“Auri, you stay here and instruct them what they need to know, such as the layout of the Old Earth and our rules at Padt Manor.”
Angor, Leon, and Mana then left the main hall and saw many servants trying to peek inside.
“Now that we accepted them, we need to determine where to keep them,” Angor said when they were far away from other servants.
“We have unused rooms on the third or fourth floor,” said Mana. “I can clean them up later.”
“The Krakoks are members of Grue Town, but not our clan. Should we keep them with us?”
“What’s your opinion?” asked Leon.
“As I said, they are natural builders and crafters. We need only find them a piece of land somewhere, and they’ll start up a new home in no time. Before it happens, they can stay inside their apartment.”
Angor was thinking about Papaya’s old home in the Soul Genesis Garden, the Seedling Village. The entire place was centered around the trunk of a giant Cranbul Tree, and using “wooden elevators”, they managed to achieve multiple levels.
Leon agreed with Angor without a problem. They surely couldn’t lock the residents of Grue Town in their manor at all times.
In the end, Leon found a patch of grassland beside the tea garden as a temporary territory for the Krakoks. There was a large camellia tree that would keep the Krakoks free from wind, while the fertile earth and a small trench nearby would help them with farming.
After showing the area to Kumomo and sending several servants to remove garbage and weeds, Leon went to sit in the mottled shadow of the tree, while Angor leaned against the tree trunk.
While enjoying the warm spring wind, Angor felt as if he returned to his early years again.
“Remember when we played tag before?” Leon gave the tree an impassioned look. “You couldn’t climb trees then, so I’d just sit up there and watch you run in circles. If I remembered right, you even cried once.”
“That was because you were throwing acorns at me.” Angor was a bit annoyed when his embarrassing history was brought up.
“I did?” Leon smiled and showed a pair of dimples that somewhat ruined his hard-boiled image.
“Never mind that. What’s your plan for the future? I guess your spirit level went past ten already. Will you go to the Valley of Hurricane with Mister Thewis?”
“Not sure. He didn’t say that I’m his real student yet.” Leon shrugged. “I think I’ll stay here. There are so many things and people who need me.”
“I thought you always dreamed of traveling around this world?”
“Not now. Not yet.”
Leon leaned back and fell on the grass on his back while looking at the sky with a calm smile. Even so, his unyielding thirst for freedom was still clear to be seen.
Head Maid Mana had finished her work and took all 77 Krakoks to Angor. Angor then told her to go and arrange relevant matters with the Krakoks herself.
“You have more things to say?” Leon noticed that his brother was asking for privacy.
“There is one thing. Apart from the Krakoks, I brought back one extra.”
“Really?”
“He’s also a crafter, in a sense. But there’s a problem. He has a very bad taste for art, and he tends to act up a lot. But he’ll help us greatly if we only look at his skills.”
“You mean this man’s going to live with us too?” Leon sat up.
Angor nodded and summoned a small figure beside his legs.
Before Leon could see who it was, he heard the man’s voice first.
“How dare you take the building away and leave me alone?! It was so damn boring! You promised you’d take me to a rich place, but you locked me in that empty bracelet of yours!”
Leon looked around in confusion before he looked down and saw a small man dragging on Angor’s pants.
“Why is he so short?”
“Who are you calling short?! I’m the honorable prince of Fibbers! I’m going to f*cking kill you for that!”
Nano rushed at Leon aggressively, but he was easily pushed away by Leon, single-handedly.
“But Mister Viscount is telling the truth. You ARE short,” a strange voice said from on top of the tree.
Leon looked up and saw a tiny Krakok girl in a yellow skirt swinging on a leaf.
“Watch what you’re saying, Latata! No one’s gonna marry a big mouth like you!” Nano screamed while stomping the ground in rage. “I’m seven times bigger than you!”
“But we’re in the right size to be fairies, while you look like a dwarf to humans!” Latata didn’t hold back, and she kept adding more fuel to the fire.
Angor ignored the argument and said to Leon, “This is what they always do. Thank goodness I can’t hear them when they are in the bracelet, or I’d never find time to sleep.”
Compared to the yelling guests, Leon was more interested in another matter he just heard. “Are you referring to that bracelet on your wrist?”
Leon once heard about “space storage items” from Thewis. He knew these were extremely valuable tools that even wizards could not afford easily.
He was already curious about how Angor could keep food and even creatures in a secret mobile stash. However, he didn’t know whether it was okay to ask.
“Yeah, a storage bracelet.” Angor considered and used a voice transmission to talk to Leon. “I made it myself. When you learned how to control your spirit power, I’ll get you one as well.”
“Are you sure about—”
“I made more than one. Toby also has his own storage. These things are not hard to make at all.”
What? But my teacher said the opposite, that these items are rare! Leon wasn’t sure which one he should believe.
Next, Angor pointed to Nano as he said, “This short one here is called Nano—”
“Stop calling me short, you a*s! I’m the prince of all Fibbers!” Nano protested before he turned around to shout at Latata again.
“He’s a Fibber, a humanoid race born with a great talent for art and creativity, especially tailoring.”
“Did he tailor that green hat, red suit, and pink undershirt on his own?” asked Leon in a doubtful manner.
“Yeah.” Angor nodded. “The colors are off, but everything else is fine. Nano is a good crafter as long as you don’t mind his painting.”
“I-I see...”
“Hey, Mister Viscount!” Latata called while sitting on a tree branch. “Nano gave us a lot of stuff to wear, including my dress! He’s pretty nice, just a little color blind.”
Latata did a pirouette and let everyone look at her golden, striped skirt better.
Leon nodded. He would admit that the design appeared rather good, if not luxurious.
Nano was still complaining aloud, “Who’s color blind, huh?! My color is THE BEST! That thing on you is supposed to be a masterpiece, but you cut it into a simple, yellow piece of sh*t! You ruined it!”
Angor sighed helplessly. “There he goes again. He has some... language management problems, but he’s not half bad.”
Leon let out a dishonest chuckle.
“He wasn’t lying. He was the prince of his people, but he then went through some trouble and ended up with me. I did promise to grant him a peaceful life. So here I am.”
“Is there a reason you agreed to such a thing? And do you mean we need to like, treat him like a real prince?”
“No. He knows how to earn his own meals.” Angor dragged Nano over and introduced Leon to him. “I did say you won’t get your life for free. From now on, Viscount Padt here will assess your products and grant you rewards accordingly. If you want to be rich, work harder.”
Nano gave Leon an unfriendly stare—he was still mad about how Leon called him short. But since Leon would be the one who determined his wealth, he chose to stay quiet.
Nano then closed his eyes and lifted a hand. Several strands appeared from the middle of his palm.
Leon watched in shock as Nano skillfully weaved the raw threads into a piece of luster silk. It was a warm spring day, yet Leon could almost feel chilly air radiating off the glossy material.
“Fibbers can produce silk like this,” Angor explained. “The silk doesn’t have any magical properties yet, but a piece of such a size will still earn you at least two magic crystals, or three if you sell it to a wizard. As for selling it to mortals...” Angor stroked his chin. “Several thousand gold coins perhaps...”