“I believe the three on the right might have some rugs. I have no love for any of them really so I suppose I will stick to my word. Please take you pick” said Grandma Maemari

“What kind of rugs are in each chest” said Kat

“No idea, I’ve received a number of gifts over the years that I care naught for but I do keep them around most of the time just in case somebody decides to make a big deal out of it. This room is where I keep the tapestries, the rugs, I think one chest has particularly ill-fitting clothing articles that aren’t even close to being correct” said Grandma Maemari

*Is that something I’d prefer I wonder? So many gifts that I need multiple rooms to store them all. It really is a bit excessive but if she was the Queen at one point maybe this is relatively few things.*

Kat didn’t respond out loud to that and simply opened the three chests Grandma Maemari had indicated. The rugs Kat found were all well made though the designs were often questionable. Everything for extremely intricately woven rugs depicting one of Grandma Maemari’s adventuring achievements to a simple well made rug with a checkered patterning on it. Kat carefully lifted each rug out of the box examined if for a moment then re folded it and put it to the side if she was uninterested. Minor sat on one of the nearby chests watching Kat go through each rug occasionally offering nods of approval, but it seemed her mind was elsewhere. Grandma Maemari on the other hand just stood menacingly in the corner eyes trained on Kat as if she was certain Kat was just waiting for a chance to sneak off and rob her blind, but her eyes would occasionally drift over to Minor and soften before snapping back to Kat

In the end it was four rugs that stood out to Kat the most. The first was the previously mentioned checkered rug. It was well made and consisted of alternating red and blacks squares. It was a simple rug but well made, perhaps the best made rug in the chest if you ignored the lack of a more detailed design.

The second rug had two foxes growling at each other from either side of an artistic rendition of a chasm. The foxes were very intricately woven, and the individual pieces of fur could be seen stitched into the rug. At the same time though, the rest of the rug seemed to be stitched poorly and was just barely passable. Finally the rug was actually really small, just barely 50cm across which made the poor stitching on the rug even less excusable considering all the others were at least a metre long on their shortest side.

The third rug was a garish mess of clashing colours and shapes. There was seemingly no rhyme or reason involved in how they had chosen to arrange the colours on the rug and it seemed more like someone was showing of the variety of dyes that they had on offer rather than attempting to make a rug that was even vaguely appealing to human eyes. Or demon. Or Kitsune. The reason it was still in the pile for consideration was that as much as Kat may dislike it, if Gramps were here he’d take that one in a heartbeat.

Even still that was on the rug Kat was almost certain to choose. The final rug, the fourth one, was a strange piece. It was a square rug that had a number of fox tails arrayed out from the centre like flower petals, alternating colours red and blue. Sadly it was not the soft blue of Major and the Queen, it was a dark, murky sort of blue didn’t quite look clean. This contrasted with the red which was so bright Kat nearly needed eyewear on, it shone almost as if it was backlit by something. Finally the rest of the rug was a simple black which would have been fine if it wasn’t so uncomfortably close to the blue.

*I think the one with the alternating tails has to be the one. It isn’t Gramps’ pick but this is my gift, and I do much prefer this one. Plus it has some meaning, I can remember the tails of Minor and Major, and I mean sure the colours are unbelievably wrong but at the same time Gramps did always prefer those sorts of rugs that were at least a little crazy. He always liked to find the weirdest ones and put them in a very visible spot in the office.*

“What do you think of this one with the tails Minor? I’m thinking of choosing this one” said Kat

“Um, it looks, ah, nice. Yeah, looks nice Kat” said Minor with a slight grimace on her face.

“It looks horrible, I’m surprised I even kept such an ugly thing in my storage, though there were worse ones in there. I wonder what my younger self was thinking sometime” said Grandma Maemari

“Grandma, don’t be rude” Minor hissed

“No your Grandma is completely correct but that is fine, Gramps loves the stranger rugs and this one has a little bit of meaning because the colours, while be extremely off, are still blue and red like Major and Minor” said Kat. Minor grimaced at Kat’s agreement but then her face morphed into a real smile when she mentioned the other reason, she chose the rug.

