It took a few days for Apolo to finish inspecting all the Goros. While conducting the inspection, the young man tried to find out if the store was selling Gururis, but it seemed they didn't. However, Apolo got information that other stores in this commercial area might sell them second-hand.
Currently, since Apolo had completed his task, he was heading to Néstor's office to report the completion of the task and also to give him the results.
The young man didn't take long to arrive and be attended to; it seemed the manager was already waiting for him.
—How did the evaluations go?— Néstor asked as he saw Apolo entering his office, seemingly impatient for the results.
—Well, most of the Goros were very young; it's evident that the family they served suddenly ended— Apolo reported, taking out some scrolls and proceeding to seal them in front of Néstor. Everything was official, and Apolo still didn't act; he had obtained the seal from the Ministry of Fauna and Environment. Apparently, as a registered Mage in the empire, Apolo already fulfilled part of the conditions to officially verify these creatures, which were initially created by other Mages. Then, the young noble fulfilled the second part of the conditions after completing a couple of exams where he had to demonstrate his expertise in this field, and voila: a new expert had been born in the empire!
—So, the results are as follows: 10 young ones with two possible resets, 3 elderly with only one possible reset, and only two impossible to reset— Apolo responded, sealing the papers with joy. Each little seal he placed on the sheet earned him a significant number of crystals, so the young man was smiling like an idiot at the moment.
—We'll give you your percentage when the sale is completed— Néstor replied with a smile upon seeing the results.
—Of course, you will, can't you see what it says on the seal? Apolo of Black Forest— the young man commented with a cheerful smile—If the crystals don't appear, what will appear are your bodies hanging on the walls of my mansion, so I'm going to get something out of this trip; I'm sure of that!
—Haha, don't worry, we're a trustworthy store— Néstor laughed nervously, even a hint of sweat on his face.
—Let's hope so...— Apolo murmured, turning around and leaving the office to head to the store's entrance.
As soon as he left the store, the young man saw his loyal servant, Mateo, waiting for him in the carriage, everything already prepared to set out once again in pursuit of the long-awaited Gururi that could fulfill his ancestor's last wish.
A few minutes passed, and with the Goros affair finished, the young noble, without giving himself time to rest, was heading to one of the stores that had been mentioned during the inspection in hopes of trying his luck in this area.
After a few hours of travel, Apolo spotted the store in question. It was considerably smaller than the store he had just attended, but its size was still significant, taking up a third of the block. It was made of unpainted red bricks, but its walls were covered in posters, so the red color was hardly visible. Surprisingly, every single poster had the same message written repeatedly, which was the store's name:
> "Faraway Isles Slave Shop"
Apolo stepped out of the carriage and stood gazing at the signs at the store's entrance for a few minutes.
—Seems a bit overdone, doesn't it?— Mateo asked, noticing that Apolo had been lost in appreciation of the mural filled with signs—They've literally gone all out, every brick is covered in a sign. Look, there are even some tiny ones on the floor; it's like they have a grudge against bricks.
—It's utterly ridiculous...— Apolo muttered softly, more contemplatively than mockingly—Oh, perhaps it's a sign from my ancestors, and this is the promised store...
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—That's possible too: Let's hope you finally succeed, my lord!— Mateo exclaimed, hoping so. From his perspective, if Apolo wanted to torture himself by living in a carriage, that was fine. The problem was that Apolo always dragged him into his rather eccentric adventures, despite having nearly 30 servants living in the mansion whom the young man could choose to suffer with.
—Yes, there are fewer stores left, and with them, our chances of success are diminishing...— Apolo murmured with concern as he headed towards the store's entrance.
But immediately, he realized that a problem had arisen: the door was quite challenging to find because it was another giant sign with the store's name. The only way to distinguish the door from the rest of the signs was that it had a brass doorknob.
After nearly 20 minutes of searching for the door, Mateo finally found the brass doorknob, and Apolo could enter the store. Inside, Apolo noticed that the store was filled with caged slaves, although most of these people were ordinary humans, with only a few being slightly "humanoid" with the differences being minuscule, such as a slightly wider head or a missing pair of ears.
Upon entering, one of the store guards looked at him attentively and asked:
—Excuse me, what kind of slave are you looking for, sir?
—I'm looking for Gururis, not slaves. I heard they sell second-hand ones here—Apolo replied immediately, showing how anxious he was at the moment.
—Ah, yes, we've acquired some recently—commented the guard, looking Apolo up and down. His clothing seemed too expensive to be genuinely seeking such inexpensive creatures. Not to mention that the simple gold knob on his cane must be worth more than all the Gururis they had in stock.
—Pleased to hear that. Could you guide me to the seller?—Apolo asked with a somewhat grotesque smile, interrupting the guard's thoughts.
—Of course, follow me—responded the guard, leading Apolo.
As they walked through the aisles lined with cages, the young noble carefully observed the creatures. His main fear was encountering the Gururis in cages and making a bad first impression. So, Apolo walked delicately, simulating the steps of an elderly person, regardless of not yet seeing the creatures he longed for.
After a few minutes of walking, they reached a room in the store where a burly, scar-covered man was counting crystals on a table rather obsessively. The man appeared to be over 40 years old, but his body was well-toned and well-kept, indicating regular training. Due to his scars and his current soldier's attire, it seemed that he was a retired soldier.
—Nice to meet you—Apolo greeted, noticing that the person in front of him didn't introduce himself.
—Heard you're looking for Gururis...—the burly man responded, avoiding the young man's greeting—Odysseus, take this young man to where the Gururis are. The price is 50 crystals each.
—50 crystals? That's a bit steep. What's the reason for such an anomaly?—Apolo commented, trying to hide his excitement while still showing some nervousness.
—This batch is of old Gururis. Supposedly, some of them belonged to a noble in the capital, and others belonged to an experienced merchant, so they are well-trained—responded the ex-soldier, somewhat surprised that someone dressed so finely cared about so few crystals.
—Interesting, very interesting...—Apolo said, wondering why a noble would buy Gururis. Were they from an old, traditionalist mage, just like what he had been looking for all this time?
Apolo was an expert in the field and wasn't so foolish as to disregard the advantages of the Gururis' evolutions. Although he was an expert, the young man also knew the history of these incredible creatures, and their history was quite ancient, much older than the empire, much older than the druids, and their origin dated back to the time of the ancient wizards. Traditionally, Gururis had been the servants of the wizards, and this practice had been preserved for millennia, until in the last millennium, more marketable variants appeared for the nobles. These variants eliminated several of the disadvantages of the Gururis, but Apolo knew that they also created new ones. That's why Apolo still had faith in his quest. It was quite likely that the old generation of wizards had Gururis as servants, just as the ancient wizards used to have them, as the wizards from 200 years ago were extremely traditionalists, and the use of toga as clothing had instilled this idea in Apolo.
Although the young man doubted whether any of these wizards would be willing to waste the time he had wasted trying to solve the great problem that the passage of time had left behind. Nowadays, for several decades, there hasn't been a single animal breeder in the entire empire who knew how to recreate the method of creating the "true" Gururis, as this method had been forgotten with disuse.
—This way, young man—commented the guard named Odysseus.
As it was a sale for so few crystals, it was normal for the main seller not to bother getting up from his seat. But that didn't matter to Apolo at all. In his mind, the young man could only think that maybe, just maybe, this could be the promised store.