IRM Chapter 79

This was just a small incident, and Ji Chi didn’t take it to heart.

Never mind others—even he himself had experienced quite a bit of similar discrimination and ridicule, and had even suffered more injustice because of his “ominous” black hair and black eyes.

However, Ji Chi wouldn’t overthink it. He couldn’t shut everyone’s mouths; he could only work hard to move forward, leaving all those disdainful and unwilling voices far behind, while he himself held his head high and faced the broader world.

He saw things very clearly, but in reality, some voices were very difficult to leave behind.

He irritably pulled down his scarf, turned around, and frowned as he looked at the little tail that had been following him. “I’ve told you, if you’re really in difficulty, you can apply to the Academy for deferred payment.”

The little tail behind him was an unfamiliar young man with silver-gray hair that seemed not to have been trimmed in a long time. Loose bangs covered half of one eye, and the rest was pulled back, tied at the back of his head with a gray cloth strip into a small tuft.

The young man had been shamelessly following behind Ji Chi since the hall entrance, his ingratiating voice endless. “But there’s no time left! In one more day the verification deadline will pass. Please be kind and give me one gold coin——”

Ji Chi wasn’t lacking this one gold coin; he just couldn’t stand the young man bending his spine for a mere gold coin, habitually lying like this.

He looked coldly at the young man. “Have you calculated the speed of magic messenger pigeons? Never mind one day left—even if there were only three hours remaining, it would be enough for the pigeon to deliver the message to the Academy.”

The gray-haired young man hadn’t expected Ji Chi to know so clearly. He blinked, dropped his shoulders and sighed. “Ah—— I’m sorry, I did lie, but I really do need one extra gold coin… You don’t know my family’s situation. My mother is seriously ill, my brother is badly injured, my sister hasn’t eaten in three days. They struggled and saved to gather this one gold coin to let me take the test, but how could I just ignore them and spend it like this?”

As he spoke, his gaze kept sticking to Ji Chi’s pocket, where three gold coins were emitting an alluring glow—a fatal temptation for him.

Ji Chi gave a cold laugh and asked, “Your mother is seriously ill?”

“Yes.”

“Your brother is badly injured?”

“That’s right.”

“Your sister hasn’t eaten in three days?”

“Correct.”

“You think I’m an idiot?”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, no!” The young man knew he’d misspoken and lunged forward trying to grab Ji Chi’s arm. This time he was truly anxious, pleading. “You’re not lacking this one gold coin, so please give it to me. I’ll do anything!”

Ji Chi nimbly stepped aside, avoiding his clutches, and looked him up and down a few times.

The extreme desire for gold coins in the young man’s eyes wasn’t an act. The crazed obsession revealed in his gaze made even Ji Chi’s heart skip a beat. He wasn’t unfamiliar with this kind of look—the Ji Chi of his original world had often seen it in the mirror.

Ji Chi was unwilling to admit he’d softened, but he impatiently clicked his tongue and looked at the young man sideways. “So what exactly can you do?”

The young man’s face lit up. He glanced at Ji Chi’s clean, smooth face and spotless shirt, then rubbed his hands together. “Sir, is this your first time in Yiste? How about I arrange food and lodging for you? I guarantee you’ll be comfortable.”

Ji Chi was startled by that crisp “sir” and suddenly felt he really had aged quite a bit. He knew the young man had mistaken him for a noble but didn’t explain, saying vaguely, “Just call me Ji Chi.”

The young man looked completely understanding. “Yes, yes, it’s indeed inconvenient to address you as sir here, so please excuse my rudeness.”

He diligently walked ahead on the left to lead the way, turning his head to tell Ji Chi. “My name is Linton Darnell. Just call me Linton. I used to live in the countryside and only came to Yiste Town in recent years, but I’m already very familiar with this place. I know how many families live in every little alley!”

Linton looked quite proud.

Ji Chi glanced at him sideways and asked amusedly, “What about your mother, brother, and sister? Did you leave them in the countryside?”

Linton’s steps paused imperceptibly. He lowered his eyes and softly hummed in acknowledgment. “They couldn’t come over.”

Ji Chi seemed to sense something. “Couldn’t come over” and “didn’t come over”—the two word orders had vastly different meanings. His smile faded as he silently followed Linton forward.

Linton only stayed dejected for a moment before perking himself back up and dutifully introducing the town to Ji Chi. “Yiste Town isn’t large—only two main streets. One runs through the town, and one is perpendicular to it.”

He drew a “T” shape in the air, moving his finger to where the two lines intersected. “We’re heading here now. This is the most prosperous part of town. When gentlemen come to Yiste, they all stay here.”

Linton turned to face Ji Chi. “What kind of inn would you like to stay at? I won’t hide it from you—this year Yiste has opened quite a few new inns, all to accommodate the gentlemen.”

Ji Chi looked at him puzzled. Apart from Brandon, who was full of unrealistic fantasies about adventure, Ji Chi couldn’t imagine what breed of noble would want to come here. “Why? Are there many noble test-takers this year?”

Linton shook his head and looked at Ji Chi with surprise. “Eh? You don’t know? The First Prince recently came here, and many gentlemen traveled thousands of miles to see him… I thought you came for him too.”

“William?” Ji Chi frowned. He had no good feelings toward the royal family, even though the King had generously given him a house. That couldn’t refresh Ji Chi’s favorability—after all, it could only be considered compensation for the royal family’s arrogance.

“Yes, First Prince William.” Seeing Ji Chi’s reaction without any reverence, Linton kept guessing at his identity in his mind. “The King has recently been very concerned about commoners—not only has he revised several laws, but he’s also sent two princes to the two poorest testing sites to provide aid to commoner students. The First Prince was assigned to Yiste Town.”

