Warlock Apprentice

Since the toy owl could communicate with him… could he ask the owl how to close the passage?

Obviously, this would not be easy. At least the toy owl did not show hostility to him. Angor believed that it was only because he was the “bridge” for the monsters to travel between realms.

Just maybe… he could use this to his advantage.

Angor rolled his eyes. “Nice! Musicians! We want the Queen to have a grand entrance after all.”

“Yes! Yes!” The toy owl nodded.

“But music isn’t perfect without dancers.”

“Of course there are dancers! Just wait! Yes! Chief Yellio will soon bring her ballet here and brighten the nightwatch for her highness! Yes!” The owl seemed proud.

Chief Yellio?? Angor suddenly remembered something. But… it was only coincidence, right?

“There are other performers, right? We certainly need more men for such a wonderful occasion,” Angor continued.

The red fox “Fox” and the green singing frog “Froggy” had crossed the barrier and entered the Nightmare Domain.

Angor did not stop them this time. Instead, he tried to act friendly and greeted them.

“Beautiful playing, Miss Fox. It reminds me of my campfire party at sunset.”

Angor addressed the fox as “Miss” since the animal was wearing a dress. Froggy, on the other hand, had swallowtail suit and brown curly artist hair. It was still a frog, but maybe, just maybe, it was a “he”.

“Mister Froggy. Your voice is like the hanging moon which gives us comfort in the cold night,” Angor bowed skillfully to the musicians. He was glad the owl had repaired his body. This way, he could bow down and roll his eyes at his terrible flattery while the creatures could not see his face.

It seemed his words worked wonders.

“Shava, your honor. You’re as tasteful as ever,” Fox chuckled and wagged its tail, bringing a gentle air current which contained a sweet smell.

“Croak! Yeah, how long was it when Shava came to our theater last time? Ahh… how I miss those wonderful days. Croak! I can still see them in front of my eyes,” the aria singer, Froggy, praised the old days with an emotional tone.

Also, they did not use their emotions to talk. These two spoke in the universal language.

However, Angor did not notice it. He was shocked by what he just heard.

Who the heck was Shava? The toy owl was “Sir Ori”, so… were they referring to him?

But “Shava” was a woman’s name? Or was it something used by these creatures to respect people?

He was in no position to ask that though, so Angor decided to play his part as “Shava” for now and blend in.

Sir Ori spoke again, “Go forth, Fox and Froggy. Go bring your wonderful carol to this boring land, yes!”

“Yes, Sir Ori!” The two animal musicians bowed to the owl and slowly walked out of the mist.

Angor watched them leave and thought to himself.

Professor, they’re just two animals who play music. Nothing could go wrong here, right?

“I really wish to hear more of their beautiful music,” Angor spoke against his own conscience, “and Sir Ori, what were we talking about just now?” He pretended to be thinking. “Oh, yes. We have dancers, so we have many more performers, right?”

“Of course! Consular Mana is here to guarantee that everything goes in order, yes!”

Mana? Another familiar figure flashed through Angor’s mind.

“What kind of performances are we seeing?” Angor stroked his chest and forced a blush on his face. “Shava… really wants to know. Pretty please?”

He tried his best not to vomit at his own embarrassment.

It seemed the owl did not particularly mind Angor’s display. “Mister Glenn’s speech, Tamer Loki’s fire ring jumping, Magician Dink’s card tricks, Farronduer’s flower arts, Yorkshire’s puppet show…”

With each name mentioned, Angor would think of someone he knew.

The gardener, Glenn; the farmhand, Loki; Doctor Dink; the shepherd, Farronduer; the mute servant, Yorkshire…

Those mentioned earlier, the lazy trickster, Fawkes; the knight, Froggy; chef maid, Yellio; Head Maid Mana; and… Ori?

To Angor, these otherwise strange names all meant something to him. These were people from Padt Manor!

So it was not a coincidence after all?

Was the owl not Ori, but “Auri”? The maid who used to take care of his daily necessities?

Angor was completely confused now. Why were these creatures using the names of people from Padt Manor? Could he find Leon, Jon, or even himself, somewhere in the Nightmare Realm?

