Chapter Nineteen - A Mission

“For all that the upper echelons of society took a turn for the worse, the common man, that is, the normal people, merchants and farmers both, seem to be just as amiable as I remember.”

***

I will be perfectly honest.

The reason I chose to stay at the Come Inn isn’t because it was the finest establishment in the city, nor because it was the most conveniently placed. I picked it because I found the name amusing and suspected that I would get along with the proprietors.

After a quick back inn forth (oh hohoh!) with the gentleminn (I’m dying here! Hoh!) at the front desk, we were giv-inn a very nice suite on the topmost floor inn exchange for a few bars of gold and a couple of witty remarks.

The suite had a little washroom, two modest bedrooms with two beds each, and a small office that had a window overlooking the main streets of Dolsrus. “This is very much acceptable,” I said as I finished my cursory inspection of the room.

The limpet looked to the two rooms, then back to me. “Um, is one of these mine?”

“Hmm? Oh, neither of us require sleep.” I said with a gesture between Alex and myself. “Pick whichever you want.”

“Thank you Master!” the limpet said with one of her little bows.

“Yes yes, this is mostly just for show, and to have a quiet place to read. Speaking of which, how far along are you with Detect Magic?”

The limpet ran a thumb over the notebook I’d given her. “I’m not done reading this yet, but I think I can do it, maybe?”

I hummed, then with a sweep of my hand, created three orbs of magical energy that hovered in the air around me. One was shaped like a star, the other was merely a blue-hued ball, and the third was a cube that shifted into itself and changed colours. None of them would be visible to the naked eye.

“Practice with these. Tell me what shape and colour they are. In the meantime, I think I’ll be asking the inn-keep some questions.”

“Yes Master!”

I patted the limpet on the head, which turned her face an amusing shade of red, before stepping out of the room. She had Alex to watch over her, in case things somehow turned for the worse and she managed to discover a way to turn Detect Magic into some sort of offensive spell.

It would also give my butler plenty of time to clean up. I’d seen the way he was eyeing the nearly-spotless room. Nearly-spotless wasn’t quite good enough for him, I suspected.

The innkeep on the floor below was a jovial man, big and rotund. Junjie was placing glass bottles into little closed-off cubbies that had the names of the ales labelled before them. It made it so that the alcohol itself wasn’t visible until he would take out a bottle. A strange local custom, perhaps?

“Hello Junjie,” I said as I took a stool before his bar counter.

“Ah, esteemed customer, how can Junjie help? Is your room to your satisfaction? Is there anything I can do to make it better?” The man clasped his hands together.

“No no, the room is excellent. Thank you,” I said. “I just had some questions about the city. I’m, as you can imagine, not all that familiar with the place.” A glance around the inn’s main floor showed that it was rather empty. There were one or two clients at the back enjoying a mid-day luncheon, but it was otherwise quite quiet.

“Ask away, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability,” Junjie said. “Could I interest you in a drink in the meanwhile?”

“No thank you,” I said. “And you don’t have to stop your work on my account.”

Junjie nodded gratefully and continued slipping bottles into their nooks. “So, what about our glorious Dolsrus has you curious? You know, it is the fifth most populous city in all of the empire.”

“Truly?” I asked.

“Yes. And one of the richest,” Junjie said. “We are blessed to have the support of a good sect, and the priests of the Silent Lake kami keep the city nice and peaceful. No rude ruffians here.”

“I’m curious about the priests, actually. About that whole temple, really.”

“Ah yes, lots of travellers stop to pay their respects. A man as fortunate and rich as my esteemed client should stop by the temple and make a small offering for even greater fortune and luck.”

Was the local deity actually capable of manipulating a person’s fortunes, or was that mere local superstition? Another thing to investigate. “I think I’ll do just that,” I said. “Where is the temple?”

“Ah, did the esteemed client come from the north, or the east?”

“The east,” I said, curious now as to where the question came.

Junjie tapped the side of his nose. “I should have guessed then. The temple is to the north of the city. Very difficult to miss if you’re coming from that direction, as it is erected right out on the surface of the lake. If you look at it from the right angle, it looks as though it is floating. But that’s just a clever illusion. We locals remember setting the foundations under the lake.”

“Interesting,” I said. “Is there a bridge leading to it?”

“Ah, there’s two temples actually, one on the shore, built into the city walls. There’s a bridge from that one to the one on the lake. You’d need to make a pretty hefty donation to visit the lake temple.”

“I see, thank you, Junjie,” I said. I tapped that counter a few times with a little drum-beat pattern, then stood up. “I think that’s it for me. I’ll check out the temple in a bit.”

Junjie grinned. “Do you want someone to escort you to it? The streets here are safe, but there are still many cultivators in this place, being so close to the border.”

