Chapter 162: The Old Standoff (1/2)
The man dressed in an elaborate demon costume howled with sadistic laughter, ”Mwhahahah! Give up! You cannot solve my riddle. Never again will you see your children!”
Wearing a simple white dress and looking far too young and fit to be a mother, the pretty heroine despaired. ”Alas! Though I have succeeded thrice before, to stumble at this point! Is this truly the end?”
The 'demon' laughed again, and held up an hourglass up for the audience to see. ”Surrender! A mere handful of sand is all that remains. Soon it will have fallen, and the lives of your progeny will remain in my hands.”
The woman's face twisted in grief for a second, before slackened in sudden realization. ”Time…the answer is time!”
Reeling back in overly dramatic agony, the 'demon' hissed, ”How?! How could you figure it out?”
”The answer was in your hand the whole time,” The woman replied triumphantly, pointing at the hourglass.
Sera felt a surge of excitement at the heroine's latest victory. The play had been as clichéd and ridiculously overdone as she'd heard, but it was hard not to root for the protagonist. Seeing her defeating a series of challenges using only her wit and the strength of her will, was invigorating. However, not everyone seemed to feel the same.
”Oh come on! The demon pretty much gave the answer away with how often he waved the hourglass in front of her face. Anyone with half a brain could have seen the answer immediately.” Brenden complained from the seat next to her. He'd been a vocal critic of nearly every aspect of the play throughout the performance, earning him several scowls from the nearby nobles.
”That's because the third's demon's weakness was pride. He was so convinced in the difficulty of his riddle, that he assumed it unsolvable, and wanted to gloat over his assured victory. The kindly mage explained all this before she started the trials.” Sera hissed back.
”That's another thing. I still don't see why the mage couldn't help her during the trials, or just destroy the demons for that matter. He was supposed to be some Tier 4 badass right? Why can he only give oddly specific advice?”
”Because it wouldn't be an interesting story if the mage did everything! This is supposed to be about a normal woman besting demons in battles of wits.” She growled quietly, having to resist the urge to yell at the infuriating beastman.
Brenden rolled his eyes, ”Yeah, some normal woman. She just lives in a mansion surrounded by servants and piles of money. Anyway, why even include the mage character, if you aren't going to use him properly? It just doesn't make sense.”
Sera opened her mouth to respond, despite the dirty looks she was getting from their neighbors, but was interrupted by an explosion of thunder, which vibrated through the room. Distant screams could be heard from outside.
With a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, she stood and walked to the exit with Brenden. They'd moved without needing to communicate, both completely aware of what must have happened, and who was responsible.
[Maybe I'll get a chance to watch the rest another time.]
------------------
Moving quickly, Mike and Tal headed back to the ball room and grabbed Audra, offering a quick explanation to Broderick and Elaine. ”Sorry about leaving early, but we need to be going. I think we've overstayed our welcome.”
Broderick looked anxious, ”Is everything alright?”
”For now, but there are a few loose ends we need to take care of before the night is through.” Mike replied casually, trying to not look at the sources of hostile intent which had been following them since they'd left the gardens. ”Let's get together again, sometime, perhaps in a less formal setting.”
Mike's easy confidence seemed to convince him. ”That would be excellent. I'll see about getting something organized in the future. I'm sorry that you had to suffer through all that while guests of my House.”
Smiling, he replied calmly, ”Don't worry. Believe it or not, but this is not exactly an uncommon occurrence for us.”
Leaving a now confused looking Broderick and a forlorn Elaine they made their way back to the entrance hall, meeting Sera and Brenden in the process. A quick summary of events was all it took to direct them out the door and into a waiting carriage.
”So what's the plan?” Brenden asked when they were underway.
”If they make a move, I'm going to try intimidation to prevent them from doing this ever again. Failing that, we'll crush them.” Mike answered grimly.
”Are you sure they'd be willing to negotiate at all? From the sounds of it, they have a rather intense dislike for Tal. No offense.” Sera spoke up.
”None taken.” The elf replied calmly. Her earlier storm of emotions had largely passed, but she still seemed to be forcing herself. Mike figured she was holding herself together for the time being, until she had a chance to process.
”Unless I judged the ambassadorial party incorrectly, they aren't fully in support of Tal's brother, and will be willing to seek a peaceful solution to the issue, especially if I can demonstrate the cost of the alternative.”
She blinked at him, before frowning in thought. ”I know the headmaster has caught on, but are you willing to play that card? There is still a chance that we can keep your connection to Red a secret for a while longer.”
He fixed her with a stare, ”He called Tal an abomination. I'm not going to let him get away with it.”
Brenden nodded in agreement, before throwing his hands behind his head with a confident grin. ”Alright then. When do we get started? It's been awhile since I fought an elf.”
Taking a moment to send a quick mental message, and search out the hostile presences that were still hovering around the edge of his detection radius, Mike stood up. ”No time like the present. Let's get this taken care of.”