The Black Iron Glory
Egrets on the lake island

Chapter 11

****** on Lake Island

It was the 23rd day of the 5th month of the 574th year according to the sacred light calendar, Tuesday. It is said that the calendar of holy light is something decided by the leader of the stone mason fraternity, Regius Au Syr. The year after he used his army to drive the evil magi off the island and found his kingdom was the first year of the calendar that marked the end of the dark ages, which had lasted for thousands of years. Basically all countries on the continent use that calendar.

Four days later on Saturday, the 27th, was the day celebrating Stellin IX's ascension after he won from the Tricolour Conflict. After he died, Stellin X moved the upper house to make the day a holiday for the kingdom. It was called the Day of Restoration to remember all that Stellin IX had done to reform the kingdom.

Because the school was required to hold a celebration on the eve of the Restoration, the school only had half a day of school. There is no school on Sunday. So, Claude and the others will get two days off that are hard to find.

Unlike his previous world, the schools in this world did not have summer or winter holidays. The whole year is one semester and the school runs from the 2nd month to the 11th month before the holiday season arrives. The two-month holiday is called the annual holiday or the rest of winter, because it is the coldest period of the year on the continent with snow flying all over the place. Most people will stay indoors to avoid the cold and there are some who continue to work.

Since they were going on a two-and-a-half day vacation, Borkal and Eriksson had already started planning where they would have fun. Claude and Welikro didn't bother him much. However, the ideas of Borkel and Eriksson have always been funny and strange. In the end, they all agreed on a plan to camp on the lake island of Egret.

Egret was less than ten kilometers away from Whitestag and not too far away. However, Claude had not visited the place before as it was separated by Lake Balinga.

More than a millennium ago, mountain people living in the southwest saw a white deer that represented peace and happiness near Lake Balinga. So, they brought their wives to settle there and the eventual settlement became the Whitestag. Egret is also named in the same way, given the number of****** living on the island.

But people later realized that Egret was not just a simple island separate from the town near the lake. Instead, it was a hill by the sea that separated Lake Balinga from the open sea. Thanks to its presence, strong winds and ocean waves do not harm the Whitestag at all. The only thing that is not ideal is the occasional flood of overflowing seawater into the lake dam.

It is also said that there are countless****, other seabirds, beavers, stone foxes and panthers there whose skins are sold for a good price, as well as many valuable herbal medicines. It was a place rich with natural resources. Nevertheless, few of the Whitestags were willing to travel to Egret.

The main reason is the danger, as well as the huge destruction on the island. Legend has it that it was the debris left behind by the magic tower that had collapsed centuries ago. Because it was related to the evil magi, Egret was considered by the townspeople to be infused with evil. No one dared to go there to look for trouble.

Borkal and Eriksson had never been to the island before. Fourth Only Welikro followed his father there for a hunting trip twice during the break two years earlier. The first time, they went there to hunt the stone fox. As for their second visit, they spent most of their time choosing a certain type of herb.

So, Welikro's advice to spend their short holiday camping there was well received by two intrepid clicks, Eriksson and Borkal. Youth means curiosity, as well as reckless courage. Claude, as a transmigrator, was not particularly concerned with the scary stories about the island that were widely believed by others. Instead, he was mainly interested in the ruins of the magic tower and intended to inspect it, so he agreed to the trip as well.

"Claude, we're leaving school from the back wall after lunch to Mock's Goods to sell the two skins Wero brought in while checking if there's anything we need there," borkal said softly while pointing to the Welikro sack.

Claude nodded. The walls at the back of the school grounds have been eroded by snow and rain and used as an unofficial exit for students. Although almost everyone knew about it, no one was willing to report it to the school board.

Moreover, even if the school administration knew about it, they would not be able to fix it in the short term. The cost of repairing the wall must be requested in advance from the Whitestag administration. After that, then, the government will send someone to the school to survey the damage to determine how much it will take to repair the wall before discussing how they will source additional funds and asking the mayor to sign his agreement. Only after that can a request for funds be submitted to the city's finance department.

