《I Was Summoned To Have Tea With The Demon Lord [Rewrite]》Chapter 20: Extract
Advertisement
Period pieces have prepared me for the respect one owes the lord of a manor, but I still don't know what to expect as we set off across town and make our way to the towering structure that serves as his stronghold. Izumi is trying to make conversation, but I barely hear it over the racing of my heart. The possibility that we could find another one of the missing girls so soon is thrilling. I think we're walking for a solid hour, but it feels like no time at all when I'm so absorbed in my thoughts.
Izumi uses the large knocker at the door to alert Lord Windwood to our presence.
When the door opens, we're greeted by a maid instead. That makes sense, I suppose. She's shorter than the average person.
My eyes linger on her for just long enough that my internal display activates: Halfling (level one). The name sounds a bit familiar.
"State your business," she sighs, not unfriendly but not entirely thrilled to see us.
"We're here to find the master's daughter," Izumi answers immediately.
"Then I shall inform him of your arrival," she says with a slight nod. "Please follow me inside. Take care not to touch anything."
We're set up in a room while she fetches him. I feel like we're about to interview a key witness. I've got butterflies.
"Stop smiling. It makes you look like an idiot." Helpful words from Mamoru bring me back to reality.
"I was not smiling."
"Sure."
The door creaks open. A figure looms behind the maid. Without a doubt, it's the master of the house.
"Announcing Lord Windwood."
As I've predicted, he's dark-haired and brown-eyed, clearly no father of a redhead. He may have carried himself tall once, but now he slouches. There are dark circles under his eyes, evidence of nights spent worrying about Lilah. He gives off the impression of a good man fallen on hard times.
Advertisement
"You're here about my daughter?" The man wastes no time, turning to all of us as we quickly rise from our positions on the couch and chair of the receiving room to bow. "Please, sit back down. You'll really help me find her?"
"I have a few questions—" I begin, but Izumi talks over me very deliberately.
"Yes. We'd like to know everything you do. We'll bring her back safely, I promise."
"My wife died before she could give birth to an heir," he says quietly. "So when Lilah agreed to my proposal to adopt her, I was overjoyed. She said she came from some far-off kingdom and, to tell you the truth, I didn't care. I've wanted a daughter for so long—"
"Did she tell you the kingdom's name?" I ask.
"No. I could tell she wanted to leave her past behind her. She'd have nightmares sometimes, crying out in her sleep..." The lord sighs. "She wouldn't even tell me her family name. She just took mine for her own."
Mamoru seems to be falling asleep, but I know it's important to know everything there is to know about the victim and their family.
"I don't mean to bore you," he says.
"You're not," I insist.
Izumi nods along with me. "She's important to you. We'll listen as long as you need."
"Thank you." He begins to pace the room. "The point is, the one time I allowed her to go shopping without a guard, she never came home. Usually I insist, but she wore me down."
"What was she shopping for?" I ask.
"She didn't say. Lilah didn't want to be part of this family for status or wealth. She liked peasant fashion and watching street performers. I thought maybe she had a secret sweetheart among the bards in town. But maybe that's just a father's paranoia."
Advertisement
"A secret love affair!" Izumi swoons a little. "But she'd never run away from you."
"Do you think someone kidnapped her?" I finally get to the point. "Have you received any ransom notes? Has anyone in your household been acting suspicious?"
"I don't know. Nobody's acting out of the ordinary and you're the first adventurer's I've spoken to about this."
"Only us?" Mamoru leans forward.
"The Windwood name is... somewhat..."
The silence is palpable.
"Cursed. Everyone in the city knows. Lilah knew, and she stayed with me anyway. The curse is what killed my wife."
Did we make some kind of mistake coming here? I'm ready to exchange skeptical looks with the rest of the party, but they seem more intrigued than plagued by disbelief.
"What kind of curse?" Izumi asks gently.
"We're gifted mages from the time we're born," the lord answers. "But when we grow older, the talent leaves us, and the hole it leaves in the soul leads to an untimely death. We never know when it will strike."
