Gondola smoothly cruised past the clear sky, while Angor and Thewis sat facing each other in awkward silence.
Thewis looked awfully displeased when he found out that the Mystery energy he felt earlier came from the Dream Whelk. Although Angor wasn’t going to ask why. When he learned that they were both heading to Grue Town, he offered Thewis a “ride” with him.
Unlike Eureka, Thewis in his top condition could easily prevent Angor from escaping. This was why Angor decided to play it safe.
As for what to do next...
In Angor’s view, Thewis’ arrival would definitely cause a change in his plan. Both Eureka and Leon had told him that Thewis was curious about Jon’s nature.
He had to think of a way to keep both Jon and himself safe.
His previous plan was to fully prepare his dream wasteland before putting Jon in there. Now that Thewis already returned, he made up his mind that he’d take Jon immediately, regardless of Jon’s opinion or whether Jon’s body could be cured.
Meanwhile, Thewis kept an eye on Angor while also feeling terrible because he just wasted precious materials to use a plane passageway, only to find the most useless Mystery item known in this world.
It was pretty reasonable that Angor, an “Upcoming Mystery Alchemist”, showed interest in this item. But the whelk was mostly pointless to anyone else.
Thewis would have beaten the whelk’s owner to death if it were a common apprentice. Yet he couldn’t do so since he already decided to befriend Angor, a promising alchemist who was likely to provide him with great profit in the future.
Or, he could reason with Angor and hopefully get a “refund” for his loss. However, he was far from justifiable because spending the precious materials on a plane passageway was entirely his own decision. Angor was not responsible at all.
And when Thewis could neither exert violence nor justify himself using words, his only choice was to bear with the frustration in silence.
Just like this, the journey continued somewhat peacefully with the two passengers on the boat having different mindsets.
Later, it was Thewis who decided to say something. He would suck it up and forget about the sad deal. For now, he planned to ascertain Angor’s attitude toward him, and perhaps figure out why Angor had been giving him that odd look.
“This flying boat is... lovely.”
Thewis meant those words. As soon as he saw the artful decorations on the vehicle, he couldn’t help but imagine what it would look like if the boat sailed under the moon and stars at night.
“Back at Silver Palm Isle, I saw some wizards from Brute Cavern who used different vehicles. Did you make this boat yourself?”
Angor nodded without a second thought. It was obvious that Thewis did investigation before and knew he was an alchemist.
“You went to Silver Palm Isle, Mister Thewis?” Angor was quite surprised to hear this being mentioned.
“You know that place too?” Thewis narrowed his eyes at Angor.
“When traveling on a ship of the White Clam Company, I passed through Devil’s Water and saw Silver Palm along the way. We didn’t get close though, because a Leviathan was there. Later, I heard that some sort of terrible incident happened there. Jebra told me.”
“Something did happen. Let’s say... A fool found a great treasure and tried to take it all by himself, only to lose everything in the end.” Thewis grinned. “Jebra, you say? The student of ‘God of Seas’? You know each other?”
“We’ve met several times, but no, we’re not friends. Should I say, the encounters weren’t pleasant.”
Thewis suddenly remembered the fat man from Song of the Deep. He was still wondering why Song of the Deep sent someone across the four seas. Could it have something to do with Angor?
He then put this matter behind his mind and mentioned Leon, and Angor would also like to know Thewis’ opinion regarding Leon.
As Thewis explained Leon’s situation, Angor was glad to see that Thewis actually prized Leon’s potential.
“Did you give Leon his talent test yet, Mister Thewis?” By this, Angor wanted to know whether Thewis was going to accept Leon as a student for real.
“A basic one only, which confirmed for me that Leon is talented in Bloodline Art. For more detailed tests, I have to wait until I find the proper tools.
“Leon is pretty good, I’d say. But compared to him, YOU are several levels better.” Thewis suddenly changed the focus back to Angor. “You left the Marginalized Island as a mortal just less than five years ago, am I right? And you gained such amazing progress in both alchemy and other training.” He gave Angor a meaningful and somewhat serious look. “You are not far from becoming a wizard.”
Thewis was right. Angor could feel that he would soon reach the peak of his current level. He didn’t know why, but his strength was growing unnaturally as the wounds he received the other day healed, even though he didn’t do any particular training these days.
It was as if his newly-gained “projection bloodline” was boosting his level whether he liked it or not.
His previous schedule suggested that he’d reach the peak of level-3 in three years or so. But right now, he feared that he’d jump to that stage as soon as the projection bloodline in his body showed its full capability, which was probably soon.
“I’ve been blessed by a brilliant destiny, sir. As for becoming a wizard... I’m not sure. I have hardly finished the necessary studies.”
“A destiny only aids you when you can afford enough effort and resolution to go with it. Like alchemy materials. No matter how effective and valuable they are, you always need to work with them on your own, no? Speaking of alchemy, I also heard rumors that you made a high-tier creation that astounded the entire wizarding world...”
Angor knew where this was going. Though he still hoped he was wrong.
“May I have a look at it?” Thewis finished.
Angor looked down...
When making Ocean Tuner, he thought the illusion was only for Lady Mirror and not anyone else, so he copied the looks of handsome wizards provided by Lady Mirror without much of a thought.
Now he wasn’t sure whether he should show Thewis the illusion.
He looked at the floor, sweating, while trying to think of an excuse.
The truth was, Thewis wasn’t asking to check Ocean Tuner for real. He was only looking for chances to praise Angor’s alchemy skills.
But Angor’s strange reaction got him suspicious.
The sound of horse hooves and someone yelling suddenly interrupted their thoughts as they both looked below.
They had arrived at Grue Town. The sound was caused by a team of knights in silver armor riding out of Padt Manor. Even Head Maid Mana was with them.
“What the... Why are our house knights leaving like that?” Angor noticed Mana’s worried look and suddenly had a bad feeling.
A red shadow suddenly emerged from the distance and was heading their way. In a matter of seconds, Eureka floated to Gondola and gave Thewis a delightful look, while Thewis also returned the affection by smiling at her.
Angor suddenly felt that he shouldn’t be here.
Before coming to the Old Earth, Angor heard it from others that Thewis was supposed to be hunting Eureka down. Later, he learned from Leon that Thewis and Eureka might be engaged in some kind of secret agreement, so they worked together.
But... Telling from their current looks, they were ACTUALLY engaged?
All the gossip magazines would get crazy over this should they hear about it!
Eureka and Thewis spent a full minute tending to their lover’s needs before they noticed Angor looking, who quickly turned away and pretended he didn’t exist.