Chapter 224 Talent... You can find me here
Modo's heartfelt words touched Gines so much that he wanted to spit in his face.
This was indeed thick-skinned, but it was thick-skinned to drag him into trouble, using him as a shield to divert fire.
After catching the young master, he would definitely focus his attention on the leader.
The butler and the guard stood together; anyone with eyes could tell who the leader was. At that time, the guard's presence would be greatly reduced, and his sense of security would naturally increase.
Gines looked at Number Three and Number Four, who had sincere eyes, and sighed helplessly, "We're so familiar with each other, can't you just say what you mean?"
Ah, this... Modo and Deca were at a loss for words for a moment. Being so direct wouldn't be good!
"All of you were trained by me; you're half my students. Do you think those little tricks can hide from me?" Gines sneered, "Do I have to spell it out for you?
At least I've lived more than ten years longer than you. What you're playing with is what I've already played with and discarded."
Hearing this, both of them felt a little embarrassed.
"Boss, I, we..." Deca stammered and gritted his teeth, "It was all Number Three; he reminded me."
"Is that so?"
"I guess so!" Modo scratched his head awkwardly, "I admit I have some selfish motives, but I was also genuinely worried about any further accidents.
This compass is good, but you watched the young master grow up. Any accident happening to him seems perfectly natural.
In the Gaius family, besides the Old Master, the Master, and the Madam, you're the only one who can make him obedient."
"Still honest, worthy of being an elite I personally trained," Gines said with some satisfaction, "but I'm afraid I'll disappoint you; I still have to refuse."
"Alright!" Modo and Deca exchanged glances, not feeling too disappointed. "You're the boss, we'll listen to you."
"Don't worry, the young master isn't that petty. At most, he'll make things a little difficult for you for a few days later on.
He won't go too far; just endure it, and it'll pass.
Besides, I really do have very important things to do. The Master and Madam will be back soon, and as the butler, I have to go pick them up, right!
So, you'd better be quick. You need to ensure that the Master and Madam can see their son as soon as they return, otherwise... I'll have to lose face with you all over again."
The two shivered instinctively. They had no doubt that if they messed things up, Gines would definitely make them suffer before he did.
And they knew the other four too well. If they couldn't find the young master even with his exact location, the two of them would probably be unable to hold their heads high for a long time.
"We'll go now," Deca said immediately, pulling Modo along in the direction the compass needle pointed.
Gines also returned to the auction house to deal with the mess Aaron left behind... Meanwhile, Aaron, who thought he had escaped the butler and the two guards, was skipping down the street.
He knew he needed to be low-key at this time, but this time he had successfully run away from home by his own ability. A Great Archmage and two High-ranking Archmages had been shaken off by him; it was hard not to feel a bit smug!
Grumble~
An untimely sound rang out.
The man and the dragon looked at each other, then laughed in unison.
Aaron hadn't eaten much in the morning. Besides running, he had also taken action several times, while Abe had painstakingly diverted Gines, consuming not much less physical strength than Aaron.
"Let's go, time to eat," Aaron rubbed Abe's ear. "I'm in a good mood today, so I must treat you to a good meal."
Abe nodded excitedly, its tail almost wagging off.
Aaron had only walked a few steps before he frowned. They hadn't brought Muggle currency, and spending gold coins at a restaurant was definitely not an option.
Thinking of this, he grabbed a handful of gold coins from Abe's pocket. "Before we eat, we need to get some money. Muggles don't use gold for transactions."
They arrived at a gold shop. The owner was a woman in her thirties.
Her gaze lingered on Aaron for a few seconds before moving to Abe. Compared to a seemingly dashing and handsome teenager, a cute pet held more appeal for her.
"What a cute cat, can I pet it?"
"Of course," Aaron smiled politely, allowing the Muggleauntie to experience the joy of petting a dragon. Then he took out a few gold coins and placed them on the counter.
"Sister, I'd like to exchange these gold coins for cash."
