With each of Dox’s evaluations, there was basically no surprise; what Angel heard were all terms like "weak," "foolish," "impulsive"... and so on.
And each person Dox commented on had a somewhat ugly expression.
The only one present who didn’t receive an obvious negative evaluation from Dox was Amisha. However, even for Amisha, Dox still said: "She looks somewhat like a prospective witch, but her overly stiff personality makes her more prone to breaking. Besides, if she doesn’t compete, she deserves to suffer."
The notion of not competing clearly referred to Amisha not following him to coax Angel into a fight.
This point carried a bit of personal bias, but the other evaluations were not particularly problematic.
Even Angel thought Amisha had a bit of Nausicaa’s shadow, so he was more optimistic about her future; however, Nausicaa also had elements of being overly rigid in personality. Although being overly rigid isn’t entirely derogatory, not learning to adapt could still make it difficult to reach the end of this path.
After evaluating those present, Dox continued to evaluate those absent.
Siber’s evaluation wasn’t high, as an internally arrogant young lady who didn’t understand much of the world, she would likely have to endure some harsh realities to grow up.
For the two people after Siber, Dox gave very brief evaluations.
For Golos, the evaluation was: "Interesting."
For Bruiser, the evaluation was: "A funny little guy."
Where exactly they were interesting or funny, Dox didn’t elaborate. But the rare seemingly "positive" evaluations made the other Talented Ones nearby feel somewhat resentful.
Angel didn’t stop Dox’s actions of drawing resentment towards those two. Sometimes, being targeted wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
However, Dox’s evaluation was quite peculiar. Angel knew what the "funny" regarding Bruiser referred to; but for Golos, Dox seemed to offer an evaluation that Angel didn’t quite understand.
At least Angel hadn’t perceived where Golos was "interesting" at the moment.
Perhaps Dox saw something when he sneaked into Princess Castle that made him find Golos interesting?
Although Angel was curious, he didn’t ask Dox because, coincidentally, Lady Melo came out from the back hall at that moment.
But there was no sign of Old Porter behind Lady Melo, only Abulei and... little Tom.
Angel was about to speak to Lady Melo, but Dox was a step faster than him.
Dox’s eyes lit up as he directly stood up, looking down at Abulei: "Quick, where is that ugly parrot? Didn’t it like to talk so much? This time I’ll have a good talk with it!"
Abulei shrank back, retreated repeatedly.
Lady Melo, unable to bear it, gently stood beside Abulei: "Lord Red Sword, Abulei is timid. If there’s any issue, perhaps you could sit down and discuss it?"
"Timid? Ha, if she’s so timid, would she dare let that bastard parrot provoke me?"
Abulei weakly said, "I couldn’t control it either..."
Dox understood Abulei’s situation too, snorted coldly: "Tell me, where is it? Did you release it back to its original realm?"
Abulei shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and said: "I don’t know where it went either."
As Dox continued to inquire, she revealed that the Crowned Parrot flew out from the tavern after they left. It told Abulei it wanted to find a quiet place to sleep and would return in the daytime.
Abulei couldn’t control the Crowned Parrot and could only let it fly away.
"It actually went out alone?" Dox was indeed a bit surprised. Even if the Crowned Parrot wasn’t a particularly strong Summoned Beast, it was still an Extraordinary Life. And this was the Wizards’ Realm, where those driven by profit wouldn’t let a single Crowned Parrot slip by.
Dox narrowed his eyes: "It’s quite bold."
Despite saying that, Dox felt that perhaps the Crowned Parrot going out alone wasn’t just about being bold.
As a Summoned Creature presumably possessing the knowledge of a previous Summoner, its understanding of the Wizards’ Realm was evidently high. Moreover, from its previous behaviors, it’s clear that it was a creature with high intelligence and strong insight. How could such a creature not know the dangers of the Wizard Market?
Even so, it dared to go out alone; there must be something up.
Dox suddenly calmed down, slowly sat back down, as there were still a few hours till daylight, and since the Crowned Parrot said it would return then, it was worth waiting to see.
Faced with Dox’s sudden silence, both Abulei and Lady Melo sighed in relief, while Angel felt vaguely disappointed.
He actually wanted to see a tongue battle between Dox and the Crowned Parrot.
And with so many Talented Ones around, if a dignified Official Wizard like Dox lost to a Crowned Parrot in front of ordinary people, wouldn’t that be quite an entertaining scene?
Unfortunately, that Crowned Parrot wasn’t here... Angel shook his head, guessed that the Crowned Parrot had secrets, but it didn’t concern him, so he left it to Abulei to worry about. If Abulei couldn’t handle it, letting the Crowned Parrot influence her instead wouldn’t be a bad thing for someone as timid as Abulei.
Since Dox was done, Angel turned to Lady Melo: "Is Old Porter not here?"
Lady Melo shook her head: "He is, but... I’ll let this guy tell you instead."
Lady Melo pointed towards little Tom.
Little Tom was the little guard who had previously snuck into Princess Castle for revenge and, after being discovered in the dungeon by Angel, was guided by him to come out and seek Old Porter.
Little Tom was not fazed, stepped forward, and said: "The master sent me here to find Old Porter. I did see him, but when I saw him, he only came out to meet me briefly, inquired about the master’s condition, and before I could say much, he said it was too late, he needed to go back to catch some sleep, and anything further could be discussed after he woke up, and then he didn’t come out again."