Chapter 56 – Turning tables

"I don't think I like it." Letty mutters in the silence that came after what Elisora said. "What would that employ entail exactly? I'll gladly cooperate if our goals coincide, but I don't intend to listen to orders."

"Ah, I guessed as far." The inquisitor captain nods her head quickly. "I don't mean employ as subservience, absolutely. I'm thinking of something like free hunters' situation." She pauses for a moment and looks up to the ceiling, raising her finger. "We'd obviously need to work out the details, but in essence I mean that I would ask you for help with some matters I can't deal with by myself, and you'd do what you want with it for rewards appropriate to the results." Elisora explains.

"I can't help but notice you didn't mention anything about the Inquisition. Only about you." I chime in and the girl makes a small smile, looking down at her locked hands.

"An astute observation. Indeed, I'm not asking you to work for the Inquisition, but for me. Of course I'm not saying it won't be related to the Inquisition, but we are an independent and isolated organization. I can't directly ask you for help in the matters of the Inquisition, because that would be treason, and even indirectly asking for that is treading on a thin line. Any job I'd ask your help with would be my personal request, and all rewards coming directly from me."

We stay silent for a moment till Letty speaks up. "I can work with that. I want to have the right to refuse a job without repercussions. All further considerations would be individual for the job."

Elisora looks at her and blinks, seemingly waiting for something. "...That's it?" She asks finally.

"Yup. As I said, any other requests or demands would be put forward individually for the job. Just remember that we won't be available most of the time. We have many other obligations and quite value our free time."

"Ah... alright." The inquisitor nods her head, visibly put off, but regains her vigor soon after. "I was preparing myself to start convincing you, but I guess that's fine as well." She smiles wryly.

"I'd assume the first job you'd have for us is investigating Krom?" I ask curiously.

"No." Elisora shakes her head against my expectations. "His matter is directly related to Inquisition and I'll be taking care of it. Or High Inquisitor will, because it's quite important. What I want from you is to learn about the woman controlling monsters in Black Hand. This is how she looks like." She pulls out one piece of paper and puts it on the table in front of us.

I look at it and raise my eyebrows as I see a picture of photographic quality, with details a typical security camera would never pick up. It depits a tall woman in a black cloak standing in what seems to be a small, damp cave. Her figure is almost wholly covered, but I can see she has rather lean physique. Her face on the other hand is clearly visible, since her hood is pulled back and her features lit up by a ball of light floating on the side.

It is rather unassuming, to be honest. Pensive expression, tight lips, light brown hair braided over the woman's shoulder, and overall not striking in any way. It's almost too ordinary, if you ask me, but it's not like I can be a judge of that with my face. There is nothing that would indicate she's not a human as well.

"Please tell me if you learn anything about her." Elisora says when I look up at her. "But please don't treat it as anything urgent. What I am asking for is more like... to let me know if you learn anything. I don't want you to go and snoop around the underworld, because you'd only be painting yourselves targets and alerting her."

"So if there is any other attack, we should go and see if we can find her, correct?" Letty asks.

"You can put it this way." The inquisitor nods. "Though I'm afraid the next attack might be on too large scale to intervene properly. You might have heard some suspicions that those two attacks were merely distractions, and the real attack would be on the large cities when the army gets divided."

"We heard that possibility." My girlfriend confirms. "Is that likely to happen?"

"I don't know, but we can't rule it out. Currently the garrisons in just about every city are being strengthened, but we have no clue about enemy's actions, so we can't prepare properly." Elisora pauses for a while. "For now we're just about done, and you're free. Is there anything else?"

"Aver's Crossing?" I ask, but she shakes her head in response.

"Was there anything important in your opinion? Something unusual?"

"...I don't think so." I reply. "Just about the only thing worth noting would be that some of the hunters who blocked our way in Riverside were there, but that probably means nothing."

"I see. Yeah, that doesn't give us anything, because that's the first place people would go to after destruction of Aver's Crossing. So you can go, for I've finished asking my questions and we'll be getting to work soon. Unless you have something you want to ask?" The inquisitor asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Hm, out of curiosity, you mentioned before you got to know about me from your friend, right?" The girl nods with a small smile. "Who is it, if I may ask? If it's not Madella, I can't think of a single person who would be able to tell you about me."

"It's... eh, I guess there is no harm saying it. She's Ave'A, the grand priest of Viell'Heirr." Elisora says with a small, a bit embarrassed smile and my eyebrows rise up in surprise. Hm, I wonder if she knows about High Arachne and whatever else lives out there. "I got to know her a long while ago on one of my missions deep in the forest. It was when I was still a hunter though."