"Okay, let me see."
The shop owner's professionalism was good; she carefully examined each gold coin and weighed them very seriously.
"The purity is very good, and the weight is sufficient." The owner pondered for a moment, "My buy-back price is one thousand pounds per gold coin. What do you think?"
"Deal." Aaron was a little excited; this was double what he had expected.
As long as Abe could control its appetite a little, these two hundred gold coins would be enough for them to live lavishly for a few months.
"Little brother, why are you so decisive!" The shop owner said with a wry smile, "I can assure you that I'm giving you the fairest price.
But have you ever thought about what if I cheated you? If I were you, I'd shop around and sell to whoever offered the highest price."
"Giving me this advice largely indicates that you haven't cheated me, sister," Aaron said.
The shop owner was stunned for a moment, then found Aaron even more pleasing to the eye. "Honestly, at current market prices, these gold coins aren't worth that much, but they have some historical value.
My husband likes these things, and I like gold, so I rounded it up for you."
"Then it seems I've come to the right place." Aaron took out a few more gold coins, adding them to the ones on the counter to make ten. "Let's exchange this many for now."
"This..." The shop owner was surprised, then looked at Aaron meaningfully. "Can you tell me where you found these gold coins?
Don't misunderstand, this is a century-old shop, and we don't casually inquire about customers' secrets, but I must remind you that illegal activities cannot be done."
"Hahahaha," Aaron couldn't help but laugh, "Sister, your worries are unnecessary. These are just my pocket money, but restaurants don't seem to accept gold coins as payment."
"Is that so?" The shop owner breathed a sigh of relief, "I believe you wouldn't lie to me."
...When Aaron emerged from the gold shop, he had a light purple backpack on his back.
The shop owner had kindly given it to him; after all, so much money in a pocket was easy to lose, and a backpack made it much more convenient.
"Equipment +1."
Aaron thought to himself, then took Abe to a restaurant.
The waitress arranged a nice table for him, but her gaze was a little strange.
"May I ask your age, sir?"
"You ask that when eating?"
"Not really. Although our restaurant has no age requirements for customers, it's quite rare for minors to come alone."
Trouble. I should have known not to come to a restaurant.
Street food would have been fine, at least there wouldn't be so many questions.
Aaron looked at the waitress's curious gaze and slowly unzipped his backpack, placing a stack of banknotes on the table.
"Sister, today is my cat's birthday.
It's also my first time eating out without my family knowing, so could you please not ask meaningless questions?"
Gulp!
The waitress swallowed, "Of course."
"Excellent." Aaron nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that the saying 'money makes the world go round' was universally true.
"What would you like, please?" the waitress asked respectfully, handing a menu to Aaron.
Curiosity was worthless in the face of money. When money spoke, the customer being God was the only truth.
Aaron flipped through a page or two and began to feel impatient, as looking at the pictures made him even hungrier.
"Woof..."
Abe suddenly opened its mouth and let out a single syllable.
Hearing the sound, Aaron's expression became wonderful. After a moment of hesitation, he placed Abe on the table.
The waitress was initially puzzled, but soon her eyes widened.
Abe opened the menu and slapped a paw on the picture of a lobster, followed by chicken liver steak, stewed beef, red wine pheasant... until it reached the last page, it nodded with satisfaction, indicating to Aaron that these were just barely enough.
Aaron:...This is outrageous. The number of gourmet meals his pet has eaten is actually more than his own, the owner's.
"Sir, your pet... this is truly amazing." The waitress looked at Abe. It was her first time seeing a pet order food.
"I think so too. It eats better than I do every day.
Never mind that, you go prepare it! Don't worry about us not being able to finish it."
"Alright." The waitress took the menu. "I know you might not care, but I still have to remind you, everything it ordered isn't cheap, it's about two thousand."
"Money is not an issue," Aaron chuckled. This was the first meal after successfully escaping, so it was very significant!
Soon, the appetizers were served.
