Surprised, George gazed at the middle-aged man in front of him who didn’t seem much younger than him.
“Who yer callin’ a mister? I don’t remember anyone yer age who’d pay me a visit at these times!” George moved his sword closer to Angor.
“Glad to see you as spirited as before, Mister George,” said Angor.
George’s expression changed greatly when he heard Angor talking in a completely different voice that belonged to a growing teenager rather than a lazy-looking middle-aged man with an unkempt look.
More importantly, he recognized this voice. Several years ago, a certain shortie who loved to buy milk used to speak to him in the same way.
“Who... da heck?” George frowned.
Angor grinned as his body suddenly gained several hard cracks like a broken mirror, before the fragments moved around and reassembled into someone with a completely different look.
George, Jordan, and Tulu all widened their eyes when they saw a young gentleman with an elegant black suit and a similar-colored cape with red inner linings standing in the room in place of the common-looking traveler they saw a moment ago.
In great contrast with his clothes, Angor’s white skin really stood out in the poorly-illuminated room.
He removed his top hat and lowered it to his chest. “Nice to see you again, Mister George.”
When George saw Angor’s azure eyes, he gasped loudly and dropped the sword to the wooden floor due to too much excitement.
“An-An-Angor!”
The old man wished to rush to Angor and give him a big hug, but he stopped midway as such a gesture didn’t seem right in his office and in front of his son.
“How do you fare in these years?” asked Angor.
“Never mind old me! You grew bigger! And you look marvelous!” Again, George inspected Angor from head to toe, but with a big smile this time. “Are yer not supposed to be studying in the capital? Why you never come back in all these years? And wait, what happened to you just now? Did yer learn some magic tricks or something?”
“Oh, I see. So my brother told everyone that I’m away studying?”
“Aye, he said you went to the Goldspink Royal Academy.”
Angor put his hat back on. “I... did go out there for education, but not at Old Earth. I traveled to another continent. The ‘magic trick’ is one of the things I learned on my way.”
He cast Glamor again and changed his appearance into a typical middle-aged loafer.
“This is...”
“Something that deceives your eyes.”
“Ah, ah I see...” George wasn’t sure what that was about and only nodded with a blank look. “Yer taller but skinnier. Not eating properly, I reckon? Quickly, inside! I wasted a wild boar in the woods yesterday. I’ll cook you a nice dish. Com’on!”
“I never doubted your cooking, Mister George. But the food can wait. I really need to get home. Mister Jordan was acting a bit strangely when I asked about my home. What happened?”
George was moving a pot around, but he stopped in his tracks, which further added to Angor’s uneasiness.
“What’s the matter, sir? Is my brother in trouble?”
George shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. Leon should be fine.”
“Should?”
“Just... come. I’ll tell you what I know over a drink,” George said as he moved into another room further inside.
“Dad-I mean, Mister Sheriff. He’s the young master of the Padt Family?!” Jordan quickly moved to follow his father.
“Return to yer job, dumb*ss! Get out! Move it!” George bellowed.
“I-yes, sir.”
George watched his son leave and went to get some glasses, while Angor took a seat in the middle of the room while occasionally glancing at where his home was.
Tulu finally recovered from his shock and had time to ask a question. “Mister Padt, was that your real look?”
Angor only gave him a cold, silent glare.
“I-I didn’t mean offence, sir. Just, I never thought you looked so dapper.”
“He’s freakin’ adorable when he’s a kid!” George returned to them with two glasses of milk tea. He always knew that Angor loved milk but didn’t want to show it in front of others.
Tulu simply accepted the drink and went quiet as he pretended that he didn’t exist. He felt Angor was bothered for real just now.
“Please, tell me the situation in Padt Manor, Mister George,” said Angor. When he sat down to look at that direction earlier, he could feel that the gloomy aura was getting thicker. What was worse was that he even felt an unknown presence that looked back at him from behind the aura.
It wasn’t anything hostile, or at least he didn’t feel that way yet. But it was already a serious problem when someone who had supernatural powers was right inside Padt Manor.
“Sigh...” George looked at the floor. “Where do I start... The thing is, we don’t know what happened there for certain, because Padt Manor was sealed off three years ago, in the Month of Resuscitation.”
