Chapter 374: Thinking Stage
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"So Kat," said Kamiko "what do you think happened next? Trust me, it was stranger than I expected at the time as well. I wasn't even close when I made my guess so perhaps you'll do better"
*Hmm,* "When you say what happened next… do you mean what you did next or what actually happened to the missing things?" asked Kat.
"Oh right. Sorry about that, I did actually mean to ask that. Actually, I'll tell you what I thought. I was still thinking that the birds were hiding it somewhere else" said Kamiko.
*Huh… that's weird, I was guessing that as well. What else could they be doing with it? I guess Kamiko never said they had anything to do with it at all… but the way she set this whole thing up they must have had SOMETHING to do with it right? Hmm.* "You mentioned earlier that someone else stole a bunch of silverware. Did that guy actually steal it all after messing up the first time?" asked Kat.
Kamiko's eyes widened. "Woah. That makes a lot of sense. Still wrong, but at least it makes more sense than birds hiding away their treasure for no reason" said Kamiko.
Kat shrugged. "I'm not sure it does. I mean, what could they do with it? The temple seems like a fairly close-knit community. Whoever was stealing them wouldn't be able to sell it to anyone because it would have been immediately recognised" said Kat.
"Huh" said Kamiko, letting out a long breath. "Honestly I didn't think of that either. Not now, and not at the time… honestly, I wish it made that much sense with the thief being a bit smarter than average but not smart enough to figure out that part."
Kat smiled and gave another shrug. *Honestly, I'm just curious to see what actually happened at this point. I don't really have any good ideas.* "Is there anything else I'd need to know to figure it out?" asked Kat
Kamiko winced a bit. "I mean… maybe? But I'd call that cheating in some ways because I never found out about it till I told my parents this story and they explained how it all likely happened. I'll just say that sometimes, mana is a little different between dimensions."
*What the heck could that mean? It's weird to point it out… I guess I had just assumed it was always the same though. Is qi also different? Maybe I should ask, that seems important.* "Is qi sometimes different as well?" asked Kat.
Kamiko shook her head. "No, qi is funny like that. There are different types of qi but it is always the same. However, what does change is the world adapts to absorb it. The whole dimension sort of… picks a way and sticks with it. Every species gets the same most of the time, and it's kinda like a weird universal law even though it shouldn't be. I'm not sure why it happens, but yeah, qi is qi is qi, while mana is mostly mana most times."
*Right… that… let's just say that makes sense and move on. I'm not sure it DOES exactly, but I'll believe it for now. Actually, quick check. System, can you say something if Kamiko is wrong?*
*Nothing? All good?* Kat waited a few more seconds and saw nothing. "That's rather strange Kamiko. Um, why didn't you ask the system to confirm something like that while you were there?" asked Kat, not quite able to help herself.
Kamiko scratched her cheek awkwardly as some more colour rose to her cheeks. "Well… I didn't know it was a thing I NEEDED to know. Trust me, it will make sense in context once I finish the story I swear" said Kamiko
Kat nodded, and gestured for Kamiko to continue, which she did. "So, I was panicking a little after that, however in my time spent trying to figure out what the heck was going on, somebody came up to me and hel… well, no they didn't help, the next person did. The first person, was an idiot.
"So… they were a young kid, maybe… eleven? At the oldest? And he comes up and tries to flirt with me. And not that adorable thing kids do, where they blush a bunch and call you pretty and hand you flowers you can tell were ripped out of the grass from slightly further down the road.
"Nah, this kid wanted to pretend he was this worldly ladies' man, which, trust me, I'm a succubus I've seen them around, so… this was just awkward. So the kid comes up, let's call him Sleezy, and leans on my shoulder. He can only do this of course, because I'm sitting down.
"He says to me, 'what's a beautiful girl like you doing sitting on the grass out here', and honestly I was gobsmacked. Before I could even figure out who this kid thinks he is, he continues 'I see, speechless to see me are you. I understand the feeling, all the ladies in the village are like that around me' and if I'm honest. I'm wondering if he means the town, or just the upper compound because… remember, there are like… two girls, and the old lady. So who he was trying this on before… I have no idea.
