Dean Pang De

"Meow! We're back!"

Kate felt Thor release him by the scruff of his neck and immediately leaped to the ground.

After releasing the Orange Cat, Thor looked around. "The White Beard Wizard hasn't come out yet?"

But he had wandered through the city at night for a long time without spotting White Beard. He'd assumed the other man had already found the exit.

Actually, if Thor hadn't been looking for an opportunity to steal the Tree Seed, he wouldn't have stayed inside for so long.

"Oh, don't worry about Wilde. He's a crafty one. He won't die in there."

After Thor brought him out, Kate had become noticeably more ingratiating.

That black liquid from earlier had left him shaken.

He was afraid Thor might get annoyed and spit it all over him.

"Wilde?" Hearing the name, Thor suddenly understood. "It's unlikely to be a namesake. I never expected the captain of the Land Boat to be hiding here. Does he already know who I am?"

As Thor pondered, Kate continued to lament.

"Baidong Academy's already become like this. I bet their dean's turned into a flower bud too. The one we're looking for... Huh?"

Kate stopped halfway through his sentence. A person had suddenly appeared atop the great tree stump, which had been empty moments before.

An old man with disheveled hair, a deeply wrinkled face, and a bewildered look in his eyes.

"Dean Pang De."

Though it had been a long time since they'd last met, and the man's appearance and bearing had changed completely, Thor recognized him at once.

Dean Pang De of Baidong Academy.

"He's Dean Pang De?" Kate brightened and started forward, but stopped when he saw what was behind Pang De. "Those are the roots we encountered!"

A dense mass of slender roots grew from