Chapter 9 A Difficult Beginning

　　Lucien looked at this strange scene in front of the tavern with amusement and headed for the door with confusion, the morning was the coldest time for taverns. 　　In front of the tavern, a slim girl was peeking inside, her long light blonde hair swaying slightly as she turned her head from side to side, when she turned her head with a sigh, she was startled, "Lucien?" 　　Another one who knows me and I don't? Lucien had gotten quite used to the situation and smiled, "So early to the tavern?" 　　The girl's wheat-colored skin flushed red all of a sudden, "I just heard that a new bard has come to the Bronze Crown Tavern, I was curious and thought I'd come over to take a look before I helped my mother, well, there's not much time left, so I'll be going first." 　　Watching the girl rush off, Lucien let out a soft oooh, it seemed that the bard had something to offer in terms of looks or song. 　　However, this had nothing to do with Lucien himself, so he gently pushed open the half-hidden door of the tavern and walked in. 　　The dimly lit space, the strong smell of alcohol, the wooden floor that snapped when stepped on, the tables and chairs that were placed in a haphazard manner, this was Lucien's first impression of the Copper Crown Tavern, and stepping in from the refreshing, bright morning outside was like arriving in a different world. 　　It took Lucien a moment to adjust before he could see where the bar was. 　　There were several men in the tavern with hangovers, awakened by the sound of Lucien's stomping on the floor, cursing in a daze before slumping back down on their tables to resume their slumber. 　　Only one man in his thirties with a hawkish nose, wearing a long, tight black coat, sat quietly in a chair by the bar, slowly sipping a glass of amber-colored wine, giving Lucien a somber feeling. 　　At Lucien's arrival, the somber man only glanced at him briefly before continuing to sip his own glass of wine. 　　Lucien looked around for a while, and soon saw the huffing and puffing dwarf behind the bar, sitting on a tall one-legged stool with his head leaning against the bar, snoring loudly, and the drool coming out wetting his long blonde beard that was tied in a bow quite a bit. 　　Seeing that the dwarf looked like he wouldn't wake up for half a day without external force, Lucien had to flex his fingers and thump them on the bar. 　　Amidst the vague curses of the several drunkards behind him, this elderly dwarf staggered and slowly raised his head, his eyes hooded as he said, "Hey Lucien, you've finally grown up, you finally understand the significance of fine wine for life, come on, cheers, cheers for our new guest!" 　　"Uncle Koen, it's dawn." Lucien addressed with discretion. 　　Korn rubbed his eyes and looked at the dim light around him, "I'm not drunk, don't try to lie to me, it's clearly night, what a beautiful night." 　　After a meaningless conversation, Kou En finally woke up completely, "Lucien, there are not many things suitable for you to do, and there is no permanent job for the time being, other things, one thing is that at nine o'clock in the morning, the small Gucci store in the market area needs to general a batch of goods from the warehouse to the city gate area, there is a lack of manpower, three copper ferals, but as you know, this kind of thing is controlled by Aaron's gangs and in the end one copper fel needs to be handed over to them, the rest will have to buy the worst of the black bread." 　　"There is another thing, the musicians association is doing a big cleaning today, there are a lot of garbage that needs to be sent to the Belen River outside the city, you rent a four-wheeled cart and go over there at 1:00 p.m., except for the money for renting the cart, you can earn eight Copper Fells for the round trip, which is very good, but of course, you need to give Aaron's gangsters three Copper Fells." 　　"There are a few more like that after 1pm, but unless you're a knight, you won't be able to make it back from out of town." 　　Lucien nodded, this musicians' association thing, it was considered the best job, while speculating in his heart, "These seven coins I have on me, they should be copper fel." 　　"Uncle Koen, is there anything else that pays higher?" Lucien asked curiously. 　　Koen laughed out loud, "Hahaha, of course there are, but none of them are suitable for you, that requires a real man to fight with his life and strength, Lucien you're still a child who doesn't even dare to drink ale." 　　Then he pointed to the open space in the center of the tavern and became a bit serious: "The Dark Mountain Range is the biggest treasure, every year there are three, five, six, seven, never mind, I really can't count, anyway, it's a lot of many mercenaries and adventurers who go into the Dark Mountain Range, but in the end only a very, very small part of them can come out... ... "Korn burped, "Of course, they all got rich." 　　"Don't underestimate these mercenaries and adventurers, there are quite a few true knights, even great knights, among them." A soft and magnetic voice resounded behind Lucien, the end of each sentence was oddly upturned, presenting a strange rhythmic beauty, giving off a seductive, elegant feeling. 　　Lucien was busy turning back his head, he saw the side of the tavern opened up as an inn, and walked out a silver haired man, skinny legged pants, red jacket, high collar black jacket, obviously very formal clothing, worn on him, but it seemed to be very lazy and casual, his facial features were deep and fine, silver pupils, firm nose, thin lips, with a head of silvery soft hair, demonic and handsome, when he was seen, it was as if he had a feeling that he had seen the night The beauty of the silver moon. 　　This young man held a harp similar to Joel's in his hand and slowly walked over. 　　"Is he the new bard?" Lucien guessed in his mind, then asked suspiciously, "The knights are true nobles, why would they still venture to the Dark Mountains in search of wealth?" 　　Koen snorted, "Hey Rhine, don't you want a drink?" 　　