Chapter 117: Thoughts (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele was reviewing the information Aqua taught him while walking. Although they did not have too much time, Aqua still told him most of the system and he gifted Angele a tiny book that recorded the methods of how to learn the Metal Spell system. It was also the book Aqua made notes and recorded spells on.
It was a common behavior for a wizard apprentice to carry notebooks because they did not have a storage in their brain like Angele did. They needed to revise the information they recorded in the notebooks when necessary.
Angele quickly reached the city gate of Emma. There were many carriages and travelers waiting to be checked by the city guards.
There were several guards from Nunnally’s family noticed Angele and they reported to Kelly. Angele wandered around the vendors for a while and returned to the manor of Nunnally Family.
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"What?!" Kelly’s shoulder was bandaged. She stood up from the chair, completely infuriated. Her high-pitched voice drew the attention of several maids outside the door who were now peeking through the windows curiously.
"Master Angele, you must be joking," Kelly said, slightly calming down.
Kelly and Angele were the only people in the hall, and Angele was sipping the special milk tea the maid brought him.
"I’m not joking." Angele put down the glass cup, "I’ve got what I wanted. Stephen Family fulfilled my requirement, and they offered me extras, so I decide to quit this fight between the Nunnally Family and the Stephen Family. What? You’re questioning my decision?"
"Well… I’m not…" Kelly’s face turned pale and her voice was shaky. She was trying her best to calm down, "If you already made the decision, I can arrange a carriage for you."
"It’s fine. I’ll stay here for several more days. I still have something to take care of. Also, I hear that there’ll be a celebration event in the city later. I’m quite interested." Angele smiled calmly.
"Well… Have fun," Kelly spoke in a deep tone.
"Now, if you will excuse me." Angele stood up and left the meeting hall.
He heard the glass cup shattered on the floor as he closed the door.
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Three days later…
Early in the morning.
The street was gray. There was a small house built from dark colored bricks by the corner and white smoke was coming out of the chimney on top of it. The wooden door of the house was black, decorated with tiny white flowers.
A tall man in a black coat was standing in front of the house. He had a black cap worn on his head. The street was empty and the wind was chilly. A black carriage slowly passed by. The ringing bell around the horse’s neck was a bit annoying.
The young man took off his cap, his short, brown hair waving in the wind. The man was Angele.
The carriage disappeared around the corner. Angele wiped the dust off his clothes with the cap and knocked on the door.
*Knock-knock*
He waited for a while, but no one answered.
"Anyone?" Angele asked in a deep tone and knocked on the door again.
"Coming…" Someone finally responded.
*Creak*
The door opened, and a middle-aged man with black hair appeared by the door. He had a smile on his face.
"You are?" Angele was a stranger to the man, so the man stopped smiling.
"I’m a friend of Gondor, may I come in?" Angele smiled.
"Of course." The man nodded and smiled again.
He turned around and shouted, "Gondor, come. Your friend is here."
"I’ll be there in a second!" Gondor’s voice came from inside the house.
Angele was invited into the house, and he started checking around.
The wooden floor was red, and the black fireplace had flames dancing inside. There was a small wooden table in the middle of the living room surrounded by several chairs. Several white flowers were lying in the middle of the table.
There was barely any decoration in the living room, Angele only found a painting hanging over the fireplace. There was a knight advancing forward on a grassland with his horse. The painting was black and white, and the color balance was a bit off.
The middle-aged man looked identical to Gondor. He wiped his hand on the white apron he was wearing.
"Have a seat. Gondor will be here in a minute. I need to take care of the kitchen."
"Sure, thanks." Angele nodded politely and sat down on a chair.
A girl walked out of a bedroom on the right as the man returned to the kitchen. She was wearing gray pajamas. It seemed that she had just been sleeping several minutes ago.
"Did… we have a guest?" The girl was about four or five years old. Her waist-length black hair was a bit messy. She was rubbing one of her eyes with her right hand, and she looked sleepy.
"It’s your brother’s friend." The man’s voice came from the kitchen.
