Chapter 1476 The Follower’s Pledge <TOC> Chapter 1478 The Identity of the Writer
Translator: SumTLMan
In Initial Heart City, on the bustling main street, a shadow is sprinting.
The pedestrians around don’t seem surprised by this rushing figure; it’s as if they’ve grown accustomed to the sight. In fact, some even feel that the shadow is moving slower than usual today.
For instance, on the rooftop of a small building by the street, Daluke is working on stone carving with his grandfather. He voices his curiosity, “Why does it seem like Sheriff Tulas is slower today? And he’s not jumping from rooftop to rooftop like he usually does.”
Normally, Tulas would bound across rooftops, leading to considerable structural damage. Today, however, he’s running on the street, which is rather unusual.
Daluke’s grandfather, who has just finished carving a tree branch from stone, looks up briefly and then replies calmly, “It’s not about the sheriff; it’s about the person behind him.”
“The person behind him?” Daluke looks more closely and indeed notices a figure trailing behind Sheriff Tulas. This figure appears more frail and seems to be a woman. She is about ten meters behind Tulas, gasping for breath while gritting her teeth as she continues to run.
Daluke also notices that Tulas keeps looking back and shouting.
Although he can’t hear what’s being said, Daluke is good at reading lips and determines Tulas is yelling——
“Stop following me!”
Daluke is puzzled. If Tulas is trying to drive the woman away, why is he running slower than usual?
In response to Daluke’s question, his grandfather smiles, “That’s because our sheriff is a very kind-hearted person.”
A kind-hearted person? Daluke still doesn’t understand, but his grandfather offers no further explanation.
Daluke shifted the conversation and focused on the woman following Tulas. “This woman, I don’t think I’ve met her before, have I?”
Daluke’s grandfather reminisced, “I caught a glimpse of her a few days ago. I was installing tree sculptures with the city construction team near the square. At that time, the sheriff was holding her wrist and running towards Azure Tower.”
Pausing for a moment, Daluke’s grandfather continued with a wistful expression, “Ah, the fiery passion of youth. It takes me back to the golden days of my own youth — a beautiful time spent running under the setting sun…”
Not wanting to delve into a trip down memory lane, Daluke interjected, “I’ve heard Sheriff Tulas say that he’s several millennia old, much older than you, Grandfather.”
Daluke’s grandfather responded skeptically, “… He must be lying. I’ve seen his face without the horned helmet, and he looks fresh as a daisy!”
“Fresh as a daisy?” Daluke had a hard time reconciling that description with Tulas’s typically bare-chested, muscular appearance. He couldn’t help but probe further.
As the conversation progressed, it gradually veered into the realm of gossip.
Meanwhile, at the top of Azure Tower, Angel was quietly observing Tulas on the distant street below, along with Mandara who was following him. Although he couldn’t hear the conversation between Daluke and his grandfather, he noticed that Tulas was moving much slower than usual and wasn’t leaping into the air.
“So, is it because of Mandara?” Angel mused softly to himself.
“Yes, despite Tulas’s seemingly wild demeanor, he has a tender side hidden within,” replied Freud, who had approached from behind.
Angel looked surprised, “Are you saying that Tulas has feelings for… Mandara?”
Freud shook his head, “From my observation, that’s not the case. Replace Mandara with anyone else, and Tulas would likely behave the same. He appears carefree and reluctant to take responsibility for anything, but that only applies to himself. If it involves others, he might not say it, but he’s willing to step up.”
Angel didn’t quite grasp Freud’s meaning.
Freud elaborated, “I’ve always been pondering how to rein in Tulas but never figured it out. However, Marilyn offered me a suggestion: why not have someone accompany Tulas on duty?”
“Even though Tulas never wants anyone shadowing him, once the task is actually assigned, he only gets angry with me. As for those carrying out the mission… Now it’s Mandara, he is surprisingly responsible. You may see him taking the lead alone, but he’s actually maintaining a distance that Mandara can catch up to. That’s his subtlety.”
Hearing this, Angel finally understood the intricacies involved.
While Tulas seems like a person reluctant to take responsibility, he surprisingly possesses a strong sense of duty.
Such an arrangement could indeed serve to temper Tulas’s reckless character.
“Marilyn does have a keen eye for people,” Angel praised. When Marilyn was still a candidate for city lord, she had already invited Jon to be part of her team multiple times before knowing his identity. Now she’s even seen Tulas’s potential character. It shows her judgment is extraordinary.”
“Indeed, Marilyn is exceptional,” Freud agreed while praising her. However, his eyes were discreetly sizing up Angel, his mind echoing with a rumor once mentioned by Leon.
Angel does seem to have undergone a significant change in his aura, very different from before.
