TBE Chapter 101

TBE Chapter 101

Ezekiel planned to get all the information that he could from the minstrel since Edward chose to stick with them. It was going to be the man’s payment in annoying him and he had an inkling that he could intimidate the man using his magical power.

Before the sun hid on the horizon, Ezekiel asked Simon to find their next camping site, and as usual, their guardian just drove the cart into the forest and found the next clearing large enough to contain Ezekiel’s conjurations. Edward the minstrel was still sticking to them, and since Robert and Luke were happy enough with the minstrel, Ezekiel let the man be.

When they arrived at the clearing, they all stepped down from the cart and their animals. Ezekiel could see that Edward the minstrel was observing them very closely. Without caring about the man, Ezekiel cast his Galder’s Towers spell, conjuring one three-story tower and a one-story tower that would serve as Prince Charming’s stable.

Ezekiel saw that Edward the minstrel was truly shocked, and he could see that the man almost ran. He thought that the only reason why the minstrel didn’t run was the joyful shouting of Robert and Luke, who entered the tower immediately. Ezekiel knew that the boys would head to the washroom to play in the water with the toy Merry boat.

Simon led the cart and Prince Charming to the stable while Ezekiel cast all the defensive spells that would protect them from enemies, including awakening all the butcher knives with the Tiny Servant spell. This time, he didn’t hide the butcher knives movement and casually told Edward that the knives would be their bodyguards.

“Let’s talk inside,” Ezekiel told Edward after he was done with all the preparations.

After they sat at the dining room, Ezekiel asked the minstrel if he had any questions.

“Who or what are you?”

“My name is Ezekiel, as you know, and I’m a mage. You know my brothers, but Simon is not related to us. He is a servant that we hire to pretend to be our guardian since the three of us look very small.”  

“Are you truly as young as you look or an ancient wizard pretending to be a child?” Edward the minstrel asked nervously.

Ezekiel laughed and told the man that he was as young as he looked.

“The three of us were orphans since our parents died hunting. We would have died from hunger as well, since we couldn’t support ourselves, but while hunting in the forest, I received magical enlightenment. From where? I do not know but one thing I can say. I’m very, very powerful. I can kill hundreds of enemies with just a few waves of my hands.”

Ezekiel was just stating the truth, but with that statement, it pointed out the fact that if the minstrel had any nefarious intention towards them, he wouldn’t survive the wrath of a powerful wizard.

“Can I stay with you then?” The minstrel asked.

“Why?”

“I want to learn magic!” Edward the minstrel said excitedly.

“I can’t teach magic.”

“From what I gather, your magical enlightenment hasn’t stopped, right? Maybe it’s related to age, and maybe someday, you will have the know-how to teach magic.”

“I don’t know about that, but why would I allow you to stay with us? What can you offer us?”

“I’m very knowledgeable! I have been roaming the lands as a minstrel for more than a decade, and I can tell you the situation, political, economic, religious, and more, of every country that I have visited.”

“Fine by me. You can stay as long as you want, and I will not stop you, but if you harm me and mine, I wouldn’t hesitate to use my magic to visit upon you the sort of magical curse that can only be found in the pages of the most horrifying stories ever told. I will not be paying you, but you can earn commission for every conjured item that I want to sell through you, like spices and other stuff. I will also not stop you from plying your trade while we’re in a village, town, or city. Are you amenable to that?”

“Yes. Yes, I am!”

Ezekiel could see that Edward the minstrel was highly excited, and based on the man’s expressions, the minstrel was starting to imagine a life full of magical adventure.

After that, it was Ezekiel's turn to ask Edward a lot of questions regarding the place that they planned to stay, but after around thirty minutes, he stopped since he wanted to take a bath before starting the language lessons for the three boys. He invited the minstrel with him since he wanted to clean Edward’s belongings, specifically his clothes, because the man stinks.

Robert and Luke were already on the second floor playing, so Ezekiel and Edward headed to the third floor. When they entered the washroom, he told the man that he wanted to clean all of his belongings since he couldn’t stand the man's smell.

Edward the minstrel blushed but immediately gave up all of his clothes, including the ones that he was wearing. He then provided the man a loofah and a toothbrush and taught the man how to use them using the liquid soap and toothpaste that were on the washroom shelves. After showering, the minstrel soaked himself in one of the hot tubs while Ezekiel cleaned the minstrel's belongings using the Prestidigitation spell. After that, he took a shower and soaked himself as well.

Simon entered the washroom soon after and took a bath with them. While they were all soaking in hot water, Ezekiel told Edward that he expected the man to take a bath every day and use the alum powder under his arm after every bath, and the minstrel just nodded.

Ezekiel was the first one who left the washroom since he couldn’t stand to stay in hot water for long, probably because of his small body. He then went to the dining room and prepared the language lessons that he would teach that night.

After several minutes, everyone arrived, and Ezekiel started his teaching. Edward watched for a while but left after a few minutes. He knew that the man was going to examine every inch of the house, and Ezekiel didn’t care. When the lesson was over, Ezekiel prepared their dinner, and since everyone was hungry, they all stayed in the dining room.

Ezekiel prepared a lot of food, and Edward the minstrel was amazed anew at what looked like the way he conjured the food from air.

While they were eating, Edward asked a question.

“You told me earlier that you wanted to trade some spices. Is that why the food that we’re eating is so delicious?”

“Yes, but the ones that I’m planning to sell through you will be just salt and pepper.”

“Why not the others?”

“Most of the spices I use are magical in nature,” Ezekiel simply said.

He didn’t know if the spices that he was using for some of the dishes existed in these lands, like paprika, cumin, curry powder, and more. Not to mention the processed ones like the barbecue powder, MSG, and Worcestershire sauce.

“I noticed that you’re teaching another language to your brothers and Simon. What language is that?”

“It’s the magic language that will turn us into wizards!” It was Luke who answered, and Edward the minstrel gasped.

“I told you, it’s a special language, but it will not turn you into wizards!” Ezekiel mildly scolded his brother.

“Can I learn it too?” Edward tentatively asked.

“Sure, if you want to. You can just catch up since I’m still teaching them the basics. You can share Simon’s book.”

It was still early after dinner, so Ezekiel told everyone that they could do whatever they wanted. The boys ran upstairs to play, and Simon joined them while Ezekiel and Edward remained in the dining room.

“What are you going to do, Sir wizard?” Edward the minstrel asked.

“Call me Khel, since that’s what my brother and Simon call me. Whenever we enter a village, we tell everyone that I’m a wood artist who creates unique and beautiful wooden knick-knacks like breadboards, tiny wooden shelves, jewelry boxes, different types of boxes, and a lot more. I can create wooden things with my hands, but I usually conjure the items that I’m selling using my magic. To be honest with you, there are a lot more extremely valuable things that I can conjure and sell but considering the economic capabilities of villagers and it was easier to pretend to be a woodworker since the resources that I will need to create the items is readily available in the forest, I stayed with those wooden knick-knacks.”

“Why do you need to sell things? You can conjure all the things that you need.”

“My magic needs gold,” Ezekiel simply said and didn’t elaborate on that since he didn’t know why his system needed gold as well.

It was easy for Ezekiel to purchase all the items that he wanted to sell since all of them were added to his system shopping site cart already. When all of the items that he purchased reached 20 silver coins, he stopped and examined every item.

Edward the minstrel gaped at the items that appeared and also began studying closely each and every one of them.

“All of the items are indeed beautiful and easily sellable,” Edward whispered.

Ezekiel then asked the man to help him transfer all of the items from the kitchen table to one of the large chests in the cart that was in Prince Charming’s stable.