Kayson clenched his fists, feeling that his palms had stopped bleeding. He shook his head somewhat dejectedly. "You shouldn't have stopped me. You should've watched—watched those magic symbols the grinding wheel stripped from my body."
"Every one of us has magic symbols—human symbols, wizard symbols. The reason I can teleport is because I enchanted myself with the Ender symbol."
"So as long as I find another way—either cover up or erase your werewolf symbol—you should be able to... uh... return to being an ordinary wizard."
Lupin nodded. "Alright, alright, I understand. But I sincerely hope that next time, you'll tell me these things while you're sober. And don't... uh... experiment on yourself."
Kayson drank another glass of alcohol, closed his eyes, and nodded.
The next moment, two shadows blocked the light.
Kayson and Lupin looked toward the two newcomers at the same time. One was tall, the other short; one fat, the other thin. The tall, fat one always wore a smile, while the short, thin one always looked miserable. Both held wands, and they looked...
Hostile.
"Hm?"
"Forgive my presumption, but might you be Kayson Heath, the alchemist from England?" the smiling wizard asked.
Kayson let out a drunken belch. "Don't know him. Which one are you talking about?"
The smiling wizard looked at the bitter-faced wizard, who handed him a clipped newspaper.
The smiling wizard then placed Kayson's portrait on the table.
"Isn't this you?"
Kayson shook his head. "Not me... He... is more handsome than I am."
"You're saying he isn't you?"
"No!"
"Really not?"
"No."
"...This is you."
"No."
"This fucking is you!"
"Expelliarmus!"
The instant the smiling wizard blurted out his first curse word, a red beam shot from Lupin's wand tip and swiftly disarmed him.
Seeing this, the other bitter-faced wizard was just about