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

Chapter 375: Arguing Stage

”It didnʼt go the best honestly” said Kamiko ”At first, I just looked through the rooms I hadnʼt covered yet, then I went and rechecked all the rooms I had… still nothing, and it was getting late in the day. The sun was going down, and while my night vision is pretty good, itʼs no better than standard and I needed a break as well. I was… more than a little bit excited for my first contract so I sorta maybe didnʼt sleep the day before…

”Anyway, I was tired, it was late, I didnʼt know if my eyes would be good enough to look overnight so I asked around a bit and found that old man that helped me and asked if I could stay with him for the night. He told me instead, that the big hat dude had a place for me, which… honestly I ignored. Told him it was fine, and then he offered me his bed, and I claimed his couch.

”I wasnʼt about to let an old man give up his bed for me. Sure we argued back and forth for a while but I won him over by pointing out that he was too tall and wouldnʼt actually fit on his small couch but I would. Granted, my wings made it a little awkward, but I wasnʼt going to tell him that or lay down before he left the room otherwise, he might catch on and use it as an excuse.

”So, next day, I chat with the old man a while. Explain how I looked everywhere, but when he asked me about which places Iʼd looked at, he had this to add. ʼI know you said everywhere but you havenʼt checked under the house, right?ʼ Now, I wasnʼt exactly happy to have that pointed out to me, and instead of doing the mature thing, I instead I argued with him about it.

”Iʼll spare you those details, because they accomplish nothing, and Iʼve grown up a bit since then, and have made several promises not to repeat that particular mistake. Still, my main thought was that because Iʼd found the birds, the items had to be with them. Furthermore, I thought that theyʼd never hide anything under the house…

”Ok, another large thought was that it was really gross under the house and I didnʼt particularly want to crawl through the mud. Still I can say my main reason was because the birds would never go down there… and I was sort of right in that? Kinda? Anyway… I went back to the house, spent much longer than I care to admit finding the little hatch that let me into the area under the house and started looking…

”Only to see something rather eye catching. There was a hole that had been dug in the… Iʼm not really sure what itʼs called? The wood slats that cover the outer edge of the house to prevent things from just wondering around down there. Whatever theyʼre called, something had dug a very noticeable hole underneath some.

”On my way over, it was also really easy to see that something had made tracks in the dirt. Even me, someone with no experience in tracking figured it out. Granted, I couldnʼt tell what kind of tracks they were, but the tracks were there at least. Also, I found out, the pole in the centre near where the ravens are, was actually hollow.

”It still had a few rings there. So naturally, I went and explained this all to big hat dude. He said some things, about how wrong I was and how it had to be ghosts because heʼd seen the signs… which is really weird because from what I can tell ghosts are a real thing in that world, and I asked D.E.M.O.N.S to confirm and yes mana was a thing… so Iʼm not sure why he was so adamant it was ghosts.

”Anyway, eventually, the other people in the temple got sick of our arguing as it was interrupting the midday prayer, so we both agreed that once that was over theyʼd come and help me figure out what was going on after I showed them proof it was the birds.”

Kamiko let out a long sigh. ”Just remembering that argument gives me a headache. It was MUCH longer than it should have been. Honestly, I probably spent more effort arguing with the guy than I did finding the ravens and the shiny things… but it gets worse in just a second. At least looking for them on my own I could be left with my thoughts when that happened, but anyway.

”This great big mob of people and I all trudge up the pathway and we hear the ʼghostly soundsʼ. I spend another ten minutes convincing them it isnʼt ghosts, and as we get closer, and the sounds get worse, people start to really freak out. Like ʼwe canʼt be on sacred groundʼ and ʼwe are angering the spiritsʼ

”So of course, I have to spend more time arguing with them. After thirty minutes, we move away from the house so that people stop freaking out, and then we keep arguing. Sometime through it comes out that we have to go under the house not just in it. I… donʼt remember how it came up?

”I think I was trying to convince them it was fine because they didnʼt actually have to go in the house just under it… but that freaked them out more. Not even sure why, I donʼt think it was a religious thing so Iʼve no idea. Still, these guys were not having it. All the like… twenty? Thirty? People that Iʼd brought along were not having it.

”Eventually, instead of finally listening to me, they sent a runner down to the village proper to get those girls I mentioned, and have them be witnesses. Apparently, it was better for some reason? Also, I donʼt get why they could take their word and not mine? Like… if Iʼm really in question, couldnʼt I just threaten them to agree with me or something?

”So, more waiting. Things are already looking like they are heading towards darkness, and Iʼm not happy with that fact. I know Iʼm going to need to get them to track whatever it was that has been sneaking under the house, but I canʼt do it alone and they canʼt see at night but whatever.

”So… a FULL HOUR later. All passive aggressive silences and weird looks. A couple people left of course, but most didnʼt and a couple that left came back with friends so I hardly lost any of my audience. Finally, though, the girls have arrived. Clearly exhausted, I guess because they had to run or jog up the stairs, and… theyʼd not actually been told what they were here to do.

”Um… letʼs call the girls long hair and short hair I guess. Long hair, is not happy, and once itʼs explained what we want them to do, she just point-blank refuses. Short hair says sheʼs ok to do it, but wants someone other than me to come with as… well she didnʼt say ʼguardʼ but she heavily implied it during her requests. So… now we have a bunch of these villagers trying to peer pressure the girls to go with me and Iʼm torn.

”On the one hand, I know there is nothing down there. I know that Iʼm not going to hurt them, and I know that even if they had a guard it wouldnʼt really help them against me. On the other hand… forcing them to crawl on their hands and knees in a dark crawl space underneath a house just to confirm or deny what Iʼm saying is not something I would want for anyone.

”So, I tell the dudes, that if they are too scared to do it, why would the girls want to? They took acceptation to that. But, it was in the best way possible. The hot-headed younger people in the group, at least one of which I know was called over by a friend, said theyʼd go instead.

”Now, at this point, I didnʼt know how angry to be. Because, if youʼll recall, weʼd been wasting a rather large amount of time at this point, just having me try and convince them to come and check things out. Nobody was willing to, so we waited for these poor girls to climb all the way up a few thousand steps…

”Just to send them home again” Kamiko slammed her fist into the table. ”Sorry Kat. I… I wasnʼt this angry about it at the time. I was annoyed sure, but not angry. I think I was more… ʼDam Iʼm so over thisʼ if you get my drift. But every time I look back at it, itʼs just… such a petty move to do things the way they did.”

Kat reached out and put a hand on Kamikoʼs clenched fist and rubbed her thumb over it. People said it was calming, but sheʼd always just gone for hugs, so this was… somewhat of a field test, she supposed.