D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 1984 Hail Moving In
Chapter 1984: Chapter 1984 Hail Moving In
— Kat —
There wasn’t anything they could say to convince her the node would be safe… and it seemed they knew it as well. “I’m perfectly happy to activate it whenever and wherever you want. Nobody can steal or disrupt it once its in place. At least, not directly,” said Kat after a few moments of silence.
It was clear though, that quite a few people weren’t happy with that truth, especially Malory. “Is it not enough that the King is asking you to do this?”
Kat very obviously did a slow look around the room, making sure to really stick her neck out as she visibly gawked at the room. “What King is asking? I don’t see him anywhere,” Kat said. Apparently Malory liked repeating herself because Kat had already gone over this point just before.
“We, as the advisors, can act in the King’s stead. He need not make specific, individual demands upon the citizens! It would be ridiculous,” insisted Malory.
“Right but… counterpoint, I’m not even a citizen yet. That was part of why I’ve been helping Steel out remember? I’ve been sticking to the laws and being as polite as I can about things, and just been generally helpful where I can. Still though, I was tasked with delivering the node and seeing it set up SOMEWHERE. It doesn’t have to be here. I can set it up, or I can leave,” stated Kat firmly.
There seemed to be a lot of glaring after her statement with not a lot being said. Perhaps if she was more familiar with any of these people, or Steel wore a helmet less often she’d be able to work out what they were ’saying’ but alas neither was the case. Instead she just got to stand quietly while the glares were exchanged. She could at least see the shifting facial expressions, implying they were different glares… but this wasn’t like Lily where even before the mental link she had a good guess at what her girlfriend was thinking. Most of the time anyway. Didn’t realise she was in love with me… so maybe I’m just bad at facial expressions?
Eventually, Malory said, “It is, technically, a restricted item as it is something allowing for access to the outside world. Steel could demand it turned over to the guards for safekeeping,”
“I could do that. In theory,” agreed Steel with the rather blunt and unsaid “But I won’t” hanging on the end of the sentence.
“I could order you to do it?” tried Malory but everyone could hear the question in that.
“Technically the COUNCIL could… but not you specifically. Though I am noticing that said council has been suspiciously quite. Would anyone like to make additional comments? Frankly, I think the tunnel needs to be opened sooner rather than later to help bleed off the tension that’s definitely building. We’re probably going to have a riot on our hands soon.”
“And is it not your job to stop that?” asked Malory.
“Gee, I think so. It’s almost as if I’ve been trying yet the council has been blocking my best attempts. Strange that,” countered Steel almost conversationally. “So, why was this even allowed?” Steel deliberately looked past Malory at everyone else.
Weth shrugged, “Meh, it was easier to let her get it out of her system.”
Stad nodded, “If it worked I wouldn’t have minded. I do think it’s a bit odd we allowed her to leave with the node in the first place considering its power and the potential for using it to create an unknown tunnel out of the city. I don’t want to force the issue, and I wasn’t going to bring it up either… but if someone else wanted to?” Stad shrugged.
Charles sighed “I’m just here as a guard for an important meeting. Even if I end up guarding it as part of my duties, that’s a separate matter. Ignore me.”
All eyes turned to the last figure in the room. They were an elf with a considerable amount of makeup. Kat wasn’t sure if they were meant to be a jester or if one of their kids decided to paint their face and the elf wasn’t concerned enough to wash it off. Kat also couldn’t guess at their gender. They might’ve had boobs? It was hard to say as they were leaning forward and had a flowy shirt. The feminine looking facial features were pretty common on elves as well.
“Malory is a friend, and she was passionate about this so I was happy to push it along. Especially as I’ve never met you, Kat, and have no idea what the right call is here. Name is Taylor by the way,” added Taylor, whose name did not clarify their gender in the slightest.
Kat waited for the follow up. “So… what that’s it?”
Taylor shrugged, Weth shrugged, Malory and Stad notably didn’t but they had the same sort of look on their face. Eventually, Steel added, “It seems so. With me not willing to take the orb from you without direct request from the King, or a proper council vote… there’s nothing more they can do really. I’d love to know why things are still delayed though…”
Malory grumbled, “I still think it’s entirely a bad idea…” So what just delay it as long as you can then?
Stad shrugged, “I think, while I understand Steel’s desire to rush into this, securing the sight is more important. Making sure that leaving isn’t easy and that returning is harder will be a challenge. One Steel hasn’t properly addressed, at least in my opinion.”
Steel glared, “My plans were shot down, I’m running on basically no sleep, and you all wanted it in the castle, or at least on the grounds so Charles needs to be consulted on them all. Something I haven’t had a chance to do because of everything else.”
Stad shrugged again, “Seems like a reason not to rush to me…”
“I was on board with moving forward,” adds Weth. “I thought Steel’s first plan was actually quite robust… it would just take a few days to implement. Still, I voted for it.”
“I’m still catching up, but with Malory against it and Stad wanting to keep things moving slower I was willing to follow along. Technically I voted with them, but I was basically just abstaining from voting and going with whoever had more support,” explained Taylor.
Not sure why they all felt the need to explain it like that. I’m going to say there are some script shenanigans. I feel like ’I don’t need to explain myself to you’ was the expected response. But whatever.
“I suppose with that out of the way, it’s time to leave. Please do inform me of when you’re ready to actually go through with opening the tunnel,” said Steel with some annoyance in his tone. “I’m off to rest.”
Steel performed a heel turn and marched out of the room, Kat following behind him a bit later. Once they got out of the castle Steel added, “I’m off to sleep but I’ll be staying at the spare room in Ramor’s house to be closer to the action. That, plus I know Hedera is staying at my house.”
“I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t mind,” offered Kat.
Steel shrugged. “True but while I perhaps wouldn’t have considered a change in resting location normally… it’s at the point where seconds and minutes matter. I want to stay close to the action.”
“Alright then,” agreed Kat. “Anything I should be doing?”
“Whatever you want really. I’m too tired to think up something useful. Go rest, or explore or whatever. You’re currently off the clock,” said Steel before walking away.
Kat nodded and began to wander around, planning to see a bit more of the city and perhaps pick out another date spot, however before long she was approached by someone. A small woman with vibrant red hair and a somewhat recognisable face. She was short, with a cute dress but she seemed to ooze power. “Ah, Kat, just the person I wanted to see. Would you mind joining me for a bit to eat? Perhaps a walk around some nearby gardens?”
Kat ran through a mental checklist of the people she’d met recently and none of them matched with this woman. *So why does she seem familiar?* Kat expanded her mental search to anyone she’d met while here in this dimension but was still coming up short. It was only when she was re-reviewing ’recent’ people that she realised why she was familiar. Her hair, her face… not so much her stature. She was clearly related to Jen. This was someone from the Halebloom family.
From the amount of power and authority she seemed to project in such a small form it was likely this was the matriarch of the clan, or something similar. Bother. *This is going to be a massive pain in my ass I just know it. Still… the street is fairly crowded. Best not to have a brawl here if that’s what it comes down it.* “Sure, I’m fine with whatever you have in mind,” agreed Kat.
