Chapter 324: Pointy

Chapter 324: Pointy

Rin’s voice echoed out through the amphitheater, fading into the distance behind Noah. The auction wasn’t quite at a close yet, but he was out of gold, and nobody else had enough gold to afford any more purchases.

It’s a good idea to leave early, regardless of money. No matter what the Troupe claims about safety and our identities being concealed, I’d rather be out early than trying to maneuver my way around the other people leaving.

The large double doors were still cracked open, so they were able to slip out of the amphitheater and set off down the hall leading back into the dressing room. Lee led their party, her long strides taking her considerably farther than the rest of them. She kept turning corners, then pausing and twitching impatiently for the others to catch up.

Noah kept his senses peeled for anyone that might have been watching them, but at least as far as he was aware, there didn’t seem to be any problems. They reached the dressing room and broke off into their respective rooms to retrieve their clothes and goods.

As soon as Noah’s hand touched the Imbued door, the energy within it shimmered and faded. The door swung open, revealing his belongings along with a few new additions. There was a bundle of Catchpaper protected by two thin pieces of leather lying on the ground, just in front of his grimoire.

And, poking out the top of the grimoire, was a tiny triangle of paper. Noah’s eyes narrowed. He shifted the bundle of paper to the side and picked his grimoire up. Even as he flipped it open, the little triangle of paper vanished into its depths – he could almost imagine a slurping noise as the book slurped what had likely been his Runes up like a noodle.

“Figures,” Noah muttered, flipping the book open. Its pages were blank, but he’d expected that. “I hope you didn’t eat any of Lee’s Runes. We’re going to need those soon. Actually, I’m going to need mine soon as well. Don’t get too attached.”

The book closed itself on his hand. Noah cursed, yanking his hand free and shaking it off. It hadn’t hurt so much as stung, but he still glared at the grimoire. The eye on its cover rippled, blinking up at him before fading back into the leather.

“Brat.” Noah changed into his normal clothes and gathered the rest of his belongings. When he was done, he flipped through the leather wrapped bundle of Catchpaper. Luckily, it looked that whoever had sold Lee’s Runes had wrapped them for safety, and that had kept his grimoire from eating any more.

Noah tucked the bundle into his travel bag and slung his grimoire over his shoulder, striding back out into the main room. The others had all already finished and were waiting in a small group in the corner. Lee had returned to her normal form and size.

“Sorry. Technical difficulties,” Noah said. “I’ve got your Runes, Lee. Do you want them now?”

“Can you hold onto them until we can actually fix stuff?” Lee asked. “I’m not very good at keeping things that aren’t already inside my body. I lose them. Or eat them.”

“Consider it done. In that case, I want to–”

“Get food!” Lee exclaimed, thrusting a finger up. “We’re going to Pillen’s Fishhouse. I paid a lot of gold for that information, so we can’t waste it.”

Yeah. And then you shared it with literally everyone in the auction house before we could stop you. Besides, I want to upgrade my Runes...

“We can go some other–”

Lee’s eyes bored into Noah’s, large and watery. Her lip trembled – and he could swear that her eyes were actually growing larger. Lee was changing the shape of her face to better mimic the pleading eyes of a small, starving puppy.

“Oh, goddamn it. Fine,” Noah grumbled.

Lee’s face snapped back to normal and she beamed. “Great!”

“I think you just got played,” Moxie said as they all followed Lee up the stairs.

“The jokes on her. I don’t have any money,” Noah said with a grin. “She’s going to have to pay for my meal.”

“You know, didn’t we have a bet about having to cook a meal that got interrupted by... well, a lot of shit?” Moxie cast a glance in Karina and Contessa’s direction, clearly not wanting to say too much in their presence.

“Huh. Yeah, we did,” Noah said. “As I recall, I’m pretty sure we all lost. We should get around to doing that. It’s been a while since I’ve cooked anything, but it could be fun. Just make sure Lee isn’t the one that chooses the ingredients when we get around to it.”

They continued up the stairs, soon emerging from the small house and stepping back into the starry night.

Lee held up the piece of paper that she’d bought at the auction, squinting at the back before lowering it and glancing around. She pointed down the path. “That way.”

