Warlock Apprentice

Angor quite admired Pierre’s effort for providing his slaves, who were also his friends, with a better future in this cruel world. Jon once lectured him on the subject of human rights and similar affairs. Regardless, Angor already knew that the wizarding world did not obey such mortal disciplines.

However, he still appreciated it that someone like Pierre was there to strive for the better.

Angor assumed that most of the slaves here were homeless wanderers who once lived better lives. They were lucky to have found Pierre, who was quite different from the common slavers found in this world.

“Most of my men do not ask for too much. A safe and stable life is all they need. Some of them have special needs such as helping them kill someone for revenge or setting them free after a certain period of time,” Pierre explained via voice transmission while Nano was still bragging about his brilliant designs. “But… Nano is a bit different. He doesn’t want freedom or an enemy dead.”

“What is it then?”

Seeing Angor getting interested, Pierre wondered if this young guest would actually accept the extra rules.

“Ahem. Truth is, Nano’s home country was destroyed by another nation, during which he was captured as a prisoner and then sold to others. After serving different people for many years, he came here, the wizarding world. He didn’t want to experience the life of a slave ever again, so his demand is to have someone who can provide him with a peaceful lifestyle. He doesn’t need to be rich. As long as he doesn’t have to worry about food, then that’s enough.”

Pierre blushed while speaking. Those words sounded as if the slave was asking for an easy life in which he didn’t need to work too much. Everybody wanted that!

Fearing that his guest would get bothered by it, Pierre quickly began to introduce Nano’s qualities, “Trust me, Nano is an able worker. As the prince of Fibbers, he’s a master at weaving and carving. Those skills are no worse than Crystal Folks, as long as you don’t ask him to build houses.”

Angor chuckled and tapped a finger at a table that was painted in both red lines and irregular white spots all over it as if someone accidentally spilled their paint can.

“Ahem!” Pierre blushed again. “Yes, as you can see, his… taste, is a bit different than others when it comes to colors. But everything else is fine! You can let him do the crafting and complete the finishing touch on your own!”

“Why don’t I just do everything myself then?” Angor scoffed.

Pierre rolled his eyes as he thought about a new idea. “Oh right, Nano has another great talent!”

Angor looked at the Fibber again. It seemed Nano noticed that Pierre was explaining the situation to the guest in private, so he had stopped talking. Nano was now staring at Angor in both disdain and a little bit of expectation.

“All Fibbers can produce silk. Nano, as the prince of his folks, can create silk that equals to the best-quality ones you can buy from mortals. And of course, if you give him the proper resources and training, he might be able to generate tiered materials for you,” Pierre said. He pointed at a window curtain nearby and added, “This, and that scarf he’s wearing, is made from his own silk.”

Angor already noticed the said items. Putting their destructive color designs aside, the texture of the silk looked extremely gentle and soft. Even the tiniest air current would trigger their smooth movement.

“Can I check them out?” Angor asked.

“… Go ahead.” Nano agreed even though his expression looked the opposite.

Angor noticed that Nano was in fact very proud that someone liked his works, but the Fibber tried not to show it.

Angor moved to put a hand on the curtain and realized that the material was rather comfortable on the touch. The fine threads felt colder than the environment and sent a mind-soothing pleasure through his finger.

He considered and tried to apply some mana power to the curtain. It turned out that the material was a perfect mana conductor as well.

It wasn’t a tiered material, but it was strong enough to sustain weaker runes already.

As far as Angor could see, this Fibber could provide him with silk for crafting alchemy clothes. In the future, if he no longer needed Nano, he could always send Nano back home so that the Padt Family could use the special talent to create another line of business.

With that in mind, Angor returned to Nano and said, “I’ve heard about your requirements from Pierre, and I have no problem with them.”

“Really? How do you prove that?” Nano looked doubtful.

