Chapter 167 167: The new destination
“My lady, what can I do for you? I would be happy to help you with anything you want me to.”
It was evident to Aurora that the owner was tiring to flatter her into letting him go. He likely did not hold any respect for her, but he did fear her power.
The more the man tried to flatter Aurora, the more she felt disgusted by his blatant display. If possible, Aurora wanted to put an end to this cheap flattery.
‘But it’s not that bad to be on the receiving end of such fear. I know Rita is enjoying this.’
Ture to Aurora’s thoughts, Rita had a pleasing aura surrounding her. To be in command and command respect was something that came to Rita naturally. So having this man tremble in front of her must be nice for Rita.
“I want you to do one simple thing only you can do. And if you do it well then I’ll make sure no one would bother your business again.”
Aurora was not making an offer, she was threatening the other man. The man seemed to have understood Aurora’s signal as well because he did not even try to talk his way out.
、 “I understand. Any work that you give to me would be taken care of, my lady.”
The man extended his hand toward Aurora in an expecting gesture. His intention of proclaiming his loyalty by kissing Aurora’s hand was borderline insulting. But the man seemed to not hold the same feeling.
“If you understand, then good. I don’t have time to sit around and explain everything to you in detail either. Natasha, I will leave the briefing to you and Rita. I should get our other affairs into order.”
“Alright. We will take care of things here.”
Natasha’s tone did not hold excitement her aura did. But since Natasha wanted to stay back with Rita to handle this matter, Aurora did not stop her.
Besides, moving alone in the night market was a good idea. Aurora would attract less attention that way.
“Have fun. We will meet you in the morning.”
Rita wavered cheerfully, her eyes not moving away from the pinned prey in front of her. Aurora is sure that Rita will enjoy today to her heart’s content.
The muffled yell of the brothel owner could only be heard by Aurora but she did not care enough to turn back and have a look.
She trusted her two partners to take care of this business.
===========================
The doorbell jingled as Aurora opened the door. The atmosphere inside the shop was similar to what Aurora had experienced before but the atmosphere inside it had changed significantly.
The once empty shop was full of curious people looking around. The new crowd had managed to change the shop completely.
The shopkeeper’s familiar silhouette seemed to be moving from one cabinet to another at a pace unseen by the human eye.
It was only because of Aurora’s divine powers that she was able to keep up with the fast-moving pace.
“I can see that your business is blooming perfectly. Should I come back later?”
The shopkeeper didn’t even look startled at being addressed out of the blue by Aurora. He continued to move around and hand things to his customers.
He did gesture to one of the free employees to take Aurora away and into a more private setting.
Aurora had half a mind to refuse that offer and come back later but she decided to comply in the end. Curiosity was a cruel mistress and Aurora had fallen victim to such a temptation.
There was no way she would be able to sit still now. Not until she had her information at least.
The shopkeeper didn’t keep Aurora waiting for long. He waved his employee over as soon as he entered the backroom.
“I didn’t know you had more people working in your shop. I was also surprised to see so many customers.”
“I am surprised at the sudden resurgence of customers in my shop as well. Looks like one of the new teams from the tower decided to stop on this floor before moving ahead.”
Ah, that did make sense. Tower teams worked in shifts and only once you passed a significant enough mark were you allowed to venture deeper.
And the night market was the first stop between safety and dangerous grounds so people wanted to explore it as much as they could.
“My lady, you sure kept me waiting. I was afraid that you would not want my information anymore.”
The shopkeeper gave out a theatrical sob that did not match the intensity of his eyes. He was looking to check Aurora’s expression so Aurora decided to match his pace.
“Oh no, how can that be? I was dying of the curosity to know what the shopkeeper meant.”
Aurora’s words matched the shopkeeper to the point but they lacked any hint of personality. They were a textbook example of reading and even the shopkeeper was taken aback.
“A-Ah, my lady. I apologize for these foolish theatrics. I was just too overwhelmed to see you that I lost my composure for a second. But I am glad to see you take me up on my offer for information.”
The man seemed awkward now that Aurora was not playing along with him. But as entertaining as it was to watch this exchange, it was about time Aurora got her information.
“Enough playing around. Just tell me what your sponsor asked you to tell me,”
Aurora finally snapped at the man. He looked taken aback by Aurora’s sudden shift of personality but he did not back down.
“My sponsor recently came across a rumor they could not hold on to themselves. They said, ‘there is a masking river in the middle of floor 8th that can make even a skunk invisible. It is found in the middle of Lake Variety.'”
“Lake Variety?”
Aurora’s surprise was genuine. Lake Variety was not a famous lake, nor was it well sought out.
In fact, before this day, Aurora had not even heard of Lake Variety before and now she was asked to go and find it.
“I suppose it is the first time my lady is hearing that name? We, the abyssal monsters call it Lake Variety but you humans call it the ‘death pool’.”
The shopkeeper spoke his words slowly and mysteriously. It was not like talking slowly would change Aurora’s destination.
But still, the death pool? Ava wanted her to head toward the death pool. It was named the death pool for a reason.
The death pool was a place on floor 8th of the abyss where no one could survive. Even monsters avoided that place and anyone who ever set foot closer to it died.
“It is up to my lady is she wants to go to Lake Variety or not. But if my lady does decide to finally start heading there, then she should be prepared to lose something important in return.”
The shopkeeper’s words and tone were getting creepier by the second. The more Aurora heard it, the more she wanted to do nothing with this case.
‘But I cannot throw this case to the side as well. There must be a reason Ava wanted me to go there.’
“I understand. Here, this is for your payment.”
Aurora handed over a highly-condensed energy stone filled with her magic. The information she asked for might not have cost this much but Aurora did want to maintain her friendly relationship with this shopkeeper.
“Thank you so much for your purchase dear customer. I hope to see you again in the future.”
Aurora nodded along to show that she understood and was appreciative of the help.
“Should I head toward the Death pool alone? I don’t think taking Rita and Natasha along will be a good idea. For some reason, I have a really bad feeling about this trip.”
‘Should I abandon this mission and go back? I can always face Rex’s mom head-on. It won’t be that bad,’ but even as Aurora thought that she knew she did not dare to do so.
For all the braveness she showed, there were things Aurora was afraid of.
“Anyway, let’s head back and think about this later. I don’t want to worry my head needlessly over this topic.”
Aurora finally made her decision but she had only taken a few steps before she felt her body collide with something smaller than her.
Strong arms reached out to catch Aurora’s arm and pull her back into a standing position.
“Are you alright? I didn’t mean to collide with you…Oh, it’s you? It is nice to meet you again, lady Aurora. Do you remember me?”
Of course, Aurora did. She remembered those piercing blue eyes and that blond hair anywhere.
Clove looked like she had aged quite a bit but her baby charm was still the same.
“Clove, slow down. We are here just to observe today so don’t cause…”
Quince, who was following behind Clove quietened down as soon as his eyes locked on Aurora. And Aurora suddenly felt exposed standing between those two.