《Cultivator in a World of Angels, Demons, and Super Heroes》 Chapter 1 - Prologue 1 - The Red Sovereign ============ Hello, new reader. This novel isn''t really what you may call an exciting work. It''s slow-burning, maybe dull, a bit hard to read, and has slice-of-life elements. Not really the elements of a popular novel. Despite that, I still hope you give it a try for at least the first 20 chapters. Anyways. On to the story. Please, enjoy. ============ Celestial Realm C Okuba Plane *CRASH* *BOOM* *SCREAMS* A man is awaken from his deep meditation when he hears explosions and screams all throughout his domain. "Sovereign! Sovereign!" One of the man''s aides storms inside his cultivation room in panic. "" The man gestures his subject to calm down as he expands his spiritual sense to its limits. With his spiritual sense, he is now able to see that the entirety of his celestial plane is under attack. He sees that all of his important cities and empires are being razed. Planets and stars being slowly wiped out with untold number of mortals pulverized as collateral damage. Saints, Deities, and Demigods are dying left and right both from his and the attackers'' side. "T-this Cultivators?!" He is in disbelief, wanting to deny the truth of what he is seeing. He can feel spiritual signatures belonging to both rightful and evil cultivators from the side of the attackers. Not monsters or demons, but fellow cultivators, are wreaking havoc in his celestial plane. While one of his cultivators can match 5 of the opposing cultivators of the same level, his realm will inevitably collapse as the joint efforts of other forces are now upon him and his people. "How dare..." The man''s body glows and is ready to explode before his aide stops him. "SOVEREIGN! CALM DOWN! If you make a move, other sovereigns will make their move too!" His aide pleads. "..." The man calms down, but his anger is still ready to blow. After coming up with a plan, he points his little finger at his subject. A ray of light then shoots out from his finger and hits the aide''s forehead. "S-sovereign" The aide feels his spiritual energy and body rise from the level of a demigod to a true god. "Secure my treasures. You can touch them now." The man orders the aide. With that, the aide disappears to oblige with the order. "Gather." The man then sends a spiritual message to all of his most powerful subjects throughout his celestial realm. A moment later, various portals and space-time movements fills the man''s cultivation room. "Sovereign." 125 High Gods appear and they quickly kneel down. The man can only swallow his guilt, looking at the blood bathed High Gods. He figures he must have taken them away while they were defending weaker citizens. "Get up! Get in formation and move!" The man says both sonically and spiritually. With his spiritual sense, he sends images of his plans and formations to his subjects'' minds. "As you wish." Immediately absorbing the plans, the subjects start synchronizing their souls immediately. A few moments later, they complete a formation, and subsequently leave to start what could be their final mission. The man then also calls on his most powerful True Gods that are still alive and he enhances their strengths to combat what is about to come. - "With this, we can kill a middle stage sovereign. Let''s not waste time." The leader of the formation of High Gods says in excitement. "KILL!" The rest of the 124 high gods scream as they start their slaughter. Because their master added space-time laws in the formation, the high gods are now able to fly 1000 times the speed of light; faster and quicker than Lesser Sovereigns. (A/N - To keyboard quantum physicists; this is fantasy.) "Okuba''s High Gods!" All of the attackers, all being powerful and informed true gods, immediately recognize the high gods and they start retreating immediately. Many of the attackers also pull out arrays and light them up in various ways. "Our High Gods are coming!" The attacking True Gods celebrate when they received confirmation of their distress calls. *SCREAMS* The attacking cultivators cannot celebrate for long however. With the speed of the newly enhanced and in-formation Okuba High Gods, they are able to smoothly wipe out over half of the attacking True Gods in only a few breaths. Okuba''s True Gods, also receiving their sovereign''s formations and enhancements, have also just arrived and are taking care of the fleeing enemies. "Where are our High Gods?!" The remaining enemy True Gods scream in despair. "They''re here! We''re saved!" An enemy True God quickly celebrates as hundreds of portals start appearing in Okuba Plane''s skies. "True Gods! Retreat!" The leader of the enemy high gods commands. "True Gods, secure our people!" Okuba''s leading High God also commands to their side to avoid further casualties. "COME!!!" Okuba High Gods, high in power, welcome the attacking High Gods. The attacking High Gods, knowing the reputation of Okuba''s High Gods, do not enter chatter and start cooperating with each other as seamlessly as they can before throwing and swinging their attacks. Okuba''s cultivators do not know why other cultivators are attacking, but they are certain of one thing: they have to protect their home. - "This isn''t good." One of the attacking High Gods mutters. They have severly underestimated Okuba''s High Gods. Being an archer, she notices from the rear that their frontline is being shaved by Okuba''s High Gods with ease. Their attacking side is slowly but surely, getting wiped out. The archer High God is not the only one who noticed this and they immediately start sending distress signals again to their respective teachers and masters. Giving Okuba''s High Gods more time will only result to their side''s annihilation. - Okuba''s Sovereign, watching this from his base, is proud of the cultivators he raised. However, he is also feeling loss at their incoming doom. He knows that this men have undying loyalty to him and Okuba that they would rather die fighting than flee. The man also knows that this might be his last day. The cultivators, both from the evil and righteous side of the four higher realms attacking his plane, only tells him one thing: the other sovereigns have colluded with each other to end him. *Zmmmmmmm* The Sovereign suddenly feels the primordial energy in his celestial plane move. Primordial energy movement only means one thing: other Sovereigns are attempting to get through. The Sovereign knows that the intruding sovereigns will soon break through his realm''s barrier. He shakes his head and snaps his fingers to summon back his 125 High Gods. "Wh-" "Huh?!" "Sovereign!" The High Gods are dumbfounded as find themselves back in front of their master. "You''ve all done well. But you cannot fight many Sovereigns at once." The Sovereign tells them why he summoned them back. "Master, pardon my insolence, but we would rather fight!" One of the High Gods finally drops the decorum and protests, addressing the man in his more personal title. The Sovereign then closes his eyes. "No." He says as he influences his high gods'' hearts through a primordial spiritual attack. "Round up all of our people and leave Okuba. Take all of what I left behind at the treasury and start yourselves anew." He orders. "M-aster." The High Gods cannot resist the compulsion and can only weakly utter their protest. They finally realize their master''s intention resorting to such an overbearing action; he has decided to stay behind and fight to hold back the other Sovereigns. "You want to prove your loyalty? Leave! Use my treasures and become sovereigns yourselves. Prove to these forces that our ways are true! That we stood among them by our own paths! If we you all die here today, WE WILL BE FORGOTTEN." The Sovereign says, making his High Gods downtrodden. "Your mission. Lift Okuba into greater heights than what it is today. Birth more powerful cultivators than I. This is your last order from me." He concludes, his spiritual power embedded in his words, his words embedding in his subjects'' hearts. Feeling the finality in their master''s words, the High Gods finally relent, voluntarily this time, and they all kneel down. "We serve the venerable Okuba, we speak for her, and live for her people. An ounce of loyalty to her equals the lifetime" The high gods start reciting their pledge when they first joined Okuba and their master''s service. Soon enough, "We are the Red Sovereign''s loyal subjects!" The high gods conclude. The Sovereign, the ''All-Father'' to Okuba Plane''s inhabitants, or the Red Sovereign to the outsiders, had lived a very long life. He has searched for the meaning of immortality and throughout his journey, he has been betrayed and despised many times. He himself betrayed others to assure his own survival. Having loyal subjects like his High Gods and his citizens, people who were outsiders from their realms of origins, people who came to his plane to find their home and submit their loyalty to him, and grow under his leadership, is enough an achievement for him in his long life. "I, the Red Sovereign, acknowledge my subjects'' loyalty! Okuba accepts you. Go, serve her well." The Red sovereign responds and he raises layers of formation to his abode to give time for his people to prepare. *zmm* With the formations up, The Red Sovereign then leaves his palace to welcome the intruding Sovereigns. - "Fellow Sovereigns, what have I done to suffer such injustice?" The Red Sovereign greets the 108 sovereigns who just broke through his realm''s restrictions. "Red Sovereign, you have sinned!" A gold-robed sovereign, belonging to a righteous sect, accuses. "Sinned? Please tell me, oh Golden Sovereign. What have I done wrong?" The Red Sovereign asks with a mocking smirk. He however, already knows that they are not here to question his sins or his realm''s. "Hosting a haven of radical alchemy and radical cultivation is enough to warrant your death!" The golden sovereign says, his righteous tone almost making his ridiculous claim sound valid. "A place of carnal desires, theft and greed. Your celestial plane disgust me, Red Sovereign." The Green Sovereign, another Sovereign of the righteous side accuses too. "If those are my sins, then I accuse you of murder of my innocent subjects!" The Red Sovereign argues. "Whores, thieves, and radical cultivators. We do not consider them subjects, but vermin!" The Golden Sovereign yells through gritted teeth. "Oh? And the carnal cultivation, poison alchemy, and the practice of mortal sacrifices of your new friends are better?" The Red Sovereign points at the sovereigns of the evil side. "YOU... HYPOCRITES..." He then spits out in palpable disdain back to the Golden Sovereign, the Green Sovereign, and the other righteous Sovereigns behind them. "*gulp*" The righteous Sovereigns, unused to arguing, cannot retort. "Let''s drop the act. We want your treasures! We want everything!" The Iron Sovereign, who cannot tolerate the meandering talk anymore and he speaks up for his evil side. The Iron Sovereign''s words are that much obvious to the Red Sovereign. The so-called treasures that the Iron Sovereign is referring to are the ''radical'' cultivation and alchemy techniques that the Red Sovereign himself made and passed down throughout the eons to his subjects. While they righteous sovereigns called his methods radical, the Red Sovereign knows that his devised system of cultivation and alchemy are revolutionary which he did not want outsiders to learn. He especially does not want to share his knowledge to these cultivators in front of him who kicked their own talented people out just because those talented people''s revolutionary ideas. These so-called radical methods led to his celestial plane earning riches and power that the other Sovereigns and their people could only envy. Despite knowing all of this, the Red Sovereign does not know how to argue with frankness of the Iron Sovereign. He is also surrounded by 108 sovereigns, so he knows that talking will achieve nothing but delay the inevitable. The number 108 is also important as he knows that many of the deadliest formations in the four highest realms require 108 cultivators'' cooperation. *VwoooOOMM* the Red Sovereign and the others suddenly feel another sovereign arrive. "Red Sovereign, my friend. Please just hand them your treasures." A sovereign wearing black smoke as robes, says as he reveals himself. The Black Sovereign being a cultivator of the evil side, however is not the Red Sovereign''s enemy. "No, friend. Take a moment to understand what is happening here." The Red Sovereign shakes his head. "STAY OUT OF THIS, BLACK SOVEREIGN! You are outnumbered." The Iron Sovereign says. The simple demand tells the Black Sovereign the important message. "You have all lost your minds!" He gasps in disbelief. *Thunder* "Fellow Sovereigns!" A Sovereign in white robes also arrives. "White Sovereign." The Red Sovereign greets. "Red, Black." The White Sovereign greets back, her voice subtly calming all of the Sovereigns present. "Black and White. Do you choose to stand by the Red Sovereign? Your allies are present here." The Gold Sovereign asks. "I will as you have all lost reason! The Red Sovereign is our only chance in having a new Overlord! So, why?" The White Sovereign scolds the others in fury. "The prophecy is a lie, White Sovereign. How long has it been? How many Sovereigns came and went? Where is the so-called Demon Overlord? Why have they not attacked yet? Hm?" The Green Sovereign raises an opinion and excuse shared by the 108 Sovereigns to justify their attack. "Why then have we not eradicated the demons yet? There might not be a Devil Overlord now, but we have to give birth to one to be ready!" The Black Sovereign counters. "They do not even have Sovereigns! You are speaking nonsense, Black. The infinite realms are big enough, so we have not found their origins yet. But we will, eventually, and with Red Sovereign''s arts, we will finally eradicate them." Iron Sovereign counters back. "So why am I getting the feeling that not only are you here to take everything I have, you also want to end me? Why is that, fellow Sovereigns?" The Red Sovereign speaks up once again. Chapter 2 - Prologue 2 - The Red Sovereign (Continued) ============ Hello, new reader. This novel isn''t really what you may call an exciting work. It''s slow-burning, maybe dull, a bit hard to read, and has slice-of-life elements. Not really the elements of a popular novel. Despite that, I still hope you give it a try for at least the first 20 chapters. Anyways. On to the story. Please, enjoy. ============ "I have never wronged you all. In fact, I can say that my existence was nothing but a blessing to the endless realms. You call my ways ''radical'' but why have you all benefitted from them? "Incredible artifacts and alchemical treasures in exchange for your void resources. Void resources that by the way, I can just find in the infinite realms myself. I could have just not bothered to trade with you all, but with my generous heart, I tried to share as much as I can. "No. I already know the answer. I already know the hypocrisy of you so-called Sovereigns. You, Gold Sovereign. Greed! Really? You, Iron Sovereign. Envy! Naturally, but I never thought you''d actually act on it to the extreme. You are all acting like mortals. You, Green Sovereign. You especially. I never thought you to be like this..." While the Red Sovereign is sincerely calling out the Sovereigns'' hypocrisies, he is internally glad that the Sovereigns are sparing him the time to let him speak; resulting in his men, well on their way in evacuating Okuba, to a place he recently discovered himself; a place only he knows where. "ENOUGH!" The Gold Sovereign cannot tolerate the Red Sovereign''s words anymore. "Why? Gold Sovereign? Can''t your Sovereign''s heart not take it? I wonder how you even became a sovereign with such a weak resolve? Just admit it! What you have renounced in your laws and arts as evil, you''re here doing it! Admit it, and you will feel good." The Red Sovereign says, his voice concealing a hidden spiritual attack to crumple the Golden Sovereign''s Cultivator Heart. The Red Sovereign''s strike proves true as "*URGH*" the Golden Sovereign feels his heart collapse and his body shorty collapsing after. "Gold Sovereign!" The Green Sovereign acts to assist the Gold Sovereign immediately. The move is enough for the 108 cultivators'' formation to be in disarray. Seeing that his plan worked despite only momentarily, it is enough for the Red Sovereign and blasts out his Sovereign''s domain. The off-guard Sovereigns feel their blood run cold. Their faces frozen in shock makes the Red Sovereign smile sinisterly. He is about to go into further action when the White and Black Sovereign suddenly block his way, buying enough time for the intruding Sovereigns to get back in formation. "W-WHY?" The Red Sovereign cannot believe the actions of the White and Black Sovereign just took against him. "Red Sovereign, my friend. This is not betrayal. This is for the good. Had you wanted to just defend and restrain, and spare them after doing so, we would not have acted. Now that you are resolved to wiping them out, we cannot let that happen." The White Sovereign says, sadness apparent in her eyes. "Forgive me, my friend. I know your resolve, and once you''ve decided, I know that not even yourself can stop what you''re about to do. I know that your wrath is righteous. I know that, my friend. But you exacting your righteous vengeance will bring untold destruction and loss to the endless realms." The Black Sovereign says, his face wearing a complicated expression. The two''s reasons for their actions console the Red Sovereign. However, his friends'' words are correct and it is indeed too late. "I see" The Red Sovereign says in regret at his actions, but releases all his limiters nonetheless, preparing to fight. "Y-you!" Black Sovereign and White Sovereign are shocked at the sudden rise of the Red Sovereign''s cultivation. The two always thought they were only slightly inferior to the Red Sovereign in power, but now, they feel like children in comparison to his real power. The Red, White, and Black Sovereigns have been of friends with each other for countless of eons. Despite their differing principles, they have come to respect and understand each other''s ways and their powers. The Black Sovereign is the most powerful Evil Cultivator, the White Sovereign is the most powerful Righteous Cultivator, and the Red Sovereign is the most powerful Neutral Cultivator. The three, being seen as amicable to each other and their equality in power, the people of the four highest realms dubbed them as the "Three Overlords". Currently however, in front of the most powerful people of the four highest realms, it seems that the Red Sovereign has claimed the right to a title for himself. "Overlord!" White Sovereign says in reverence, her will to fight waning by a bit. "No. My friend. But I''m halfway there. I don''t even know if the power I see in the distance is that of an Overlord''s or just a part of it. The infinite void is indeed infinite." The Red Sovereign laments. "White. We have to move. NOW!" The Black Sovereign recovers from his shock and he takes the place of the Golden Sovereign in the formation. After familiarizing himself with the formation, he leads the remaining hundred and seven Sovereigns to attack. *Schinggg* *Blast* *Boom* *Bang* *Slice* All sorts of powerful attacks, fueled by primordial essences from the hundred Sovereigns rain upon the Red Sovereign. The Red Sovereign on the other hand is doing well in defending himself. While the Red Sovereign defended well, he did not come out of it unscratched. While he is powerful, a combined and orderly attack from a hundred formation-enhanced Sovereigns is just too much for him to take on alone. *Zmmm* the Red Sovereign however is not all pure power, but has wisdom as well. He recovers his shallow injuries quickly while preparing an attack of his own. *ZMMMM* He then gathers power as much as he can from the void and reinforces his body. In his hands, he forms an incorporeal spear made of void energy. With his weapon ready, he charges forward. With his spear and him being one, the Red Sovereign''s powerful kicks, punches and spear thrusts his opponents'' arms, legs, and in one lucky shake of his shoulder, one Sovereign''s life is put out. The Red Sovereign, showering in other Sovereigns'' blood, is reminding his enemies why he was granted the title Red. The Red Sovereign''s chain of attacks has its limits, however and impossible to go on. He fakes charging a powerful attack which the Sovereigns were foolish enough to prepare to defend, giving him plenty of time to retreat. The Black Sovereign immediately notices that the Red Sovereign''s spear is not made up a Sovereign''s essence. The spear feels as if it is but a mortal''s weapon, but a mortal''s weapon cannot possibly injure Sovereigns. He can only arrive at the only possible conclusion. "V-void Energy." He utters, fear starting to grow in his heart. He is reminded of what he read from the journals of the Sovereigns who passed in the long past. |... that void energy, can only be used by a cultivator who has glimpsed at the real form of the void ... | |...the overlord. Neither mortal or eternal but simply exists with the void...| He is not given time to appreciate the Red Sovereign''s spear more as, he feels behind him the waves upon waves of primordial energy released by the injured Sovereigns hurriedly growing themselves new limbs. "Black, concentrate." The White Sovereign tells the Black Sovereign as she releases a technique and her two arms multiplies into eight. "Treasures." She then commands the other Sovereigns as she herself equips each of her eight arms with all sorts of Soul Weapons. Not long after, they attack the Red Sovereign once again. *VOooommmvvv* The Red Sovereign, seeing the upcoming wave of attack is at least ten times more powerful than the last, pulls out his own defensive treasures and formations and surrounds himself with them as quickly as he can. *CRASHHHH* The attacks soon arrive again. His formations and treasures however, one by one, are starting to break, pressed to their limits by his enemies'' attacks. While the treasures buys him time, he gathers the void energy again, much, much more than the last, and submits his fate to luck. The void energy he is gathering this time, might be too much for his body and soul to tolerate, but he has no choice. While he is now considered the most powerful person in the endless realms, the hundred or so Sovereigns surrounding him are still the most powerful people one can find aside from himself. He also notices that the Sovereigns have used alchemical treasures he sold them to pump their power up for this battle. As the last of his defensive treasures broke, the Red Sovereign goes on the move; he dodges, deflects, and reflects each attack remaining, while counterattacking a tide of techniques of his own to the Sovereigns. His attacks this time claims not only limbs, but lives of tens of Sovereigns. "Damn-" The Red Sovereign can only curse as he cannot make more damage; treasures, weapons, and armors he himself sold eons ago, being used against him now gives him a bitter sense of irony. He is not yet ready to give up however, and fights the hardest he has ever fought in his life. His body soon runs out of void energy, and while no attacks landed on him during his turn, his body has all sorts of injuries from the strain of absorbing too much void energy earlier. As he is about to retreat, his way is once again blocked by the Black Sovereign and White Sovereign while preparing a two-pronged attack. Their techniques, two of the many that the he himself helped them polish, and is supposed to be used for a Devil Overlord when the time comes, are now used on him. The memories with the two flashes in the his mind and he freezes in his movements. The momentary hesitation costs him huge. The Black Sovereign''s gauntlet lands heavily on his chest, and the White Sovereign''s long sword cuts a quarter of his neck. "*GUHH*" The Red Sovereign quickly retreats as he tries to recover as fast as he can. Just as quick as his sentiments for the two flashed in his mind, the Red Sovereign also quickly suppresses them. The Black and White Sovereigns in his eyes, are no longer his friends, but creatures that threatens his existence. While recovering, he also feels the surviving inhabitants of the Okuba Plane, to the last person, have finally evacuated. He sighs in relief and smiles. "Okuba is no longer Okuba without its people. I too, am no longer the Red Sovereign." After letting go of his final sentiments, *Hummmmmmm* he suddenly feels that the power he has been chasing starts to come closer. The allure, the temptation of such power overpowers the Red Sovereign''s desire to kill and he closes his eyes. He no longer bothers defending himself and instead basks in the feeling of the mysterious void, to try and understand it. To the other Sovereigns, the Red Sovereign, at the moment, looks very vulnerable; a perfect target to kill with a perfect onslaught. With the White and Black Sovereigns'' lead, the remaining Sovereigns combines again in a new formation perfect for their number. After doing so, they charge their attacks to the last drop of their strength and rains them on the Red Sovereign''s body. The Red Sovereign''s body is cut, punctured, and maimed but as if he does not care and does not feel pain, he is not opening his eyes nor show any signs of fighting back. After the last attack lands, every single Sovereign collapses, not one of them having the strength left to fight. To their shock, the Red Sovereign, who now looks like a standing regurgitate of a primordial beast that had its fill, is still somehow breathing. "*Huff* *Huff* We- we''ve failed?" The Black Sovereign cannot believe what he is seeing. " *Wheeze* *Wheeze* I hope not. He is now in his last straws. His injuries are beyond saving." The White Sovereign tries to console everyone. Soon however, as if making the White Sovereign''s consolation useless, they see the Red Sovereign open his eyes and look at them. This time, his gaze shaking their souls. The feeling of new power from his gaze alone put utter fear in their hearts. "Overlord." The Black Sovereign, utters weakly, in reverence. The Red Sovereign''s new power is something that they can no longer understand but only feel. The Red Sovereign in front of them has an aura of a mortal yet from his gaze, they know that he has now the power they cannot even dream to have; being one with the Void. In the next moment, to their relief, as if Red Sovereign is talking to their very essence, "We''re done here. No more fighting", he says, his will of vengeance finally disappearing. They somehow feel that he is not asking to be feared, only to be awed. It does not take them long however to realize that Red Sovereign''s injuries are not healing. As if answering their observation, "Being an Overlord is lonely. I''m glad I won''t live to suffer through it." They hear The Red Sovereign say. While they are confused at the meaning of his words, they see his physical form slowly dissipate into nothingness until it is only the soul that remained. They then witness his soul form smile before it starts dissipating as well. Unlike the physical form that faded into nothing, the Red Sovereign''s soul dissipates into silver light that showers upon the sovereigns. While his essence soothes them once again, each of the Sovereigns feel their understanding of their respective laws deepening as they inherit some of the Red Sovereign''s own wisdom applying to their respective insights. The Okuba Plane, which was at the point of breaking from the Sovereigns'' battle, is now as silent as the void, lifeless, as if dying with the Red Sovereign. The Sovereigns enter a quiet contemplation at what they just did and how the Red Sovereign treated them in the last moment of his life. "We... failed a true Overlord. " The Black Sovereign laments in regret, tears flowing from his eyes. . . . . . . . . . . . "***** ****** *****?" A pretty lady greets me after I open my eyes. In addition to the greeting, *Beepbeepbeep* *Hiss Ssspp.. Hisss* *Chatter Chatter*, I am also being bombarded by different strange noises around me. I ignore the young lady for now, as I look around the room. I am currently lying down in one of the beds of what looks like a treatment room. Basing on the clothes that these people and I are wearing, I must be one of the many who are being treated. To my surprise, I notice that the people around me seem to barely possess the tiniest bit of spiritual energy, which tells me they are all mortals. Now, how did I find myself here? I have not been among mortals in eons. Ah. That''s right. What an unfortunate event. It seems that in the end, one cannot escape from their primal natures no matter how powerful one becomes. Except of course, if one is an Overlord. Heh After finally becoming an Overlord, I realized that becoming one is quite meaningless. With all that power, I can end the existence of the four highest realms infinite times over with a simple snap of my will, and start then start an infinite number of four highest realms, again with a snap of my will. The only use I found for it was a last effort to ensure my people''s survival. Thankfully, I was too injured to survive becoming one with the void, thus my death. I cannot possibly live like an undying, nigh-omniscient and nigh-omnipotent being. Death, yet why do I still live? Let me see my inner world Now. That is strange. I remember distributing my entire being to my surviving people, yet an infinitely small fraction of my power still remains. I am no longer an Overlord, but I feel like I still have the body strength and cultivation level of a High Mortal Warrior. Heh Shall I live my life as a mortal from now on? Considering how quick a mortal world changes, I guess five hundred years is long enough. Maybe I can even find a mate I can spend the rest of my life with. Ahhh I guess the void thinks I deserve a second chance, no matter how small it is. As to where I am, I need to find out *zzmmmm* Hang on... A High Mortal Warrior is not supposed to have a spirit sense and yet why can I use mine? How do I still have it? Ah My soul Obviously, my soul It seems that an Overlord''s soul is still special. But, how much of it is left? ... To my surprise, I cannot even fathom the size of my soul. I can at least tell that my spiritual body is still the size of a True Immortal''s but I feel like it is larger than that. Hm... How can a true immortal''s soul fit in this High Mortal body?... I have not seen this before. Does it have something to do with me momentarily stepping in that realm? Whatever the reason is, I cannot tell for certain, for now. Back to where I am... I spread my spiritual sense around to see where in the infinite realms this place is. Strange. My cultivation level and physique currently should not allow me- "..Ah" Before I can expand my spiritual to a radius of a hundred steps, I am caught off-guard by a sudden bout of headache and dizziness. I guess a hundred steps is my limit for now. How small. Hmm. I have to thin my spiritual sense significantly to expan- "*****?" The pretty lady disrupts my thoughts, but seeing how worried she is, she must have noticed my pain. I gesture to her that I am fine, and she backs off. Thankfully, I have lived long enough to read people just from their face and body language. However, I still cannot understand her words. The language barrier is manageable for now. The more important matter is: where in the voids am I? I need information. Let''s try a soul search on this lady. It is not harmful to her anyway Hold on No. That is too risky. I already had a headache just from a simple spiritual sense scan. I have to hold off using spiritual sense and soul techniques for now aside from the bare minimum. So bare minimum. A spiritual sense scan of her surface memories should be good?... No. I do not want to see what she ate to break her fast or what she is planning to do the whole day. Hmmm. Should I scan her body and brain instead? That should be enough to figure out her instincts which can help me start off learning how to hear, speak, read, and write her language. Maybe I can also learn from her instincts how to use these strange but seemingly useful tablet devices these mortal patients around me are using. Before I can start my scan of her body and brain, " ******? ****." The young lady''s raises her hand and reaches it out to my direction, her palm lights up for a bit before she lays it on my head. Warm huh. Must be a healing skill. It is very primitive, yet how strange for someone who barely has a cultivation to use it at an effective level. Interesting. " (thanks) " I gesture my thanks to the lady and she responds with a smile. With that, she leaves to check on other patients.. I hope she does not bother me that much until I''ve learned enough to leave this treatment facility. Chapter 3 - Terra ============ Hello, new reader. This novel isn''t really what you may call an exciting work. It''s slow-burning, maybe dull, a bit hard to read, and has slice-of-life elements. Not really the elements of a popular novel. Despite that, I still hope you give it a try for at least the first 20 chapters. Anyways. On to the story. Please, enjoy. ============ ----- "Good morning kids!" Yoshiko greets her class. "Good morning Uegaki sensei!" The fifteen or so third graders of Suginami Orphanage greet enthusiastically. "" Yoshiko cannot help but smile and clap her hands together once in excitement at finally receiving an advisory class, despite the small number of kids in her class. It has been three years since she graduated university and she is feeling fortunate to already be a classroom adviser as a 25 year-old. "Oh! Please welcome principal Kinjo too!" Yoshiko gestures to the principal who has taken a seat in the back of the class. "Good morning Principal Kinjo!" The kids greet the man who they have seen in the welcome ceremony earlier in the morning. "Good morning kids. Uegaki Sensei? Everybody seems to be here? Please start." Principal Kinjo says while also taking out his notebook to write down his observations for Yoshiko''s assessment. "Thank you, principal! Now kids. Your first subject of the day is the general history of the world. As it is only the first day of the school year, we won''t be using your textbooks." Yoshiko announces. "Yes!" The class is pleased. "BUT. We just can''t do nothing the whole period, right?" Yoshiko says. "*groan*" The children are disappointed. "Hehe. Well. What I''ll do instead is to give you kids an idea of this subject. Okay? Now Does any of you know what day it was yesterday?" Yoshiko starts her class with a question. "Sensei! Sensei!" A few students raise their hands. "Yes, Eiji?" Yoshiko calls out to one of them. "It''s Obviously Sunday! Sensei!" Eiji replies smugly. "*sigh*. I know it''s Sunday. But yesterday was a holiday as well. Do you know what holiday it was?" Yoshiko clarifies. "" Eiji comes up empty. "Sensei!" The students want to steal the opportunity to answer. "Yes, Misaki?" Yoshiko passes the question to a female student. "It was Martyr''s Day!" The student proudly answers. "Correct! What exactly is Martyr''s Day, Misaki?" Yoshiko asks. "Uhh The... day we honor the heroes that died in the Great War!" Misaki answers. "Good. Please take a seat, Misaki. Now does anyone know what happened in ''The Great War?" Yoshiko asks the class. [[[ Terra, Solaris Star System, Monday, 17th day of the third month. Year 2020 of the common era, or year 146 of the ''Post Great War Era''. 2020 years after the birth of some religious figure, 168 years after the birth of the first Human Superioris, and 146 years after the great war. The great war that happened in the year 1874 of the common era involved three main forces. The forces of the Heavens, Hell, and the human mortals of this world. Before the war, this world had various religions that worshipped various gods. Unknowingly to them, their gods are just the various incarnations of the most powerful angels and demons. The humans of this world worshipped their gods since time immemorial until one day, the forces of Heaven and Hell started havoc upon the mortal world. That havoc, dubbed as ''The Great Harvest'' by historians, involved both the Angels from Heaven and Demons from hell harvesting souls of the powerless humans by pure mass murder. Humanity felt betrayed and hopeless. All hope was not lost however. When the gates of heaven and hell opened, it resulted to what is called the "Superioris Phenomenon" which gave random people various supernatural abilities that were only deemed fantasy up to that point. Supernatural abilities like controlling fire, water, air, thunder, and ice became widespread in various strengths. Rare abilities like mind control and mind attacks also appeared. The human evolution did not stop with those powers, there are those who were granted with incredible physical, mental, and even psychic capabilities. These newly evolved humans outnumbered the lesser demons and angels, making the fight a bit more balanced, thus starting the ''Great War''.]]] "Do any of you know of the Superioris Iwamoto Takuma?" Yoshiko asks the class. "Yes! Yes!" Eiji raises his hand, proud this time that he knows something. "Yes Eiji? What do you know about him?" "Sensei! Iwamoto Takuma! Class A Superioris! He is one of the most powerful water manipulators in the Japan! Last month, they said he took water from Arakawa River and he made rain pour for a whole afternoon in Nerima! He saved people from that big fire there!" Eiji proudly reports. "Yes. But what I want to talk about is Iwamoto Takuma''s great great great grandfather, Hidetora. He was one of the heroes who sacrificed himself in the Great War for Japan." Yoshiko says. "Sensei! How powerful was Hidetora? What class was he? Is he as strong as Takuma?" Eiji asks, his superioris nerdiness coming out. "There were no Superioris Class during the great war. But I can say that Hidetora would have been Class A just like Takuma. But Takuma should be stronger." Yoshiko explains. "Oh! Then! Then! If Takuma was in the great war, he would not have died like his great great great grandfather!" Eiji says. "Eiji" Yoshiko almost yells at Eiji''s ignorance. "You can''t say it like that. Iwamoto Hidetora was one of the strongest Superioris during that time in Japan. Without his sacrifice, humanity would not have become stronger. Without him, Takuma would not have been born with powers." Yoshiko says. "Oh" Eiji can barely process Yoshiko''s words, but he has grasped enough of Yoshiko''s sentiments to understand. "Do you understand?" Yoshiko asks. "Yes sensei" Eiji can only say. "Good. Moving on" ======== Many ancient organizations who had the knowledge of the arcane and magic also revealed themselves to the world and started spreading their knowledge to banish both Demons and Angels. When it comes to the efforts against demons, there are three main forces involved. The ''Brotherhood of Adam'' of the Middle East, has the knowledge in the arts of making sigils that is used to lock in or lock out demons in and from a certain location. ''The Knights of the Church'' of the Catholic religion has the knowledge of imbuing weapons with runes, making them deadly to demons. Finally, the various Shamanic orders of East Asia has the knowledge of talismans that are just as useful as the sigils of the brotherhood, or the runes of the Knights. They also have the knowledge in exorcism. When it comes to combating angels, archaeologists and historians finally put their knowledge in use. They managed to figure out that some of the ancient Indian, Chinese, Sumerian and Mesopotamian texts they have been sitting on, are useful in banishing, trapping, and killing angels. ======== "Sensei!" Misaki raises her hand for a question. "I saw the statues in Asagaya Shinme Shrine! They said that the kannushi''s (Shinto priests) and miko''s (Shinto priestess) can banish demons! From what you said, does it mean that they fought in the great war too?" Misaki asks. "Yes! With their knowledge in magic in addition to some of the kannushi and miko being Superioris themselves, they are even more powerful and important than some superioris heroes!" Yoshiko says. "COOL!" The class is impressed. "I want to be a Miko someday!" Misaki declares. "A Miko. They''re useless now because there are no demons left." Eiji scoffs. "That''s not true! There are still possessions!" Misaki argues. "Really? Did that shrine maiden tell you that? She looks like a liar to me." Eiji says. "What did you say?!" Misaki stands up and on her palm, she materializes a ball of flame the size of three candle flames. "I said she must have been a liar." Eiji says as he materializes small wind vortices around his feet, ready to flee in case Misaki attacks. Two other superioris children also make a move to protect themselves and other students who are not superioris: one materializes an earth shield using two tiles from the floor, and the other transforms her desk to a shape of a small door. "You two! Calm down!" Yoshiko reprimands the two to stop the argument from breaking out into a fight. "Yes sensei" It is not Yoshiko''s words however that stopped Eiji and Misaki from fighting, but the two seeing the fear in the eyes of the non-superioris students in the class. As soon as Eiji and Misaki cancel their conjurations, the class calms down. "Eiji. I know that shrine maiden and she''s a nice person. Why are you saying that when you don''t know her?" Yoshiko says to Eiji. "Sorry Sensei." Eiji sheepishly apologizes. "And you, Misaki. Violence is not the first resort." Yoshiko turns to Misaki. "Sorry sensei but he''s been rude and annoying!" Misaki says. "Did he ever harm you?" Yoshiki asks. "no. But-" Misaki is about to argue but Yoshiko cuts her off. "Is he bullying you?" Yoshiko asks. "no" Misaki cannot argue. "Then will you take responsibility if you hurt one of your classmates?" Yoshiko asks. "" Misaki can only look down in shame. "Okay." Yoshiko drops the matter for now, seeing Misaki reflecting. "Are we calm now, Everyone?" Yoshiko asks, stopping herself from shaking from the close call of the two superioris kids from fighting. "Yes Sensei!" The class respond, making their teacher internally sighs in relief. "Good. But class, what Misaki said is right. Even though the demons no longer roam the earth like they used to, there are still weaker ones that are very hard to detect and catch. These demons possess and eat humans to become more powerful." Yoshiko says. "" The class unanimously get goosebumps from Yoshiko''s words. "Ah! Sensei!" The principal interrupts. "We should avoid scaring the kids, yes?" "I understand, principal." Yoshiko nods in understanding. "Class, any questions so far?" Yoshiko asks. "Sensei! I heard angels and demons are even more powerful than heroes. How did we beat them?" Eiji asks. ======== The fight that had been fair for two years, toughened up the humans. They managed to formulate strategies and tactics in fighting Angels and Demons more effectively and minimizing losses. Just when humans are starting to recover from their losses from ''The Great Harvest'', more powerful angels and demons started appearing in the mortal plane, joining the battle. The humanity is slowly losing hope yet again. Not all Angels and Demons are alike however. Two individuals, each from Heaven and Hell, became the saving grace of humanity: the Archangel Saraqael, and a Prince of Hell named Zograthan. The two''s mutual love of knowledge made them friends since the time of the first humans, Adam and Eve. Throughout eons, they have both seen the good and evil side of humanity and they concluded that humans in the end, are the purest of all God''s creations; easily corruptible and easily purified. They have grown fond of humans and do not want to see them gone. With their love for humanity, the two have been formulating a plan as soon as the forces of Heaven and Hell started preparing for ''The Great Harvest. While the Angels and Demons have been growing their powers by the souls they harvested, Saraqael and Zograthan have been blending the magic of heaven, hell, and the mundane to something they can use. Once they mastered their new magic, they proceeded to gradually plant sigils in the gates of heaven and hell in the hopes of closing them. Fortunately for them, the angels and demons are drunk in human souls to notice. This made them finally complete their last step and finally closed the gates of heaven and hell using the energies of those two realms themselves. Closing those two realms however were too much for Saraqael and Zograthan. Their angel and demon graces were drained and they became mortals.]]] "Saraqael! The traitor angel! Zograthan! The traitor demon! I''ve heard of them! They''re heroes too, right?" Eiji says in recognition. "Yes. Eiji. You can say that they are." Yohiko smiles. "Traitors? What happened to them? Were they killed by angels and demons?" Misaki asks in sadness. "No. They escaped, and lived." Yohiko answers, making the classroom lively. "They did? Are they still alive today?" Eiji asks in excitement. "No. After escaping to our world, the two of them seek help from their friend in the Knights of the Church. The knights protected them and wrote down what they did to save us. According to the Knights, Saraqael and Zograthan grew old and died not long after closing the gates of heaven and hell." Yohiko says. "Oh" Eiji and the class is saddened by the answer. "Yeah. Well. Let''s give a round of applause for the heroes that helped the world become what it is today." *APPLAUSE* The class, including the principal, clap their hands. A few moments later, the class calms down. "Sensei!" Another student, Kenta, who is an earth type superioris, raises his hand. "Yes Kenta?" "Where do villains come from?" Kenta asks. "" Yoshiko and the class is taken aback at the question, before recovering. "" Yoshiko looks at the principal and the principal considers for a moment. The Suginami Orphanage, being one of many orphanages all throughout the world, is filled with children orphaned by parents killed by villains. Kenta bringing up the subject may potentially be sensitive or even trigger trauma in some of the children. "Sensei?" Kenta, receiving no answer, asks again. The principal, noticing that no student is looking his way, writes ''Proceed with caution'' on the air in front of him using soil from a nearby flower pot. Yoshiko reading the massage, nods. "Well, Kenta. Like I said earlier. There are still demons here in the world. If they possess a superioris, that superioris will become what we call aberrant. These aberrant superioris become villains." Yoshiko explains. "No" Kenta shakes his head. "Pardon?" Yoshiko is not sure if she heard right. "Not every villain is a possessed superioris, right? My mom and dad the villain who did it they''re not possessed" Kenta says, his hands trembling. "If there is no demon possessing them, why are they doing evil things? I don''t understand." Kenta adds. "" Yoshiko notices that not only Kenta feels the same way, and half of the students in her class are experiencing discomfort. "Aherm" The principal finally interrupts. "Class. Kenta''s question is difficult to answer. But what I can say is that There are simply bad people in the world. Superioris or not.. It is hard to understand, but that is how people are." Chapter 4 - Red "Excuse me nurse?" The Red Sovereign, or simply Red for the time being, after adapting the name of the original owner of the body he took over, calls the attention of a nurse who is about to pass by his bed. "Oh. You''re awake, Red? What can I help you with?" The nurse asks with a smile. "" Red is taken aback by the hospitality from a stranger. He still cannot get over how much these nurses care for their patients to the point that they are this happy just because they thought he regained his ability to speak. It has been two days since Red woke up in this world. With a few spiritual sense scans on the people around him, he was able to learn how to listen, speak, write, and read the common language quickly. "Good morning. Hey. May I borrow a tablet PC again? I hope it helps me regain some memories." He asks. "Sure thing!" The nurse responds and she quickly leaves the room. " Ah. Internet. Too bad my body cannot handle to scan it with my spiritual sense." Despite being disappointed at the inconvenience, he is still impressed with the internet. He has not seen a low-level mortal civilization that has this extent of freedom in exchanging information. Another impressive thing he found is that this civilization progressed using technologies that almost entirely rely in the material laws of the void. "Here you go." Soon, the nurse is back, handing Red a tablet PC, but soon leaves again to resume her duties. "Hmm. Whoever figured out these things would definitely have been treasured in Okuba." He laments. An hour later, Red is interrupted from browsing the internet when a young man who looks to be 20 years old opens the curtains surrounding Red''s bed. Noticing the recognition in the young man''s eyes, Red carefully turns off the tablet PC and lays it next to his pillow. He then sits up on the bed, and wait for the young man to speak. "Red!" The young man calls out worriedly, telling Red that the young man is not just a simple acquaintance of the original owner of his body. "Yes?" Red asks. "Red! How are you feeling?" The young man asks. "I feel fine. But who are you?" Red asks, to find out more about the original owner of his body. "I-it''s me Junichi." Junichi is stunned by the question. "You really don''t remember anything, huh?" He asks, Red seeing heavy guilt in his eyes. "No. I don''t." Red shakes his head, continuing his act as an amnesiac. "That does not change things. I know my father said it was your responsibility, but I still want to thank you for saving my life. And, I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have brought you along in that mission." Junichi says. "" Red nods, finding that talking to Junichi might be informative. "I cannot remember what happened. But it is strange that you are sorry. From what I assume, had I not been there, you would have been dead, correct?" Red asks. "R-red. W-why are you speaking like this?" Junichi ignores the question, taken aback by the cold question. "How did I speak before?" Red asks. "" Junichi sighs to recover. "Different. It''s just.. .different." He struggles to explain. "Ah Can you tell me more about myself? You must have been my friend?" I ask. "Sure! So We''ve known each other since we were five" Red Darra, aged 19, is the young man whose body the Red Sovereign took over. He was amused when he first found out Red''s name and its meaning, it being coincidentally alike to the sovereign''s title previously. Apparently, Red was a butler for a wealthy Japanese Superioris Family, the Sunadas. Nothing is known about him prior to being adapted by the Sunada family. At age 5, he was a lost child with no family to call his own. All he knew about himself is that he had parents who were on the run and abandoned him and that his name is Red Darra. Thankfully for the young Red, the similarly aged young scion of the Sunada family, Junichi, just happened to pass him by on some random street and took pity on him. This led to the Sunada Family, with Junichi''s insistence, adopting Red as Junichi''s personal caretaker and assistant. Thus, Red''s life with the Sunada Family began. Red was not a smart kid and also not a superioris. Despite the desire of Junichi to have Red educated and be involved more in Sunada Family''s businesses as his, Red simply does not have the capacity for such a big responsibility. This made Red only becoming Junichi''s butler and assistant. While he had been sneered and scorned by the other kids of the Sunada family, he remained loyal to Junichi and his immediate family. Just a few days before the Red Sovereign woke up in his body, Red was accompanying Junichi in Junichi''s first ever professional hero mission. Some sort of a coming of age tradition in old families like the Sunada. Things did not end well however and Junichi''s team was wiped out by criminal Superioris. Junichi, who only had light injuries, and is too powerful to hold, was able to start his escape. His enemies however are still superioris with superpowers. An enemy was able to let loose an arrow of hers to Junichi and by the time Junichi realized it, it was too late for him to react. Before he was hit however, Red, who is not a superioris and was overlooked by the enemies as a powerless civilian, came out of nowhere and tackled Junichi out of the arrow''s way and took the hit in Junichi''s place. The arrow hits him and while the arrow was deflected with the help of his armored butler''s suit, the impact had too much a force to throw Red easily and he smashes into a side of a building. Even though Red''s butler suit is armored thanks to Junichi, and it helped him survive the fatal arrow for a few moments. Ultimately, the injury would have killed even a class E superioris, and Red not even being a superioris, he had no chance of surviving. ''That must have been when I arrived. A soul of a sovereign is enough to also heal the body''s injuries instantly. I also remember a doctor saying that I was extremely lucky and came out of the incident unharmed. But no, Red was not lucky. The child was fragile.'' Red puts some pieces together. "So that''s the gist of what I know about you. I hope they made you remember things?" Junichi asks. "Hm. It does not seem to be me." Red says, almost breaking Junichi''s heart. "A-anyway You''ve just lost your memory. You''ll eventually be back to your real self soon." Junichi says. "Let''s hope so." Red nods. He however, does not want to act like the late butler. *zmmm* Red spreads his spiritual sense to Junichi''s head, to scan for Junichi''s strongest surface memory. ~~~~~~~~ The memory starts in some kind of an office, with the 13 year-old Junichi and Red standing in front of a man who looks to be in his 30s. "Beating up weak superioris? Have you lost your mind?! You''re a disgrace to this family!" The man yells at Junichi. "A disgrace? Yes I am! You raised me, asshole!" The young Junichi answers. "What did you say?" The man took offense at Junichi''s retort. "I''m an asshole because I was raised by an asshole of a father!" Junichi doubles down. "Really?..." *SLAP* Junichi''s father suddenly slaps Red''s cheek, to the shock of the two pre-teens. "Why did you hit Red?!" Junichi, in anger, gets to his father''s face. Red, meanwhile simply stares emptily at the floor, still in shock. "Starting from now on, if you make trouble, Red here will suffer the consequences." Junichi''s father declares. "B-but he didn''t do anything wrong!" Junichi argues. "He didn''t. But he''s yours. Am I wrong?" His father says. "W-what?" Junichi is angry and confused. "Stop making trouble, son. And I will not touch even a hair on Red''s body." With that, the older Sunada leaves the office. "Red! Are you alright?" Junichi turns his attention to Red, and asks in worry. "Y-yes Yes. I''m alright, Junichi." Red replies with a smile. "Are you sure?" Junichi is not consoled and he holds the part of Red''s face that was red. "Yes. I''m fine. But this proves what I''ve been telling you. Nothing good comes out of making trouble." ~~~~~~~~ ''A tough but needed lesson for the child. But this young man is very biased towards his father even in his memory. His father seemed like a very powerful superioris and had he been serious, he could have killed Red two times over with one slap. His father must have found it difficult to control his strength with that slap.... Anyway, it seemed that the event changed Junichi for good. ''Ah I''m sorry for your loss, child. I hope I can help you to forget your friend soon. Too bad my body cannot handle performing erasing him from your memories.'' Red looks at Junichi in sympathy. "What are you thinking? Did you just like in the movies recover some of your memories?" Junichi, noticing Red in thought, asks in excitement. "No. It''s not that. I just realized we must have been really close to risk my life like that." Red says. "I see." Junichi is disappointed. "Oh. By the way. Were the people who killed your team caught? It''s been three days." Red asks. "Not yet. But thanks to a superioris detective, they have been identified. I promise you I''ll find those evil bastards whichever hole they hide." Junichi says in barely suppressed anger. "Hm. So, who are they?" "They''re a team of criminals active for a while now. "Isao Miyashiro, a strength type Class D superioris and an excellent fighter. Koga Dai, a Class D metal manipulator superioris. The two seemed to have been the assault members. "Finally, Hayashi Ayako, the person who almost killed you. She''s a Class D physical type superioris and an excellent archer." Junichi reports. "Hm. They seem to have been a great team. How did we even get away?" Red asks. "Oh. Thankfully, you were the one who reserved some men from the family. They arrived just in time to pick up the both of us." Junichi explains. "Oh. I''m also a Class C Superioris." Junichi adds as he transforms his arm to steel, then further transforming it to a convex plate like a shield. "That archer let loose more arrows but because I was ready after you were hit, we were safe." Junichi concludes. "Hm. Well, they seem to be great at hiding." Red nods, already starting to plan on how to take revenge for the original Red, feeling obligated to do so, on his honor as a sovereign. "Are we sure of the three''s identities? Can we trust that detective?" Red asks. "Yes. The detective has great reliability. He has the ability to replay the last moments of a dead person by touching the body''s head. The three criminals also had three prior records matching perfectly what was found at the scene." Junichi explains. "I see." Red nods. He is about to dig more information when someone interrupts their chat. "Oh Mr. Sunada, you''re still here?" Another nurse, different than the one Red borrowed the tablet PC from, comes by to check on Red. "Yes. What is it, miss?" Junichi asks. "Well, the doctor ordered visitors of Mr. Darra here has a time limit. We should also let Mr. Darra rest. He needs it very much." The nurse says. "Oh. I see. Well then. Red, I''ll come again tomorrow. By any chance, is there something I can help you with to make you more comfortable here?" Junichi asks. "N-.. Yes." Red then grabs something under the cushion of my bed and hand it to him. "Is there any way you can have my phone unlocked? I forgot my password and it seemed like I did not set up the finger print and face recognition functions in it." Red asks. "Oh! That might actually help you remember! Oh. The screen''s broken You know what? I''ll get you a new one, copy the data in here to it, and send it to you in a few hours." Junichi says. "That would be great." "Uhm. I might come again tomorrow or the day after, so I hope you remember more by then." Junichi finally bids his farewell. "I hope so as well. Thank you for the visit, Junichi. And I''m sorry that I still can''t remember you." Red says. "It''s understandable. I''ll get going then.." With that, Red is left alone with the nurse, Maeko. Chapter 5 - Using Spiritual Energy Again "Good morning, Red." Maeko greets after Junichi left. Maeko, the first person who the Red Sovereign interacted with in this world, is actually one of the famous employees working in this hospital. Her being superioris that has the ability that allows her to ease people''s pain, she became a treasured asset in the hospital. "Good morning, paracetamol." Red greets with a smile. "Ha-ha really funny. Yesterday, I was aspirin. What''s my name tomorrow? Ibuprofen?" She rolls her eyes. "No Tramadol? Maybe Vicodin?" Red says. "Wait My limit for now is comparable to Tramadol. How did you know?" She asks, catching the connection. "Coincidence. I heard a doctor say something like ''give her a weak opioid first. Start Tramadol on her. Let''s hope it''s enough to ease her pain.''" Red says, lying. "I see. Wait. How do you even know these drugs when you can''t even remember your past? These drugs sound gibberish to laymen." She asks again, making Red smile. "Internet. I tried looking up any new word I hear, hoping it will jog my memory." He lies. "I see. Well. How are you feeling today?" She asks finally about Red''s condition, despite already finishing her observations. "Great, actually. Even better than yesterday." Red falsely reports. "Good Well. Let''s just wait what will the doctor will tell us later, okay?" Maeko says. "Yeah." Red nods. "Hey I didn''t know you knew THE Junichi Sunada!" Maeko starts to gossip. "I didn''t know that chi-.. that guy." Red drops his use of the word ''child'' for now, not wanting to be bothered again by Maeko about it. "Why do you speak about him like he is someone powerful?" Red asks. "Well. Junichi isn''t exactly a big deal, but his family is. They''re the richest and most powerful here in Suginami, tracing back to the great war." She says. "Hmm. I see." Red simply nods. "I can''t believe they put you in a ward. Just now that you''re all conscious that they''re giving you a VIP suite." She grumbles. "I do not need it any-. What?" Red is surprised. "Yeah. Mr. Sunada signed to have you transferred to a private suite in the VIP building before he came to see you." Maeko says. "I see. By the way. Why am I still not discharged? My lab tests yesterday say that I''m more than healthy." He asks. "Well, those don''t have anything to do with your safety. The issue is, you probably forgot many things like crossing a street, or taking a shower It''s not safe." Maeko says. "Hm. You see how clean I am, yes? I don''t have problems using the toilet. I can even use tech. I still have my habits." Red says. "Sure but I saw you stumble many times just from walking." Maeko says. "Well. It just doesn''t seem to be my body. I''m still uncoordinated here and there, but I don''t need a hospital to do that." Red shrugs. "See? See! That''s a neurologic symptom. Just stay longer, okay? And are you really sure you''re ready to go back being a butler?" Maeko says. "" Red considers a few factors before nodding. "Okay I might actually need that VIP room after all. For privacy purposes." He decides to accept it. "Good." An hour later, Red is now in his VIP room, with the doctor and Maeko checking up on him. "Okay. Squeeze my hand." The doctor starts his assessment and Red follows. "Okay. Alright.. try resisting" The doctor then moves the assessment to Red''s legs. Shortly after, "*sigh* Okay." The doctor exhales and nods. "Is there a problem, doctor?" Red asks. "Yeah. Maeko''s right. You still have problems in your brain. Your right limbs are weaker than your left limbs. I''ll order an MRI scan on your brain for later. If there are problems there, you''ll have to stay longer." The doctor says. "Okay." Red nods in acceptance. "Okay. I''ll see you tomorrow." The doctor finally leaves. "See? I was right." Maeko says. "Yes. Yes. You were... I need to be alone." Red feigns being upset. " Okay." Maeko, seeing Red''s face, obliges. "Oh. Another nurse will take charge of you starting from now." Maeko adds. "Hm. I''ll see you before I leave the hospital. Thanks for taking care of me." Red says. With that, Maeko leaves Red alone. "Haha." Red chuckles. Right before the doctor''s assessment, he looked up on the internet how to score a perfect neuro exam, which gave him the knowledge to fake a score. He decided to stay in the hospital for longer as he has plans that might not work out without the privacy the VIP room provides. "For now. Let''s get used to this body." Red says to himself as he starts practicing a mortal level movement technique in the spacious hotel room like hospital room. ~ Night time soon comes and Red finds himself on a stairwell going up the VIP building''s rooftop. "If you cross the lips City lights directly below I can see it floating City lights by the moonlight" He sings as he opens the door of the rooftop and finds the nearest place he can sit, which is a bench beside a flower bed. "This world has pretty songs.... When was the last time I bothered with these tiny things?" He smiles as sits down and he looks up at the night sky. He then closes his eyes to look at his inner body. "I seem to have eight times spiritual energy than a regular high mortal warrior. Who knew I''d have the perfect foundation without even working on it" He scoffs. Suddenly, "Hi!" he is interrupted from his thoughts. Red opens his eyes to see a young girl in her early teens, wearing a hospital gown, standing in front of him with a curious look on her face. The girl''s jet black shoulder length hair dancing in the wind. "Hi." He greets back. "What were you doing? Meditating?" The girl asks. "Yeah. Sort of What are you doing here alone at this hour, young lady?" He asks. "Why do you talk l- Nevermind. What are YOU doing here alone at this hour?" She asks as she sits beside Red. "I needed fresh air." He says. "Oh This is the first time I saw you around here, ojisan (Uncle). Were you just admitted?" She asks. "" Red then takes a deep breath, making himself ready for what seems like a long chat coming from a curious girl. "Yeah. A few days ago." He says. "Why are you here? You don''t look sick." The girl asks. "Uhn. I don''t look sick. But you don''t either." He says, but feeling something is wrong with the girl''s brain. "True. But I''m really sick! I''m gonna die in two months!" She says. "Really?" He feigns skepticism. "Yes! I have glioblastoma. A kind of brain tumor. Doctors say it''s inoperable." She says loudly as if proving it. "Oh Not even a superioris surgeon can take it out?" Red asks. "No. It''s in a dangerous part. They say if they remove it, they''ll also remove the part of the brain that make me breathe." The girl says. "" Red is caught off guard by how casually the girl is talking about it. "Well. That''s a shame. You''re really young." Red says. "Yeah. But It''s fine. At least I''m not feeling any pain." The girl says. Red however, sees deep sadness and fear flash in the girl''s eyes before disappearing. "That''s good. Are you having fun at least?" Red asks. "Yeah. My friends from school visit me every day. My parents made up too because I''m sick. I''m happy." The girl says. "I see You''re strong." he says, sincerely. "Strong? Yeah, right. That''s what caused my tumor." She says. "What do you mean?" Red asks, confused by the answer. "I''m a class A telekinetic type superioris. But because my powers appeared too early and grew too fast, it affected my brain." She explains, pointing at her head. "I see." Red remembers reading that thinker and psionic type superioris tend to have brain tumors. "So. Class A, huh?" Red asks. "Yeah But how did you know I''m strong?" The girl asks. "I''m not talking about your powers." Red says. "What did you mean?" The girl asks, in interest. "You''re strong. You''re keeping a happy act in front of everyone. You''re smiling even when you''re by yourself." Red says. "How.." The girl is speechless. "That''s what strong people do. But you also have to be honest. You know what I mean, right?" Red asks. " No" The girl denies. "I know you''re scared. You''re very scared. It''s okay to admit that to yourself out loud." Red says. "What''s the use? I don''t want to live in fear. I don''t want them