Chapter 124 - The Start Of A New Rumor?

Hecathe pursed his lips as he heard this question and let out a small dry chuckle as he sent a reply, "It certainly is a bit interesting when you can see the bigger picture."

"I hope you don't want me to spread another rumor," Zather chuckled as she spoke and Hecathe didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or cry as he heard this. 

"How did you know?" Hecathe asked with utmost seriousness and it took Zather a solid few minutes to respond. 

"Are you serious...?!" The woman asked in disbelief. 

"Have you ever seen me joking?"

Zather was once again a bit speechless as she took a few minutes to respond with a simple, 

"No..." 

Hecathe chuckled dryly as he nodded his head and sent her another message, "I want you to spread a rumor that the killer is in Ocasia." 

"The killer? What killer?" 

"The one who killed Orgon," Hecathe clicked his tongue as he replied, "And this time, say that the killer is back to kill Orgon." 

Zather sent him a response shortly after and the woman could be heard sighing as she commented, "You seem to think that I'm running a rumor distributing business." 

Hecathe's lips curled up in a small smirk as he heard this, "Well, aren't you the best at this kind of job?" 

"..." Zather breathed out angrily, "Sometimes, I want to really curse you but then I remember your father, and I'm forced to hold back my words." 

Zather was a fan of the great Edler and this was also one of the reasons why this woman would always be more than ready to help Alphius. 

"You should try cursing me sometimes. If you do that, maybe you'll feel less frustrated with me the next time we talk," Hecathe spoke with a small chuckle that probably made Zather want to come here just so that she could strangle the man to death. 

"Forget it. I'll curse you out when I'm really at my limit," Zather controlled her emotions and sighed as she seriously asked, "How serious do you want the rumor to be?" 

"Serious enough to bait out the real killer," Hecathe answered the question with a smirk as he informed, "Make this one a bit bigger than the previous one."

The rumor about Orgon coming back to life was already big and if this new rumor wasn't strong enough, it was going to be overpowered by the old one. 

"Got it," Zather responded almost immediately and the scratching of her pen could be heard, indicating that she was writing something down, "And I hope that the payment would be done soon enough?" 

"Have I ever disappointed you with the payment?" Hecathe asked with a small scoff. 

He had only paid this woman once for the previous rumor, but Alphius had been hiring her for years now and he had certainly always paid her humbly for the work that she had done. 

"You've never disappointed me, isn't that why I'm still willing to work with such a rude ass like you?" Instead of giving a straight response, the woman questioned back and Hecathe could almost imagine the smirk that must be on the woman's face at the moment as she said this. 

"And here I thought you were working for me because you liked me," Hecathe sighed as he absentmindedly commented. 

"Ah, that too. I miss seeing your handsome face so come and pay me in person. You're still in Ocasia, aren't you?" 

Hecathe unconsciously nodded his head as he replied, "I'm still here." 

"Great! I'm here as well. You can decide the place and time. I'll be there to pick up the money."

Hecathe suddenly remembered the girl that he had bumped into him while he was coming out of the guild and as he remembered her panicked state, a frown could be seen forming on his face. 

"Zather, there was one more thing I wanted to ask," Hecathe sent the woman another message out of curiosity and what he got as a response was a simple hum from the woman. 

"Hmm?" 

"What happened to the rare flower you bought back from the black market auction?" Hecathe asked and waited for a few minutes, however, it seemed that Zather was unwilling to answer this question. 

Hecathe was never a person who liked being left hanging so he got ready to send her another message, but thankfully enough, he didn't need to send it to her as her late response came. 

"Shouldn't you tell me what happened to the Dorgon first?"

Hecathe couldn't help but chuckle dryly as he heard this question but there was no joy in his voice as he lied with a straight face that the woman couldn't even see at the moment, "I ate it." 

"And I don't believe you," Zather could be heard clicking her tongue as she immediately replied, asking, "How do you even manage to feed that thing every day? I seriously can't even think why you would go and save it." 

"I also can't help but wonder why you bought that slave," Hecathe retorted. 

"That slave can cook and feed herself. She's much better than your dumb pet who can eat you if it's too hungry," Zather was also fast to defend the girl as she insulted the Drogon without any hesitation. 

"Instead of eating my meatless body, my dumb pet can also fry her and make a meal out of her in a mere few seconds," Hecathe refused to back down as he replied with a smug smirk on his face that could not be seen but could most definitely be sensed in his voice. 

"I guess you have experience with that because of your father." 

"..." Hecathe's eyes widened ever so slightly as he immediately understood why this woman hated Dorgons so much. 

The great Edler, who was also a role model for her, was killed by a dorgon so it was only natural for the woman to hate those creatures. 

For a minute there, Hecathe forgot to send a response and it seemed that Zather got a bit worried and regretted saying anything because of this wordless response from Hecathe. 

"I'm sorry..." The woman immediately sent another message as she apologized, "I shouldn't have brought him up. It was stupid of me to carelessly touch such a sensitive topic." 

Hecathe felt a little guilty to receive her apology since he didn't care at all about what happened to the great Edler. 

"If you really feel sorry then why don't you tell me more about the slave that you bought?" Hecathe decided to make use of the opportunity as he asked. 

"..." 

Zather took a minute to respond and the woman indeed gave a bit of information this time. 

"Her name is Arya and she's not a slave anymore. She works for me." 

Hecathe was a bit surprised to hear this and he couldn't help but ask, "If she works for you, doesn't it still make her your slave?" 

It was certainly said to be a joke but for some reason, Hecathe was really bad with his jokes that sounded a bit mocking and offensive. 

"I pay her a salary and she is free to hand in her resignation at any given moment. It's not slavery, it's just a normal job," The woman seriously responded to his question and now even Hecathe couldn't laugh at the unfunny joke that had come out of his own head. 

"I see. Then that's good," Hecathe sighed as he unconsciously admitted defeat, "She should be free now. I'm glad to see that you helped her." 

"You say that it's a good thing but you didn't even try to save her. You turned your back on her and saved a backstabbing egg instead. You clearly have your priorities a bit messed up, don't you think?" 

"..." 

Hecathe had no response to that because he didn't want to argue with the woman, but if there was anything that was clear from Zather's comment, it would be the fact that the woman was unhappy with Hecathe's decision to save the Dorgon egg instead of saving the slave girl. 

"What? You didn't see any potential in her? Or did you not see any future benefits?" Zather asked with a scoff, almost sounding as if she was scolding the man and this made Hecathe chuckle a little. 

Her scolding him like this really made Hecathe feel as if Zather and Alphius were friends that knew each other well and were not shy to open up about their opinions and thoughts. 

"Let's just say that I knew there would be someone else to save the girl since she was a human, but there would be no one there to save an egg that was being sold as food," Hecathe thoughtfully replied and now it was Zather who couldn't say anything as a response. 

"I'll get to work. Let's stop this topic," Zather took a minute to send a reply and ended the conversation.

Hecathe sighed and didn't even bother responding to that last message. 

It seemed that Zather was the type to stop an argument when she had no comeback.