D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1982: Chapter 1982 Bleeding off the Extra Emotions

— Kat —

Steel quickly went over what they’d learnt. The bomb WAS a remnant of the old station… and it was actually intended to wipe the place off the map. It’s power had decreased a lot over the years and presumably could have failed… but that likely wasn’t the case. Based on the enchanter’s observations it was definitely set off early. Which raised the question. How big did whoever set it off expect the explosion to be?

“So they ended up going that route huh?” sighed Kat.

Steel shrugged. “If we went looking for a criminal that didn’t exist we’d have just been wasting more time. Knowing for sure that someone set it off is nice… though admittedly it would’ve been better if we had a clear idea of the skill the person doing so had. From what the enchanter we put on the job said, it’s possible they were fiddling with it and the whole thing is an accident. Still a crime obviously, but more doubts for the fire.”

Kat wanted to swear, but she certainly wasn’t going to do so in a medical ward. “Really?” Kat said, visibly pained by holding in some choice curses.

Steel nodded, “Afraid so. However, we do have some good news. In the investigation we managed to find a bit of hair, likely from the culprit. It was found mixed it up in the rubble and is a rather distinct shade of purple. Not something any of the guards have, nor any of the recent prisoners. We might not be able to get a full investigation but if we can match the hair to someone it gives us some leverage to start at least poking around.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?” asked Kat.

Steel shook his head. “I’m not quite THAT well connected. Still, it’s not a common colour at all. I don’t even remember the last time I saw someone with it. It’s a very noticeable shade of purple at any rate, so it is something.”

Kat shrugged, “So I go back to watching?”

“If you don’t mind,” conceded Steel. “I’ll have to think on what to do for future night watches, and it might mean that you’d be best sent elsewhere but already a lot of plates are spinning and I haven’t had time to look over everything to see where I can free up people,”

“Fair enough,” agreed Kat as she bowed and headed out, making sure that Steel wasn’t visible from the door when she opened it. Wouldn’t want to give the game away by showing off the fact he wasn’t in the armour.

Kat made it back across the city with limited issues and settled in for what proved to be a somewhat quiet rest of the night. On her way back, she did make sure to look at the spot where the watcher was a few times, making sure to only do so near street lamps where the flash from her eyes wouldn’t stand out so much but there didn’t seem to be anywhere there anymore. They had booked it after their test was finished. Probably better for them.

Once Kat got back into position she was able to settle in for the rest of the night. There were still a lot of people around all over the place, and you had to watch them… but nothing else happened. The closest thing to an ’incident’ was two drunk guys pushing and shoving each other as they walked down the street. They were escalating their pushes and one of them ended up in a bush… but they just laughed about it and stopped pushing each other. Instead they started singing. Surprisingly well considering how sloshed they appeared to be.

When morning arrived, the enchantment was lifted by the guard Hedera had seen Steel hand the key to, not willing to leave his charge alone again. It was something decided yesterday so there was no worry. Kat and Hedera snuck off to a nearby seating area, not quite as far away as the one out in the fields, but not exactly close either. Kat started them off. “I can’t believe we missed that guy and had to leave the observer too…”

Hedera shrugged, “I’ve done this sort of work before. Not often, the rest of my team isn’t really up for it but it’s happened a few times. This is just how it goes when you have a smart opponent. What you’re not seeing is the pressure this creates on them. If they need these orbs, the fact we aren’t letting them close is causing issues we can’t see. Plus the fact Jen lived, assuming that was the goal, also applies pressure.

“It’s just a matter of time until she wakes up, and after everything she’ll likely be a lot more willing to talk. Though perhaps not. Some people are loyal enough. Based on who she is though? I’d assume she’ll talk.”

“I guess. I just feel like I’ve fucked it up somehow,” sighed Kat, sinking into the chair until her chin was resting on the table. Lily shifted from Kat’s lap, up onto her head. Sitting up and placing a head forward on the top of Kat’s brow.

“Meow” ’I have conquered the demon’. Hedera snickered, and Kat found herself smiling at the scene as well. Even if she couldn’t see most of it, she could feel and imagine it. It was a good way to lighten the mood Kat hadn’t realised she’d already been dragging down again.

“Thanks Lily, and yeah I just… I dunno. Did I fuck up somewhere?” asked Kat.

Hedera shrugged. “With these sorts of jobs it’s hard to know. The flash of light might have given you away… but you said you wouldn’t have spotted them without it. Catching them after they went through so much trouble to remain hidden? That’s got to be worth it. Especially since it’s just a chance.

“As for other moments? Not really. You were doing things at the time and there was a guard on Jen, if that’s your worry. Looking for those sort of well hidden enchantments is a pretty specific field. Plus, Steel already told you it was an old one. That means someone whose job it was to find that sort of thing missed it for centuries. You didn’t even have a DAY to look.”

“That does actually make me feel better,” agreed Kat. “What does that make our plans for the day then? Considering we have the orb situation sorted for a bit at least.”

“Not sure… could take an early call with Weaver. Not much new information but I do kinda want to. On the other hand, my sleep was interrupted yesterday and getting a full ’night’ of sleep would be quite nice. I don’t NEED that though,” explained Hedera.

“Yeah well, guess I should head to Steel at some point soon. Tell him about the nothing from the rest of the night and see if anything has been planned out,” sighed Kat.

“No need to rush I’d say. Not only will he be a bit tired but the streets are already starting to fill up so it won’t be a quick run at all. There is also the fact that he might need time to actually come up with a plan. Not sure how well he can think of something like that while properly guarding. Plus, there is that one thing to examine,” Hedera pointed out.

“True but I wouldn’t want to leave it too late. Um… did you have something to chat about to pass that extra time? That was sort of why I suggested heading off. I don’t really know what else needs to be said. I’m cool with some small talk but… eh,” Kat shrugged.

Hedera let out a small laugh. “So awkward… but I do sort of get it. Even small talk can be a bit… questionable when we’re still technically enemies. It would kill the mood if one of us asked something that seemed innocuous but was actually a sore spot or a bit of a secret.”

“Well how about this then… do you feel like we’re actually making progress? Nobody has been eliminated yet, we haven’t even SEEN other people and while the occasional rule change we had nothing to do with does help remind us there are other people here… that this is just another tournament round… it’s sort of hard to keep that in mind.”

“I don’t know anymore,” sighed Hedera. “Especially with the lock down on the ’instant win relic’ in the centre. I thought the island would be smaller. I think Thyme might have shot themselves in the foot a bit on this one. Unless something forces us to interact with other people at some point we might just wonder around forever. I mean… after we ran into each other so early on I thought we’d be fighting people at least once a day…”

Kat nodded along, “Yeah that was more my thought. The size of the island and the areas has really mixed it up though. Turning this into more of a survival challenge then anything else. Makes me wonder how intended that sort of behaviour was. Maybe having the orbs respawn was a bad idea?”

Hedera shrugged. “Guess we’ll never know… that is, unless someone finds a rule change scroll for that.”