Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 50 – Drifting (Patreon)

At the bottom of the ramp, there was a booth that charged them a small tax. Two large silvers to get into the city, and it was two small ones to leave. Anyone who couldn’t pay was forced to work for the city to make up the difference, and Elania couldn’t imagine the pay was very good.

Thankfully, her funds were enough to cover the cost. It was the secondary cost that gave her pause.

The clerk placed a large orb on the counter and had each monk place their hand on it to drain some mana.

Elania stared at the crystal warily. “How much does it take?”

“All of it, miss. I realize that some might have slower regeneration that others, but without the extra cost it would be impossible to power the city’s protections and infrastructure,” the clerk explained.

All of it? As in all of her [Power]? Haha, no thank you. “I refuse.”

That seemed to shock the clerk. Taniel glared at her. “Without the power donations, the Celestial-engine would run dry and then the defenses would falter. It may seem peaceful, but there are worse things in the dark that surround the city than Manzitore. If you’re going to be here, you need to contribute as well.”

He was going to lecture her about what was right and what she should do? Glaring at him, she turned back to the crystal. For all she knew, she’d touch it and it would yank her soul out and poof no more Elania. Or she’d shrivel up into a dead husk.

But…maybe that wasn’t super likely. If it was more like her mana shard then she could probably control it. Limit the amount it drained.

“Fine. I’ll give some,” Elania hissed at the clerk, who looked panicked and relieved at the same time.

She placed a finger on it instead of her palm like the others.

[Outsider detected.]

[Authority Level Recognized: Maximum.]

[Vessel Status: 433/799]

[Drain: Enabled]

Elania blinked. No one else seemed to see the interface that appeared, and that was probably a good thing. Too bad she had no idea what it meant.

The others stared and frowned when the crystal didn’t light up…probably because it wasn’t receiving any power. Treating it like her mana shard, she threaded the barest amounts of [Power] into it, amounting to less than a single unit.

The crystal happily gobbled it down and turned a brilliant white. Then she killed the flow.

“There. That’s good, right?” Elania asked.

“You have a lot of mana, miss. That’s more than enough, thank you.” The clerk took the crystal and placed it back under the counter.

She shook her head. Weird. As they moved through the tax gate, her eyes fell on the back of Taniel’s stupid bald head.

Celestial-engines? Divine-magic-tech? Was she going to end up dealing with theotechnicans next? The disparate parts of the world were a hodgepodge blending of different genres and things she’d never have believed could be real. Would the people back home be excited to learn that the daydreams they’d thought up actually existed?

If she ever got home, no one would believe her, and she’d end up in an insane asylum. Maybe she’d be able to take up the job as an author and tell her story?

A bridge took them out over the ravine and towards the nearest section of the city. It looked like there were broad sections when she had studied it from above. “Is there a city map?”

Joren nodded. “You’ll need to touch one of the way stones to connect to the city interface. It’ll provide a map and some basic functions like calling for the Guard. Don’t use that, though, unless it is an emergency, or you’ll be jailed.”

Elania nodded. “No false emergency calls. Got it.”

It quickly became apparent that they had entered the city via one of the rougher districts…and that was being charitable. The stone buildings were worn down from use with no evidence of repairs or work being done to repair cracks that looked universal. It sort of ruined her first impression of the city.

Dozens of people were idle, sitting along the sides of the street, leaning against or camped by the walls and alleys. All of them stared at the monks and their procession with hungry eyes. The city, it turned out, wasn’t much different from the deep caverns. It was just that the predators were hiding in plain sight instead of nestled up in a hidden alcove.

Ahead of them, two guards had seized a haggard-looking man. They were taking turns punching and beating him before they began to haul him off into one of the nearby alleys.

“What’d he do?” Elania asked quietly.

Taniel shot her a look. “None of our business. You’ll keep your nose out of other’s troubles if you know what’s best for you.”

Her eyes slid to the monk and settled with a cold hardness. Where had the ‘we protect people!’ spiel he had spouted when it came to ‘Demons’ go? He only cared if people were killed by demons, but not by ruthless, overzealous guards? Fucking hypocrite.

It wouldn’t do to voice her opinion on him, though. Soon they would part ways, and hopefully she never had to see another Conclave monk asshole again. Still, she couldn’t quite disagree with his reasoning. As much as she might want to consider helping people, she wasn’t a hero. She didn’t have the resource to do much. Taking care of herself was already going to be a tall order.

Her opinion of the city dropped further as they went. The district turned out to be the slums for real, or as Joren called it, the ‘Mercenary District’, which didn’t seem very accurate. Sure, there were plenty of mercenaries that she had spotted, and the central square was certainly full of taverns and tough looking mean between work, but it was mostly just a slum.

When they reached the large, gilded gate leading into the ‘Conclave District’ the disparity in wealth became abundantly clear. Here was a city that was segregated by socio-economic classes and wasn’t afraid to widely broadcast the inequality.

Why else would the Conclave District have a fucking gatehouse gilded in gold right beside a district where the people looked like they hadn’t had a decent meal in weeks?

As the architecture and displayed wealth changed, so too did the people of the Conclave District. Most notably, their attire, which was colorful and adorned with expensive looking jewelry and embellishments. The guards were much more prevalent in their presence near the gate, and all of them eyed her with interest. She doubted that she’d have made it into the area if she hadn’t obviously been part of the monks’ party.

The street worked its way up, and up. Several times it transformed into a staircase until they were fully on what she assumed was the main level. A large open square was surrounded by multi-story stone abodes, while dozens of temporary looking vendor stalls filled the center.