"So anyway, I pull away from the kid a bit, and the little shit just follows along with me, as if he isn't now leaning over like half my body. So I say to him, 'Do you mind? I'm currently in the middle of something?' as politely as I could. Now, I also know that my aura is raging. I found out that day, that I do not handle idiocy as well as I thought. Patience, I have, time for idiots, I do not.
"At this point, I can already feel my demonic energy building, and… well, I was going to say I was starting to glow pink but I don't think that happened till I was Rank 2… so probably not, ignore that part. Anyway, I was mad already, and instead of saying something sane, the kid says, 'Oh, I'm distracting you am I? I'm sure you can make some time for me.'
"Which… just… no. First off, you are still a kid. I know I'm was a bit of a late bloomer in the chest department and my outfit hides most of it, but I was still clearly years older than him."
*Um… Kamiko, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure you look a few years younger than you are. Not sure when this happened either, but if it was in the last twelve months, I'm not surprised they thought you were around their age if they were a little older than you thought.*
"So… I pulled the classic demon trick, and grabbed a nearby rock and smashed it in my hands. Which, ow, that hurt, because crushing rocks is easy but crushing rocks and not getting impaled by all the little bits that get left over afterwards. I don't have regen like you so it cut up my hands pretty badly.
"Still, the image was actually good enough to get Sleezy to just run away from me scared. I was more than a little annoyed at that. He comes up to me, tries all his fancy lines, and with a little intimidation he backs off! Luckily though, a much nicer person rocked up afterwards. The oldest man that I'd seen in the temple so far, and I explained to him what I saw and that the sounds were all ravens.
"He seemed to believe me, but told me 'It will be a very difficult task to convince the others of this though' and when I asked why, he explained, 'Nobody is willing to go explore the area, and even with your insistence, it is against our beliefs to step foot on those grounds. They likely won't believe that birds got in, and insist it must be ghosts' and… well I was kinda down about that.
"I was much more put off than I should have been. D.E.M.O.N.S would never give an impossible task, and I already said this was my first one so it should have been really safe and fairly easy to complete, but I wasn't thinking about that. No, it was the old man who told me the answer while I was trying not to cry.
"He said 'What's wrong you one? Why can't you go in and grab the items and use that as proof of what was going on?' now, I'll admit, thinking back, I also could have grabbed the ravens, but his idea was great, so I gave him a hug and set off back towards the raven nest to explore better and try to find the stash of jewels." Said Kamiko with a big smile.
*Huh, that's nice. It doesn't seem anywhere near as easy as my mission was… but maybe that's because I wasn't a full demon? Or perhaps whatever my mission was supposed to be would have been around this difficult? Hard to say really. The Elf King was maybe around that difficulty if you consider the pressure. I don't think it hit me at the time he was actually much older than me and well… a King.*
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"So Kat," said Kamiko "what do you think happened next? Trust me, it was stranger than I expected at the time as well. I wasn't even close when I made my guess so perhaps you'll do better"
*Hmm,* "When you say what happened next… do you mean what you did next or what actually happened to the missing things?" asked Kat.
"Oh right. Sorry about that, I did actually mean to ask that. Actually, I'll tell you what I thought. I was still thinking that the birds were hiding it somewhere else" said Kamiko.
*Huh… that's weird, I was guessing that as well. What else could they be doing with it? I guess Kamiko never said they had anything to do with it at all… but the way she set this whole thing up they must have had SOMETHING to do with it right? Hmm.* "You mentioned earlier that someone else stole a bunch of silverware. Did that guy actually steal it all after messing up the first time?" asked Kat.
Kamiko's eyes widened. "Woah. That makes a lot of sense. Still wrong, but at least it makes more sense than birds hiding away their treasure for no reason" said Kamiko.
Kat shrugged. "I'm not sure it does. I mean, what could they do with it? The temple seems like a fairly close-knit community. Whoever was stealing them wouldn't be able to sell it to anyone because it would have been immediately recognised" said Kat.
"Huh" said Kamiko, letting out a long breath. "Honestly I didn't think of that either. Not now, and not at the time… honestly, I wish it made that much sense with the thief being a bit smarter than average but not smart enough to figure out that part."
