Chapter 78: 15. Trandal
After finishing discussions with Ken, Fisher walked out of the school while examining the faculty handbook in his hands. He was immediately dazzled by the salary of 200,000 Nali, which meant an average monthly salary of over 16,000 Nali. In comparison, the researchers at the Royal Academy only earned 8,000 Nali a month, which was twice as much as there.
However, it’s no surprise that the school has such wealth, as its backer is the Nali Exploration Company, implying that money can solve anything for them.
In addition, the degrees from this school are rated by level, meaning that students have a GPA system, unlike the Royal Academy which issues a uniform diploma. The GPA assesses students’ academic performance in subjects and is graded by the professors, making it an important quantitative standard at Saint Nali University.
After carefully reading through the materials, he found that there were no carriages available. Fortunately, Ken had instructed the staff to drive him back to the downtown area; otherwise, he would have had to walk a long way to the tram station.
Leaning against the edge of the carriage, the scenery outside Saint Nali came into view. From this angle, he could see the magnificent Golden Palace in the center of Saint Nali. It was afternoon, and the Griffin flag was flying in the wind, shimmering in the golden light below.
After a while, the carriage stopped in front of Fisher’s rented house. After thanking the driver, he got off the carriage but spotted a man in a suit holding a box of gifts, standing unsure whether to knock on the door. From this direction, Fisher caught a glimpse of that familiar profile; he knew this person.
Fisher’s expression turned deadpan as he approached and tapped the man’s head lightly with his staff. The man yelped in pain and immediately started cursing.
“Hey! Who’s so rude? Do you know who I am? I’m from the New Party. Oh! It’s Fisher. Why are you back so late? I was just about to look for you; I heard you returned from the Southern Continent.”
The man was around the same age as Fisher, with golden hair styled slicked back flamboyantly. Although he looked decent, his demeanor gave off no gentlemanly vibes; rather, he resembled a homeless thug on the street.
This guy’s name is Trandal, and during his time at the Royal Academy, he shared a room with Fisher. After graduation, he joined the Pioneer Party and has been doing quite well since, with prospects looking bright.
In theory, those mixed up in politics should have a poor relationship with Fisher, but Trandal was an exception. Perhaps it was because, while he wasn’t exactly a pure-hearted saint, he was surprisingly honest, lacking grand ambitions or desires, content with just getting by.
“I just returned from Saint Nali University to discuss a position.”
“Wait, you’re going to be a professor there?! Principal Damien is going to be furious. He must have written you many appointment letters. Even when you called him a ‘corpse,’ he didn’t mind; now, you’re going to confront him directly? I bet he’ll be furious enough to spit blood when he hears about it tonight.”
As they talked, Fisher led Trandal into his rented house. Lady Martha wasn’t at home; she seemed to have gone to play cards with other neighbors.
“Well, that’s none of my business. I don’t want to get involved with the New Party or the Griffin Party. If I find out Saint Nali University has that tendency, I’ll resign too.”
“I know, I know, who doesn’t know your temperament? But if you joined the New Party with me, you would definitely be a senator by now. We could enjoy ourselves at the Pink Pavilion every day; after all, we both like ladies.”
He winked and followed Fisher into his room, handing the gift he was holding to Fisher. “By the way, welcome back! Black Mamba wine, a gift for you.”
The price of Black Mamba wine is quite high. The fact that Trandal could give it away so casually showed he had made quite a bit in the New Party.
Fisher inspected the pure black bottle of wine in his hands, but he quickly caught a new term in Trandal’s earlier conversation.
“The Pink Pavilion?”
“Ah, you just got back, so it’s normal you don’t know. It’s a new entertainment venue opened on Natuen Street. Uh, it has everything—ladies, cigarettes, fine wine, and even more stimulating things.”
Fisher shot him a cold glance and warned him.
“Don’t tell me you used drugs. I’ve told you not to touch that stuff.”
“I didn’t! After you told me that stuff was bad for my health, I paid extra attention. Other senators were using it, but I didn’t touch it at all! At most, I just played some games with the ladies there.”
Trandal raised his hand innocently. He was quite sincere; while he wanted to have fun, he valued his life more. The moment he heard that those stimulating drugs were bad for health, he was scared off.
However, Fisher frowned upon hearing this. The benefits of the New Economic Plan were clear; after its introduction, Nali’s economy surged at an unprecedented rate. But whether citizens’ welfare improved is debatable; the fact that such dangerous services and goods can now be openly showcased is quite concerning.
