Golden Mask 4

"Ughhh..." — Eli almost groaned, taking another spoonful of semolina porridge into her mouth. "So delicious."

"And healthy too." — Smiling, Sergey watched as Eli finished off the bowl of porridge, occasionally glancing at the plate of hard-boiled eggs and buttered sandwiches. "Just don't rush, or you'll choke."

"Yeah, yeah." — The girl nodded energetically, then, her eyes widening, she started coughing. "Cough-cough."

"See, what did I say." — Sergey patted Eli on the back, then handed her a napkin to wipe away her tears. "Are you really that hungry?"

"No, not really." — Eli said, still coughing intermittently. "It's just that

this week, it's been nothing but gourmets." — The girl shoved another spoonful into her mouth, chewed, and continued. "First lobsters, then marbled beef. Or like yesterday, beer with Agarian crayfish."

"With what crayfish?" — Sergey asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Yeah, Agar." — Eli waved her hand, taking a decent bite of her sandwich. "The homeworld of those bastards who almost made me suffocate." — Eli made a displeased face and added. "At least I didn't have to spend on resurrection." — Eli suddenly froze, then said in an apologetic tone. "I mean, thank you, in general, gov... oops. I mean, thank you, Sev."

"I couldn't leave a girl in trouble." — Sergey snorted, looking at Eli like a little girl who got her feet wet but only agreed to take her boots off in the evening. "And besides, with my mo..." — Sergey cut himself off, staring wide-eyed at Eli, and whispered. "Sorry, I think I misheard. What didn't you have to spend on?"

"Umm..." — Sergey, with difficulty but managing to digest what he heard, asked. "So, all the masks in your establishment are immortal?"

"Yes." — Eli scratched her forehead. "By the way, the first resurrection per day is free for visitors."

"I see." — Sergey snorted approvingly. "Seems I haven't seen everything in your shop."

"That service is not a product of our shop." — Eli said, which greatly surprised Sergey, who had previously thought that in the shop you could buy everything the Golden Mask offered. "So it's paid separately per unit of spiritual body energy."

"Um." — Sergey closed his eyes and shook his head. "And how could I see how many units of spiritual body I have?"

"A request for the state of spiritual body energy and its conversion into units." — Eli lowered her head and sighed heavily. "Costs three million platinum coins of our shop."

"Holy crap, that price." — Sergey's jaw literally dropped at such a sum. Which, even with his manna, was unattainable for him. "Hmm, seems I underestimated your establishment in terms of earning from clients."

"Actually, it's not that simple." — Eli began to explain. "The thing is, manna, through a special ritual, is turned into coins corresponding to the invested manna points."

"You mean to say the coins in your shop are manna transformed into coins made of different materials." — Sergey whistled at such a setup. "Hmm, seems I underestimated your establishment not only in terms of earnings but also capabilities."

"The Interrealm has its own laws." — Eli nodded. "Of magical chemistry, magical physics, and biology."

"I see." — Sergey drawled, wondering what magical chemistry and biology Eli was talking about. "But, in my opinion, it's still too expensive."

"Creating a map of the spiritual body's energy flows in the astral dimension." — Eli spread her hands, smiling. "Takes a lot of manna units."

"Hmm." — Sergey scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Should have guessed such things aren't for everyone, despite huge manna reserves."

"Mhm." — Eli hummed, taking a sip from her cup of cocoa. "So the price is more than reasonable."

"Alright, let's get back to our sheep." — Sergey grinned. "So what's this Agar all about?"

"Agar." — Chewing a piece of sandwich, Eli began to explain. "It's an Earth-type planet with the lowest gravity in the universe of those dwarves I had the last session with."

"And is it very similar to Ear..." — Sergey fell silent as he realized something in Eli's words didn't add up. "Sorry, with what gravity did you say?"

"I think I'm starting to understand." — Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Sergey said. "An abundance of heavy elements increases the mass of a celestial object."

"Exactly." — Eli pointed at Sergey with her index finger. "And that, in turn, increases gravity."