Kat smiled and gave another shrug. *Honestly, I'm just curious to see what actually happened at this point. I don't really have any good ideas.* "Is there anything else I'd need to know to figure it out?" asked Kat
Kamiko winced a bit. "I mean… maybe? But I'd call that cheating in some ways because I never found out about it till I told my parents this story and they explained how it all likely happened. I'll just say that sometimes, mana is a little different between dimensions."
*What the heck could that mean? It's weird to point it out… I guess I had just assumed it was always the same though. Is qi also different? Maybe I should ask, that seems important.* "Is qi sometimes different as well?" asked Kat.
Kamiko shook her head. "No, qi is funny like that. There are different types of qi but it is always the same. However, what does change is the world adapts to absorb it. The whole dimension sort of… picks a way and sticks with it. Every species gets the same most of the time, and it's kinda like a weird universal law even though it shouldn't be. I'm not sure why it happens, but yeah, qi is qi is qi, while mana is mostly mana most times."
*Right… that… let's just say that makes sense and move on. I'm not sure it DOES exactly, but I'll believe it for now. Actually, quick check. System, can you say something if Kamiko is wrong?*
*Nothing? All good?* Kat waited a few more seconds and saw nothing. "That's rather strange Kamiko. Um, why didn't you ask the system to confirm something like that while you were there?" asked Kat, not quite able to help herself.
Kamiko scratched her cheek awkwardly as some more colour rose to her cheeks. "Well… I didn't know it was a thing I NEEDED to know. Trust me, it will make sense in context once I finish the story I swear" said Kamiko
Kat nodded, and gestured for Kamiko to continue, which she did. "So, I was panicking a little after that, however in my time spent trying to figure out what the heck was going on, somebody came up to me and hel… well, no they didn't help, the next person did. The first person, was an idiot.
"So… they were a young kid, maybe… eleven? At the oldest? And he comes up and tries to flirt with me. And not that adorable thing kids do, where they blush a bunch and call you pretty and hand you flowers you can tell were ripped out of the grass from slightly further down the road.
"Nah, this kid wanted to pretend he was this worldly ladies' man, which, trust me, I'm a succubus I've seen them around, so… this was just awkward. So the kid comes up, let's call him Sleezy, and leans on my shoulder. He can only do this of course, because I'm sitting down.
"He says to me, 'what's a beautiful girl like you doing sitting on the grass out here', and honestly I was gobsmacked. Before I could even figure out who this kid thinks he is, he continues 'I see, speechless to see me are you. I understand the feeling, all the ladies in the village are like that around me' and if I'm honest. I'm wondering if he means the town, or just the upper compound because… remember, there are like… two girls, and the old lady. So who he was trying this on before… I have no idea.
"So anyway, I pull away from the kid a bit, and the little shit just follows along with me, as if he isn't now leaning over like half my body. So I say to him, 'Do you mind? I'm currently in the middle of something?' as politely as I could. Now, I also know that my aura is raging. I found out that day, that I do not handle idiocy as well as I thought. Patience, I have, time for idiots, I do not.
"At this point, I can already feel my demonic energy building, and… well, I was going to say I was starting to glow pink but I don't think that happened till I was Rank 2… so probably not, ignore that part. Anyway, I was mad already, and instead of saying something sane, the kid says, 'Oh, I'm distracting you am I? I'm sure you can make some time for me.'
"Which… just… no. First off, you are still a kid. I know I'm was a bit of a late bloomer in the chest department and my outfit hides most of it, but I was still clearly years older than him."
*Um… Kamiko, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure you look a few years younger than you are. Not sure when this happened either, but if it was in the last twelve months, I'm not surprised they thought you were around their age if they were a little older than you thought.*
"So… I pulled the classic demon trick, and grabbed a nearby rock and smashed it in my hands. Which, ow, that hurt, because crushing rocks is easy but crushing rocks and not getting impaled by all the little bits that get left over afterwards. I don't have regen like you so it cut up my hands pretty badly.
