Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 31 – Meetings (Patreon)

No one seemed interested in replying to her question, resulting in a staring contest between her and the ranger.

The standoff ended quickly when the Mushroohum servants began to drag back the baskets that had been offered to the party in trade for their supplies.

The humans had brought backpacks full of metal tools, much like the ones she’d seen in the workshop. Suddenly the presence of the more refined metalwork clicked together in Elania’s head. When she pushed [Identify] at the baskets, the Mushroohums had been offering her eyes widened a little.

[Gloss-Moss Basket]

The fact that the ranger and monks had ceased hostility when Skinner had reclaimed them hinted at their value to the group.

Elania slid around the guards to stand behind Skinner. That seemed to be the safest bet. The ranger’s eyes never left her, but the tension was mutual. When she stuck her tongue out at him, he flinched, and she just barely kept a giggle from escaping. The smug look was impossible to hide, though.

The prince glowered at her, but even he had been silenced when King Shroom had hit him with a stick and indicated that Skinner was to speak. Somehow that made her worry about the stability of the Mushroom Kingdom, but who was she to judge how they ran things? She was…just an honored guest?

As what she assumed was an intense telepathic bartering session continued, she eyed the glowing orb.

[All-Species Translation Orb]

Greed licked at her; she really wanted the thing. It would have solved so many of her issues with the Mushroohums.

The back and forth of baskets was amusing for a while, but it slowly wore on her patience. Furtive glances were cast at her repeatedly by the monks, who seemed content to let the ranger do the talking for the party.

Things seemed to near resolution when the prince suddenly jumped up and pointed toward her and let out a hateful “Glaa!” with a terrible smell. The monks covered their faces and ranger wrinkled his nose as he stared at her.

She was glad her opinion on the Mushroohum smells was universal.

The silent negotiations were broken by the ranger. “You are joking. We aren’t taking her!”

Elania’s ears perked up. “Taking me, what?”

The man glared at her. The three primary Mushroohums—King Shroom, Skinner, and the prince—had their own discussion in the form of a varying cloud of smells. It was enough that she stepped away, which caused the party to tense up.

Taking the opportunity, she centered on the ranger. “If you want to take me anywhere, I’d like to know where I’m going before I agree.”

The ranger’s cold gaze remained fixed on her. “We’re not a babysitting service.”

Elania bristled at his dismissive tone. “I can take care of myself.”

Elania frowned, turning her attention to the Mushroohums. She took in the prince’s acrid odor and the sour scent of King Shroom that seemed to indicate senility…or decay. Skinner carried a distinct, vinegar-sharp scent that was hard to place.

Changing her tone, she tried to be as neutral as possible.

“I don’t want to fight,” she said, pulling the ranger’s attention back towards her. “I helped them with the Darkwalkers. I don’t really know what’s going on, and I’d really appreciate information rather than being glared at.”

The ranger grunted in response, but didn’t reply immediately. His gaze was drawn briefly towards where the Mushroohums were offering another basket of moss to the monks, who were practically salivating over it. Eventually, he sighed and looked back at Elania.

“The elder hunter seems to think it would be helpful to you since it thinks we are the same race,” he explained grudgingly.

Her eyebrows shot up at that revelation. Well, that made it clear why they were so hostile. They didn’t even consider her human. Lesser Demon Elania it was, she guessed.

“And what does the little prince think about that?” Elania asked.

“He’d rather see you dead,” was all the ranger said before turning his attention back towards Skinner and King Shroom, leaving Elania with a sinking feeling in her stomach. That was entirely too believable.

She was surprised when he turned back toward her again with a vicious smile on his face. “Looks like you’re coming with us.”

“The orb lets you talk to them with telepathy. I want to talk to them.” Elania stated.

The ranger raised an eyebrow. “You can’t have it.”

“I don’t want the orb; I just want to talk to them for a minute.” Elania said.

“Pay me a small gold, and I’ll let you have your conversation,” he countered.

Elania gritted her teeth. “I don’t have any gold. You let him say something to me earlier!”

The ranger grunted. “A costly mistake, I assure you. It costs durability for each message to be translated. I’m on a fixed budget.”

The Mushroohum servants delivered the last baskets on their side while taking the offered tools and equipment bags. It seemed the negotiations were over, and she’d been included in them without being consulted.

The martial monk cleared his throat. “Did you really kill the Demon Darkwalker?”

Elania glanced at him. “Yes,” she replied confidently.

It seemed [Universal Speech] was living up to its name. It felt like they were conversing in English, anyway.

The monk seemed taken aback by her answer, but the ranger just continued to monitor her as the novices collected the Glow-Moss Baskets.

“Where are you going after leaving?” Elania blurted out.

The ranger actually answered her. “We’ll be setting up camp for the night, then leaving for Neftasu in the morning.”

“What sort of place is that?” Elania asked.

“The largest city you’ll find in the region,” the martial monk answered.

She had so many questions to ask; it was hard to restrain herself.

“My name is Elania Reyes,” she introduced herself. When a response wasn’t offered, her brow furrowed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

“Do you have names or are you just ‘ranger’ and ‘monk’ or something?” Elania asked pointedly.

The ranger glared at her before answering. “Marcus.”

“Joren,” the martial monk answered.

That got him a glare from the spiritual one, but then the man seemed to sigh and give up. “Taniel,” he offered.

“You’re a new one, aren’t you?” Joren asked.

Elania felt confusion. “A new what?”

“Demon. A new demon,” Marcus answered.

Right. She definitely was that. She wasn’t sure how much information she wanted to share, and something about Marcus set her on edge to be careful. Lying about her experiences wasn’t going to help with any trust issues, though.

If she knew what was safe to share and what wasn’t, that would have been excellent information. As it was, she doubted she had enough experience and knowledge to make up anything convincing, anyway.

“Yeah. Like one or two weeks,” Elania admitted.

Marcus nodded. “I’m surprised you were able to gain a new form so quickly.”

She frowned, although she supposed the story of her fight with the Demon Darkwalker was probably one of the first things the Mushroohums and told them about her. She wasn’t sure why he was bringing it up first thing, though.

Elania let out a sigh. “I’ll go with you for now. I don’t want to overstay my welcome here. A city sounds like a place to go, but I have a lot of questions about things.”

That drew the opposite of happy looks from the monks, but Marcus nodded. “I bet you do.”

She glanced at the prince, who seemed to have a smug expression. A sudden jolt of annoyance ran through her. “Marcus, I know you said no translations, but could you please tell the prince if he lets out another shit smell, I’m going to punch enough holes into him to give him a hundred mushroom babies?”

He stared at her and blinked. The monks looked horrified.

Finally, he laughed and pointed the translation orb at the prince.

She didn’t get to hear anything, but the way the prince jolted, then turned and ran out of the room, was enough to make her feel better. Skinner gave her a stern look.

“Sorry. He’s a prick,” Elania offered sheepishly.

“That one is for sure.” Marcus agreed. The group had finished collecting their goods and begun to leave.

Elania turned toward Skinner. A deep well of thanks to him for the few small, but notable events between them lead to an impulsive hug. “Thank you for helping me.”

He didn’t really react, but he didn’t push her away either. “Glaa.”

The earthy smell she liked to think was something like respect, or maybe even potential friendship. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get a chance to return, but she hoped that he’d be okay with King Shroom being so old and the belligerent prince in the background.

After a final farewell, she turned and hurried after the others before they left her behind.

Even if they didn’t like her, she was determined to get some answers.