“Snake monster? This is a dragon, brother. ”
“Dragon? I never saw such slim dragons.”
Angor knew it would take forever to explain the different mythology conceptions of worlds to his brother so he only said: “Teacher usually uses this dragon one to keep tea for himself. The one he gave mother for storing rose tea had peaches on it, and the one for father had bats. There are other boxes too. The one with wave patterns you just mentioned must be carved with clouds, also a gift for someone.”
“So the old man uses such fashionable boxes? I never noticed,” Leon said in surprise, but recovered soon and asked Angor again, “So, the cloud box. Where did it go?”
Angor gave Leon a puzzled look, “Like I said, they’re for gifting people, Teacher doesn’t keep them here. Father once asked teacher to make a bunch of cloud boxes. If any of them are still here, they should be sitting in storage right now.”
“Leon, tell me, what happened?” It was Jon. He stayed silent most of the time, but he kept his watch on Leon’s expression. Those eyebrows never loosened.
Leon looked at Jon, inspecting him from head to toe, and slowly said, “Count Eton of the Morn Family came today.”
…
“Aha. Now Leon boy is worrying about my enemy coming for me?” Jon chuckled after hearing about Leon’s experience today.
“I’m not worried for you. I was trying to cover for you for Angor’s sake,” Leon turned away and muttered aloud.
Angor laughed on the inside. He always saw his brother as the brave and strong male owner of the family, so he actually got a tiny bit of… what was it called, tsundere?
“Just tell me. What’s your problem with Count Eton? He came and went away quickly. Particularly when going away, his look was malevolent. If it’s something that can be solved, I’ll try my best. If not, you’ll have to watch out for your own.”
“There’s no problem,” Jon replied without hesitation.
“No problem? But that box he had was made by you!”
Jon looked at Leon. “In this world, everyone I know lives in Grue Town. And I don’t see a reason why I would lie to you.”
Jon’s body was already failing when he landed in this world, added by the fact that he hardly knew the language and culture here, he spent many years to blend in with the help of Viscount Padt. After getting used to the place, his limbs already began to wilt. He wasn’t fit for long travels. The farthest place he ever went during the years was the capital of the empire, because old Padt took him there to receive treatment. And he never expanded his relationship, let along gaining enemies.
Angor saw the doubt in his brother’s expression and explained, “Teacher is right, maybe you thought wrong. Let’s say, perhaps Count Eton does not know about Teacher in the first place.”
“You mean…”
“You said that Count Eton came for something. He first asked about the Morning Dew, maybe he’s only after this?” Angor tilted his head. This was what he always did when thinking about something. “But the Morning Dew is just the name of a tea. So he came to drink tea? Something doesn’t add up.”