Volume 7 Chapter 4 - Are You Kidding Me?
After leaving Viscount Razor’s manor, Kompany couldn’t help pulling Joshua aside.
“Didn’t you have the document from the parliament, why did you bring me to see the lord mayor?” Kompany had a bit of complaint in his eyes, “I almost couldn’t hold on, that’s how nervous I was.”
“Couldn’t hold on?” Joshua was a bit surprised. He looked at Kompany’s lower half and revealed a smile, “Brother in law, you’ll be seeing Viscount Razor a lot in the future, so it’s best that you get used to talking to him as an equal.”
“Ah? Why?” Kompany was surprised.
“Un…..Come, brother in law, let’s talk in a different place.”
Joshua brought Kompany into the Magic Sedan they came in and came to the river that was beside Viscount Razor’s manor.
After getting out, Joshua took out a paper carton and opened it, taking out a white thing that was as thick as a finger that was wrapped up in paper which he gave to Kompany.
“What is this?” Kompany looked at it with a surprised look. Smelling the fragrance that came from it, he couldn’t help revealing a refreshed look.
“This is the new Hanru Grass Cigarette from the elves, doesn’t it smell very good? Come, you do it like this…..”
Joshua hinted for Kompany to put the thin end of the Hanru Grass Cigarette into his mouth before taking out a little metal box. He touched the little metal box and a small flame came from it.
Then he brought the flame to the other end of the cigarette and let the flame ignite it, causing the front part of the cigarette to start burning.
With the small sparks that burned, the refreshing fragrance from before became even stronger. Kompany just took a single whiff before feeling much more awake.
Joshua lit one for himself and took a deep puff before letting out a long breath with a satisfied look on his face. Then he turned to Kompany, “Take a puff of it.”
Kompany looked at the thing in his mouth and after thinking about it, he took a test puff. He felt a cool breath enter his mouth and flow right into his throat.
“Ke, ke, ke.”
Kompany was caught off guard and choked on it as he began coughing.
Joshua laughed as he patted Kompany’s back, helping him recover his breath.
“Brother in law, you can’t rush with this thing. Do it slowly, do it slowly.”
Kompany coughed for a while before finally catching his breath. He looked at the cigarette in his hand before taking a small puff.
Because he was prepared this time, the cool breath didn’t sweep through his throat and only a wisp went down. As the cool feeling filled his air pipe, it reached every part of his body, making him much more relaxed.
“This is a good thing!” Kompany couldn’t help calling out in surprise, “Joshua, just a single one must be expensive, right?”
“It’s not that expensive. It’s twenty in a pack and I bought in bulk, so it was thirty silver coins a pack.”
“Thirty silver coins?” Kompany was startled before he choked on his breath and couldn’t help coughing again, “Ke, ke, ke…..this…..it’s this expensive? Based on this, isn’t one…..It’s thirty silver coins per pack and twenty of them in a pack…..one……”
“It’s only one and a half silver coins, it’s alright.” Joshua said with a smile.
“Un……One and a half silver coins…..” Kompany seriously looked at the cigarette in his hand for a while before turning to look at the Magic Sedan parked behind them. After a bit of silence, he took the half burnt cigarette out of his mouth and threw it to the ground before stomping on it.
Seeing him do this, Joshua couldn’t help being surprised.
“Brother in law, what are you doing? This is a good thing, it’s hard to buy even if you have money.”
“I know that it’s a good thing, but……” Kompany shook his head and took a deep breath before calming down, “This thing is too gold, I’m afraid that I’ll be addicted if I finish it. With how expensive this thing is, I won’t be able to enjoy it.”
Joshua looked at Kompany with a surprised look before patting his shoulder and pointing at the river, “Come, brother in law, let’s sit and talk over there.”
Kompany was a bit surprised, but he still sat down beside the river with Joshua.
Joshua was silent for a bit before saying, “Brother in law, do you know what my goal in coming here this time is?”
Kompany laughed, “I do, you came for what you just talked to the lord mayor about, right? Although I don’t understand, I know that it’s an important matter. Compared to this, you just came to see your relatives on the way.”
