Warlock Apprentice

Short, trimmed red hair, a strange “smiley face” mask, lightweight leather wind coat…

Irisa from Valley of Hurricane.

Angor wasn’t expecting to see this woman soon after giving her a copy of Crimson Crown. He wondered if she came to the inspection room to sell it.

It seemed Irisa had finished her item examination and was leaving from the neighboring room. There was an old wizard in a silver robe following closely behind her.

“Miss-Miss Specter Mask, are you sure you will not sell it during the action? I promise it will be one of the biggest prizes we can present today…” The old man was trying to persuade Irisa of something. His robe had pictures of machinery gears sewn on it, and with each movement, the gears appeared as if they were spinning.

“Leave me already. I’m not selling and that’s final.” Irisa didn’t look pleased.

“But…”

“Shut it. That thing has nothing to do with the other one, and it’s not like their prices are related to one another. I’m LEAVING!” Irisa yelled the last part to stop the old man from keeping up.

Disappointed, the old wizard walked back into the inspection room and closed the door.

They did not use any spells to hide their voices, so everyone around heard them.

It was likely that they were talking about Crimson Crown. Angor didn’t wish to find out since he already decided to stay out of everything related to it. To be absolutely safe, he even moved farther away so that Irisa wouldn’t see him.

For one, helping someone craft a fake treasure wasn’t any honorable deed. Since Sunders warned him not to get involved in Irisa’s business, which might concern the gains and losses of multiple organizations, Angor decided to get away from her as fast as possible.

But his overreaction was easily noticed by Irisa who, as a wizard, had developed a keen eye.

“Hey, Angor!”

Before Angor could do anything further, he saw Irisa somehow already standing right next to him. “Mi-Miss Irisa.”

“I’ve been looking for you. You’re attending the auction too? Sunders told me that you’ve locked yourself in a private crafting session when I went to his place. Guess you were working on stuff to sell?”

“Yes, Miss Irisa. I made some small trinkets so that I can get some extra cash to spend.”

Irisa simply wanted to strike a topic and keep talking from there, so she didn’t question what “trinkets” Angor had made. “I have something to discuss with you. Let’s go somewhere private.”

“No no, Miss Irisa. My teacher demanded that I get back to his manor before late hours. It’s already getting dark. Can we talk here if it’s okay?”

Irisa frowned as she didn’t believe Angor’s excuse. Even so, she couldn’t use violence either.

“Alright, now listen…”

Her lips moved, but instead of voicing out her words, she directly transferred what she was saying to Angor’s mind using magic ripples.

While “listening”, Angor’s expression changed from neutral to confusion before ending with a tight frown.

“… No, I cannot do that. I’m afraid you must find a better alchemist.”

“But people said you almost succeeded once!”

“That was an accident, Miss Irisa. By some coincidence, when I was crafting the item at Dark Castle, I attracted the undead energy that built up over several thousand years, which was what helped me to finish my work. It’s impossible to recreate the process anywhere else. You must know that the level of a Mystery item isn’t something you can ask for. Even the best alchemists in history needed luck and all kinds of unknown blessings for that.”

Irisa tilted her head in confusion and moaned, “Fine. I’m gonna keep Goman King hanging then.”

Angor pretended that he didn’t hear anything.

Since Angor said no, Irisa let him go without saying anything else.

She moaned again while she watched Angor’s figure disappearing at the end of the street. Argh! I had such a nice plan to get away from Goman King once and for all. What a bummer…

She couldn’t think of anyone else in Floating Mech City who might work on a Mystery item.

“Sorry, dear brother…”

…

Angor had completely forgotten about what Irisa just said to him. He didn’t have another choice anyway since it was completely impossible for him to help with Irisa’s request.

Irisa basically asked him to craft another Mystery item.

And such items were called “Mystery” for a good reason.

Upon arriving at Sunders’ manor, the overwhelming drowsiness that was built up over the last few days quickly got the best of him. Angor was planning to talk to Greya and find out what kind of “illusion item” she wanted next, but he found his bed to be more enticing as he could no longer keep his eyes from closing.

