Heart of Gold, Silver Tongue

By the time we returned to the guild, the sun was setting. We stepped through the front door and stopped before the receptionist. My missing arm drew a couple of stares.

The receptionist was talking to her co worker, when they both glanced at him.

Her coworker openly looked Victor up and down. I felt a slight pang of anger toward him.

What’s so great about this buffoon’s looks anyways?!  It was petty but I couldn’t help but be a bit envious of the attention he got from beautiful women.

“Victor Troika, right?” The receptionist asked.

“That’s me! And the good work has been done. But I’m here to demand a higher bounty than what was posted.”

“Did you encounter a bigger problem?”

“It wasn’t an ordinary slime infestation. There were four different types of slimes in this colony. And get this, a rainbow slime was leading the colony.”

The chatting among the other slayers silenced, and some stepped closer to them to get a better listen.

“It formed itself around the skeleton of bear and fought with the strength of two.” Noticing the crowd, Victor projected his voice and turned to let the others in on the tale. The brief accounting was faithful, until the encounter with the rainbow slime. “With a blast from a magma shot, I exposed its core. “That’s when my friend here ran up, drove his sword into it, and slew the infernal slime!”

Cheers and applause sounded all around me. A couple of slaps to my back sent me staggering.

“Good job boy!”

“We have a future legend in our midst!”

The praise caused heat to rise to my cheeks. I shot Victor an incredulous look, but he just shrugged.

“Then, you deserve a bigger payout,” the receptionist said, once the clamor died down. “The guild will increase the pay to the rate of a falcon-ranked job. Is that satisfactory?”

“Lady, you are beautiful and generous,” Victor beamed, getting a blush from the receptionist. “Drinks on me!” This caused the uproar to start once again. “To celebrate my friend’s first job!”

The slayers moved to the guild’s adjoining dining room and Victor ordered pints of frothing beer for everyone. Victor regaled them with a more detailed account of the job. Enderan couldn’t drink and settled for a cup of milk.

As thanks for the alcohol, a few slayers gathered up some change and bought me some food. I was given a steak and sunny side up eggs, with grilled vegetables. I gladly tore into it and my hunger made for the best of seasonings. The steak was juicy and perfectly cooked. I used the yolk as a creamy sauce, and the vegetables were crisp and help balance out all the protein. It was one of the best meals I had ever had.

Once I finished eating, Victor had also finished telling the story. Victor hadn’t mentioned Yoki once in the retelling. A rare specimen like him could also attract unwanted attention. A few slayers might be tempted to steal him. Just because they protected the people, didn’t mean they were all moral individuals.

“What is the story with the missing arm?” The man who asked was the slayer with the great sword I had seen earlier that morning.

“And what gave you those burns?” A beautiful woman in a cloak, closely observed my burns, and I felt flustered. She was very close.

“I- I uh…” Seeing me blush caused laughter to ring out.

“My friend prefers to keep that story to himself. So, please don’t tempt him, he's weak to beautiful women.”

“Alright.” The woman relented and shot him a smirk.

“Who’s still up for a drink? I want to make a toast!” Victor said, followed by more cheers as the guild servers filled up their pints. I took up my cup of milk to join them. Victor raised his beer into the air. “To Caleb Cole! And the beginning of his adventures!”

“To Caleb!” They all cheered and beer went spilling to the floor as they raised their mugs. Some got on me, but I didn’t care. I was happy as I raised my cup and laughed.

- - -

That night, they slept in guild’s private quarters.

As Victor wrote in his tome, Yoki reverted from Enderan’s scarf to its original form.

“Why did you lie about me killing the rainbow slime?” Enderan asked.

“Well, I didn’t exactly want to reveal the inky dagger. Plus you deserve a lot more credit. It makes for a better story than you getting launched into a wall, and almost dying.”

“Still, doesn’t lying feel wrong?”

“Usually it does,” Victor admitted. “However, I started to think about lying in a different light. When I lie, it’s all about speaking words that will get me what I want and where I need to go. When you need to lie to keep yourself and others safe, it should happen without a trace of moral conflict.” He sighed.

“It is a nasty habit, but it’s human to lie. We do it for many reasons. To shield someone from a harsh truth, to hide a surprise that will then become a treasured memory, or to simply protect someone’s image.” Victor twirled the pen in his hand. “If the slayers down there knew every detail, they would have looked down on you, then chastised me for bringing you along in the first place. Instead they have a good impression on you.”

Just as Enderan was about to object he continued. “Because you deserve to be respected. You did slay many slimes and carried yourself well today. I noticed how scared you were at first, but suddenly you gathered yourself together and faced down the oncoming threat.”

Enderan’s eyes lit up. “You noticed that?!”

“Of course. I was worried for you, then I was impressed with how well you controlled your emotions. Like I said, you did a great job today and those guys should feel the same way.”

Enderan smiled. “I guess lying could be a good thing sometimes.”

“You know very well by now that lying is a thing I do often. I would love to live my life being truthful, but I try to lead a honest life through the lies I do tell.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself that lying is a good thing?”

“Both. But I don’t want you to lie. Leave the tricks and twisting of words to me. Your job is to be the hero with a heart of gold, and I’ll be your sketchy companion with a silver tongue.”

“All right.” He sank into bed with Yoki on his chest, letting out a yawn. “Thanks for everything Victor.”

“No problem. Now get some shut eye. We still have a long trip ahead of us.” Victor set his tome and pen on the table before blowing out the lights and lay down in bed.

Enderan fell asleep while Victor just stared out in the darkness. After a few minutes he took a deep breath and slowly fell to sleep.