Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Wearing cloaks that hid their identity, the three left the embassy and snuck across Delta to get into the demon district. There were people, but compared to the past, Delta seemed really empty. It was the first time Mina and Fin had time to look around after their return from the Holy Land.

It was not that many people suddenly decided to travel out and settle on the Tree Route or the other settlements that have been founded in the no man's land. The city seemed empty because fewer people dared to leave their homes nowadays.

Some were afraid of the disease, and that was the excuse for the curfew and strict controls. Many didn't dare to go to the streets because of these strict controls. Most people didn't have very high levels and didn't trust the enforcers to have their best interests in mind.

An atmosphere of fear and distrust was sweltering in Delta and kept most people off the streets. As sad as it was, it was in their favor, as most that did dare to venture out, also wore cloaks to hide their identities. They didn't stick out from the sparse crowd of figures walking around.

Seth knew that staying too long would dampen their mood, so he hurried the two to get to the demon part of town. As part of their agreement with Chrona, the demons were not under any supervision from the human leadership.

The bard didn't quite understand how the demons governed themselves, but it seemed like a kind of council of elders and electives was holding a loose grip on the management of the demons. Because demons were very diverse, the place was very rowdy and people were prone to rather follow the rules of their species, than an overarching law. Still, taking all of this into account, the demons were usually quite civilized.

Today wasn't necessarily one of those days. Seth had led Mina and Fin to a restaurant Tano'Mol had told him about. A place of multidimensional fine dining, for those that wanted to taste the food of their home world or a completely different dimension.

Following the goat's advice, Seth gave the receptionist a gold coin and asked to be seated on the second floor. The soul trader had explained that this was the way to signal that they intended to stay for a while and try a lot of stuff.

The interior design was far from demonic, but the menu packed a punch. It was written in demonic runes that could project an image of the food into one's head if one read them. Even the two women, who didn't know demon language, were hit by this onslaught of sensory input.

On top of that, the menu was long, and many of the dishes were hard to look at without receiving some mental damage. The reason they still stayed, was because most of the dishes were the complete opposite, looking enticing and outlandishly tasty.

Before they knew it, they had already spent 30 minutes just looking and talking about all kinds of dishes, without a clerk or staff coming to interrupt them. Seth had to give it to the goat, that one gold coin had really bought them a quiet experience.

That was until they heard a disturbance at the lower floor. Screams, the rumbling of furniture being thrown around and the breaking of glass and porcelain mixed together. Was there a fight going on? They looked at each other, and Seth saw a dangerous glint in the eyes of the fairy.

"No. We came here to eat, Fin," he reminded the little brute.

"Right, a place like this should have security. Leave it to security," Mina supported him

Although she was not one to skip a good fight, she had been really looking forward to tasting some of the stuff on the menu.

~Right, ignore the commotion. Order the Nr.33 for me! The pickled Netch tentacles look really interesting! Gooey and juicy, just like the great me likes it.~ the Ivicer suddenly added.

~Puffles? Why are you back in the pet space? I thought you were strolling around outside Delta again?~

~And let you eat tasty food without me...again?! Stop ditching the great me to go get delicious food!~

~Right! I also want some!~ Tatzel joined the conversation.

~Guys! I'm on a date. Can't you see that? I didn't ditch you do enjoy the food without you. I ditched you to enjoy the ladies without you.~

~I'm appalled.~ ~Pervert!~

~If you stay silent from here on out, I will get what you want as takeout. Deal?~

~~Deal.~~

Ha! he knew these two too well. They didn't care that he ditched them, the gluttons were just after the food. In that respect, the little Tatzel, who wasn't very little anymore, had become terrifyingly similar to Puffles.

They talked for a while longer before they slowly decided on what to order. On key, a server approached their table. It was a humanoid cricket, and he kept rubbing his hands.

"I'm sorry, dear guests. But we have to ask you to leave. Someone has reserved the whole restaurant for today," he explained nervously.

"What?!" Fin cried out indignant. They had finally decided on what dishes to order and now they were told that they suddenly had to leave?

"W-What do you mean?" Seth asked strained, keeping back the angry telepathic messages of the two gluttons.

"A- A gentleman arrives a little earlier and -errm... "booked" our establishment for the day."

Seth kept staring at him. He wasn't happy. No, he was actually just as pissed as Fin and the others. However, he didn't feel like being the asshole in this. Yet, before he could say anything, the receptionist demon showed up.

"Herbert! What takes you so long? Have you still not cleared the- Oh, Sir! I'm sorry for the inconvenience!" the moment he saw Seth who gave him a gold coin, he switched gears.

"We are really, really sorry. Please take this as a small apology."

The receptionist put a stack of five gold coins on the table before Seth. Now, the blacksmith could have taken offense to this, but- He made a profit by sitting around for an hour and joking with Fin and Mina. Since he intended to leave peacefully anyway, he sacked the five gold with a gracious smile.

Following the receptionist, the three walked down from the first floor, to the ground floor where they found, who they assumed to be, the manager tending to a demonic mountain with a strained smile. The guy was huge and covered in bulky muscle. Having a human face, what was not covered by his dark leather outfit, was covered in fine, green scales from his neck down.

"Have you finally cleared out the place-," the guy whistled before he could completely finish his question. "What have we here? Such a tasty lady, why don't you ditch that wimp and stay here with me?"

When he got close and his hands made an attempt to grab the catgirl, his hand was rudely stooped by a firm grip on his wrist.

"Who do you think you are trying to touch, bitch?" Mina hissed ill-humored. Her sharp nails dug into the demon's dark gray skin. She had been holding back, but it was clear she was even more pissed about having to leave than Fin.

"How unruly! But that will stop after some educatio-Aaah!" he suddenly broke out into a scream.

"Who do you think you are trying to slap, bitch?" Seth picked up Mina's question, as he crushed the meat mountain's other wrist in his palm. He was about to slap Mina across the face, mid-sentence, when the blacksmith interrupted him.

"Oh, no! What have you done? Please wait! We can still-" the receptionist fell into a panic, trying to make sense of the situation and come up with a solution.

"Ha! Yeah! You- err, Bitch!" Fin joined in and sucker-punched the guy in the head, while Mina and Seth held his wrists. While the guy was out cold, the latter two stared at her scoldingly.

"What? Don't hog all the fun for yourself!"

"" Boss?!"" "Hun!"

"It's over..." the receptionist and manager slumped down in despair as the man's goons finally appeared on the stage. The exchange had happened a little too fast and abruptly, for the hired muscle to follow it in real-time.

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