…

He woke up in the afternoon, and this was because of Sunders’ voice transmission, which told him that the auction would start soon.

In a haste, Angor dealt with his dressing and hygienic problems. He then put on a tight-fitting gentleman suit and stepped out of the door.

A black caravan that was pulled by two bulky black horses was ready outside. Angor and Sunders boarded the vehicle and headed to the auction site together.

“Why are we using a carriage, sir?” Angor spoke first to break the silence. He believed flying or even walking on legs was faster than using common horses.

Sunders showed a complicated expression, about which Angor had no problem comprehending.

“Ah, I see. Formality.”

Sunders always acted as a cultured noble gentleman in the eyes of others. When attending such a grand event held in the city, of course he would follow the basic disciplines.

Whether he liked it or not, Angor had to accompany Sunders like this while acting like another young gentleman.

He thought they would become an embarrassing sight by arriving in a showy vehicle, but he stopped worrying about it soon, especially when he saw many wizards moving around in weirder manners.

For example, there was a wizard who insisted on entering the auction while carrying a ten-meter-long orange tree full of juicy oranges growing on it.

The gatekeeper wizard checked his identity and let him in without a problem.

There were more people who came to the scene in carriages. In fact, Sunders’ own vehicle was not so outstanding among them, since there were even carts pulled by giant eagles.

Compared to them, Sunders’ image of a traditional patrician was totally acceptable, if not humble.

Naturally, just like last time, Sunders easily earned a spot in one of the VIP rooms.

A waiter took them into “Room 012”, which was located on the third level of the main auction hall. The room was at a position that allowed them to directly look at the auction stage below without being blocked by any obstacles.

As the auctioneer professionally did her job, a number of items came and went swiftly.

The items that were brought out earlier were usually common consumables such as potions. The lots were quite expensive since they were usually provided in bulk, yet the auctioneer did not have many words to say about them.

Compared to the items, Angor was more interested in the auctioneer standing on the stage. She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a silver city uniform and a traditional hair bun while carrying a persistent stern expression.

“Why is she here, professor?” Angor asked out of curiosity.

“She is originally from the city.” Sunders grinned. “Guess she didn’t find whatever she’s looking for at Brute Cavern, so she came home.”

“She’s looking for something in Brute Cavern?”

“She’s the daughter of ‘Neo Beast’. Do you think she stayed in Brute Cavern and got herself a common job in Sky Tower without a reason?” Usually, Sunders would not tell too much irrelevant information to his students. However, he believed that Angor’s scary potential would soon grant the boy a spot to learn about critical secrets in the organization, so it wouldn’t hurt to tell him now.

“‘Neo Beast’?” Angor repeated that name. “You mean Melantha is Lawson’s daughter?”

Sunders nodded.

It was Melantha who assisted Angor to bypass a restriction in Sky Tower. For this reason, Angor once considered her a great helper. However, after the battle against Parasite Queen, the names of both Melantha and Baroque only suggested enmity to him.

He tried to remember Lawson’s face while looking at Melantha.

These two looked nothing alike. Well, maybe they both had that serious expression that they never lifted. But even the expression didn’t look identical on them. Lawson was usually cold-tempered and emotionless, while Melantha was only an old-fashioned lady who couldn’t smile very well.

“I believe Melantha returned to the city to find ‘the path’. Pity. There’s not much Lawson can do to help her,” Sunders commented.

“The path? The path of truth?”

“Correct. She has been too focused on finding her path, which is exactly what’s slowing her down…” Sunders looked away and murmured, “Just like Flora.”

“Miss Flora is looking for the path of truth, but she’s also too focused? What does that mean?”

Sunders chuckled. “You’re doing it right now. You’re thinking too much about it when you shouldn’t.”

Angor only grew more confused after listening to Sunders’ words. Despite having more questions, he didn’t have time to ask because he saw his necklaces being brought to the stage.