Synthesis Wizard.

Chapter 63 Detection

Bang bang bang!
There was a loud knock on the heavy door.

In the wooden house, Xie Man, who was sleeping soundly under a worn quilt, was suddenly awakened. He rubbed his eyes and shouted sleepily.

"coming."

In the middle of the Month of Resurrection, the weather is still a little cold.

After Sherman put on his tattered clothes, he picked up the leather jacket that was covering the quilt as a second quilt and put it on before opening the wooden door.

Outside the door, old Roger was leaning against the carriage, cracking his pipe with a whip in one hand and a pipe in the other.

"Hurry up, it's getting late. You'll be scolded if you're late."

"understood."

Xie Man closed the wooden door and got into the carriage swiftly, without looking anxious at all.

Roger glanced at him and said nothing more. He whipped the horse hard, and the old horse groaned and pulled the carriage slowly forward.

Sherman leaned against the carriage railing, looked at the dark sky, closed his eyes and dozed off.

According to past experience, it would take another half an hour to reach the inner fort, and by the time we got there, it would be almost daybreak.

Sherman is an orphan.

According to old Roger, he found Sherman on a snowy day. Since he had no children, he took Sherman home to raise.

Over the years, old Roger raised Sherman to the age of twelve by collecting garbage for the nobles and taking it out of the city for disposal.

Sherman was full of gratitude towards old Roger.

Although he knew that he and Old Roger had no blood relationship, in his heart, Old Roger was his father.

Before we knew it, the carriage had entered the inner city.

The long-established habit woke Sherman up automatically.

From a distance, he saw the majestic and tall castle, and his eyes couldn't help but reveal envy and yearning.

That's where the lords and knights live.

Xieman didn't know how many times he had dreamed that he had become a nobleman, lived in a luxurious castle, and enjoyed a life of luxury and extravagance.

Or you may become a powerful knight, gain the admiration of the lord, become his bodyguard, and be qualified to live in the castle.

In the boy's shallow understanding, the castle is the most beautiful place in the world.

But in fact, he knew very well in his heart that if it were not for work, a poor man like him would never be able to set foot in that castle in his lifetime.

Not to mention living in it.

When you wake up, everything in your dream will disappear, and only the cold reality remains.

Old Roger once told him that after his death, he would inherit the two wooden houses and the carriage and take over the job of clearing garbage for the nobles.

Xie Man thought that his future would be like this.

The carriage stopped in front of the castle gate. Sherman followed old Roger and jumped off the carriage and walked towards the tall guard guarding the gate.

In the past, when they entered the castle to clean up the garbage, they would always be exploited by the guards at the gate and the managers inside, who would ask for all kinds of benefits.

However, ever since the previous lord was hanged and the new lord moved into the mansion and drastically replaced a group of guards and servants, they have not been exploited again.

For this reason alone, Xie Man had a favorable impression of the new lord, whom he had never met before.

Over the past few months, the gate guard has become very familiar with Old Roger and the other man.

Seeing the two people coming, they were allowed to pass after a quick inspection.

It took the whole morning for Old Roger and Sherman to skillfully clean up the garbage and put it all into the carriage. Then they prepared to transport the garbage out of the city. Before leaving, one of the guards suddenly stopped Sherman, looked him up and down, and asked, "Little Sherman, how old are you this year?"

Xie Man was stunned for a moment, but still answered honestly: "Twelve years old."

"Can you read?"

Sherman nodded.

Poor people like him who work hard for noble lords are generally illiterate. However, when he was young, old Roger worked as an accounting apprentice in a shop. Although the shop later went bankrupt, he still learned to read and later taught it to Sherman.

After hearing what Xie Man said, the guard smiled and said, "That's perfect. The Lord issued a decree a while ago that all literate teenagers in the territory, regardless of gender or family background, who are at least twelve years old and no more than fifteen years old, must go to the testing center for testing. You can go there later."

"Test? What test?"

While Xie Man was still in a daze, Old Roger panicked and said hurriedly:
"My Lord, little Sherman has always worked very hard and has never done anything bad."

The guard waved his hands and said with a smile, "Don't worry, this is a good thing. Lord Sunan is recruiting apprentices from the entire Shining Territory. Anyone who passes the test can serve as his apprentice and receive a subsidy of one gold coin every month."

Old Roger and Sherman's eyes widened and their faces were filled with shock.

They worked hard for a month and earned less than ten silver coins.

But if you become an apprentice, you can get a gold coin every month?
Is there such a good thing?

But soon old Roger hesitated again.

Is there really such a thing as a free lunch in this world?
Would he trick people into leaving and then do something bad?

Seeing Old Roger's expression, the guard knew what he was thinking. He laughed and scolded, "Sir Sunan is a legendary wizard, and the decree was issued by the Lord. Do you think those two Lords are free and would cheat a poor guy like you?"

"If I hadn't seen that little Xie Man was usually very well-behaved, I wouldn't have bothered to remind you."

Old Roger quickly apologized with a smile.

Come to think of it, what the guard said makes sense. How could the decree issued by the lord be false?

After thanking the guard, Old Roger pulled Sherman into the carriage.

On the way back, Old Roger thought for a moment and said to Sherman, "After you finish transporting the garbage, go back and wash yourself, change your clothes, and then go to the inspection office."

Sherman nodded vigorously, his eyes shining a little.

If he could become an apprentice of the Lord Sunan mentioned by the guards, he would receive a gold coin every month. After saving for a year or two, he could move to the inner city with old Roger, open a small shop, and no longer have to get up early and work late to collect garbage.

Maybe there’ll be a chance to live in that castle!

When Xie Man thought of this, he became extremely excited and wished he could grow wings and fly to the inspection site right now.

After returning from outside the city, Sherman rushed home, washed himself, changed into his best clothes, and then went straight to the place the guard said.

The testing site is located at the junction of the outer city and the inner city.

In front of the makeshift wooden shed, hundreds of boys and girls about the same age as Sherman were queuing up.

Many people were talking to each other excitedly, and occasionally looked towards the front of the team.

Sherman noticed that these people were all dressed appropriately, and even the worst of them had clean clothes, unlike him, who was wearing clothes that were washed white and had patches on them.

Come to think of it, people who can read and write these days usually come from well-off families.

There are very few outliers like him.

"Go to the end of the line and don't wander around."

A nearby soldier noticed Sherman and told him to get in line.

Xie Man followed instructions and came to the end of the line, waiting quietly.

(End of this chapter)