Abe glanced at Aaron, and after receiving his permission, it cleared the plate in the blink of an eye.
The waitress served the dishes one after another. Aaron savored them unhurriedly. Abe also knew its limits; after all, this wasn't home, so it only dared to gorge itself when no one was paying attention.
At the same time, Modo and Deca also arrived at the entrance of the French restaurant, following the compass needle.
"Is this it?" Deca's eye twitched slightly. "The young master must be getting carried away. I'd feel better if he were hiding in a sewer."
"Perhaps he thinks we're gathering people like last year and aren't paying attention to him for now," Modo said awkwardly.
"Give me a break! He must be overconfident.
Last year he probably hadn't mastered Apparition, but this year he learned teleportation magic, so he's less cautious," Deca said. "I think we need to add a layer of insurance, for example, setting up an anti-Apparition counter-spell around the restaurant."
"I thought so too."
The two exchanged smiles and walked towards the left and right sides respectively.
Their wands glowed as they walked, casting the anti-Apparition charm in the vicinity of the restaurant.
A few minutes later, the two met at the restaurant entrance and walked in confidently.
They easily found Aaron's table because it was the most conspicuous one in the entire restaurant, with dishes constantly being served.
"Young master."
Pfft!
Seeing the two suddenly appear before him, Aaron sprayed out the half-finished red wine he was drinking.
Abe, seeing this, immediately stood in front of Aaron, but its bulging belly from eating made it look comical and not at all intimidating.
"What talents!" Aaron said gloomily, "You actually managed to find me."
"Please come back with us, young master."
Modo slightly raised his sleeve, allowing Aaron to clearly see his wand. The meaning was obvious: if you don't come back, we'll make you.
Aaron picked up the flailing Abe and placed it on a nearby chair, then forced a smile, "Can we finish this meal first?"
The two hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"Thank you." Aaron breathed a sigh of relief. "I ordered a huge table of dishes, and I can't finish it all. Why don't you two sit down and eat a bit too!
It's already noon, I imagine you're hungry as well."
"No, young master," Modo politely refused. "We won't do anything extra until the mission is complete."
Deca also had no objection to this. They were just one meal away from taking the young master back. This was no time to let their guard down.
"Also, a reminder to the young master.
This area has been enchanted with an anti-Apparition spell. Apparition is no longer usable."
Aaron rolled his eyes, "You really went to great lengths for me!"
"It's only right," Deca said somewhat proudly. "The young master has proven his strength again and again, so we can't be too careful!"
Aaron chuckled and shook his head, "Can you tell me how you found me?
Don't tell me it was a coincidence. If you didn't have a precise location, you wouldn't have found me so quickly."
"This..."
Deca instinctively touched his pocket, and this action did not escape Aaron's eyes.
"Originally, I was just suspicious, but now it seems you really do have a way to pinpoint my location." Aaron pointed at Deca's pocket with a half-smile, "Take it out!"
"Young master, I'm afraid that's not appropriate!" Modo frowned.
"Before you say that again, you'd best remember what you call me." Aaron looked at him seriously, "This kind of thing is very dangerous for me. Do you think it's appropriate to have it on you two?
I don't want to say it a second time, take it out."
Modo rolled his eyes at his partner, speechless. Why couldn't you control your damn hand!
This was the young master's command, and the reason was irrefutable. I couldn't even help you if I wanted to.
Deca struggled for a while, then reluctantly pulled a compass from his pocket, constantly reassuring himself: It's okay, it's okay.
The young master has already been found; this item has fulfilled its mission.
And after returning, the young master will certainly inquire about it, so letting him know an hour or two in advance won't hurt.
"Give it here."
Aaron decisively took the compass and examined it curiously.
Its structure was almost identical to an ordinary compass; one could even say it was an ordinary compass that had been modified.
But it was covered with various hidden spells, as complex as an ultimate magic array. At its core was a magic crystal, the center of which seemed to have been hollowed out, with a drop of clear liquid sealed inside.