The steam-powered airship with black smoke billowing out of it flew into the distance, leaving behind a black line made of dirty exhaust in the sky with loud rumbling noises.
At first, Angor stood on the deck, enjoying the breeze and reminiscing about the past. But soon, the black smoke from the burning fuel filled the air, and everyone on the deck quickly returned to the airship.
Angor followed the crowd back to the airship. Prome returned to his own room, while Angor and Dave chatted in the hall. There was a circular transparent glass in the hall, which allowed them to see what was going on outside. One side of the airship was already covered by the black smoke.
Angor looked at the black smoke. He could still smell its pungent odor. The floor under his feet was trembling, which made him feel that the airship was going to fall apart at any time.
Dave saw Angor's worried expression and comforted him with a smile. "Don't worry. The airship has been like this since we bought it. Big exhaust, weak maneuverability, and the engine keeps shaking. It'll be fine."
"But it's not as good as The Savage." Angor frowned.
"That's for sure. The Savage was ordered from Floating Mech City by our organization, while this airship was purchased by a private company. Both the price and the channel are much worse."
Following Dave's explanation, Angor finally understood the difference between The Savage and this airship.
Most of the airships at the port of Windmill Town were privately owned. The owner of this airship was a level-3 apprentice who bought it to earn money from the ticket price. The airship was not fast, so it only traveled short distances.
Dave pointed outside the window. "Look at those people."
Angor followed the direction and saw several people flying across the sky. Some were using spells to fly, while others were riding on vehicles. Angor could see someone riding a familiar across the vast land.
"Those who can fly can fly by themselves, or those who have vehicles can go by themselves," Dave said. Dave sighed. "I'll go to the resource distribution hall and buy a flying vehicle as well. It's not fast, but it'll take less than a day to travel from Brute Cavern to Midnight Sovereign. It's much faster than a train."
"Why don't you try to learn flying?" Angor asked.
David shook his head. "There's too much to learn. It'll take me years to learn from scratch. Also, spells are expensive. Before I become a rank 3 Apprentice, I don't plan on learning Flight. "
"But you don't have to buy a flying vehicle. You can make one yourself." "If you keep working on that propeller flyer of yours, it can be used as a flying vehicle, right?"
At the mention of the helicarrier, David blushed. "That's just a mechanical device. It can't carry people."
"Let's take our time to study it." He was planning to study flying vehicles as well, but it was only an idea for now. He would have to read Collected Alchemy for details. There were several types of engines in the book, but he did not know how to use them yet.
"I also want to study it slowly, but the Frost Moon Passage leading to the periphery of the Abyss will close in three months. I have to go there before it closes, so I have to buy a flying vehicle. "
They chatted for a while before Angor turned to David. "I worked all night yesterday, so I haven't slept yet. I'm going to take a nap in my room. We'll talk later."
David nodded. "Alright. I'm impressed that you can sleep in this kind of environment."
Angor stepped on the trembling floor and returned to his room, feeling a little dizzy.
When he returned to his cabin, he sighed and took Toby out of his pocket and placed it on his palm.
Toby flapped its wings and used its beak to comb its curly feathers.
"Where's your music box?" Angor rubbed the bird's rough feathers and asked when the bird was moaning in comfort.
Angor clearly remembered that he did not see Toby's music box when he went to the attic this morning. In other words, Toby left with the music box.
When Toby came back at noon, he did not bring the music box back. Angor thought it was strange, but he did not ask about it. Now that he was going to have a good talk with Toby, he finally asked about it.
Toby froze at Angor's sudden question. Toby turned around and blinked innocently, as if saying "I don't understand".
Toby decided to play "innocent". They were different species, after all. If Toby did not want to talk, Angor could not force it.
Angor tried to be polite. "I have a goal in mind, so I've been working hard toward it every day. Meditation, alchemy, studying … My time is all taken up by these things. I even eat dried food every day. You'll get bored if you keep following me around. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry for what Lady Greya asked me to do. "
Since Greya was mentioned, Toby no longer pretended not to understand. Instead, it uttered a soft "Coo" with longing in its voice.
