The sound of tea being slurped came from a corner of the Library.
Ruger could imagine the scene: joy and anticipation crashing from the heavens to the earth. He could also imagine the look on Wizard Dalton Vango's face when he learned all this-provided, of course, that Phyllis, the head of the family, told Dalton the truth.
He looked at Immanuel, who had kept his head lowered over his book.
"Teacher, can you tell how that Four-Ring Wizard, Normanu Vango, died?" he asked softly.
If his teacher had followed Varin and the others the entire way, he should have seen the body.
Immanuel stopped what he was doing, lifted his gaze from the book, and raised his head, seemingly deep in thought.
"It looked more like a natural death, the end of a long life..." Immanuel said.
Ruger's heart sank at those words, and further possibilities came to mind.
At the same time, he was deciding whether to ask. After all, the teacher before him was rather special.
"Teacher, have you... seen the Demon Wizard recently?" he asked softly again.
Immanuel froze, then suddenly turned toward Ruger with a look of astonishment.
"I don't know."
Immanuel's face was full of surprise, his eyes brimming with wonder.
Ruger understood the look in his eyes. This teacher before him actually knew nothing about the Demon Wizard.
"I should know something, but I can't recall anything related to that term at all, whether from the past or recently," Immanuel said. "So the answer is, I don't know either."
What a fine answer.
He had suspected that this unusual teacher had not seen the Demon Wizard as he had, but he had never expected an answer of "I don't know"-nor that his teacher would know absolutely nothing connected to the Demon Wizard.
This teacher