[Stacked] Ooze Witch Diaries 4.3 (Patreon)

(Sorry for the delay)

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4.3

I was finally able to get back in contact with the Mistress after the moon began to wane in the night sky. She excused her absence by telling me that she had to be careful with her manipulations lest she attract the wrong kind of attention. I paid the delay no mind and bid for her to share what she had learned in her travels. She smiled impishly and sat across from me in the tavern I spent wiling away my hours. The Mistress proceeded to pull an item from between her cleavage and let it flop on the table before us. It appeared to be a carved wooden icon of some sort. Inspecting it closer, I saw that the surface was painted white with golden trimmings and crimson for the background. Turning it around, I examined it closer and could make out the design of a bull’s head.

“What am I looking at?” I pondered aloud to the Mistress, looking over at her as a snicker passed her lips. Judging by her flippant demeanor and the smugness she wore upon her smile, I presumed she had been toying with me. The thought annoyed me greatly as I wore that displeasure upon my brow, a sign for her to stop playing her games with me.

“It’s an Auroch Emblem.” The Mistress explained with satisfaction, “The Uhl-Kattan gives them out to their preferred customers who patronize their brothels.”

I scrunched my nose at this as I retracted my hand from the emblem, “Disgusting. How does this aid in our investigations?”

The smile upon her face grew wider, not unlike a predatory cat cornering its prey, “They say that by carrying the emblem, one can request the services of their more prominent whores for a night… A whore that might stick in the minds of men, driving them to madness even.”

Now she had my attention. As much as I was curious about getting to the bottom of the Boheme Trading Company’s monopoly on the business of Placedo, my priorities were on getting justice for my Brother by bringing to heel the succubus of a woman who had stolen his sanity. Still, as much as I yearned for this, I needed to be prudent. There was a chance that my quarry was not amongst their nightwalkers, so I felt the need to be measured and careful with my decisions. The Mistress could tell that I wanted more evidence as she rapped her heavy nails on the surface of the table, waiting for me to finish my thought before she continued. I quickly returned to our business and bid for her to go on.

“There are rumors of course, that this wanton whore who slaked her thirst on the men of the city, had only recently become a blight on Placedo…” She paused for effect, drinking from her tankard as I hung upon her words, as if she was relishing the anticipation, “About as recently as the Uhl Kattan had been making their presence known.”

I was optimistic but skeptical, “So you think that she’s answering to them? What would the prupose of letting her predate on men accomplish though? Wouldn’t it simply draw more attention to their operations?”

To this, the Mistress clicked her tongue at me, “I know you’re not that naïve, Joseph. Whose attention would she be drawing? The City Guard? Compromised. The City Officials? They’re in bed with the Uhl Kattan too. Anyone who would notice are already bought off or are too powerless to do anything to them. Do you think the Crown in the capital would deign to cast his eye upon our fair city? We’re alone in all this, never assume otherwise.”

While her disdain was palpable, I could not easily disregard her words. King Veidhardt sat on his throne and ruled from the city of Lumina. To pretend he cared about the politics of a city this far out from his powerbase would be foolish. Unless there were rumblings of rebellion fomenting amongst the citizens of Placedo, it was unlikely anyone with any real power could break the current paradigm. As unseemly the whole ordeal was, I could see no real option for us but to carry forward.

This brought me back to the mystery nightwalker that was still cloaked in rumors. Even if we were to presume this woman were among the Uhl Kattan’s ranks, how would we even go about proving this? I posed my inquiry to the Mistress, whose eyes darted to the Auroch Seal before letting her gaze settle back upon me with a satisfied smirk. I had not been so green to neglect what that look had insinuated, but I still balked at it all the same.

“I refuse.” My words dripped of a venom borne of hatred, “To think you would ask that of me shows how little respect you have for me.”

She tilted her head to one side, almost as if my rejection of her proposal was alien to her, “Can we really afford to be so principled with everything going against us?”

