Upon entering the city, Viltz heard all kinds of noises,people arguing and cursing,the hooves of horses,the occasional bard singing,but he paid no attention to any of it,not stopping too much to admire the beautiful medieval cityscape that was spoiled by the constant noises and the unpleasant smell of the street,heading straight for a guard stationed at the entrance to the city.
"Excuse me sir,we are trainees from the academy, this is our first time in the city and we would like to ask how to get to the Three Spruces tavern."
The guard saw the robes of the seven children in front of him and nodded, pointing in one direction.
"You need to go straight down that street and turn left,when you get there you will see the sign for the tavern."
When they entered the tavern, Artaud could no longer contain his excitement, grabbing Viltz by the shoulder and shaking him again while exclaiming: "Viltz, you are a genius, with this plan of yours together with the little number we put on at the exit of the academy it is impossible for the vice-rector to catch us."
Viltz said nothing, simply handed one of his books to Artaud, who opened it, revealing that it was actually hollow inside, with a rectangular-shaped clay container in the center, surrounded by strips of paper pretending to be pages, when closed, it looked like a completely normal book."
"With this,we can sneak away with the alcohol without getting caught."
The others looked at the book in Artaud's hands with sly looks on their faces as they imagined the drunken night they would have today.
Viltz smiled at this, it only took him some effort to make the book, with this he could gain more favor with his companions, if he kept this up he believed it would only be a matter of time before they became his subordinates.
"Alright guys, now it's still late afternoon, we have five hours before we have to get back to the academy, we have to meet here to get back before dark, now you can go do whatever you want."
Artaud quickly handed the book back to Viltz and left the tavern with the others.
Viltz,now alone,sat down at an empty table and ordered a fruit juice.
Half an hour later,a withered old man came through the door.
He quickly noticed Viltz, sitting in an empty chair across the table.
Viltz stood up and bowed formally.
"Greetings,Grandmaster Ortolan."
The old man stroked his beard and nodded.
"Well,I'm here now,do you have the goods?"
Viltz nodded and pulled a bottle from his leather pouch.
The old man took the bottle, observing the eyes floating inside.
"Well, they seem to be perfectly preserved."
The old man opened a small portal and tossed the bottle inside,then turned to Viltz and spoke, "Good,now we need to go to my lab so I can perform surgery on you."
The old man got up from his chair and opened another person-sized doorway, entering it.
Viltz hurried to follow him, but not before leaving some copper coins on the table.
When the portal closed,the other people in the tavern began to argue among themselves.
One of the men in the tavern spoke up: "Hey, did you see that, that old wizard took that kid through that portal."
Another drunken man next to him nodded saying: "Yes I saw it,that poor boy went with that old man with the face of a pervert,who knows what he will do to the poor boy."
"Shut up you two drunks,if you piss off some bad tempered sorcerer you might wake up dead,or worse,you might wake up hugging each other in bed stark naked."
"Stop gossiping everyone,at least the kid left his drink money and didn't run off without paying."
The bartender picked up the coins,relieved that Viltz didn't leave without paying.
...
Opening his eyes,Viltz found himself in a laboratory with all sorts of things lying around.
Ortolan looked at the mess and said, "I think I need an assistant. 'Then he started walking toward an operating table and said to Viltz, 'Give me the eye you want me to implant and then take off your upper clothing and lie down on that operating table."
Viltz took out a small bottle with a purple eye in it and handed it to Ortolan, then took off his tunic, leaving him in just his pants, and lay down on the cold operating table.
"This eye looks pretty strange,where did you get it from?"
Viltz simply remained silent.
Ortolan didn't ask any more questions when he saw that Viltz would not answer his questions.
He simply set about preparing what was needed for the surgery.
Fifteen minutes later,Ortolan handed Viltz a beaker with a sticky mixture inside.
"Drink it, it's a sleeping potion, you need anesthesia to proceed with the surgery."
Viltz nodded and drank the potion.A few seconds later,he fell asleep.
Ortolan, watching him fall asleep, pulled out a scalpel and began to work.
An hour later, Viltz awoke only to feel a sharp pain in his left eye.
He began to scream as he covered his eye with his hand.
Ortolan, hearing the screams, approached Viltz and handed him a small bottle.
"Calm down boy,that pain is normal,the joins of your optic nerve have not yet healed,take this potion,it can heal the cut,with this we can finish the surgery.
Viltz grabbed the bottle with trembling hands and poured it into his mouth.
The next second, he felt a warm current enter his left eye, gradually dissipating the pain.
Ortolan looked at Viltz's left eye, now a sickly purple color, and advised him: "You'd better wear a patch over that eye of yours for the next few days until your body gets fully accustomed to this new organ."
Viltz slowly got up from the operating table and nodded, covering his left eye with a piece of cloth so that it would not be irritated by the light.
Ortolan handed him a leather bag full of gold coins and said, "Here are 5,000 gold coins, with this the deal is closed."
Viltz took the bag of coins and put it in his leather pouch, then bowed to Ortolan and said: "I am grateful to you, great master Ortolan".
Ortolan stroked his beard and said lightly, "There is nothing to thank me for,it was just a deal,a business deal,a simple thing for me."
Then he waved his hand and opened a portal.
Viltz entered the portal,appearing directly in the inn.
Leaving the tavern, Viltz went to look for some tailor.
After searching and asking around for a while he finally found one.
Upon entering, he saw that a young woman was reclining lazily on the counter.
Seeing someone stand in front of the counter,the young woman quickly straightened up and began to greet her customer jovially before noticing that it was a boy,making her deflate like a balloon,sitting back in her chair.
"Excuse me miss,I would like to order a custom garment from you."
The girl looked at him scornfully and asked, "You?do you know how much a custom made garment is worth?and shouldn't you be with your parents instead of wandering around here?go away and stop bothering me."
Viltz pointed to the emblem embroidered on his robe and spoke without paying attention to what the girl said: "I forgot to introduce myself,I'm Vilgefortz,a student at the magical academy.I'd like you to make me a patch for my left eye but I don't like those crappy patches that everyone else wears so I'll give you a design of my own,wait a minute."
Viltz took out his pencil and journal and began to draw.When he finished, he tore off the sheet and handed it to the young woman who was still in a daze.
What Viltz drew was the design for the top of Ken Kaneki's leather mask from Tokyo Ghoul.
The girl stared at the design in her hands uncomprehendingly for a while before smooth, soft hands snatched the sheet from her.
"Amabet, my dear, let me see for a moment."
The one who spoke was a woman who appeared to be in her thirties.
"Hmm..."
"Interesting,you want to make a headband with a piece of cloth and leather attached to cover the left eye,it looks quite aesthetic,I can prepare it for you in a day,but if you are willing to overpay I can do it in two hours what do you think?"
Viltz nodded in agreement, "I want it done as quickly as possible please."
"Then it will be 50 silver coins,you can pay half now and the other half when you come back."
Viltz took out two gold coins and five silver coins and gave them directly to the woman and then said goodbye to the two.