“If nothing else goes wrong, I’ll take you to my family. They’re all mortals, and you will easily earn a job. I will not tell them that you’re a slave. As long as you make yourself worthy, you can get the life you want.”

Nano pondered and quickly felt convinced by Angor’s offer. It was true that finding a peaceful life with a group of traditional nobles was quite easy.

However…

“I can’t tell if you’re telling the truth. I have one more condition to ask if you want me to work for you.”

Pierre grew visibly restless when he saw Nano being so demanding. The fat salesman kept sending hints to Nano by using eye language.

It was Angor who saw Pierre’s attempt first. “No matter. I’ll hear it.”

Nano took a moment to consider. “I want to know who you are. If you want to be my future owner, at least show me your face, will ya?”

Angor was quite surprised to hear the simple request. He kept his face hidden until now so as not to draw attention in Cork Street.

“Alright,” Angor said and lifted his hood without a second thought, thus revealing his young yet elegant face.

“You—” Nano covered his mouth as he quickly recalled the individual described by many trending articles and reports. In fact, a magazine he was reading earlier today had Angor’s face printed on its cover.

“You’re Angor Padt?!”

“The one and only.” Angor nodded. “You just wanted to learn who I am, right? Now it’s your turn to make decisions.”

Nano had actually prepared several more questions, but he chose not to reveal them for now. He really wished to accept Angor’s offer as long as he could make sure that Angor wasn’t going to torture him like common slavers. Now that he had seen Angor’s face, he believed that the rumored Sunders’ student wasn’t someone who would deceive people so easily.

“I-can I ask something else? It’s just a small question, not another condition.”

“Go ahead.” Angor frowned a little but didn’t protest.

“The-the magazines said that the disciple of ‘God of Seas’, Jebra, is your enemy. Will he harm your family someday, Mister Padt?”

Angor rolled his eyes. Because of the gossip, everyone believed that he and Jebra were adversaries now.

“… I don’t know him, and neither am I his enemy. The rumors are rumors, forged words created by people who can’t control their tongues. Besides, Jebra doesn’t seem the kind of nasty figure who can vent out his rage on helpless mortals. As far as I know, he is proud and confident in his strength.”

Pierre also helped by speaking, “You still don’t know much about wizards, Nano. A powerful man like Jebra will not attack mortals as it will stain his own name. And Mister Padt? Is it true that you and Jebra really don’t know each other?”

Pierre saw Angor getting very impatient and quickly added, “I’m just curious! Nothing personal, sir! You don’t have to answer.”

“We don’t. As I said, the rumors are wrong.”

Angor didn’t wish to explain that Jebra was in fact trying to avoid Shiliew, and in order to maintain his fame and public image, Jebra wanted someone more famous—Angor—to take the “blame”.

Pierre felt unsatisfied with the answer since many of the survivors from the garden challenge agreed with the rumors. Then again, Angor had no reason to lie about it.

Even though he wished to find out more about whatever truth was hidden in the whole matter, he chose to stay quiet in the end so that he wouldn’t carelessly offend this precious guest.

Nano also made up his mind and nodded. “Good. You’ll be my new owner for now.”

…

Angor purchased Nano by paying 300 crystals to Pierre.

Pierre finished the transaction while smiling constantly. To him, the successful trade just guaranteed the daily expenses for the next six months.

A slave like Nano was usually more expensive if he were to be sold at the other slave markets. Pierre’s prices were lower because of all the strange rules.

Angor was glad that he managed to find enough money for the purchase as he hadn’t been earning any income for a while now. After buying Nano, he was now left with about a hundred crystals.

Before coming over, he had prepared some items so that he could trade them in case his money wasn’t enough. Thankfully, he didn’t need to do any trading for now.

Nano’s ridiculous taste in colors wasn’t a serious problem since there were always workarounds to it.

Angor did not come here to buy a Fibber; it was only a bonus. When the payment part was settled, Angor put on a serious look as he was about to deal with what he really came here for.