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

Chapter 1963: Chapter 1963 A Place to Rest?

--- Kat ---

”Is there anything else to go over before I leave?” asked Steel. ”I presume you may want to have a good place to sleep, but is there anything else?”

Kat glanced down at her wrist and sighed. There was. She didn’t really want to mention it, but after everything it was clear that with the way the city needs to work it should be addressed. Kat glanced at Hedera who didn’t seem to have noticed just yet. ”Yeah there is actually. See, Hedera and I are... essentially cursed. We need twenty four orbs every day to keep us around or these bracelets will go off.”

Kat held up the bracelet in question. It had, maybe, twelve hours left but that was being a bit optimistic. If they got no orbs today it might be the end, and even if they did get enough to place them over the edge tomorrow would be another challenge. Best to mention it now. There was the idea to steal what they needed from the recharge station... but considering they were trying to catch thieves doing just that it was a bad idea to hide.

”Ah... that is... unfortunate,” stumbled Steel. ”I... hmm... it’s not standard for people to be paid mostly in orbs... and twenty four a day, EACH is quite a lot. How did you even manage this before?”

Kat pulled the bag she got from Weaver around and opened it up. Showing a bunch of drained orbs that she’d kept around. ”The Trapmaster’s trials didn’t have any orbs either and we had quite the stockpile... but it’s basically gone now. There are orbs everywhere outside and we’ve put in the effort to find them,” explained Kat.

”I see... and Lily is not affected?” double checked Steel.

Kat made a ’so-so’ gesture. ”She’s tied to me so if it triggers on me she’ll also be affected but there’s no additional price for her.”

Hedera nodded and pointed to the small Timmy beside her, ”Yeah I have this guy. Not as personable as Lily but still quite strong.”

Steel jumped in place as he finally noticed the little guy. ”When did... he? It? When did... Timmy get there?”

Hedera shrugged. ”He does that, don’t worry about it.”

”I feel like I really need to worry about it,” countered Steel.

”He can’t touch orbs for some reason so don’t worry about us using him to sneak around for them,” added Hedera.

”Well... I wasn’t really worried about that before but I am at least a bit now,” admitted Steel.

Hedera shrugged, there really wasn’t anything to say about it. Steel frowned but turned to Kat, ”A question, does it matter what size the orb is?”

Kat shrugged, ”We get more charge from the larger orbs.” Kat turned her arm to water and then burnt some demonic energy to create more of it. She split the larger orb into pieces each representing the correct size for the categories. ”One, two, three, four, five, hours of time for us.”

Steel nodded. ”Ok, I think I see a way forward. The limit on orbs doesn’t actually specify a size. Now, we essentially only use the small orbs. We don’t have too many of the other sizes but they do exists. Ten of the largest orbs should give you fifty hours. Not a week’s worth... but you weren’t planning to stay here a week correct?”

Kat shrugged but nodded as well. It wasn’t exactly according to plan but that was probably right. Hedera for her part just nodded along. ”Excellent,” sighed Steel. ”In that case I can requisition enough for a bit more than two days of time. You’re free to try and acquire orbs from others around the city... because I’m not sure I’ll be able to get them today. Is that going to cause major issues?”

Kat sighed. ”The timer is... technically a bit loose. It only checks if you’re above the required amount once a day. It can go into the negatives so you need to make up the deficit... but it is possible.”

Steel nodded, ”Ok. I’ll do my best to ensure I have those ready for tomorrow morning. If it’s getting late and you have no other options I might be able to allow you a few of the small ones to keep you both safe until tomorrow but it could cause some issues so I’d rather not. I’ll do it, but I’d rather not.”

Kat nodded, a touch unsure but she was almost certain they would be fine for today. Tomorrow was another story but they could deal with that when it came. Especially if... ”Do you know when the final decision on allowing us to make that tunnel will be held?”

Steel shrugged. ”I’d hope sometime today but if it was going to be that I likely would’ve gotten the message first thing in the morning. I don’t think it will take too long, and I think truthfully if it takes more than three days the king will simply allow you to open up the tunnel and then hold the vote, conveniently not mentioning he’s already gone through with it.”

”Ah... that’s fair enough. What about the chance to talk to Weaver?” asked Kat. *Which, truthfully, is more to ensure we don’t get in trouble for being late. It really isn’t our fault they want to delay it... and now that I think about it. A week to get there AND convince them was perhaps a bit tight. Imagine if we want to Spring and then had multiple days of convincing to do?*

[Yeah that would be bad. Even still... if we don’t get to talk to Weaver I’m not sure what they’ll say. Perhaps we should sneak in a chat at some point soon? We did promise to meet up more but obviously that wasn’t really in the cards. At least Weaver knew that much.]

”I’m not sure if they’ll want her as part of the meeting or not. I believe the worry is that, simply allowing her to speak will mean the connection is established regardless of what might be said. I have that same worry though I am unsure if I would advocate one way or the other. Plenty of details are ones only she can provide and if we’re already leaning towards accepting, allowing her early access shouldn’t be an issue. At least, that’s how I see it,” explained Steel.

Kat nodded slowly as Hedera chimed in. ”So... with that hanging, what were your suggestions for places to stay?”

”Ah yes. See, while we do have quite a few restaurants we have essentially no hotels...” admitted Steel.

”Essentially?” asked Hedera and Kat together, both picking up on the same thing.

Steel nodded. ”Ok, so we have the ’Halfway House’ that’s not really a hotel. It’s a place for people to stay when their dwelling is damaged, or they need a place to stay while they’re moving their furniture to a new one. There are actually laws around using it properly because we don’t have a lot of places for people to stay and we certainly don’t want anyone living their permanently and taking up a useful resource.

”Of course, some of those rules prevent you staying there, as there are currently no plans for you to end up with a house at the end of all of this. A potential issue. So one alternative... and pretty much the only other place to stay in the city is... well technically it’s a hotel but it... let’s just say that it specialises in short stays and allows guests to check in at any time,”

Hedera seemed confused, but Kat, who was more familiar with the modern world had a good idea of what he was talking about. Lily was burying her face in Kat’s stomach, embarrassed at the mention. ”I take it there are other suggestions? While that could work... I do admit it would be awkward.”

Steel nodded at Kat, grateful he didn’t actually get asked to explain what the ’problem’ with the hotel was. ”Right well, there are two more places you can stay. There are a few empty rooms in the palace you could stay in. You may however need to be guarded and watched somewhat closely. I’m not certain of that, it would be up to the king, or perhaps Charles.”

”Charles?” asked Kat.

”While I am the head of the guard, that mostly means I am in charge of the guards throughout the city. Charles is in charge of the guards in the palace. Technically I outrank him and could force a decision but I don’t like stepping on his toes like that,” explained Steel.

”Right... so that would also be awkward,” said Hedera, though she still didn’t quite catch what Steel meant.

Steel nodded, ”Indeed. I can also offer you space at my home, though I realise that is also an awkward choice. I shouldn’t be home during your stay, and I due to my position I have one of the nicer houses with spare rooms. Ostensibly for children and extended family but I’ve never really considered marriage. Not sure the rooms are made up, but I have plenty of extra sheets in the cupboards.”

Kat glanced at Hedera. ”I’m probably just going to stay up and work for orbs so this is really up to you,”

”Can you give me a bit to think about it?” asked Hedera back.