Chapter 161 - Azazel Who Works For The Golden Fire Guild

He already knew Zather so finding more information on her was not going to be hard. 

However, her being involved with the landlady was a bit suspicious since the two didn't even look like the types that would ever cross paths with each other. 

At the end of the day, Hecathe would certainly be naive if he were not to find this suspicious. 

And so, Hecathe did the first thing that came to his mind which was to go to the guild and find out some answer for himself.

Who else could reveal information on Zather other than the woman herself? 

Once he reached the guild, the first thing he did was look for Zather but the man was a bit surprised to know that Zather had a different name in this guild. She was actually called Azazel here and nobody really knew her real name. 

The name Azazel was the same as the one that his friend had back in the real world so that simply made it even more surprising, but at the same time, he felt as if he should have already expected this. 

The second shocking thing that happened was probably when he reached her office and the door was opened by a girl whom he couldn't help but recognize. 

It was the slave girl that Zather had saved from the auction house. Last time, Hecathe saw this girl in the guildhall and thought that he might have been mistaken or something but now that he saw her again inside Zather's office, he was sure that it was her. 

Zather looked at the visitor and her eyes seemed to have lit up with a bit of excitement for some reason as she greeted Hecathe, "You're here~" 

Hecathe nodded with a sigh as he heard this and commented, "If you are this excited to see me then you should've told me that you worked here. You wouldn't have made me feel like a fool." 

Zather chuckled as she heard this and responded lightheartedly, "I like seeing you make a fool out of yourself so I guess I made a good decision." 

Hecathe pursed his lips into a thin line and clearly didn't look impressed with this reply.

"To be honest, I thought you already knew," Zather sighed as she added. 

"Hmm? And why would you think that?" Hecathe asked as he tilted his head ever so slightly. 

"Don't you remember?" Zather straightened her back as she spoke, "When I came over to give you the reports, you looked at me and called me Azazel. I really thought you figured it out back then."

Hecathe frowned as he remembered the details of that day. It was the first time that he had met this woman and since she looked exactly like his friend, he mistook her for him and called her Azazel. 

"But you played dumb back then, didn't you?" Hecathe sighed as he pointed out. 

Zather nodded her head as she responded, "If you suddenly call me out like that, of course, I would play dumb. What did you expect? Did you think that I'd just nod my head and confess the truth?" 

"..." 

Her words made sense... 

"That aside, How did you find me?" Zather clicked her tongue as she changed the topic and asked with a smile as she looked at the man. 

"You don't need to know that," Hecathe shrugged his shoulders as he answered the question a bit rudely. 

"Are you mad?" Zather raised her eyebrows with an amused smirk as she asked. 

"And why would I be mad?" Hecathe wasn't polite at all as he took a seat in front of her and crossed his right leg over his left as he asked, "Is this something to be mad about?" 

"..." 

Hecathe had talked to this woman a few times whenever he had some business with her and every time she acted as if she just happened to be in this city but now Hecathe finally knew the truth. She didn't simply happen to be here but was actually here because of work." 

"I never lied to you, Alphius," Zather chuckled as she spoke and asked, "Now, out with it. Why are you here? I suppose it's not because you simply want to scold me over keeping my professional life a secret?" 

"Can I not be here even if I don't have any business with you?" Hecathe asked with a small smirk that was hardly visible on his face. 

Zather simply shook her head as she responded without even having to think about it, "You're just not that type of a person. You hate wasting time, you hate going out and you hate meeting people. So stop beating around the bush and bark it out. Why are you really here?" 

"..." Hecathe kinda hated the fact that the girl was so right. He did indeed hate wasting time, going out, and meeting people. That was like one of those things that he and Alphius had in common. 

With a sigh, Hecathe asked, "How have you been doing lately?" 

"Eh?" Zather blinked in confusion as she repeated the question in her mind and wondered if she had heard it wrong or something. 

She clearly knew that the man was not the caring type so she immediately understood that there was a hidden agenda behind this seemingly innocent and caring question. 

"I'm doing good," Zather replied as her eyes narrowed down on Hecathe in suspicion. 

"There's nothing bothering you, is there?" Hecathe asked without missing a beat as he looked at the woman. 

Zather's eyebrows creased together as she heard this question and instead of straightforwardly responding to it, she asked back, "Alphius, why are you being weird today? Rather than something bothering me, I should be asking whether there is anything bothering you." 

"There are a lot of things bothering me but we are not here to talk about me," Hecathe spoke without any hesitation. 

"Did someone put you up to this?" The woman asked as her eyes suspiciously narrowed down on the man but before Hecathe could answer that question, she sighed as she corrected her own words and spoke, "That's not right. You'll never follow orders from someone else." 

Hecathe chuckled softly as he heard this but said nothing more. 

"I am doing good and there is nothing bothering me," The woman clicked her tongue as she spoke with a frown. 

"Is that so?" Hecathe smirked as he asked, "Then I guess you'll be free to answer some questions with an open mind and an honest mouth." 

He finally cut to the chase and Zather was both worried about it and interested to know what it was.

She gulped as she heard this and the woman had a foreboding feeling in her stomach but she still nodded her head as she agreed to Hecathe. 

"Alright then," Hecathe beamed as he saw her reaction and spoke, "Let me first start with an odd case that I recently got to know." 

"Hmm?" Zather leaned in forward and listened attentively to the man as he said this. 

"I came across a woman who had eight legs. At first, I thought she was a ghost but turns out that she's not. My second guess was about the woman being a mutant but fortunately enough, that was also not the case. She was merely a mage with eight legs. It's a bit shocking to see that the Zelium had such an effect on her but I guess it's not unheard of considering the fact that I'm also kind of like her. The Zelium didn't work like it was supposed to and because of that, I am now left with abilities that even I didn't know existed till now."

Zather's eyes widened ever so slightly as she heard this and the woman nodded in understanding as she patiently waited to hear the man out. 

"Have you heard about such a case before this?" Hecathe asked with an amused tone. 

"As you have said before, such cases are not unheard of but it would still be hard for you to find a person like that. Since they are not exactly normal, they are mostly killed either by their own parents or by the people and government. Keeping them around is dangerous since their actions can be unpredictable. The only reason you survived is because of your father." 

"I see," Hecathe nodded his head in understanding before he asked, "Then why do you think she survived?" 

Zather frowned as she heard this question and thought about it for a few minutes before shrugging her shoulders with a frown as she spoke, "I don't know. Maybe she also had someone to protect her or she protected herself. Something like that is hard but it is not completely impossible." 

"So you're saying that she is not such a normal person?" 

Zather nodded her head as she confirmed this, "That's right. You should know this more than I do, but someone like this would never be considered a normal person."

Hecathe sighed out loud in disbelief as he heard this and commented, "Then I guess I got myself involved with another troublesome person."