D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad Chapter 2305 Colourful House

--- Kat ---

Finding Lachlann’s great granddaughter’s house was as easy as he claimed it would be. On the outskirts of town you could find her house just be looking for the paint. Even with it all frozen in time you could practically smell it. The bricks had been soaked in it. The grass barely had any green, and there were a few worn down spots from where someone had left a chair for days, or possibly weeks on end.

It was clear from the start which house belonged to her... it was dealing with the rest that was a bit harder. Inside the house was yet more splashes of colour. It gave the impression that, whatever the owner’s name had been, they’d left their mark on the house. The entrance hallway, barely more than a few steps, had a thick line of wobbly paint that meandered into the rest of the house.

The front room on the left was entirely soft. Plush chairs, carpets specifically in that one room, lots of pillows. Though... even with all of that it almost seemed empty. Like there was a bunch of things missing from the room. The somewhat bare shelves were the main indication of this. Just a few small paintings that were close to photograph size remained on them.

On the other side of the house was what looked to be an office of some kind. It was... less colourful than the rest of the house. It actually made for an interesting contrast. Well made wooden desks and shelving filled the space, and it had a natural look. A few hidden designs could be found here and there. Perhaps a space for the owner’s husband? It seemed that way, and the little designs a way of respecting the space while letting her hand show through.

There were a few more rooms for children, but luckily they were all empty. The issue Kat was coming to... was that in the middle of the dining room was a bunch of half eaten-food. Frozen in place. Three plates were on the table... but no bodies. Kat frowned down at them as she glanced around. The front door had been locked and she’d needed to turn into water to get inside.

Then there was the fact the windows they could find were all rather small. The bedrooms for younger children implied that such children might be able to get through the windows so they weren’t trapped... but one of these plates was clearly for an adult, even if it was painted in the same colourful designs as the smaller plates for the kids.

"But there’s no body..." mumbled Kat. "How did she get out then? Or is there a skeleton hidden somewhere?" Kat searched the kitchen and dining room for an answer and found none. The master bedroom? A mess, filled with old paintings both on the walls and floor... but still no corpses. Kat was glad for that sure, but she had NO idea how any adult sized person could get out of the house.

"Surely bones don’t disintegrate too quickly," mumbled Kat. "Then again... but... like... hmm... Lily do you have any ideas?"

Lily transformed beside her to give Kat a kiss on a cheek along with her answer. "The fact that we found no corpse, or corpses, is a good thing. I mean... I guess there are ways to remove a corpse after they die but I feel like from Lachlann’s description of events there wasn’t enough time for that sort of stuff."

Kat agreed, sitting down on one of the chairs and looking upwards, as if she was hoping for god, or just the sky to have the answer. Except, in this case it did. High up on the roof was a much larger window that allowed for the entire room to be lit up. Kat hadn’t thought it was strange, simply assuming it had been a light of some kind... but no, it was a giant window. "Huh... well I guess we know how they all got out," mumbled Kat.

Lily nodded as she pushed some shadow up just to check there was no glass. "Yeah... if they just had some rope even a mortal could climb out. Perhaps even a rope ladder... though why would you have a window like that?"

"Well why not? It let’s a lot of nice light inside and I’d bet it even does moonlight," offered Kat.

"Yes, but, counterpoint? What about the rain, or bird droppings, or thieves?" queried Lily.

Kat winced as she considered the idea. "Right... I see the flaws. Though now I find myself asking if its enchanted at all to stop at least two of those things. Clearly it can’t have stopped people coming and going... and it IS a weird design choice... but I guess it saved them in the end. Well, that or they were somehow able to move the glass."

"Do you think they were? I mean, being Lachlann’s great granddaughter I’m sure she could afford the glass or ask for it as a present or something... but how do you think they’d be able to get it out if that happened?" asked Lily.

Kat shrugged, "Maybe a glass mage? Or an earth mage with a spell that effects glass? Considering Lachlann can sort of unstick himself by reverting to human form even when frozen as a tree I’d say it’s not impossible."

Lily shrugged and started towards the door, with Kat following soon after. No reason to stick around once they’d confirmed that there was a way to leave, at least, not if you didn’t count admiring the paintings. They were well done, and perhaps if they weren’t in the tournament Kat and Lily would’ve been more willing to take the time to investigate them all.

As they got back to the road, Kat asked, *

Kat shrugged. *

Lachlann’s house was easy to return to. It say a bit past the centre of town, but it’s double story size and hill base meant that you could see it from most anywhere. Then again, Kat supposed if you’re founding a town and have the money, might as well pick the best spot to watch over the place. Though... did they have a mayor? Lachlann said he built the place with his adventuring buddies... did that live in the same house for a while? Presumably with the grandchildren he got married at some point...

Kat and Lily poked at the question as a fun thought exercise until they returned to the hilltop house. From there it was easy to get back to Lachlann. Appoline seemed to be entertaining him by explaining what she was making, which in this case, was a potion meant to rip the lightning from an area. Her hope was that it would also rip the lightning from monsters in the area as well, maybe even killing them. Though it was a new recipe so how well that worked Kat couldn’t guess yet.

"Ah, I see you have returned," stated Lachlann. "What can you tell my of their fates?"

"Well, we did end up skipping the last stop... mostly because your woodworking friend handed out his crafts to everyone in the street. So we had to search a bunch of extra houses. Still, we can confirm that they’re all fine. Each of them had a way to escape... though about your granddaughter specifically... why does she have a giant hole in her roof?"

Lachlann barked out a laugh. "Ah! Yes, of course. I forgot about that. That window is meant to have glass over it but a smaller storm not too long before the... incident threw some debris up there cracking the glass. It didn’t quite break, but there was worry that it would be a risk to the children should it give up while everyone was eating. Thus, they removed the glass and were commissioning more... I presume that’s how you think she left?"

Kat nodded, "Yup. The kids might have left through the normal windows... but three people were eating at the time everything was frozen and we’re pretty sure one of them was an adult so..."

Lachlann nodded, "Yes well, they only have two children so unless there were guests I would assume it was either my great-granddaughter or her husband. Indeed, thank you for the information."