The clamor was nowhere near as fierce or exaggerated as he had imagined, and naturally, no further conflict broke out. Still, the demons remained clustered there.
Ruger swept his gaze over them. One of the demons was holding a square object that looked like a stone tablet.
After a moment's thought, he understood. These fellows were the demons who collected blood crystals.
Once he realized that, everything fell into place. The stone tablet was most likely something the Wizard had left behind, meaning it could tell them that a demon was living in that stone house. Yet they looked utterly bewildered. A single hair-a single black hair-was hardly easy to spot. They had come to collect rent, only to find they could not locate the tenant.
The three demons began arguing. That was both the advantage and disadvantage of intelligence. Demons in the wilderness would only need to fight it out and see whose claws were harder.
Their squabbling soon drew the displeasure of other demons, and more and more emerged from their houses to stare at them.
The three demons blamed one another, putting their intelligence on display. Then they took turns searching the house, before finally falling silent in front of the door.
Ruger heard them discussing the possibility that it was a demon with some special ability that kept them from seeing it. They did not dare question their lord's strange stone tablet.
Gradually, their intelligence began to surprise Ruger. They actually agreed to pool enough blood crystals to cover the payment. Their seemingly mindless argument had been over who should contribute more. When it came to their lord's affairs and that stone tablet, they remained very rational. Watching them, Ruger felt as though he were looking at a few mercenary humans obsessed with petty profit.
Perhaps