The Demon King's Hero Of Light 181 Chapter 181 A Halfling Snack

"She does look a bit thin, doesn't she?" asked another.

"Are you sure? It could be her race? She's not a halfling after all!" said a halfling man.

"What?" asked Aella, completely confused. She had just told them the end of the world was going to happen, if they didn't prepare, and they were worried about her weight?

"Let's grab a bite to eat, and discuss what your problem is," said the first halfling woman, grabbing Aella's hand and pulling her towards one of the houses.

The kitten popped its head out of the sack and looked at the people around them curiously. Aella tried to s.n.a.t.c.h her hand back from the woman, while also grabbing at the kitten before it could escape, and ended up on her b.u.t.t somehow, surrounded by the halflings that were now the perfect height to look her in the eyes.

She wasn't entirely sure how, but the next thing she knew, she was sitting at a huge table, inside one of the homes, with the kitten sitting on her lap and purring, while the halflings rushed around setting plates on the table and sounds of cooking drifted from some kitchen. Smells of dishes she had never tasted quickly filled the room, and she was finding herself ready to eat something.

Plates began to fill the table, and the halfling woman who thought she looked thin started to tell her what each one was.

"This is our honey cake, perfect for unexpected guests, like yourself. These are hand pies, nice and toasty from the oven! The wild mushrooms were found down one of our tunnels, and are delicious roasted! This is rabbit stew and here is a leg of lamb. Here's some shortbread and fried potatoes. We also have mashed potatoes with a thick gravy, peas, green beans, corn on the cob, a whole roast chicken, stewed duck with dumplings, various cheeses, pickles, deviled eggs, olives, and a bowl of apples picked this morning!"

Aella could see many more plates being brought in, but the halfling woman was already pus.h.i.+ng a plate piled high of food into her hands, urging her to eat.

As she took a bite, the flavors melted in her mouth and she couldn't help herself. What kind of evil magic was this???

The kitten helped itself to several choice pieces, but she didn't mind. There was more than enough food to feed everyone in her court!

"Now, what was this about the end of the world?" asked a halfling man who ended up sitting next to her.

"How much food do you have stored up?" asked Aella, getting an idea.

"Don't you worry about us running out," laughed the halfling. "We have store rooms piled high with food in the cellars. Why do you ask?"

"I may need to buy as much as you are willing to sell," she said, savoring the flavor of the duck and dumplings.

"That's a lot, are you sure?" asked a woman, sitting on her other side. "We store up enough for years, in case there's ever an emergency."

"This might be that emergency," said Aella. "There's a nasty storm that's going to rage all over the entire surface of our realm for the next three months, and then winter will be hitting."

"That sounds harsh," said the halfling man, shaking his head as he chewed on some bread. "I can get the farmers together to see about the surplus we would be willing to sell."

"That would be good," said the woman thoughtfully. "I can get the woman folk to start gathering up the critters and getting them buckled down in the underground stables. They won't be too happy about it, but it would be better than losing any of them."

"Wait, you have underground stables?" asked Aella, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Why sure we do. Living this far south the storms that blow off the ocean can get pretty fierce. We've always kept our animals in the stables for their protection. There's no reason to subject them to all that nasty weather and miss out on getting to eat them. There's a lot of effort that goes into raising them for food!�� exclaimed the halfling man.

"Try some of these plum cherries!" said a halfling woman, bringing a small bowl of them to Aella. "I grew them myself!"

"They're delicious," said Aella, trying to turn back to the two halflings that seemed to be catching on to the situation. "Could I see the stables?"

"Would you like a slice of ham?" asked a halfling man, stepping up to her other side with a platter of meat.

"No, thank you," she said, but the kitten reached out and s.n.a.t.c.hed a slice anyway, to the chuckles of the halflings around her. The honey glaze on the ham smelled sweet and gleamed in the light.

"I can show you the stables right after our after-meal nap," said the halfling woman, shoving a whole m.u.f.fin into her mouth.

"Nap?" asked Aella, alarmed. "I don't have time for that! I have to get back to my people in order to help against this storm!"

"Just when do you think this storm will be hitting? I'd noticed a bit of a change in the weather this morning,��� mentioned a halfling man, standing behind her with a pipe in his mouth, puffing away at it.

"I think the storm could be here at any time," said Aella, trying to get herself under control. "The winds will be fierce, with lots of lightning and hail."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" exclaimed the woman beside her, wiping the crumbs off her bountiful chest and bouncing to her feet.

Within minutes the table was cleared and Aella was being rushed to the back of the house, instead of to the front door. There was a trap door in the floor, hidden poorly under a rug, that they lifted and all but shoved her into. If she hadn't been able to teleport so well, Aella might have hesitated to enter the dark s.p.a.ce, but one of the halflings that preceded her had lit a lantern by the time she reached the bottom. The dirt tunnel was probably a good ten feet underground already, maybe more, and proceeded quite a way before traveling down once again and opening up.

"All of the homes and farms are connected to this place," boasted one of the women, pointing out into the cool darkness.

Aella could see lights all over the place, illuminating an underground stable, complete with wooden fences, stalls and even buildings. There were some animals already down there, but it was clear this place could hold a lot.

"We'll have every animal in our whole kingdom down here before the night falls, and tonight and tomorrow, we'll be moving supplies to tend to them during this storm you're talking about," said a halfling man.

Aella had to admit she was impressed. She just hoped this would hold up to the coming storm.

"I'll show you to the cellars," said another halfling, motioning for her to follow him. "Will you be paying in goods or coins?"

"Which would you prefer?" she asked, ducking her head to walk through the tunnel behind the short figure.

"Well, the coins are good to trade with the gnomes. They really like them for some reason, but they don't really do us halflings much good. Do you think you could get us some things from the other people? Some wood from the elves, some ore from the dwarves?"

"I'm sure I can work something out," Aella nodded, as they finally stepped into a large cavern.

It was a natural cave, that the halflings had worked to make into a usable s.p.a.ce to store all of their food. Aella was. .h.i.t by a wave of déjà vu, as she looked out over the vast quant.i.ty of food.

"Some things don't keep as well as others, so we tend to can them, or dry them out. They're stored over there. Very little is actually wasted as we constantly rotate out the food that we put down here. The little that does happen to spoil before we can eat it, the critters don't mind eating, and that helps with the feed we grow for them specifically."

Aella had to bring some of her people here to learn from these halflings. There was so much that could be learned she didn't even know where to begin.

"Other than wood and ore, what could I offer you for the food? And how much would you let me take? I have four kingdoms that will be needing food before the year is up, and I don't want to have any unfair trades," Aella said, turning to the halfling.

"Well, this is just one of our cellars. We have them dotted all over the kingdom. You never know who will need what. You can probably have everything in this cellar, and I will discuss with everyone on what we would want in return. If you end up needing more than this, just let me know," he said with a nod.

Aella looked back over the cave before her filled with food and couldn't help but wonder how the mimic was doing with his chicken empire.