to worry." The girl says, tears starting to pool in her eyes. "That''s exactly what you''re doing. You''re having them worried because they know you''re acting fine, when you''re not fine. At the same time, you''re living in fear. Am I wrong?" Red asks. "" The girl has no answer. "What am I supposed to do?" She asks weakly. "Don''t hold it in or it will come at you in the end. Do you really want to die with fear by your side?" Red asks. "" The girl shakes her head, feeling choked up. "So, cry as much as you want. Fear as much as you want. Eventually, you will get over the fear much quicker than you may think. In the end, you''ll die happy and satisfied with the life you lived." Red says. "*sniff* *sniff*" Tears finally fall from the girl''s eyes and "*sob* *sob* I''m scared oniisan. I don''t want to die. *sob* *sob*" she breaks down. The plants in the flower beds around Red and the girl, as if bending down to the girl''s emotions, start billowing. Even the soil in those flower beds start dancing. Red however does not care and he puts his arm around the girl''s shoulders to console her. "Be it two months or two hundred years, everyone dies eventually. You can still live a lifetime in your last two months." Red says. "*sob* What am I gonna do? Two months is too short. *sob" She asks. "Cry when you''re sad Smile when you''re happy... Do what you want to do... That alone is worth years to do for others." Red consoles. "*sob* I''m never gonna see them again when I''m gone *sob*" She says in between sobs. "It''s sad. I know. Don''t keep anything from them, and just be who you are. But at the same time, be good to them. Make good memories with them. And by the end, that''s all you''re gonna remember, and what they''ll remember of you." Red says, feeling all sorts of emotions brew inside him. "*sob* Will that work?" She asks, starting to calm down. "Most likely. And it''s the best you can do for them and for yourself." Red says. "*sniff* *sniff* Okay" Tears finally stop falling from her eyes, and she smiles. Red smiles back. Noticing that the girl looks much more comfortable and less burdened than earlier, he removes his arm around her shoulders. A few minutes later, the girl finally runs out of tears. "Are you okay now?" Red asks. "Yeah.. Thank you *sniff* It''s weird. I just cried, but this is the best I''ve felt in a long time." The girl says. "That''s why crying is good sometimes." Red says. "Ojisan Do you cry often?" The girl asks. "haha. No. I only cried once, but I remember it made me feel better." Red says. "Why did you cry?" The girl asks. "Hm. I was married once. My wife and I, we loved each other but we didn''t spend a lot of time to make good memories. It wasn''t until when she was dying that I realized that. Sadness was not enough to describe how I felt when she passed." Red says. "Oh was she sick just like me?" She asks. "You can say that. But, in her case, she cannot live as long as me. Anyways. That''s when I cried. When she was dying. When I saw how as sad and regretful she was, just like I was." Red concludes. "I see OW!" The girl suddenly shrieks and holds her head in pain. Red does a spiritual scan on the girl''s brain and sees brain tissues contracting, causing her pain. "Where''s your meds?" Red asks in hurry. "I-I didn''t bring it." The girl struggles to say. ''Screw it. It''s not like I didn''t apply illusion to my face.'' Red decides to intervene and cradles the girl on his lap. He then lays his palm on the girl''s head and starts the best healing technique he knows that his high mortal cultivation can afford. *zzzmmmm* With the help of his spiritual sense, Red gets to the root cause of the pain and immediately applies the technique to it using his spiritual energy. A few moments later, the girl is now asleep in Red''s arms, with a peaceful expression on her face. "*huff* *huff* I still got it. Hehe." Red chuckles in satisfaction as he wipes his sweaty forehead, his spiritual energy almost drained. "But I think I overdid it. Heh. After all the talk about death and acceptance...." Red shakes his head in amusement. Chapter 6 - Making A Friend It is 9 pm and the hospital staff is about to switch shifts. "Where is patient Darra?" The VIP building''s head nurse asks as she and other nurses find Red''s room empty during their rounds. "I don''t know ma''am." The new nurse in charge of Red, answers. "Oh. There''s a note on the bed." One of the nurses points reports. "Let me see." The head nurse asks for it and reads it. ''I will be in the rooftop for the whole night. If you find me sleeping, please do not wake me.'' She reads. "What do we do, ma''am?" Red''s nurse asks. "Let''s do as he says. Besides, he''s not an at-risk patient. The doctor noted that he will just need physical therapy." The head nurse says. ~ After sneaking the girl back in her hospital suite, Red is back again at the rooftop. "*Huff* I''m exhausted." Red weakly sits down on the comfortable leather chair he brought from his room. "*sigh* While I love to live a normal life in this world, I can''t do that if I''m not safe. With my current cultivation, I feel like even that girl could have made me sweat in a fight had she been healthy. It looks like I can deal with most Class A superiori. I wonder how strong the class S are" Red is bothered and excited at the same time. "This realm barely has spiritual energy in its atmosphere. Even if I cultivate a hundred years, I''ll only be an earthly immortal. That''s too long... Maybe I can stand atop of this world without worry if I''m at Peak Mortal Cultivation?" Red mulls over. The next moment however. "Forget it. Why do I worry so much?" Red sinks himself on his chair at looks up at the sky. "Oh Moonlight How about I try the celestial body breathing technique?" Red decides over which technique he should use to recover his spent spiritual energy. The Celestial Body Breathing Technique. It is one of the techniques he made himself when he was an immortal. The technique makes use of the light from the moon, stars, and the sun to recover and raise a cultivator''s cultivation faster. A cultivator who uses the technique starts off absorbing spiritual energy with the help of the moonlight. When moonlight is no longer beneficial, they will move on to using the sunlight, and subsequently to using the light from the stars. Mortal cultivators, especially those who do not have the perfect foundation, often need cultivation pills or spiritual plants to aid their growth. The ones who have more than stable foundations on the other hand, like Red currently is, do not need them and can grow enough using dormant spiritual energy around. "It''s not the perfect cultivation technique, but it''s the most accessible." For Red''s high mortal cultivation level, he can only absorb the moonlight. **ssspppp** *hup*" Red closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before holding it. To any mortal, Red now looks like he is simply lounging in a comfortable chair, asleep. But to any cultivator, they should be able to see that the moonlight shining on Red''s body is being absorbed through his skin. A minute later, "HHuuuupppp..." Red''s lungs deflate to its limits and he gasps for air. "One breath for two hundred seconds of absorption. Good start. Starlight level is not far away." Red is impressed with his current body. "One more time *ssssspp* *Huuuuu*" Red plans to cultivate the moon light until he becomes bored of it. ~ Kaoru wakes up in her room with the sun light shining on her face through her room''s window. "Kaoru. You''re up?" A lady who looks to be in her late 30s greets her. "Hey mom. Good morning." Kaoru asks. "Good morning. You seem to have slept well?" Her mother asks. "Yeah I''ve not slept that well in a lon- Wait." The memories of the previous night flood in Kaoru''s mind. "Who''s that ojisan?" Kaoru asks. "Who?" Her mother asks. "That ojisan who carried me to my room last night!" Kaoru says. "What? You came back to bed alone." Her mother says in confusion. "That''s not right. I was sure he brought me here last night! You were here!" Kaoru says. "Oh dear" Her mother''s heart palpitates in worry. "Are you okay? Is your head hurting? You must have been hallucinating!" "Mom. I feel fine!" Kaoru says. "You don''t have to say that all the time." Her mother says. "No. Really! I feel fine. I''m still scared, but I feel fine." Kaoru says. "Wh- ''scared''?" Her mother is taken aback. "Yes. That ojisan told me last night that it''s okay to be scared." Kaoru clarifies. "Oh Kaoru. Is that why your eyes are swollen? You were scared, crying?" Her mother embraces her. "Yes mom. But don''t worry. I''m happy too. I''m happy that you and dad got back together. I was so scared, but I''m less scared if you and dad are here." Kaoru says, tears starting to pool in her eyes again. "Okay. Just tell us when you''re scared okay?" Her mother consoles. "Okay" Kaoru says and with that, they stay silent, in each other''s arms for a few moments. "Mom Did I really come back alone last night?" Kaoru asks. "Yes. As soon as you entered the room, you said ''goodnight'' and went to bed immediately." Her mom recalls. "That can''t be right" Kaoru shakes her head. "That ojisan carried me to bed and said ''goodnight'' to me." Kaoru says. " *sigh*" Her mother, seeing as her hallucination helped her express herself, decides to play along. "Who was this ojisan?" her mother asks. "I don''t know his name. But I talked to him on the rooftop last night. He''s a new patient in the building." Kaoru starts to tell her mother what happened on the rooftop. "So, a superioris who eased your pain?" Her mother asks. "Yeah." Kaoru nods. "What did he look like?" her mother asks. "Uhh A little older than you or dad. And tall! He''s much taller than dad!" Kaoru recalls. "Hmm. I''ll look into him and say thanks. But in the meantime, I''ll have your doctor test you, okay?" Her mother says, worried that her daughter''s story might have been a symptom. "Okay" Kaoru complies, not minding it. A few hours later. "This!" Kaoru''s doctor cannot believe what he is seeing in the MRI''s display. "What''s wrong, doctor?" Kaoru''s mother asks. "Mrs. Nagano *sigh* I don''t believe it..." The doctor replies. "Is there something wrong with the scan?" Mrs. Nagano asks in worry. "No. It''s perfect. But ... I can''t see the tumor anymore." The doctor says as he trace his finger on the scan. "What?" Mrs. Nagano and Kaoru are unsure if they heard the doctor right. "I can''t see the tumor. It''s also a picture-perfect contrast scan..." The doctor says, still not believing what he is seeing. "She''s getting better?" Mrs. Nagano says, not understanding well the doctor''s words. "" Kaoru also clenches her hands in anticipation. " Y-you can say that." The doctor finally recovers and begins to explain. "I don''t believe in miracles, but Here''s one right in front of me." The doctor stares at Kaoru. "The other parts of the brain near where the tumor was, seem to have shifted to where they''re supposed to be. I can''t say for sure that you''re entirely safe, but it''s most likely that the tumor is gone." The doctor continues. "" Mrs. Nagano is speechless and starts trembling in excitement. "" Kaoru embraces her mother. "Kaoru, Mrs. Nagano." The doctor pulls the two out of their state. "It''s a miracle, but we still have to monitor her in the future. This type of tumors has a high percentage of recurrence even after surgery. In Kaoru''s case, I don''t even know if that''s the case." The doctor says. "Okay. But does this mean, I''m no longer dying?" Kaoru asks. "Yes. For now, we can sigh in relief." The doctor says. This triggers a tearful embrace between the mother and daughter. ~ "Good lord" The nurse in charge of Red is almost in shock as she steps in Red''s room. Red is currently seated at the room''s dining table, with stacks of emptied takeout boxes in front of him. "Good afternoon ma''am." Red greets before he resumes eating. "Wha- whe-" The nurse is speechless. "You should have come in earlier. It was a rather lonely lunch." Red says. "I thought you had visitors when I saw those delivery people go in your room." The nurse is dumbfounded as she once again looks at the empty takeout boxes. "*sigh* Never mind. How are you today, Mr. Darra?" The nurse asks. "Great. And huuuu.. full!" Red says before finising the last bite. "Good enough to really consume all of these?" The nurse asks. "Heh. I guess my appetite came rushing back. When I found out I had a lot of savings, I just had to order them." Red says, starting to put away the garbage in front of him. "You didn''t know you had mone- So You still can''t remember anything?" The nurse notes. "Yes. I tried reading stuff in the internet and listening to music to maybe trigger my memories but they didn''t work. So I tried eating different stuff. Maybe the flavors, taste, could have been the answer." Red says as he finishes cleaning the table. "Did it work?" The nurse asks. "Obviously not. Unfortunately, flavors and smells are not it either." Red lies. He actually starved from cultivating. "I see. Your previous nurse noted that you are still uncoordinated." The nurse asks. "Kind of. But I''m better than yesterday" Red says as he walks toward his room''s window and opens it to let the smell of the food out. "Good. How about headaches? Any pain in general?" The nurse asks. "No... Hey, can I take a run around the building? That helps, right?" Red says as he takes in the view from his window, of the wide yard and parking lot of the VIP building. "You can. But it''s best if you have a guardian with you." The nurse says. ''Whatever. I''ll just sneak out later.'' Red smirks. The two''s chat is interrupted when the room''s door opens abruptly to reveal a mother and daughter pair. "Ojisan!" Kaoru calls out to Red as she drags her mother in the room. The next moment however, "" Kaoru disappointed when Red turns around, revealing not the middle aged man she met the night before, but a young man. "Nurse. Do I look that old?" Red asks the nurse. "Haha. No." The nurse answers. "Mrs. Nagano. Ms. Nagano. What are you two doing here?" The nurse asks Kaoru and her mother. "I''m sorry about that. Kaoru here made a friend last night and she''s looking for him." Mrs. Nagano explains. Red though, can see in her face that there is more to her words. "A friend? Who is it?" The nurse asks. "He didn''t say his name. But he''s a new patient!" Kaoru says. "Huh. Is that friend Red here? He''s the only new patient who came in within the past few days." The nurse says. "Red? Nice to meet you! I''m Kaoru." Kaoru introduces herself. '' Ahh It looks like I lost my skills in deception.'' Red sighs internally in frustration, already having an idea how things will go. "Hello. I''m Red, a new patient. Please take care of me." Red introduces himself. "Red nii san. Did you see an oji san around?" Kaoru asks. "I''m new here and I''ve not seen another patient." Red says. "Oh" Kaoru pouts in disappointment. "What does this patient look like?" The nurse asks, concerned about an intruder. "He''s a bit older than my dad and tall like Red. We talked in the rooftop last night." Kaoru says. "Huh Mr. Darra. Weren''t you in the rooftop the whole evening? You also slept there?" The nurse asks. "Yeah. But I was alone the whole time except when the security guard goes there during his rounds." Red replies. "I didn''t see you there!" Kaoru argues. "Young miss. I didn''t see you there either." Red says. "Kaoru. Let''s go back. It looks like Red needs some rest." Mrs. Nagano urges Kaoru, embarrassed at the situation. "" Kaoru meanwhile, stares at Red curiously for a few moments. "Kaoru?" Her mother calls out again. "Mom! I want to be friends with Red!" Kaoru says. "" Red meanwhile, knows what Kaoru really means. "How about that oji san you''re looking for?" Mrs. Nagano says. "Mom, we looked for him all over. I think he doesn''t want to be found." Kaoru says. Mrs. Nagano nods, finding Kaoru''s words reasonable. "So, may I stay here for a while? He seems alone." Kaoru asks. "Kaoru" Her mother hesitates. "Mom. We have a B class superiori as security guards around. You know that I also can handle myself. Especially now" Kaoru says. Her mother finally nods. "Alright. But you might be disturbing Mr. Darra." She says. "It''s actually perfect, Mrs. Nagano. Mr. Darra here might be in need of someone to talk to. I can''t tell you about Mr. Darra''s condition, but talking to someone might be helpful." The nurse says, sincerely hoping that her guess is correct. "And. Wouldn''t it be mean to refuse a girl wanting to make a friend?" She also gives Red an enforcing look. ''If I could only wipe all of your memories.'' Red grumbles internally. "Okay." He can only nod. "Alright. I''ll be with the nurses, Kaoru. I''ll call you when your dad comes, okay?" Kaoru''s mother says. "Okay mom!" Kaoru says, glad that her mother agreed to her request.. With that, Red and Kaoru are left alone in Red''s room. Chapter 7 - Cutting Connections "" Red and Kaoru stare at each other, waiting for one of them to speak first. "You''re fearless to be alone with a stranger." Red gets the first word in. "Red. You were that oji san." Kaoru says in certainty. "I''m obviously an onii san." Red says. "Fine onii san. How did you change your face?" Kaoru stays on her subject. "Young lady. There might be a misunderstanding here. I''ve never seen you before." Red says. "Nii san! What did you do to me?!" Kaoru bursts out, shaking the air. "Hmm.. I don''t know what you mean." Red continues to deny. "Liar! I remember your hands. Your height. Your hair. Your voice! It was you!" Kaoru insists. ''Tsk'' Red clicks his tongue. "Kaoru, right? This is not how you make friends." Red says. *slam* *slam* Suddenly, the chairs, tables, and even Red''s chair start levitating and then surrounds Red before being set down. "Young lady. You know that using your powers against a non-superioris is a crime, right?" Red asks, starting to get bothered by the girl''s actions. "I didn''t hurt you." Kaoru says. "Then what''s the meaning of this?" Red asks. "I''m going to rush out of the room and tell the nurses there''s a fugitive in the hospital. You also seem to be an unregistered superioris which explains why you''re in disguise." Kaoru says. Kaoru''s threat works on Red and he sighs. " Fine." He finally gives up and he casts an illusion to his face, making it appear the same as the one Kaoru saw the previous night. "It was you" Kaoru smiles in recognition, finally calming down. "Please return the things where they used to and we talk." Red says as he jumps over the disarray of furniture to make himself coffee. After rearranging the furniture, Kaoru and Red are now seated at the table beside the window with beverages in front of them. "So which one''s your real face?" Kaoru asks. This question makes an idea pop in Red''s head and he smirks. "This one." Red says as he casts an illusion to what his body would look like as an old man in his 70s. "You You''re not even an oji san (uncle) but ojii san (grandpa)!" Kaoru recoils in shock. "...." Red does not answer and simply sips on his coffee. "Tell me honestly. Were you the one who removed my tumor?" Kaoru asks, recovering from her shock. "What if I was?" Red asks in dismissal. "I''m just thankful. Very thankful." Kaoru says. "Hmm." Red nods. " It makes me feel bad that it''s not a big deal to you." Kaoru says. "It is. I just gave away a few years of my life to you. You were right to say I''m an oji san. The me you saw last night would be me in my real age. This is how old my body is." Red says. "" Kaoru is speechless and her eyes redden before looking down at her cup in guilt. "But why did you save me? You must have gotten a lot older" Kaoru asks. "You just reminded me of my daughter." Red says. "I''m sorry." Kaoru says and she looks back up at Red. "Can I give them back? Your years?" Kaoru asks. "You can''t." Red says. " Then is there a way I can pay you back? My family is powerful!" Kaoru says. "Hmm... More powerful than the Sunada family?" Red asks. "" Kaoru looks at him in suspicion, but brushes it aside for her benefactor. "Yes! The Sunada is just powerful in this city, but our family is active all throughout the eastern part of the Kanto region." Kaoru says. Red nods at this. "Well. I need two things from you." Red says, getting Kaoru''s entire attention. "First. I need your silence. As you have seen, one of my superioris ability is to heal people''s diseases, no matter how severe, in exchange for my own years of life." Red says. "It''s a powerful ability. I get it now, why you''re in disguise." Kaoru nods. "Yes. Thankfully I can also manipulate how I look like. But it is not enough to protect the people I love. I even had to abandon my daughter for her own safety." Red says. " I promise I won''t tell anyone!" Kaoru promises out of guilt. "Thank you." Red nods, seeing Kaoru most likely to keep her promise. "The other thing you wanted?" Kaoru asks. "Yes. Second thing. I''ve exposed more than I want by involving myself with you." Red starts to guilt her again and it is working. "I''m also pretty sure you told your mother about what happened las night, right?" Red asks. "Yes." Kaoru looks down again in embarrassment. "Hm. After I''ve recovered, I need to move and disappear again. For me to do that, I need a new clean identity as soon as possible." Red says. "Can''t you just change your face?" Kaoru asks. "I can. But I want to settle down for a long time." Red says. "Hmmm... Now that I can use my abilities without risks, my family will value me again! I might be able to help you with that!" Kaoru says. "Then I thank you in advance." Red nods. " But I''ll be sad when you''re gone. Can I hire you instead? I can protect you by my side." Kaoru says. "Young miss. I just want to live a peaceful life. Staying by your side gives me unnecessary worry. I don''t want to grow old faster in worry." Red says. " Fine." Kaoru sighs and gives up recruiting Red. "Then. What type of identity are you looking for exactly?" Kaoru asks. "Hmmm. I''ll make it simple. A Japanese national, age 45, unknown lineage because I''m an orphan." Red says. "Hm. Black hair, black irises, but your features are not exactly Japanese. Oh... that''s right. You can change what you look like..." Kaoru nods. "Yes. Can you also get me a fake massage therapist license? I really had that one in one of my past identities. I need it to make a living." Red says. "Okay!" Kaoru nods, glad to help. ~ "Red. How are you?" The middle of the afternoon arrives and Junichi drops by for a visit. "Good. Maybe it''s the room you got for me, but I''m feeling almost perfect. You could have just got me a simple private room, not a hotel room within a hospital." Red says. "Heh.. it''s nothing for me" Junichi says, not knowing what to say. Red, reading Junichi''s face and body language however, knows immediately what Junichi wants to ask. "I still haven''t regained any of my memories." He says. "Nothing? After going through your phone and your clothes I sent over?" Junichi asks. "Uhn. I even tried eating different dishes of different cuisines, smelling different scents, but still nothing." Red says. "*sigh* that must have been the price to pay for that miracle." Junichi mumbles. "Miracle?" Red asks. "Yes. Miracle. I saw how hard you crashed into that building. Not even an F class physical type superioris could have survived that. But you did. Without injury." Junichi explains. "Is it that easy to explain?" Red chuckles. "Of course not. But the world is mysterious. Anything is possible." Junich shrugs. "Heh. Yeah." Red nods. "How about you? Are you well?" He asks, seeing that Junichi is a bit sluggish. "Yeah. My father got me new responsibilities after completing the mission. He also got me a new secretary. A superioris one at that. But she can''t do her duties as well as you did." Junichi says. "Heh. At least I know now that I was a competent butler and assistant to you." Red nods. "You were. That''s why in addition to your memories coming back, I''m hoping you come back to work too." Junichi chuckles. "Hm. I saw my bank account today online. I can''t believe I saved up almost a hundred million yen. Was I worth that much?" Red asks. "Hehe. That''s your savings after fourteen years with me. But you couldn''t have saved up that much had you not been a miser. You also had no life outside the job." Junichi explains. "I see Well. Junichi. It''s been three days since I woke up. Not even a single flash of memory came back, and I''m slowly becoming discouraged. What if I never get to in the future? What if I don''t regain my skills as a butler?" Red grabs this chance to cut his relation to Junichi. "I''d be beyond disappointed if that happens. But you are always welcome to work for me, relearn your lost skills. The instincts must still be there." Junichi says. Red smirks at how much Junichi cares for him, or the old Red. "While I''d love that. I don''t want to go back to your mansion." Red says. "Red" Junichi is stunned. "Well. For now, at least." Red adds, making Junichi hopeful. "But. Like you said I had no life outside the job. Wouldn''t this be the perfect time to build one? I have plenty of savings to do so." Red says. "Heheh" Junichi chuckles out of nowhere. "What''s wrong?" Red asks. "Nothing. It''s just. I always felt that you always held back with me. I guess this is the real you talking." Junichi smiles bitterly. Red gives back a consoling smile. "Very well. From now on, you are dismissed as my butler. I will pay you the rest of your salary for the year." Junichi says with a sigh. "That easy, huh?" Red chuckles. "Uhn. Adding up all the days you could have taken your vacation over the years, why not? And, who knows? Maybe you''ll get sick of doing nothing and you''ll come back to me." Junichi says. "I guess that makes sense." Red nods. "But you have to promise me one thing." Junichi adds. "What is it?" "You have to drop by from time to time. Even though you were my butler, I considered you one of my few trusted friends." Junichi says. "That''s easy." Red nods. "And. If ever you get back your memories, come back to work. Please, don''t hold anything back by then. Be yourself when with me." Junichi says. "Of course. Even though I can''t remember it, I owe you a lot too. I''ll come back as competent as before." Red says, feigning a promise. "Then that''s good." Junichi nods. "Ah... Junichi? You don''t have to visit anymore. If you want to check in, just call. You look like you need some rest." Red says. "Heh. Now that''s the past you talking. Still worried about me when you''re the one who'' sick." Junichi says. ~ Three days later "Good morning Red oji-chan!" Kaoru marches in Red''s room and immediately joins Red by the table beside the window where Red often is at this time of the day. Red, used to Kaoru''s barging in in the past three days, boringly looks up from his phone to acknowledge her arrival. Today''s visit from Kaoru however, is a bit different. "Ooohhh. Now, you really look like a young miss from a rich family." Red says, impressed at how cute Kaoru is in her red-themed kimono made of very high-quality silk, and the intricate hairstyle that goes along with it. "Thank you!" Kaoru does a theatrical gesture with her sleeves. "Pretty! So. You''re leaving today?" Red asks. "Yes! All the additional tests are done! I''m all good! Thanks to you again!" Kaoru says. ."Very good." Red nods. "How about you? When are you leaving the hospital?" Kaoru asks. "Some time this week." Red says. "Nice! Oh If only we can go home together. I''d love you to visit my home." Kaoru is disappointed. "I''ll pay you a visit someday." Red says. "I''d like that! Anyways. Here are the things you asked for." Kaoru lays a manila envelope on the table. Red opens the envelope to see different documents in it and a flash drive. "Thank you, Kaoru. I don''t even know how you managed to get these." Red says as he takes the documents out. "My secretary made a few calls. He is really good at these things!" Kaoru says. "These look real." Red nods after quickly reading. "They belonged to a homeless person who was caught in a fight between superiori. His body was identified but he had no family to claim him." Kaoru holds her arms at how cold her words were. "Hmm. I''m a bit taller but" Red then casts an illusion to himself, copying the appearance of the person in the documents. "Hmmm. Even though your abilities have no attack power, they''re pretty useful and scary." Kaoru is still surprised at Red''s ''ability''. "I wonder what your Superioris Class is." She adds. "Probably A." Red shrugs and he uncasts the illusion. "It''s rude of me to say this, but you should probably go. Your parents must be looking for you right now." Red says, detecting familiar silhouettes with his spiritual sense, closing in. "Yeah. I wish we can hang out more, but there are a lot of things waiting for me at home now that I''m well." Kaoru sighs. "uhn. Come closer for a moment." Red says, and Kaoru leans over the table. Red then touches Kaoru''s head for effect while he scans Kaoru''s brain with his spiritual sense. A few seconds later, Red retrieves his hand and nods. "All good?" Kaoru asks. "All good.." Red smiles and pats Kaoru''s head. Chapter 8 - Starting A New Life "So this is my life All in this suitcase." Red says, standing over at the open suitcase lying on his hospital bed. "Yes. Well. Your butler suits and leather shoes are still at the young master''s house, but yeah, these are all the things I found in your quarters." Kenji, the man that Junichi sent over with Red''s stuff, says. "I really didn''t have a life." Red says, feeling bad for the original Red. "From what I saw working together with you, that''s about right." Kenji says. "So Sleepwear, sportswear. That''s all I wore aside from my butler uniform?" Red asks. "Yes." Kenji nods. "I had no identity Wait. Was I a modern-day slave or something?" Red jokes. "Haha. No. But with the way you lived, you might as well have been, only a self-imposed one. You also always refused gifts from the young master and other people." Kenji says. "Huh what was wrong with me?" Red shakes his head as he moves on to the documents. "Well. At least this assures me that I''m a legal citizen of this country." He says as he browses through the original Red''s bank book, adoption papers, and driver''s licenses. "Huh. That''s strange. Having a car license is a given for a butler But why do I have a motorcycle license?" Red asks. "It''s the young master''s hobby. He forced you to get one yourself. Oh. He actually wants you to have one of his bikes. It''s parked in the lot below." Kenji explains. "That''s generous. The old me would have refused it." Red says. "Heh heh." Kenji can only chuckle at the comment. "Yeah. I somehow feel that I can ride one" Red feigns. "Anyways. I learned nothing about myself aside from liking comfy clothes." He says as he closes the suitcase. "Okay. I''m done here. Is there anything you want to pass on to the young master?" Kenji asks. "Nah. I''m good. Just tell him that I''ll call when I get discharged." Red says. "Okay. How about we drink together when you get discharged? You always refused to hang out with me before." Kenji says. "Alright. I will." Red says. With that Kenji leaves the room. As soon as Kenji leaves the room, Red''s amicable face changes to a serious one. He then looks at an out of place screw head on the hinge of the suitcase. During Kenji''s visit, Red caught him taking multiple glances at that certain screw head. *zzmmm* Red then focuses his spiritual sense to the particular button and is amused at what he finds. ''Tiny and electronic'' Red scoffs, figuring out that the screw is either a tracking device or a listening device like the ones he read on the internet. He then he closes the suitcase before storing it at the corner of his room, deciding keep the bug for now, out of earshot. "As for now" Red locks his room''s door, goes back to his bed, and takes out the small pocket knife Kaoru randomly gave him. He then rolls up the sleeves of his hospital pajamas as he lies back down on his bed with the headrest raised for his back to rest on. With the knife he carefully and stably starts carving on the skin on his arms; deep enough to break skin, but shallow enough to only leak small drops of blood. As if not feeling pain, he quickly gets immersed in his work. . Two hours later, Red is holding his arms in front of his face, satisfied at how they look. The upper part of each of his forearms, is covered with seals as if wrapped with them; the fine lines and the circles in it were as if drawn with blood. Red''s satisfaction with his work however, is short-lived and he gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom and washes his arms. With the blood now washed, the seals now look very subtle and is nigh unnoticeable unless one looks very closely. He looks at them again as he walks out of the bathroom, and he sighs in disappointment. "All that work for only four cubic meters of space. " Red smiles bitterly. "But enough for now, I guess. Once I find a suitable gem stone or metal that can conduct spiritual energy, I''ll make a storage space then." He can only accept his situation. To test his seal, he opens his suitcase once again and takes out all his belongings from it. He then applies spiritual energy to the seal on his left arm, before touching a pair of shoes. The pair of shoes suddenly disappear with no trace left behind. Red nods in satisfaction and moves on and does same things with all the rest of the things from the suitcase and they too disappear, just like the shoes did. He then puts his left palm to the direction of the suitcase and he flares spiritual energy once again to his left arm''s seal. Soon, the things that were gone all pop back up again all at once, as if they never went anywhere. "Perfect." Red nods. He then proceeds to test the seal on his right arm and soon, he is satisfied that they work just as well as the one on his left. "Too bad, I cannot store anything living thing Not even plants. Oh well. Four cubic meters more than enough for my needs for now." Red consoles himself. ~ A few days later. Junichi''s Penthouse - Suginami "Is this about Red?" Junichi asks immediately as Kenji walks in his study. He has sent his most trusted bodyguard on a long errand. "Yes, sir." Kenji says, ready to report. "*Nod*" Junichi gestures him to begin. The bodyguard hesitates at first before, "Sir I lost him.", reporting. "WHAT?!" Junichi abruptly stands up from his chair out of surprise and anger, toppling the documents on his desk. "I have no excuses, sir." Kenji can only look down at the floor. Looking at the genuinely dejected posture of his trusted man, Junichi too can only accept the failure. "What exactly happened?" Junichi asks as he sits back down. "Like you ordered, I followed him right after he was discharged. He immediately took off with the bike you gave him. At first, it was no problem and I followed him for a few blocks. Suddenly, he took a turn on some alley somewhere in Ogikubo. That''s when I lost him. His bike is more mobile than my car in such place so, I had no choice but to immediately park the car and chase him on foot." Kenji reports. "And you didn''t find him?" Junichi says. "Yes." Kenji simply nods. "You can run faster than a bike." Junichi says. "Yes. But he disappeared right at that alley. No signs of him, and no signs of his motorcycle." Kenji says. "The tracking device?" Junichi asks. "He knew about it all along." Kenji sighs. "" Junichi is stunned. "I used it to trace him. But what I found instead, halfway through the alley, inside a butcher shop, is his suitcase, empty." Kenji explains. "Empty? ..." Junichi asks. "Yes. Empty. He must have found the tracking device very early on, and prepared how to ditch me." Kenji concludes. "*sigh* How is his change so big?" Junichi takes out his phone and dials Red''s number, and switches the phone to speaker mode. /*ring* *ring* Hello Junichi!~/ Red answers in a happy tone. "Hey Red. Where are you?" Junichi asks, already knowing that the call is about the tracking device. Kenji too, is curious. /Secret!~ Hey. Did Kenji run back to you crying?/ Red asks. Kenji looks down in embarrassment, while Junichi is mildly amused at Red''s words and tone. "He''s here. Well. First of all. I apologize for putting a tracker on you. I''m just worried, that''s all." Junichi says. /It''s understand. But you don''t have to either. Hey. You didn''t bug my phone too, right?/ Red asks. "No. Of course not." Junichi denies, honestly. /Good. Well. Don''t worry about me anymore. Let me tell you what I''ve learned about myself since I woke up... I must have great attention to detail even before that incident, right?/ Red asks. "Yes. You were, and still are. Must have been how you found our bug." Junichi says. /Yeah. I''m also oddly repulsed by unsafe things. Sharp table corners, crossing the street, even taking an escalator. I must have been obsessed with safety?/ Red says. "That''s right." Junichi confirms. /And I still am. So don''t worry about me. I can take care of myself. When I said I want to start a life, I also want to avoid anyone looking over my shoulder./ Red says. "Well. At least call every once in a while. I''m gonna be curious what you''re up to." /I will. And, you won''t have the time to hang out with me anyway. Now that you''re too busy. Anyways. Goodbye for now./ With that, Red drops the call. "I like him better now." Kenji says. "*sigh* me too. But he''s become troublesome too." Junichi shakes his head. ~~~ Nerima City 9 PM *beep* *beep* *beep* *clack* *shut* Red enters his newly purchased apartment unit after having a sumptuous dinner nearby. A few days ago, right after Kaoru handed him the identity she made for him, Red immediately snuck out of the hospital, and subsequently out of Suginami, to the neighboring Nerima to take in the sights. Liking the calming and suburban atmosphere of the city, he immediately looked for and rented an apartment. "Nice Nice Nice~" As he walks to his terrace, Red cannot help but giggle seeing that the plants he purchased earlier now look more beautiful and vibrant compared to how they were before he brought them home earlier in the morning. "But strange It''s as if these plants are just waiting to eat spiritual energy. Is it because this world has thin spiritual energy in the atmosphere?" Red rubs his chin in thought. The plants that Red purchased, while ordinary, oddly have the same structure as some of the rarest or most versatile herbs he encountered in the endless realms. "Mystery for another day" Red drops the matter. "Thankfully, my spiritual energy is just as pure as natural spiritual energy. It is edible to them." After he infused spiritual energy on the plants, they became Mid Mortal Tier spiritual herbs; much better than ordinary plants, but useless to beings below pseudo immortal level. *snap* *chew* Red cuts off a blade of grass from one of the plants and start chewing on it. "Hmm Cold." Red is pleased as a feeling of refreshment washes over him. "This is good enough to relieve muscle pains in mortals." Red notes in his head. He then proceeds to do the same thing with the other plants; cutting off grass, leaves, or flowers, and chewing on them to confirm his theories about their effects. "Good. This is good." Red is very pleased with himself after documenting the plants'' effects, matching his guesses. He then looks at the sky. "Hmm damn it." Red is about to start cultivating again but the clouds are obstructing the moon. "I still have a third of my energy left. What do I do?" He suddenly remembers something. "I ditched Kenji easily, but the other guy was quite persistent. Must have been his superioris ability. He Must have been Kaoru''s?" Red concludes. He then pulls out his phone and dials a number. /*ring* *ring* Hello?/ Kaoru, to Red''s surprise answers immediately. "Kaoru-chan. I know we agreed that we''re now strangers since you got out of the hospital. But hey, you left me your phone number." Red begins. /Oji-chan! How are you? I heard you were discharged?/ Kaoru says, feigning a pleasantly surprised tone. While Red finds her act adorable, he cannot help but scoff. "I''m good~ But Tell me I wasn''t being paranoid." He says. /What do you mean?/ Kaoru asks, confusion present in her voice. "There''s this man who tried following me since I got discharged. Is he yours?" Red asks. // Kaoru is too stunned to answer. "Kaoru. I''ve been running away from people for a long time now. I know a tail when I see one." Red says. /*sigh* Yes. He''s my man./ Kaoru finally admits. "Well. I hope you don''t do that anymore, Kaoru." Red says. /I have to know something first.. Where did the real Red go?/ Kaoru asks. Chapter 9 - Suicidal "The real Red?" Red nods at the question, understanding that Kaoru already figured out the hole in his lies. /Who are you really? You took the identity of Junichi''s butler and childhood friend. If you''re not him, then where is the real Red?/ Kaoru asks again. "He died." Red answers plainly. /He died?.../ Kaoru''s voice trembles. "Yes. I exchanged myself with him among the rubbles." Red says. /That''s... repulsive. / Kaoru says, Red hearing disgust in her voice. "He was already dead before the walls he crashed into, buried his body. I can''t save him." Red explains. /Oh But Junichi/ Kaoru struggles to argue. "Do you know that young man?" Red asks. /We''re acquainted./ Kaoru says. "What do you think will happen to Junichi if he found out that his best friend died for him?" Red asks. /I don''t know But what you did / Kaoru is conflicted. "Wouldn''t it be better for Junichi to grow estranged with Red than to lose him? Wouldn''t it be better for Junichi to see Red every once in a while, than not seeing him forever?" Red says. /This I-I understand./ Kaoru finally accepts Red''s logic, but she does not feel good about it. "Now. About that man you-" /Before that. If your name isn''t Red, then what is?/ Kaoru interrupts. "Well, you can just call me Kichirou. Or Mr. Iwai." Red says. /That''s the name of the homeless guy who died! The guy''s identity who you asked for!/ Kaoru says rather loudly in annoyance. "Kaoru. Speaking of my real name alone is dangerous to you and the people around you. I don''t want even the slightest chance of the wrong people figuring out that you and I are acquainted." Red says. /Are you really that wanted?/ Kaoru asks. "You already know the answer to that. But just to give you an idea. I can save two more S-class superioris who are at death''s door, with my remaining life. Does that help you grasp it?" Red lies. /I-I understand./ Red''s lie gives Kaoru a huge pressure. "Good. But even speaking with me is risky. I would like it if we don''t talk anymore. For you and I''s sakes." Red concludes. /But I still have to repay you! There must be something I can do for you to live as peaceful as you want./ Kaoru argues. "You never owed me, Kaoru. So. Please. Try not to look into me again as that itself will connect you with me. If you do otherwise, I will instead be the one to disappear from your life. It will be inconvenient for me, but to ensure both our safety, I will do it. Do you understand?" Red asks. /I understand./ Kaoru says. "Then goodbye, Kaoru." Red says. He is about to drop the call when, /WAIT!/ Kaoru stops him. /If that''s what you really want! But I can''t just let you be after you gave me a new life! So please. Accept what I gave you. And do not give it back as this will be the last time I''ll talk to you./ Kaoru says. "Accept what?" Red asks in curiosity. *bzzz* His phone suddenly buzzes, receiving a multimedia text message. Red opens the message and his eyes widen at the attached photo. /That is the transaction statement of the deposit I made to the bank account of your Iwai Kichirou identity./ Kaoru explains. "That much is obvious. But why? And 400 million yen too? Have you lost your mind?" Red says. /That is everything I''ve saved up for years from pocket money. That is not just money, but a symbol of my sincerity and gratitude. Accept it, use it to live the life you want/ "..." While Red wants to refuse, he knows that taking Kaoru''s money will make her feel better. /Alright. I won''t bother you anymore, oji-chan. Goodbye./ Kaoru drops the call. "" Red is still stunned at what happened. Soon, he recovers and "*sigh* This child" he smiles at not getting the last word in. He then starts to lounge at the terrace and read some more general knowledge on his newly purchased phone while waiting for the moon. *slide* *shut* Suddenly, in the terrace next to his, a man who looks to be in his early 20s, wearing a pair of cheap black suit, haggardly steps out. "?" Red silently stares at the young man and observes. He would have ignored his neighbor had he not noticed something strange in the man. His observations are rewarded as the young man listlessly walks to the ledge of the terrace and leans over it with a deep sigh. "" Red shakes his head. He has seen the young man''s expression in the past among many cultivators who have given up cultivating and have lost their will to live. ''I decided to live as a mortal. Might as well interact more with mortals.'' Red then casts an illusion to himself, to appear as his other identity, Kichirou, before "Hey kid!" greeting the young man. The young man, as if a deer caught in the headlights, turns his head to Red''s direction. "*aherm* O-oh. Hello mister. I didn''t see you there." The young man says, trying to compose himself. "I''m your new neighbor, if that isn''t obvious enough." Red says. "Yeah" The young man is not in the mood to talk. "So tell me why you want to jump?" Red asks. "W-what are you talking about?" The young man steps back from the ledge. "It also seems like you''re starting to gather the courage." Red insists. "Mister. Does it matter to you what I do?" The young man asks as he leans his back against the ledge. "It doesn''t if I didn''t see the signs. But I somehow did, so if you jumped right now, you''ll give me nightmares for years to come." Red says. "" The young man stays silent for a second before "hehe..." chuckling mirthlessly. "Can I ask Are you a superioris?" The young man asks. "You can say that I am" Red says. " ''You can say that you are''. Are you a class F?" The young man asks. "uhuh" Red nods, not sure where the conversation is going. "Well at least you''ve got something useful. I don''t." The young man says. "I''m barely a superioris. I made it 45 years old just fine." Red says. "45 married?" The young man asks. "No." Red says. "You at least have a power, no matter how small it is. But you''re still here, 45, single without kids. How do you think I''ll fare as a non-superioris? I wouldn''t be surprise if I end up homeless and out of my mind." The young man says. "" Red is stunned. The young man indirectly described the original Kichirou. 45, non-superioris, never married, and died homeless. "I know where I''m gonna end up, and I don''t like it." The young man concludes. "How about your family? Parents? Sibling?" Red asks. "I do But I know what you want to say. I''m the only non-superioris in my family. They wouldn''t care if I die. I saw it in their eyes. Their eyes tell me I''m useless every day. That''s why I moved out." The young man says. "Must have been your imagination, kid. If you''re useless, then 50 percent of the world who are like you are also useless." Red says. "You don''t know my family as well as I do... Anyways. In the end, you superiori, even the F class, are valued, but people like us are very disposable so nobody will care if I die." The young man argues. Red has no answer for the young man''s frustrations. He himself, when he became a young immortal, became indifferent to the sufferings of mortals. "Well superioris or not, you can do a lot of things. This head nurse in the hospital I was admitted to is not a superioris. She''s my age too." Red can only console. "Puhah there''s no way she had no connections to that hospital. Well, unless she''s a genius." The young man scoffs in pessimism. Red almost bursts out laughing that his consolation did not work. "Maybe. Maybe not. But she''s very well liked and respected from what I''ve seen. Being a superioris is not her identity. Is being a non-superioris what makes you you?" Red asks. "" The young man looks down sullenly. "I too resented how things worked. I resented being born with a weak ability. I could have used that time resenting things, to grab opportunities and make something of what I have. I''ve wasted my time and it was too late when I realized that. But you, kid, it''s not too late for you." Red says. "I know I''m at fault too, and wasted time. But I worked hard! Why am I not seeing the fruits of it?" The young man says. "Maybe you planted the wrong tree. Or planted the right tree in the wrong places. Look. All I''m saying is that you''re still very young and age is your value. It''s only been a few years since you became an adult. What if you miss out something good? Hm? What if the day after you take your life, an opportunity of a lifetime could appear?" Red says. "If that''s true then" The young man is still resentful, and Red knows. "Sure. If that''s true, then there will be no poor people in the world. I know there''s a very small chance of such miracle to occur. But if you''re dead. Then there''s no chance at all." Red says. "Huh how are you so positive?" The young man turns around the questioning. "Well? Just lucky to be alive, have a roof over my head, and food to fill my stomach every day." Red shrugs. "" The young man has no answer for that. "Speaking of roof above the head You look like you''re hopeless but you can afford your apartment. I was rather taken aback paying the deposit of my place." Red says to the young man. "Oh. I have two room ma- wait You''re living on your own? OH Hoh you seem to be more loaded than I thought." The young man says. "What? I''ve lived longer than you. Of course I have made more money." Red says. "Heh you were speaking as if you wasted your youth. It seems like you''re doing fine." The young man scoffs. "Hey. Is that what''s important right now? You said you have two roommates. If you jumped, what do you think they''ll feel?" Red says. "Fine! Fine! You ruined my mood to jump. F*ckin old people." The young man says in fake annoyance, but Red can tell that the young man is consoled. "Just out of curiosity What do you do for a living?" Red asks. "Err" The young man struggles to answer. "Come on. It''s a basic question." Red says. "I have three part-time jobs." The young man says. "Huh Well. It seems like you''re at least competent. Holding three part-time jobs doesn''t seem easy nowadays." Red says. "It''s good that you know" The young man nods. "But landing a regular job isn''t easy, huh? Went for an interview today?" Red asks, referring to how the young man is dressed. "Doesn''t seem to be your business, sir?" The young man says in annoyance, his soft spot hit. "Oh I''m sorry. But, hey. We''ve talked for quite some time. And it looked like we had a pleasant enough talk that we forgot to introduce ourselves?" Red says, disarming the young man''s annoyance. "I''m Iwai Kichirou by the way, pleased to meet you." Red introduces himself. "Oh I''m Kubota Fumio. Pleased to meet you Kichirou-san." Fumio says. "Uhn Well. Fumio-kun Why don''t you work for me?" Red says. This takes Fumio''s curiosity before immediately getting skeptical. "You? Hire me? HAHAHA" He says out of surprise. "I''m sorry. I didn''t mean to mock you." He adds, realizing his tone. "" He then sees that Red''s face does not have a joking expression. "You''re serious" He says, stunned. "" Red simply nods. "What kind of work?" Fumio asks, deciding to entertain Red. "Some kind of a personal assistant. You just do what I ask you to do." Red says. "" Fumio looks at Red in disgust. "hey. What''s with the face? They''ll be reasonable tasks." Red says. "Like what tasks?" Fumio asks. "Well. Looking up stuff and people. Scoping out places. I might also ask you to buy stuff I need. In general, you''ll be doing a lot of leg work." Red explains vaguely. "Looking up people.. scoping out buy stuff. A personal assistant indeed." Fumio nods. "How about pay?" He asks. "You''ll be starting at 350,000 monthly. Eight to ten hours a day." Red offers. "Three hundred fif---" Fumio is speechless at the generous amount. "Uhn. But you''ll be on call 24 hours except on the weekends." Red says. "..." This makes Fumio hesitate. "Hey. I''ll give you an advance too." Red adds. Fumio is now over the moon. Chapter 10 - Muscle Master Three months later. "Good morning bos--- whoah.." Fumio is stunned to see all sorts of potted plants in Red''s apartment. "So this is where you put all the things you had me buy?" Fumio says as he carefully treads while looking around. "Yep." Red nods. "Is this really your place, or your f*ckin garden?" This is the first time he visited Red''s home since he started working for him. "What? I live alone. My bedroom and kitchen is enough for me." Red says. "Psh.. Good for you. Anyways. They look really vibrant, and they''re not exposed to sunlight. Tell me, sir is your superioris ability have something to do with plants?" Fumio asks. He had been curious about Red''s superioris ability since he was hired. "Pretty much. Anyways. How did it go in the business office?" Red asks. "You can finally open your massage clinic, boss. *sniff* AHHHH I don''t know why, but why do I feel like a father seeing the clinic?" Fumio says, starting to tear up. For three months, Fumio has done all sorts of things for Red. It includes registering a permit for Red''s massage clinic, buying the herbs and seeds that Red needs, researching other massage clinics, and buying the furniture and equipment a massage clinic needs. "Uhn. Your job for the clinic is done. I can take over from here." Red says. "*sigh* I wish I didn''t have to be so efficient. That way, I can squeeze you more for money." Fumio says in disappointment. "What are you talking about? Your job for me isn''t done." Red says. "W-what?" Fumio asks in surprise. "Yes. I can handle all the things in the shop from now on. On the other hand, you have new tasks." Red says. "New tasks?..." Fumio is more than pleased that he is not getting fired. "Go sit at the chair in the terrace. I''ll join you in a moment." Red says as he goes to his bedroom. Fumio can only follow the orders in confusion. A moment later, Red joins Fumio at the terrace. "Here." Red hands Fumio a manila envelope. "What''s this." Fumio asks as he opens it. "Your next task." Red says. "hmmm Isao Miyashiro Koga Dai Hayashi Ayako Why do they look familiar?" Fumio asks as he goes through the files and photographs. "They''re wanted criminals." Red says. "Oh! That''s right. I saw posters of them on the train!" Fumio recalls. "Yes. Your next task. Find them." Red says. " What?" Fumio is stunned. "Wait" He then starts reading the files more. "Wait! These are D-class superiori! I''m not suicidal!" He complains. "Did I tell you to fight them?" Red asks. "Uhh no. So I''m really only gonna look for them?" Fumio asks. "Yes. I''ll give you a huge bonus too, if what you find out is useful." Red says. " I''ll do it!" Fumio accepts immediately. "That easy, huh? It has some risks. These are killers." Red says. "Like you said, boss. I''m not going to fight them " Fumio starts giggling. "What''s wrong with you?" Red is confused at the reaction. "Boss. When else can I play private detective while getting paid?" Fumio says. "Alright. Do well. But be careful." Red says. "Okay wait. Information about these people have a price, right?" Fumio asks, with a gleam in his eyes. "Hahahaha. Yeah. They do. Are you worried I''ll be taking credit?" Red asks. "No boss. Come on. I know you don''t need the money. But I need it." Fumio admits shamelessly. "Well. You can give the information you find to the police if you want to. But give me 12 hours before you do." Red says. "12 hours? Wait... boss. Why are you looking for them? Are you gonna help them hide?" Fumio asks. "Help No. These people have a debt to pay." Red says. "Debt?" "Yes. Debt. These three killed the person I''m most thankful for in this world." Red says. "" Fumio is stunned at how serious the matter is. "You''re not gonna fight them, are you? You''re a non-combat Superioris!" He asks in worry. "Who said I''m gonna fight them? They''ll be.. never mind." Red shrugs. "That''s the sterile solution I asked?" He says, seeing the plastic bag by Fumio''s foot. "Ah. Yes." Fumio can only drop the matter, seeing that Red does not want to talk about it. "Hey Boss. Why do they look like IV for patients? Are you sick? You''ve been having me buy these for months." Fumio asks. "Sick No. These are different. These are for washing and mixing medicine." Red says. "Oh mixing medicine, huh. You really sound like an expert." Fumio says. "Yeah. Wanna give my massage a try? I haven''t practiced in years so I need to warm up." Red says. "Ohhh. It''d be an honor!" Fumio says excitedly. "Alright. Let''s do it in the clinic. It''s just a five-minute walk anyways." ~ "Ahh I know it''s all yours boss, but I feel like I built this place." Fumio remarks as him and Red step in the humble looking massage clinic. The furniture at the waiting area, the tatami floor and sliding doors of the massage room, makes the clinic look very traditional. "You practically did." Red says. "Ehhh. But boss. Are you really sure naming the clinic ''Muscle Master''? It sounds like it is owned by a physical type superioris." Fumio asks. "What''s wrong with the name? It''s honest. Straightforward. I''m a master of muscles after all." Red says. "Hmm... You sound confident as hell... By the way. What work did you do here, boss? It feels like I''m the one who did all the work." Fumio playfully rudely asks. "Oh That room I''m not allowing you to see." Red says. "Oh?" Fumio gets curious. "Wanna take a look?" Red asks as he goes and unlocks the room. " Sure" Fumio is too surprised to argue and he subconsciously follows Red. "Wow" Fumio is in awe, seeing the room has shelves full of glass bottles containing liquids of different colors. "The sterile solutions the plants the glass bottles So this is where they all went?" Fumio asks, connecting the dots between the stuff he purchased for Red. "That''s right." Red says as he grabs two different bottles, one containing clear liquid, the other has green. "Alright. You''ve looked enough. You go to the massage room and wait for me there." Red orders. Fumio complies and Red is left alone in the storage. Red then walks towards the door but does not step out of the room immediately. Instead, he caresses the door frame, containing the nigh invisible security seals he carved, and infuses very small spiritual energy on them. As soon as he feels the seals working, he locks the door and leaves. "Alright. Strip- " Red says as soon as he steps in the massage room, only to find Fumio already lying on his stomach on the massage table, half-naked. "I wish it''d be a beautiful lady who said that" Fumio grumbles turning his head to Red''s direction. "Hehe. Well. Seems like you''ve done this before." Red says, chuckling. "Nope. But I''ve always wanted to. I just can''t afford it." Fumio says. "Alright. I''ll start. Relax." Red says and he scans every inch of Fumio''s muscles. "Hm. Let''s start with the back." Seeing the slightly inflamed muscles on Fumio''s back and shoulders, he applies his clear-colored concoction on his palms and starts kneading the muscles. "Ohhh That feels good." Fumio cannot help but moan in pleasure. "How come your entire back is stressed?" Red chuckles. "You make me buy and carry a lot of stuff. But seeing as they''re gonna be used here a lot, the back pain is worth it." Fumio says. "I see Well, they have signs of recent mass growth. Hey. It looks like the work helped you bulk up a bit." Red says. "That''s true too." Fumio scoffs. A few moments later, "Wow. I why do I feel like my back is weightless?" Fumio asks, enjoying the relaxing feeling. "Ultimate relaxation of the muscles." Red says. Finished with the back muscles, he immediately applies his green colored concoction. "Mmmhmm It''s like my entire back is drinking sprite." Fumio cannot help but moan again in pleasure. After the back and shoulders, Red moves to the legs. "Legs" Red notes that Fumio''s leg muscles also increased. "Let me guess. They bulked up too?" Fumio says proudly. "Yes." Red confirms. "Ssssss" Fumio feels another round of pleasure climbing up his spine, and he shortly falls asleep. Red does not care whether Fumio is awake or not, he proceeds to massage the tendons. A few minutes later. "*uyhhhh*" Fumio wakes up and finds himself still lying on his stomach on the massage table. "My body feels like jelly." Fumio says as he sits up, covers himself, and randomly stretches his body. Just then does he realize that Red is still in the room, facing away from him, wrapping up the things he used. "Boss. How long was I out?" Fumio asks as he starts changing to his clothes. "Ten minutes. I was done with the massage 5 minutes ago. How do you feel?" Red asks. "I feel like a man reborn." Fumio says as the buzzed feeling is slowly being replaced by lightness. "Boss. I''m pretty sure this place is gonna be a hit. I don''t know much about massage people, but I''m confident you''re one of the best." Fumio says. "*Nod*" Red is pleased with Fumio''s reaction. "Boss. How much would you charge for the massage you did to me earlier?" Fumio asks. "Why? You want to be the first customer?" Red asks. "Hey.. come on. It''s just out of curiosity. But, seriously. If I was a customer. How much would you have charged me?" Fumio asks. "hmmm Let''s see. With how difficult and time-consuming my concoctions are to make, including my rare expertise, then shop expenses I''d say 40,000 Yen." Red says. "40,000" Fumio''s heart drops at the price. "Boss How long did the entire thing take?" He asks. "Around 30 minutes. 40 if you include preparing and cleaning the table and you sleeping." Red says. "Boss! That''s a crazy price! I''ve done research, as you know. That''s more than two hours'' worth of therapy in very high end massage shops!" Fumio says. "Well.. Did you need two hours to feel, using your words, like ''A man reborn''?" Red asks. "Huh Fair enough. But *sigh* There''s no spa. No beverages. No frills." Fumio still finds it expensive. "Hey. Even if you can''t afford it, that doesn''t mean others can''t. And it''s a reasonable price to me." Red shrugs. "Hey boss. I can afford it too, you know? Especially now." Fumio says in offense. "Then pay up." Red holds his palm out. "Hey come on boss. You said I''m practice Uhh But..." Fumio is about to ask something else, but hesitates. "What?" Red asks. "Don''t you need more employees? Someone to receive the money. Someone to keep the floors clean. Someone to do the laundry." Fumio starts counting with his fingers. "Ah. Don''t bother. I''ll handle them." Red says. In actuality, Red already made a spiritual formation for the entire clinic using plants and decorations simply for the purpose of keeping everything clean and shiny. The formation is powered by a spiritual storage seal he carved in a silver plate that is kept in his concoctions room. Because the atmospheric spiritual energy in the world is not thick enough to automatically power the basic formations and seals, Red refills the spiritual storage seal with his own energy. As these things are not complicated, the spiritual energy he spends on them is negligible. As for the cashier, Red will do it himself. "You sure, boss?" Fumio asks, imagining the work needed to keep the place running. "Yes Seeing as you have the energy to question me, are you feeling fresh?" Red asks. "Yes boss." Fumio stretches his back once again in satisfaction. "Good. Why don''t you start looking for the three?" Red says. " Okay." Fumio cannot argue. "But I don''t even know where to start" He sighs. "Why don''t you do this? Apply to be some sort of a volunteer or paid informant to the police. You can start with that." Red proposes. "Uhn That''s a good idea!" Fumio says in excitement. "Yes. So go, go." Red shoos Fumio out of the shop. Finally alone, Red goes on to write on the chalkboard behind reception counter just one price.. "40,000 yen for 30 minutes of treatment." Chapter 11 - First Customers "Oohh Cozy" A beautiful and energetic young lady, around 22 years of age, dressed casually in t-shirt and jeans, storms in Muscle Master Clinic. Red who is busy reading at the reception desk, cannot help but look up at the commotion. "Hey! *huff* *huff* *huff* Arina-chan! *huff* *huff*" Another lady, around 30 years of age, dressed in pant suits soon follows inside. "Don''t say my name in public! You said it yourself!" Arina reprimands her companion. "It''s fine. We lost them." The pantsuit lady catches her breath. "But next time. Give me a heads-up! I''m a *thinker* unlike you." she adds. "Oh. Sorry" Arina feels bad looking at her ragged friend. "Good afternoon. What''s going on downstairs?" Red asks the two, feeling the commotion in the street downstairs with his spiritual sense. "It''s my fans." Arina says. "Hi! Excuse me, mister. Are you the owner of this place?" The pantsuit lady asks, seeing Red''s body language and his expensive looking brown yukata. "Yes, I am. What can I do for you two?" Red asks. The pantsuit walks over to Red, introduces her self, "I''m her manager. If you would close your shop for a moment before her fans disperse?", and hands him a business card. "" Red then takes a look at the card, before pushing it back to the lady. "Uhh. Miss Konno? Why would I do that?" Red asks. "" Miss Konno realizes that Red does not recognize who Arina is. "We''ll pay you of course. How much does your shop earn?" Miss Konno says. "Hmmm. There''s the uh" Red points at the chalkboard behind him. "40,000 for 30 minutes are you crazy?" Miss Konno''s jaw drops at the price. "Well. You can just wait for one of your fans to come up. I can hear a lot of them downstairs." Red says, just for his own amusement. *murmur* *murmur* Arina and Miss Konno can hear all sorts of unintelligible male voices downstairs through the clinic''s window. "This is extortion.." Miss Konno can only say. "Hey! Hey. Stop it. You''re embarrassing me. Owner! We''ll pay!" Arina intervenes. "Just because we can afford it doesn''t mean we can be ripped off!" Miss Konno says. This makes Red smirk. "Miss Konno. This place is a legitimate business and the price is reasonable. Had there been other customers around, it will be grounds for a libel suit." He says. " Y-you!" Miss Konno and Arina are speechless. Red meanwhile, gets an idea. ''Fans So she''s some sort of a celebrity I need her for my shop''s exposure.'' It has been three days since Red officially opened his clinic but no one asked for a massage yet; the potential customers were all scared off by the price of the massage. "Young miss. You said you''ll pay to close my shop for a time, right? Why not I treat you guys to a massage so your money doesn''t go to waste." Red says. "Wow! You''re really shameless, mister. You know that, right?" Miss Konno says. "What? I''m talking to your boss." Red says. "" Miss Konno is speechless. "*giggle*" Arina, meanwhile is ticked that Miss Konno, who is usually stoic, is getting her buttons pressed. "Fine Rika nee-chan, I''ll treat you to a massage. But owner-san, if the price does not match the service, I''ll report you. And. I''ll even destroy the reputation of your store in social media." Arina delivers a threat with a smile.. Miss Konno, meanwhile, is satisfied by Arina''s threats, and does not feel the need to argue with Red anymore. "Of course, Arina-san." Red nods and returns a smile; he would have been intimidated by the young lady had he been an average mortal and if he runs an ordinary business. "Okay. Who''ll be doing the massage?" Miss Konno asks. Red organizes the reception table before standing up. "I will." He says as he unwrinkles his yukata. "" The two ladies are dumbfounded at Red''s answer. "Y-you don''t have female massage therapists?" Miss Konno asks, feeling great hesitation. "I don''t. If you''re feeling shy. Your boss can accompany you. And, I''m not a superiori anyways, so you don''t have to worry." Red says. Miss Konno looks at Arina for support, and Arina hesitatingly nods. "Alright. Please proceed to the locker room and change to a robe. Then, proceed to the massage room, right next door from the locker room. I will join you there shortly." Red says as he proceeds to the storage room to get his concoctions. With Red gone, the two ladies are left in an awkward state. "Ari-chan. What if he''s a pervert?" Miss Konno asks. "Nee-chan. Don''t worry. I''ll blind him with my glitters if he does something perverse." Arina promises. "*sigh* Okay." Miss Konno complies and they head to the massage room. "Ooohhh" After dropping their things at the locker room, the two ladies stare in awe as they step into the simple, but immaculately designed traditional Japanese set-up of the massage room. "It really looks legit." Arina nods. "Looks like it, but is he legit?..." Miss Konno says but in contrast with her words, she strips her bath robe and lies on the massage table, compelled by the atmosphere of the room. Even though Miss Konno is wearing her underwear, Arina still covers her ass with a towel. "The smell of the wood itself is calming." Miss Konno notes, smelling the scent of the wood the massage table is built with. "Hey have you noticed how clean and shiny everything is?" Arina asks. "Isn''t that a given, though? Considering the price?" Miss Konno scoffs. "Sure But this looked like an old and shabby building from outside. Look at the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furniture. Even I don''t clean my place this obsessively. You know how I am." Arina says. "Oh" Miss Konno knows that Arina cannot help but to be obsessed with cleanliness because of how messy Arina''s "glitter dust" ability is. *knock**Knock* The two''s talk is interrupted by Red knocking on the door. "Come in" Arina says and Red, carrying a tray containing towels and his solutions, enters the massage room. "You look more than ready, Miss Konno?" Red says, seeing that Miss Konno is already lying comfortable on the table. He then lights up a stick of his self-made incense, and let it stand near the massage table. "Uhn I''m ready." Miss Konno says, relaxing even further after smelling the smoke from the incense. "You''ve changed clothes?" Arina asks, noticing that Red changed from his brown yukata to a light, sky blue one. "Uhn." Red simply nods before walking to the massage table. He then stands before Miss Konno and *clap* puts his palms together in front of his face and closes his eyes, disguising his spiritual sense scan. "" Arina, looking at Red''s actions, and how pure he looks with his light sky blue yukata, is getting more assured of Red''s credibility. She feels as though Red is performing an old ritual instead of preparing for a massage. "I''ll start." Red says and he opens his eyes. He then pours his oil-like concoction on Miss Konno''s back and he spreads them evenly. The next moment, he starts kneading the lady''s shoulders. "*ahhh*" Miss Konno moans in pleasure as her tense muscles are being forcefully unknotted. "" Arina meanwhile cannot help but blush out of embarrassment hearing her manager''s noises. She looks at Red''s face, expecting at least a face of amusement or embarrassment, but Red looks like he did not even hear anything. Miss Konno too realizes what she had done, but is feeling fortunate that she cannot see the faces of the other two and they cannot see hers. "Miss Konno. I wonder what makes you so stressed out?" As if saving her from embarrassment, Red starts small talk. "*ighhh..