Angor was currently standing at the entrance of Padt Manor, smelling the flowers of a cherry tree on the other side of the fence.
He didn’t get to enjoy the scent of his home for very long because he sensed someone watching him.
He looked up and saw a pair of glimmering eyes hidden behind the flowers of the tree.
With a simple flicker of mind, he created a small gust of wind and unleashed it at the cherry tree.
A chunky-looking owl hopped into his view and escaped further into the manor using a pair of small wings that didn’t seem enough to support its weight.
“Was that bird wearing a monocle?”
What he feared had come true. Since neither common owls nor monster owls would wear glasses, the owl he saw was probably someone’s familiar.
There was an apprentice or wizard in Padt Manor.
He couldn’t help but assume the worst, that whoever had been staying here already discovered Jon’s mysteries.
“Shut off my home like that... I’m going to find you no matter what.”
Without waiting any longer, he opened the fence gate and walked inside.
Just beyond the gate was a patch of wheat field where a servant was working. The servant thought someone returned from the markets and was going to help carry the goods. But when he saw it was a stranger, he quickly made a “shoo” sign.
“Where’s Old George? He let a wanderer slip!” The servant checked the cherry tree nearby anxiously and showed a relaxed look when he didn’t find the owl watching him. “Quickly, go back, young friend. Leave before the Watcher sees you!”
“You... don’t know who I am?” Angor checked the servant and failed to recognize this man.
The servant wanted to push Angor out of the gate, but Angor moved aside to avoid him.
“Who’s this ‘Watcher’? Is it an owl?” asked Angor.
“You saw it?!” The servant showed a terrified look. “There-there’s no saving you now, I’m afraid. Goddammit. What is George doing?!”
He then gave Angor a sympathetic look and returned to his work.
“Where’s Viscount Padt?” Angor asked another question.
“You know the viscount? Sigh, that won’t help now. Even the viscount can’t get you out of trouble. You broke the rules...” the servant muttered and stepped further away.
Angor didn’t wish to waste time on this uninformative farmer and walked ahead.
He suddenly heard a sharp bird call and saw the escaping owl gazing at him from above.
“Who’s controlling you?” Angor saw the owl’s eyes and could immediately tell that the creature was not an alchemy pet. It was someone’s summoned familiar.
The owl didn’t respond. Instead, it puffed up its feathers as its monocled eye shined brightly. A fireball was suddenly unleashed from the strange ornament, and it was aiming at Angor’s position.
A giant hand materialized in the sky and slapped the attack away before it could get to its target.
“Using elemental attacks at Old Earth? You’re either too confident or stupid,” Angor said as he controlled his Hand of Spell to capture the owl.
The owl tried to get away again by flying higher, but it was suddenly stopped by a suppressing aura.
Another small, gray-feathered bird was right above its position, gazing at it with a pair of crimson eyes that showed a glint of mockery.
Angor’s Hand of Spell reached the owl and pulled it down to the ground before it could run.
He listened to the owl’s panicked yelp and showed a cruel look. “I know you can understand human speech. Tell me where you came from and who your master is. Or I’ll just kill you and go find out the answers myself.”
The farming servant from earlier heard the ruckus and thought the “Watcher” came and disposed of the young visitor. But when he didn’t hear anyone screaming in a long time, he took a peek and was terrified to see that the visitor was somehow holding the powerful Watcher in his hand.
He didn’t see Angor “holding” the owl. It was as if the bird was shackled by something in the air he couldn’t see.
The servant knew the situation was definitely not something he could meddle with, so he lowered his stance to hide in the wheat field better.
“It’s repeating ‘death to the intruder’ and nothing else?” Angor looked at Toby, who was working as his translator. “I have no other choice then.”
He used a Nightmare Fear to put the owl into complete disarray before he walked toward the manor building. Despite his words earlier, he didn’t plan to kill the owl for real yet. At least not now.
The castle-like manor was well in his view when he moved past the cultivated fields. Apart from the strange aura in the air, which was still troubling his sensations, nothing changed much in the place.
There was another level of protective fence outside the castle building. Angor walked to it and saw more servants moving back and forth, including someone he recognized, such as Auri, who used to take care of his daily necessaries.
It seemed Auri was going to tend to the tea garden at this hour. Since the tea garden was somewhere near the farming area, she needed to walk through the inner gate protecting the castle. This was when she saw someone standing there.
She didn’t recognize Angor’s taller image at first, but as she moved closer, her old memories quickly came back.
For a moment, she remained silent and wasn’t sure whether she should call that name, as if doing so would wake her up from the sweet dream she was witnessing.
“Are you...” After waiting for a long time, she finally decided to say something.
“How are you, Auri?” Angor showed a big smile to her. “Why is your face still swollen?”
Auri teared up upon hearing the familiar speech she used to hear a lot four years ago. “How many times do I have to tell you this, young master? I just have round cheeks. This is not swelling!”
“Doesn’t look much different to me.” Angor shrugged.
More servants heard their conversation and looked their way as they all showed similar excitement when they saw who had come.
The gathering crowd soon attracted another figure, Head Maid Mana, who also approached Angor while covering her mouth in disbelief.
Mana wished to present her warm greeting to Angor as well, but before she could do so, she saw two birds above them—a small gray bird and a fat owl caught in the first bird’s talons.
“Quickly, go and summon the viscount here. Tell him Master Angor has returned!” Mana ordered one of the bystanders before she stepped up. “Master An—”
Angor pushed her away forcefully.
As soon as he did, the other servants nearby screamed in horror when they heard the sharp sound of something slashing past the air.
Auri quickly went to Mana and helped her up. There was a small crater right beside Mana’s feet as if something just dug a hole in the ground.
“Chief Mana! I-I think Master Angor is fighting the Watcher,” Auri explained in a trembling voice.
The owl, which had been hypnotized by Angor’s cantrip, somehow woke up with a completely different look than before. Its feathers were now shiny and golden, and they grew sharper like knives.
Angor avoided several feather attacks by sidestepping.
The owl suddenly unleashed a larger swarm of golden feathers at Angor, which successfully found their mark this time. But instead of leaving some bloody marks on Angor’s body, the feathers slowly fell to the ground as Angor’s “body” vanished from view.
“You just took control of the creature, right? Who are you?”
The owl heard Angor’s voice coming from directly behind it and quickly jerked its head 180-degree. When it saw Angor floating right next to it, it spat a stream of fire at Angor.
Again, the attack only hit an illusion.
The owl repeated several more fruitless attacks and slowly grew irritated, which caused it to chase after Angor’s illusions more madly.
Meanwhile, Angor quietly left the dangerous area and moved to Mana’s side.
“What-what’s going on with the Watcher, Master Angor?” Mana saw Angor coming to her and asked.
“Just a small trick. Who’s that thing? Are my brother and my teacher alright?”
“Your brother’s fine. I already asked someone to get him. As for Mister Jon... I don’t know. I never saw him again ever since you put him in an ice coffin. As for the Watcher, I can’t tell you either. Please ask Viscount Leon when he comes. He can explain better than any of us.”
The rampaging owl suddenly stopped moving as someone’s cold voice was heard from its position.
“Illusions, huh? Who are you?”
Angor quickly looked at the creature again and noticed that the owl could now see through the illusions he deployed.