<h4>Chapter 76: An Early Night</h4>


    Dinner with the Unfortunate Four was a strange affair. Green consumed a small amount of food from around the table and then stood up and nestled into Gareth''s arm and promptly fell asleep on him.


    Gareth for his part just patted her on the head a few times before continuing to eat as if he didn''t have a sleeping girl on his arm, though he seemed to take a small amount of extra care to ensure no food would drop on Green.


    Nixilei wasn''t much better, she just finished that first dish that she had acquired and then sat and watched Gareth and Green with that same stare she had before, treating this strange event as an everyday urrence, though for all Kat new it was.


    Kress for his part just kept enjoying the food, grabbing any unattended bits of meat he could find. Gareth took a few of them for himself when Kress wasn''t looking but most of them were devoured by Kress. This didn''t bother Kat because the guy just looked so at peace with everything as he ate, like nothing could ruin his happiness and Kat wasn''t going to try.


    In the end Kat sampled a bit of everything and found it to be extraordinarily well prepared, well, she missed out on any of the meat dishes, but it wasn''t a major concern anyway. The chefs clearly had a lot of experience preparing sds, but Kat was mainly impressed with variety of taste and texture on offer. Kat intended to say a few words about the meal but seeing everyone else eating in perfect silence she felt it would be wrong to break it for some reason.


    In the end she finished long before Gareth and Kress and just spent her time awkwardly admiring the rest of the room. It wasn''t long before Gareth noticed her difort and said "Would you like to retire for the night? We have a room prepared for you if you so desire. I''d show you the way personally but well…" ncing between Kat and Green on his arm.


    Kat nodded "I understand, um Maxwell then" ncing over at the butler who had resided in the corner for the whole meal.


    Maxwell stepped forward and nodded slightly when his name was called "Of course mdy, please if you would follow me"


    Maxwell promptly began to make his way for the same door the group had entered. He paused a moment on the threshold to listen and ensure Kat was following him and after hearing her footsteps continued down the corridor.


    Noticing this movement Kat had a grand idea, after they passed one of the other doors in the corridor Kat started to use her wings to lighten her steps. Not using them enough to actually hover but more than enough to reduce the sound of her footsteps.


    Maxwell didn''t falter the slightest in his movements, however Kat noticed that his footsteps had gotten quieter as well to match her own. Not to be outdone, Kat started to hover only barely dropping to the ground asionally to give Maxwell a hint that she was still following behind him.


    To Kat''s shock though Maxwell began to mimic Kat''s new method of walking. He would seem to float down the hallway for a few steps distance before lightlynding on the ground and continuing on his way, Maxwell for his part never left the ground by more than a few centimetres but it was evident he was floating by the fact he kept his legs in a stationary position until quickly swapping over.


    And so the two continued down the corridors, reducing the amount of time spent on the ground until Maxwell stomped his feet and stopped in front of a door that had an ornate mountain carved into it.


    "This is your room Mdy, please use it at your leisure" said Maxwell as he bowed and then walked back down the corridor the way he came.


    ###


    Meanwhile back in the dining room.


    "I believe it is time we discuss our impressions of the demon we''ve summoned" said Gareth eyes roaming the other two but leaving Green out of his gaze.


    Kress looked up from his meal heartbroken like someone had just told him his dog had died. "Do we have to get to this now, it''s mealtime, and I cannot let the food cool"


    "Kress, you''re on thest piece of meat, is there any better time?" asked Gareth.


    Kress looked around the assorted dishes and saw that Gareth was right and sighed. Quickly finishing thest piece and sighing again he looked towards his leader to begin. Nixilei watched the conversation with an unchanging expression though when it was clear that Kress was ready to begin she cast a concerned nce at Green.


    "Do you really want me to wake her up for this Nixilei, I can, but I won''t" said Gareth


    "I would dare not contradict you in this Gareth, though I believe she has the right to be included in the discussion I also am aware that her contribution would be minor at best due to her nature" said Nixilei.


    "Well, I''m d we have an understanding. I''d like to start with your observations Nixilei" said Gareth


    "Well, the most stunning part is perhaps the marshal prowess shown by Kat. Even considering that Kress held back" at this Kress coughed into his sleeve to avoid notice "the level of ability is quite astounding considering we requested a mage type demon.


    "That leads us to a further problem which is what magic abilities she truly has. I''m uncertain as to what will be required for thispetition, but I worry she will not meet the minimal requirements for it. That being said as a demon she is likely powerful enough to assist as properly in the group staging perhaps rendering this negative moot.


    Gareth and Kress nodded, simply deferring to Nixilei''s expertise in these matters. They knew even less about demons and mages than she did so they simply took her word for it. "That being said I suppose we need to move onto the real consideration which is her attitude." Said Nixilei.


    "Frankly, I cannot get a true handle on it. I cannot understand which faction she would belong to. The temptations we have arrayed for her seem not to have even registered, which should be highly unlikely for such a low-level demon.


    "What do you mean?" asked Kress genuinely confused


    "What I mean, is that demons tend to embody one of the various sins our people know. Her quick eptance of the spar andck of enthusiasm for her own room to retire seems to indicate she doesn''t embody sloth, but perhaps that is her strongest connection.


    "She certainly doesn''t embody wrath, after fighting so calmly and epting the end of the match immediately. Despite the various wealth we have shown her she seems unmoved, though perhaps her sense of it is skewed, making envy unlikely, and herck of haggling in the contract price precludes greed as well.


    "Pride seems highly unlikely considering she has been nothing but cordial to all of us, and let''s not even consider the chance she is a gluttony demon considering the amount of food left on the table.


    "The most likely candidate for her should have been lust considering her species but I did not even see her nce twice at the various beauties and handsome men we had nted along our route back. I truly do not know what to make of her"


    Gareth let this information sink in. He had been counting on Nixilei to uncover what Kat''s vice was to ensure that no potential problems arose. The fact she showed no inclination towards any of them was a confusing and worrying development.


    "Is it possible she doesn''t belong to any of the vices?" asked Gareth.


    Nixilei revealed a pained expression for the first time "From my knowledge it is theoretically possible, however this is only in stronger demons or those that are unhinged in some other clear way. It isn''t to say it''s impossible for a weaker demon to be cordial, it very much is, but that sort of self-control is not typically associated with demons and I cannot help but feel it doesn''t apply to our guest"


    Gareth sighed "Kress do you have anything to add?"


    "That icefire, that isn''t natural whatever it is. Even demon fire burns, hell demon fire burns everything, it leaves nothing unscathed. Not only is this demon''s cold, but it doesn''t spread rampantly. I don''t know if I should thank the gods or curse them for surely she is capable of something much worse"


    "We can only hope we haven''t missed anything, hopefully the tournament will be no issue" said Gareth


    "The only consideration truly is keeping an eye on our demon. We cannot lose her, and if she proves to be capable of resisting all the sins then we need to ensure she participate for the remainder of the tournament. The sort of even headed thinking is rare in demons"