* Being a manager for an idol, for one?" Konno says. "Hmmm. I don''t know much about idols. But I can feel from your back muscles that you always keep your guard up. For years at that." Red says. "Hehe. *ahh* You''re right. *ugh* Not only against others, but Arina herself. I kept down my guard today and because of that, she ran away to here to make trouble. *mmhhmm*" Miss Konno says in between moans and grunts. "Nee-chan! It was just bad luck! It''s not like this is the first time I did it." Arina says in defense, but she is feeling guilty making her manager look for her. "Huh weird. I don''t usually complain in front of her." Miss Konno notices. "What did you do to me?" She asks Red apprehensively. "Ah You have your guard up once again. Relax, Miss Konno." Red says, not wanting to explain. "*sigh* Maybe because this feels good." Miss Konno comes up with a reason. "" Arina, meanwhile, is weirded out by how openly her manager is talking. Five minutes later, "*mmpphhh*" another moan comes out of Miss Konno as Red reaches her lower back. Arina is already getting used to the noises, but the moan hit different this time and "Puhup H-h-h-h-h." she starts giggling. "" Miss Konno meanwhile is not even embarrassed after how understanding and accommodating Red have been to her reactions. A minute or two later, "*sigh* Arina-san care to give me a hand?" Red suddenly asks. "What do you need?" Arina asks and she steps up beside Red. "What do you know about massages?" Red asks. "uhhh.. Aside from getting them myself? Nothing." Arina says. . "Ah. Never mind then... I''ll move on to the legs." Red says. "" It takes Arina and Miss Konno a second to realize what he meant before they both blush. "" Arina can only step back. "I- uhhh" Miss Konno however has a different idea, only stopped by embarrassment from saying it. "Yes, Miss Konno?" Red asks. "C-an you massage my glutes too?" She asks. Red then wipes his hands with a towel before taking out his phone out of his yukata''s sash, and opens the voice recorder app. "Thursday, September 10th 2020, 13:18. Miss Konno requests a glute massage as a part of a full body massage therapy from Iwai Kichirou, a male massage therapist. Miss Konno, for the record, please confirm." He starts recording. "Puhup!" "hahaha" The two ladies are stunned at first at Red''s actions before they start giggling out of relief and assurance from Red''s attitude. "*giggle* Yes. Please proceed." Miss Konno says. A few minutes later. "*zzz* *snore* oijgasj oihnofa" Miss Konno is finally done with her massage and is now dozing off, and sleep talking. "Hey Hey. Nee-chan." Her peace however does not last long as Arina shakes her awake. "**ssuup** What?" Miss Konno awakens, annoyed. "Your massage is done." Arina says. "Oh" Miss Konno gets her bearings. "You''re awake, Miss? There''s a shower next door. There will also be a fresh pair of bathrobes there." Red directs the two. His directions are ignored however. "How do you feel, nee-chan?" Arina asks. "I I don''t know. I feel perfect! And refreshed! I feel like I''ve slept for days." Miss Konno struggles to explain the feeling. "Is the price worth it?" Arina whispers. "Yes. To be honest, it''s a bargain. I''ve never felt this good even after a full day at the spa." Miss Kono whispers back. "" Red can only smirk in amusement as he leaves the massage room to dispose of the linens. A minute later. *knock* *knock* "Anyone there?" Red knocks on the massage room and announces himself. "Come in." Arina, from inside, says. As he steps in the room, Red is surprised to see Arina has changed into a bathrobe. Looking at her body language, he guesses that he has to do another massage. "Ah. Miss Konno''s in the shower? Arina-san, you can wait in the reception area." Red acts clueless as he replaces the sheets. "Uhh. I''ll get a massage too." Arina says, curious after seeing the effect of the massage to Miss Konno. "Sure. I''ll go prepare the stuff. Meanwhile, you can wait for Miss Konno to join u-" "I''d like to start as soon as possible please." Arina says, eagerly. "Okay." Red smiles, accommodatingly. An hour later. "*hmm* *hmm* *hmmm*~" Fumio is in a good mood as he climbs the stairs leading up to the second floor where Muscle Master is. "*hmm* *hmm* Huh? Why is it closed?" Fumio notices the door of the clinic is locked and the sign on the door flipped to ''Closed''. "Is boss here?" He then takes out his keys and opens the door and steps in the clinic. *shut* Right after he closes the door behind him, he sees Red seated at the reception area common table with two ladies, enjoying tea. Red is seated, facing the entrance, and the two ladies have their backs on the entrance. "Oh. Boss. You''re here? Hello customers!" Fumio bows to greet Red and the two ladies. "Oh. Fumio. What are you doing here?" Red asks. "I have something to report. I was gonna report at your house later, but I heard something interesting happen here earlier. Why''s the door closed, by the way?" Fumio asks. "I''m taking a break. Grab yourself a cup and join us." Red says. "" Fumio, who worked part time in the service industry, while finding it odd that the two customers are not even turning around to acknowledge him, is used to the treatment and not a bit offended. Red''s acknowledgement is enough for him. "Thank you boss!" Fumio is even happier with the invitation. " Boss! Do you know Arina? The most popular in Musume48?" He says as he absentmindedly walks to the reception desk to grab a teacup. "What the hell is Musume48?" Red asks, offending Arina and Miss Konno. "A pop idol group made of superioris members!" Fumio says. "I see But I know Arina. I just learned about her today. She was in the neighborhood earlier." Red says. "So I''ve heard. That''s why I came here. Too bad I got here late.." Fumio says as he walks to the table to join Red and the two customers. Chapter 12 - Fumios Report "So I''ve heard. That''s why I came here. Too bad I got here late." Fumio says as he walks to the table to join Red and the customers. "" Arina and Miss Konno exchange amused glances. "You wouldn''t have seen her anyways. But Is she that famous? I''ve never heard of her before today." Red says, gesturing Arina and Miss Konno to play along. "Yeah Oh. Wait.. Boss. Is it okay for me to join you and the customers?" Fumio stops himself from sitting down. He would have been fine joining if it is only Red. "Yeah. You work for me but not for the shop. Go ahead. Take a seat." Red says. "Okay." Fumio sits beside Red. "Hello again! Excuse me." Fumio is about to apologize for the intrusion, but he quickly recognizes one of the two ladies. "Wait.. you-" He is too surprised to even finish his sentence. "Alright. Shut it. Take a breath." Red says. Fumio does so, but his eyes are still on Arina''s face. "And don''t stare. For goodness'' sake. Have a drink." Red says as he pours tea on Fumio''s cup. "Anyways What were you about to ask me?" Red continues the chat, ignoring Fumio''s stunned state. "Mr. Iwai. We want to hire you to be the personal massage therapist of me and Musume46." Arina says. "Right Well. I have to refuse." Red shrugs. "Y-ou won''t even reconsider? We''ll pay you generously." Miss Konno is surprised, not used to being outright refused especially with Arina with her. "How much are you offering?" Fumio recovers his bearing by the money talk. Konno looks at Fumio with eyebrows raised before remembering that Fumio works for Red. "Two million yen a month." Konno smugly offers. "Ah... No thanks. Once this clinic becomes popular, he''ll be earning two or three times than your offer. Right? Boss?" Fumio says, trying to help Red get a better offer. "Yeah? But how many are willing to pay 40,000 yen for a massage?" Konno says. "I don''t know, but I''m betting they include people like you. Have you tried his massage? It''s worth the price, isn''t it? " Fumio says, confident after having tried Red''s massage. He himself is willing to pay for a massage from Red but his grip on his finances is stronger than that desire. " no" Miss Konno denies, but she does not look convincing. "Well, how much do you want? My group and I can afford to give you up to four million yen a month. Look we really need it. On our off days, we practice dancing all day. When we''re active, we hop around many venues around the country; sometimes multiple stages a day. Our bodies ache every day." Arina says. "" Miss Konno nods, witnessing how hard the girls of Musume46 work. "" Fumio is also starting to understand how much Red is needed. "It''s not about the money. It''s about my dream of building the best massage parlor." Red says. "" Fumio, after working for Red for months, immediately smells bullshit from Red''s words. He however ignores the bullshit for now because he is more excited about Musume46. "Boss It''s Musume46 Muscle Master can wait." Having the desire to see more of the girl idols, He tries to convince Red to work for Arina and her company. *flick* Red flicks Fumio''s forehead. "You runt. A few days ago, you were all proud and tearful that you built this place. Saying you feel like a father when we finally opened it. Now you''re selling me out?" Red says and gives a second flick at the same spot. "Ah! Ouch~ You''re right boss. You''re right! I wasn''t thinking straight" Fumio holds his hurting forehead. "Huh Girls are dangerous." He says, realizing he was swayed from remembering how hard he worked to help build the clinic. "" Red and Fumio''s exchange indirectly pulls out guilt and empathy from Miss Konno and Arina. The two ladies now feel awkward, realizing they must have acted presumptuous, getting in the way of someone''s dream. "Why not meet in the middle? Judging from your muscles, Arina-san, you indeed need regular massages. That means, your members need them too." Red says, getting the group''s attention. "How many members are in your group?" He asks. "Sixteen." Arina says. "How many of them are minors?" Red asks. "" The two ladies exchange an awkward look. "th- three." Miss Konno says awkwardly. "Hnh. Well, I''m just starting out and I need regular customers. How about we do this?... You can call anytime and reserve a whole day for your group right here in my clinic. I will also give you a 33% discount if we follow that arrangement. If that doesn''t match your schedules, you can also reserve half a day for half your members." Red says. "" Arina gets excited at the idea. "That works!" Miss Konno finishes the calculations in her head immediately. "Good. Those who are minors need an adult in the room to overlook their therapy." Red adds. "That is obvious." Miss Konno nods. "Good." Red nods at the agreement made. "You don''t have to agree yet. Just give it a few days. Try to feel how long the effect of my therapy last. That way, you can be certain of my clinic." He adds. "We will" Arina and Miss Konno nod, impressed at Red''s attitude. "Boss. You really don''t need another employee around here?" Fumio asks suddenly. *Flick* Red flicks him in the forehead again. "Get your head out of your ass." Red reprimands. "*tsk*" Fumio rolls his eyes at Red while rubbing his forehead. "How is this possible?" Miss Konno cannot help but say. "I know, right?" Arina agrees. "Hm?" Red asks in clarification. "This interaction." Miss Konno says. "AH!" Fumio gets what the two ladies are talking about. "Haha. Yeah. My boss is really laid back. As long as I''m doing my job right, he''s satisfied. None of that corporate bullshit. I even call him nii-san sometimes." He explains. "Oohh.." The two ladies find Red and Fumio''s relationship refreshing to see. They are even a bit envious. "Alright. Ladies. While it''s been a pleasure speaking with you two, I need to get back to work." Red says, not wanting another subject for conversation to start. "Uhn Yes. We''ve taken plenty of your time." Miss Konno realizes that while Red has no customers yet, it is intrusive of them to stay longer. "We''ll definitely come back again. Aside from your skills, something about this place is just peaceful." Arina says. "Oh. By the way. Can we use a credit card? We don''t have cash on us." Miss Konno says. "Don''t worry about it, Miss Konno. As my first customers, it''s a treat from me." Red says. " First-" The two ladies are stunned. "I won''t question you anymore." Miss Konno sighs. "Are you sure? It''s 80,000 yen." Arina on the other hand, is feeling bad to have received a great treatment for free. "Yes. Just consider making my clinic the exclusive massage place for Musume46. I will be waiting." Red says. With that Red and Fumio are left alone. "Ahh Arina-chan" Fumio runs to the window of the reception area and looks out the window. He sighs as he longingly watches Arina walk away from the building. "Fumio." Red calls out to him. "Ah Yes. Sorry boss. What is it?" Fumio faces Red, his attention back. "The report?" Red asks. "Oh Right. I found a lead, boss." Fumio says as he pulls out a notebook from his pocket. "Here Ogawa Yuji. Class C Thinker and I have no idea his exact ability. The police are suspicious that he is associated with the three you''re looking for." Fumio begins his report. "How so?" Red asks. "While he has no criminal records, he was seen with at least one of the three criminals in different occasions. He is currently living in Setagaya and is working at a clothing company in Shibuya." Fumio says. "Hmm" Red mulls over the information. "*beep* There you go. That''s what the guy looks like and the addresses of his home and office. The home address might be outdated, but his work is still the same." Fumio says after sending more information of Ogawa Yuji to Red''s phone. "Did the police try scoping him out?" Red asks. "I don''t know. And uhh.. this was an old lead. That''s why one of the officers I nagged to annoyance gave the information to me." Fumio explains. "Old lead how old is it?" Red asks, not too hopeful with the information. "Uhhh he said it was a useful up until last year. Boss if you''re not satisfied, I can go ask again and report to you what I can gather by tonight." Fumio says, anxious at Red''s unimpressed face. "Alright. You do that, but report what you gather later and tomorrow, tomorrow night." Red says. "Will do boss. Oh. I''ll put away these." Fumio says and starts cleaning up the table. "Uhn. Once you''re done, close the clinic for me. I''m heading out." Red says and he walks out of the clinic. "" Fumio is extremely curious at what Red is about to do, but chooses to stay silent seeing the stone-cold expression on Red''s face. "Alright. I''ll see you tomorrow, boss!" Fumio says, hoping that Red hears him from outside. ~ Matsubara City, 8PM *beep* *beep* *beep* *clack* *shut* Yuji enters his apartment with heavy steps after a long day. He immediately heads to the kitchen fridge, grabs a cold beer, and goes back to the living room to lounge on his sofa. ["**** *** steps up to the plate, batting 3rd."] While watching baseball on his TV, he feels a sudden chill climb up his spine. He then springs up and looks around, only to find nothing. "Hello Yuji." He suddenly hears from behind him, but before he can turn around, his vision suddenly darkens and he loses consciousness. An unknown time later, Yuji wakes up. The first thing he sees in front of him is the wooden floor, and a pair of feet donning a pair of fancy leather shoes. He then looks up to see a buff man in his 70s, having a flowing shoulder-length salt and pepper hair , fashioning a set of slick red suit, standing in front of him. While the man is simply staring at him, Yuji feels an unexplainable power emanating from the man. "*Mmffff*" Before he can ask anything, he realizes that he is gagged and tied to a chair in his bedroom. He then tries to struggle free, only to no avail. "Don''t worry. I won''t hurt you." Yuji''s attention is taken by the man''s words. "Unless you don''t cooperate." The man says, intimidating Yuji. "Now" The man pulls out a tablet PC from the inner pocket of his jacket, does a few taps, and shows the screen to Yuji. "" Yuji tries to stay silent, seeing the photos displayed on the phone. "You recognize them." Yuji hears the man say, feeling that it is a statement, not a question. "" Yuji can only look down. "Who are they to you?" The man asks. "*mmffff*" Yuji denies, shaking his head. The man only stares at him in the eyes, and like a mouse wrapped around a snake, Yuji feels like he is paralyzed. "" He can only wait to whether to be eaten or spared. A few moments later, to Yuji''s confusion, the man starts undoing the ropes tying him down and the cloth gagging his mouth. The old man, is Red in disguise through an illusion. After having glimpses of Yuji''s strongest surface memories, his initial intention towards the three who had a hand in the death of the original Red, has changed. "You can relax, Yuji. Like I said. I''m not here to hurt you. I''m only after information." Red says to Yuji. "W-what do you want?" Yuji asks, still afraid of Red. "The Green Hand. You''re one of its fingers." Red says, basing on what he saw in Yuji''s memories. "" Yuji becomes apprehensive, hearing Red''s words. "Isao Miyashiro. Koga Dai. Hayashi Ayako. They work under you, right?" Red asks. This triggers a strong and frantic memory on Yuji''s head and Red immediately starts watching it. ~~~~~~~~~ "You three. Your mission this time is to intercept a package at this storage facility." "Sir. Another pick-up and go?" "No. Do not treat this as a simple courier job with a few encounters. According to our scout, the storage facility is keeping a tight time frame. I will send you the details of it later. Anyways, you will have to follow the time line to the second, ''pick-up'' the package, and go." "Will we have to fight?" "You''d rather not. While the guards are all Class E levels, they outnumber you. They will also be more organized. After all" "After all?" "The package will be picked up by men from the Sunada family." ~~~~~~~~ "Are you a psychic superioris?" Yuji asks, noticing the certainty in Red''s tone. "No. You''re just not as good a liar than you think. And I did my research." Red says as he rubs his temples, his spiritual sense is getting tired. "Where are the three?" He asks. "" Yuji refuses to answer, but his body language is obvious enough for Red to read. "You do know that one of them killed a non-superioris, right?" Red asks. "WHAT?!" Yuji''s eyes widen at the information. Red, for one last time for the day, reads the memory he triggered in Yuji. ~~~~~~~~~~ "Ayako-san. This failure is excusable due to unpredictable factors. You don''t have to take it too hard." "I-it''s Yes, sir." ~~~~~~~~~~ Red sees the extreme guilt in Ayako''s face in Yuji''s memory. "Miss Hayashi didn''t tell you? She accidentally killed a meddling non-superioris with her arrow." Red says. "No No." Yuji covers his face with his hands in shock. *ding* *dong* Yuji''s doorbell rings suddenly. Chapter 13 - Talk *ding* *dong* Yuji''s doorbell rings suddenly. "Ah Yuji-san. You should keep your professional life and personal life separate. But thanks to that, it looks like my lucky day is here." Red says, detecting three people in front of Yuji''s door. Unlike his words about a lucky day, he is somewhat unprepared and is annoyed that he tired his spiritual sense out too early. "I''ll open the door for you." Red says. "Don''t!" Yuji is about to tackle Red, but as if a fastball pitch from an ace superioris pitcher, something flies to his face and he blacks out once again. Red, using his spiritual energy, levitates the unconscious Yuji to the bed. A few moments later, "Ah The three rookies, I presume?" Red lets Isao Miyashiro, Koga Dai, Hayashi Ayako, the three people he has been looking for, inside Yuji''s apartment. "huh..." The three immediately feel something odd going on as soon as they step in the apartment, and they exchange glances. In a blink of an eye, as if controlled by a master puppeteer, the three in unity suddenly spring into action to subdue Red. "" Red smirks at their actions. With his eons of experience in battles, the three superioris'' attack appear very predictable to him. With the smallest movements necessary, he avoids the three''s hands by a hair''s breadth, giving the three an illusion that they tried to grab air. The three cannot even process what really happened, and unable to recover quickly from the momentum of their movement, they are momentarily vulnerable. Red takes this chance to quickly, with his index finger, poke specific spots in the three''s necks with pinpoint precision, in blurry succession. The three suddenly freeze in their place, unmoving for a two or three seconds before dropping limply to the floor. "Impressive" Red nods at the teamwork and instincts of the three. . . . A few minutes later, the four colleagues are awakened and find themselves sitting next to each other in Yuji''s living room sofa. In front of them, on the coffee table, is a stick incense lit up, and four cups of tea for each of them, arranged nicely. "Had a nice nap?" Red, still disguised as an old man, greets them as he comes out from the kitchen. "I was rather intrusive and presumptuous. I apologize." He continues as he stands in front of them. The group can only stare at him blankly because of his non-confrontational words. "What do you want?" Dai asks in apprehension as he transforms his hand into a blade. "Well. Let''s calm down for a moment? I admit, I deserve your ire. I should not have resorted to violence first, no matter how small it was." Red says with a fake embarrassed smile. "" The four are uneasy at how casual Red is considering he beat them to unconsciousness before they even had the chance to fight back. "Anyways." Red pulls out his tablet PC from his inside pocket of his jacket, does a few taps to open the picture of the original Red, and shows the screen to the four. "Familiar?" He asks the group. "" The three male superiori are clueless, meanwhile, Ayako''s eyes widen for a moment before looking away from the picture. "" Yuji catches Ayako''s reaction and his face freezes, realizing the connection between what Red told him earlier and Ayako''s guilty reaction. "Ayako-san" Yuji calls out. "" Ayako cannot look at Yuji either. "What''s happening?" Miyashiro asks. "" Dai too, finds Ayako''s reaction and Yuji''s question odd. "It looks like Miss Hayashi has suffered enough. I''m not gonna ask anymore." Red says and he puts back his tablet to his pocket. He is conflicted whether to take revenge or not, seeing how much mental trauma Ayako is suffering. "Hey, old man. You come barging in Yuji-san''s house, you laid us out too. What''s really going on here?" Miyashiro asks. "Yuji-san. Ayako-san. What happened?" Dai asks too. "Mister. Are you from the superioris police?" Ayako asks. "No. And I''m not from the Sunada either." The four associates sigh in relief. "However, the young man I showed you is someone I am heavily indebted to Now I wonder what I''ll do to you, Miss Hayashi." Red says. "" audible gulps resound in the living room. This fear in the four, makes the compulsion incense that Red lit up on the table, become more effective, especially to Ayako. "I can''t keep it to myself anymore" Ayako prefaces, her face crumpling. "Ayako-san. Don''t." Yuji tries to stop her, but Ayako is already compelled by Red''s spiritual sense. "I killed a non-superioris." She says. "W-what?!" "H-how could you" Miyashiro and Dai recoil from Ayako. "Please. Explain. This man here said it was an accident." Yuji says in agitation. "" Ayako''s team mates are willing to give Ayako a chance, hearing this. "It was during the Sunada operation. There was a non-superioris there." Ayako says. "" Miyashiro and Dai''s repulsion is replaced by confusion. "That can''t be" "How? Only superiori was allowed in that place." Miyashiro and Dai say. "When you two were fighting the last of Sunada''s men, Junichi starts to run away with the package so I shot a supercharged arrow at him. Suddenly, there was this non-superioris who took the shot for him out of nowhere. I saw the man broke after smashing to that building. I saw that he stopped breathing before Junichi can even retrieve him." Ayako says eloquently after replaying the scene countless of times in her mind. "Was he dead? Are you sure he''s not at least a class F superioris?" Miyashiro asks, in denial. "Yes. You two know how sharp my eyes are. I didn''t see a spark fade from his body. No. There was no spark in him in the first place." Ayako says. "" Her three companions, despite being conflicted, are starting to sympathize with Ayako. "Accident or not. I killed a powerless man. I''m sorry, I kept it from you gentlemen." She says. "" her three associates has no words. "So what are you going to do to me now, sir?" She asks Red. Her question makes her associates apprehensive and they prepare for a fight. "The young man lives." Red says, making the others drop their apprehension. "W-what?" Ayako asks. Red shakes his head, deciding to let Ayako go, having seen enough guilt and suffering in Ayako''s eyes. "He lives. It was a miracle." Red clarifies. "*sniff**sniff*" Tears of relief pool in Ayako''s eyes, but the tears do not fall, her tears have run out after crying about her crime for days. "Look, old man. We don''t want a fight. So let us go. Let her go. Didn''t that guy live?" Dai says. Red smirks inside, thinking of an idea. '' mmm. Practice.'' "You do NOT tell me what to do." He says in false offense, and he flares an invisible spiritual energy sphere with him in the center, lacing it with a small amount of his eons old killing aura. "kkkkk" The four associates feel their throats tighten in fear, giving them an unexplainable choking feeling. Their visions are starting to darken, but before they fall unconscious, "Are we clear?" Red says and he retrieves his spiritual energy sphere and killing aura. "" The four can only nod while getting their bearings back. Red too, nods back, not because the four comply, but because he is satisfied with his control of his spiritual energy. He is however a bit bitter that his killing aura, while less potent compared to when he was a sovereign, is still potent enough to scare the mortals in front of him with but a tinge of it. ''Oh boy. The more powerful people in this world will feel my bloody aura.'' Red shakes his head. "Phew. I''m sorry about that. I do not have pleasant days recently. Please. Have a sip of your tea before it gets cold." Red says. The four picks up their teacups and drink the tea out of fear. "Now. The young man, however has lost his memories. How do you compensate him for that, Miss Hayashi?" Red asks. "I do not know." Ayako shakes her head. "Then never mind." Red says, confusing the four. "The root cause of the young man''s harm was because of that package. Just out of curiosity. What was in that package?" He asks instead. " Uhhh." Yuji suspects that Red is after the package, not revenge for the original Red. He chooses however not to call it out and decides to scope Red out. "It was bribes." Yuji says, revealing a bit of what he knows. "WHAT?" Yuji''s three associates are shocked. "Bribes?" Red asks. Yuji seeing Red seems to be only mildly interested, decides to be more honest. "Yes. Bribes and a list of names of its sources. Our group suspect that it was from a lobbying group, which includes the Sunada." He says. "List... The names in there are probably fake. But those fake names still mean something to some people." Red nods. "Yes! But too bad the Sunada boy was able to complete the delivery so we didn''t see the names." Yuji says, trying to brush off Red''s attention from their organization. "Hmmm. What do you think they''re bribing for?" Red asks. "I don''t know." Yuji says, but Red detects his lie. "Really? Not even a guess? Come on. I''m just curious." Red insists. Yuji is intimidated once again by Red''s stare. " This is just a guess, but there has been buzzing in the congress about a universal basic income for the non - superiori." He says. "I''ve read about that. But the congress like to increase the taxes of the top 1% to help afford it. And you think that those 1% want to prevent that by lobbying." Red says, connecting the dots. "That''s right." Yuji nods. "I see Can your Green Hand, or whatever, stop them from doing that? From what I I''ve seen so far, your organization is too small and weak." Red asks, finally telling the group that he knows something about them. Yuji, feeling that Red''s interest in their organization dropped, and is not hostile against it, is relieved. " No, but if we can somehow put it out to the world-" Yuji is about to explain but Red finishes his sentence. " they''ll even be sneakier and hire more powerful superiori." Red says. "" The four associates are stunned, just imagining Red''s words coming to reality. "Well, we have to do something!" Dai rejoins the conversation. "Dai-san. Why do you care so much about the non-superiori?" Red changes the subject. "Because I''m from a non-superiori family. And so are Ayako, and Miyashiro." Dai says. "That so? Huh It seems that you people are noble, but are willing to get your hands dirty. I like it." Red smirks. "Look. Mister. You seem to be a very powerful superioris. If I may be presumptuous?" Yuji says, daring to ask something. "What is it, Yuji-san?" Red allows it. "Our organization need someone like you." Yuji says. "Yuji-san!" His associates are shocked at Yuji''s words. "What? If he''s one of our enemies, he will not be wasting his time talking to us." Yuji says. "But he might still be using us to get more information!" Miyashiro says. "Ah Miyashiro-san. That''s where you''re wrong. While I find your organization amusing, you folks are not powerful enough for me to be interested." Red says, offending Miyashiro, Dai, and Ayako. "And Yuji-san. My concern here really is the young man Ayako-san almost killed." He continues, making Yuji embarrassed. "But what can I do? While I want to seek retribution for my young friend, I cannot bare to punish someone who harmed him by accident. And that someone is already living in hiding and suffering." Red says. "" Ayako can only look away. "So what now?" Dai asks. "Nothing. While it was fun talking to you four, it was a waste of yours and mine''s time." Red says as he fixes his suit. "" The four sigh in relief seeing that Red is about to leave. "Ah. Before I go." Red says, making the four clamp up their bottoms. Red slowly walks closer to the group and, "Miyashiro-san, Dai-san.", holds the two''s shoulders and he simultaneously executes differing healing techniques that are perfect for the two''s specific needs. "" Dai feel coolness descend on his cracked left ribs while Miyashiro feels warmth on his bruised abdomen. They are about to resist Red''s hold, but they suddenly feel the pain from their months-long untreated injuries slowly fade away. "Treat it as a compensation for my intrusion. I wish you luck in your uh adventures." Red says, and with that, he leaves the apartment. "W-what the hell just happened?" Yuji slumps on his sofa, his strength draining away from his body out of relief. "Yuji-san This is your home. You tell us what happened." Ayako says. "Well... In short. He knocked me out. Tied me up. Removed my restraints. And did some questioning. Knocked me out again. Then that''s when you three come in." Yuji explains. "I-I see." Ayako can only accept the explanation. "Dai-san. Miyashiro-san. What''s wrong with you two?" Yuji asks, noticing the dazed state of the two. "M-my injury It seemed to have healed." Dai says as he feels his ribs. "M-mine too" Miyashiro says as he stretches his neck. "Huh Who was that man?" Yuji and the others can only wonder. Chapter 14 - Fumios Afternoon Muscle Master Massage "?Hmmm Hmmm Cheers Baby! Yeah with a paper cup? Ldadadidada Why not, baby.. ?" Fumio is having a great afternoon and is in a great mood, even humming a Musume46 song as he refills the tea leaves in the cupboard of small pantry of the shop right behind the receptionist desk. After Red confronted the four members of the Green Hand four days ago, he decided to make Fumio a full-time employee of Muscle Master Massage as he has nothing else for Fumio to do. Fumio immediately made himself useful and suggested to Red to convert half of the unnecessarily spacious reception area, to a sort of a play area where the guests can either play board games and read old magazines while they wait for their turn for Red''s massage. Red liked the suggestion and he had Fumio purchase more sofas and coffee tables, some board games, and interesting magazines. "?Hmmm.. Yeah, baby With a paper cup?" Fumio''s out of tune singing continues as he folds up the sleeves of his light brown kimono on his way to the lounge area to once more obsessively arrange the magazines on the coffee tables. "BOSS! I just got a brilliant idea!" He suddenly says. Red, seated at the reception desk, looks up from his phone. "I worked for years at a fancy dessert bar just three blocks away. Why don''t we make them our suppliers for the guests'' snacks?" Fumio asks. "More job for you?" Red smirks, but he likes the idea. "Not much. I''ll only order the frozen desserts so all I have to do is serve cake or ice cream, and collect the dishes after the guest is done." Fumio says. "As long as you can handle it." Red shrugs. "Nice ?Ohhh.. Y-" Fumio is about to continue singing but, "Hey you''ve been humming the same songs for two hours now. Please, shut it." Red interrupts him, having had enough. "Okay" Fumio can only begrudgingly comply. "But boss Don''t you think our shop is too quiet? I can hear my ears ringing. Why don''t you install a sound system?" He asks. "I have a sound system. It''s just when a customer comes that I turn it on." Red says. "Really?" Fumio looks around to find speakers. "Where is it?" He asks, finding none. Red, snaps his fingers, disguising his use of his spiritual energy to activate a formation, and the sound of soft rain immediately reverberate around the shop. "*ooff*" Fumio, immediately puts a magazine on top of his head, finding the sound of the rain too realistic. Suddenly, "? ? ?" A sound of slow and relaxing jazz piano music joins in. Fumio slowly puts the magazine down and looks around once again. "What the hell?" He can only utter in confusion, finding no water falling, or a piano around. "Boss Is this some hi-tech sound system or something? It sounds really realistic." He says in awe. It is as if the music and the sound of rain is very close to his ears. They are not too loud however to drown out the sound of conversations. "That''s a secret. And don''t bother looking for a speaker." Red says as he looks down at his phone once again, to continue his reading. What Red just did is to activate some sort of a mortal-level sound formation. In his previous life, after becoming an immortal, he settled down in the realm of some True God to focus on his cultivation. That True God''s realm however always had fair weather, which made him miss the natural sound of the rain and thunder. With his skills, he immediately made a simple fix which is now the formation that he is applied in his massage shop. Unlike the other cleaning formations and security seals in his shop that he has to power using his own spiritual energy, the sound formation can run forever even with this world''s thin atmospheric spiritual energy. Fumio meanwhile, sits down in one of the sofas and enjoys the sound of rain and the piano. A minute or two later, he feels his eye lids become heavy. To fight the drowsiness, *slap* *slap* he softly slaps his cheeks making him sober again. "Boss. It''s too relaxing.." He complains. *snap* Red snaps his fingers again, and the formation is disabled, making everything quiet once again. "That''s why I only turn it on when it''s crowded." He says. "I see. Well, you need more songs, as that song sounded too sad. And for the background, instead of the rain, make it the sound of the forest with birds chirping or something." Fumio suggests. "I have that" Red nods and *snap* he activates the sound formation once again. Now, the shop is filled with soft sounds of leaves dancing gently on the breeze and birds chirping. The music also changes to a classical guitar piece, and while the song is still slow, is in the major scale and therefore sounds livelier. "Wow" Fumio closes his eyes, his senses getting tricked. He then exhales, expecting the smell of the forest, but the next moment, "Nope. No smell of leaves.", he says in disappointment. ''Mortals in this realm are difficult to satisfy.'' Red shakes his head. ''But that makes them creative '' He then snaps his finger once more, and the ambient music is gone. "Alright. You know what? Get out and talk to that dessert bar you were talking about. The members of Musume46 reserved the whole day tomorrow. They might enjoy sweet food." He tells Fumio. "T-they''re coming here?... Tomorrow?..." Fumio is stunned by the news. "Yes. So, go. Arrange their snacks." Red shoos him. "O-okay boss Hehehehe." Fumio immediately gets on his feet excitedly and soon, he is gone, only the sound of his wooden slippers can be heard fading away to the distance. "" Red can only smile. "So Smell of leaves huh A good idea. Might as well add more olfactory illusions." He then gets to work around Fumio''s idea. ~ " So, that''s that then." A man in his early 40s, says to Fumio. The man, is Yusei, is the owner of the dessert bar that Fumio worked part-time for, for three years. "We can do that, right?" Fumio asks again, just to be sure. "Yes. But you also said that you won''t be serving our desserts in their packaging, right?" Yusei asks. "Yeah. I mean, a fancy desert in a plastic disposable container? It just doesn''t look good." Fumio says. "Okay" Yusei rubs his chin. "But you should tell your customers that our store makes their snacks.", he says. "That''s no problem. But boss. Can you give us a discount, at least? For the old times'' sake?" Fumio asks. "Fine, fine." Yusei scoffs. "You were a good employee and didn''t cost me anything while working for three years here." He says. "Nice" Fumio smiles. "I thank you too boss for taking me in when I needed it the most. Trust me boss, something will happen tomorrow that will increase your sales." He promises. "Whatever. Instead, give me a discount if ever I go visit your massage shop." Yusei says. "I''ll talk to my boss." Fumio almost winces at the request. "Heheh I guess you''re still a scrub huh? Don''t worry about it then." Yusei says, not expecting a free massage in the first place. Helping out a good acquaintance however is enough for him. . "?Hmmm.. Yeah, baby With a paper cup?" Fumio is now walking back to Muscle Master, his mood improving once again that he is contributing to the shop. "oohhh Arina-chan enjoying the ice cream cake I''ll serve her" His mind is already running wild with imagination for tomorrow. Suddenly, "Ooooh. Our Fumio looks like he''s enjoying life~" Fumio is startled as a male voice reverberates too close to his ears for his comfort. Finding the voice familiar, his heart drops and a burst of adrenaline courses through his veins. He bends his knees, pushes his right feet to the ground, his left foot making the same movement a split second after, making himself move forward in a speed an average sprint or hop cannot achieve. "And it looks like you still use the footwork of our clan." The voice continues to follow next to his ears, however, telling Fumio that there is no use running. Fumio can only hastily turn around to find the last acquaintance he wants to speak with. "H-haha Hideki nii-san. Hello?" He says in anxious greeting. "Huh Don''t look so scared, cousin. You don''t want attention on us." Hideki says as he puts his arm around Fumio''s shoulders. With the 184 cm tall and buff Hideki being much larger than the 170 cm tall and slender Fumio, Fumio can only let Hideki drag him for a walk. Hideki, being also a class D physical enhanced superioris, helps in overwhelming the non-superioris Fumio. "N-nii-san. W-what brings you here?" Fumio asks anxiously. "I''m just here to see my little cousin Oh. Why don''t we speak somewhere more private?" Hideki says while he leads the way. "" Fumio starts shaking in fear after Hideki lead the way to a deserted building alley. He wants to run or scream for help, but he simply cannot risk angering Hideki. "I didn''t like it." Hideki starts as he pushes Fumio against a wall. " What do you mean?" Fumio asks. Hideki''s face slowly wears a sinister grin as he gets to Fumio''s face. "You executing footwork 12. A useless fuck like you making it look so useless." He says. "I-it just happened, nii-san. What am I supposed to do?" Fumio says, trying to stop himself from dry heaving out of disgust from Hideki''s terrible breath. "Oh? You know how to talk back now. Finally growing some spine?" Hideki says as he gently slaps Fumio''s face. "" Fumio goes silent. "Heh Spineless as ever." Hideki steps back from Fumio. "Oohhh. Nice kimono. Where''d you get it? Does the family dress the useless members in nice clothes now?" He then grabs and caresses the fabric of Fumio''s kimono. He then notices something amiss. "You don''t have your wakizashi So, you really were kicked out of the clan, huh?" He smirks as he looks back up again at Fumio''s eyes. Fumio also notices that Hideki does not have his, making him realize that Hideki is still not accepted back in the clan. "I-I left. I wasn''t kicked out." Fumio does not address his observations however but instead corrects Hideki. "What did you say?" Hideki however is in disbelief of what he just heard. "I said, left the clan on my own. I am no longer carry the Hasegawa name." Fumio clarifies himself. "You left on your accord? You? HAHAHA!" Hideki cackles in anger and suddenly, he dashes forward, grabs Fumio''s neck and pins Fumio against the wall. "You think you''re better than me?" He asks through gritted teeth. "W-what?" Fumio, while confused, is feeling more frustrated and angrier at the unreasonable actions of his mad cousin. "Who are you to leave the family?" Hideki says. "I-I was no one." Fumio says, gathering his courage. "No one is missing me even among my blood. Me leaving has nothing to do with you." "" Hideki freezes at Fumio''s words before a grin appears on his face once again. "Well You should have been kicked out." He says as he gives Fumio a punch in the gut. "Ooof.." Air is knocked out of Fumio''s lungs and he is forced to his knees. Chapter 15 - A Surprising Discovery "If I were them, I would have just killed an ungrateful leech like you." Hideki says. This angers Fumio, but he cannot do anything. "I still don''t get it. Why would the family kick out a Class D like me, and let you, a useless fuck, get to stay?" Hideki continues, giving Fumio a time to get back his wind. This angers Fumio further. "*huff* How about violating, THEN killing three female non-superiori servants for a start? *huff*" Fumio says in between heavy gasps as he looks up at Hideki. Hideki''s smile freezes. Seeing this Fumio feels a bit better for himself. "Yeah. *huff* I know. Everyone in the clan knows. Everyone knows that you being the son of the head, is the reason why you''re not in prison right now." He continues as he stands up, having recovered enough from Hideki''s punch in the gut. "And getting kicked out? Everyone knows that you were just grounded. All you have to do is clean your act up, and you''re back in. So don''t give me your bullshit." He concludes, feeling proud of himself for stand up to the clan bully. "Y-you dare speak to me that way?" Hideki says, stunned. "Why wouldn''t I dare? You can''t throw your status around anymore. I''m not a member of the clan. I have nothing to lose." Fumio says with a smug smile. "OHO~" Hideki smiles at Fumio. Suddenly, Fumio sees a blur come towards him. Before he can even process what happened, he crashes to the floor, unable to move, his head hurting the worst he has ever felt in his life. While slipping in and out of consciousness, he hears Hideki''s voice one more time. "B t th r ''s s meth ng else you c n lose Your life." "Huh?" Red suddenly feels something wrong just happened. If he was an average mortal, he will not take it seriously. He however, has lived eons upon eons and he knows better that such feeling has an explanation. He slowly stands up from the receptionist''s desk as he processes the feeling more. "Nothing''s wrong with my body Everything around is safe." He mutters after a few seconds. Basing on his eons of instincts, Red knows that aside from himself being in imminent danger, the next most likely cause of such ''feeling'' is if a person connected to him suffers a tragedy or death. The closer his connection is to the person, the stronger the feeling is. "It can only be Fumio." Fumio being the only person he has grown close to since he arrived in this world, is the only person Red can think of as the source of the feeling. Red immediately casts a disguise illusion on himself, spreads out his spiritual sense, executes the high mortal level ''Still Lake Sauntering'' traversing technique and he dashes out of Muscle Master. With his high mortal body and his movement supplemented by his traversing technique, he immediately covers 100 meters distance in a second. The people he passed by in the streets almost topple and cover their eyes from the dust from the air resistance being broken by Red as he zips through the roads. Despite the speed of which he is weaving and cutting through the streets and alleys, Red is still not satisfied. "Tsk. Which way did he go?", he clicks his tongue in regret that he did not ask Fumio the exact directions of the dessert shop to make his search easier. Ten seconds later, *Badump*, the same bad feeling knocks on his soul once more, much stronger than how he felt it before. "He''s close" Red feels it. Soon, his spiritual sense brushes upon an unconscious body in the alley behind a building and the next moment, he finds a scene that angers him. Fumio is lying on the ground, his chest caved in, and blood leaking out of his mouth. He is barely breathing and Red can barely hear his heart beating. Red knows that if he does not do anything in two minutes, Fumio will be no more. Red gets to work immediately. He retrieves his spiritual sense that was actively scanning the surroundings and focuses it on Fumio''s body. In just a few seconds, he finds with his spiritual scan that Fumio''s left ribs are all broken, the bones puncturing Fumio''s heart and lungs. The lungs can barely inhale air, and the heart is too injured to beat and instead only weakly spasming. Completing his assessment, Red hastily kneels by Fumio and undoes the layers of Fumio''s kimono off to expose Fumio''s chest. He then puts his left palm on Fumio''s injury, executes a healing technique, his spiritual energy making his palms glow with cold blue light. As soon as Fumio''s heart and lungs is touched by the light, they stop; the lungs stops breathing and the heart stops the blood from flowing. Red quickly switches healing techniques and the light on his palm turns dull grey. With the technique, he moves the bones puncturing the heart and lungs. He sighs in relief as there are no further damages. He then switches healing techniques once again and light on his palm turns pink allowing him to hold in place the damaged veins, arteries, and the tissues in the lungs and the heart in their ideal positions. With everything in their proper positions, he switches techniques once again and his palm lights up green, and with hit, he forces the damages to start healing immediately. While his left palm is busy repairing the damages, Red materializes a very thin blade made out of the invisible spiritual energy with his right hand, does a swipe with it, before canceling the blade out. Suddenly a small but deep cut appears on Fumio''s chest, and from it, the accumulated blood from the internal bleeding around his heart and lungs starts draining. A few more seconds later, Red, seeing that his left palm has healed enough damages on the softer tissues, he executes on his right palm another healing technique that makes it glow blue. With it, he restarts Fumio''s breathing and heart once again. He then anxiously cancels his blue palm and waits. "Phew" Soon, he sighs in relief that Fumio''s lungs and heart are working on their own. He does not let his guard down however, and continues to resume his healing, not wasting a second. Another minute later, Fumio is now breathing stably. Red is now on his last steps mending the bones on Fumio''s ribs. The ribs being the densest, are the slowest for Red to heal. "You''re all fine, buddy. You''re all fine." Done with the bones, Red sits on his butt on the ground in relief. He takes a deep breath and he wipes the sweat off his forehead. While the procedure which took only two and a half minutes in total and only drained a third of his spiritual energy, his spiritual sense is almost exhausted. After all, his spiritual sense is what allowed him maintain a complete and detailed visibility during the procedure without opening up Fumio''s chest. Five minutes later. "Now the head." Having enough a breather with his spiritual sense, and seeing that Fumio''s respiratory and cardiac systems are improving, Red turns his attention on Fumio''s head injury. He is not as concerned with the head injury as he saw with his spirit sense earlier that Fumio only has concussion. While the concussion is severe, Red saw no obvious injuries. Red wants to be certain however that there are no micro injuries on Fumio''s brain tissues, so he starts a thorough scan that he can still tolerate. " Huh" He then notices something in Fumio''s brain that makes his eyes widen in surprise. Just to be sure, he scans the same place again, and "it''s there", he confirms that what he saw is indeed present. "A spirit root." He utters. He can barely believe it. Just like any potential cultivator, Fumio has a spirit root in his brain stem. "How did I miss this?" He utters in confusion. Just like many people he encountered in this world; Red also scanned Fumio''s brain to learn his instincts. "Oh I always ignored the brain stem" He immediately realizes the reason. Because there are no cultivators in this world, he assumed that the people in this world have no potential to cultivate. ----- A few hours later. ~~~ "B t th r ''s s meth ng you c n lose Your life." Fumio sees Hideki raise his right foot. "N-no" Fumio struggles to say, but *THUD*, Hideki mercilessly stomps down on his chest. Fumio curls up, feels his chest painfully cave in, and he loses his ability to breathe. Soon after, his world turns dark. ~~~ *GASP* Fumio awakens from his slumber in panic and he hurriedly sits up to look around. Gradually, to his relief, he realizes that he is now in the living room of Red''s apartment judging from the familiar looking plants around him, and he was lying down on the couch. He then pats his chest where Hideki landed a blow on him, and to his confusion, "What the hell?...", he feels fine. "Was that a dream?" He utters in uncertainty. "No The pain was real. The bastard did me in But" He holds his head, not knowing if his memory is real or not. "Yes, that bastard did it to you." Fumio is startled by Red''s sudden entrance to the living room from the balcony. "*Phew* It''s just you, boss." Fumio sighs in relief, before processing what Red said. "W-what happened, boss? How''d I get here then?" He asks. "I found you behind some building, dying." Red says as he approaches Fumio. "Unfortunately, whoever that bastard that almost killed you, got away before I got there." " Oh" A feeling of rage builds up in Fumio''s chest, before "Ooff.." he feels a painful heart palpitation. "Calm down. Your heart needs more time to be how it used to be." Red says. "Okay boss" Fumio nods, before, "Wait then wh- how am I fine?" he asks in disbelief. Instead of an explanation, Fumio receives a palm on the chest as an answer from Red. "" He is too taken aback by Red''s action to resist or recoil. The next moment, he sees a purple light glow on Red''s palm, before quickly disappearing. As soon as Red retrieves his palm, Fumio feels a pleasant combination of coolness and warmth deep inside his chest. "Huuuu" He cannot help but take a long and deep breath and his emotions all settles back down, and he is now in a state of clarity. That state of clarity allows him to think about the situation more clearly. Red meanwhile, leaves Fumio alone for the kitchen. A minute later, Red and Fumio are now sitting at the dining table across each other, with Red setting up the tea set on the table, and Fumio simply watching Red''s actions in a daze. "" Fumio then stares at Red, trying to see through him. Soon, *sigh*, he becomes frustrated that Red is simply pouring tea as if the events of the day does not have questions to be answered. "Why are you staring?" Red asks. "Boss Who are you really?" Fumio asks in return. "You know me. I''m Iwai Kichirou, your boss." Red simply answers before sliding a freshly poured cup of tea to Fumio. "That''s" Fumio shakes his head at Red''s answer and his curiosity intensified. "Boss. Come on. You know wh-" Before he can ask more questions, "Why don''t we talk about who did it to you?", Red interrupts him. Fumio, failing to satisfy his curiosity, can only sigh, and instead "It''s my cousin.", answers Red''s question. The thought of Hideki and his actions is starting to make his blood boil, and Red sees it. "This debt of blood, do you want to collect it?" Red asks. "*nod*" Fumio responds in subtle determination. "Do you want me to do it for you?" Red asks. Chapter 16 - A Part-time Job "Do you think you can beat him in a fight?" Fumio asks. "I have my ways. It''ll be easy." Red says. "Oh... Even if you can, boss, I want to do it myself." Fumio says. "But How am I supposed to?" he then clenches his jaw in indignation. "If you had the strength, what will you do with him?" Red asks. "If I had the power" Fumio''s mind starts a scenario that has been running in his head every time Hideki makes him and other non-superiori members of the Hasegawa Clan suffer. "I''ll take away his power He''s nothing without it. I''ll see if he''s any more useful than us non-superiori The Hasegawa clan will then no longer find worth in him..." Every sentence he utters, his face becomes stonier, colder. "Will that be enough? Will the anger in your heart disappear after achieving that?" Red asks. "No Only until I, with my own eyes, see him lose his will to live. Only until I see him, take his own life, will I be satisfied." Fumio says, as he touches his chest. Even though his chest is fully healed, he still feels the pain of the injury that was inflicted by Hideki. ''I like it.'' Red cannot help but smirk. He figures that Fumio''s preference for a poetic justice, is that he wants to replace the image in his mind of Hideki being an insurmountable monster, into that of weak vermin he can step on. "Boss, I know I''m weak, but I''m not joking." Fumio, misinterpreting the smirk on Red''s face, is offended. "Oh. I know, kid." Red gulps down the tea from his cup and he checks the time. "21:15. It''s still early." "" Fumio meanwhile, is a bit indignant, feeling that Red is not taking him seriously. He can only gulp down his own tea, swallowing the bitterness he is feeling along with it. "Fumio." Red says suddenly. "I can help you achieve the strength you require." He continues. "" Fumio is stunned. He knows that while Red has the tendency to be playful, Red is good-natured and is not the type to kid about situationally sensitive things easily. "C-can you really?" He asks in intrigue. "Why don''t we go out for a walk?" Red gestures as he stands up from his chair. A moment later, the two are now in Red''s balcony. "Uhh a walk, you said?" Fumio scratches his head in confusion as he looks at Red. "Yeah. Tighten up." Red orders as he points at the belt of Fumio''s kimono. "What are we doing, exactly?" Fumio instinctively and confusedly complies with Red''s orders. The next moment, Red grabs Fumio on the secured belt, lifts the man in the air, and he jumps off the balcony, easily carrying the weight of two people. "AAAHHHHH!" Fumio can only scream as him and Red free fall to the street below. "*Hurl* B-boss" Fumio is bent down, hands on his knees, face to the floor, dry heaving. "Are you good now?" Red asks. He has given Fumio a few moments to compose himself. For the past few minutes, he has hopped from building rooftop to building rooftop, twice the speed of an arrow zipping through the air while carrying the flailing Fumio along with one hand like a grocery bag. Only after finally arriving to their destination did Fumio''s suffering end. "I''m go- *hurl*" Fumio heaves one last time, before "I''m good boss", breathing deeply in relief, glad to be alive. He however, does not know what to say, his mind jumbled by the questions that is flooding his mind. One question however, is the clearest in his mind. "T-the strength you were talking about Can I do whatever that was?" He asks, referring to the feat of physicality that Red displayed to him. "And more." Red nods. "More" Fumio is getting excited at the thought of himself just having the ability to hop from building to building at an incredible speed. "I-I''ve seen the top members of Hasegawa spar before I think only the clan head can move that fast, and he''s not that far from reaching A-class." He compares. "Ah Well. It''ll take you decades to reach the strength of an A Class Superioris." Red says. "Oh" Fumio is immediately pulled out from his day dream. "But to deal with your cousin I think a year would do?" Red estimates. "Really?" Hope sparks in Fumio''s eyes once again. "Or a few months? Depending how strong your will is." Red says. "Will Boss! I''m strong-willed! I didn''t survive that long in the Hasegawa clan as a non-superioris for nothing!" Fumio proudly says. Red nods, already having an idea of Fumio''s martial skills. While he was massaging Fumio for practice a week ago, Red''s spiritual scan of Fumio''s muscles revealed years of training in foot movements and swordsmanship. While Fumio''s fitness is nothing compared to cultivator mortals, he has an above average fitness for a non-superioris. "I''ll be the judge of that." Red simply says. "I''ll show you boss." Fumio responds in determination. With that, Red starts to walk away from Fumio. "Where are you going, boss?" Fumio asks as he quickly catches up. "To make some money." Red answers as they enter the door of the rooftop. "Make some money" Fumio gets curious. > "Hey." "Good luck tonight." "Do your best, sir." Aside from the greetings Red is receiving as they walk along the corridor, Fumio noticed more things that makes him very curious about the building. "Boss What''s going on? Who were those people?" Fumio cannot help but ask. Red however does not answer as he stops at a door, opens it and gestures Fumio to enter. "Boss. What''s this building? Who are those people? That doorman earlier also asked for a password And this looks like some waiting room." Fumio starts to spill his questions as they enter the room. "Well. Found this place two months ago. When I saw the free money, hey. Why not? It''s not like we''re earning anything from the shop." Red replies as he sits on the chair of the room reserved only for him, facing a large mirror hanging on the wall. "Free money?" Fumio asks, but as he looks at Red''s reflection in the mirror, his jaw drops. Red, in the mirror, no longer looks like the kimono-wearing, clean cut-having 40 something year-old Iwai Kichirou, but a bare chested muscular old man with a shoulder-length white hair and well-groomed white mane. Red''s entire face is also covered by an eerie looking white porcelain mask, concealing Red''s facial features except for his mouth. "W-wha" Fumio eyes dart between Red and his reflection in stupefaction. He then touches Red and to further his surprise, unlike the reflection showing his hand touching Red''s bare shoulder, his hand feels the fabric of Red''s kimono. A moment later, "How is this possible?" He finally utters as he goes to stand behind Red to study the comparisons more. "" His eyes almost pop out of its socket when he notices his own reflection. Just like Red, his reflection looks vastly different. He is no longer wearing a kimono, but a fancy looking three-piece suit. And unlike his 20 something year-old face, he now looks like a handsome 40-year-old man. He then touches his clothes and his face and just like with Red, he is still wearing his kimono, and he is still 23 years old. " How is this possible?!" He asks again, but this time, not to himself, but to Red. "I''ll tell you more of my secrets once you''re strong enough to keep them." Red says. "O-oh" Fumio is speechless at the answer, but his mind is still being assaulted by questions about Red and his abilities. Soon however, he realizes that Red sharing his sensitive secrets to him is a huge honor. "B-boss! I''ll keep everything to myself!" He bows to Red. "Heh. Even if you somehow slip up and tell others, who''d believe you?" Red shrugs with a scoff. "" Fumio has nothing to say at the logic. "So. What do you think? Our disguises are pretty good, huh?" Red asks. "D-disguises " Fumio studies his handsome reflection in the mirror again. "Damn boss. I wanna look like this when I get older." He says as he starts posing. Unbeknownst to Fumio, what he saw as an excessively detailed embroidery of the logo of the shop oddly located in the inner hem of his kimono robe, is a disguise seal, hand stitched by Red using a platinum thread. Red, found out that some metals in this world like gold, platinum, palladium, or even silver are good conductors of spiritual energy. In Muscle Masters, if his customers will look closer, they will notice that the tiles in each corners of the shop''s rooms are metallic, and made of silver plates. These silver tiles contain spiritual energy storage seals which Red engraved to power the formations in the shop. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* Fumio and Red are interrupted from their chat as they hear a knock on the waiting room''s door. Red nods at Fumio, and Fumio opens the door. A man, who seems to be one of the many guards in black suits around the building, enters. "Is it time?" Red asks. "Yes, sir." The guard says. Red, noticing that Fumio is about to ask what it is about, gestures to Fumio to stay quiet. "He''s a friend. Can you register him for a guest''s pass?" Red asks the guard. "Sure thing, sir. I will be back." The guard says. "Alright Fumio. Here''s what you''re gonna do." Red starts to give Fumio a crash course about the place where they are. ~ "" Fumio still cannot believe what he just witnessed. In view below him, is a basketball-court sized sumo ring, and he is now in the stands among the audience. He is however smart enough to know that he is not in a sumo event, but an underground fighting arena. A superioris underground fighting arena to be exact. He just watched the last moments of a bloody match between two transformation type superiori, with the earth type superioris who can transform his arms with earthen spiked clubs, winning against an ice-type superioris who can transform his arms into icicles. He can barely watch as the two fighters stab and smash at each other to the twisted amusement of the crowd around him. Currently, he watches in rapt interest as a few earth and fire manipulation type superiori, who seem to be the cleaners of the fighting ring, replace the bloody clay ground, with a new layer. On the opposite edges of the ring where the two exits are located, meanwhile, are bloody figures of the fighters being carried away on stretchers after the ring''s teams of healer-type superiori performed their preliminary measures to prevent the fighters from further injuries. While Fumio liked watching superioris fighting championships, the bloody and dirty world of underground fighting repulses him. Unlike the professionally regulated and sanctioned official combat tournaments, the underground fighting ring seemed to lack any rules at all. The two fighters earlier resorted to striking their opponents'' groin, back, and neck, as if trying their hardest to go for the kill. Had it not been to support Red, he would have left the area long ago. Fumio has heard of these underground fighting events from the members of his former clan. He always scoffed in skepticism, finding them tall tales, until today, when he himself is a witness to the real bloody entertainment. "Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen." Fumio is startled by the boisterous baritone voice of the announcer. "May I present to you all, the final match of the Named Warriors'' Row." The announcer continues. *CHEER* *WHISTLES* The crowd cheer in anticipation. Chapter 17 - A Part-time Job 2 "As you all know, the next two fighters are the top fighters of the Named Warriors'' row. The winner of their match will have the opportunity, THE HONOR to challenge our Seated Champions for their seats!" *CHEERS* "Let''s welcome our fighters. IN THE RED CAGE. A C-class hybrid superioris. 