HP: Spirit Talker

But while there's still time, I need to make time for something else, something to bind these two together. Suppressive seals and potions are unacceptable due to future rituals, but an interesting artifact that I have never needed before is just for such occasions. Ommyoji have always fought for people, saving them from curses and dark spirits and creatures, but what do you do when a person is possessed by evil? How can a body with tremendous powers and an unwillingness to obey hold out for a ritual?

According to the chronicles, the gods themselves gave the priests the knowledge of how to create the means of restraint. Usually, priests and priestesses would order a strong chain with wide links from a blacksmith, to which they would inscribe secret incantations containing words of appeal to the gods of light, most often an appeal to the purifying sunlight.

But such chains were rarely used, because the chain had to be made of an alloy of silver and gold. It was just too expensive for poor people, and there was always some idiot conqueror or ruler who robbed his own people. Oh, well, that's not the point. It's about trying to combine the metals in the right way — that's the hardest part, but the rest won't be too much trouble.

The time announced by the goblin was not enough for me, I had to pay for two more hours and order a heavy snack. I'm glad that I'm not a druid and can eat meat, fish and other delicious things quite normally, with reservations of course, like the fact that we can't have meat this time, but seafood — quite well.

But on the other hand, a goblin bank isn't an inn, or even a tavern, so any additional services are paid for with dragon... sorry, goblin surcharges. After today's expenses, I'll have to start earning money, even if I still have a lot of it, a lot of it, but if I spend it all the time, I'll have moths in my pockets before I wake up.

As we moved the girls into a spacious cave equipped for the most elaborate rituals and began preparations, I had a strange conversation with a trio of more important creatures. As it turned out, the goblins are not exactly idiots, and any rituals they perform are only done under the supervision of a couple of ritualists. The third goblin, on the other hand, offered to have a chat while we prepared. First, I was respectfully asked why the esteemed mage did not entrust all of his personal capital to an international bank.

They, he said, were neutral, not dependent on politics, and would never allow "strange crooks" to interfere in their affairs. No, I know that goblins can count, and the network of informers and enforcers is definitely there, but how they calculated my construction costs — we will have to find out.

Then the goblin, for a minute the deputy director of this branch of the bank, offered closer cooperation and, first of all, his intermediary services. I had to admit that I was not big enough to ignore a structure like Gringotts.

If I continued to openly conduct business with them, others might set a "bad" example. Of course, the creatures would find it unprofitable, unpleasant, and almost an insult to their blood, but they have enough power and money to start World War III. So they will have to "throw a bone", but something not too big and important.... О!

I've got a cider business coming up, so why not cheat a little? That's what I told the rookie. When we were ready to begin, the goblin expressed the willingness of the bank, or rather — goblins, to buy artifacts from me, like those with which we tied the hands, legs and necks of girls, because in Britain artifactors were Potters and Yaxley, but as you know, the second generation of Potters is already a dope, and Yaxley — the third, and with such a head it is unlikely that the family will continue.