Chapter 142: The Truth of Things

While I figured he could see I was probably not using my real face, and might even see my actual face, I hadn’t expected him to straight up say or know my real name. I almost instinctively took a step back, but caught myself just in time. I didn’t want to show him (or anyone else for that matter) that I was unsettled.

Instead I gave a single, confident nod. “That’s right. Vitek.”

He held my gaze for a long moment. “That’s a dangerous thing to admit.”

“Since you already know who I am, there is no point in denying what we both know to be true. Now tell me, why are you really here, and what do you want from me?”

He finally broke eye contact and looked to the side. “I don’t want anything from you. Truthfully, I just came here to play music and enjoy the mountains. That I happened to run into you was pure coincidence… if you believe such a thing exists. Maybe it was fate. Besides that, I think we want the same thing.”

“Oh yeah? You also want to kill Archon Menekrates?”

He looked confused. “Who?”

“Never mind,” I said, waving him off. “You believe I intend to end the Church of Stvora.”

“Don’t you?”

“I do. And if the real Stvora happens to be their prisoner somehow, I intend to free him. Or kill him. Depending on his attitude, I suppose.”

He shrugged. “That’s fair.”

“And I am nothing if not fair.”

“I see that.”

“Yeah,” I said. “You seem to see a lot.”

A big grin appeared on his face. “It’s a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I see things I’d rather not. But mostly, I just see the truth of things. The world is full of people playing parts, Hecate. Even you are playing a part, but are you playing it for yourself or for others? Perhaps both?”

I frowned. Playing a part? I mean, I guess disguising myself and pretending to be someone else literally was playing a part. He wasn’t wrong about that. But that wasn’t as deep as he made it sound.

He laughed as if he’d read my thoughts. “Do you tell yourself you do this for you? For revenge perhaps? Or are you doing it because you can’t stop yourself from helping others? Because deep down that is who you are. Someone who cares immensely. Someone who cannot stand injustice. Someone who cannot stand oppression. Someone who refuses to stand by while others get hurt.”

Obviously, I was doing this for revenge… wasn’t I? Revenge for Perry. Revenge for what the Church tried to do to me. What they tried to do to Kasia. What they did to Vasil. But avenging Perry and Kasia and Vasil also meant I cared about and was helping others. I glanced back and saw my newfound followers all staring at me, breath held.

Did I want this town for myself, or did I just want to make sure these people had a nice place to live? Not like the cathedral. I thought I wanted it for myself, but how much time was I really going to spend here, realistically thinking? I hadn’t spent much time at the cathedral either.

Did this guy just make me analyze my own motivations? Was revenge all I cared about? It might have been at some point. But now? Now, I had people believing in me, relying on me. I couldn’t just abandon them. I had to make sure they were safe and taken care of. I could tell myself I did all of this to get stronger, and sure, part of that was true. But I had to admit that I did care. Somehow. I didn’t even want the guy with the squeaky shoe to die. We would have to do something about that shoe, though.

I turned to Kasia, who smiled at me. I really did care, especially about her and Vasil. I cared a lot. There was no way I was just going to get strong and abandon them to kill Menekrates. Somehow I had been so focused on fighting and getting stronger that I hadn’t realized my priorities had shifted. Yeah, I was still planning to kill Menekrates, but he wasn’t the only reason I was doing this anymore.

I looked back at Vitek who was watching the realization wash over my face with satisfaction.

“A lot of people want you to succeed,” he said. “More than you realize. Plus you have some powerful forces behind you.”

That group of people I rescued from the cage? None of them seemed particularly powerful. Not at all, if I was being honest. Useful, yes. Powerful, no. I thumbed over my shoulder. “These guys?”

He smiled faintly and shook his head.

“So you see things, huh?” I asked. “The truth, you say. About everything? People, animals, things?”

“All things, yes.” He inclined his head. “The more I am connected to the earth, the more I see.” He tapped his bare foot on the packed dirt.

That gave me an idea. I pulled out the Bies book and held it out. “What about this thing? What can you tell me about that?”

He narrowed his eyes. “It’s enchanted. It says Bies on the cover. That’s what I see.”