The whole process will take at least two months. If the mayor does not agree or the finance department cites the budget too strictly this year, all previous efforts will be in vain and they will have to repeat the entire process the following year.

Thus, even though the school knew about the hole in the wall, they pretended not to know it. Perhaps they hope there will be a few more holes so that eventually they can ask for grants to rebuild the school walls from scratch instead of repairing a small portion.

Although it was enough to fill the stomach of the students, it was far from delicacy. From time to time, schools will change the menu simply by swapping mashed potatoes for whole-grain porridge or thin smoked meat in bread for fresh cheese and lettuce.

The school did not even serve butter to save costs. The canteen has only a small amount of salt to use as a seasoning.

Borkal bit his black bread in a suffering manner. "It was too dry .. I really wanted to eat delicious mutton biscuits since morning .. It's delicious and crunchy, not to mention juicy and greasy …"

Eriksson cleaned the mashed potatoes on his plate and mocked, "Who told you to eat the bacon first before eating the bread? How can you eat bread? It tastes like wood powder! Maybe you should buy some soup."

"I don't want to" said Borkal, shaking his head in a hurry, "You know the taste of that red vegetable soup makes me vomit. I don't know why, but every time I see that soup, I think about the smell of my shoes. This is really too disgusting. "

"Eat fast, stop the nonsense. Claude and Wero had already returned to class to pick up their bags. If you don't mind going hungry until the afternoon, don't hesitate to eat. Maybe we can even buy some mutton biscuits for you later outside. "Eriksson looked at Borkal with no goodwill in mind and hoped that he would accept his proposal.

"Dream," said Borkal as he stuffed his mouth with bread, "I only get two riyases as my monthly allowance. The mutton biscuits I bought this morning already cost a tenth of it, and you even took most of it. "

"Well, you are the richest among us!" Eriksson shrugged. "You're still not satisfied with two riyases a month? My father would only give me one riyas when he was in a good mood, the opposite kick. He spent most of his time on his ship. I won't be able to see her every month, let alone get riya from her.

"Claude's situation is more or less like mine. Without a good reason, his father would not give him an allowance. From time to time, her mother would not give her more than one riya. As for Wero, with his frugal sister at home who is trying so hard to save up for his dowry, do you think he can get an allowance to spend? "

Seeing Borkal unable to speak back with his mouth agape, Eriksson laughed. "So Claude was right. We are good friends, brothers, even, and your allowance is our allowance. If you get this much money, it's too little for our friendship. Well, stop eating. Claude and Wero have been waving at us. Lefs go. Even if you can't buy mutton biscuits, we can get another delicacy later. "

"I feel like something's not right" Borkal murmured as he looked at Eriksson's back and returned to his black bread, "Well, I think I should have gotten a mutton biscuit."

The four of them left the school by jumping over the back wall without any problems.

"Why did you go to Mock's Goods to sell leather? I remember that Chirp Leather was the biggest place to buy leather, right?" ask Claude.

"Two Wero skins have been left there long enough," replied Borkal, "Not only are the skins not shiny, they are also slightly damaged. They wouldn't get a good spot in Chirp Leather, they probably wouldn't pay more than six riyases for them. At least we can negotiate at Mock's Goods. I think we'll get about eight or nine riyases from him. "

"Claude, you really don't visit the market often enough, so it's no wonder you don't understand the store," Eriksson added, "It's one of the oldest in town, they have been replaced by three generations in the family. They had already mainly dealt with sailors and traveling merchants, who came from all over and brought all sorts of strange and unique items to sell to him. "

However, it seems that their store does not collect or handle those things anymore, "said Borkal," During the end of last year when a former store owner went to pick up some items from the mountain, he said, his carriage skidded off the slippery winter road and he fell into the ravine with the carriage. Later, when his eldest son, Wakri, took over as the new owner, he changed it from a general store to a shop that specialized in handling fishing gear and other necessities for ships.

"There are a lot of leather-based fishing gear, but Chirp Leathers are the biggest leather buyers in town. So, Mock's Goods can only rely on sporadic sellers like us. I'm sure he'll offer us a good price." Skin. "