[SS 2.92] Keep Your Eye on the Target (Part 2/2) (Patreon)

Unlike the last time where she’d been unable to process that she was hearing her mother, Angelica recognized the woman’s voice immediately. It was hard not to when they’d just been talking not long ago. Didn’t make it any less bewildering this time when it was out of nowhere and intruding in her mind. Corticia added an additional but crucial comment to her original call. “I promise that I won’t make any attempt to bind you. Unfortunately, I’m under a bit of a time crunch, so if you would please respond post haste.”

“Err, yeah, I guess I could come now.” Angelica quickly saved her chapter and shifted into her Puck form. Fortunately, it would seem anytime she used Mind-Link with another Summoner, it came across as her Demon voice. Or at least she hadn’t heard about disparity from Summoners otherwise. While she was waiting for the metaphysical tug to happen, she quickly relayed what was happening to Angie using telepathy of their own, and the girl looked at her with concern and confusion until Gelic vanished from the apartment.

Ah… The moment after being transported, she was hit with overwhelming emotions and nostalgia. It wasn’t like when she’d suddenly appeared in her mother’s office. This time, she’d been brought to her childhood home, smack dab in the middle of the living room. She tried not to let her eyes wander, though her gaze should be mostly blocked by her mask. It was like nothing had changed at all. Every picture still in place, all the furniture looked no worse for wear. The only new thing was the portrait Angelica had done for her mother that was now framed above the mantle. Touching… but it also made her look a bit like a dictator in that space.

“It would seem you have evolved.,” the Summoner, Cordial, started. “Not quite what I expected, but that’s not the reason I called for you. I’ll make this quick. I would like you to monitor my daughter and report anything strange.”

Uhhh… what? That’s what she wanted? Gelic did her best to not be silent for too long, since she shouldn’t be phased by the request at all. But she absolutely needed more details. “Strange… like what?”

“I’m not sure,” Corticia gave an entirely unhelpful answer. “But things have been weird with her since we reunited. I’ve accepted her new direction in life, yet I can’t help but feel something is wrong. And while I stopped having her followed after she entered college in an attempt to let her grow on her own, I can’t help but worry, especially now. Today was the last straw. The daughter I know would never ask to go shooting, and she ended up being absurdly good at it. I fear she’s caught up in something, and I don’t know what.

“Hopefully, I’m just being paranoid and it really is nothing. So all I ask is that you check in on her occasionally and report to me. I’ll call you every few weeks for a debrief, though you can come to me anytime if there’s something urgent. Also… if she has found herself in some kind of trouble, I would ask that you ensure her safety.”

“Erm, alright, I think I can do that, as long as it’s not constant surveillance,” Gelic insisted. “My master wouldn’t be fine with me being busy with someone else all the time. Can I ask why you want me to do it, though? I’ve only done one job for you.”

“And you did it sufficiently.” The woman offered a slight bit of praise. “That might not sound like much, but it’s hard to find good low-ranked help in our world. Unlike others, it seems we have some sort of restriction that limits the number of Imps and Pucks who can come here.”

Woah, her mom knew about the other worlds?! As far as Gelic had witnessed, no other Summoners had mentioned knowledge of other worlds or planes of existence besides Hell. Perhaps it was information that was only awarded to those of high ranks or had a reason to know. Even with their already secret society, it felt like if every Summoner knew there were fully developed other worlds, it would lead to a lot more chaos. “Umm, yeah the Tongues requirement,” Gelic decided to be nice and corroborated. “They only let Demons here that can talk good.”

“Talk well,” Corticia couldn’t help herself from making that correction, an error Angelica had made on purpose just to see if she would. “Ignoring your grammar, your rank is ideal. I’d rather have a Puck observing her than a higher-level Demon. That could cause undue suspicion. Then if you grow, you’ll already be in an expected routine. 

“Not to mention, I’ve done my research into you, Gelic, after your name came up after the Malignant Geyser. It seems you impressed quite a few then. And since, it would appear you’ve been doing a lot of work locally, especially with the Zenmoon Sect.”

“Are you with the Zenmoon Sect too?” It felt like the best opportunity she’d get to ask.

“No, I’m not,” Cordial stated. “Though we do have good relations. Technically, I am not part of any Sect, but we are not Rogue Summoners either. We’re our own entity, but now this conversation is getting off-track.” Despite that, Gelic still scried her anyways to see if she’d get an answer.

[Sect: Vulgrest City Council]

Besides being a lame boring name, that did help. And it also did lean into Gelic’s suspicion that city hall was filled with Summoners. 

“I don’t care who your master is. I’d actually prefer the Demon assigned to this task be Bound to someone unaffiliated,” the woman continued. “The last thing I’d want is for her to somehow get caught up in Sect drama, so it’s better that you work for an Abstainer, which seems to be the case from what I’ve gathered. And since you’re likely stationed here, if you could swing by her place for a look roughly once a day, that would be enough for me. Maybe spend some time on look-out there if you’re currently off-duty with your master. She doesn’t go out often, at least I don’t think she does, but if you see her going somewhere besides a standard errand, I’d ask that you follow her.”

“What about her apartment? Do you want me to go inside for a better look?” Just how deep did her mother want this snooping to be.

