Chapter 178: Everyone Pays

“Sure,” I said. “Ask away.”

Palets steepled his hands. “How did you get the witch to work for you, and who really killed Hanka’s crew?”

“If I told you I’d have to kill you.” I smiled.

One of the invisible guys behind me shifted, his mana tense.

“As for who killed Hanka’s crew…” I continued. “That was me.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm.”

“So not the witch?”

I just stood there, smiling at him.

His eyes lit up for a moment, the bright white glow piercing the shadow hiding his face. He looked me up and down. He sat like that for a moment, until he said, “interesting.”

I decided to keep following Vasil’s advice and didn’t say anything, so we just kind of sat there, staring at each other for a couple of seconds. The glow in his eyes had disappeared at this point, so I was looking at where I assumed his eyes would be, but I didn’t actually see them. If he was trying to make things awkward, he was doing a good job. The silence made me want to say something, but Vasil had told me not to, and it was making me feel itchy all over, though I obviously didn’t let it show.

He leaned back in his chair. “Am I correct in assuming there will be no payments from Viswa?”

I shook my head once. “Whatever agreement you had died with the old mayor.”

“Hmm.”

After some more staring, he sighed. “Everyone pays.”

“Does the Church of Stvora pay?” I asked. “Does the king?”

Even through the shadows I saw his mouth twist into a grin. “We mostly stay out of the Church’s way and they mostly stay out of ours. As for the king…”

Good to hear that from one of Banda Masvih’s own. They probably didn’t mess with the Church because an all out war would be costly and simply bad for business. As for the king, the way Palets said that, the king probably looked the other way, he might even receive a cut of their business, that way they paid their tax and the king was happy. They possibly did jobs on request as well. That meant there was a way to coexist with them. All I had to do was convince them it wasn’t worth making me their enemy.

For a moment I thought about asking him to arrange guards to protect Viswa, but then I’d still be paying them for protection, and I could probably never trust them. I also preferred if everyone in town was loyal to me, not to Banda Masvih or gold.

I flashed him my most charming smile. “Maybe we can enter a mutually beneficial arrangement? A partnership of sorts? I’d like to think you and I could be friends, Palets. Very good friends. Paying you money for protection I don’t need doesn’t serve me in anyway, surely you understand that. So that’s off the table. What else can you offer me?”

He sat up straight and tilted his head. “Me, offer you?”

“Yeah, you do something for me, I do something for you. That way we’re both happy and no one dies. I mean, Hanka’s crew did, but that’s all water under the bridge if you ask me. You didn’t know I was the new mayor, so I won’t hold it against you, besides, I think I made my point.”

The mana of both invisible men started swirling as if ready to strike. Perhaps I’d been too forward, and now they felt threatened. Maybe they were expecting a kill order. I considered shooting them right there, but decided to wait to see what would happen. I could always [Blink] out of the way if I had to.

Palets unexpectedly started laughing. “You are bold, Aurelia. You are very bold. Normally, I’d have your head for this insolence, but your head is far too pretty for that, and the fact that you employ the most wanted criminal in the country has also piqued our interest.”

“Ah! A fellow head collector!” I said cheerfully. I was hoping we’d find some common ground, just didn’t expect it to be hoarding heads. “Do you also shrink them or do you prefer them as is?”

He did some more of his silent staring, then said, “You actually collect heads?”

“Well, yeah! Hecate does too! A girl needs a hobby, right?”

I got up and the two lurkers moved, still invisible, ready to strike, but Palets waved his hand. I stood in front of his desk and pointed at the gold colored cord I used for a belt, that currently held the heads of Jerzy, the strzyga matriarch and Hanka. “See? Hanka is also there, and next to her is the strzyga matriarch I killed earlier.”

He leaned in and inspected them. “Hmm. That does look like Hanka. How do you get them to be so small?”

I grinned. “I’d tell you, but…”

“You’d have to kill me, yes, I get it. Very well.” He snapped his fingers and the wall behind him spun around, revealing shelves full of decapitated heads. Some of them were horrible looking monsters, but most of them were humans. They were all regular sized, so he probably did not have the [Headhunter] skill.

“Gosh!” I said, excited. “I’m so jealous! Can I see?”

“Go ahead,” he said, gesturing behind him.

I walked behind the desk and took a good look at all the heads. Palets sure had been busy. And what were the odds that I’d find a fellow head enthusiast here in this shady criminal office (or whatever it was)? To be frank, the odds were probably higher here than in most places, but he was still the first other collector, and that made it special to me.

Some of the heads looked like they’d been pretty tough when they still had a body. Palets was probably a capable fighter. I didn’t recognize any of the monsters. One of them looked like an old, thin, female with only a single eye. I couldn’t resist and cast [Artifact Index] on it. To my great pleasure a message popped up.

[Likho - Head]

“That’s so cool,” I said. “What’s a likho? Was that her name? What’s up with the eye? Would you like to trade it for one of mine?” I felt around my satchel to find Vulkan’s head, accidentally poking Vasil a couple of times. When I finally found it, I held it out for Palets to see. “Vulkan Kaminski, [Lithomancer] and inquisitor for the Church of Stvora. I’ll give you this little guy for that thing.”

“One-Eyed Likho was a spirit, an embodiment of hardship and misfortune. She was drawn to greed, hubris and those who simply failed to appreciate good fortune. Once she found her victim she latched on to them by jumping on their back or wrapping herself around their neck. After she had them in her grip, she would ruin everything around them. Their victim would get sick, their crops would wither, the livestock would die, and their loved ones would suffer. She fed on their misery and despair until her victim saw no other way out but death.”

“Oof, that sounds rough. How’d she end up on your shelf?”

Palets chuckled. “She had laid a trap for me, clever spirit as she was. A magical ring, left out in the open, ripe for the taking. As soon as I grabbed it, it fused to my hand and I started hearing whispers. I also got the uncanny feeling that I was being followed, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake it. The whispers were faint at first, but as the feeling of being followed grew more oppressive, so did the whispers.”

He steepled his fingers again and leaned in. “After several days, all I could think about was cutting off my hand, since the whispers grew so loud it was impossible to sleep—it was driving me mad. But right as I stood there, axe in hand, she showed up and I knew who she was. As she drew closer all the thoughts of cutting off my hand disappeared, and all I could feel was anger and hatred for what this thing had put me through. No one makes me suffer. No one steals from me. No one fucks with me.”

He leaned back, chuckling again. “So I chopped her head off with a single strike, and that was the end of One-Eyed Likho. In the end, everyone pays.”

“So…” I said. “Does that mean you’ll trade it?”