When affected by the food illusions, Aleen tripped over a table leg and tumbled badly. When Angor came in, Alan was applying ointment on her feet.
When Mara saw Angor, his expression was a weird one mixed with envy, jealousy, regret, and resentment. Angor immediately felt his back shivering, but Mara did not say anything in the end. He only let out a sorrowful sigh.
On the other side of the room, Aleen blushed for some reason, followed by tears in her eyes. She gave Angor a miserable look.
Angor had no idea what was going on, but Alan quickly answered him.
“Angor, some big man took you in as a student and you’ll leave soon?” Alan asked with his baby-like voice while dragging Angor’s sleeves using his white, chubby hands. His expression was filled with curiosity and admiration.
So that was why.
Angor knew Aleen’s special feeling towards him. He understood that it was not the feeling of love, but something commonly seen on a young girl. Just like one of the poetries from Earth said how young people always worried too much when they did not even know about the real troubles in their lives. Young ones tended to be emotional. First-sight loves, child crushes… They were mostly false emotions triggered by excessive adolescent hormones.
Angor always interpreted Aleen’s friendliness towards him as an overreaction. If he really responded, it would soon be proved abstinent with the pass of time. Besides, Angor never had any emotion towards Aleen that was more than friendship.
This was why Angor always kept calm and controlled about Aleen’s attitude. He regarded the relationship in the view of an experienced elder.
Although, he did not realize that his attempt to view the delicate relationship in a know-it-all manner was also something an arrogant kid would do.
To put it simply, Aleen liked Angor. When she heard from Mara that Angor was going to leave, she became hesitant.
Angor gave a simple answer to Alan’s question and comforted Aleen (for her wound). He avoided everything else. He liked the pair, but they were only friends, so he did not intend to respond to emotions that did not exist.
Angor explained why he came. Alan agreed without a second thought, for being able to kill time reading the books during the dull journey. They were free books, so why not?
Alan was speaking lively, while Aleen sulked by herself.
In a short time, Alan moved the boxes to his room. When everything was done, Angor finally felt relieved.
When it was time for goodbye, Angor walked to Mara in a serious manner and apologized for choosing Sunders in Barbie’s Restaurant.
Anyone else would not mind his decision, nor find it necessary to apologize.
Angor knew that Mara was the one to take him away from the common world. Mara asked for a reward, true, but Angor was still grateful. For Angor, Mara was the very person who helped him begin his new journey.
Angor chose Sunders for his own gain. To think for oneself was completely normal for anyone in this world. However, Jon taught him to be generous and modest, and Angor knew that his decision went against it.
Angor’s unexpected action caused Mara to hesitate.
After a while, Mara slowly spoke, “You made the right decision. I would have done the same, if not faster than you did.”
Looking at the serious will to apologize on such a young face, Mara’s resentment quickly vanished.
Mara felt curious. Angor’s former teacher, Jon… How did he create a student like this? Angor’s apology was so sudden, and the focus of the apology was also strange. Yet… the boy’s action felt quite pleasant to him.
Angor also believed he made the right decision. Still, he went back on his word about joining White Coral Floating Island Academy. He broke his promise. There was no denying it.
“No matter what happens, I’ll fulfill our agreement. Once I become a Level-2 Apprentice, sir, I’ll come to you in the academy and realize what I promised to you.”
…
On the silent deck, a fat woman in a long, reddish purple dress suddenly appeared.
“Oohohoho, sweetie, let me see where the boy is!” The woman’s voice was sharp enough to pierce the night sky, but strangely, she did not wake anyone.
Something flapped its wings in the sky and landed on the woman’s shoulder.
The gentle moonlight revealed the figures of “Warrior Barbie” Greya and his beloved pet, Toby.
Greya’s spiritual power instantly covered the entire ship. As the tentacles of her power crawled into every corner, Greya could clearly see the inside.
“Tsk. It was just a small mirage, and so many people got hurt. Looks like these talents are terrible. When I get back to Candy House, I should tell them to recruit talents by deathmatches after all.”
Greya’s spiritual power searched the ship freely. It easily alerted the three formal wizards on the ship.
However, they all caught a trace of information Greya intentionally placed in her spirit ripples. When they understood her intention, they decided not to bother her.
“Looking for Angor in the middle of the night? What in the world does she want…” Heroline shook her head. She felt regretful whenever she thought about Angor. It was a good thing that Sunders did not explain Angor’s talent, or Heroline would feel worse.
“Ohhohoho! There you are!”
When the spiritual power scanned through Aleen’s room, Mara immediately felt intimidated by the great force. Before he could realize what happened, Greya’s figure materialized in front of him.
Her fat body made the already narrow room even more congested.
“La—La—Lady Greya?!”
Greya ignored Mara’s panic. She looked at Angor who was standing in another direction. The boy was also thinking about why Greya came, but before she said anything, Toby the seabird flapped its grayish-white wings, left Greya’s shoulder, and perched on Angor’s blond hair.
Angor was speechless for a while. Why did Toby like his hair so much?
“Lady Greya. Did you need something?”
Greya looked at Angor in the eyes. “A small matter, yes. I wish you can help.”
Angor quickly made it clear that he would help as best as he could.
“Back in the restaurant, you said you received the golden card from Toby by providing a tea called ‘Morning Dew’, right?”
“Yes. It’s a tea my former teacher planted,” Angor said.
“Good. I came for the tea. As a gourmet wizard, I’m interested in everything in the world that goes into your stomach. Can I exchange some Morning Dew from you?”
“Of course!” Angor agreed and prepared to return to his room for his remaining Morning Dew.
However, when he saw Mara with the corner of his eye, he changed his mind.
“When leaving my home, I gave most Morning Dew to Mister Mara. Lady Greya, you can do the exchange with him, if you would.”
Mara raised his head with a start. He looked at Angor with gratitude. His discontent towards the boy disappeared just a moment ago, but now, all possible negative feelings were no more. At least Angor was friendly to him. Upon returning to the academy, Heroline might desolate or even punish Mara. On the other hand, Angor was Sunders’ student now. The boy had a bright future. If Mara could maintain a good relationship with Angor… looked like he earned something for himself today after all.
Hate him? No. In the wizarding world where survival was for the fittest, the hatred of a petty ant would only bring the insect endless agony.
Greya raised an eyebrow and gave Angor a thoughtful look. Then she smiled and began discussing the matter with Mara.
Of course, Mara was willing to offer his Morning Dew to Greya. He bustled through his belongings and gave all the tea leaves to Greya. He was planning to make a fortune out of Morning Dew upon returning to Fey Continent. Now Greya needed the tea, he might as well give her all he had.
When talking about payment, Mara gave Greya a firm answer “Free!”. This way, a wizard would owe him a favor!
However, Greya did not give him the opportunity. When taking the Morning Dew, she handed Mara a small bag of magic crystals.
When she was done, Greya turned to Angor again.
“Apart from Morning Dew, I have another favor to ask of you.”