Chapter 52: The coven

‘Sizzling’ turning the contents of the pan. I am truly in a good mood. Todays the day the mayor gets back; with absolutely no pushing from me. Since I am in a good mood, I am preparing something I have saved for a special occasion – Bacon!

Well, more specifically bacon and tomatoes, the self-proclaimed family recipe back home. The original recipe used tinned tomatoes and a variety of peppers and spices… I don’t have all that but it will still be tasty.

While the bacon light cooks, I look over my second saucepan. Tomatoes with thin slices over the skin float in a simmering pot of water. Blanching them in saltwater makes removing the skin easier. The skin positively falls off. After which I cook with down in another saucepan with a little bit of the original water, some vinegar, and a little bit of spice; an earthy spice.

Taking that tasty tomato mixture, I pour it over the bacon; seasoning with white pepper to taste. Once the pan is completely deglazed, I remove it from the heat. Tasting the divine flavor, I edit the seasoning until I am happy.

Serving it with lightly toasted bread, I dig in. Easily cleaning the rathe large potion. It's hardly a storable product so I just ate it all. I enjoyed the tasty umami flavors so much I prepared some more tomatoes with the same method; storing them in jars for another day.

With a full stomach, a head full of happy thoughts; I jog around the island. Doing some light exercise to get the blood pumping. I nearly even did the splits, although trying to do a flip ended up a failure.

Taking a shower to wash away the fatigue and exertion from the cardio, I head into town. Before heading to the mayor's office, I spend a short while playing on the parkour area of the carnival island. The young woman is not there but several teenagers are trying their best. Noting their poor agility, as even I, someone with terrible ability surpassed them easily.

It seems the island is opened up to a limited amount of people. I can only assume a full opening is incoming. I walk towards the side of the island closest to the town to head in before I hear a familiar voice.

A rough, easy to dislike voice annoys my ears, turning with a polite voice all the same; chuckling at the misery his poor mother must have suffered. “Hey,” Carl says ‘waving’.

“You're not escaping, ‘grasping my shoulders.’ ‘Don’t open the soldier island he says’ before immediately letting some people play on it.” His face emotionless, but clear annoyance on his face, maybe a hint of humor as well.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist; it was good fun,” I say shaking my head apologetically.

He replies with a clearly rehearsed reply. “Yes, I noticed; given we now have a large group of people who want to play on it. We don’t have any idea what the whole place is, so your going to come with me to help with the logistics of it.”

Clearly, no room for argument, I am immediately dragged towards the now terrifying maw of the office building.

I managed to claw my way out of the building… it took many hours and a lot of stress. The mental scarring, we shall not speak of. On a plus note, the island will be fully functional within the day. Doller signs floating over the portly man's brown head. ‘Shaking my head,’ damned greedy officials.

It boils down to the same rules I played the original game in. Some variants and different game modes. The reward is one clay soldier for the first-place winner per tournament which will be hosted every 6 hours. Of course, it's now my job to supply a resupply of clay soldiers when it gets low.

I accidentally spilled I was considering creating a bigger event of the same type during a demo. Big mistake, he immediately started planning it; before I had to politely tell him the mayor needs to pay me for it. His mood immediately plummeted, dollar signs in his eyes turning grey.

He did try and dig the recipe out of me, but I wouldn’t budge on that. I will definitely not be telling anything to such an unscrupulous man even if he's very funny to be around. That entire office building is petrified of him. From what I gather, he doesn’t fire you; he punishes you. Imagine being stuck in a copying department, writing out the same book 100 times because he said so.

They do have a type of printing press, but certain books require a hands touch. Sadly, that hand is on the poor soul who let his coffee get cold.

Finally escaping the demon's claws, I make it into town. Opting for walking to clear my head. Although the flight is slightly less rare now 3 different people can do it; it's still eye-catching.

While walking through the town, I spotted a familiar face. “Cassie, hey, how are you?”

Enjoying the nervous jump, before a joyful face return. “Hey, I am good, what are you up to?”

Smile blooming on my face. “I am heading to that damned slippery mayor's office.”

Her face crossing ever so slightly. “Slippery? Why?”

Taking on a joking tone, “a long, long, time ago, a mayor chose to hide away to avoid his job. Leaving me high and dry.” Sadly, the joke fell on flat ears, she had no idea what I was talking about. Clearing up the misunderstanding, “He did a runner, delaying some of my plans; he should be back in his office today.”

“Ah I see, I don’t see him much; too high up for me to talk too casually.”

“A shame, he's a rather funny individual”

We talked politely for a while, arranging a tea date for an undisclosed day soon. I left her an ender mailbox so we can arrange it. I plan to head straight to the coven so I cant make plans right now.

