“Is Lady Lotus really in Midnight Sovereign now?”
It was Hobbiton who just peeked his little head from the corner of under the stairs.
Dave frowned and prepared to scold the mortal for eavesdropping the conversation between wizards when they heard panicked footsteps coming from the second floor.
Ananda rushed to the first floor, yelled in surprise, and pressed Hobbiton’s head down so they both bowed to them.
“I’m sorry, good sirs! I only took a nap, and this kid just left my side. I apologize for interrupting your talk. Punish me if you must!”
Ananda’s sincere attitude caused Dave to swallow his scolding words back.
“Stop it. You’re going to break his neck,” said Angor as he pointed to Hobbiton whose eyes were spinning now.
Ananda was famous for her strength in Midnight Sovereign. She was too panicked to mind how much force she used. Now Hobbiton was stumbling in place in a daze, and a red handprint was left on the back of his neck.
“Man... that was violent,” Dave scoffed.
Ananda quickly let go of Hobbiton, but it was a little too late. Hobbiton made two spins, and thud!
He fainted.
“Hobbiton! No!” Ananda fumbled around the young man and was relieved to notice he was just sleeping.
Ananda carried the boy in her arms and bowed again. “I’ll take him upstairs now. I’ll make sure he does not run off like this again. Please forgive us, good sirs.”
Angor called to stop her.
“I wanted to ask him something. Since he’s out... you’ll answer me then.” Angor pointed to a sofa nearby and signaled the woman to take a seat.
Ananda hesitated a bit and complied. With his head resting on her laps, she placed Hobbiton in a lying position.
Angor grinned at the gentle gesture. Ananda blushed and looked down.
“I want to know why you’re staying here instead of escaping.”
He left a simple illusion on the second floor before leaving for the auction, and he found that the illusion was broken now. Yet Hobbiton and Ananda did not use the chance to run away.
“But sir, you asked us to wait here,” Ananda mumbled.
“I did say something about waiting for my return, but you still went through the trouble to remove my illusion when you didn’t have to. So why did you do it AND then waited for me like a good kid? I think there’s a reason behind it.”
Prome and Dave relaxed on their sofa and let Angor do the talking. Prome agreed to put Hobbiton in Angor’s hand before the auction, so he would no longer interfere.
Ananda stuttered, “Hobbiton was curious about your illusion, sir, so I left him on his own. He somehow removed the illusion.”
Angor considered for a moment and did not say anything about that answer.
“Fine. I don’t really care what you were thinking about.”
Ananda looked up, not sure what Angor wanted to do.
“You take Hobbiton upstairs and rest for today. You can leave tomorrow morning,” said Angor as he waved them off.
Angor was thinking about letting Hobbiton became Prome’s servant, which was better than being a thief. After meeting Ananda though, he learned that Hobbiton still had a family. It was strange that the boy’s family “imprisoned” him. However, that family seemed peaceful enough, and Angor did not really want to break them apart.
He kept Hobbiton here just to give him a lesson for stealing from wizards.
The illusion he used was not complex, and he had expected Hobbiton to escape on his own.
For some reason, Ananda did not feel relieved when she heard Angor’s decision. Instead, she looked at Angor again and again as if trying to say something.
“Go. And don’t bother us again unless there’s something important.”
Ananda finally carried Hobbiton away while she looked back with uncertainty.
Dave curled his lips once the pair was out of sight. “You let them go just like that, Angor? Well, maybe the woman can leave, but that stinky kid stole my money! I mean, he disrespected us!”
Angor sighed as he said, “It’s the best choice, so we don’t invite trouble.”
“Trouble? What trouble can they do to us?” Dave was unconvinced.
Prome moaned and knuckled at Dave’s head. “You’re not deaf, are you? Did you not hear the child asking a question?”
“Question? Oh, he wanted to know if Lady Lotus arrived at Midnight Sovereign-hey wait...” Dave was astonished by his own words. “How did a mortal know about Lady Lotus?”