“Enchanted?” I held the book closer, and sure enough I could sense an extremely small trace of magic. So small that if I hadn’t been actively looking for it I wouldn’t have noticed. And I hadn’t noticed, until Vitek told me.

“Huh,” I said, surprised. “You’re right. You’ve got a sharp eye.”

“I know.”

“Can you tell me what kind of enchantment? What it does?”

“That I can’t see.” He shook his head. “It looks to be a very weak one, so the book probably won’t explode in your face when you open it.”

“Uh. Yeah. It didn’t. That skill of yours, what’s it called? It seems super useful. I’d like to have it.”

He laughed again. “It’s not just one skill. It’s a combination of several of my skills and my class. Besides, I don’t think these would be available to you. Not to a [Gunwitch], despite your considerable amount of… sponsors.”

By the Goddess, this guy really saw everything. I could see a lot, but not like this. It would be very useful to have him on my side. To have him with me. He seemed like a free spirit, but maybe I could convince him to join me, even if just for a little while.

“So you really see through everything, huh?” I asked.

He squinted and waggled a hand horizontally. “Most things.” He looked up, contemplated for a moment, then back at me. “Some things, however, are beyond me.” He scratched his beard. “And I guess if someone is powerful enough, and doesn’t want to be seen, they probably can’t be seen. Sometimes I can see there is something, but still cant identify what it is I’m looking at. The world is full of strange and powerful beings. Things that really know how to hide and disguise themselves. People usually think that slapping on a basic disguise is good enough, that no one will see through it. They’re wrong.”

I chuckled, embarrassed. “People like me.”

“People like you.” He grinned. “You won’t fool any bard-type with that.” He gestured at me. “You’d need to upgrade your skill to even hope to try.”

“Ehhhh… what are the odds of running into a [Bard]? Or anyone who can see through disguises?”

He gave me a flat stare. “Visit any reasonably sized town and you’re almost guaranteed to run into one. You just ran into one. Any truth-seeing class around level twenty probably won’t have a hard time spotting something’s off. Any higher than that and you might as well not have used a disguise at all.”

“Haha, yeah, but how many bards are over level twenty?”

His stare didn’t falter. “Plenty.”

“Ehh…” I crossed my arms. “Then I’d have to spend a point to upgrade [Disguise Self] and another to upgrade [Forged Credentials]. Seems like a waste. I’d rather have some more firepower or maneuverability.”

“Ahem,” Vasil said. “Is missing out on two points worth not dying? Besides, since you can slot two upgrades per skill, it might even give you something you’d enjoy.”

Vitek nodded at Vasil. “The frog is right.”

Hmmmm. Did he really believe it was possible that I’d get some upgrades that would improve my hair somehow? I found that hard to believe, as it was already close to perfect. Then again, how often had Vasil been wrong? Not many times. His advice was usually solid. Vitek also seemed to have my best interest at heart, or more likely, the Church’s worst interest. Why else would he help me?

“Any suggestions for what I might use to upgrade them?” I asked Vitek.

“Yeah. There’s a flower that grows in these mountains. That should do the trick, keep you safe up to a certain level. There’s also that chaos seed you are carrying. You could use that, though it is a chaos seed. It is guaranteed to have other effects.”

I grabbed my satchel and pulled it to my chest. “Really? You can even see inside my bag?!”

He smiled and shrugged. “That is the least impressive thing I can do.”

“Well, damn, Vitek. Why don’t you join us then? You know you want to. I’ll show you my cathedral!”

“Hecate!” Vasil said. “Are you sure you can trust him?”

I gave Vitek a half-smile.

“I get it, I get it,” he laughed. “You’ll kill me if I betray your trust.”

“Kill is such a harsh way to put it, Vitek. I probably wouldn’t even blow your head off. I’d explode your body and hang your head from my belt.” I pointed at Bogumir and the Strzyga Matriarch. “Like these guys.”

“Hello there,” Bogumir said.

“Point taken,” Vitek said. “We want the same thing. I’ll help where I can, though I can’t guarantee how long I’ll stay. When the road calls, I must answer. That means I may have to leave you from time to time. Though, I’m certain when that happens it won’t be long until we meet again.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, satisfied by how easy that was. “Now could you point me towards those flowers? I have some skills to upgrade.”