Chapter 177: A Wise Woman Listens

It was almost time to head over to Palets, but I couldn’t get Polikarp out of my mind. As if being super annoying wasn’t bad enough, the man was also weird as hell. When he opened the door, instead of greeting me, he went cross-eyed. When I said ‘hi’, instead of saying ‘hi’ back like a normal person he made a disturbing sound. It was something between a deflating balloon and a grunt, and I immediately regretted going over there myself. I should have let Ola handle it, but once again I was too damn kind for my own good.

I thought that would be the worst of it, a momentary lapse, but when I sat down he squeaky-shoed up to me and slipped and hit his head on the corner of the table, somehow chipping a tooth and causing an enormous welt on his already bumpy head. Thank the Goddess that I had brought a big hat.

He was quite a character, and instead of thanking me, he started ugly-crying and tried to touch my hands. I drew them back, and he kept mumbling things I couldn’t understand through his crying and spittling on the table. A little bit of drool even got on my hand. I shuddered at the memory. No good deed goes unpunished. Once again coming from a place of love and understanding had resulted in suffering. My suffering. I was starting to think maybe it wasn’t worth it. Maybe love and understanding was a lie, or maybe it just wasn’t for me. Maybe only Kasia could pull it off.

I got out of there before he got any other crazy ideas—and before I got more saliva on me. Maybe he really was a lost cause. I’d let someone else deal with him from now on. Why did everyone always want to make me dirty? That was the opposite of what I wanted! You’d think people would be a little more grateful and considerate, considering what I’d done for them. Why couldn’t everyone just be normal like me?

If Palets started crying and spitting or snotting on me I’d shoot him right in the face. I wouldn’t even collect his head. I was so done with all these dirty people violating my boundaries and my clothes.

“Hecate?!” Vasil yelled.

“Whu-what?”

“I was talking to you.”

I instinctively checked my arms, then my beautiful, red silk velvet dress for spittle, still traumatized from Salomea and Polikarp. Thankfully, Vasil could talk like a normal person (that is, without spitting all over me), even though he was a frog. He also looked wet and slimy, but he was dry to the touch. Vasil was a good one.

“Sorry,” I said. “I was reliving a traumatic experience. I’m alright now. Thanks for asking.”

He frowned, but did not ask me what it was I was just thinking about. I appreciated that about Vasil. He usually just accepted what I said without asking for an explanation.

“Remember, Hecate, try to leave most of the talking to him. A wise woman listens. I can also guide you on what to say if you’d like me to.”

“I suppose that couldn’t hurt,” I agreed. “Hop on in the satchel so we can get to this meeting.”

I opened it up and Vasil jumped right inside. I walked in front of the mirror to see if nothing was missing from my outfit. I adjusted my tiara a bit. The dress was great, but I hoped I’d get some more runestones soon. Maybe I could ask Palets for a couple. He probably would have plenty. The boots I was wearing were not great, and didn’t match the dress at all, but I didn’t want to take them off and risk stepping on something pointy. I probably should have asked Ola for some new girly shoes, but it was too late now and thanks to the dress being that long at least the boots weren’t super obvious. I thought about activating [Majestic Flow], but decided against it—they might not appreciate being forcefully awed by a skill.

“It’s time,” Vitek said. “Have fun!”

“Thanks, I’ll try.”

Kasia gave me a kiss on my cheek. “Please be safe.”

“Please,” I said, giving her a wink. “I’m always safe.”

She frowned, but didn’t say anything.

I inspected the teleportation crystal one last time. “Here we go, I guess.” I crushed it between my fingers and for a fraction of a second the world turned black. The next moment I was standing in what appeared to be some kind of receiving room? It had a fluffy couch with a small round table. On top of it were a couple of pamphlets. On the other side of the room sat a small woman behind a desk.

“Palets?” I asked.

She flashed a professional smile at me. “He is expecting you. You may enter.” She got up and opened the only door in the room. Was this some kind of room you could only teleport into or was I already being ushered outside? Very strange. At least it wasn’t a vat of acid.

I slowly walked toward the door and stopped before the entrance. I peeked inside, but couldn’t see anything. Even stranger.

“Please,” the lady said with a nod.

Carefully, I put one foot inside the room. Nothing happened. As soon as I put my other foot inside the entire room came into view. There must have been some kind of spell that wouldn’t let you look inside. I made a mental note to get one of those for my place.

The room itself had a dark wood floor, wall and ceiling. In the back sat a man (probably Palets) behind a gleaming black desk. Looked like it was made of some kind of metal. Below the desk was a square, red ornamental rug and in the middle of the room was a rug made out of some kind of hairy animal I did not recognize. It had big sharp teeth and looked angry, so it was probably some kind of predator and he had put it there to show off his strength and intimidate whoever he invited in here. Or maybe he just liked the way it looked.

I moved toward his desk and as I got closer his face looked to be hidden by a perpetual shadow, despite the room being brightly lit. I assumed he probably also had some kind of shadow class, like Salomea, and thought about confirming my suspicions with [Soul Index], but decided against it, because it might come off as rude. And I was never rude.

I got a weird feeling and felt a shiver down my back. Something was wrong here, and it wasn’t just Mr. Shadowface over there. If they had hidden a trap, they had hidden it well. I tried focusing more through [Mēnē’s Watchful Eye] and noticed two streams of mana flowing toward me from the corners at my back. As I focused harder I noticed mana swirling around as if there were two people standing there, looking right at my back, but when I turned my head I couldn’t see anyone.

Could shadow skills make you invisible even in bright light? I supposed it would make sense that he’d arranged for some backup. These guys were sneaky! The mana flowing toward me also made me wonder if they were aiming something at me, or if they had locked their spells on me already, ready to strike. Was I about to get attacked?

When I reached the desk I cocked my head. “Palets?”

He gave a single nod. “In the flesh.” His voice sounded gravelly.

I glanced around, but couldn’t find anywhere to sit. I hope he didn’t expect me to just stand here while he sat and talked. “No chair?” I asked.

He gestured for me to sit, and somehow a chair had appeared behind me. No way I’d missed that, so there obviously had been some magic involved—magic I didn’t even detect. I probably shouldn’t mess with Palets unless I really had to, he could be dangerous. Unless conjuring chairs was all he could do, then he would be convenient if you had a furniture store, but so much so in a fight. Unless you could create a lot of them and shoot them at you at high speed. That would be pretty dangerous, and also annoying.

“So,” he said. “I hear you’re the new mayor of Viswa, Lady Aurelia.”

“You heard right. The old one tragically passed away. I think. Never met him. He probably didn’t slip and fall, though, if that’s what you’re wondering. I think strzygi ate him. No joke. The place was crawling with them.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm indeed. So what did you want to talk about? Did you bring Hecate’s night robes? The poor woman has a rough time sleeping without them these days. It’s terrible. She might even get bags under her eyes. Ten will do just fine, though I’m sure she’ll accept eleven as well, if you’re feeling generous.”

He studied me for a moment. “We will give you the robes, ten, as promised, but first I need you to tell me something.”