He felt something off with the crown. Or rather, it was the Mystery energy emitted from the crown that seemed out of place.
He couldn’t tell what exactly was wrong. For now, he only knew that the crown felt different compared to the Dream Whelk. The Mystery energy on the crown wasn’t natural.
He thought and decided not to tell Thewis about it. There was no point. Eureka had held the crown for a long time, which meant she should know everything about the item.
As of now, Angor still had zero clues about the crown’s true effect. What was it used for?
“Ugh, I should forget about all these.”
Neither the crown nor Goman King had anything to do with him after all. He didn’t wish to add more burden to his already stressful life.
He spent an entire night composing a book at his desk. Using a simple cantrip for speeding up writing efficiency, he finished a moderate-sized tutorial book by early morning—Tips and Notes for Beginner Apprentices. Angor had this plan in mind as soon as he learned that Leon would be studying Bloodline Art.
Most wizards who accepted apprentices would not give them much direct training. After learning about some simple and perhaps abstract knowledge, these students would rely on themselves to find what they needed.
Thewis, who was busy protecting Eureka and the Crimson Crown, was unlikely to do a thorough job as a teacher. And Leon wouldn’t be leaving Padt Manor any time soon. To help Leon find a proper training method in time, Angor prepared the tutorial as soon as he could.
Apart from his personal experience as an apprentice, Angor also recorded a lot of basic know-how helpful to different subjects, including Alchemy and Runecraft. If somehow Leon could study these, Angor would happily teach him.
To make sure there wasn’t anything he got incorrectly or overlooked, he would like to ask someone else to check the book.
After covering his room under the effect of Geometric Lock, he took the book into the dream wasteland and found Freud on the top floor of Skyward Tower.
There was a woman wearing a uniform skirt discussing city affairs with Freud. She obviously wasn’t happy about Angor’s untimely arrival, but she was stopped by Freud before she could offer her protest.
“Welcome back, sir!” Freud joined Angor with a big smile.
“Even busier than before, I guess?” Angor looked at Freud’s desk where lots of files were waiting to be dealt with.
“It’s fine. I already found several citizens to administrate the city for me. These are various plans and changes they came up with to make the city better. I’ll read them and pick someone as the mayor. After that, I’ll be free!”
Freud told the uniformed woman to leave the room using eye contact.
She looked like the professional type who knew how to read the situation. Without a word, she bowed to Angor and excused herself.
“Is that...”
Angor recognized her. That was the woman who could accept the power of “Gatekeeper”.
“That’s Monroe, sir. When you mentioned that she could potentially accept a ‘rule’, I paid some close attention to her, and it was worth it. She’s a born leader.” Freud shook his head. “Many people noticed the dream wasteland being different than before, but they usually kept their true thoughts from me. The plans and construction designs they gave me might work well in other places, but they don’t suit our case. Monroe, however, has a clear insight of the city and can tell me some really neat suggestions. If I must pick the mayor right now, I’d give the job to her.”
Curious, Angor picked up Monroe’s papers and checked. Meanwhile, he asked Freud to check Tips and Notes for Beginner Apprentices for flaws.
It seemed Freud was taking his time, so Angor picked up several more urban plans and read.
Freud was right. Monroe saw things clearer than the other candidates even though some of her ideas weren’t realistic.
Throughout history, rulers appreciated having smart attendants, but not too smart.
The rest of the candidates Freud selected were the “just right” type, who knew what to say and what not to say. Everything they came up with was sound. Not particularly productive, but they were balanced.
Monroe, however, bluntly clarified her opinions for as much as she could. She knew this world was for the dead, and that the citizens were pioneers who would build their paradise for the afterlife.
In the real world, having a member in the league speaking so straightforwardly might annoy the higher-ups. But here, Angor preferred that the citizens showed their resourcefulness to the best extent to benefit the city. It was not like these mortals could overthrow him after all.
According to Freud, Monroe used to be an experienced patron who dealt with countless social occasions and royal gatherings. She naturally knew how to behave properly when serving someone more powerful.
Yet she still chose to be frank.
Some of her proposals really tickled Angor’s fancy. For example, Monroe claimed that the city must have a history or story behind it—either real or made-up—so that people had something to believe in.
She also said that people needed books and education, about which everyone would agree.
Telling from Freud’s attitude, Monroe would be elected as the mayor as long as nothing else went wrong.
Personally, Angor hoped that the Foundation City could turn into a lovely place so that Jon could enjoy a better life too.
“What do you think? They did fine, right?” Freud put down Angor’s tutorial book.
“Yeah. Good job too. Monroe is a good one.”
Freud nodded and began offering several opinions regarding Angor’s book. As someone who spent a lot more time in the wizarding world than Angor, Freud offered lots of valuable advice, including some wisdom on how to train Bloodline Users, because he used to work with Bloodline Art apprentices back at Tower of Hurricane.
With Freud’s help, Angor’s “Tips and Notes for Beginner Apprentices (2nd revision)” came out.
“This should be more than sufficient for a level-1 or level-2 apprentice. Man, if I had something like this before, I could have reached my level way faster,” Freud exclaimed.
“Good. I’ll give this to Leon and go back to the Fey Continent.”
“Um, Mister Padt? Can you come to the Land of Revelation on your way?” Freud suddenly asked.
“What for?”
Freud looked a bit embarrassed. “That launcher only had less than 10 charges left. Now I can’t leave the dream wasteland unless necessary. Otherwise, I won’t be able to return if the item is fully spent.”
As Angor remembered, the fully-charged launcher could be used 979 times. It seemed Freud almost used it up after taking so many citizens here.
“Alright.” Angor agreed. “It just happens that I need to pay Lloyds a visit along the way.”