The Enhanced Ring and the Curator’s Clues

Hecate smiled. “No problem, dear. But you know my standing. Usually, if I were to give a lecture anywhere, my appearance fee would be around a thousand gold.”

She glanced at the young girl’s slender fingers. “However, since you’re only offering a hundred gold, under what pretense do you seek my counsel?”

Iordera understood her implication, quickly slipping the ring back onto her finger. “Can’t you give me a discount?”

“Very well. For family, I’ll cut the price in half.”

Hecate scribbled a few notes. “Now, tell me, dear, what is it you wish to consult me about?”

Iordera pulled up a chair and settled in. “I wish to obtain information from someone I’ve never met before.”

“I want to ask you, what’s the best way to approach this?”

“Like with Juneburg?”

“Exactly like that—wait.”

Iordera blinked. “How did you know?”

Hecate’s gaze was filled with amusement. “Your intentions were quite obvious.”

“Would a normal person stare at someone for so long, playing ‘Red Light, Green Light,’ without even blinking?”

Recalling her actions based on Hecate’s words, Iordera found herself feeling rather conflicted.

She remembered how, upon entering the cell, she had immediately fixed her unwavering gaze on Hecate, not even daring to shift her eyes or blink.

‘In a way, it did seem a little… obsessive, didn’t it?’

Before Iordera could even begin her consultation, a blush crept across her cheeks.

‘She suddenly wanted to leave.’

“Well, in any case, you’ve already had one experience, so you should be quite adept now.”

Hecate didn’t press her further. “If anything, you taught me that particular method.”

“Start with a strong opening, apply psychological pressure, and then treat them gently, making them feel understood.”

“But I can’t apply that every time,” Iordera said, shaking her head. “The person I’m dealing with this time isn’t like the last.”

“Last time, Cairns, the Alchemist Guild Master, was a persecuted individual with clear motives. This time, it’s Spencer, a former diplomat who retired normally, without any persecution, making him difficult to manipulate.”

“You weren’t at that point when we first met either.”

Hecate suddenly spoke. “If I hadn’t said those things to you, would you have chosen to ignore it, to simply let things be? To just leave Juneburg, without bothering with the matter?”

Iordera scratched her head. “Now that you mention it, it seems so.”

She had originally planned to leave quickly, but after talking with Hecate, she found herself reluctant to depart.

“Everyone harbors desires, things they wish to achieve but find difficult in the moment, buried deep within their subconscious, unnoticed.”

Hecate explained, “You must uncover the deepest desires of the other person, and then present a way to help them achieve those desires.”

Iordera finally understood.

“But I know almost nothing about Sp… ahem, about that person.”

Hecate inquired, “Is that person from Saroyan?”

“Yes.”

“Do they possess status and influence?” Hecate gestured towards the window.

“Are they part of Saroyan’s official system?”

After a moment of thought, Iordera replied, “I suppose so.”

“Then there’s no problem,” Hecate said with a soft smile. “You can go ask your library’s Curator; she might have some clues.”

“The Curator?”

“Precisely. Don’t underestimate the United Academy. It holds a very special position throughout Saroyan.”

“If I recall correctly, records of some East District officials’ tenures in Saroyan are kept in the library’s archives.”

Iordera quickly rose to her feet. “Understood! I’ll go right away.”

Yet, no sooner had she stood and taken a few steps than the floor beneath her began to slide backward.

It moved like a conveyor belt, keeping her perpetually running in place.

She made no forward progress.

“Don’t be so hasty, dear.”

Hecate appeared before her, reaching out a hand.

She gently took the young girl’s delicate, pale hand.

Iordera shivered, hastily pulling her hand back, only to notice her ring finger was bare. The ring was gone.

The bone ring spun in Hecate’s hand for a moment. Then, it emitted a faint, shimmering glow.

“There, take it.”

Iordera eyed the now more beautiful bone ring, hesitant to take it. “What… what did you do?”

“I merely enhanced it a little,” Hecate explained. “It’s now a conduit for mental magic.”

“I’ll be traveling elsewhere for the next few days,” Hecate continued. “If you need anything, you can use this to contact me.”

‘Well, isn’t that just a magical pager?’

Still, Iordera hesitated. “Only for communication? There’s no way it has, say, a tracking function, right?”

“What if it does?” Hecate raised an eyebrow. “You owe me several thousand gold coins.”

“That’s a significant debt, even for a bank, and it would be recorded and tracked across the entire empire.”

“Why are you so resistant to tracking? Are you planning not to repay me?”

“Of course not! I’ll definitely repay you!”

Iordera swiftly retrieved the ring, slipping it onto her finger right in front of Hecate.

‘What’s there to be afraid of? I usually keep it under my pillow anyway, not wearing it all the time.’

She wasn’t entirely sure of the exact amount she owed, but she resolved to find a way to repay it once this matter concluded.

The white-haired girl scurried out of the teacher’s office, hurrying down the stairs of the academic building.

Her mind was entirely focused on returning to the library to gather information from the Curator.

Unbeknownst to her, several girls were nearby when she emerged.

Among them was Lillian, a staunch fangirl of the “Elder Sister” faction, along with several other girls.

“Hey, you guys saw that, right?”

“We saw, we saw! It was Elder Sister’s little bodyguard, whom she’s always doted on.”

“She came out of Professor Luna’s office, and it looked like she’d been in there for quite a while.”

“Indeed! And her face was rather flushed when she came out.”

The girls fell silent for a moment, then collectively drew several sharp, cold breaths.

“What do you make of it?”

“Could it be…?”

“Hard to say.”

“Just say it properly!”

After a flurry of whispered, coded exchanges, a strange new rumor was poised to spread throughout the academy.

Iordera found Mrs. Lailila in her office on the upper floor of the library.

“Good afternoon, little Iordera,” Mrs. Lailila greeted, reclining in a wicker chair with her eyes half-closed.

“Is there something you need?”

“Just a small matter, I wished to inquire about something with the Curator,” Iordera began hesitantly.

“If I’m disturbing you, I can always come back later.”

“Not at all,” Mrs. Lailila replied, sitting up and smiling kindly. “Conversation is also a form of rest.”

“Thank you. Actually, I want to inquire about someone, to understand what they did during their tenure.”

Iordera steeled herself, pressing on. “The former diplomat of the Orc Consulate, Spencer, the dog-headed man.”

She had prepared a few somewhat flimsy excuses, unsure if they would pass muster.

However, Mrs. Lailila didn’t press for reasons.

After a brief thought, she readily agreed. “Diplomats from the Orc Consulate have their records kept during their tenure.”

“I’ll take you upstairs to look.”