And there was the question: who was Shava? There was no “Shava” in Padt Manor. It was only the name of a heroine from a story— Shava in Wonderland — that Jon used to tell him.

Also, he wondered what was the “queen” called. Was she someone from Padt Manor too?

Such questions only led to more questions.

It was absolutely not the time for such questions now. Angor spoke again to Ori. No, Auri. “So many performers and artists to accompany the queen. Such professionalism!”

Angor “wept” out of respect and quickly kept up his flattery when Auri accepted his words. “The entrance is too narrow. It’ll take too long for all of them to get through. I want to meet Her Highness sooner.”

Auri checked its dusty feathers and suddenly cried. Green tears came from its eyes.

“Yes… Ever since I left her, the taint in this world has been affecting me. Look at my beautiful feathers.”

“Then we must enlarge the entrance!” Angor rolled his eyes again. “Do you know how, Mister Auri?”

Auri did not respond.

“Shava wishes to meet the great queen faster! She’s such an inspiration to Shava.”

Auri considered a little. “Enlarge the entrance? Isn’t that your responsibility? Or did you not remember it, no?”

“It is?” Angor was puzzled now. When he saw the toy owl giving him a doubtful look, he quickly tried to amend his words. “It-it slipped from Shava’s mind!”

“Really now? Weird. But you’re her most…” Auri frowned using its “silk eyebrows”.

Angor felt something terrible climbing on his heart. Sunders said something about how the owl was as powerful as a wizard, which meant the creature could easily take his life like how Twilight almost did.

Angor felt something shifting on his head. He released his spirit feelers and saw Auri cleaning its string-weaved feathers.

He did see “dust” coming off the feathers.

And it quickly gave him an idea.

Angor’s eyes glimmered. He pretended a sad look. “Mister Auri, don’t you know?”

“Know what?”

Angor wiped his non-existent tears. “Shava has always been preparing the territory for Her Highness out here. But this place’s so tainted! I feel… so tired. A lot of things are lost from my memory. I only know that I need to open the way and welcome the queen, so… the queen can come and purify my body! Yes, I want to meet the queen sooner.”

Angor clearly knew that his display was awful. If anyone who knew him was here, they would question his sanity.

He was always a bad liar, and now here he was, putting up a bitter drama which he used to hate.

Well, maybe this was necessary for life. He would do anything to survive now.

Green tears showed up around the eyes of the owl again. “Yeah! I should have known! The air here is so polluted with filth, you’re already doing your best service by remembering your job! Damn me, I shouldn’t doubt you!”

Angor was somewhat relieved to hear that. It seemed he gained the owl’s trust.

“The interlayer is already so dirty, I can imagine what it’s like out on the other side. I understand if it affected your memory.”

Interlayer? Did it mean the Nightmare Domain? Angor wondered.

“So, can I do something to enlarge the exit?” Angor stopped his bitter play and asked with a serious expression.

…

“The park, croak, is our home.”

“The queen, croak, is our beloved Lord!”

“Croak! My dear Queen is the brightest star!”

“Music” which sounded like nails scratching on chalkboard and “aria” full of croakings invaded everyone’s eardrums.

“Gods, I can’t stand it! My heart hurt when listening to that abomination.”

“What trick is it this time? I’m fed up with music. I’m waiting to watch the Phantom of Festivity!”

“Ha! And do something dirty while at it, I assume?”

After the commotion, people all laughed out when they saw the fox harper and frog singer coming from the mist.

“Hey, look! Such a funny duo!”

Singer Froggy widened his eyes and croaked louder, “How dare you to mock at my voice when Shava gave us the best praise!”

Crooooak!

Green ripples came from Froggy.

Under the influence, everyone except for a number of wizards froze up in place.

“Such distasteful peasants!” Harper Fox plucked her strings, and her harp released red ripples into the hall.

Those who were just frozen all began to lose their composure.

Some of them trembled nonstop, some began to remove their clothes, some cried loudly. There were even people who acted awkwardly around their “private parts” while in full view of everyone.