[1.23] Heisty Type (Part 1)

“For the second Order, make me lunch, Imp.”

“Ehh, that’s it?” Given the simplicity of Lustre’s first Order, Angelica shouldn’t really be surprised, but she had been expecting something more… demanding.

“Yes, I should probably be more specific.” The Summoner reconsidered her words. “Make me something that I would enjoy, without using any ingredients that I wouldn’t like. Cook it well, and don’t make anything that will take too long. Within an hour would be ideal. I don’t care too much beyond that.” Of course, she had no idea what her master liked and didn’t, but Order Obligation would ensure she knew if she attempted to do something wrong.

“Umm,” Gelic made her voice sound even more innocent than usual, preparing to make her meager request. “May I have some, too?” The labors of the morning and her sparse breakfast made her a hungry servant.

“You want to eat food?” That made the older woman’s eyebrow raise. “Usually Demons just ask for some of my vitality and been fine with that. Which I’ve always found unpleasant, so, sure. Make yourself a plate too.” Huh, Summoners could give Demons vitality? News to the recently reborn oddity. Perhaps that increased Health percentage directly, negating the reduction caused by a Hunger debuff? But she’d rather have a full tummy, regardless. “Do you accept the Order?”

“I accept.”

[Order accepted without resistance | Current Contract: Complete 2 Orders for Lustre | Current Order: Make lunch for you and your master. | Order Reward: 50 Essence]

With the Order set, Gelic bounced her way to the kitchen, leaving her master behind who was assuredly just going to laze about once more. On the way, she got a greater tour of the swanky mansion. Each room was just as dazzling as the last. Just how much money did these people have? Were all Summoners this rich, or at least significantly well-off? All but her? Sadly, she couldn’t actually inspect any room in greater detail, hit with pain if she left the halls and crossed any of their thresholds.

The kitchen was just as grand as everything else, leaving the impression that nothing was actually cooked in it, at least not by the tenants of the home. But maybe by servants routinely or contracted caterers during special events. Once more, Angelica activated Transfiguration. There was no way she could cook properly in her Demon form, at least not yet without making a huge mess.

So the fake human donned a chef uniform, one the head of a fine-dining restaurant would wear. Of course, it came with a matching very tall hat that could fit not just one, but several rats on the top of her head if such a thing was required. So many rats. While Angelica may not be the greatest cook, she’d at least hope she could do better than being puppeteered by a vermin. Actually, that raised a good point, were Demons vermin? Or at least Imps? Some she’d seen in the book looked very vermin-adjacent.

Gelic shook that stupid train of thought out of her mind. But before she could continue on with her duty, another dwelling notion needed to be considered. Would she trigger Poison Chef with this? She didn’t know what was going to be made yet, but there were explicit instructions for it to be something cooked, so there was no avoiding the problem.

Angelica, herself, didn’t need to worry. No, she was actually quite interested in trying something poisonous now, just to see how it all worked. Would it taste funky? Be even noticeable? Would she be filled with a sense of rejuvenation? Maybe she’d even learn to love the taste if it was providing a benefit now.

The matter was her current master. The Demon was under the assumption that her kind could not actively attack their Summoner, at least when they were Bound. Garvin had been pretty afraid when his binding failed, but Lustre held no such fear. It did raise the question of whether or not that was absolute, though, or if it was similar to Order Resistance and there was some sort of “Don’t Attack Your Master Resistance,” probably with a more concise name.

Would it count as attacking, though, if Gelic accidentally made poisoned food without knowing it and fed it to Lustre? Even if she did know, would Order Obligation force her to serve it anyways since the food had been made? What was even weirder was that she didn’t actually care if the older woman ate poisoned food. Why didn’t she care?

Even though they had a subservient Contract, her master was still a human. Angelica should still not wish to do another human harm. Except… she herself wasn’t another human. That could very well be the problem. Did Demons have a natural indifference towards the safety of humans? No, when Gelic thought about the few she did care about, or even society in general, she didn’t want them to suffer. It was more specifically Lustre, so it could be an innate dislike of Summoners, or more specifically, the one who currently Summoned them.

Heck, Gelic even kind of wanted her master to get poisoned, as if her impish nature would find it amusing. It could also potentially be caused by her Malice increases. The stat was still very low, at “Hesitant,” though she couldn’t say she was hesitating in this regard. Maybe as it grew, it enhanced the already underlying sadistic tendencies. Hopefully, if it got significantly higher, she wouldn’t actively want to harm people for no reason. But she should be able to give herself an order to keep it in check if it came down to it.

Angelica opened the fridge to see what she had to work with, but was stunned. It was all too… perfect. There was a staggering array of food: marbled meats, crisp vegetables, an expensive array of dressings and condiments. And all of it was untouched, unused, nothing missing in the slightest. But a quick check proved it was real, not faux food like she initially guessed. There was absolutely no way they were using all this before it went bad, before the beef browned slightly or the leaves of lettuce began to wilt.

So she could only think of one possibility. Someone was regularly replacing it all. Odds were, they were paying someone to come in and make sure all the ingredients inside were absolutely perfect, changing out anything that had gone bad. Well, their definition of bad. Likely all so that if someone came over and looked in their fridge, it would always appear immaculate. The weird things rich people did. It irked her, so she’d happily eat her fill.

Unfortunately, when Gelic tried to take out most of the ingredients to cook with, her body wouldn’t let her. Apparently, Lustre was a very picky eater. The only vegetable she was allowed to take was potatoes, and the only meat was pork. Seriously, not even the perfectly cut steak?! She desperately tried to take the practically sparkling slab of meat, attempting to fight through the pain, but it simply was too much.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

What she could take was cheese, all the cheese, and they had so many. Even ones that were likely so expensive that Angelica had never heard of them in her life. So the chef was starting to formulate a plan. A quick check let her take bread, butter, seasonings, and oil, so a simple-yet-delicious dish it would be. Grilled cheese with an absolute buttload variety of cheeses and some thinly sliced pork with a side of fries. Not even a “refined” palate could complain about something like that, even if it’s simple, right?

The well-dressed Demon switched over to prep, starting with the potatoes. It was time to test something she’d been unsure about. Angelica hadn’t wanted to risk it with the last Order since she desperately needed the Essence, but now if this Contract got accidentally cancelled or overwritten somehow, oh well. “Angelica, cut these potatoes into a perfect fry shape. They can be variable in length, but should be neatly squared.”

[Order accepted without resistance | Current Contract: Cut the potatoes]