I took another moment to think about Pest’s offer. My immediate reaction was to refuse, but if what he said was true—and even if it wasn’t—he really could turn out to be useful. If I could make him to only take the EXP I let him, and to keep his mouth shut, I’d be able to get rid of unwanted mutations or even explore ability upgrades before actually picking one.

It was worth thinking about. Another thing worth spending my time on was listening to Pest’s pleads. I grinned.

‘You don’t sound very eager to live, Pest. If you really so afraid to get exorcised, you should grovel harder. You can start with getting on your knees… oh right, you don’t have any.’ I cackled. ‘Then how about a poem about what a pathetic worm you are?’

Pest let out a sound of torturous and angry teeth-grinding. Interesting, considering he didn’t have teeth either. ‘I’m… I’m…’

‘You are?’ I prompted him, moving again towards the entrance to the guild. ‘You have time until I find the exorcist out there.’

‘I’m…’ Pest let out another growl of tortured, but angry soul, and fell silent.

I opened the door and stepped inside the building. A small chamber separated the inner hall from the outside, but even from within it, I could hear the hum of voices within. Without a pause, I pushed open the second set of doors.

Behind them was a spacious hall, set up a lot like a bar or a cafe could’ve been, with a dozen of tables and a counter on the other side of the entrance. A stairway was visible next to it. It was all very ordinary, if not for the people gathered within.

Adventurers, every single one of them, except for a couple of waitresses who scuttled around the place. It was in their eclectic clothes and armour, in their strange weapons, and simply in the fact that they were here, in the Adventurers’ Guild. There were about fifteen of them drinking, eating and talking, and while I got a few glances at my entrance, in a moment, everyone returned to their business.

My cloak didn’t attract much attention before now, despite the relatively light weather. One glance at the few cloaked adventurers looking all shady was an answer to why.

My eyes, though, didn’t stay on these people for too long, because they were drawn to the girl who manned the counter. In her best years, young but not too young, she was a picture of vitality with her shining blond hair and a generous bust that bounced in the most interesting ways as she went on her business of pouring drinks and accepting orders. Her uniform fit her rather nicely tight, too, though its neckline was too high for my liking.

I only realised that I was making a beeline towards her when I almost reached the counter. The girl lifted her eyes at me and I grinned in what I hoped was a charming manner. It must have been, despite my lack of practice, because she smiled back at me.

“Hello, mister. Do you want to enter the Adventurers’ Guild, or do you already have a membership?”

“Neither. I was looking for an exorcist. I—”

‘I’m a pathetic worm! A fucking worthless, ugly, wretched son of a bitch! I don’t deserve to live in your golden ass, not to mention in your head, oh Great One! Please, please, please don’t kill me, Voren!’

Pest’s sudden plea almost made me bite my tongue. I scowled at him. ‘You can do better, and also don’t interrupt me when I’m talking!’

Then I raised my eyes at the girl, only to see her stare at me with confused caution. She must’ve thought I scowled at her. Well, at least I didn’t say my words to Pest aloud. I smiled again, with a more strain to it.

“I got a draining curse on me. Can you help me?” I finished.

“Of course, mister!” The girl smiled again, but this time there was an unmistakable pity in my eyes. I didn’t like it one bit. She pulled a sheet of paper out of the counter. “Our clerics are always ready to perform a ritual, and it’s free. But, according to our guild’s policy, you have to provide the materials required or pay their cost.”

“And how much do they cost?” I asked with a sudden trepidation.

“Two thousand gold coins, or just one thousand if you have the membership in Adventurers’ Guild.”

Gold coins. How much brown (copper? Bronze?) coins were they worth? Well, even if it was a one-to-one conversion, which I highly doubted, the truth was…

This was just beyond me! Who the hell made these prices?

As if she saw these thoughts written on my face, the girl continued, “If you can’t afford the payment, you can enter a loan contract with our guild. You can pick a one year, five years or ten years loan. I can show you the terms…”

“No, no,” I shook my head. Apparently, if I had to get rid of Pest now, I had to explore his offer. “Not yet. Uh… Can you tell me instead where there’s a magic shop?”

“Alright,” the pity was still there. “Just go up the stairs. There are pointers, you see?”

I looked at where she was pointing at, and indeed, there was one just next to the stairs. “Magic Shop, second floor” was written on the wall in bright, colourful letters.

“Thank you,” I said, giving the girl’s boobs one last, long look before bidding them goodbye and going for my faster, cheaper solution.