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

--- Kat ---

The next morning, things were going well. The group was making good time… that is, until shortly after their first break for the day they ran into a city. Or perhaps more accurately, the city came into view alongside the massive line to get inside. The group slowed to a crawl and made their way slightly off the road with some confusion. "That's… a lot of people. Why is there even so many?

I mean, we passed another village recently but I'm pretty sure there's more people here then in that whole place," said Kat.

"Um… I don't really know… but I think it's market day? Or no… tomorrow is market day? So this is all the merchants and stuff trying to get inside to set up… I think. Though there IS a lot of them. Perhaps this is for a festival or something? Most of them have like, carts and stuff so this might have been going on for a few days… Enjoy reading on NovelFire|le|mp|yr

"But even the cities don't normally check travellers THAT thoroughly. I mean, sure they do a basic check sometimes but a merchant's certificate is easily enough to get inside most days. I guess something might have happened… but that means I'm not sure what we should do…" mumbled Kamiko.

"What is the issue with simply skipping the line?" asked Hunter. "We are on official business and we do not need to stay in the city. If you think that insufficient we can always go around, assuming they will not attack us if we are clearly avoiding the walls?"

"Yeah… umm…" Kamiko wiggled awkwardly from her place in the saddle. "So… now that we're here I realised that… well we sort of ran away without picking up our paperwork?"

"What?" asked Kat.

"Right so… we do have some official documents… or we're supposed to. But we sort of just… left to avoid that fight between Mekmr and Mermr so… we didn't end up with it. Now, that's not an issue right now. We can just move around the town after all… no the real problem is when we get to the forest we're supposed to be looking for the drake in…" sighed Kamiko.

The pink haired demon took a second to centre herself. "So… we might need that information to get into the forest, or perhaps to not be reported for entering the forest? Or like… something like that. So… we sort of want those documents, and theoretically we can ask for updated copies from the church here.

"I mean, they know enough about demons to know we can't lie… so they have protocols for restoring 'lost or destroyed documents'. There's a whole bunch of questions they can run through to get us our paperwork… I know because we were meant to get that speech back at the abbey… but they skipped it because I already know. I guess? Or maybe because we left early.

"A-anyway… we don't have those papers, but we might need them in a couple of days and we can get replacements here… but we if we don't have those papers then we'll have to wait in line… and I don't know if we want to wait that long?" offered Kamiko.

"Ah…" said Kat as she tried to think of solutions.

Hunter however, had something in mind already. "Is there any reason we need to go into this specific city for replacement papers? This is clearly a busy time for them and you have indicated that we do not need the papers at this time,"

"Um… yeah so… I don't know if we'll find another church that's big enough for the papers? I mean, the smaller local churches are more like… school houses or libraries. They… they're official but they're not quite… that official? If it makes sense. So… yeah we couldn't stop at a small village church for papers… but there might be more cities along the way? I mean… I don't really have a map either?

That's probably something that should've come up before but we haven't needed to turn of the clearly main road yet, and I know sort of where we're going, so the few splits we have run into had a pretty clear 'wrong' direction…"

Hunter let out a slight hiss but didn't seem to be too upset. "A lack of a map is a compelling reason to enter the city… yet it would likely take all of the day and perhaps some of the next. That is a significant delay while on a hunt. I suggest speaking with one of the fancy merchants and requesting a map. We have sufficient things to trade in our rings to allow us to acquire one.

"We just have to determine which, if any, of these merchants sell maps. It is not a lucrative or common profession for worlds at this stage of development so that might take some time. Additionally, they may not wish to barter with us when the city is so close.

The only flaw in this plan I can think of would be if we acquire the map and then swiftly learn that there are no churches along the way important enough… though how are you able to identify such?"

Kamiko's fingers spun around each other as she didn't quite meet Hunter's eyes. "Um… I can't really? I was just sort of thinking that this place looks big enough to have a proper church... or really, what I mean is someone that's high enough rank to give us replacement papers but honestly I'm not totally sure about that… um… as for other churches? It depends.

In the bigger cities you can find them, but other than that they tend to be off the main road a bit on their own. Proper… um… abbeys and stuff. Mostly self-sustaining and for summonings and stuff… but I doubt there's any on the way there because if there was… I mean, wouldn't we just have been summoned there?" mumbled Kamiko.

"It is entirely possible you were summoned by familiar faces. It ensures you have more of a connection to this place and helps subtly encourage you to help to the best of your abilities without actually asking for anything more. It is a good long-term tactic.

It is also likely something we encourage from our end because D.E.M.O.N.S is willing to give more leeway with circles if you are summoning the same demon for additional jobs. It is likely for a large number of reasons, but it is a clearly noted trend and something that can be confirmed without much issue," stated Hunter.

*Huh… I wonder if that's why I was summoned to help Xiang the second time? Less that it was intact enough to summon me specifically but more 'you've helped out this guy before so you get first pick' or something like that? It certainly makes me less inclined to leave beacons around all over the place.

If I know that someone can, probably, summon me again if they really want to I don't need to just hand them out if I get on with my summoners 'pretty well'.*

Kat shook the thought off and said. "So what you guys are saying is that we need documents that may or may not be in the city we'd have to wait at least a day to get into?"

Hunter nodded while Kamiko frowned at the statement. After a brief glance between the two Hunter stated, "I suggest that we acquire a map before planning further. Would you like for me to undergo negotiations? I can likely guarantee a sale, but we are unlikely to get a good deal as I am unskilled at judging the true worth of many things,"

"I'm no better so go ahead," said Kat, then after a moment she asked. "Wait, would it be best if we come with you for this?"

Hunter considered the question for a few moments, keeping eye contact with Kat the whole time. "I suspect that your presence will be unlikely to make a significant difference on the difficulty of acquiring the map. I just need to observe for sufficient time to identify the merchants WITH maps then accept that if it is a personal copy I will be overpaying by a significant margin.

It is likely I would be forced to overpay regardless, but without being able to identify a map seller I have no other choice,"

"Um… why is that?" asked Kamiko.

"If it is a personal copy they will be reluctant to part with it for a normal sum unlike if they were specifically setting out to sell maps. By the same token, these ARE all merchants so with sufficient compensation they will be willing to provide me with the map anyway.

Especially as they are right outside of a city likely to contain a map store or someone else willing to part with their own maps for significantly less,"

Kat shrugged and said, "Well that seems like a good idea… I guess if you don't need me I'll wait here? Give Lily a chance to run around a bit…"

Lily jumped from Kat's hands to transform and say, "Hey, that's giving me undue credit. I'm probably just going to do some spell practice…"