D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1344 Chapter 1344 Last-Minute Lunchtime Prep

After making it back to the inn Green had run off to grab Nixilei, claiming that the fae had slept enough, and there was no sense in messing with her sleep schedule too much. Gareth wasn't going to argue with his fiancé, while Kat and Lily thought that Green probably knew best in this case, even if it might have been a bit rude to just let her go off and wake Nixilei.

The three of them had taken up a spot in the corner of the lunch room. Lily had chosen to have a large lunch once she saw that there was fresh fish on the menu. Kat grabbed a few crumbed pieces while Lily went for the raw cuts that had been sliced paper thin and drizzled with a bit of sauce of some kind. Gareth wasn't feeling to well and just grabbed a simple salad and some water. He grabbed a second bowl of salad as well, presumably for Green.

When the fae made it back to the table, Nixilei went off and grabbed some water while everyone else took the chance to dig into their meals. Kat found it to be acceptable. Which was a bit of an understatement. It was really well cooked and the taste was quite nice… but compared to Lily who seemed to be having a religious experience based on her emotions Kat couldn't help but be a little underwhelmed with the, admittedly still tasty meal.

Because Lily was clearly a bit out of it at the moment the group unanimously decided to keep quiet and make their way through a good portion of their own food. Lily finished quickly and then went up to grab a second helping before anyone could say anything about it. This too was quickly devoured in record time then she went up for thirds. Kat didn't say anything when Lily returned and consumed the lot in just under two minutes. This led to Kat giving her some head scratches when she started pouting, but that was fine. "Urgh, I can't believe it's all gone," whined Lily

"It's not, there's still more up at the counter if you want it," suggested Kat.

"No I really shouldn't. It may have been sliced really thin but I'm pretty sure I've eaten more for lunch today then I did for the last two days. I'm half surprised my shirt still covers my stomach, and said organ is screaming at me for the abuse. It was totally worth it, but if I have any more I AM going to be sick," grumbled Lily.

"Are you going to be alright for the next round?" asked Kat.

Lily's eyes widened in panic and then all of a sudden she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. A moment later she found herself with a completely flat stomach and let out a large burp. "What?" asked Lily confused. She tapped her stomach a few times, and it certainly felt empty. Lily frowned as she poked her stomach a few more times. "Odd. I still feel pretty energised… what the heck happened?"

"Best guess?" offered Kat. Lily nodded in response. "I suspect that you managed to trigger the same process demons must use to digest things. Remember, my stomach is basically a furnace. If I had to guess that's what you did. Probably why it hurt a bit."

"Huh… well that's… useful I guess? I wonder if it helps prevent me from getting fat or if it'd just make things worse?" pondered Lilly.

Green coughed loudly, "Let's not get into that now… or perhaps ever. Frankly? I don't want to know the specifics because I bet I'd be jealous either way. What we should be discussing is the final event and who we think is participating in it,"

"Marigold, March, Blue, Lily and possibly Romilda," answered Nixilei.

Green raised a confused eyebrow at Nixilei as she asked, "And how do you know that"

"It's why I asked for a quite rundown of what happened with the first two events. Marigold is definitely going to participate in something today. There's no way she misses out on the chance to have fun, and she does find all of these events fun. As such, the fact that she hasn't participated yet just means she'll be her teams pick for the final event of the day.

"Blue is similarly obvious, but for different reasons. Blue seems to be the real breadwinner for that team, and with her water magic she'll be a force to be reckoned with today considering the water theme. Perhaps not in the cannon-shot, but she could've easily taken the win in the race if Nell hadn't taken her place.

"So I'm quite certain that Blue will go on the treasure hunt. Her power underwater will make her own of, if not the single most dangerous combatant in the hunt alongside superior mobility and, if Thyme doesn't provide it, likely a way to breathe underwater. She has a real chance at winning the round if the others aren't careful.

"March I'm less sure of, but I she's similar enough to Marigold in terms of competitive spirit and nobody on their team is particularly at home in the water. I'd say that everyone in their team will take the chance to pass the buck a bit before March just says she'll do it. She's probably weakened the most by the water, but at the same time her monstrous strength might still keep her in the contest. Perhaps more than that if the rules favour her.

"Lily, you said volunteered so I won't discuss why that's a good or bad idea but Romilda… Romilda is mostly my guess because I can see her magic actually being useful for once. She's participated in a few events where it really hasn't done anything and I think that might be getting to her. From what I know of her family they're quite proud of their magic and family tradition and I can really see her wanting to show it off…

"Though of course, it does need to be said that she might just be the best person on the team for it, regardless of who can and can't participate. Borgick would be useless, especially with his chosen weapon, Carl's a bit to chill to properly get in there and fight, and of course he can't participate anyway like Borgick. Cyan uses a SLING which wouldn't do anything at all underwater. Not without some seriously heavy duty enchantments, or some water specific ones I doubt he has. Probably why he took the second event honestly. Then there's Asteodia and she might still be asleep, so that's a good reason alone even before you realise that a fire mage trying to do anything noteworthy underwater is going to be a problem,"

"You thought of all of this in like… ten minutes tops?" asked Kat.

Nixilei shrugged and explained, "This is part of my job. I observe, make guesses as to what my targets will do in the near, or sometimes distant future before I compile that information and send it off to get more orders. This is just slightly more short-

term thinking then usual, but it's not exactly unheard of. Plus, I am well enough rested now. I did have at least a little sleep earlier, and then I crashed while you were all watching the first two events. With a bit of help from my healing magic I am perfectly fine,"

"I thought you couldn't use that to help you?" asked Lily. "I mean, if you could why not use it earlier?"

"I can use it to wake me up, not remove fatigue. It's a difference of degrees. Now that I've had enough sleep, I can ensure that I stay watchful and alert, but if I slept poorly or didn't get any sleep between breakfast and now then the magic wouldn't help me. Think of it like… clearing up the mind a little bit, but not removing any real fatigue if it helps,"

Gareth let out a sigh and said, "Before we get too distracted I feel like I need to bring something up. Lily, knowing that Thyme has recommended weapons for the final round are you still comfortable taking part in it?"

"Um…" Lily winced as she thought for a moment. "I think so? I mean, I have a few tricks I want to try out underwater and I plan to mostly sneak through the round doing my best but I think I CAN fight underwater if I have to. These guys are… closer to my power level then a lot of the people Kat tends to fight so if I was ever going to have the chance to prove I can at least hold my own within my weight class now is the time. It's as close to ideal for me as it can get if you ignore Blue… so I'm just going to go for it I guess?"

"Look, as long as you know…" said Gareth with a shrug.

"No it's fine, I get it. Probably best you brought it up now rather then later or not at all…" offered Lily.