Warlock Apprentice

Twenty years ago, Noah Padt, the brothers’ father, saved Jon who was in a near-death state outside of the manor. After Jon recovered from his wounds, the viscount learned that the man had nowhere to go and decided to take him in, while offering him an easy and rewarding job – a fruit grower.

What wounded him, why he collapsed outside the manor, and where he was from all remained mysteries. He never told anyone. He did say that he was from another planet. However, he never explained where this place called “Planet” was.

Jon was a gifted speaker, with brilliant growing and building techniques. The young brothers loved coming to him and hearing about all the wonderful stories. There were buildings that could pierce the clouds, metal machines that could fly, even gardens that existed on the moon.

Leon was always intrigued by the lands in the stories and dreamed about going to these places when he grew up. When he did grow up, however, he realized that the stories were all made up. The feeling of having his dreams broken frustrated him very much, and ever since, he always felt a hint of anger and disdain in the face of Jon.

Leon felt just the same about the fact that Angor trusted Jon, even considering him as his teacher. But no matter how Leon tried to persuade him, Angor always responded with a wordless smile – he never rejected or retorted.

Angor had a very similar attitude to Jon’s: gentle and calm on the outside, yet neither reason nor force could change his mind once he decided something.

…

Leon picked up the parchment on the desk. It was covered by masses of thick characters which instantly made Leon’s eyes spin.

“Must you use these things taught by that old man instead of our universal language? No human alive can read them! Unless… they’re some kind of secret not intended for mankind?” Leon muttered, then realized something. He looked at Angor with a wicked smile. “Oh dear brother, kindly explain to me, please? Are you recording your little adolescent troubles? C’mon, tell me, big brother can help ya.”

Angor sighed and pointed at the parchment. “This is called Hanzi. They’re used where teacher came from. As for their meaning, I’m writing about the records of the meanings about several physical constants calculated by teacher.”

Angor then pointed at some symbols beneath that looked like swimming tadpoles. “These are called Arabic Numerals, they have the same use for measuring as the units we use in Goldspink Empire, but they’re simpler and more distinctive. When you use them together with the constants I mentioned, you can record tons of stuff easily.”

Leon did not understand one bit of what Angor had been talking about, nor did he care. He only thought about how old Jon came up with more ways to hoodwink his brother, and how his adorable, innocent brother was getting brainwashed

The only bit of sympathy Leon had upon hearing the condition of Jon had disappeared.

Leon waved a hand to stop Angor and took out a delicately wrapped letter from under his armor.

“Just… stop. I can’t understand anyway and I don’t really want to hear it. Here, a invitation from the city lord. My inheritance of father’s title requires the notarization of the lord and Marquis Merlin. We move out half a month later. Didn’t you always want to go to Master Megeve’s Solo Concert? I’ll take you to the Ocean Theater in Waterford when we’re done with business so you can enjoy it.”

Angor took the invitation letter with joy on his face. He heard about the musician who was well-known across the empire in Waterford. He produced excellent melodies and lyrics! Angor never had the chance to meet him, so of course he felt happy when his brother’s official business could give him this chance.

Looking at his younger brother trying to suppress all that joy and act tough, Leon couldn’t help but rough up Angor’s blonde hair.

And of course, Angor glared back at him.

“Don’t do that again I say! Hair is a man’s pride and I’ll not take any compromise in this!”

Hahaha! Leon was speechless for a second before he burst into laughter. “You’re only 14 this year and hardly a man. Just a young lad who still needs growing.”

The brothers romped around. Naturally, Angor couldn’t win against Leon who was already burly as a tiger. In the end, Angor could only give his brother more stares, before returning to his homework assigned by Jon.

Leon never knew how to deal with Angor when he decided to keep to himself. Leon rubbed his nose and turned to leave.

About half an hour had passed since Leon went away, and Angor finally swam ashore from the sea of numbers.

Looking at the empty room, Angor knew that Leon left a while ago, and it was almost time for lunch. He opened the door and saw two lunch boxes placed on the stone table in the yard, as always. The Head Maid Mana was taking out the meals from the boxes.

Vegetable stew sided with bread and fruit… again. Angor felt a bit down upon seeing all this.

He missed his teacher’s cooking. Those simple fried rice never disappointed his appetite as if there was magic in it.

Angor never had the delicacy again ever since Teacher started to grow weaker.

He once tried to learn the cooking skill from Jon, but the result was horrible.

Sigh. All four limbs of teacher had wilted beyond use now. I probably will never have those tastes again.

Mana went upstairs to help Jon eat, while Angor sulked in depression.

After finishing his meal, Angor entered the house just to see Mana coming down.

“Auntie Mana. Is my teacher awake?”

“Mister Jon is awake, young master,” Mana showed the empty porcelain bowl in her basket. “He’s got a good appetite today, drinking all the soup!”

“Nice. I’ll go see him.”

Watching Angor run upstairs in joy, Mana smiled in kindness. The two masters owned the Padt Manor now. On the outside, the elder master was proud and stern, while the younger one was gentle and calm. But outsiders didn’t know that they were still children on the inside. No matter how they acted strong, they hid their softness, and only showed their spirit in front of their close servants, which should have been in their nature at such an age.

“Teacher!”

Angor pushed open the attic door and saw the old man sprawling on the sling chair on the balcony, with his mute servant respectfully standing behind.

The old man had sallow, shrunken skin. His whole appearance was drastically different from the locals, with obvious foreign features. His eyes were turbid, but those black pupils still stood out.

Without his father, Angor had been considering Jon his most respected elder, and his lifelong mentor.