Outside the door, Circe sized up the visitor whose face was hidden beneath a hooded robe, her lips parting.
"May I ask what brings you here so late, sir?"
"Wizard Circe, it's like this. I have some writing from the Ancient Ruins that I'd like to trouble you to translate," the visitor said, handing over a sheet of parchment copied with strange characters.
Circe glanced at it without paying much attention. Over the past year, she had been helping people translate all kinds of ruin scripts, and had gained a bit of a reputation. It was only natural for strangers to seek her out by name. Several had done so before, though this was indeed the first time someone had visited in the middle of the night.
Taking the parchment, Circe looked at the visitor and nodded. "All right. Leave it with me, then come back in three days. I'll give you the translation then. My usual rate is one Low-grade Crystal Coin per ten characters—that is, one hundred gold coins per character. If you're dissatisfied, you can find someone else."
"No, I'm very satisfied with Wizard Circe's price. But could you translate it for me now? I can pay five... no, three times the price, because I'm truly in a hurry," the visitor said, looking at Circe pleadingly.
Circe smiled. "This isn't a matter of price, but of my limited ability. I still can't determine what kind of script you've brought me. If the translation is rushed, the result may contain errors, and I'm afraid that could have a considerable impact on you."
"No, no." The visitor quickly shook his head. "Wizard Circe, you don't need to worry about me. I can fully accept a few minor errors. As long as you can translate the general meaning, that will