"Still, the image was actually good enough to get Sleezy to just run away from me scared. I was more than a little annoyed at that. He comes up to me, tries all his fancy lines, and with a little intimidation he backs off! Luckily though, a much nicer person rocked up afterwards. The oldest man that I'd seen in the temple so far, and I explained to him what I saw and that the sounds were all ravens.
"He seemed to believe me, but told me 'It will be a very difficult task to convince the others of this though' and when I asked why, he explained, 'Nobody is willing to go explore the area, and even with your insistence, it is against our beliefs to step foot on those grounds. They likely won't believe that birds got in, and insist it must be ghosts' and… well I was kinda down about that.
"I was much more put off than I should have been. D.E.M.O.N.S would never give an impossible task, and I already said this was my first one so it should have been really safe and fairly easy to complete, but I wasn't thinking about that. No, it was the old man who told me the answer while I was trying not to cry.
"He said 'What's wrong you one? Why can't you go in and grab the items and use that as proof of what was going on?' now, I'll admit, thinking back, I also could have grabbed the ravens, but his idea was great, so I gave him a hug and set off back towards the raven nest to explore better and try to find the stash of jewels." Said Kamiko with a big smile.
*Huh, that's nice. It doesn't seem anywhere near as easy as my mission was… but maybe that's because I wasn't a full demon? Or perhaps whatever my mission was supposed to be would have been around this difficult? Hard to say really. The Elf King was maybe around that difficulty if you consider the pressure. I don't think it hit me at the time he was actually much older than me and well… a King.*
"So Kat," said Kamiko "what do you think happened next? Trust me, it was stranger than I expected at the time as well. I wasn't even close when I made my guess so perhaps you'll do better"*Hmm,* "When you say what happened next do you mean what you did next or what actually happened to the missing things?" asked Kat."Oh right. Sorry about that, I did actually mean to ask that. Actually, I'll tell you what I thought. I was still thinking that the birds were hiding it somewhere else" said Kamiko.*Huh that's weird, I was guessing that as well. What else could they be doing with it? I guess Kamiko never said they had anything to do with it at all but the way she set this whole thing up they must have had SOMETHING to do with it right? Hmm.* "You mentioned earlier that someone else stole a bunch of silverware. Did that guy actually steal it all after messing up the first time?" asked Kat.Kamiko's eyes widened. "Woah. That makes a lot of sense. Still wrong, but at least it makes more sense than birds hiding away their treasure for no reason" said Kamiko.Kat shrugged. "I'm not sure it does. I mean, what could they do with it? The temple seems like a fairly close-knit community. Whoever was stealing them wouldn't be able to sell it to anyone because it would have been immediately recognised" said Kat."Huh" said Kamiko, letting out a long breath. "Honestly I didn't think of that either. Not now, and not at the time honestly, I wish it made that much sense with the thief being a bit smarter than average but not smart enough to figure out that part."Kat smiled and gave another shrug. *Honestly, I'm just curious to see what actually happened at this point. I don't really have any good ideas.* "Is there anything else I'd need to know to figure it out?" asked KatKamiko winced a bit. "I mean maybe? But I'd call that cheating in some ways because I never found out about it till I told my parents this story and they explained how it all likely happened. I'll just say that sometimes, mana is a little different between dimensions."*What the heck could that mean? It's weird to point it out I guess I had just assumed it was always the same though. Is qi also different? Maybe I should ask, that seems important.* "Is qi sometimes different as well?" asked Kat.Kamiko shook her head. "No, qi is funny like that. There are different types of qi but it is always the same. However, what does change is the world adapts to absorb it. The whole dimension sort of picks a way and sticks with it. Every species gets the same most of the time, and it's kinda like a weird universal law even though it shouldn't be. I'm not sure why it happens, but yeah, qi is qi is qi, while mana is mostly mana most times."*Right that let's just say that makes sense and move on. I'm not sure it DOES exactly, but I'll believe it for now. Actually, quick check. System, can you say something if Kamiko is wrong?**Nothing? All good?