D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2056: Chapter 2056 A bit Tents Still

— Kat —

Kat and Lily flew up to where Hedera was resting. The elf’s bow was stored away and Hedera herself was half dozing. As Kat approached, she jolted upwards, pulling her bow out and knocking it in one swift motion only to properly register who it was and calm right back down. “Sorry about that. Didn’t realise you were already done with your meeting,” apologised Hedera.

“Technically I’m not but I was given a ten minute break. The Appoline we found wasn’t the real one but she was in control of a giant slime monster,” explained Kat.

“Oh that’s not good,” grumbled Hedera. “That’s not good at all. That’s going to cause all sorts of problems that I’m not sure we’re really in a position to solve. I mean-” Kat placed a hand on Hedera as her speech started to speed up. Apparently she was far more worried about the situation then Kat had been.

With Kat’s somewhat reassuring hand on her shoulder, Hedera took in a few more deep breaths to calm herself back down. “Sorry about that. I suppose I was treating this like a real job. If we were contracted to hunt Appoline, the fact we only found a clone could’ve been a major issue… but it’s not really like that. Still an issue but… well a contained one. There’s no real lives at risk anyway.”

Kat nodded, “I understand, and feel pretty similar. Though I’m not sure if I’d have made any different choices, I agree that it’s not as worrying when you know the stakes are lower. Perhaps I’d be arguing to dive right back into the poison to go looking. Let’s leave that aside for the moment. We can discuss everything properly after Ramor gets back to me with whatever he’s checking. What have you been up to? And is it really safe enough to nap?”

Hedera nodded, “Oh yeah plenty safe. I’ve actually been half dozing since you checked in at that other guard post. Once the situation became more of a ’slowly contain the issue’ type deal rather than ’we need to end it right now’ my presence became less useful. Sure I’m more skilled then your average archer, but an assault on this position became far less likely. We still don’t know what the point of this all is.”

“Oh? So you haven’t heard anything?” asked Kat.

“Nothing. I did keep my ear out on occasion. They’re quite sensitive and Ramor hasn’t bothered putting up anything to keep me, or anyone else, from listening in. Not that I’ve overheard anything too sensitive, but it’s noteworthy. In this case, I know quite a few people were expecting an attack on the new setup around the node but apparently? Nothing,” explained Hedera.

“Really? I mean, that’s where my mind would’ve gone first,” agreed Kat.

“Yes it’s been something that’s confused quite a few people. Perhaps it’s too obvious… but a huge amount of manpower is needed to contain this and still keep watch on other parts of the city. The guard force is stretched unbelievably thin and they likely couldn’t defend the station even if they knew of an attack… and yet nothing,” pondered Hedera.

“Could this really all be a coincidence? A mistake? That doesn’t really square with me I don’t think… but if Ramor really hasn’t heard anything? Surely they’d be doing something?” asked Kat.

Hedera shrugged, “The only reason I can think of would be either that they’re digging in somewhere, perhaps literally, or that this is some third party unrelated to the two main groups in the city. Though in that case I’d still think they’d want something else then just to cause problems for everyone…”

Kat nodded, “Yeah you’d think so… and as much as I’d love to keep pondering what that means for us, I think I can spot people leaving Ramor. It’s about time I check back in with him. Are you coming?”

“The tent is just over there, I really can hear everything going on inside. If you need me physically present, just call out,” offered Hedera.

“Alright then, I’ll see you in a bit,” said Kat as she jumped back down to the ground and made her way inside. Ramor was slamming his head into the table. Lightly, but it still didn’t paint a great picture. Lin was holding a compass in her hand and waving it around the fake Appoline, sighing every few seconds.

“I take it the news isn’t good?” asked Kat.

Ramor raised his head and didn’t slam it into the table again for a few more seconds, so Kat decided to take that to mean things were better now then they were a few seconds ago. Lin however, had no such issues crushing his dreams. “The news is horrific,” Ramor’s head hit the table once again.

“Alright, but a little clarification would be nice?” Kat queried.

Lin turned around to reveal two compasses. One was swinging somewhat wildly from side to side but still generally focused on the half that was pointing towards the fake. The second one just pointed right to her. “The first is that unreliable compass with a good distance on it. This second one? It’s a refined model that is perfectly accurate… within about half a metre. Watch,” Lin paused her explanation to step to the other side of the tent.

Once near the edge, the second compass started to spin wildly. Then, as Lin took two steps back towards fake Appoline immediately started to focus directly on the fake. Even as Lin started to rattle the compasses around to show off the second one remained stubbornly pointed towards the fake. The other one had a little more deviation, allowing itself to be influenced by the swing, but clearly still focused on the same direction, though with less certainly.

“So it detects the fake?” asked Kat.

“Yup,” agreed Lin. “And now we have to work out if it ONLY targets the fake. If the original is still in the poison despite the fact you have the fake, or if Appoline herself was never here. It’s probably going to take some interrogation but that might be a dead end.”

“Is there anything else to do?” asked Kat.

“Maybe if the city was on fire or something,” grumbled Ramor. “The fact this is the only issue is weird and… well it makes the next steps uncertain. Looking for Appoline with any sort of magical assistance has been made infinitely harder by this fake. Is she? He? It? Is that the only one?” Ramor gestured at the fake missing her legs.

“Oh…” Kat intoned. “We don’t know how long the potion lasts, or if you can drink multiple back to back to keep up the illusion, nor how difficult it is to brew… if it’s cheap to make and shelf stable Appoline could have hundreds of clones running around…”

“Exactly. We might be able to develop something to detect the change… but from my understanding its pretty complete on a physical level. There might be some specific magical residue but tracking that in a crowd would still be horrifically hard. Worse, we don’t know if the residue is going to be the same, or if it would be a mix of the potion and the person using it. Not to mention we know of at least two people who can brew it so that changes things once again… it’s going to be a problem. Perhaps if we had a sample of the potion it might be different but…” Ramor trailed off with a shrug.

“Should I go and grab some from her lab?” asked Kat.

Ramor shook his head. “Too dangerous. Appoline, if she’s there, would be fully stocked with all sorts of exotic potions. Plus the poison in the air has likely contaminated a good portion of the potions… assuming they’re even still in place. Even if Appoline wasn’t behind this the person who was had to have some inkling about her workshop and I’d be willing to bet a lot of the more valuable potions have been moved by now.”

“So… just sit back and do nothing for now?” asked Kat.

“It does seem to be the way of it doesn’t it?” agreed Ramor with a sigh. “Unless Lin has anything she wants to add?”

Lin turned around and gave Ramor a lazy look. “Oh? And why would I have any input on how an illustrious guard captain such as yourself would run things?”

“Cut the shit,” said Ramor, harshly. “This is the most serious incident I’ve ever had to deal with and I think I count that skirmish over the node in that statement. This is a horror and I can see that I’m out of my depth and lacking in knowledge. If you have something useful to say… say it.”

Lin sighed, “Well, I do think I might need to do a purging on my own spy organisation. Missing something this big… it’s a true failure. The fact I didn’t hear any inkling such a thing was possible? Especially when it seems like there was at least a bit of setup? Makes me wonder what I’m paying them for. I suppose if you want some of the better ones I can point them your way?”