24 wins by knock outs, 3 wins by fatalities, 0 draws, and 7 losses by knockout THE BLADE TORNADO!" As soon as the announcer introduces, The red wooden gate on the right side of the ring falls to the ground with a huge *THUNK* before ''The Blade Tornado'' enters the ring by walking on the fallen gate. *CHEER* The crowd stand up in excitement as 190cm tall and muscular Blade Tornado confidently walks to the center of the ring. Fumio''s blood boils in excitement as the man, wearing leather pants, leather boots, and a steel ancient roman helmet, exudes the epitome of masculinity. The creaking sound of the Red gate, being pulled back up by chains adds to The Blade Tornado''s aura and Fumio cannot help but utter "Badass". "Blade Tornado. How do you feel tonight?" The announcer starts a pre-fight interview as he passes Blade Tornado a microphone, catching Fumio off-guard. ''probably because it''s illegal, interviews cannot be done outside this building.'' Fumio guesses. "I''m ready to draw some blood." Blade Tornado simply answers, making the crowd applause and cheer once again in excitement. Fumio, looking at the huge LCD screen above the ring, displaying the live feed of Blade Tornado''s face, suddenly gets a bit irritated looking at the fighter''s smug and confident smile. "Haha! ''Drawing some blood'' Very fitting based on what we''ve seen in you your previous fights. Well, our first-time attendees might be curious why you''re called ''Blade Tornado. Why don''t you show them a peek of what you''ll do tonight?" The announcer asks. Blade Tornado then flexes his muscles before sharp blades immediately pop out of his forehead, knuckles, elbows, shoulders, shoulder blades, knees, and boots. The next moment, he starts shadowboxing, throwing punches and kicks in blurs. *whoosh* *whoosh* The microphone on Blade Tornado''s hand even picks up the air resistance being broken by his limbs. ''Muay Thai and blades from his joints. He seems to also be a C-class strength type superioris considering how fast he is moving Killer combination.'' Fumio''s breathing increases in appreciation at Blade Tornado''s display. It is not only him, but the audience cheer too, in appreciation. After Blade Tornado''s display, and the crowd calming down, the announcer takes back the spotlight. "Beautiful warm-up, Blade Tornado. Let''s meet your opponent tonight?" The announcer asks Blade Tornado. "*Nod*" The Blade Tornado retrieves his blades, stands in attention and looks at the direction of the Blue Cage. Out of all the fighters in his rank, his opponent is one of the few that he respects. "IN THE BLUE CAGE. A C-class superioris. Having 9 wins by way of knockout, 10 wins by way of opponent surrender, 3 draws by mutual knockout, and 0 losses. Let''s welcome... OLD PHANTOM!" The announcer introduces. Fumio, hearing the fighter''s alias, perks up. ''The Old Phantom'', the alias that Red is using as a combatant. The blue wooden gate at the right side of the ring and it falls down with a huge thud. Red then enters the ring by walking on the fallen gate. Unlike the aura of Blade Tornado, Red''s serene and cold aura is a huge contrast. His eerie all-white porcelain mask and his body language showing no signs of showmanship, the audience''s excitement is immediately cooled down. "*clap clap clap*" This result to Red receiving an awkward round of applause. Red, then gracefully and slowly walks to the center of the ring. His deliberate steps making him look as if he is gliding across the ground. "Old Phantom. Hello." The announcer already used to Red''s boring aura after introducing him for many times now, greets just like usual as Red joins him and Blade Tornado at the center of the ring. Red simply nods in response. "Old Phantom. How do you feel tonight?" The announcer asks before passing the microphone to Red. "Sleepy" Red responds, the boredom in his aged voice is very palpable. Everyone through the LCD screen, sees Blade Tornado''s face twitch at Red''s words. Fumio meanwhile, is both worried and excited. He has an idea of Red''s physical feats, but he has no idea if Red can throw a punch. Red also having his eyes covered furthers Fumio''s worries. "Well Can you show the audience how you sober up?" The announcer asks. Red then raises his left arm on his side, with his hand open before a beautiful ornamental wooden cane appears on his hand. "" This stuns the announcer and Blade Tornado as they are seeing Red use a weapon for the first time, and also what they assume as Red''s first use of a wood-nature ability. Red simply does a few spins and thrusts with his cane before resting it vertically on his side. The cane oddly looks fitting for Red and his covered eyes. "..clap.. clap.." The audience give a polite applause at the unimpressive and boring display. Blade Tornado however, knows better. Even though he is not a fan of Red''s clean fighting style, he respects Red''s skills. Now that Red is using the superioris ability which he assumes that Red hid as an ace, to fight him, he is excited and somehow pleased that Red is putting an extra effort for the fight. "Thank you, Old Phantom Well then. Do each of you have words for each other before you duke it out? Blade Tornado?" The announcer asks. "Keep your head attached to your body old man, or I''ll bring your head home and your mask dyed red." Blade Tornado says in a sinister grin making the crowd wild once again. He then tosses the microphone to Red, and Red catches it smoothly. "Try touching me first, kid. " Red responds. *ooohhh* The contrast of Red''s words and his demeanor pulls out a great reaction. Fumio meanwhile gets sick to his stomach in realization. ''This is an underground ring that allows killing. This is fucked up.'' A stream of cold sweat rolls down his forehead. In addition to his disgust of the arena, gastric juices also climb up his gullet thinking of the huge bet he placed on Red earlier, per Red''s orders. "Please go back to your gates." The announcer gestures the two fighters. "There is only one rule in this match." The announcer''s voice then changes into a more serious tone. "No killing after your opponent yields, or falls unconscious. Aside from that, it is up to you two to spare your opponent or not." The announcer''s words send a twisted excitement up the audience''s spines. Even the first-time attendees of the event have already gotten used to the blood and death they have witnessed in the earlier matches. "Blade Tornado, Old Phantom. Give us a show." With that, the announcer jumps from the ring back to his booth ten or so feet above the ring. The next moment, Blade Tornado dashes to the center of the ring once again. Red on the other hand, as if taking a stroll, takes his time to the center of the ring with slow and deliberate steps. *Murmur* To the audience''s surprise, Blade Tornado, contrary to their expectations, is not attacking immediately, but simply waits for Red. The audience however does not have to wait long. As soon as Red is in Blade Tornado''s range, Blade Tornado immediately throws a very quick right straight towards Red''s face. But as if predicting Blade Tornado''s attack, Red simply turns his face, narrowly dodging Blade Tornado''s attack. Blade Tornado meanwhile, already knows Red''s evasive skills, so he starts up with his sixteen-attack combo. Left straight, right middle kick, left hook, right low kick. Four attacks in however, Blade Tornado realizes Red''s ease in evading them and is surprised. But being an experienced fighter, he does not let the surprise get to him and he continues. Right jab, setting up for a left straight, his attack fails to land once again. Before he can continue, he sees Red simply steps further in his range and after a blur, he feels a dull whack on his helmet, and he stumbles backwards a few steps; his vision receding allows him to see Red''s outstretched palm. He realizes that Red just broke his combo with a palm strike on his forehead. That realization makes him simply stare at Red in befuddlement. *WHOOOAAHHHH* The crowd meanwhile goes wild at the exchange. Fumio also gets on his feet in excitement. ''Beautiful! Simply beautiful!'' In his perspective, Red simply looked like he was lazily dancing in place and somehow dodged all of Blade Tornado''s storm of limbs. Red then feigns a yawn as he covers his mouth with his hand. "uuhhhhhaa" his bored voice taunting Blade Tornado further. Blade Tornado decides on switching tactics as he rushes to Red once again. Unlike before when he maintained some distance from Red, he gets very close in clinching range and initiates his attacks with his right elbow hook. As he expected, Red dodges the elbow by throwing his head back. He then follows the elbow with a knee to Red''s gut, sure that it will land. Unlike his expectations however, Red simply parries his knee and disappears outside his vision to his left with a spinning maneuver. As he turns around to defend whatever is coming, he receives another palm on the forehead, more powerful than last time. He then retreats a few steps once again to prevent himself from falling ass flat on the ground. *CHEER* The audience once again cheer before they can even sit back down on their seats. Looking at Red still standing casually as if nothing happened, Blade Tornado grits his teeth in frustration. He thought that he is not like Red''s previous opponents, and that he at least can give Red a fight without resorting to his blades. He now realizes that Red is more formidable than he thought. The next moment, the audience starts chanting. "Blades Blades" Nobody knows who started it first, but the chant gets louder into unison. Blade Tornado, hearing the chants, gets offended. He ignores the chants and switches to another tactic, hoping to save his pride. He noticed that Red never initiates an attack, not once in Red''s previous fights that he saw. With this information, he rushes forward once again. Unlike last time when he attacked with his limbs, he crouches down this time, for a tackle. He regrets this immediately. Red slips away from his vision once again and he feels a downwards pushing force from his back and the next moment, his face plants to the ground, followed by his body, the momentum of the fall dragging his face five feet further against the clay surface of the ground. Had he not been wearing his helmet, he is sure that his face will be bleeding by now, abrased from the friction. *HAHAHAHA* He then hears the crowd laugh as if they are in a comedy show. Chapter 18 - A Part-time Job 3 Blade Tornado no longer cares about his pride as he pushes himself off the ground in anger. As soon as his feet touches the ground, he releases each blade he has. Forehead, elbows, knuckles, shoulders, shoulder blades, knees, and foot; all 13 blades appear once again. The blade coming out from the slits of his Roman helmet, and his boots especially gives out an illusion of an apex predator. *WHOOOOAAAHH* The crowd switch from amusement to excitement once again. Blade Tornado''s anger furthers when he receives a simple lazy tilt of the head from Red as a response. Meanwhile, Fumio who has been watching in awe at Red''s evasive display, becomes worried seeing the ominous glint in Blade Tornado''s thirteen sharp blades once again. Blade Tornado, despite his anger at his situation, learned better. Instead of rushing forward, he assumes a Muay Thai stance even though he is only a few steps away from Red. He then starts bouncing on the balls of his feet as he carefully approaches Red once again. Before he can get in striking range, however, he stops. Him looking at Red''s blank mask reminds him that Red is ''blind''. With the blade of his left foot, he kicks the clay ground. The pieces of clay fly towards Red and Red dodges. Seeing Red''s response, Blade Tornado smirks, finding hope in getting through Red''s defenses. *CHEER* The audience too, realize that Red is ''fooled'' by Blade Tornado''s tricks and they cheer in anticipation. Blade Tornado then repeats the same action and more pieces of clay fly towards Red to which Red once again agilely evades. Blade Tornado suddenly gets an idea and as he watches a piece of clay fly towards Red''s face. He then estimates which direction Red will dodge to next and he kicks out, with his right foot, to that direction. To his surprise, he feels that the blade of his foot makes a slight contact. He then sees Red do a backflip to get away from him. Soon, he sees a shallow but long cut across Red''s chest, leaking some blood. This pauses the action. *CHEER* The audience, seeing Red''s wounds in the LCD display, get on their feet in excitement. "" Fumio bites the sleeve of his kimono in nervousness. *Smirk* Blade Tornado smiles in satisfaction. While he knows that the damage he dealt is but a scratch, he is pleased to see that Red is no longer as relaxed as before, that the casualness left Red''s body, replaced by alertness. "BLADE TORNADO MAKES USE OF OLD PHANTOM''S HANDICAP AND DRAWS BLOOD!" The announcer too, exclaims in excitement. "THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT OLD PHANTOM IS WOUNDED!" *CHEER* Blade Tornado, seeing the result of his handiwork, gets his confidence back. He once again rains clay pieces to Red''s direction and same as before, he blindly kicks to the general direction to wherever Red is dodging. This time however, he misses. He does not give up on his trick however and makes use of it in the next moments. *Groan* *cheer* *groan* *cheer* The audience react accordingly at each miss and each scratch that Blade Tornado achieves. Despite seeing the shallow wounds that accumulated on Red''s body, Blade Tornado is not satisfied. He just realized that his tactic will not work forever as he noticed that he is making less and less contact. "EVERYONE! IT SEEMS THAT OLD PHANTOM IS GETTING USED TO BLADE TORNADO''S TRICKS!" The announcer and the audience too, realize what is happening. Blade Tornado however, wants to squeeze his trick once more and he kicks clay pieces to Red once again. *thck* *thck* To his surprise, he sees that Red is no longer dodging the clay pieces and is simply letting them hit his body and mask. He brushes aside his surprise and continues to kick more clay pieces. Seeing that Red really is not dodging, he gets an idea and immediately acts on it. He kicks one more piece to Red before he following it with a thrust of his own left bladed knuckle, the weight of his entire body following through. He gets excited as the blade of his fist gets closer and closer to Red''s chest, while Red seems to not perceive any incoming danger. The next moment however, a familiar scene happens right in front of his eyes. He sees Red turn his body sideways to the left, narrowly avoiding the knuckle blade. The momentum of his attack makes Blade Tornado realize that he is now very open. Out of instinct, he tries to lean on his left hoping that the blade of his left shoulder will land anywhere on Red''s body. *shhinnkk* He then feels the blade of his left shoulder make contact, before rolling on the floor to recover his footing. He then looks back at Red to see what damage he did, and he is pleasantly surprised by what he sees. The bottom of Red''s porcelain mask falls to the floor, having been sliced off by his blade, now exposing Red''s entire bearded mouth. "OOHHH!!! THE OLD PHANTOM WAS ALMOST UNMASKED EVERYONE!" The announcer excitedly reports and, *RRAAHHH* the crowd goes wild. Blade Tornado, meanwhile, is not excited as the audience. Far from it. He feels coldness climb up his spine as he sees the now exposed mouth of Red, raise its corners to form a smile. It is not the sinister he often sees in the fighters of the underground fighting ring. It is not the murderous smile he often sees in the most murderous combatants. It is instead, a misplaced, kind and benevolent smile. The misplaced and unknown smile he is seeing for the first time in an opponent, puts an eerie feeling in his heart. Soon however, ''What the fuck are you smiling like that for?'' Blade Tornado''s eerie feeling is replaced by offense. He is not seeing on Red''s face the expression that he expects or likes to see. ''After all of that don''t give me that smile'' He grudgingly kicks clay to Red once again and repeating his earlier tactic by thrusting out another straight. This time however, his arm is caught and clipped between Red''s underarm. He is stunned, and before he can take further action, his elbow is intertwined by Red''s cane, making it and its blade useless. The next moment, he receives a punch in his gut. "*aaackk*" His lungs almost run out of air from the well placed punch to his diaphragm and he bends over. His arm however is used by Red as an anchor and he is forced to stand up straight again and this time, he receives an upper cut to his chin. Unfortunately, his helmet does not cover his chin, and his vision shakes and his world spins. He tries to attack Red with his free limbs but each attempt that he tries, it is easily diverted or parried, making his efforts useless. Even if he uses the blade on his knees, or the blade on his forehead to try detach himself, Red simply makes use of his locked arm as an anchor to maneuver him helplessly like how a hand puppet''s movements is in the entire control of a puppeteer. "EVERYONE! IT SEEMS THAT THE OLD PHANTOM IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF THE PERFECT COUNTERPLAN TO BLADE TORNADO''S TRICKS! OHH!! BLADE TORNADO SHOULD GET OUT OF OLD PHANTOM''S HOLD IMMEDIATELY!" The announcer commentates. The crowd meanwhile, is stunned at the turn of events. Earlier, they were cheering for Blade Tornado as if cheering for a lion chasing an evasive deer. Now, it is as if the deer suddenly grew huge antlers and large hooves, trapped the lion in its antlers, and is now clobbering its victim. Blade Tornado cannot think of a way out so he keeps receiving blows to the body and to his head. He is confused at first as to why Red is pummeling his helmet, but he slowly realizes that Red is giving him a breather by doing so. Realizing that fact however is useless and it took him too long. He receives another uppercut, and his world is rocked once again. He then feels his body and limbs go limp, as if his brain has disconnected from the rest of his body. He also feels his blades recede back inside his body, his concentration failing to maintain them. He feels one last blow to his helmet before being let go by Red. He can barely stay conscious and can only allow himself to fall face flat on the ground with a thud. "THE BLADE TORNADO IS DOWN! IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE HE IS DOWN THIS BAD!" The announcer remarks in excitement. The audience meanwhile falls into an awkward state with only a small part of the crowd cheering. "" Fumio meanwhile, is trying his best to not celebrate. After all, he knows why the audience are reacting strangely. Earlier, when he was placing his bets, he realized that the odds are heavily stacked against Red at 1:5. "Shit The Old Phantom wasn''t like this before" He hears a middle-aged spectator nearby, utter. "I know right Wasn''t he a counter fighter? I thought he''d be the same with Blade Tornado." A younger male spectator says. "Same. I thought Blade Tornado is impossible to counter so I bet on him. Fuck. There goes my money." Another spectator begrudgingly agrees. "WHAT''S THIS? OLD PHANTOM IS NOT CONTINUING TO ATTACK. IS HE WAITING FOR BLADE TORNADO TO STAND BACK UP? IS HE WAITING FOR BLADE TORNADO TO YIELD?!" The announcer continues to remark to fill the lack of action. As if proving the announcer''s words true, Red takes a few steps back from Blade Tornado and resumes standing at a casual posture once again by leaning on his cane, waiting for Blade Tornado to stand up. A few seconds pass however, and Blade Tornado is still on the floor, barely being able to push his body up the ground, and can only raise his head to look at Red. Suddenly, "Kill Kill" A soft unorganized chanting starts in the crowd once again before, "KILL. KILL. KILL.", descending into unison. The audience members who bet on Blade Tornado are feeling bitter that their horse on the race let them down, while the audience members that bet against him are getting carried away by the satisfaction of the incoming multiplication of their bets. "" Fumio is disgusted by what is happening, but he is more concerned if whether or not Red will really take a life. Chapter 19 - Another Fight The audience is stopped by their chanting when Red slowly raises his hand above his head. They stare in anticipation at what Red''s next actions will be. The next moment, they see something they least expect. Red folds down the fingers of his raised hand except for one. "" The audience are stunned that they are given the middle finger. Not only a simple middle finger, but a middle finger from who they thought of as a sophisticated and elegant old man. "" Blade Tornado is also stunned seeing Red''s actions. He does not want to die, but he cannot fight back either and he sees Red''s gesture as a hope that he will be spared. No one knows who instigated it but, "BOOOO!!!" the audience starts to give out loud jeers to Red. As if their jeers are not heard, they continue to see Red still proudly holding his middle finger above his head. The announcer, fearing things will become more chaotic, goes to action. "EVERYONE, PLEASE CALM DOWN. BLADE TORNADO, PLEASE TAP THE GROUND TWICE IF YOU YIELD." He says in a commanding tone. Hearing the announcer''s words, Blade Tornado feels slighted. This insult however gives him strength to successfully prop himself up on his knees. He then raises his head to Red''s direction, and looks at Red in the eyes in defiance. He then sees Red lazily walk towards him while "KILL KILL KILL", the audience resume their chanting. Soon, Red is now right in front of him and contrary to the audience''s feelings, he somehow feels that Red does not want to end him. Before he can feel hopeful of his survival, *whoosh* a blur then zooms in towards his face and before he can even blink, *thunk* he sees a familiar helmet hanging on the handle Red''s cane. His face and head feeling cooler, he realizes that Red just took his helmet off. "" He grits his teeth in anger, seeing Red''s action as a huge insult. While his face is already known to many in the crowd, someone removing his helmet except for himself, is a huge offense to him. This gives him a huge boost of adrenaline, and he manages to get up off his knees, ready to fight back once more. Before he can assume his fighting stance however, *THWACK* his lights go out. For the next few seconds, the audience watch in silence at the unconscious Blade Tornado on the ground. The announcer then jumps off from his boot to the ring to take a closer look at Blade Tornado. "IT LOOKS LIKE BLADE TORNADO IS OUT." He announces to the audience as he gestures to some staff on the side. "WE HAVE A WINNER! LET''S GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO OLD PHANTOM!" The announcer addresses the audience. *APPLAUSE* *CHEER* "OLD PHANTOM! OLD PHANTOM! OLD PHANTOM!'''' While many in the audience are disappointed at the outcome, they still enjoyed the fight. As the medical staff carry Blade Tornado out with a stretcher, the announcer turns his attention to Red. "Congratulations for another win, Old Phantom. How do you feel?" He asks. "It feels good to work these old bones once again. Blade Tornado did well." Red says. *Applause* The audience feels the honor in Red''s words. "I see. This is the first time that someone wounded you. Were you surprised?" The announcer asks. "I was, not because Blade Tornado drew my blood. These are just scratches anyway. What surprised me is Blade Tornado''s battle sense. But too bad for him, I have decades of battle sense on him." Red says. *oohh* The audience nod at Red''s explanation. "When the audience was chanting for the kill, it seemed that Blade Phantom was ready to fight than yield. Why didn''t go for it?" The announcer asks. "I''ve taken enough lives in my prime. All I seek is a bit of fun and challenge. Besides, I want to fight him again. I want him to remember this humiliation so he can give me a good fight next time." Red says. The audience smirk at Red''s twisted logic. "I LOVE IT!" The announcer cackles at the reply. "Anyways. Before I let you go back to your waiting room, do you have anything else to say?" He asks Red. "I do." Red nods, knowing what the question really means. "I saw Fire Colossus earlier in the corridors. He''s around, right?" he asks. "*murmur* *murmur*" The audience immediately get what Red is saying. "Do you want to issue a challenge?" The announcer asks. "Yes." Red nods. *MURMUR* The audience stir in anticipation. "Are you sure? Fire Colossus is the Seventh Seat of our Champions'' Row and a B-class superioris. Why not start with Tenth Seat first?" The announcer asks. "I am certain." Red says as he turns to the balcony area of the arena where the VIP spectators and the champions who decide to watch the matches, are seated. "I challenge you, Fire Colossus for the Seventh Seat of the Champions'' Row." He challenges. *CHEER* The audience goes wild at the proclamation. The spotlight operator and camera feed switch to display on the screen a Japanese man who looks to be in his 30s, fashioning a red mohawk hairstyle, adding further length to his already 190cm height. He is wearing a black leather vest, ripped jeans, and combat boots. This man is Fire Colossus, the fighter who is sitting on the Seventh Seat of the Champions'' Row for five months now. After receiving a microphone from a staff member, Fire Colossus clears his throat before speaking. "Old Phantom. When do you want it?" In contrast to his punk aesthetic, his words and tone are polite. "" The audience wait in anticipation at Red''s answer. "Do you have a few minutes to spare right now?" Red answers. "I do." Fire Colossus nods and he jumps off the balcony. While in the air, he materializes a pair of oversized orange-colored crystalline boots around his feet to cushion his fall. As soon as his feet make contact to the clay ring *FWAHHH*, the boots explode producing a blast of orange fire around him. Even though Fire Colossus landed quite a few meters away from Red and the announcer, and that the fire blast does not reach them, they still feel a breeze of hot air blow their way. The announcer especially cannot help but cover his eyes. He is quick on his feet however. "LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A FIGHT ON OUR HANDS!" He proclaims. "RRAAHHH!!!" The audience go wild once again, the change of events greatly exciting them. "Unfortunately, the match cannot start immediately. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take a thirty-minute break while you all go refresh yourselves and place your bets." The announcer addresses the audience. "Fire Colossus, Old Phantom. Please return to your waiting rooms and wait for the staff to call you back in." He then addresses the two combatants. Fire Colossus however walks towards Red and he slowly extends his hand for a hand shake. Red simply responds with a tilt of his head, however, making the atmosphere throughout the small arena tense and awkward. Fire Colossus, remembering that Red is ''Blind'', shrugs off the awkwardness. "Uhhh Old Phantom. Let''s shake hands." He says as he snaps the fingers of his outstretched hand for Red to hear. Red indeed intentionally ignored Fire Colossus'' gesture to maintain his cover. "Oh" Red reaches out his hand to hold Fire Colossus'', and they shake hands. *CLAP CLAP CLAP* The audience are relieved and they applause at the two fighters'' gesture. "EVERYONE, LET''S SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN IN 30 MINUTES." "Boss.. Holy shit! Are you okay?" Fumio barges in Red''s waiting room, finding Red sitting on his chair, absentmindedly stirring his tea with a spoon. "I''m fine." Red says. " You are" Fumio then realizes that Red was in disguise throughout the fight. "But you were bleeding." He is once again mystified as he gives Red a once over. Just like before the fight, Red is still wearing his kimono, all ironed out, as if he was not in an intense fight. "It''s all illusion" Red shrugs. "Wait It''s all for show?" Fumio asks in realization. "Yeah. You said so yourself that even your clan head who is a top-level Class-B might not move as fast as me. Blade Tornado is moving slow motion in my eyes." Red says. "Pff haha" Fumio mirthlessly chuckles realizing that his worries earlier were useless. "If I knocked out Blade Tornado immediately, the audience will actually think that I have a chance to beat Fire Colossus." Red continues. "T-that''s right!..." Fumio''s eyes widen. "Just like you asked, I just bet your winnings back to your next match A-and and I saw t-the odds against you is 1-7. I-if what you bet on yourself is multiplied by seven then" his mind spins at the zeroes of the possible pay-out he cannot calculate. "But boss Can you really beat Fire Colossus?" He asks however, not forgetting the most important thing. "I mean Even if you''re a class-A superioris and Fire Colossus is class-B If your powers are not as strong as his, he can still beat you." He adds. "Hey. Even if I lose, I''m still rich." Red says. "" Fumio is worried at Red''s attitude. "It''s not just money you might lose." He says. "*Hnn*" Red responses with a simple shrug. Fumio can only shake his head. "Anyways, boss. How long have you been fighting here?" He asks out of curiosity. "Two months. Why?" Red asks. "Oh Well I saw your record here. 27 fights. 19 wins oh. 20 wins now. 20 wins, no losses, and 3 draws. Even if you didn''t lose, and even if they''re draws, you were still knocked out 3 times here before. Do you really want to go through this fight against Fire Colossus?" Fumio asks again. "PUHuP" Red almost spits his tea. "Haha. Kid, I was never knocked out. I''m using illusion for our disguises. It''s not much different tricking the audience eyes or even the cameras." He explains. Fumio decides to accept the explanation before, "Oh", lightbulb sparks in his head. "You were laying low Therefore, not impressing the audience therefore odds against you So, when you win more payout from your bets." He connects. "Precisely." Red confirms with a nod. "And by the way. Those draws were my largest pay-outs." He adds. "Wow I didn''t think you''re like this, boss." This turns Fumio''s impression of Red upside-down. "Oho?~ Like what?" Red smirks. "This sly and Someone who would go this far for money." Fumio says. "Here''s a lesson while you''re working for me." Red changes the subject. "Be careful of what you say." He says. " I''m sorry boss." Fumio realize he just said something potentially offensive. "I''m not offended by what you said. But be careful of your tongue to others, alright? Or you might get hurt." Red continues. "" Fumio is reminded by how he taunted Hideki, resulting to his near death. He however gets the difference between his words with Red and Hideki. "As long as you know it. Anyways. There is something I like about fighting and it just happens that I can make money from it. There are also reasons as to why I need some resources." Red says. "Reasons" Fumio is curious. From what he has seen, Red seems to be living a luxurious life, so he has no idea what Red needs the money for. "Reasons. Yes. Another reason is added today. And that reason involves you, kid." Red says. "Me?" Fumio points at himself out of confusion and a weird sense of flattery. "Yes. Don''t ask anymore about it. It''s better if you figure it out yourself." Red says. "O-okay." Fumio can only accept the vague explanation. He already feels thankful that he is not reprimanded or punished any further. Red giving him an explanation he feels he does not deserve, is very generous. "I see Boss. Do you really fight blind?" Fumio changes the subject. Red simply responds by putting on a blindfold. "" Fumio does not even know what to say. Chapter 20 - Another Fight 2 "In the Champions'' Row. A B-Class Hybrid Superioris. With 47 wins by way of knockout, 5 wins by opponent surrender, 0 draws, and 2 losses by way of surrender. FIRE COLOSSUS!" *CHHEEERR* "In the Named Warriors'' Row. A C-Class Hybrid Superioris. With 10 wins by way of knockout, 10 wins by way of opponent surrender, 7 draws by mutual knockout, and 0 losses. OLD PHANTOM!" *CHEER* The announcer officially introduces the fighters once again. "Any words before you duke it out?" He asks Red and Fire colossus. Fire Colossus shakes his head, and Red does so too. The audience, despite the two fighters not exchanging any more words, feel the mutual respect between the two. "Alright. Without any further ado FIGHT!" The announcer hops back in his booth. Fire Colossus, immediately dashes forward and materializes on his right hand, an oversized fire gauntlet. With it, he throws a punch towards Red. Red has no problems dodging the straightforward attack, by leaning to the side. Fire Colossus then retracts his gauntlet and quickly materializes a crystalline orange boot on his left foot as he gives Red a kick to the mid-section. He is almost disappointed to see that Red seems slow to react, but the next moment, he sees Red''s cane get in the way of his kick. He simply smirks in glee as he watches his orange crystalline boot connect with the cane and *BBOOFFFF*, his boot explodes into a blast of orange fire. Seeing Red immediately hop away from the fire, he goes into pursuit as he materializes his fire gauntlet on his right hand again for an attack. Soon, Red is in his range once again and he throws a right jab with just enough force to shatter his fire gauntlet in case it makes contact. He is not surprised to see Red dodge his jab once again, so, *whoosh* *whoosh* *whoosh* he keeps throwing jab after jab because Red is still in his range. Soon, *BOOOFF* his jabs pay off as he lands one on Red''s shoulder, followed by another blast of fire. To his surprise however, Red uses the impact of his punch and flames as a boost to retreat quite a distance away from his range. He stops in his tracks, impressed at Red''s display. "FIRE COLOSSUS LANDS THE FIRST HIT!" Meanwhile in the audience, this pause in action allows them to process what they have just seen and, *RRRAAAHHH*, they get up on their feet in excitement and applause. Fire Colossus is about to charge once again, but is stunned at Red''s next actions. Red puts out the singe eating on his long white hair, pulls out from his wrist a hair tie, and ties his hair with it. Fire Colossus, seeing this, decides to let Red be until Red is ready. He does not want the smallest thing outside the fighter''s skills to be the reason for his win. "" Fumio, meanwhile this time, is no longer worried for Red. Instead, he is focused in studying Red''s evasive techniques even though his eyes can barely process each action that Red and his opponent make. Soon, Red strolls to the center of the ring once again. "If there''s anything else making you uncomfortable, get rid of it now." Fire Colossus says. "Just come at me, kid." Red replies. Fire Colossus is a bit annoyed by Red''s tone, but does not let it get to him. He then materializes again his fire gauntlet on his right hand and continues his assault of jabs. He resorts to his previous tactic as he knows that power strikes are easy for Red to evade and the speed of the jab is more likely to land. *whoosh* *whoosh* *whoosh* Soon however, he feels that Red is adapting. "I''VE NOT SEEN THIS BEFORE IN OLD PHANTOM! HE''S TRYING TO TRADE BLOWS!" The announcer calls. With every two jabs that Fire Colossus throws, Red responds with one of his own. Not long after Red starts countering, *smack* Fire Colossus gets hit on the face by one of Red''s jabs and he is forced to take a step back. "OHHH!!" "RRAAAHHH!!!" The announcer and the audience cheer in excitement at Red''s attainment in the fight. Fire Colossus meanwhile, while not finding Red''s jab painful, his heart starts to pump faster in excitement. "You got it in you all along, old man. I can let loose a bit." He grins as he materializes his fire gauntlet on his left hand, now equipping both his hands with his fire armor ability. "LOOKS LIKE OLD PHANTOM DESERVES FIRE COLOSSUS'' LEVEL TWO! WE ARE IN FOR A GREAT FIGHT!" "RAAHHH" Fire Colossus then assumes a proper southpaw boxing stance and he starts throwing punches again. With his right and left fists alternating, *foo-foo-foo-foo-fooooo*, he lets loose five jabs in a second. To his surprise, none of his two gauntlets exploded, meaning he did not land a single hit. This makes him excited even further as he continues. "OLD PHANTOM CAN''T DO ANYTHING BUT DODGE AND RETREAT! IS HE OVERWHELMED?" The announcer remarks. "GO! GO! GO!" The audience meanwhile cheer for Fire Colossus. Soon, after a hundred or so jab attempts, *BO-BOOOOFFF* Fire Colossus finally manages to land two consecutive jabs on Red''s body and therefore his two gauntlets explode too. He then sees that Red, due to the impact of the jabs and the explosions, is lifted an inch or two from the ground and get knocked back ten feet away. He knows however that the fight is still far from over as Red simply recovers his footing, obviously absorbing his punches well. "OLD PHANTOM IS TOUGHER THAN WE THOUGHT! BUT HIS CHEST MUST BE BURNING BY NOW!" The announcer comments. "*RAAAHHH*" The crowd also sees through the LCD display, that Red''s entire chest is inflamed red. Soon, the audience is silenced and Fire Colossus himself gets interested at Red''s next move. "WHAT''S THIS? IT LOOKS LIKE WE CAN SEE MORE OF OLD PHANTOM''S CANE WORK?" The announcer says. Red, after ''recovering'' from Fire Colossus'' punch, changed his neutral stance a bit by raising his cane horizontally to Fire Colossus'' direction, as if assuming a lazy version of a fencer''s stance. Seeing the change in Red''s stance, Fire Colossus excitedly charges again... . . . . . "*GROAN*" Fire Colossus wakes up and finds himself somewhere he has not been in months. "Oh. You''re awake! Let me call the doctor." His attention is taken by his agent, sitting beside his bed. "Don''t--. Ah! Sssssss Damn. What the f*ck happened?" Fire Colossus winces his eyes as an attempt to stifle the intense throbbing pain assaulting the entirety of his face and head. "You got unlucky. That''s what happened." His agent says. "What? I thought I was winning" Fire Colossus says in confusion as he tries to remember how he got in one of the arena''s infirmary rooms. "What''s the last thing you remember?" His agent asks. "My gauntlet exploding. My punch landed, right?" Fire Colossus asks. "Ah Ye- well. That''s not exactly what happened." His agent says as he opens a video on his phone, before passing it to Fire Colossus to watch. Fire Colossus realizes that the video is a footage of the match and he focuses immediately on it. He sees himself in the video throwing blurs of Fiery punches to Red''s direction, which he remembers just fine. Suddenly, his left gauntlet explodes before reaching Red, and he collapses shortly after that. "" He is almost embarrassed seeing himself drop limply to the ground. The footage then switches to slow motion. He sees that his gauntlet actually did not explode without a reason; it exploded because of Red stabbing his cane on it. The explosion of the gauntlet obstructed his view for a split second and that was enough for Red to do a quick stab to the middle of his face. After the replay, Fire Colossus then closes his agent''s phone and reflects on what he just saw. Slowly, he remembers that after his gauntlet exploded, he saw a dark shadow zoom to his vision. That is now the last thing that he remembers. "Fuck." Fire Colossus shakes his head. "I know. The doctor said you could have been paralyzed from that. Thankfully you were saved just in time." His agent says. "What do you mean exactly?" Fire Colossus feels a chill up his spine at the news. "Doctor said the cane hit you squarely on some vital zone on your face. That rocked your brain and even shifted your spinal cord a centimeter out of place." His agent explains. "" Fire Colossus is speechless. "Well. You''re safe now and you just need some bed rest." His agent assures him. "Huuuu" Fire Colossus sighs in relief. Not long after, "So. The old man got my seat, huh?", he asks with a bitter smile. "Yeah. That geezer got to be a champion with a lucky fucking poke of his fuckin stick. The lucky bastard." His agent curses. "No." Fire Colossus shakes his head. "Was it luck though?" He asks. "What?" Fire Colossus'' agent scrunches up his face at Fire Colossus'' question. "Wait. You don''t seem to be in your right mind just yet. Lie back down." He says before standing up to leave, worried that Fire Colossus even entertaining that the loss wasn''t due to a fluke, might be a symptom. A few moments later, "How are you feeling?" The doctor says, after being called by Fire Colossus'' agent. "Worst headache in a long time. But it''s still better than the alternative right, doc?" Fire Colossus says. "Uhuh Well. Stay a few more hours. After my ability cools down, I''ll scan your brain again. After that, you can transfer to a real hospital." The doctor says. ."Why can''t he transfer now?" Fire Colossus'' agent asks as he points at the neighboring bed with its curtains closed. "It''s no private room, but it''s the best room here." The doctor scoffs at Fire Colossus'' agent. "Besides. Your injury will make any doctor suspicious. Let''s fix you up enough so you can brush this injury as a result of something not as bad like sparring." The doctor addresses Fire Colossus. "Alright. Thanks doc." Fire Colossus is grateful for the doctor''s consideration. Right after the doctor left the room, *shhrrkk* the curtains at the bed beside Fire Colossus'' suddenly opens to reveal Blade Tornado sitting down on his own bed, with various medicated patches on his body and his face. "Hey ~ Ex-champ!" Blade Tornado greets Fire Colossus with a smug grin. "Damn it..." "Fire Colossus cannot help but curse. "My friend. Don''t be like that." Blade Tornado gets off his bed, drags a chair nearby, and sits himself at Fire Colossus'' bedside, facing Fire Colossus'' agent. "Leave us." Fire Colossus orders his agent. "You sure?" His agent stalls. "Yeah. Go." Fire Colossus points to the door. "Alright. Fine.." His agent can only comply soon left the room. Chapter 21 - After The Fight "Hey. Nice fight by the way." Blade Tornado says as he puts his feet on the chair that Fire Colossus'' agent was sitting on. "You did just as well in yours." Fire Colossus chuckles. The two have started out in the arena at the same time around 9 months ago as bottom fighters. Having shared many waiting rooms together, the two became good acquaintances, even outside the arena. The two took different paths. Fire Colossus, after four months and no matches lost, managed secure a Seat among Champions'' Row. He only lost two times after two attempts in taking over higher-ranking Champions. Blade Tornado on the other hand, took nine months to rise to the top of the Named Warriors due to his injuries from his 7 losses. He was only blocked from challenging a Seated Champion due to his defeat from Red. "Anyways. Old Phantom huh" Blade Tornado chuckles. "Yeah" Fire Colossus can only shake his head. "Do you think he went easy on me?" Blade Tornado asks. "What brought this on?" Fire Colossus raises his brows in surprise. "Come on. Drop your polite shit." Blade Tornado scoffs. "Alright. Fine. You were very severely outmatched. He could have knocked you out before you even had the chance to pull out your blades." Fire Colossus says. "Damn" Blade Tornado is taken aback by the honesty. "What? Think about it. He-" "Hey. I know it more than you do." Blade Tornado cuts off Fire Colossus'' explanation. "Heh." Fire Colossus simply smirks. "How about you? You didn''t even have the chance to use your powers fully." Blade Tornado is not willing to lose the banter. "Heh True." Fire Colossus simply admits it. "" Blade Tornado is taken aback and disappointed that he failed to get a rise out of Fire Colossus. "Man, you don''t even feel bad? Disappointed?" He asks. "Well. You''re right. I''m a bit disappointed. I wish I could have fought longer. But in the end, it''s a fair loss." Fire Colossus shrugs. "Fair loss? Even though I watched through the TV over there, I saw everything. It was a lucky fuckin hit, man." Blade Tornado says. "You really think so?" Fire Colossus scoffs. "Well, Old Phantom admitted it himself in his interview after the fight." Blade Tornado shrugs. "" Fire Colossus rolls his eyes. He then unlocks his agent''s phone again, where his match''s footage is, and passes it to Blade Tornado. "Watch the replay in slow mo." He says. Blade Tornado simply plays the video, skeptical that he will see something new. A few moments later, "Well That was you getting knocked out in slow mo. What''s your point?" Blade Tornado shrugs after watching the replay. "Hey. If it was me, or if it were you, we wouldn''t be sure if when we''ll knock a healthy opponent, right?" Fire Colossus says. "Uhuh? That''s obvious." Blade Tornado is confused at the switch of topic. "Say, if we land a knock-out punch while throwing a combo, we''ll sure to still be throwing punches before we realize that we landed a knock-out punch, right?" Fire Colossus asks. "Uhuh? It''ll take a split second to process. Only until I see the opponent go limp and fall down, do I pull back." Blade Tornado nods in confusion, not sure of what Fire Colossus'' point is. "With that in mind, watch the slow mo replay again." Fire Colossus requests. "Okay?..." Blade Tornado decides to entertain Fire Colossus. A minute later. "Whoah" Blade Tornado is surprised after replaying the footage for a few more times. "Right?" Fire Colossus nods. "Yeah." Blade Tornado nods as he replays the video again. "Two thrusts of his cane and he stopped, without hesitation. It''s like he knew exactly he only needed those two strikes to drop you... He even looked like he didn''t need to dodge anything you could have thrown back." He observes. "Yeah. Do you think it''s still luck?" Fire Colossus asks. "Tsss. Not anymore, I don''t." Blade Tornado says. "Butdamn. Why''d he say he got lucky though?" he is confused however. "I don''t know either." Fire Colossus shrugs. "Well. He''s still lucky. He must have felt lucky that you didn''t go all out from the start." Blade Tornado says. "Huh... must be... Even if that''s the case, then it doesn''t take anything away from his win. He still adapted very well in any situation. He adapted to your distraction tactic and your blades. He adapted to my attacks. In the end, he found our weaknesses very, very quickly and used it to beat us." Fire Colossus says. "True Hey maybe this is his weakness." Blade Tornado suddenly gets an idea. "Oh?" Fire Colossus is curious. "Look. What if his attack wasn''t enough to knock you out that quickly? What if you had enough consciousness left to land one more attack? Wouldn''t it have been a mutual knockout?" Blade Tornado says. "Quite possible. But come on. That''s" Fire Colossus finds Blade Tornado''s idea ridiculous. "Come to think of it. Even if he didn''t lose a single fight, he had three draws. All mutual knockouts. What if those were the times when his counter-attack strikes didn''t work as well as he thought?" Blade Tornado. "Huh Well.. That changes things." Fire Colossus is pleased with the information. "By the way. If you had gone all out on the outset, what do you think would have happened?" Blade Tornado ask. "I''ll find out when I challenge him for my seat back." .. "Hey boss." "Yeah?" Fumio and Red are now outside the building where the underground arena is located. They are leisurely taking a stroll together at a sidewalk, without a certain destination in mind. "Can I get a bonus? I mean come on" Fumio looks around to check for eavesdroppers before, "You have a billion yen in there.", whispering to Red while pointing at the very huge metallic carry-on luggage being dragged along by Red. "Oh What billion?" Red says as he stops on his steps and opens the carry-on luggage. "What are you doin-" Fumio is about to stop Red but, " oh Where''d the money go?", his eyes go wide in shock looking at the empty carry-on. "It''s somewhere safe." Red says as he closes the carry-on before leaving it on a random bench they passed by. "Wh" Fumio is speechless at Red''s actions, also finding it a waste to throw the expensive looking carry-on away. "By the way boss." He can only talk about something else as they continue to walk. "Boss, do you have a fixer? A courier? Someone to carry your money?" He asks. "Why would I do something that stupid?" Red shrugs. "Then where" Fumio is frustrated and worried for Red''s money. Red simply smirks. The storage seals he carved on his arm have gotten a bit heavier. Suddenly, "Here." Red as if pulling from the empty air, a centimeter-thick stack of 10,000-yen bills appears on his hand before handing it to Fumio. "Hm?" Fumio, seeing the familiar looking thing, panics. "BOSS! What are you doing?" Fumio whisperingly yelps as he hurriedly pushes the stack back to Red. He cannot however move Red''s hand because of the strength disparity between them, so he covers the bills instead. "No need to act that way, it''s not like people can really see what we really are." Red says. "Oh" Fumio is reminded of their ever-changing disguises. "Still. Boss. I didn''t expect you''ll give me one now, and out in the open like this." Fumio refuses. "Besides That''s a million yen. It''s too much." He adds. "Hah. Take it. It''s hard to launder money these days." Red says, making Fumio pause. "T-that''s right This is" Fumio recoils from the bills in realization. "I thought you wanted a bonus?" Red says with brows raised, still holding the bills out to Fumio. "W-well Not a bonus from that, I don''t." Fumio turns up his nose before looking away from the money. "Oho~ Does it feel that dirty?" Red asks, but inside, he is taken aback by Fumio''s morality for a mortal. "Hehe~" Fumio can only hide his honesty by scratching his head. "Well then." Red shrugs, and stores his money back in his storage seal. "I hope you don''t change your mind." "" Fumio is still tempted, but suddenly, the image of the blood he had witnessed in the arena, and the vivid stories of death battles he overheard from the arena regulars, crosses his mind once again. He then shakes his head, shaking off the memories about the arena, along with his temptation of Red''s huge bonus. "By the way boss This definitely isn''t the first time you''re bringing home loads of cash, right?" Fumio asks. "Uhuh." Red nods. "So that means That''s why your prices in Muscle Masters are that high? You need to wash the wealth you''ve accumulated from fighting?" Fumio asks. Red raises his brows at Fumio''s words before, "HAHA! I like the way you think!" suddenly giving Fumio''s a slap on the back out of levity. "OW! Careful boss!" Fumio stumbles forwards from Red''s strength. "Oh.. Sorry, sorry. Well Should I make use of my shop for that then? That was a nice idea, kid." Red says. "Don''t! Boss! I can''t let Arina-chan step in your shop if you defile it with your bloody money!" Fumio says in defiance. "Hohoho~ If I do, what are you gonna do about it?" Red says, wearing a sinister grin. Fumio gets intimidated but, "Then I''ll stop Arina-chan from entering even if it costs me an arm or a leg!", his defiance persists. "Just your Arina-chan? What about the other members of her group?" Red asks. "I''ll block their too." Fumio continues to challenge. "Oho That is IF you can even get there tomorrow." Red says as he suddenly gets in Fumio''s space. "W-what do you- what are you gonna do?" Fumio retreats from Red in fear, but, "HEY! Watch it!" he accidentally bumps on a male pedestrian, trips on some flower bed, and falls down on his bottom. "S-sorry! Sorry!" Fumio apologizes immediately. "Where''d you come from? Suddenly appearing out of nowhere" The pedestrian grumbles before continuing on his way. "Hey. Get up. You''re embarrassing yourself." Red says offering Fumio a hand. Fumio hesitates but seeing the scary grin on Red''s face is replaced with a teasing smile, he takes Red''s hands and pulls himself up. "Shit. You scared me there, boss But still. Are you really planning on using Muscle Masters to launder?" He asks, not giving up on the matter. "If you''re not already doing it" He utters in addition. "Of course not. But that does not mean I won''t use my extra cash to grow the shop." Red says. "Oh Okay" This satisfies Fumio. "Boss. Uhhh. Where on earth are we, by the way?" He asks, looking around what looks like a peaceful and quiet residential neighborhood, a place that does not seem to be sullied by the criminal world. "Somewhere in Shibuya. Why?" Red asks. "Whoah Of course we''ve traveled that far." Fumio scoffs, no longer surprised after he considers Red''s speed. The next moment, "But It''s already past midnight, so no buses and trains", he gets anxious however. "W-we wont be returning to Nerima by jumping on building rooftops again, right?" He asks Red. "How else would be go back at this hour?" Red asks rhetorically. "*gulp*" Fumio can only prepare his guts. Chapter 22 - Full Business Day The next morning. A luxury sedan, leading two expensive-looking vans behind it, all stop at a parking lot in front of an old but wide five-story building. The building being surrounded and towered by modern apartment high rises makes it look like a well-maintained relic of the 1970s. "Arina-chan Are you sure we''re in the right place?" A Japanese man in his 40s, taller than the average of his gender in his country, and fashioning a deceptively expensive plain black tuxedo, asks Arina right after stepping out of the luxury sedan. "Shigeo-san, don''t worry." Arina assures the president and co-owner of her talent agency. "Although I did say that the building is shabby, now that I''m looking at it more closely, it looks charming." She adds. "That''s not my concern. I''m just reminded of my old high school because of the building''s structure." Shigeo says. "Oh" Arina has nothing to say. "Well. Alright then." Shigeo says as he waves at the two vans behind them. The two van''s doors suddenly open and from them, fifteen young ladies, all wearing casual clothes and having their faces covered with surgeon''s masks, and the pant-suit wearing Miss Konno, filter out before all walking quickly towards the building. Arina and Shigeo also soon follow. A few moments later, the entire Musume46, Shigeo, and Miss Konno are now in the second floor veranda, in front of the closed doors of Muscle Masters. "Why aren''t they open yet?" Shigeo says in mild annoyance. "President, uhh.. I think we''re early?" Miss Konno says. "7:58." Shigeo notes the time after looking at his watch. "Well wh-" Before he can complain any further, the heavy wooden double doors of the shop opens inwards, with a creak, revealing Fumio, dressed in formal kimono, standing with arms outstretched, in the motion of pushing the doors to the side. Arina and Miss Konno, although it is their second visit to the place, are caught off-guard as the man they previously met for a short while, looks very, very different. While Fumio is average looking, his outfit, clean-shaven face, clean cut hair, confident body language, and subtle smile, immediately gives the guests a respectable impression for him and the shop. "Welcome, guests. Please." Fumio then steps aside as he gestures the group inside with a shallow polite bow. "Go ahead." Shigeo orders his employees, while observing Fumio. The ladies meanwhile, immediately feel the refreshing cool temperature of the shop although they are only in the reception area. The sound of rain and piano in the background adds to the natural vibe of the shop. "Ooohh It looks even more homely than last time. Guys. Let''s make ourselves comfortable." Arina says as she leads the group to the lounge area that was absent during her fist visit. Meanwhile at the entrance, "Sir? Aren''t you with them?" Fumio asks in confusion, noticing that Shigeo is still outside. "You look very young for a business owner." Shigeo says to Fumio as he crosses the doorway. "Ah. Sir. I am but the lone employee of this shop. The owner is inside, busy preparing things for the the guests'' massage." Fumio says as he gestures Shigeo to walk further inside. "I heard that he''s a man? He''s the only massage therapist around?" Shigeo asks. "That''s right, sir." Fumio says. "Why?" Shigeo asks. Fumio at this point, figures that Shigeo is probably some big executive that handles Musume46. "Well. He''s a master of his craft. That also makes his standards for massage therapists frustratingly high." Fumio says. " I see." Shigeo decides to accept the explanation for now. As soon and him and Shigeo reach the lounge area, "Dear customers. It looks like you''ve all made yourselves comfortable.", Fumio sees the members of Musume46 already seated at the couches. He notices however that only Arina and Miss Konno are the only ones who made themselves at home, lounging in ungraceful postures, while the rest of the members are self-conscious, and are looking around the shop out of curiosity while chatting with each other. "Please, feel free to read our magazines and manga under those tables while you wait for your turns. If you all want some tea, and some sweet snacks, please just say so and I will serve you what is available in the shop." He instructs everyone to make the rest of the guests feel more at home. "OKAY." Half of the members say, and half of them nod shyly. "Mr. Fumio! Is the owner ready? I''m going in first." Arina, knowing her members are a bit anxious to their new massage therapist, volunteers to address their anxiety. "Sure. Do you need directions?" Fumio asks. "No." Arina refuses Fumio''s offer as she stands up. "Hang on, Arina." Shigeo stops her. "Mr. Fumio, right? I''ll go first." He volunteers instead. "" The room is silenced by Shigeo''s words. "S- SUre!" Fumio almost expresses his happiness. He noticed that Shigeo is subtly eyeing him and by Shigeo going in first, it cuts the time the man''s eyes will be on him. "A moment please. Let me just" He then snaps his wrists to the air, and the next moment, *sssssss* *fooommmm* the soft sound of falling raindrops and slow saxophone jazz music envelope the atmosphere of the shop. In addition to the sound, a scent of a clay ground freshly hit by the rain, start emanating too. "" The guests are initially surprised by the ambient sound and scent, before immediately falling charm to it. "Nice ability you have there." Shigeo nods in satisfaction, the sounds and scents making the atmosphere of the shop becoming fancier to him. "Thank you, sir." Fumio says, while smirking inside. Red gave him a bead bracelet that allows him to manipulate the ambience of the shop. "Let''s go." He leads Shigeo to the changing room. . A few minutes later, "Welcome, customer. I''m Kichorou, the masseur. Nice to meet you." Shigeo, wearing a fresh bathrobe, is greeted in the massage room by Red. "Hello. I''m Shigeo Egusa. The president of Musume46''s agency." He introduces himself too, but inside, he is more than startled. ''Peace'', he almost sighs in awe at what he is feeling. It is the first time that his superioris ability is picking up such pure peaceful emotion in a person. He does not feel a tinge of worry, apprehension, or disturbance from Red. Even the Shinto priests and maidens, even the knights from the Knights of Order that he has met before, the people who he has seen high levels of serenity in, still have tinges of troubles in them. Red exuding the epitome of tranquility is enough for him to feel trustful towards Red. Red meanwhile, becomes curious and almost apprehensive. ''Psionic Superioris?'' He cannot help but think, as he feels Shigeo''s ability brush on him, noticing the similar feeling to when Kaoru activated her own poltergeist ability the day after he healed her tumor. He lowers his guard soon however, as the man retrieves his ability. "Sir. Please take off your robe and lie prone on the table, please." He instructs Shigeo. "I''ll be in your care." Having already dropped his apprehension, Shigeo is now entirely curious as to why Arina had changed her group''s massage therapist. Meanwhile, at the lounge area. "*sigh*" Fumio sighs as he takes a seat at the common table located beside his receptionist table, choosing the chair that faces the lounge area. He just locked the door of the shop to prevent anyone from walking in on the members of Musume46. The girls of Musume46 meanwhile, have now all fallen asleep. Miss Konno, the only one who is still awake, and is fighting to stay awake by busying herself on her tablet PC, is giving him cautious glances everyone once in a while as if guarding the girls from him. "Ugh.." He can only sit bored as the girls did not even order anything because they fell asleep not even five minutes after they entered the shop. The shop too is spotless, so he cannot even simple chores are unavailable for him to busy himself with. "What did boss put in that tea?" He mutters as he suddenly realizes something. An hour ago, Red gave served Fumio a cup of tea which Red claimed to help in dealing with anxiety and excitement in meeting the girls of Musume46. Red also claimed that the tea will help Fumio focus better on the tasks of the job. Now however, Fumio just feels peaceful and his mind very clear. Too peaceful that he cannot even enjoy the feeling of being in the same room as sixteen beautiful ladies as that feeling did not even register in him. "Miss Konno." He then calls out, helping Miss Konno in her battle against drowsiness. "Shall I turn off the music?" He asks. "No." Miss Konno refuses. "Well. Join me?" Fumio offers with a gesture of his hand to one of the wooden chairs across the table from him. "If you want to stay awake, it''s better if you do your work sitting on a hard chair..." He adds. Miss Konno, realizing that she cannot even focus on her work, decides to take Fumio''s offer and she joins Fumio. "Heh. So, this is the real them, huh." Fumio chuckles. "What? You''re disappointed?" Miss Konno chuckles too. "I noticed you don''t look as excited seeing Arina-chan than last time." She adds. "Nah. Just disillusioned." Fumio says. "Hah. I''m a bit embarrassed looking at them looking like that at a place like this. You being overdressed for your job is not helping either." Miss Konno confesses as she takes a closer look at Fumio''s haori. "Haha. I don''t know why boss insists me wearing this." Fumio shakes his head, getting self-conscious from Miss Konno''s eyes on his clothes. "Anyways, I don''t care if they''re casually dressed, or are drooling while sleeping." He says. His words almost making Miss Konno blush in second-hand embarrassment. "In their videos online, they always look happy, cheerful. I never realized that in the end of the day, it''s still a job." He continues as he looks at the sleeping girls. Miss Konno nods in appreciation at Fumio''s observation. "They have their third album coming up and they are exhausted practicing their choreography and singing. They''re stressed too, so even though they''re tired, they cannot fall asleep." Miss Konno says as she looks at the girls in sympathy. "So. Thank you. Your ability must have helped them to relax. It looks like they''re deeply asleep too." She adds. "It''s the best I can do." Fumio says. He can only swallow the guilt of taking credit. After all, it is a part of his one-sided promise and self-obligation to Red to keep Red''s abilities and oddities that he observes, to himself. "So. The last time, if I remember correctly, you weren''t working here." Miss Konno changes the subject. "Well, I guess boss needed me here more than somewhere else." Fumio says. "Good for you." Miss Konno nods. "That means your customers increased?" She asks. "Yes. But just enough to keep the shop running." Fumio says, but internally, he is surprised by how smoothly he lied. ''What the hell was in that tea?'' "Oh No wonder it''s too quiet." The two are interrupted by Shigeo who just walked out of the dressing area, having just finished his massage. "CEO. How was it?" Miss Konno asks as she stands up. "Stay seated." Shigeo orders as he joins Fumio and Miss Konno at the table. "Now I get why Arina-chan wanted to be here so bad despite the prices. I''ve never felt this good in years." He says as he takes a seat. "I''m glad our service satisfied you, customer." Fumio says, relieved that Shigeo is in a better mood and seems satisfied with Red''s massage. "By the way, Fumio-san. Did you drug our girls? They''re knocked out." Shigeo says in a brighter, mildly more cheerful tone compared to his tone before his massage. "How can I when they didn''t even have our shop''s exclusive tea?" Fumio says with a polite smile. "" Miss Konno on the other hand is stunned. "C-CEO Did you just tell a joke?" She asks. "Hm? And you find that surprising?" Shigeo feels Miss Konno''s emotions with his ability. "Yes. You carry yourself professionally to the point where everything you say only has something to do with work." Miss Konno says. "Oh. Huh. Was I that tensed? Was Mr. Kichirou not referring just to my body?" Shigeo asks himself. "Ah" Miss Konno nods in understanding. "Come to think of it, I was unusually talkative during my massage last time." She says. "Well. Boss is a bit disarming." Fumio cuts in the conversation, to move things forward. "So uh Who''ll go in next?" He asks, worried because Red tends to follow time strictly. Chapter 23 - Theories 7 PM "Boss." "Mr. Kichirou." "Owner!" Fumio, Miss Konno, and Arina greet Red as he steps in the lounge area of Muscle Masters. "Oh? I thought everyone left?" Red asks the guests in false surprise. The guests, including the ones who already finished their massage in the morning, are still present. He grits his teeth looking at the mess, but realizing that it is natural for things to be messy with such number of guests around, he calms himself down. "The team just want to thank you as a group for our first massage session in your shop." Arina says. Her words trigger different forms of sincere thanks to Red