Only then did Abulei remember, yet those memories were quickly overshadowed by her darkening mood once again.
"Master, that dream... was it real?" Abulei’s voice was trembling.
Angel replied indifferently, "True or false, you judge for yourself. For personal matters, find time to deal with them on your own. Now, let’s talk about the situation here."
Abulei opened her mouth, the words filled with surging emotions reached her throat, but ultimately, she quietly swallowed them down.
Angel was right; matters have their priorities, and her personal affairs... were insignificant.
As Abulei’s gaze turned gloomy, the Crowned Parrot beside her suddenly spoke, "You really are a fool. How did I end up with such a servant? That woman is clearly using you, yet you still doubt the truth. You simply don’t want to face the reality, wishing to hear ’false’ from others, so you can comfortably hide in your own little world and continue living by the facade, right?"
Abulei looked at the Crowned Parrot in surprise, "How do you know about Gu Yina?"
No need to doubt, this was surely Angel’s doing. He had used Nightmare Illusion and the Art of Fear on the Crowned Parrot and tucked some of Abulei’s stories into that illusion dream.
Angel only did so casually, thinking that since the Crowned Parrot was so eloquent, maybe it could influence Abulei.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Abulei awoke, the Crowned Parrot started its barrage.
Though the words were harsh, Angel realized the Crowned Parrot truly understood "human nature." In comparison, Abulei was just a blank sheet of paper.
"Don’t worry about how I know, but you’re indeed silly. If my servants were this foolish, I wouldn’t consider entering a contract with them," the Crowned Parrot said arrogantly.
"I’m not foolish; I just feel Gu Yina is pitiful..."
"Ha ha, another excuse to retreat into your little world. Pitiful? She might be pitiful, but what’s it got to do with you? She’s using you, don’t you sense it at all? No, you do, but each time, just like now, you use ’pitiful’ to deceive yourself and deliberately ignore all the discrepancies. Foolish, too foolish!"
After being scolded by the Crowned Parrot, Abulei hesitated to speak, fearing that anything she said would be labeled as "excuses" or "reasons" by the Crowned Parrot.
But, to be honest, the Crowned Parrot’s words directly hit Abulei’s heart.
When she woke earlier and asked Angel, she indeed harbored a little desire to "whitewash" things. However, after the Crowned Parrot brutally exposed the truth she didn’t want to face, whitewashing was no longer useful.
Now, what she could do seemed to be only confronting and making choices.
Angel also noticed Abulei’s psychological shift, secretly applauding the Crowned Parrot. Though it was a bit harsh, the Crowned Parrot was actually quite kind to Abulei.
Abulei began to seriously consider how to confront and choose, which wasn’t easy.
Angel believed that as long as the Crowned Parrot remained by Abulei’s side, she would eventually embark on the path of change.
"Abulei, do you believe in your summoned creature?"
Before Abulei could respond, the Crowned Parrot exclaimed, "Who’s her summoned creature? We haven’t even signed a contract yet."
Abulei nodded repeatedly.
"I see the contract hasn’t been signed yet. Well, you can sign it now; I can witness your friendship." Angel said.
The Crowned Parrot was somewhat intimidated by Angel, but still said, "Who wants to sign with such a coward? She doesn’t even qualify to be my servant..."
As the Crowned Parrot spoke halfway, it turned to find Abulei’s expression was also hesitant!
A foolish human dared to hesitate about signing a contract with a noble being like me!
Unforgivable!
The more unwilling you are to sign a contract with me, the more I want to sign!
The Crowned Parrot immediately changed its tone, "She has some qualifications to be my servant. I agree to establish a master-servant contract; I’m the master, and she’s my servant!"
Abulei didn’t expect the Crowned Parrot would agree to sign a contract with her. Her hesitation was merely worry that the Crowned Parrot might despise her; however, the Crowned Parrot took it as Abulei despising itself.
In a twist of fate, this also counted as serendipity.
In the end, with Angel as the witness, they signed the contract. But it wasn’t a master-servant contract; it was an equal contract.
Even though the Crowned Parrot complained, still calling Abulei a foolish servant, it acknowledged it.
After binding the Crowned Parrot with Abulei, Angel felt relieved. With the Crowned Parrot present, Abulei’s life should become more interesting. At least, Angel believed, the Crowned Parrot would never allow Abulei to continue being a weakling.
After resolving this matter, Angel turned back to Abulei: "As I said before, personal matters, solve them yourself. Now, we need to address the issue of the Knights of the Gumman Kingdom. Speak, why are they chasing you?"
Because of the Crowned Parrot’s interruption, Abulei’s previously downcast demeanor had improved considerably. Earlier, she thought Gu Yina’s truth was more important than anything, but now that the facade was stripped away, she could naturally set it aside.
Currently, what was most crucial was relaying what Old Porter had said to Angel.
"Here’s what happened. After I parted ways with you, I went to a nearby wizard market named... Princess Town."
"Princess Town, the name alone suggests a connection to King Gumman," Dox said coldly.
Abulei didn’t know Dox but, seeing him with Angel, assumed they were friends and didn’t avoid them: "What this gentleman said is correct. A long time ago, the market was named Blackland Market because of a soft water source called Blackland nearby. Later, when the Blackland Soft Water was depleted, the market was renamed Merlandi Market."
Where the Blackland Soft Water appears, there must be Merlandi Magic Ore, which is an inert mineral difficult to react with Magic Power.
It must be said, the renaming of this market is quite logical. You use what you have and rely on what you have.
"However, the name Merlandi Market was only used for a year or two before it changed again. This happened because the daughter of the Great Princess of the Gumman Kingdom came here, so it was changed to Princess Town."
Actually, people in the Southern Domain Wizards’ Realm know well that King Gumman controls almost all transcendent markets in the kingdom. However, previously, King Gumman at least maintained good superficial appearance, allowing various wizard markets to operate freely, rarely interfering.
But now, just hearing a market name change to ’Princess Town’ indicates that King Gumman seems no longer intent on manipulating wizard markets secretly.
From secret to overt, fully consolidating all transcendent markets.
Abulei continued, "After I arrived in Princess Town, since it was late, I decided to rest for the night and convey my message to the White Shell Sea Market the next day. I knew of a hidden outpost of an organization in Princess Town, managed by a brewer named Old Porter. So, I went to Old Porter’s place."
Although various witcher organizations don’t trust King Gumman and are unwilling to station personnel in the wizard markets here, there are quite a few hidden outposts to observe the domestic developments of the Gumman Kingdom.
"I went to Old Porter’s place while he was trying to send urgent intelligence back to the Barbarian Cave."
"Then, from Old Porter, I learned about that intelligence..."