“That’s something we don’t know yet,” Prome replied, “and it means trouble if the kid does know Lady Lotus. Letting them go will spare us whatever trouble there is.”
Angor nodded to agree. That was exactly the reason why he did not question them further.
“Let’s see... You’re three years older than Angor, and your perception is nowhere near his level. What’ve you been doing all these years? Daydreaming?” Prome blamed his assistant relentlessly.
Dave chuckled idiotically, “Come on, no one cares about such details all day. You should take it easy in your lives.”
“I’m fine with that but... dear me. You dare to joke in front of Master Prome now?” Angor bantered.
“I’m just trying to ease the mood!”
The hanging clock stroke at three o’clock in the morning.
“I said something about alchemy discussion, right? Let’s do it now. I’m really curious about Angor’s music box,” Prome said. He added, “Dave, you join us too.”
Dave could not help nodding in excitement.
“Speaking of the music box, I always wanted to know. How did your gift for Toby end up in the auction house?” Dave asked.
Angor only smiled.
“Fine, if you want to keep it a secret. But wow! It was beautiful! Your illusion totally got me!”
The three of them began an academic exchange based on the music box.
At first, Angor told them about how he came up with the idea, as well as how he designed a draft for the music box. Then it was Prome who lectured them about his own synthesis experiences.
The sky outside was getting bright.
During their talk, Ananda took Hobbiton downstairs. The boy was still asleep. When it was finally time for her to leave, she looked back at Angor with an earnest expression.
Angor wondered if he should let Ananda speak her mind. As mortals, they would forget everything about the Wizard Fair once they left this place.
Angor finally decided and said, “Go ahead, if you’ve got something on your mind.”
Ananda glanced at Hobbiton and seemed to be struggling with herself.
“It’s nothing. Thank you, kind sirs, for forgiving Hobbiton’s rudeness.”
She gently placed Hobbiton on the floor and groveled to the group, before walking away.
“At least that woman is smarter than the dumb kid,” Dave commented.
Angor chuckled as he said, “Smarter? You know, you’re very right about that. Do you know who she is?”
“Well?”
“She’s a pickpocket too. The gang leader of them, actually.”
...
Dave was too tired after going through the eventful auction and their academic discussion. He took his leave and went back to rest.
Prome still seemed energetic. The man was a level-3 apprentice who had no problem spending a week or two awake.
“You need some shuteye too?” Prome asked.
Angor shook his head. “I spent most of yesterday in a coma. I don’t feel sleepy at all.”
“Shall we check out the alchemy shops then?”
Angor needed three types of materials to craft his space storage: the core of a White Dense Stone, Plane Corrosion Fragment, and Plane Genesis Fragment. He spent a lot of money during the auction to buy a Black Dense Stone core, which was a lot better than a white one. He still needed two other materials.
Those fragments were common. However, they were usually sold in stores intended for real wizards, and Angor had no connections to get into one. He needed Prome’s help.
“Thank you kindly, Master Prome.”
“You’re quite welcome. I just need to ask one of the shops whether they have the weapon I need. I’ll take you there along the way.”
Angor nodded. He went to the bathroom to spruce up himself a little and once he found a wizard robe to cover his face, he accompanied Prome out.
...
Inside a private compartment at Twilight Auction House.
Lydia was relaxing with her legs crossed on a table. Her thin, clean, white thighs were exposed from the side-splits on her robe.
When a clerk of the auction house brought the two young ladies here, the poor man was immediately welcomed by Lydia’s charming display.
“La-La-Lady Lotus, I brought them. She-she is the seller of ‘Land on the Sky’.”
Lydia looked at the stammering clerk and could not help teasing him. “Never tried it, have you? How cute. How about coming to my room tonight?”
The clerk thought about the horrible rumors about Lydia and shook his head madly.
“Heh, ungrateful fool. Out of my sight.”
Next, Lydia looked at the two apprentices who obviously did not know where to rest their gazes on.
“So you two brought ‘Land on the Sky’ here?”