Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 52 – Tavernspot (Patreon)

Elania set her destination as the center of the Mercenary District and where she suspected she’d find the active taverns and alehouses that’d give her a chance to look for a room or a place to wait. The main avenue was well lit, but evidence of squalor was everywhere she looked. Trash and litter filled the street, most of it having washed up against the buildings—and people—along the sides.

The lack of overhead crystals cast everything in darker hues than when she’d been through before. [Darkvision] dealt with most of that, but multiple streets branching off still had the ‘Oh-fuck-someone-is-following-me-too-dark-category’ attached to them.

When the central plaza of the district came into view, she relaxed. Let her guard down a little.

That’s exactly when someone tried to stab her.

There was a flicker of sound and her ear tensed up as her [Darkwalker] senses set off the alarm. She turned her next step into a whirl, and her hand clamped down on a man’s wrist.

[Stabber – Human – Level 77]

He stared at her in shock. She stared back. There was the vague sensation of hundreds of eyes watching the altercation, as if all the other piranhas were waiting to see if it was safe to bite.

Offering a silent apology and prayer to Lieutenant Gaston, she yanked hard, and the man flew, smashing into a nearby stone building with a heavy thump. She’d controlled herself; he’d probably get back up again. Maybe after healing a few broken bones.

She turned and continued on her way as if nothing had happened. It seemed to have been the correct decision, as no one else accosted her.

The thought that the taverns would be open and doing business was correct. The scene ruined her mental picture, though. Outdoor seating was crammed full, music filled the air, and hundreds of men were going about like it was the middle of the day. Scantily clad women walked with men to what she assumed were brothels or something else. She’d officially found Neftasu’s nightlife scene.

She hoped that Mr. Stabber was the only one who had a thing for armed and armored lesser demonesses.

The center was too crowded. She picked a side street with some more shops and found a tavern with empty seating. It was less noisy, and she decided to try the place out.

A busy barmaid was rushing large tankards between tables as Elania slid off her backpack and sat at one of the empty ones. She slid her boots through the straps just so no one thought they could snatch it and run.

Settling in for a long wait, she began to study the other patrons. Most of them were lower level, much lower than the people she’d seen at the checkpoint and Waystation Four. She’d not seen any real rhyme or reason to the levels, but city people seemed to be much lower level.

Considering you only earned levels for killing things or people, that made sense.

As her gaze wandered, she noticed a man staring at her from near the door. He was large, wearing armor, and looked dangerous.

[Bouncer – Human – Level 245]

So, there was security. The question of whether she was going to have trouble passed through her head almost immediately. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and waved to him, but that only seemed to make him more annoyed.

Oh well. She looked away and tried to pretend to be interested in something else.

That wasn’t hard, because she was interested in a lot of what she saw, all of it new. There was very little evidence of wood wherever she looked. Furniture, doors, signs, and pretty much everything was made of metal—or stone.

Fungal wood probably didn’t do well for anything intended to last. It was so soft it likely decayed quickly. It was mushroom flesh, after all. Its pros really went to how easy it was to turn into javelins. Probably made good flexible bow material, at least if you didn’t mind your bow turning to mush and having to replace it every so often.

By the time the waitress arrived, Elania was studying the city cavern’s ceiling, the dimmed light stones barely visible hanging from their chains if she pushed her unslotted [Darkvision] to its limit.

“What can I get you?” the woman asked with a neutral tone that was very much all business.

Ugh. The waitress was literally screaming anti-demon.

“How much is a Frujuice?” Elania asked politely.

“Small silver,” the waitress answered.

That seemed…expensive from what she had been told about city prices. Still, it was whatever.

Elania nodded and pulled the coin out of her pouch nestled underneath her torso armor. The woman took it without another word. Eventually, she returned with the glass of clear golden liquid.

It tasted fine, a bit too sweet compared to before. The bouncer continued to glare at her.

The thought that maybe she should find another place to wait quickly occurred.