"Wait." — Sergey shook his head, trying to remember how and why universes are born. "But are there universes with an excess of heavy elements?"

"I don't remember exactly." — Eli thoughtfully raised her gaze to the ceiling. "But a client of mine, an astronomer, once explained it to me."

"That when a universe dies from heat death." — Eli took another sip from her cup. "What's left are clouds the size of galaxies made of particles simpler than atoms."

"When enough of these particles accumulate." — The girl continued in a mentor's tone. "A big bang occurs. From which a new universe is born. And if too many particles gather. Usually, this happens when several nearby universes end their existence. Then the newborn universe acquires properties and laws of existence different from simple universes."

"I see." — Sergey smiled, looking slyly at Eli. "I'm just curious how exactly she punishes you for bad grades and unlearned lessons."

"Just the back?" — Sergey asked, hiding his smile behind his cup. "Or did the lower parts suffer too?"

"Suffered is putting it mildly." The girl shivered as if from a draft. "She gave me an enema so my stomach stuck out like I was three months pregnant. At least she plugged me with an anal plug when she was whipping me."

"I see." — Sergey said sympathetically. After a moment's thought, he asked. "Listen, Eli, why are your clients like that?"

"Like what?" — The girl asked, not understanding.

"Well, this." — Sergey scratched the back of his head. "They don't spare you and use your body to the fullest."

"So what?" — The girl even turned her head in incomprehension. "Can I refuse if the session is already paid for?"

"You mean to say." — Sergey winced as if from a toothache. "That clients can do with you as they please?"

"Well, not with everyone." — The girl, putting her hand on the table and propping her left cheek, tilted her head slightly to the side. "Masks above silver have the right to refuse certain services to clients and even refuse to serve clients they don't like."

"So." — Sergey shook his head disapprovingly and asked. "You mean to say you're at the very bottom of the hierarchical ladder in your establishment?"

"So." — Nodding his head, Sergey asked. "And to whom and what exactly do you owe?"

"I owe our establishment." — Swallowing, Eli covered her face with her palms. "One million two hundred thousand platinum coins."

"Cough! as the classic said — what a twist." — Sergey choked when Eli stated the debt amount and, coughing, asked. "And how did you get into such debt?"

"I came to our establishment when I had only a few years left to live." — A muffled sob was heard, and tears began to flow from under her palms

"Were you sick with something?" — Sergey approached Eli and, taking the girl's hands away from her face, began to wipe her tears. "Or did someone want to kill you?"

"Neither one nor the other." — Eli raised a tormented gaze to Sergey and then continued. "In my world, I worked as a prostitute. And I managed to buy my freedom when I was over a thousand years old."

"Wait." — Sergey shook his head incredulously. "Don't elves live for millennia?"

"They do." — The girl answered with a heavy sigh. "But I'm a half-elf. And we live a maximum of eight hundred to a thousand years."

"So it turns out." — Sergey jerked as if from an electric shock. "You were practically dying of old age when you came to the Golden Mask."

"Yes." — Eli said barely audibly. "For restoring spiritual energy and rejuvenation, I had to take a loan with my very soul as collateral for one and a half million platinum coins."

"Hmm, the realities of capitalism work even in the Interrealm." — Sergey closed his eyes and shook his head. "And how long, if it's not a secret, have you been paying off the loan?"

"Four hundred and fifty." — After a long pause, Eli sighed heavily and admitted. "I managed to pay back more than half."

"At this rate." — Sergey said, pulling Eli closer to the table. "I'm afraid you'll pay off the loan when you have maybe a couple of decades left to live, and that's if you're lucky."

"I know." — Taking the cup with both hands, the girl said. "But I simply have no choice."

"Damn." — Sergey hit his knee with his fist. Realizing that he could only give Eli twelve platinum coins, which would be a drop in the bucket compared to the debt. "Even if I convert my manna into platinum coins, I wouldn't be able to pay even one percent of your loan."

"Don't." — Eli took Sergey's hands and, bringing them to her face, said. "I'm already used to it." — The girl, kissing Sergey's palms, added. "But even such a life was worth taking that loan."

