D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad-Chapter 1881 Spring Secrets and Winter Woes

--- Pansy? Probably? ---

Pansy didn’t like being without her twin sister. She was stuck underground and it was cold. There was even that one bug that nearly managed to get into some uncomfortable places... but the real problem was that she missed her sister. Normally that would be an easy fix, but the enchanted compass she had? The one that should be pointing towards Crocus? It was currently spinning in place. Just as it had been the previous dozen times she’d looked over it.

Sighing and putting away the compass Pansy continued to run down the tunnel. It was angling upwards... and had been for the last hour. She was hopeful that she could finally get out of the underground. Sleeping inside a little nook she’d found had been never wracking and she hadn’t gone more than four hours of sleep in the six hours she’d tried. Despite being tired that was the best she could do.

Her exploration underground hadn’t been a complete waste of time. She’d found a few challenges along the way that provided her with good rewards. Quite a few orbs and even a great bag to hold them! Pansy had been super happy with that. It was a shoulder bag she now had on. It was expanded a good deal on the inside, but wasn’t technically a separate dimension like the bracelet, thus the orbs could rest inside it easily. And it had just been lying around!

Well that was a bit generous. It had been hidden in a crack in the wall that she’d nearly skipped over. It just so happened to be near a good sized rock that jutted out from that same wall and she’d stopped to take a drink. While taking her short break she’d noticed the crack and just barely squeezed her hand inside. A potentially risky idea... but she just had a good feeling about it, and she was right! It was totally worth it.

It was thirty minutes of walking from when she put away her compass that she saw the light. It wasn’t particularly bright but it was probably night time so that was fine. Pansy sprinted to the entrance, so happy just to know that there was finally some escape from the underground. As she launched herself through the tunnel entrance...

She was hit by a frigid chill. Her glee at finding the exit shattered completed by the fact it was snowing and absolutely freezing. Pansy placed a hand across her chest to try and warm it up a bit as she quickly retreated back to the cave. It wasn’t enough. Apparently in her excitement to finally get out she hadn’t noticed just how cold it had gotten.

"CURSE YOU SNOW!" hissed Pansy. She had been so close to escaping the underground... but it was freezing and the fact it was nighttime wasn’t helping the issue at all. "I JUST WANT TO FIND MY SISTER!"

The snow had no answers for her.

--- Clive ---

Clive was sipping on the soup provided for him with a soft smile. It was nice to relax after a hectic day. He’d found the hidden village in the spring area quite early on. It had just barely been morning when he’d spotted it and even then it had been a close thing. They were committed to keeping themselves hidden... more from the pollen then from travellers.

He’d then spent the day doing odd jobs around town. At the start it was sort of relaxing but apparently word got around that he was rather handy and it had quickly become a whirlwind of never ending small tasks. He’d sort of wanted to pass some of them over but the constant supply of orbs and even a fancy jar that let him store as many as he wanted was a bit too tempting. The jar had been a gift from the town shop keeper... and probably an excuse to avoid paying him with yet more orbs after performing the third job of the day for them.

Still, the free food at the inn was nice and he didn’t have to venture out into the pollen for random shit anymore. He’d also managed to find out quite a bit of info about the area. "So you guys spread out more when the weather’s better?" asked Clive.

"Yup," nodded Nolan, a bear beastkin that was slightly greying and the best cheesemaker in town. Arguably the only one if you didn’t count his younger relatives he conned into helping. "The ground here is quite fertile and we can grow a lot... but the pollen is a massive pain as you’ve already noted.

"It’s just not reasonable to keep everyone spread out. We don’t have a lot of monster activity here but the plants can be just as dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. The pollen reduces visibility, riles up the plants, and is hell on the lungs, especially with long-term exposure.

"This village was built as a fall-back point and has enchantments to keep the pollen out... enchantments we don’t really know how to duplicate. So... a lot of us leave during the calm season to grow crops that we then process here later on. My fantastic cheese actually contains no animal products. There’s a special strain of vine that produces a milk-like substance I use instead. For the most part anyway,"

"Fascinating," said Clive with a nod. It sort of was too. I wonder if Thyme came up with it. "And it’s just as good as milk?"

"Well..." Nolan scratched at his ear a bit. "I won’t say that’s it’s just as good. Taste wise I think it is, sometimes you can make it even better though that might just be a matter of technique. The issue is that you’ve got to process it a fair bit more, and while I claim the vines are the main ingredient you need a few more things to process it that you don’t really need with milk based cheeses.

"It takes a bit of extra work and a few things I’m keeping under my hat to keep everything running. It’s still less work than raising cattle myself. I don’t deny that, but that’s mostly because of the soil here. Not sure how well everything I use would transfer over. Plus, sometimes you just want some normal cheese. It has the same texture and mostly the same nutritional value but you can taste the difference. Not in a way that causes people to complain as I said but..." Nolan finished what he was saying with a shrug.

"Yeah I get it," admitted Clive. "Any recommendations for tomorrow? I’m knackered and won’t be staying up too much later. I could stick around, go ranging a bit. Really depends,"

Nolan nodded, "Ah fair enough, I was up early myself. As for recommendations? Well you got a lot of the little jobs out of the way today. There are a few things left and I’m sure more will pop up over time... but I think you want to focus on one or two of the big ones."

"The big ones?" asked Clive.

"Yup. The first is doing the rounds and checking on everyone’s ’away’ houses. It’s a pain in the ass but we’ve got decent routes set-up for the willing. That’s a big whole day activity and pays alright because you can clear a few spots before circling back. The other ones are ’kill-quests’. Just because the monster presence here is light doesn’t mean it’s nothing... and those few tend to be real nasty buggers.

"I know of at least two kill-quests the town has at the moment, might have more but I don’t really check that sort of thing. I... I’m not sure if I’d recommend you take them on honestly," admitted Nolan.

"Why not?" asked Clive.

"I don’t doubt you’re tough Clive... but the monsters we want killed out the few little ones that hang around, they’re the REAL problems. The ones that probably shouldn’t be here but raise a middle finger to the weather and survive. They’re ANGRY little beasties and there’s quite a few stories of them taking out the hunter or hunters that go after them. A lot of them will go for the kill... even if they won’t live to see the end result."

"Sounds brutal," said Clive.

"It IS brutal," agreed Nolan.

"So why recommend it?" asked Clive.

"Because... well because they do pay well. I’d suggest getting a team for them because even split three or four ways the pay is still good, and they do need to be done. Otherwise... well it’s not uncommon for people to be picked off when we all leave for the season. Just... feels wrong to recommend. If you want good rewards? You’ll do them regardless of what I say. I guess... I guess I want you to know it’s an option while still warning you away the best I can," explained Nolan. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Clive nodded. "Well... no need to make a decision while I’m still tired. It’s something to think about at the very least,"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