The Wizard World

Angele did not care that the girl had heard his words. He just opened the window and looked at the heavy rain. It splashed onto the window, and some of the rain drops wetted the surface of his clothes.

Suddenly, Angele heard bird twittering and wings shaking by the door.

A human-sized large white bird dropped down by the door, shaking the rain off its feathers. The bird looked like a white eagle with a red beak and slowly walked into the windmill. Its translucent beak looked like a ruby, and its black eyes were human-like.

The bird looked at the humans in the room after entering the windmill.

“The rain is heavy, and I have to stay here for a while. I hope you don’t mind, humans.”

The bird spoke Anmag, his voice steady and deep, and he sounded like a middle-aged man.

“You can stay as long as you want, it’s a public room, Handsome Eagle of Byrutium,” the girl in red said after stepping forward and bowing. The middle-aged man and the old woman also bowed to the eagle.

The two coachmen stood up immediately and bowed as well; there was fear in their eyes.

The eagle nodded. It seemed like he was respected by the citizens. Then he turned his head and looked at Angele.

“My name is Conbass, you can call me Mr. Conbass. I’m going after an Ember Mouse found in Lennon City. Please report to me if you’ve seen it, and the King will honor you for your contribution.”

Angele scrunched his eyebrows after hearing the eagle’s words.

“You mean the mouse that has a fire burning around its body? The one that will leave a trail of ash behind itself as it moves?” he suddenly asked. “I didn’t know creatures like that still existed.”

“You know about it too?” Conbass asked Angele politely, looking surprised.

Although Conbass was one of the races that guarded the empire, it was still necessary for him to show respect to the ones that were stronger than him. Creatures from gifted races were usually born with knight-level power.

Ember Mouse was an ancient creature, and people who knew it either had a lot of knowledge or they were strong adventurers. Conbass thought people with wisdom and knowledge were respectable.

“Yes, I read about it in a book.” Angele nodded. “Based on what I know, Ember Mouse’s fecundity is extremely low, and they were hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago. Yet you said you’re going after one...?”

Conbass nodded. “You are right. This Ember Mouse is very important for treating the plague, but I don’t know the details. I’m just doing what I was told to do.”

“The plague... Sorry, I didn’t see it. The only thing I know is you should check the fireplaces in the city, Ember Mouse loves living in human houses.”

Angele smiled.

“Really? That’s some great information.” Conbass looked at Angele. “Please tell me your name. If I can find it in any of the fireplaces, I’ll pay you back one day.”

“I’m Angele. Angele Rio.”

He smiled.

The others had no idea what the two were talking about and were quietly listening to the conversation. Apparently, those people did not expect Angele to be so knowledgeable, and they were now staring at him respectfully.

Angele talked with Conbass for a while, then sat down to wait for the rain to stop.

Eagle of Byrutium was a guardian race in Ramsoda Empire. These eagles were given high ranks in the country by the royals since their intelligence level was very close to that of humans, and they all had strong bodies. They could easily hunt large beasts with their sharp claws.

These creatures shared the land with human beings, something Angele had never seen back in his hometown. Only humans lived in his father’s territory, so he thought that other races with high intelligence had probably moved to other lands. He only encountered them in ancient book collections.

Eagle of Byrutium had low fecundity as well, but their situation had gotten much better in the recent years. People could see them flying around by the capital from time to time.

The rain started ceasing as time passed.

At 10:12 am., the rain stopped.

Angele wiped off the dust from his suit and walked out of the windmill. Conbass and the others followed behind him.

He opened the door and entered his carriage, asking Tom to start driving.

“Please wait for a second, Mr. Angele,” Conbass’s voice came from the side. He stood on top of the carriage.

“You need anything?” Angele asked.

Conbass pulled out a white feather with his beak and threw it down. Angele reached his hands out and caught it in the air.

“This is my feather. I may have some more questions for you later, so please accept it as a gift.”

“Thanks.”

Angele nodded. He held the feather in his hand, watching Conbass fly into the sky. He was fast and disappeared in the distance within seconds.

Angele observed the feather. Its size was much larger than of the average birds, and it was also very hard. The tip of the feather was sharp, and it actually looked like a piece of a huge leaf.

The feather’s color was pure white, and it looked charming.

‘I heard Eagles of Byrutium can find the location of the feathers they drop, but the effect only lasts for three days,’ Angele recalled the information he had acquired from the books in the library.

‘The main usage of the feather is to expel insects. Normal insects will naturally try to avoid it, so carrying it will prevent me from getting bitten by flies.’

Angele sniffed at the feather, it was minty.

“Let’s go, Tom,” he said, putting the feather in his pouch

Tom immediately pulled on the reins, turning away from where he was watching Conbass leaving.

“As you wish, Master.”

The horses stomped on the ground and the carriage slowly left the windmill. They were moving toward the main road.

**************************

Tom and Angele traveled for more than ten days after leaving the windmill. They stopped at a town to buy supplies, then left for the northwest again after they got everything they wanted.

It was always raining on the way, and the temperature was getting lower and lower. Trees and grasses were no longer green, more and more white stones appeared on the roadside. They were not in the plains area anymore. The roads in the valleys were bumpy.

They met a lot of travelers, merchants, and carriages after just leaving the city, but there were barely any people around after traveling for several days.

15 days later...

Snow covered the mountains, and the valleys were misty. The black two-horse carriage was slowly advancing on a twisted road.

*BOOM*

One of the wheels hit a sharp stone, and the carriage started shaking. The horses neighed due to pain, scaring many birds who flew into the sky.

“What happened?” Angele asked, waking up and opening the door to stick his head out.

“Master. One of the wheels cracked, and I need to replace it with a backup one. We need to stop for a while,” Tom answered in a shout.

Angele scrunched his eyebrows and jumped off the carriage.

There were only pine trees in the forest. They were all very tall, and their leaves were still green. The ground was covered by both small and large stones. Some grasses under the stones were still green, but the air in the valley was cold and dry.

Chilling wind blew over Angele’s face, and his skin tightened up.

“How long do you need? We are at the Moss Mountain from where it’ll take us five days to reach the closest town. It’s not a good idea to stay here for too long.”

Tom shrugged. “Master, I will need one hour at the most.”

“Alright. It’s great to have you with me. I will double your salary after we get back,” Angele said. “I’ll go for a walk. Just yell if anything happens. I’ll be able to hear it, don’t worry.”

“Got it.” Tom smiled, then walked to the back of the carriage and started taking down the backup wheel.

Angele felt a bit cold and put on a white coat. The collar covered his neck completely, and he felt much better. He equipped the dagger and the bow before leaving the carriage.

He spent a lot of time gathering data on the way, wanting to check the plants around here to maybe find some not yet recorded in the database.

Angele walked for a while before suddenly lowering his head. He laid his back against a black pine tree and started observing a black umbrella mushroom. There were several yellow flying ants moving around it.

Those ants left quickly after Angele crouched down; the feather from the eagle was very effective.

“Outsider, please leave my Black Point Mushroom alone,” a young voice came from the top.

Angele raised his head and saw a brown squirrel standing on a branch. There was a hint of whiteness on the tip of its tail.

“You’re growing it?” Angele asked. “But you’re just a squirrel, a squirrel that can speak. That’s a first time for me.

“Of course. This is Ramsoda Empire. Many intelligent races moved here a long time ago. Not all of us enjoy city life.”

The squirrel shook its butt and jumped down from the tree.

*PA*

It successfully landed by the Black Point Mushroom.