from the girls. "I''m just glad you are all satisfied with our services. I hope that you all come back soon." Red says in a shallow but polite bow. "Mr. Kichirou, may we stay until you close shop?" Tomoko, the fifth oldest member, and the bubbliest of the group asks. Red''s face freezes for a split second at the request. "Well. I know you all want to stay, but Mr. Kichirou here worked non-stop for eleven hours. Besides, it''s already late, and you still have practice tomorrow." Miss Konno however knows better of the situation. "Okay, manager." Tomoko can only accept, realizing her unreasonable request. "Girls! We''re rested and energized because of Mr. Kichirou. Why don''t we show Mr. Kichirou our newest choreography?" She suddenly suggests to her group, which they are more than willing to do. "PHUP!" Fumio almost bursts out laughing. "" Arina and Miss Konno too are trying their best to hold in the awkwardness they are feeling as they already realized during their first visit, of Red''s persistent disinterest of Musume46 and their music. "Dear guests, while we''d love to, it''s best if we see you all dance when we''re fully rested. That way, we can appreciate it more. Instead, we''ll go to your concerts!" Fumio says. Red gives Fumio an approving glance. "We promise that." He says. "Then how about we take a photo with Mr. Kichirou?" Tomoko suggests instead. A minute later, Red and Fumio are the only one left in the shop. "You''re going to their concert alone." Red says as he shuts the door with his spiritual energy. "You promised though?" Fumio scratches his head as he collects the last of the trash from the guests'' take-out food and snacks. "You can just wear an illusion of me. Their music is not my type." Red shrugs. Fumio is speechless. "Shall I make you tea, boss?" He can only offer. "Yeah. Sure." Red accepts as his throat is dry from talking all day to the customers during their sessions. A few minutes later, Fumio is now serving Red tea at the common table. "Boss. What did you put in that tea by the way? I''ve never was that focused on a job before." Fumio asks as he sits down. "Hmm. Confidence?" Red chuckles. "Come on" Fumio gets frustrated at Red''s non-answer. "Well. Whatever it is, it took the fun out of seeing Musume46." He says as he pours his own cup. "You can go wild at their concert." Red says as he sips on his tea. Fumio simply scoffs. He is about to ask something when Red puts his cup down, leans his back against the backrest of the chair and closes his eyes. He can only sip his tea as they descend to a comfortable silence. A minute later, "HEHEh" Red suddenly chuckles. "What''s wrong, boss?" Fumio gets anxious feeling a cacophony of emotions in Red''s simple chuckle. "Oh. Nothing''s wrong. It''s just amusing, and mysterious, this world, is all." Red says. While Fumio is a curious person, he feels as though Red''s concern is too vague for him to even start a question. Red meanwhile, is both disgusted and puzzled at what he has seen in his guests during their massage service. After finding out Fumio''s spirit root, he decided to scan more people more closely to see how common spirit roots are and his guests were the perfect candidates. With Shigeo, Red did not find a spirit root in the man''s brain stem. While trying to get a closer look however in other perspectives, he found out something that disgusted him. Spirit Root Mutation and a type of which he has never seen before. Shigeo''s spirit root is spread out thinly across his body; so thin that he would have missed it had he not focused, or would have not missed it had he been using his spiritual sense as an immortal. While Red''s spirit sense is not strong enough, he sees that the branches of the spirit root are running along where Shigeo''s spirit meridians should be; another thing that disgusts Red. The spirit root and spirit meridians should be connected, and not merged. Red also discovered the same thing with the 16 members of Musume46. He then figured that those disgustingly mutated spirit roots are the cause of the Superioris Phenomenon. While scanning his guests'' spirit roots, he also sent sparks of his own spiritual energy on them, and he found that their mutated spirit roots are conducive to spiritual energy. In Arina''s case, when Red sent spiritual energy to her spirit root, Arina''s powers glitter ability activated. While Red was startled at his discovery and was a bit apprehensive of getting caught in the act, Arina simply brushed it off as an accidental activation due to the pleasure of the massage. These observations resulted to Red coming up with a few theories about the Superiori. One, the superiori''s spirit roots being mutated also forcibly mutated their biology, just like the types of mutated spirit roots he saw before. Two, they use their spirit root to activate their abilities. They unknowingly use absorb spiritual energy, convert it to ''Superioris Energy'' which the people of this world theorized, and use that theoretical energy to power their abilities. Red is confident that ''Superioris Energy'' exists as he felt it the most apparent during Shigeo''s psionic scan on him and while fighting Fire Colossus when Fire Colossus'' fire gauntlets exploded at him. Lastly, which Red is yet to prove, is that non-superiori like Fumio, most likely have an untapped, unmutated, and natural spirit roots. Red is curious how rare potential cultivators like Fumio are in this world, but for now, his spiritual sense is too important for him to use freely. What bothers him the most in his observations today, is that he has no idea how these mutations happened in the first place. But not knowing where to start, he drops the matter for now. He has a more important thing to deal with. "Anyways. How do you feel? Do you feel tired?" Red asks. "Not really Come to think of it Even though I didn''t do much today" While speaking, Fumio catches a smirk on Red''s face and, "I feel fresh.", he finishes his sentence while connecting dots. "Boss. Is it that tea again?" He asks. "Uhuh." Red nods. "Okay. Boss. I really have to ask now." Fumio is offended and feels as if he is violated in a way, so he no longer holds back. "Even though I owe you a lot, including you saving my life yesterday, I still have to know what I''m putting in my body. So, boss. What was in that tea? What did it do to me? Should I be worried of side effects and addiction?" He finally spills his concern and questions. "You''re right. It was wrong of me to give you something like that tea without telling you what it''s for." Red nods, approving of Fumio''s attitude. "Just like my massage solutions, that tea''s just ''nother thing only I can concoct. What it does is it blocks your emotions from affecting your thinking and actions. At the same time, it allows you to quickly fill your stamina back even without much rest." He explains. "Wh-." Fumio processes before, "Are there any side effects?", he asks in worry, finding the effects too good to not have consequences. "None. Don''t worry. And it''s not addictive too. Also, it only lasts for 8 hours, so it should have lost effect already three hours ago. After the effects wear off, you''re back in the condition you were in before you drank that tea." Red explains. "Oh Okay." Fumio is relieved. "But it''s gonna mess with my sleep though." He shakes his head. "Ah. You don''t have to worry about that." Red says. "After all. You''re starting your training with me tonight. And by the end of it, you will sleep the longest you''ve ever slept before." He discloses. "Already?! Really?" Fumio stands up in excitement. "Don''t be too excited, kid." . . . "Uhhhh shit shit shit shit shit" Fumio feels that his muscles are at the point of tearing. He is now currently on the floor of the shop, wearing nothing but his boxers, his legs spread apart almost at a hundred eighty-degree angle, only a bit short of a full side split. "More more" Red who is seated at a lotus position just a step away in front of Fumio, orders almost dismissively while fiddling with his phone. "Well. C-can you give me a hand, boss? It''s just a bit, and I''m good." Fumio feels as if it is already his limit for a split. "No. I am not a yoga instructor and this is not yoga. You, by yourself, have to achieve the poses from the start, or they will be useless." Red says. "B-boss I''m cramping again" Fumio says as he starts to feel painful muscle spasms in his thighs. Red reaches his left palm out to Fumio, makes it glow green, and touches Fumio. A few seconds later, "Ahhh.. thanks boss.", the spasms are gone and Red goes back to his phone. Fumio, getting another boost, tries again. Soon enough, he is now on a full side split. His torso is upright and his hands resting on his legs. "I did it! Boss! I did it!" Fumio celebrates as he rests the rest of his weight on his stretched legs. "Good" Red just nods, his reaction disappointing Fumio. "Now. Hold that position and try your best to relax... And close your eyes." He instructs again and Fumio obeys. "Now, with your abdomen, inhale to the fullest your lungs can handle Then hold it for three seconds. Good Now exhale" A cultivator starts with body refining stage. Once they have completed refining their bodies to the limit, do they get promoted to the high mortal level. Red now is starting to teach Fumio one of the most basic breathing methods for body refining stage. After ten repetitions of the breathing exercise, "Boss", Fumio calls out with lungs burning. He is also sweating profusely, but unlike his sweat earlier, the sweat dripping off of his body and forehead is oddly cold to him. "I think I''ll faint" He says. "Alright. Back to regular breathing. For your first attempt, you did quite alright." Red nods. While 10 repetitions of the breathing exercise are not that impressive to him, he is satisfied. "Boss *huff* Attempt you say? *huff* Attempt to what?" Fumio asks in between gasps. "Yes. Attempt. Here''s what we''re trying to do An inhale and an exhale are one repetition. You need 64 continuous repetitions to complete a cycle. And once you can complete a cycle can you graduate from this position." Red says. "S-shit and there''s 15 more positions" A huge pressure dawns on Fumio. "What? These 16 poses are just to condition your body for the real training." Red says. "Just conditioning" Fumio is not sure if he heard it right. Suddenly, "AH!", he yells out of surprise as his thighs start cramping up again. "There There" Red performs a healing technique once again. "Alright. You can rest now." He says. "Oh.. . thank goodness." Fumio then gets out of his splits with great difficulty. "But damn Yeah. This is indeed just stretching. I can''t even imagine when the real work out starts." He can only sigh thinking about what is coming next for him. "What? Ready to give up?" Red asks. "Psh Boss If I can get even half your strength, I can take much more than this." Fumio chuckles. "Good. Now, try again.." Red nods. Chapter 24 - Kotone "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ouch Boss. Why can''t you just heal me like before?" Fumio complains as he is assisted to the bath area of the shop by Red. His legs have turned to jelly and the muscles in it ache severely with the smallest of muscle contractions. "It''ll make your efforts useless, buddy. Now get in there." Red says as he settles Fumio in the wooden tub that is not for customers but for his own use for herbal baths. He then turns on the water and while waiting for it to fill the tub, "I''ll go prepare some stuff. Turn off the faucet when it reaches your chest.", he orders Fumio before leaving the bath area. "Haaaahhh" Fumio meanwhile is processes what has occurred during the day. "Boss said I''ll have to do this every day Every day until I complete one breathing cycle in all 16 positions damn" He sighs as he leans his back on ledge of the tub. "I''ll do it for now. Worry about it in the future." He closes his eyes to relax. The 16 positions that Red introduced to him, is a basic exercise to both open up a cultivator''s meridians, which serve as the circulatory system for spiritual energy. The first position which are the splits that Fumio is working on, once Fumio achieves a complete breathing cycle on it, will open up 8 out of the 360 meridians. The next positions will open up more. Two minutes later, Red is back in the bath area, and is now pouring a yellow solution from a clear flask to the water in Fumio''s tub. "Now. This solution will help increase the natural healing of your muscles." He explains. "Ahhhh Wow" Fumio feels as if ants are massaging each fiber of his muscles. "Wait a minute boss Is this like your massage solutions? Do I have to pay for them?" He suddenly realizes. "Well, they are like the massage solutions, but more valuable." Red then raises his hand to stop Fumio from protesting. "And every solution you''ll use on your training will be on me." He finishes. " Boss. You''re rich, so I know you these very expensive medicines are probably just change to you. But why?" Fumio asks, finding the valuable medicine too burdensome for him to accept for free. "Call it an investment." Red says. While he has taken a liking to the kid, he also wants to make use of Fumio as a guinea pig to see if he can raise powerful cultivators in this world. "Why do I feel like I''m signing a contract with a demon?" Fumio says. While he is joking, he is starting to feel cautious. "In a way, you are." Red says as he sits on the immaculately clean tiled floor. "!?" Fumio wants to run away, but his legs are not exactly in the condition to help him. "Heh" Red is amused at Fumio''s reactions. "Anyways. It''s been four months since you started working for me, and I''m sure you''re filled with a LOT of questions." Red says, replacing Fumio''s fear with curiosity. "What do you think of my powers? You must have theories." He asks. "Uhhh" Fumio tries to stop his excitement at the opportunity of getting answers, and he takes a deep breath. "Well, boss. I don''t really know. You''re probably an A-class physical type superioris, basing on what I''ve seen last night and in your fights. But the first time we met, you kind of said that you''re an F class superioris that can grow plants, which I now know is bullshit. "Still. Being a superioris doesn''t explain the illusion disguises, the healing, the plants, the weird automated cleaning and music of your shop, and, OH the music and how you can give me control over it. Unless of course, you''re using the magic of the knights and the priests. But then again, their magic is just against demons and angels, if what I learned from school is true. So uh.. What you exactly are boss.. I don''t know." He spills his theories in just a few breaths. "Well. That''s because I''m not a superioris." Red says. "Uhhh" Fumio does not know what to say to Red''s confession, but his mind starts running. "What else can you be?! If you''re not a superioris and still have those powersThen that only leaves" His eyes widen. "A-are you a demon? Are you an a-a-a-a-angel?" He manages to ask through his fears of Red returning. "Hah! Well. I''m interested in meeting an angel or a demon someday." Red is amused of Fumio''s guess. "Then what are you?" Fumio tilts his head, clearly not believing Red. "I am human. And I am not a superioris." Red says as he flares his spiritual sense to calm Fumio down. "Let''s just say I am from a long line of people who have the same abilities as I do. But because we are very rare, or died out before we became strong, we are not in history." Red quickly comes up with a lie. Fumio, finding the lie compelling and somehow convincing, perks up. "When you say people How many of you are there?" He asks. "In Japan? Maybe just me after my master died. In the world? I don''t know, but if there are, then they''re probably one in a billion. Ever since I was a child, I''ve never really met anyone else like me. Not even when I traveled abroad." Red says. His theory of non-existent cultivators in this world is supported when he did travel the entire Japan and the neighboring countries in occasion during the past few months, and found no cultivators. "I see Well. I''m sorry about your master." Fumio says. "Meh. He died happy." Red shrugs. The only master he can only consider he had in his previous life was a certain elder of some cultivation sect who he bartered with for access to that sect''s library. That deal between the elder and Red also led to the two becoming friends. Sadly, that friendship did not last forever as that elder failed his journey to immortality. "Anyways When I was doing ''surgery'' on you yesterday, I noticed that you have the potential to practice our arts." Red says. "Oh so you want me to be your disciple or something?!" Fumio is smart enough to figure out his situation now and he is more than elated. "Don''t get ahead of yourself. You barely did anything. Maybe I''ll be able to find a younger more talented student, they''ll become stronger than you faster, and they''ll be best suited as my disciple." Red shrugs. "Whoa~ you''re looking down on me boss? Whoahh" Fumio is offended. "Take it however you want, but work hard. You''re the only candidate I''ve found for now as ones like us are rare. Might as well see what you can do while I find others." Red says. "Good! This is good!" Fumio slaps the water. Red shields himself from the splash, curious of Fumio''s reaction. "Find another student boss. Let''s see if they''re better than me!" Fumio challenges. "OHO~~ Alright. Be prepared." Red says with a smirk. "Anyways. You can get out of the bath once the medicine in the water is consumed." He instructs as he stands up. "How do I know that?" Fumio asks. "When the water feels like water. Anyways. When you''re done, lock the doors and go home." Red says as he heads for the door. "How about you boss? Going to that fighting ring again?" Fumio asks. "Hmmm. I don''t know. I''m gonna just walk around, maybe I''ll meet a potential disciple in the streets. If I don''t find one, I''ll go to the arena." Red says. "Damn" Fumio gets nervous hearing about any potential rival. "Well, boss, don''t work hard looking for my rival just yet. Give me a head start. Instead. Go to the arena. Because if your act yesterday worked, there will definitely folks that are gonna challenge you for your champion seat." He can only try to distract Red. ~ A hostess bar somewhere, Toshima City. "Uhh Kotone-chan ~ Why don''t we move elsewhere? I know a really good hotel nearby." A 40 something year-old customer proposes to the 20 something year-old hostess as he slams down his shot glass on the table. "!" Kotone is almost startled. She was already nervous from the start of the night because she and the customer is alone in a private room. "Dear customer. You know we can''t do that. Instead! Why don''t you stay and order this wine? 12 years old Tuscany. You won''t find this anywhere!" She swallows her nervousness as she recommends another drink to her customer. "If I get this, will you go home with me tonight? I mean, I''ll be too drunk to drive home." The customer insists on his proposal. "T-that" Kotone does not even know what to say at the obviously sober man. "Alright, THAT''S IT." The customer suddenly says with a growl, and along with the outburst, a strong gust of wind explodes away from him at the center and blows away the glass and bottles on the table. "Kotone-chan I''ve been here for a few nights already. Just for you. I''ve spent a lot just to drink with you. Can''t you feel my sincerity? You don''t even know my name, do you?" The customer asks. "O-of course I know your name Isamu-san!" Kotone, seeing Isamu''s anger start to boil, immediately tries to appease. "B-but spending the night with you is a bit" She cannot continue to reason. "What? What''s wrong with me? Do you think I''m disgusting?" Isamu scoffs. "No! No, of course not. You''re fine just the way you are." While Kotone thought Isamu was just fine, his actions just now make him trash in her eyes. "Heh. Empty words. So? If it''s not me, is it you?" Isamu suddenly pins Kotone down on the sofa, trapping her shoulders in his hands. "You think you''re so good? You bitch? You should feel honored for an unevolved lamb like you." "W-wh What are you doing?! Stop it!" Kotone tries to push Isamu away. That did not work however so "I said stop it!" she knees Isamu blindly. Her knee just happened to land on the man''s testicles, and "AH!" Isamu screams in pain. Kotone takes this chance to get away from Isamu. Before she can completely open the door to run out, "YOU CRAZY BITCH!" Isamu shouts resulting to a strong gust of wind, stronger than the one he displayed before and the table and the karaoke machine are knocked down. The door Kotone was about to open, is sealed shut again also. Kotone at this point, is trembling and has weakened in fear and shock. Fighting that fear, she still attempts to open the door. "You dare hit me there?" She then hears Isamu and she looks behind her to see him approach slowly, making her attempt even more futile. Fortunately for her, "What''s going on here?" her and Isamu hear the loud and intimidating voice of the bouncer from outside in the corridor, and Isamu freezes on his steps. "H-help!" Kotone gets her bearings back to open the door. . . . A minute later, Kotone, Isamu, the bouncer, and the hostess bar''s manager are now in the bar''s storage room. "You dare accuse me?" Isamu is livid. "All I did was push her away. And she hit me in the nuts?" "M-manager! That''s not what happened!" Kotone immediately defends herself. "You! Hit! Me! In! The! Balls! What if I can''t have children anymore?" Isamu argues. "You know what? I''m going to sue this establishment." He threatens. "Dear customer. As the manager, I apologize on behalf of my employee. Please excuse her as this is only her second week. The drinks you have consumed tonight will be on the house." The hostess bar''s manager, bows in apology to Isamu. "*scoff*" Isamu is dissatisfied at how calm the manager is dealing with his complaint. "Why are you apologizing when your employee does not seem to even have the intention to?" He says. "I-I" Kotone however simply cannot bring herself to apologize. "Look here, Miss Manager. Do you think I can''t afford to pay? I was going to become a regular here due to the recommendation of my friend. I guess that won''t happen anymore. I''m going to tell everyone about what happened here tonight." Isamu threatens again. "D-dear customer. Isn''t that a bit" The manager this time, reacts stronger to the threat. She heard from the owner of the bar that Isamu is a man with many connections so he asked her to treat Isamu more special than other customers. "Dear customer. An action of one employee does not reflect our entire establishment. Don''t worry. I''ll make sure this won''t happen again. I''ll teach her well." The manager says as she eyes Kotone to stay quiet. "No. That won''t do. I want her fired.." Isamu can barely stop himself grinning. Chapter 25 - Kotone 2 "Kotone. I''m sorry. It''s everyone''s job, and the boss'' business that was at stake." The manager tries her best to console Kotone. While she does not care much about firing a new employee, she still feels for Kotone''s experience, having experienced the same thing herself. "I''m gonna call some friends, maybe I can get you a job somewhere else." She promises. "T-that will be great, manager." Kotone can only swallow her grievance. "Uhn. And I advise you to not work this type of job again." The manager says. "I''m sorry, Miss Kotone. I wish I could have done something." The bouncer apologizes too. "It''s fine" Kotone waves the apology off. "Thank you for giving me a job, manager. It''s just my luck." She can only end her relationship with the bar in good terms to keep some good reference for her next job interview. . > . An hour later *Beep* *beep* "I''m home!" Kotone enters her small studio apartment in a slightly better mood after taking a walk from the train station. "Hm? Haruto? Is he out?" She gets worried, not finding her younger brother in the living room. Suddenly, *flush* "Nee-san!" Haruto gets out of the bathroom and, "You''re home", he greets Kotone. "Uhn." Kotone nods in relief. "You''re still up? It''s 10 already." She says as she sits on the hardwood floor. "Ugh Why are you wearing that skimpy dress?! You should change! I''ll step out for a moment." Haruto says in disgust looking at Kotone''s legs. "Later. Let this old sis rest her legs, okay?" Kotone does not care about Haruto''s discomfort and she stretches her legs against the floor. "Good grief." Haruto can only say as he goes to open the fridge to grab a can of beer. "How was school?" Kotone asks. "Great" Haruto says as he hands the beer to Kotone. "Thanks. You still haven''t laid out your futon. Shouldn''t you be sleeping by now?" Kotone asks. "Not sleepy. I fell asleep at the hospital." Haruto says. "Oh" Kotone''s heart gets heavy. "Haruto." She then calls out. "Hm?" Haruto then sits down on the floor, curious at Kotone''s serious expression. "Hold out for longer, hm? Once I''ve saved up, we''ll go back to Doctor Noguchi to heal your kidneys. No more dialysis then." Kotone says. "I''m sorry sis." Haruto feels guilty. Even though most of his dialysis treatment is covered by the government, he knows that Kotone is still working very hard to afford the rest of what he needs. "I''ll help you save up! I already have savings from my part time jobs!" He cheers up his sister. "Oh good boy." Kotone teases. "Hey, I''m serious! I have some savings." Haruto argues. "Fine. Fine. Just save it. We might need it in the future." Kotone''s heart feels lighter because of Haruto. "Okay. Step out for a moment." She then orders Haruto. "Finally. You should stop drinking with your bosses. Even though you''re not that pretty, there are a lot of perverts around." Haruto says before leaving to allow Kotone to change. " Don''t worry, Haruto. I won''t anymore" She can only sigh as soon as the door shut. A few minutes later. Kotone has changed to her sleepwear combo; a pair of very loose-fitting jogging pants and extra-large shirt. Haruto has also spread out his and Kotone''s futon for them to sleep. "Sleep well." Kotone bids her brother good night before going to the door. "Uhn You''re going out again?" Haruto asks as he lays down. "I''ll get some air." Kotone says. "Alright Be careful." Haruto knows that Kotone would sometimes go out for a few minutes to an hour before going to bed. Kotone did not go far from her apartment and is now seated at a swing in the neighborhood playground while scrolling through her phone. "Haaaa I''ll run out soon if I''ll just do my part-time jobs" She can only sigh as she looks up at the stars, anxious after looking at the balance in her bank account. Suddenly, "That jerk *sniff*", tears roll down from her eyes as the events of the night replay in her mind. "That human garbage euhhghgh.." She starts sobbing, finally releasing the grievance she has been holding back. "I''vE gIvEn aWaY my dIgnItY *sob* that''s not even enough. *sob*" "Ahhh What a pitiful sight." She gets startled by a male voice next to her and she almost falls off the swing. She then looks beside her to find a tall man in his 40s, wearing what looks to be high quality kimono and haori, sitting on the swing beside hers. "I''m sorry. You''ve been crying for minutes now. I was worried." The man says. "W-who are you?" Kotone tries to compose herself as quick as she can, embarrassed of showing her vulnerable state to the man. "No one Anyways. You should go home now, young lady. Something might have happened to your brother." The man says. This causes Kotone to get her bearings immediately and looks at the direction of her house in fear. She is about to ask the man what he meant, but as she looks back at where the man is supposed to be, the man is no longer there, only leaving a vacant swing behind as if no one just sat there. Kotone in worry, starts to run back home. "HARUTO!" Kotone calls out in worry right after barging in her apartment. "NEE-SAN!" Haruto too, calls out to his sister in worry. "You''re fine!" Kotone collapses in relief, looking at her brother seated on his futon. "I''m fine! Nee-san! Sit! Something weird just happened!" Haruto tells Kotone. "Same here! What happened to you?" Kotone sits close to Haruto and gives him a once over in worry. "Nee-san, when you left, there''s this weird guy who entered. I thought he was you at first. When I realized that he''s not you, I was about to call for help." Haruto says as he distances himself a bit from Kotone. "So? What happened? Did he hurt you?" Kotone asks. "Well I don''t" Haruto struggles to answer as his answer would be complicated. "Haruto. Did he hurt you or not?" Kotone asks, her worry increasing. "No. I''m fine, actually." Haruto says, calming his sister down. "Well. He did something that made me lose my voice and paralyzed me for a moment And then And then his palms suddenly glowed. Then he touched me on my lower back." Haruto starts to narrate everything immediately. "And then?" Kotone is now more confused than worried. "Then I felt this cold and warm feeling. It felt good actually." Haruto says. "Good? What" "Yes. He had his palms on my back, as if he''s fixing my kidneys. I felt it." Haruto continues, and Kotone decides to stay quiet for now. "After a minute, he laid me back down, then I got back the control over my body and the choking feeling on my throat was gone. Then he asked ''how do you feel, boy''?" "Well? How do you feel?" Kotone asks in hope and anticipation. "Great Actually I feel awake!" Kotone sees her brother''s eyes and expression become brighter. "And light! I''ve never felt this great before!" Haruto says as he waves his hands in the air and tens of pebbles materialize in the air. "Look! I can make them go fast now!" He continues to twirl his fingers in the air and the pebbles swish and dance in the air. "" Kotone is stunned looking at her brother''s unprecedented display of his abilities. "Okay Wait! Wait! Where did the man go then?" She asks, getting back to the subject. Haruto then disables his ability. "Oh. Wait Where was I again?" Haruto tries to recall. "Oh that''s right. He asked ''how do you feel, boy''? I can''t answer him because I immediately felt the effects of whatever he did. He then just looked at me for a few seconds and then he just left." He concludes his story. "He just left?" Kotone is dumbfounded. "UHN! OH!" Haruto suddenly remembers something and he materializes two pebbles, zooms them atop the shoe cabinet beside the door, and with the pebbles, he picks up an envelope. He then retrieves the pebbles and the envelope. "Here! Before leaving, he said I should show this to you." He hands the envelope to Kotone. Kotone is about to open the envelope but, "Wait! He said they''re just for you. I shouldn''t look at it." Haruto stops her. A moment later, Kotone is now outside her apartment door and she hurriedly opens the envelope. She sees five 10,000 yen bills and a business card. She is immediately tempted by the 50,000 yen, but she stops her temptation out of wariness. "There has to be a catch." She then takes out the business card and reads it. "Iwai Kichirou C Muscle Masters, **** **** Street. Nerima City." She then flips the card around and sees that there is a handwritten note in it. "Have your brother checked by another nephrologist. If you have any questions, come to my shop anytime, alone." "Welcome, dear guest!" Fumio is excited to see as the first customer in two days since Musume46, enters the doors of the shop. He has been bored out of his mind all morning and didn''t even have lunch as he had nothing to do and therefore did not spend any energy. "Uhh I''m not a customer." Kotone mutters as she cautiously walks in the shop. "Oh It wasn''t you." She almost mistakes Fumio for Red because of Fumio''s black kimono. "What was that, dear customer?" Fumio did not hear Kotone clearly. "I''m here to see Mr. Iwai?" Kotone says. "Oh? Here for a massage? In case you don''t know, there is the price for a full body massage from the owner." Fumio asks as he points at the only price on the black board behind him. Kotone reads the price and, "40,000" her eyes widen, and she steps back in shock. "N-no I''m not here for a massage." She waves off her hands in refusal. She then takes out Red''s business card and hands it to Fumio. "H-he left this for me two nights ago." She says. Fumio then picks up the business card and reads it. A few seconds later, his accommodating mood turns into that of caution as he looks at Kotone. "So It''s you, huh." Fumio says, even his tone changing to an almost unfriendly one. "Uhh What?" Kotone gets startled by the sudden change in Fumio''s attitude. "Miss Kotone?" Kotone is rescued by Red calling out to her as he steps to the lounge area. "Y-you" Kotone does not know what to say. While she did not see Red''s face clearly two nights ago, she recognizes him by his Kimono and overall physique. She also suspects that Red is the same man that visited Haruto. "Fumio. Serve her a drink, please." Red orders Fumio before, "Miss Kotone, join me.", inviting Kotone to one of the sofas at the lounge area. Kotone can only follow. Soon, Red and Kotone are now seated at the opposite ends of the sofa. While Red is already sipping on his tea, Kotone is not in the mood to enjoy hers. "It''s nice to see you again. You''re here earlier than I thought." Red breaks the silence. "Yes?" Kotone is confused by contextless words. "So. Did you bring young Haruto for a check-up?" Red asks instead. Kotone''s eyes widen. While she already made connections that the man she met at the kids'' playground is the same as the one who Haruto met, she is still in shock. "I-it was you?" She asks for certainty at the revelation. "Uh-huh What did the doctor say?" Red asks. "H-he''s fine" Kotone is still trying to comprehend her situation, but for now, she composes herself to talk to Red. "The doctor said that his kidneys are very healthy. When we told the doctor that Haruto had kidney failure and had been in dialysis treatment for almost ten years, she accused us of pulling her leg." She reports. "That''s good then." Red nods, already expecting the results of his healing. "S-so uh You were the one who healed him, right?" Kotone asks to make sure that she is about to express her gratitude to the right person. "Yes. Who else could it be?" Red nods before taking a sip of his tea once again. Kotone then stands up straight, puts her hands to her stomach and takes a 90-degree bow. "I want to thank you, mister. For giving my brother his life back." She says. "Stand straight, young lady. Don''t be too quick to thank me yet." Red says. As if being drenched in a bucket''s worth of ice water, she freezes.. She does not want to stand straight, afraid to look at Red, afraid of the price she suspects Red is about to ask. Chapter 26 - A New Employee Kotone slowly stands straight, nervous at what will happen from now on. "You look worried." Red says as he gestures Kotone to sit back down. "Please. Sit. My actions so far seem to not warrant such caution, no?" He says in a more commanding tone, seeing that Kotone seems to be thinking of storming out of the shop. Kotone, reminded that the man in front of him saved his brother''s life, feels embarrassed at what she is thinking, so she sits back down on the sofa. "I understand what you''re feeling. I also know that free things are rare in this world and at some point, people have to pay for the graces they receive." Red says. Kotone looks at the ground in embarrassment, having what she is thinking pointed out. "S-so How much do I owe you, mister?" She asks, swallowing her saliva in nervousness. "Hmmm.. Let''s see We barely have any customers in the shop So, I think I need some help." Red says. "" Kotone looks around and she notices that the shop is indeed deserted aside from Fumio in the reception desk stealing glances at her and Red. "I''ll get you customers. I don''t know how, but I will." Kotone says, while having no confidence in doing so, promises and decides to fulfill it. "I don''t need you to do that." Red shakes his head. "FUMIO!" He then gestures Fumio to join them. "Yes, boss?" Fumio asks as he stands near Red, while eyeing Kotone. "huh Buddy. Why are you looking at her like she''s going to steal something? Hm? I thought you''d be happy to see a pretty lady?" Red asks in amusement, knowing Fumio''s apprehension of Kotone''s presence and the reason why. Kotone gets embarrassed at the unintended compliment. Fumio on the other hand clears his throat and, "Aherm. Boss. I thought you were going to give me a head start?" he complains. "Ah. Don''t worry buddy. While she has a bit more potential than you, you''re far ahead." Red says. "Really" Fumio smirks at Kotone, feeling proud of himself. "I''m sorry. I''m lost. I''m missing something here." Kotone says, feeling that she is somehow involved in what the two are talking about. "I''ll explain later." Red says to her. Two nights ago, after leaving the exhausted Fumio to his herbal bath, Red ended up in Toshima City after aimlessly wandering around, looking for people with normal spirit roots. He could not however randomly scan strangers because he feels that blindly doing so is inefficient and his spiritual sense will be exhausted before finding a potential cultivator. He also could not simply ask random strangers if they are a superioris or not before scanning them with his spiritual sense. What he did instead was to wander around eavesdropping for discriminatory remarks against non-superioris. And whoever the non-superioris that received that discriminatory remark, Red will scan. His method was rewarded when he overheard the commotion in Kotone''s workplace. He was about to simply just walk away and go on his way but he overheard Isamu, the disgruntled hostess bar customer, utter ''F*ckin unevolved b*tch''. This made Red interested in Kotone so he scanned her. He found out that Kotone indeed is non-superioris, and to his pleasant surprise, he also found out that Kotone has a spirit root which seems to be a bit better than Fumio''s. He then followed Kotone home, hoping that Kotone would have a non-superioris family member who also has a spirit root. Instead of a non-superioris, Red found Kotone''s superioris brother, Haruto, who despite being a Class-D superioris, is weakened due to his weak kidneys. He then decided to make use of Haruto to establish Kotone''s trust. "Anyways. Young lady. I am offering you a job as the new receptionist of my shop." Red says. "M-me?" Kotone is unsure if she heard it right. After all, she did not expect to be offered something she is much in need for. "Yes. Because we do not have much customers, this kid here" Red points at Fumio, " is wasting his time. I want you to take over his job." He says. Fumio wants to protest but stops himself, realizing that Red will not do such a thing without a good reason. "You want me to work here until I pay off my debt to you?" Kotone asks. "Yes." Red nods. "Wait a minute, mister. How much do I owe you? Maybe I can find a better paying job, and I''ll be able to pay you back quicker." Kotone says. "Oho 500,000 yen a month for a non-superioris. Where else can you find such a good salary?" Fumio is almost offended at Kotone''s words. Kotone snaps her head to Fumio''s direction, "5-500,000 yen?..." her eyes wide in shock at the figure she just heard. "Yes. I''ll be fighting you right now if I didn''t have a lot of savings." Fumio nods proudly. "I-I''ll take the job" Kotone utters without much thought and her mind already starts calculating. "Good" Red nods, snapping Kotone out of her mental arithmetic. "But How much of that 500,000 will I really take home?" Kotone asks. "Hmmm You''ll still take home 500,000." Red says. "T-then Wouldn''t that mean I can just work here forever?" Kotone starts calculating again. "But doesn''t that mean I''ll be simply working a regular high-paying job" She is not making sense of the offer, "So, I take back what I said earlier. I have to know what''s really the catch here?" and is uneasy about it. "Oh. Nothing unlawful or untoward." Fumio scoffs, offended on behalf of Red and the shop. "Yes." Red nods as if affirming Fumio''s words. "What I want from you is your time and you manning this store. All you need to do is to work here, devote yourself here for a year." He says. "All I have to do is to watch over the shop, right?" Kotone rephrases her question just to be sure one last time. "Boss. It looks like she''s not interested. Maybe she really can get a better job somewhere. Besides, I don''t trust her." Fumio says, as he himself is unsure what else he will do if Kotone takes over his job. "Excuse me. I get that you don''t like me replacing you, but isn''t this too much? Did I somehow wrong you?" Kotone is now bothered by Fumio. "Yeah. This shop is good and boss is a legit expert. You''re talking as if our shop is ''THAT'' kind of establishment." Fumio scoffs. "" Kotone almost winces at the slight relation of Fumio''s words to her previous workplace. "Alright. Stop it, you two." While Red is amused to see the two start out bickering, he simply wants the two to be potential rivals and not hate each other. "Young lady. If you don''t want to, then that''s fine. You don''t have to work for me, if you want. I treated your brother out of my own volition, so you don''t have to worry about any debt." He says to Kotone. "And you." He addresses Fumio. "I will still look for your replacement. I''d want you to focus full-time on completing your first cycle. I''m guessing you''re still at 22 repetitions." "Oh Okay boss." Fumio finally realizes why Red wants him replaced. "Mr. Iwai N-no BOSS! That''s not what I''m saying. I''ll take the job." Kotone meanwhile is quick to scare, thinking that an opportunity will slip away. "Well then. That''s settled." Red nods. He then stretches his palms out in front of him and a 50cm x 50cm x 10Ccm box appears on his grasp. On top of the box also appears a few pieces of paper. Kotone has no time to process what she had just seen as Red hands her the papers. "This is your contract, young lady. Although I don''t bother to put any fine print in it, you still read it, before signing." Red then hands the box to Fumio. "And this, is the young lady''s uniform. Give it to her after she signed. Also, orient here about what to do, yeah?" "Boss. There''s nothing much to orient her And how do I explain some stuff." Fumio asks, scratching his head. "Just tell her what you''ve been doing. And I''ll be the one to tell her the stuff in the future." With that, "I''m going out for a stroll." Red leaves the shop to allow the two get acquainted by themselves alone. . . . A few minutes later. *Knock* *Knock* "Kotone-san. Are you decent?" Fumio knocks on the closed door of the dress room. "Yes. Come in." Kotone says from inside. As soon as Fumio steps in, he is almost stunned looking at Kotone. "Hmm It doesn''t look bad on you at all." He nods, but inside, he is trying his best to get over how beautiful Kotone looks wearing the kimono Red provided. "I do? Well, everyone looks good in an expensive set of kimono." Kotone says as she inspects herself in the mirror. The dark-blue colored kimono, with its glossy fabric embroidered with white flowers and white swans designs, Fumio cannot help but compare her to the dainty and beautiful second young miss of the Hasegawa family. She also cannot help but feel odd looking at Fumio through the mirror, also looking sharp in his similarly-colored kimono matching hers, standing behind her. ''It''s like we''re wearing a couple attire'', she thinks. "A-anyways. Is this really my uniform?" She shakes off her thoughts and asks instead, finding what she is wearing a waste to wear at work. "Yeah. But you''re not allowed to bring it home. Let''s go back to the reception area." Fumio says as he leads Kotone out. "Good But who washes it?" Kotone asks as they walk. "Hmmm" Fumio does not know how to answer it until they arrive at the lounge area. He noticed however that his kimono is always clean and odorless after leaving it overnight in his locker. He guesses that it is an effect of ''cleaning formation'' which Red once spoke about which keeps the shop clean from stains and dust. "There''s this lady who does deep cleaning and laundry every night." Fumio can only lie. "Fancy" Kotone has no other words. "Anyways. Before I tell you about your responsibilities, you have to know some basic rules." Fumio starts, taking Kotone''s attention immediately. "First. There are things in this shop that cannot be explained. You shouldn''t ask about them until boss decides to tell you." "What things?" Kotone asks. "You''ll see them soon enough. Even if you ask boss, he''ll probably give you bogus answers." Fumio shrugs as it took a while for him to be told by Red what keeps the shop clean and what allows him to control the ambient music. Kotone wrinkles her eyebrows at Fumio''s vague words, but she decides not to ask. "Moving on. To the things you should do" Fumio moves on to telling Kotone about her responsibilities. An hour later. "Boss." Fumio greets Red. "Uhn. Making tea?" Red just returned to the shop to find Fumio teaching Kotone how to make tea at the common table. "By the way, did you teach her about the shop''s background music?" He asks as he joins the two, noticing the background music playing. "Yes boss." Fumio points at Kotone who is fiddling with her wrist, which are now wearing the bracelet that control the background music and scents. "Good. Kotone-san, can you handle the tea?" Red asks. "Yes, Kichirou-san." Kotone says. Red seeing the eager sparkle in Kotone''s eyes, nods. "Good. Fumio. Let''s talk." Red this time, invites Fumio to the lounge area. "This about what I''ll do from now on?" Fumio asks as they sit down. "Yes." Chapter 27 - Some Guests Ahhh Finally. The warmth of the shop. Damn, the first snow hasn''t come yet, and I''m already hating the cold. "Good morning, Kotone-san." Fumio greets me as I enter the shop. The guy is now a lot friendlier to me compared to when we first met about two months ago. What is he doing in my spot though? "Good morning, Fumio-san. Did you miss your job already?" I ask. "What do you mean?" He asks, seemingly confused by my question. "I mean, the day we met was the last time I saw you sit at the reception table." I tell him. Since I got his job, I only saw the guy hang out at the lounge area or at the common table drinking tea. "Ah. Well. We have unusual guests today.", he says. More unusual than one of the biggest J-pop girl bands? More unusual than the customers who own some of the fanciest cars I''ve ever seen? "How unusual could they be? You don''t trust me?" I''ve been working here for two months now and while we don''t get many customers, they all seem to be satisfied with me. "You''re here" I am almost startled by a familiar voice behind me. "Kichirou-san." I greet the owner of this place. I''ve been startled by him a few times now, and he''s not even doing it on purpose. Sometimes, when we have no customers, he would hang out in either the lounge area, the massage area, or the always locked storage room where he gets his massage solutions. Many times, I would not even realize that we are in the same room as if he does not want his presence to be known. It''s weird, but I''m already getting used to him. I''m also getting used to scanning for him whenever I enter a room in this shop. "Good morning." He greets me. "Fumio. You don''t have to worry. Just go to your room and start your day. I''m here anyways.", he then tells Fumio. Fumio simply nods and complies to the order and soon, he''s gone from the reception area. I always wonder what he''s been doing in that room beyond the shower room. It''s always locked when he''s there. He stays locked in there all day maybe even after I get off work at 7 in the evenings. I once took a peek at the room when he was not around but all I saw is just the wooden floor and the wooden walls with only a small drawer table in the corner. Curiosity got the best of me and I tried to open the drawers but unfortunately, they are locked. "Kotone. Prepare enough tea for three guests." Kichirou-san orders me and he goes inside too. Good, I get to do something today. While it was nice getting paid just to watch over a store while playing with my phone, it gets burdensome to be paid generously while giving unproportionate effort for the job. A few minutes later, three guests, walk in the shop. The place I worked at previously has yakuza members for some of its customers, and these three looks more dangerous than them. The tallest one is fashioning a mohawk hairstyle as if he wants to add more to his already very tall height. The guy walking behind him looks like a gangster from a biker gang and is fashioning a leather jacket and ripped jeans. And the last guy behind them is huge horizontally. He''s maybe a bit shorter than the mohawk guy but his excessively muscular physique makes him maybe twice as heavy. Who are these people? What has the boss got himself to? "G-good morning, guests." I greet them. Oh goodness. Did I make it obvious that I''m intimidated? "Hey there, miss. This the massage shop?" The mohawk guy asks. He''s surprisingly gentle. "Yes sir." Good. I sounded more confident this time. "What the f*ck? 40,000 yen for a 30-minute massage? Miss, are you sure you''re running a legit business here?" The leather jacket guy says and he is not happy looking at the price. "Yes sir. I assure you our prices are fair and we cater to clientele who expect the best." I say. Which I''m the most confident in saying. I haven''t tried Kichirou-san''s massage, but I know what he can do basing on how the guests look after going through his hands. There are two types of people who walk in the shop. One: the ones who have the money to spare to give boss'' massage a try. And many of those who get boss'' massage almost always express their intention of coming back. Two: people who walk out of the shop without question after looking at the price. I guess type three are non-friendly types like this leather jacket guy. "Good morning, dear guests." Phew, here''s boss to my rescue. "I''m guessing Fire Colossus, Blade Tornado, and Gorilla?" He addresses the mohawk guy, leather jacket guy, and the big guy, respectively. "You all don''t have to worry about the price. The service today is all paid by Old Phantom in advance." He adds. Huh... Looks like he doesn''t seem to be at all scared by these people. What kind of names are these though? Are they hero nicknames? "H-hey mister. Don''t call us those." Gorilla says in his guttural deep voice. "Hey. It''s cool. It''s not like we''ll come back again." Fire Colossus says. "Come to think of it. Old Phantom doesn''t seem the guy to be a victim of scams. Maybe this is legit." Blade Tornado says as he gives boss a once over. Yeah. Kichirou-san is calming to look at. It''s weird. Even during the first time we met at the kids'' playground, I could have been in a panicked state when he suddenly revealed himself, but I wasn''t. "Please. Take a seat over there. I''ll serve you all tea in a moment. We also have some snacks available." I gesture the newcomers to the lounge area. "Snacks?" Gorilla snaps his head to me, his eyes sparkling. Uh oh This man looks like he can clean out the entire dessert bar by himself. "My good man. This is a massage shop, not a restaurant. Have some self-respect." Fire Colossus criticizes. That was a bit mean, but hey, thank you, sir. "Let me prepare, and when I''m ready, I''ll have the young lady ask which of you will go first." Boss says before going to the storage room. Soon, I have served the three their own cups of tea and am now standing an earshot away from them in case they need something else. "Huh I''m not surprised that Old Phantom would be frequenting a place like this. All clean and classy." Blade Tornado says as he looks around. Who is this Old Phantom? Is it that 60 something year old customer we had last week? That man''s the oldest customer I''ve seen the shop has had so far. Huh, he''s some sort of a retired businessman and doesn''t seem the type to involve himself with these types of people. "True" Fire Colossus says as he takes a sip from his cup. "Ohhh. Nice tea." He nods in appreciation. Why does he look like a punk but acts the opposite? Is it just his fashion sense? Anyways, I agree with him about the tea. I don''t know much about tea, but after I''ve had boss'' tea, even sweetened iced tea taste like mud to me. Thankfully, Kichirou-san gives me some tea leaves to go home for me and Haruto to enjoy. "About Old Phantom. How''s your injuries, big guy?" Fire Colossus asks Gorilla. "They still hurt." Gorilla says as he tries his best to reach a spot on his back with his hand. I am trying my best right now to stop smiling or giggling. His huge muscles getting in the way of his mobility somehow looks adorable and funny. "You did worse than us. You didn''t even land a single hit on him." Blade Tornado says in a teasing tone. "haha!" Fire Colossus cackles. "Screw you two. At least I''m still in the Champions'' row. You two can challenge me anytime at the same time." Gorilla says. "Eugh. You''re no fun." Blade Tornado scoffs and Fire Colossus has nothing to say back. Yeah. Gorilla-san just killed the banter. Anyways, basing on what they''re saying, it seems that these guys are fighters. This Gorilla guy seems to be the strongest of the three and these three all were beaten by the same guy who is treating them to boss'' massage service. A strange dynamic. "Anyways. You always had ways to beat fast and quick fighters. What''s the difference with the old man?" Blade Tornado asks Gorilla. "" Fire Colossus seems to be interested too. I am too. How could an old man beat these three relatively young guys? And seemingly strong superiori at that. "He didn''t fall into my traps. Even when he walked right into them. It was frustrating." Gorilla leans back on the sofa. "I also didn''t find a pattern to his movements. It''s as if he doesn''t have a plan at all and just so happens to make all the perfect decisions during the fight. Where to attack me, how to deal with my attacks, I felt like the fight was like a scripted dance." Gorilla''s words make the two others nod as if they understand. "Anyways. Unlike you two, my fight lasted for 10 minutes and I wasn''t knocked out. He had to choke me out." He concludes. His two friends freeze and become speechless at his words. I haven''t seen these three''s fights, but it is obvious to me that Gorilla seems the type who can survive being hit by a big hammer in the head. About this Old Phantom, then I think he''s not that geriatric customer of ours. It doesn''t make sense. "Hey. How about you? How''d you lose in your rematch with the old guy?" Blade Tornado breaks the silence by asking Fire Colossus. "I was out of town so I didn''t see it." "Well. It was similar to what happened in our first match. He made it look like another lucky knockout by a counterattack." Fire Colossus shrugs. "There were a lot of boos that night." Gorilla chuckles. He seemed to have witnessed the fight himself. "I can imagine." Blade Tornado chuckles too. "Why can''t the audience see that he''s stronger than he looks and that he''s conning them?" Fire Colossus shakes his head. "Hey. He made me a lot of money because of his act. I hope they don''t see that anytime soon." Blade Tornado chuckles. "Same. Why don''t you bet on him too on his next fight? It''s not too late." Gorilla encourages Fire Colossus. "I already was, though." Fire Colossus shrugs. "Oh Oh well, I''ll keep betting on him until he decides to challenge the top 3." Gorilla says. "Top 3?" "Huh?" Fire Colossus and Blade Tornado give Gorilla surprised faces. "You think he''s strong enough to challenge those monsters?" Blade Tornado asks. "Yeah. But I don''t think he''ll win." Gorilla shrugs. "Man I don''t know. It feels like he''s still hiding a lot. Who knows? Maybe he can find a way to win." Blade Tornado is surprisingly optimistic. Betting? Fighter rankings? I''m losing interest. *bzzt**bzzt* I''m taken away from eavesdropping by my bracelet vibrating. It''s a signal from boss that he''s ready for the first massage. "Excuse me. The owner is about ready. Who among you will go first?" I interrupt the three''s chat. "I''ll go. Let''s see if what kind of shit Old Phantom enjoys." Blade Tornado volunteers without hesitation. The other two also does not seem to have the problem with it. A few moments later, "Please proceed to the massage room after changing.", I finish my instructions with Blade Tornado in front of the changing room. "Thank you, miss. I just hope it''s you who''s doing the massage." He winks at me before closing the door. That''s not the first time a customer hit on me, but thankfully, they''re all harmless attempts at flirting. Chapter 28 - Head Start Over (cont''d) I step out into the lounge area again, and Gorilla and Fire Colossus are still talking. I''m scared of annoying them so I think it''s best if I don''t turn on the background music. About the background music It''s just one of the many things in the shop that keeps me up at night. It all starts with the owner, Kichirou-san. Why is he running a massage shop if he can just be a doctor? He healed my brother''s condition just fine basically for free. I suspected that he''s not actually giving our guests massage therapy, but some sort of an actual medical therapy and that explains why his service is expensive. Then there''s the storage room that is always locked where he keeps his ''massage solutions''. Massage solutions. I think they''re medicines too. I really want to know more but Fumio-san said I shouldn''t ask questions, and I think it''s better if I stick by that rule. Just like the boss once said, if I want to pay for my brother''s treatment, my silence is how I pay for it. But why? It''s not like he''s doing anything illegal. Well I can only wonder. My brother and I just moved to this neighborhood, at an apartment that is much better than the one we lived in. If I ask questions that might cross the line, I might get fired. I don''t want to go back to how things were. Wait My brother can take care of himself now thanks to Kichirou-san, so we''re doing much better than we ever had even if I get fired right now. Well, I still don''t want to get fired. I don''t think I can get a higher pay anywhere else. . . . Two hours soon pass and, "Thank you, gentlemen. I hope you all come back again. We''ll give you a 25% discount if you three come together." Boss is back in the lounge area, having finished his service to the three guests, and is wearing his fancy kimono once again. "Uhuh. I don''t know about these two, but I''ll come back again even if I have to pay full. You''re good, man." Blade Tornado says to Kichirou-san. I did not expect such expression of gratitude from this kind of man. "He''s alright. I feel like I can train all day today." Gorilla nods, looking much brighter compared to earlier. Boss probably did something to the big man''s injuries. "Owner. Can you give me a call, in case Old Phantom comes by?" Fire Colossus hands Kichirou-san a piece of paper, probably containing his phone number. "I have to get his permission first." Kichirou-san says. Yeah. Another rule from Fumio-san. Whatever is said by customers in the shop, stays in the shop. That includes the identities of our guests. Even though this shop is a lot more high-class than the hostess bar I worked at before, people are still the same. I have heard some unsavory things talked about by some guests, and it won''t do us any good if I babble. Soon, "Have a nice day, dear guests." I bid the three goodbyes as they step out of the main door. Phew They were a bit scary at first, but they''re an interesting bunch. I hope they come again. "Kotone. Close up the shop." Kichirou-san says. What? "It''s only 11 in the morning?" I ask. What if we get new customers today? Or walk-in ones? More than half the time I spent in this shop is watching over an empty establishment. I want to reduce idle time, if possible. "They''ll be the only guests today." Kichirou-san says as he puts on his winter haori over his kimono. Looks like he''s leaving again. In the days when we get customers who booked appointments, after dealing with those appointments, he would often close up the shop and go out. I can only follow the order and go home. Fumio-san is always here anyways. As for Kichirou-san, I don''t know where he goes. "Wait... No. Instead. Why don''t we do something together?" He suddenly changes his mind, and he takes his winter haori off again. Wait. This is new. What does he mean? ''Do something''? It can''t be something like ''that'', right? No. It couldn''t be. It''s been two months since I''ve known him, and he doesn''t seem like that type of man. If he is, then at least one of the girls from Musume46 would have felt something weird and at least one of them should have stopped coming. "W-what are we going to do?" I can only ask. "How would you like a raise?" He asks. . Of course, I would love a raise. But for what price? "I would love to, Kichirou-san. But I don''t think I did enough to deserve it." "Well. You keeping up a calm front in the presence of our clientele, no matter what type they are. Dealing with the unclean intentions from male guests, or keeping quiet about the things you heard, you''ve done a good job in those." Kichirou-san says. Isn''t that what''s expected of me though? Well, except for the uncomfortable remarks, but even those are rare. "I have unpopular opinions and unsavory thoughts myself. Who am I to judge?" "Oho~" He simply smiles at me. His smile looks benevolent but why am I getting a bad feeling? "Okay. Why don''t we do this? Do you want to work on something to get that raise?" He asks. "What is it?" It couldn''t be that bad, right? Suddenly, just like magician, he pulls out something out of thin air and hands it to me. I''m no longer surprised by this exact trick by Kichirou-san''s as I''ve seen it a couple of times already. What interests me instead is the familiar looking thing that is now in my hands; a box that is like the one that contained my kimono uniform two months ago when it was new. "Another uniform?" I ask as I open the box. Looks like a set of clothes, but Huh. A set of gi? Why is he giving me these? "What are these for, Kichirou-san?" Is he mistaken? "I don''t have a fighting bone in my body sir." "It doesn''t matter. Change to those and meet me at the massage room after you''re done. I''ll check on Fumio." He simply orders me before going back in the service area. That''s weird I''m not going to be beaten up, am I? . . . It hurts. And I''m a hot sweaty mess. As soon as I entered the massage area a few minutes ago, I found Kichirou-san already waiting. The massage table and the other furniture are also set to the side to make space at the center of the room for me and him to occupy. He then asked me to follow his movements and that movement is what I''m doing right now. Full front splits, while breathing in a weird and uncomfortable pattern. "FOCUS" He snaps me back from my thoughts. Does he want a yoga partner or something? He could have just said so. What''s with the gi? "AH!" Oh no. I''m starting to cramp up. This could be bad. My calves cramped up before, but thighs? Suddenly, Kichirou-san lays his palms on my thigh and his palms starts glowing. Soon, a cool and refreshing feeling travels from the part of my thigh that is cramping and it spreads throughout the rest of my legs. I have no time to marvel the experience as, "Start over counting your breathing repetitions.", he orders immediately. 1 2 3 8 9 "*gasp!**inhale**exhale*" I can''t do more, or else I''ll faint. I feel spent too. "I guess you won''t be seeing that raise anytime soon." Kichirou-san shrugs as he slowly stands up from his splits. Damn. How can a man his age be so flexible? Anyways What did he mean? "What do you mean, Kichirou-san?" "If you manage to complete 64 continuous breathing repetitions in this pose, I''ll give you a bonus." 