Pitiful Circumstances

Hovering above the small podium, I exhaled slightly and looked down at the people praising my singing.

Feeling proud, I descended slowly to the floor, immediately met by the welcoming buzz of admiration.

"That was such a good performance, Mr. Night!"

=Truth=

"We're so blessed to be stuck in this place with you, Mr. Night!"

=Truth=

Their voices blurred together, becoming a mess of sound, though the spell quietly whispered, separating the truths from the lies.

"I wouldn't have had the courage to perform if it weren't for all of you" I responded, and as always, the spell softly confirmed:

=Truth=

After a few more moments of conversation, I excused myself as the next performance was about to begin. Taking a seat at one of the worn wooden tables, I leaned on my hand and watched the next act.

The performer, Sinia, began her song, her voice filling the hall like an enchanting spell, accompanied by Forlo on the violin.

As she sang, I felt some of my anxieties slip away, her melody softening the edges of the day. I smiled, jotting down mental notes for my next few performances while letting my thoughts wander.

'Visiting Stev sounds like a good idea,' I mused, 'I've been meaning to get a new bow Memory. The one I have is still good, but there could be better ones out there, a quiver memory could also help.'

I summoned the runes of my current Bow Memory and scanned them over:

Memory Name: Mute Viper

Memory Rank: Awakened

Memory Tier: II

Memory Description: [A slithering serpent skewered itself for the benefit of its master. For better or worse, the master used what remained of it for his own gain.]

The effects were useful—arrows shot from it suffered barely any air resistance, and they were nearly silent. It had served me well so far, but with the surge of fallen abominations appearing, I'd need an upgrade soon.

A creaking sound pulled my attention toward the door of the music lounge. It groaned open, and a figure stepped through.

He had the build of a man, roughly my height, but his attire set him apart.

He wore a black overcoat that reached his shins, revealing long black trousers beneath. Under the coat, a black blazer with a white button-up shirt was neatly arranged, a pair of white leather gloves hid his hands completely.

But the most striking feature was the colorful mask over his face and the large top hat perched on his head.

The mask was strange, almost clown-like, with bright makeup and a red nose where the mask's nose would be.

For a moment, I was confused. There had been news of someone new entering the Forgotten Shore this winter solstice, but this man seemed... different.

Was he another person that entered the forgotten shore during the solstice, or had he just recently acquired a soul shard to access the castle and also had enough to spare on the lounge?

As I pondered, the man noticed me and began walking toward my table.

His steps were accompanied by the faint creaking of metal, and his hands remained oddly stiff at his sides.

Stopping before me, he cleared his throat, speaking in a raspy voice muffled slightly by his mask.

"Pardon me, but may I take a seat here?"

I smiled and nodded. He sat down across from me, and after a moment of silence, I decided to break the ice.

"Sorry for asking, but are you new to the castle?"

He chuckled, his laughter low and rough. "New to the Castle? Oh boy, I'm new to just about everything. I've been stuck in a single place for a couple hundred years, so all this is a bit of a shock to me."

=Truth=

I smiled, about to respond, but his words caught up with me.

"Wait… could you repeat that?"

"Repeat what? Was I speaking too fast? If so, I apologize" he said, bowing slightly.

"No, no, please don't apologize. I think I misheard you."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, I see. Well, what I said was that I'm new here, and since I've been stuck in one place for a few hundred years, everything here is new to me. The castle has changed a lot since I last visited as well."

=Truth=

I swallowed hard, trying to make sense of it. He tilted his head, observing my reaction.

"Are you alright, Nightingale? You seem a bit pale."

Chuckling uncomfortably, I touched my face, masking my nerves. "Oh, this? Must be the lighting" I said, as Sinia finished her performance to a round of applause.

"Mhm, yes, I suppose that could be it," he replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. "No matter. I wanted to talk to you about something, if you don't mind."

I regained some composure and nodded for him to continue.

"I've heard there's a Memory Market around here. I know you're acquainted with its owner, so I'd appreciate it if you could guide me there."

My heart skipped a beat. How could he possibly know about the Memory Market already?

It was a secret known only to hunters and other high-ranking individuals in the castle, including Gunlaug.

I hesitated, trying to keep my voice steady. "Memory Market? I'm afraid I don't know about such a place. You must have the wrong person. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm up next for the performance."

As I stood to leave, he gently grabbed my wrist. His mask, now up close, was even more unsettling with its exaggerated colors. His voice dropped to a quiet, almost menacing tone.

"I'd rather you not lie to me. I don't particularly like liars. I'll compensate you for your guidance, of course."

I carefully removed his hand from my wrist, letting my smile drop.

"I'm really sorry, but I don't know about any Memory Market. And I do have to perform. It would be rude to the guests if I didn't, since they've paid…"

"I'll pay as well," he said, cutting me off. "You're an archer, aren't you?" he then palced a hand on my shoulder.

Suddenly, the voice of the spell whispered in my ears.

[You have received a Memory.]

Summoning the runes, I read the description:

Memory Name: Endless Quiver

Memory Rank: Awakened

Memory Tier: II

Memory Description: [A whisper of the legion prevailed through the endless darkness, followed by an unrelenting barrage of arrows and the screams of agony.]

I froze for a moment, staring at the runes, then heard his voice again.

"Don't worry, I'm not unreasonable. I'll wait until you finish your performance, and then you can guide me to the Market."

With a sigh, I nodded, realizing I had little choice. As I made my way to the podium for my next performance, I couldn't help but take a few cautious glances at the man in the colorful mask.