“It’s not about principles,” I retorted, “It’s about compromising myself.”

It was now her time to balk as she shot a glance my way, “Is that not the same thing?”

To this, I sighed at her, pinching the bridge of my nose, “That is to say, I would be compromising the family name if I were to enter one of the Uhl Kattan’s brothels. If I did this and it was found out by Diacyst or his allies, I would be giving them more leverage over me than they already have. A scandal like this could ruin my family’s name for years.”

She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms beneath her chest before pouting coquettishly, “You exaggerate… But I cannot contest that it does come with some risk to you. I will not force this upon you, but I ask what other avenues lay before us?”

“Why not use it yourself?” I suggested on a lark, casting a glance in her direction, only to catch laughter bubbling up from her throat before passing out her lips.

“As a woman… Courting other women? Surely you jest! Even if I were to entertain your suggestion, it would be highly suspicious if one of the Uhl Kattan’s prized Auroch Seals was wielded by a woman of my caliber, knowing their beliefs about the fairer sex.”

I furrowed my brow as I considered her words. While I was not familiar with the Uhl Kattan’s cultural beliefs, I had at least a passing knowledge of Ulqorra’s customs, of which the organization had hailed from. While I did not know much, I understood enough that they had a traditionalist view of the world, and what a place a woman like the Mistress belonged in. As I mulled it over, I found I could not fault her for being derisive of my words. Regardless, we were still without options as I sat across from her, going over our options in the city.

It was then that she rose her chin as a thought flashed across her eyes, “What if we used your friend, Jeru?”

“You want to use… Jeru?” I laughed at her jest, realizing only too late that it was anything but.

“Why not?” She appeared bemused by my obstinance, “If either one of us is too high profile to be of use for this, why not allow him to do the deed?”

I chuckled softly as her words washed over me. While what she suggested was true, that Jeru was someone to be trusted, it all seemed ludicrous, ridiculous even. Despite his natural charisma, his boisterous nature and love of the bottle seemed more suited for the bars and taverns, not the bedrooms of brothels.

“I understand what he looks like,” The Mistress continued to pitch, “But that can be cleaned up with a little money and care.”

I rolled my eyes in response, “It’s not just his appearance. His personality is a bad fit for something requiring subtlety.”

This brought upon her face a broad smile, one that implied she knew things that I didn’t. It was a mocking smile, one that brought about a certain loathing for her, if only for a moment.

“Have you ever met a noble, or more precisely, have you ever met one born into opulence? As I have been in the company of nobles of all stripes, I know too well the eccentricities they possess, the disregard for conventional etiquette they would have in such establishments. So when I tell you that your friend, Jeru, would fit in well amongst their ranks, you know that I am being candidly honest with you.”

Trying to make some semblance of sense in all of this, I searched for a suitable answer to quench her curiosity, “I’ll… Float the idea by him. Will that satisfy you?”

She gave me a nod as she let out a happy sigh after wearing me down. It was around that time that we parted company for the evening, thinking better of being seen together in such conditions. As she pulled her hood over her head, I thought about the events leading up to our partnership. It was true that the Mistress had the Devil’s own charm, a beauty that was not to be matched by any normal trollop. However, beyond her pretty face was a woman of competent stock, the sort whose cunning wit created opportunities for her almost effortlessly. She was so compelling that she had even convinced me of her line of thinking. To even entertain this, I must be going mad myself.

And even then, I can’t help but ask myself where all this leads for her. What does she gain from our partnership in the midst of this city of snakes? Was she one of Diacyst’s agents, like that Heidi woman? While it was a possibility, I found it to be an unlikely twist. There were plenty of opportunities she had for treachery but failed to take them. No, she had something she wanted from all of this, something more personal.

As the Mistress walked out of the tavern that night, I could feel new questions enter my mind as I scrutinized who this woman actually was. One thing I was sure of was that my initial assessments were correct: She was a dangerous woman.

-        Joseph de Steel