78 Din…ner?

After exiting the bathing room and dripping water everywhere, Kasdeya felt like she had a mini heart attack when she reentered her, still locked, room, only to discover Laurence crouched in the corner, vacantly gazing at the doorway. Then, after she stared at Laurence for another fifteen minutes who was blocking the way out and waving around some flimsy cloth items in what she first assumed to be a poor rendition of interpretive dance, she changed into dry, and more modest, clothes and followed her out.

So far, Kasdeya had found that the hallways in this facility all seemed to be identical, with the only distinguishing factors being the signs at each intersection, directing interested persons to the location of each connected point of interest. However, after following Laurence for only a few minutes, she quickly found that this wasn't the case, as she now discovered herself passing through what seemed like an ornately decorated foyer, marked with many strange ornaments, and being directed to a large and ornately carved wooden door.

Before they were even touched, the doors majestically swung inwards, revealing a large, elaborately carved and beautiful table accompanied by many… rather plain chairs.

The chairs were incredibly plain. All they were was a simple wooden frame, with the addition of what seemed like a slightly padded seat. Some of them even had scratches and chip marks.

Though, despite the shocking juxtaposition of the chosen furniture, Kasdeya only looked at it for a second before all her attention was stolen by the being sitting at the end of the table, casually drinking from a sculpted goblet.

The very fact that her attention was first drawn to the fixtures before the individual who, if her questionable memory could be trusted, almost killed her was testament enough to how out of place it looked, but now every fibre of her being was on guard against the one before her.

Kasdeya noticed every one of his movements. She saw how he lightly placed the lavish goblet down without making any noise, possibly a threatening gesture in his culture, witnessed him raising his head to meet her eyes, maybe an attempt to dictate dominance, beheld him opening his mouth, most probably about to vocalise a dreadful curse, and braced herself for the earth-shattering battle about to ensue.

"Would you like some tea?"

It had begun, the first shot was fired, this opponent had initiated conflict with an unblockable strike – a question she had no idea how to answer.

"Maybe coffee, wine?"

'He's offering me food? I thought we were enemies. Weren't we enemies? I distinctly remember us being enemies… well no matter, it's incredibly unsafe to accept food from him.'

"Blood?"

'Actually… I could do with some fresh blood… fresh meat in general sounds really good right about now… but…'

"Anything… hello?"

For some reason, the longer he talked, the more at ease she felt, and she could distinctly feel all the tension draining from her body. She knew that this was unnatural, that she should be highly on guard and not trust anything about the individual before her, yet it also seemed like he was radiating a calmness that made him seem completely unthreatening and, no matter how much she reasoned with herself, she couldn't help but drop her stance and resume a normal posture. Though she still didn't move any further into the room.

"Well, no matter, now that you're here we can commence with business. Take a seat, preferably not at the opposite end of the table so we can talk." The Director spoke with a smile on his face, though not necessarily a kind one, more of someone trying to suppress a light chuckle.

Kasdeya slowly moved out of the doorway, which immediately began to close when she was clear of the area, and softly stalked to the closest chair, hooking the leg with her tail as she arrived to draw it out, before sitting down. This specific chair so happened to be the one at the furthest point of the table.

The director's smile twitched slightly, before he sighed and muttered something which, to Kasdeya, sounded like 'of course'.

"Ok, so let's begin this mutually beneficial conversation by acknowledging that everything in the past is in the past. By no means do any of us hold a grudge for a rampant devil running through our halls and killing our staff. Sounds good?"

Kasdeya tried to think if she saw any rampant devil running through the halls, but nothing came to mind. 'Wait a minute… he can't mean me, can he? I wasn't rampant, and I didn't run through the halls killing random people…'

"... I'll assume a cold glare and silence is affirmation. Continuing on, I propose you come and join my merry band of monsters and minions. Obviously this will benefit the both of us in many ways."

Kasdeya continued to gaze at him, a blank look still adorning her features while the Director continued to stare at her, waiting for a reply.

It was when this silence was starting to draw on, developing an awkward atmosphere, that one of the side doors, which Kasdeya had not noticed yet due to them blending in perfectly with the walls, opened and out came a long line of individuals, with varying appearance, marching in a line. Each of them carried a large plate with some form of food item and neatly arrayed them on the table, before each bowing once and then walking back out the way they came in.

The whole affair produced something akin to a rippling effect with each person performing a near identical action immediately after the last, and though the spectacle lasted less than a minute, Kasdeya couldn't help but stare, wide eyed, no longer locked solely on the Director before her. The display seemed to be deliberately flamboyant, made to attract attention to the obviously weak individuals, but that then lent a question.

"... How are they still alive?"

Kasdeya couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. From what she'd experienced, keeping a low profile is key to survival, especially for those who are particularly weak, yet this display seemed to challenge that logic.

While she was still wondering this, the Director took the opportunity to finally engage in a less one sided conversation, and replied with the simplest method of continuing the exchange.

"Might I ask what you mean?"

Kasdeya turned back to stare at him.

"...Why do they do," She waved one hand in a circle while gesturing to the arrangement of food on the table, "that?"

Judging by what she was directing her hand at, the Director's first thought was that she was asking why they brought food, but it was quite obvious that this was not what she was referring to.

"Are you asking why they placed the food in a choreographed manner? It's because it looks tidy and professional."

Kasdeya did not understand this explanation at all. Even ignoring her previous assessment based on the assumption that the weak were, for some reason, protected here, she still didn't see how the extravagant routine would be considered 'tidy', or help in any way.

Seeing her still confused look, the Director continued to explain. "Occasionally we have more pompous individuals here to dine. For them, who respect authority and control, such displays are a demonstration of sorts."

Hearing 'pompous individuals', Kasdeya's thoughts immediately went to a certain greedy Lord, immediately causing her to remember the presence of the Demon of Greed she saw not long ago.

"Right… what sort of 'pompous' individuals normally arrive?"

"Well that's a matter of corporate confidentiality isn't it? I can't just be telling random devils about my guests."

The Director said this with a half grin, possibly implying that she wasn't getting any information out of him. Coming to this realisation, she frowned, leaning back and returning to silence while the Director went from smiling, to looking slightly exasperated before, much to Kasdeya's confusion given her previous judgement, continued explaining.

"I have hosted a wide variety of beings, from simple human rulers to Demon Lords. It just depends on the situation."

Upon clarifying the term 'Demon Lords', Kasdeya's expression turned dark, a hostile glint in her eyes as she pondered her next moves.

'If this place is allied with that pervert then I can't stay here…'

The change in mood did not escape the Director's notice.