Chapter 74: Embezzling and Fleeing

The money bag was made of dark brown leather, its surface finely polished and reinforced with delicate hemp thread along the edges.

The opening was secured by a sturdy rope threaded through holes and tied in a knot.

The knot was complex yet cleverly designed—easy to open quickly, but difficult for outsiders to untie, ensuring the safety of the coins inside.

Just the bag itself was likely worth several silver coins.

Gao De quickly picked up the bag, untied the seal, and saw that the interior was lined with soft wool fabric.

This design reduced the clinking of coins and protected them from scratches or corrosion.

Hundreds of Sein gold coins lay quietly inside, gleaming golden, making Gao De’s eyes sparkle.

The heavy weight felt reassuring.

“Three hundred Sein gold coins—I counted them yourself. Don’t come crying later that there weren’t enough. I won’t acknowledge it.” Oliver said calmly.

Gao De smiled awkwardly: “How could I not trust you?”

Gao De poured the coins out of the bag, carefully counted them twice, then returned them to the bag.

He shoved the bag into his pocket, pulled out the secret method box he had prepared in advance, and handed it to Oliver: “What you asked for.”

Oliver’s eyes glinted slightly as he took the box, then pressed hard on the lid—just as Gao De had done before, knowing it wouldn’t open, yet still trying.

After confirming the box wouldn’t open, Oliver gave up and gently shook it.

A faint rustling came from inside, like fine sand sliding.

Listening to the sound and weighing the box in his hand, Oliver smiled in satisfaction.

From his experience, he could confirm the box contained a good deal of paper.

Clearly, not just land deeds and property titles.

And what other papers could a potion master hide in a secret method box besides land and property deeds? With the transfer and employment contracts signed, the “watchers” who had been lingering outside the Seda Potion Garden finally vanished.

Now came the series of transfer procedures.

Of course, for Oliver, the most important thing was still opening the box and retrieving the land and property deeds.

In any case, this would take several days.

But this didn’t stop the apprentices in the garden from continuing their work—even working harder than before.

After all, they had a new master now; they had to show their worth.

Naturally, they still treated Gao De with respect, even though he was no longer the garden’s owner.

But everyone knew Gao De had been hired by the Phiel Potion Shop as a potion master—his status was clearly higher than theirs.

Whether out of sentiment or reason, their attitude toward Gao De wouldn’t change one bit.

Huayanyue, 25th.

Phiel Potion Shop, second floor.

Oliver, clad in a dark silk robe, hurried back to his room clutching a scroll, his eyes gleaming.

After closing the door, he bent down and pulled a finely carved wooden box from a cabinet beneath the desk.

With a potion shop as large as Phiel, Pierre knew this much—Oliver had no reason not to.

So the very first day he learned of the secret method box’s existence, he had sent someone to Bremen City to purchase a Knocking Spell scroll.

Now seven days had passed, and the Knocking Spell scroll had finally arrived.

He placed the secret method box on the desk, rubbed his hands together with excitement, then unrolled the spell scroll.

After a surge of magical energy, the scroll turned to ash and vanished.

The secret method box opened again.

Oliver eagerly picked up the box and gave it a light push—the lid, which had resisted all prior force, slid open effortlessly.

Inside lay a full box of papers, exactly as he had expected. “Huh?” His joy vanished instantly; his brow furrowed as he pulled out the top sheet:

“Name: Seda Potion Garden. Number of people: 8. Fixed assets: One garden, four herb plots (producing Snake Fang Grass, Mountain Wormwood, High Mountain Ironwood Roots, Sunfire Fruit).

Cash on hand: 8 copper coins.

Fixed expenses: 4–5 silver per day (living costs).

Income: 15–20 silver per day (fixed output of basic Spider Venom Potion); irregular income not counted. Irregular expenses: seedlings, fertilizer, materials for ‘nutrient soil’ preparation.”

Oliver’s eyes swept over the page, then froze. “What… is this?”

He still couldn’t believe it. He stared blankly, set the sheet aside, and pulled out the second, then the third, then the fourth. Finally, he stopped pulling sheets one by one—he slammed the box hard, sending all the papers flying out into the room.

No property deeds, no land titles, no incomplete Rank 1 potion formulas—he found nothing but a pile of useless paper! “Gao De! Gao De!”

Oliver’s voice, filled with fury and gritted teeth, echoed through the room.

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

After eating and returning to his room, he found this note and five faintly glowing Sein gold coins on his desk.

The note was left by Gao De.

Its message was simple: Horgen City was no place to stay; he had left Amy some travel money. If he trusted Gao De, he should leave as soon as possible.

After a long pause, Amy suddenly realized.

He snatched the note, ran out of his room, and dashed toward Gao De’s chamber.

The door wasn’t locked—it opened with a push.

But when he opened it, Gao De was gone. Amy closed the door again, rushed out of the garden, and scanned the entrance.

Everywhere he looked: roads branching in all directions, either vast and empty or lush with green forests.

Beyond this small garden, the world was immense—who could know which direction Gao De, with no family or ties, had taken?

Amy stood there, dazed and hollow, lost in thought.

After standing motionless for a long while, he finally seemed to come back to himself.

He sighed softly and whispered into the air: “I hope you take care.”

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

A small caravan of over a dozen carts was leaving the city.

Since the Nottingham coal vein had dried up, Horgen City had to import coal from elsewhere.

As a result, many small caravans had emerged, specializing in buying coal and reselling it in Horgen.

This caravan was one of them.

Gao De sat atop one of the carts, noticeably empty.

The cart had originally carried coal, but the coal had been unloaded in Horgen; now, returning empty, it was just a hollow vehicle.

After some bargaining, Gao De paid only fifteen silver coins, and the caravan leader agreed to take him along.

The cart, meant for hauling cargo, was filthy, coated in coal dust, and jolted violently along the road—far from comfortable.

But since it was a cargo cart, the two horses pulling it were in their prime, running with great strength.

The caravan had few people overall—all hardworking, simple folk.

The driver of Gao De’s cart was a silent, thin, middle-aged man—after exchanging two words with Gao De upon boarding, he barely spoke again.

This suited Gao De perfectly.

Sitting on the cart, the breeze brushed his face.

“This is a caravan I found on short notice. Until today, I didn’t even know which one I’d follow out of the city.”

“So even if Oliver had every trick in his arsenal, he could never trace how I left.”

Gao De touched the money bag, carefully tucked against his chest, listening to the rhythmic creak of the wooden wheels over the road—his heart felt unusually light.

Outside the city, the world was extremely dangerous.

Even state-maintained roads weren’t safe—ferocious beasts, even earth-vein creatures, often roamed freely.

So in this world, most commoners rarely left their cities.

Even if they did, they usually traveled in groups.

Though Gao De was a mage apprentice, that didn’t mean he was immune to wilderness dangers.

More importantly, he didn’t know the roads.

His name was Gao De—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get lost.

So joining a caravan that knew the Horgen region’s roads well, had many members, and could watch out for each other was undoubtedly the best choice right now.

As the caravan moved farther away, watching Horgen City fade into the horizon, Gao De silently whispered: Goodbye, Horgen City! (End of chapter)