Chapter 19 In Your Face!

It’s really him.

Hans was delighted and was confused at the same time when he confirmed his suspicions so he walked forward and went in front of the boy. Eznho just stood without saying anything and looked at the man who was approaching with cold eyes. Everyone inside stopped what they were doing and enjoyed the show.

“Well, what have we got here? Aren’t you suppose to be inside the mines? You think you can ignore the city lord’s order? Hmph! Let me personally behead you and hang your head on the streets,”

Hans spoke in a domineering manner trying to regain his face then reached out with his left hand and circulated his energy to clutch the boy’s collar and rough him up at the same time.

“Huh?”

To his surprise, what he grabbed was air and the boy was standing a meter from where he originally stood. He couldn’t clearly see how the boy dodged and clenched his fist.

Hans started to get furious and his face started to redden, he was humiliated again by this boy. Without any warning, he unsheathed his weapon and prepared to attack.

“Stop! This is not a place of murder mister Hans,”

A clear voice sounded in the hall that made Hans stop his movements. Eznho, on the other hand, did not have any fear in his eyes, instead, he wanted the man to attack first so he had a reason to kill.

He gained confidence when the guard circulated his energy. Eznho clearly felt that his enemy passed the blood purification stage but something was amiss. There were impurities on his body and his energy control was sluggish. He may be able to beat normal cultivators below him but others who have a solid foundation even with lower cultivation can beat him instead.

Eznho was not aware that it’s hard for others especially people with no backing to cultivate properly. They only have a crude understanding of the cultivation path and even use the lowest grade of breathing and assistive techniques. That is why even though Hans is far older than him, his cultivation was just at this level and may not even be able to progress anymore.

A middle-aged man with a clean face and a tidy long black hair was coming down the stairs. His hand was on his back and walked slowly towards Hans with a serious look on his face.

“Mister Hans, you do know killing is forbidden in this building. Even if you are here on behalf of the city lord, it does not mean you can do anything as you please.”

Hans withdrew his weapon and apologized.

“I’m sorry manager Jim, I was too excited to uphold the law and forgot where I am.”

He calmed down and tried to smoothen things out, what the manager said was the truth. Heck, even if the city lord himself came, he could not openly murder people inside this place.

“Upholding the law?”

Manager Jim asked, puzzled.

“To make the story short, this punk here, by the city lord’s decree had to work in the mines for two years and can come back for a one-week break after a year, but there is still a week left before he could come based on my calculations. Which means I have to uphold the city lord’s order and capture this brat to explain himself. Instead of coming in a peaceful manner, he resisted.”

Hans spoke with confidence and felt as if he was delivering justice. Manager Jim slightly furrowed his brow, there was no reason for Hans to make up stories like these and even use his master’s name so it was most likely true and he had the right to take action.

He looked the young boy who was silently standing there with a clear hostility on his eyes towards Hans.

“Is this true?”

Eznho did not answer and took out a scroll and handed to the female attendant who in turn brought it to the manager. He was holding himself back, this was not the right time and place. Instead of bickering with words, he directly brought out the scroll to clear out all suspiciouns.

Upon receiving the scroll, manager Jim saw the city guard captain’s seal.

“Hmmm?” He was a bit surprised and took another look at the boy and opened the scroll.

After reading the scroll, his face had a mocking smile but did not say anything tossed the scroll to Hans. Looking at the manager’s face, Hans started to feel uncomfortable and caught the scroll. Upon seeing the seal, he had an ugly look on his face and could already guess what was inside.

The more he read what was written, the more his face became uglier. After reading the content, he had no choice but to accept the truth and tossed the scroll back to the manager. In truth, he was scared of Batista.

Even though his master had influence around the city and even assigned as the city lord, he was weak himself and did not even cultivate. He only had influence because of money and his background. There were even rumors that he was disowned and tossed into this place.

“Would you still like to pursue this matter mister Hans?” Manager asked with a sly smile.

Hans felt dejected but did not answer and just found a chair to sit on. He really felt humiliated right now and wanted to go out and dig a hole but he had business to do and could only sit in shame.

Manager Jim walked to Eznho and personally handed out the scroll, he wanted to look at the boy and took note of him. It was rare for people to be associated with the brawny city guard captain.

“Here you go, sorry for the trouble. Sometimes people don’t know where they stand. May I know this young master’s name?”

“Thank you manager Jim, you can call me Eznho,”

Eznho answered honestly and received the scroll.

“So it’s young master Eznho, I hope we can have more transactions with you in the future. I would like to chat more but I still have things to do, I’m sorry but I’ll have to excuse myself.”

Manager Jim slightly bowed and did not wait for Eznho’s answer and went back upstairs. Eznho did not think much about it and proceeded to the counter. The crowd went back on their own business but some started whispering which made Hans more irritated and furious but all he could do was stare at the boy with a fierce look.

.....

“How may I help you, young sir?”

The teller asked politely after she saw how the manager treated the boy in front of her.

“I would like to open this bank card,”

Eznho brought out the card and handed it over. The teller did not think much about it and put it on top a rectangular object. A formation activated and golden patterned lines started to form on the cards surface and a golden coin design was imprinted at the middle. After that, she took it back and handed back to Eznho.

