Apolo waited for Lionel to return with the catalog in one of the armchairs in the store. Luckily, the store had several armchairs, and some of them were quite exotic, so the young man managed to find an armchair where someone of his size could easily fit. After a few minutes of waiting, Lionel returned from the back of the store with a book in his hand.

—Well, here we have it, the compilation of wizard fashion in the empire—Lionel commented, while moving one of his fingers to point at an armchair, causing it to levitate closer to Apolo. Then, Lionel comfortably sat in the armchair he had just arranged, and by raising his hand again, the tailor made the book levitate in front of Apolo, slowly flipping its pages until he found the one he was looking for.

—How amazing...—Apolo murmured. He had heard rumors about the remarkable ancestral abilities of the people from the joyful lands, but this was the first time he had seen it in person, and the ability was entirely striking.

—Thank you. Otherwise, as you can see, these were the clothing models used over 300 years ago—Lionel commented while explaining the content of the catalog's pages. Meanwhile, the book continued to turn its pages on its own, following the tailor's will—All of them share the same characteristic: the clothing is entirely black. However, as you can observe, over 300 years ago, tuxedos were used. But 200 years ago, togas came back into fashion, following the conservative ideas of the imperial house of that time. And 100 years ago, fashion embraced the modernism of the era, and we switched to tunics. Currently, we still use tunics. That's the general overview; there are some variations. Fifty years ago, the general rule was to have a hood, but now nothing covers the head, and long beards are in fashion.

—Oh, I had forgotten about the appearance: the beard might be a problem...—Apolo said. He always kept his beard trimmed because beard hairs caused him itching, so at the moment, he desperately hoped he wouldn't have to grow one.

—So, could you tell me more specifically the exact dates you're looking for?—Lionel asked—And why are you so particular about selecting your clothes? I'm quite curious; to be honest, you're the first customer I've heard with such a demand.

—Probably, I'm looking for a toga from 200 to 100 years in the past. The best would be a middle ground, like the fashion used 150 years ago, but including the key details from the fashion used 100 years ago, if there are any—Apolo replied. He was considering that the creature he was looking for had likely served a wizard its whole life. That could be anywhere from 125 to 250 years in the past, considering that was the average lifespan of someone very wealthy in the empire who had never been involved in the various wars of the time. However, Apolo also considered that the wizard probably obtained this creature in their adulthood, so he subtracted a few years from the possible date. The dates varied so much because depending on your bloodline and heritage, your life could be shorter or longer. For example, members of the imperial family only lived to a miserable 55 years at most, far below the empire's average. As for Apolo's family members, they might live no more than 100 years, even though the norm was to die before the age of 50 due to the family's profession—As for the reason, it's because I want to hire some creatures that require me to wear clothing similar to their former owner.

—For the love of my ancestors, you're not thinking of adopting an old Gururi, are you?—Lionel asked with considerable concern—It's a terrible idea; those creatures have the habit of killing their owners, and there's a reason why real Gururis have been discontinued for almost 900 years.

—They've been discontinued? If they have, why do you know about them?—Apolo asked, feeling immense concern. The last thing he needed was to hear that these creatures had become extinct. After all, the letter given by his ancestor was over a millennium old, so it wasn't impossible that something like that had happened over such a long time.

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—Because when a Gururi dies, it's always taxidermied and placed as a statue in the house where it worked its whole life—Lionel replied—There are quite a few in my great-grandfather's house. Not only do they bring good luck, but they even come to life again from time to time and fix things in the house at night.

—But can they still be obtained, or did they go extinct?—Apolo asked desperately.

—Well, in principle, these creatures are products of wizards, not natural species—Lionel explained calmly—So they can't go extinct. However, there probably aren't any stores that produce them anymore, and I doubt you'll find Gururis on the main street pet shops. Today, they use Goros, which are an improved version of Geros, which are in turn an improved version of Giri, which started from the extinct Gururis. In any case, as far as I know, poor people still use Gururis, although I'm quite sure they're not the same as the ones you're looking for, as the production of these creatures became illegal nearly 500 years ago when hardly anyone used them anymore. Plus, no poor person could satisfy the needs of Gururis.

—By any chance, do you know if there are still wizards who use these creatures?—Apolo asked with concern. If he couldn't obtain an old Gururi previously owned by a wizard, it would be difficult to follow his ancestor's instructions, as the letter stated that obtaining one was crucial.

—I really doubt it, but who knows, Gururis are a much cheaper option than their improved counterparts, so there might be some budget-conscious wizards willing to employ them—Lionel replied, although his tone of voice didn't sound very certain of what he was saying—In any case, keep in mind that they'll probably try to kill you. But then again, you're from the Black Forest, according to rumors, they can cut your head off, and you'll come back to life, right?

—Something like that...—Apolo commented to himself—Well, in any case, do you know of any breeding farm or store where I can buy them?

—Go to the exotic animal breeding district, on the main street, they surely don't sell them there. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, what is now known as gururis are employed by the poor, but I'm absolutely certain they're not the same as my great-grandfather had, so it shouldn't be what you're looking for—Lionel responded—Anyway, don't be too concerned: in the Ring City, they sell everything, so you'll surely find what you're looking for. And if it's not in this city, it's because it's impossible to get anywhere in the empire, so you can opt for more modern models.

—I hope they're still being sold; I really need them...—Apolo murmured with concern but also with some hope. After all, he had his ancestors on his side in this task, so he somehow believed it would be possible to achieve it.

—Well, about the toga you're looking for...—Lionel commented, flipping through the book's pages until he reached the model used 150 years ago—Togas are quite old, even older than tunics, so they emphasize tradition quite a bit. In this model, the toga was worn with a trophy. The trophy usually used was a feather in the color of your magician rank, which is the historical one, not the ones used in the empire. As you can see, the first rank is brown, the second is gold, the third is green, and the fourth is violet. Brown is used when you have no acolytes, gold when you have one, green when your acolyte is a magician without acolytes, and violet when your acolyte is a magician with acolytes.

—So, my trophy should be a brown feather!—Apolo exclaimed, recalling the complicated sequence of four easily forgettable colors—Is there any other detail?

—One more thing, formerly magic was not an imperial matter, but each magician was responsible for passing on their "school" to selected acolytes—Lionel replied, reading from the book—Therefore, each magician belonged to a school, and on their toga, there was always a golden emblem with the insignia of their school.

—Do I have to design the emblem, or was there a school widely used throughout the empire?—Apolo asked.

—You have to design the emblem and draw it, or describe it if you can't draw—Lionel replied energetically. It seemed that the tailor was quite excited about the idea of working on this project that aimed to revive the fashion of the past.

—Alright, I'll try to think of something and draw it. Anything else to consider?—Apolo asked.

—Yes, finally, this wizard attire has a very notable peculiarity: you can only wear it with sandals—Lionel replied.

—Sandals: oh, how I hate them!...—Apolo said to himself—Well, anyway, make them; I want it to be as traditional as possible.

—Perfect, then: let's take your measurements!—Lionel exclaimed, conveying some enthusiasm and excitement to the worried Apolo.