"Wow, what's going on here, could we have taken a wrong turn?"
Standing at the entrance of Hagrid Manor, the Dwarf expressed such doubts. Lancelot felt the sa because they had only been away for a little over two months, yet the manor before them already looked completely abandoned.
The yard was overrun with wildly growing thorns, and the walls of the building were covered with dark vines. On the third floor, an unshut window swung back and forth in the eerie wind, creaking eerily, making the entire manor resemble the haunted old house from a horror story.
"Living next to a bunch of Vampires, this is what happens," Kalalin shrugged his shoulders. "Should have considered the location when buying the house."
"Okay, but how do you explain that?" Bruto pointed to a corner of the yard, where two skeletons lay. "Just so kitchen scraps casually thrown away by our lovely neighbors?"
"Probably not," Lancelot frowned, pulling out a small red ball. "But it looks like our gardener hasn't tended to this place for a while..."
A mont later, a tall, blue figure appeared before them. This was Dingke, the largest Quasimodo Demon in Twin Bridges Town. Standing six feet tall, it appeared even taller than the Dwarf, its naked body covered in developed muscles, and its palm's five fingers like five sharp Daggers filled with coagulated, dark red dirty blood, hinting at its colorful life in Twin Bridges Town.
"Master, did you summon Dingke?"
Dingke slowly made a bow towards Lancelot, seemingly reluctant. Lancelot couldn't help frowning. Although a demon's loyalty was as fleeting as its fickle nature, it had only been two months and this Quasimodo Demon seed to have already grown accustod to its status among the lesser demons, finding this 'master' botherso.
Regarding this wrong mindset of his subordinate, Lancelot naturally had to correct it decisively, as after all, he would occasionally go on adventures and needed soone to watch over the house.
Moreover, after his trip to Bone Castle, he had gained a lot of experience on how to impersonate a Lord of the Abyss.
"Your attitude seems to have a problem," Lancelot easily pinpointed the Fla Demon Essence within himself. "What, don't you want to serve anymore?"
As he spoke, his eyes burned with fierce flas, his voice carried a strange echo, and the aura he emitted made it seem like he was talking to his own dinner. The previously insolent Quasimodo Demon was so frightened that it sat down hard on the ground, shaking like it had been struck by lightning, and a foul liquid seeped from its lower body, emitting a strong stench.
"No, no, no, master!" The minor demon shrieked, "Dingke never ant that!"
"If you think so, just say a word to ," Lancelot casually tossed the small red ball in his hand. "But if you dare betray ..."
"Dare not! Absolutely dare not!" Dingke knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to Lancelot. "Everything Dingke has cos from the master, Dingke will never betray the master!"
"There's no need to be so certain, when the opportunity is right, perhaps you can give it a try," Lancelot replied with a smirk, which only made the Quasimodo Demon tremble even more. He felt the ti was right, so he withdrew his aura and casually asked, "What's the deal with those two skeletons?"
"Those are Tracy and Murray, two foolish thieves who lurked in the rcenary area. They didn't even touch the doorknob before Dingke caught them off guard!" The Quasimodo Demon seed to want to laugh but thought better of it, settling on an ugly expression, "Dingke left their bodies there as a warning! It worked very well!"
"Okay," Lancelot shrugged, "Besides that, has anyone else broken in?"
"No, absolutely not!" Dingke shook his head repeatedly, "The bell Kalalin gave has never rung!"
The bell the Quasimodo Demon ntioned was a little gadget made by a scholar. It would emit a clear sound whenever soone entered a three-story building, and it would keep working as long as they were within the bounds of Twin Bridges Town.
"Good," Lancelot nodded, "You may go."
After letting the Quasimodo Demon leave, everyone entered the manor, walking along a path not yet overtaken by thorns to the front door. Kalalin used a spell to remove the arcane lock on the door, another of their security asures. This was just a small level-two spell, not difficult to break, but nearly impossible to do so without leaving traces. The spellcasters relied on this technique to ensure their lair wasn't penetrated and ambushed when they were most unguarded.
Compared to the desolate atmosphere outside, everything inside the building was normal; however, dust always seed to appear out of nowhere in the Abyss's air, which was why young Isabella always seed have endless chores. Due to a long period of neglect, the dust on the dining table was an inch thick.
However, it was still daylight, and it didn't seem right to leave such a colossal task to a minor, so these eternal friends of the Aira Celestials, the heroes who saved Pascaler, and forr Governors of Mogrondale rolled up their sleeves and started doing household chores themselves.
About an hour later, everyone was comfortably lounging on sofas and chairs, and the surroundings at least looked a lot tidier. Of course, so difficult-to-reach corners were likely untouched by these n (Alamir might be an exception); in the end, it would still depend on Isabella to clean up slowly.
"Ah, if only Koula were here," Bruto clutched his beer mug, filled with ad—a drink the Dwarf almost left in Androlina, "So grilled Abyss chicken would be perfect right about now..."
"There's no Abyss chicken, but there's so corn and mushrooms in the bag if you want to roast them yourself," Lancelot stretched lazily, standing up from the chair and starting to put on the armor he had taken off while working.
"What's up?" the Dwarf asked curiously, watching Lancelot's actions, "Enemies?"
"I'm going to do so gardening," Lancelot waved him off, "Just relax, it's just a protective asure."
"Alright," hearing it was more work, the Dwarf promptly laid back down, "Because of the fight in Pascaler, I get a psychological shadow every ti I see thorns now... that sight, hung with Demon corpses, is truly morable..."
Lancelot chuckled and shook his head, leaving the cozy room to enter the courtyard outside the small building. The so-called courtyard was actually just a vacant lot, which had always been used as a training ground by everyone, but now Lancelot had other plans for this patch of land.
Reviews
All reviews (0)