But all of Apolo's questions were never given enough time to be answered because it was time to resume the show. The carriage had finally stopped, causing Apolo to impatiently open the door and step onto the street. Before him lay a deserted alley. Delicately, Apolo rested his cane on the ground and picked up his suitcase of instruments. He then looked at the driver's seat and ordered:

—Come down, I need to check you.

The Gururi immediately teleported behind Apolo and followed the young man into the alley, while Mateo impatiently waited in the carriage, asking his ancestors for help once again. After advancing a little into the alley, Apolo opened his suitcase and took out the silver mask. After putting on the mask, he looked at the creature carefully and asked with a dominant voice:

—Servant, what's your name?

The creature hesitated for a few seconds before attempting to respond, but immediately Apolo removed the silver mask from his face, leaving the creature somewhat stunned and unable to recall the order very well. Apolo then put on the silver mask again and, taking his cane, struck the creature's head, causing some green blood to ooze from its mouth. After seeing the blood, Apolo shouted angrily:

—Tell me your name, you piece of garbage, before I break your legs with this cane!

The Gururi wiped the blood from its mouth with its little hands and hesitated again for a few seconds, causing Apolo to remove the silver mask, leaving the creature clutching its head, although its face showed no sign of pain. Without waiting for the poor creature to recover, Apolo put on the mask again and asked with a friendly smile:

—Nice to meet you, what's your name, little brother?

—Zoe—responded the Gururi without any doubt.

—What was the name of your previous master, and where was he from?—Apolo asked with an even more natural smile when he sensed that he had finally hit the right note.

—Aquiles from White Town—answered the Gururi, looking at Apolo with curiosity.

—What a strange thing, who treats their servants like that? Besides, they gave you a woman's name. Not that you have a gender, but any sane person would imagine this nature's oddity as masculine...—murmured Apolo, regardless of the creature's bewildered look, while he removed the silver mask. This caused the Gururi to almost fall to the ground in pain while some green blood flowed from its nose. However, from Apolo's perspective, the creature's face remained unchanged, so he simply watched as a little blood oozed from the Gururi's nose.

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Next, without putting on the silver mask, Apolo smiled at the creature again, wiping the blood from its nose, and cheerfully, almost singing, said:

—Nice to meet you, Zoe, I'm Apolo from the Black Forests. My stepbrother Aquiles talked a lot about you and told me to pick you up to take care of you in my house when he passed away. So now I'm your new master!

—I didn't know Aquiles had a brother!—Zoe exclaimed, opening its eyes wide as tears welled up.

Seeing the green tears streaming from Zoe's eyes, Apolo could tell that the creature was happy, apparently seduced by his clever deception.

—It's because we have many years between us, so we didn't talk much, but Aquiles told me wonderful things about you. He always mentioned how useful you were, but unfortunately, he never wanted to tell me what he was up to—Apolo said with the same energetic tone.

—Achilles told you I was useful?!—Exclaimed the Gururi, wiping the mucus that began to flow from its nose.

—Very useful: the most useful of all! That's why he told me to come find you, although it took me a long time to locate you—Apolo explained with an increasingly joyful smile—So you should be happy! You've fulfilled your mission well, accompanying my stepbrother to the end of his days, and that's earned you the fortune of having another excellent master.

The Gururi spent some time wiping the tears from its eyes; strangely, it made no noise when it cried. But the young nobleman knew this was natural because these creatures couldn't complain or show pain, even if they actually suffered. This made it very challenging for experts to distinguish their states of sadness. Still, it was easy to discern their positive emotions, such as joy: whenever they released fluids from any part of their bodies like their nose or eyes, it indicated happiness.

—Unfortunately, Aquiles didn't tell me the details of your relationship. Do you remember what he made you do, Zoe?—Apolo asked cheerfully, so much that it would scare any normal human being.

—A butler, and occasionally, I helped with his research, but to him, I was always his favorite daughter—answered the Gururi, startling Apolo.

—Research, research, research, research...—Apolo muttered like a madman, looking at the creature in front of him with great care, as if it were not a walking fetus but the last panda alive on Earth—Do you remember what my brother was working on, or have you forgotten?

—I never forget, daddy was a magician: the greatest magician in the empire!—the Gururi replied with exaggerated pride.

—Oh, how nice...—Apolo commented roughly as he put on the silver mask again and removed his robe. Completely ignoring how the Gururi looked at him strangely, Apolo immediately ran naked down the street, shouting to the heavens:

— I found it! Ancestors, I found it! I found the legendary Gururi! Bless me! Help me get what I deserve! And curse the miserable wizards who dare to cross my glorious path!

Apolo ran and ran through the streets of the Ring City, ignoring how pedestrians on the street turned around in horror as a naked giant ran toward them. After running and shouting for a long time, Apolo became hoarse, and finally, he got tired of running in circles and returned to find Zoe, who was now staring blankly, as if her last hope had just abandoned her.