Demon World Boba Shop: A Cozy Fantasy Novel

“You?” Mizu said. She wasn’t trying to be quiet. And Arthur supposed the question was relevant for the audience too, if not quite as much as for his girlfriend. “Why you?”

“Because each and every one of you are needed besides me,” Arthur explained. “The most I can do at this point is to supply some tea when the attack comes, and we haven’t heard a thing from the scouts indicating there’s anything that close.”

“Still. Someone else could go. Spiky could,” Mizu said.

“Spiky could, but then you’d be out an expert on… well, you’d be out the town’s expert on everything.” Arthur nodded at Spiky, who nodded back in appreciation. “Same with Leena, but for different subjects. You need to work on water. Milo needs to work on traps. Skal is too old.”

“Arthur!” Rhodia looked aghast. “That’s mean.”

“Naw, he’s right. I’m far past my time on emergency trips at breakneck pace.” Skal motioned generally at his body. “Stats help, but only so long. I’ve lived past that.”

Arthur prudently decided not to point out that he had seen the man wrestle a fish bigger than he was out of the water within the last few weeks. It seemed like it would muddy the discussion more than it would be funny. In balance, now wasn’t the time to be counterproductive.

“And that leaves me,” Arthur finished. “I can’t be useful right now, anyway, outside of my tea.”

“Fine,” Mizu relented. “But be safe.”

“Actually, your boba is an important part of our tactical plan. Tea of the Rock Thrower made a big difference in the city, and it will make a difference here,” Onna said, loud enough for Arthur to hear but probably not loud enough for the crowd. “If it’s not available, we lose something real.”

“Not as much as you’d think. At this point, Lily can make a tea as good as the one I made for the last monster wave from my premade stuff.” Arthur did make sure to say that loud enough for the crowd to catch. “My prep skill has been getting better and better.”

Talca raised his eyebrows. “I did not know that. We should talk about it later. Once this is all over.”

Arthur nodded and turned back to the crowd, who had been waiting patiently. “Hey, everyone. I’m going to be going on a trip to get the iron Milo needs. While I’m gone, I’ll have Spiky filling in. Any objections?”

There were none. That meant the hard part was over. The easier part was coming up, and it was something he had talked with the rest of the council members beforehand.

“And while I’m gone,” Arthur said. “I really want you all to try to bankrupt the city.”

There wasn’t as much as a laugh from the audience. Arthur had a sudden sense of having overplayed his hand.

“That was supposed to be funny. Guess I missed. But I am also serious. We have a certain amount in the coffers, and people have recently been coming to me and asking me if this project or that project that might help us defend this place is okay. The quick answer to any question like that is yes. Use every material. If your project might get in the way of another, coordinate. I trust everyone here. If it helps the town, start working. We can make it up out of the monster materials after the wave, but only if we defeat the wave.”

There were a few questions after that, but not many. If anything, the biggest learning done was by Arthur, when he saw just how many ideas everyone had. All they needed was a bit of a push, especially when the town was offering to pay for it.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t risk for the townspeople themselves. A lot of them would be investing their personal materials and time in the projects and they’d only see a return if the town won. If everything was demolished, they’d need to wait a long time before receiving compensation.

But most of them were excited to take that risk anyway. There was only so much they could carry with them if they had to flee. It was a good gamble to improve the stock of the town, especially since many now had pretty strong attachments to their new homes.

Then the meeting was over. With everyone in one place, it was now time to party, in a low-key sort of way. The town had promised dinner, which in the local economy meant a buffet. With a band pretty much always ready to go, soon there was music to keep the mood bolstered and dancing to encourage the musicians. Arthur found himself making tea, despite having told himself he was on mayor duty tonight. It wasn’t long before his friends started to find him.

“Good speech up there, son,” Skal said. “And a good thought. Sometimes you just have to get out of the way. I am curious about one thing.”

“What’s that?” Arthur handed over a soothing tea, something that would help Skal’s supposedly ailing joints get him home.

“What do you expect out of them? The dungeoneers and hunters will fight. But what’s a tailor going to do? A woodcarver?” Skal asked.

“I don’t know. I bet people once asked what a teamaker could do to help in a monster wave, but I figured it out.”

The old man started laughing, almost falling out of his chair as he rocked back and forth while holding his ribs. Arthur spent a long moment wondering if his drink would survive the bout of laughter, and then another waiting for Skal to calm down enough to get a word in edgewise.

“What? I’m missing the joke,” Arthur asked.

“Boy, it’s just that you said that like you actually think you’re an average person,” Skal huffed. “My eyes aren’t what they once were, but even I can see you aren’t.”

Arthur shifted uncomfortably.

