After a long silence, no one spoke.
"Good, since no one disagrees, then you all agree with what I said. Start paying up!" The steward nodded with satisfaction.
Today, everyone paid their rent.
Pay, and they could barely survive; not pay, and they would immediately be homeless, and then die in an alleyway who knows when… This choice was very easy to make.
Among them, of course, was Durin. However, as he handed the rent to the other party with a smile, he secretly resolved that he must move out of here as soon as possible and buy a house of his own in the Entresol Level, even if it was just a one-bedroom apartment.
He had had enough of these swaggering gang enforcers who treated them like dirt!
After paying rent and public kitchen fees, Durin's total assets were currently 10 silver lun coins and 75 copper circle coins. Of course, he couldn't carry all that money with him. Durin took out half of the money and hid it in the cracks of his bed board at home.
This was an instinct ingrained in Chinese people: cash must be kept in separate places to ensure that one doesn't lose everything, always keeping a fallback option.
After the steward and his two henchmen had left some distance, Durin hurried to take the public elevator to the Entresol Level. He still had to go to the Blacksmith Kang's shop to continue being a blacksmith apprentice.
After one morning passed, Durin hurried to buy a black bread on the street, then jogged all the way back to the public elevator, paid the fee, and took it down to the Zaun Underdistrict.
When the iron gate opened, Durin jogged all the way to the house at 453 Third Avenue, but just as Durin took off his mask and was about to go upstairs, he saw a male servant, dressed in a rather worn linen shirt, coming down the stairs.
He had a bundle of bedding tucked under his arm, a bedroll on his back, and two heavy leather suitcases in his hands.
Was he moving?
Why didn't he inform him in advance?
Behind the male servant, two unfamiliar men came down. They were struggling to carry a heavy alchemy table down the wooden stairs together, causing the stairs to creak loudly.
Durin asked in confusion, "Mr. Tuls, are you... moving?"
"Yes, Mr. Kreslin said he's moving to the Entresol Level! Mr. Durin, you've come at just the right time. Mr. Kreslin said to come see him immediately," Tuls said.
"Alright."
Durin nodded, and after they all came down the stairs, he quickly went up to the second floor.
The room had already been mostly cleaned out; even the bookshelves had been dismantled and moved away. There were large quantities of books stored in cardboard boxes on the floor.
Durin asked somewhat curiously, "Mr. Kreslin, are you planning to move?"
Kreslin sat on a chair, flipping through the book in his hand, and said, "That's right. I've had enough of Zaun's Lower District. Speaking of which, Durin, I've seen your actions firsthand. In these ten days on the job, you've been diligent and worked hard. I'm also very grateful for your dedication during the trip to Piltover."
"So?" Durin seemed to anticipate something.
"So I'm very sorry, I plan to dismiss you. Once I move to the Entresol Level, I'll hire a new assistant," Kreslin said, his words surprising.
"Why? Even if you move to the Entresol Level, it won't affect me coming to work. And a newly hired assistant might not do better than me," Durin said, unwilling to give up.
Kreslin, however, shook his head and said humorlessly, "No, no, I'm very grateful to you, Durin. I'll remember this good time. But the fact proves that you don't have the aptitude to become a Mage Apprentice. In many aspects, you can't help me."
"Also, I forgot to tell you, my new assistant will be an intern who graduated from the College of Techmaturgy. They are more professional than you, can refine Golden Lamp Potion, have experience with alchemy and potion-making, possess magical aptitude, and understand multiple languages, allowing them to help me translate ancient books. And you? You have no magical aptitude, only know Noxus script, can't translate ancient books, can't refine potions, haven't touched alchemy, let alone potion-making. Oh, and you're more expensive than them!"
"You know, these interns come to intern with me not for money, but for experience. So I only need to pay him 15 copper circle coins a day, which means I only need to pay 4.5 silver lun coins a month. The money saved from this allows me to buy more medicinal ingredients." Kreslin spoke eloquently, but every word he said deeply struck Durin's heart.
Durin opened his mouth, not knowing what else to say.
He could only remain silent for a moment, then said helplessly, "I understand. So I don't have to work starting today?"
"Yes, although you're leaving, we can still keep in touch. I have many friends, and if they have suitable positions, I'll recommend you!" Kreslin said gracefully.
"Mm."
Durin nodded expressionlessly, then walked out of the room step by step.
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