"And from the looks of it either she didn't give you her offer, or you declined it."

"Yes, indeed. I preferred to remain among humans. Not that I wasn't tempted to accept." The inquisitor chuckles and stays silent afterwards.

"...So you know I'm a Primordial?" I ask.

"Yes." She nods with a small smile, though I notice she's tense. "You are the first Primordial I've met, but I've heard plenty about your capabilities. I'd say it's an honor to meet you, but you don't look like a person to care about that. Or am I wrong?"

"No, you're perfectly right." I reply with a grin. "I like it actually, that people treat me normally despite my power."

"...I can somewhat relate to that." Elisora mutters. "If I may ask, Letty? You are not a Primordial, correct?"

"No, I'm not." My girlfriend shakes her head with a smile. "We were completely unrelated till just a couple of weeks ago."

"I see. Are you going to stay here for long?" The inquisitor asks and I exchange glances with Letty.

"No idea." I reply. "We will be out often, but I don't know how long we'll stay here."

"Are you worried how to contact us if something happens?" My girlfriend asks after me.

"I... wouldn't say I'm worried." Elisora smiles wryly in response and nods. "But, well, it would be good if I had a way."

"In that case I can give you something." Letty says and lets out a stream of Nihility from her fingers, shaping it into two balls around two inches in diameter as I and the inquisitor both stare curiously.

I notice with my magic sense that these balls are composed of two layers, the inner making up most of its size, and have some small, intricate components inside. Additionally there are tiny, barely visible threads of Nihility stretching from the two towards each other and disappearing in something I assume to be a tunnel in space. Or space-time. Or something. In the meantime Letty finishes shaping the two black orbs and they drop onto her open palms.

"I haven't tested it properly yet, but it should function as a long-distance communicator. It basically captures all sounds from one side and sends them to the other, but the outer layer." She grabs one of the balls with both hands after putting the other one onto the table and twists its two sides in opposite directions, showing half of the outer layer disengaging from the rest. "Is an isolator, blocking all the sounds and disabling the transmitter."

And, wow. That thing is absolutely bonkers. I'm not sure how she did it, but it not only has no seams or anything, but the outer layer isn't even split. When she twisted it open, the center spun and aligned to the upper palm, while the outer layer split into two with the center melding into the half she held in lower hand. That's some impressive technology here.

I notice that Elisora, with her eyes wide, opens her mouth to ask something, but Letty raises her hand and the girl shuts her mouth to let her finish.

"This little button here," My girlfriend points out a small, gray circle in the middle of the visible inner part. "Serves to indicate that you want to send a message."

She presses the button and I notice that the other ball starts vibrating slightly, but noticeably, with a quiet ringing sound.

"It's not perfect, but will do for now. It should even work across different dimensions, though I didn't have chance to test it." Letty finishes and rolls the second ball to Elisora's hands as she looks between the device and the girl with eyes wide open.

She gingerly reaches out to the thing and lifts it up like a jewel, looking at it with mouth slightly open. "That... that works?" She blurts out finally.

"Try and you'll know." My girlfriend says with a grin and I lean back, happy to spectate the show.

The girl looks at the ball from all sides and places her hands on the outer layer, then slowly, uncertainly twists it into opposite directions. I see once again as it aligns and splits, revealing the gray button sitting perfectly in the center of the visible half of the inner layer.

"See? It works." Letty says and her voice resounds once again from the ball Elisora is holding in her hands, though much more quietly, and the inquisitor flinches, then makes a weird expression.

Hm. And she was complaining a while ago that her Nihility isn't as strong as my Primordial Energy. I don't think I would be able to make anything even close to that, and even if I managed to, it would after a hell lot of trial and error even before I managed to make it functional, not to mention safe to use and inconspicuous.

On the other hand though, Letty's mind, abilities, and affinities are perfect to make something like that. A Mechanical mind, perfect for a blueprint, her Nihility following the result, not the process, and Space-Time affinity. First two I don't think need any explanation, and as for the affinity, I'm pretty sure she connected the two balls in some way through space, not through Nihility alone.

Anyway, I see as the poor redhead's face shifts through at least five different emotions in the span of two seconds and she leans back, rubbing her face over with her free hand.

"...You... you are not aware what you just did, right?" She asks quietly in distinctly shaken voice.

"I built a long-distance communicator." Letty says with a small smile and raises her eyebrows almost provocatively.

I giggle when the inquisitor rubs her eyes and leans forward, putting the ball back together and on the table.