Ji Chi thought about it and wasn’t surprised. It seemed the King had already noticed the threat posed by commoners. Given his hypocritical nature, using small favors to win people’s hearts was indeed something he would do.

“Hmph, how pretentious,” Ji Chi said disdainfully, pulling at the corner of his mouth.

How pretentious indeed. At the same time, Linton also cursed the same words in his heart. Hearing Ji Chi’s low snort, he widened his eyes and looked over, complex and intricate light flickering in them.

He murmured. “Who exactly are you…”

Ji Chi didn’t hear clearly and leaned closer, asking, “What?”

Linton quickly shook his head and changed the subject. “So where do you want to stay these few days? The best inn is near here—the price will be much more expensive. There are also cheaper places, but they’ll be more chaotic.”

Ji Chi said casually, “Then the best place.”

Linton was indeed familiar with the town and quickly led him to a quiet, clean inn. The inn was quite new, and the decor was also refined—it must have been newly established this year.

When the inn’s attendant saw the two of them, he was about to frown and drive them away. Fortunately, Linton’s skill at borrowing authority was considerable. In just a few moves, he scared the attendant’s face pale. The attendant respectfully accepted the gold coin and presented the room key with both hands.

When Ji Chi had walked to his room door, Linton refused to leave, staring at him eagerly.

Ji Chi looked at him with amusement, pulled a gleaming gold coin from his pocket and handed it to him. “This money is really easy for you to earn. Remember to share the secret to getting rich sometime.”

Linton hastily received the gold coin, cherishing it as he stroked it in his hand. He chuckled and patted his thin chest. “No, no, of course it’s not just this. I’ll be near the inn tomorrow too. If you need anything, just come down and find me.”

Ji Chi nodded and waved at him before entering his room.

Only after the door closed before his eyes did Linton withdraw his gaze. He carefully tucked the gold coin into the small pocket inside his chest, narrowed his eyes slightly, and repeated in his heart what he’d just said——

Of course it’s not just this—there are still two more gold coins. How could I, Linton, let gold coins right before my eyes escape?

There was still one day until the engineer test began. Ji Chi stretched on the snow-white sheets and got up to dress at a leisurely pace.

He was very well prepared for this test. Harvey had explained the theoretical knowledge, and Bard had provided guidance on practical operations. If he still couldn’t beat a bunch of sixteen or seventeen-year-old kids with all this, then he might as well focus on learning magic.

Having completed his daily task of disdaining mages, Ji Chi wandered out of the inn. Today he wore a sleeveless coat with relatively long hems that could conveniently conceal the magic pouch hanging at his waist.

He stood at the inn entrance, spacing out in place for a while.

Just as he was hesitating about which direction to go, a voice called back his thoughts.

“Ji Chi! I’m here!” Linton jogged up to meet him, his gray little braid bouncing at the back of his head. “Do you have anything you want to do today? I can take you there.”

Ji Chi was a bit surprised. He’d thought this little swindler’s parting words were also just fooling him, but unexpectedly he really was nearby. He glanced at Linton’s empty-handed appearance and asked, “I remember you also have the Combat Academy test, right? Aren’t you going to prepare?”

Linton shrugged. “How can one prepare for the engineer test at the last minute? Profession talent plus years of practice—the test results were decided long ago.”

Ji Chi, who was preparing at the last minute, felt like an arrow had pierced his knee. He laughed dryly along with him.

Linton looked thoughtfully at his fake laugh, then suddenly leaned close to Ji Chi’s ear and asked quietly, “I remember you’re also an engineer, so… do you want to know this year’s test question?”

Ji Chi stepped back two paces and frowned: “What kind of joke are you making now? How could you possibly know that?”

The Combat Academy’s tests were extremely just and fair. There was no possibility of questions being leaked. The Academy had enormous authority—even the Saint Trilley royal family received no special treatment, let alone a small young man from a remote town.

Linton lowered his eyes and smiled. “When news of the examiner was released, I already knew what this year’s question would be.”

Every year for the profession tests, the Combat Academy would change examiners. This information wasn’t hard to discover—generally it would spread throughout the entire country a month before the test.

The examiner would be responsible for the most important question of each year’s test. The entire test would revolve around it—it could truly be said to determine one’s fate with a single question.

Under Ji Chi’s doubtful gaze, Linton spread his fingers. “Really! My predictions are very accurate! I guessed correctly the past few years! Just one gold coin! Guaranteed worry-free entry to the Academy!”

Ji Chi looked at him speechlessly. I just want to know which scammer training base you came from?

Linton leaned before him again, selling hard. “For you, the test is much more important than one gold coin, right? So just trust me! You won’t suffer a loss or be cheated! I promise you, if I guess wrong, I’ll immediately return the gold coin to you. How about it?”

Ji Chi was stirred to anger by him. He pulled out a gold coin and waved it before his eyes. “Come on, if you can give me a reasonable explanation, I’ll give it to you immediately. You won’t even need to return it.”

Linton’s gaze was fixedly following the gold coin’s movement. He shook his head to withdraw his attention from the gold coin and stared tightly at Ji Chi’s eyes, saying mysteriously. “This year’s examiner is Master Nigel. His specialty works are shields and armor, but in recent years, the direction of enchantments on his works has changed.”

Linton paused, as if organizing his words. “This change is very, very small—so small it’s just altering the pattern of one magic inscription. But if I haven’t seen wrong, he wants to create equipment that has both defense and speed.”

“So I guess,” Linton looked straight at Ji Chi, the light in his eyes extremely bright, “this year’s test question will be related to the compatibility of enchantments. The specific direction is very likely to be the compatibility of defense and speed.”

“Master Nigel wants to draw inspiration from the unbound new engineer students to break through his own bottleneck.”