64?! I can barely do ten! "And there are 15 more poses like this. And if you complete 64 continuous breathing repetitions in them, you will also be rewarded. That''s like 16 bonuses. Isn''t that fun?" He smirks. Okay This I don''t know what to say. How much is the bonus though? Oh Looks like he figured out what I''m thinking. "As for the bonus, I''ll set aside 16,000,000 yen for you. Each pose you complete 64 breaths in, I''ll give you 1,000,000 yen." He says. So that means If I can complete what he''s asking me, then that''s 32 months, or almost three years or work in this place. I can basically get a condo unit and pay for a quarter of its entire price for the down payment. It won''t take my whole youth to own a property as long as Kichirou-san is satisfied with my work. What worries me though is "While your shop earns quite a lot, it''s far from allowing you to give me that bonus." Can he even afford to give me that bonus? "Ah. While I love spending time in my shop, it''s not my main source of income." Oh Come to think of it, there are days when he would be gone for hours. Now it makes sense why he would sometimes close up the shop after just working on one appointment. He must be working as some sort of a doctor during those times. That well-known superioris doctor I went to with my brother for consult once said that she would take at least ten sessions to fully heal my brother''s kidneys. Kichirou-san on the other hand, if what Haruto said was reliable, only took a minute or two to heal Haruto''s kidneys. That means Kichirou-san is levels above just any superioris healer. So that also means that his treatment must cost billions of yen. Now I get it.So. Boss can afford to give me a bonus. But how about me? 64 breath repetitions in one of these poses Continuous repetitions at that Can I do it?... Screw it. It''s not like I''ll die. And even if somehow, I injure myself, Kichirou-san is a doctor. "You''re really serious about this, Kichirou-san?" I ask. "Yes." He nods confidently. He seems to be confident that I can''t do it. "If I can do it, you won''t go back on your word, right?" I ask just to be sure. "We can put it in a legal-binding contract if you want." He says. Damn. He''s serious then. Good. "Then I''ll do it." . . . Good grief This is so embarrassing. Being carried princess-style like this must be my first time. If only I haven''t spent my legs earlier, I would be running away right now. I always dreamt it to be a boyfriend or husband to carry me like this first, but it''s this heartless demon Kichirou who made me go through that torture. "W-what are we doing in the shower room?" Why are we here? He does not answer and simply unlocks that door in the shower room that only Kichirou-san and Fumio uses, and we enter. Why do they keep it locked? It''s just a room with a bathtub. Wait a minute. He''s not planning on bathing me himself, right? I know I can''t move, but "Careful with your head." He says as he slowly puts me down in the tub. Is he really going to clean me? "Whatever you''re thinking, you''re mistaken." He says however, making me feel bad. I know that you can tell what people are thinking, but can you at least not call it out? He then waves his hand in the air and a glass bottle, containing some green-yellow solution, appear on his hand. He then puts it down beside the tub within my reach. "Here''s what you''re gonna do. Take off your gi. Fill the tub with water enough to soak entirely your body. And then mix that medicine in the water." He instructs before walking out. What just happened? Let''s think about it later. He''s the doctor so I''ll do as he says for now. "oohh.. That feels nice." Chapter 29 - One February Morning Hanno-gawara riverbank, Hanno City "Where is this guy?" Hideki is slowly losing his patience. He has been waiting for almost 30 minutes already at the sandy and icy riverbank. While he is surrounded by fresh air, and the sound of the small river flowing, he cannot enjoy them as he hated being in nature in the first place. Adding to his irritation is the early morning February winter breeze making him shiver every few minutes. He would have left long ago had he not been promised fifty thousand yen by the person who sent him a letter asking for the meeting and some money along with the letter which he used to travel from Tokyo. "I''m here, Hideki." Hideki is almost startled and he turns around to find the person he is least expecting. "Fumio" He cannot believe it. Fumio, wearing an even fancier kimono and hakama than the one he saw Fumio wear last time, is standing just a few steps away from him, looking healthy. Hideki gets over his surprise however and a mocking smile spread to his face. "So. The useless dog is more resilient than I thought." He says to Fumio in scorn. "Useless dog? Heh." Fumio scoffs, before, "Who knew the high and mighty Hideki is willing to travel all the way here just for a few bucks? HAHAHA!", descending into a ridiculing laughter. "It was you?" Hideki''s face crumples at the realization and he is feeling more than slighted. "I don''t know how you lived when I left you for dead, but you should have just stayed in hiding, you vermin." He then charges to Fumio with a kick. Fumio''s ridiculing smirk freezes, but he immediately realizes that he can now see Hideki''s movements clearly compared to five months ago. His ridiculing smirk transforms to an excited grin as he dodges Hideki''s kick. Hideki is caught by surprise by how easy Fumio dodged. Him also being unable to recover his footing from the momentum is taken advantage of by Fumio and he receives a kick on the back of his head. The two are surprised by the exchange. Hideki is surprised because this is the first time Fumio ever landed an impactful hit on him, and Fumio is surprised at how quick he acted and how easy it was to land a hit. Hideki immediately gets over his aching head and he becomes cautious. Instead of attacking, he is now waiting for Fumio to make the move. Seeing that Hideki has gone defensive, Fumio charges with calculated steps to initiate the attack. Using the power of his waist and shoulders, he throws a simple, but quick and snappy straight punch to Hideki''s face. "!" Hideki is alarmed at the speed of Fumio and he steps aside in panic. His dodging is too slow however and *smack* Fumio''s punch lands to his face forcing him to take a few steps back. While the force of the punch is considerably cut down due to his attempt of dodging, it is still enough to rock him. Fumio, instead of continuing to attack, stops in his steps in confusion. ''It''s not supposed to be this easy'' He looks at Hideki who is trying his best to recover. ''Was my punch that strong?'' "F*ck Who are you?" Hideki takes Fumio out of his thoughts. "What? You know who I am." Fumio says, finding the question ridiculous. "No. You''re not that useless dog. So, who are you?" Hideki asks again. This offends Fumio and he charges forward once again. Before Hideki can react, *smack* *smack* a two-punch combo lands on his gut and his chest. "Ugh" Hideki is forced to bend over in the pain of his organs being rocked, and he hastily hops away from Fumio in awkward steps. Fumio then goes in pursuit to maintain his attacking range. "What? Cousin. Are you that surprised that a ''useless dog'' is fighting back that you''d rather not believe it?" Hideki hears Fumio''s voice before *thud* receiving a blow on his back, making his body slam to the ground. "I-it''s not possible." He says as he struggles to stand back up. "This offends me, cousin. I spent five painful months training just for this day. All I receive is your disbelief? It feels unfair." Fumio says. "It''s just not possible! Who are you!" Hideki yells in frustration, feeling that he is being played with. "Heh-heh You always stepped on me back in the clan because you hated me being better at the clan''s martial arts than you." Fumio bitterly chuckles. Hideki, hearing Fumio''s words, is forced to realize that the man in front of him, while a bit more muscular than the man should be, is indeed Fumio. The carefully executed Hasegawa footwork 3 Fumio used to charge forward, the Hasegawa style Karate which Fumio used to land three hits on him, reminds him of the old Fumio. The old Fumio''s martial foundation which he looked down on because they were useless in the non-superiori''s hands, is now lethal in the hands of the changed Fumio. "Are you not going to fight back?" Hideki is pulled out from his thoughts by Fumio''s question. Hideki however does not know how to answer, and is not even planning on attacking. "Come on. Where''s that strong Hideki who made the non-superiori members of the clan tremble in fear?" Fumio starts walking in a circle around Hideki. "Where''s that mighty Hideki who always made me submit to him?" He continues. Hideki grits his teeth, his pride taking a hit. As soon as Fumio appears in his vision, he throws out a quick middle kick. A kick which was blocked easily. "Or the Hideki who used to flaunt his martial prowess?" He continues to hear Fumio''s mocking. Fumio does not give Hideki another chance to attack and he knees Hideki''s gut. Hideki feels the air knocked out of him and he collapses on his knees. "It''s easy" Fumio grabs Hideki''s hair to force the superioris to face up to him. "Taking you down." He continues as he slaps Hideki on the face making Hideki fall face flat once again to the ground. "It''s fun, doing this to you. But I don''t imagine doing this to the non-superiori." He then squats by Hideki. Hideki however does not answer and he does not look like he will get back up anytime soon. "Hey. Are you pretending to be unconscious?" Fumio frowns as he pats Hideki''s head. Suddenly, Hideki grabs a handful of the icy river sand and pebbles and throws it to Fumio''s general direction. The attempt was successful as the sand got in Fumio''s eyes and Fumio immediately retreats with eyes closed. Hideki takes this chance to push himself off the ground and charge Fumio with a flying kick. His kick lands exactly on Fumio''s head, and Fumio is sent flying a few feet back, landing on the ground on his back. Hideki cannot help but smile victoriously seeing that Fumio is not getting up immediately. "Heh A dog is still a dog." He says, showing more energy and fight in him than he displayed before he threw sand. He then jumps up high in the hair intending to stomp Fumio as he lands. As his feet approach Fumio''s head, a sinister grin spreads to his face in anticipation. In a split second however, to his surprise however, he sees Fumio suddenly roll to one side. This action by Fumio is enough to vacate danger. Hideki has not time to adjust his movements because as soon as he lands, sand is already flying to his eyes and he is too late to react. "AH!" Hideki can only yelp as the rough sand assaults the surface of his eyes. The sand stinging his eyes is nothing however as the next moment, he receives a heavy blow to the side of his head. He then feels himself rotate vertically once in the air, before feeling his entire left side slam to the ground. "UHGHHH" Air is knocked out of him once again, that he cannot even grunt in pain. "Buddy~ Really? Sand? How many times did you use that in clan sparring?" He hears Fumio''s mocking voice once again. "I wasn''t wrong in thinking someone as low as you would resort to something low." Fumio continues. He has plenty of second-hand experience in preventing such attacks. He knows that the sand throwing tactic has always been used by Hideki against stronger members of the clan. Such practice is frowned upon in sparring sessions but because Hideki is a member of the main family, his victims can only swallow their grievances. Fumio also saw in the past five months in Red''s fights in the underground arena when Red''s opponents would often distract Red with clay pieces of the fighting ring. Fumio, having no experience of being at the receiving end of such attacks, has prepared plenty and imagined himself in the situation countless of times. "You''re not pretending again, are you?" Fumio squats by the downed Hideki once again. Hideki this time, is down bad for real. While he wants to get back up no matter what, his body seemingly does not want to cooperate with his brain especially after suffering such a huge blow to the head. Fumio meanwhile, experiencing injuring an opponent this badly for the first time ever, freezes. "H-hey" He awkwardly calls out as he pats Hideki''s head. Looking at Hideki''s current state reminds him of himself whenever he was bullied by Hideki to the hospital. The memories fuel Fumio''s anger, but looking at the powerless Hideki, he does not know what to do next or how to vent his anger. Hideki, meanwhile regains his vision and looks at the awkward expression on Fumio''s face. "What? What are you gonna do now? Heh." He chuckles. Fumio''s mood for fighting is momentarily paused and the memories of Hideki replay in his mind. "Tell me. Why were you like that to me and the other non-superiori back in the clan?" He asks. Hideki is taken aback by how non-confrontational Fumio suddenly became. But looking at Fumio not even treating him a threat anymore, he is immediately angered. Despite his anger, he knows he cannot beat Fumio, especially in his current state. "What''s it to you?" He can only say. "I don''t know. How I''ll deal with you really depends on your answer." Fumio says. "How you''ll deal with me? Who the f*ck do-" Before Hideki can even finish his sentence, he receives a slap to the face. "Don''t forget that you still owe me for trying to kill me. I''m really trying to decide whether to give what I''ve been given." Fumio growls. "I-" Hideki''s eyes widen in realization. "What? Why else do you think I''m here?" Fumio asks. Slowly, a very bad feeling dawns on Hideki. "D-do you even have it in you to kill me?" He asks, hoping that Fumio is still the same soft-hearted lamb. "If it were anyone else, I couldn''t. But you? I don''t know. The more I think of what you did to me in the past, the more I want to do it." Fumio says. Hideki however feels a tinge of uncertainty in Fumio''s voice allowing him to sigh a bit of relief. "Really huppp." He finally recovers enough to get up to his knees. "Thinking and doing are two different things If you''re not sure, then it''s best that you just let me go. Let me go, and I''ll forget everything that happened here today." He says. Fumio hesitates as there is some truth to Hideki''s words. He does not know if he has it in him to take a life. But now that Hideki is helpless and whose fate currently relies on his decision, he does not want to lose this chance for revenge either. "You didn''t answer me earlier. Why did you have to make me and the others suffer?" He asks again to shrug off his hesitance. "" The question is simple, but Hideki is stumped and it takes him a few second to really think. Soon, "Do you really think I didn''t notice the stares?", he starts. "I hate the stares. Looking at me as if I can''t get my dick up. If it were clan members who are stronger than me, I get it." His voice trembles in anger. "But you and the other unevolved trash looking at me like that? I can''t tolerate. You all don''t have the right to look at me like that. Especially those two whores. They think they''re better than me? I-" He is about to continue but he sees Fumio dash forward and in a blink of an eye, he feels himself hanging by the collar, with Fumio lifting him up with it. Just a few seconds ago, he feels confident in his survival, but the look in Fumio''s eyes currently gives him the chills. Chapter 30 - One February Morning 2 (Cont''d) "I know that she was just a lowly servant to you, but she was my friend. You don''t even remember her name, do you?" Fumio asks rhetorically as he twists Hideki''s collar, almost choking the man. It is not hard for Hideki to connect that one of the two non-superiori servants he forced himself into and murdered, was Fumio''s friend. This connection between Fumio and his victim makes him beyond just worried. "Do you think we looked at you in disdain because you were weak? No. Everyone gave you that look because you were lazy and simply thrown your powers and status around to those who have no hopes in fighting back." Fumio says, tightening his hold on Hideki''s collar further. "*Ack* W-what are you doing?" Hideki is filled with apprehension and he is fueled by fear as he throws punches and kicks to Fumio. Fumio however simply takes them. While Hideki is still a superioris, he is weakened and his attacks are only comparable to that of an average non-superioris''. Fumio therefore is not worried of being injured anytime soon. "I''m not gonna kill you." Fumio starts, making Hideki stop struggling. Hideki however wishes that he should have continued to struggle due to Fumio''s next actions. Fumio slams Hideki to the ground once again. Fumio this time, does not let up and he immediately mounts Hideki on Hideki''s chest. He takes out his handkerchief and forces them down Hideki''s mouth and after that, he cups his hand on Hideki''s mouth to keep them shut. Hideki, having his mouth stuffed can no longer scream for help. The lessons about the human body from Red immediately start flooding in Fumio''s mind and he immediately proceeds with his plan. He then opens his right palm, straightens them for a karate chop, and chops down on Hideki''s left forearm, then left bicep, then left shoulder joint, and finally left underarm. "*UUUUUUFFFFFFF*" Hideki screams in pain but the only one who can hear him is the cause his pain. The next moment, the pain fades and he can no longer feel his entire left arm, or even move his fingers. Soon, a tear falls down his eyes as he realizes what Fumio had just done and what Fumio will do next. "*uuuffffff*" He then tries to beg for Fumio to stop, but Fumio emotionlessly assaults his right arm just like what was did to his left. Hideki thought it cannot get any worse but Fumio flips him around so he lies on his stomach and suddenly, *crack*, he feels and hears his spine crack from whatever Fumio just did. "*UUUHHHHHHH*" He tries to get away but in addition to the intense pain coming from his spine, his legs are no longer working either. He wishes that his legs can no longer feel anything because the next moment, he feels Fumio assaulting them just like what Fumio did with his arms. At this point, whether it is real or not, he can only pray to any angel or demon who would listen, to be saved. Soon, Fumio is done with his job. "How do you feel?" He asks rhetorically with a satisfied smile on his face as he flips Hideki back to the supine position. "" Even though Hideki wants to rain threats, curses, or even pleas for forgiveness, his mouth is still stuffed and Fumio''s hands are still cupped on his mouth. "You were right. I don''t have it in me to really kill you. But my conscience can afford leaving you here for dead. Whether you die or not, you''re doomed either way." Fumio says and he unties his extra kimono belt from his waist and wraps it around the lower half of Hideki''s head to keep the man quiet. Hideki is almost relieved that he is spared, but Fumio is not done. Fumio then searches Hideki''s pockets and soon he pulls out Hideki''s phone and wallet. To Hideki''s horror, Fumio chucks his phone and wallet to the non-frozen part of the river, practically leaving his last hope of calling for help gone too. "Don''t worry. I''ll make a call an hour or two later." Fumio says as he kneels beside Hideki. "Hideki. What goes around, comes around. I just wish other members of the clan would be here to see you like this too If you ever get to live to see tomorrow, and if you ever get to become healthy again, I''ll come back for you." With that, Fumio stands up and walks away to leave. Hideki, while watching Fumio''s back recede to the distance, is relieved that the demon finally left. In only five minutes, his life is ruined by the person he thought to be dead. Soon however, he forces his fears of Fumio down to the back of his mind, and his anger surfaces once again. ''If I live through this...'' . Fumio on the other hand, slowly walks with heavy steps and he cannot help the tears from falling from his eyes. ''I did it I finally did it...'' . . A few minutes later, Fumio is now at a nearby wooden bridge where him and Red agreed to meet. "Boss." Fumio simply nods at the already waiting Red, the things he did earlier is still replaying in his mind. "How did it go?" Red asks despite having seen everything from a distance. "Good." Fumio does not know how else to describe everything. "Wanna take the day off for relaxation?" Red offers. "No." Fumio shakes his head. "Instead. I want some answers." He says, his focus back in the moment and he looks Red in the eyes. "What exactly happened to me, boss? I didn''t think it would be that easy." He asks, still not understanding how he was able to overpower Hideki. "You said I was ready to fight him, but I didn''t want this." "What exactly did you want?" Red asks. "A fair and equal fight. You did something to me boss. I know that you somehow did something to boost my strength. Did you drug me?" Fumio accuses. "Heh" Red simply chuckles. "It was all you." He says. "Doesn''t it feel weird when you woke up feeling light today?" He asks. "I did notice. But I suspect you did something to me while I was asleep." Fumio says. Red then puts his hand on Fumio''s head and activates the seals he secretly carved and activated daily on Fumio''s body. "Walk with me." Red then says as he retrieves his hand and starts walking, confusing Fumio. Soon, Fumio immediately feels how heavy his movements have become; as if he is walking through mud. Not only are his legs feeling the resistance but even the tiniest muscles in his body feel sluggish. "W-wh" Fumio is mystified as he lifts his hand in front of him with some difficulty. Seeing Red gaining distance, he fights the resistance and catches up. "Fumio. When did you achieve a breathing cycle in all 16 poses?" Red asks as soon as Fumio is in earshot. "December, I think? Why?" Fumio asks. "After you completed the 16 poses, I also gave you some strength training But did you ever wonder why you never felt stronger?" Red asks again. "eh yes.." Fumio nods while slowly getting used to the resistance on his body. "I''ve gotten buffer and more ripped, but I feel the same as when we started." He reports. "Resistance seals." Red says. "Resistance seals? What?" Fumio tilts his head in confusion, but soon enough, things connect in his head. "When you say seals, you mean the seals you use to lock the storage room and my training room in the shop? Or the illusion seal in my kimono I use for disguises?" He asks. "Yes. But unlike those, resistance seals are used to suppress your movements and perceptions." Red explains. "Oh That means it''s like I have weights on my body." Fumio, feeling exactly what Red just described, immediately understands what resistance seals are. He then checks his clothes, the only place he can think of that those resistance seals can be placed. He is already familiar with how spirit seals look like because Red showed them to him while explaining what seals are. Soon however, "I see none though" He says after finding nothing that looks like seals on his kimono and haori, and looks at Red in skepticism. "Well. Forgive me, Fumio. I carved them on different parts of your skin." Red simply admits. "W-ha-!?" Fumio then pulls up his sleeves to find seals once more, but just like with his robes, he sees no seals on his skin. "Feel them. Your skin is unusually rough in some places." Red says. Fumio does so, and with the tip of his fingers, he feels that there are indeed some patches with strange textures on the skin of his arms. Fumio compares the texture to the finer surfaces of a computer microchip. "The reason why you never felt stronger is because I adjusted the strength of those resistance seals in accordance to your strength and the growth of your perception." Red explains as he touches Fumio on the head once again to deactivate the seals. "AH!" Fumio suddenly getting all his strength back, loses control and he flies forward before falling face flat to the ground. "I-is this really my strength?" He says in disbelief as he stands up. "Yes." Red confirms. "After you''ve completed a breathing cycle in all those 16 poses, you were able to open up the access to the potential of your body. That also means that the limit of your body has gone up and is still going up depends on you. The speed of which your body grows stronger also increases as you train until you reach that potential." He explains. "Why didn''t you just tell me, boss?" Fumio asks, while feeling thankful, is confused that Red was not more forthcoming. "Because I want to see what you will do with a sudden gain in power." Red replies. Fumio, while still feeling conflicted, feels that Red''s response makes sense. "So... You were watchin... Did my actions disappoint you?" He asks in worry. "Yes." Red admits. "I see." Fumio is embarrassed and guilty. "If I were you, I wouldn''t have spared him." Red says, however. "W-Why?" Fumio asks, his blood running cold in surprise at Red''s words and how casually Red said it. "I know you hate your blood family, but are you sure you no longer care for them?" Red asks. "" Fumio immediately gets what Red is saying and he stops in his steps, tempted to go back to Hideki. "Changed your mind?" Red asks. The more Fumio thinks about it however, he is more certain that cannot snuff out a life with his own hands even if it is Hideki''s. "I-I''d rather hope that he freezes to death of someone finds him before he dies." He shakes his head. "And. If somehow he survives, who''d believe that I did that to him? Not even his father, the clan head would. Even if the clan head would hire a superioris who can read Hideki''s memories, it is still too ridiculous a thought to consider that it was really me who did it. "Even if somehow the clan head will believe it, the others won''t and will just brush off Hideki''s memories as that of a broken mind of a broken man." He rationalizes. "I see." Red nods in approval that Fumio''s decision to spare Hideki involves some thinking instead of pure morals. "Besides. Why would I worry about my family? They''re superiori. They can take care of themselves. My father especially. He''s a B-Class superiori and a valuable asset to the clan." Fumio adds. "Good. If that''s what you want then." Red says, but he notices the small worry in Fumio''s eyes. "Do you want to spar?" He suggests. The worry in Fumio immediately evaporates and is replaced with fear. "N-no thanks boss. I-I''ve had enough fighting today. I-I''ve also not had enough time processing the flaws in my fighting style the last time we sparred." He can only plead. "Fine. But you have to get used to your new strength. You''re now just a shy away from a C-Class physical type superioris after all." Red says. "I-I am?" Fumio is surprised at Red''s comparison, but soon, he accepts it. "Yeah. Hideki is an average D-Class physical type and I overpowered him." He mumbles. "But boss Is there any other way than sparring?" He asks. "Yes. Let''s race back to Nerima. Let''s see if you can catch up." Red says, bends his knees, and pushes his feet off the ground, making him shoot off like an arrow. Before Fumio can realize, Red is already tens of meters away from him. "Boss! Wait up!" Fumio is excited to see how fast he can run with his newfound strength. Chapter 31 - Red The Artist "So What now, Fumio?" Red asks. Red and Fumio are now back in Nerima. Fumio, having sprinted for 20 minutes to while trying to catch up with Red during their 50km travel, is spent. Red decides to simply take a stroll while Fumio cools down. "What do you mean, boss?" Fumio raises his brows at the vague question. "You''ve had your revenge. What now?" Red asks. "Oh" Fumio is stumped. "Never really thought about it." He can only say. "Do you want to get stronger?" Red asks. "Uhhh. I don''t know, boss. If you can compare my strength to others, how strong am I?" Fumio asks. "Hmmmm" Red finds a reference. "Let''s say You probably have a 30% chance of winning against Blade Tornado if he''s not using his blades." He compares. While Fumio is flattered at the assessment, "Oh? Does that include my martial arts?", he asks to have a better idea. "If you use a sword and utilize Hasegawa swordsmanship in your fight, it won''t make much difference. He''s just as good at his own fighting style as you are in yours." Red shrugs. "Huh" Fumio is still satisfied. "Well. I''m almost as strong as a bottom-level C-Class physical type superioris, and if taken into consideration my martial arts, I should be able to live a better and peaceful life, can''t I?" "Uhuh You can now defend yourself against 99% of all superiori." Red says to help Fumio have a better idea. "Huh I didn''t think of it that way." Fumio chuckles. "And if we take out the ones whose powers are not combat oriented, the percentage goes up even more. I''m safer than I''ve ever been." "Yes" Red nods, but inside, he is a bit disappointed that Fumio''s desire to grow stronger has considerably reduced. A few minutes later, the two are now back in Muscle Masters, just a few minutes before business hours. While the two are having their morning tea at the common table, "Good morning Kichirou-san, Fumio-san.", Kotone who is always early to work, arrives. "Good morning." Fumio greets back. " Huh Join us, Kotone. I think it''s fine if we open a bit later today." Red on the other hand, gestures Kotone to sit as he notices that Kotone seems to be excited about something. "So, you''ve completed all 16?" He asks as soon as Kotone sits down with them. Fumio, knowing what Red is talking about, snaps his head to Kotone''s direction in surprise. "Yes, Kichirou-san. I finished it at home just after midnight." Kotone can barely suppress a smile, feeling proud of her achievement. "Well, would you look at that. She''s faster than you by more than two weeks." Red says to Fumio. At the same time, he is also hoping that Kotone''s accomplishment will replace Fumio''s motivation to grow stronger. "" Fumio is stunned but soon thinks of an excuse. "Boss, she''s more flexible than me in the first place." He says. "Nope." Red says in a mocking tone. "Her flexibility only applied to 5 poses. You have a martial background so you have built up muscles that allowed you to have more advantage in more poses than her. ALSO, I''m not as attentive to her as I was with you." He continues to say to rile Fumio up. "So what, boss? Can she beat me in a fight?" Fumio scoffs. "I don''t know. Given time, maybe?" Red dismisses the argument. "Wha-?" Fumio is speechless. "Excuse me, Fumio-san. Why would you fight me?" Kotone on the other hand, is confused at two men''s conversation. Fumio is stunned at Kotone''s question before realizing that comparing himself to an untrained person is childish. " It''s hypothetical, Kotone-san." He manages to save face. "Oh, that reminds me the last bonus. When would you like to have it?" Red asks Kotone, talking about the last million yen he promised. "About that" Concern appears on Kotone''s face. "Can I hold it off? I can''t possible explain them in my taxes." After accumulating more than 15 million yen from Red''s ''bonuses'' and the excess in her salary, she has realized that exact problem so she held off looking for an apartment to buy which she initially planned. "Good grief" Fumio have knowledge of Kotone and Red''s deal because Kotone once talked about it and she asked him if Red has the tendency to go back on the promise, which he assured her that Red will not. "Kotone-san. It''s best if you return every bonus you received for now and just ask him anytime if you have the need for them. Keeping cash like that will just stress you out." He suggests, knowing the illicit source of the money. "Yeah Even though I bought a safe for them, it still worries me from time to time." Kotone shakes her head. "Kichirou-san, may I? Don''t you have that disappearing trick? You can just store them just as easily as you take them out, right?" She asks Red. "Wow I can''t believe that you two are talking about tax evasion this easily." Red smirks at the two. "That''s rich coming from you, boss." Fumio scoffs. "What do you mean, Fumio-san?" Kotone''s suspicious nature is tickled by Fumio''s words. "What? The money I gave her is legit. She and you are the ones who are planning to cheat the tax man." Red says. This confuses Fumio immediately and Kotone is lost once again in the conversation. "Legit? Really, boss?" Fumio gives Red a knowing look. "Yeah" Red simply shrugs. "Kotone. It''s around the time Musume46 is coming again, right?" He then asks Kotone. Fumio cannot help but smirk at the minor feeling of victory at Red changing the subject. "They reserved the day after tomorrow. They''re all coming." Kotone reports. "Okay." Red nods. "Fumio, I heard the singles they released last December is doing great?" He then asks Fumio. "Oh. Two out of their three songs in that single are still topping the charts. I don''t think they''ll drop in rankings anytime soon." Fumio excitedly reports. "Well. I hope so. It''s their only songs that I actually like. Especially ''Musume Twilight''." Red nods. "Ooh Boss. Finally becoming a fan?" Fumio teases. "Nope." Red simply says as he sips on his tea. "Really?~" Fumio insists. "" Kotone on the other hand is jealous that Fumio can interact with their employer this intimately. "Buddy. I care more about the piece than the artist." Red counters. "Psh. Come on, boss. The piece cannot exist without its artist, so I call bull. Why can''t you just admit it? I thought you''re the type of person who will admit what they like, like a man." Fumio says. "*gasp*" Kotone gasps in shock that Fumio just attacked Red''s manhood out of nowhere. "Hey. Didn''t I just admit that I like the songs?" Red counters. "Oh" Fumio is stumped. Kotone sighs in relief that Red was not offended and even gave a sound answer. "Look. They didn''t write those three songs in their single so those could have ended up to any suitable idol group. If you really want me to be a fan of the artist, then it isn''t the Musume girls who I should be a fan of as they''re replaceable." Red shrugs. "*gasp*" This time, Fumio holds his chest in offense. "*gasp*" Kotone too is shocked at Red''s opinion on a good chunk of their regular customers. "So yeah. I''m never gonna be a fan of the girls. It''s the one who wrote their songs that I like. Can you look them up for me?" Red asks. "Let me" Kotone, who is the readiest with her phone immediate looks up the songwriter of Musume46''s single. "Here Oh. It''s written in English letters. It says K- I don''t know English that well so I might mispronounce it." She can only stare emptily at the name of the songwriter. "Let me." Fumio snatches the phone away from Kotone but just a second or two of laying his eyes on the name of the songwriter, "" he becomes speechless. He then looks at Red for a second and looks back at the phone, then back at Red, and then back at the phone. Kotone is curious at the face Fumio is making, while Red is simply amused. A few seconds later, "K. IWAI." Fumio reads the name aloud. Seeing Red''s smirk is enough for him to confirm the connection in his head. "You wrote their single, boss?" He cannot believe it. "You did?" Kotone also looks at Red in surprise. "What? Is it that surprising?" Red asks the two. "Y-yeah" Kotone and Fumio respond with the same look on their faces. "You two have been here for months now and you two never realized that the music in the shop are all originals?" He asks in fake offense. "My originals at that." He adds. "Well I thought they were just some random jazz and classical background music?" Fumio says in defense. "Or elevator music." Kotone adds. "Sure. But some of the melodies can be arranged to pop songs. And that''s exactly what I did. Writing lyrics is even easier. I was also optimistic that the songs will do well because I already predicted people''s taste in music." Red says. "No wonder. Those songs sound more mature than their other works. Even though they sound novel, they also jazzy and retro" Fumio is totally convinced. "Wow Kichirou-san. Doctor, massage therapist, and now a songwriter too? What else can you do?" Kotone is even more impressed of her boss. "Herbologist, pharmacologist, and many others." Fumio answers on behalf of Red, absentmindedly. "Yep. If there''s someone who I should be a fan of, then the answer is simple. ME." Red playfully brags. "Is that why Shigeo-san seems to be the most excited to come here since last month?" Kotone suddenly makes an inference. "You did tell me once that he no longer wants the discount for the girls, right? He also leaves tips?" Fumio asks. "Yeah. He did that too Wow" Kotone nods. The three become quiet as Fumio has no further questions, while Kotone processes her new impression of Red. After finding out that this world excessively value entertainment and music despite their immaterial contributions to the materialistic mortal world, and that the people who make pieces of these different forms or entertainment earn decent sums of money, he decided to give songwriting a try and will try his hand on making more things that might offer entertainment to people. In his previous life, he used music and other forms of entertainment to teach young cultivators who are not talented in learning cultivation from plain and boring cultivation scrolls; that experience makes him confident that he can make popular pieces of entertainment one after another. A few moments later, "Anyways." Red breaks the silence. "Fumio, that''s where Kotone''s bonus is coming from. And I can write songs that are just as good as the ones I made for the Musume46 girls, or even better." Fumio is reassured. "And you, Kotone, all you have to do is decide whether or not to evade the tax The government will take 33% after all." Kotone feels her heart ache imagining that her money will be cut a third off. "Boss. May I take over for Kotone today? I don''t know what else to do today." Fumio changes the subject, taking the two''s attention. "Then what am I gonna do for the day?" Kotone asks, taken aback by Fumio''s words. "Okay. Change of plans." The two is interrupted by Red. "Starting today, we will temporarily stop taking in walk-in guests." Red begins, surprising the two. "Temporarily? Until when?" Kotone asks, finding the decision wasteful. "Until I say so. And during this time, I''ll be manning the shop by myself. I will only ask for you two''s assistance on the days that are reserved to be full." Red explains. "So I''ll only have to work when Musume46, the office buddies, or those underground fighters come?" Kotone asks. "Precisely." Red nods. "Musume only comes every two weeks. The 6 start-up buddies are the same. And the 8 underground fighters reserve once a week.. So what else am I gonna do?" Kotone asks, worried that her paycheck will be cut from the shortened working hours. Chapter 32 - Scheduling Changes (cont''d) "You''re still gonna be working." Red assures. "I hear a but coming." Kotone''s worry is not eased. "Not a but; but instead. INSTEAD, you will use more of your time for strength training." Red says. "But- what for?" Kotone is confused and concerned. "I want to be healthy, but I don''t want to grow muscles like a man." "Ah. Don''t worry. I won''t make you look like a man. Anyways. You completed our deal, so I''m raising your salary to 600,000 monthly. I find it a waste if I don''t work you hard." Red says. Fumio at this point shakes his head. "Boss. Why not just tell her?" He feels bad for Kotone that Red is not forthcoming. "Tell me what?" Kotone asks. "You''ll find out in the near future anyways." Red answers Kotone while shushing Fumio. "After this strength training, which the duration will depend on how good you perform, you will have a choice to make. And if I find your choice satisfactory, I will tell you." He adds. "Will it take longer than when I completed the 16 poses?" Kotone asks. "What if it will?" Red asks. "Then can I just refuse the raise? I received plenty of bonus anyways." Kotone shrugs. Fumio gives Red a smirk at Kotone''s answer. "Ah. That''s too bad. If you''re not working, then it''s not right to give you a salary, right?" Red shrugs. Kotone is stumped at the argument. "If I do the training, will I still get herbal baths?" Kotone asks. "Yes." Red nods. "Then I don''t have to worry about injury." Kotone nods. "Will it be as painful as the 16 poses?" She asks again. "Not really." Red says, supported by a nod of agreement from Fumio. "Then I''ll do it." Kotone finally decides. "Kotone. Why don''t you go out for breakfast?" Red suddenly pulls out a 5,000 yen note from his storage space and hands it to Kotone. "Okay." Kotone knows that Red and Fumio are about to talk about something that is not her business. "But you don''t have to pay for my breakfast." She refuses the money. "Alright then. While you''re out, send our regulars an e-mail about the change in our shop''s arrangements. Don''t come back in within an hour." Red orders. With that, Kotone is gone for breakfast. "What about me boss?" Fumio asks, concerned about what he will do next now that his revenge is done with. "What? Do you think you really completed the 16 poses?" Red asks. "Huh?" Fumio tilts his head at Red''s question. "All you have done is complete 1 cycle in each pose. Do you know how much I can do?" Red pauses to allow Fumio to shake his head. "I can complete 32 continuous breathing cycles in each pose. I can do them continuously too without breaks. I can do more, but it''s already useless to me." Red says. The information stuns Fumio. "B-but that doesn''t make sense!" Fumio soon questions the information however. "My average for one complete cycle in position one is 6 and a half minutes and IF I do 32 cycles, that will be around 200 minutes. And IF I switch to other poses and do the same thing 200 times 16 then that''s 3200 minutes divided by six around 530 divided by ten 53 hours!" He is surprised by his own calculation. "It''s not possible to do that for 54 hours straight! I don''t think I can''t do it even though I''m stronger now." He expresses his disbelief. "I get your concern. But it does not take me that long." Red then stands up and assumes Position 3 by lifting his left leg, stretching it up to his side, and hooking his left arm to support it, making him look like he is doing splits while standing up. This takes the attention of Fumio immediately. "Wow" He cannot help but express his admiration as Red made it look easy. He himself, despite numerous practice, still takes a few attempts to even assume the position stably. Soon, Fumio sees Red starting the breathing technique. Unlike his silent breathing when executing the breathing technique, Red''s is very audible. *ss**huu**ss**huu* He then sees Red''s abdomen pump quickly at a pace of one per second and the man''s breathing sounds not like a breath of a man, but of a huge beast''s. "T-this" Fumio is stunned at the confounding feat. Soon however, he is even more mystified as he feels the air in the shop move; as if electric fans are blowing wind to his direction, from different directions. Before he can express his amazement, the air in the shop becomes even more chaotic and the teacups on the table start sliding towards Red. Soon, the teacups and other smaller objects near Red are lifted up and start revolving around him and soon the air in the shop also stabilizes. Now, Fumio not only hears Red''s breathing, but also the whooshing sound of the rapid movement of the air too. It is as if a small tornado has formed in the shop with Red in the eye of it. There are no more changes in the atmosphere and Fumio can only watch Red silently for the next 30 minutes. "And that''s 32 cycles for position 3." Red finally completes his display and he snatches the small objects flying in the air by storing them in his storage seal. "W-wh T-his" Fumio, even though he had 30 minutes to get used to the display, is still dumbfounded. Red then rearranges the furniture to wait for Fumio to process what he had just seen. A few silent seconds later, "C-can I even do this?" Fumio recovers. "I''m not expecting you to." Red says as he sits back down, giving Fumio a huge sigh of relief. "You can achieve this gradually and takes decades." ''or much shorter with my hand in it'' He smirks internally. "Years, huh. Well. That''s doable then." Fumio becomes more optimistic. "Huh" Red, seeing Fumio get fired up, is pleasantly surprised. He thought that the young man''s drive to get stronger is only fueled by revenge, but now he is amused to find out that he fueled Fumio''s drive with but a party trick. "What I want you to do next instead, is incorporate the breathing technique in your daily life. When you walk, when you talk, when you run, when you do chores, when you do weight training, when you practice your swordsmanship and hand-to-hand technique, I want you to keep using the breathing technique." Red says. "T-that That''s obsessive." Fumio gets the image immediately and a huge pressure gets on his shoulders. "Yes. It is. But it unlocks more of your body''s potential. I myself am using an upgraded version of the technique all the time, even when I''m sleeping." Red says. "Even when you''re sleeping" Fumio shakes his head at the ridiculousness of the statement. "It''s already hard enough to complete a cycle awake." "Well, at least you don''t have to assume any of the 16 poses while doing so." Red assures. "There''s that at least." Fumio nods. "Until when do I do it, though?" He asks. "Until I''m satisfied." Red says. "Okay." Fumio can only accept, trusting Red. "And after that, I''ll put back the resistance seals on you." Red adds. "WHAT?!" Fumio recoils. "Yeah. You were on them for two months now, what''s the big deal?" Red says. "Er..." Fumio immediately calms down, finding Red''s words valid. "Uhn Oh. Kotone''s outside already. I told her to take an hour." Red detects with his spirit sense. "Psh. What else is she supposed to do, boss? The lady''s life revolves around the shop and her brother." Fumio shakes his head. The next moment, "Kichirou-san. You called?" Kotone enters the shop after receiving Red''s signal to her bracelet. "Yeah. How''s breakfast?" Red asks as he gestures Kotone to join them again at the table. "It was a feast." Kotone simply replies. "Good." Red nods. "Kotone, I know you''ve been curious how my massage service feels, correct?" He asks. "Honestly, yes." Kotone admits easily. "I can afford it, but it just feels weird eh buying a massage from my employer." "Awww that''s cute." Fumio remarks, embarrassing Kotone. "How about I give you one for free? As a congratulations to completing the 16 poses." Red offers. "RE-ally?" Kotone tries to suppress her excitement. "Heheh" Fumio chuckles, knowing what is coming. "It''s the first of the free massages you''ll receive in the future." He explains with a grin. "" Kotone is confused at first, but she remembers that Fumio will sometimes get massages from Red. "You''ll need them as often as Gorilla-san or Blade-san. Only, you''re lucky that you don''t have to spend a single dime." Fumio adds. "Ah I see." Kotone''s excitement is gone, replaced with worry, already thinking how tough her training will be. "Yes. As this will be the first massage, it will take an hour or two. I will take this chance to assess the effects of the 16 poses and the breathing technique to your body." Red says. Fumio, is suddenly reminded of the time he received his first massage from Red when he completed the first cycle in the 16 poses. He was knocked out for around two hours and he attributed the length of his nap to how tired he was. With Red''s revelation of the resistance seals to him, he becomes suspicious. "An hour or two Will you apply them to her too, boss?" He asks Red while subtly caressing the one of the invisible resistance seals on his arm. "Yes." Red readily admits. "Apply what?" Kotone asks, curious. "A special solution. Something that only Fumio and me have used so far." Red answers. "Wait. You applied them to yourself, boss?" Fumio is surprised at this. "Isn''t that obvious? With how useful it is? What I used on my self is multiple times stronger." Red shrugs. "Ah" Fumio realizes his stupid question. The two''s exchange meanwhile, assures Kotone that the ''medicine'' will be beneficial to her. "Anyways. Kotone, go wait for me at the massage area." Red orders Kotone. Right before Kotone opens the doors to the service area, "Hey Kotone. You''ll have to get naked for the massage, by the way." Fumio yells out. Kotone stops in her steps as she feels her face get warm in embarrassment. "What?" She turns around and asks if she heard right. "What? Every guest gets naked for their massage. I do too every time. What''s the big deal?" Fumio shrugs. Kotone is reminded of that simple fact, but that does not change the embarrassment she is feeling. "OW!" The next moment, Fumio receives a knuckle on his forehead from Red. "Was that necessary? Of course, she knows." Red reprimands, knowing what Fumio is trying to do. "Go, Kotone. I''ll have more words for this kid." He shoos Kotone away, his dismissive tone making Kotone less embarrassed. "I''m sorry boss. I was just messing around." Fumio rubs his forehead. "It''s fine. I think she actually almost forgot, so you reminded her unintentionally." Red says, making Fumio at ease. "Anyways. Take the day off.", he pulls out two flash drives from his storage space, "And tomorrow, I want you to visit someone and bring these to them.", and hands them to Fumio. ~ Sagamihara C 11 AM A surgeon walks out of the surgery area to the corridor and stands in front of an intimidating group of people waiting in front of the surgery area''s doors. "Mr. and Mrs. Hasegawa." He greets the fifty something year-old man who appears to be the leader of the group, and the similarly-aged lady beside the man. "Doctor. How did it go?" The man asks as he tightens his hold on his wife''s hand. The surgeon, despite the man''s stoic and plain tone, sees that the man''s eyes are filled with suppressed worry, ready to explode anytime. He saw the expression plenty a times in his career and he prepares himself to break the news as best as he can especially because the man in front of him is a powerful superioris. The man, Gorou Hasegawa, a top-level B-Class superioris, is the fifty-something year old head of the Hasegawa clan. Despite his age and his average height, his healthy body, having the signs of a master swordsman with his broad shoulders, chest, and large arms, seems to emanate the strongest aura even among the larger and healthy younger men which are with him and his wife. "The surgery went well, Mr. Hasegawa. I can assure you that your son is saved from a life of disability." The surgeon reports the good news. Gorou and his wife are beyond relieved. His wife, especially starts to silently sob. Gorou on the other hand, after getting over his relief, sees that the surgeon''s face does not look like one that just delivered good news. "Something wrong, doctor?" He asks. "We did the best we can, Mr. Hasegawa." The surgeon gulps his saliva nervously. "But his injuries, his nerves and bones were crushed. I barely was able to conn-" "Don''t beat around the bush. What''s the bad news?" Gorou interrupts the surgeon, his voice low, almost guttural. "I''m sorry to inform you that the chances of your son getting back to his previous strength is almost none.." The surgeon can only hold his breath. Chapter 33 - Lipstick Game "How are you feeling?" Gorou asks Hideki as soon as Hideki awakes. "I-I I''m still alive" Hideki struggles to look around. He sees his parents by his bedside on the left, and a doctor on his right. Near the door are two men in suits who he recognizes as other members of the clan. He can only sigh in relief that he is now at a safe place unlike the cold riverside where Fumio left him. As he tries to get out of the bed by using his arms, he notices the difficulty of doing so. He then looks at his arms and he see bandages wrapped on them. This triggers the memory of Fumio''s abuse to his body. He then looks at his legs and they too are wrapped in bandages. He cannot help but collapse weakly back on his hospital bed and tears start flowing down from his eyes. He does not care at all if his tears get to his ears, but as he replays Fumio''s words in his mind, he can only fear what will happen to his life from now on. "Hideki. Who did this to you?" He is pulled out from his thoughts by Gorou''s voice. He then looks at his father in the eyes and for the first time in his life, he sees worry and care that only his mother''s eyes showed him. Aside from surprise and confusion, he does not know what else to feel. All he saw in his life from Gorou eyes was the perennial disapproving gaze and disappointed sighs whenever Gorou looked at him. "Doctor. Are his ears damaged too?" Gorou asks the surgeon, in worry. "I don''t think so." The surgeon tilts his head in confusion. The two are interrupted by Hideki''s next words. "Fumio It was Fumio." Hideki says, brushing aside his father''s worry for now. "Fumio?" Gorou tilts his head, not recognizing the name. "Fumio. Kubota Fumio." Hideki clarifies. He does not care if his claim sounds crazy, but as long as he can make his father believe him, he still has hope. ~ Nerima, 1 PM Kotone opens her eyes and she looks around immediately. She sees that she is still in Muscle Master''s massage room and she figures that she must have fallen asleep while having her massage. "How do you feel?" Kotone hears Red''s voice from the opposite side of the panel divider which she is used by Red to separate guests who fell asleep during a massage, from the rest of the massage room, for their privacy. She then notices that she is lying on her back on a massage table and she panics, thinking that she has her full naked front exposed. The next moment, to her relief, she realizes that she is covered by what looks like a massage table''s silky-smooth linens up to her chest, with the linen''s edges tucked under the massage table''s cushion. "Are you still asleep?" She hears Red once more, making her fully sober. "I''m awake, Kichirou-san." Kotone answers to let Red know of her state. "And I feel great. Now I get why our guests keep coming back." She also cannot help but appreciate how light her body feels. "I had no idea how your service felt, and even then, I thought your massage was underpriced based on your powers. Now I realize that your expertise is worth more than just 40 thousand yen." She gives out a review. "Let me worry about the pricing. Instead, go take a shower right now and change to your gi." Red orders. Kotone is already used to her suggestions being shut down so she simply follows as ordered. Kotone, done with her shower and wearing her fresh gi, steps into the reception area. She cannot help but notice that the room has become very spacious. The panel that divides the lounge area and the reception area has now moved to rest alongside the wall near the main entrance, and all the furniture are also gathered to one side of the room, allowing for a clear and spacious floor. As soon as she spots Red sitting at the reception desk, "uhhh Kichirou-san What''s going on?" she asks as she joins him. Red however does not reply and he silently pulls out a classy looking black leather box from the reception desk drawer and puts it on top of the desk. "C-Chanel" Kotone''s eyes widen recognizing the logo on the box and she feels curious with a bit of anticipation. ''Is it a gift for his girlfriend? Wife? Or maybe for me?'' Red then opens the box and it reveals four lipstick tubes. Kotone wants to open one of the tubes to see their color so she is pleased to see Red pick up one of them, removes its cap to reveal the bright matte red color of the lipstick. She cannot stop herself from breathing a bit heavier as just by the looks of the lipstick, she knows that it is the highest quality lipstick that she has ever seen in person. The next moment however, her eyes almost pop out of their sockets due to Red''s actions. Red takes, in one hand takes a wooden sword lying on the table which Kotone overlooked, takes the lipstick on the other hand, and rubs the lipstick along the surface of the wooden sword''s blade. "YOU! What are you doing?!" Kotone yells at Red. "Excuse me?" Red asks in a bored tone, still coating the wooden blade with lipstick. Kotone immediately realizes how rude her previous tone was and she controls herself. Her heart still aches however, watching Red waste the high quality lipstick. One more stroke of the lipstick on the wooden surface, and she can no longer take what she is witnessing. "Kichirou-san. What exactly are you doing? It''s a waste." She tries to interrupt Red. To her relief, Red responses by stopping his actions. "Ah. That should be enough." Red does not answer Kotone''s question as he puts back the cap on the lipstick. "I don''t understand why they call it limited edition. Weird." He mutters as he examines his handiwork on the sword once again. "L-limited edition?..." Kotone almost becomes weak, processing Red''s words. "Yeah I was curious so I bought it. Doesn''t seem to have anything special in it." Red says, wearing a clueless expression on his face. "Y-you" Kotone, looking at the clueless expression, cannot even express her anger, "You wouldn''t understand, Kichirou-san.", but only her frustration. "You''re right. I don''t understand." Red stands up from his chair and walks to the center of the room. Kotone, used to Red''s non-verbal order, joins him just a few steps away. Red then takes out another wooden sword from his storage space and hands it to Kotone. "K-Kichirou-san what exactly are you doing right now?" Kotone is alarmed by what seems to be combat training. Something she did not sign up for. "Are you worried that you will be hurt?" Red asks. "Isn''t that obvious? I''m not a fighter, Kichirou-san." Red simply smirks at her, knowing that she has a bit of a fighting bone in her. "I won''t hurt you. What I''m going to do, is to smear the lipstick on my sword, on your gi. Try your best to dodge and block, yes?" He then takes a one-handed kendo stance and points the wooden sword to Kotone. "W-why the Chanel lipstick, Kichirou-san? Why not just use paint? Or cheaper lipstick?" Kotone awkwardly raises her wooden sword. "I like it''s consistency." Red simply shrugs, annoying Kotone. "Anyways. Try to dodge. The more I smear the lipstick on your clothes, the more I need to re-coat this sword. If you don''t do a good enough job of dodging, there might not be enough for you to take home." Red clarifies his actions. "" Kotone takes a few seconds to make sure if Red is being serious with his ridiculousness, but seeing that Red does not seem to be showing signs of joking, she sighs in frustration. "Why can''t you just give them to me like a normal person, Kichirou-san?" "I need your help to practice my control over my swordsmanship. This makes me sure that you take it seriously." Red randomly comes up with an excuse. "Aren''t you mistaking me for Fumio-san? He once said that he was a member of the Hasegawa Clan from Sagamihara, so why not just practice with him?" Kotone asks. "What do you want to do in the future, Kotone? Do you want to remain simply as the receptionist of this shop? Or be promoted to more fulfilling responsibilities?" Red asks. "O-of course, I want to be promoted. But aren''t there other ways I can prove my worth?" A glint of ambition appears on Kotone''s eyes. "As the owner of the shop, I have plans for this place. I need people I trained myself for those plans to go smoothly." Red pauses, allowing Kotone to take his lie in. Seeing Kotone dropping her intention of arguing, Red continues. "But those plans, I don''t plan to share to you or Fumio, at least for now. So, for now, trust my process, yes?" "O-okay." Kotone is hesitant, but remembering that despite the oddities surrounding Red, she is treated too generously than she thinks she deserves by Red. "Good. And, aside from the monetary benefits, haven''t you felt healthier and stronger since I''ve been giving you these odd tasks?" Red asks. "Yes." Kotone can only nod, noticing the changes to her body. "Good." Not soon after Red said his affirmation, Kotone suddenly sees Red''s left arm and the wooden sword it is holding, suddenly blur, followed by a feeling of something brushing across her abdomen. Before she can even process what she has seen, Red''s arm and sword are back in their previous places. "First blood." Red then points his sword at Kotone''s abdomen, to help Kotone realize what just happened. Kotone looks down at her abdomen and, "Wha- wha.." is stunned seeing that there is now a long red horizontal stain on the fabric of her gi, drawn across her abdomen. "Come on. Focus..." She is pulled out from her daze by Red''s words. "I-I Even if I was ready, it''s impossible to dodge!" She protests. "Then make yourself hard to hit. Move around or something. Jump around for all I care. Or maybe, just raise your sword in front of your body. That will cover you more than you think." Red starts his instructions. Kotone immediately assumes an awkward kendo stance, trying to make herself look like the kendo practitioners she saw on TV. "Hmm I didn''t think you''d be this bad." Red comments. This immediately agitates Kotone. "Give me a break. I never once held a weapon before." She tries to reason. "Well True. Alright. If you land a hit on my person, even you only make contact with my clothes, then the training for the day is over." Red challenges. "Even if I just touch your clothes with my sword?" Kotone asks just to be sure. "With your sword, or hilt, or any part of your body, whatever. If you succeed, then we''re good for the day." Red clarifies. "Then here I come, Kichirou-san." Kotone then charges forward, thinking that it is best to hit Red as soon as she can before Red has the chance to use up all the lipstick on his sword. Soon however, she realizes that her task is not simple as she thought. With every swing of her sword to Red, she receives at least two new stains on her gi. "Too open "Maintain some distance "Strike sharper" In between dodges, Red is also starting to instruct Kotone. Soon after, "Oh. I''m out of reds.", he stops attacking and countering as he pulls out the tube of lipstick he opened earlier, and starts painting his sword with it once again. Kotone, seeing Red''s actions is angered once again. At the same time, she also realizes that she can take this opportunity, seeing that Red seems vulnerable. "You didn''t say I can''t attack while you''re doing that." She then strikes. "Ah. You''re not skilled enough to take advantage." Red answers in a dull tone as he dodges. Kotone meanwhile becomes frustrated seeing that Red is simply dancing around her strikes even without looking, while casually, and taking his sweet time, wasting more lipstick on his sword. Not even a minute later, Kotone is now breathing heavily, her movements slowed, tired from all the missed swings and annoying taunts from Red. Her, also knowing that Red is deliberately re-painting his sword very, very slowly just to make her mad, is not helping with her patience. After one last missed swing, she retreats to take a breather. "Ah. I reloaded" Red is done repainting his sword and he puts away the lipstick tube once again. "Wait. You''re already tired?" He feigns a surprised tone to simply rile Kotone. "*huff* *huff*" Unfortunately for Red, his riling is not working as Kotone focuses on taking her breath back. After stabilizing her breathing, "I didn''t know you are an excellent fighter as well, Kichirou-san.", Kotone gets over her frustrations and is now more confused more than anything. An hour later. "Ah It''s only been an hour and the first lipstick already ran out. It hurts my heart to open the second one." Red is now lazily standing over the exhausted Kotone who is lying flat on her back on the floor. "This is hell This is hell" Kotone can only look dazedly at the Red, helpless. "Why don''t you give young Haruto a call? Looks like you need overtime." Red says as he puts his hand on Kotone''s forehead. While Kotone feels her body starting to be refreshed, it is not making her feel better as it only prolongs her suffering, almost making her cry. Chapter 34 - Fumio The Agent The next day. Shinagawa City. 9AM "Ikigai Music" Fumio reads the metallic plate embedded at the wall of a four-story building which looks to have been constructed sometime in the past five years. "Looks smaller than the shop''s building." He notes, a bit disappointed at the aesthetics of the building of the music company. He compares it to some of those buildings he passes by that does not interest him or even notice on his way to work. "Good morning, sir. May I help you?" The security guard at the reception asks as soon as Fumio steps in the building. Fumio notices the guard''s eyes scanning him and his clothes and he can only hide his amusement. He is currently wearing a three-piece suit; one of the many sets of suits and tuxedos which Red gave him. Just like the kimonos he received as gifts from Red, Red also put seals on the suits and tuxedos which includes automatic cleaning, automatic straightening, and disguise illusion. Fumio wanted to refuse the gifts he figures are worth millions of yen because of their material and mysterious attributes, but Red insisted on giving them to him, claiming that they were simply products of his practice on seals. That resulted to Fumio having the luxury of wearing a different set of expensive clothes in different days of the week if he wanted to. "I''ve been sent to meet with Mr. Egusa." Fumio says to the security guard. "Shigeo-san?" The security guard tilts his head in skepticism before picking up the phone in front of him and dialing it. - "If it isn''t Fumio-san. It''s good to see you!" Shigeo greets as soon as Fumio is let in by his secretary. He is sincerely pleased to see Fumio, although he does not know why. "Good morning, Shigeo-san. I thought your office would be a bit fancier than this." Fumio says as he looks around, a bit disappointed by the bare office containing nothing but the office desk, Shigeo''s computer, and two leather couches facing each other. "Ah It''s fancy enough for me. But I guess I can spice the place up a bit." Shigeo takes the criticism in grace as he gestures Fumio to the leather couch. "Anyways, how long has it been since we last saw each other? If I didn''t see you in some of my visits to Kichirou-san, I would have thought that he fired you." "Well, I''ve been rather busy these past few two months." Fumio explains as he sits. "Oooh... I take it back. This couch feels fancy." In the first few months of his "absence" in the shop, he was almost always in the shop during the day and during the visits of Musume46 and Shigeo in the shop, but he simply could not be bothered showing himself as he was too focused on completing the 16 poses. Upon completing the 16 poses, he got his own apartment. The apartment is in the same building where his shared apartment was, so he can keep being neighbors with Red. That privacy allowed him to do his strength training at home, therefore making him spend more time at home than in the shop in the past two and a half months. "Kotone-san did say you were assigned other duties by Kichirou-san." Shigeo inquires subtly as he joins Fumio. "Ah. Well. You can say that." Fumio can only vaguely explain. "The only difference is that I work in the background doing indirect responsibilities." "Hmmm Well, it seems like those responsibilities are tough?" Shigeo asks, feeling Fumio''s emotions. "They were." Fumio can only bitterly chuckle. Suddenly he realizes something. Shigeo guessing his emotions reminds him of Red''s theory that Red once talked about in passing, regarding Shigeo''s superioris ability. He then raises his guard up a bit. "Ah. I''m sorry Shigeo-san for this sudden visit. I must be suspicious?" He gives Shigeo a knowing smirk. Shigeo, feeling Fumio''s emotions, "I''m sorry.", immediately retrieves his ability. "What brings you here, Fumio-san?" He can only deflect his embarrassment at getting caught. "Oh. Boss wanted me to pass this to you. It''s about a favor or something." Fumio takes out one of the two flash drives he got from Red, and hands it to Shigeo. Shigeo''s interest is piqued and he takes the flash drive, walks back to his computer, and plugs it in. Fumio then joins Shigeo, knowing that Shigeo will need him. "It''s password protected." Shigeo says as he fails to open the contents of a PDF file in the flash drive. "Let me." Fumio then quickly types in the password and the contents of the file is revealed. "" The two, seeing the contents for the first time, are speechless and Shigeo can only absentmindedly scroll through the file. "T-this Boss made a manga?" Fumio is the first one to get his words back. "I thought he wasn''t being serious but this This looks amazing." Shigeo appreciates the unique and charming art style of the manga. "''What if the world did not have superioris?'' He once asked me." "Wait. You knew about this? Even I didn''t know." Fumio asks, dropping the formality in his words out of surprise. "Yes. I once told him that I have a friend in Nerima who owns a publishing firm. I guess he remembered it because when I asked him if there''s something I could do for him to get his next songs, he asked me to pitch and negotiate his book to my friend on his behalf." Shigeo explains. "I thought it''d be a novel or some massage textbook But a manga. I guess Kichirou-san is a man of many talents." He laments. "Wait a minute. Did he copyright this?" Fumio instinctively wants to protect Red''s work. "I think he did. There''s a copyright logo at the first page." Shigeo scrolls back up and shows it to Fumio. "That''s a relief." Fumio sighs, then quickly gets over one of Red''s talents he just discovered. "Anyways. Boss'' next songs are here, by the way." He then pulls out the other flash drive that Red gave him. The next moment however, he is taken aback by Shigeo eyeing the flash drive hungrily. "B-but He said I should at least leave here with a proof that you are at to fulfill that favor. Or else, these flash drives will be leaving with me." Fumio jumps back at a speed Shigeo did not expect. "No need to be so jumpy, Fumio-san." Shigeo chuckles as he becomes self-conscious of his body language. "I''m gonna call my friend right now. I''ll record it if you want and send it to you." He assures Fumio. "That would be great." Fumio calms down. <> "Yes. I promise you brother, it''s a very promising work Uhuh Let''s talk next time, I''ll introduce you to the artist or his representative February 7th? That''s this Friday, right?... Okay. I''ll meet you then Bye." A few minutes later, Shigeo is done talking with his friend over the phone. "Alright... Wait a second, Fumio." Shigeo then plugs in his phone to the computer, copies the call recording to the flash drive where Red''s manga is saved, and unplugs the flash drive. "Satisfied?" Shigeo says as he hands the flash drive back to Fumio. "Satisfied." Fumio is content with Shigeo''s actions. "Hope you''ll be free on Friday then. I''m guessing Kichirou-san does not want to attend himself? I had to have Miss Konno go to him herself to sign the contract in the girls'' songs after all. I can guess that he''ll be the same way with signing a publishing deal." Shigeo asks. "That''s probably the case." Fumio nods. With that, Shigeo finally receives the flash drive containing Red''s songs, from Fumio. Soon, the music playing from Shigeo''s computer. The music however, confuses Fumio. "Huh I thought it''d be a song for Musume46" He says, as the song is in the classic rock genre, sang by a familiar male voice. His concern however is ignored by Shigeo as Shigeo focuses on listening to the song. A few minutes later, the song is done and Shigeo sighs deeply. "Damn I like this better than the ones he made for Musume46." Fumio meanwhile, already figures out who the song is for. "The man sounded like the guy from Buck-Tuck. When did boss meet him?" He says, referring to the vocalist of Ikigai Music''s only rock band. "They never met." Shigeo says, confusing Fumio. "I don''t know what audio technology Kichirou-san uses, but this is not Nori. The same thing happened when he sent the demos for Musume46''s single. They all sound like they were sung by our girls, but they weren''t." Shigeo explains. "I see" Fumio nods, already having a theory of how Red did it. ''If he can make piano, saxophone, and guitar sounds out of thin air, how hard could it be for him to mimic voices?'' "Why can''t he just release this song himself? It''s not like he needs singers. Then he can take all the earnings for himself." He cannot help but say out loud his realization. "Well, funny as it sounds, he is a rookie songwriter, in our industry at least. He does not have enough works published to be given approval in selling his songs to digital platforms. With our company''s name behind his name, he got a shortcut." Shigeo explains. "And when you said he can take all the buck to himself, he practically is. A majority of the digital sales go to him as he wrote 100 percent of the song, from the lyrics, melody, to each instrument used." "I see Then how do the girls make money?" Fumio asks, a bit disconcerted that his favorite pop group is not making enough money despite their very popular song. "Oh. We get a larger cut in physical sales. But a majority of their income come from stage and TV performances, gigs and small concerts. Kichirou-san only gets a single digit percent cut from those." Shigeo says. "Oh" Fumio is relieved. "Anyways. I''ll listen to the rest of the songs." Shigeo resumes his focus on his computer. A few minutes pass again and, "Well. I guess boss is making big bucks again. The music just makes me happy and calms my heart." Fumio cannot help but be impressed even further after listening to the rest of Red''s new songs. The songs being in the rock and folk-rock genres being more to his taste, makes him appreciate them more. "Even if they don''t sell well, they''re still great songs." Shigeo concurs. "So these uhhh three songs go to Buck-Tuck then?" Fumio asks. "Yes." Shigeo simply nods as he plays the songs again. "Now I get why boss said that" Fumio now understands one of Red''s orders. "How do you mean?" Shigeo asks in interest. "Boss said that he wants the same deal with Musume''s last single. And that if there are any changes made in his song when you record, he won''t give you the license. Whatever that means." Fumio relays. "Heh That''s not so hard. Now that he proved himself." Shigeo nods, already expecting Red''s demands. "Fumio-san. Kichirou-san won''t close down Muscle Masters, won''t he?" Suddenly, he asks a worrying thought just crossed his mind. "Why would he?" Fumio is surprised by the question. "It''s just. He''s practically earned almost 100,000,000 yen already from only three songs, in only in two months too. Why would he keep the shop open when he has a better source of income?" Shigeo asks. "Oh. I think the chances of him doing that are very low." Fumio assures, but inside, he too is worried of such a thing happening. "But that reminds me. Did Miss Konno inform you about the new changes in the shop?" He asks. "She did. And I think that is a sign that he will focus more on songwriting, and seeing how promising his manga is, he will focus on that too. And the more successful he becomes as a songwriter and as a manga artist, the more his priorities will change leading ultimately to him closing down the shop." He then takes a deep breath, his tone becoming more worried before continuing to spill his worry. "The girls have expanded their fanbase, and they are receiving more gigs than ever. That also means they need Kichirou-san''s hands more than ever." "Ah" Fumio does not know what to feel of Shigeo''s concerns. On one hand, he feels bad that Shigeo''s worry is unneeded because he figures that the songs and the manga does not consume much of Red''s time. On the other hand, he is amused that Red''s simple side-projects are causing a man like Shigeo to worry. "You don''t have to worry, Shigeo-san. Believe it or not, this is just boss'' side project. And as someone who''s been put in charge to important things in the shop by boss, I can assure you that the shop is not closing anytime soon." He can only assure Shigeo. "That''s good to hear." Shigeo buries his worry for now. "Anyways. This calls for a celebration. Are you free for a cup of coffee, Fumio-san?" He invites Fumio out. "I can spare some time." Chapter 35 - Sayuri "Boss. I''m still in Shinagawa. I just had coffee with Shigeo-san." Fumio reports to Red over the phone. He is now on his way to the train station to head back to Nerima. /I see. *grunt* That''s good then. *clack* Are you on your way back?