“All done young sir, you can take it now.”

Eznho stared at the cards new look and was amazed. He took it then examined it, then with an embarrassed looked he asked the teller how does it work.

“Ow, Is it your first time young sir?”

Eznho just nodded in response.

“Okay, the card you submitted is called a blank card. It has to be authenticated inside a bank for it to become usable for transactions. The blank card contains the information of the person who gave it you and when authenticated by us, we deduct it under his name and transfer the said amount to you. Throughout the years, the banking system has been systematized and all banks use the same system throughout the empire. Every major establishment also uses these cards for transaction. There are three kinds of card, brown, blue and purple. Each color differs on how many gold coins it can contain, your card can hold up to a ten thousand. If you deposit a certain amount of money, the bank will decide if they will give you a card and you can even have your own blank cards as long as you satisfy the requirements. Blue and purple cards require you to reach a certain level in cultivation before you can use it, as for the reason I don’t know. For people who can’t reach that, they have to use a brown card.”

The teller patiently explained while Eznho was becoming more and more amazed.

What kind of power would you have to reach to make things like this?

“For you to be able to use a new brown card, you have to let the formation inside the card scan your thumbprint. Try it,”

Enzho did as instructed and put his thumb on the bottom front of the card, a small formation activated and scanned his thumb.

“Now that is done, others can’s steal and use your card but don’t get too confident, there are still dubious people who can bypass this and can use your card. But of course, why would the bank care about this, they only consider brown cards as chump change so be careful. And one last thing if you want to check how much your card holds, just let it scan your thumb again.”

Eznho was mesmerized and admired the person who thought about this. Especially for non-cultivators, you can just carry small amounts of gold for other transactions and keep the rest inside this small card. He then tried to scan his thumb again to try and check how much gold he owned and was surprised by what appeared and even widened his eyes.

“Eh?”

Ten thousand! Exactly ten thousand!

He nearly fell on his butt, this was too much of a shock for him. With this kind of money, He could live in luxury as a mortal for the rest of his life. The teller saw the boy’s reaction and could not help but peak.

Yiii!

She was also startled by the amount she saw, no matter how much she worked she will never earn this kind of amount. Smiling wryly, she just accepted it and shook her head, people have their own luck and destiny.

After calming down, Eznho composed himself and picked up the card then put in his chest pocket.

“Thank you,”

He bowed to the teller and headed for the door.

....

Hans was coldly observing the boy for the side and was surprised when he caught a glimpse of a bank card.

“What dog shit luck did this boy stepped on? Not only he was pardoned he even has a lot of money?”

He was gnashing his teeth in jealousy, it took him years of ass kissing the city lord and his son before he was given a bank card.

Eznho passed by and they gave each other looks of great hostility, if it were another place they would have jumped at each others throat.

“Hmph! You better make the most out of your remaining days,”

Hans was wracking his mind on how to get back on the boy, he had to do it discretely or else he might invoke Batista’s wrath.

Eznho retracted his gaze and passed by. The attendant returned his cloak and bowed.

“We hope to see you again young sir,”

“Thank you,”

He nodded and his mood was uplifted after seeing how the attendant treated him.

“Is this how rich and powerful people live?” Eznho mused to himself and the door opened.

Looking at the white background outside, he could not help but wonder what other things would he discover if he went out of the city and go to other places. What kind of people would he meet? Can he find cultivators who could fly in the sky? Or will he become one someday? Is his father still alive?

Many thoughts and questions ran through his mind. It has been only a year since he came out of his shell and many things he could not imagine already happened to himself.

He clenched his fists out of excitement and his blood boiled for the thirst of adventure. But before anything else, he had things to settle first. He took a deep breath and calmed down then took a step outside.

.....

On the top floor of the bank, four silhouettes sat in front of a table drinking wine. The place was filled with isolation formations.

A stern and aged voice broke the silence,

“Two days ago, there has been a rumor of a golden snake appearing inside the mines and a fight broke out ending with casualties. It was also rumored that two military officers of the kingdom acquired it, according to intel, it was Major Wilky and Major Wilfred. Another report came in that Wilfred is currently at the border with Batista while Wilky has been seen rushing back to their headquarters. As for the reason, we don’t have enough information yet.”

“What? Is it the golden snake of legends?”

Another male with a husky voice blurted in surprise. Everybody here owned a merchant company and was well informed about some things.

“Won’t that start a war? If that is true, even the imperial capital might get involved.”

An alluring voice of a woman asked.

“I know, the rumors have been said that it came from Major Floyd of Kalbo kingdom so it is not that reliable. You know their hostility with each other. They even attacked the border without warning and nearly killed Batista’s son that made him went berserk so the other party retreated first. We have yet to receive information from the mercenary groups that have been involved.”

“We still don’t have enough information to confirm anything, the crucial point now is finding the mercenaries and make preparations in case a war really happens. I have a feeling some monsters will come out, I’ll inform everyone if there is an update. Don’t get involved in this yet, let’s watch from the sidelines or else we might get wrecked by the storm.”

The old voice advised everyone and warned them, their group have survived and prospered by playing low-key and did not directly get involved with things. Even if the rumors were true, they wouldn’t dare to touch the hot potato and get burned by it.