Chapter 115: One Small Favour
One hearty meal later, and Emma could barely feel the aches and pains she'd woken up to. Whether it was the food or simply the passage of time, it had faded from a persistent distraction to a dull ache in the background, easily ignored. There was no talking during dinner, as was the family way: conversations were something for before and after.
As Noah finished off the last of the vegetables, having eaten the most by far after a very exciting day on his end, Emma watched curiously as plates and cutlery cleaned themselves. Neither soap nor water were involved here; the stains on each piece simply faded away, going from solid to ethereal grey, then transparent before vanishing altogether. The one exception to this was the baking tray, which came from another set and was thoroughly mundane according to the System. That being, Emma had an idea for it as well.
"Do you still have the bin from our failed attempts?" She asked Noah, who nodded and pulled it wholesale from his bag.
It wasn't instantaneous unlike Emma's storage item, leading to a funny distortion as it emerged, going from the size of a small doll in Noah's grip to its full, half-metre height as it was placed on the floor beside him. Pointing to the baking tray, Emma activated Eden's Echo, ordering a deposit as two separate items.
[Baking Tray stored.
Food Waste stored.]
At her command, the tray returned to the table, exactly where it had been moments ago, now completely spotless. The food waste, on the other hand, Emma ordered to emerge inside the bin. A faint gurgling could be heard for a brief moment, before silence returned.
[Baking Tray removed.
Food Waste removed.]
"That's quite handy," Noah remarked. "I have to physically manipulate anything big if I want it to land properly with my bag. Maybe I should upgrade to a fancy crystal as well?"
[You can do that on your own dime. Mayors are paid well under the Empire.]
"It definitely has a lot of applications," Emma grinned, rubbing the ring on her finger. "Not many limits that I've found yet, either. I could probably use it to pick people's pockets, or do the reverse as well come to think of it. Give people a live hand grenade from a distance, like in Fallout 3."
"Something to consider if you get hold of explosives," Elizabeth agreed, as she gathered up the plates to return them to the kitchen. "Unless you got some earlier today?"
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"Not quite," Emma shook her head. "Dad could get better use out of them anyway, with his new glasses; they literally can't hold anything else."
"Sounds like my storage item," Elizabeth frowned. "They can be remarkably picky, for something that lacks any discernible sentience."
Emma watched her depart for the kitchen, focusing in the familiar way that got the System to notice her intent. She got nothing for her trouble, not even the same status bar as on her first night back with the family.
[Elizabeth works for Internal Affairs; everyone in that department will have something to obfuscate their presence, it's practically a job requirement. The System is better than most methods of detection, which would fail to acknowledge her presence altogether. Even then, as a magical girl, her power is locked up tight right now; you won't get any useful readings unless she's transformed.]
"Say, Emma, do you have anything planned for tomorrow?" Noah chose then to interject.
Emma banished her questions on magical girls, in favour of a quick glance at her quest log.
"Nothing besides my ongoing shopping list, which is effectively on hold until Saint comes back anyway. Hard to find an artefact that fits her, otherwise."
"Great! In that case, would you be willing to ride out with a patrol tomorrow? There's a few areas where demons are massing, a bit more than the troops can handle on their own. It'd be great to have a proper heavy hitter out front, you know?"
"Why not? Gives me something to do."
[Quest added!
One Small Favour
Objective: Eliminate 25 Lesser Demons
Objective: Eliminate 5 Greater Demons
Bonus Objective: Get the patrol home with no casualties.
Bonus Objective: ???
Reward: 500 EXP
Bonus Rewards: Random upgrade for Homunculus (Level 0), ???]
"Speaking of the patrols, Mom mentioned there's people going on scavenging runs too?"
Emma hadn't planned on asking before, but if she was going to get more involved with the village she might as well make use of the benefits too.
"There are, though those shopping runs tend to leave late morning and get back in the afternoon. A bit earlier than the patrols, but it's better for those runs to keep daylight hours if it means avoiding the demons entirely. Was there something you wanted?"
"Just some regular clothes. I've got my armor and the gown for formal events, but the rest of my wardrobe went up in flames with the old house."
"I'll add it to the list." Noah promised.
There wasn't much to say after that, and Emma was beginning to feel the familiar drowsiness that came after a big meal on an empty stomach. Noah didn't look much better; it was almost midnight, and he'd actually done a full day in a squishy, flesh and blood body. Excusing herself, she headed upstairs to her room and collapsed on her bed. She got back up moments later, remembering that she actually had to worry about things like cleanliness again, and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and shower. Fifteen minutes later, she went to bed and actually stayed there this time.
---
"Would dropping explosives into people's pockets actually work?" Noah wondered aloud, as he unloaded the last of his own shopping, and was about to head for the night as well.
"Possibly," Elizabeth hedged. "You'd have to prime the bomb and store it in stasis, or withdraw it in a way that starts the timer, like sending out a grenade without a pin. Then you'd just need to be close enough for your storage item, and far enough to avoid getting caught in the blast. Although, the more experienced practitioners would either have something to protect them against surprise deliveries, or are just tough enough to ignore it. Might surprise a few newbies, though."
"...So you're saying there's a chance?"