Chapter 4

Scrapyard Valley - Chief Xelena's house.

"...Come again?" Ley asked again, not sure if he heard her right.

"Like I said. I want you to take those two with you when you go," repeated the silver eyed, redheaded Hollow Innocent.

"Okay, but why me? Like, I don't even know where I'm gonna go after I leave here."

"You're a fellow human, and one who has contracted demons to his side as well. Taking those facts into consideration, and based on what I can observe, I feel I can trust you to at least attempt to try and protect them out there. Besides, they will leave regardless of whether you accept my request or not, so I'm just doing whatever I can to help them out; in this case, asking you to look after them."

"... I, don't really know what to say but, um. what about you two?" Ley asked, turning to the two dark purplette twins in question. "I mean, if I'm being honest, I wouldn't mind the company, but, y'know."

Yui and Itsuka glanced at each other, seemingly having another one of their usual 'silent conversations' again before turning back to Ley.

"Honestly? We don't really mind going with you," Itsuka said, smiling.

"Mm. Safety in numbers," Yui followed up, nodding in agreement.

"And there you have it," Xelena said, smiling in satisfaction.

Ley sighed before turning to his pixie partner. "Violet? You good with this?"

"Eh? Why not? More friends means more fun!"

"... Um..," quietly cut in a now somewhat timid sounding Werecat.

"Hm, what's up?" Ley asked.

Can I... Elf and I make contracts and come with you too then?"

"You both wanna make contracts with me? Why?"

"Um, because I like you?"

"...Whoa. That was fast...!" Itsuka whispered to her sister, impressed with how fast the blonde catgirl was moving.

Yui nodded. "Mm. It was."

"Okay, but what about you?" Ley asked, turning to the pink haired elf.

"I don't mind. I happen to find you interesting too. Also," the pinkette then threw a glance at the smiling and carefree pixie happily floating about just enjoying the show. "forming a contract with you means we can get more power like Violet too, right? If so, then I see no reason to refuse. If anything, I insist that you let us make contracts with you."

"Whoa! She works fast too!" Itsuka said in hushed awe.

"Mm." Yui nodded again. "But, that only means that we can't fall behind either."

"Heehee! Ley's really popular, huh? But hey, even more friends!" Pixie cheered, happy to have a big and lively crowd for their adventures.

"Heh! Well, then. I best prepare some extra supplies and gifts for you all then!" Xelena said with a hearty laugh before leaving. Meanwhile, all Ley could do was sigh as he took out his GUMP to get the Contract program ready.

'... Oh well. I mean, I don't really have any reason to refuse plus, Violet's right. It'll be more fun with them around.'

Mind made up, or at least successfully deluding himself as much, Ley shifted his thoughts into thinking up new names for the blonde catgirl and pink haired elf when a sudden flash of inspiration hit him like a bolt out of the blue.

'Oh, I know! I can use those! From that other book series I was reading awhile back! Well, the personalities are kinda reversed, but eh, they still work. Yeah, let's go with those!'

xxx xxx xxx

The next day, just outside Scrapyard Valley - early afternoon.

As Ley and his motley crew of contracted demons patiently waited outside the Hollow Innocents' village, he made sure to check up on the now named Elf and Werecat now that they were also his contracted demons.

"So, how are you two feeling Shera, Rem?"

"Hm? Oh, well... I feel much, much stronger than I thought I would actually," replied the now named pink haired elf now wearing a set of new enchanted clothes she'd received as a gift. "And I rather like my new name as well."

"Ooh! Rem too~! It's simple and easy to remember! And it's way cuter and easier to say than 'werecat' too!" chirped the energetic, blonde catgirl as she spun around in her new clothes. "And Rem loves how these new clothes feel too! Miss Xelena's awesome!"

"Heh, yeah. That she is," Ley said with a nod as he checked out his own new coat. 'And she even gave me a custom holster for my GUMP too! Man, I really can't thank her enough for all this!'

"... Man. All of you got all these neat gifts while all I got was a necklace...," Violet pouted as she floated about somewhat dejectedly.

"Yeah, but isn't it supposed to increase your magic and defensive abilities though?" Ley reminded. "Like, isn't that the best gift you could get?"

