“I had prepared a long speech to explain the situation to you, but since there’s no trust between us, I’ll try to keep it short.” Haug said with a sigh. “Do you see Tartania there, at table three?”
He pointed at a young woman with red hair streaked blue all over that dined alone at a table for four. She only drank water, and there were more glasses in front of each one of the three other chairs.
Tartania seemed to be saving them for her friends who had left each a piece of clothing on the chairs.
“She was the first of her group to Awaken. They were just a bunch of kids with no mentor who had stumbled upon our secret on their own. They threw a party here, getting so drunk that those morons decided to follow her lead immediately.
“Awakening while in a drunken stupor is already a dangerous business, but doing it while your body isn’t strong enough is just suicide. After that, I had to enchant the ceiling with a self-cleaning spell like the rest of the restaurant.
“Tartania, instead, took a vow to never drink again and after decades she’s still upholding it.” Haug said.
“So what?” Lith asked.
“So, we Awakened are a society that doesn’t give a fuck for their youths and only cares about their precious legacies. Those kids were good people and yet died on their first bender only because they had no one caring for them.” Haug snarled.
“Heck, even I am not blameless. If only I kept an eye on their ever-growing tab, I might have saved them. Yet I failed them, just like I failed my own apprentice. He died fighting a losing battle because he was too afraid to ask for my help.
“Because even though I loved him like a son, I never treated him as such. Patting his back was the greatest praise I ever gave him because men don’t hug nor cry. We barely nod in approval.” The plate he was cleaning shattered under his grip, and then the pieces reassembled themselves like nothing had happened.
“Not to be insensitive, but even I am completely missing your point.” Kamila said.
“My point is that the children are our future and that the Council is just a bunch of old greedy bastards. They are ignoring the problem under the pretense that we are at war against the Undead Courts, but the victims don’t belong to any of them.
“They are free people who only want to live in peace.” Haug said. “Let me sweeten the pot by talking about your pay. If you accept my request, I’ll share with you the secret of my violet core and I’ll tell you the identity of the person who murdered Count Lark.”
“What?” At those words, all the pain and grief that Lith believed to have overcome during the last few months squeezes his heart like a vise. Yet instead of tears, they triggered an unbridled rage.
“Tell me who killed my friend now, or I’ll raze this place to the ground. Even if it costs me pledging my alliance to my Grand- I mean Salaark!” Every time that Lith thought about the Count, the images of his corpse displayed like a scarecrow overlapped with his smiling face or with his monocle jumping around.
By messing with Lark’s body, the culprit had done more than just kill him, they had poisoned all the good memories that Lith had about him. Only by avenging the Count might Lith hope to rid his mind of those images and remember Lark for how he lived instead of for how he died.
Lith’s blue-violet aura burst out with great violence as the mana from fusion magic circulated through his body, weaving spells. A low rumble coursed throughout the Travelling Tavern as Lith’s wings popped out of his back on their own.
“Me and my big mouth!” Haug raised his hands in a sign of peace and in an attempt to calm him down.
“I’m not that big of a jerk to intentionally hide such huge information. I was just being dramatic to regain a bit of dignity and get your attention. I don’t know who did it, but I know someone who knows the truth.
“It slipped off their mouth after one drink too many, but they never mentioned the details. They just told me that Lark’s hit was part of a deal with the Undead Courts and that telling me more would endanger both of our lives.
“I’ve never seen someone sober up so fast out of fear after drinking that much so they must have been telling the truth. If you accept the job, we can try together to make them spill the beans.” Haug said.
“That’s not being dramatic, that’s being misleading!” Kamila said. “First your welcome/ambush and now this? You’re the worst talker ever, how did you manage to survive this long?”
Many customers dropped the disguise they wore in the case humans entered the establishment and threw reproving looks at Haug for his lack of tact.
“So what you’re actually saying is that if I accept your terms and if I succeed, then someone might tell me the truth about what happened to Lark?” The revelation didn’t ease Lith’s anger, it only fueled it further, making three more of his eyes open.
“I apologize for my boss.” A thin male waiter in his mid-twenties said while giving them a deep bow. “He has a penchant for theatrics and affectation, thinking himself to be flamboyant while he’s actually annoying.
“Yet he means well and is a good person so we usually go along with it to not hurt his feelings. You have no idea how many first-time customers punched him in the nose.”
Haug didn’t know whether it was worse the fact that his whole plan had been an utter failure or the fact that everyone seemed to consider him a guy who kept sticking his foot in his mouth.
“Yes, that’s the best I can promise you.” Haug said to Lith after shooing the waiter back into the kitchen.
“What do you think I should do, Kami?” Lith was too busy keeping his rage in check to think clearly and without Solus, Kamila was the only one he could trust.
“As a Constable, I’d say that it’s still a lead to find who killed Lark. We have yet to find anything, and dealing with scumbags it’s part of my job’s description.” Kamila said.
‘That does it! Tomorrow I’ll hire someone to write my speeches.’ Haug thought, not liking being considered as the bad guy.
“As a girlfriend, however, I’m against it. Haug hasn’t given you any detail, has done nothing to earn your trust, and he might as well lead you into a trap. Even if he really means well, you have a feud with the undead.
“If Haug deals with them with the same skill he showed us tonight, you’ll be dead the moment you enter their city.” Kamila said.
“She’s right.” Lith nodded as his mind calmed down, allowing him to consider the best course of action. “If you really want my help, drop the act and tell me what you’re really after. Our table is ready and you have already spoiled my mood.”
07/25/21: These extra chapters are dedicated to Brian MK. Thank you very much for your generosity during hard times.
