Chapter 161 Politeness
Ole is a native of Port Morris, although after breaking up with his father in his youth, he ran away with a group of friends and has been wandering around the world, or getting into trouble, ever since.
The local natives skillfully led them to avoid the seemingly overly enthusiastic crowds at the port and made professional judgments one by one.
"A thief controlled by a gang."
A few skinny kids with dark faces and flattering expressions.
"A slave trader selecting his wares."
A fat man with a smile on his face and a nod.
"A con man disguised as a bard." Ole shot the guy a murderous look. The other man immediately stepped aside with a wry smile. Ole couldn't help but grumble, "This guy has been wearing this outfit for ten years, standing here deceiving outsiders. How come his rhetoric hasn't changed?"
"...What did you find?" Azuka looked at the professor beside him and asked softly.
He was the only one in the group who had his face mostly covered by a large hood and collar, leaving only his eyes visible. This attire wasn't conspicuous in Port Morris, but a beauty is a beauty, and even with only her eyes visible, passersby would still turn around and look back with a dreamy expression after accidentally catching a glimpse of her face.
Ole and Marshilin acted as if they were used to it. They even started making skilled bets on how many slave traders would follow them on this trip. Azuka didn't bother to pay attention to his two friends, who were full of mischief. His nemesis was carefully observing the prostitutes standing on the dock, soliciting customers, even in the chilly spring weather, with most of their breasts exposed. When they caught the black-haired young man's gaze, they immediately smiled and waved in his direction. Some even blew kisses to him, and then burst into laughter again.
Nova frowned: "When I passed by just now, those women had a strange smell covered by cheap perfume, like the smell of blood."
Without his glasses, he couldn't see some details clearly - but the savior promised to help him solve this problem after he was temporarily settled.
"...These women are prostitutes paid for by the big slave traders." The assassin leader beside him glanced at him and rarely spoke to explain: "They will choose the prostitutes, get them drunk and unconscious, and then rob them of their money. If they are useless, they will be killed and buried. If they are useful, they will be exchanged for ransom or sold on the black market. Don't be fooled by their appearance, many people have fallen for it."
"Is it related to the Crimson Bazaar?" the professor immediately asked sensitively.
"It should be said that all the evils in Port Morris are related to the Bloody Market." Orel said coldly and sarcastically.
The conversation grew somewhat somber, but was quickly dispelled by the procession of people decorating the streets. These people hung banners, feathers, painted stone sculptures, and a variety of plants on the doorways of passing shops. Nova spotted a sorcerer chanting an incantation. The vines entwined in the rafters began to emit a faint glow, and within a few breaths, countless translucent buds and fruits swelled up.
"Ah, the day of worshiping the gods is coming soon." Maxine suddenly realized.
This festival, celebrating the gods' departure from the Okansele River and their first contact with the earth, is also a celebration of the arrival of spring—arguably the most widespread and grandest festival on the continent of Ambrose. On this day, major temples organize parades of floats to bestow blessings upon the faithful, and some wealthy cities even hold grand banquets where even beggars can join in the revelry.
After squeezing through the crowd, Orel led them through many twists and turns until they finally arrived at a seemingly inconspicuous two-story building. Sure enough, there was a slave trader far behind them, but he was quickly cast under a confusion spell and left with a bewildered look on his face.
Along with low chanting, countless spells rose from under the assassin's feet like a tide, as if they had life, and rushed towards the small building.
Nova watched the scene with great interest, his eyes shining so brightly that the assassin leader was frightened. He couldn't help but glare at the guy - it was completely useless.
Ole's mouth twitched, and he simply sped up his spellcasting. The surrounding space suddenly began to distort in a visible manner. Black mist rose from the cracks, expanding until it formed an ominous-looking black mist gate. Nova noticed that the passersby around him had also become dimly visible, but they seemed completely unaware of this extremely strange scene.
"Can I poke it with a branch, please?"
Ole turned his head sharply and stared in disbelief at the only ordinary person in the group. The other person looked very sincere, holding a dry branch that he had probably just picked up from the ground, and looked eager to try.
"Come in." He first raised his chin towards the crowd impatiently, then sneered at the professor, "If you want your finger to disappear, just poke it."
Nova dropped the branch with regret. He thought of the spatial magic the Savior might have dabbled in—no matter what, the assassin leader was more valuable than he had imagined.
Ole, who was completely unaware of this, suddenly felt a chill all over his body.
