Chapter 4162: Old Memories (Part 1) "I can’t do that, Miss Bremrem! What about my brother?" Clila replied. "That little runt can look out for himself, and if you can’t put him in his place, I’ll do it for you." Miss Bremrem grunted, wresting the Tablet off Clila’s hand. "Listen well, you-" "Yes?" The icy glare of Lith’s hologram and his vertical pupils were everything Miss Bremrem needed to recognize the Supreme Magus. "I... You... Clila..." She became as pale as a ghost, and her entire life flashed in front of her eyes. "She’s my honored guest for lunch." Lith spoke with a manner-of-fact tone. "Unless you have something against me, Miss Bremrem." "No!" She managed to stutter the monosyllable. "I swear to the gods, no!" "Good." Lith nodded. "Then I’ll pick Clila up in a few moments. Two hours for a *paid* lunch break should be enough. Do you agree?" "Yes!" Miss Bremrem would have agreed on anything just not to dig her hole deeper. "Keep Clila for as long as you need her." "Thank you." Lith nodded, but his smile didn’t extend to his blazing eyes. "And, Miss Bremrem?" "Yes?" She swallowed hard. "I trust Clila will be allowed to keep her Tablet on herself at all times." Lith said. "I’d be very upset if I needed to talk with her again and I couldn’t contact her." "Of course." She prayed to the gods for mercy, and could have sworn she heard a clear "no" in reply. "A wise choice. Verhen out." Lith ended the call and turned to Elfiam. "I have no idea who Miss Bremrem is or where she lives. I need you to guide me." "It’s a bit distant from here, but-" "Kid, we are hungry and sick of stagecoaches. We’re doing this my way." Lith grabbed Elfiam and flew high in the sky, where he conjured a flying golden stagecoach pulled by two black horses with flaming manes and blazing eyes. "I’m sorry about the Night-Mares. I’d use Dragon-shaped constructs, but if the real Dragons hear about this, they will nag me into oblivion. They are that prideful." "What about your anonymity?" Elfiam asked. "My vacation is almost over, and so is my patience." Lith entered the stagecoach and took off, following the youth’s directions to reach Miss Bremrem’s house in less than a minute. When Miss Bremrem saw him stepping out of the flying construct wearing the Supreme Magus robe and a frown on his face, she fainted on the spot, frothing at the mouth. As for Clila, her mouth and eyes were open so wide that she looked like a fish on a cutting board. "Miss Clila, I presume." Lith offered her his hand, which she shook only out of reflex. "Yes, that’s my sister." Elfiam chuckled. "I swear she usually uses a broom instead of her jaw to sweep the floor." "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare." She snapped out of her daze and gave Lith a deep bow. "I’m Clila of Ratharn, and this is my brother, Elfiam." "He knows, Sis." Elfiam chuckled. "Introducing myself is the first thing I do when I meet a new client, and I’ve been working for Lord Verhen for four days now." "Right, sorry. I-" Clila blushed as the magnitude of her blunder dawned on her, but panic scrambled her brain so much that she had no idea what to say. ’Say something, you silly girl.’ She thought. ’Anything will do.’ "I’m sorry, but I’m sweaty and stinky from work." She blurted when she felt her wet clothes sticking to her skin. ’Anything but that, you total moron!’ Clila inwardly whined. At that point, Elfiam had to cling to Lith’s side not to fall on the ground. He was laughing hard, having trouble breathing and keeping his balance. "That’s the weirdest introduction I’ve ever heard, but it’s nothing I can’t fix." Lith kept the amusement he felt away from his face and drained the sweat off Clila’s body with water magic. A series of controlled pulses of darkness magic removed the stench of cleaning products, body odor, and even the stains of dirt. A flick of his finger made Clila feel like she had just come out of a bath, and her clothes were freshly laundered. "Gods, I’m so sorry." Clila hiccupped. "I must be the biggest fool-" "Don’t worry, and let’s start this over from scratch." Lith said, cutting her short. "I’m Lith Verhen, your brother’s employer and your host for today’s lunch." "Nice to meet you." She wiped her tears and took the hand that he was offering her. "I’m Clila." "Nice to meet you, Clila." Lith nodded. "Now, for my next trick..." He dispelled the stagecoach construct and opened a Warp Steps leading back to the Gladiator’s Spit. "Sorry for the rush, but everyone is hungry and flying on that thing would reveal my identity to anyone in the restaurant with at least one working eye." Lith said. The appearance of the dimensional door stunned Clila as much as it had done Elfiam a few days ago, but a new wave of embarrassment smothered her curiosity in the crib. Three beautiful women and two toddlers were staring at Clila just like she stared at the Steps. She was a young woman, about 17 years old and 1.65 meters (5’5") tall. Her light brown hair framed her hazelnut eyes and oval face, giving her an air of naïve innocence. "Can I go home for a minute? I need to change?" Clila swallowed hard. Her work clothes were clean, but still rags compared to those of her hosts. "Don’t worry, Sis." Elfiam did his best not to laugh. "You look way better than me. Don’t be so tense and consider this a work lunch." "You are right. Sorry about that." A touch of Lith’s finger also cleaned the youth and his clothes. "Clila, these are Kamila, Solus, Rhona, Elysia, and Valeron, my family. Family, this is Clila. After a brief round of handshakes and pleasantries, Lith led everyone inside. Adding two seats to their table was no problem since Lith had reserved a large one for the kids. "I hope you don’t mind if I order for everyone." Lith said. "Of course." Elfiam replied. "We are grateful for your invitation and can’t ask more of you." Lith then picked enough dishes from the menu to sate two Soluses for the youths. "This is too much." Clila blushed. "We’ll never manage to eat everything." "Then you can bring the rest home." He smiled. "But-" "Tell us about you, Clila." Solus said to change the topic and dispel the still-lingering awkwardness at the table. The young replied as if she were being interrogated by the local constable, her posture stiff and her voice tense. Kamila poured her wine, which, along with a few nudges from Elfiam, helped Clila to relax. "So, when this rascal came up with his idea of becoming a tour guide, I set one condition for him." She said after retelling how they had escaped Ratharm during the war and had moved to Amrok. "That he’d use his first earnings to buy a second Tablet." Every family received only one free Tablet. The Royals sold them at cost to promote their use and literacy, but it was still no small sum for a housemaid.