“Maybe. I think I am, maybe I’m not,” Arthur said, serious now. “But the demon world didn’t send us their worst. I’m not even sure they have a worst in a way I understand. There’s a lot of smart people here. I just want to get out of their way. I don’t know what they will do. But I’m excited to see it.”

“Now, that I understand,” the old man said, as Lily sidled up to him. “You ready to go, young lady?”

“Yes.” Lily turned to Arthur. “Skal asked me to walk him home. He says it's hard in the dark.”

“Good. Thanks for doing that.” As Lily turned and walked on, Arthur leaned in closer to Skal. “And thank you.”

“She was falling asleep at a table. I figured I’d help out and make sure she got home to her own bed. Plus, I’m not that far behind her. I’m really not getting any younger.”

Arthur watched the youngest and the oldest members of his community walking away, each committed to making sure that the other got safely home to sleep, and suddenly felt very sleepy himself. He managed to work a little longer, making a bunch of drinks and leaving them out for whoever might want them, then found Mizu just long enough to tell her he was going home to bed.

—

The next morning was a challenge. Arthur slept just as heavily as he had the night before, but for about twice as long. He woke up so comfortable that it was hard to imagine a world outside the bed anymore. If it wasn’t for the loud banging on the door, he might have stopped even trying.

When he finally managed to untangle himself from the blankets and stagger to the door, he found a very annoyed looking Talca standing outside his door beside a very large and equally annoyed looking Hing.

“Talca, what the hell?” Arthur asked grumpily.

“Did you forget? You booked a trip, Arthur, all the way to an iron mine. And you seemed like you were in a hurry,” talca said.

“Oh, gods,” Arthur said. “Would you believe I forgot?”

“I would, actually. Since we aren’t on the road, despite it being late.” Late for Talca was a pretty strict concept, considering it was still pitch-dark outside of Arthur’s door. “Get your bags packed. Three days of clothes and whatever food you can pack. And tea. I’m charging you in tea.”

Arthur wanted to argue that Talca should take money before reflecting that the town was his home too. If this was how he wanted to get paid, Arthur was going to let him.

“Fine. But I have to make a stop before we leave town,” Arthur said.

“No. We needed to go an hour ago, Arthur. I’m not waiting any longer.”

“Fine.” Arthur decided to play his trump card. “But you get to explain to Mizu why I didn’t say goodbye once we get back.”

That put things in a new light for Talca.

“Oh, gods. Yes, go say goodbye. I don’t want to be rude. Between you and me, that girl terrifies me, especially where it concerns you.”

Arthur didn’t comment on Mizu’s terrifying-ness. Instead, he went and threw some things in a large bag haphazardly before heading a bit down the road to Mizu’s.

With Talca going ahead to ready the wagon, Arthur paused at the door, prepared to knock before deciding to listen to something Mizu had said a long time ago and just letting himself in.

He found Mizu asleep sitting up on her couch, sketches of runes he didn’t understand on pads of paper all around her. He shifted some out of the way and sat himself, pulling her close to him. She took a sudden breath before opening her eyes and focusing them blearily on her face.

“I wondered if you’d remember.” She snuggled into his shoulder. “I was going to stay up all night and catch you if you didn’t.”

“You shouldn’t do that. You need your sleep too,” Arthur said.

“Girlfriend’s rights.” Mizu yawned. “I’m allowed to not sleep if I don’t want to. For relationship purposes.”

“I don’t have a lot of time,” Arthur said. “Talca wanted to leave an hour ago.”

“It sounds like him. You’ll be gone three days?”

“If everything goes well.”

“Make sure it does.” Mizu reached to the counter and grabbed a flask. “For you.”

“Special water?”

“Special water. Use it for today’s tea.”

He pressed his cheek into her forehead, then tilted his head just enough to kiss her forehead.

“Go to bed, okay? I’ll be back before you know it.”

After the warmth of Mizu’s couch, the cold outside was miserable even through Arthur’s enchanted jacket. He stumbled down towards the gate, pulling himself up into the driver’s bench beside Talca slowly and with what must have been obvious reluctance.

“Oh, get it together. You’ll see her again in a few days.” Talca rolled his eyes. “You’d think you were going away to war.”

“You’ve never had a really long-term relationship, have you, Talca?”

“I haven’t. Why?”

“Just wait until you do. You’ll understand then. Besides, I’m not going towards war. I’m going away from one. What if something happens while I’m gone?”

“It won’t,” Talca said. “I’ve been a lot of places, and I’ve delivered a lot of emergency supplies. When danger is close, real danger, you can feel it in the air. It’s like a static charge. You can see it on people’s faces. And it’s not here yet. Trust me.”

Arthur decided to, as much as he could. He nodded, then pointed at the gate. Talca gave Littal a pat on his back with the reins, and they were off.