The Stockholm Incident was different compared to Angor’s current situation, but there were similarities.
When extremely stressed by danger, a man would cling onto the tiniest thing he could find that gave him hope. That was what Angor was feeling right now. If his mind was changed by Sunders’ and Flora’s simple kindness, he would be the same as the victims in the incident above.
Cold sweat covered Angor’s back.
He slowly gave up the friendliness he showed towards Flora and returned to being a noble who knew good manners, but only good manners. Even his expression became exactly the same one carried by his deceased father. Polite, composed, distant.
The Brute Cavern was a black wizard organization. If he approached the place with his naive moral principles, he would certainly find a quick and terrible death.
Flora was aware of Angor’s changes in mind all along. Just like when they passed the rotten bloody smells, Flora stayed silent even though a tiny trace of approval shined in her eyes.
Angor was a young man without much experience in this world. She and Sunders would not be his babysitter, so Angor must grow strong by himself in this realm going by the law of the jungle.
“There’s your tent ahead. How does it look?” Flora pointed towards a round and white tent with a red flag on top of it.
Angor paused.
The tent looked… ordinary.
It was only about a hundred meters away from Sunders’ beautiful tent. There was only a small dirt slope between them. Only a short walk.
However, Flora took Angor on a detour and walked nearly a kilometer.
He looked at Flora. A vague idea already came about his mind.
He only smiled in the end. “It’s nice. Thank you.”
“Good. Get in, I’ll come for you in the evening.”
Before she left, Angor quickly asked a question, “Can you tell me why the teacher took me in?”
Flora stopped her steps.
She turned around with a big smile. Her eyes turned into the shape of a slim, crescent moon.
“I want to know it too. Maybe you can ask him yourself tonight?”
…
Inside the small, white round tent.
The decoration was simple. A bunk bed, a bedside stand, white, gauze curtain, hollowed, caramel desk and chair. There were also a clock and candle stand like the ones in his room on The Redbud, although a bit more delicate.
Angor sat on the chair and placed his luggage on the desk.
The mid-sized leather bag contained everything he had: clothes, wash supplies and a pair of chamois leather hunting boots. There was also a small wooden box with Greya’s Section Ephemera in it as well as several bamboo tubes containing dried Morning Dew leaves.
Everything in the bag was trivial to Angor. He would not get frustrated even if he lost them. He always kept his most precious belongings close to himself: the hologram tablet and the Alien Eye.
He put away his clothes and spaced out since he had nothing to do.
He was thinking about using his tablet to read some novels. However, he was staying in someone else’s territory, and Sunders’ intention towards him was not clear, added by Flora’s explanation about a wizard’s “extra pair of ears and eyes”… Angor did not dare to take out his tablet, fearing that someone might be watching.
Exposing the tablet was not something serious. There were only Hanzi in it and no one could read them. However, Angor was afraid that someone might decide to get to the bottom of it, which would lead to the exposure of Jon’s identity as a “smuggler”. That would be disastrous. Angor made up his mind to stay low profile for some time. At the very least, he would not use the tablet during his days on the cloud whale.
Without the tablet to pass time, and no books since he gave them all to Alan, the only thing Angor could do now was to stare at the air.