After entering the eerie, foggy door, I discovered a normal room. It wasn't very large, the wallpaper was a bit worn, there were faint spots of mildew in the corners, and the air smelled of dust. But thankfully, the furniture was complete, and it even felt a bit cozy.
"This is the safe house I created when I was young. Ordinary people entering through the door will only see a closed magic tool shop. Only after activating the magic circle can they enter the correct space."
Maxine cheered, put down her luggage, and rushed to the sofa. Orel raised his eyebrows and said with some pride, "I have to perfect the magic circle again later. It seems there are still some omissions. After all, I was young at that time, and it was not perfect. Azuka, please keep an eye on him."
He took a deep breath and glared at his friend.
Even though the tyrant was alone in the protagonists' territory, he didn't consider himself an outsider at all. He had already opened the window and was observing the scene outside with great interest, almost half of his body leaning out. In his hand, he was clutching a translucent fruit that emitted a faint glow, as if ready to drop it at any moment. It seemed to be the fruit of the Dawn Vine used for the celebration. When did he take it away and put it in his pocket?
The savior sighed and gently put his arm around the black-haired young man's shoulders: "Professor, be careful not to fall."
Maxine could hardly control her gaze on that hand—that slender, white, and very pleasing hand, which was resting on another person's shoulder in an extremely intimate manner.
She didn't remember that her seemingly gentle and easy-going companion had the habit of putting his arm around other people's shoulders anytime and anywhere.
The other party glanced at her very sharply, as if he understood something, but had no intention of letting go.
"What will happen if you fall down? Also, can I throw something down for testing?" The emperor, who had a cold and eccentric personality, did not resist the other person's closeness at all. Perhaps it was because his whole mind was on the topic that interested him at the moment. His beautiful smoky gray eyes were like highly translucent glass balls, sparkling in the sun.
"--For example, will it be torn into pieces by the distorted space?"
"I'm so sorry, I wouldn't set such a bloody trap on my own territory." Orel couldn't help but taunt him. "And do you think distorting space is easy? The magic circle only distorts the shadows of real objects. It's just a more complicated trick."
Of course, this "relatively complex" magic array is enough to stop most people.
"You can throw anything down there," the assassin leader concluded with a hint of gloating, "but if you fall, you'll probably just break your legs—but I think that's probably a good thing."
"...Ore." Azuka turned his head and stared at him with extraordinary calmness.
Ole immediately took a step back warily: "What are you doing? It's just a joke."
"Ore, sometimes you don't deserve to be beaten, really." Sitting on the sofa hugging a pillow, Marcylin looked at him with unusual sincerity.
Knowing that someone seems to have a good impression of the tyrant - let's use the word "good impression" for the time being, the red-haired girl thought painfully - he always takes the initiative to provoke others. No wonder these two people always dislike each other and fight.
Suddenly being targeted by his friends, Ole glared at the two in disbelief. The professor, however, was too lazy to respond to their arguments. After realizing it wasn't a spatial spell, his interest waned slightly, and he began to wander around the room like a cat patrolling its territory.
The assassin leader, whose muscles tensed and relaxed in a flash after being passed by someone for the third time, finally couldn't stand it anymore and took a deep breath. "...Excuse me, what are you doing?"
"I'm measuring the interior space and the angles of the walls." The man glanced at him coldly. "Please allow me to remeasure the outside space later. Thank you."
He's still using honorifics.
"God of Night, I'm not your slave. What the hell—" Ole was almost amused by his matter-of-fact attitude. "The one-month deadline has already expired. Do you think that just because you use honorifics, I have to do whatever you want?"
"But you still owe me a debt of gratitude," the professor reminded him slowly. "For example, you saved Daniga twice. For helping me teach Shadow Chaser, including my personal explosives formula—do you want me to continue calculating? I haven't even calculated the interest yet."
If he continued to calculate, the crow would really belong to him.
Ole: “…”
"What?" Marcylin looked at them with interest. "Ore, you didn't tell me this."
"...That's enough, you win. Maxine, please don't get involved. I beg you." Ole changed the subject expressionlessly: "When are we going to talk business?"
"Why are you in such a hurry?" The professor chose for a long time and finally picked out the softest-looking single chair. He sat down contentedly.
"Let's first discuss the divine seals on your bodies." He elegantly crossed his legs, raised his chin slightly, and said simply, "Take off your clothes."
Protagonists: “…”
Except for Azuka, the other two showed extremely horrified expressions.
"...Professor." The Savior sighed helplessly and rubbed the back of his neck: "Please let me explain."
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