Chapter 61 Departure

Chapter 61 Departure

Adam entered Herbs & More while carrying a large wooden barrel over his shoulder. As soon as he stepped foot inside, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "Old man, I'm here!"

The few customers inside the store were first alarmed that someone was causing a ruckus inside the mighty Magus' store. But when they saw that it was Adam, they breathed a sigh of relief.

All the regular customers were used to this loud-mouthed brat by now. If it were anyone else, they'd severely reprimand him. But these regular customers knew that Adam and Berger shared a special relationship.

Hence, all the customers inside the store simply ignored Adam and went back to doing what they were doing.

Berger, who was reading a book at the wooden counter, looked at the youth with slight surprise and asked, "Who are you and what have you done to Adam?"

"Hehe." Adam posed heroically and spoke in vanity, "You like my new outfit, don't you, old man?"

Berger rolled his eyes and got back to reading the book. "Don't waste my time, punk. What do you want?"

Adam walked to the wooden counter and kept the barrel on top. He cracked open the lid, following which, a refreshing and intoxicating aroma spread across the whole store. The customers were taken aback by this strong aroma.

Berger's eyes lit up. He came closer to the barrel and sniffed the wine inside. "Oh? Did you add Mangrovian Yeast for fermentation?"

Adam was full of praise. "Nothing can escape your senses."

With great familiarity, he grabbed a ladle and two wine cups from behind the wooden counter and began pouring the wine. "I harvested Enochian wild grapes and used naturally-grown Mangrovian yeast for fermentation. Alas, even with the mana formation I could only age it for four months."

He gave one glass to the old gnome and took the other glass. "Have a sip, old man. What do you think?"

Berger swirled the wine in the cup, took a whiff, and finally sipped it. "Hmm, not bad for your first time. But if you had aged it, let's say, for at least 2-3 years, with the help of the mana formation I taught you the results would have been much better."

The old gnome had high standards. So when Adam heard him say that the wine was 'not bad', he knew that he had done really well. Elated, he poured himself another glass and downed it in one go.

"Sir, I'm going to leave tomorrow for the academy's annual mission. I'll probably return to Moon City by the end of the year," he said.

"Is that so?" Berger replied with a bored look as he filled in some tobacco in his smoking pipe. "So what do you want?"

"Get lost before I take these items back!" Berger roared.

Although Adam's forehead was full of bruises from the thrashing, the bright smile on his face never faded as he ran out of the store. His departing words echoed in the store.

"Thank you for everything, old man! I will see you soon!"

Berger sat back in his seat and started reading his book again. He grumbled under his breath, "Damn punk, who the hell cares for you?"

...

The following day, a small traveling party slowly exited one of the two gates of the South Ward. There were three horse-

drawn wooden carriages. Surrounding it were a dozen mercenaries armed to the teeth.

At the forefront of the traveling party were three sturdy steeds. At the center, Adam was wearing his new black Magus robe and had excitement etched all over his face.

To his right was Edward wearing blue robes, and to his left was Lisa wearing green robes. She was holding a cute white fox in her arms and gently petting it. This fox was Lisa's familiar, Ennea.

SCREECH!

Edward raised his head and saw Aquila flying excitedly in the sky above them. He then looked at his friends and asked, "Shall we leave?"

Lisa simply nodded. Meanwhile, Adam turned around to look at the dozen mercenaries and hesitantly asked. "Do we really need them to come with us? Feels like an overkill, Ed."

Edward explained, "They'll be carrying out all the menial tasks for us. Besides we're not breaking any rules. The academy only prohibited us from hiring Magi, they didn't say anything about hiring mortals."

"But we already have the servants to do all the chores for us. A bigger traveling party will only slow us down," Adam argued.

Edward clicked his tongue. "Just shut up and trust me!"

"Hah... fine." Adam finally gave in. Then, he pulled the reigns of his steed and enthusiastically shouted, "Alright! Onward to Fabio Kingdom!"