Pursuit of the Sun 1.2

Ottar pondered his life deeply.

He thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought and thought...

...for a whole hour, but it felt like weeks had passed.

What was Ottar wasting his life on? Sucking the blood of elders and dreaming about devouring everyone. Success in life only came after decades of sluggish work... and even then, there was a good chance it would all end within a month when the expedition began, from which no one could guarantee a safe return.

What did Ottar believe in? In a sect of vagrants and drug addicts. There was nothing majestic, powerful, or influential about it. It was still better than the Void, may it perish along with all its followers, but it couldn't compare to his father's faith in fire. Blood... it exists on its own. But it has no normal followers, only a handful of eternally hungry fools like Ottar.

Who was Ottar in love with? With a dream, with a wonderful fantasy about a beautiful woman in red... maybe she never existed, or maybe she died long ago. Or maybe she does exist. Who knows? Ottar felt that she did exist, but can you trust your feelings when you are such an idiot?

What is Ottar's plan? He doesn't have one. Perfect.

"I am such a fool," thought the Blood Drinker, taking a good look at himself in the augur mirror. "And what did Master Gas see in me... probably just because there aren't any other young healers in the capital."

Today is the day of crap (the Void). And today, Ottar was going to meet that guy with the strange book, which was potentially dangerous for the psyche. When else would he try to sell someone this junk if not today... but as the Voidists say, nothing will happen today. And selling the book is business. And who is the Blood Drinker to break this idiotic rule, which is as idiotic as he is?

So, Ottar goes to the meeting, the time and place of which he set himself. Therefore, everything was safe for the person of the Blood Drinker. In fact, he could have broken his promise, citing medical matters or the Day of the Void, but... especially today, he had a particularly strong desire to engage in some vigorous activity.

Ottar lacked friends in life. Fortunately, almost everyone in this glorious city had the same problem.