“Oh?” I asked. I was still next to his counter, ready to leave but intrigued enough to stay. “I heard that they gather here before heading south, is that true?”

“Oh yes, many young masters, all ready to prove their worth for the empire and kill some barbarians. They’re very... ah, I shouldn’t speak ill of them.”

“Come now, you got me curious.”

Junjie waved a hand through the air. “They can be a little rude to us normal folk is all. Just keep your head low and your wits close and you should be fine. If you want, I can have one of the waiter boys escort you through the quieter streets.”

I shook my head, and plastered on a smile. “No, I’ll be fine, I think. Thank you though.”

I left the first floor and returned to the rooms to find Alex looking quite smug as he emptied a tray of dust into a garbage pail, and the limpet was sitting on the ground, cross legged and with sweat matting her brow.

“How goes it?” I asked.

The limpet let out her breath in a great whoosh. “I... don’t have it all, Master.”

“Oh?”

She looked down. “I think I failed. I can see that one of them is a star, I think, and the other is... green? Blue, maybe. But the third one is beyond me.”

“Cast the spell again,” I instructed.

“To feel the world’s fabric

To know the weave most elaborate

Power dispense

And give me sense

I cast upon myself, Detect Magic!”

I took a gander at her being through my own arcane sight, then let out a low tut-tut. “Your somatic gestures aren’t nearly accurate enough for a perfect cast,” I said. “Pay more attention to that. One day you won’t need them, but that day isn’t today. You’re taking enough short-cuts as is. And your chant’s cadence is rather poor. Don’t emphasize the rhymes so much.”

“Yes Master!”

I nodded and listened to her cast the spell again. She was sweating bullets as she tried to keep the spell in place, the weave just barely in her magical grasp.

“Oh!” she said, her eyes focused on something next to me. “It’s a cube? Um. It’s changing colours. Master, did you try to be tricky?”

“I’d rather think I succeeded in being tricky,” I said. “Well done, by the way.”

The limpet grinned, quite proud of herself. “Thank you, Master. Really. Thank you. I... this is.” She licked her lips and ran her thumbs over the cover of the Detect Magic notebook.

“Yes yes, whatever,” I said. “Do go bathe or something, you look sweaty. After that... ah, I suspect I won’t be around when you’re done, I’m going to be paying the local temple a visit.”

“Do you want me to keep practicing? I don’t think I’ve got the spell quite down yet.”

I nodded. “Yes. In fact, I’ll give you a mission right now. Use Detect Magic on the golems by the front gate, and any other golem you see. Put your observational abilities to the test.”

“I can do that!” the limpet said.

“I would hope so. It’s hardly much of a challenge.” I turned to my butler who came to stand by my side with his hands behind his back. “Did you have anything you wanted to do?”

“Not really, papa, I’m just here to serve you.”

“In that case...” I fished in my pockets for some small gold bars, then set them on the table. “I’m certain that there are things we need. Exchange these for some of the local currency, then see about getting whatever we need for our next trip. Ah, and maybe keep an eye out on the limpet if she gets into any sort of trouble.”

Alex swept the gold away. “Yes, Daddy. I’ll spend it all wisely.”

I snorted, a strange sound to make when one didn’t have a nose. “I have enough gold and such to bury this city in a pile of it. There’s no need to be frugal. If there’s anything you want, perhaps a suitable weapon or... something for your little hobby, then feel free to grab it.”

Alex beamed. “Daddy’s the best! I’m going to buy a pretty apron. Oh, maybe a bow for my hair.” He touched his rather short hair with a hand.

“Certainly,” I said. A glance out the window showed the afternoon weather turning a bit grey, and a few specks of rain were tapping against the glass. I reached into a breast pocket and searched around until I found a coat and pulled it out.

It was a nice greatcoat made of some canvas-like material. I slipped it on and pulled up the collar. I also found a nice cap to slip on above that, though it needed a sticking charm to keep it from sliding off my skull.

“Well, I’m off then. I’ll see you two back here before nightfall?”

“Yes Master,” the limpet said. “Also, you look really cool.”

“Why thank you, I always found this kind of coat rather fashionable.” Pleased despite myself, I waved the two goodbye and stepped out. A moment or two later I was out on the streets of Dolsrus where a light drizzle was staining the road and where people were running for cover.

The few stalls I passed on my way to the north of the city were closing up in a hurry, and a few citizens were covering their heads with jackets or wide-brimmed hats.

It was a nice rain. Tampening down the smells of a poorly planned city, and creating a sort of rhythmic music as it tapped on the copper roofs all around.

I crossed by some people in strange garb that might have been cultivators, but they didn’t accost me, and I had no business with them.

And so, just as the rain started to grow stronger, I reached the Temple of the Silent Lake.