The girl stared at Angele curiously, and asked, "Where is my brother?"
"In his bedroom. Go tell him that lunch is almost ready."
"Okay."
The girl started walking toward a bedroom on her left, but then she tripped on her own feet.
*PA*
The girl’s face planted itself to the ground.
"Mom! My head!" the girl cried loudly in pain.
Angele was a bit speechless. He had not seen people tripping on their own feet in ages…
Gondor opened the door and walked out of his bedroom. He raised his head and noticed Angele immediately. It seemed that he was surprised to see Angele in his home.
"Why are you here?" Gondor ignored his crying sister and looked at Angele, "Oh! Yea! You are here for the thing my teacher prepared for you, right?"
Gondor recalled the agreement they reached back in the forest. Aqua had promised Angele about that had Metal Spell models’ detailed explanation written on it.
"Help your sister get up first." Angele pointed at the crying girl.
"Oh…" Gondor walked toward his sister immediately and helped her get up. He patted her head and rubbed her face.
It took a while for the girl to stop crying, and Gondor seemed relieved.
"Please wait here, I’ll go grab it now," Gondor stood up, and said. He returned to his room and grabbed a thin leather book with a brown cover.
Gondor walked toward Angele and handed the book over to him.
Angele grabbed the book and started observing it. The book was not well-made. There was no decoration on its cover. The title was written in black ink: Fundamentals of Metal Spell.
The book was written in Ancient Byrun, a language that was commonly referred to as the Devil’s Language because people believed Byrun contained mysterious powers. The characters of Byrun had strange shapes and sometimes they would rearrange themselves into special runes or glyphs.
The title was written in Byrun. The words looked like a twisted black centipede, and there was a red eye in the middle of the centipede. It was staring at whoever was trying to open the book. Angele found it strange and a bit horrifying.
Angele lightly pressed the book. It was soft and thin. He was not sure what kind of leather it was. The book felt like a pile of clothes; it was light.
"Great. Thank you. I’ll be leaving now." Angele stood up.
"Wait. Would you mind having lunch with us?" Gondor said, "My father is a great cook. I believe you’ll find his dishes charming! Even the picky dwarfs adore his cooking skills!"
"Dwarfs? You mean Halflings?" Angele smiled.
"Yea! Halflings." Gondor laughed and scratched his head. He looked like a naive boy. Although he was at the same age as Angele.
The book was the only reason Angele visited Gondor, but his family was so kind that Angele decided to join in their lunch. Angele was a bit curious about Gondor’s family anyway.
They sat down at the table in the living room. Dishes were on the table.
The first dish was cabbage rolls with black sesames sprinkled on top of it, and it smelled great. There was also a whole plate of golden crispy crepes. They were cut into triangles and there were green veggies and minced meat between them. There was also a plate of foie gras covered in black sauce, and a bowl of colorful veggie salad.
There were a small plate and a bowl in front of Angele. The iron silverwares were put down beside them. The fragrance of the dishes actually made Angele a bit hungry.
"Help yourself, try this." Gondor’s father kept putting food onto Angele’s plate, "You should visit us more often, Gondor barely invites his friends to our house ever since his mother left. You and Winnie are the only ones visited us."
Angele was a bit speechless. His plate was completely filled with crepes.
"Thanks, sir. I can’t eat that much." Angele was not used to be treated with such pure kindness.
Gondor’s younger sister was chewing the cabbage rolls while staring at Angele curiously.
Gondor did not say anything. He just kept eating. It took him only several minutes to finish about 500 grams of crepes.
Angele was eating the food on his plate slowly. It was quite tasty, and Zero told him the food was not poisoned as soon as he put the crepes into his mouth.
It seemed like Gondor’s father did not care who he was, which made Angele feel a bit speechless again.
Gondor’s father and sister probably did not know what had happened in the forest, but Gondor knew. He treated Angele like a true friend, and it seemed like he believed Angele was a very nice person. Angele was actually a bit worried that Gondor’s kindness and naivety would lead him to death one day.
Angele finally realized that it was the kind family environment that made Gondor trust people easily.