[1.14] Summons Answered (Part 2)

“But uhh… before I run off…” While Angelica had already agreed to do the deed, there was something more to finalize. “Can we discuss payment? I’m not doing this for free, right?” Truthfully, she probably would be willing to take on the request just for the joy of imparting justice onto someone who would be so cruel to animals. But from what she’d been able to glean from the Demon Summoning book with her limited vocabulary, she was under the impression that Contracts between Demon and Summoner were generally transactional.

“Yes, of course.” It looked like Garvin had forgotten that part too. “How much Essence do you want? 50? 100? I don’t have much more than that on hand, but I can get it if necessary.”

“Erm, Essence?” She vaguely remembered the term. That was the stuff she’d gotten after defeating the snake thing, right? The weird white floaty bits that had gone into her body? What would she want that stuff for? “Nah, I don’t want Essence. How about cash?”

This left the Summoner positively flabbergasted. “Cash? And what the hell would a demon want with cash?”

“We, erm, don’t use it?” Angelica leaned heavily into her ignorant persona.

“No, not that I’ve ever heard of,” Garvin assured her. “You Demons only ever go on about Essence, demand it like it’s some sort of addictive drug. Let me guess. Your master ordered you to answer summons for cash in return?”

“Err, yep!” She clung to the assumption—again, not too far from the truth.

“She really is cruel if she hasn’t even taught you about Essence.” That made the young man’s pity of her situation increase by several magnitudes. “But it’s not my place to amend that gap, and I don’t want to risk the ire of someone more powerful than me. Especially because if she’s in need of cash then she’s likely a Rogue Summoner. My teacher always told me to never get involved with them. But very well, how much cash then?”

“Erm…” How much should she ask for? If cash wasn’t usually exchanged for Demon services, there probably wasn’t any sort of set rate. Looking around, though, assuming this was his home, he certainly didn’t want for much. Screw it, she’d shoot high. “How about $1,000?”

“Done.” Garvin agreed immediately, making her wonder if she’d low-balled the request. But his face scrunched again. “The question, though, is how to get you the money.”

“Couldn’t you just give it to me now?” The “Demon” pointed out the obvious solution.

“Hmph, you may be stupid, Imp, but I have common sense,” the Summoner condescended. “One of the primary rules of Contracts is to never pay upfront.”

“Well, I’ll need some money,” Angelica insisted. “Since I don’t have poison magic like you suggested, I’ll have to buy it outright or make it with ingredients. Either way, I’ll need some money.”

“Ughk, normally a Demon would source those sorts of things on their own,” Garvin protested. “But fine.” He reached into his pocket and dug out his wallet. “I have $200 on me. That should be more than enough.” The young man rolled up the bills and chucked them her way, not wanting to get too close.

Angelica picked them up greedily and clutched them in her palm since her current pants regrettably didn’t have pockets. She had to suppress a devilish grin. Because even if she failed and the Contract had to be cancelled, she’d still gotten two days worth of her needed allotment just for showing up. This was becoming more and more worth her time. “Why don’t you just summon me back here when I’m done for the rest?”

“Ughk, your ignorance is getting tiresome. Since I don’t know your true name or alias, I won’t be able to summon you directly again. I’d have to try an open call once more and pray you’re the one who answered. The odds of that are significantly low.”

“Okay… well, I could just swing by and pick it up.” Angelica would be open to travel if it meant receiving a juicy payout. “Actually… where are we?”

“Strocaster.” He was quick to answer, but kept the tone sharp. “Don’t think I’ll give you more than that. No way would I willingly hand you the address of this place.”

“Dang! Two cities away from Vulgrest! I came that far?!” Angelica then capped her hands to her mouth, realizing her error by giving away information.

“Don’t fret so much, Imp.” Her panic amused the Summoner. “So your master lives in Vulgrest. Interesting, but that’s a big place, so we could do nothing with that sort of intel. And it’s actually a good thing, in this situation. The man I want you to poison, he lives in Vulgrest. I used to as well, actually, until just a few days ago. The, erm, incident with my rabbit is what finally convinced me to leave and join this Sect.

“I also think that presents a solution to the problem. My old place is just a few doors down from his and hasn’t sold yet, so it’s completely vacant and still getting my mail. I’ll have an acquaintance drop off the rest of the money in the mailbox when I receive word that the Contract is complete. Then you can pick it up a few hours later. And don’t think you’ll be able to get any useful information by knowing about that place. My true name has been scrubbed clean from all records.”

Garvin shared both addresses. Angelica didn’t know the street, but she roughly knew the neighborhood where it was located. It was well on the other side of the city from her apartment, but she could get there by taking the bus or subway. Perhaps she could use it as an excuse for a long run.

“And when do you want this done by?” That was another important distinction they hadn’t yet discussed. From the little testing she’d done with this aspect, Angelica found that if she set a specific timeframe for completing a Contract, the driving urge wouldn’t be as intense at the start, only increasing in its demanding insistence the closer she got to the deadline.

“Well, as soon as you can.” Garvin’s eyes gleamed. “But since you’re not experienced with this, I’ll give you, say, three days?”

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“I’ll hopefully have it done today, but three should be plenty.”

“Then do you accept the Contract?”