D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 1966 Charles, Charles, Where Art Thou

Chapter 1966: Chapter 1966 Charles, Charles, Where Art Thou

— Kat —

Kat finished up her job at the restaurant and then went off to find Steel. A harder task then you might expect. Kat simply didn’t know who to tell. Kat certainly didn’t want the ’why’ of her visit to leak out so she couldn’t explain her need to see Steel properly, and she wasn’t sure how many of the guards were informed of her presence so they might not recognise her as someone with the right to speak directly to Steel without explaining other things.

Kat’s mind went around in circles somewhat… until she landed on someone that just, might, barely, be able to help her. Charles, the head guard for the castle. He might not know exactly where Steel was, but he definitely had the authority to call Steel over for an important meeting and better yet, the fact he was trusted with the castle meant he was, probably, safe to speak to.

It wasn’t like this was something that absolutely had to be kept secret at all cost. Lily and Hedera certainly hadn’t been thinking about it when they took the fight outside. Sure the area had been mostly empty. It was the reason the thieves were confident they could even make the attempt… but mostly was not the same as completely and there were some people who took note.

In the small chance that Charles is someone to worry about… well, he’d probably have enough chances to investigate if he felt the need to. So Kat made her way over to the castle and realised her next issue. Getting a meeting with Charles. With no better plan Kat walked up to the nearest guard and asked, “Is it possible to get a meeting with Charles?”

“What is the purpose of this meeting?” asked the guard.

“Something serious has happened and I need to contact Steel… but I have no idea who I can share this potentially sensitive information with yet that isn’t him. I decided Charles was likely safe to inform, has a good enough understanding of who I am and what’s going on to hear me out, and can contact Steel somehow,” explained Kat.

“Understood. I will call for a runner that will inform him of your presence,” said the guard as he stepped back slightly and pressed on of the bricks. It lit up for a split second and the guard stepped back into place.

“Um… do you not need to know who I am?” asked Kat. “I had assumed there would be at least a question or two…”

“You would usually be correct, Kat, but I was among the guards that remained in the meeting alongside Steel. You likely do not recognise me, because I never spoke at the time, but I am aware of who you are and that you are, at the very least, important enough to make the request. If this is a waste of time there will be consequences of course, but that’s not my decision to make,” explained the guard.

Kat waited patiently after that, and it was quite a bit of waiting. Kat hadn’t quite understood the implications of what the guard had said… but the runner first needed to make his way here, get the message, then head off to wherever Charles was… AND THEN that same runner had to come back to say that Charles had agreed to see her and she still had to be lead through the castle to see him. This ended up taking over half an hour to get done.

Finally though, she walked inside Charle’s room. They both waited for the runner to leave, Kat listening as his steps faded away. “So you said this was serious?” asked Charles.

Kat nodded, “Truthfully I’m not certain HOW serious it’s meant to be. Um… how much do you already know?”

Charles frowned. “About what?”

“The job Steel has my, my companion and my familiar doing,” answered Kat.

Charles stared at her for a few moments. “The basics. I’m aware of what problem you’re working on but not much more than that. I deliberately didn’t ask for the specifics and I’m not sure I would’ve gotten them if I had. It’s not exactly my business. Now, enough of the run around. What are you here for?”

“Well, after spending the night on watch the other two needed a place to sleep and Steel gave us a few options,” explained Kat. She noticed the slight cringe on Charles’ face, showing he already knew the two likely options. “One of those was a chance to stay at his home. After… realising exactly what the alternative was that’s what they chose…

“And maybe an hour ago now a team of two tried to break into his house.” It felt like the room froze. Charles before was mostly humouring her, thinking that she was just trying to send over some little bit of info she’d found out throughout the day. Perhaps rumour or heresy from a tavern, maybe even just hearing someone talk about leaving the city. Instead, this was a much more serious issue.

Charles was now sitting up, his full attention was trained on Kat. “Tell me what happened,”

“Of course…” said Kat as she began to explain everything that had happened throughout the fight. Not the specifics, she certainly didn’t want to reveal Lily’s secret, but saying her familiar woke up after hearing the noise, and Hedera was woken up when Lily by Lily just before she attacked was close enough to the truth that she could actually say it.

Charles went to scratch at his chin before realising that he still had his helmet on. Shaking his head he removed it, revealing a far less scared face then Steel’s and blonde hair. Though somewhat faded with age. Kat was starting to notice though… she wasn’t sure she’d seen any beastkin in the city. A coincidence?

“That’s not good. The fact they had backup is especially weird. Though, of course as you seem to know Steel doesn’t exactly use his house often. Regularly staying in the barracks, at his desk or with his old man. It’s possible they just noticed such a fancy house was just empty… but it is a bit suspicious isn’t it?”

Kat nodded, of course it was. Charles sighed. “Alright, this definitely needs to get to Steel asap. Let me just…” Charles reached under the table and pressed a hidden button, allowing a small drawer to open in the side of the desk. Charles reached into it and pulled out a small device that looked a little like a TV remote with only one button, he pressed it before returning it to the drawer.

“Alright, that should get Steel running over assuming he’s not currently in the middle of something. Was there anything you know about the attackers you can share now?” asked Charles.

Kat shrugged, “Not really. Currently the person is still asleep and bound. They didn’t want to take of their mask or anything in case you guys had procedures for that sort of thing,”

Charles raised an eyebrow as he said, “Don’t bother. Learn their face in case they escape. As long as your companion can do so without allowing them to escape that information will be crucial. Can you let them no from here?”

Kat nodded and pressed a hand to her ear as if she needed it for the communication. Lily pulled off the mask to reveal a thick head of curly read hair that had been compressed down. The girl seemed quite clean for someone who travelled the sewers and had a notable mole just above her left eye.

Kat then converted her hand to water for a moment to create a replicate of the face she could see through Lily’s eye. “She looks like this, with red hair.”

Charles stood and did a circle around the water sculpture. “Fascinating… an exceptionally use of your ability. Sadly, my knowledge of faces is much more restrictive then Steel’s. I know everyone who currently, or has in my lifetime, worked in and around the castle. Any notable guests as well…

“And I can safely say she’s not one of them. Not more than that though. Just this… I don’t know her name, I can’t really place a family she might be related to despite read hair being somewhat uncommon. Steel might know but I’m afraid I can’t really help you with much until Steel gets here, and even then, I’m not sure what support I can offer for this. Perhaps if Steel has worries about any… corruption in his forces I could lend him some men but that’s about it,”

Kat shrugged, “I’m sure that will be fine. I might have hoped you could help more, but I understood that contacting Steel would probably be the most you could do,”

“HA, demoted to a messenger. How things change…” mumbled Charles.

“Sorry, I meant no offense,” admitted Kat.

“Oh none taken Kat,” laughed Charles. “I’m not so gauche as to attack you for taking the best course of action, especially when it’s what I imagine I’d do in your place,”