The blood sun was no longer as generous as it had been at noon.
"A good haul?" Ruger asked softly, glancing at old Lunse.
Old Lunse chuckled, his enormous canine mouth stretching into a grin that nearly reached the back of his head.
Ruger watched the old dog-headed man. Even as that huge head grinned foolishly, he seemed to be thinking about something.
"Uncle, is something worrying you?" Ruger stepped out from behind the counter.
Old Lunse's smile remained unchanged.
"Emmanuel Caputo, the one you asked me to look into," Old Lunse said, looking at him. "That lord advanced to a Two-Ring Wizard at an astonishing speed some time ago. These past few days, he's reportedly dealt with his so-called trouble, defeating and killing a Wizard who had been at the two-ring level for a long time..."
Ruger raised his eyebrows.
That meant this teacher he had acquired by chance had truly built up his strength before making a sudden breakthrough. He could compete with Wizards of his own rank, and was among the best of them.
The world of Wizards really was full of strange wonders. Anything could happen.
Ruger was intensely curious about how that teacher had advanced so quickly, but old Lunse and the man he had met last time, who demanded extra payment for gathering information, seemed only mildly surprised. Neither displayed the maddening eagerness Ruger had imagined. Apparently, such cases might be unusual, but they were hardly unheard of.
And naturally, in the world of Wizards, no windfalls simply fell from the sky.
Every gain came at a cost.
Either a terrible price was paid afterward, or the seeds had already been quietly sown beforehand.
Ruger rubbed his chin. He leaned toward the latter possibility, though he had no idea what method had been used.