Chương 133: She Who Swallowed the Sun

Taking down the strzygi was easy work. A couple of well placed [Clean Entry] shots and they were gone and I had added another 30% to my damage, thanks to [Generous Gift]. Exploring these tunnels had been a very good idea. I'd thank them for donating their lives to my progress, but since they had tried to eat Kasia the only thanks they were going to get from me was an exploded head. Which I guess wasn't a thanks at all, but that was their problem, not mine. They had been carrying boxes around. Boxes could mean loot.

Loot made me happy.

"Everyone alright?" I asked, because I couldn't hear anyone. Nobody responded, so I turned around and saw they were all staring at me with their favorite expression: eyes wide, mouth open. I blinked in front of them and was about to tell them it wasn't that special and that the strzygi were just a bunch of dumb monsters, but as soon as I arrived they all fell to their knees and started crying. I really needed some of Vasil's advice on how to deal with people.

I put my hand on the closest person to me, which caused him to shudder. He looked up at me with tear-filled eyes full of reverence.

"It's alright, guys," I said.

"You weren't in danger. You're safe. No need to cry." One of the men was crying uglier than the others. Loud and snotty. It was probably the same guy that had the squeaky shoe. He didn't really stink, per se, but he smelled kind of weird and sour. How he'd managed to stay alive this long was an absolute mystery to me. Maybe I should observe him, see what his secret is. I checked out my arms and my pants. That [Prime Maid]'s spell really was something, because there was not a single speck of dirt on me.

Should I say something nice? Complimenting her might inspire all of them. That's what leaders do, right? Inspire people. I cleared my throat.

"Ola, I'm very proud of you. And grateful. Your spell was a very good spell. As you know: a clean body is a strong body. And a strong body is… well… good." Damn. I should really work on my inspirational speeches too. I should probably write a couple of inspiring one-liners down so I can whip 'em out if I ever need them, without having to think about it. Maybe I should ask Vasil to prepare something that sounded clever. That was kind of his thing, after all.

Ola started weeping harder, and for a moment I wondered if my attempt at being inspirational was so awful that it literally drove her to tears. Thankfully she raised her head and looked at me with an appreciative expression. She opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. Maybe I'd been pretty inspirational. Maybe I didn't need to prepare anything. I glanced down at Vasil, wondering if he had something to add, but he seemed to be in his own world, observing the kneeling group, slowly nodding to himself.

I considered if I should say something else, but none of them had done anything useful yet, so I didn't. Hopefully my kind words let them know that showing initiative and being helpful was appreciated. I felt like if I had to explicitly state that, it would destroy some of the magic. With that taken care of I sauntered back into the hall. It was about the same size as the previous one, but there were no people hanging from hooks. A welcome change.

The brainy and bloody bits splattered around the place kind of ruined it again, though. There also was no cage. The hall was empty, except for a bunch of wooden boxes stacked up against the wall. And the exploded demon corpses, I guess. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I walked up to the boxes and tapped a couple of them with my foot. All of them sounded like they had something inside. Had I stumbled upon their treasure room?

Just because it didn't have piles of gold spilling out onto the floor didn't mean they didn't have a hoard. What else would you put inside boxes but treasure? I opened one of them. It was filled with expensive-looking clothes. Not magical, but definitely high end stuff. This might even be better than magical items, since with the right runestones I could turn them into something super cool. There were a lot of boxes, and opening all of them by myself probably wouldn't be the most godlike thing I could do.

There had to be a better way. Then I remembered Hubert was an [Auditor] and he would probably love opening up and inspecting all these boxes. He could write me a nice report and I wouldn't have to spend my time risking splinters. If I got all of my followers involved they might be distracted long enough for me to have a quick talk with Vasil.

"Listen up, people." I said, clapping my hands.

"I'd like you guys to start opening boxes. Hubert will take the lead and do whatever it is that auditors do. Everyone else help him." I nodded at Hubert, who was filled with pride.

"And if you see anything that would befit someone of my stature, please put it aside." I pointed at Kasia.

"Same for her. And if there's anything anyone needs please note it down and we can work it out after you've catalogued everything."

"You honor me with your request, Lady Aurelia," Hubert said with a deep bow.

"That's cool," I replied.

"You may begin." While everyone was cracking open boxes and pulling stuff out, I grabbed Vasil and took him to the side.

"You have to help me," I demanded. He had a slight smile on his lips.

"With what? You seem to be doing fine."

"Don't try to be funny, Vasil! I thought this was your whole thing? How do I deal with these people?"

"Just be yourself. Do what you always do."

"I can't shoot them in the face! I need them for my stats! Probably. I don't even know. My believer count did increase." Vasil chuckled softly.

"People are naturally drawn to you, Hecate. You have the luxury that you don't have to pretend to be someone you're not. That should make everything a lot easier. Just be yourself. Maybe exaggerate a bit here and there if you feel like it, though you don't need it. You are impressive enough as you are. And for the rest, I believe Kasia and myself have a good handle on things."

"Don't worry," Kasia said.

"It's all under control. They've probably never seen anything like you. I know I haven't. You saved their lives in a spectacular way. You have given them purpose. You might not be an actual goddess yet, but you are to these people. Can't you see that?" I scratched the back of my head.

"I guess, if you put it like that it sort of makes sense." Right as I was about to ask another question several of my followers walked up to me. One of them held out a cloth bag.

"Please, Lady Aurelia, you must see this."

"See what?" He opened the bag.

"Woah," Bogumir said. Just great. First Vasil, now Bogumir. So much for planning. Everything went right out the window at the first opportunity. Just how difficult was it to keep your mouth shut? One of the men gasped.

"The head talks! Just like the frog." I flicked Bogumir's ear.

"This was not what we agreed on!"

"I, uh," he said.

"Uhh… The great… The great goddess Hecate. Thanks to my undying loyalty she brought me back to life after my body was destroyed in a terrible… A terrible… A terrible weasel farming accident." I wanted to slap him across his little grape-sized head for saying something so weird and unbelievable, but if I did that I would most likely just be hurting my own reputation. Out of everything he could have come up with he picked weasel farming?! We clearly needed to work on Bogumir's improvisation skills as well.

"Yeah. Thanks for that," I said.

"And you're welcome."

"She can bring back the dead!" a boy cried.

"Her power rivals even Stvora's" someone whispered.

"Rivals?" Vasil yelled.

"Rivals?! She surpasses Stvora's might! Why do you think no one has seen him in hundreds of years? He fears her. He fears Hecate, the First Ember. She Who Swallowed the Sun." I tried to casually glance around without appearing to look around, just to see if they were still buying it. How could I have swallowed the sun when it was clearly still out there? The people seemed to find it plausible, though. How was Vasil coming up with all these titles so quickly? Had he been practicing? Did he have a mental list?

Did he have more? Kasia bowed.

"Our Lady of the Blessed Incineration." All my followers bowed as well and echoed her words.

"Our Lady of the Blessed Incineration." By the Goddess! Kasia was enjoying this way too much and these people appeared to be in some kind of trance. It was all a lot to take in, and I wasn't sure if it would ever stop being creepy. Maybe I just had to get used to this, especially if I wanted to grow my believers. I shook my head and sighed, desperate to take the attention off me.

"Can you show me that bag again?"