Warlock Apprentice

“Again?” Angor frowned. “Did someone else ask this question earlier?”

The window of the room was suddenly pushed slightly ajar by a strong wind, allowing chilliness to enter the room.

Gurman reached out a skinny arm to pick up his teacup for some warmth, but he then realized his tea had gone cold.

Angor lifted a hand and stimulated the fire elements in the room, causing everything to go warmer again.

“Thank you, good sir.” Gurman’s eyes gleamed.

“Don’t mention it. Back to our topic, was there anyone else besides me who asked you about Lucas?”

Gurman’s expression changed several times.

“You’re right. More than one individual, actually.”

“Is Lucas someone powerful? So many people want to know him.”

“Not quite.” Gurman’s trembling voice recovered as he felt better. “From what I know, I’d say Lucas was only a liar who managed to win himself a rank among nobles.”

“He’s a liar?”

“Yes.” Gurman nodded. “I’ve read many pieces of evidence that supported this, either from reliable records or unofficial history.”

Previously, Angor would agree to this as well since this “most faithful captain” had way too many issues. However, he later saw Lucas’ stories being extremely strange rather than untruthful.

“Why would people want to know about a liar, if he really was one?” Angor showed a curious look.

“I… do not know, sir. I’ve been wondering this question too. Lucas was from over three thousand years ago, and he wasn’t anyone special.”

“Who exactly wanted to know about him?”

“You’re the third group who came to me for this purpose, sir. The first one was a mysterious figure fully hidden in a large robe. Another noble in the city brought him to me. When I told him I don’t know much, he asked me to look for more clues.”

“You agreed?”

Gurman chuckled. “Yes. I’ve been having financial problems since I moved to Yothur City. The robed visitor offered a lot of coins.”

“I see. Did he come for the results yet?”

“No. He said he’d visit me again after a month, which is… during these days.”

“What about the second group?”

“It was actually one woman. She had purple hair. And… I think she’s a wizard like you, sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. At the end of our conversation, I saw her becoming a half-avian with black wings and flew out of my window.”

“Black wings… perhaps a spell or a special bloodline?” Angor pondered.

The point was, a wizard had shown interest in Lucas. And till now, Angor had not figured out what was so special about this man.

“Did you have more clues by the time she visited? And did you tell her that there was someone other than her asking for Lucas’ information?”

“Yes. I handed what I found to her. As for the robed man, I told her about him as well. But she didn’t seem interested. I think she expected it.”

This meant the first individual might be a wizard as well. Angor thought. So why are a bunch of wizards, or perhaps apprentices, obsessed with a mortal?

Since the “ghost ship” where Lucas was in held no other noticeable items, Angor believed that these people were looking for the captain only.

But why?

“Can I see the clues you found, Professor Gurman?”

Gurman nodded and stood up on his walking stick. “This way, sir.”

On unstable steps, Gurman walked to his study where many books randomly scattered around, which released the smell of fine paper.

The old man picked up a duster and went to a dust-covered wooden desk. “Excuse me for the cluttered place, sir. I didn’t ask my servant to clean this room to prevent her from messing up the order of the books.”

Angor nodded casually and looked at several bookshelves that contained the historical books collected from different countries around Ferran Land. It seemed Gurman was indeed an expert historian.

“Here.” Gurman handed a pile of papers to Angor. “The woman I mentioned did not take this away. She said she could keep everything in her mind.”

“Can I read it now?”

“Of course.”

Gurman called his maid who brought two cups of hot tea into the study, while Angor found a soft chair and began looking through the files.

It seemed there wasn’t much to find for someone so ancient. Most of the files described Lucas’ rank and how the rank was defined in history. In other words, this part was pointless.

As for records about Lucas himself… there were even fewer.

In the Age of Gold, Lucas was a famous nobleman who lived in Lost Paradise City. He was known to be quite the swinger from his childhood, and it grew worse as he grew up. During adulthood and after inheriting his father’s rank, he quickly spent the funds of his family until he had not a coin left, after which he ended up as a scammer.

Also, his “career” did not end at tricking women and rich traders. He even fooled his king into a dirty plot.

And this was the end of the files.

“That looks like a typical self-indulgent guy who welcomed a deserved ending,” Angor commented. “Or wait, this didn’t tell us how he died in the end. Do you know what happened to him later, Professor Gurman?”

Gurman shook his head. “The purple-haired lady asked this as well. And no, I do not know. Since he fooled the king, the most probable outcome for him should be an execution. During the end of the Age of Gold, the entire country had become infested with corruption and power-induced greed. His rank and title would not save him from his crime.”

“Do you know what exactly he did to the king?”

“No… I only know that the king once sent him to the sea. Perhaps there’s a connection between these two matters?”

Angor nodded. He knew that Lucas’ headless corpse suggested that he wasn’t executed.

“This is all you found?”

“Yes. This is as much as I can collect regarding the Age of Gold. There might be more to look at, but I’m afraid you have to find them in the Anrum Monarchy, sir.”

“Anrum Monarchy?” Angor knew this name because it was supposed to be Neet’s home, but he wasn’t sure what that place had to do with history.

“Sir, the glorious stages you heard about, including the Age of Gold, the Age of Silver, and later, the Age of Bronze, all started not from Aureum, but the Anrum Monarchy, which is the controlling country of Aureum.”

As a man from Aureum, Gurman was born to be a citizen of a dependent state. In fact, most people in Aureum disliked this unfair treatment. This was also why nobilities from the Anrum Monarchy like Neet didn’t get to enjoy privileges here.

But as a historian, Gurman fully admitted that the Anrum Monarchy was the most powerful country ever to appear at Ferran Land.

“After many wars and disasters, Anrum stayed strong as the dominator of the entire Ferran Land. Over 70% of all nations and states at Ferran are dependent, except for several tribes in the midlands. During his time, Lucas was born into a minor noble clan of Anrum. That’s where you will find more about him, sir wizard.”

Angor nodded again. He had been believing that Lucas was a citizen of Aureum. It seemed he was wrong.

“Well, I’ll not take any more of your time then.” Angor put down the files. “Similarly, I’ll keep the clues memorized. And… Professor Gurman, can I ask a favor?”

“I’m all ears, sir.”

“Can you keep my visit a secret from the others? I mean, don’t tell them I asked about Lucas today.” Angor looked at Gurman in the eyes.

Gurman felt his mind muddled for a brief moment before he answered, “I will, sir.”

Angor looked at Gurman’s forehead, where a small trace of nightmare energy was disappearing.

“Thank you very much.”