As if on cue, a powerfully built middle aged man in his early fifties climbed through the window facing west. It was a strange sight. The elderly man who was wearing a fancy and playful costume, boomed as he made his way into the office through the window.
"Oh don't be so brash old man! You know how stuck up and duty bound all these guards here at Caesar university are. If anyone doesn't have a visitor's, apprentices' or staffs' pass, they will be onto you like a rat on cheese!"
Galen didn't even try to express his disappointment at his apprentice anymore. At this point, he knew that there was no point. He had grown tired of constantly reprimanding him for losing his important documents. Galen simply had no more rebuke left in him. He had already gotten used to his apprentice's style. But Galen couldn't resist the urge to tongue lash him again. His apprentice's uncouth nature was starting to piss him off.
As a regular here, the apprentice obviously knew Galen well enough to know that it was the next thing the he was going to do.
So, before the old man could embark on another one of his reprimanding sprees, the visiting apprentice in particular brought out a manuscript of the salaciously lewd novel called 'Fifteen Shades of Grey' and handed it over to Galen. The old man's facial expression went from 'about to vent' to 'wow I'm impressed!' in an instant. Galen gingerly received the manuscript from his apprentice's hands shamelessly. There was no telling the old man's joy! It was written all over his face.
"My boy! See, sometimes you're not completely useless after all. Well done!"
The apprentice scoffed in a short chuckle. "Was that supposed to be a compliment old man? That was some really weak stuff, I deserve more than that."
"You're lucky you got that one out of me. So I suggest you take it."
As the old man answered him, he didn't even bother to lift up his gaze to look his apprentice in the eye. He was too mesmerized with the book before him, and for good reason too. In this particular world, erotic novels were on par with banned substances. On the spectrum of illegal stuff, erotic novels were right up there with hard drugs and other controlled substances. They were hard to come by.
And in obedience to the law of demand and supply, since the supply for erotic novels took a dive, the demand increased a hundred fold. Consequently, they became very scarce in the underground world. Only the extremely dogged, and well-connected folks could actually access first-hand manuscripts.
The government's stand on erotic novels was known to all. It was openly banned. Therefore, it was forbidden for any citizen to be found in possession of or writing of these erotic novels. There were strict laws and even stricter punishments to be meted out to anyone found defaulting on this directive. It was known.
As always, whenever bans like this were put in effect, there was always one select group that were the most affected. And in this particular case, those who had been hit the hardest by this draconian law were none other than those in academia. This was the reason why Galen felt like his apprentice had just dropped a bag on gold on his lap! To the president, this manuscript was worth more than gold. Through a little bit of work and effort, gold could actually be replaced ten, twenty times over.
But the manuscript of a timeless classic like this was priceless to an academic like Galen. It was such a monumental gift that the old man temporarily forgot about his apprentice's rude behavior. Galen shamelessly fondled the book like it was some kind of treasure or limited edition collectible. Actually, it was. But that didn't make it any less creepy. As Galen fondled the book, he shook up the dynamic of the room by asking a single question;
"So, any news about our good friends from Dawn?"
The ensuing awkwardness that followed spoke even louder than any amount of words. On the part of the middle aged man, there was glaring evidence of gross ineptitude. Galen's question hung in the air between them like the early morning mist one would see suspended over a stream or body of water. It was now clear that the manuscript was simply a ploy to assuage the old man's feelings since he had failed in his mission to provide any tangible information. The apprentice skittered around on his feet, making him look even sketchier than normal.
"Well?" the old man egged him on. There was the rising pitch of impatience in his tone; "Have you lost your witty tongue or what? Spit it out already, I don't have all day!"
The other man coughed uncomfortably. This was the moment he had been dreading. It was the moment all inept people dreaded. But with each passing moment he chose to remain mute, he only postponed the inevitable. So, taking a deep breath, he put aside his helplessness and tried to avoid the glare in the old man's eyes as he reported his own findings;
"Actually…" he bowed his head slightly, "this was a pretty tough investigation to carry out. I had to spend several nights in very precarious places. And on many occasions, I spent a lot of money in trying to bribe several people into giving away prime piece of information. And at one point…"
Galen had lost his patience now. All this unnecessary ramblings were useless to him, and he just couldn't understand why he had to hear it.
"My friend will you get right to it! Cut to the chase already and tell me what I need to know!"
Galen was starting to get annoyed, and that was exactly what the other man had been trying to avoid all this while.
"That's the thing Galen, that's what I'm trying to say…in spite of all my hard effort, and sacrifices, I wasn't able to find any tangible leads. At least not any that was worthwhile anyway."
Galen stared at him, as if trying to decide if he should impale him on the wall or simply take away his breath in that instant. Instead, he asked him a single word with an impeccable calmness;
"What?"
The other man knew the storm that was about to break on his head, so he quickly went into as much detail as possible;
"You see, I was actually able to get in touch with some possible links with the organization, but on the grand scale, they were nothing. At best they could be considered as minor characters, but ultimately they were inconsequential to my mission. The core members of the organization were a bit more elusive."
Galen grasped the handle of his chair like he was about to squeeze it till it gave away under the force of his palm. With horrifyingly piercing eyes, he glowered at the other man darkly;
"So, after all this time, you're trying to tell me that…" the old man corrected himself, "…nay, you're actively telling me that you have nothing at all? Like at all?"
The other man gulped. He wasn't stupid enough to fall for that one, of course it was a rhetorical question. But he couldn't afford to look the old man in the eyes in that moment, it would only give off a vibe of impudence. And heaven knew that he already couldn't afford to add impudence to his plate that was already heavy with ineptitude. So, he did the next best thing- he lowered his gaze and averted his eyes completely. Then he prepared himself for whatever was going to come next.
The apprentice was right to be on edge. Galen was visibly furious. He was a man of excellence, and he expected the same level of commitment and dedication from his subordinates. What annoyed him more about all of this was because he had been banking on that piece of information to move him forward in his wrestle against the mysterious organization called Dawn. And now, this buffoon had robbed him of this! The old man was furious, and he was prepared to let his foolish apprentice have it.
The words rushed up from his throat to his tongue as a storm of pent up anger twirled around in his gut, waiting to be unleashed on the other man. But at the dying second, just when he was about to descend on his apprentice on the wings of his righteous anger, something else caught his eye, and it mitigated just the tip of his anger for a bit. It was none other than the thoughtful gift he had received only a few minutes ago; the manuscript of a novel that was so scarce, it was thought to have been unreachable.
The sight of the neat, stack of organized papers that made up the Fifty Shades of Grey novel brought him a step back. In his anger, Galen had been about to do the unthinkable; he had been about to ruffle the pages of one of the only few copies of a literary masterpiece! It was an unforgivable sin, and he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had gone through with it. So, the old man slowly found his way back to the stables of stability, and reined in his anger. It just wasn't worth it.
Looking at the manuscript hadn't just abated his anger for a while, it had also reminded him that his apprentice was actually the genius behind this thoughtful gift. This was something that couldn't just be overlooked, even though he had disappointed him greatly.
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