*********

[This was so fun.] I smiled, and still heard Regis's cackling in my head.

>>Bahaha! The pretty boy's all flustered, and he's still peeking at us. This was a fantastic idea!<<

Sunny sighed. (Why do you always insist on tormenting people?)

[Tormenting? It's not tormenting… it's, well it's y'know, messing around]

(Right, your not very belivable)

Frowning under my mask, I adjusted it with the mechanical arm that was part of my exoskeleton, created through a combination of [Grafting] and other abilities I had developed.

I had crafted quite a few abilities:

Ability Name: Perfect Deck

Description: The user can make any kind of card he wishes to while also being able to telechinetically move them around.

Ability Name: Masked Expert

Description: The user can create any kind of mask, said mask can perfectly fit the user while also making his voice sound vastly diffrent than normal.

Ability Name: Clothes Galore

Description: The user can produce/create/generate clothing from nothing, the clothes could be made to either perfectly fit the user or another, the clothes also give strong resistance to temperatures while they also couldn't get dirty or rugged.

Ability Name: Clear Answers Only

Description: The user can fool anyone or anything that is trying to tell wether he's lying or not.

Ability Name: Distant Stalking

Description: As long as the user knows the position of something, he can look at the desired location as if he were there.

Ability Name: Flower Man

Description: The user can create or generate flowers, the flowers can have any smell the user wishes or look any way the user wishes.

The last one wasn't the most useful, but who knew when it could come in handy? After all, some of the handmaidens had to have soft spot for a good bouquet.

Probably.

I needed soul shards, and those blood fiends were always a good source, so making flowers that smell like blood could allow me to make good traps.

>>Okay, I'm bored<< Regis whined.

[Same,] I thought back, [And we're running low on soul shards. We need to figure something out.]

>>What, we have like 10?<<

[Six dormant, four awakened, and four supreme,] I reminded him. [But I'm not giving away any of the supreme ones.]

>>One of those supreme could buy out his whole shop<< Regis teased.

[Sure, but I only need the mantle, and the rest i can get over time.]

Sunny interjected, (So you're only planning to buy one Memory, weren't you planning to buy a lot?)

Sighing, I tapped my fingers impatiently on the table. [I was planning to buy as much as I could to feed Krabs, but now there's another mouth to feed, so that plan's a bust.]

>>As your loyal companion, you ought to feed me too<< Regis said smugly.

[Loayl my ass, you'd take the chance to switch to any pretty vixen over me]

I grumbled, while regis agreed with a chortle.

I could just cheat, duplicating all my supreme soul shards and feeding him endlessly, but I'd already cheated more than enough.

Besides, with [Antithesis] and [Distant Stalking], I could steal anything with barely a trace. With [Impossible Thief] it was even easier.

I stole parts from government AVPs and grafted them together to form the exoskeleton I wore. Though its movement was limited, it gave me a size i actually liked.

The drawback? I could only walk, but that was enough for now.

Suddenly, a loud curse broke my thoughts, followed by mocking laughter and the sound of glass scraping across wood.

Looking toward the commotion, I saw a group of young and older men crowded around a table.

In the center stood a man who was dealing cards, and in the center were piles of soul shards—fifteen, at least—while most of the players had one or two.

[Is that... Blackjack?]

>>Oh… are you serious?Ohh shit, ah they really are bored here.<< Regis perked up.

(Don't even think about it, Pleiades. I'll take control if you gamble.)

[Come on, do you really think I'd lose?]

(Maybe you'd win, but I'd rather not see you lose all those soul shards.)

[We could bet on Memories instead.]

Sunny paused. (Well…)

I snickered. [You're quite honest, aren't you?]

(Not like I have a choice, but how confident are you, really?)

I glanced back at the table, weighing my options. Regis chimed in:

'>>Daily reminder—you could just cheat with a simple ability.<<'< p>

[Oh, for—fine. Screw it.]

I summoned my newly crafted ability.

Ability Name: Promised Victory

Description: The user is capable of percieving the manual series of steps that need to be taken in order to achieve what's possible in their desired outcome, as well as being able to perfectly follow this series of steps without fault. The nature of this ability ensures that if the path to victory is interfered with or blocked, the ability automatically adapts to the interference or block and supplies the user with a new series of steps that ensures their victory.

>>Finally, you listen for once!<< Regis cheered.

[I'm sure I can beat a bunch of infants.]

(Infants? You think these clearly older men are Infants, now that's just arrogant)

[Pffft, if you knew how old I was, you'd understand why I see everyone as infants.]

Getting up from my seat, I started walking toward the table.

[How about a bet, Sunny?]

(What kind of bet?)

[If I win without losing a single hand, you owe me a favor.]

(And if you lose?)

[I'll give you a Divine Memory of the seventh tier, capable of reviving anyone it touches.]

Sunny hesitated, stunned. (You're that confident? Well, alright. But there are conditions.)

[What conditions?]

(First, the favor can't be something evil. And second, it has to be within my power.)

[Deal].

Reaching the table, I cleared my throat. "Would you... relatively fine gentlemen mind if I joined?"

A ragged man in chainmail looked me up and down suspiciously.

"You got something to bet?"

Smiling, I pulled out one of the supreme soul shards I kept in my blazer. I had originally planned to show it off to Kai later, just to rattle him by mentioning I had killed a great devil.

But now…

"This should do" I said, placing it on the table, a confident grin hidden behind my mask.

Next Chapter: Gamblers Nightmare