“I’d say yes, but she has a cat,” Corticia noted. “One that seems to have surprisingly high Magical Proficiency. I’m pretty sure the thing was staring right at my Bound Demon the last time I visited, though that was some time ago. Once or twice would probably be fine, but she might sense something off if her cat regularly is perturbed by your presence.”

Damn, so Cherub really would be a better Summoner than her. Reality was cruel. And also, her mother had just admitted to having a Demon around nonchalantly when visiting her. How often had one just been hanging out nearby in the shadows? It was kind of crazy and unsettling how oblivious she’d been all of her life. Odds were, she’d been extremely deep in the magical demonic world all this time and had no idea. And what sort of Demons did the woman have Bound that she wasn’t using for this task? They were likely of extreme high-rank or notoriety, making them recognizable if they were caught out in the world.

“Besides, her landlord sent me quite a few pictures in the past,” Cordial openly admitted. “It was a nightmare, but has supposedly gotten much better recently. That may also lead in to my suspicions, though I’ll just ask her for more if I deem it necessary.”

“Okay, I’ll do it,” Gelic agreed to the absurd request. “What about payment, though?” The actual amount didn’t matter. She’d be accepting no matter what. Anything to keep another Demon from accepting it. Things had lined up rather well in this regard, to the point of being suspicious. Did her mother think that Gelic had been involved with Angelica somehow? It was hard to say, but either way, this was the best case scenario and a welcome boon, even if the woman’s attempted invasion of her privacy irked her to no end.

“I’ll give you a small Essence retainer once a month. Let’s say five hundred while you’re a Puck, a thousand after you Evolve to Hellion. Then we can figure out the rest if this relationship continues beyond that. Also, if you ever provide me something genuinely surprising or actionable, I will pay you more based on the usefulness. Of course, you will also get a bonus if you ever come to her defense.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” Angelica highly doubted her mother would shaft her on the payment, since as a treasurer, the woman was borderline obsessed with all of her books being properly balanced. She didn’t like being in debt to anyone for even a second. All of her card charges were set to be paid-off in full the moment they were posted. It was highly unlikely that it’d be any different in this scenario. The question now was should she make up nonsense about herself to get extra Essence. That was probably a terrible idea, but imagining scamming her mother did tickle her a bit.

“Before we agree to the Contract, who is your daughter, and where can I find her?” Gelic wanted to nail those details down before any magic got involved for a very specific reason. Angelica, or rather Merlina, had just performed the Rite of Unknowing, which meant another Summoner couldn’t give away her personal information without her permission. So if her mother tried to say her name during this but couldn’t, that would definitely put her on alert. Gelic wanted it to be known ahead of time to whatever governing body presided over the rules that her mother was absolutely allowed to share all that information to anyone, as long as it kept her secret safe.

“Of course, here.” Corticia grabbed a prepared slip of paper from nearby, scribbled something on the back, then handed it over to the Demon, which Gelic delicately nabbed with her claws. And she recognized it immediately, feeling a little betrayed by their earlier bonding moment. “This is a picture of her from today. She’s pretty scrawny, as you can tell. Well, if you Demons even notice such things. I’d especially like for you to mention any grocery shopping you see or restaurants she visits, so I can track her health more sufficiently. I’ve also written her name and address on the back.”

[Order accepted | Current Contract: Spy on yourself | Reward: Scaling Essence retainer paid monthly + Bonus Essence for useful information and protection]

Gelic flipped the page over, not needing the information of course, but pretended to read it regardless. “Demons can’t say her name,” she made sure to emphasize without specifically saying that she couldn’t.

“Yes, that’s by design, since I’m a good mother.” The woman suddenly acted haughty about it. Angelica, of course, expected that was the case, but it was still weird to see her admit it. Further evidence that her mother had anticipated her needing protection against Demons someday, before she found out the girl had no Magical Proficiency. 

“You don’t need to say it. I’ll know who you’re talking about. Then if there’s nothing else, I’ll have to dismiss you for now. I already pushed my meeting back a bit since I wanted to get this taken care of as soon as possible, but I can’t keep them waiting forever. When I have my time, I’ll reach out to you later, and make sure you found everything just fine. I’ll also likely reach out to you regularly just for a check-in, to make sure you’re keeping up your end.”

“Okay, well hopefully nothing is wrong,” Gelic attempted to reassure her. “I’ll keep your daughter safe. I’ll get my master to call me. Bye for now.”

The moment Angelica was back in the safety of her apartment, it felt like she was going to keel over. Somehow, she had managed to stay calm during that entire ordeal, but now her heart felt like it was going to explode. Her life flashed before her eyes, not because she was dying, but because it apparently had been riddled with so many more lies than she expected. It all felt so obvious, especially after learning her mother was a Summoner. But now it felt real to a completely different degree. Things were getting serious with her now, and if she wasn’t careful, the ruse could collapse so effortlessly.

Once she managed to settle down again, she teamed up with Angie to make a plan going forward. The girl wasn’t super into helping at first, but to keep this working, they’d need a concrete strategy going forward. Eventually, they landed on having one of them act as Angelica out on errands, then have Gelic tail her from time to time. Just in case the watcher was also being watched.