"W-W-What is that thing? Get it out of here. Get that thing out of my town right now. I do not give you the right to bring a beast in here."
Amane had brought that divine beast named Aba back with her to the settlement. And soon, Aba had settled down into arge patch of open green grass and imed it for itself.
Since there were not a lot of people, it took some time for the news of Aba to travel around. And as soon as the mayor had known about its existence, he hade out fully armed.
He had full intentions of killing this beast and then pinning the me on someone else. But once he had seen that massive beast, his intentions had been thwacked and his courage had evaporated.
Now, all he could do was to keep on looking at the beast in front of him and be scared of what he saw.
"Chief, you need to calm down and take a deep breath. Aba will not hurt anyone if I am here. And he will also be a short-lived guest. So, stop making unnecessary fuzz and go back to your home."
Amane blocked the chief from doing anything to the Gwazi. Since she was the one who brought this beast back, she also felt responsible for its safety.
"Yoko, is this beast safe to approach?"
Sakura asked from the corner she was standing in. Unlike everyone else, she did not possess a single doubt about Amane''s capabilities. She had seen Amane tame many beasts and now she knew that Amane was the real deal.
"Safe to approach? Of course, Aba is *not* safe to approach for ordinary people. It would be better if you all maintain your distance from Aba. But if you do not agitate it ore near it, it should be safe."
Amane reminded everyone. There were quite a few people gathered in this settlement today. Until yesterday, this town had a total poption of 4. Now it had a poption of about 20 people.
But most of them were tourists who hade down here to see if they should buy thend here or not.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Wow, a beast. Mommy, can I go and touch it? I promise I will not harm it."
One of the on-looking couples had a curious child. His big eyes looked at the beast in front of him with fascination.
But before the child could even take a step further, his mother caged him in her arms with an rmed expression.
"N-No, it is not safe to approach. Promise me you will not try to touch that beast again."
The mother asked her child and the child looked sad and dissatisfied with the response he got from his mother.
"But why? That beast looks gentle. He looks sad and in pain so should we not help it out?"
The child asked with a confused expression. Unlike the adults, children did not have a real sense of danger. So, they were curious and liked to poke their noses into unnecessary business.
Amane only had to take one look at this kid to know that he would be troublesome.
"The only way to help this beast would be to leave it alone. Can you do that for me, little kid?"
Amane approached the kid before he could do something dramatic. She could see Aba''s agitation rise with so many people around.
Aba might have agreed to stay in this clearing and help Amane out, but his real nature was that of a beast. And seeing so many people must be driving his instincts nuts.
"B-B-But."
The kid began, only to stop speaking in the middle. The kid thought of something before backing down.
"Alright, I will note and visit the kind beast. But you must promise me that it will get better."
The kid demanded and his parents looked ashamed of their kid. Their child was sweet but he liked to poke his nose into unnecessary business.
"Hmm, so you are worried about the beasts? Maybe you cane and help me out with my business when you grow up. I will teach you all about the beasts and how to handle them."
The child blushed before looking down. He seemed to be fighting with his desire to speak up.
"I-I am sorry for my child''s rudeness. I will educate him once we go home."
The mother quickly apologized in her son''s stead. She bowed down low to show that she was sorry for disturbing Amane.
"I wille and find you, beastdy. You will have to teach me then."
The child promised as he was carried away by his mother. Amane watched them both go away with a mncholic eye.
Even back in her time, children had approached her out of curiosity and their parents had tried to take them away before Amane could influence them.
It had been such a long time since something like this happened to her.
''Ah well, some things never change.''
Amane looked up at the intense stare she was getting from Ste. If looks could kill, Amane would have been dead twice over already.
Ste was not even trying to hide her stare at this point.
To show that Amane noticed Ste, she waved at the other female slowly. But Ste just looked away with a flush on her face.
Amane had enough means to try and figure out what was going on with Ste. But she was not interested to find out right now.
"Yoko, what are you thinking about? Are you seriously going to keep a beast in a town filled with people? I am sure that the mayor would try something to stop you."
Of course, Sakura was the one who said that. She had been noticing the mayor and his mood. The mayor was a hindrance to her n and Amane was as well.
"Let the mayor do what he wants to do. He will not be able to handle the consequences of his actions soon. I need to head out and prepare something now."
Amane had a lot she needed to prepare before the soul-cleansing ceremony for a divine-level beast could be held. And many of her list was not easy to find.
For thest time, Amane looked at Ste and Ste finally looked away from her. It was impossible to figure out what was going on inside Ste''s mind right now but Amane decided not to worry.
Whatever would happen, she would be able to deal with itter.
...…..
Ste had kept a close eye on Yoko Tsurugi as soon as the day had started.
At first, Ste was startled when Yoko Tsurugi brought back a divine-level beast. The Gwazi was massive and gave off a strong aura.
Its presence had put Ste on alert and she was hyper-aware of its presence. She could feel the beast trying to warn the predators to stay away from it.
''Gosh, this feels like when Amane used to bring weird beasts back. My senses were hyper-aware back then as well and it was difficult for me to ignore the beast''s presence.''
Amane had often brought back injured beasts and released them once they were well enough to live on their own.
But that had happened a long time ago. Ste had been sure that she would never see that happen in her life again.
However, Yoko Tsurugi proved her wrong. Not only did Yoko Tsurugi behave as Amane did, but she also had the same habits.
Even the way she interacted with kids was the same as Amane''s.
Whenever Ste looked at Yoko Tsurugi, she could see Amane''s shadow in that female. She was sure that Charlie had seen the same thing and ended up falling for Yoko.
After all, they had all loved Amane and longed for her. But Amane had died before any of them could express their love to her.
To see someone so simr yet different from Amane was a blessing and a curse to them all. Ste could still see that lush white skin and perfect curves in front of her.
The encounter with a naked Yoko was still fresh in Ste''s mind and it made her blush fiercely.
She did not want to show her wild side to people, but it was getting harder and harder to control. Hunger was filling Ste''s belly and she wanted to eat something.
"Officer Ste, I do not trust that, Yoko Tsurugi. Keep an eye on her and capture her if you need to. You just need to make sure she does not cause me and my reputation any problems. Do you understand?"
The mayor asked Ste and she was startled to realize that he was even standing there. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not even notice his presence.
This man was a menace and one Ste did not like. But he was also the one whom Ste had been assigned to so she needed to follow his orders, no matter how much she did not want to.