“Sealed off? No one has entered or come out of there ever since?”
“They say it’s sealed, but they only forbid outsiders from going in, while those workin’ or livin’ there may still travel in and out. Do you know Edgard?”
“Yeah, Edgard is an old hunter who lives in the south of the town, right?”
“That’s the man. Years ago, that unruly son of his heard ’bout the ban and played a truth or dare that he’d sneak into the manor. We tried to stop him, but he just didn’t listen. He jumped over the fence of the manor one night.” George showed a grim look. “The next morning, we found his body lying in the dirt next to the manor.
“Poor Edgard... I never thought the old man could cry like that. Edgard left the town to live in another province, never to be heard again. From that day, ain’t nobody ever got the guts to break the rules again.”
“My brother will never kill our neighbors like that...” Angor fell into deep thoughts. He wondered if the forceful deed had anything to do with the strange aura he saw.
“We all know Leon is not that kind of man, but it already happened.” George shook his head again.
“You said those at Padt Manor can go in and out. Did you ask them what’s happening inside?”
“We did. But they won’t say a word to us.”
Angor grimaced. He knew every servant and worker at Padt Manor. They might have different personalities, but none of them would treat the other residents in Grue Town with such unfriendliness.
“Are you sure they’re still the usual servants you know before? Do they appear to be any different than before?”
“What do you mean? They are the same people, ‘lest they also learned that magic trick of yours. They don’t come out shopping as often as before, but everything else is the same. The only problem is that, as soon as someone mentions Padt Manor, they all become hush-hush and won’t talk to us. Since nothing’s wrong with them or us otherwise, people just stopped asking them.”
“Are you sure? They don’t look ill or something?”
“Dead sure.”
“What about my brother? Did he show up in town?”
“Yes. But not much. He comes out like, once in several months, to check if the town’s in order or if anyone got any serious troubles. You see, it’s all thanks to Viscount Padt that Grue Town’s peaceful.”
“Nothing is wrong with my brother, either?”
George frowned. “Not that I can think of. If there’s something, I’d say he looks hella more strict than before. But that’s what happens when he becomes the Viscount. He can’t act like a child anymore.”
“He never had any visitors from other cities?”
“He did, but he won’t see them. Several visitors told the servants to send their regards or ask for an appointment, and you can guess, none of them got to meet with him. That’s why Jordan meant to send you away.”
Angor was glad that his family didn’t seem to be in any danger, but most of his questions still remained.
Why would Padt Manor go into isolation? More importantly, who was there releasing that aura?
George said that it all began three years ago at the Month of Resuscitation, which was just after Angor boarded The Redbud and traveled away.
Something happened to Padt Manor as soon as I left?
“You’re not worried that Grue Town’s in trouble?” he asked George.
George showed the look of hesitation and moaned. “‘course everyone’s worried. But there’s nothing we can do. Nobody talks about the Padt Family anymore, and they just do their own business. At least the viscount didn’t give us any irrational tax we have to pay. People are happy with their lives.”
Angor took another moment to consider and stood up.
“I’ll leave this guy here for the moment, Mister George,” Angor pointed to Tulu and said, “I’m going to the manor to check on everything.”
“But—”
“Surely I’m not an ‘outsider’ to my family, right?”
George sat back and nodded. He just forgot that he was talking to the young master of Padt Family, who was also Leon’s younger brother. The manor had absolutely no reason to deny Angor’s entrance.
When Angor left, George looked at Tulu, who had been staring at the floor as if there were something very interesting down there.
“You call him ‘Mister Padt’, aye, young man? Are yer friends or somethin’? What’s that... ‘magic trick’? Where’s he been to?”
Tulu showed a bitter smile since he could answer none of those questions.
“These are secrets. Without Mister Padt giving me the nod, I can’t tell you.”
George noticed Tulu’s serious look and decided not to push.
But this didn’t mean Tulu couldn’t talk about other matters.
“Mister Padt looked pretty young back there. I wonder how old is he?”
George scratched his ear as he tried to remember Angor’s age. “When the boy left Grue Town, he was only fourteen or so. I guess he just reached eighteen.”
“He’s eighteen?!” Tulu’s mouth dropped open. We’re so close in age? I never know!