Chapter 366: Blood And Sand
Anko cracked the knuckles of her four hands as she stretched, enjoying the chance to sit in a chair after spending so long walking.
"Call me Hartl," their hostess said. "Don’t get many folks this far up. Most people stick to the roads unless they’re property," she cast her gaze over Anko, Malz, and Ferro.
"Thanks for letting us in," Anko looked around the room. Inside the house, it was pretty bare. Just a table and a stone. Weirdly there was a pile of boots of all sizes in one corner, along with a group of long wooden poles. The furniture was all made of magic-shaped rock, and a large stone door hid the rest of the building.
"Did you think I wouldn’t just ’cause you got a bit of demon in ya? Or your friend?"
Anko thought about what she said for a moment. She actually hadn’t thought about it. She remembered being kept at a distance when she was a human amongst demons, and then the brief bit where she’d been treated normal. Until Maledict brought everyone to the dark city... which turned out to be under Heaven the whole time...
Once the mana got scarce, she was isolated on account of working directly for Maledict. And things had been getting pretty... dire... between half-demons who were more capable of generating mana and the full or near-full demons who relied on feeding...
"I guess I should have," Anko admitted as the giantess moved to the oven and started stacking firewood into it. A small burst of mana later and it was lit, the smoke diverted by a pipe leading out of the building, as she tossed on a kettle to boil. "My friend’s an angel by the way. We’re just trying to find a port."
"Only think discriminating serves is losing money," Hartl chuckled. Weirdly, she grabbed a bushel of fresh grass and tossed it into the fireplace, which seemed redundant if she was going to be lighting the wood with magic. "An angel, huh? Be better off if you three head to Aaru..."
Malz let out a relieved sigh as soon as she sat, pulling her newly stolen boots off and checking her feet. "I’d rather stay with present company than try to find a way across the desert," she finished her checks quickly and then re-shoed herself.
"Hope you three are fine with tea," Hartl looked over at Ferro, who had elected to stand near the door since the windows were too high up for him to see out of without climbing. "You gonna come get comfy, little catkin?"
"I’m fine," Ferro said. He was holding his compass in hand and staring at it like it was about to give him instructions, but all Anko saw was three little lines, two pointing to her and Malz, and the other pointing off to Hell knew where. "But, um... thank you."