Above the mage

Chapter 68 Absconding with Funds

The purse is made of dark brown leather with a finely polished surface and edges reinforced with delicate linen thread.

The sealing mechanism uses a sturdy rope-through-hole binding design.

The knots are intricate and cleverly designed, making it easy to open quickly but difficult for outsiders to untie, thus ensuring the safety of the gold coins inside.

The money bag alone is probably worth several silver coins.

Gao De quickly picked up the money bag, unsealed it, and saw that the inside of the money bag was lined with a layer of soft wool fabric.

This design aims to reduce the noise from coins colliding with each other, while also protecting the coins from scratches or corrosion.

Hundreds of Sean gold coins lay quietly in the money bag, gleaming brightly, making Gao De's eyes light up.

Its heavy weight gives one a sense of security.

"300 Sean gold coins. Count them carefully. Don't come back later saying it's not enough. I won't accept that," Oliver said calmly.

Gao De chuckled sheepishly: "How could I not trust you?"

Gao De emptied the gold coins from his money bag, counted them carefully twice, and then put them back into the money bag.

Stuffing the money pouch into his pocket, God took out the magic box he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Oliver: "Here's what you wanted."

Oliver's eyes lit up slightly as he took the magic box. Then, he forcefully snapped it open with his right hand, trying to open it—just like Gaode had done before, knowing he couldn't open it, but still wanting to try.

After confirming that the magic box could not be opened, Oliver gave up and gently shook the box.

A rustling sound emanated from the magic box, like the sound of fine sand slipping through its fingers.

After listening to the sounds coming from the magic box and weighing it in his hand, Oliver smiled with satisfaction.

Based on his experience, he could already confirm that the secret box contained a lot of paper.

It's clearly not just land deeds and house deeds.

What other documents might a potion master hide in their magic box besides the deeds to their herb garden?

With the signing of the transfer and employment contracts, the "watchers" who had been roaming outside the Seda Herb Garden finally disappeared.

The next step involves a series of transfer procedures.

Of course, for Oliver, the most important thing was to open the magic box and take out the land deeds and house deeds inside.

In short, it will take a few more days.

However, this did not stop the apprentices in the herb garden from continuing to work; in fact, they worked even harder.

After all, he just changed employers, so he has to show his skills to them.

Of course, they continued to respect Gao De, even though he was no longer the master of the herb garden.

As everyone knows, God has already been hired as a potion master by Phil's Potions Shop, which is clearly a higher status than theirs.

Whether from a moral or logical standpoint, their attitude towards Gaode will not change in the slightest.

Flower Flame Moon, 25th.

Phil's Potion Shop, second floor.

Oliver, dressed in a dark silk robe, hurried back to his room with a scroll in his hand and his eyes shining.

After closing the door, he bent down and took out an exquisitely carved wooden box from the cabinet under the table.

If Pierre knew about such a large potions shop as Phil's, there was no reason why Oliver wouldn't know.

So, on the very first day after learning of the existence of the Arcane Box from Gao De, he sent people to Bremen to purchase the Percussion Spell Scroll.

Seven days have passed, and the scroll for the Striking Spell has finally arrived.

Oliver placed the arcane box on the table, rubbed his hands together excitedly, and then opened the spell scroll.

After a burst of magical energy, the scroll turned to ashes and disappeared.

The secret box has been opened twice.

Oliver excitedly picked up the magic box and gently pushed it open. The box, which hadn't moved an inch no matter how hard he tried, was now open.

What came into his view was a box full of papers, just as he had expected.

"Hmm?" Before the joy could fully show on his face, his brow furrowed, and he took out the topmost piece of paper:

Name: Seda Herb Garden

Number of people: 8

Fixed assets: One medicinal herb garden and four medicinal herb fields (producing snake tooth grass, mountain wormwood, alpine ironwood root, and blazing sun fruit respectively).

Cash holdings: 8 copper

Fixed expenses: 4-5 silver dollars/day (living expenses)

Income: 15-20 silver/day (fixed output of basic spider venom potion), unpredictable and variable income is not included.

