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

The silence in the room was nice for the two with significantly better hearing. It felt quite calm and was a notable change. Nixilei though, took this as an awkward silence, with neither of them willing to address the elephant in the room. What Nixilei didn't realise was that Lily and Kat shared similar opinions on Kress. He was an ass yes, butt an issue not really. He was weak compared to the Kat and his words were so comically general that it had no bite to it. After years of watching three bitches try and fail to bully Kat with much more targeted insults and active information gathering, Kress trying to make insults about demons as a race was laughable.

"Sorry again…" said Nixilei not really sure how else to get the conversation moving. It worked, snapping the pair out of their reverie to realise that Nixilei had remained in the room with them.

"It's honestly kind of sad," said Kat with a sigh, "I hold nothing but pity for him really. I've heard plenty worse, and he just… he's so wrong that you can't even take it personally. I almost feel like I need to look around for someone else he's trying to insult. I'd smack him around a bit more but considering I did that once and it hasn't improved his attitude… not really sure what else to do with him."

Nixilei sighed, "Yeah… he… he hasn't been the best since you left. In all honesty I think even Gareth is starting to look at him a bit strangely. He's never liked me, but he used to be ok with Green before… now he's starting to spread his dislike to her as well… and while he'd never say anything around Gareth or Green herself because she'd tell him… I'm pretty sure they know…"

"Ok… but why aren't you saying anything? You seem to be avoiding mentioning it to them as well. Plus, why does he complain to you anyway?" asked 'Lily'

"Well Lily," said Nixilei with a deep breath, "a few reasons I suppose. The first is that I'm still a trained spy. I believe I mentioned that the first time you were there? I report to Green's parents and for now they've advised me not to really do anything. He also doesn't tell me these sorts of things so much as I overhear him screaming at the wall or grumbling under his breath and he hasn't hidden his dislike of me personally at all in recent times. Normally it was just light snipping but… he's been digging in a bit.

"Frankly, I don't know if it's the right choice to try and keep it on the quiet side. The tournament is a big draw though… we couldn't compete with one person down and I'm not entirely sure we'd be allowed to bring someone else in if we kicked him out. It's different with you because you're a demon and not from one of the main races in this dimension. It would become a major political shitshow and the rewards for winning the entire thing a worth putting up with it.

"Well, maybe not for you… though you only need to deal with him in small doses. A lot of the rewards are in apprenticeships or techniques. Essentially, we get access to the better teachers for our chosen combat leanings as well as more monetary benefits but because we are a team with noble backing, sort of, they aren't all that good. I mean they are NICE certainly but none of us… except Kress kind of… need the money."

"Why would it become such a political issue?" asked 'Lily' speaking through Kat once again. Kat was more interested in how they only 'sort of' had noble backing but yielded the field to her girlfriend.

"Well… after your showing in the first round we've become one of the favourite teams. On top of that we have an even split between two races which is rare as well. Oh, they'll be banning demons from entering next time around I think, but that's not what I meant to bring up. Sorry it just popped into my head and thought you might want to know…

"Anyway, we've become a rather high profile team because well… it's a combination of two sizeable noble families, a joining of the races, and all that tosh. If we kicked Kress out, even if we got another human, which… well I'd feel really racist looking just for humans… but anyway, even if we did get another human, the story would still probably be that the Fae were responsible for kicking him out or 'unduly influencing a noble scion'. Which would be ignoring the fact Green is also a noble even if she never acts like it, but that would be the story they'd go with,

"Then we'd have a problem, people would likely put pressure on Green and Gareth's marriage and nobody wants that. It's a big step forward for Human-Fae relations and even if we don't win the tournament they'd be in the spotlight for it. The fact that they are both smitten with each other means they'd be crushed if politics got in the way all of a sudden and tried to force them to end it…

"To be frank… I don't know what the outcome of that would be. Green and Gareth really do like each other… but they are decently filial as well. I'm not sure where the chips would fall, but I'd give it about a 60% chance of them both simply running away together and heading for on of the frontiers to prevent being found out. Green's parents would likely even approve of the move which is why I give it such high odds."

Kat swallowed. *Shit this really is a bit more complicated than Kress just being an ass. He's become a liability already for everyone involved and Nixilei has been doing damage control since we left. I really do NOT want to be the source of a political shitstorm in this realm but frankly I have no idea what to do with this information. Lily? Ideas?*

[Politics was never my strong suit Kat… combine that with the fact that I don't really know the political landscape at all… it's rather difficult to predict how accurate Nixilei is in her guess. The only thing I can even remotely compare this tournament to is the Olympics but it seems both more and less prestigious. The requirements to enter… which aren't super clear to me… seem a lot lower but also the whole thing is a massive deal based on what we know. So… yeah… I have no idea.]

"Why would Green's parents ever agree to something like that?" asked Kat not really knowing what else to do. She was mostly just trying to process the fact that Kress being a mildly shitty person is grounds for political madness.

Nixilei grinned, "Well, firstly, we live longer than average compared to humans so they wouldn't really mind Green running away for a hundred years or so. Either she comes back eventually with Gareth still around having gained enough power to extend his lifespan, and thus they're happy she has a strong and powerful husband she loves, or… he passes away of old age and she's on the market once again because Gareth would likely be disinherited for running away. They wouldn't even mind if they had children in the time… and please don't tell Green this… but her parents are waiting on grandbabies to spoil. They talk about it constantly when they know Green can't hear but I CAN. It's a little annoying to be honest."

Kat groaned at the news but put it aside. It wasn't all that crazy really and she already knew she was going to outlive a bunch of people at this point. "So do you have any advice for dealing with Kress now? Things are… larger than I thought," said Kat.

Nixilei tapped the frame of her glasses a few times with her finger as she thought over the question. "Hmm… nothing major comes to mind. I mean, it's not like he's all that reasonable in disliking you for what happened to his village. He was just a toddler and I doubt he even remembers the event. Plus, as tragic as it is… he's basically just lashing out at the world at this point…

"The other thing is… I think he's willing to stick it out in the tournament. Even if by the end of it he wants to go his own way… that training he could get is worth so much. Plus, getting his name out there he'd be rather famous and could go on to do tonnes of things. Maybe he'll try and start his own noble house or go off on an edgy revenge quest, I dunno. The Tournament provides OPPORTUNITY and I know Kress wanted to enter it as much as the rest of us… I jut don't know exactly what he's hoping for.

"So I guess… as long as you don't kill him it's not really a problem. He'll curse you out and maybe try to get you to leave but at the end of the day he can't do anything to you and we can heal broken legs…" grumbled Nixilei.