Zither Emperor

Chapter 15 – Advancing to the Finals (IV)

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Ye Yin Zhu stared blankly. “What are you saying? Austin is Rolande’s eldest brother? And you think that he wants to seek me out for revenge? The Freshman Competition is a fair competition.”

Sura shook his head and said, “I’m not sure, but it’s a possibility. Fortunately our college’s status is high. Austin probably won’t dare to act too impudent. It seems that I have to explain Rolande’s background to you. In the Milan Empire, there are three major clans, each with their own influential position. Rolande belongs to the Violet Clan, one of the major clans. The clan head, Maldini, is one of the two generalissimos of the Milan Empirical Military and is also one of the two Violet Star Dragon Cavalry Commanders. Maldini also has a younger brother named Materazzi, the vice-president of the Milan Magic Guild. It’s been announced that he has recently reached the Violet Rank.”

Ye Yin Zhu wrinkled his brows. He really didn’t expect that Rolande unexpectedly had such a strong clan backing her. His facial expression, however, quickly became tranquil again.

“Do know what a Violet Star Dragon Cavalry Commander represents? Apart from the Blue Dias Seven Pagoda, it’s the most powerful existence on the continent. Only a Violet Rank Great War Master, with power equivalent to a rank 9 Gigantic Dragon, can be the Violet Star Dragon Cavalry Commander. Materazzi’s entire life is dedicated towards magical research. Furthermore, he hasn’t married, so naturally he won’t have descendants. And Maldini’s only son died while fighting the beastmen, leaving behind four children.

“The youngest is Rolande, who also has three older brothers. The oldest is Austin, and he is also the least gifted person within the past three generations of the Violet Clan. Rolande’s second eldest brother is Okafur, the youngest Gold Star Dragon Cavalry Commander on the continent. He possesses a mature rank 8 earth-attribute Gigantic Dragon. Her third eldest brother, Oliveira, also attends the Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts as a fifth-year student. He is known within the Martial Arts Department as the first person to have a water-attribute growth-type Gigantic Dragon. At present, Oliveira has already advanced to rank 7. Reportedly, when he graduates later, he will directly become a Silver Star Dragon Cavalry Commander. In addition, he has the opportunity to spar with the youngest Gold Star Dragon Cavalry Commander on the continent.

“As the youngest, Rolande is no doubt the most pampered. Unlike her three older brothers, however, she chose to pursue the path of magic. Since Materazzi doesn’t have a child, he adores this grandniece of his the most, to the point where at Rolande’s request, he became the chief mage of the Violet Mercenary Company that the four siblings established. You must understand that it is very degrading for a noble Violet Rank mage to join a mercenary company. On the entire continent, it is an extremely rare occurrence. Your offenses against Rolande aren’t light; in the future, you will suffer.”

After listening to Sura, Ye Yin Zhu’s eyes displayed a thoughtful light as he recalled that scene at the Mercenary Guild. Clearly, that Violet Rank Great Magister should be Rolande’s granduncle, Materazzi. Moreover, that other young warrior should be either her second or third eldest brother.

Sura saw that Ye Yin Zhu was pondering in silence, and assumed Yin Zhu was worrying about his situation. Sura forced a smile and said, “Although you haven’t even attended the college for more than a few days, you offended more than just the Violet Clan. That Dark Magic division general, the freshman Yue Ming, is a member of the Yue Hui Clan, one of the three major clans. Furthermore, her position in the Yue Hui Clan is about the same as Rolande’s in the Violet Clan. Yue Ming’s grandfather, Yue Hui, is a symbol of the clan’s rise in status. As president of the Milan Magic Guild and a Violet Rank Level 5 Dark Magic Great Magister, he is reportedly the strongest mage aside from those in the Blue Dias Seven Pagoda. He is much more frightening than Materazzi. Our college’s president Ferguson, who is a Violet Rank Level 4 Spiritual Great Magister, is equally famous. The magic chancellor of the empire, he is in charge of all the mages of the entire Milan Empire.”

