There is something that’s bothered me since I first met Amalia.

“How is Luca related to all of this?” He’s the one that first told me about you after all, and if he’s connected to this, Timotei might also be part of all of this, in some sort of complicated cobweb of manipulations.

They are very good friends after all.

“Don’t think he’s as rotten as you, he’s my brother, it was simply a coincidence.” Amalia quickly dismisses my worries, although her voice is still just as poisonous as a moment ago.

Simply a coincidence?

She must be saying the truth since the collar didn’t react at all.

I’m not too convinced, but coincidences aren’t impossible.

I only met Sexta because she happened to wander into my room when we were kids, for example.

Is there anything else I should ask her?

Hmm…

Ah yes, I almost forgot.

“I have the [Wulfrum pills], do I just eat them, or is there a better way to consume them?” I have my own alchemist now, but that doesn’t mean I should be wasteful, I’d like to make the most out of everything I have.

“You could take them as a suppository.” Amalia responds in a sarcastic tone. “I made them so that they’re eaten, like most alchemy pills made by anyone competent.” The collar chokes her a bit. “Wait three days between each pill, if you don’t, the pills will cancel each other out, and also, every pill will have half the effect of the last one.”

“I see.”

How simple.

I take a few small bottles from my hat, and put them on a nearby table.

“How long will it take you to identify what these are?” I honestly hope Amalia can identify these at all, I don’t want to have a bunch of garbage cluttering up my hat.

Amalia doesn’t to be too thrilled about it though, it’s probably not a very interesting task… “About a week for all of them.” She answers with a very displeased voice.

I nod again, It’s reasonable enough.

That should be all, right?

“Very well, what will happen if I take the rug, and can I put it on my hat?” The <Dead man’s green hat> is so convenient, I definitely have to find a way to study it and then make my own artifact that’s going to be way better.

So much to do, so little time…

“Do you have brain damage? Putting a space artifact inside another one will make the two not work, that’s just common sense.” Amalia is looking at me as if I had some kind of mental deficiency...

How finicky.

The [Wulfrum pills] don’t work if I eat them too fast, the rug and my hat don’t work together...

Honestly I would like to beat some sense into them.

Hmph, I’ll make my own and they will work properly.

I grab my clothes from the bloody puddle and quickly dress myself.

They’re completely drenched in blood…

I bleed so much, damn.

A-actually… Am I ok? It’s definitely not good to lose so much blood...

I look like I murdered someone and had sex with their guts, so I hope I don’t get into any trouble for that.

My left arm is also constantly drenched in ink, it’s staining everything I touch with it, and that’s definitely not helping at all.

It’s a very sticky situation…

I can’t wait to take a shower.

I take off my hat and grab something from the inside, it’s a small bag with 34 golds in it, and I leave it on a table, then I grab another bag and count… 16 golds, I leave those in the table as well, for a total of 50 gold.

“This is for the potion.”

Amalia looks extremely confused “Are you… Are you really damaged in the head? I’m being serious here.”

“I did hit my head on an anvil before leaving my clan, but that’s not important.” I shake my head, Master’s healing spells are heaven defying!

I mean, he’s an immortal, so they have to be, right?

“The [Shoggoth potion] and the collar are two different matters, I said I would give you 50 golds for it, and I take pride in my word.” Besides, I worked really hard on making those 34 golds, and even that wasn’t enough!

I’m not going to throw that work on the trash.

“I’ll take my leave.” I want to take a shower so bad…

I turn around and go for the exit.

“Please don’t come back, young master.” Amalia responds in a sarcastic voice, though I can’t see her face, I’m sure she’s still glaring at me.

I leave whatever this place is called.

 

* * *

 

Amalia has to be the only weirdo that gets turned on by filth, I’m certainly not, I really dislike being this dirty, it’s really gross.

I mean, this is way better than being deaf and having a broken arm, so I’m still really happy.

I don’t know how to feel about having a slave though, Amalia will be really useful, but this is the first time someone has hated me this much…

I mean, with good reason too, I did something horrible to her.

Definitely evil.

…

I’m taking the purple rug with me, though by now it’s also completely stained in blood and ink, it’s also surprisingly heavy.

I also feel that my hearing is much… sharper? I don’t know if that’s the right word.

But now I can hear the people on the streets really clearly… To the point I’m hearing at least 4 different conversations at any point…

It’s making my head hurt a lot, to be honest.

A lot of people seem to be talking about the prince for some reason, it seems he’s in town?

No idea what prince they’re talking about though, there’s a bunch of those in the royal family, and there’s a few of those too.

But I couldn’t care less what prince it is to be honest, it’s not like I plan to meet them or whatever.

I hate politics, it’s just a bunch of annoying nonsense.

‘Young master, you have to dress this way’

‘Young master, you have to smile THIS way, not that way’

‘Young master, you have to grab the fork correctly’

Pure bullshit.

I’ll try to avoid the prince as much as I can.

Most of the conversations are pretty mundane though, a lot of gossip too.

If I have to hear about how Lucian cheated on his wife with a man one more time…

Some people are also calling me a weirdo pervert, I have no idea what that’s about.

I know I said I look like I had sex with someone’s guts, but I didn’t expect other people to have similar conclusions to me.

It doesn’t matter, I’ll go back to Timotei’s house, take a good shower, and maybe go have a drink in some tavern?

Septimus and Novena aren’t here though…

And drinking alone just sounds depressing…

I should be celebrating!

I can hear! My arm is healed!

And everyone else has helped me so much too!

Yeah, I’ll invite everyone to drink and party, and I’ll even pay for all of it!

I got tons of money now, I can spare some of it for my friends!

Hehe, I’m feeling pumped up again, my left arm is feeling very good too.

It’s really weird, but I won’t think about it now!

It’s time to party!

 

* * *

 

Or so I thought…

There’s an armored man in front of Timotei’s house, I think he’s a guard?

I can hear more men inside the building too.

What the hell.