Chapter 82 - Sudden Interest In Fishing

"You looked good in that dress," Hecathe chuckled as he complimented the woman. 

"So you were the one who sold those pure undamaged mutant beads?" Zather asked, sounding a bit surprised. 

"Who else could it have been?" 

"I was really surprised yesterday and also had this odd feeling that I've seen you somewhere before. Turns out my gut feeling was right. Why didn't you wait to say hello?" 

Hecathe sighed as he heard this question and asked back in turn, "Do you think we are on such good terms that we have to wish each other every time we meet?" 

"What?! You're going to say we're not friends? And here I thought we used to get along really well!" The woman complained and Hecathe could almost imagine the frown on her face as she said this. 

In reality, Hecathe wasn't exactly lying. In the diary that Alphius had left behind, he clearly explained that he only ever had two trustworthy loyal friends in his life. One was the Hecathe of this world and the other was Marvin. One was dead and the other wanted Alphius Dead. 

It was quite a pity that Zather was only mentioned as an intellectual woman who came in handy at times when Alphius needed to get info. 

"You hurt my poor little heart!" Zather complained and Hecathe's face cringed up. 

He was still not used to his best friend Azazel being a woman in this world. 

"By the way, what did you need?" Zather sent another message and this type her voice sounded serious, "Why is the man who ran away from his home, contacting me all of a sudden." 

It was certainly no shock that this woman had also managed to catch a whiff of the rumor about Alphius running away. 

"I need your help with something. Would it be okay for us to meet and talk in person?" Hecathe sent the woman a reply as he asked. 

"I'm down," The woman immediately agreed, "Where do you want to meet?" 

"A meat shop." 

"..." It seemed that Zather was left speechless after hearing that message and she took a whole minute to respond, "A meat shop? Are you serious?" 

"It's in the suburbs of Ocasia," Hecathe sighed as he asked, "Can you come?" 

"Ocasia?" Zather sounded a bit surprised as she replied, "How coincidental!~ I'm still in Ocasia so I can make it." 

Hecathe immediately sighed in relief as he heard this. 

Thankfully the heavens were on his side today. 

"Where is the meat shop?" Rustling sound could be heard in the background indicating that the woman had stood up from her place and was perhaps getting ready to head out immediately. 

"It's a small meat shop in the suburb of the city. It's called Grandma's knife or something." 

Hecathe walked down the road patiently as he waited for the woman to reply. 

"I'll be there in a few minutes," She replied and Hecathe nodded in satisfaction. 

Meeting at a meat shop was perhaps a good idea considering the fact that the walls of the meat shop would probably not have ears on them. 

The address given by the Landlady was easy to understand and in just a few minutes, Hecathe was able to easily find the meat shop that the woman had given him directions to. 

He stood in front of the shop called Grandma's knife and looked around casually to see if Zather was here yet or not, but he could not spot her. 

"Young man, are you here to buy or not?" The owner of the shop asked as she saw this strange guy simply standing in front of her shop in the most suspicious manner possible. 

"Ah!" Hecathe snapped out of his thoughts as he looked up at the woman, "I'm here to buy." 

"Then come on in," The owner immediately smiled as she heard him announce that he was a customer, "We have the best and freshest meat that you can find in this city!" 

Looking at how there weren't really that many customers around this shop, Hecathe found the woman's words a bit hard to believe. 

"What meat are you looking for?" She asked and her face seemed to be full of smiles. 

"Chicken meat," Hecathe replied as he looked around at the brutal sight of all the dead animals hung up with their skins completely stripped.

"How much?" 

"Ten Kilograms," Hecathe responded as he continued to stare at the skinless dead animals. 

"Are you thinking about how poor their lives must have been?" It was a familiar voice of a woman that sounded a bit too near to his ear. 

"Zather," Hecathe muttered as his lips curled up in a small smile and he glanced back to look at the woman who had managed to reach here on time. 

"So aren't you going to answer me?" She asked with a chuckle as she pointed at the meat, "What are you thinking while staring so intensively?" 

Hecathe sighed as he responded, "I'm just wondering if it would hurt." 

"Hmm?" 

"If I don't kill a person and strip their skin while they are still alive, would it hurt them enough to make them regret every decision that they had made? Would it be enough to make them realize that some people should not be messed with?" 

Zather blinked in shock a few times and took a step back as she asked, "Should I be worried?" 

Hecathe smiled as he shook his head, "I'm just asking. Not like I'm really planning on doing something like that." 

"..." From the look on her face, it was clear that she did not believe the man. 

"I was just thinking, don't worry," Hecathe sighed as he spoke, "I don't hate anyone enough to do that." 

"Whatever you say~" Zather still didn't look like she trusted the man but didn't bother saying anything about that either as she changed the topic, "So what was it that you needed me to do?" 

"I want your help in catching a fish." 

"So you ran away because you suddenly found an odd interest in fishing?" Zather didn't even look surprised as she asked, believing this to be the case. 

"...."