D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 1866 - 1866 Hunting Around Town

— Kat —

Kat still wasn’t seeing anything as she looked around. Weaver hadn’t bothered to mentioned which direction she should go. Just that there was a settlement ‘nearby’ which really wasn’t helping. Thankfully, someone was causing problems. “GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

For Kat the words were muffled and barely legible, she could only guess exactly what was being said… but the fact she could hear people talking at all meant she knew where to go and it had only been five minutes of ‘searching’ tops. Kat kicked off the mushroom and started to glide over, careful not to get too high up in the air. She was probably missing a few orbs but getting to the town was more important.

As she was flying over, Kat turned her attention to her link with Lily and quickly judged her girlfriend to be asleep. *A bit of a shame because I was going to ask for advice but it’s probably for the best she gets a lot of rest. Especially as I suspect she’s going to push herself to help me as much as she can over the next few days.*

As Kat got closer she could hear what was going on. Someone was clearly being chased… in her direction? No not quite, but they were still getting closer. Deciding to investigate a bit Kat angled herself away from where she’d heard the initial sound and kept her eyes and ears listening in. It didn’t take too long to see what was going on. A hunter, a human one, was chasing after a small-ish creature of some kind. Sort of looked like a squirrel but its tail seemed to be a glowing green blob that could shift and it was closer in size to a dog then a squirrel.

The creature had a bag of some kind in its mouth and Kat was just about to drop down and crush it when she noted that the Hunter had their bow firmly on their back and they were simply trying to catch the thing. Not wanting to accidentally kill a pet or familiar, Kat instead dropped down just in front of it, letting the monster barrel into her before wrapping her arms around it.

Regardless of how tame it might be, it wasn’t happy to be caught and chomped down hard on her arm… only for it to dig into muscle… and stay there. The creature had barely punctured her skin it certainly wasn’t strong enough to cut through her muscles or even touch the bone. It quickly froze in place like she’d stunned it and went limp. The hunter soon caught up and glanced at her. “Thanks for catching the little shit… and I guess thanks for not killing it either,”

“No problem, my name is Kat. Do you… want it?” she asked.

“No, no, it just stole something from me. That bag in its mouth is some premium grade jerky that I was supposed to be handing over later today. This little shit here belongs to one of the kids in town and while the kid and his parents routinely deny it… I’m certain someone taught the bastard to steal things. Mostly the stuff I catch so they can claim innocence. ‘Oh it’s just going after food’ they say,” the Hunter spat.

“If that were true why does it only ever seem to grab the stuff that’s wrapped? Never once has it grabbed anything from my drying rack, nor any of the carcasses I’m bleeding. It specifically goes for the finished product.” The Hunter paused for a moment. “Oh right. My name’s Daryl. Should’ve introduced myself before. I’m the main hunter here in town, though I got a few apprentices that like to slack of. I’ve not seen you around before. You visiting for some specific reason? New to the island? Just wondering around?”

“I’ve got a meeting with whoever is in charge. Not one set up, but an… acquaintance asked me to make a delivery for them. Though um… what did you want done with this thing again? You said it wasn’t yours, but…” Kat said, slowly trailing off.

Daryl clicked his tongue. “I don’t rightly know. Thing is a bit too strong for me to catch without injury… and I know I’d never hear the end of it if I injured the blasted thing. It’s name is ‘Brux’ if you care.” Daryl sighed long and hard before continuing. “Right… if you don’t mind we can head back to my hut and I’ll point out where the town is. If I’ve still got me old cage I might shove the thing inside and ask for compensation to return it or something…”

Brux was clearly smart enough to realise that was a problem and started to try and escape but Kat just tightened her hold ever so slightly and the thing stopped moving really quickly after that. Daryl glared at Brux for a few moments before clicking his tongue again and turning around. Kat took that as an invitation to follow and quickly shifted the position of the squirrel thing so that it was resting under one arm. It did try to wiggle out a bit, slapping her with its tail a few times and trying to pry itself out… but when it made no progress it calmed down again.

The walk back to Daryl’s hut was calm and neither said much. When they arrived… well Kat admitted to being a bit surprised. Daryl had built his house in one of the larger mushroom trees. Hollowed it out and put in a door and a few windows… but it wasn’t much of a house. It was more of a shack with a bed in it. His kitchen was clearly the firepit he had outside and there was a few drying racks around the place in the slightly fenced off area. Kat honestly wondered why he didn’t have more issues with monsters stealing his stuff.

“Gimme just a moment,” grumbled Daryl as he ducked inside the ‘house’. Kat heard a trapdoor soon afterwards, and the stomping of boots on stairs. Soon Daryl could be heard rummaging around downstairs. There were a few curses but eventually he made his way back up.

Daryl came into view carrying a cage that looked like it was barely going to fit Brux… and was not in good condition besides. “Are you sure that can hold him?” asked Kat.

Daryl scowled. “Not for long, and not if it really wants to escape… but I’m already showing you the way into town so I can stop over where I need to along the way. I don’t need ‘im to stay put forever, just long enough. The little shit should be smart enough to know it’s just going to injure itself escaping and I’ll let it out soon enough.”

Kat decided that while it was a decent idea in theory, she had a better one. Carefully expanding her aura to cover the monster and nothing else she put in in the cage. Of course, Brux started to panic but Kat pressed down on it with her aura and soon it calmed once again even after the cage door had been slammed shut. Daryl smiled and walked back inside for a moment before reemerging soon after.

“Got this for ya,” said Daryl as he threw over an orb. “It ain’t much but it’s a bit of thanks,”

Kat bowed exaggeratedly, though she did sweep her arm out in front to hide her tits. She was trying to be a bit silly not give the guy a show. “No thank you. I heard your cursing from a while away and it helped me get this close,”

“Ah…” mumbled Daryl before he turned around and picked up the cage and started to walk off to avoid that bit of embarrassment. Kat giggled and followed after him. There was a pretty clear path so it was easy not to get lost.

It took around twenty minutes to get to the town though Kat was limited to Daryl’s speed. The town itself seemed to have learnt from being constantly destroyed. Instead of sturdy stone and brick buildings the whole place was littered with basic shacks and semi-permanent tents that likely never moved. The town was pressed right up against a large lake that went on for a while. It didn’t seem to be all that deep but its size likely helped provide a good deal of water for the town.

People were moving about all over the place and it was a much more eclectic mix of races then the was the standard. Elves, humans, fae, beastkin, dwarves and dryads. Along with a few other crazier looking races that were obviously costumes. For example, there was one girl that looked like a minotaur but her ‘legs’ where clearly just stilts. The main reason you could tell? Her suspenders were attached to the inside of her ‘legs’ instead of her pants. Still, it was an interesting looking place. *Hmm… after speaking to whoever’s in charge should I just go about asking for sidequests?*