"... I guess. Still, I was hoping for some new clothes too, y'know? Oh well, whatever. But yeah, when you put it that way, this thing really is pretty cool, even if it is a little plain looking."

"I think it suits you very well myself," Shera said. "It's simple, yes. But it's quite a good piece of equipment too."

"Really?"

"Mmhm. I do. You both think so too, right?"

"Yeah! It looks great on you! Plus, it'll make you super strong too, so double win!" Rem said with a nod and a smile, her tail swaying happily from side to side as she spoke.

"While I don't really know much about jewelry myself, but I do think it looks good on you Violet," Ley answered honestly, lifting up the little pixie's spirits and causing her to flutter about happily around Ley and the others.

"Anyway, looks like the twins are finally here and... hm? Oh, wow," Ley began when he noticed Itsuka, Yui, Xelena and a few of her aides headed their way, with each carrying a backpack over their shoulders.

"Sorry for the wait," Xelena began, motioning for her aides to step forward. "It took a bit longer than I expected to see if we had enough extra supplies for your trip. Luckily for us, we did."

"...Whoa! Not that we aren't grateful but you really didn't have to do all that for us," Ley said, grateful but wondering if they really should've gone through so much trouble like that, especially after getting new enchanted clothes too.

Xelena though, just shook her head. "Oh, it's fine. It's more a parting gift for these two anyway."

"Well, either way, thank you."

"It's fine, it's fine. Right then, what's your first move from here on out?"

"Oh, um... I was thinking of heading back to Violet's place first and then figuring out where to go next. Figure we'd use it as a sort of base of operations for now," Ley explained.

Xelena nodded. "Makes sense. Well, just a heads up. Other than us Hollow Innocents and the absurdly powerful and ambitious demons out there, you probably won't find much in the way of towns or anything like that, and I'd personally advise staying away from those more powerful demons myself. At least until you're all strong enough to protect yourselves at least."

"Thanks, and good to know." Ley then turned to the twins. "You two ready to go?"

Both sisters nodded.

"Yup! Ready to go anytime!" Itsuka cheerfully said, fist pumped up in the air.

Yui, on the other hand, just nodded. "Mm."

"Right then! Let's get moving!"

" " " " "Yeah!" " " " "

xxx xxx xxx

Later that day, while traveling through the forest back to Violet's 'base'.

"Y'know, I honestly figured that the scenery would look a lot more... I dunno, otherworldly?" Itsuka mused as she took in the sight of the slightly different but still plenty familiar looking forest around her. "Well, I mean there are weird little bits of random metal sticking out here and there but still, nothing feels too out of place. It honestly reminds me of an RPG or something."

"Well, considering we can do things like safely breathe this world's atmosphere and seem to have no issue communicating with one another, I don't think that's really a bad thing," Yui countered.

"Funny you said that. I actually said and thought the same things when I first woke up here too," Ley said with a small chuckle, recalling his past conversations with Violet after waking up in the Junkyard. "Even had to explain what an RPG is to Violet here too actually."

"Oh? And what is an, 'Ar, Pee, Gee'?" Shera asked.

"Oh, oh! Rem knows! Rem knows! Ask Rem!" chimed in the very excited blonde catgirl, tail swaying happily to and fro.

"Wait, aren't you a demon? How do you know what an RPG is? And why are you speaking in the third person now?" Ley asked.

"Um. Why wouldn't Rem know what an RPG is? They're just a genre of videogames, right? And Rem likes saying her name, that's all! Because it's the name you gave her!"

"... Hold on, you know what videogames are? I thought you had amnesia?" Itsuka asked, now very confused about the catgirl in front of them.

"Well, Rem doesn't really remember anything about herself or where she's from, but stuff that she knows? Hm, yeah... Rem does think that's kinda weird... Um, sorry. Rem doesn't really get it either, but she just knows this stuff, y'know?"

"Hm. It sounds like Rem has something that resembles both retrograde and selective amnesia," Yui observed.

"Retrograde? Selective? What's the difference? Isn't amnesia just amnesia?" Shera asked, not recognizing the new terms.

"Well, I'm not really an expert on it, but retrograde amnesia is when you can't remember the past for some reason, usually because of a head injury or something while selective amnesia is basically when you can't remember certain details about things," Ley explained, recalling some of the things he looked up from the boredom induced rabbit hole that was late night phone scrolling.