"But Lilah wouldn't have had the curse if she's not your biological daughter," I point out. "Why is this important?"
"We have talismans. Charms. All sorts of things to ward off the hollow-sickness. They're very expensive to manufacture, and since the demons came to power, they've been harder to find. She was wearing my wife's last protective talisman when she disappeared."
"So it wasn't about Lilah, but the... thing... she was wearing?" I ask.
I don't know a talisman from a tarantula, so I’ll need to rely on Izumi and Mamoru more than I want to admit.
"I think so," Lord Windwood says. "I fear she may have been the victim of a violent act in the process of someone stealing it. But a missing talisman, even a token of my late wife, is nothing compared to my daughter's safety. I just want to know that she’s safe."
To summarize the facts and form a hypothesis, I run through the details. Lilah had nightmares; she liked the common folk; she had a mysterious past; she always carried a valuable object on her person. None of the details fit together yet.
"We'll find out what happened to her," Izumi promises.
"Half upfront—" Mamoru starts to say, but I shut him up with a glare.
"We'll take payment after we find Lilah," I follow up.
"No, no, it's quite alright," the lord says. "You may need the funds to buy information or to travel."
Mamoru gives me a smug look.
"We'll bring her back to you, Lord Windwood," Izumi says solemnly.
And that's how we ended up with our first quest, I guess.
Advertisement
Blades of Honor
To JiYeong, Allumia Crossing was just a game, a way to escape the boring humdrum of life. It was a game she'd played for the better part of four years. Imagine her surprise when she suddenly finds herself surrounded by familiar scenes she'd once seen exclusively behind a screen. All too soon JiYeong finds herself whisked into the role of Champion and forced to question everything she'd ever known about herself and the world she'd grown to love.
8 116Reminiscence
My website: https://putiancom.wordpress.com This is a short story about revenge or something along the lines. (This is my first story ever written so please go ham at criticising my work.) Death. It is a form of punishment or torture. And can be also be a form of salvation. Ultimately, it forms different perspectives depending on the beholder itself and on how the beholder take it as. Life. A point in time where finding your purpose. Purpose, of life itself and experience its flow, either epiphany or hell. Death. It is an end. A point of no return. It also makes the beholder feel free, breaking away from the chain of life. It makes the beholder recollect and reflect when crossing the boundary between life and death. Boundaries. A place where a path will ultimately, be chosen with or without consideration in the decision, free. . . . A place where recounting life, take it as a feeling. The joys and sorrow accumulated, playing back, making the beholder reexperience life. "Reminiscing."
8 150Draconia
This story will bring you to the mysterious continent of Draconia where monsters run rampant. Join our heroes in the search for Draconians, the strongest humanoid race that has ever lived while discovering the truth behind their disappearance.
8 90He Never Loved Me (#Wattys2019)
This life is what I made it, I messed up, It's universal couldn't help it. But this broken heart I fell is the worst. It's like having broken ribs, no one can see, but it hurts every time I breath.
8 169The Girl with Scales and a Sword
This is the story of a girl who ends up with scales and a sword. Yup. There you have it folks. Slice of Life is the key intended genre. This is literally going to be a running commentary of a girls life, especially as it relates to adventure and action This is going to be a continuous work, as I intend it to be a side project while I work on other books more decidedly, and I intend to rework chapters often, because I want this both to be a break from other titles, and a learning experience. I'm going to be trying to get a lot of people to comment on chapters so I can grow as a writer. So if you want to read, please do! and comment if you feel generous. Just keep in mind, releases will likely be veeeeery far apart. (Note: I try to put out a chapter a month, though that doesn't always happen depending on school, work, and generally how well I'm doing, energy-wise)
8 220The Age of
At the age of 8, I thought I knew love.--this story contains triggering passages, such as: subtle mentions of sexual abuse, molestation, and an unhappy ending. this is not a happy story, it's a real story. read at your own risk.
8 180