D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2102 Assassin Details

Chapter 2102: Chapter 2102 Assassin Details

— Kat —

Tweedle looked very awkward sitting at the kitchen table. That was probably because she could see Kat running around making the food for everyone to eat. Perhaps it was just now she had the realisation that, sure it was nice to be invited by Appoline but that… this wasn’t her house it was Steel’s and she wasn’t cooking dinner either, Kat was.

Hedera was off showering, and so was Lily. Though for Lily it was a bath instead and she was using the sink instead of the full bathtub. Why waste all the extra water running the bath when she was so tiny. [You know. I think I’ve worked out why cats don’t like water. Or at least, I know why I don’t like it.]

*Really? Just now?*

[Look usually I’m distracted with other things when I’m in the water or I’m in my human form for this.]

*Alright so what’s the problem?*

[It’s mostly my whiskers. Well, having my fur wet doesn’t feel nice either but the whiskers are the main problem. Part of my brain keeps telling me that the hole I’m trying to squeeze through is too small even though I’m not anywhere near a hole and in fact, there’s plenty of space around me.]

*You’re in a sink.*

[It’s a big sink! Besides, you know what I mean. My whiskers are good for quite a few things, like picking up vibrations that I can’t really feel at the moment… and for making sure I can fit my head and body through things.]

*Does that even apply to you though? Like, do they also account for your horns?*

[Um… probably? I’ve not gotten stuck sneaking through any small gaps that my whiskers told my brain I could get through.]

*Fair enough.*

Kat and Lily continued to chat about random thoughts they’d had until Steel showed up not too long later. Hedera was still in the shower, and if it wasn’t for the fact both Lily and Kat could hear the water running and lack of fights they’d be wondering what had happened. She’d apparently needed the break and had just been sitting underneath the water for half an hour. Not even doing anything weird from what they could hear.

Still, it seemed that either Hedera also heard Steel arrive, or had decided that half an hour was enough time to get clean, because she joined everyone downstairs soon enough. Lily also made her way downstairs, though she’d been soaking wet still. Kat gave her a quick blast with demonic fire to freeze all the water on her fur.

Lily shivered a bit as the ice chipped off. Even if the demonic fire from her girlfriend didn’t affect her, the fact that she’d been coated in ice for a moment did. Though the chill wasn’t that bad, it was simply everywhere, including around her ears. Lily really would have preferred to skip that part.

With everyone dry and the food at least partially ready, mostly the appetizer salad Kat had made for everyone to share and for Appoline and Hedera to have as their main, they decided to get started on eating. Steel also took the chance to reveal what he’d found. “We’re not quite sure what happened just yet with the assassins. They were simply given a picture of you and told to attack.

“Three of them had no idea who you were, but the forth DID know and as such was a bit more revealing of the intent behind the attack… but not much. They only knew you because apparently you kicked them out of your class or something? And because of that they were completely barred from being an alchemist,”

“That doesn’t narrow it down all that much,” admitted Appoline. “There were a few people I kicked from my class over the years and nobody has really told me what the attackers looked like. Though, yes, when people get kicked from my class for particularly stupid reasons I go around and warn the other alchemists in the city so as to ensure they don’t accept them as an apprentice either.”

“That seems a bit extreme,” commented Hedera.

Appoline shook her head, “I don’t do that sort of thing for EVERYONE I kick out of my classes. Plenty I kick out for just being disruptive and talking too much or because they’re not careful enough and waste ingredients. The people I really go hard on? Usually those sabotaging their classmates’ potions. I find that completely unacceptable and I’ll try my best to ensure they never touch the profession,”

“Hmm,” murmured Steel. “Well, the person in question is called Daryl Bates,”

“Daryl…” mumbled Appoline. “OH! That fucker. He thought he was the next coming of… well me. He kept trying to experiment in my class without getting the basics down. I continually told him off, and let him get away with plenty of shit until I did kick him out…

“But what got him banned from everyone? That was when he snuck back into a class, and the first thing he did was try to fight someone for their ingredients and cauldron. I was going to let the fact he snuck in slide, because while annoying he hadn’t done anything too bad other than fail to listen. He had passion… but once he turned that on someone I was actually meant to be teaching? I broke both his arms and tossed him to someone else to deal with. Then next time I went out, I warned all the other alchemists,” explained Appoline.

“So he was part of the attack?” Tweedle asked a few moments later. “That seems mighty rude. To ignore Appoline’s teachings and then try to ruin someone else’s chance to learn from her. Completely unforgiveable…”

Steel nodded, “In this case he was. From my understanding he’s… acquaintances maybe? With the other three. They were drinking together in one of the taverns when they were approached for the job but from my understanding he isn’t the best friends with the rest of the group. He was hoping to learn how to make the light grenades as payment, in case you were wondering.”

“Hmmm… did they have anything to counter anyone else? Seems a bit odd they’d only have counters prepared for Lily. Not too many people have seen her fight and even if they have… well Hedera’s been just as active,” considered Kat.

Steel nodded, “They did have some things to counter you as well Kat… though I’m not sure why they thought they’d work. They had a bunch of lava grenades for you. I think the plan was to have the lava stick to you and keep burning to stop your regeneration?”

“That seems… brutal and like something they maybe could’ve used on everyone else as well?” mumbled Hedera.

“They were given strict orders only to use them on Kat apparently. Well, she wasn’t named but Kat’s picture is rather distinctive. I’m half surprised they listened to the order, but perhaps they were worried about how close everyone was when the fighting started? Or they wanted to avoid civilian casualties?” Steel added with a shrug.

“And they had those on them?” asked Hedera, suddenly much less pleased with her performance in the fight.

“Not all of them and not as many, the two archers had one each,” explained Steel. “I suspect that the light grenades were just slightly retooled flashbangs intended to have more of an impact on shadow magic but the lava stuff was more of a work in progress.”

“But it wouldn’t have hurt me at all!” Kat grumbled. “Just other people. Do… do that not know that most demons have resistance to fire?”

“I think most people believe its based on your demonic fire element. You should be mostly immune to ice damage instead of fire,” Hedera explained.

“I’m mostly immune to both,” Kat admitted with a shrug.

“That… hmm…” Hedera mumbled but didn’t follow up on making anything more than a few random sounds. Seeing that, Kat glanced over to Tweedle to see what she was up to but the answer was mostly just looking at Appoline for a few seconds before glancing away. Perhaps she had more questions she wanted to ask but didn’t want to interrupt the conversation?

“So we have no idea who hired them?” asked Kat after a few moments of silence, and a few more bits of food from most people. The main meal was almost finished so best to get as much sorted out as they could before she sat down to have some food of her own.

“We have some leads to follow up but nothing concrete just yet,” admitted Steel. “The tavern they went to is one we know about, so having a few of the more discrete guards ask around there might yield something. I was mostly looking to warn you all about the lava grenades that might be used… ostensibly for Kat but well,” Steel shrugged. Kat had already explained how futile they were against her.

“Just great,” sighed Hedera.