Finding myself upon the familiar door of the mayor's office. Apparently, he has an actual office, somewhere else. The clerk said he called it ‘gaudy’ and refused to work in it unless royalty or high tier nobility showed up.

Being shown to his door, being told he is expecting me. I knock slowly and methodically. Hearing a crisp “Come in.”

Walking in I see an unfamiliar sight. The mayor idly reading on the ceiling of his office. As he glides to the floor, I lightly facepalm. Noting a massive stack of paperwork on his table. I am impressed he can keep his good mood. Looking at the paper gave me chills.

He replies in his very masculine voice, “Hello Aeternum, how are you?” Pausing for a moment, he continues. “Sorry to keep you waiting; call it a mental health break. Which was greatly aided by flying through the clouds.”

Rubbing my brows, when did he become so… normal? He was always an admirable workaholic but now he sounds like a hippy. With apprehension, I reply, “Glad the flying belt helped, now cough it up ‘making a pass-it-over gesture’ I need that coven’s location.”

His face dropped almost imperceptibly. “Fine, not one for small talk? Or did I annoy you too much by disappearing? On to business, it is; I found 3 covens who fit the bill for ‘potentially’ having the items you need. I narrowed it down to the most likely candidate. All 3 refused to reply to my contact attempts, unsurprisingly.” Handing over a sheet of paper. “That is the location and method to get to the covens base of operations. It's one of those grey-area covens who are suspected of dabbling with demons. I also listed the local town, people who may help you if you need it, and the passcode to talk directly to the governmental official running the small town.” He takes a deep breath, clearly exhausted from the long-winded speech.

Looking over the sheet, I admire the sheer quality and perfectionism contained within. It has a whole host of useful information; including the ‘official’ specialization of the coven. That being ‘circle magic and brewery.’ And evidence of demon summoning which was oddly suppressed. Perfect, I need demon blood so it's my best hope. It noted that all the witches have been seen with either an owl or toad, excluding apprentices.

They might not know this, but you need demon blood to bind a familiar. They got some for sure. Realizing I have just stood there for ages looking at the sheet, I look up. Seeing the mayor mindlessly going through paperwork.

I steel my curiosity of the page, turning to the mayor. “Thanks a bunch, this is more than I expected. Do you need some help with that paperwork in thanks; you did go above and beyond.”

He just snorts, “I went above and beyond?” lightly pressing some paper over his face. “You single handily skyrocketed this town's popularity. Don’t get me wrong, it was slowly improving; but you just saved me half a decade of planning and hard work. Although I will appreciate some help with this mount paper over here.”

And with that, I dedicated an hour of my day to cleaning up a chunk of the mind-numbingly boring paperwork. I can't actually sign any of it, my job was to organize it into different piles. These piles were categorized when 3 stacks within based on priority. One category for example was buildings. The highest priority being planning permissions and high importance repairs. The lowest being fence installation over the governmental property.

It was boring, but If reputation points existed; the mayors would be very high. He clearly appreciated the help. God forbid, I would want help with that monster of a job.

Happy with my results, I consider sending a letter and sorting things out over here before leaving – but! I can literally teleport home and send instant letters to the most important friends I have here. I should have realized that, before blowing Cassie off. Well, she took it in stride it was just a delay after all.

I grabbed a quick bite to eat in town before setting out. I need to pass 3 towns to reach the town with that respective coven. Why flying along the road to the first town, I muse how much flight will come in handy here. My good mood quickly dropped as I realize I will be flying for a long time.

I start mentally counting mods I know to pass the time. Taking the time to think of useful mods to pursue. The biome remained rather consistent, only passing a few small wooded areas. As I am flying by while ideally looking around, I spot a peculiarity; ablaze in the sky. If my hunch is right… yes, a cloud dungeon. Quickly finding a chest upon a cloud. “Please be a good pet” I pray internally.

Opening the chest, ignoring the singular blaze a distance away. I spot a variety of nuggets and a chicken, a very, very small chicken. Grabbing it quickly, I dash away before more blazes spawn.

Immediately having grasped the rather animated little chicken I feel my movements speed up. It is small enough to fit into a small pocket. To which I craft a satchel, tied around my leg. Placing the chicken within, I enjoy the speed boost. Leaving a large supply of seeds for it to snack on. I play with the cute little thing while flying. Finding the silly little creature enjoyable to watch.

Before I knew it I was flying above the first town, looking down I notice a siren. I wonder why a siren is going off. Wait, it wouldn’t be because… Nah, they can't be worried because I am flying right?

Looking down nervously, I see soldiers marching, civilians rushing indoors and children ushered into houses. Arrows being knocked onto bows and weird large ballista appearing things being wheeled and then mounted onto platforms. You know, I don’t think this is good - “Shit.”