On the seventh day, when Barlow thought that after finding the other party to apologize, things could gradually get better, he discovered that the Mage Tower below was splattered with red paint, and on the tower’s body, someone had written in red paint: “Disgraceful scum who discriminate against the Demon Clan.”
Nervously, Barlow entered the Mage Tower and saw that his colleagues were looking at him with the same indescribable expression.
“Barlow, it’s one thing to talk about the Demon Clan, but how could you actually go and do such a thing?”
The incident from last night had been artistically altered and spread throughout the entire royal capital. Barlow and his sister had turned into ugly and evil figures filled with racial prejudice. Just because a member of the Demon Clan accidentally bumped into his sister, Barlow had decided to chop off the person’s hand using his status in the Royal Profession Association.
Before Barlow could explain, the owner of the Mage Tower stepped forward and shouted, “Barlow, you are dismissed!”
Many of his colleagues looked at Barlow with sympathetic eyes. They were all too familiar with this honest colleague; never mind discriminating against the Demon Clan, he likely wouldn’t even dare to make eye contact with others, let alone say such things on the street.
But there was no alternative; it wasn’t just the pressure from the nobles above. If Barlow was not dismissed, the commoners, thugs, and students of the royal capital would gather at the Mage Tower’s entrance, preventing it from functioning normally.
Those students from the royal capital who likely had powerful backgrounds could be ignored for now, after all, their numbers weren’t that great. But the Mage Tower had no right to drive out the commoners from the royal capital, because if it harmed them—people who typically only looked down their noses at the lower class—the noble lords who usually didn’t care about the lives of the commoners would immediately take on the role of the great benefactor and start a crazy impeachment.
Overwhelmed, Barlow returned home to the Outer District only to find that his small house had also been sprayed with red paint and graffiti. A horrifying thought crossed his mind as he rushed into his home and opened the door, only to see Sharen trembling in a corner.
“Brother, I’m so scared. After you left, they came and were smashing the house.”
Barlow hugged his sister tightly and comforted her, “It’s okay, I’m back now.”
Life still had to go on, but all of Barlow’s part-time jobs had heard about his incident overnight and began to cancel their contracts to distance themselves from him. Barlow’s debt collector also came knocking on his door shortly after.
“Barlow, it’s time to pay back the money!”
“Sir, this doesn’t add up. Why is the interest so much higher than before?”
Barlow was shocked by the bill in his hand. He had thought that even if he lost his job temporarily, he could manage with a little savings, but just the interest alone had already bankrupted him.
“Don’t want to pay back? Aren’t you afraid of being called out for not returning the money borrowed from the Demon Clan?”
The debt collector slapped the IOU on Barlow’s table.
“Demon Clan? Did I borrow this loan from a member of the Demon Clan?”
“Of course! I was only responsible for errands, but all this money belongs to the Demon Clan lords.”
Barlow took a closer look at the loan agreement and realized it was disguised as an extremely unfair compound interest loan, commonly known as “interest on interest.”
Fear, confusion, and anger surged through Barlow’s mind in an instant. However, when the debt collector merely glanced at his sister behind him, Barlow calmed down and took out all his possessions to pay off just the interest.
“I’ll be back next month, so be prepared. Otherwise, I must say, your sister is quite beautiful.”
The debt collector left Barlow’s house, now covered in red paint, with a smug smile.
In the evening, Barlow couldn’t bear to leave his sister alone at home, so he took her to a place where they were hiring to look for work.
To make matters worse, his sister’s old illness relapsed, and she began coughing up blood.
A low-level Rune Master, in theory, shouldn’t be so destitute, but reputable people were scared to approach Barlow, even though he was asking for a salary that was less than what even a low-level Rune Master would receive.
At that moment, Barlow just wanted to find any job that would allow him and his sister to survive.
“Brother, what about this one? It looks like both of us can do it!”
Barlow followed his sister’s finger and saw, in the corner of the job hiring notice, a position with unbelievably good pay.
However, the work location was listed as Graywhite Territory.