Lifting his head, Ye Yin Zhu’s gaze was still clear. Smiling indifferently, he inquired, “Is that all? Let’s go.”

“Eh? You aren’t worried about your situation?” Sura reaction was nothing like Ye Yin Zhu’s as he gave a startled response.

Ye Yin Zhu smiled lightly and remarked, “Don’t you want to go to work? Unless we hurry, we’ll be late.”

“Apparently, I’m preaching to deaf ears. Are you really not even slightly worried?” Sura felt that he had been overpowered by Ye Yin Zhu. Ye Yin Zhu seemed to not have paid attention to any of his words just a moment ago. He couldn’t bear, however, not impressing upon Ye Yin Zhu what he would face in this kind of situation. If it were him, he wouldn’t be able to achieve this kind of calm composure that Ye Yin Zhu had.

Ye Yin Zhu walked beside Sura and calmly said, “What is there to be worried about? How are these adult matters that you mentioned related to me? They both are unlikely to try and find me, a small, ordinary Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts student, just because their granddaughter was defeated in a fair match.” He had grown up living with people who had Violet Ranked strength. His two grandfathers both had this kind of strength. On top of that, cultivating Bamboo Dou Qi made him naturally gentle, yet tenacious and unyielding.

The two of them walked through Milan City for an hour with Sura guiding Ye Yin Zhu to their destination. It was an elegantly designed, small three-story building. In the bustling Milan City, it wasn’t very eye-catching at all. Not only was its position not located along the main road, it was instead placed on a branch street where the surrounding environment appeared somewhat lonely.

This small, three-story building was very peculiar. Its area wasn’t extremely large, more or less on par with the Divine Music division’s school building. In addition to its octagonal eaves with dark-green glazed roof tiles, the small building was entirely painted in relaxed colors, which made people feel cozy. It was encircled by greenery filled with tall trees. Even if the weather was already somewhat cold, the trees here still grew exceptionally lush. The trees and building complimented one another, causing this small, three-story building to brim with an air of nature.

The most bizarre feature, however, was the humongous tree unexpectedly growing in the middle of the small building. It seemed that this small, three-story building had actually been established around this humongous tree, with the tree’s canopy completely covered the top of the three-story building. A layer of small, light blue blossoms emitted a faint fragrance similar to musk deer and orchids. Simple and elegant, it was easy to become immersed in this atmosphere. Perhaps because he’d came from the Desolate Jade Sea, Ye Yin Zhu couldn’t help having an amiable feeling as he looked at the small building.

“How is it? Pretty good, right? After I examined the selections carefully, I chose to come here to work. The environment is good, plus the pay isn’t bad. This is a teahouse where waiters take in roughly ten silver coins every day. There is also tip. If you do well, wages can also increase. Come on, let’s enter.” As he spoke, Sura dragged Ye Yin Zhu by his sleeve over to the teahouse.

Finally standing in front of it, Ye Yin Zhu raised his head to examine the building. He looked at the plaque above the teahouse which had the three words, “Floating Orchid Pavilion.” This name seemed to be slightly familiar! He didn’t have a lot of time to think as he was already dragged into the teahouse by Sura.

“I’m sorry, sirs, but we haven’t begun business yet.” A server that appeared approximately 20 years old stopped the two of them. The blue clothing seemed to be work clothes. Although the server’s appearance was ordinary, he had a quiet and contented temperament that caused him to seem very likable, bringing about favorable impressions from him.

“We didn’t come to drink tea. Yesterday, I met you here, and it seemed like you were hiring. We came to be interviewed,” Sura explained hurriedly.

The server smiled faintly and said, “I’m sorry, but you came too late. The hiring announcement was only released yesterday, but by the afternoon, there were more than 300 job applicants. We have already hired suitable candidates.”