Inside Rein’s wizard tower.
“I see.” Rein appeared to be satisfied after listening to Greya’s “story”, but his eyes were suggesting otherwise.
He suspected that Angor might have played a part in Greya’s successful challenge, but not... this.
An alchemy item created by an apprentice helped a truth-finder wizard discover a new spell? Anyone in their sane mind would regard this as a terrible joke.
In Rein’s view, the various rumors and achievements revolving around Angor weren’t worth his attention. Angor was an apprentice still too weak in terms of strength. Any “success” was brief and did not guarantee enough future value.
Rein did not use lie-detection methods on Greya just to show respect to this truth-finder wizard. But he was feeling bothered because he thought Greya was lying. He would have used violence if Greya weren’t here as his guest.
Of course, Greya was sharp enough to notice Rein’s true thoughts.
She terribly wished that Angor was right here with her so that they could look at Rein’s face together. It would give her another excuse to persuade Angor into joining Candy House because no one in Brute Cavern valued him enough.
On the outside, Greya still maintained her “oh, you hurt my feelings!” look. “Mister Rein, do you disbelieve my words?”
“Of course not. I was simply... bewildered.”
“I have no reason to drag Mister Phantom’s student into my lie.” Greya showed him a sad look and placed her brooch onto the desk. “You may look for yourself, Mister Rein. Trust me, I was not overestimating the potential of Angor’s illusion.”
Rein remained silent and picked up the ornament.
As a man born from a noble clan, Rein quickly took a liking to the garish but masterful design of Twinning Wings. He could see that its creator possessed a decent sense of art.
“Angor made this?”
“Yes. The two different forms that are on it all referred to Toby. You know Toby, Mister Rein?”
“Your precious pet, everyone in Brute Cavern knows that.” Rein chuckled.
“He used to be my pet. But now... I’m afraid Toby only wants to stay with Angor. Good for me though. I have high expectations regarding Angor’s future. Toby can help me maintain our relationship so my ‘investment’ on that boy pays off in the future.”
Rein didn’t question this matter because it was very common in this world for wizards to go after true profit. Moral, friendship... Everything else came second.
“Good craftsmanship. He captured Toby’s details very well... So you found inspiration in the illusion enough to help with your challenge of truth? I want to see it.” Rein was starting to believe Greya’s explanation already since she was willing to show the brooch.
Now he was really curious. Whatever did an apprentice provide Greya inside a mere illusion?
He decided to enter it and see.
...
At first, Greya accompanied Rein in the illusion as a “tour guide”. Later on, Rein preferred to be left alone and ran off on a Cat Bus, and Greya never found him again.
With nothing to do, Greya left the illusion and walked onto the balcony of the tower to enjoy the scenery outside.
Rein’s wizard tower was built on top of the Tree of Eternity. The tower could be seen from anywhere in the mirror world. The vantage point also allowed Greya to see almost everywhere in Brute Cavern.
However, she didn’t get to enjoy anything before a giant leaf moved in front of her and conveniently blocked her view.
“Hey, you old pervert! I’m not a spy or something. Can’t I have a little look around?” Greya immediately knew who just bothered her since there was only one answer.
A half-length statue showing Tree Spirit’s body slowly emerged from the center of the giant leaf.
“Please don’t be angry, Miss Barbie. I hope that you can take a good look at my leaf. Do you like it? It’s so green!” Tree Spirit sounded as playful as ever.
Greya rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ve no interest in looking at leaves! And what’s with ‘Miss Barbie’? Aren’t you going to call me ‘Greya the Giant’ again?”
“Because your current body deserves a better name.” Tree Spirit grinned.
Greya took a moment to suppress her rage. “Fine. I’m your guest too. Not going to mind these trifles.”
She shut the balcony door since there wasn’t much she could do now.
Tree Spirit also moved his leaf away. He didn’t mean to annoy Greya—as one of the guardians of Brute Cavern, it was his job to maintain basic safety in the organization even though it was very unlikely that Greya posed any threat.
Greya left the door and saw Rein staring at her with a strange look.
“Did you finish looking through the illusion?” Greya realized she couldn’t understand that look this time.
“Yes...” Rein waited for Greya to sit down and continued, “What do you think of Tree Spirit? Frivolous as he might be, he has been ‘single’ for most of his life. He looks pretty good too. Maybe you should... you know what I mean?”
Greya’s lips twitched as she had no idea how to approach this ridiculous subject. People out there all believed that Rein Mute and Sunders were old-fashioned, strict-tempered wizards. But no! As far as Greya could see, Sunders was more like a prankster who hardly showed his true self, while Rein Mute was an annoying old man who loved to matchmake!
“Please, no such jokes, Mister Rein. There’s not any chance between me and Tree Spirit. None. Zero. And I will not give up on my path of truth just to love a man.” Greya considered something before speaking, “Just like how you have chosen your path, Mister Rein.”
To Rein Mute, it was a “taboo” for anyone to mention his past during which he abandoned his family in order to pursue strength. It was obvious that Greya intentionally spoke of this matter just to get back at him.
Rein shook his head. Why is everyone studying Sunders’ way?
“So, how was the illusion, Mister Rein?” Greya smiled brightly after seeing Rein’s frustrated look.
Rein inspected the silver brooch in his hand for a moment. He then nodded in approval. “I can see how you were inspired now.”
Greya experienced a close call in the Nightmare Realm and lost her body. Even though it was made up, it was very natural for her to grasp encouragement when she traveled through the deadly place again.
In fact, while inside Witch’s Town in Angor’s illusion, Rein almost found himself enlightened by an unknown sense, albeit just a little.
Greya smiled. It seemed her “excuse” went through just fine.
“What did I say? You Brute Cavern just earned an unpredictable young genius. Thank the heavens I found him soon enough and invested in him.”
Rein chortled as he was fully convinced. The illusion in Twinning Wings fully showed him Angor’s potential.
Rein was not an alchemist, so he always doubted rumors that described Angor’s alchemy skills. However, after witnessing the alchemy masterpiece personally, he began to understand why so many alchemists considered the boy a rising star.
Well... Maybe I should allow more resources to Phantom Island from now on. Rein thought to himself. If Brute Cavern gives birth to a true master alchemist, then people in this world will no longer refer to Brute Cavern as a bunch of headstrong brutes.
When thinking about this, Rein couldn’t help but admire the Twinning Wings between his fingers. He really enjoyed the illusion, especially that “Monument Valley”. Now that he thought about it, it had been a long time since he got to entertain himself in such a relaxed way.
Angor did not expect that his “mini-game” had intrigued two mighty wizards now. However, both Rein and Sunders only considered the game to be interesting and nothing more.
As Rein looked around Twinning Wings more carefully, he discovered the hidden emblem behind the item.
“He used a rune to conceal it... What is this?”
“Oh, that’s Angor’s signature. He said that he designed it based on his family emblem.”
Alchemy signature? An apprentice? Rein was a little surprised to learn this. He was also a bit frustrated to realize that even an outsider knew a member of his organization better than him.
“I might as well keep this emblem in the records...”