Maybe finding an inn for the night would be a good idea.

Elania carefully nursed her Frujuice, taking little sips at a time to draw out her stay.

There were only so many things to be interested in before the waiting became boring. She sighed and rested her face on her hand and stared at the wall. No social media to check, no videos to browse, and not even a blog to read. Maybe she should pull open her [Status] and daydream about ideas on her skills?

The moment she finished her glass, the Bouncer gave her the evil eye and approached. It was, perhaps, time to move on.

He reached her before she had her pack on. “Time to get out of here, demon. You’re not welcome.”

Elania nodded. “Sure—”

A melodic voice poked both of them. “There you are!”

It belonged to a lithe woman wearing a black and white maid’s outfit, complete with little frills and knee-length stalking. Her heart-faced shape was surrounded by a bob-cut of yellow hair that ended in slightly darker tips. It was the eyes, though, that captured Elania’s attention. They were a deep, glowing sapphire blue.

[Death Dealer – Lesser Demon – Level 556]

Panic flashed through Elania as the woman walked right up to her side and then linked arms with her. Her instincts were screeching as loudly as they could: Danger, Danger, Danger. The woman flashed the bouncer a smile. “Why don’t you be a dear and go get us something to drink? A warm cider, maybe? A Frujuice?”

The man scowled and reached out to grab the Demoness by the shoulder. “Your kind is not wel—”

Elania blinked. Apparently the bouncer had no sense of self-preservation or a broken [Identify] because the ‘Death Dealer’ turned and grabbed his wrist. Then ripped his arm out of the joint, spraying half the tables with a shower of blood.

Then she hit him with it.

Hard enough to send him flying through the air to crash into the building’s storefront sign, the limb she used exploding into a useless stub.

It all happened so fast. Elania had very little time to think about it.

Patrons ran and screamed. The waitress looked out from the door to the tavern with a horrified expression. The Demoness noticed her and smiled. “Don’t worry darling, I wouldn’t leave you to clean up everything.”

A familiar process unfolded: the man’s blood and body parts began to disintegrate into golden light motes that then flowed into the other demon. After a few seconds, the bloody scene was clean and only the slight damage to the sign and a pile of empty clothes remained.

“You just…ate him,” Elania accused.

“They’re delicious,” the demoness replied without a hint of a joke. She squeezed Elania’s arm slightly. “What’s your name?”

Feeling trapped, Elania answered. “Elania. What’s yours?”

“Elania! What a nice name. I’m Tessa. Let’s have a drink together!” It was impossible to tell whether or not the exuberance was fake.

“Uhh. Sure. But could you…please let go of me?” Elania asked.

A vibrating ‘hmm’ came from Tessa before she did so, moving to sit down. Elania numbly sat down at her seat more slowly.

Tessa waved to the still frozen waitress. “Bring us something before I get impatient!”

The woman scurried back into the building.

A group of four men approached. Elania’s first thought that they were guards was dead as she examined them. They looked like mercenaries. One of them muttered a low “Demons.”

Their weapons were drawn. The leader halted a safe distance away. “This is our turf, Demon! You just killed one of our customers. Get out of her before we remove you.”

Elania felt like pulling her hood up and escaping, but Tessa reached over and grabbed her hand. “Elania, please just wait a moment while I deal with this. I am so sorry our chat has to be delayed again.”

The Demoness was going to ‘deal with it’. That was what she had been afraid of!

Tessa moved to stand in front of the mercenary party. “You’ve all forgotten to be afraid.” She licked her lips. “My master has given me strict orders about who I can and can’t kill. Please threaten or touch me.”

The mercenaries looked between each other uncomfortably, but the wizard stepped up and began incanting something. His crystal tipped staff began to glow.

Tessa pointed at him and uttered a single arcane word.

A black circle appeared over the wizard’s head, then flashed downward. At first, it seemed like it was going to crush him, but there wasn’t anything like that. Instead, it seemed to be like a portal, and when it reached his feet, it winked out of existence… along with the wizard.

