It was the 23rd of the 5th month, Year 574 of the Sacred Light Calendar, Tuesday.
It was said that the Sacred Light Calendar was created by the leader of the Brotherhood, the stonemason Regus O'Hill. He led a rebellion to drive the evil Magi out of Freia and established the Amslan Dynasty that unified the continent. He set the Sacred Light Calendar as the first year of the Sacred Light Calendar, ending the Dark Calendar that had been in place for thousands of years.
Currently, most countries on Freia were using the Sacred Light Calendar.
It would be Saturday, 27th of the 5th month in four days.
In the history of Aueras, it was the anniversary of Prince Kargat's ascension to the throne after winning the Tricolor Scepter War and becoming Stellin IX.
After he passed away, his successor, Stellin X, instructed the parliament to make that day an official holiday in the kingdom, naming it Revival Day to commemorate the great Stellin IX's efforts to revive the kingdom.
School was closed on Sunday and there were no classes in the afternoon due to the celebration of Revival Day. So, Claude and the others had a rare two-and-a-half-day holiday.
This world was different from Claude's previous world. Schools didn't have summer and winter breaks. There was only one semester in the year. Students would start school in the middle of the second month and break would only last until the eleventh month. The two-and-a-half-month holiday was known as the annual holiday or cat winter break.
That was because this period of the year was the coldest on Freia. Snow would fall everywhere and most people would stay indoors to avoid the cold and rarely go out to work.
Since they had two and a half days of holiday, Borkal and Eriksson started planning where to go. Claude and Welikro didn't mind at all.
However, Borkal and Eriksson's ideas weren't all that reliable. In the end, Welikro was the one who suggested setting up camp in Egret and everyone agreed to it.
Egret was less than ten kilometers away from Whitestag, but Claude had never been there before. That was because there was Lake Balinga, which was more than five kilometers wide, between Whitestag and Egret.
More than a thousand years ago, the people of the southwest saw white elk, a symbol of happiness and peace, roaming the shores of Lake Balinga when they were hunting. So, they brought their wives and children there to settle down and that was how Whitestag came to be.
It was the same for Egret. A long time ago, there were countless egrets on the island and that was how it got its name.
It was only later that people realized that Egret, which they thought was separated from Whitestag by a lake, wasn't actually a hill or an island by the lake. To be more precise, Egret was actually a stretch of hills that separated Lake Balinga and the town from the sea.
It was precisely because of Egret that the howling winds and raging waves never posed a threat to the town. The only danger they faced was that the waters of Lake Balinga overflowed the dam several times a year, causing the waters to rise and overflow. That was all.
It was said that there were egrets and countless seabirds on Egret Island, as well as sea otters, stone foxes, mountain leopards, and other rare beasts with expensive fur. There were also countless medicinal herbs worth collecting.
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Due to the involvement of an evil magus, Egret was said to be shrouded in a shadow of evil. No one was willing to go there and bring trouble upon themselves.
Borkal and Eriksson had never been to Egret either. Of the four, Welikro was the only one who went there with his father two times during the holidays. The first time was to hunt stone foxes and the second time was to gather some medicinal herbs.
That was why Welikro's suggestion of camping in Egret was welcomed by the two bold fellows. Youth meant curiosity, impulsiveness, and courage.
As a transmigrator, Claude didn't care about the evil and terrifying legends of Egret. On the contrary, he was very interested in the ruins of the magic tower and wanted to go check it out. So, he went along with the flow and agreed to it.
"By the way, Claude, let's climb over the back wall after lunch and go to Monck's shop on the old street to sell the two pieces of leather Wero brought. We can also see if he has anything we need," said Borkal as he pointed at the bag Welikro brought under his desk.
Claude nodded. The wall in the forest behind the school had collapsed due to the heavy snow and rain. It became a secret entrance for students to enter and leave the school. Everyone knew about it, but no one would report it to the school.
Not to mention, even if the school's management found out about it, they wouldn't be able to fix it in a short period of time. The funds needed to repair the wall would have to be submitted to the town's administrative department. The administrative department would then send someone to the school to investigate and verify the amount of funds needed. After that, a meeting would be held to discuss where the funds should come from. Finally, the decision would be submitted to the mayor for his signature. Once the mayor agreed, the decision would be sent to the town finance department for implementation.
The entire process, from application to funding, would take at least two months. If the mayor didn't agree to it or if the finance department said that they had to wait until next year due to the lack of funds, all their previous efforts would go to waste and they would have to go through the entire process again next year.
