165 An unnoticed absence (1/2)
”Thank you for this evening. It was very productive.”
”Productive, hehe. Yes, very productive.” Unlike the radiant woman that was smiling, the man was bitterly laughing. Since when a woman had enjoyed a dinner with him and qualify it with the adjective productive? Shouldn't be more like, delightful or even agreeable? Something like that? But after recalling how it was, he knew that she was right.
Each time he tried to talk about another subject, she kept focusing the discussion with the numerous trade agreements they could reach. At one point, even Andre arrived, with one of the products of the underground farm, baffling both him and the two last employees of the inn. With the departure of all the adventurers, most of the guards and a large amount of the population, most inns had been closed, especially the one near the Adventurer Guild.
The woman and her husband in charge of this one were probably the last in all Archet. So, when a man had asked them if it was possible to eat here, they were overjoyed, especially knowing the Mayor will also be present. Unfortunately, as much as they tried everything, it could not hide the fact that only two people were eating in a nearly empty room. And if the man was sometimes looking weirdly at the nearby chairs with no one of them and the two undead that were near the door, the Mayor never took a glance of it.
With the arrival of that unbelievable fruit, the already formal dinner was infiltrated by three other people. Gwendoline asked their thoughts to both the couple and the merchant, crushing the hope of any forms of a charming evening. Taking personally a bite of it, and with the former Mayor following her on that, they were all happy to not see them dying soon after. As for the taste, it was unfortunately not that good.
It was not to the point of having a bad taste, but it was far too bland, almost without any taste. Remembering the grumbling of the red giant about the fact that the undead tainted everything they touched, Gwendoline wondered if it was the same for those fruits. Making a mental note to check that the next day, the size was still enough to be comparable to three fruits at once. With that in mind and the fact that it was filled with far more mana than anything not coming from Genablum, it would inevitably be a profit.
But because the discussion derived from a hopeless attempt at seducing a woman to technical and financial questions, it worsened the mood of the Eltritch son. In the end, he even had to pay for all of this. Not that he usually care, but that was because he had someone under his arm at that moment. But watching the cordial distance between him and the beautiful woman nearby, he was even more dejected.
”Was it really necessary?” Hearing the question of Andre that had not left her side since he arrived, she was puzzled for a few seconds before understanding it. ”Yes, it is better to give him no hope, so we can move forward.”
”You know, you could have played with him a few more times, to get the most out of it. It's not rare that some men send ... beautiful gifts to their adversaries, in exchange for some favors. Of course, I would not ask for anything overboard, but ...” Nodding, she also got the idea. After all, she was part of that process too, before all of this. A nice, young and charming employee, dealing with all those old, powerful men, lifting their mood to allow the Mayor to use their goodwill.
”Maybe, but you do realize it would be useless against him. He has not fallen in love with me, he is just lusting for my body. Meaning that the sooner he give up this idea, the less likely he will feel compelled to do irrational things. It could be giving gifts, that I would lose out, or something bad like sabotaging this entire thing.”
”That would be unfortunate.”
”Indeed.” Because they only knew him for a day, none of them could accurately know who he truly was. From the sayings of his father, a good for nothing that at least had enough in the brain to not lose too much money. And someone that also was far too close to women, whether they were married or not. As for how he was reacting when rejected, even his own father did not really know. Looking at the only moon that was up tonight, she left Andre there and returned to the City Hall.
Searching through the books that had not be destroyed, she finally found what she was looking for. The title was pretty self-explanatory, as it was called ”1001 fruits and vegetables of the Grey Lands by Bellacia Pirgrim”. Drawn on it, a silhouette with a robe was raising its hands, when nearby a halfling was using a hoe to work on the fields. Because of the peaceful nature of both the halflings and Genablum, it was no wonder the former only lived inside that nation.
Counting the pages, she opened where she stopped reading. Completely immersed in the book and the beautiful drawings representing the fruits and the one found in Massalia, for comparison, she did not notice the numerous shadows moving in her room silently. Feeling thirsty, she put the book down and began to walk to grab some water. Only when she stood up did she notice that something was weird.
”Good evening Gwendoline, or should I say, Mayor of Archet.” Seated in one of the chairs present in the room, she could see a very tall man with an extremely faint mark on his forehead. He didn't seem bothered by the fact he was breaking in the City Hall. Spotting the dark thing that seemed to be alive on one of his arms, she easily guessed who it was.
”Black Gauntlet? You are the Black Gauntlet?” Hearing this said in a very calm tone, the man in question chuckled a bit. ”You know, usually people scream when they pronounced this name. It's quite refreshing to not have to deal with that, especially since woman's screams are quite annoying to the ears.”
Looking at the man belonging to the Organization being so carefree, she began to wonder how he managed to enter. Even if they were masters at walking unnoticed, Archet was no longer protected by mere guards. No bribe, no lack of sleep, no biological needs could help them bypass the guards. All day and night, the cold empty eye sockets of the undead will stay vigilant.