“Do you still need our help?” Karina asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “Because, if not, I’d like to go to bed.”

“As would I,” Contessa said. “I need to get some food for Mascot as well. I don’t know if he’s eaten today.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for your help getting us in, ladies.” Noah started to nod, then paused. “Wait, Mascot eats?”

“Yeah. You didn’t know?” Contessa frowned. “He eats a lot.”

“Huh. I guess he always just hunted for food... or something? I didn’t think he needed to eat.”

“Thanks!” Lee said. She strode through the room, slipping by waiters – all of whom seemed to wear a splattered apron. Noah wasn’t sure if the blood was part of the uniform or if they all just liked brutally murdering the fish they worked with, but he decided not to ask.

They approached the table. Noah almost missed a step as he got a closer look at the two people at their table. The woman’s skin was so pale that it was practically pure white, which only made her dark red, almost black lips stand out even sharper. Long, black hair framed her face and hung low at her back. She had a spiked choker around her throat – and the spikes looked like they were real. The woman’s features were beautiful, but in the most unsettling way that Noah could use the word. Haunting might have been more accurate.

The man across from her only made the woman stand out even more. If she was a freezing winter, then he was the warm summer. His face was plain and kind, clean shaven of any hair. While his cheeks weren’t exactly round, they certainly weren’t chiseled either.

For a moment, Noah felt like the man seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place anything about him. Lee sat down on the long bench beside the woman, not even bothering to introduce herself.

“What are you doing?” the woman asked, her eyes sharp as she turned to glare at Lee.

“I am sitting. This is our table,” Lee replied. She spotted a menu lying between the man and the woman and snagged it.

“What is a d–”

“Garina, please,” the man said hurriedly, holding his hands up. “This is a group restaurant. They seat people together. Look at the other tables.”

“I did not ask to be seated next to others. You try my patience, Ferd.”

“Ferd? Why are you – ah, never mind. This is just how it works here. We could always go somewhere else if you’d prefer?” the man offered, giving Garina a placating smile. Noah didn’t miss the flicker of worry that passed through his expression.

For a moment, Garina didn’t respond. Her lips pressed thin and she shrugged. “Fine. If this is how it’s done, then I suppose I would be remiss in being standoffish. What a pain.”

Nice lady.

Noah took the spot beside Lee, and Moxie sat down beside him. Lee’s eyes darted over to the menu between Garina and Ferd. Noah was pretty sure that Garina was studying it, but for some reason she hadn’t picked it up.

Lee didn’t notice – or, more likely, she didn’t care. She reached over, snagging the menu and bringing it over to herself. One of Garina’s eyes followed the menu’s path. Noah cleared his throat.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Vermil. The little one is Lee, and this is Moxie.”

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Ferd said with an easygoing smile. “Garina and I are... traveling through the empire. We heard that this location was interesting, so we decided to make a stop. Please excuse my companion’s harsh tone. She means nothing by–”

There was a thump, and Ferd grunted. Noah was pretty sure Garina had just kicked him under the table. Moxie sent Noah an amused look, and he gave her a small shrug in response.

Looks like we got a table next to some weirdos. The guy seems nice enough at least. As long as we don’t interact with them too much, it should be fine.

“So, what are you going to order?” Ferd asked Garina, clearly trying to keep her attention on him.

“There was a dish called the Weeping Sawtooth. It sounded fun, so I’ll get that.”

That sounds like a weapon.

“I was going to go with a plain sunfish. It seems like a good spot to start,” Ferd said.

“Nice and plain,” Garina said, a small grin pulling at her lips. “What a coincidence. Just like you.”

“I am sure I will enjoy it regardless. Appreciating the finer things in life is one of Her greatest teachings. We must enjoy–”

“Is She here?” Garina asked, leaning forward and arching an eyebrow.

Ferd cleared his throat. “No.”

“In that case, the only woman whose teachings you should be concerned about are mine.” Garina gave him a grin – and Noah caught a flash of pointed, sharklike teeth.

Ah, fantastic. Definitely weirdos. Whatever. I don’t care. It looks like they’re occupied with each other, so as long as –

“Whoa,” Lee said, staring straight at Garina. “Your teeth are really pointy. How do you avoid biting your tongue?”

Goddamn it.