/ Red asks. "Yes boss." Fumio nods, but his focus is more on what he is hearing in the background on the other side of the line. "Is that Kotone? What is she doing?" he cannot help but ask, after recognizing who the grunts belong to. "Yes. We''re sparring." Red says. " Oh" Fumio can only silently wish Kotone good luck. Suddenly, he realizes something. "Boss. Are you hitting her? I didn''t complain because I''m used to receiving blows. But she''s very new to it. Probably never got hit in her life too. Despite her generous salary, she might quit. Or even try to sue you for abuse." He hopes to stop Red from being too harsh on Kotone. /Buddy. I''m not the type of person. But it looks like I am starting to make her really hate me./ Red replies with a hint of mischief in his voice. /Isn''t that right, Kotone?/ He adds. /IYAH! *WHOOSH*/ Fumio hears Kotone yell followed by a whooshing sound he knows too well; a sound of a wooden sword being swung downwards at great speed. /Too angry. Too open. Too easy to read. Three mistakes. Three slashes from me./ He hears Red comment. The tone and speech pattern in Red''s voice reminds him of his own ''sparring'' sessions with Red. /N-No!/ Hearing Kotone''s helpless voice, he can only feel bad for her. "Well. Whatever training she''s having, it looks like she''s very energetic about it." He comments however, feeling a bit glad that he is finally not the only one who knows of Red''s humiliating sparring. /She is, alright./ He hears Red chuckle. "Is there anything else you want me to do today? It''s still early." Fumio asks. /No. You can go home and continue your breathing practice. Try to use it while doing your sword art''s kata. Your place is wide enough for that, yes?/ Red asks. "Yes boss." Fumio answers. - An hour later, Nerima. "Lovely day lovely day" Fumio is now happily humming, feeling the warmth of the freshly baked goods contained in the huge paper bag that is in his embrace, as he reaches the floor where his apartment is. "Hm?" He then slows down in his steps as he sees a woman standing outside his door, leaning against the door frame, with her back turned against him. The identity of the woman is soon revealed as she turns around to look at him. Fumio freezes in his steps looking at the person he least expected to meet at the place. "N-nee-sama." He subconsciously greets his older sister who is fashioning a high-quality brown trench coat, with its buttons open revealing the typical office lady outfit under it. At the same time, he immediately figures that Hideki has lived to tell the Hasegawa clan of his tale and that with the Hasegawa''s resources, they are able to find his address. "Looks like life has been good to you since you left." His sister says, her tone lukewarm, as she gives him and his clothes a once over. "Well. I found my talents." Fumio quickly comes up with something to say, which surprises him. What surprised him even more is his casual tone. Had it been three years ago when he was still in his clan, he would have been at least on his toes when talking to his siblings. It is not only him who is surprised as his sister too, raises her left eyebrow in surprise. "It seems you have." She can only say, brushing aside her surprise. "I, uhh Sayuri-san" Fumio gets careful at how he addresses Sayuri due to the complications brought upon by him leaving the clan, but, "It''s been a while. Would you like to have something warm?", he still gives her a polite smile and invites her to his apartment. "S-sayuri-san" Sayuri is taken aback by the sudden distant address to her. While on the outside, she is stoic, internally, she cannot process that the weak young man three years ago, who she thought was going to beg himself back into the clan after being slapped by reality by the real world, is the same man in front of her. The Fumio in her memories cannot compare to the Fumio who carries an air of confidence and is standing straight as a sheathed sword. She even feels that Fumio somehow is taller than he used to. "If you don''t want to come in, please give me a minute or so. I know a nice place for coffee." She is taken out of thoughts by Fumio who is already holding open the door of his apartment to her. "We don''t have to go anywhere else." She accepts the invitation and she steps in. "Good. I have new coffee beans from ******. I''ve been meaning to share this with someone." Fumio says, trying his best to stay calm. Sayuri on the other hand, feels burdened by Fumio''s hospitality. A few minutes later, the two are now at Fumio''s living room, seated facing each other over the coffee table. Sayuri is having a cup of coffee which Fumio himself grinded and mixed. Fumio on the other hand, is having Red''s tea to help him be as rational in the following conversation as possible. "Lovely place you have." Sayuri says as she looks around Fumio''s simple but relatively spacious living room which is connected to the kitchen slash dining area. The four simple words she said covered the surprise of her quick observations of the place. She does not have to see the entire place to know that the apartment is a bit better than the average middle-class apartment. Even Fumio''s basic furniture are new and are obviously good in quality. She also notices that Fumio seems to be living by himself. Adding all of these observations, she knows that Fumio is living more than comfortably. "Not as fancy as the place provided by the clan for me, but I''m proud of it." Fumio says. "Owned or rented?" Sayuri asks. "Owned Well. The bank owns it of course. I wish I had the money to buy it outright." Fumio sighs in false frustration. "Huh." Sayuri is even more surprised by the information. She herself would not have hoped to start owning property currently so she gets suspicious of Fumio''s source of income. "Well. You must have a nice job to afford a down payment for this." She asks. Fumio''s sees through the question and his mind churns immediately. "I just got lucky. I''m an agent for a songwriter. Just happened that the songwriter made a killing in the charts." Fumio comes up with an excuse smoothly, making use of the events of his day. "Interesting Have I heard of their songs?" Sayuri asks. "Probably. Their latest work is for a certain popular idol group." Fumio smiles, the effect of the Red''s tea not enough to stop him from doing so. He is feeling happy just remembering Arina, who was present at Ikigai music earlier, and was glad to see him. "" Sayuri on the other hand, cannot help but feel a bit of jealousy from the look on Fumio''s face. It is the first time that she has seen her brother smile genuinely like this. She is also feeling a bit lost, seeing that Fumio does not seem to be showing signs of wanting to go back to the clan and is instead living well. "It seems that you''re happy." She cannot help but say. "I am. It was rough, the first two years after I left the clan, but because good people gave me a chance, I am living the happiest in my life." Fumio nods, trying his best to brag. Soon however, he quickly suppresses the urge and decides to address the elephant in the room. "Anyways. I''m pleasantly surprised by your visit. But knowing our family, I think you''re not here just to see me. Did something happen that concerns me?" He switches topics smoothly. Sayuri gives Fumio a look, trying hard to look through him, but seeing nothing that might be a sign that Fumio is keeping something from her, she slowly sighs. "Yes. Something did happen. Remember Hideki?" She starts. "Yeah?" Fumio nods, and with the effects of Red''s tea, his face did not betray his thoughts. "Hated him. He''s one of the reasons why I left." He adds. Sayuri''s eyes twitch at Fumio''s words, trying her best not to feel guilty for not stopping Hideki whenever he bullied Fumio, despite her being stronger than Hideki. "But. What''s he got to do with me? It''s been a long time so he should have been accepted back into the clan, right?" Fumio plays ignorant. "He''s technically still in exile. But the more important thing is, someone almost crippled him and left him in the cold to die. The clan head had no choice but accept him back in the clan." She reports and waits for Fumio''s reaction. Fumio however, simply acts stunned at the news. "W-well He deserves it After what she did to her." He says, purposefully making his voice tremble. "Almost crippled you say? I just wish he was crippled for real." He adds with false rage. Sayuri falls for Fumio''s act and nods in understanding at Fumio''s sentiments. "He might as well be. While he can live normally, he is no longer a superiori." She further reports. "Huh? How''s that possible?" Fumio acts surprised. Instead, he is internally feeling glad. Glad that he successfully stripped Hideki off his powers. Before fighting Hideki, Red taught him how to cripple a physical type superioris. He is glad that he executed it well. "A mystery I never liked him too." Sayuri shrugs as she exhales a breath, she did not know she was holding. In contrast to Hideki''s strong claims that she heard, she sees that Fumio cannot look any more innocent. "While I''m uhh quite pleased with the news. What interests me is you did not have to come to me yourself. You could have just sent me an e-mail or a private message on my social media" Fumio asks to see more of the clan''s and his sister''s opinion on the claims he all but confirmed Hideki made regarding him. "Well. Gorou-sama is asking for you." Sayuri relays. Fumio curses in his mind that Gorou entertained Hideki''s claim. "I always knew you weren''t the type to tell jokes, but you''re joking, right?" Had it not been for Red''s tea, he would also be panicking by now. "I still don''t tell jokes." Sayuri returns. "Huh But what for? Based on what you told me about Hideki, the clan head couldn''t be thinking it''s me who did what to him, could he?" Fumio asks with a mirthless chuckle. "Even though you''re not a superioris, you have always been smart. That still holds true." Sayuri nods. "But why? Why me? I''ve left the clan a long time ago. I''ve been living honestly. Why of all people have to be me?" While Fumio is putting up an act, he is still feeling frustrated and resentful which added to his act. He feels that what he did to Hideki was right. Hideki was the one who made a move against him first, almost killing him. He was only reciprocating. "I don''t think you did it either. Gorou-sama just wants to talk. He just wants to make sure." Sayuri tries to calm Fumio down. "No. No. I''m no longer a member of the clan. I don''t care if he''s the clan head or whatever. I''m not going." Fumio refuses firmly. "While you''re no longer a member. I am.." Sayuri can only wear an apologetic face as she pounces on Fumio. Chapter 36 - A Visit To The Hasegawa "UGH" Fumio now has his face and chest pressed against the floor. Sayuri has put him on a submission hold by putting his arm on his back and has one of her knees on his shoulder, and her other knee on his lumbar area. . Fumio knows that he might defeat his sister in a fight but because she is much stronger than Hideki, he does not know how hard it would be. He also figures that it is better to keep his real abilities for now a secret because it is not his sole secret to keep. He can only hope that one day, he will reach Red''s strength so he does not have to fear the Hasegawa anymore. "This is illegal, you know." Fumio says through gritted teeth, feigning being in pain. "I''m sorry. I''m only following orders." Sayuri''s response makes Fumio roll his eyes as he knows how it is in the Hasegawa. "What are you gonna do next? Knock me out? Drag me out of here? There will be witnesses and cameras everywhere." Fumio tries to reason. "I have back-up. And we have an ambulance and paramedics." Sayuri says. "Damn." Fumio curses. He figures that Sayuri will attempt to knock him out and take him out of his apartment under the guise of being rushed to the hospital. He then feels Sayuri slide a cushion under his face. He immediately knows that she will use it to cover his mouth in case he screams for help. "Fine Fine. I''m going with you! Is there a need for this? It''s not like I can fight back." He decides to play powerless for now. He then feels Sayuri''s hold on him loosen, to his relief. "Thanks But I have a life now. Before I go with you, I still have meetings and appointments to cancel." He requests further. This makes Sayuri finally let him go. "Make it quick. And if you trick me, you''ll regret it." Sayuri warns him however. A few moments later. "Hello boss." Fumio is now on the phone with Red again. /What is it this time?/ Fumio and Sayuri hear Red''s question through the speaker phone. "Boss. I have some sort of a family emergency and I don''t know how long I''ll be away for. In case I don''t come back ''til Friday, you will have to meet the publisher yourself." Fumio says, hoping that Red will connect the dots. /Uhuh How do I know that you''re not just skipping work to play?/ Red asks. Fumio smirks inside as he knows Red will not ask him such question, meaning Red has at least an inkling that something else is happening. "I have my sister here. She can vouch for me." Fumio says as he passes his phone to Sayuri. Thankfully for Sayuri, Red interrupts. /Never mind that. Take a week off./ "Will that really be okay?" Fumio asks, becoming uncertain again if Red picked up on his distress call. /Yes. Let''s make it an unofficial paid vacation so you can still use your unused vacation days. You have to text or a call me every day to tell me your whereabouts, so I can log them as your attendance./ Red says. "Okay boss." Fumio says, now sure that in case something goes wrong, Red will be to his rescue. With that, the phone call ends. "Thank goodness, he''s generous." Fumio says, disguising his relief as being moved by Red''s ''gesture''. "That he is." Sayuri nods, feeling a bit jealous. <> Sagamihara City. 3PM. "Nothing''s changed." Fumio says as Sayuri''s car enters the gate of the huge Hasegawa Clan compound. Calling the Hasegawa''s compound, a compound is an understatement as it looks more like a gated city block filled with all sorts of tall traditional looking buildings. The traditional style only applies to the exterior of the buildings however as inside them have modern amenities like that of modern office buildings and apartments. "Three years is a short time for changes in the structures of the clan." Sayuri scoffs as Fumio sounds like he has been gone for decades. The two soon arrive at the center where the main family resides. As soon as Fumio and Sayuri park the car in front of the central building, Fumio immediately notices the eyes on him. "The gazes are still the same." Fumio comments. "It''s like they''re saying ''there''s no way that weakling did that to Hideki''." He continues to comment as he opens the thermos/tumbler he filled with Red''s tea with, and takes a sniff of the hot tea''s vapor. Sayuri on the other hand is enjoying Fumio''s comments. While she at first found it odd that Fumio has become more talkative compared to his past self, she shortly found amusement in it. "Let''s get out." Sayuri then unlocks the door for her and Fumio after receiving a signal from one of the guards posted at the entrance of the main family''s building. "What''s with the thermos?" Sayuri asks as they walk, noticing that Fumio brought his drinking apparatus with him. "Unlike you superiori, I''m more sensitive to the cold. I want to hold something warm." Fumio comes up with an excuse immediately. "Stop for a moment." The guard orders the two as soon as they are within a step away from the entrance. Fumio becomes serious and prepares himself. Soon, "Enter.", the guard opens the door for them after hearing from his in-ear walkie-talkie. "Ah. Sayuri-san. Only he enters." The guard then blocks Sayuri''s way. Sayuri simply accepts the order and stands beside the guard and gives Fumio a supportive look. "" Fumio is taken aback by Sayuri''s look. It is the first time that he received such emotion from Sayuri, or any of his other blood family. Soon however, his worry about the upcoming talk with the clan head replaces his confusion. "Gorou-sama." Fumio bows in greeting as soon as he enters the tea room of the house where one of the servants led him to. Gorou meanwhile, is kneeling at the tatami floor by a tea table, pouring himself tea. This is the first time that Fumio is in the same room as the clan head, by himself. If it was before he left the clan, he would have been afraid to face such man. After months however with Red, he is merely intimidated by Gorou''s presence. "So, you''re Fumio." Gorou says with his usual even tone and simply stares at Fumio. Fumio, deciding to act like he was before he left the clan, hurriedly looks away from Gorou''s eyes, feigning fear. "Take a seat." Gorou gestures Fumio to across the small tea table. "I-I''d rather stand, Gorou-sama." Fumio will rather not share a table with his interrogator. "You are no longer are a part of the clan. That means that your presence here can be compared to that of a guest''s. Please, take a seat." Gorou, despite his accommodating words, spoke in a commanding tone. Seeing as Gorou will not take no for an answer, Fumio can only comply. "I remember signing off on your application to leave the clan. It seems that that was the right decision." Goro says as he gives Fumio a once over just like how Sayuri did. "Life outside the clan has treated me well, Gorou-sama." Fumio can only say. Gorou decides not to speak and simply stares at Fumio. Fumio meanwhile, stares at the empty tea table and waits for Gorou to lead as he knows that it is his only choice in the situation. A minute passed in silence and Fumio, just in an effort to stay as calm as possible, opens his thermos, pours tea on its cap, and drinks. This makes Gorou raise his brows. "You could have just asked for tea, and I would have served you a cup." He says. "Ah. I''m more comfortable drinking my cheap tea, Gorou-sama." Fumio refuses politely. "Fine." Gorou did not take offense. "Have you heard what happened to my son?" He asks instead. ''Finally'', Fumio scoffs to himself. "I heard from my sister, Gorou-sama. It was unfortunate, what happened to him." Fumio shows indifference to the question, something that he figures Gorou would expect of him. "It was." Gorou nods. "Now. You''re not here as a suspect. I am merely tracking Hideki''s activities in the past year." He says in an attempt to lower Fumio''s guard. ''Bullshit'', Fumio almost rolls his eyes in skepticism. "Hideki said he met you six months ago in Nerima." Gorou continues his questioning. "I did, sir." Fumio, figuring that with the resources of Gorou, it is not hard that the man found out about his encounter with Hideki even if Hideki did not say so himself. "How did that go?" Gorou asks. "If I may be honest, sir?" Fumio decides to go with a bit of honesty and truth bending. "That would be best." Gorou allows the request. "It wasn''t a pleasant experience." Fumio says, wincing. Gorou captures Fumio''s facial expression and he gets interested. "How so?" He asks. "Just seeing him pulled out the fear in me. Reminded me of one of the reasons why I left the clan." Fumio then looks away from Gorou. "No offense, sir." He adds. While Gorou is slightly attacked by Fumio''s words, he realizes that Fumio is one of Hideki''s many victims. While he feels sorry for the young man, he is not willing to apologize. After all, Hideki in his mind, even if he is not his son, was more valuable to the clan''s future than the non-superiori Fumio. Gorou easily brushes aside the small knock on his guilt and goes back to observing Fumio. Had it been anyone else, he would have dropped his suspicions of Fumio already. But something about the situation is nagging at him deep in his gut. "Was there anything else unpleasant during that encounter?" Gorou asks. "Aside from receiving a few insults and a punch to the gut that left me kneeling? Nothing else. Instead, I felt lucky to have been left relatively unharmed, sir." Fumio recounts. "" Gorou is stumped. His eyes and brain are telling him that Fumio is telling the truth but he still feels as if there is something wrong. He puts his hand atop a wooden box on the corner of the table and slides it closer to him. He opens it and takes something out and lays it on the table. "Do you know what this is?" He asks as he slides a white strip of paper towards Fumio. Fumio looks at the paper and sees what looks like one of those magic sigils he saw in history books, painted on it with a paintbrush and black calligraphy ink. "I don''t, sir." Fumio readily admits. "Would you accept a request from me?" Gorou asks as he also takes out a short tanto from the box and lays it again on the table. Fumio seeing the sharp and unstained blade, gets goosebumps. Thankfully, his calm mind makes him think that Gorou is not the type of man like Hideki. "A request, sir?" Fumio is further relieved seeing the expression on Gorou''s face is still calm. "Yes. Make a cut on your finger and drop a blood on this piece of paper." Gorou hands the tanto over. "I heard there are blood magic in this world?" Fumio hesitates at the strange request. "I know it''s odd but the sooner you do it, the sooner you our talk will be over." Gorou says. Fumio internally scoffs at the threat, but he has no choice. He also knows that blood magic is used by humans but not against fellow humans, so the chances that Gorou is trying to harm him with magic is very low. So, with that, he takes the tanto and with false hesitation, makes a shallow cut on his index finger. Chapter 37 - Hideki Again As if moving in slow motion, blood starts leaking from Fumio''s finger and soon, a droplet of blood falls and lands right at the center of the white paper slip. Fumio and Gorou then watch and wait for something to happen. However, aside from the blood starting to dye the fibers of the paper, nothing else is happening. Fumio is the first one to take his eyes off the strip of paper. He then looks at Gorou in confusion but Gorou''s eyes are still on the strip of paper. Seeing as Gorou does not seem to be taking his eyes off the paper anytime soon, Fumio gets worried. "Gorou-sama. Did I do something wrong?" He asks, taking Gorou''s attention. "No. You did well." Gorou sighs. "If I may be presumptuous. What was the purpose of that?" Fumio asks. He receives a look from his question. "I-I mean It was my blood." He adds, almost forgetting that he should act meek. Gorou finds reason in Fumio''s words so he nods. "I was just hoping that you had a late superioris awakening." He explains as he points at the piece of paper. "And this is a test for that." "Ah I see." Fumio shows a disappointed face. "But seeing as nothing happened, I guess I don''t have no hopes of becoming one." He is relieved however. He has now confirmed that Red''s arts does not make one a superioris while allowing him to have the abilities of one. Gorou on the other hand, finally drops his suspicion of Fumio. The evidence right in front of him overrides his gut feeling. "Late awakening is after all, very rare. Being a superioris is not all there is to life. Look at you, you seem to be doing better than most superiori." Gorou butters Fumio up to prevent the situation and misunderstanding from getting awkward. "Anyways. Did you have plans before I asked for you?" He asks. "I didn''t, but I have to do a lot of preparations to do for an important appointment tomorrow." Fumio uses the chance as an excuse to leave. "Very well. I will not take anymore of your time. I will have Sayuri escort you back to your home." Gorou gestures to the door. "Thank you, Gorou-sama." Fumio slowly props himself up, feeling relieved that the conversation went well. "NO!" Suddenly, from the side door, Hideki''s figure bursts in the tea room and tackles Fumio. While Fumio is startled, he gets over it immediately. While he could have avoided Hideki, he figures that doing so will arouse Gorou''s suspicion so he can only let himself be taken down to the floor. Hideki quickly mounts Fumio and "You''re not getting out of here!", he growls to Fumio''s face. He then presses down on Fumio''s face, takes a knife out of his pocket, and stabs down. "N-no!" It is easy for Fumio to catch Hideki''s hand, preventing the knife from burying itself to his body, but he is putting more an effort of wearing a face of fear while making it look like Hideki is slowly overpowering him. When he was still in the clan, and when he was still a target of Hideki''s power trips, he learned to act like he is about to piss himself in fear. He learned such skill figuring out that Hideki will only stop bullying his victim once he is satisfied with the look of fear on his victim''s eyes and face. "Y-you!" Seeing the face that Fumio is making, makes Hideki freeze in action in confusion and doubt. His desire to kill however overrides his doubt and he resumes his effort in stabbing the knife down. His hesitation however was enough for Gorou to take action. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Gorou, with his speed and strength easily intervenes. He then takes the knife from Hideki''s hand and throws it to the side of the room. Hideki, now weaponless, resorts to a more barbaric measure and brings his hands together to choke Fumio. "If you''re not a superioris, then you have to be a demon!" "ENOUGH!" Gorou, seeing Hideki''s actions, finally loses his patience, and with great control of his strength, slaps Hideki''s face. This is enough to stun Hideki and he loosens his hold on Fumio''s neck. Fumio takes this chance to take Hideki''s hands off of him, makes use of a defensive maneuver of the Hasegawa style grappling, and topples Hideki to the side. Fumio, now sure that Gorou is on his side, turns to lie on his stomach to feign an injury, not caring at all if Hideki will jump on him again. "*cough* *cough* *cough*" He feels fine but he starts to wheeze his breathing to add another layer on his act. "Gorou-sama!" "Hideki-sama!" Suddenly, two guards, barge into the room after hearing the commotion from outside. "Take Hideki back to his room please." Gorou orders defeatedly, and the two guards obey immediately, taking each of Hideki''s arms to secure. "Let me go! You fucks! Once I get my powers back, I''ll fuck you two up!" Hideki can only struggle and yell curses. The guards however smirk in their mind knowing about Hideki''s condition. "FUMIO! This isn''t over! RUN! HIDE! One of these days you''ll wish you never made it out of there alive!" Hideki gives Fumio one more threat before being dragged out of the room. Gorou puts his attention back on Fumio to see Fumio still holding his neck. But seeing that Fumio is fine aside from the Red handprints on his neck, Gorou sighs in relief. "Are you fine, young man?" Gorou asks. "I-I''m fine, sir" Fumio says in a strained voice as he shakily sits back up. Gorou shakes his head looking at Fumio trembling in fear. "It was unfortunate that you had to go through that. Is there anything the clan can do for you? Maybe something that can help you with your life out there?" He asks. Fumio has a lot to say, but holds himself back. He does not want any help from the clan after all. "I''m fine, Gorou-sama ... All I need is a sense of normalcy. I want to go back to my life." Fumio refuses Gorou''s offer. "I see. How about visiting your family before you go? I heard from your father that you haven''t seen them since you left. You can calm down at your former home before you go." Gorou suggests. Fumio this time, is tempted. However, thinking about how none of his family members did not contact him for three years, to even check whether or not he is still alive, he drops the idea. He does not blame his family as he knows that they considered his act of leaving the clan a form of betrayal as a fellow clansman. But that does not remove the resentment in his heart that his family never tried to understand his situation as a non-superiori in a place where the non-superiori members'' purpose in the clan are to serve and attend to the superiori members. "It''s too sudden of me to do so, Gorou-sama. And I''m not in my right mind right now." Fumio says as he stands up. As a one last layer of his act, he feigns shaky legs and a stumble. "Are you sure you''re fine?" Gorou asks, fooled by Fumio''s state. "Yes, sir." Fumio takes a deep breath. "Well then, if you would excuse me." He bows to Gorou. "Uhn. It''s good to see a young man raised by the clan doing well in society." Gorou has nothing else to say. ~ "Hn?" Fumio is surprised seeing his sister still in front of Gorou''s house, leaning with her back against the hood of her car. He is about to ignore her, but Sayuri saw him and she gestures him to come to her. "Sayuri-san, you''re still here?" He asks, confused that Sayuri waited for him. "Ehh.. Yes." Sayuri almost does not know how to react at Fumio''s question. She feels odd that Fumio thinks that she will simply leave after escorting him to the clan head''s house. "I was curious." She can only say as an excuse. "So, how did it go?" She asks. "It was a pleasant talk. Except when Hideki barged in and almost killed me." Fumio says as he wears a fearful face. This surprises Sayuri. "A-are you fine?" She asks. "Yes. Thank goodness Gorou-sama was quick on his feet." Fumio smiles bitterly. "I see. You seem shaken up. How about coming to the house with me?" Sayuri offers. "No. Maybe some other time, some other place. I just want to get out of here." Fumio says as he starts walking away from Sayuri. Sayuri seeing Fumio''s back looking so downtrodden compared to its confident look earlier, guilt start scratching on her heart. "Fumio. At least let me drive you to the train station." She offers, making Fumio turn around. "Then I thank you in advance." Fumio gives Sayuri a subtle smile. While he feels bad deceiving his sister too, but him showing that he is fine and unaffected by the earlier events, will leave a risk of rousing suspicion. ... ... General Masaru Hasegawa Hospital, Psychiatry Dept. - 9AM The hospital''s psychiatric 50 something year-old professor and best attending doctor drops by a hospital room. There are other psychiatrists in the hospital who can take care of the new patient but because the new patient has a special identity than average, he was put in charge with him. "Hideki-san. How are you feeling?" He finds Hideki lounging on the hospital room couch, watching TV. It has been five days since Hideki''s outburst in his home. Due to Hideki''s mental instability, Gorou had no choice but to send him to the nearest good psychiatric facility. "I''m good, doctor." Hideki says in acknowledgement, but his eyes are still on the TV screen. "" The doctor in his years of experience knows when a patient is keeping something to themselves. "Hideki. Come on. You can confide in me. What is bothering you?" He asks. Hideki looks at the doctor for a moment before returning his eyes to the TV. "What makes you any different from them?" He scoffs. "Well, help me understand." The doctor takes a seat at the arm of the couch. "You already know what happened to me Do you believe me?" Hideki asks. "Well. I believe that you were a victim. As for the identity of the perpetrator, it leaves too much room for doubt." The doctor goes with honesty. "Hmph. Quack." Hideki snorts in disdain. "I may not know exactly what you''re going through, but I can empathize. Before we go fixing the problem about the perpetrator, why don''t we start with yourself first?" The doctor is already used to insults from mentally unstable patients so he smoothly moves on. "No. Get out." Hideki however points to the door. "Because if you''re really a doctor, you''d know that I''m not sick in the head." He can barely suppress his fists from flying out to the doctor''s face. He would have acted out if he didn''t know that there are guards sent by his father waiting right outside his hospital room. "Alright. I will." The doctor sees a violent tendency when he sees one so he stands up. "But my advice to you, Hideki, is to solve your nightmares about the incident first. The earlier we work on them, the better." He adds as he leaves the room. "I''m not fuckin crazy. How can they not see that?" As if all the strength left his body, Hideki sinks further down to the sofa. [[That''s right. You''re not crazy]] a distorted voice suddenly reverberates around his room. "Who''s there?!" Hideki is startled. [[Someone who believes in you.]] The voice responds. "Have I really gone crazy?..." Hideki curls himself to a fetal position and covers his ears with his hands in fear. [[Well Believe what you want to believe. But know one thing. I can help you get your powers back.]] Hideki is stunned, unsure if what he heard was really said. "Say that again?" [[Not only can I get you your powers back, you''ll even be more powerful than before.]] "What''s the catch?" [[Just let me in your body.]] "You''re a demon?" Hideki''s eyes almost pop out of his body and he looks around in fear. [[So what? Right now, I''m the only one who can help you. Don''t be too choosy.]] The demon says. "I-I" Hideki is stumped, feeling that the demon is right. [[Just welcome me to yourself. Be one with me. Use my strength to exact revenge on those who wronged you.]] Hideki at this point, no longer cares if the voice is from a demon. He just wants to get his powers back. "B-be one with me." [[Fantastic.]] Black smoke suddenly comes out of the vent of Hideki''s hospital room and soon, the room is filled with it. Hideki is both fearful and excited seeing the proceedings. Soon, the black smoke convene in front of Hideki as a focal point. Soon that head of the smoke smashes towards Hideki and before Hideki can scream, the rest of the black smoke in the room enter his mouth, ears, and nose. A few seconds later, the room is now clear. Hideki meanwhile seems unconscious. But not for long. His eyes open but unlike his natural white sclera and black irises, his sclera is now tinted pink and his black irises have a red shine on them. "Puhup Fool." He suddenly snickers to himself, his smile looking sadistic than he could have ever made before. "That was delicious. And lucky." He continues to utter as he stands up and starts hopping on the balls of his feet. "A weak unstable mind ready waiting to be possessed. A broken SPARK easy for me to swallow I should hang out in hospitals more often.." He proudly says as tentacles of black smoke grow from his fingers. Chapter 38 - Going Out Three months has passed and May arrives, so does spring time. "Ohh This is the first time I''m seeing you in nice clothes outside work." Fumio who is sitting at the guest area, greets Kotone who just entered the reception area of Muscle Masters. He cannot help but appreciate Kotone''s look in her yellow green flower-patterned kimono, bright colors which he never saw Kotone in. "Oh. Now that you say it." Kotone nods in realization as she joins Fumio on the same couch. "But Why''d Kichirou-san have to make the shop the meeting place? I feel like I''m here to work." Kotone complains as she cannot wait to show off her new clothes to strangers in the streets. "What, you never went out of the neighborhood in uniform before?" Fumio asks in surprise. Kotone simply shakes her head. "I would have if I''m as close to Kichirou-san as you are." She says. "Uhuh Well. Doesn''t matter now." Fumio shrugs. "It seems like boss gave you a lot of nice clothes too?" He asks instead, knowing that Kotone, who does not wear branded clothes even with her salary, would be the type of person to buy herself such luxurious kimono. "He did." Kotone says as she appreciates her appearance in the mirrored wall in front of her and Fumio. "Boss gave me 8 new sets for this spring. How about you?" Fumio brags. "8 too. But unlike you who represents Kichirou-san in his music and manga in meetings, I don''t get many chances to wear them." Kotone compares while looking at Fumio who is wearing a formal kimono. "Ah. Such a waste." Fumio playfully laments, making Kotone roll her eyes. "How''s your training gi, by the way? How many holes does it have now?" Fumio asks. "I don''t know really. It seems like Kichirou-san replaces mine every other day." Kotone recalls. "What the hell?" Fumio does a double take at the information. "I only had one for three months and it''s full of holes." He complains. "Well. I''m a lady. Am I supposed to wear training gi full of holes?" Kotone rolls her eyes. "Oh" Fumio is reminded that Kotone is indeed still a lady. "So Outing huh. It''s unusual of him." Kotone changes the subject, wanting to take a break from the subject of training. "Uhuh" Fumio nods, but internally, he is suspicious of the seemingly impulsive actions of Red. "Do you know where we''re going?" Kotone asks, knowing that Fumio knows more of Red than her. "I don''t know. He says we''re going out for fun. But I fear what the boss means by fun." Fumio shudders. Kotone, seeing Fumio''s expression, gets infected by his mood. "Don''t jinx it." She says in self-consolation. "Am I that bad a guy?" The two are startled as they suddenly hear Red''s voice beside them. "Ohh.. my heart." "Good grief." The two apprentices hold their chests as they try to recover the breath they lost. "I almost forgot how that feels." Fumio recovers first. "Same." Kotone follows. "Anyways. Addressing you two''s concern. On why I asked for you two today" Red pauses for dramatic purposes, which makes his two apprentices lean towards him a bit. "Well, today''s that day for Kotone, Fumio." Red says to Fumio. Fumio immediately gets what Red is saying. "What day?" Kotone meanwhile, is confused. "Why don''t we start with the special features of the clothes I''ve given you?" Red smiles. "Fumio. Do the honors?" He orders Fumio. Fumio''s face immediately wears a shit eating grin. "Hey Kotone. Wanna see something cool? Stand up. Let''s stand up." He asks and he stands up. "Uhhh. Sure." Kotone feels like she is once again out of the loop, but already used to it whenever she is in the presence of the two men conversing, she can only follow Fumio''s lead and she stands up. "Okay Look at this." Fumio then presses something in the hem of his haori before, "TADA!" transforming into a 40 something year old handsome man. "Wha-" Before Kotone can express her shock, "Hey Kotone" Red calls out to her too and snaps his fingers before casting an illusion on himself to wear his Old Phantom disguise. The in-disguise Fumio then reaches out to Kotone''s kimono, caresses its hem to find the seal, and after finding it, he presses it. Kotone''s head at this point is spinning and it does not help when Fumio "Look, look.", points her to her reflection on the mirrored wall. "This is This is." Kotone looks and finds that instead of her real self, her reflection now looks like a male version of her in formal kimono. "I-I need a minute" Her legs slowly losing their strength out of shock, she plops herself back down A few minutes later, "So that explains everything! The perpetually clean shop. The always clean uniform The background music They''re all your magic?" Kotone is now up to speed with Red''s sealing and formation skills. "Yes. Magic that only I have the knowledge to use." Red nods. "You wanna learn how to do them?" Red asks. "We can learn it?" Fumio this time, is excited. While he had the knowledge of the seals and formations for months, he never imagined that he can learn to make them. "C-can I?" Kotone values the utility of such magic. "It takes years You two are not geniuses so it''ll probably take you two at least a few months'' straight practice to make the simplest spiritual energy gathering seal." Red says. "What''s that?" Kotone asks on behalf of her and Fumio. "Just like any electronic device, seals and formations require energy. That energy is what I would call spiritual energy, something that is all around us." Red explains. "So that uhh spiritual energy gathering seal like its name suggests, it gathers spiritual energy." Fumio says. "Precisely." Red nods. Seeing that the two are following his words quite well, he continues to explain. "Yes. And that seal is the foundation of all seals. The autocleaning seal for example, it will not work by itself without being connected to an energy source." Red explains. "So the most basic seal is the battery." Kotone says. "Not a battery, but a generator. A battery would be the spiritual energy storing seal." Red starts. "Here''s the basic set-up of the seals I put on your clothes. I set up a spiritual energy gathering seal and I connected it to the auto-cleaning seal. Follow so far?" The two nods at his question. Fumio then raises a question. "What about the illusion seal?" "As for the illusion seal, well, it takes more energy to make it work, and a less passive utilization than the cleaning seal. So, I connected the gathering seal to an energy storing seal, and from the storing seal, I connected an activation seal that acts like a faucet and a switch. And that switch is controlled by you pinching it, to release the illusion seal." Red explains in one breath. The two students then caress the seal on the hem of their clothes as they process the lecture. "So in my robe, there are at least five seals not counting that seal that makes it wrinkle free." Kotone counts. "How about the resistance seals, boss?" Fumio raises another question. "Same with the set-up of the illusion seal, only the energy gathering and energy storing seals are much much bigger and much more complicated." Red says. "And it takes months to practice to make just the most basic spiritual energy gathering seal" Kotone sighs in defeat. "And a lot of money." Fumio suddenly realizes something. "Boss These seals on my clothes are stitched with what looks like gold thread. And the security seals on the storage room is carved on valuable wood - That means materials matter, right?" He asks. "Yes. Spiritual seals require spiritual conductive materials to work. Gold and platinum threads work well on seals for clothes. The hard Ipe wood work good on seals for doors and windows. And that floor tile of pure silver" Red points at the metallic tile at the corner of the room''s floor, "is good enough for seals for floors and walls.", he concludes. "Whoah" Kotone who is now just finding out about the seals in the shop, is more mystified even though the mysteries she that were keeping her up at night in her first few months of working in the shop, are answered. Fumio on the other hand, gets to pondering. A moment later, "Boss. You''re still not telling her?" He asks Red as he caresses the resistance seals on his neck. "Why does this remind me of something?" Fumio''s question makes Kotone suspicious of the two once again. "Why don''t we go somewhere fun?" Red instead ignores the question and claps his palms together. An hour later. Chofu City, located in the eastern part of Tokyo Metropolitan area, is a humble city. Although some streets are almost dilapidated and has remained unchanged since its better days in the 60s, it offers peace to the tourists and locals with nostalgic tendencies. In addition to its nostalgic scene, it also possesses some beautiful spots for tourists and locals alike. Some of the oldest shrines where superiori maidens and priests once trained during the great war are located in it. Those shrines are also located amidst well preserved and kept botanical gardens that one cannot help but be respected and treated with care by visitors. Out of all the beautiful places Red would bring his two students however, he chose a place that raises suspicions in Fumio, and confusion in Kotone. "Chofu Combat Gym. Why are we here, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks as she looks at huge signs displaying the name of the wide building. "I reserved a combat room. Just follow me." Red continues to lead his students inside. Combat gyms and combat rooms are places that are frequented by superiori whose abilities have destructive tendencies for practice, or by superiori who simply want a place to spar without caring for property damage. "Boss. Don''t tell me it''s a training day?" Fumio asks. "No. It''s a graduation ceremony for Kotone." Red smirks mysteriously. Fumio can only look at Kotone who is clueless and excited, in pity. *SLAM* A minute later, Red locks the doors of the basketball sized combat room, locking him and his two students inside the room. Red then slowly turns around and looks at Kotone with a mysterious smile. "Uh oh" Kotone has seen that smile from Red too many times during her combat training with him. After blinking, her heart jumps in surprise as Red is now just a step away from her. Red then touches her in the forehead and the next moment, as if a mountain is taken off of her shoulders, she suddenly feels light, the lightest she has ever felt in her life. "Fumio Haven''t you been curious of Kotone''s progress?" Red then turns his attention to Fumio. "Err Yes." Fumio admits. Red then pulls out a wooden sword from his storage space and hands it to Kotone. Kotone, seeing the wooden sword that have countlessly swiped lipstick on her gi, now in her hands, she strangely feels that she has accomplished something big. "You want to know why I put you through hell for three months, Kotone? " Red pulls Kotone out of her sentimental state. "Have a go at Fumio." He finishes his order. "What?" "Huh?" Kotone and Fumio both want to deny that they heard what they just heard. "Fumio. It''s been a while since we last sparred. But I think Kotone is good enough for you as a measuring stick, no?" Red says. "Her?" Fumio gets offended. "Yes Or would you want me to?" Red raises his brows. "Uhhh" Fumio gets scared of the alternative. "I''ve noticed that you''re using the breathing technique almost subconsciously. Why don''t we test if you can maintain it under pressure?" Red asks. Fumio nods, now understanding that this is also a test for him, not just Kotone''s. "Well then Miss Kotone" He turns his attention to Kotone. "Come at me." Chapter 39 - Responsibility *Whoosh* Fumio leans back as he lets the point of the wooden blade slash air in front of him. While he is a bit surprised of Kotone''s speed, he already expected it, having gone through the same sudden dramatic changes that she is going through. "W-wha" Kotone on the other hand, is dumbfounded. She is surprised at how quick she just moved. She then looks at Red and Fumio to get answers, but she only receives looks that tells her to keep her offense on. "Hey" Fumio does not want his or Kotone''s test to be interrupted by her questions so he steps to Kotone''s space and he gives her a karate chop to the shoulders. He controls his speed and strength however, his aim only to keep Kotone focused, so he is not surprised that Kotone dodged his hand easily. "Focus." Red says, getting Kotone back in action. "HIYAH!" Kotone attacks once again with a downward slash. Fumio, having trained to fight bare handed against armed opponents even back in the Hasegawa Clan, sees through Kotone''s attack immediately. He underestimates Kotone however. Kotone after her downward slash failed, continues with an upward diagonal slash, and when that is dodged once again, like she expected, thrusts her sword forward to the direction where Fumio moves his body to. Fumio, seeing that it is too late for him to dodge, quickly steps back, softening the hit from the sharp end of Kotone''s wooden sword. He then hops backwards to increase the distance, intending to cool down Kotone''s assault. "I hope that won''t leave a bruise" Fumio mutters as he caresses the painful spot. He cannot help but be surprised by how well Kotone''s three attacks flowed well after each other despite having only picked up the sword for three months. This pause in action meanwhile makes confusion catch up to Kotone. *WHOOSH* *WHOOSH* *WHOOSH* She is still baffled as she does random swings with her wooden sword, slicing the air. She cannot believe that she is moving even quicker than Red. She then puts the wooden sword in front of her face and *thunk* hits her forehead softly. Feeling the slight pain, she afflicted on herself, "I-it''s real" she confirms that she is not dreaming and is further baffled. Realization also catches up to her, replaying in her mind how Fumio dodged her quick strikes. "Y-you''re a superioris?" She asks Fumio in shock. Fumio once told her that he is her fellow non-superiori. This commonality in them is one of the things that made the two be in good terms with each other. Fumio meanwhile, no longer wants to continue his ''test'' seeing that Kotone is more interested in answers. He then looks at Red to which Red simply nods in response. "I''m not. And neither are you. We''re the same type of people." Fumio responds to the question. "T-then what are we?" Kotone can barely process her situation. "You, me, and boss: we are human. Humans who just happened to have the talent to practice the certain type of powers that boss has." Fumio answers based on all the information he collected from Red so far. "Then The massages, the medicinal baths, the training" Kotone does not know how to phrase her question. "Yes. All the work I had you do resulted to this." Red confirms. "Sorry for the deception." He adds. Kotone finally relaxes. "I-I thought" She sighs, as she replays the events since Red entered her life. "Never mind." She shakes her head. "If this is the compensation by being deceived, then I''m willing to be deceived more." She chuckles. "Hahah" Fumio understands what Kotone is feeling. "You have always been suspicious of why I''ve been generous to you, am I right?" Red asks. "Yes." Kotone admits. "And you think that I''m sort of a weird, twisted man who took you in as some sort of an experiment, correct?" Red asks again. "Well experiment is a bit" Kotone, now clearer at her situation, gets embarrassed by the accuracy of Red''s guess. "It does not matter." Red waves off Kotone''s embarrassment. "I took you in because people like you, like us, are rare, living treasures. To me at least. Treasures that would be a waste if left buried among the soil of the earth. Treasures that can be molded, polished, and forged to their fullest value." He takes a deep breath. "But most importantly, even if I die, I want my wisdom, my arts, to live on." He looks at his two students. Kotone and Fumio look at Red in a new light. In addition to the new impression, they both feel a huge weight get on their shoulders. They then exchange looks to look what each other are thinking and after a second, they both nod to each other. They have reservations however. "I get if it''s Fumio-san, as he''s spent a more time with you. But why me too, Kichirou-san? The way I see it, your powers can change the world, and to pass it on to me, even though you value me, is a bit" Kotone finds the huge responsibility overwhelming. "Because I trust your character." Red says. Kotone is somehow humbled and moved by Red''s words. "Boss, I''d be honored to learn from you and grow stronger, but" Fumio suddenly realizes something. "Are you sick or something? Don''t you still have the time to find a wife and have a child you can train and teach? You''re not dying, are you?" He asks, worried. His words also worrying Kotone. "Puhah!" Red guffaws at Fumio''s question. "Kid, I still have many years ahead of me. And do you think you''re the only ones who are getting stronger?" He asks rhetorically. This information however, stuns Fumio who has seen what Red can do. "You''re getting stronger? Even with your strength now?" He cannot help but ask. "Of course. There are still many things I can do that you haven''t seen." Red smirks. It has been 10 months since he has awakened in this word and while he did not have intensive training, he has been slowly but stably getting more powerful. His body has gotten stronger due to his advanced resistance seals which he has been fueling with a quarter of his spiritual energy reserves he always spares for it. When it comes to his spiritual energy, it has slightly evolved in quality and his reserves of it rising by a few percentages with the help of his celestial body breathing technique. He noticed however that the moon''s light is slowly getting less and less effective for his cultivation. A sign of which he will soon cross to the next level where he will have to cultivate using the light of the sun. "Then why are you in a hurry to " Fumio is confused however. "I''m not in a hurry because of me, it''s because of you two." Red says. The two give him puzzled looks. "It''s a shame actually. I wish I found you two when you were but small children." He shakes his head. "I simply want you two to grow strong enough for me to share the rest of my arts with you two... But that will take years, even decades." "Decades" Kotone''s eyebrows jumped and Fumio whistles. "So, I''m giving you two this chance to make an important decision." Red continues. "One, as you grow in strength, you two will shoulder this long-term, NO, this LIFETIME''s responsibility of protecting our secrets and spreading our arts." He pauses for the two to process. Seeing as the two understand the weight of the responsibility and would want to hear his second choice, he continues. "Or two, call it quits. You can still be in my employ, but will no longer receive teaching from me. You will take what you have already learned from me, and master it. That would be enough for people of your potentials to grow strong enough to stand even among the 1% of the world and can live the rest of their lives in peace." He concludes. Kotone and Fumio do not know what to say but simply ponder. "How strong am I now?" Kotone is the first one to speak up. Fumio and Red smirk at the question. "Psh. You are already part of the top 1%." Fumio scoffs. "What do you mean?" Kotone asks. "You''re already as strong as the strongest of the D-Class superiori." Fumio says, shocking Kotone. "Do you know the universal ratio of superiori?" Fumio asks. "I kind of but I already forgot how it works." Kotone admits. "Okay. As you know, the human population is divided into two, the superiori and the non-superiori, at 50 percent each. "E and F Class superiori are hard to count. But starting from D Class and up to A Class, it follows the ''17 rule''. "Out of the 60 million superiori in Japan, an estimated 3 million of it are D-Class, which is already the top 5% of all superiori. Divide that by 17, that''s 150 to 200 thousand C-Class. Divide that by 17, then there are around 10,000 plus B-Class. Then divide that again by 17, then there are around 600 A-Class Superiori." Kotone''s head at this point, starts spinning at the numbers and Fumio notices. "I''m sorry. Let me get to the point out of the 60 million superiori in Japan right now, only around 200,000 can beat you in a fair fight. That''s three people per thousand. Factoring in the non-superiori population, that''s just 1 to 2 people a thousand." Fumio explains. "I-I get it" Kotone nods. "But there are a way more good people around than bad, so my chances of running into a fight is even smaller." "Yes." Fumio nods. "You''ve really thought this through, huh." Red is amused by Fumio''s calculations. "What boss? I was powerless and at the bottom of the society. It''s just satisfying to think that I''ve climbed to the top." Fumio says proudly. "Heh. Buddy. Power isn''t all about if you can beat someone in a fight." Red chuckles. "I know that too, boss." Fumio scoffs. "It''s just fun to think about." He pouts. Kotone on the other hand, is done getting over her surprise with her newfound power. "So What''s the point of becoming even stronger?" Kotone raises to the two. "Me? Well" Fumio has also asked himself that same question during the past few months. "Boss said that I''m mid-level C-Class right now after getting my breathing technique to the next level. But 100,000 people still pose a threat to me in our country alone. In the world, around 15 million people are stronger than me. I want to live a peaceful life so I want to get stronger to reduce the chances of that peace being ruined." Fumio shrugs. "Peaceful life" Kotone repeats. "Sounds simple, but hard to achieve." She nods after a realizing the weight of that desire. "Yes." Fumio nods. "And I just wanna see how far I can go. You''ve not seen Boss'' strength, but I at least have an idea. I want to know if I can reach his strength one day. That''s my new purpose in life." He opens up. "Purpose" Kotone utters. Red at this point is chuckling inside. He thought that Kotone will leave his tutelage and that he will have to convince her from doing so. But with Fumio''s help, chances of Kotone refusing to continue have drastically decreased. "I''m also thinking of having my family one day. What kind of a father I would be if I couldn''t protect them?" Fumio adds. Kotone smiles bitterly at that, but quickly rids of the feeling it took out of her. "Yeah. That makes sense." She nods. "And finally Without boss, I''d be dead right now. He''s the only one who really cared for me in my life. He took care of me better than my blood did. To be honest? Even though boss doesn''t feel the same way? He''s family to me." Fumio concludes as he nods at Red. Red already has an idea of how Fumio feels, and he is pleased with the kid''s loyalty. He smiles and shakes his head however at how Fumio wears his heart in his sleeves. "Although this is all new to me, I know that I''m no longer as powerless as before." Kotone sighs. "And here I am For the first time in my life, valued, important to anyone aside from Haruto" She looks at Red in resolve. Red can only smile, having confirmed that he did not break Kotone''s trust. His smile meanwhile, warms and moves Kotone''s heart. "And, even though all of this started with your lies and pain from you, Kichirou-san. And you, keeping things from me, Fumio-san. I think I''ve found a place I belong.." She smiles the sweetest Red and Fumio had seen her smile. Chapter 40 - Baptism "Well I''m no longer in the mood for sparring after that." Fumio breaks the silence in the room. "Same I already feel bad hitting you." Kotone bows in apology to Fumio. "It''s fine. Let''s spar some other time." Fumio waves the apology off. "Huh Interesting." The two''s odd moment is interrupted by Red''s comment. "It''s a nice moment but, the money I spent to reserve this place will go to waste if you two don''t use it." Red continues. "Do we really have to spar now?" Kotone asks. "Not anymore" Red says as he looks at the combat training room''s metallic door. "You two. Wear your illusions." He then orders the two. Fumio immediately follows the order which compels Kotone to do the same. Red too casts an illusion on himself, assuming his Old Phantom identity. The next moment. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Someone from outside the room, bangs on the metallic door. "We have company, boss?" Fumio asks. "Yep." Red says as he walks to the door and opens it. "" Blade Tornado is stunned to see who just opened the door for him. "O-Old Phantom Hello." He greets Red awkwardly. "Come in." Red gestures Blade Tornado in. "Old bastard. I didn''t know you''d be here too." Blade Tornado says as he walks in. "Well. I just wanna see these two students of mine in action." Red explains. "Oh... Do we spar after I test them?" Blade Tornado asks as they walk further inside. "If you''ll have fuel left." Red shrugs. "Alright. Hey. Nice work in your last match by the way" They two then start to catch up. Meanwhile, Kotone and Fumio who recognized Blade Tornado, are surprised by the superiori''s arrival. Kotone also catches information from Blade''s words. "Old Phantom is Kichirou-san?" She whispers to Fumio. "Yes." Fumio nods. "K-kichirou-san is an underground fighter?!" Kotone harshly whispers in shock. "It''s his hobby, really. Don''t worry. He just plays with his opponents and never seriously injures them. Boss is different." Fumio explains, calming Kotone down. "Wait a minute" Kotone suddenly remembers something. "Then doesn''t mean that Kichirou-san beat Flame Colossus and Gorilla who are B-Class Superiori?" Kotone asks. "Precisely." Fumio smiles proudly. "Then Kichirou-san is as strong as a B-Class?" Kotone asks. "No. I''m confident that boss has the ability to beat even A-Class superiori." Fumio says. Kotone gasps in awe at the information. "You two." The two are interrupted by ''Old Phantom'' and they turn to Red and Blade Tornado in attention. "So, which one goes first?" Blade Tornado asks. "The young man." Red says pointing at Kotone who is wearing her young man disguise illusion. Kotone is intimidated as Blade Tornado gives her a playful smirk. "Hey. Come over here and don''t get in the way." Red then orders Fumio. Fumio, while worried for Kotone, follows the order. "So The old bastard said you''re green? Don''t worry. I''ll go easy on you." Blade Tornado says as he joins Kotone in the middle of the room. Kotone, despite her numerous encounters with Blade Tornado in the shop, has never felt so scared of the man until today. "You''re not longer the same as before!" Fumio yells to Kotone to help her get her head in the incoming fight. Kotone immediately raises her wooden sword to prepare for what is coming and Fumio''s words making her more confident. Blade Tornado stops in his steps right outside of what he estimates as the range of Kotone''s sword. "Tsk. Tsk" He clicks his tongue and looks at Red. "Hey, old man! You said that he''s green, but I didn''t expect this Really? It looks like one hit, and he''ll be running away!" He complains. "" Kotone cannot argue as currently, she is indeed very scared of getting hit. "Well. Just chase him ''til he fights back. What''s the big deal?" Red says, to Kotone''s disbelief. "Hey, kid. Blade Tornado''s gonna hold back. And I''m a doctor, remember?" He then turns to Kotone. This assures Kotone a bit. "Oh, that''s right. You''ll be fine then, kid." Blade Tornado turns his attention back to Kotone and he charges forward. Kotone immediately swings her sword downwards. Blade Tornado simply tilts his body sideways, dodging the wooden sword easily, and at the same time, he throws out a middle kick to Kotone''s ribs. Kotone, seeing the incoming attack, immediately hops away, sloppily but successfully dodging Blade Tornado''s leg. Blade Tornado however is not done and he stomps the ground with his other foot, shooting off to Kotone''s direction in pursuit and he throws out a straight. Kotone hops to her side immediately, dodging Blade Tornado''s fist by a wide margin. "Pffft.." Blade Tornado stops in his pursuit and snickers in amusement. "Hey old man. Are you sure he''s your student? You just pulled in a random fuck off the street to fight me for giggles, didn''t you?" He asks Red once again. "Hey. Like I said. He''s green." Red shrugs. "And you. Is that how you dodge strikes? Have you learned nothing?" He then addresses Kotone. Kotone is reminded of her sparring training with Red and she relaxes a bit. Red, seeing this, nods. "Blade. Continue." "As you wish." Blade Tornado shrugs and goes to attack again with a middle kick. This time however, he is surprised to see that Kotone simply steps back, dodging his foot at a much narrower margin than earlier. After that, he is almost startled as Kotone uses her back step''s momentum to gather power for a downward swing. *whoosh* Blade Tornado dodges the wooden sword, but at a large margin that does not allow him to counter. "OHO~ Nice." Blade Tornado is pleased that Kotone is faster than he thought. He starts bobbing up and down using his knees, assuming a lighter stance. A second later, he approaches Kotone in a zigzagging manner. Kotone is taken aback and she gets stressed out. At every bob and weave that Blade Tornado does, she twitches, her tension increasing, preparing, trying to anticipate any incoming attack. Soon, *whoosh* Blade Tornado has approached close enough to have Kotone in his range, and he throws a jab. Kotone''s eyes widen. Startled by the fist that is already approaching her face, she swipes her sword in an attempt to intercept Blade Tornado''s fist. That action saved her a bit as Blade Tornado''s fist lands on her sword, but it causes her own sword to hit her face and chest. She then hastily takes steps backs to get away. The strength of Blade Tornado''s strike strikes fear in her heart, and adding the stinging pain on her face and chest, she does not know how to proceed. "Tsk." Blade Tornado meanwhile, clicks his tongue as he caresses his knuckles. A part of his knuckles just happened to hit the sword in a way that it dislocated a bone. "Some kind of a wooden sword. Fuck it''s hard." He complains. Kotone, seeing Blade Tornado is a bit in pain, is a bit relieved and her fear goes down a little. "Hey Kotaru If you want this to end. You have to land at least three successful hits." Red tells Kotone for encouragement. Kotone simply accepts her temporary name and gets to attack mode immediately. *foo-fofofo-fooo..