Chapter 37 : Behind the curtains
‘So Betty is a magical beast,’ William thinks as he walks down the stairs, the weight of the revelation spinning in his head. ‘I guess it's not that surprising, considering how smart she is. From what Trojjan told me, his mother raised her from the time she was a foal.’ He pauses on the steps, a sudden frown crossing his face. ‘But I still don't know where I'm supposed to actually learn magic.’
Pushing the thoughts aside for a moment, William enters the stable. He stops and takes a long, proper look at Betty, who immediately stares back at him, her dark eyes gleaming with an undeniable, human-like intelligence.
"I am so dumb," William says, a wide smile breaking across his face. "How could I ever think you were just a normal horse? You are definitely magical."
Betty lets out a loud, proud neigh, tossing her mane as if completely agreeing with the assessment—both about her being special, and him being dumb.
Over the next month, William squeezes every bit of knowledge about magic out of Trojjan. Hardly a day passes without questions. Unfortunately, Trojjan doesn't know much more about magic than what he has already told William. Despite being born into a noble household, his knowledge about magic is surprisingly slim. According to him, there are more than twenty members of that noble house, and being a half-breed bastard, he was at the bottom of the barrel.
But whenever William tries to ask about the house itself or the family who lives there, Trojjan simply shakes his head and refuses to say another word.
"Grind it to a thick paste by adding mulberry juice dropwise. Don't stop in between unless you want the customers to have diarrhea," Trojjan says while closely watching William's work.
Spring is in full swing in the city, leading to a slow period for the shop. This allows William to learn much more than usual. As expected, Trojjan is a tough teacher; up until now, he has never sold any medicine made by William.
With the chime of a bell, a person enters the shop looking clearly awkward. William recognizes him as a clerk working in the City Hall.
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"Excuse me, I am looking for the owner," he says.
From the frown on Trojjan,he recognizes the clerk as well. Trojjan goes over to the clerk while throwing a sharp remark at William: "Keep your hands moving. I don't want to see another failed batch."
William nods and keeps grinding the paste.
After a whispered conversation, Trojjan speaks loudly as he walks out of the shop. "I am going out for a while. Keep going, and also make the other two medicines I taught you. I will check them after I return."
’What happened to make them call him to the City Hall?’ William thinks. ‘Could they be enquiring about the supply of potions between Trojjan and the Head Clerk?’
William looks down to see the leaves, roots, and fruits of different plants spread across the workspace. ‘Let's get this done.
After another hour of work, William finishes preparing the medicine and finally sets the tools aside. As he wipes his hands clean, Trojjan steps back into the shop, his face unusually blank.
William frowns and asks"Did something happen?" "Something certainly did," Trojjan mutters, sounding more puzzled than anything else. He slowly shakes his head. "Looks like that pig stirred up a hornets' nest. Right after they arrested him, officials from several nearby towns—and even the city—were taken away as well."He unties a heavy leather pouch from his belt and sets it on the counter. The coins inside clink against one another.
"The new clerk is scared out of his wits," he continues. "He's been running all over the place trying to clean up every mess that pig left behind."With a weary sigh, Trojjan lowers himself into a chair.
"They're even compensating the people he cheated." He lets out a quiet breath. "I can't imagine what sort of powerful person he managed to offend for them to react like this.”
Suddenly, the image of the impeccably dressed man flashes through William's mind.
‘Could it have been him?’
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To the north of Arindale in the City of Bruges, The very same man is looking at a stack of parchments.
"Professor, the artifact has been initiated at the capital , and the transmission array is nearly complete," a young assistant reports with a slight bow.
The professor straightens the cuff of his coat and looks up at the assistant "Good. We'll begin tomorrow morning." He sets the parchment aside. "How many do you expect?"
The assistant thinks for a moment."The western lands around the Elderwoods have always been poor in mana. I doubt we'll find more than fifteen."
"I think so too," the professor replies, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Still, numbers mean very little if we find a few promising seeds."He reaches for another document, his attention already elsewhere.
While miles away, A chance the boy has been looking forward to half his life has finally arrived.