Variable expenses: herb seedlings, fertilizer, and materials needed to prepare "nutrient soil".

Oliver's gaze swept over the contents of the paper, and his expression froze. "What is this?"

He was still somewhat incredulous, and with a blank stare, he set the page aside and took out the second page from the magic box.

Then there's the third one, and the fourth one.

Finally, instead of taking out the pages one by one, Oliver threw the box violently, and all the papers inside scattered and flew around the room.

What house deeds, land deeds, and the incomplete Tier 1 magic potion recipe he had envisioned.

No, there's nothing at all, just a pile of waste paper!

"Gaode! Gaode!"

Inside the room, Oliver's voice, filled with rage and gritted teeth, echoed.

At that moment, Amy, like Oliver, was staring blankly at a note.

After he finished eating and returned to his room, he found a note and five Sean coins that shimmered with a faint golden light on the table.

The note was left by Gaode.

The message was simple: it told him that Hogan City was not a safe place to stay and gave him some travel money. If he trusted him, he should find a way to leave as soon as possible.

After a moment of stunned silence, Amy suddenly realized what was happening.

He grabbed the note, ran out of the house, and rushed towards Gao De's room.

The door wasn't locked; it opened with a push.

But when I opened the door, Gaode was nowhere to be seen.

Amy closed the door again, rushed out of the herb garden, and looked around at the entrance.

Everywhere you look, there are thoroughfares, either vast open spaces or lush green forests.

Once you leave this small medicinal garden, the world is so vast, who can know which direction Gao De, who has no relatives or friends, will go?

Amy stood there, lost in thought, seemingly oblivious to what was going on.

After standing there motionless for a long time, he seemed to finally come to his senses.

After letting out a soft sigh, Amy murmured to herself, "Take care!"

Then, he turned and walked back to the herb garden, his lonely figure quickly disappearing into the shadows.

A small caravan consisting of a dozen or so horse-drawn carriages was leaving the city.

Since the Nottingham coal mines were depleted, Hogan City has had to source all its coal from elsewhere.

As a result, many small caravans emerged that specialized in purchasing coal and transporting it to Hogan for resale.

This caravan was engaged in this business.

Gao De was sitting in one of the somewhat empty carriages.

The wagon was originally used to carry coal, but the coal had already been unloaded in Hogan City, and now that it was returning home, it was naturally empty.

So, after some haggling, Gao De only paid 15 silver coins to get the caravan leader to give him a ride.

The wagons used for transporting goods were not clean, covered in coal dust, and were quite bumpy and uncomfortable to ride in.

However, since it was a cargo wagon, the two horses pulling it were both in their prime and ran very nimbly.

The caravan was small in number, consisting of simple people who earned their living through hard work.

His coachman was a taciturn, dark-skinned, thin middle-aged man who, apart from exchanging a few words with Gao De when he got in the carriage, hardly spoke again.

This made Gaode very satisfied.

Sitting in the carriage, a gentle breeze caressed my face.

"This is a caravan I found at the last minute. Before today, even I didn't know which caravan I would be leaving with."

"So even if Oliver has all the tricks up his sleeve, he'll never be able to find out how I left."

Gao De touched the money bag he had carefully placed on his chest, listening to the creaking sound of the wooden wheels rolling over the ground, and felt particularly comfortable.

The area outside the city is extremely dangerous in this world.

Even official roads built and maintained by the government are not necessarily safe, as ferocious wild beasts or even creatures from the earth's veins can often suddenly appear.

Therefore, in this world, most ordinary people generally do not easily leave the city.

Even if they do know how, they usually travel in groups.

Although Gao De is a mage apprentice, it doesn't mean he's unafraid of dangers in the wild.

More importantly, Gaode Maps is not familiar with the roads.

Although his name is Gaode, it doesn't mean he's immune to getting lost.

Therefore, leaving the city with a caravan that is very familiar with the main roads around Hogan City, and has a large number of members who can look out for each other, is definitely the best choice at present.

As the convoy drove further and further away, watching the silhouette of Hogan City gradually disappear on the horizon, Gao De silently said to himself:

Goodbye, Hogan City!

(End of this chapter)