D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 1985 Hail In Hedges
Chapter 1985: Chapter 1985 Hail In Hedges
— Kat —
It was a few streets later that Lin turned around and asked, “So, did you decide on if you want to go for food, the walk… or wait… perhaps me?”
Kat deadpanned at the grinning woman. “I have a girlfriend.”
“Hey, I’m happy to invite her too!” insisted the woman. “It just means I have a better chance!” Kat continued to deadpan at her. “Fine, I was just messing around anyway. I don’t get the chance to mess with people, they’re all far too scared of me.”
Kat didn’t know what to think. At a surface level, there was nothing wrong with what she said. Everything seemed true, honest, genuine. Of course when you have a set of lie detecting eyeballs in your head it renders that a moot point. Lin absolutely messed with people any time she possibly could. Worryingly though… the rest of it was true. “I was going to go for the food… but now I worry about being in an enclosed space with you,” Kat shot back some teasing in her voice… but not that much. She was honestly a little worried.
Of course, there was also the fact Lily was cackling madly across their link. She’d woken up during the ’interesting’ conversation with the advisors and had been about to nod off again when Kat started to look for date spots to preserve the surprise when Lin had shown up. While the worry didn’t go away, it did make Kat feel far less guilty for agreeing to the meeting after such a… unique set of responses.
“Aw well,” sighed Lin. “I suppose the walk will be fine then. Besides, the real issue is that you’re a bit too young for me you know?”
“I get that this is a setup… but I now have to ask, how old ARE you?” sighed Kat.
“Ah, well, I did set you up for something but you didn’t rush into it… so… let me give you a little hint. I’m not Jen’s mother or grandmother… of great grandmother either,” grinned Lin. *Right. So the implication is you’re generations before that? But she also didn’t technically say she wasn’t an aunt or a sister…*
Kat didn’t believe that of course. Sure Lin was short, shorter than Jen that’s for certain… but the projection of power was simply too much. She was at least Rank 3 in reality. How much of that power she would use while on the island was a different matter… but the power was there.
Lin did eventually lead them into a park. It was covered in a light see-through shade clothe to give it a unique feeling and to help a unique variety of plants grow here. It was exceptionally quiet and dense. Soon, Kat found herself lead into a hedge tunnel. “So, this place is rather quiet and we shouldn’t be overheard. Besides, I do have a few people on lookout to ensure it stays that way.”
*Ah there’s that slight fear again.* Kat ignored Lily’s snickering in the background as Lin continued. “So, we know about the node,” the mental snickering stopped. “but we don’t have an issue with it. We truly, do not want to interfere. It’s a great opportunity and the Halebloom family’s official stance is that we’re willing to wait for weeks, months, or even a few years if we have to. Even if that last one isn’t quite popular enough, it was agreed on as the official stance.”
“I’m noticing a lot of ’official’ in that statement, and the fact it’s specifically the Haleblooms…” offered Kat.
Lin laughed, “I wasn’t exactly hiding it… but you are correct. The issue is that internally the house is a bit more split, and the Diggers and Fleurs are much less pleased with the outcome. For my family this has always been more of an ’end goal’ type of situation. For the other two? Well… the goal and the ends have become more than a bit muddled,”
Kat nodded, “A shame, but something I could see happening. Why bring it up though?”
“Well that’s because someone tried to kill Jen,” Lin said harshly. The whole atmosphere changing. If Kat didn’t know what shadow manipulation felt like due to spending so much time around Lily, she would’ve thought Lin had shadow magic. Darkness was still technically on the table but that didn’t feel correct.
“Now, don’t get me wrong. People die in our… let’s call it a line of work. It happens, we accept that, we move on. This is another thing. She was in custody, not trying to perform more criminal acts… and I’m damned sure it wasn’t the city guards that set it off. Steel is far to by the book for that and I know he’s the one that’s been on watch at night.”
*How the fuck does anything get done in this city if you already know all of that?* “Because I don’t share half of what I know with the rest of the idiots,” Lin said, answering the unasked question. Kat scrunched her face up a bit. “Bah, if you didn’t want me to answer don’t make the question so obvious. I stepped back from running the family years ago and into more of an advisory role.”
“As what, the head of the intelligence?” asked Kat with a glare.
“Huh… interesting translation there but yes pretty much. It’s not really a spy network, more of a gossip circle. It’s not hard to find out plenty of things just by asking the easy questions. If they don’t think it’s a secret, they have no reason not to share after all. Though yes, getting info about the node was a bit harder. I myself am a bit annoyed with the stalling,” sighed Lin.
Kat rubbed her face. “Alright so what’s the goal here exactly?”
Lin shrugged. “Just telling you everything would defeat some of the points I’m going for, but having Steel know the Halebloom family at large is supporting him in this is a good start. I also really want to know who tried to kill Jen so I can punish them for it. I’d like to blame the Digger’s considering Jen works for them as a thief and enforcer…
“But frankly they’ve never been the brightest bunch. They were trained for fighting and it has made most of them a bit simple. The Fleurs are who I would suspect… but truthfully the house is divided and while Jen’s not the designated heir, she is someone that many believe will ascend to my role when I die,”
Kat looked at Lin who didn’t even look thirty. Regardless of how old she actually was, or what implications were correct she didn’t look old enough for a mid-life crisis let alone retirement age. Kat decided on her response “Are you worried about assassins?”
Lin burst out into laughter, hearty laughter that even required they pause there walk for a moment so that she could get it out of her system. “Oh Kat, what a response. Yes, it was worth meeting you just for that!” Truth? Kat actually felt happy to hear it. Odd as it was talking to Lin. “Ah… no. Well, yes, but not for me. They can fucking try. I’m a healer and while I’m not as insane as some regenerators I like to think I’d be near impossible to be put down.
“Additionally, while they’re wrong on the ’will die’ part, they’re not wrong in that I’m shopping around for replacements. Especially if the tunnel gets made. I want to go out and explore a bit, maybe see where the Halebloom family can extend some branches into you know?”
Kat didn’t really but there was a more important question. “Wait if you’re a healer why not see Jen yourself?”
“Eh… from my understanding there’s not too much to be done to help her further. I’m sure I could yes… but I’m not willing to but heads with the guards to try and finish fixing her up. On top of that, most people have forgotten just how good I am at healing and I’m in no hurry to remind them. Perhaps if she was likely to die on me I’d take the risk, but at the moment that’s not the case,” explained Lin. Her explanation even registered as mostly true.
*Hmmm… I wonder…* Kat decided quickly it was actually best not to do that when sitting across from someone apparently quite capable of reading faces. [Shame. I wanted to see if she could manage it again. Reading your faces is something I worked hard on for a while.]
*I don’t see why you thought so much of this conversation was so funny.*
[I dunno? I guess it’s because she doesn’t really feel like ’competition’?]
*Because she invited you along?*
[NO! That is not it at ALL. It’s more… like… even if she isn’t lying she isn’t quite telling the truth either? Or more like she was saying it with the same seriousness one would when offering to go to the beach or something. If it didn’t happen it was no big deal BUT. You know what I mean?]
*I… sort of? Still not sure how I feel about her and… hey wait. I was trying NOT to give away too much with my face.*
[Oops. So terribly sorry.]
*No you’re not.*
