two girls and two big dogs had been close since they were puppies. After that, they got along day and night and grew up together. So although they felt the change, they weren't unhappy at all.
The guards who came with the team weren't so relaxed. The warrior who led the team estimated that if they encountered these two magic beasts in the wild, even if the other party didn't rely on sneak attacks, they could easily wipe out his team in a head-on confrontation.
He really didn't know how the Tower Master tamed such monsters. He didn't ask this question in person, or someone would definitely say, "You guys came two months ago, just two stupid dogs that act cute, they must have the blood of the Earth's husky."
The return of the girls made the Magic Tower, which was gradually covered by the murderous aura, feel new. Because he thought of ways to torture the dogs all day long, he was tricked by a guy who thought he was a fat otaku. Thinking back on these days, Lin only wanted to say to himself, "Do I have a hidden S-type attribute?"
Looking at his disgusting expression in the mirror, Lin couldn't help but think of the infamous psychological experiment on Earth, the Stanford Prison Experiment. Power made people perverted.
But the girls were back, it was not appropriate to keep a straight face.
He looked at his solid abdomen, although he didn't have six muscles or mermaid lines. However, it was much better than the oily and fluffy appearance from before. This was the only thing to be happy about.
Dinner was handled by Lin himself. He went to the small town outside the tower to temporarily collect taxes and collected three lambs.
Anyway, in the maze world, there was no fixed time to collect taxes. When the Lord was in a good mood, he would send a tax collector to collect a wave; if he owed money, he would also send a tax collector to collect a wave; if he wanted to buy something but didn't have enough money, he would also send a tax collector out.
There was also no fixed amount of tax collected. If the tax collector saw that the family was rich, he would take more; if the family was poor, he would take less. If there was really nothing, he would take away the things that were still valuable. If the little girl in the family was beautiful, he would only take the girl and not the property.
In the end, the Lord would only ask the tax collector to hand over a few bags of money or other valuable items. If the tax was paid more, it must be because the territory was rich and the tax collector was good. If the tax was paid less, it meant that he wanted to change the tax collector.
So whether it was ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign, in the maze of the earth, the tax collector was an annoying profession. The difference was that in the maze, the tax collector had to have a good ability. Otherwise, the words "that lord is very powerful, he went into the mountains alone to crusade against the magical beasts and didn't come back," would reach the Lord's ears.
As for the Lord personally coming out to collect taxes, it would also depend on the situation. Otherwise, the rumor that "that lord is very powerful" could also appear.
And Lin, as a Mage Lord, the town's residents were quite polite to him, could even be said to be warm, or in awe? Originally, the three lambs were to be bought with money, but inexplicably, it became a temporary tax that the residents agreed to. A certain someone's face was so bewildered that he was forced to live taxes and walked back with the three lambs.
The three lambs were all killed and bled, intending to make roasted whole lambs. Of course, one lamb was enough for the three of them, but it couldn't stop the two dogs from eating. Marco Lin didn't intend to pat his chest and tell the dogs to eat their fill. If there was a mouthful of meat to eat, please be grateful and weep, otherwise you might turn into meat.
The sheep's blood and intestines were washed and made into blood sausages. Of course, the sheep's stomach and heart were also delicious delicacies. The other sheep's intestines were checked for parasites before they were dealt with. If it was edible, they would think of ways to cook it; if it wasn't, they would just burn it to ashes. Marco Lin didn't want to risk swallowing parasites. That kind of disease was considered a terminal illness in the maze world.
That night, the three people and two dogs ate and drank freely, having a great time. It was also to celebrate the success of the girls' advancement as second-ring apprentices.
At night, the work of stargazing and recording continued. But tonight, looking at the starry sky, the mood was very different from a few days ago. It was as if he had broken free of a layer of shackles, and also as if he had put down a burden. That deep sea of stars was also different from the past in someone's eyes. It was as if he saw the sun that belonged to Earth, calling out to him.
For the next few days, the people and dogs living in the Magic Tower adjusted their lives and found their pace again.
The girls finally saw the changes in the two big dogs. The dogs' temperament changed, and they no longer stuck out their tongues, panted, and dripped saliva. Without instructions, they wouldn't change their postures at will. Once they quieted down, they were like stone sculptures, motionless.
But they wanted the girls' touch more than before. Chin, dog head, legs, back, belly, everywhere was good. They would lick it lovingly in return. Although their feelings were less expressed, they were deeper and stronger.
As a teacher, although he had been tense for a few days, once he relaxed, he returned to his original state. A fat otaku was an otaku in his bones, fat was just a facade. Even if he lost weight and lost weight, he was still an otaku.
Just when the few of them began to feel idle and gradually moved towards being idle to the point of panic, Lin remembered that the last part of the golden skeleton had been delivered, the left arm.
But as a teacher, where to throw each part of the Magic Tower, he had to think about it.
— —
Thank you to my book friends, HouseManVI for their tips, and other book friends for their monthly votes.
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