Hurrying along incognito with my cockroach puppet, I followed the mayor as he strode through the impressive hallways of the mansion where the Belle family lived. From the light pouring out of the many windows, it was apparently mid-morning, showing that many hours at least had passed since I'd teleported us all.
A size truly fit for the leader of a town, I lost count of how many doors we passed while Mr. Belle made a left, then a right, and then another left, until we eventually passed through a large dining room. My roach vessel started going crazy upon detecting food, and no wonder. The greying-ginger man took us into a large kitchen that was stacked with food, and a part of me became rather sad as I realized that I hadn't hungered since waking up in this new world. A corncob doesn't need to eat.
"Here we go Daddy, just like you asked," Lyka smiled as she gestured towards a large wood-burning stove where a big, black bubbling pot of water sat.
"You could have had a servant do that, but I appreciate it," Soundov nodded to her, before putting a hand to her shoulder. "Why don't you sit down at the table, I'm going to fix us a little snack."
Shrugging, the young woman sauntered off, not seeing my corn body in her father's hand. She probably assumed that I was still nestled on the bed, so I thought of maybe speaking to her through a kernel link to warn her. I ended up keeping quiet, however, as I didn't want her dad to do anything rash. Not that it made a difference…
"Do you see this? This is where corn goes," Soundov whispered harshly towards my yellow-kernelled body as he held it up over the pot once his daughter was out of earshot. "I suppose I could throw a little salt in there, ripe corn is delicious when boiled in salt water. Is that what you want, demon? Speak, damn you!"
"Am I being interrogated?!" I exclaimed to myself, in disbelief at the scene I was witnessing from my cockroach POV on the wall. I was at a loss as to what I should do next.
"What have you done to my daughter? How did you transport her to the middle of Main Street in the dead of the night?" the mayor continue to growl in his bad-cop routine. "You have 5 seconds to answer me. 5…4…3…"
I was out of time, this guy was seriously about to make some delicious boiled corncob out of me. Thinking quickly, I focused on finding a power that could help me in this situation. Should I project something? Make another shockwave? I didn't want to harm the old man but I was running out of options. Thinking deeply, I focused on discharging my kernel energy around the length of my vegetable body, and with the human's hand around me, I was able to drink his own energy like a straw through a milkshake. Passively coating myself in the energy, my aura increased greatly, and the mayor soon took notice.
"Gah, what in the—" the man gasped as he accidently flung my body forward, where it bounced off the side of the stove and landed on the floor. As he clutched his wrist, I assumed that he'd experienced what felt like a mild electric shock, much like the farmhand the day before.
I used this distraction to figure out my next move. Despite all that I'd done that far, I still didn't know how I could physically move my corn body on my own, but before I could meditate on it, the mayor seemed to still be looking for a fight.
"Ah ha, that was your doing that, wasn't it?!" Soundov yelled as he loomed over me and pointed a large fork in my direction. "You used your demonic energy to attack. Well know this, hellspawn. You are in my town, in my house, and in my daughter's head! I shall vanquish you before—
"Yeah, and I wish I was back between your daughter's boobs too," I thought to myself, or at least I intended it to be to myself.
"WHAT!?" Soundov roared, having apparently heard my accidental telepathy. "Y-you vile monster, back to hell with you!"
With that, the irate mayor grabbed a large frying pan and prepared to drive it into my veggie form. My last ditch evasive maneuver ended up being another try at teleporting, which unfortunately would have to be the very cornfield that I was reborn in since it was the clearest setting that I had in my mind. Thankfully, the prompt arrival of someone in the kitchen saved me at the last moment.
"M-Mister Mayor, sir, you're urgently needed at the dungeons!" a guard exclaimed as he stomped into the kitchen, his copper chest plate and helmet clanging as he set the end of his spear down on the ground. "The goblins that we interned last night are going crazy, they're yelling about how the whole town is in danger if they're not able to report to their boss."
"So? Goblins are cowardly creatures, their marauding gangs are no match for a human army," Soundov scoffed as he turned to face the guard, still-heavily flushed. "N-now I'm in the middle of something, so if you'll excuse me—
"They're both causing a ruckus, sir, they're demanding to speak with you immediately," the copper-armored young man sighed. "I think it's worth checking out. They say that their boss is a hobgoblin."
"A hobgoblin? Those things are solitary, they're closer to animals than sentient creatures," the mayor again said dismissively, before looking back down at my corn body. "But fine, I guess I'll see what this is all about."
Stooping down to pick me up, Soundov tossed me into a basket near the door that seemed to be used to collect other food waste, like browning lettuce and potato peels. With that, he followed the guard out without another word.
Thanking my continued luck, my roach puppet made sure that the coast was clear before reaching out and contacting Lyka through a kernel ink. As soon as I telepathically called out to her, the gorgeous young woman came bursting into the kitchen.
"Master!" she exclaimed, her hair a mess as she looked around for me. "Why are you in here?"
"I don't think your dad approves of me," I sighed, using the large bug to direct her to where my corn body had been tossed.
"Ahhhhh what the hell!? He said he was making me a snack!" the young woman pouted as she reached into the trash to pull me out. "How could he do this to you, you're precious to me."
It appeared as though I'd have the last laugh as to my shock, Lyka nicely inserted my corn body back between her large breasts.