Warlock Apprentice

People from Dark Castle came to Krakoks to choose singers for a choir?

As Shadow thought about the question, Papaya was still waiting for an answer while blinking her innocent green eyes.

Shadow rolled his eyes and quickly created another lie. “No. It’s my wife, Fiona, again. I came earlier so I can surprise her. Hey, don’t tell her that I came, alright?”

Papaya looked so excited. “Really? I won’t!”

Shadow tried to inquire for some other information from Papaya, such as the location of Hippocrates, and whether the Krakoks possessed any special abilities.

Papaya had no problem answering the first question. She even invited Angor and Shadow to join her journey, but Angor didn’t agree.

For the second question, Papaya only mentioned all sorts of strange rumors and legends, which had little to do with what they wanted to know.

Angor and Shadow talked to each other using Spirit Bond. And to Papaya, the silence meant the end of their conversation.

Since the sirs no longer “spoke”, Papaya smiled and moved to the center of the dining table. “Mister Angor, Mister Diablo, thanks for your invitation! Well, I don’t have anything to pay you back. May I sing something for you?”

Angor smiled and signaled Papaya to continue.

Papaya nodded. She then crossed her fingers and closed her eyes.

“O the first warrior, he who brought his sword upon the morning garden and found the first rose for the red queen...”

As she sang, Angor felt as if the voice of heavens materialized inside the Nightmare Domain.

Combined with the girl’s cute look, Angor greatly enjoyed the impressive respite.

“O the second warrior, who hides in the lands of serpents and waits for the next dawn, away from evil humans...”

Angor heard many dramas and choirs before. His mother once asked him to write his own one, which mostly consisted of made-up randomness. But all the experience did teach him how to evaluate songs and choirs. Using his high-standard musical taste, he believed Papaya’s song was brilliant.

It probably wasn’t the best choir he heard yet, but it was melodic and beautiful.

As the poem progressed, they felt different emotions vividly seizing their hearts.

“O the third warrior, who spreads his wings and joined the song of Grand Priest. Together, they waited for the third beloved patron...”

Papaya’s voice somehow attracted the musical teacups which had been staying in a corner of Angor’s Nightmare Domain.

The teacups floated around Papaya for a while, and as Papaya entered the next chapter of her poem, they suddenly began to play along.

Piano, oboe, horn, harp...

Angor always found the music played by the teacups to be annoying. They sounded sharp and painful to his ears. Now, however, he realized that these creatures created wonderful music, which was even better than some of the most renowned music bands, because their cooperation was perfect.

“O the fourth warrior... He reveals the sky gate, accompanied by light and holy chants, is the fourth soul hidden in the black tome...”

As Papaya reached the climax of her song, the teacups brought out more exciting melodies as well.

Probably because of the good musicians that accompanied her, Papaya was using way more strength than ever while singing, which helped her create the best possible performance for her song.

When everything ended, Papaya remained silent for a while before she did a curtsy again.

She wasn’t afraid of the “flying teacup men” around her at all. She even went to perform high-fives with them, while complimenting their great job. “Oh dear. You’re all better than the Sky Choir already!”

“Nice song. Can you tell us the story behind it?” Angor suddenly asked a question.

“Of course. This is the ‘Hymns of Fairies’, passed down by us Krakoks for a thousand years!”

“That again...” Angor grinned. He heard about this particular time frame many times ever since he arrived at Pocratee. And every time, it would remind him that Dodoro was a really old being who lived through all that time.

“Thanks for your song. It reminds me of many old stories,” Angor said. He then stood up and bowed to the girl.

Papaya blushed. “It-it’s my honor to sing for you, mister. Oh! It’s almost noon now. I need to get back. Granny’s going to worry.”

Angor nodded and snapped his fingers to cancel the Nightmare Domain. The three of them re-appeared on grassy lands.

Papaya bowed to Angor and Shadow one last time. She then waved her hands and ran down the hill, leaving a trail of girlish giggles behind her.

...

When Papaya had fully disappeared from their sight, Shadow said, “Look at you. You scared her dearly.”

Angor shrugged. “Well. She knows how to pretend better than you.”

Yes, it was pretended.

Papaya only looked calm and carefree, but she was actually nervous and terrified right from the start. Both Angor and Shadow noticed.

Angor could sense every detail in his Nightmare Domain. Papaya was a mortal creature; she couldn’t hide the changes in her emotions.

“So, how did you notice?” Angor looked at Shadow.

“I don’t believe a small girl, who upon meeting with a pair of strange giants, can stay so calm. She answered each of our questions loud and clear. It means she obeyed us, not because she’s being nice. Actually, she did it so perfectly that I can’t find a reason to punish her.”

Angor nodded. “At least her words are all true.”

“Heh. The moment she tries to lie to me will be her last.”

“Oh man. Are you always so violent in front of ladies?”

“I only respect people with blond hair and blue eyes. While the others... I don’t care about her gender, her age, or her race.” Shadow gave Angor a meaningful glance.

“Freak...”

Angor thought about the previous encounter. In truth, he was impressed by Papaya’s performance. He didn’t plan to let the girl go at first. However, since Papaya did wonderfully by presenting her song and asking to leave afterward, everything seemed natural and smooth.

Angor greatly appreciated such flexibility of mind and trained mentality. That was why he chose not to trouble the Krakok girl further.

This didn’t mean that he fully trusted her. Before Papaya left, he placed a small trace of nightmare aura on her, just in case.

Meanwhile, he noticed that an evil yet familiar aura was hidden in Papaya’s shadow.

Shadow’s trick, no doubt.

Angor and Shadow exchanged another meaningful look before they vanished into the air. They then headed down the hill.

...

“What do you think of that song?” Shadow asked through Spirit Bond.

“Do you mean the story or her voice?”

“Is there something worth asking about her voice?” Shadow chuckled.

“To me, it sounds more like a narrative poem which explains the history of Krakoks. The second and third paragraphs are obviously talking about the war a thousand years ago and being saved by the Dark Castle wizard. Except that they left out the part about how they looked miserable and sugarcoated themselves as brave warriors. I don’t know about the other two parts. I guess the last one is talking about something inside Dark Castle.”

“I agree. We should pay attention to the fourth paragraph.”

As they were both invisible, Angor didn’t notice that Shadow appeared extremely curious about something.

They were both trying to hide something, but compared to Shadow, Angor chose to ask his question by speaking in a casual manner.

“Remember the second clause? She said the ‘lands of serpents’, which means the former Water Grasse—Hippocratee. Why did they call that place the lands of serpents?”

“You’re interested in mortal history now?” Shadow replied.

“Just curious, that’s all.”

Shadow wasn’t doubtful at all since mortal history wasn’t anything important. “The Zeal Dominion destroyed everything related to the old nation, so it’s natural that you don’t know about it. They forbid all citizens from mentioning that part of history under any circumstances.

“The one that ruled over the land before Zeal Dominion came was called Akesolya.”

Angor felt his heart beating powerfully as he remembered the name of Akeso, the giant serpent that was living near the water where Pocratee hid underneath.

Shadow continued, “It was a really weird place too. They worshiped a giant beast, which was a snake or something like that. Papaya’s ‘lands of serpents’ should be referring to Akesolya.”

“What’s that snake called?” Angor tried to ask.

“The snake? Dunno. It’s only a symbolic totem or something. Do you really need to name a totem?”