“This is the only open-air market allowed in the Conclave District,” Joren said. He pointed toward the stone in the very center of it. “That’s the way stone. If you touch it, you can accept the city interface and that’ll give you a map and clock.”

Elania nodded when a new system message flashed.

[Contractee Initiated Contract termination.]

[Contract Completed]

[No violations have been assessed.]

[All clauses fulfilled. System-termination of Contract completed.]

Elania blinked as she read quickly. It was over. It was over so suddenly that it took her by surprise.

“This is where we part ways,” Joren said, a hint of apology in his voice.

The novices continued ahead. Taniel turned around, his eyes targeting her. “If you know what’s best for you, Demon, you’ll get out of here now. The districts outside of the Mercenary District have curfews, and a wild demon at night is definitely a violation.”

Elania pulled her pack tighter and then shoved past him, heading toward the way stone. A faint good luck from Joren sounded, and then something snide from Taniel. She ignored both and put them out of her mind.

She needed to get the map and clock, then figure out where she was going.

As she approached, a contraption on wheels nearly ran her over and she dodged it, a shout from the driver urging her onward. Cars? They had magical cars? Well…it was more like a self-moving box on wheels, and didn’t make any noise, but… cars?

The encounter left her with the realization she needed to keep her mind open about what was possible and what wasn’t when there was magic involved.

There was also evidence of [Ralfot] pulled wagons as well, which moved much slower but were pulling cargos that looked quite heavy. The bazaar was packed with people that made an easy path to the way stone challenging. Rather than take a straight-line path, she wandered between the merchants and customers, quietly minding herself.

Pretty fabrics and jewelry were the predominant offering. A few food and fruit stands stood together in clumps, while a few stalls offered weapons. Clothes were in abundance everywhere, and more than once, she had almost stopped to admire some things.

When she finally reached the Way Stone, it felt like she’d run through a marathon. Maybe that was just the claustrophobia of being surrounded by so much noise and people. The last weeks had been relatively silent except for the occasional bursts of chaos and adrenaline. This was a much different stimuli to get used to.

There weren’t any indications of how to link with the stone, so she just did the most basic thing she could think of: place her palm on the stone. It was cool to the touch, and it seemed like the correct thing to do as it suddenly lit up with runes. No one seemed to take notice, hinting it was some weird [System] thing.

[Binding: Neftasu]

[Clock: 17:18]

[Emergency]

[Map]

[Other]

Oh, that was perfect. A big smile erupted on her face. The new screen was pretty easy to understand, and she mentally jabbed the [Map] function without hesitation.

She was rewarded with an enormous screen popping into place in front of her, the slightly transparent image expanding to several meters in width and height. It was much too close, and she was forced to take a few steps back before she went cross-eyed.

The map was not what she expected. Google Maps might have spoiled her slightly, and her expectations had been… thrashed. No search bar, no ‘food near me’ function, and definitely no map pins.

Almost immediately, she found a zoom function, and that allowed her to push the image in closer. Beige street lines came into focus and there were even shop labels! Bingo!

Except there were thousands of buildings. The map was hard to understand compared to where she was, and there…was…no…search. How the heck was she supposed to find the right shop like this? At best, it would help her familiarize herself with the different districts via landmarks.

Well, she knew she needed to find an ‘Artificer’, just not where they were located. That meant asking a random stranger for directions. Elania scanned the crowd with a growing anxiety.

Maybe it was time to make a random purchase. That’d make the conversation easy.

She wandered through the proffered wares randomly. It was the fabric that finally caught her attention. The stall was manned by a young man with a brown complexion and black hair. As soon as she stopped, he immediately smiled.

Her eyes flickered over everything on display and tallied up the things she really needed. Several pairs of small clothes, a cheap tunic and trousers to replace the ill-fitting ones she had. New footwear, because the wads of fabric in her boots squeezed her toes and made them uncomfortable. Maybe she should have looked for a shop that would trade them for something else.

“Can I help you, Mahlessi? Mahim has many things for you to choose from today.” His thick accent surprised her. It was the first time someone hadn’t sounded like perfectly neutral American English.

“How much would a set of small clothes and a set of sandals cost?” Elania asked.

His eyes seemed to appraise her for a few seconds before replying. “For you, I believe a small gold would be enough for all of it.”

A small fucking gold? From what she understood, that was literal robbery!

“That seems extremely costly,” Elania responded neutrally.

He shrugged. “My wares, they are fine silk from the Overworld, and the sandals are made with fine leathers from a prime [Umberwalk]. They are worth much. If you wish for cheaper items, I would recommend the market in the city center or artisan district.”

Urgh. She’d somehow ended up shopping in a bazar for rich people.

“I’m sorry, but even at half that price, I couldn’t afford it right now,” Elania admitted.

The cheer on his face faltered into a polite stare that resembled an annoyed service person dealing with a non-customer. Biting her lip, she asked for what she needed anyway.

Mahim sighed. “You’ll find many artificer shops in the Noble District. They have an entire street of them, I believe. You can find it on your map, yes?”

Elania nodded. “Thank you.”

He waved her on and she moved with the crowd out of the bazar. Once she was in a relatively more open space away from the stalls, she opened her [Map]. Rotating it was simple enough, and she found the Noble District in the center of the city.

It was easy to spot looking around, too. The place was a massive spire that jutted upward all the way to the cavern’s ceiling. No missing it.

Taking a deep breath, she headed toward what she hoped was the right place.