Warlock Apprentice

As the first sunlight of the day reached the building of Yothur Library, the guards unlocked the giant bronze door and welcomed a group of early-bird students who couldn’t wait to get inside.

When most of the students had gone reading, a beautifully-crafted wooden carriage arrived at the library’s door, as it always did at this hour.

But whoever was inside the vehicle did not come out.

A fat guard of the library approached it and lifted the curtain with a flattering smile. “You came a bit too early, Master Frey. She’s not here yet.”

The young man wearing a thick fur coat in the vehicle trembled and picked up a hand warmer. “Get away, idiot! Do you want me dead in this cold?”

Irritated, the guard released the curtain.

“Tell me when she arrives,” Frey called.

“Will do.”

The guard rolled his eyes. Then he returned to his post and saw his partner snickering at him.

“What did I tell you? These rich guys are obedient like dogs when talking to nobles, but they turn upside-down when dealing with the likes of us. Guess all the sh*t they ate from their masters has to go somewhere.”

“Nah. Frey wasn’t venting out on me. He’s just hysterical.”

“And blind.”

“Tell me about it! He’s like going after a middle-aged fat lass, and he kept coming here every day. You know what’s weird? That woman won’t accept Frey’s attempt at all. What does she think she is, a princess or something?”

“Which side are you on anyway? You hate both of them?”

“Nonono, I’m not taking sides. Since Frey came again, we’ll just watch his funny bout. The plays in the theater are getting dull anyway. Glad we have a real-life drama right here.”

The second guard took a moment to recall the mentioned woman who also visited the library very often recently.

“Well… Maybe she’s a bit big, but she’s not half bad. You saw how she moved? Must’ve been a beauty in her early years.”

“Blah. Women. They all keep their best looks for a few years, then they become like spoiled cheese, still have their flavor but you got to have real courage to taste them.”

“Hold up. Our main actress is here.” The second guard pulled on the fat man’s clothes.

The “fat woman” they were expecting was now walking toward the entrance of the library, wearing a uniform with fur fringes.

“Hey, aren’t you going to notify Frey?”

“Forget about that fool.” The fat guard turned away and went inside his guard box.

“Don’t want to see his d*ck face, huh?” The second guard grinned. “You have your rest. If Frey questions, I’ll just say the chief took you away.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

…

Helen arrived at the door and walked past the talking guards without minding them.

She went onto the third floor and found the book she was yet to finish yesterday, A Wondrous Shaman Clan.

Next, she picked up several more books and went to look for somewhere quiet to read them.

But another book suddenly dropped from its shelf and attracted her.

“Call of Wizards… Wait, there’s a book about wizards at this place?”

She checked and saw the book describing the basic knowledge about wizards and their world. As someone who often worked with wizards on the ship, she quickly ascertained that everything written in the book was correct.

She had been visiting the library just to look for such books. But most of what she found were made-up stories composed by people who had no idea about what true wizardry meant.

Delighted, she took her new prize and headed to a private part of the library, without minding how the book landed at her feet at all.

When she left, a purple-haired woman showed up from behind a bookshelf and looked at Helen with a bright smile.

…

Helen soon lost herself in the amazing book that recorded comprehensive intelligence regarding the levels of wizards and the arts they studied. And when something went too intricate, she could find extra lines of characters and notes below the paragraphs that helped her understand the knowledge better.

“Nice… knowledge is most precious to wizards? I always thought it was the spells. And alchemy… So it’s extremely difficult to find talented alchemists? But isn’t Mister Padt pretty good at it?”

She heard someone’s footsteps inappropriately close to her and glanced that way with an annoyed look. She picked a spot where people wouldn’t disrupt her without a good reason, which meant whoever just approached came on purpose.

“You again? What do you want?” She frowned when seeing the showy fur coat of a young man.

While silently cursing the fat guard who failed his promise, Frey put up his best smile. “Helen! It must be great fate that let us see each other again.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Helen rolled her eyes and picked up her books. She was going to find somewhere else.

This man from a rich family had been bugging her for a few days. She’d have physically given him a lesson if not for the fact that the man’s father was an important client who took care of the cargo of The Limpet.

Frey followed behind Helen’s steps. “Since we met, we might as well stay together and enjoy the joy of books! When we’re done, we’ll hit the bar for a nice drink! There’s a popular card game these days that simulates monster fights, you will like it! We can talk about the tricks!”

Helen sighed. “When are you going to leave me alone, Mister Frey? Didn’t I make it clear that there’s zero chance between us? Zero, you heard it. I mean, just look at you. I have both the size and the age to be your mom.”

Frey widened his eyes. “So uh, you actually love my father?”

“What are you—” Helen clenched her fists but managed not to use them. “No. Neither! I’d keep my life to myself, thank you very much!”

Frey looked a bit offended but insisted on following Helen everywhere, which further tested Helen’s limit.

While walking, Frey suddenly felt as if he ran into a solid wall face-first and fell on his butt.

“Can you hear people talking at all? She wishes to be alone,” a clear and charming voice spoke to Frey.

Frey looked up and saw another woman somehow standing right in front of him, who completely blocked his view. The sunlight from a window nearby made it hard for Frey to recognize the woman’s looks. He only saw the purple color of her hair and nothing else.

“Who the heck are you?”

The woman didn’t speak. She kept her cold gaze at Frey, which soon caused Frey to tremble as if he were tossed into a prison made of ice for real.

When he woke up from the terrible feeling, Frey realized that he was sitting on the floor all alone. Both Helen and the strange woman were gone.

“Holy moly! Did I run into a ghost in the morning??” He quickly dashed out of the building while still afraid of the chillness lingering in his mind.

…

On the balcony at one side of the library building, Helen was speaking to the purple-haired woman in front of her in great joy.

“Miss Swan! So glad to see you. But why are you here?”

“Just call me Swan, if you please.” Swan put a finger under Helen’s chin. “I came to see you, of course.”

Helen stepped back while blushing. “I mean, not the library. Do you need something in Yothur City, Miss Swan?”

“Oh. I’m here on an errand for Summerdew. But I saw you and decided to stop by.”

Helen was extremely glad that she no longer had to wait to travel to Summerdew Ridge to pursue her new ambition.

Swan smiled after hearing Helen’s plea.

“Good. I was right for giving you that book.” She pointed at Call of Wizards held by Helen, and Helen quickly realized what just happened.

“Years ago, I said that I could help you become a new talent. My words still stand. Since you decided, you can follow me to Summerdew Ridge. I’ll get you a vial of potion that helps increase your spiritual power later.”

Swan basically confirmed that Helen could become a talent without a problem, and this made Helen even more excited.

“I understand! But um, I need to say goodbye to the captain and my crew.”

“No worries, you have time for it. I’ll stay at Ferran for a while. Let me see… We won’t be leaving this month.”

“Miss Swan, are you perhaps recruiting talents at Ferran too?”

Swan shook her head. “I saw what happened at the mayor’s house yesterday. No. Summerdew Ridge isn’t recruiting right now. And when we do, we do not accept men.

“Speaking of recruiting… I happen to have a question to ask of you. The apprentice who was testing mortals at the mayor’s mansion. He’s the guardian of The Limpet, I take it? But I’ve never seen him before. Who is it?”