Chapter 1637 Farce <TOC> Chapter 1639 Sanye
Translator: SumTLMan
Not long after Sanders finished speaking, the mansion welcomed A Long-Absent Visitor.
The head of the House of Lilith, Like the Night Canter.
When everyone saw Canter, their eyes flashed with confusion. Even Sanders gave him a puzzled look.
The reason for their bewilderment lay in Canter’s current appearance, which was rather peculiar. His curly beard was a bit disheveled, the pointed top of his wizard hat embroidered with dark blue lavender flowers had collapsed, and his matching wizard robe was covered in scratches. Most notably, on each of his long white eyebrows that hung down to his chest, there was a cat perched.
One of the cats was Luna, a black feline with whom Angel was intimately familiar. Luna clung to the white eyebrow, seemingly in a state of alarm.
The other black cat had a darkness about it that seemed like a ball of raging black fire, exuding an air of aggression. As Canter moved, the cat swayed back and forth on his eyebrow, as if enjoying a swing.
“Canter, what…” Sanders furrowed his brow, clearly puzzled by Canter’s current condition.
Gloria burst into unrestrained laughter at the sight. Although Shirley and Azaz were also struggling to suppress their grins, they dared not laugh aloud in the presence of a wizard of true knowledge.
Annoyed, Canter shot Gloria a look. “What’s so funny?”
Then, Canter gripped the scruffs of both cats’ necks: “Well, aren’t you going to get off now?”
With a flick of his wrist, both black cats were flung to the ground. As Luna landed, she quickly scanned her surroundings. Upon spotting Angel, her slit pupils gleamed for a moment. With agile movements, she darted toward Angel, finally taking refuge behind his feet, not even letting her tail show.
Another cat landed gracefully, in stark contrast to Luna’s earlier panic. It walked around the area as if it were a king inspecting its domain before eventually settling atop a high wall. Although the cat never approached Angel, ever since its arrival at the estate, it seemed to fixate its gaze on Angel more than anyone else. It was unclear whether this was because of Luna or Angel himself.
Angel looked at the black cat, as if pondering something.
At that moment, Canter, having straightened his disheveled attire, responded to Sanders with a grimace, “We’ve had a minor issue.”
“A minor issue?” Sanders shifted his gaze from Canter to the black cat perched on the wall. “Is it because of her?”
Annoyed, Canter nodded and then directed his gaze toward the black cat. “Had enough of playing cat? Change back now.”
The black cat remained unmoved.
Frustrated, Canter exerted his force directly onto the black cat. The cat began to shudder visibly, its eyes revealing an almost defiant will to hold its ground. However, under the overwhelming pressure, it finally transformed into a wisp of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, both Shirley and Azaz looked surprised. The black cat, in a matter of moments visible to the naked eye, elongated and grew taller, ultimately transforming into a young girl.
Adorning a red bow in her hair, wearing a deep blue long-sleeved dress, and holding a broom adorned with a nightlight, the girl had scars on her face, her head tilted to one side, devoid of any expression.
“Illusion magic? No, it’s transformation magic!”
“Shadowflame Witch?” Shirley whispered, identifying her by her alias.
This individual was none other than Canter’s apprentice, Cherie.
“What happened?” Sanders hadn’t been paying attention to the outside world, only stepping out to welcome Canter after receiving a message from him.
Canter sighed, his gaze sweeping the surroundings, lingering especially on Gloria and Shirley, yet he remained silent.
Sanders surmised, “Let’s go inside to discuss.”
A little while later, in the grand hall.
Canter sighed again, first directing his gaze towards Angel: “I came to Sky Mechanical City primarily to offer my congratulations to Angel and to express my gratitude.”
Angel’s dual accomplishments of becoming a formal wizard and joining the Research Institute were reasons enough for Canter to make a special trip. Moreover, Angel had kept his initial promise, cultivating a Morphing Softworm and gifting one to Cherie.
These two reasons were the main purpose of Canter’s visit.
However, what Canter had not expected was that shortly after his arrival in Sky Mechanical City, his disciple Cherie stirred up a monumental issue.
Canter knew Cherie’s mind well. Currently unable to defeat the ‘Sea God’ Florence, she targeted Florence’s disciple, Jiebo, despite Jiebo being innocent.
Originally, Canter didn’t mind, as Cherie and Jiebo had clashed too many times. But this time, they shockingly started fighting in a gathering place for alchemists.
By the time Canter arrived, the Fragrant Plaza was already completely flooded.
At that point, Cherie had already been apprehended by the law enforcement team. It took a substantial favor from Canter to have her released.
The matter of taking Cherie away isn’t settled yet, and the current situation at the Fragrant Plaza is clearly a significant loss. Canter then prepares to go to Fragrant Plaza with Cherie to assess the damage. Along the way, they encounter Sanye, who is also headed to Fragrant Plaza with Jiebo.
Sanye is also a disciple of Florence, making her Jiebo’s senior sister. She is currently a first level witch and has a good reputation in the Southern Region.
With both Canter and Sanye present, Cherie and Jiebo manage to restrain themselves. To be more precise, as long as Cherie doesn’t provoke, Jiebo would generally ignore her.
However, they didn’t maintain this truce for long.
While assessing the damage at Fragrant Plaza, Cherie argues that Jiebo is mainly responsible. If anyone should be held accountable, it should primarily be Jiebo. This almost reignites a conflict between Cherie and Jiebo.
After a chaotic scene, Canter finally manages to restrain Cherie, although the situation ends up resembling their initial encounter.
Cherie transforms into a black cat and adopts a stance of nonviolent non-cooperation.
“Jiebo should bear 90% of the responsibility; I didn’t attack those shops at all,” Cherie speaks up again.
In truth, everyone knows that what she’s saying is probably accurate. When Jiebo takes action, he summons a vast ocean expanse. However, this issue cannot be viewed in isolation, as alchemists don’t care who is mainly responsible; they just want compensation.
The final decision on how to allocate responsibility will have to be negotiated between Canter and Sanye, or determined by the higher-ups of Sky Mechanical City.
“Instead of arguing about who’s more responsible, let’s think about how to compensate,” Canter says tersely.
“I’ll find a way to compensate on my own.”
“And how will you do that? Pawn Luna?” Canter says, half-laughing, half-exasperated.
Luna, who was lying next to Angel, shivered all over. She agilely hopped to the back of Angel, revealing only half of her feline face over the armrest of the sofa.
“What’s the word on the damages at that Fragrant Plaza?” Angel curiously inquired.
“It’s not yet settled; we’ll discuss it further tomorrow,” Canter sighed. Although the high-end perfume stores surely had protective measures, the boutiques affected by their recent altercation were the lower-end ones. Nevertheless, the eventual compensation would still be substantial.
Given the wealth of the House of Lilith, they could undoubtedly afford the compensation. However, the more pressing issue isn’t the monetary restitution but rather the attitude of the alchemist community.
After all, this is Sky Mechanical City, a hotbed for alchemists. Cherie caused this mishap in an area densely populated by alchemists.
If, as a result, Cherie… or even the entire House of Lilith — ends up on the alchemists’ blacklist, that would indeed be a major problem.
So, Canter promptly arrived at Sanders’ estate as his first course of action.
Now that Angel has become a member of the Research Institute, and given his standing within the alchemist community, he might be able to influence their outlook.