Shera nodded in understanding. "I see now. Hm, that does seem to sum up Rem's current situation though, doesn't it? Still, it stands to reason that she must be a demon though since she was able to make a contract with Ley like Violet and myself were. And, more to the point, she's clearly not human either. Still, perhaps she's also from another world herself. One where demons and humans lived together even. It's about the only thing that can explain why she would have the knowledge about the things she does. How interesting..."

Meanwhile, while the others were discussing the mystery that was Rem, the catgirl herself and Violet didn't seem to care and were busy walking and talking ahead of the others when out of nowhere, a strong gust of magically enhanced wind blew the pair back into Ley and the others.

"...Oof!"

"What the!?"

"Violet!? Rem!? You two alright?"

"Itsuka-nee, look!"

"Huh? What are you-what the hell are those!?"

Following where Yui was pointing, Itsuka and the others found themselves being stared down by three large demons that looked like a strange, chimeric mix of eagle, lion, and lizard.

"... Those are gryphons!" Shera pointed out while getting her bow ready.

"Yeah, and they look very pissed off too," Ley noted as he got his GUMP ready. "What, did we walk onto their turf or something?"

Shera shook her head. "No. In the first place, it's actually unusual to see them around here and not around their mountain nests."

"...Guys, does it even matter? They're clearly hostile and seem to wanna fight, so I think we should worry about that instead of why they're here, right?" Itsuka said, getting into a fighting stance, gloved fists clenched and tensing up her muscles to move at a moment's notice. "Anyway, Yui, stay behind me and provide support, got it?"

"Mm. You got it!" Yui said, getting ready to cast some defensive spells on her sister and the others.

"Right! Violet, Rem, Shera! Let's do this!" Ley said as he set one of the gryphons in his sights! "Alright Violet, you know what to do!"

"You got it! Payback time! EEIIII!"

"Rem, don't go charging ahead and stick close to Itsuka, alright?" Shera advised.

"Mm! Got it!" Rem said with a quick nod, lowering her body into a crouch and bringing out her claws ina feral, cat like battle stance.

'...They're big and can fly, but we've got numbers on our side!' Ley thought as he took stock of the situation and quickly came up with a battle plan. "Alright! Here's what we're gonna do! Shera, Violet and Yui will keep the enemy pinned down from the rear while you, Rem and I attack them directly!"

"Got it!"

"Leave it to Rem nya!"

'...Did, did she just... Actually, no. Not important right now!' "Violet, I'm gonna need you to go all out. Can you do it?"

Violet nodded while pumping her tiny fists. "Leave it to me! I'll be sure to show you just what I'm made of!"

"Yeah, you got this!"

"They're moving!" Shera called out as she took aim with her bow. "Rem!"

"Okay nya!" replied the blonde catgirl as she jumps into action to take on the gryphon to the left.

"Itsuka-nee!"

"Eeeiii!" With a shout, Itsuka directed her fighting spirit as she gathered some ether in order to see if she can use the signature technique she'd developed to combine magic with her martial arts training, 'Phantom Fist', and swinging her fist forward in a punching motion at the gryphon to the right. "Eat this!"

BANG! BANG!*

Meanwhile, Ley was silently keeping the center gryphon from moving with a spray of gunfire from his GUMP.

'...I might have the ability now, but I don't have any real magic to use either so this is the best I can do!'

Taken off guard and none to happy to being ganged up on two foes at once apiece, the still grounded gryphons could only screech in annoyance as they were forced to engage in close quarters combat with Lyner and his friends while trying to either get a chance to take to the sky or counterattack with magic. This effectively made it a battle of attrition, with the first side to slip up being the one to lose... Something both sides knew very well and tried to force into reality by fighting that much harder to make happen.

...

And, while all of this was happening, neither side noticed the strange little floating eyeball like object watching their battle from a safe distance hidden in the trees and camouflaged with a low output stealth spell masking its presence.

xxx xxx xxx

"...Ohoh?" 'Well now. That's not a bad battle formation. It's balanced and takes their skills into account while splitting up the gryphons and forcing them to fight two enemies at once with the three in the back using magic and the bow to keep them from flying while the the two close range and single mid-range fighter gets in as close as they can. It's a very solid strategy indeed,' silently mused a beautiful but all too out of place looking young fair skinned woman with shoulder length, wavy blonde hair dressed in a black business suit, skirt, shoes and half-rim glasses leaning against a pillar looking at a screen projecting Lyner's group battling the three gryphons she'd sent out to test them after they'd left the Hollow Innocents' settlement.