"I only drink at night." Rhine smiled and sat down next to the bar, "In quite a few countries in the east, there hasn't been a war for two or three hundred years, the need for knights isn't so urgent, after all, to enthrone a knight you need to grant an estate and land, so there, even if a commoner inspires the power of his bloodline, he will at best get the status of a knight without being able to become a real aristocrat, some of them go to other countries , becoming knights of other countries, some went to the Duchy of Vaorite, the closest place to heretics, pagans, dark creatures, magical beasts, and so on, to build up merit and find wealth." 　　"In addition, there are also a number of bankrupt and impoverished knights, knights who have been convicted and escaped, noble knights who abide by their family's teachings and tour the continent, as well as dark knights who have inspired the power of their bloodline but are not recognized by the church or even hunted down due to their dark nature." 　　Koen muttered a few words, a little upset that Rhine didn't drink with him, "Lucien, this is the new bard Rhine, Rhine Calendaria, who has wandered around and seen a lot, and has just shaken off the enthusiasm of the noblewomen of Tria, and has come over from the Kingdom of Syracuse." 　　"Syracuse Kingdom?" Lucien smiled and nodded to Rhine, the Dark Mountain Range was so dangerous, even true knights had died in it, so Lucien temporarily dismissed the idea of risking his life to seek wealth, no matter what time of the day, a clear understanding of one's own strength was very important. 　　Korn laughed out loud, his long blonde beard shook violently, and his wrinkled dwarven face spoke with a kind of ambiguity that all men understand, "Yes, it's that passionate, spirited, love-above-all-else kingdom of Syracuse." 　　A drunkard woke up when Rhine appeared, stumbled over to the bar, hiccupped, and asked with longing and envy, "Rhine, are the ladies and ladies of Tria as beautiful, nay, passionate, as they are said to be?" 　　With a faint smile, Rhine used her own unique, elegant and rhythmic tone to say, "En, they have bright eyes like the morning star, silky smooth long hair, rose-like delicate lips, milk-like tender skin, their bodies are sprinkled with perfumes full of seductive flavors, and a few of the countesses and viscountesses even spit out their warm, wet aromas in my ears, and inviting me to be a guest at their secret estates." 　　The drunk asked expectantly, "So you went? What was it like?" Breathing became rapid. 　　Lucien was no stranger to such scenes, a bunch of men gathered together always discussing women, and while listening with interest, he thought about how to ask Koen about learning words. 　　Rhine's expression didn't change, and she still smiled lightly as she replied, "I told them that I don't like dirty objects that have been used, I only love beautiful, pure, clean beings, whether they are male or female, they are the most delicious things in this world." 　　"Pfft, Rhine, you really know how to brag, noblewomen and ladies would accept such an insult?" 　　"Haha, if you really said that to the court ladies, I'm afraid you've already been thrown into that famous prison in Tria, hiccup." 　　"Those noble ladies, many of them have the strength of knights, Rhine if you dare to answer like that, you will be torn to pieces directly." 　　To Korn's, drunken man's laughter, Rhine didn't care and lightly shrugged, "So, I escaped from Syracuse Kingdom to Alto." 　　Korn laughed so hard that he kept pounding on the bar, waking up all the drunks, and in the midst of the cursing he shouted, "Thank you Rhine for making up a good story so that we can happily welcome the new day, cheers!" 　　The three or four drunks were very sensitive to "cheers" and immediately came stumbling over to Koen, took the ale from him and held it up high: 　　"Here's to Rhein the Bragger!" 　　After the cacophony, Korn was surprised to see that Lucien was still there and asked, "Lucien do you have anything else?" 　　Lucien organized his words and carefully said, "Uncle Kouen, I have a little new idea after the past few days, I want to learn words." 　　"Yo, learn words? Has our little Lucien been infected by Rein and started bragging as well?" 　　"Words, ou, that's a far-reaching and outstanding ideal!" 　　"Lucien, leave them alone, a man without dreams, hiccup, it's better to die!" 　　Koen laughed along for a while, then looked at Lucien, "You really want to learn writing? You don't have any foundation to learn writing initially, it is said that it will take at least two years, do you have that much money and time?" 　　"No matter how many thorns are covered in front of me, but if I don't take this step, then I will never be able to move forward, Uncle Koen, I've already thought about it." Lucien replied seriously, and that for an adult who had gone through years of study, knew how to learn, and most importantly could speak the language of this world fluently, learning to write would most likely only take a month or two. 　　Koen saw that Lucien was so serious, so he replied in a serious manner, ''If you are young, you can still go through the selection of the church, and go to a monastery to learn words and knowledge, but now, you can either become someone else's apprentice and sign a ten year contract, or you can pay for your own money, and go to a scholar's house to learn, of course, becoming someone else's apprentice doesn't necessarily mean that you can learn the words, for example, many blacksmiths in the blacksmith's guild don't. blacksmiths won't, and spending your own money is a standard price throughout Alto, five silver nars a month, with over a dozen scholars willing to teach." 　　Lucien subconsciously ruled out the method of becoming someone else's apprentice, it wasn't a matter of a ten year contract, once one decides to learn magic, then the contract doesn't need to be honored at all, but to become an apprentice, to follow the master every day to study, eat, and live, it's easy to expose one's secret, and also it's not convenient for one to learn magic, so Lucien asked as if he were speaking to himself, "Five silver nal? " 　　Koen nodded, "En, five silver nal, unless you are busy from morning to night every day, eating only the worst black bread, it will take more than half a year to save enough, and how much can you learn in a month? Are you really going to learn words?" 　　"Yes." Lucien answered firmly, and by that math, a hundred copperfells would only be equivalent to one silver nal. 　　That was pretty tough to start with.