Fishing at the Bar

  It's been three years again, and I've had a pretty fulfilling few years. My alchemy skills combined with my Taoist equipment refinement have made great progress, and in my free time, I've even done some practical testing, which has yielded decent results! In a few days, I'll be going to elementary school - no choice, all nobles have to enter the 'Magic Martial Primary School' at the age of 6. Today, I really didn't feel like doing anything, so I brought the two golden-level warrior guards that Grandfather personally assigned to me and went out to play.

  I rode my carriage to the Mercenary Tavern, where mercenaries receive quests and rest. I often come here to listen to their stories and sometimes lend a hand. After exchanging greetings with a few familiar faces, I sat down in a good spot to hear the news.

  "Hey brother, how can they accommodate a little kid here!" A mercenary from outside asked the person next to him.

  "Shut up! No one dares to speak ill of Young Master Wu here. If you don't want to live, don't drag me down with you!"

  What's there to be afraid of? It's just a young noble, doesn't look intimidating at all, and seems quite interesting.

  Money! Tips are all paid in silver coins

  "Nonsense, this is the fifth son of Dragon Marshal, his mother is in charge of the business of the Long family's Chamber of Commerce, he is the most precious child of their family, I just saw him take out tens of thousands of gold coins at once."

  "You go ahead and try, no matter how rich his family is, they can't give a few thousand gold coins to a kid of that age, right?"

  "Idiot, indeed worthy of being from the countryside. The fifth young master of the Long family has bought over ten items worth tens of thousands of gold coins here, and we always find him first when we have good stuff. He quotes a price 2% higher than others. Always cash transactions. Never seen anyone from the Long family come to ask for it back. Obviously, it's been approved by the Long family!"

  "A child carrying so much money isn't afraid of being cheated and robbed?"

  "Haha, you probably don't know that this Fifth Young Master is actually a genius magician. It's not easy to deceive him, and being robbed by him is even more laughable. Do you know what other nobles call him?"

  "What's going on?"

  "They call him Little Devil, the young master is a man of his word, always helping the common people to fight against those detestable nobles, so we common people respectfully call him Fifth Master. Fifth Master is young in years but great in ability, he has never failed to make his opponents retreat in disarray!"

  "Unbelievable! How old is he?"

  "The young master is six years old, you know? On his birthday, the commoners who came to deliver gifts to the duke's mansion filled up an entire street! If anyone dared to snatch something from him, they wouldn't be able to run out of that street without being beaten to death by the commoners. And besides, the young master himself is deadly."

  "What did you say?"

  "The young master can cast third-level spells instantly, and the defensive items on his body are numerous! He never uses others to help him fight, he solves everything himself. His most impressive battle achievement was that time when he clashed with the Ishihara family, it was a one-on-eighteen match."

  "Come on, say it!"

  "Haha, the Ishihara family is a scourge on the royal capital. Their four sons were killed by the Fifth Young Master, but unfortunately, that kid struck first, so the Fifth Young Master didn't get in trouble. The Ishihara family suffered such a huge loss, how can they be reconciled? Their third son, Ishihara Sanlang, is a little beast, only twelve years old and already knows how to bully men and women. He always wants to find fault with the Fifth Young Master, but every time he's been taken care of by the Fifth Young Master. The henchmen around him have been defeated by the Fifth Young Master several dozen times, really can't bear it. So, he gathered four Silver Warriors and twelve Bronze Warriors, plus himself and his second brother, a total of eighteen people, to ambush the Young Master and give him a good beating."

  "Can't those five princes be called to dismantle it?"

  "Hahaha~ As a result, the fifth master didn't even get his hands dirty! Not a speck of dust on him! Eighteen people died, eleven were killed, and the rest were seriously injured. The two bastards from the Ishihara family were bedridden for three months. From then on, they would run away with their tails between their legs whenever they saw the fifth master. It's truly exhilarating!"

  "How is this possible? Even a Golden Warrior wouldn't have such abilities!"

  "Haha, I heard that the Fifth Young Master didn't even lift a finger, just used magic scrolls, and in one breath, he used over ten of them, all of which were above level five, each worth at least over a million! After beating someone up, the Fifth Young Master still had the nerve to say something, wanting the poor wretch from the Ishihara family to know what it means to be rich! Hahaha!"

  "Wow, the Ishihara family is still poor? They're in charge of the kingdom's finances!"