Could it be that the rumor Leon mentioned is true?
As Freud was mulling this over, Angel suddenly asked, “Why did you give this duty assignment to Mandara?”
Freud shrugged, “It was just a flash of insight, and I arranged it accordingly.”
Though it seemed like a momentary inspiration, Freud had given it some thought. When Mandara entered the Wilderness of Dreams, the first person to interact with her was Tulas. While there was no formal introduction, Tulas was relatively familiar to Mandara, making it easier for her to integrate into Initial Heart City by being with someone she knew.
Moreover, Tulas is a very enthusiastic person who wouldn’t mind Mandara’s cold aloofness. This extreme juxtaposition could serve as a sort of balance.
Freud’s only concern was whether Tulas, while patrolling, would abandon Mandara and run off on his own.
Now, reality proved that Tulas was much gentler than he had anticipated.
“So has there been any change in Mandara during this time?” Angel asked again.
“When Mandara is working, she spends most of her time chasing after Tulas, just like now,” Freud pointed at the increasingly distant figures in the distance. “I can see that, at least at this moment, her entire focus is on the chase, not thinking about real-world matters.”
“That’s good to hear,” Angel said, using the dream power to view Mandara’s expression with a godly perspective. There was indeed a significant change in her demeanor since she entered the Wilderness of Dreams; at the very least, she displayed more emotions, lacking her previous coldness.
“Mandara is a very sensitive person. I’ll try to subtly change her personality,” Freud said.
Angel nodded. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
With that, Angel withdrew his gaze and turned to walk back into the tower.
Meanwhile, Mandara, who was in the middle of the chase, looked suspiciously into the distance. She had a feeling someone was watching her. But when she turned her head back, she saw nothing.
“Perhaps it was just an illusion?” Mandara didn’t give it much thought and continued to chase after the… scoundrel in front of her.
Angel walked into the room where Freud usually conducted his research. Taking a seat, he looked at Freud and said, “You seem like you have something on your mind. Want to share?”
Angel had noticed earlier that Freud had been stealing glances at him, a look of contemplation clouding his features, as if he had something pent up that he needed to say.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Freud nervously touched his gray sideburns. “Your elder brother mentioned something to me earlier that has me a bit concerned…”
Angel looked at Freud, surprised that what he had to say involved his older brother. “What is it?”
“I wanted to ask you a question,” Freud hesitated for a moment before finally voicing it, “Have you officially become a formal wizard?”
Angel was taken aback by Freud’s question but chose not to hide the truth. “Yes, I have. Didn’t I mention that to you the last time I was here?”
Freud replied, “… No, you didn’t.”
It appeared that something clicked in Angel’s mind, “Ah, it seems I forgot to mention it.”
Learning of Angel’s advancement, Freud felt a surge of excitement and admiration. However, seeing Angel’s nonchalant attitude of “Oh, I forgot,” a wave of sarcastic thoughts flooded his mind.
How could he forget such a monumental event?
If Freud himself had become a formal wizard, he would exhibit noticeable differences in his demeanor, regardless of how low-key he usually was.
But Angel, though he had some subtle changes in his aura, acted as he always had. If Freud hadn’t heard the rumors about Angel’s advancement from Leon, he might have remained in the dark for a long time.
Bottling up a torrent of inner monologue, Freud finally settled on saying, “… Congratulations, my lord.”
Angel nodded noncommittally: “The recent advancement was a bit rushed; we’ll talk about it in detail later. However, I’m quite curious how this has anything to do with my brother Leon.”
Freud’s expression was impassive as he slowly relayed the rumors that Leon had brought.
“Already spreading to Sky Mechanical City? Was it reported by —Sky of Truth—?” Angel furrowed his brows. He recalled that the same publication was the first to report on his own foray into the mysterious, as well as Isabelle’s return to the Southern Region. “How would they know?”
As Angel mused, Freud pulled a stack of papers from the drawer.
“I had Leon extract the articles from —Sky of Truth—. Perhaps you should read them first.”
With a puzzled look, Angel took the not-so-thin stack of white papers, recognizing the handwriting to be that of his brother Leon.
After a few minutes, Angel read through all the pages. The information recorded was mostly accurate. There was even a mention, “Speculating that Wizard Pat is already outside the Path of True Knowledge,” which was also true. But the words were so full of praise and emotional emphasis that Angel felt it was somewhat exaggerated.
Setting aside these laudatory words, Angel was eager to know how this information had spread so quickly, reaching even Sky Mechanical City. Could it have been leaked by people from Black Castle?
Subconsciously, Angel looked at the byline of the article:
“… Your Stone Grandpa?”
Chapter 1476 The Follower’s Pledge <TOC> Chapter 1478 The Identity of the Writer