* Kat waited a few more seconds and saw nothing. "That's rather strange Kamiko. Um, why didn't you ask the system to confirm something like that while you were there?" asked Kat, not quite able to help herself.Kamiko scratched her cheek awkwardly as some more colour rose to her cheeks. "Well I didn't know it was a thing I NEEDED to know. Trust me, it will make sense in context once I finish the story I swear" said KamikoKat nodded, and gestured for Kamiko to continue, which she did. "So, I was panicking a little after that, however in my time spent trying to figure out what the heck was going on, somebody came up to me and hel well, no they didn't help, the next person did. The first person, was an idiot."So they were a young kid, maybe eleven? At the oldest? And he comes up and tries to flirt with me. And not that adorable thing kids do, where they blush a bunch and call you pretty and hand you flowers you can tell were ripped out of the grass from slightly further down the road."Nah, this kid wanted to pretend he was this worldly ladies' man, which, trust me, I'm a succubus I've seen them around, so this was just awkward. So the kid comes up, let's call him Sleezy, and leans on my shoulder. He can only do this of course, because I'm sitting down."He says to me, 'what's a beautiful girl like you doing sitting on the grass out here', and honestly I was gobsmacked. Before I could even figure out who this kid thinks he is, he continues 'I see, speechless to see me are you. I understand the feeling, all the ladies in the village are like that around me' and if I'm honest. I'm wondering if he means the town, or just the upper compound because remember, there are like two girls, and the old lady. So who he was trying this on before I have no idea."So anyway, I pull away from the kid a bit, and the little shit just follows along with me, as if he isn't now leaning over like half my body. So I say to him, 'Do you mind? I'm currently in the middle of something?' as politely as I could. Now, I also know that my aura is raging. I found out that day, that I do not handle idiocy as well as I thought. Patience, I have, time for idiots, I do not."At this point, I can already feel my demonic energy building, and well, I was going to say I was starting to glow pink but I don't think that happened till I was Rank 2 so probably not, ignore that part. Anyway, I was mad already, and instead of saying something sane, the kid says, 'Oh, I'm distracting you am I? I'm sure you can make some time for me.'"Which just no. First off, you are still a kid. I know I'm was a bit of a late bloomer in the chest department and my outfit hides most of it, but I was still clearly years older than him."*Um Kamiko, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure you look a few years younger than you are. Not sure when this happened either, but if it was in the last twelve months, I'm not surprised they thought you were around their age if they were a little older than you thought.* "So I pulled the classic demon trick, and grabbed a nearby rock and smashed it in my hands. Which, ow, that hurt, because crushing rocks is easy but crushing rocks and not getting impaled by all the little bits that get left over afterwards. I don't have regen like you so it cut up my hands pretty badly."Still, the image was actually good enough to get Sleezy to just run away from me scared. I was more than a little annoyed at that. He comes up to me, tries all his fancy lines, and with a little intimidation he backs off! Luckily though, a much nicer person rocked up afterwards. The oldest man that I'd seen in the temple so far, and I explained to him what I saw and that the sounds were all ravens."He seemed to believe me, but told me 'It will be a very difficult task to convince the others of this though' and when I asked why, he explained, 'Nobody is willing to go explore the area, and even with your insistence, it is against our beliefs to step foot on those grounds. They likely won't believe that birds got in, and insist it must be ghosts' and well I was kinda down about that."I was much more put off than I should have been. D.E.M.O.N.S would never give an impossible task, and I already said this was my first one so it should have been really safe and fairly easy to complete, but I wasn't thinking about that. No, it was the old man who told me the answer while I was trying not to cry."He said 'What's wrong you one? Why can't you go in and grab the items and use that as proof of what was going on?' now, I'll admit, thinking back, I also could have grabbed the ravens, but his idea was great, so I gave him a hug and set off back towards the raven nest to explore better and try to find the stash of jewels." Said Kamiko with a big smile.*Huh, that's nice. It doesn't seem anywhere near as easy as my mission was but maybe that's because I wasn't a full demon? Or perhaps whatever my mission was supposed to be would have been around this difficult? Hard to say really. The Elf King was maybe around that difficulty if you consider the pressure. I don't think it hit me at the time he was actually much older than me and well a King.*