  "Haha, that was the Fifth Master intentionally provoking them. I heard that when the head of the Ishihara family found out, he vomited blood on the spot. This matter has been blown up too big, all the dead soldiers were high-ranking officers from the Genbu Army Corps controlled by the Ishihara family. Those four silver-level ones were all Wanfu Chang, and they're all dead! The lawsuit was brought to the king, but in the end, it was settled with no result."

  "So many high-ranking officers have died, and nothing's been done about it?"

  "The Long family also told the Ishihara family that it's not right, so many adults bullying a child! The mute of the Ishihara family is really at a disadvantage!"

  Although this is a mercenary bar, there are also many ordinary people coming and going. I came here not only to relax but also with the purpose of collecting magical items from mercenaries. Mercenaries have many opportunities to eliminate monsters on the road, and they also do some searching for ancient ruins. I've collected a lot of good stuff here. I'm also here because of a strange person. I know he's a cook in the Ishihara family, with a low status and loves to brag. What caught my attention was that his hand had magical fluctuations, only on his hand, not on his body, and I'm sure he's not a magician, what's going on? I couldn't figure it out. At this time, that guy got drunk again and was boasting: "I'll tell you a secret."

  "What's your secret? You're going to blow it!" his companion said

  "I have a lighter that can't light no matter how I press it!"

  "Is it an iron rod? Haha" his companion teased

  "No! It's a wooden stick! I swear!"

  "I've never seen wood that can't be ignited!"

  "Really, I've used it for many years and found that it doesn't catch fire even when burned on a flame!"

  "Blow it and you'll ~~~"

  Wait a minute, I seem to have an idea. Could it be that this stick has some hidden trick? Unfortunately, he happens to be from the Ishihara family, and I don't dare to ask directly. What should I do? After thinking about it, I've got a plan!

  I turned around and saw a mercenary playing with a badge in his hand. At a glance, I could tell that the badge was a shoddy one, so I said to him: "Excuse me, sir, may I take a look at the badge in your hand?"

  "Of course, Fifth Young Master likes it then take it away." It seems he recognizes me.

  "Let me see, hmm...not bad, strange and unusual, I love strange and unusual things, but I'm not going to take it for free. Uncle Shi, give him a gold coin!" I said

  "This thing is only worth a few coppers, young master?" Shi Huwei said. He and another wooden-faced guard were assigned to me by Grandfather after he knew that the Shi family had me kill eleven warriors.

  "Yes indeed, young master, one gold coin can buy several thousand of those!" said Mu Huwei.

  "Give me money!" I winked at them and said, "I like strange things, as long as they're strange, I'll buy them. Don't be afraid of ghosts, hurry up and give me the money!"

  "Yes!" Shi Huwei had no choice but to hand over the money.

  This tavern is going to explode. What's the concept of one gold coin? 100 silver coins, 10,000 copper coins. Enough for a family to eat for a year, the annual salary of a main force soldier! Mercenaries are lucky if they can earn a few gold coins in a year. So many people came to sell me strange things, like wooden horses and rag dolls. I didn't refuse any of them, and spent over 100 gold coins in one breath. When it was time to settle the bill, I used gold coins again. That kid couldn't sit still anymore!

  "Young master, I have a stick that can't be inserted into anything. How strange!"

  "You're not bragging, are you?" I said

  "I swear, it's absolutely true!"

  "Bring it here and let me see, if it's real, I'll give you ten gold coins!"

  "Alright, young master, please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

  Look, the fish are all hooked, don't make it difficult for those two guards, they're already pale from taking out their money. Is it worth it? It's not your money, I earned it myself! What a pity for you guys?

  At this time a little girl squeezed beside me and said: "Young master, can you buy this iron plate from me?"

  I took a closer look at her, and she's indeed a beautiful girl, with golden hair and eyes, and fair skin that still had some dust on it. At first glance, I thought I'd run into Athena reincarnated or something, but she clearly didn't have the goddess's aura about her - just the similarity in her eyebrows and eyes left me staring blankly, and before I knew it, I was reminiscing about Nana's voice and smile!

  "Master! Master!" Shi's guard reminded him

  "Oh, what?" I just woke up

  "Someone's little girl wants you to take a look at her stuff!"

  "Oh, let me see!" I hastily replied, taking the iron plaque from her hand and examining it carefully. I couldn't help but be utterly shocked!