Elemental Cats

Since they had been welcomed inside, Toz and Stitches opened the door and stepped into the house. The gruff voice had come directly from the opposite side of the door, so the two had expected some type of bodyguard standing in the doorway, but the house looked completely devoid of people.

Toz looked around to see if there was anyone around. His feeling that someone was nearby had gotten stronger, but all he saw were various paintings hung up and covering the walls or standing on the floor resting against furniture. He saw a few who hadn't been framed yet that were draped over sofas. The place looked cluttered, and Toz couldn't tell if there was a living room or kitchen anywhere, but he noticed that everything had been arranged with care.

The paintings on the walls weren't tilting or about to fall down, and none of the other paintings overlapped and covered one another. The ones without frames were also put so they wouldn't be damaged by how they lay.

The realization that someone cared deeply for all the art in the house immediately changed Toz's thoughts about the house. It wasn't cluttered, just too small to fit all the love within. He looked at what the paintings depicted since it might tell him more about Retsy, the person they were about to meet, but every painting was a portrait of a different person.

Maybe Retsy was more interested in the artist than the art itself.

"Over here!"

Toz and Stitches looked up at the voice. After taking a few more steps deeper into the house, they saw a door leading into what looked like an office. There was a large oak desk in the middle, with a window on the wall opposite the door. Behind the desk was a leather chair. Toz saw the source of the voice sitting with his arms resting on the desk in that chair.

When they entered the room, Toz looked around and noticed there weren't any paintings or any art anywhere in the office. Aside from the desk, the leather chair, and a couple of armchairs, the room was completely bare.

The young woman in the chair gestured for Toz and Stitches to take a seat in the armchairs.

Toz looked questioningly at Stitches while they sat down since he was curious if they were talking to Retsy. Stitches noticed Toz's gaze but could only shrug lightly in response since he didn't know either.

"Are you Retsy?"

Toz decided to ask what he wanted to know. However, his question was ignored.

"Welcome! To what do I owe the pleasure of receiving Pirate Haven's latest trouble-seeking newcomer?"

The mysterious young woman smiled at Toz but turned her gaze to Stitches before Toz could answer and continued,

"And if I'm not wrong, aren't you one of the missing Bunglehoppers?"

This time it looked like the woman actually wanted an answer, so Stitches answered her rhetorical question.

"That's why we're here, actually. The Bunglehoppers aren't staying where they did the last time I was at Pirate Haven. I was wondering where they are and if something has happened to them."

Stitches tried to look calm while indirectly asking about the Bunglehoppers, but it was clear that the woman noticed how much he wanted the information since she leaned back and smiled cunningly.

"Who knows? That information's pretty valuable due to the people involved."

Stitches knew that Retsy wouldn't sell information about powerful pirates without an adequate price, but the last time Stitches checked, the Bunglehoppers were only worthy of the middle tier. However, the woman in front of them made it sound like one of the big three, the only pirate crews worthy of the upper tier, were involved, either directly or indirectly.

Stitches audibly gulped since he realized the Bunglehoppers might have ended up clashing with one of the big three. However, he forced his mouth to move.

"I-is there anything you can tell us?"

"For the right price, I can tell you everything."

The woman leaned forward and looked at Toz this time. Toz answered Stitches' pleading eyes.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Your strength, for starters."

"Why?"

"It's highly sought-after information."

"By who?"

"Tell me how strong you are and where you come from, and I'll tell you what you wanna know, including a few details about the Bunglehoppers."

Toz looked at Stitches while he pondered. He could see that Stitches dearly wanted to know what happened to the Bunglehoppers, but he didn't want to pressure Toz into giving up personal details. Toz respected Stitches' struggles and appreciated how he let Toz make the decision.

Toz turned to look at the brown-haired woman again.

"If you tell me your name, I'll also let you know whether I'm a mage or a fighter."

"Deal."

"Fifth level mage from the Firebelt Kingdom."

Toz revealed the promised information without hesitation.

"You aren't lying?"

The power Toz displayed while beating the burly man, who was also at the medium levels, wasn't something a mage at the fifth level should have unless they had a unique type inclination, so the woman had been slightly startled. She quickly, almost instantly, hid her surprise. Stitches didn't notice, but it didn't escape Toz's keen eyes.

Toz smiled at her.

"You don't believe me?"

"Would you?"

"Does that matter?"

"I guess not, but I run a business, so I need to confirm that information. In exchange for appeasing my doubts, I'll let you know one more thing regarding the people looking for you."

"Okay."

Toz eased up the control on his mana a little bit so that the woman would be able to sense his mana. Usually, mages couldn't hide their level from beings at higher levels. However, that changed if the mage had sufficient control of their mana and if their mana was of good enough quality. Toz had also discovered he could use his void and shadow attributes to completely hide his identity as a mage, not that he needed to since he had excellent control over his mana. His mana was also refined six times, making it of extremely high quality.

The woman had expected Toz to admit to lying or maybe try and trick her, but it was almost impossible for Toz to fool her since he let her sense his fifth level mana. He didn't let her sense of vast his mana pool was, but she didn't even attempt to since that would be a breach of their agreement.

The woman smiled at Toz.

"Sorry about that. My name is Retsy, and it's a pleasure doing business with you."