Angor learned from Expedition into Endless Planes that something happened to Greya in Haunt World. Angor had been keeping it a secret from Toby, so he always felt sorry for what he did to Toby. Just like how he did not get angry when Toby went back on his word this morning. This was also the reason why he did not feel bad about it.
"That's why I let you go out and I won't stop you from making friends." Angor paused a little before continuing, "But I want to tell you that even if mortals are bound by morals and laws, there are still plenty of bad people and evildoers out there, not to mention the wizarding world where there are no such rules. Most supernaturals are greedy. Even if they did not do anything evil, they are not necessarily kind either. And they're all cunning people from the bottom of their hearts. "
Angor continued, "You learned the sequence of gravity, so I'm not worried about your safety. But I'm worried that you might be used by someone else."
Toby kept its head lowered and did not say anything.
"You don't know much about the complexity of the human world yet. When we get home, take me to your friends and I'll help you decide. What do you think?" Angor felt that his "fatherly education" was working, so he tried to cajole her gently. "You don't know much about the complexity of the human world yet.
Angor waited for Toby's response with a gentle smile.
After a while, Toby raised his head, but his eyes were still filled with innocence. What are you talking about? I don't understand.
Seeing this, Angor groaned and collapsed on the bed in the resting room in frustration.
"Ugh. If you don't want to listen to me, so be it. I gave you the music box, so you can do whatever you want with it. I don't care if you throw it away, give it away, or do something else. But remember, you need to be careful with everyone. Don't trust anyone. It's for your own protection. "
Hearing this, Toby waved his wings and chirped a few words.
"You're saying you only lent it to someone else?" Angor understood Toby's gesture.
Toby nodded and chirped again.
"And your friends will give it back to you when you get back?"
Toby nodded again.
Angor did not say anything. He did not have much confidence in this. The music box was nothing special, but it was at least a work of art. Even Lady Mirror, who stood at the top of the supernatural world, praised it. Angor's music box must have some value in circulation.
In the World of Adepts, where personal interests were paramount, would someone return something of value to you after obtaining it?
Angor did not expect that at all.
But he did not point it out. He nodded to Toby. "Good. I spent a lot of effort on your music box."
Still, Angor decided to buy some Echo Flowers when they reached Twilight Well. After Toby was taught a lesson by the "coldness of reality", he would make a new music box for him.
As far as he was concerned, Toby was his closest friend. It was a good thing that a music box could teach Toby about the reality of the wizarding world.
No matter what, Angor would not burst the bubble of a fairy tale himself. He hoped Toby could grow up on his own. At least he would not fail Greya's trust.
His talk with Toby worked a little, but it was still a failure. Angor was not worried though. Many things could only be learned by experiencing it for oneself. No matter how others talked about it, it was useless.
Time passed, and three hours later, the airship finally arrived at its destination when the distant horizon was filled with red.
Angor rested for a while, so he felt much better when he walked down from the airship.
The airship landed in the middle of a slope that was about 30 degrees. There was a wide, flat area, and the airship landed in the center.
Angor did not feel anything when he was on the airship. But as soon as he got off, he felt a chill.
It was the middle of summer, but Parmigi Highlands were always cold. Judging from the white snow on the hillside, it was already a good day. At least there was no snow.
Angor noticed some round bunkers on the flat area. There were also two dark caves near the mountain wall, which were connected by a railroad track.
David and Prometheus came up at this moment.
"It'll only take half an hour to reach Midnight Sovereign by train. Let's wait for a while. The apprentice in charge of the airship talked to Midnight Sovereign's train station. We've already landed, so the train should be here soon."
Not long after Prome's words, a puff of smoke came out of the cave. Along with the smoke came the sound of wheels turning and a long whistle that sounded like the sound of boiling water being poured over a lid.
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