He makes us walk through a big double door in the back of the reception. This is his office, a beautiful, well decorated one at that. The carpet is a beautiful shade of red, the curtains match them with a similar tone, ending in golden strands. The desk is a nicely finished wooden furniture, the chair is big and gives an omnipresent vibe to the whole room. On one side is a bookshelf full of books of different colors, most likely laws, documents and history books from this part of the world. On the other there is a glass cabinet with what appears to be bottles of different alcohols.
"Something to drink, my dear?" He asks, like is the most casual thing.
"It is still early in the morning…" I answer.
This guy is already weirding me out…
I am still with Bloodless on my side… normally to meet an official with him, shouldn't I get rid of my weapons? Seems like a security issue waiting to happen.
I enter first, then he goes back. I see Aurelia for one last time, looking at me while showing her teeth, and then the door closes.
She must be feeling the same weird sensation that I do.
And the door closes with a loud bang.
"No one can hear what happens in this room."
What did I run myself into?
"A rumor came to my ears." He turns around and faces me, slowly starts walking towards his desk. "Some people say you have lost a lot of power, and that you became an enemy of the Kingdom."
"Where are you going with this?" I ask him, already holding the hilt of my sword.
"This guy is giving me a weird vibe, Amber." Karina explains.
I feel it too… maybe I walked once more into danger. I wanted to get this chance to get some help and get the rights to link my base here…
Whatever this guy is thinking, he is not getting whatever he is hoping…
He turns towards me when he is between me and his desk.
…
Huh?
His nose is running, and a river of tears is pouring out of his eyes.
*Sniff!* he goes.
"Please, tell me you did not lose your power! You are my only hope right now my friend!"
He runs towards me and gets on his knees and grabs my kimono, pressing his face against the fabric.
What the fuck?! What is going on?!
"I change my mind…" Karina answers.
"Wait, what? What is happening?" I am… confused.
"The chickens! Have you heard anything about it?" He asks, his face buried still against my legs.
"Okay, can you stop crying and get off my legs?!"
And ugh… is the chickens again… seems this was more involved than I imagined…
He stands up and recomposes himself. With a cough and a long wipe of his tears with his sleeve, he slowly tries to recover, although I can still feel him a bit shaken about it.
"Y-yes… excuse me… is just that the whole situation has been overwhelming…" He admits.
He makes his way to his cabinet and takes one of the bottles.
Is he seriously going to drink?
He takes a bottle that holds a transparent liquid, with two glasses and sits on his chair. He signals to the one in front of him, and I sit on it.
"This is just Ice Apple Juice… I keep no alcohol in here, I have been drinking less since a year ago and this is my workspace."
I just accept the juice.
"So… chickens… I have heard something about it."
"Yes… someone reported to me about a few weeks ago that every other night a bag with chickens appears in public spaces, like wanting to be found." He takes a long drink of his juice, like it is some form of life juice. "Ahh… and, they have names on them."
"Yes, left to die, and circled with red candles, right?" I answer.
He nods.
He pours himself another drink.
"Is that really not alcohol?" Karina asks.
From what I remember when reading the lore, the juice from that fruit that grows only in cold climates has a relaxing effect. Maybe it's acting like one for him right now.
"Yes, those things!" He points at me with his glass. "I have been receiving so many letters and questions from concerned citizens about them! But, the issue here is that the people with the names on the necks of the chickens have been slowly suffering freak accidents and dying."
Then I was right, the names meant something was up.
"Let me guess…" I take some air. "Your name appeared recently."
"Yes! I have been trying to catch whoever is behind these weird rituals… these damn curses! And now they targeted me! I have run into so many troubles right now… and I need to ask for your help! Please, like you did with the Arcane Werebears a year ago! Help me, please!"
Ah… those things. I remember some appearing in this area while playing… I didn't think much of it, I just found their cave and got rid of them for their pelts. They made quite a nice amount of money.
Werebears that use magic spells. At the point of my progression at that point they were a nice challenge, but I managed to defeat them with little effort.
Probably they were more of a nuisance than I imagined they were. I happened to come to town and there was a nice reward for their defeat.
"Sigh… well, I guess we should discuss payment."
"Ask what you want! Please! I don't want to leave my wife a widow and my daughters without a father!" He joins his hands, pleading to me. "Please, lady Amber! I am desperate!"
"Fine. 1000, and I want to link your town to my base. And if you can put a good word with the Builder's Guild I will take the deal."
"Consider it done!" He makes a bag of gold in front of me. "Here are the first 500… just, please, find who is behind this situation."
I take the bag and throw the money in my System's wallet.
I nod to him and we say goodbye. That ended on a much different note than I expected, but at least I got out with a job and a contact with the Builder's Guild.
I grin on my way out.
If I can make the Guild build my base as I level it up, then I won't have to be the one directing the building. I will just have to tell them what I want to get my plan going!
"You are thinking something malicious right now." Karina says.
"Big things are going to happen now." I whisper and I open the door.
"Hey! Let me go!" I hear Karina's voice outside of the building.
Oh no…