A Whisper of Truth

Azemo was outside his store, blankly staring at the building. It was a pretty building, but it was not good looking enough to deserve the unadulterated stare Azemo was giving it.

"Uh Hello there, do you know what this building is going to be? It has been vacant for so long but I heard someone is finally going to be using it."

A young woman had noticed Azemo staring at his store and was curious enough to ask him about it. Her actions were surprising to Azemo, who had been used to the uninterestedness of the poor people of Kclzan.

"Oh, hi, this is going to be my hat store."

"Ooh hats, I have been needing to get a new one. Are you open?"

"I wouldn't really say we are open, I haven't even named the store."

"So that is why you are out here staring at a building. What if I help you name the store, then can I get an early look at your wares."

"I mean we only currently have one hat, but I would appreciate help in naming the place. As you can see I am getting nowhere by just standing and staring."

"Hmm, what sort of hats are you planning on selling?"

"Wild hats with all sorts of oddities, I want them to be unique."

"Uniqueness probably would have kept the worker bees under control." The woman muttered to herself but Azemo's keen ears still picked up her words.

"Worker bees?"

The woman ignored Azemo's question, still deep in thought.

"What about Fedorable." The woman was so excited with the idea and Azemo did not want to disappoint. Plus he did not have anything better.

"Sounds perfect, let me just hang up the sign and then I will show you our only hat."

Azemo took the sign and a paintbrush. With precise strokes Azemo painted Fedorable in simple yet elegant letters. While he was not much of an artist, the time he spent painting in Kaede's palace had at least helped him keep a steady hand.

Azemo then used (skill) Hover on the sign, making it rise above the store window, before teleporting some nails to keep it in position. Luckily for Azemo the woman had already gone inside the store so she did not notice Azemo's skills.

"Welcome to Fedorable, can I show you our wide selection of hats." Azemo pulled out the single hat that the old woman had made.

Even Azemo had to admit that the design that he had tried to make ridiculous looked pretty good after the old woman was done with it.

"Wow, that is a really unique hat. I will buy it. How much do I owe you?" Azemo could not tell if the woman really meant what she said but her last question threw him for a loop.

"Erm, about that. I have no idea how much to sell hats for. This is my first business and I am new to the city."

"A purple coin is a fair price for a hat like this. It is a bit pricey but the price will help you attract customers."

Azemo almost choked, a purple coin! That was a lot of money and Azemo had thought he would sell his hats for forty yellow coins at most. A purple coin had the value of a thousand yellow coins, so either Azemo had been way off or this woman was making fun of him.

When the woman handed over a purple coin Azemo realized she was being serious. He was still shocked but he recovered long enough to speak up.

"You have already helped me so much today, you can have the hat for free." Azemo tried to hand the coin back but the woman pushed it away.

"I insist, keep the money, I am just glad to be able to help an aspiring business."

"I can't take your money after all the help you have given me."

The woman saw that Azemo was not going to accept the money, Azemo was good at being stubborn, and took the coin back. She did not want to argue about something so pointless.

Azemo smiled a little, he had been victorious in that fight. However, as the woman gracefully left the store she placed the coin in one of her gloves and threw it at Azemo. Azemo instinctively caught the glove and when he looked back up from the glove the woman had disappeared.

Azemo's smugness disappeared, but he did make a lot of money.

'I guess the hat industry was in need of some new ideas.'

Azemo thought about the odd woman he had just met for a bit and he realized he had never even learned her name. As he kept pondering Azemo's stomach growled and Azemo's mind instantly emptied.

'Well I have done more than enough for today.'

Azemo returned to House number seven hundred twelve, ready to eat an entire banquet. On the way back he saw the two people he had hired to be the old woman's assistants.

'I should probably get better at asking people for their names.'

The two assistants were dressed in simple but clean suits and Azemo hurriedly gave them a key to the shop as they walked by. In the process he forgot to ask them for their names, dinner was prevalent in his mind.

Dinner in a rich house was nothing to scoff at and Azemo ate his fill before bringing leftovers to Bella and Ima. Azemo had to act like he was being constantly watched so Bella and Ima had to eat in the room bag.

The bed was just as inviting as the previous night and in the morning the same young maid had to wake Azemo up.

This time Azemo did not fall out of bed but he still grumbled and groaned. That day Lixen had not told Azemo to wake up early but Azemo had to go pick up the old lady.

Azemo scarfed down breakfast, gave Bella and Ima their portion and headed to the lower level of the city.

The old lady was waiting for him, because to her sunrise meant sunrise. Azemo felt extremely awkward and informed her that an hour after sunrise was the earliest he could make it.

On the way back up to the city Azemo sketched a couple of hat designs onto a paper and glared at the guard before he could even approach them.

The first sight of the city always managed to amaze Azemo and when he looked to his side he noticed that the old lady was just as impressed. She was looking around in awe at the craftsmanship of whoever had made that part of the city.

Her admiration made Azemo wonder why her assistants treated the wealthy city like any other place and never seemed to look around. One might think they had been there their whole lives, but of course, they were new residents.

By the time they had made it to the store both of the old woman's assistants were waiting in the back room.

"Here are the patterns please start making as many as you can. Feel free to leave whenever you want. Here is your first week of pay."

Azemo was going to be more handsoff with the shop because he had a mission. Azemo trusted the old lady and he quickly made a closed sign as he left the store.

'I forgot to tell Lixen about the banquet with Silverstein.'

Azemo hurried back and drove Lixen into a fit of anxiousness with his news.

"Thanks for the heads up. I think your suit should be ready but that is just because I figured you would do something stupid."

Lixen led Azemo to the fitting room and made him try on his new super fancy suit. The suit was anything but plain and Azemo swore that he saw it sparkle when he looked at it. The suit fit perfectly because Lixen had gotten Azemo's measurements from Casen and Casen was very good at measuring stuff apparently.

After Azemo put on the suit, Lixen forced him to get his hair done and in an hour Azemo had a completely new look.

His suit did sparkle and all the pieces of metal that jutted out had a red gleam to them. The suit still had places for Azemo to put the knife handles but it was very different from anything Azemo had ever expected to wear.

The only victory Azemo had scored against Lixen, when it came to Azemo's outfit, was that Azemo did not have to wear a hat.

Lixen was convinced when Azemo said that as the owner of a hat store he should only wear a hat he made.

Of course Azemo did not really want to wear one of the ridiculous hats he had in the making but he also did not want to wear the hat Lixen had prepared for him.

Azemo was feeling a little bit smug as he looked into a mirror but his reflection quickly sobered him up.

'I look ridiculous. I would not be surprised if Lixen is just making fun of me.'

Azemo might have tried to change his outfit but he realized that he was already a little late for the party.

'Well I don't think I can give Silver a worse impression of me. I just hope my infiltration is not as bad as this outfit.'