246 246 Garden Expansion
Wolfe and Kira sat down at a table and were immediately joined by Mary, who had the biggest smile on her face that Wolfe had ever seen.
“Good job snagging more fluff. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fox Demon, my name is Mary, and I positively adore your tails.” The little witch with bubblegum pink hair greeted their guest.
“My name is Kira, and what do you mean by snagging more fluff?” Kira asked.
“Did you not look in a mirror? You’ve got a Servant Bond active. I can pretty much guarantee that you’re not going anywhere.” Mary giggled.
“How did that happen? I don’t recall speaking any words that would cause a bond. Oh, blast it. I didn’t say them out loud, but between Demons, that doesn’t matter, does it? Be careful of this one, little witch. His skills are dangerous. You’ll never want to leave.” The Fox Demon warned.
“Oh, I know. But I prefer Fluff. Even if it’s Wolfe, boys are still a little icky.” Mary clarified.
The Fox Demon smiled and patted Mary’s head while the little witch took the chance to bury her face in the Demon’s tail.
Mary mumbled into the fluff of the tail and totally missed the Demon’s indulgent and slightly patronizing look. “I think that we will be great friends. It’s like we’re tailor-made for each other. What other creature has three fluffy tails?”
“Perhaps we were. What do you usually eat here? Is it all vegetables? Fox Demons prefer a bit of meat with our meals.” Kira asked.
“Today, we have a shepherd’s pie for lunch. Ground meat topped with a layer of vegetables and a layer of the house-special garlic mashed potatoes, all lightly spiced and served with a side of salad. If you need more meat with your meal, we’ve got some leftover roast from last night in the fridge.” Cook informed her.
The line cook was definitely judging the glowing look on the Demon’s face, but the judgement was for Wolfe since she hadn’t seen this Demon before today.
“Are you planning to stay around for a while?” Cook asked the Demon, who was giving a longing look to the kitchen, where she could smell the food cooking.
“At least for a while. My Cousin runs one of the nearby villages, and I was going to visit her, but I got lost in the woods, so I will wait here until she comes to visit again.”
“Oh, I know who you mean. Yes, it shouldn’t be long before she comes to visit us again. Now that there is so much more safety here, she has been coming by more frequently to socialize and arrange deals to get supplies for her village. They seemed to be quite impressed by the new forest, and they’re pretty well set up for the summer.”
Kira hummed happily as Mary brushed through her tail, and one of the kitchen staff for the day brought out a whole cart full of meals to distribute down the table.
“It’s all grown in-house, except the meat which we hunted in the Wastes. Wolfe here has enchanted guns for us, so hunting monsters is no harder than hunting small animals from the Coven Territories.” Cook told her, playing up the Den’s good points in an effort to keep the Demon around.
She was also very powerful, so even if she couldn’t create new spells, she could channel mana to activate them, and that was a valuable skill here in the Den.
The room was quiet for a while as they ate, but Kira didn’t miss the amused looks that she was getting.
“Am I missing an inside joke or something? There is definitely something going on that I don’t know about.” She asked Wolfe with a confused look.
“I’m sure they’ll explain it if you ask nicely.” Wolfe chuckled while Mary leaned over to whisper in her ear.
“Voices carry down the hallways if you forget to close the door and activate the sound-dampening spells.” The little witch told her.
“So everyone here…”
“Heard you begging for more as you got your guts rearranged.” Cook clarified with a smirk on her face.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just the high point of our morning, we don’t get a lot of excitement these days, and a new friend joining the group is bound to be the topic of the day no matter what.” Mia consoled her.
“Well, that is a bit mortifying. I didn’t think about it at all. I was in such a hurry to break through to the third rank that everything else seemed inconsequential. But I suppose that now we can bond over my embarrassment.” Kira sighed.
Cook brought over a tray full of cake slices for the table and took a seat across from Kira. “What is it like to get to the Third Rank? I just reached the second, and for a witch, that is a huge milestone. Is the change to the third just as large?”
“It feels like it. It’s hard to tell since Female Demons are the neutered half of our magical lineage. We can’t create unique magic, only use what we were born knowing or what is already created, but I can feel that I have the ability to use so much more power now. Not as much as Wolfe, but I will be able to channel at least as much as any three Rank Two witches, and I can draw it instantly since I’m a Demon, not a Witch.” She explained.
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“It’s draining, but I don’t have an aura, so technically, yes.”
“Hmm, could you send mana to the group that’s rebuilding the gardens? They’re running low, and it would give us a good guideline for how much you can do.” Mary suggested.
“Sure, who do I transfer to? I would like to know the extent of my increased power as well.” Kira eagerly agreed.
“Let’s go find Cassie. I think she’s got the blueprints for the expansion.” Mary cheered, then not so discretely placed herself a half step behind the Demon, so she could keep brushing the tails as they walked.
“I think she just made a new best friend.” Cook laughed as the two of them walked away, and Kira moved her tails to wrap around Mary, keeping her close by.