“Another truth-finder after Lucas…”
Again, Angor wondered why this particular name had drawn attention from wizards who usually stayed away from public view.
He had been considering whether he should keep looking into this matter since the encounter with Jebra.
He now knew three wizards who were searching for Lucas’ information, two of whom were truth-finders. As an apprentice, he might fall into dangerous situations if he insisted on joining them.
But… he couldn’t kill his eagerness for knowledge. He just couldn’t.
After spending another night worrying about this matter, he decided to head to the Anrum Monarchy.
Curiosity killed the cat, but it was also the biggest virtue that advanced human civilization.
Still, Angor had determined a boundary for how far he would go into the matter. He would quit as soon as something that endangered his life came about.
He was “in the dark” after all. Neither Song of the Deep nor Summerdew knew he was involved. If he went to Anrum now, people would see him as a typical recruiter, which would not raise any suspicion.
For now, he was only planning on visiting several spots mentioned in Lucas’ logbook, especially the last one, where Lucas committed suicide.
Lucas’ skeleton appeared inside the “ghost ship” at Devil’s Water, which contradicted his own story. Perhaps somebody took his dead body away after his death?
Correct or not, Angor had to figure it out once he reached Anrum Monarchy.
After following the main path out of Yothur City and away from sights, Angor took out his Gondola and headed north.
Two minutes later, he landed the ship at a small bridge along a river, where a man in a mink coat was huffing air into his hands to ease the chilliness.
“Kept you waiting, Neet,” Angor spoke to him.
At Ferran, maps were considered confidential, so they were usually kept away from common citizens. This was why Angor had to ask for Neet’s guidance again. It happened that Neet had to return to Anrum to go home, so Angor took him along.
Neet turned around and instantly noticed the brilliant floating ship. His mouth fell agape.
While staying at The Limpet and working for the association, he had witnessed many supernatural individuals and the amazing powers they wielded. Yet this shiny vehicle still astonished him.
As a man from a noble clan who once fancied horses and ships alike, Neet never stopped admiring Gondola once aboard. Even though it was freezing outside, he had removed his gloves just to feel the smooth hull of the vehicle.
Even so, he did not shirk his duty of a guide in the meantime.
“We usually take the waters from Aureum to Anrum, or take a detour around Domingo State. But since we can fly, we’ll just take a straight course and go across the midlands.”
“That’s what we’ll do then,” said Angor.
Ferran Land wasn’t far from Old Earth. To cross the Blackberry Waters and Whalebone Sea, ordinary ships would probably need several more months. However, Gondola could cover the distance under a month.
There was one year to go until Angor’s “five-year promise” met its deadline. This was why Angor still had time to investigate Lucas.
Of course, he wasn’t planning on going back AT the deadline. He would save time when he could.
Gondola took them to the mentioned midlands pretty fast. The whole area was not much smaller than the entire Old Earth. However, there were no nations or states that claimed these parts, except for several primitive tribes.
“You’ll see cannibalism pretty often here,” Neet explained. “And the tribes all have powerful shamans among them. That is why no one would invade the midlands and seize the fertile lands.”
Angor knew from books that “shamans” were a certain type of supernaturals as well, and they knew how to use strange abilities. These abilities usually came from brute creatures from other planes. By devoting faith to them, the shamans could channel a small part of their might.
Also, shamans needed all sorts of materials to cast their abilities, such as human skulls.
But since shamans were native to this world, and the abilities they used weren’t that powerful, wizards usually didn’t come and bother them.
Neet kept explaining what he knew about the cultures around Ferran. Unlike the other sailors who only enjoyed alcohol when off work, Neet usually spent his time traveling around.
And Angor quite liked listening to his stories.
“The tribes aren’t completely unlettered. Many of them maintained some relationships with the outside world. Sometimes, they would even send traders to exchange resources with other nations… Hey wait, we’re at the Beast Bone Mountain already!” Neet suddenly pointed to a tall landscape not far from them. “The Tatam Tribe sits right to the south of that mountain, and it’s not far from Claire Town, the border town of Anrum. Man… we just left Yothur for a few hours! When I went to Yothur from Lost Paradise by horse, it took me a month!”
Angor looked at Neet and suddenly recalled his old self, when he was also often bewildered by all the amazing things he witnessed.
A long distance in a mortal’s view was only a brief trip to supernatural beings.
At dusk, they successfully arrived at their destination, Lost Paradise City, which was the capital of Anrum Monarchy.
Neet was still questioning the reality when walking off the boat. He was having breakfast together with Charles at the mayor’s mansion, and he was home in another country in the evening!
Lost Paradise City looked similar in size as Midnight Sovereign. As the sky grew dark, the whole city went brighter like some of the most beautiful cities Angor saw in Earth documentaries.
“Anrum owns several large Luminous Stone mines. Well, you see how well these lights performed,” Neet explained, after recovering from his trance.
Following Neet, Angor entered the well-lit city while listening to Neet describing the local cultures as well as the importance of Luminous Stones.
Apart from light sources, Angor also saw the colorful objects used for bridges, pets, or house decorations. He even saw a large rainbow-like structure that was built on top of a circus tent.
“Like the Marcel Statues, Luminous Stone is like the signature of Anrum,” said Neet. “Shall we head to my house, sir? We can spend the night there.”
Neet knew that Angor came to recruit. Even though he himself wasn’t talented, he wished that Angor could test on his family members, or at least appreciate their hospitality.
Angor was going to head to Widow’s Street where Lucas’ private house was supposed to be. Or at least where it used to be. But Lucas was a man from 3,000 years ago. Perhaps the street was no more.
In order to dig deeper into history, Angor had to talk to nobles. And since Neet claimed that his family originated from a traditional noble clan from the Age of Gold…
“Sure, if it’s fine.” Angor agreed to the offer.
