D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad-Chapter 1778 - Minty Aftertaste
--- Lily ---
Making her way through the city in the dark was easy. Sure they had a few street lamps enchanted to ensure people could see but they were concentrated heavily around the main roads and side streets just had a second lamp that shined roughly down on the area as best it could from the often awkward positions. Especially when the side streets curved around a bit. Even with the main street there were plenty of places to hide if Lily wanted to do that.
On the other hand… she also didn't know where to go. She had no idea exactly how central the main park was, nor how she was to find the oldest tree. Keeping a low profile meant avoiding flight for now because that was the most likely way she got caught. Some casual glance upwards and it was quite clear that a few groups were working against them at this point.
Perhaps they'd all been hired by the same person, but she wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of people were on the lookout for her. Though… at the same time the fact that she hadn't been grabbed along with the others muddied that fact a bit. *Though they might know that if something happened to me Kat would annihilate them. Or perhaps certain segments only know about the others? I imagine quite a few people would be too scared to act against a demon.*
Regardless, what this all meant was that Lily had to vaguely navigate towards her best guess for the centre of the city using what she could. That was mostly the edges of the caldera that rose up above the city. Trying to find a way to 'even out' the distance between each of the edges would take her most of the way… the problem was that the caldera was no perfect circle. She'd taken note of that when they were coming in. It was more like an oval really, so still not too bad… but that was at first glance. Perspective could be messing with her and the view from the town rooftops was not great for figuring this sort of thing out.
It also gave Lily time to worry over if it was the right thing to do… leaving Nixilei to be 'tortured' like that. Though the torture really did deserve that uncertain state. Nixilei didn't seem in pain at any point, and while it could've just been a bluff to psyche out the guard Lily couldn't smell any fear or concern. Not that she really understood how to sniff that out… but her instincts told her she was right with that guess.
*Which I suppose makes it harder. If I knew I was in the wrong I could properly feel guilty. If I was more certain she was completely fine then I wouldn't be worried at all. Now I just have a sort of low-key worry that makes me feel like I should do something… but arguably I'm already taking the best course of action. Heck, if I'm reading it right Nixilei would've preferred that I go do this.
I mean, Kress was fine. Green was fine. Gareth was obviously fine. I didn't want to give out too many clues. Just a simple little wave to everyone. I didn't expect Gareth would have a real suggestion but I guess it worked out… though would I have been better off leaving immediately instead of checking back in on Nixilei?
On the one hand. I wouldn't know she was getting tortured. On the other hand, I wouldn't know she was getting tortured. Very much both sides of the coin here. Then again… isn't being shoved in a dark hole already torture? Or does mana change the equation? Meditating and focusing on your mana is a pretty engaging way to spend your time so it's probably not the horrific torment it normally is… but it probably isn't great either.*
Lily continued to ponder if she was doing the right thing as her nose picked up a more concentrated scent of flowers. That made it easy to home in on the nearby park… and was probably the main one? Lily rushed over there while remaining as careful as she could. The whole thing was surrounded by a low brick fence that you could easily slide over. She wasn't sure why they bothered. It wasn't like it was keeping anyone out and the gates were all still open. Lily didn't even feel any power in the enchantments! If she had to guess it had some cleaning and durability on it and nothing else.
Stepping into the park Lily saw a bunch of things. There were benches, foamy pit with climbing equipment set up over the top, trees all over the place and quite a few flower beds. It was a nice park. Not a fantastically over the top one, but a nice, solid park for the centre of the city that probably got visitors because of its size and location. Then again, maybe not. Lily didn't know what the standard was for this world. Perhaps it was excellent. The real issue was that all the trees she could make as she made her way closer looked to be about the same. Sure there were small differences but nothing that told her that one was obviously much older then the rest. Heck, it was possible that 'the one' was only older by a few hours. Dryads could probably tell that sort of thing at a glance.
Lily found herself dashing from tree to tree, regularly sniffing around as if that would tell her which of them was the oldest. Lily wasted over an hour on that, just… walking up to trees, sniffing them, poking them a bit and really just looking for any sign that they were the tree she was looking for. This continued until one unassuming tree was getting sniffed… and she could just feel the mana wafting out of it. It was so much more than anything else in the area Lily had no idea how she'd missed it. Backing up a few steps and the feeling suddenly vanished. *Ok I don't feel like a complete idiot at least.*
Lily glanced around the empty park for a bit before transforming and knocking hard on the wood, hoping that would get Thyme's attention. Her action was rewarded when a few moments later a dryad walked out of the tree stretching along the way… but it wasn't Thyme. Or well, it could be Thyme because they could look however they wanted… but the outfit, the body… the face especially…
"Mint?" asked Lily with more than a bit of confusion.
Mint blinked a few times before her head turned towards Lily, creaking and cracking all the way. "Oh! Lily! Sorry for them um… creep factor and any slow responses. I'm learning how to use two bodies at a distance at the moment and it… well it's a work in progress. I'm basically just sitting in two bodies but only using one at a time. It's… well like I said a work in progress,"
"Right… um… I was sort of hoping for Thyme?" offered Lily. "Not that it's not great to see you but it's sort of important,"
"Oh um…" Mint tried to think of what she could say.
--- Mint --- (About 3 hours ago)
Mint 'stared' from her tree back at the dryad grove. Some massive monster had decided to come for them. Luckily Thyme was there to keep them all safe… but that didn't mean it wasn't scary. Even though the fight was taking place over a hundred kilometres away she could still feel the ground shaking through her roots. The monster wasn't even visible but it was terrifying.
"Hey Mint,"
"AAAH!" Mint screamed as she focused on the figure next to her… and it was Thyme? "Wait… um…" Mint shifted so that her spare body could walk out of the tree… and winced at how jerky it was. "Thyme? Um… is everything alright? Why are you here? Aren't you fighting?"
"I am but I can't use any of my REALLY big attacks without risking massive damage to the surrounding area. I need someone to take up watch for the tournament and delay anyone who comes looking for me. This is taking a lot of my concentration because I can't hit too hard, I have to keep it away from the dryads AND the other settlements nearby. Well for a given definition of nearby. Then there's the final touches for the tournament and… look I'm sorry but I don't have the mental bandwidth right now. Just don't let it get out how busy I am and try to be polite to whoever shows up. Well that or use my name to browbeat them into submission. If I'm not done soon I'll just punt this shithead into space and accepted a bit of fallout…
"Anyway, you're the furthest along for the multiple body course so I'd love it if you could do me this favour…"
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.
--- Lily --- Back in the present.
Mint was fidgeting. "Um… so… yeah er… Thyme's busy and the tournament is soon so is it possible to take a raincheck?"