“Who else wants a trip to the depths?” Tessa asked cheerfully.

“Relain’s Hound!” one of the men shouted, fearfully. Whatever that meant, Elania suspected Tessa had managed to succeed in reminding them to be afraid. The three turned and ran.

Elania’s brain played catch up.

Holy shit, two people were dead.

Well, she assumed wherever the ‘Depths’ were had killed the wizard. Still!

Tessa returned like nothing had happened with a smile. A smile lined with triangular, razor sharp looking teeth.

Elania did a double take. Tessa’s ears were pointed as well. Elf? The human eaty-kind-of-Elf?

Tessa hid her smile. “Sorry, I’m told it’s a bad habit that makes others uncomfortable.”

Elania nodded quickly. “Uhh. Does this happen often?”

Tessa shook her head. “You tell me. Normally I stay unnoticed. But you, you’re sitting here all meekly in the open.”

Was she really acting meek? Elania frowned. “I just need to wait until morning.”

“Maybe you should look for an Inn,” Tessa replied.

“That’s what I was doing until you…until you…” Elania’s words trailed off.

Tessa smiled again. “Sometimes the people of the Mercenary District need be reminded of their place. Which is not antagonizing me.”

The Demoness looked over at the tavern and frowned before shouting. “And they better not do more by not bringing me my drink!”

Elania fidgeted, glancing around. Everyone had disappeared, except she spotted two city guards watching them with interest. Oh no.

“The guards…they’re watching us,” Elania stammered.

Tessa let out a trilling laugh. “Don’t mind them. There were probably a dozen emergency calls, and they had to look to make sure there wasn’t a rampage.”

This didn’t qualify as a rampage? She’d ate the bouncer and did…did something to the magic caster!

Tessa leaned forward and sniffed at her. “So… what type are you? You smell so strongly human it’s hard to tell.”

“I’m a human-type,” Elania said flatly.

Tessa stared at her before suddenly reaching out and snatching hand then yanking it to her mouth. A sharp pain flared through a finger before Elania could yank her hand back.

Considering the teeth, she was lucky, Tessa probably could have taken the whole finger off. Thankfully she’d only took a nibble. Still, Elania fixed her with a hostile glare. “Don’t touch me like that.”

“As you wish, little kitty. I won’t touch you again unless you ask me to,” Tessa replied with a sly smile as she licked her lips. “Did you eat your master?”

“I never had a master,” Elania answered.

Tessa gave her an appraising look over. “A young wild one somehow making it to the city? You have much potential, Elania.”

Potential for what? Tessa had kept her off balance the entire time, and Elania did not like the feeling that everything was spinning out of her control. Before she could figure out a response, the waitress arrived with a tray of drinks and set them out.

A super polite “Would you like anything else?” was dismissed by a wave of Tessa’s hand. The waitress escaped in a way that made Elania envious.

Tessa turned her smile back on. “I can offer you a few suggestions, especially on—”

Two guards in burgundy cloth and with gold caps appeared beside the two guards.

Tessa’s head snapped over towards them, and she let out a hiss. “My handlers have caught up with me. Time to go.”

Elania blinked. “Someone is after you?”

Tessa stood up and eyed her. “Today is my free day, but if they catch me, they’ll give me orders. I am not cleaning the sewers again.”

The demoness snatched the drink and gulped it down before her eyes slid back onto Elania. “I’ll find you later, unless you want to come with me?”

Elania shook her head.

“Pity! Maybe next time.” Tessa backed away, then jumped up onto the building’s roof like it was a perfectly normal action. The four guards began to run after her on the ground as the woman took off.

Shaking her head, Elania stood up, sorted her stuff and laid another small silver on the table for the drinks. Gulping down her Frujuice she hurried away, pulling her cloak tighter.

Maybe there was a dark alley she could claim until morning.