The Pink Pavilion, huh.
“Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this. Did you bring me a souvenir from the Southern Continent? I heard there are a lot of good local specialties there, like Dragon’s Blood. I’ve been really needing that lately.”
Trandal rubbed his hands together, looking expectantly at Fisher. Fisher glanced at him and placed an iron kettle from the nearby table in front of him, making him curiously examine the kettle.
“What’s this?”
“Rum produced in Nali.”
“Sold on the street, the 10 Nali kind?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s not a specialty of the Southern Continent.”
“I bought it in the Southern Continent.”
“You bought Nali’s wine in the Southern Continent and brought it back to give to me? And it’s worth only 10 Nali?”
“Actually, it’s 25 Nali; 15 Nali is for shipping.”
Fisher nodded, infuriating Trandal.
“Damn it, Fisher, give me back my Black Mamba wine! You stingy bastard! I noticed that a long time ago when we lived together!”
This was, of course, just a joke among friends. During their time in the Southern Continent, the carriage had been taken away by Raphael, and he hadn’t brought much back. Plus, he was practically broke, so there was no way he could bring Trandal a souvenir.
However, Trandal didn’t seem to mind; after all, Fisher had helped him out a lot before, and he himself was doing well, not in need of such things.
He was just protesting verbally, clearly aiming to enjoy the fine wine he had brought. As Fisher got a glass and poured the wine, Trandal took a sip, his expression turning quite pleasant as he savored it.
“I heard Shivali is struggling economically. Their queen is considering warming relations with us in Nali. Probably in the next few months, they’ll send a delegation. I have to remind the citizens to watch out for their sons.”
While drinking, Trandal shared some internal news with Fisher, information that ordinary people wouldn’t hear, or if they did, wouldn’t be as useful as it was for Fisher.
“Ha, then hurry up and clean up the matter of funding pirates. It’s no fun if this kind of thing gets caught.”
“God, how do you know we’re funding pirates to rob Shivali?”
“Just a guess.”
Fisher thought again about the Ice Mountain Queen Alagina he had encountered that day, along with the necklace stolen from Rena that he had in his pocket, though he probably wouldn’t get another chance to return it.
“Most of the party believes that warming relations would benefit us, especially since we’ve been cold towards each other for so many years. It brings a lot of costs to trade and communication.”
The Nali Exploration Company has many foreign trade routes, and the cold war situation with Shivali forced them to divert sea trade routes, increasing their transportation costs. The New Party, which sails in the same boat as the Nali Exploration Company, would certainly consider this.
However, warming relations with Shivali would also benefit other fields, like academia. Shivali’s academic community hasn’t exchanged with Nali for a long time, and many expert papers haven’t been able to receive responses or exchange in Nali.
After talking for a while, Fisher had already consumed about half of the Black Mamba wine, and while he looked relatively normal, Trandal’s complexion was flushed and his eyes looked hazy.
Fisher looked outside at the slightly slanting sun; it was still afternoon, and this guy was already drunk. He turned to ask Trandal.
“Are you sure it’s okay to drink this much?”
“What’s the problem? I’m off work. I scheduled to meet other senators at the Pink Pavilion for a part-time job later. Do you want to join?”
He lewdly arched his back and then picked up his suit jacket from the side, grinning at Fisher.
Fisher shook his head helplessly, sealing up the half-drunk Black Mamba wine, and said,
“I have things to do tonight; you go ahead. Remember not to touch anything crossed over the line.”
“Other than ladies, I don’t touch anything. Brave Trandal! Charge!”
He drunkenly shouted a few incomprehensible words before saying farewell to Fisher and after stepping out, hailed a carriage and disappeared into the street. It looked like tonight would be a sleepless night.
Fisher stood by the window, watching him get into the carriage before he sat back down. He wasn’t drunk, but still felt a bit of warmth in his body, though it didn’t hinder him from checking his paper.
Downstairs, he heard the sound of a door opening; Lady Martha had come back. The sun was slanting to the west, and only the Griffin flag in the air was still flying. In the distance, despite it still being afternoon, lights had begun to shine, painting many buildings in soft pink light, exactly where Trandal was headed.
That was the direction of the Pink Pavilion.
Many female characters and the male lead have romance lines. As for whether there will be more developments, it depends on popularity, haha.
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(End of Chapter)
