At a tavern on Flower Street, Annan and the Gray-Robed Sorcerer sat by the window. Faint cheers drifted over from the Gladiator Arena.
"You really are popular..."
Gray Robe Sorcerer watched enviously as a fifth person came up to greet Annan.
"It's nothing."
The citizens of the Tartun Empire were fairly restrained. They only greeted him and offered a few compliments. Compared with the fright of waking in Breeze City to find an admirer clinging to his window in the middle of the night, they were downright polite.
But once the matter of his Fief was settled, Annan Potter and the Magic Stone and the rerelease of the Magic Film would be next on the agenda. The Imperial Capital would probably be much the same by then...
"Tell me why the Sorcerer Protection Association wants to see me."
"Should we go somewhere else?" The Gray-Robed Sorcerer's eyes darted around like a thief's.
"Stand in the sunlight and you won't look guilty."
Someone was still targeting him. Annan kept that in mind and had no intention of giving them a chance to catch him alone.
"How much do you know about the Sorcerer Protection Association?"
"Less than you've already told me. It's an organization founded by people who worship Sorcerers to an extreme?"
"Uh... more or less..." Embarrassment flickered across the Gray-Robed Sorcerer's face. "The Sorcerer Protection Association is dedicated to protecting young Sorcerers. I'm here to speak with you on its behalf."
"What's your ability?"
Annan never judged people by appearances, but the Gray-Robed Sorcerer really had changed his understanding of Sorcerers. Even Claudia, whom he had picked up, hadn't managed that!
"Persuasion." Pride surfaced on the Gray-Robed Sorcerer's face. "People find it easy to accept what I say."
That was true. Neither Alice nor Annan had questioned his identity.