This wizard only wishes to be a teacher

Darton Port, a small harbor town not far from Kosai Island.

However, it’s more of a medium-sized fishing village that can accommodate small ferries than a town. The ships moored at the port are mostly small fishing boats owned by local villagers, and as for passing ferries or merchant ships, you’d hardly see a few all year round.

Yet many fishermen in Darton Port are actually secretly involved in smuggling, according to reports. During the peak growth season of the Moonlight Moss, they clandestinely transport adventurers to Kosai Island on their fishing boats and then retrieve them at an agreed-upon time.

Although this business is highly risky and offers less than two months of opportunity per year, just a few successful trips can earn more money than a year of hard fishing.

It’s for this very reason that, despite annual incidents of destroyed ships and lost lives due to triggering defense wizard formations or accidents at sea, the villagers still "hold fast" to this lucrative endeavor.

Some of the more experienced villagers have even discovered "secret routes" after years of exploration, becoming professional "Ferrymen."

Take old Hawson, for example—such a Ferryman.

But nearing his fifties, he can no longer withstand the rigors, and in recent years, the work of ferrying has gradually transitioned to his son, Tom.

However, the mysterious guest who recently took up residence in their home has been causing old Hawson much worry.

Though the guest is generous and pays for everything with shiny gold coins, old Hawson, who has dealt with adventurers all his life on the ships, noticed something odd about this one.

Not to mention that it isn’t even the main harvesting season for the Moonlight Moss yet, and it recently seems that Kosai Island has been unsettled. Just the fact that the guest came alone without any tools, and has stayed in the attic for such a long time without ever leaving, doesn’t fit the profile of adventurers here to collect Moonlight Moss.

Old Hawson didn’t really care too much about the guest’s intentions. After all, his long survival as a Ferryman was greatly connected to his stance on not asking, not prying, and not meddling in other people’s business all these years.

The problem was, ever since the guest’s arrival, strange things kept happening in the house.

First, the fishing cat that had been kept for many years suddenly went mad and scratched his wife. Then, his daughter began to behave oddly over this period, sometimes sitting or lying still on a chair or table, like a lifeless puppet.

All these changes left old Hawson feeling uneasy. If it hadn’t been for the large debt Tom had accumulated from previous voyages, he would have never allowed this peculiar guest to stay any longer.

Suddenly, old Hawson heard a muffled thud from inside the attic.

Followed by a wail that didn’t seem human.

"Sir?" old Hawson carefully made his way up to the attic, but when he opened the door, he found that the mysterious "guest" under the hood was actually an exquisitely crafted and eerie wooden puppet.

"Ah..." old Hawson’s mouth fell open, but in the next moment, he couldn’t move. His body was already wrapped in numerous fine threads, which quietly penetrated into his body, even reaching the soul level in parts.

As the puppet’s fingers rhythmically moved, old Hawson, who had been stiff, began to blink his eyes, and then his mouth gradually started to move.

Click-clack... click-clack...

With continuous adjustments by the puppet, old Hawson’s movements went from rigid to lively, and eventually, a warm and kind smile spread across his face.

"Go out, prepare. I’ll be landing on Kosai Island tonight," the puppet told old Hawson, readjusting its hood.

"Yes, sir," old Hawson replied with a smile.

But once the "new puppet" had left, the wooden figure’s mood turned to anger and frustration, tightening its fist before smashing a rough ornament on the bedside into dust.

"Oh, Bennett... my poor Bennett..." The puppet seemed to grieve, or to rage, but its intricately painted face made it hard to discern emotions like a human’s. Even as it clenched its teeth, the painted smile still curled slightly at the corners.

"Who killed him? My Bennett... It shouldn’t be..." The puppet muttered quietly, but soon its tone became gritted with anger. "Damn Bennett! Damn the ruins’ restrictions!..."

However, the puppet soon calmed down, its eyes, crafted from polished stone, fixed intently on an old wooden plank on the side of the attic, its voice chilling calm.

"Whoever you are, I will find you, I must find you!"

...

"Kikiki..." On the edge of a lagoon on the floating island, Lucien was amusing a few mermaids.

