“The quality of these sculptures is pretty damn impressive. Especially this angry woman… So much ‘detail’, hahaha~!”

Klein used a wet towel to wipe off all the moss and reveal the white marble statue in its entirety. Just like many famous sculptures, the woman was completely naked.

“Uh huh, so how much are you willing to pay for it?”

“You’re selling it to me?”

“I found it first! Obviously it’s mine! So if you want it, then you gotta buy it!”

“Who said I wanted it?! Besides, you’re lucky I didn’t charge you for your treatment! Do you have any idea how much I usually get paid?!”

“If you get paid so much, then you shouldn’t care about a little charity for a poor orphaned boy! Fifty gold, you can do whatever you want with her!”

“Fifty gold?! Wait, what the hell does that mean?! What do you think I’m gonna do with a statue?!”

“Shove it up your ass for all I care, as long as you pay me enough, I can ask Aunt Emerald to help you out! Hahahaha~!” 

“Don’t you dare bring Emy into this!”

After they looked at all the sculptures for a few minutes, Klein asked, “Why are you so obsessed about making money now?”

“I don’t know…” The boy stared at the ancient gold coin between his thumb and forefinger, “Taxes?”

“Yeah right.” Klein rolled his brown eyes, “Greenstone Villages only have to pay some minor percentage taxes based on export sales… Is there something you wanna buy? Maybe I can help out.”

“What could I possibly need to buy?” Oliver shook his head and sighed, “I overheard Orna the other day talking about saving up a bunch of gold and going to the Capital to join some stupid College.”

“Hahaha~!” Klein couldn’t help laughing, “So you got a crush on a girl named Orna, huh? Hahaha~!”

“I don’t have a crush on anyone, Jackass! I just heard it costs a fortune and I thought, maybe, maybe if Orna leaves and goes to College, she’ll escape the Greenstone Curse! I’m tired of seeing everyone I know get sick and die!”

“Sorry…” The Plague Doctor sighed dramatically and looked over at the silly brat, “It’s not a ‘Curse’. It’s a disease. I just… I just need to figure out how to fix it. I know I can fix it. I just need more time and research…”

“I… Sorry Uncle Klein.”

“You don’t need to be sorry for me. You’re just a kid. A ‘minor’ Miner’, hahaha~! Uh, okay, don’t look at me like that.” Klein smiled wryly, “What did that old bastard tell you brats anyway? How much did he say it would cost to go to College?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say. I didn’t ask either. I just figure it’s probably a lot. You need to hire a super long-distance carriage, a team of mercenaries for protection, pay tolls, food, inns, just getting there should cost a fortune. Then there’s the actual tuition and living expenses for however long it takes to go through College?”

“Well, you’re not wrong, but you’re still an idiot for falling for such an obvious trap.” Klein smirked at the angry boy and explained, “Why the hell do you need to go all the way to the Capital?! Do you seriously believe that there’s only one College out there? Kresvalia might be unified now, but not that long ago, there were five different countries. Each of them has their own Royal Colleges in their Capitals, two of which are much closer than the Imperial City… But why does it have to be a big city? Every small town has at least one school. When I was younger, I went to Verdant Valley College and became a Doctor after studying medicine for ten years.”

“Ten years?! How old are you?! Are you older than Grandpa?!”

“What? What?! Do I look like I’m in my sixties to you?!”

“No?”

“How is that a question?!” Klein raised his middle fingers to the boy, who also flipped him off in return. Then he laughed, “I was only twenty when you were born. I graduated College and became an official ‘Doctor’ when I was nineteen. Before that though, I still did an internship for a few years before I inherited my Cursed Word from my mentor.”

“Wait, so you still had to inherit your Cursed Word? Then what’s the point in going to College?”

“The point is that you can learn! There are plenty of doctors who aren’t ‘Doctors’ like me! Just like there are tons of miners in Greenstone, but only a handful of actual ‘Miners’ like you. Unlike being a miner though, earning the Doctor Cursed Word isn’t nearly as dangerous. Just time consuming, expensive and difficult. Most people need to treat thousands of patients successfully, which is only possible in bigger towns or cities and only the best of doctors can actually reach that step. Usually they can get the Curse before they’re fifty if they’re diligent enough… Then they retire shortly afterwards and pass down their mantle to their best student, who is hopefully talented enough to make the best of that Word.”

“How much would it cost though?”

“Verdant Valley College? Uh, well, there was a plague a few years after I graduated and the whole town was wiped out.”

“You’re really unlucky then.”

“I’d say I’m actually really lucky, okay? I had just become a Doctor at the time. If I had stayed, I would have died. I saved Kale Town from a Plague last year and became a Plague Doctor. It wasn’t easy and I still couldn’t save everyone…”

“Money. How much money does it cost to go to College?”

“A Town College? Hmmm, it depends on the subject. Becoming a Doctor takes a lot more time and money than a Teacher. I’ve never really looked it up, but… Maybe fifty gold?”

“That’s it?!”

“Per semester.”

Oliver scratched his shirt white hair, “What’s a semester?”

“Basically half a year. Graduating and becoming a teacher should only take about four years. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be a ‘Teacher’ for sure. Orna would need to be the best in her class and be lucky enough that her Teacher was going to retire that year. Otherwise, if she wants to earn her Word herself, she’d need to teach a few thousand students. However long that might take.”

“How much money is that? Does it also cost money to teach students?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s two times four! And why would she need to pay other people to teach them?! Four hundred gold tuition, maybe six hundred if she’s going to live in the College. But at least she won’t need to rent a house and her normal meals should be included in that price.”

“So eight hundred gold to be safe? That’s not bad at all. What the hell?! If it’s so cheap to go to College, then why don’t more go?!”

“Eight hundred gold is not ‘cheap’, okay?! And not everyone wants to go to College. Not everyone has that kinda potential or talent. Rather than wasting time in school, most people just apprentice at a craft, some people join the military, police, like there are countless jobs out there.”