Borgin quickly suppressed the excitement on his face, first offering Mu En an apology before turning around and putting on a merchant's fawning smile and oily tone. "Mr. Malfoy, it's a pleasure to see you again. Whatever you want to buy, feel free to have a look around."
Lucius Malfoy looked at Borgin. "No, I'm not here to buy anything, Mr. Borgin. I'm here to sell something.
"You must have heard that the Ministry has stepped up its raids on several of our great families. The Ministry of Magic's Aurors suspect us of being connected to the fool who caused trouble here a month ago."
The moment Lucius finished speaking, the smile on Borgin's face froze, and his gaze involuntarily shifted toward the door.
It was the instinct of a creature fleeing for its life driving him.
Even though he had become one of the Living Dead, he still felt the urge to flee at that moment.
With that thought, he turned back stiffly.
Mu En casually flipped through the Ancient Greece manuscript, paying no attention to Lucius's words.
Lucius did not notice Borgin's change in expression either. He pulled a roll of parchment from an inner pocket of his robes and unfolded it for Mr. Borgin to see.
"There are some... ah... things in my home that may prove inconvenient for me..."
"Sorry! Mr. Malfoy, could you please wait a moment? I need to speak with this gentleman first." Borgin hurriedly interrupted him. Without waiting for Lucius's answer, he turned around. "Sir, let us speak in the back room."
Mu En nodded, picked up the manuscript, and entered the back room first. Borgin turned to Lucius. "Mr. Malfoy, make yourself at home."
Lucius's expression did not change, but his breathing gradually grew heavier, his gaze darkening. He stared intently at Mu En's retreating back, trying to discern his origins.
Borgin and Burkes.
His full name was Caractacus Borgin, though people generally addressed him as Mr. Borgin.
Yes, addressed him respectfully. Even Lucius Malfoy was no exception. No one in the British Wizarding World dared look down on that greasy, stoop-backed old man.
Besides selling all manner of strange and dangerous Dark Magic objects, he collected all sorts of peculiar and evil things. Many families, wary of raids by the Ministry of Magic, would even pawn their illegal magical items here.
Anyone with half a brain knew this man's strength could not be underestimated. He was, in fact, a true master of Dark Magic.
Even The Dark Lord, fresh out of school, had once worked here as an errand boy.
Lucius understood his master far too well. The Dark Lord would never have been someone who thought errand work beneath his notice.
That was undoubtedly powerful proof of the strength of this shop and its owner, Borgin.
Yet now, Mr. Borgin had shown that kind of attitude toward a man Lucius had never even heard of before...
The back room looked like a cluttered storeroom, but the instant Mu En stepped inside, he felt countless malicious presences wrapping around him.
The tangled magical fluctuations from all those Dark Magic items were enough to corrupt and torment the mind of a Young Wizard, turning them jumpy and muttering nonsense.
Borgin waved his wand and dragged a large chest out from a corner. He brushed away the dust and cobwebs covering it, then removed the restrictions on the chest.
Then Mu En saw what was inside.
It was a small wooden box that gave off a heavy salty stench, roughly the size of a jewelry box. The box was somewhat decayed, covered in moss and barnacles, with water constantly dripping from the gaps.
Borgin looked at the box fearfully. "That's it. It's been sealed away for so many years, yet it always looks like it was just hauled out of the water."
As he spoke, Borgin took out the small box. Inside, after opening it, lay a conch horn, a small stack of fish-skin scrolls, and a golden disc pendant.
"This pendant is what brought me this curse." Borgin looked at the pendant, fear and anger constantly warring in his eyes.
Sure enough, Borgin's curse shared the same origin as the curse Jack Barbossa and the others had encountered in the Caribbean Sea.
"Mr. Borgin, you know this. Killing is easy, but saving someone is hard." Mu En lightly stroked the invisible whiskers beside him.
"I know." Borgin nodded. "As long as you can resolve my curse, sir, you may choose anything you want from my collection."
Mu En nodded. "I'll do my best. To be honest, I know a little about this curse."
With a wave of his hand, the enormous wand—gigantic by the standards of this world's wizards—appeared in his grip.
Mu En swung his wand. Light streamed from the eye sockets of the skull at its tip, leaving afterimages in the dim room like two fire dragons constantly blooming with dazzling colors.
At last, Mu En's wand struck toward Borgin's forehead. All the radiance burrowed in through his forehead and into his brain, making him glow like a lantern.
The light traveled from his head to his feet once, and then...
Borgin pressed his lips together, his pupils gradually dilating. Then he drew his wand and aimed it at his own wrist. The wand tip turned into a blade, and he slashed hard.
Blood gushed from his wrist.
"I... I... succeeded." Borgin trembled as he muttered.
Pain... it had been so long ago, so long that he had forgotten what pain even felt like.
To lift this curse, he had tried every possible method. He had even slaughtered the French family from back then and returned all the spoils to the destroyed Merfolk tribe, but none of it had worked.
He had lingered on for decades as one of the Living Dead.
Now, the feeling of being human had returned to him.
"Don't get too excited. I've only temporarily suppressed the effects of the curse. It will probably last for just one hour. If you want to truly remove it..."
Borgin quickly came to his senses. "Sir, take whatever you like." As he spoke, he was the first to hand the box to Mu En. "You may take anything here. Borgin will always be open to you."
Mu En was somewhat surprised. He had not expected the other man to become so excited merely because he had temporarily suppressed the curse.
He admitted that he had his own motives, but he had not expected Borgin to be so straightforward, openly displaying his desire.
Was he not afraid Mu En would strip him clean?
"I've been one of the Living Dead for forty years. I have nothing left to fear. As a human being, if I can't feel anything, then what meaning do these things have?" Borgin said frankly.
"That's true." Mu En nodded and smiled. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life being watched by one of the Living Dead either. That would be far too unsettling."
"I absolutely have no such intention." Borgin hurriedly lowered his head.
Mu En did not care about those words. He stood up, wrapped the wooden box in parchment, then picked up the Ancient Greece manuscript and gestured toward Borgin.
"I'll study it when I get back. I'll come again."
"Please take the book." Borgin hurriedly said, "May I ask when you will next visit?"
"Next week?" Mu En casually gave an approximate time, then headed outside.
Lucius stood in the shop, examining an ancient silver object in his hand. Then he noticed Mu En and Borgin emerging from the room.
The smile on Borgin's face was so wide that it had squeezed out wrinkles.
When Mu En reached the door, Borgin hurriedly called out, "Oh, right. How should I address you?"
Mu En turned back with the box in hand and thought for a moment...
"Captain!"
With that, he teleported away.
Lucius watched the man who called himself "Captain" leave with a solemn expression, then turned toward Borgin.
"Mr. Borgin, I believe we..."
"Oh, Mr. Malfoy, was it? Sorry, I need to close the shop." As he spoke, Borgin walked over and practically shoved Lucius out the door in his impatience.
"It's hard to explain, but... well, if you really want to sell something, come back in an hour." Borgin impatiently shut the door and closed up shop.
"Why?" Lucius was somewhat angered. Even a clay figurine had some temper, let alone him, the head of the Malfoy family.
Being made to wait outside earlier had nearly exhausted both his patience and what little respect he had for Borgin.
Borgin grinned carelessly, utterly unconcerned with Lucius's thoughts. When he had been making his way in Knockturn Alley, Lucius had still been a babe in arms.
Back then, they had both been doing business, so Borgin had given him a pleasant face. But now...
"I'm going to enjoy my rare hour of life, Lucius."
With that, he too vanished with Apparition.