Chapter 23
"So then, I suppose we sit here and wait," Merlin said from inside her pocket of shadows before she summoned Almeria, who’d been holding a number of talismans in the pocket.
I frowned at her. “One of us should be watching the First Garden.”
“I have the talismans, and I don’t much care to be Eve’s little guard dog. If anything happens, we’ll be alerted, and Merlin can teleport us back,” Almeria said.
There was a long pause as they waited for me to say something else, but I didn’t. I wasn’t going to force either of them to do something they didn’t want to for Eve’s sake.
Almeria and Merlin shared a look I couldn't quite read until Almeria spoke up. "I hear congratulations are in order, Merlin."
"Yes, thank you." The woman blushed. "I'm quite happy with the way things are working out."
I listened to the two of them carefully, keeping half my attention there and the other half toward the instance we needed to monitor.
"Was it as nice as Simone claims?" Almeria asked.
"Simone is the kind of woman to enjoy many things," Merlin said, like it was the politically correct answer.
"And you?" Almeria asked, leaning in.
"Deeply satisfying, though perhaps not for the same reasons as everyone else," Merlin answered.
Almeria narrowed her eyes in consideration. "I see. Well, congratulations. Did Circe behave?"
"Barely," Merlin said, and I practically choked on my tongue.
"Something wrong?" Merlin asked.
I looked away, clearing my throat and rapidly shaking my head.
"What could possibly be wrong," I said, squeezing the words out as I found some leaves very interesting in the distance.
They were absolutely talking about the other night, and I had no reason to be embarrassed, but something about how casually they were having the conversation made me self-conscious.
"Yeah, I was worried Circe would cause issues," Almeria said. "I'm glad to hear she followed through on her end."
My brow furrowed incredibly deep at this conversation happening right next to me, yet somehow, I still felt like I was eavesdropping. But they were having it right in my vicinity, and it wasn't as if I was going to plug my ears and sing to avoid hearing them talk.
"Well, then… if she behaved and Bran made it satisfying, I suppose Simone didn't exaggerate too much,” Almeria commented.
Merlin waffled her head. "I don't think he was entirely interested in my variety; however, he played along well enough, and he made up for it with... incredible stamina. Mind-blowing stamina really. I’m not an old prude but… wow."
I was blushing bright red at this point, watching Merlin peek out of the corner of her eyes, catching my embarrassment, then smirking.
"Of course, there's no need for any secrets among family," Merlin said, more to me than to Almeria.
"There should be no secrets among family," Almeria said sharply. "And besides, it's not like any of us are shy. Bran certainly isn't." She sent me a wink.
I was doing my best to endure their teasing, which is what this most certainly was. Merlin was having her fun, and I wasn't going to deny her it, especially when she and Almeria were getting along so well. The two of them giggled, watching my reaction and getting the joy of making me squirm.
"Well, when it's your turn, do you have anything special you'd like?" Merlin asked Almeria, and I couldn't help but perk up slightly, wanting to know the answer myself.
"Just the usual. I'll bring all the necessary props. I don't know if he'll have them in his room by default," Almeria said, and my mind started swirling.
"Oh, yes, those," Merlin said, as if she knew exactly what she was talking about, and I narrowed my eyes, wondering if she could give me a tip or if she was simply messing with me further.
But either way, the two of them began giggling and discussing the props in incredibly vague detail, to the point I couldn't help but stare up into the air and wonder what I'd gotten myself into once again.
***
As we waited, it didn't take long for another insectoid demon to float around close to the entrance and begin hovering in a wide circle.
I spotted the insect and motioned for Merlin to do her work.
Shadows latched out and grounded the insectoid before I slipped out.
Bloodiron Blade moved into my hand as I quickly cut the demon into pieces, holding out a spatial ring to collect its blood.
The ring sucked it up like a sponge with no end.
Of course, my actions caused the two watching me to frown. I threw the corpse to the side and let it be consumed by the system. I could only shrug at their attention. "What? We have the peach, and it's going to need plenty of blood once I get around to planting it."
My words did little to satisfy them, but it was enough for me to continue my work as I stepped back into Merlin's shadows.
While our watch continued, several monsters roamed the jungle. The only surprise was when several tribesmen wandered in close and spotted the instance. They marked it and headed back the way they'd come.
I frowned at their presence. They were a problem I wasn't sure how to handle.
While I could run amok in the city, wearing shadows and proclaiming myself a demon, it wouldn't be nearly as easy among the tribes.
They were scattered but far more organized than the city, and making them suspect each other was going to be far more difficult.
In the city, I could turn everyone suspicious of everyone else and hopefully get them to deal with some of their demonic issues themselves.
The tribes would just band together harder at the slightest danger.
And while I could ignore them, it was more likely they'd eventually become the seed of the next wave of demonic problems for me.
The demonic plague on Earth wasn't unlike an infection.
Even with antibiotics, if any survived, they'd only become more resistant to our methods, secure themselves deeper, and become a greater challenge.
So I found myself rubbing my chin, wondering what exactly I should be doing about them.
"Thoughts?" Merlin asked.
"We still need to solve the demons and the tribes. I'm not entirely sure how to go about it. I’m afraid whatever I would need to do could start an all-out war against them, which is precarious, to say the least," I answered.
Both of my compatriots nodded along in understanding.
"You could just kidnap a few," Almeria offered, and I slowly turned toward her.
"I'm sure they'll respond wonderfully to that," I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Well, yeah, if they know it's you. Like you did in the city, you could pretend to be the Demon Lord, charging through and making their life difficult," Almeria stated.
"And then?" I asked, wanting to hear the rest. Almeria definitely had a mind for tactics, and I'd be happy to hear her out.
"Pretend to be a demon and fight them. I actually think it'll work differently than in the city. Those demons in the tribes will most likely come to you, trying to quietly solve the issue."
"You think?" I said, with a lifted eyebrow.
"The demons all seem contentious, even when they are also working for the Demon Lord.
I bet if you caused enough problems, they'd simply threaten or otherwise try to convince you to stop, in the interest of protecting the Demon Lord's interests rather than your own. It’s like rival companies of the same army.
Everyone's trying to get credit, but no one gets anything if the whole gig is ruined," Almeria explained.
She thought that if I caused enough chaos, the demons would quietly try and solve it amongst themselves. The problem then became how they contacted me.
I rubbed my chin. "There's a decent chance, however, that if I do enough damage, I upset them, and they simply try to silence the whole ordeal."
Almeria nodded as she listened, then shrugged. "If that's the case, you'll at least draw out a few individuals you can clean up. It won't be completely worthless."
I nodded along and gazed back out over the area we'd been watching. "Why don't you start? You have a different enough build than me. It'll be obvious you're a different player altogether, but the shadows will connect us."
"Are there shadow demons?" Merlin asked.
I could only shrug, not quite sure myself. "Probably. The types of demons throughout the universe are apparently extraordinarily broad. I can't say I've ever seen one, but I also doubt other demons necessarily know all the various types or that they don't exist at all."
"Then I'll follow them back to their tribe.
" Almeria held up her talisman, becoming wreathed in darkness.
It was a simple illusion, not one that would function entirely like mine and Merlin's, but I had little doubt people would buy the ruse.
Humans for sure would fall for the illusion, but demons were harder to predict.
I smiled at our progress. Merlin shimmied up next to me after Almeria left. "Now, it's just you and me," she said, with a peck on the cheek.
"So it is." I grinned back. "Whatever shall we do to pass the time?"
"If you can make a talisman that warns us should anyone approach, I can think of a few ideas." Merlin drew a finger along my chest with a faintly lifted eyebrow.
"Deal," I said, with a giant grin.