“Hmph, well now that you have you, reward, Minor it’s time to dismiss your demon” said Grandma Maemari

“Do I really need to Grandma, can’t Kat like, stay the night or something?” said Minor

“No. Even if I was willing to have a demon in my home I am not willing to pay the price should she be forced to stay once the contract has been completed” said Grandma Maemari

“Well, it’s not complete until I say so, that was the condition I have to dismiss Kat once I’m safe” said Minor

“Indeed, and you are safe. You are trying to abuse a technicality Minor and trust me when I say that demons would never leave such a technicality in the contract if they weren’t prepared to abuse it. They are the ones to get off on ‘technicalities’ not us” said Grandma Maemari

“Grandma, if you say one more thing against Kat, I’m leaving” said Minor

“You wouldn’t dare” said Grandma Maemari

“I would too. Kat has helped me all the way here, been nothing but courteous to you even after you attacked us and then you have constantly been giving her snide comments the whole time. I get it Grandma you don’t like demons, whatever. I trust Kat, I really do and I won’t let you keep badmouthing her when she hasn’t even done anything wrong” said Minor

“Fine then. She still needs to leave. But, I promise that I will help you summon her again. Not until you’ve gone at least a month away from her influence. Once I’m assured that you aren’t being manipulated then summon her all you want. But my points still stand” said Grandma Maemari.

Minor looked like she wanted to continue to argue the point but Grandma Maemari glared at her hard. Minor stuck her tongue out at Grandma Maemari before walking over to Kat and speaking “You can stand up for yourself you know Kat. I don’t mind if you say nasty things about Grandma that’s all she has done to you”

“They’re just words Minor. Her words truly do not matter to me because she has neither my respect of my affection. Perhaps she is right about the other demons, I’ve not met many, but clearly, she has some issue greater than just demons are bad. I think that something happened in her past, I don’t remember seeing any demons on the mural but she is simply dismissing all the evidence to the contrary and her adorable Granddaughter is telling her how great I am” said Kat. Minor pouted and looked up at Kat with exaggerated sadness.

“Yes like that, perfect recreation Minor. How can anyone withstand the power in that gaze” said Kat. This seemed to only intensify Minor’s pouting but it just continued to reinforce Kat’s point, so she wasn’t to phased.

Kat then turned to face Grandma Maemari with a sly grin on her face “But I will say Grandma, promising to help summon me, I could turn that into a contract, couldn’t I? Wasn’t it you who said not to make promises to demons?” said Kat.

Grandma Maemari had the decency to look somewhat taken aback but replied “I was making a promise to my Granddaughter not you, there was no risk involved”

“Right but isn’t it also you who said that demons are the masters of exploiting technicalities? I mean it was a promise to help summon me. That’s a dangerous level of commitment, right?” said Kat

“Get out of my sight fiend before I banish you myself. I can assure you the process won’t be pleasant” said Grandma Maemari.

“Well Minor, you head the lady time to send me back” said Kat

“Um, I really hope this works…” mumbled Minor

“What do you mean?” asked Kat

“Well, I mean, the wording was that Shizuka had to dismiss you so I’ve been worried that it won’t work…” said Minor

“Minor, you told me yourself. You are as much Shizuka as Major is. Besides just say the words, and when it works you will have your answer” said Kat

“Ok” said Minor with tears starting to form at the corner of her eyes. “I Shizuka Maemari declare that I am safe, and that Kat’s contract has been fulfilled”. A blazing circle appeared below Kat, the smell of fire and ash was thick in the air.

“See Minor, nothing to worry about, thank you for having me” said Kat as she bowed towards the crying girl.

“See you soon… Minor” said Kat as she vanished.