Chương 65: [1.65] Confidential (Part 1)

[Human | Alias: Cordial | Summoner Rank: High Summoner | Real Name: Corticia ******] So many thoughts. Angelica had so many thoughts that her mind felt overwhelmed, on the verge of shutting down entirely from too much happening at once. As an act of self-preservation, she shifted gears to focus on one thing at a time. First, and most importantly, she needed to figure out if any of this was real. Oh, please, let this be a dream. Yep, I got tired after dealing with Ms.

Gate, and my extra anxiety made this nightmare happen. But it felt so real. Looking around, she was indeed in her mother's office, the one in city hall that she'd visited so many times. Everything was just as she remembered. There was her mother's diploma on the wall, the vast array of actuarial books and finance law on a bookshelf, meticulously organized. Even the picture of Angelica and her on the desk from her daughter's middle school days.

It was such an accurate recreation that there's no way her subconscious would reproduce it to such detail in a dream. But there were a few differences. The blinds were drawn, the door was deadbolted, and there was a basic Summoning Circle etched onto a portable chalkboard on the floor. Yes, it felt like just what her mother would do if she were a Summoner, with the ability to hide all evidence quickly. And what of the alias, Cordial? That was absolutely not a word that Angelica would use to describe her mother.

But… that's only because she knew the woman so blasted well, how she was in private. In the eyes of the public, of her colleagues, she was undoubtedly one of the most cordial people in existence. More critically damning, it was how Angelica's mother would describe herself. That, and it was a play on her own name. She must have thought herself so clever upon choosing it. Yes… this was the real Corticia Hallow.

Angelica had no doubt, and Scrying Eye confirmed as much, probably showing her the info that normally remained hidden because she already knew. Yet at the same time, it still felt impossible. Her mother? Her ultra-religious, holier-than-thou mother, whose second spouse may as well have been Vissiem after her divorce, had been consorting with Demons? She was a Summoner, and a high-ranking one at that, on the same level of Fioso.

That practically meant she was an expert, and likely had been dabbling in these mystic arts for some time, quite possibly for all of Angelica's life. It left her stunned. Uncovering such an image-altering secret made her want to collapse to the floor.

"What's the matter, Imp? You're quivering." Was she? Yep. Gelic glanced down at her own body and found her hair rattling as if there was a rustling breeze, shaking in her figurative boots. She wasn't exactly scared of the woman. No, the daughter had lost the fear long ago. But that didn't mean the anxiety and mix of other eccentric emotions had gone anywhere.

"I guess I did come off as a little harsh in my call." Corticia seemed to notice the issue, to Gelic's surprise. Admitting faults was not the woman's strong suit.

"Really, it is just a simple task." She grabbed a file box off of her desk and plopped it onto the ground next to the Demon.

"Take this and dispose of it at a specific spot. The Order will guide you. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes," Gelic found herself compelled to say. It was her first time actually being controlled by a High Summoner, and damn, the power was strong. The ungrateful Senior Summoner who made her dig a bunch of holes in a landfill suddenly felt like a weak puppy in comparison. Gelic had never been so happy about her altered gravelly, childish voice as an Imp.

It didn't remotely sound like the real her, so there should be no brain-scratching attempt at recalling the familiarity for Corticia like her daughter had dealt with.

"Good, then you may be on your way. And here, I'll pay you in advance so that you do not need to return." [Gained 50 Essence] Huh, Gelic didn't even know being paid upfront was an option. No other Summoner had ever offered. She vaguely remembered Garvin being vehemently against it, but that could have just been what he was taught, rather than law. Regardless, she still had to do the job, since the Contract would see to that.

But even if it was dissolved through something like Order Rejection or Break Bind, fifty Essence was probably chump change to a High Summoner. Her mother was likely loaded in the Demon currency department, just like how the woman had a big fat savings account despite living fairly frugally, imparting the same financial tendencies to her daughter. That meant there could be a juicy Essence inheritance just waiting for her. How much could Gelic advance her progression if she got her hands on that stockpile?

Leaps and bounds? Even hops and skips would be nice. Bam, she could be a Gremlin or Ghoul by the morrow. And yet, no way could she ever bring herself to ask. Angelica never really considered herself a prideful person, except when it came to her mother. She had hardened her heart, raised so many defensive walls when it came to the woman that the mere concept of willingly showing vulnerability made her ill. Yep, she would rather keel over and die, as she almost did on a few occasions.

Even on the brink of starvation with no one else to turn to, she just couldn't bring herself to suck it up and ask for a handout from her mother. Not for money, not for Essence. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Plus… that would sort of require coming out of the Demon closet to the woman, and that was definitely not a conversation that she could see going well in any regard.

