Voices

At midnight, Mirror Ve sat bolt upright in his sleep under Jiang Hao's control.

He threw off the covers, dressed, put on his shoes, and went out.

"Sir, it's late. Why aren't you asleep?" Yaster appeared outside the door without a sound, his face indistinct in the darkness.

"Can't sleep. I'm going for a walk," Mirror Ve answered casually.

"Sir, Ganzros City is dangerous at night. I suggest you stay inside."

This worm is trying to stop me. Does he want to keep me in my room because he's afraid I'll see what's about to happen downstairs? Jiang Hao watched Yaster through Mirror Ve's eyes and made Mirror Ve say angrily, "Dangerous? What could be dangerous in a little backwater like this? Would those sewer rats dare kill a wealthy merchant from Kishiniur?"

The Otherworld had no omnipresent surveillance, but divination, prophecy, and speaking with the dead offered plenty of ways to find a killer. If you were willing to pay, there were always professionals ready to play detective for you, or even serve as hired muscle to deal with the culprit. The Nobility and wealthy merchants were therefore relatively safe.

"Then I wish you luck, sir." Yaster vanished silently into the darkness.

He's not going to stop me again? A flicker of doubt crossed Jiang Hao's mind.

He made Mirror Ve walk quietly downstairs, just as an adventurer came in with Priests from the Three Great Churches behind him.

"Right here, honored Priests. This is where I found the Black Scholar." Perhaps because Priests from the Three Great Churches were present, the adventurer made no attempt to lower his voice.

It's the adventurer who was drinking with Ve this evening... Jiang Hao made Mirror Ve go over to greet him.

"Ve!" The adventurer came up and embraced Mirror Ve