16

Teaching an apprentice is half the battle. But where to find one in a world that doesn't believe in magic, without spells or true vision? Suppose the apprentice is found, but he needs somewhere to live, because the training will take a long time. He needs something to feed him.

Karpov has only a house in the village. But to bring anyone into this wreck ... What normal human would believe that a real magician lives in such a wreck! Besides, modern people are used to comfort. Once they experience the inconveniences of village life, an apprentice will simply run away before they take their first steps toward becoming a mage.

Food is also a problem. If there was a squeamish human, he was unlikely to eat porridge with wild meat and hunters bread.

That meant he had to make his living conditions comfortable before he could seek out an apprentice. And for myself as well. In addition, in the summer you can not leave the house for a long time, because you have to take care of the garden. For a variety of reasons, Dmitri put the first item on the plan to bring their property in the proper form.

The first thing he did was to visit his neighbor. Petrovich had been tinkering in the yard since morning. He wore blue work pants, his tanned torso was bare, and his head was covered by a shabby green baseball cap. He immediately spotted the visitor at the gate.

- Good morning, neighbor! - he nodded with sincere joy and headed for the gate. - I haven't seen you for a long time. Something happened?

-I was Sick. Greetings. Petrovich, I'm here on business.

- I'm listening carefully.

- I've decided to do some repairs for the summer, I'm living like in a cowshed. Petrovich, I remember perfectly well about the compensation for the bathhouse, but I'll be able to return the money only in autumn. I hope you won't mind?

- What are you talking about, - Petrovich did not get upset at all. He only squinted. - And to give back from the bathhouse brooms will you? - he asked in a humorous tone.

- Exactly, - with a serious look nodded Karpov. - I have a bunch of brooms and chaga drying. At the end of the summer I'll sell all that I've saved and I'll pay you right back.

- How are you going to take it all to the collection point? - The neighbor reasonably remarked.

- Of course, I'll ask you to take everything on the trailer! - Anticipating objections, Dima added: "I'll pay for the gasoline and the depreciation of the car on top.

- Well, if you pay for gasoline, - thoughtfully scratched his stubble, - another thing. Of course, I'll help you. Dima, I'm glad for you. I can see that you are a normal man: as you are busy doing something. Not like your alcoholic friends!

- They are not my friends, - Dmitry grimaced, as if he had eaten half a lemon. - Not even friends. Just acquaintances. Petrovich, you know more about construction than me, you see how much you do at home with your own hands. Can you give me some advice?

- I love giving advices, I don't even take money for it, - smiled his neighbor happily, delighted with his praise. - Ask!

- I need transportation, but it must be as cheap and economical as possible. To carry building materials or something else.

Petrovich did not think long.

- Dim, you need an ordinary power tiller. You weld a trailer to it, make a seat and ride as much as you can. You don't need a license, the cross-country ability is excellent, it doesn't eat much gas, and it carries a decent weight. Just what the doctor ordered!

- Petrovich, you're a genius!

The idea to buy a power tiller is really great. How Linael himself did not come up with it, having the memory of his predecessor, he did not understand. The mage's way of thinking often gives a backlash to local applied problems. In some places, he frankly slows down. That's not bad; it can happen to anyone in his position, but it's frustrating to realize that he could have come up with such a simple idea himself.

- Only I do not have a welder, - thoughtfully murmured Karpov. - And electricity ... And in general I do not have much. Petrovich, how much will the power harvester with a sidecar cost?

- Ew, damn, - thoughtfully scratched his chin neighbor. - Well, you ask ... If new, it is expensive. And if it's used... It's a matter of luck. You should ask your friends. Maybe one of them has an old power tiller piles of dust, and they can not drink, because we do not need it, and they wouldn't drag it in the district center for scrap metal .

- Thanks for the idea. I'll ask around when I get my pension.

Until his next retirement, Karpov continued his forays into the woods for the gifts of nature. Now, among other things, he collected medicinal herbs and flowers, which he identified through his sense of the forest. He did not forget about training and gathering the life forces of trees to improve his health. One drop of thick plant prana at a time at least some benefit.

Soon the tenth of June came. Petrovich himself dropped in on him.

- Dimka, I'm going to the village. Are you coming?

- Of course.

Dmitri was already dressed in his usual camouflage, which replaced his everyday clothes. At this rate, the clothes wouldn't last long. After each hike in the woods, the clothes would wash and fade slightly. Just a little, but it wouldn't look so good at the end of the season.

- Will you need to buy something big? - the neighbor asked.

- Yes," nodded Dima. - I'd like to bring some cement.

- Then I'll take the trailer. How much cement do you need?

- How much will the trailer hold?

- Fifteen bags maximum.

- Fifteen bags, then.

- I understand, - nodded Petrovich. - Come to me in ten minutes.

The trip to the district center was mundane. First to the Savings Bank, then Karpov accompanied Petrovich on a grocery shopping trip. He could not resist buying a packet of tea and ten kilos of salt. For this he spent two hundred rubles from his modest budget.

Then they visited a construction store. Buying fifteen bags of cement cost four thousand. Dima gave another three hundred to his neighbor for gasoline. It was modest, not much, but he hoped to pay it off in the future. In total, a measly three thousand remained in his pocket from his pension.

Return to the village was as mundane as the trip to the district center.