D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2061 In the Garden of Fleurs Part 1

Chapter 2061: Chapter 2061 In the Garden of Fleurs Part 1

— Kat —

Kat looked at the hedge in front of her with suspicion. Hedera was nearby, as they’d found the best place to cross. There was a water tower right next to the Fleur’s hedge if you went deep enough into some random guy’s farm and they were making use of that. Hedera was set up on top of it, and while she didn’t have a perfect view of everything she could see everything up to the main residence pretty well.

Lily was standing on Kat’s outstretched arm, where Kat had the coin resting on her palm. This should mean that they were both touching the coin when they crossed the barrier but Kat wasn’t entirely certain of how well this would work. Still, she could fly to keep herself steady. The only issue was the hedge. It seemed normal, with a bunch of flowers scattered along its length… but even Kat could sense the amount of magic flowing through the thing was entirely unnatural. It radiated mana in a way that implied it was the anchor for the barrier. One that apparently wasn’t going to stop them crossing.

“Are we sure this is safe? I feel like the hedge is a moment away from turning into a giant plant monster and attacking me,” grumbled Kat.

Hedera nodded, “If it is actually the barrier then turning into a giant plant monster would be really bad for its structural integrity. I’m more confused as to why the barrier is allegedly permeable across its length rather then just at the main gate,”

“You can do that?” asked Kat.

“Yup. Lin seems convinced they don’t… but I do wonder why?” mumbled Hedera.

Kat sighed, “Well no use worrying about it. Ready to see if we immediately set off some alarms?”

“Go ahead,” answered Hedera. Kat shared a glance with Lily and lifted off the ground. Not wanting to be scene by the large multiple story mansion in the middle of the compound, Kat made sure to just barely lift herself over the hedge. It was part of her worry, that the hedge would reach out and grab her or something, but it all seemed to go well.

Kat lifted herself up and over the hedge. The few workers they could hear weren’t nearby and the greenhouse they’d lined themselves up with seemed to be hiding their existence well. Kat was careful not to land on the grass just in case that was some sort of deadly trap but considering the fact that children were raised here Kat did find that unlikely. At least, unlikely to be the default state.

Is there any way to tell if we triggered the alarm or not?

[Not really? From Lin’s understanding it triggers an alarm for a few specific people who can trigger a proper compound wide alert. Let’s just hope for the best for the moment. Though if you hear screaming its probably best to go loud.]

Kat and Lily made their way to the nearby path and Lily transformed, just for a moment. She swiped the tile and hid it in her pocket before transforming back. This was something they’d tested before. Kat’s transformation didn’t seem to include it, instead just dropping the coin on the floor so this was the only way they had to keep it safe. There was a worry THIS would also trigger an alert but they just had to hope at this point.

Kat went to make her way inside of the greenhouse in her mist form… and found she couldn’t. There was a gap in the door. That theoretically she should be able to fit through… but it was like pushing up against a wall. Kat pushed herself across a few more gaps but found they were similarly boarded up. *I can’t get through.*

[Let me see if I can…]

Lily sniffed around the door and found that the whole greenhouse was likely enchanted not to let any smells out. Even still, there was no obvious reason for her own trick not to work and the shadows inside worked just fine for her teleportation. A moment later Lily was inside the greenhouse without issue. [Should I open the door for you?]

Kat transformed back in a crouched state as she looked around, ears straining to see if anyone else was nearby. There wasn’t too many people out working at this time of night but you could hear a few people chatting, a few others working and some of the greenhouses were completely lit up despite the fact it was night time. *I can hide out as a mist for a while I think.*

Lily nodded and started to explore the greenhouse. It was somewhat easy to figure out where the hidden basement was when you knew that it WAS a basement and the main walls were made out of glass. Magic only made it so much harder to find things. Lily swept her shadows against the floor and managed to notice a gap in the ground. Finding how to open the trapdoor took a little bit longer, but when you can smell that a particular flower isn’t real it’s not too hard either.

Lily used her shadows to press down on the very centre of one of the fake flowers and soon heard a click. The loose panel was lowered down into the basement to reveal a ladder and Lily glided down. Sadly, it wasn’t the prison she was hoping for. Instead of Appoline they just found someone’s long term alcohol storage. They weren’t even sure if it was a properly hidden room because it looked well cleaned and like it had regular visitors.

Lily did find another hidden but, the secret basement inside of the secret basement used to store alcohol… was just more alcohol storage. Lily did check around for a third secret basement under that, but either it didn’t exist or she wasn’t able to find it swiftly. Her shadows didn’t pick up anything and her spatial senses didn’t imply that there was any space manipulation going on outside of the ones she already knew about. The two secret basements were expanded just like the greenhouse above it after all.

One down… somewhere close to fifty to go. Lily left the greenhouse and they moved together, with Kat staying as mist and Lily creeping along the ground, making use of her small stature and shadow manipulation to make it nearly impossible for anyone to make her out properly even if they managed to look over and spot her. The morning was still a few hours away for the moment so they had time where this could remain stealthy.

They moved onto the next greenhouse and find it was the same in many ways. Sure the plants inside weren’t all identical… but that was what made it easier. The door still barred Kat’s entry, and while Lily said that ’keeping the moisture levels consistent made sense for a Greenhouse’ it was still annoying that her best stealth tool had been negated by a gardening enchantment. Still, with the plants all looking different it was easy for Lily to notice the plant at the back. That smelled fake, and happened to be the exact same in appearance as the one in the previous greenhouse.

She didn’t even need to check around for the secret hatch when the button was so obvious. A quick tap to the middle of the flower and low and behold a secret underground room! This one was actually underneath the nearby hose that was used to water the plants in this garden but it was just as easy for Lily to sneak down the ladder. Instead of bear and spirits, Lily found a large number of dried and preserved herbs.

The search for the second basement went significantly worse this time around. Lily’s shadows weren’t able to notice anything strange about the flooring, nor the walls, nor the ceiling which she did eventually check. The secret button from the last one, pressing cork in the cask near the secret, secret entrance was obviously not available here. Lily sent a bunch of shadow hands all around the room pressing on just about everything she could. Though she made sure not to mess with the plants physically.

Lily did smell a number of them, and found they were all real. Unlike the fake plant upstairs, everything here was a real herb. Useful? Perhaps not but it was all real and had been alive at one point in time. [Kat, I can’t find a second secret basement in this one. Do you want me to keep looking or just head back up?]

*I trust your judgement. If you think there isn’t one we can head back up. It’ll be easy to remember this one anyway, so we can check back if we still haven’t found Appoline come morning… or after checking everything else. Pretty sure this is going to take more than the three hours we still have.*

[Eh, if they’re all lazy enough to use the same fake flower as the first line of defence then we might be done soon…]

*Lily you just spent fifteen minutes looking for a basement that didn’t exist.*

[Oh. Ok maybe this is going to be harder to get done then I thought. I’d suggest splitting up but you can’t even get into the greenhouses…]

*Maybe you could open the doors for me?*

[And would the alarms go off?]

*Hmmm…*