D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2146 Three Fallen Leaves

Chapter 2146: Chapter 2146 Three Fallen Leaves

— Kat —

“Three people have been eliminated! I repeat three people have been removed from the competition!” announced Thyme. “That’s a lot of people all in one day but we’ve still got a lot of contestants! It’s almost like having multiple failsafes to prevent this dragging on too long was a good idea, but no Thyme, just one will be enough. Doesn’t matter that there’s multiple ways to counter that singular countermeasure you put in. You only need the one.”

Kat paused mid slice. She was preparing dinner as the announcement went off. Lily had been watching the brewing outside after she recovered but had fallen asleep an hour ago or something like that. Kat put down the knife she was using to duck into the other room where Hedera was still playing cards. “Well, looks like three more people are out of the fight,” commented Kat.

Hedera shrugged, “Sounds good.”

“Doesn’t change our plans at all?” asked Kat.

Hedera shrugged again, not even looking away from her game. “If anything it implies that we’re doing the right thing. Especially with Thyme getting annoyed at the fact that the round is stretching on longer then intended. I had assumed there would be some sort of thing to force the issue, and the duels every day do technically do that… but it’s clear that Thyme had other things planned that didn’t get implemented.

“The fact that we have a massive stockpile of orbs, are liked by the city guard, have a nice place to stay… and haven’t seen a single other contestant… like ever? To me that implies we’re doing the correct thing. If the middle opens up we might need to do something then… but for now it seems like we’re going strong.”

“I… I guess so? Isn’t there a worry that parts of our team are potentially gone?” asked Kat.

Hedera shrugged again, “I mean, potentially an issue is about right. It might be a problem, or it might not be. We certainly aren’t struggling for orbs and others… might be? It’s hard to tell, but I’m assuming we’ll be safe here until the middle opens so I’m just going to keep not worrying about it.”

Kat sighed, “I suppose so… though what if you get sent to the duel one day? We don’t have anything amazing gear either…”

Hedera shrugged, “Then I lose. It’s not a permanent elimination because, as you already pointed out, we have plenty of orbs. I don’t know about you, but I make sure to top up every time I’m in the house so I’ve never been at risk of getting kicked from the contest since we ended up here.”

“Yeah I try to do the same,” confirmed Kat. “Usually before I start cooking, but I’ve forgot a time or two in the mornings,”

“See, we’ve got nothing to worry about. I mean… if I had to bet on a fight between the rest of your team, and you, I’d bet on you. Especially if Lily is allowed to help,” offered Hedera.

Kat let out a long sigh. “I guess you’re correct… and with this all being a game they’re not in any real danger.”

“I’d hope not, this is just a card game after all,” commented Tanisha.

Kat winced, and nodded at Hedera before walking away. Taking the hint that perhaps they shouldn’t be talking too much about the details of the tournament around people who were meant to be actors in it. Best not to give them any reason to make a mistake. Kat slipped back into the kitchen and got to work finishing the food up. At some point today there had been a delivery of my ingredients. Hedera had answered the door and apparently it all looked official with Steel’s stamp and everything.

To Kat, it was a signal to keep going with the cooking and not worrying too much about the cost. Which was… fine. *While the city doesn’t seem to have food problems on a normal day the fact that a large chunk of it has been quarantined, some of which is farmland, means that I don’t know how long that will last. I suppose it depends on how safe they were with food production.

On the one hand, the cities population probably doesn’t change too much. Better, or worse, depending on how you see it. Populations tend to trend downwards in developed areas, so there’s no certainty that people here had all that many kids… except we know that the three criminal families did.

So maybe everyone else did as well? But there’s never been a food shortage from what I know. Which brings us to the last point. Is all the food REALLY grown here? Or does Thyme just ensure that all of the stockpiles are constantly full?*

Kat sighed. That was the problem with the setup. How worried should she be about people starving. On the one hand, their wasn’t enough area in the city for food. On the other, they were literally giving it away in some places as part of government programs so clearly people weren’t starving. On the third, magical hand, perhaps crops could grow a lot faster here, either because magic in general enhanced things or because they had something magical that worked as super fertiliser.

Whatever the case, Kat simply got back to cooking. If it was a problem she was sure Steel would mention it. Even if Appoline and others weren’t the type to care too much about random people Steel did care for the citizens and so did the King. That meant that if there was an issue Kat expected to hear about it. Plus, with the pathway open to the outside once again, they should have a way to import food in a way they never did before.

Kat continued her work in the kitchen for the next hour. One part of her mind dedicated to tracking the three different kinds of soup she had on the stove, while the other watched the bread. The bread was mostly done and shouldn’t need any poking or prodding until it was done… but Kat didn’t really know how the magical equivalent of a bread maker worked so she was watching out for the possibility of it burning. It certainly didn’t have a timer on it, so it might just keep going until Kat stopped it personally.

It was around this time, that Lily awoke and started to poke through Kat’s memories to see what she missed. [THREE?! Three people eliminated? Again?]

*Yup. It does seem that way. I talked to Hedera about it like right after I heard if you haven’t seen that memory yet. She was… remarkably calm about it.*

Lily took a moment to review the memory before nodding. [Yeah that is sort of awkward isn’t it? The fact three people got eliminated reminds us that we really should be doing something before we get kicked out next… but Hedera is correct in that we’re already doing that. We’re making great use of our resources and it seems like nobody has found a way inside…]

*I mean we did sort of leave that quest for Weaver by the wayside…*

[We turned down the next part… in theory temporarily but it’s looking quite permanent at this point. Hedera’s still been talking to Weaver though so I imagine that our lack of progress isn’t a major issue. Hedera would say something otherwise.]

*Would she though?*

[I… think so? I mean… it seems clear to me, and I think Hedera, that you’d be fine leaving and being more proactive at just about any time. The fact that we’re still here though is testament to the fact that as much as it might seem otherwise this really is the best place to be.]

*I guess so. It’s just weird… then again I suppose if we took a bit less time to get through the puzzles we could’ve ended up trapped. Well that or if we pushed ahead and tried to get the top prize and ended up stuck. That also could’ve eliminated us…*

[Yeah. Might be a ’big risk, big reward’ type deal. We found a rather well hidden trap that was actually a set of puzzles room AND managed to get through them all without running out of orbs. Though… considering said lack of orbs in the winter area, do you think that’s, lore wise, because they all get concentrated in this city?]

*That is… oddly possible. Huh…*

[Yeah I think so too. It could also, thus, be argued that by using the orbs here and continually requesting them we’re helping eliminate more orbs in the rest of Winter.]

*Ok I’m not quite sure I’d go that far… but I can agree that it seems better to stick around in this area then I was thinking. Plus, despite my complaints, at least we are doing things. Though, now I’m thinking about it… what are the chances that the secret item in the poison is a piece of the escape tablet?*

[Oh… that… hmm… can we even find them yet? It does sound correct though…]