"...Let's see here. I can't afford to move the drone any closer, but let's see if I can... Ah, yes. That'll do."

Tapping a few keys on what was likely her own COMP or a similar device, the mysterious young blonde woman managed to successfully enable audio pickup on the drone she'd deployed to observe the young Contractor and his friends.

[Crap! It managed to evade!]

The ponytailed purplette grumbled when the gryphon she was fighting not only managed evade her latest attack, but get off a counterattack in the form of blowing a strong blast of magically charged, cutting wind her way with a flap of its massive wings.

[...Agh!]

[Itsuka-nee!]

[I, I'm okay! It just caught me off guard...!]

[...Violet!]

[Leave it to me! ...Eeeiiii!]

Responding to her partner's call and with one of the three gryphons taken down, Violet refocused her efforts on the gryphon hovering in the air preparing to swoop in with a charge attack with full power lightning strike to stop it dead in its tracks.

[SSSSSCCCCRRRRREEEEEECCCCCHHHHH!]

Letting out a loud, ear piercing shriek, the charging gryphon fell to the ground, hard.

[...Payback time you uselessly big, stupid bird!]

Not wanting to waste the opening the little pixie made for her, Itsuka charged in while gathering all four of her 'phantom fist' projections to deliver one last blow to its head in an effort to take it out in one shot.

[...Take... THIS!]

*BOOM!*

Swinging her fists down, the stunned gryphon found itself struck from overhead by her four, large invisible fists with such force that its skull cratered the ground on impact, taking it out before it could retaliate.

[...Hah, hah...! Yeah! Take that you stupid bird!]

...

"Well now. That ended a lot faster than I expected," the blonde mystery beauty noted with a smile. "Good, good. Now then."

Deciding that she'd seen enough, the mysterious blonde woman moved herself off the pillar she was leaning against and simply vanished.

xxx xxx xxx

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

A moment after Itsuka and Rem took down the two gryphons they were fighting, Ley also managed to finally take down the gryphon thanks to it still being stunned by Violet's lightning spells.

'...That took longer than I thought, but I also did a lot better than I thought... so, not too bad for my first real fight I guess.'

"Hey, you alright Ley?" Violet asked, flying up to him and seeing him deep in thought.

"Hm? Yeah. Just thinking about the battle and how well things went, that's all."

"Oh, yeah! We totally showed them who's boss, huh? But..."

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"I think Violet's wondering why there were gryphons here in the first place," Shera replied, as she and the others gathered around Ley now that the battle was over.

"OH, right. You said something about them being more common in the mountains, didn't you?"

"I did, yes. But, they've also been known to guard treasure too..."

"Treasure? Then, do you think..."

"It's a possibility at least," Shera said with a nod. "At the very least, it's the only real explanation I can think of for why they showed up like they did..."

"Then, should we look to see if there is any treasure?" Rem asked.

"Well, I'd like to, but it's getting kinda late...," Ley said, noticing how much darker everything had gotten.

Yui nodded. "Ley-san's right. I think we should get to Violet-san's place as quick as possible."

"Right? I dunno about you, but I do not wanna be stuck in a literal demon filled forest in the dead of night!" Itsuka added with a slight shudder at the thought.

"Exactly. Oh, and speaking of which." Ley then turned to Violet. "How close are we?"

"Hm? Oh, about fifteen minutes away actually."

"Wait, really?" Itsuka asked, surprised that they were so close.

Violet nodded. "Yeah. My place isn't actually all that far from the settlement. Just a two or three hour trip."

"Right, lead the way then!" Ley said, realizing that he actually didn't know the way himself... at least, not all that well yet.

"Mm!"

xxx xxx xxx

A/N:

And done!

Took a bit longer to get around to the update than I thought, but that's how it goes sometimes. Inspiration can't be forced and other stories and projects called my attention.

Anyway, the plot thickens!

Well, I hope you enjoy and see you next update!