Since the previous strategy did not work, the priestess’ attitude towards Zhang Heng had changed drastically. Even her tone had softened down. Although it still sounded emotionless, she was at least not as aggressive and rude as before. Now, it looked like she was trying to negotiate, and her offer seemed like it would benefit Zhang Heng a lot.
However, Zhang Heng did not immediately agree to it. Since they were negotiating now, Zhang Heng wanted to bargain with her. He paused for a while and said, “One more thing. After I complete this task, I don’t want to be chosen as the executor of the oracle anymore.”
“That’s impossible.” The priestess shook her head. “First thing, it’s against the rules. Secondly, even if I am willing to promise you, this is still something that I can’t control. Although I issue the oracle, the executor is selected by the Assassin Council. If everyone thinks you are suitable to execute the oracle, you will be selected to become the executor. Under normal circumstances, the same person will not be allowed to execute the oracle twice in a row.”
However, an answer as such did not satisfy Zhang Heng. So he continued, “Then, you can choose not to issue an oracle. Dadatis says there have been cases where no oracle appeared for more than 40 years.”
“…”
The priestess was speechless, “What do you think of me? I’m just the spokesperson of Kreis. I can’t decide when Kreis will issue an oracle. And you heard about the Hound from Dadatis, right? This is not a peaceful time for us. Even if there is no oracle, you may not be able to sit there and enjoy your life.”
“Then what else can you offer me?” Zhang Heng asked.
The priestess bit her lip, “If you must take advantage of this transaction, what about me?”
Zhang Heng was quite surprised. He did not expect this ice-cold woman would offer herself to him. “Aren’t you a priestess?”
“I am not the saint of Vesta. Kreis’s priestess does not need to keep their virginity. In fact, our doctrine also involves relationships between men and women. Kreis encourages such a thing. It is part of the balance.”
“Thank you… for your love. Unfortunately, I am not interested in freezing ice,” Zhang Heng said. Since there was a black cloth blocking his vision, he could not see the sorrow that flashed through the priestess’ eyes. This was probably the biggest insult for a woman.
But the latter’s expression quickly returned to normal, and she said coldly, “Then you should name your offer.”
“Forget it. I don’t want to make this difficult for you. Besides letting me go to the library, I want you to let Dadatis retire early.” Zhang Heng changed his terms.
“Huh?” This time it was the priestess’ turn to be surprised by Zhang Heng. She did not expect his second condition to be actually related to Dadatis.
“That man is old. Even though he refuses to admit it, his skills and movement speed are slow as a frozen earthworm. He can only rely on his wittiness to survive. In other words, he is no longer useful to the Balance Blade. Besides, now that you have me, you can let that man go on his retirement,” Zhang Heng said.
“You are worried that our war with the Hounds will affect him, aren’t you,” the priestess suddenly chipped in. “I didn’t expect him to mean so much to you. Unless he asks to retire and pass his position to you, no one can force him to leave the Balance Blade. I think I have an idea. My relationship with him is quite good. I can find an excuse to deceive him into traveling somewhere remote for a trip. It will be at least a year before he comes back here. By that time, you should have taken his place. What do you think?”
“Deal,” Zhang Heng said.
The priestess finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. This meeting was completely different from what she had imagined. From the very beginning, she was never in control of the negotiation. Neither the prison-like carriage nor her subsequent threats allowed her to take the reins of the situation. In the end, she had to pay a higher price to convince Zhang Heng to work for her.
“How can I inform you when I find Altrus?” Zhang Heng asked afterward.
“Go to the Perfume Shop Street, find a perfume shop with iris flowers outside, and tell the owner that you want to buy a bottle of unscented perfume. After that, pay one Sestertius to the person who welcomes you, and he will take you to my people.”
After they came to an agreement, the priestess’s attitude towards Zhang Heng became ice-cold again, as if she had completely lost interest in him.
So Zhang Heng was smart enough not to stay here any longer. He laid down in the carriage. The priestess then lowered the cover, summoned the slaves from outside to come in, and sent Zhang Heng back to the small bridge from which he came. When he arrived there, Dadatis and his boat were gone.
The priestess was very cautious. She did not disclose any location-related information to him. Through the black cloth, Zhang Heng figured out that he was in a small room. Most of the time, he spent his time in that small and damp carriage.
However, if the other party thought they could hide the information from him, they had clearly underestimated him. Zhang Heng then looked at the watch in his hand. This watch had gone through several quests with him, and the most magical part was no matter what era it was or how cautious the people were, they tended to ignore the existence of this watch.
It is as if the watch was the blind spot of the world. Although the watch displayed the time in the real world, as long as Zhang Heng multiplied it by the time-flow-rate of the copy, he would get the exact time of the dungeon. When Zhang Heng entered the carriage, he placed the watch beside his ear. He divided the route into equal parts from the tick interval of the second hand.
He also memorized the time whenever the driver steered the carriage. Through the degree of the bumpiness that he experienced on the road earlier, he remembered the path that he had gone through.
Considering that the priestess might hide somewhere to observe him after sending him to the bridge, Zhang Heng did not immediately turn around to look for the room where he been to just now. For now, he returned to his residence first.
Zhang Heng went to bed and slept until the following afternoon. On the other hand, the slave girl got up early and prepared a meal for Zhang Heng. Her master, however, had no intention to wake up. So she could only put the breakfast on the table and wait for Zhang Heng to wake up. At the same time, she put her chin on her palm and stared into blank space.
In the end, the breakfast on the table became Zhang Heng’s lunch. Zhang Heng got up from the bed and yawned. The slave girl expressed concern about his current situation. “Although we still have half of the money we used to have, I don’t think we can last another two months if we don’t work. How about I go to the laundry house to take up a job.”
“Now you remember that there are other jobs available? Don’t worry. Money is not a problem. Someone will send us money soon,” Zhang Heng said as he picked up a piece of bread.
Speak of the devil. They heard a knock on the door almost instantly.