"Sigh." — Sergey sighed heavily, playing it up, and said. "I'll have to drop by to see you more often."

"What? Really?" — Eli asked, stunned. "You, oh, you're not obligated, and I'm afraid you won't always be able to use me. After all, I can be booked for a long time."

"Well, I intend." — Smiling broadly, Sergey took a sip from his cup of cocoa. "Not to use you, but to give you time to rest." — Nodding towards the door, Sergey added. "I see during my shifts there's a full house in your establishment."

"Yes." — Eli exhaled tiredly, closing her eyes. "Today is something like the equivalent of Friday in the Interrealm."

"Damn, right." — Sergey smirked, slapping his forehead. "Time flows faster here for you."

"Hmm." — Sergey shook his head. "I won't be much help to you, coming twice a year."

"But this." — The girl smiled. "Is still better than nothing. Plus, I have a day off every seven days. And a 30-day vacation once a year."

"And still." — Sergey, shaking his head again, looked at Eli reproachfully. "I'd like to meet more often, as they say."

"You can... oh, no." — Shaking her head, Eli said. "Even you can't afford it."

"What can't I afford?" — Sergey asked with interest. "You tell me, and I'll decide if I can afford it or not."

"There's a special service." — Eli began reluctantly. "Synchronization of the client's entrance door with our establishment."

"You mean to say." — Sergey blinked in surprise. "That by buying this service, I synchronize the time of your establishment with the time of my universe?"

"No." — Eli waved her hands in front of her. "Only the transition between your universe and the Interrealm will be synchronized. Simply, after purchasing the spell, the time acceleration effect will be removed from the transition to your universe."

"Hmm, that's an option." — Sergey smiled. "So how much does this service cost?"

"Ten platinum coins per month." — Eli said, lowering her gaze.

"I'll take it." — Sergey said, already finding the needed service, then quickly placed the order.

"Stop!" — Eli jumped up. "Don't."

"Too late." — Sergey grinned, spreading his hands. "The service is already paid for."

"Well!" — Shaking her head disapprovingly, Eli asked. "And why did you do that?"

"Why?" — Sergey asked, playing dumb. "To give you more rest."

"No." — Pouting her lips, Sergey answered. "By the way, name-calling isn't nice."

"You'd better say 'whoever name-calls is called that themselves'." — The girl snorted angrily. Then, softening, she added. "Do you have any manna points left for any services at all?"

"Some left." — Sergey smiled wider. "By the way, I forgot to say, last time I also bought a copper package for three months of use, with a discount, mind you."

"Hmm, good job, as they say, you covered your bases." — Shaking her head, Eli said. "Though they do say fools are lucky."

"Better to be a sage under the guise of a fool than a fool under the mask of a sage." — Saying this, Sergey took a sip from his cup, then choked on understanding the meaning of the girl's words. "Cough-cough, what do you mean fools are lucky?"

"You caught the last day of the discount." — Now it was Eli's turn to pat the coughing Sergey on the back. "Usually, the discount for newcomers is for a month and is five percent of the cost."

"Cough." — Coughing one last time, Sergey said. "So I got lucky twice that day."

"What do you mean?" — The girl didn't understand. Then, thinking, she slapped her forehead. "Oh, damn, you mean the manna points during the Avatar creation."

"Those very ones." — Sergey smiled, feeling his throat still scratchy. "So, if I hadn't been lucky then, I wouldn't have been able to pay for a month of synchronization even if I wanted to."

"And still, in my opinion... oh, what?" — The girl froze for a moment, then said. "Sev, sorry, can I answer a message?"

"Just don't." — Sergey pointed at the plate of porridge and said instructively. "Forget about breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks." — The girl sat more comfortably, then, when she put her hands on her knees, her gaze became glassy. As Sergey understood, it was full immersion in virtual reality.

"Hmm." — After five minutes, Eli shuddered and blinked to bring her eye moisture back to normal. "Sev, I beg your pardon again, but I need to step away for an hour