Honestly, Angelica didn't have the slightest clue what her mother's reaction would be. Would she yell, scream, cry? Disown her? Try to permanently bind her? Maybe even attempt to kill her demonic abomination of a daughter? All felt like viable options. The only one that didn't was acceptance of any caliber. Although… If she ever could figure out how to pose properly as a Summoner while hiding her demonic nature, maybe there was a connecting branch that way. Like mother, like daughter, but with magic, and scuff.

Oh, who was she kidding? Even if Corticia openly admitted to her daughter one day that she was a Summoner, her inner rebellion would want to reject them having anything in common. Yeah, it was probably best for Gelic to just get out of there. She could sort through her feelings later. Standing around in her mother's overbearing presence, especially when the woman could issue direct controlling Orders to her as a Summoner was not good for the girl's health.

So Gelic did what she was tasked, picked up the box and headed for the bookshelf. Erm, why exactly was she headed for the bookshelf? It was where her body wanted her to go. Against her will, she found her stubby arms pushing the shelf to the side, sliding it along a hidden track. There revealed a small, Imp-sized vent, assumedly for Demons to come and go without being noticed. Well, since Angelica was scrawny enough, she could probably shimmy through in her human form, but it would be unpleasant.

That was likely why an Imp was specifically requested, since a burlier servant would have problems. Fortunately, she could place the box in as well without issue.

"Hold a moment, Imp." That command froze Gelic in her tracks with a shiver down her spine.

"Something's strange. Your hair is…" Oh no, please mom, I'm begging you. Don't say it's like your daughter's or reminds you of someone. Gelic was pretty sure she'd just implode if that happened. It was undoubtedly causing some sense of familiarity, but fortunately, the thread never snagged, and the woman pivoted.

"Your hair is rather nice. Not like any Demon's I've seen. I can tell you take good care of it. What's your name?"

"It's, erm, Gelic, ma'am." She turned and introduced herself respectfully. Geloc didn't want to at all, would have rather grabbed the box and bolted, but the power imbalance gave her no choice. And this could be another issue. Angelica to Gelic wasn't the biggest leap, which is largely why she'd picked it as a pen-name.

But it also wasn't the most obvious thing, and her mother shouldn't know anything about that moniker unless she'd been stalking her daughter's online artist accounts, ones she purposefully kept away from her personal ones.

"Well, take care, Gelic. And do ensure that all of those files are destroyed properly, if you would."

"Yes, ma'am." On her way through the vent, she couldn't help but wonder if she was the politest-speaking Demon ever, at that moment. Yet she couldn't help it. Angelica had immediately reverted to her uber-polite speech whenever she was trying to placate her mother, usually when she knew that she was about to be in trouble for some reason or another. The secret passage led to a small courtyard behind City Hall, its exit obscured by a bush.

Now that she had escaped immediate scrutiny, Gelic wanted nothing more than to plop the box open and start digging. Just what sort of sketchiness was her mother involved with? Something told her it wasn't just disposing of unneeded files, because a shredder would do just fine, in that case. That, or her mother had gotten so lazy that she called upon the forces of Hell to perform menial tasks.

While Gelic shouldn't have to worry about getting caught by security cameras, unless there were special magic ones she didn't know about, there was always the possibility that her Summoner mother had cohorts. Now she had no clue who to trust. Was the entire city government Summoners? That felt like it would explain a lot, why the city had been running so well for the past few decades. No doubt the unnatural powers led to her mother's own rise to prominence. Ugh, fine, I'll go.

While she waited around, pondering the ordeals in her mind and heart, the ache of Order Obligation had been ramping up, starting to complain about her loitering. It was a scuffing intense nag too—power of compulsion that she hadn't felt so severely in some time. Leave it to her mother to get on her nerves like no other.

And fortunately, the terms of her Contract sat at the forefront of her mind, reminding her that she only had an hour to complete the task, of which a good chunk had just been wasted faffing about with her concerns. For whatever reason, the Order wouldn't let her devour the box with Second Stomach. While it wouldn't let her put it in her mouth, she could make it work by expending a bit of MP, something she'd never actually had to do before. But it wouldn't allow for that either.

Maybe the concept of the pocket dimension made it seem like she was trying to preserve the box instead of destroying it, preventing her from even trying. So, good old-fashioned toting it was. Well, it would take forever to cart the thing as a small Imp, and no way was she gonna turn into a human for the same many reasons, so she had to do a gimped version of Multi-Bounce, purposefully breaking the chain every few jumps, lest she go too fast, stumble, and send the assumed papers inside flying everywhere.