Arcane Veterinarian 2: A Cozy Fantasy LitRPG Series by Michael James Ploof

Author:Michael James Ploof [Ploof, Michael James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Vexxar sat staring at the small fire crackling in the iron stove, the embers glowing in his coal-black eyes. He smoked a long pipe, but it wasn’t tabaco that he smoked, rather some kind of herb that Ethan did not recognize. It had a pleasant, yet pungent aroma that reminded him of his first adoptive grandfather.

After a time, the sorcerer’s eyes settled on Ethan—he’d thought up his first question.

Vexxar had laid out the basics of the True Brew Ceremony, as he called it: one person would ask a question, then the other would answer or not. If not, they did not get to ask a question of their own and one was asked of them again. This left the problem of answering by omission, where a person declines to answer because, presumably, the truth is too embarrassing. Vexxar’s way around this possibly embarrassing assumption was the proclamation that the question was too personal. This, said Vexxar, was a way to keep the conversation on more of a business-like footing. The nature of the ceremony was to strengthen business ties or root out spies and the like, which Vexxar wasn’t shy about considering.

“After all,” he’d said. “You may have your suspicions about me, in which case my being under the influence of my legendary brew is to your great benefit.”

Now, Vexxar squared on Ethan, looked him dead in the eye, and said, “Do you have any ill intentions toward the dwarves of the Ironboot Mountains?”

Shit. Ethan was taken off guard, and he felt like an idiot as soon as the realization occurred to him that he hadn’t even considered that Vexxar might be up to speed about his dealings with the Ironboot Dwarves. He realized that he’d been focusing on other possible questions, and this realization confused him—he’d been worried that Vexxar would ask him about his feeling, or lack thereof, for Matilda Morgus. He’d been equally afraid of the possible question of his love for Rose. He loved Rose, he really did, or at least he thought he did. And he didn’t have romantic notions about Matilda, at least he didn’t think he did. But the possibility of being asked and being compelled to tell the truth, and not just the surface truth, but the deep down, nitty gritty, heart of hearts truth, left Ethan in a near panic.

Vexxar was grinning at him. “Not the question you thought I’d ask, was it lad?”

“N, no,” Ethan stammered.

“You had questions in mind that you were worried about, eh? And now that you realize that, you wonder why you were afraid to answer those questions. Am I on the right track?”

“You are indeed,” Ethan admitted with a weak laugh.

“Aye, happens to everyone who drinks me brew. I call it the Mirror of the Mind Effect.”

“Well, I gotta say, it’s an eye opener.”

“That it be,” said Vexxar. “That it be, now kindly answer my actual question.”

“Uh, ill will toward the dwarves of Ironboot? No, I have no ill will toward them,” Ethan said confidently.

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