Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Assessment Bang bang bang! The heavy door panel sounded with intense knocking. In the wooden cabin, Sherman, who was sleeping peacefully under a worn quilt, was instantly awakened, rubbed his eyes, and sleepily shouted. "Coming." In the middle of the month of Revival, the weather was still somewhat cold. After putting on his tattered clothes, Sherman picked up the leather jacket serving as a second quilt covering the cotton blanket, put it on, and then opened the wooden door. Outside the door, old Roger leaned against the carriage, holding a whip in one hand and a tobacco pipe in the other. "Hurry up, it’s getting late, you’ll get scolded if you’re late." "I know." Sherman closed the wooden door, hurriedly climbed onto the carriage, but his expression was not hurried at all. Roger glanced at him but said no more, he whipped forcefully, and the old horse grunted, pulling the carriage forward slowly. Sherman leaned on the carriage railing, looked at the dark sky, closed his eyes, and dozed off. According to past experiences, it would take half an hour to reach the inner castle, and by then, the sky would be almost bright. Sherman was an orphan. According to old Roger, he found Sherman on a snowy day, and since he had no children, he took Sherman back to raise him. All these years, old Roger had painstakingly raised Sherman till he was twelve years old by working for the nobles collecting garbage and then disposing of it outside the city. To old Roger, Sherman was filled with gratitude. Although he knew he shared no blood relationship with old Roger, in his heart, old Roger was his father. Unconsciously, the carriage entered the Inner City District. A long-formed habit automatically awakened Sherman. From afar, he saw the majestic and tall castle, with envy and yearning in his eyes. That was where the lord and knights resided. Sherman couldn’t count how many times he’d dreamed of becoming a noble, living in a luxurious castle, and enjoying an extravagant life. Or becoming a powerful knight, earning the lord’s admiration, becoming the lord’s guard, and obtaining the right to live in the castle. In the boy’s limited understanding, the castle was the most beautiful place in the world. But he was very clear—for someone like him, a commoner, if not due to work, he could never set foot in the castle for his entire life. Not to mention living inside it. When waking, all in the dream would vanish, only the cold reality remained. Old Roger once told him that when he dies, Sherman could inherit the two wooden houses and carriage, taking over the noble’s garbage disposal work. Sherman thought that his future was just like that. The carriage stopped in front of the castle gates, and Sherman followed old Roger off the carriage, approaching the tall gate guards. Previously, when they entered the castle to clean garbage, the gate guards and inner stewards would extort them, asking for various favors. But ever since the previous lord was executed and the new lord moved into the manor, vigorously replacing the guards and steward servants, they no longer faced extortion. Just for this, Sherman held a favorable opinion towards the new lord that he had never met. Over the past months, the gate guards became quite familiar with Roger and Sherman. Upon seeing them arrive, simply checked them briefly and let them pass. After spending the entire morning, Roger and Sherman skillfully cleaned up the garbage, packed it all into the carriage, and prepared to transport it outside the castle. Before leaving, a guard suddenly stopped Sherman, sized him up, and asked, "Young Sherman, how old are you this year?" Sherman froze for a moment but obediently replied, "Twelve years old." "Can you read?" Sherman nodded. Commoners like him who worked for nobles typically were illiterate, but old Roger had been an accounting apprentice at a shop when he was young, and although the shop later closed, he learned to read and then taught Sherman. Hearing Sherman’s words, the guard laughed and said, "Perfect timing, the other day the lord issued a decree, every youth aged twelve to fifteen who can read, regardless of gender or birth, must go to the testing place for evaluation. You should go too." "Testing? What kind of testing?" While Sherman was in a daze, Roger had already panicked and hurriedly said, "Sir, young Sherman has always worked diligently, he’s never done anything bad." The guard waved his hand, laughing and said, "Don’t worry, it’s a good thing, Sunan is recruiting apprentices across Flashing Territory. Anyone who passes the testing will serve as his apprentice and receive a monthly subsidy of one Gold Coin." Roger and Sherman listened, their eyes wide and faces filled with shock. They worked hard every month, earning less than ten Silver Coins. But as a Sunan’s apprentice, they could receive one Gold Coin a month? Such good fortune? But soon Roger hesitated. Is there really such a thing as a windfall in this world? Could it be a scam, taking people away and doing bad things? The guard seeing Roger’s look understood what he was thinking, laughed and cursed, "Sunan is a legendary Wizard, the decree is issued by the lord. Do you think the two gentlemen have the time to scam a poor ghost like you?" "I wouldn’t bother reminding you if young Sherman wasn’t usually very well-behaved." Roger quickly apologized with a smile. Thinking the guard made sense, the decree issued by the lord couldn’t be false. After thanking the guard, Roger pulled Sherman onto the carriage. On the way back, Roger thought for a while and told Sherman, "When we return after delivering the garbage, clean yourself up, change clothes, and head to the testing place." Sherman nodded vigorously, his eyes flashing. If he could become an apprentice under Sunan as the guard said, he could receive one Gold Coin a month, saving up for a year or two, he could bring Roger to move into the Inner City District, open a small shop, and never would they need to wake early and clean garbage again. Maybe even have the chance to live in that castle! Thinking of this, Sherman was exceedingly excited, itching to fly to the testing place immediately. Returning from outside the city, Sherman dashed home, cleaned himself up, put on his best outfit, and headed straight to the place the guard indicated. The testing place was set at the junction between the Outer and Inner City Districts. In front of a hastily constructed wooden shed, more than a hundred teenagers similar in age to Sherman were lined up. Many were chatting excitedly, occasionally peeking toward the front. Sherman noticed these people were well-dressed, at the very least in clean clothes, unlike him, dressed in washed-out clothes with patches. Understandably, people who were literate usually came from decent families. There were few like him. "Get to the end of the line and don’t wander around." A nearby soldier noticed Sherman and called him to queue. Sherman obediently went to the end of the line, waiting quietly.