"Mages in the Mages' Guild have been trying to make something like that since fu-... since who knows when, but all they were capable of were communicators that used special codes sent by mana threads instead of letters or sounds." She explains. Hm, I assume that's something like Morse's code? "And you literally make this thing out of nothing in front of me. You are aware what would happen if you started selling it? It would be a revolution, and I don't think in only one of its meanings."

"Not like I'm planning to sell it." Letty shrugs, looking over the now put together ball in her hands. "I'm just giving it to you so we'll be able to contact each other. It's not worth much to me, and it's impossible to replicate with mana, so I'm not particularly endangering anything."

"Apart from me." Elisora mutters, but takes the ball nonetheless. "Well, alright. Thanks for that. Is there anything else? Because you already gave me a bit too much to think about."

I exchange glances with Letty and we both shrug. "There is, actually." I turn to the inquisitor. "I was attacked by an assassin yesterday. I have no idea about his allegiances or goals though. If you want to investigate him, he is probably in Guild's custody."

"I see." Elisora nods. "I might see to this matter, but it's probably outside my authority to demand information about him."

"I don't really expect you to." I shrug. "I just think it might be somewhat important."

"Alright. Well, I'll see."

"That is all we have for you, I believe." My girlfriend says and we both stand up, followed closely by the inquisitor.

"I'll be seeing you off then." She says, collecting the stacks of papers, and opens the door, holding it this way as we walk through.

...

"It was a nice show of gaining favors and debts." I say with a small smile as I sit with Letty on a small hill near Black Harbor.

We came here directly after talking with the Inquisitor Captain, before we log out. There's a really nice view here. Of the islands floating in the sky and stars shining far behind them.

I only told Xethu and the rest that we'll be logging out for the night

"Mhm, it was. You noticed what I was trying to achieve?" My girlfriend asks lazily, leaning on my shoulder.

"Hm. I'm pretty sure that Elisora wanted to get our cooperation by sharing a lot of information, but you turned it around and made her want to get and secure our help by showing her that we have such technology." I muse and Letty nods her head lightly.

"Yeah. I noticed at the beginning that she was weirdly open and talkative, and I wanted to turn it around so she would want our cooperation in itself, not for whatever she would get with it. I think it worked, though I don't really have any experience with that."

"Mhm." I confirm. "Though the fact that she knows Ave'A changes a lot. I don't think you really needed to show her that, but it definitely cemented her opinion."

"Why? We didn't really need, I mean." Letty asks curiously.

"Hm. I haven't told you how powerful Ave'A was, have I?"

"...No, I don't think you did." My girlfriend shakes her head and looks at me curiously. "You said once that you might have been in trouble if you fought her, but I'm pretty sure recent events kinda invalidate that."

"Yeah. There was Stone Heart in the Inquisition. I'm not sure why or what for, but that doesn't matter. Point is, his mana density is around one hundred fifty units, and he is low white in rank. Ave'A was even stronger than him in terms of mana, and she had Aether on top of it." I explain and look at Letty suggestively. "And considering that Ave'A was respectful of me, I doubt Elisora would fail to understand how strong I am."

"Hm, yeah. At least on higher end white hunters' level." My girlfriend nods and giggles. "It's pretty funny. Hilarious even, and kind of stupid."

"What?" I glance at her from the corner of my eye.

"That you are so strong. My little Demoness." She giggles and kisses me lightly on my neck, making my face split into a wide smile involuntarily. "And I love it."

"You're plenty powerful yourself, no?" I ask with a grin. "I didn't know you could make something like that communicator. And I saw how it worked inside, so don't pretend it's not a big deal."

Letty averts her eyes in response and blushes slightly. "Um, well, I spent almost whole flight to Black Harbor and most of the nights during that mission thinking about things and making blueprints. I have like forty blueprints that should work, but I haven't tested them yet."

"Do you have weapons?" I narrow my eyes, look intently into her marbles with galaxies trapped within, and she bursts out in a fit of giggles that soon grows into joyous laughter that makes me hug her tight with a silly grin.

"Yesh! I have!" She says after a while, still with mirth dancing in her eyes. "I actually wanted to ask you if you can fill my bullets with explosive energy. Because I can't make my guns working with what I have, unless I make them purely kinetic. But they are comparatively weak and ineffective then."

Hm. "Yes, I think I can, in fact." I nod seriously and grin. "I'm pretty sure I can, and if I can, it will be massive."

"I'm already scared." My girlfriend mirrors my grin. "Are we testing it now?"

"Why not. It's not like we have anything better to do." I shrug and squint at her. "So gimme the bullets, and protect yourself, cause it might get... explosive."