Perhaps because they had lived in a world resembling a painting generation after generation, these mermaids were not afraid of humans at all. They didn’t harbor the natural hatred and wariness towards wizards or humans like the wild ones Lucien had purchased before. Instead, they seemed curious and friendly towards humans.

Even when Lucien had first tried to coax them to come out and have a look around, he had easily persuaded a few of them to follow him out of their painted space.

This greatly facilitated Lucien’s efforts, allowing him to collect their tears in a much gentler and more effective way.

For instance, just now, by manipulating water currents with his spiritual power to perform a few amusing maneuvers, he made these little creatures giggle nonstop. One of the younger mermaids even laughed so hard that tears came out.

"It is said that the Magic Potion ’Praise of Moonlight’ made with the joyful tears of mermaids is more effective than one made with ordinary tears," Lucien carefully collected the two tears he had just harvested, interacted with the mermaids a bit more to maintain the relationship, and then concluded today’s collection to return to the ancient study located in the center of the floating island.

"Master Lucien." Gagarin was standing solemnly at the entrance of the study, and as soon as he saw Lucien return, he quickly bowed in a deeply humble and even ingratiating manner.

The days spent following Lucien had been considerably comfortable for Gagarin, even more so than when he had previously worked under Lilia.

Moreover, when it came to resource allocation, Lucien was much fairer than the bone-crushing exploitation Lilia was known for. He was even willing to barter with Gagarin, providing them with the chance to use certain materials in exchange for the Magic Potion ’Praise of Moonlight’.

To Gagarin, this was previously unimaginable.

These visible benefits also attracted Gagarin, driving him to do his utmost to penetrate Lucien’s inner circle and giving rise to a burning desire to become Lucien’s apprentice.

Given the strength that Lucien had displayed so far, even if he had not yet been promoted to a Formal Wizard, he was not far from it. And once Lucien became a Formal Wizard, as the disciple of a Formal Wizard, Gagarin would have a powerful patron within the academy.

What was more crucial was that Lucien, this mighty patron, seemed very protective and exceedingly generous towards his students!

You should know that Carly is now undergoing the rite of passage, which is the greatest treasure within the relics, something that Third-level Wizard Apprentices would fight to the death for.

But Lucien? He simply handed it over to Carly.

That was an opportunity that could promote someone to a Formal Wizard, yet Lucien just gave it away.

How could this not drive Gagarin insane? He didn’t even dare to expect to be treated the same as Carly. If he could enjoy half of what Carly received as Lucien’s student, he would be more than satisfied.

To become Lucien’s student, Gagarin had been exceptionally diligent during this period. He even made plans: if he couldn’t immediately become Lucien’s student, he hoped to build a good relationship with Lucien during their time in the secret realm, becoming a subordinate that Lucien was especially familiar with, and then step by step earn Lucien’s trust...

With a plan in mind, Gagarin’s recent behavior was notably more attentive and industrious. When there was nothing to do, he would proactively wait at the study’s doorway for orders, almost resembling Lucien’s personal butler.

"Hmm." Lucien smiled at Gagarin.

Gagarin’s performance these past few days was quite apparent, and Lucien naturally understood the purpose behind his actions. However, the quota for system-bound students was extremely precious, and Lucien would not let himself be swayed by emotions to bind with Gagarin just because of a few days of deliberate ingratiation.

Not to mention that he didn’t have any available binding quota at the moment.

However, Gagarin’s initiative to get closer did give Lucien a new idea. Perhaps he could use Gagarin’s initiative to explore a new model for dealing with non-bound students.

After all, Lucien’s ultimate goal was to change the cruel wizard order and the ceaseless exploitation of lower-level wizards by the upper echelons, both in Greybone Academy and likely in many other regions as well.

But to achieve this, he needed to find a new model to balance the interests.

After all, Lucien could not expect all high-level wizards to care for their students selflessly like he did. He was able to be so generous because his system helped pay the "tuition" for his students.

But other wizards didn’t have this. Demanding that mentors care for students could shift the oppression from students to mentors, which was certainly undesirable and unsustainable in the long run.

So Lucien needed to find a new order that would help other wizards achieve a new balance of interests.

And now, he might use Gagarin as a trial for this new balance.