Therefore, even though the school knew that there was a gap in the back wall, they turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn't know anything. Perhaps they even hoped that the wall would collapse in more places. That way, they could legitimately ask the town to allocate funds to rebuild the entire school wall instead of repairing a small gap.
Lunch in middle school was as unpalatable and tasteless as ever. A spoonful of mashed potatoes with gravy, a piece of paper-thin bacon between two slices of rye bread and a boiled apple the size of a baby's fist.
However, the red vegetable soup in the cafeteria could be drunk as long as one's stomach could hold it.
Lunch like that was enough to fill the stomachs of the students, but they wouldn't be able to taste it.
The school would occasionally change the menu, but it would only be replacing the mashed potatoes with oatmeal or replacing the thin piece of bacon with a slice of cheese and two slices of lettuce.
In order to save money, the school even removed butter and only salt was left on the cafeteria table.
Borkal was chewing on his rye bread as if he was better off dead. "It's too dry and astringent. I really miss the mutton pancake I had this morning. It's fragrant and crispy, and it's oily when I bite into it."
Eriksson scooped up the mashed potatoes on his plate and mocked, "Who told you to eat bacon first, then mashed potatoes, and finally, to chew on rye bread? Can you swallow it without any accompaniment? It tastes like dried sawdust.
Why don't you go get some red vegetable soup? "
"No," Borkal hurriedly shook his head.
"You know I feel like vomiting whenever I smell red vegetable soup. I don't know why, but every time I see it, I'll be reminded of the smell of insoles. It's so disgusting."
"Hurry up and eat it. Claude and Wero have already gone to the classroom to get their bags.
If you're not afraid that you won't be able to handle it in the afternoon, don't eat it. Or, we'll go out later and you can buy some mutton pancakes to eat, "Eriksson said as he looked at Borkal with an evil gaze, seemingly hoping that he would accept his suggestion.
"In your dreams," Borkal said, the bread crumbs in his mouth splattered all over the floor. "I only get two riyases a month as pocket money. I spent a tenth of that on a mutton pancake this morning, and you guys even snatched half of it away."
"It's because you're the richest among us!" Eriksson shrugged. "You're not satisfied with only two riyases a month?
As for me, my dad will toss me a riyase when he's in a good mood and kick me when he's in a bad mood. But he's always on the ship for the better part of a year, so I can't possibly see him or get a riyase from his wallet every month.
Claude's situation is similar to mine. His father won't give him any pocket money without a valid reason. Occasionally, his mother will slip him no more than a riyase.
As for Wero, his stingy sister is the head of the household and is busy earning her dowry. Do you think he has any pocket money at all? "
Seeing how Borkal was at a loss for words, Eriksson chuckled. "That's why Claude is right. We're good friends. Your pocket money is everyone's pocket money. If we haggle over such a small amount of money, we'll be letting down our friendship. If you can't eat it, don't eat it. Look, Claude and Wero are already waving at us. Let's go. Even if we don't buy mutton pancakes, we can still buy something delicious."
"Why do I feel like something isn't right …" Borkal looked at Eriksson's back and the black bread in his hand and muttered, "Forget it, I'll just go buy some lamb pancakes …"
The four of them successfully climbed over the wall at the back of the school.
"Why are we going to Monck's general store on the old street to sell furs?
If I recall correctly, Gilp's furs in the new district are the biggest fur-buying shops in town, right? "Claude asked curiously.
"Wero's two furs have been sitting there for a long time," Borkal replied, "The furs aren't shiny and they're a little damaged. They won't be able to sell them for more than six riyases at Gilp's.
I think we can get eight or nine riyases from Monck's general store. "
"Claude, you rarely go to the old street, so you don't know much about Monck's general store," Eriksson added.
Eriksson added, "Actually, Old Monk's is the oldest shop in the town. It's been in business for three generations, but most of their business is with merchants or sailors. Merchants from all over the world and sailors from all over the world like to trade the strange trinkets they collect with Old Monk's shop for money."
"But Monck's general store no longer collects or trades those things.
At the end of last year, the old owner, Picak, went to the mountains to collect some goods. The road was slippery and he fell into a ravine with his cart, losing his life. His eldest son, Wakri, took over the job and became the new owner.
Wakri decided to turn the general store into a shop specializing in fishing gear and boat supplies.
As you know, fishing gear and boat supplies require furs as raw materials, but Gilp's general store in town is a big buyer. Since Monck's general store can't get a share of the furs, they can only buy them sporadically. That's why we brought these two furs to them. I believe they'll give us a good price. "