Moro's Regret

"Lord Sanders, A-Angel has already joined White Coral Floating Island Academy, so, so, so..."

Moro could not go on repeating "so." It was not because Sanders had frightened him, but because the stares of everyone else had broken him out in cold sweat.

The hall had originally been bustling, filled with endless whispers, but when Angel was about to answer Sanders, everyone tacitly fell silent, waiting for Angel's choice. At such an utterly hushed moment, Moro suddenly spoke up, naturally drawing everyone's attention.

When Angel was watched by the crowd, he was like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. He knew little of the wizarding world, and though he felt uncomfortable, he could at least speak clearly. Moro, on the other hand, had seen all the warmth and coldness of human relations and often knew how to read the wind and gauge the situation. When facing formal wizards, he would unconsciously bow and scrape. That was precisely why, under the gaze of formal wizards among the crowd, he could not even speak properly and only stammered.

Heloline inwardly spat at his failure to live up to expectations.

Florent awkwardly raised a hand to cover his slightly burning cheeks.

Though Moro could not speak clearly, he had conveyed what he meant.

Yet Sanders did not even spare him a proper glance. He continued to leisurely stroke his white glove, waiting for Angel's answer.

Moro stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. After feeling uncomfortable for quite a while, just as he felt the silence was about to swallow him whole, a strange, bewitching laugh shattered the awkward stillness.

"You said Angel is already a student of White Coral Floating Island Academy? How come I never noticed?" Flora spoke as she floated in midair, as though reclining in an armchair. She lounged lazily in a half-reclined pose, her smooth, beautiful legs crossed and stacked together, the tips of her pale toes bobbing lightly.

"He boarded with me..."

"So what? Just because he boarded with you, he has to join that whatever pheasant outfit?" Flora launched into mockery mode.

"I..."

"And besides, no matter how I look at him, he is an ordinary person. He has not even constructed a spiritual power model within his body. How can you say he belongs to your people?" Flora took out an exquisite umbrella and pointed it at Angel. "I remember your organization's Guidance Method is the Triangle Guidance Method, right? Then tell me, have you taught Angel the Triangle Guidance Method? If you have, then I have nothing to say. Just like that boy named Isley earlier, we can let him go to you."

"From Edge Island to the Devil Sea, such a long journey—you cannot possibly have neglected to teach him from beginning to end, can you?"

Flora's words made Moro and Florent stiffen. They truly had never taught him.

Flora looked at Angel again. "Angel, right? Big sister will tell you something. Generally speaking, organizations like theirs are what we call the academy faction. It means roughly the same thing as the White Wizard faction some wizard apprentices talk about. Wizarding organizations of this sort usually place great importance on the gifted. They pass down the Guidance Method right on the ferrying ship. I glanced over the gifted ones aboard the Bauhinia earlier. At least fifty percent of them have already constructed spiritual power channels within their bodies."

"This also means that if they value a gifted person, they will certainly pass down the Guidance Method early on. But look at yourself. You have stayed aboard the Bauhinia for so long, yet you are still an ordinary person. Do you not understand yet? Hehe, they never valued you at all."

Flora's words struck straight at the heart of the matter.

Moro suddenly began to tremble. In truth, when he had taught Alan and his sister the Guidance Method, he had intended to teach Angel along with them. But he had weighed it over at the time: he could not simply keep giving without receiving anything in return, so he had abandoned the idea. Besides, what he had said then about the wizarding world's principle of equivalent exchange had made sense; naturally, he had been unwilling to pass down the Guidance Method for no reason at all.

"Am I wrong? If you taught Angel the Guidance Method, then according to the unwritten rules of the wizarding world, we would not stop you from taking him away. But if you did not teach him, then the choice belongs to Angel. Stop chirping away."

Moro stood there in a daze, but everyone present was a transcendent. How could they fail to see that Angel was an ordinary mortal, without the slightest trace of having cultivated a Guidance Method?

Flora's words were simply Jeral's earlier reasoning, turned around and used to slap Moro across the face.

And Moro had no words with which to refute her.

By all rights, Angel had neither learned White Coral Floating Island Academy's Guidance Method nor undergone a formal talent test. At most, he could be considered a provisional student of White Coral Floating Island Academy.

A provisional student was essentially free. He had not signed a contract, nor was he bound by emotional ties. Even if Moro tried to appeal to morality, he had no grounds to stand on.

At this point, Moro finally had nothing left to say and quietly stepped aside.

Seeing the resentment and anger in Heloline's eyes, Moro could only lower his head in shame. If he had known this day would come, he should not have put on airs back then. If he had simply taught him the Guidance Method, would that not have solved everything? It was not as though the Triangle Guidance Method was anything particularly good!

Ah, if only he had known.

Moro felt as though he had fallen from his earlier joy into his present desolation. When he thought of what awaited him after returning to the academy, even the opportunity to soon enjoy Gloria's cuisine could not lift his spirits.

Carrying endless melancholy, Moro seemed to age ten years in an instant. He stood gloomily in a corner, wallowing alone in his disappointment.

"Little brother Angel, have you made your decision?" Flora floated over to Angel's side and looked at him with a seductive expression. "Don't you want to be my junior?"

Flora's seductive charm failed to achieve the desired effect. Angel's eyes remained as clear as ever. He even frowned slightly, puzzled by her coquettish posturing.

Flora froze for a moment, viciously cursed little brat in her heart, then rolled her eyes and floated over to Gloria, where she began discussing food with her.

The focus of the scene returned to Angel once more.

Angel looked at Moro, then at Sanders.

After considering it for a long time, the reason he hesitated was not that he feared offending anyone. He was merely considering what Sanders truly wanted from him. He did not believe in gifts given for no reason. Just as Moro had not given him the Triangle Guidance Method back then, which had instead put him at ease. Sanders's arrival was far too strange. He firmly believed that the other party had set his sights on him because he wanted something.

The reason for Angel's hesitation was that he feared he could not give the other party what he wanted and would thereby anger him.

What did the other party want? How far could Angel go in giving it to him? These were the reasons Angel found it difficult to choose.

If he chose White Coral Floating Island Academy, he would not need to consider any of that. But if he chose White Coral Floating Island Academy, could he truly save his mentor's life within five years?

On one side was planning for himself; on the other, planning for his mentor.

Angel gritted his teeth, raised his head with difficulty, and spoke a single word to Sanders:

"Yes."

The word fell.

Sanders smiled. "Very good."

The way Flora looked at Angel also grew a little more intimate because of his decision.

As for everyone present, aside from those from White Coral Floating Island Academy, whose faces showed regret and remorse, everyone else began to look at Angel with solemn regard.

Before entering Barbie Restaurant, this youth might have been nothing more than a lucky person, someone they would not have regarded highly. But in half an hour, his status would rise with the tide because of his mentor's name, and no one would look down on him again. Even if he was still only an ordinary person now, no one could say what the future held.