Chapter 28

Chapter 28: In the Sewers

Translator: Kris Liu 

With his latest progress, Victor was more confident when facing Wolf’s bitter challenge now .

After a fierce competition, Victor and Wolf were the last two competitors remaining . In Victor’s

opinion, Wolf lost the chance in the end because he spent too much time on criticizing other

musician’s work instead of investing more energy in studying music itself .

“I do think so, Wolf . Actually I’m pretty happy with my new work . Do you want to give me some

suggestion on it?” Victor had registered his new piano concerto at the association . There was no

chance for Wolf to try to plagiarize it .

Wolf thought Victor was still very frustrated with his work . Now Victor’s confidence was

something beyond his expectation . Wolf’s face turned ashen and he murmured,

“Not really, Victor . I’d rather keep my curiosity . We’ll see it in three months . ”

Shrugging his shoulders, Victor smiled, “All right . I was quite looking forward to your opinion . ”

Wolf just wanted to get rid of this topic, and he saw Lucien was standing aside in his cheap and

old linen clothes . Raising his chin, he asked in contempt, “When did you become friends with

people from the slum?”

That behavior came from a long time ago when Wolf’s family still ranked among nobles . From

his great-grandfather on, Wolf’s family lost the title, but it did not prevent him from regarding

himself as a noble . He looked down upon the musicians like Victor who came from common

families, not to mention poor people like Lucien . His arrogance was mixed with the hatred

towards Victor, so in his eyes Lucien was comparable to a disgusting mouse jumping onto his

dinner table .

Lucien was a bit angry, but he was already used to this kind of contempt . As long as there was

social status and wealth in a world, people would be divided into different levels – the superior

and the inferior, the decent and the filthy…The only way for a person to change the situation

was striving for power and wealth . But once someone succeeded, they would often join the

group and become one among the ones who looked down upon the common folk .

“Mind your words, Wolf . ” Frowning his eyebrows, Victor warned him seriously, “Lucien’s my

new music student . He’s a… a very talented young lad . ” Honestly speaking, Victor boasted about

Lucien’s ability . He was not sure about Lucien’s music gift yet .

“Are you serious, Victor? Really?” Wolf started laughing so hard that he almost lost his footing,

“You got that nervous with your performance and lost your mind?”

Lacking a bit of confidence, Victor tried to fight back .

“Aalto is the City of Psalm, the City of Music, everyone here can have a chance at learning

music . Many outstanding bards are of poor background . The talent of music is a gift from God,

and God doesn’t only bless the wealthy and the noble . ”

Wolf shook his head while he was still laughing, “Come on, Victor! Both you and I know that a

talent can easily awaken the Blessing in their blood . We call people like Princess Natasha and

Lord Verdi talents, but your student… Get real!

“If he manage to become an outstanding musician in the future, I will do an open apology to

you and your student on Music Criticism, and never hold my own concert again . ”

Wolf made the bet on impulse, but he was pretty cautious as well . He added the word

“outstanding” on purpose since it was really hard to reach a consensus on what really made an

outstanding artist .

Lucien heard that Princess Natasha, also known as the Violet Countess, was the only child of the

Grand Duke of Orvarit . And her current title was also one of the prerequisites to become the

Grand Duke of the Duchy . She was very gifted in music and had excellent skills in playing

violin, flute and harpsichord . Besides, the twenty-five-year-old princess was also an

outstanding level five Grand Knight, who was expected to become a Radiant Knight soon .

Lord Verdi, the nephew of the Grand Duke and also a member of the Violet family, just became a

level five Grand Knight, and was currently serving as the chief commander of the City Guards in

Aalto .

After making the comment, Wolf directly turned and left the hall .

Victor shook his head in repulsion . “Lucien, just ignore him . Everyone knows Wolf is a total

bastard . Your work starts from tomorrow . One day off a week . You can arrange your day off

with the library administrators . I have to go to the odeon now . ”

Lucien nodded and watched Mr . Victor leave the hall . Then he turned to Elena and gave the

contract back to her . “Thank you, Elena,” he said .

There was a sweet little dimple in Elena’s left check . “No worries, it’s my job . Like Mr . Victor

said, never let Mr . Wolf bother you . He’s always like that… looking down upon most people in

the association, except several directors with titles . ”

“I’m looking forward to seeing Mr . Wolf’s high-lifted jaw digging a hole into the carpet along

with the noble directors . ” Lucien shrugged a bit and smiled .

Elena started giggling with his words .

When Lucien was about to leave, Elena stopped him . Her right hand clenched into a small fist,

and her face looked serious .

“I believe in you, Lucien! You can be an outstanding musician! Mr . Wolf would deeply regret his

bet!”

Honestly speaking, Lucien did not take the bet seriously . But he also raised his fist like Elena

and replied, “I certainly will . ”

…………

There was no nightlife in Aderon . At nine o’clock at night most residents in this area were

already in bed, except for several drunkards who were still hanging around . Everybody else had

to prepare for the hard work in the following morning .

Lucien told Joel and Alisa he got a new job over dinner, and then went back to his shack to

meditate and prepare for his magic experiments .

Gently closing the door, Lucien sneaked out of his shack and walked towards one of the

entrances to the sewers . It would still take Lucien quite some time to learn how to build a secret

passage like the witch did .

After making sure that no one was watching, Lucien stepped into the underground world .

The stinking smell and the slimy wall were still the same, disgusting and gloomy, but none of

that would prevent him from exploring magic . Walking in the pipes, Lucien was mapping in his

spirit library and trying to find a proper corner to start his experiments .

He also scraped off some of the moss on the wall and put them into his pocket . It was called

Light Moss, which was the reagent for the apprentice magic Extinguishment .

The deeper Lucien went, the more gruesome the place became . Down there Lucien never met

any homeless guy, like Corella mentioned . The sound of his footsteps was intensified within the

sewers . Lucien could even hear his own breath .

Finally Lucien found his ideal place: a fork path . The front way was blocked by a huge rock,

while the one turning left went further into the darkness . Lucien could easily notice if anyone

was approaching him from this position .

Lucien pinched some sulphur from his pocket while recalling the structure of the magic . Then

he started casting a strange spell and the powder slipped through his fingers . His face looked

serious and mysterious in the cold light .