“Un……this is right, but if it wasn’t for Winnie, I wouldn’t have come to inspect this small town, so you can’t say that it’s on the way.” Joshua paused for a bit before pointing at the Magic Sedan parked by the road, “Brother in law, do you also want a Magic Sedan?”
Kompany was stunned, “Magic Sedan? No, no, no, doesn’t that thing take over a thousand gold coins? How could I possibly afford it?”
“Even if you can’t afford it now, that doesn’t mean you can’t afford it in the future. Brother in law, are you willing to remain a normal worker in the factory?” Joshua asked.
Kompany was silent for a bit before giving a bitter laugh.
“I’m not willing, but what can I do? I can only read a few words, so I can’t pass the higher grade skill tests. What can I do if I\\\'m not a normal worker?”
“So this is the reason why when I was talking to Viscount Razor about promoting infrastructure, I suggested building a school first.” Joshua looked to the southwest and had a bit of admiration on his face, “Sir chairman already proposed ten years ago that manpower is more important than anything else, but dumb people like us only realized the meaning of these words two years ago.”
Kompany was a bit surprised. He thought that with how indifferent Joshua was in front of the lord mayor, even acting a bit aloof, it could be seen that he was a person with pride.
However, when he mentioned that sir chairman, he couldn’t hide the look of admiration on his face.
“That……your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s chairman is called Xu Yi, right? Is he really that incredible?”
“Of course!” Joshua said in a very certain voice, “Sir chairman is the most amazing person I’ve ever seen, no one can compare to him! Not to mention anything else, doesn’t brother in law know about the matter of Arch Magus Levin Hasko falling from the sky?”
“I have heard about this.” Kompany quickly said, “But I only heard about Arch Magus Levin Hasko being killed by your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, I don’t know the details.”
“Eh……I’m not that clear on the details either, but think about it, sir chairman was only a Great Magician then and he was able to lead his subordinates to kill an Arch Magus, isn’t that incredible enough? Because of this matter, the entire continent’s understanding of magicians had changed. The magic machine industry could develop this quickly on the continent over the years is completely because of this matter, otherwise……”
“Oh……” Kompany nodded in a daze.
He was only a normal citizen of a small town in the Falk Kingdom, he didn’t know much news so when he heard how excited Joshua was, he couldn’t sympathize with him.
Joshua said this and finally noticed this, so he gave a cough and didn’t continue.
“Un……In short, sir chairman is very incredible, there is no doubt about that. The infrastructure promoting department that I’m currently working for was personally established by sir chairman two years ago. Not many people understood it at first, but after the trials in the Stantine Duchy and the Lampuri Kingdom, people realized the importance of the work I’m currently doing. Not to mention anything else, sir chairman really does have foresight…..”
Kompany had a dazed look.
Joshua could only stop and after thinking about it, he said, “Alright, let’s not talk about sir chairman. Brother in law, you just said it, because you haven’t been educated, it’s very hard to pass the higher grade skill tests, right?”
Kompany nodded.
“Then do you want Harvat and Sai to be like you in the future?”
“Of course not.” Kompany immediately shook his head, “But…..Harvat being taken away to school by you and Winnie is already troubling you, as for Sai……”
“It’s not a problem if it’s just the two of them, but my goal isn’t just the two of them, but rather all the children in Arafat Town. If they can be educated, after they become adults, they will be very useful talents. So my first goal is to build a school in this town so that all the children can be educated.”
“It was what you just told sir mayor…..the education and training?”
“He, basic education is only a part of it. Of course, you have to start from the basics with anything, so your understanding of this isn’t wrong.”
“Then……how is that related to me?” Kompany pointed at himself and asked.
“Of course it’s related.” Joshua patted Kompany’s shoulder with a smile, “Brother in law, you want to be able to afford a Magic Sedan, right? You also want to be able to smoke this cigarette every day, right? You also want to let big sister and the kids have a better life, right? As long as you listen to my arrangements, that isn’t a problem.”
Kompany scratched his head in a confused manner, “What do you want me to do?”
“It’s very simple. Our company will be investing in a primary school in Arafat Town and you will be the principal of this school.”
“Ha?” Kompany looked at Joshua with wide eyes, “Are you kidding me?”