Having worked at the Mage Tower before, Barlow knew that this was in the Northern Border, ruled by Governor Lind Ror.
In public opinion in the royal capital, the Western part of the Northern Border, where Graywhite Territory was located, was known to be poor and savage. Next door, Doug Lars had already accepted the king’s guidance, reflected on the mistakes of the Lars Family, and became a member of the nobles in the royal capital. There were even rumors that he was going to become the new Duke of the Northern Border.
Lind Ror, on the other hand, inherited all the bad habits of the old Lars Family, and it was said that he needed to consume two living babies for every meal with Lena Lars, making his territory a living hell.
Barlow didn’t think the actual situation could be so exaggerated; after all, he and his sister had seen the painting that Caudic displayed regarding the previous conditions in the Northern Border.
However, the benefits listed on the job hiring notice were indeed very generous, even higher than the salary Barlow had received at the Mage Tower. Plus, they provided housing, allowing a low-level Rune Master to have a place.
It was also mentioned that the Lord Governor enjoyed discussing mathematics, so even if one didn’t know Rune Crafting and wasn’t from a professional association, as long as their math skills were sufficient, they could still get a job.
“Brother, I learned about math at school before. I can also handle math-related jobs!”
Barlow nodded. Although his sister hadn’t continued her education due to her illness, she still had a basic understanding of the subject.
The most critical point was that the Demon Clan could only pass through Fang Ge Lars’s territory, so the Western Northern Border might provide them with protection.
Barlow was indeed a bit tempted.
At that moment, a bard, dressed like a performer, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Excuse me, are you two interested in this job?”
The bard politely bowed and looked up at the siblings.
“I am the person in charge of this job.”
Although the bard looked unreliable at first glance, Barlow noticed the Northern Wind Bear emblem on their costume and still took his sister to a nearby room.
After all, currently, no one dared to use the Northern Wind Bear insignia, even Fang Ge Lars’s family had long given up that heraldry.
If this was a con artist, they were surprisingly dedicated.
After discussing the job location and salary in detail, Barlow hesitantly said, “I have some circumstances I need to confirm, is that okay?”
Though he could hide his situation, if discovered, Barlow feared even worse consequences might occur. After all, in the eyes of the people in the royal capital, the Northern Border was currently nothing more than a war-torn wasteland, and remaining in the royal capital could only lead to exploitation; moving to the Northern Border raised fears that he might die without any understanding of how it happened.
Barlow explained in detail the situation regarding himself and his sister, and the bard merely stroked his chin and asked, “May I see your IOU?”
Barlow nodded and pulled out the IOU he had looked over numerous times, which was written in a lengthy and convoluted manner.
After examining it for a while, the bard said, “This IOU is illegal both according to our Northern Border regulations and the kingdom’s laws. Not to mention the compound interest, the interest calculation also exceeds the maximum rate for loans to nobles.”
The interest was indeed outrageous, even higher than what nobles would charge.
Seeing that Barlow still seemed confused, the bard added, “An illegal IOU, naturally, holds no validity.”
At this point, Barlow completely relaxed.
Then, the bard half-jokingly said, “To be honest, there are indeed many people in your situation recently, and I suspect that some are specifically seeking us out to escape their debts.”
“Are there really many people like me?”
Barlow was shocked; he actually wasn’t an exception?
“Many, but someone as unfortunate as you is rare.”
The bard sighed: “At least many who can’t repay loans are fleeing to the Northern Border, and it seems there are increasingly more demons starting high-interest lending in the royal capital.”
“Most of the loans are for treating illnesses, illnesses like your sister’s.”
The bard’s expression seemed to indicate he found the situation amusing.
Barlow suspected that the bard knew more than he let on, but he dared not think too deeply and simply asked, “When can my sister and I go to Graywhite Territory?”
The bard merely nodded: “Soon, you can go to Graywhite Territory; there’s always something surprising there that could potentially cure your sister’s stubborn illness.”
Barlow awkwardly chuckled along. This was a disease that even the central church of the royal capital had no solution for—how could a small Graywhite Territory possibly have a way to resolve it?
