Warlock Apprentice

Arthur just understood why Merlin said all wizards were evil creatures. He slowly shielded Merlin behind him, since the two strangers he was looking at were probably “wizards” as well.

“… What do you want? Are you with those guys on the flying iceberg?”

“Flying iceberg? Well, you can call it that way. Note that we have nothing to do with it. That’s a vehicle used by Moonfrost Union,” the “master” answered them. “My name is Pustin, by the way. And this is Codex. We overheard your conversation, so we came to check. We meant no harm.

“And Codex? We should get going. There’s still some distance until we can reach Parmigi Highlands. Hopefully, we can get back to the organization before the end of this year.”

“Master, try to work hard and unlock more properties for me, by which time I can simply carry you there. It’s faster.”

“By which time I can well afford a flying vehicle that is obviously better than sitting on you.” Pustin glared at Codex before the two of them headed toward the northeast, where the flying ice disappeared to.

“Those guys are just passing by?” Arthur watched them leaving with a confused look. He remembered something and called out, “Hey! Are you going into the Evernight Kingdom?”

Codex turned around and nodded.

“But they said that there are dark monsters all over the place, and some kind of mad virus spreading!”

Pustin also looked back. “Thanks for the reminder. We won’t be staying there for too long.”

“But—”

Arthur had something else to tell, but he found it difficult to speak up all of a sudden.

It was Merlin who helped by speaking, “Can we become wizards too? Can you teach us?”

Arthur gave his friend a shocked look. You want to join them?! But it was a wizard who hurt you!

“You are hoping to become a wizard too, aren’t you?” Merlin saw through Arthur’s thoughts.

“I—”

“The old wizard took my eyes and used them, which meant I can do the same if I become a wizard. If it means regaining my sight, I’ll try it, even if wizards are evil,” said Merlin.

Pustin and Codex stepped back to them.

“We don’t define wizards as good or evil easily. But it’s completely correct to say that all wizards are greedy when they see a profit. A wizard ripped your eyes away, does it make him evil? Not really. An ‘evil’ wizard will not let you live after what he did. What he did was seeking profit. You had the profit he needed, so he took it.”

Merlin grew silent after listening to Codex’s words.

“Less nonsense, if you would,” Pustin protested. “You won’t think in this way if you’re the victim.”

“Come on. I’m a book, and a book is meant to tell nonsense, yeah?”

Pustin shook his head and spoke to Merlin, “He’s right about one thing, that all wizards are eagerly after profit. So am I. You want to become wizards? Of course I can help you. But be ready to pay the price.”

“Price?” Arthur quickly stepped up. “Anything. I’ll cover Merlin’s if I can, just tell us what we have to do.”

“Such lovely friendship…” Codex smirked. “They remind me of your old friend, Master.”

When Merlin and Arthur almost started a fight over who should make the sacrifice, Pustin quickly stopped them by saying, “That’s not what I meant. I only need you two to agree to one condition.”

Arthur and Merlin both turned his way.

“When the time comes, I need you to put a new ‘code’ into my Dark Codex.”

“Um, what is—”

Pustin reached out a hand, and the gentleman beside him melted into a thick-covered book and landed on it.

“This is the Dark Codex.”

Arthur wasn’t too surprised to see this since he already saw this strange man speaking in a woman’s body a moment ago. He curiously checked the cover, but he failed to recognize a single word on it, except for the author’s name, which was written in the universal language.

[Sailum Pustin]

…

Knock, knock!

Goode opened Angor’s door. “Mister Padt, Miss Madelyne is here.”

“I’ll be there right away.”

Today was when Angor was going to head to the Abyss Plane. He had done all the necessary preparations, except for one.

He looked at the miniature bed on his nightstand, inside which Toby was napping in his panda costume. The suit was so nicely done that it worked well as pajamas too.

“Hey, time to go.” Angor nudged the bird awake. “You can always stay here, you know. The Abyss doesn’t sound fun anyway.”

Toby glared at him—You’re not getting rid of me this easily.

“Heh. Thanks, partner.”

When it was finally time for action, Angor realized that he wasn’t actually mentally prepared for the coming mission. As he heard, the Abyss Plane hid way more danger than the wizarding world, such as Grand Demons. Even the weakest Grand Demon could defeat a legendary wizard when the time was right. Not to mention that the southern wizarding world didn’t have any legendary wizard in a long time, while many Grand Demons were still well-known in the Abyss.

Angor couldn’t help but feel something sowing fear into his heart when thinking about what he might run into.

At least he wasn’t alone. With Toby by his side, he felt greatly comforted.

He took a deep breath and stepped out of the door.

“Mister Padt, are you sure…”

Goode still had his mask on, but his anxiety was clear.

“No problem. I’m just going to visit my professor and get back immediately. Is there something you need to tell him? I can pass the message for you.”

“… No.” As the butler of Phantom Island, Goode was used to being away from Sunders. Besides, Sunders was only absent for less than two years, which wasn’t that long.

…

Angor came to the guest hall and saw “Raging Thorn” Madelyne being a quiet gentlewoman despite the way she was referred to.

Even when talking, the witch appeared humble and friendly, unlike typical cocky wizards.

She came from a wizard clan. That must be what made her so different, Angor thought.

It seemed Madelyne had a lot of questions to ask of Angor, though she didn’t bring them up right now since they had ample time in the next few days.

“I just learned that the escort team of Moonfrost Union has arrived at the border of the Evernight Kingdom. They’ll be here soon enough.”

“Evernight Kingdom?” Angor frowned. “I heard that the passage they usually used is in another direction.”

“Before they carry all the resources to the Abyss, they’re responsible for distributing what they found in the Abyss to other organizations first. They need to follow a specific route according to their agreement. This is why many organizations agreed to assist in the first place. Telling from their current position, I guess that they had just done unloading something at Moxa Westland.”

“I see…”

The name “Moxa Westland” reminded Angor of Hermes and Loki. He wondered how these two were doing after the Purification Garden challenge.

“Let’s move. We can talk on our way.” Madelyne stood up. “A friend told me that you have a lovely flying boat. Mind giving us a ride? That would save us some strength.”

Angor nodded and complied.

“Ha. No wonder why so many women sent you letters to ask you to make stuff for them.” Madelyne couldn’t help but admire the dazzling vehicle as everyone else who saw it for the first time did.

As Gondola left the territory of Phantom Island, a man walking on the sky bridge below, who was wearing a panda suit, suddenly looked up.

“Weird. The guidance of fate is off again?”