novelPresent for the Demon
| ← Ch.37 | Ch.39 → |
A place like this must have a present for the demon. She, along with her companions came to this barren country of ruins after being destroyed by demons in the long past. Normally, she would never have had the chance to come here but now that she had the extra time, she was able to make this round trip. They could feel the grandeur in the desolate ruins overrun with weeds dispersed throughout this fallen country.
The towering walls which once protected the countries borders were littered with holes created by the demons as they invaded the towns and spread the flames of destruction. Remains of demons accompanied by crater indents were found across the streets. Places assumed to previously be guard stations had traces of barricades being built, however, swords and canes, as well as squished plates of armour were rolling on the ground. This was the deserted town the girls were headed to.
A while later, she found the place they were searching for. It was a relatively spacious hardware store with a pot on its hanging sign board. The ajar door was covered with splatters of blackened blood. Inside the store, a couple of human bones were spread around the counter. Perhaps due to being indoors, there were still some bones, unaffected by the weathering. These were most likely outcome of those who sought refuge inside the store but were still slaughtered by the invading demons. Deep scratches from the demons were still imbedded on the ceilings and walls.
Now, it would be great if there was a present here...
After all, this country fell a long time before I was born.
Products on the shelves were already battered, but stores like this should have a warehouse at the back.
There might be a useable pot there.
If the pots' are large enough, I could take one back as a present for the demon.
It's a pain to cook the fruits day after day in such a small pot.
If I manage to find a large enough pot, I can greatly reduce the cooking time needed for the large amount of fruits and the demon can also eat their fill.
The woman chanted a searching spell for her surroundings. As a result, she had indeed confirmed the entry to an underground warehouse. She headed further into the shop and opened the wooden door. It was too dark to see one meter ahead, despite the staircase inside. She lit up her staff using illumination magic and pushed forwards.
The staircase turned out to be a short one of not even ten steps and yet the basement it led up to was surprisingly spacious. Stocks of pots, knives and other daily necessities were lined on the shelves. And at the very depths of the warehouse, there were multiple piles of skeletons.
Judging from the size, they were probably the bones of children - possibly the children of the shop owners. Beside the corpses were crates to store ingredients and vases of water which were all emptied. There were no signs of trauma inflicted by demons on the bodies of the children either. These children had most likely starved to death inside this underground warehouse. As they were overcome with hunger, they turned their teeth to the crates as seen by the small bite marks left on the wooden boxes.
...These children died in a place like this, obscured by darkness...
Demons likely roamed the surface in search of any survivors.
They who were unable to escape from this underground warehouse could only starve to death.
The woman offered a prayer for the children who passed away then proceeded to search for her pot.
After a few minutes of searching, the woman returned to the surface bringing along with a meter wide pot with her using levitation magic. She secured the pot to the back of the demon and finally let out a sigh of relief. Her gaze turned towards the all too quiet "shopping district".
Crumbling buildings and piles upon piles of bones lined the long strip of road. This shopping district once brimming with lively crowds of people now seemed pitifully empty.
The candy store where children laughed once upon a time, now held the bones of a gigantic demon, with multiple swords stabbed into it.. The restaurant which was turned into a barricade was littered with dented pieces of armour soaked in blood. When she peeked inside a luxury clothing store, she was welcomed with the scene of clothing racks blotted in black. Shelves in bookstores were overturned and buried under them were another few human skeletons.
Finally there was the half-collapsed mana stone store. The state of the interior was just as terrible as expected but there was also an unexpected harvest. When she looked over the unsold mana stones out of curiosity, she found that the stones still had some magic power remaining inside of them.
It was surprising that these mana stones still retained some magic power considering the amount of time they've been neglected for. The mana stone itself was an older model and the magic power stored inside didn't amount to much.
But as long as there was magic power remaining, it could be used to perform magic. If she could gather the leftover magic power and transfer it into her modern magic stone, she wouldn't have to worry about any extra luggage. It was a blessing for her that as of late, she hadn't needed to dispose of any of the mana stones thanks to the demons.
She quickly scoured through the store and gathered every mana stone. And the still remaining magic power was transferred into her mana stone.
Afterwards, the woman and the demon wandered aimlessly around the country. No matter where they went, there was only uninhabited ruins infested with weeds. They deduced from the scattered bones that there was still someone around but it anticlimactically turned out to be a couple of smaller sized demons.
There, she found "treasure". She copied down the map of the shopping district and retrieved all the magic power every store had to offer. When she found a mana tool store, she again retrieved all the tools she could carry.
Furthermore, she made a visit to the grocery store and took all the bags of salt and sugar. As long as the surrounding environment of the salt and sugar wasn't overly terrible, these seasonings would not rot. Fortunately, the food warehouse wasn't damaged, retaining its appearance since it was last used. These condiments were not only for the demon's meals but also her own. She couldn't taste anything odd from these seasonings when she gave her finger she stuck in a lick.
She placed all these various "treasures" onto the demon's back then headed towards the wealthy district where all the nobles lived. This area was different to the average residential district or the shopping districts in that it was protected by a separate impenetrable wall. Because the steel gates were reinforced with anti-magic defences, the woman had to use the opened gap next to the wall. Although the walls were built in a magnificent manner, the interior of the area was not too different from the shopping districts.
Bones could be found everywhere and buildings were infested with plants with many of them crumbling from age. If one had to be pressed for a difference, then one could say that the armour of the soldiers protecting this area was a bit more luxurious than the soldiers outside.
For the number of plates of armour on the ground was the same amount of demon bones. From the looks of things, this place had experienced bouts of intense battles. As evidence, there were a few larger demon's worth of complete skeletons which were rarely seen in the shopping district. It turns out that a few of these larger demons which managed to break through had been killed.
Any guard who could accomplish this feat must have been an elite among the elites. However, they were outnumbered. The line of defence was broken through by the overwhelming amount of demons and the wealthy district then fell... and that was probably what happened back then.
A magnificent castle could be seen beyond the wealthy district but even then, a couple of the towers were crumbling. It shouldn't have taken a long time for the castle to fall after the wealthy district was broken through by the hoard of demons.
The woman and her demons silently passed by the walls.
A bit further away from the walls was a wide street lined with tall buildings. Nevertheless, every building had signs of erosion and some of the palatial residences had completely fallen under. She looked for a house which looked to be somewhat easy to enter and waltzed in.
She pushed through the overgrown bushes in the garden, carefully walked under the grandiose doors hanging from their hinges and saw a grand chandelier towering at the doorway as though it was greeting her. It had probably fallen from the ceiling of the entrance room where it hung. She continued forwards while avoiding the chandelier and let out a searching magic when she reached a more spacious area.
...It looks like there are a few smaller sized demons who've made themselves at home in rooms on the second floor.
I remember there being a kitchen and study room on the ground floor...
She combed the residence in more detail and finally found the object she was searching for.
A smile formed on her face the instant she found it.
| ← Ch. 37 | Ch. 39 → |