* A barrage of sword strikes comes Blade Tornado''s way. Being unused to dealing with sword users, Blade Tornado, in caution, dodges the strikes. Not long after, *whack* his rhythm is broken, dodging is suddenly out of his options, and can only block the sword coming for his shoulder with his arm. Blade Tornado smirks that Kotone is starting to grow teeth and fangs so he ups the pace. Before, he restricted his speed and strength to be careful to not injure Kotone so much as he is afraid what ''Old Phantom'' would do to him. But now, he is confident that Kotone can handle harder hits with her strength. Kotone, getting more confident, starts another combo. To her surprise however, Blade Tornado starts to move faster and soon enough *smack* her sword is smacked to the side and another middle kick goes her way. Blade Tornado''s speed this time does not allow her to dodge so she only raises her leg to check the kick. *WHACK* Even though she successfully blocked the man''s kick, the strength of it lifted her a few inches off the ground and she is pushed a few feet backwards. She then stumbles in retreat to make space. Blade Tornado stops his attacks to observe and to his pleasure, Kotone is wearing a painful expression. Kotone bites her lower lip, her leg she used to block the kick starting to severely ache, making her head hurt, making her worried that it might be fractured. She has no time to process the pain as she sees Blade Tornado closing the distance once again. Blade Tornado meanwhile, plans to not make any attempts in connecting any clean hits yet. He notices that not only Kotone is not used to getting hit, her body is not even conditioned to block strikes. So he instead plans to throw blockable attacks to condition Kotone. *whack* *whack* *whack* A few moments later, and numerous attacks blocked later, Kotone is starting to breathe heavily. While she is not tired, all of her limbs are hurting, making her want to puke her guts out. She also can barely raise her wooden sword. Even though she wants to quit, she feels it is not yet time as she herself successfully landed two successful counterstrikes on Blade Tornado''s body, just one more hit before she meets her quota. Blade Tornado and Kotone charge at the same time. Blade Tornado throws a kick and Kotone prepares for a thrust. *shunk* Kotone''s thrust lands on Blade Tornado''s chest first, but unfortunately for her, Blade Tornado is tall and his reach is long, so his leg lands on Kotone''s undefended torso. *SMACK* Air is knocked out of Kotone''s lungs and is she is knocked a few feet away. She manages to land on her feet, but the pain and her struggle to breath forced her to her knees. Blade Tornado, knowing that Kotone succeeded on her task, stops his attacks and nods in approval. Red also nods, satisfied with Kotone''s performance for someone who never fought before. Fumio on the other hand, wants to approach Kotone in worry. A few seconds later, "*GASP*" Kotone gets her breath back and hungrily executes the basic breathing technique, making her feel a bit better. "Good job." Red calls out. He then tosses Blade Tornado a small canister. "What''s this?" Blade Tornado asks as he unscrews the cap. "Apply the thing on your chest. It''s a wooden sword, but it stabbed you pretty squarely." Red says. His words remind Blade Tornado of his injury and he realizes that there is now a red spot on his chest and it starts to hurt bad. "Shit" He takes a sharp breath as he hurriedly digs his finger on the ointment in the canister before applying it. "Damn I don''t know where you get these things old man, but they''re convenient. Can you sell them to me?" Blade Tornado asks as he feels the cooling and healing effect on his chest. "I''ll give you one after your next spar." Red says as he helps Kotone up. "You did great, Kotone." He whispers to Kotone''s ear. "Thank you, Kichirou-san." Kotone whispers back. As Kotone is assisted by Red to the side of the room to rest, she looks at Red, expecting something. Red knows what she is thinking and shakes his head. "Later. Don''t you want to feel the pain of your first fight? If you can call that a fight at all? You have to get used to this if you want to grow stronger." He refuses Kotone''s silent request of healing. "You''re the devil." Kotone can only accept bitterly as she sits down on the floor and rests her back against the cold concrete wall. "Are you fine, now?" Red asks Blade Tornado next. "Yeah. I''m ready." Blade Tornado nods. "But... This guy''s your student? He seems to be older than me?" He asks as he points at Fumio. "Yes. You did say all you wanted is a good spar, no? Even though he does not fight as often as you do, he''s good enough." Red says. Blade Tornado then looks at Fumio to assess him.. Fumio, unlike the scared Kotone, gets excited and he walks to the center of the room to join Blade Tornado. Chapter 41 - Fumio Vs Blade Tornado Kotone cannot help but gape at the exchange of strikes between Fumio and Blade Tornado. The two have been exchanging attacks for a few minutes now. The two however have not landed good hits on each other aside from grazes and shallow contacts. "I didn''t know Fumio-san is this strong." She utters. "Uhuh. Red simply nods. "I thought Blade-san was about to kill me Turns out he was holding back all along." Kotone comments, looking at the movements of Blade Tornado and Fumio that she cannot even imagine to match. "How do you feel? Got used to the pain already?" Red, seeing that Fumio and Blade Tornado are at a standstill between attacking and defending, asks Kotone with his eyes still on the two fighters. "I feel fine But" Kotone shakes her head. "I felt like I could have done better." She sighs. "You were simply in panic. You still did well." Red consoles. "Maybe next time, you''ll do better?" He asks. "Heh." Kotone mirthlessly chuckles. "I''d hate a next time, but I have to. Being this strong is a waste if I don''t use it." "Good." Red nods. "Oh. Watch this." He then spots something and tells Kotone to watch. Blade Tornado is starting to lose his patience. No matter what attacks he threw, Fumio will always find a way to defend, either by dodging, blocking, parrying, or intercepting. Not only that, he notices that Fumio is starting to get comfortable in the fight. ''I have to do something''. He then throws a right hook and a left low kick combo. *whoosh**whoosh* After the missed attacks, *thump* he then receives a counter high kick to the face. He is rocked but absorbs the hit well, feeling fortunate that Fumio did not follow the kick with another attack. He then switches his stance to neutral, seeing that Fumio is not only as strong as him, but also faster because of Fumio''s smaller size. Fumio meanwhile, seeing that his attack took effect, he executes Hasegawa Footwork 3 and gets in Blade Tornado''s range. Blade Tornado, not expecting that Fumio would simply zoom to his range at incredible speed, freezes for a moment, not knowing what to do. Fumio then throws a straight to Blade Tornado''s face, and Blade Tornado, not having enough distance to dodge, raises his hand to block. Unfortunately for him, the straight punch to the face was fake. Fumio takes Blade Tornado being tricked, as a chance to execute three basic consecutive karate straight punches to Blade Tornado''s midsection. *thu-thu-THUMP!* three punches lands at the same exact spot on Blade tornado''s diaphragm, and the combined force of the three quick punches pushes him back a few steps. "*ACK*" He feels his organs rock at the attack and he struggles to stay standing. He then guards his body, dropping his arms to his torso and raising his left knee up. Fumio meanwhile, freezes in his steps. He cannot believe that the same man he can only envy and admire eight months ago, the man who is currently in the top seats of the Named Warriors'' Row in the underground fighting ring, and the man who he thought was a beast, is the same man who he is fighting at a standstill, and even managed to dominate for a split moment. Fumio not continuing his offense allows Blade Tornado to take a breather. "Hohoho This bro..." He calls out to Fumio, who he thinks is older than him because of Fumio''s disguise. "You''re not to bad." "You''re not so bad yourself." Fumio nods, humbled by Blade Tornado''s words. The two exchange nods before going back to the center of the room. Fumio this time, gets more careful. He notices that Blade Tornado has become more passive. Instead of Blade Tornado''s powerful attacks earlier, the man has switched to less powerful and more conservative ones. This troubles Fumio as he now finds it more difficult to find holes he can exploit, and he also has to worry about counter attacks. Blade Tornado meanwhile, sighs a bit in relief as he manages to take control back in the rhythm of the battle. Fumio thinks for a moment and he reduces his attacks and retreats. To his relief, Blade Tornado, while more careful than before, still pursues. This makes Fumio think that he still has a chance to take control of the fight as long as Blade Tornado is initiating the offense and as long as he can read that offense. Blade Tornado suddenly spots a hole in Fumio''s defense and he goes in. Fumio on the other hand, almost smirks that his trap lured Blade Tornado in. While Blade Tornado is much careful than before, Fumio still finds that the man, in his desperation to attack, becomes a bit reckless and this bit is enough for Fumio to exploit. Right after narrowly dodging Blade Tornado''s high kick, Fumio returns a high kick of his own he had prepared. Blade Tornado sees the kick coming, but his posture at the moment makes him realize that he cannot defend, so he can only brace himself. *Wham* The kick lands squarely to his temple, and he stumbles to the side. Fumio, unlike his pause after landing his first hits in earlier in the fight, does not want to allow Blade Tornado to take a breather, so he takes this momentary drop in Blade Tornado''s defenses and prepares for a combo. One, two consecutive karate punches to Blade Tornado''s diaphragm once again, Two more consecutive punches to the man''s chest, and one last straight punch to the forehead. Five punches and it is enough to drop Blade Tornado to his knees. Fumio can barely contain his excitement putting Blade Tornado down. However, realization catches up to him. While fighting the superioris has not been easy from the start, he becomes cautious and suspicious. His suspicions are warranted as, "Hey kid. Stop messing around. This isn''t your style.", he hears Red call out to Blade Tornado. He then sees Blade Tornado take a deep breath after shrugging off the damage he received. "Haaaa. You''re right old man. That doesn''t mean I can''t practice?" Blade Tornado stands up, his words confusing Kotone and Fumio. "Let''s continue, shall we?" He then looks at Fumio. Fumio this time, almost steps back from the excited grin on Blade Tornado''s face. He does not know what changed, but he feels that Blade Tornado suddenly exudes the aura of the beast that he always saw the man wear while fighting in the ring. Blade Tornado drops all carefulness and dashes to Fumio. Fumio gets his bearings immediately and prepares. Soon, he immediately feels the changes. After evading a few punches and kicks from Blade Tornado, Blade Tornado manages to gets too close to him. ''T-that''s right He never used his elbows'' He winces as he ducks an elbow. He cannot relax as a knee zoom to his face as soon as he ducks. ''And his knees'' He then tilts his body to the side, narrowly avoiding the knee, and he dives for a shoulder roll on the ground, drawing distance immediately. Blade Tornado is not done however and jumps to the air to give the Fumio, who has his back on him, a flying knee. While Fumio cannot see anything behind him, he feels danger coming so he does another shoulder roll to his left, luckily dodging Blade Tornado''s flying knee. He then quickly stands up and turns to Blade Tornado''s direction to prevent any more sneak attacks. Fumio this time hesitates to fight Tornado in a head-on battle. He has no time to hesitate however as Blade Tornado dashes towards him once again. An exchange of moves starts once again. A few minutes later. *smack* *thunk* *smack* Fumio is overwhelmed by Blade''s masterful use of his eight weapons; fists, legs, elbows and knees. While he, can only use four. Every once in a while, despite his best effort in defending, an elbow or a knee would land anywhere throughout his body and face. He is still feeling hopeful however. Even though he has been hit a lot, and he is now feeling as if he is starting to be killed by a thousand cuts, none of the hits from Blade Tornado rocked him or has struck deeply. At the same time, he himself has given some damages against Blade Tornado by striking the same spots he already struck earlier. He also realized something about Blade Tornado. Blade Tornado, with his current fighting style, will not last long. While Blade Tornado''s Muay Thai is overwhelming, it is starting to tire him out. That is especially the case after Fumio''s wonderful defense that is currently frustrating Blade Tornado. "Huuu" After a three hit combo that did no significant damage, Blade Tornado disengages and hops a few feet away from his opponent. ''Thankfully, Boss'' breathing technique is giving me inhuman stamina. I''ll just have to outlast him.'' Fumio gets an idea immediately and simply assumes a defensive stance. Blade Tornado however, does not approach and simply stands to take a rest a bit. Fumio scratches his tactic of letting Blade Tornado tire himself out and he decides to initiate the attack this time to keep Blade Tornado moving. Fumio briskly walks to his opponent, every step he takes, is taken in caution. His caution however is unneeded as Blade Tornado this time, assumes a defensive position. Fumio then starts with the humble front kick. Blade Tornado then tries to clip Fumio''s leg under his arms. Fumio''s choice of a front kick however was to scout Blade''s reactions, and that reaction satisfies Fumio. He then pulls his leg back before Blade Tornado can even catch it and follows a middle kick with his other leg. Blade Tornado is taken aback by a flashy technique which he figured Fumio does not use based on Fumio''s fighting style, and is too late to dodge Fumio''s fast but wide kick. He then raises his right leg and successfully blocks Fumi''s middle kick, but Fumio''s kick this time is the strongest yet, so he is caught off guard and gets pushed back. He is also a bit tired so he loses his balance. Fumio seeing Blade Tornado stumble, goes in for the kill. He was too hasty however as Blade Tornado suddenly gets him in a clinch; a position he always avoided. That starts a rain of elbows and knees. Fumio tries to slip away, or push Blade Tornado away, but he simply is too inexperienced fighting in a clinching range. "Ugh" Fumio''s insides get rocked as one of Blade Tornado''s knee attacks gets through his defense. He tries to get away, but Blade Tornado is not letting up his hold. Fumio panicking allows Blade Tornado to once again get a knee in and it hits Fumio in the face. "Ooff.." Stars flash in Fumio''s vision as he starts to feel dizzy. Out of desperation, he instead tackles Blade Tornado instead of trying to get away. Blade Tornado, not expecting Fumio resorting to such tactic, failed to defend and he is lifted off the ground. As the two fall, Fumio leans in his shoulder to Blade Tornado''s chest. *Thump* As they land, air is knocked out of Blade Tornado''s lungs and he "Guhhh.." coughs. Fumio while still dizzy, uses his instincts and keeps his weight on Blade Tornado''s body. Blade Tornado meanwhile, gets an idea and tries to clip Fumio''s head under his arms for a guillotine. Fumio however feels that Blade Tornado is not skilled in it, so he easily slips his head out. He then feels that Blade Tornado''s left side is vulnerable so he transitions easily to that side. During the transition Fumio realizes that Blade Tornado he is much more experienced in grappling so he easily traps the man''s head, neck and right arm, using his legs, for a side triangle choke. Blade Tornado, not knowing what to do, tries to pry Fumio off using his remaining arm, but to no avail. He tries then tries to draw his blades out, but it is too late. He is already slipping in and out of consciousness and so the mental concentration he needs for his blades is not enough even draw one out. A few seconds later, Fumio sees Blade Tornado''s eyes roll back to their sockets so he lets go of his choke immediately. This also allows blood to fill Blade Tornado''s head once again, and he is saved from fainting. Fumio then disengages and sighs in relief. Blade Tornado on the other hand simply stays down and he looks at the ceiling in exhaustion. He spent too much energy in his attempts to resist the choke, and adding the lightheadedness from almost fainting, he is momentarily unable to fight. The two men then exchange glances and nod at each other with a smiles. The sparring is over. Chapter 42 - Brunch "Good spar." Red claps his hands in approval as Blade Tornado and Fumio join him and Kotone at the side of the room. "Heh. Yeah." Blade Tornado nods. "I got lucky." Fumio scratches the back of his head, still not believing that he bested Blade Tornado. "How about I use my blades next time? I bet you won''t try grappling then." Blade Tornado puts his arms around Fumio''s shoulders and challenges. "Then I''ll have to use a sword too. I''m a better swordsman than a barehanded fighter." Fumio is not willing to back down. The two men stare at each other before sharing a hearty laugh. Kotone meanwhile, who has already gotten used to her aching limbs and gut, shakes her head, finding it strange that the two who inflicted pain on each other just a minute ago are now smiling at each other like friends. "I hate to break this moment, but Blade, your job here''s done and I have a lecture to do." Red cuts in breaking Blade Tornado and Fumio apart. "Oh" Blade Tornado nods, figuring that Red might have a very secretive teaching style, does not mind being kicked out. "Do you need a hand? Are you hurt seriously somewhere?" Red asks. "Nah. Just a few patches here and there, and I''m good. I''ll go to Muscle Masters tomorrow, maybe." Blade Tornado refuses Red''s help. "Alright. Send me your receipts later, I''ll reimburse what you''ll spend." Red nods. "Nah. From the winnings I got from betting on you? I can handle my own bills." Blade Tornado chuckles. "All I wanted is a good spar, which I was hoping I can do with you. But I already got one." He then pats Fumio''s back. "Wait. Come to think of it. I don''t know your name yet." He realizes and asks Fumio. "Fukashi. You can call me Fukashi." Fumio quickly comes up with a name. "Ah. You do kinda look like a Fukashi." Blade Tornado nods at the name befitting Fumio''s disguise. "Well. Whatever. Fuhashi-san. Let''s do this again some time, yeah? I lack experience in fighting swordsmen, so I might need your help." He offers. "When I have time, I will." Fumio promises, actually looking forward to sparring with Blade Tornado again. After a few more exchange of words, Red tosses another small canister of his herbal cream to Blade Tornado. Blade Tornado accepts the gift with a smile and leaves the room. As soon as the metal doors are closed, Red starts his healing on Fumio and Kotone. The trio are now walking along one of Chofu''s old-school streets just a kilometer''s away from the Combat Gym. "Boss Uhhh" "This" Fumio and Kotone however, suddenly freeze in their steps as they see Red lead them to the entrance of what looks like a high class traditional restaurant. "Hm? I thought you two were hungry?" He asks, puzzled at the two''s reaction. "Boss. Uhhh. I''ve torn my clothes during the spar." Fumio complains. "I accidentally tore mine too." Kotone says, referring to the bottom part of her kimono robe which was torn from the force of her movements during her spar with Blade Tornado. "So? Don''t tell me, you two" Red scoffs. "Boss If you hadn''t had us spar with Blade-san, and our clothes would still look perfect, and my hair and make-up wouldn''t have been ruined, and I would be proudly entering such establishment right now." Kotone argues. "That''s right. That''s right." Fumio nods. "And. Even though our illusions make us look rich, I want to eat great food as my real self." He adds. Red cannot believe that the two care too much about appearances. "Kichirou-san. Why don''t we just go over there?" Kotone points at a random hole in the wall restaurant across the street. " ''***** Udon. Since 1935.'' Hmmm" Fumio reads the restaurant''s signboard. "It''s in a shabby building, but it has some history. It couldn''t be bad. Boss. It''s my treat." He is open to Kotone''s suggestion and he leads the way. Red can only shrug. While he is a bit at a loss that his generosity is adamantly refused, he feels that his two students mean well. As the three enter the restaurant, they realize that its entrance belies the space and number of tables that it actually offers. "Ooof. Thank goodness." Fumio sighs in relief as he looks at the menu board. Despite the immaculate interior of the shop, the prices on the menu all seem fair to him. "I''ll pay for the half, Fumio-san." Kotone offers. "Why not let me? I was supposed to tr-" Red is about to offer but, "NO", Fumio and Kotone surprisingly are very much firm in refusing him and can only follow the two to sit at a nearby table. A minute or so later. "These are enough for 10 people" The middle-aged, kimono-wearing, female server of the restaurant is stunned after finally taking down the orders of the three. "We don''t do take-outs, dear customer." She says, as an indirect way of asking if the three customers are sure of their orders. "Good to know. Anyways, we might add some more." Kotone says. "Oh okay." The server guesses that the group are superiori who can eat a lot. "How about occupying one of our nice private dining rooms upstairs? It has a large table which your orders can fit. Your small table will be cramped if you dine in this area." She can only offer. "That would be great." Kotone accepts. "So Now it makes sense why I was always hungry even if I was eating three full meals a day. I thought it was just in my head." Kotone says after the group settle down in the private room. She finally realizes that the drastic increase in her appetite and her weird cravings in the past two months was due to her increasing strength. "I even went for a check-up. But everything looked perfect, according to the doctor." She adds. "You weren''t eating enough, actually." Red says, surprising Kotone. "That''s why I had you drink a lot of that milkshake while you were training." He continues to explain. "It didn''t taste like milkshake though. It was oily and hard to swallow." Kotone complains. "Hmm. Ah. And here I thought it was some sort of a magical concoction." Fumio chuckles, having once seen Red serve that drink to Kotone, and Kotone downing it with an ugly expression. "Anyways. I also found it strange when I noticed how much I was eating, but unlike you, Kotone, I ate to my heart''s content." He brags. "You will never know the struggles of the female diet." Kotone rolls her eyes. "Uhuh" Fumio dismisses Kotone''s statement, not taking it seriously. "Anyways boss." Fumio turns to Red. "I can eat a whole pot of rice and two kilos of meat every meal and I still don''t get full. I can afford it as you pay me a lot, but is there a way I can get sustenance more efficiently aside from protein bars? I''m sick of stuffing myself with protein bars." His question also making Kotone interested as she is already foreseeing how much she will have to eat in the future. "You''re stronger than me, boss, but I never saw you eat anything, just drink stuff. So, how in the hell do you not starve to death?" He concludes his question. "At my level, I sustain myself differently. You two, on the other hand, can only settle with eating. Increase your intake of coconut oil, animal fat, and various vegetable oils. I''ll make you two a list." Red says. The two students are only at the early stages of their body-forging. Until they reach a stage to which they can start cleansing their mortal bodies, their bodies are still not compatible in absorbing spiritual energy. Had Red not woken up in this world with a body and cultivation that has perfect foundations, he himself will still need to eat food to sustain himself. This is because a body with a high mortal warrior stage with flawed foundations, will not be pure enough to entirely be sustained by spiritual energy, no matter how pure it is. Even though Red finds the problem of his two students valid, he finds it inconvenient at best. He is making their bodies have perfect foundations so they can absorb spiritual energy faster in the future. "By the way, Kichirou-san." Kotone, from the recent revelations to her, has one matter that is brewing in her mind. "Our ''Practice''. Is there a way for my brother to learn it?" She asks. "Haruto? No." Kotone is taken aback by how quick Red answered. "He''s an even nicer person than me. I think it''s worth a try to test him?" She asks. "I mean, I just realized that even though he has his powers back, he wasn''t able to do well in school due to his illness, so he can only be a glorified construction worker. And we all know how people exploit laborers." She reasons. "It''s not a problem with his character, Kotone. It''s his biology. Only the non-superiori have practiced our craft. I don''t know what effect it will have on the superiori. It might be dangerous." Red explains. He has a theory about the matter however, which is planning on testing out in the future. "Oh" Kotone is disappointed. "Good. The superiori already have it good." Fumio sighs in relief. Kotone gives him a glare, but Fumio simply ignores it. "Where would we be right now, Kotone, if we just didn''t happen to cross paths with boss?" Fumio asks instead. "" Kotone is rendered speechless by the rhetorical question. "Anyways. Boss. How rare are ''we''?" Fumio asks Red this time. Kotone also perks up. "I don''t have a universal answer for that, but I''ve seen enough people to draw some theories." Red starts. "After going to practically all the non-superiori shelters and orphanages throughout Japan in the past few years, I found out that out of ten non-superiori, one has potential." "REALLY?" Fumio is pleasantly surprised. Red meanwhile, knows what Fumio is thinking. "Yes. HOWEVER. From what I saw, they only have the potential to be as strong as E or D Class Physical type Superiori even if they train their entire lives." He explains. "Oh" Fumio is disappointed. "But boss I was already D level after only five or so months of training. Same with Kotone. That means we have great potential, right?" He asks. "Yes. And you two are quite rare. Let''s say one out of a hundred thousand, there is one or two whose potentials are the same or even better than you two''s." Red says. "Oh Then why are we your first students? Statistically speaking, in all of Greater Tokyo, with its 35 million population, there would be, what? 350 potential students at least? You should have a student before we met." Fumio asks. "Let''s just say that I wasn''t ready. In fact, even with my strength right now, I''m risking a lot, if someone somehow finds out that I have the knowledge to change the status quo." Red shrugs. Despite his casual tone, Fumio and Kotone realize that the responsibility they have just accepted is even deeper and heavier. The two can only stay silent and ponder what happens to them from now on. Red meanwhile, after saying those numbers to Fumio, is excited once again. In his previous life, the common mortal planes in the endless realms, on average, only supply one potential cultivator in a million people. And rarely do those potential cultivators get to high mortal stage without resorting to herbs and cultivation pills. Therefore, in this realm, he finds the number of potential cultivators very, very abundant. Red, noticing that his two students seem to be still processing the change in their lives, he takes the remote control on the table and turns on the TV. Chapter 43 - Brunch 2 ============ "In the other news. There has been a recent development in the Nikko City serial murders which has wrapped the city in terror over the past six weeks. More from our field reporter, Morimoto Gin." "Thank you, anchor. Just a couple of minutes ago, Superintendent Adachi of the Nikko Police Department called for an emergency press conference. Here are his words." [Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for coming despite the short notice. I have the displeasure to announce another terrible news. Despite the combined efforts of the Nikko Police, our city''s Kumagai Clan, and the numerous hero volunteers in patrolling the entire city, the unknown perpetrator only known as the ''Ice Coffin Killer'' has claimed its 23rd victim last night. [On behalf of the Nikki Police Department, the heroes that are assisting with our efforts, and Nikki City''s Kumagai Clan, we apologize to the victim and their family.] "The latest victim, just like the previous ones, was found dead with a layer of black-colored ice covering their body. The coroners found no other injuries from the victim and they therefore concluded that the cause of death, as usual, is multiple organ failure due to extreme hypothermia from the ice, and hypoxia from having his mouth and nose covered with ice." [We also still have not found the reason as to why Miss Hamasaki cannot read the remaining memories in the bodies our victims, which she herself is baffled by. For now, we are continuing to question a long list of suspects, and we hope that our perpetrator is one of them.] "That is all the updates on the case. From Nikko City, Morimoto Gin, reporting." "Thank you, Morimoto-san. Please, be careful out there." ============ "Huuuu" Kotone and Fumio get goosebumps after listening to the report on TV. "Eugh." Fumio however, shortly gets over the spooky feeling after sipping on his water, and resumes eating. Kotone, looking at Fumio almost unaffected by the report, shakes her head. She then looks at Red only to see the man dazedly nibbling on a huge slice of tonkatsu. "Aren''t you two concerned?" She asks the two. "I am, but what can I do?" Fumio shrugs. "Like, you really can''t do anything?" Kotone raises her brows at him. "I can do something, but it won''t help. I''m following the news of this more than you. I read that two of Kumagai Clan''s top members, both top level B-Class Superiori, are already helping. Even the police from Kanuma were lent to Nikko. There is even an A-Class superiori volunteering." Fumio rationalizes. "What he said." Red rides on Fumio''s excuse. Kotone while suspicious that the two simply cannot be bothered, drops the matter, finding their excuse valid. *ring* *ring* The three''s lunch is interrupted by Fumio''s phone ringing. "Excuse me." Fumio takes out his hpone and, "Hello?", picks up the call. "Uhuh An important lunch Alright. I''ll try asking. AGAIN" As the phone call progressed, he can barely suppress his annoyance to whoever is on the other side of the phone. "Yes, yes. Why are you so concerned? You don''t get cuts from those anyway uhuh Let our side take care of that. Yes. Bye." Fumio then quickly wraps up the call. "Who was that?" Kotone asks, interested at Fumio''s reaction to the call. "NNI Publishing." Fumio says. "Kichirou-san''s publisher?" Kotone''s interest drops. "Well? What do they want?" Red asks. "They were asking again if you would do a book signing event." Fumio reports. "Hmmm Same answer, no." Red waves off the pubisher''s request. "Boss. I just reported it to you this third time. But they''ve actually been calling once or twice a week since you became a best-seller. I don''t think they''ll let up." Fumio sighs. "Why not just do one event? Just enough to shut them up?" He suggests. "Just tell them I''m an oddball artist." Red chuckles, amused at the situation. "That I''m focused on the next volume or something? And that I don''t like distractions?" "Or you can just ignore them. Kichirou-san has the leverage." Kotone cuts in. "Yes, you can do that too." Red approves of Kotone''s suggestion. "Right What''s wrong with me? What can they do indeed?" Fumio chuckles. "They''re trying to wave their experience in front of your face, to manipulate you into convincing me into signing the next volume with them." Red guesses. "But because I didn''t bite, they''re trying to annoy me?" Fumio asks. "Maybe. But one thing''s for sure, they''re desperate and anxious." Red nods. "Heheh I still remember their faces when they were signing the contracts. They had this face like they''re eating dung." Fumio can barely suppress his smugness. "They didn''t think it''ll do well?" Kotone asks. "Uhn Especially Shigeo-san''s friend in that company that wrote up the publishing deal. I still remember him saying, ''What''s Shigeo thinking? A non-superiori world? Alternative history?'', like me, boss, and Shigeo-san are insane for bringing boss'' manga to them. It makes me mad just thinking that the guy might have gotten huge bonuses. He even got a favor from Shigeo-san by giving boss a premium deal." Fumio shakes his head. "Just let it go." Red shakes his head. "No one knew it would do well, would it? Even I. The man risked his reputation and position by taking my work in. Just think of him winning a risky gamble." While he is pleased of Fumio''s loyalty, he finds it unpleasant that Fumio loses logic on things that involve him. "Oh That''s true." Fumio realizes his lack of reason. "Speaking of Shigeo-san. I think he was trying to tell me to tell you that he needs songs again for Musume46." Kotone reports. The two men look at her, curious. "I mean, I did hear once from Fumio that when it comes to your songs, Kichirou-san, Shigeo-san can only talk to Fumio about it. So, I felt weird that he talks about your songs excessively when he chats with me." She explains further. "Heh. With your songs boss, you made Buck-tuck active and popular again. Looks like Shigeo-san is hungry for more." Fumio scoffs. "Hmmm Fumio, how often do pop groups release a song or an album?" Red asks Fumio. "I''m not sure about others boss, but basing it on Musume 46" Fumio starts. "... A full album? Musume46 only had two in their four-year stint. As for single songs, twice or thrice every year, until the time when you gave them three songs all at once for their single album." He reports. "I see Well, I have songs in mind for Musume girls again. I''ll give them three this time too." Red says. "Oh" Fumio is surprised. "*Shrug*" Kotone, not so much and she does not care. "Will they have to change their concept again? While your songs for them were good, but Shigeo-san deciding to suddenly change their concept from youthful, cheerful teen, to a more mature one, just to work around your songs, took a while for me to get used to." Fumio asks. "A bit, but Shigeo-san and the girls won''t have to adjust a lot. It''s midway between their original concept and their current concept. The songs this time are all about youth empowerment, youthful dreams and hope, and all of that growing up stuff." Red vaguely explains. "Ooh Sounds great already." Fumio is excited. "Hmmm. By the way. I''m split into what you two will do next" Red suddenly says, his pondering expression making the other two curious. "It''s either to train you two into taking over Muscle Masters for me, or working for me on my music and manga" "Taking over Muscle Master?" The two do not care about Red''s side projects. "Yes. I''m planning on teaching you two the basics of my massage." Red reveals. "On the other hand, you two can quit the massage shop and just work as my agents or my representatives in my music and manga. That gives you two more time in your training." The two students are stunned of Red''s plans and they ponder again. "I can''t even imagine giving a massage. It looks complicated." Fumio is the first one to get his words back. "True. And even if I can, I don''t think I''m strong enough to give massage to the likes of Gorilla-san." Kotone adds. "You already learned around a quarter, no a third, of what''s required to do the massages." Red says, surprising the two. "The 16 poses. They stretched each and every muscle and tendon in your bodies. That allowed you two to feel, learn, and differentiate individual muscles in your bodies, correct?" He asks, referring to one side-effect of doing the 16 poses. "Even if you two do not know the names of certain muscles, you know where they are and how they feel when stretched." He adds. "So" Fumio gets what Red is saying. "That skill makes it easier for us to visualize the muscles of whoever we''re massaging." "Precisely. And just using the five kneading and stroking techniques I commonly use; you can be my substitute in regular massages like the ones that Musume46 need. The type of massages that office workers like Shigeo and Miss Konno are even easier to do. My massage solutions are also easy to use. Just pour and apply." Red explains. "That easy, huh. It''s doable then." Kotone nods. "I wanna give it a try." "Me too. It''s nice seeing our guests walk out of the massage room happy. Maybe I can give them that too." Fumio is also in. "Good. Let''s finish our food first. We have a long day afternoon." Red says, giving the two forboding. <> Hinohara Village, 1PM Hinohara is a very tiny farming village just a few hours'' drive away to the west of the bustling urban parts of Tokyo. The trio however, did not take hours to travel to the place from Chofu. They have reached Hinohara Village''s center in only ten minutes. "Are you okay?" Fumio asks in half-worry as he tries his best to stop himself from laughing at Kotone who is walking in unstable steps. "I-I''m okay" Kotone tries her best to not puke out the massive lunch she had. "Here you go." Red flares a spiritual healing technique of Kotone, immediately making her feel better. "Huuu. Thank you, Kichirou-san." Kotone is still dazed however. "Oh my goodness I felt like one misstep, we were going to crash to our deaths." She sighs in relief. Over the past five minutes, Red dragged Fumio and Kotone while sprinting at half the speed of sound. Kotone who already found a bullet train fast, almost cannot breath in fear at the speed they were travelling. "You two, wear your disguises." Red orders the two while he himself casts an illusion on himself, making him look like a 60-something year old man with salt and pepper hair. He then leads the two towards the humble building that is Hinohara Village''s multipurpose hall. As the trio enter, Fumio and Kotone cannot help but notice that the building is filled with old people. "Kazuo-kun!" "Oh kid, you''re here!" Red also receives enthusiastic greetings from the crowd in the building, surprising Fumio and Kotone. "Good afternoon, everyone." Red greet them back gracefully. "Oh? Who are these two young ins?" One old lady notices Fumio and Kotone''s presence. "These two are my students. They will be my assistants today." Red introduces his two students. "G-good afternoon, everyone. I''m Fukashi, please take care of me." Fumio is quick on his feet and bows to the crowd. "Good afternoon, everyone, I''m Kotaru." Kotone follows Fumio''s example. "Ohhh. They look lively." The old lady has good impressions of the two. "Kazuo-san!" A 50 something year-old man, dressed casually in a collared t-shirt and khaki pants, and is carrying a clipboard, approaches Red from the side. "Ah. Chief Masuda." Red greets the village chief. "Thank you for coming!" Chief Masuda is pleased to see Red. "I don''t go back on my promises, chief. I can''t disappoint them now can I?" Red addresses the crowd, making them smile. "Is this everyone?" He asks Chief Masuda. "Yes. Can you handle them? Some of them are willing to pay." Chief Masuda says, embarrassed that more than 50 senior villagers are in attendance today, double the size of the attendees the previous month. "No. I won''t accept a dime. Besides, I expected it already, that''s why I brought these two." Red nods. Chief Masuda give Fumio and Kotone thankful looks, burdening the two. "Anyways. It''s time that is the problem, so let''s start right away?" Red asks. "Yes. Yes." Chief Masuda nods and turns towards the crowd of villagers. "Everyone. Master Kazuo will be ready to start his work in a few minutes. Please decide amongst yourself the order of who gets the massage." He instructs the villagers. Kotone and Fumio now realize that this is some sort of a free massage service from Red. Looking at the crooked backs and frail figures of the senior citizens, they cannot help but be moved by Red''s gesture. "You two. Come with me.." Red''s words makes the two eager to help. Chapter 44 - Natural Spirit Formation "Thank you, Kazuo-san for making this old body feel young again." The last villager who came for the massage holds Red''s hand between his palms in gratitude. "You''ve worked in the farms all your life, sir. If I can help you enjoy your retirement better, I''m glad." Red smiles at the old man. "Yes, yes. Thanks to you, I have the strength to travel to the city to visit my grandchildren. Maybe I''ll go tomorrow." The old man is still not letting go of Red''s hand. "Old man. It''s best to let Master Kazuo and his students rest. They have worked all afternoon." Chief Masuda pries the old man off Red. "Heh, heh. You two young-ins. Learn well from your teacher. If there''s still a real God on our world, then your master is doing his work." The old man addresses Fumio and Kotone as his last word in, before walking out of the village center. "Phew It''s finally done. You''ve received thanks all afternoon, but as the chief of this village, I sincerely thank you, Master Kazuo." It is the chief''s turn to express his thanks. "No. Just looking at them feeling better is enough for me." Red shakes his head. "You''re a good man, Master Kazuo. I hope more people are like you." Chief Masuda shakes his head. "Anyways. It''s almost midnight, but I hope you still have the energy to have dinner." He offers. "We have to refuse, Masuda-san. We have to go back to the city." Red refuses. "At this hour? I can''t let you!" Chief Masuda insists. "Besides, I already prepared your accommodations. Not only that, some old ladies insisted on preparing a feast for you in secret earlier, with the villagers all contributing the ingredients for your dinner." He explains. "Well, in that case, I guess we can stay the night." Red, not wanting to refuse the old villagers'' sincerity, accepts. "Unless you want to go home, Kotaru? Someone must be waiting for you." Red asks Kotone, whose life revolves around Haruto. "He can take care of himself, Kazuo-san." Kotone is more curious in spending the night at a rural village. "Good! Now give me a few minutes to lock the place and I''ll bring you there." Chief Masuda excitedly goes back to his office to grab the keys. "How are you two?" Red asks Fumio and Kotone, finding the two too quiet. "I feel hungry, boss. Heheh.." Fumio scratches his head. "But aside from that, I feel great." He adds. The expression on his face tells Red and Kotone that he enjoyed the work. "I had fun as well, Kichirou-san. Thank you for bringing me along." Kotone says, smiling remembering the thanks and the smiles she received throughout the afternoon. A few minutes later. Chief Masuda parks the car in the clay road and turns off the engine. He just brought Red''s group to their accommodation for the night. After getting out of the car, the strangers to the place look around. They are currently in the yard in front of an old and well-preserved, two-story traditional house located in the middle of a hill a few kilometers away from the village center, surrounded by lush vegetation. Fumio and Kotone, cannot help but be spooked looking at the shadows and silhouettes of the overgrown shrubbery around the house. The grey moonlight hitting the leaves are not helping with the eerie feeling. "It looks a bit spooky, no?" Chief Masuda notices the faces of the two students. "I''m sorry. I did not consider how this place would look like during the night." He can only apologize. "Masuda-san. I have to say, I love this place." Red, on the other hand, appreciates the view from the yard, overlooking the hilly and green terrain of Hinohara. Unlike the three, his eyes can see through the darkness. He then looks up, "The sky is unstained, displaying the moon and the stars in their full beauty.", and says in appreciation. This makes Fumio, Kotone and Chief Masuda look up and they cannot help but take in the purplish-blue beauty of the sea of stars in the night sky. "And it seems that I can enjoy the view of the mountains and hills during the day." He turns to Chief Masuda. "I only figured that people of the city would appreciate the peace and quiet of the countryside. It looks like I always took for granted the sky." Chief Masuda is proud of his decision of brining the trio to this accommodation. "Right. Whose house is this, by the way? You didn''t have someone give up their house for a night just for us, no?" Red asks. "Ah. You don''t have to worry. This is a house of one of our former elders who passed last year." Chief Masuda explains. This makes Kotone and Fumio flinch, amusing Chief Masuda. "Oh. Don''t worry. Chouko-san didn''t die here. She actually lived her final two years in the city with her son and his family and departed while being surrounded by people who loved her." He clarifies, making Fumio and Kotone at ease. "I see. By any chance, does Chouko-san''s property include the land surrounding the house? They look like abandoned vegetable farms to me." Red asks. "Yes, the entire hill, in fact. Unfortunately, her son, Tadao-kun, has already made a good career in the city so he can only ask the village association to take care of the property. Even if he didn''t ask, many would volunteer. After all, Chouko-san was one of the pillars of the village and has helped many people." Chief Masuda smiles for a moment before wearing a disappointed face. "Unfortunately. The village, as you see, is aging. The younger ones migrated to the city for better opportunities and education for their kids. No one has the energy to tend to Chouko-san''s land, no matter how fertile it is. Even when she was still alive, she just farmed a small part of it. "Even when she offered other farmers to rent it for a cheap price, they already had enough on their hands. In fact, when Tadao-kun inherited this, he actually offered it to the villagers to be borrowed for free, but even then, no one took the opportunity." "A shame." Red nods. To himself meanwhile, he finds this place very useful. Apart from the property being in the middle of nowhere, vegetated by lush pine trees and wild shrubs, Red noticed, since they entered the vicinity of the area, that the place is rich in spiritual energy. He then gets down on one knee, stabs his hand on the clay ground and grabs a handful of it. He closes his eyes for a moment, and shakes his head as he opens his eyes. He then walks to the nearest shrub, takes a leaf from it, and takes a bite of it. After savoring the taste of the leaf, he takes a deep breath. ''Natural Spiritual Energy Gathering Formation'' He cannot help but grin. He feels that the hill they are currently in, just happens to be in the middle of a natural Spiritual Energy Gathering Formation which is made up of the pattern formed by the natural arrangement and distribution of the nearby hills and mountains in the distance. Although he has not scoured the entirety of Japan, he has traveled around enough to figure out that natural spiritual energy works the same as that in the infinite realms. The countryside offers a thicker atmospheric spiritual energy than the cities. Not because of nature, but because of its population. He knows that the more people who can use spiritual energy, i.e. the superiori, populate a certain area, that area''s atmospheric spiritual energy is used more and therefore is deprived with it. That is why when Red first visited Hinohara village a few months back, he did not find the thicker spiritual energy a surprise. Especially when Hinohara Village only have a population of 1,500 and those 1,500 people live in houses that are a distance away from their neighbors. Tonight however, when the group are on their way up the hill, Red feels that the atmospheric spiritual energy of the hill is around seven to eight times thicker than the rest of Hinohara Village''s; an environment that is very useful to a cultivator. He first suspected that the source of it is a mineral vein that is rich in spiritual energy, but that guess is scratched as he did not sniff out anything special from the handful of clay he grabbed from the ground. As for why he is sure that the cause of the rich spiritual energy comes from a natural spiritual formation, it is because of the leaf he took a taste of. The shrub it came from grew lush not because of the spiritual energy from the ground, but from the spiritual energy in the air. "Boss, what are you doing?" Fumio asks, expressing not only his, but Kotone''s and Chief Masuda''s confusion of Red''s actions. "Just having a feel of the land." Red gets over his excitement. While he has been using spiritual gathering seals and formations in his apartment to grow his plants, the spiritual energy in the city is thin, so there is a limit to how much spiritual energy the gather seals can condense. While he can also apply spiritual gathering seals in a rural place, he cannot afford the materials to make enough seals that can cover an entire hill unlike the Natural Formation he is in, currently does. "Do you know about farming, Kazuo-san?" Chief Masuda asks as he found Red''s actions pretentious. "Not really. I''m more of a gardener, really. I grow the herbs I use to make my massage solutions. And those plants require good soil and environment." Red explains. "I see." Chief Masuda believes Red''s words this time. "By any chance, is Tadao-san looking to sell this property?" Red asks. "He is." Masuda nods. "Are you interested?" He asks. "I actually am." Red says, surprising Chief Masuda. Chief Masuda was just making small talk, but he did not expect Red to take his question seriously. "Well. Even if you''re interested in this place, are you sure you can take care of it?" He asks, feeling protective of the property. "Of course." Red simply smiles at the man. Chief Masuda does not know why, but somehow he trusts Red. "Let''s talk about it some other time." He nods. "To the matter at hand, dinner? The ladies were done cooking an hour ago and already left, so the food must already be cold." He then leads the group in the house. Red and his students find the dining table in the dining area, full of food. Vegetables, duck, chicken, and pork, all cooked in different ways are lying prettily, just waiting to be devoured. Chief Masuda then materializes an orange transparent box between his hands and expands it to cover the entire table. Fumio and Kotone nod at how convenient the ability is. A few minutes later, "Please. Enjoy." Chief Masuda is done warming the food. "Join us, Chief." Red offers. "No, no. I''ll be in the dog house if I don''t eat the dinner my wife prepared at home." Chief Masuda refuses. "Well, then. That''s understandable." Red nods, feeling that Chief Masuda''s excuse is true. "Uhn. If you need a ride to the bus stop tomorrow, just give me a call. And, you can all just leave the dirty dishes in the huge basin in the backyard. I''ll have someone clean them up tomorrow." Chief Masuda instructs one more time, and leaves. "Help yourselves." Red starts eating immediately. "Thanks for the meal" The hunger in his two students override any sort of hesitations. "Hmm Don''t look as good, or as tasty as our breakfast in Chofu but Somehow" Fumio cannot express the joy he is feeling as the warm food enters his stomach. "It''s the best food I''ve ever had in a while." Kotone agrees. "Good." Red nods. "At first, I just wanted to help the old folks around here. But feeling their gratitude, tasting the care in their food they offer, feeling the pride they put in growing these ingredients they can hardly sell, I just had to come back a few more times." He shares. His explanation somehow makes the food taste even better for Kotone and Fumio. Chapter 45 - A Night In Hinohara Fumio is wakened from his sleep. He immediately hears the sounds of crickets singing and leaves dancing in the wind from outside. It takes him a second or two to realize that he is spending the night at a humble farm house in Hinohara with Red and Kotone after a sumptuous dinner. After leveling his mastery of the basic breathing technique, his senses have also become more sensitive. The sounds of nature therefore are more apparent to him, and it relaxes his mind. A few seconds later however, that peace is disturbed. "Umf" d''pnhfgw" "odwgf" "ngvoi" "nnadfato" . He hears a muffled female voice, which he recognizes as Kotone''s, speaking gibberish, coming from the room next to his. He realizes that it must have been what disturbed his sleep. He chuckles for a second, finding Kotone sleep talking, amusing. He is about to go back to sleep when, "FHAF" "YJSDF" "TRFSAD" "BNTEA" "AERAFHA" Kotone''s sleep talking becomes louder. This time, Fumio is spooked as he feels a tinge of panic and fear in Kotone''s voice. He gets worried so he immediately gets up and briskly walks out of his room. Arriving in front of the sliding door of Kotone''s room, he opens it a bit, just enough for Kotone''s figure lying on a futon, to appear in his view. He then sees Kotone that has her eyes are wide open, her face is wearing a panicked expression, and beads of sweat on her forehead. "N-no" "Mom? " "Dad? " "Wake up!" "Haruto" He now hears Kotone''s words more clearly and he figures that she seems to be having a bad dream. He is confused and scared however. He had not seen anyone have a nightmare before, much more someone having a nightmare with their eyes open. As Kotone continues to mumble gibberish, Fumio carefully slides the room''s door wide open, enters, and approaches Kotone. "H-hey" He calls out. Kotone however, is unaffected and her face stays the same, her eyes still open in fear. "KOTONE." He then calls out more firmly this time, but just like before, his calls are useless. "FHAF" "YJSDF" "TRFSAD" "BNTEA" "AERAFHA" Kotone''s mumbling gets louder again, and Fumio''s worry furthers. He thinks fast, and only one thing comes to his mind. "Boss. He might know what to do." He quickly leaves the room to find Red. "Where''d he sleep though?" Fumio then remembers that there are only two bedrooms in the house and the living room, kitchen and dining area are one, so he quickly descends the stairs down to the first floor. "Where is he?" Fumio''s stomach drops finding no signs of Red. He then runs outside the house and, "BOSS!" he calls out loudly, his voice piercing the sound of the rustling leaves and cicadas. Fortunately, *WHOOSHHH* Red suddenly appears in front of him. Fumio drops his curiosity of where Red has been, and, "Boss. Kotone''s having a nightmare. I don''t know what to do.", explains the situation promptly. "Hm? Everyone has nightmares." Red says in a dismissive tone. "But boss. She looks scared, like she''s about to die. I don''t think it''s a simple nightmare." Fumio says and briskly walks in the house to lead the way. Red tilts his head in curiosity and follows inside. <><><><><><><><><><> "Lalala Lalala" A family of four is singing along to the song on the car stereo to fight the boredom while waiting for the slow rush hour traffic of the city main street to move. The song on the stereo is the favorite of song of the two parents in their late 30s, and the two kids, a 13-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, have listened to the song enough times that they have grown to like it. Suddenly *SCREAMS* *CRASH* they hear sounds of chaos from afar and slowly drawing near. People stuck in traffic all rush out of their vehicles, abandoning them as they follow the people in the sidewalks that are running away from the main streets to safety. The two parents'' faces pale for a second having an obvious suspicion in their minds, so they too take off their seatbelts and their kids'', and not long after, they are out of their car. The father picks up his boy while the mother assists her daughter, making the family run faster. They are not fast enough however to join the evacuating crowd. The screams from the people fleeing grows louder, and the sounds of destruction that was quite away just a few seconds ago, are now drawing near. *growl* *smash* *smash* The family look behind them and they see a stampede coming their way, made up of oversized animals that are already large in size like bears, elephants, lions, tigers, and wolves. These animals however are not made of warm flesh and hot blood, but of cold and hard limestone. These stone beasts are bulldoze through the cars in their way without regard for injuries. The father and the mother know that these animals are not after them, but they know that they will surely be stomped if they cannot flee fast enough. Unfortunately, the two parents, know that fleeing is longer an option, and can only stay in the road. The mother embraces her son, hoping to provide at least a bit of protection. The father meanwhile, embraces his daughter as he converts as much concrete off the road into a six feet tall wall, hoping to buy his family some time, or at least divert the stone beasts. He is however, but an E Class Superiori and his big wall is immediately cracked by one of the stone beasts charging. A stone wolf then breaks through the wall and *thwack* inadvertently stomps the mother. "NO!" The father and the teenage daughter cannot help but cry out in sorrow. But the animals are emotionless and are not even acknowledging the dying woman in their way. The father can only grab the son who was pushed aside by the mother, and pushes him to his daughter to keep the boy away from danger. "Don''t look Don''t look." The mother has enough strength left to plead her children to look away. The teenage daughter, in tears, simply grabs her brother for an embrace, and buries his head on her chest so he does not have to see what she saw. The mother, seeing her daughter''s actions smiles proudly. She gives one more consoling smile to her daughter before being released from her pain by a huge claw of a passing stone tiger. The father and the daughter''s hearts break but they have no time to grieve. The father gets his concentration back and summons a concrete dome around him and his children. He then puts his arms around his children, making himself be another layer of the kids'' protection. The dome however is but a nuisance to the stampeding beasts. One stone elephant just happens to kick the dome, immediately breaking it apart. Along with the pieces of concrete, the father and the son are swept by the kick and they fly a few feet to the side before smashing to a car. The teenage daughter meanwhile, is miraculously safe until the last of the stampeding beasts have passed through. The crisis passing, the daughter immediately runs to her father and brother, hoping to help them. She then notices that her father is pale, with blood leaking out of his mouth. "*cough T-take him away He''s hurt." The father manages to instruct his daughter. "What about you father?" The daughter asks. "Don''t worry about me. Your brother needs help." The father says one last time before going limp and collapsing to the ground. "HELP THEM!" Some of the remaining pedestrians, having witnessed the family''s tragedy, rush to the teenage girl and her brother immediately. The teenage girl, now in safe hands of the crowd, finally processes her loss. "Mom Dad Wake up" She can only cry in denial. Despite her tears, her loss is too heavy for simple crying to relieve it, and her world goes dark. She does not know how much time has passed but as she opens her eyes, "Lalala Lalala" she is back in her family''s car, with the family still singing along to the song on the stereo. She felt like she just had a nightmare. As he is about to sigh in relief, she realizes that she cannot control her body. Her body is still singing without a care in the world. She tries her best to warn her family what is about to happen, only to no avail. The next moment, *SCREAMS* *CRASH*, the scene from earlier replays once again. The stampede of the stone beasts, her parents suffering their tragedy, her powerless to stop it, and finally her blacking out. "Lalala Lalala" "*cough T-take him away He''s hurt." She does not know how many times the scene has replayed, but the fear, and the pain from the loss has not eased one bit. "*cough T-take him away He''s hurt." As she prepares herself to watch the tragedy once more, something has changed. After blacking, she no longer returns to the earlier scene in the car with her family. Instead, she now finds herself among a dark void. She does not have the time to process the new development as suddenly, a transparent figure of her parents materializes in front of her. "M-mom, D-dad." She then sees her father and mother smile at her bitterly. "I''m sorry." Her father gets the first word in. "W-why did this happen?" The girl can only ask, unwilling, and resentful that her family had to be the victims. "I don''t know, dear. But it already happened, and there is nothing we can do." Her mother answers. "I''m just sorry that we have passed early. I''m sorry that we won''t be there to see you and your brother grow up to be fine adults." She walks towards her daughter and caresses her daughter''s cheek. "And I''m sorry for being a weak father, my princess." Her father too gets closer to her and gives her an apologetic smile. "Y-you''re not weak, dad." Tears run down the girl''s face once again. "You saved us." She adds. "A father will always want to do more more for their children" Her father says as he plays with her hair with his fingers. "But now that we''re gone, I can''t buy you that purse you always wanted. And I can''t get the action figure your brother wants." He continues. "I don''t want anything" The girl can only shake her head strongly, in tears. "I just want you two back." "We want to be with you and your brother too, baby. That''s all what we want in the world... But we can''t. You also know that we can''t." Her mother gives her a consoling smile. The girl cannot say anything else. "But maybe you can do something for selfish parents like us?" Her mother asks. "A-anything." The girl tries to be strong. "You and your brother only have each other now. I hope that you always love each other, help each other, take care of each other. Can you do that for us?" Her mother asks. "I will!" The girl promises, with resolve in her eyes. "That''s my girl!" Her father chortles in delight. "I already know you will grow up to be a strong woman!" "As do I And knowing that makes us happy." Her mother says. "Honey, I think we can leave this world without worry." Her father says. "I''m relieved as well." Her mother smiles to her father. "Uhn! My little princess..." Her father turns his attention back to her. "Dad and mom will leave now, is that okay with you?" He asks. "I-I''m not okay but" The girl is still in denial but she has no choice but to nod. "Good girl." Her mother gives her an embrace. "I guess this is goodbye." Her father joins the embrace. After the long while, the three release each other from their embrace. The lass is now feeling much better. She then sees her father offer his hand to her mother, which her mother takes. The two then turn away from her, which breaks her heart. She wants to stop them from leaving, but she knows she cannot. "One last thing." She feels hopeful as she sees her father look back to her. "I know I didn''t say it enough as a father should, but I love you, Kotone." <><><><><><><><><><> Kotone wakes up to the sound of chirping birds, the rustling of leaves. She opens her eyes to see the bright sunlight hitting the white paper panel of her window. While in a daze, her dream replays in her head. "That didn''t happen before" She is confused however, because the latter part of her dream is a first. She then takes a deep breath, not knowing what to make of it. Suddenly, she feels wetness on the sides of her head, bothering her. She then flips around to see that her pillow is wet. She then touches her eyes and realizes that they are wet too, including the back of her head. She realizes that she cried again in her sleep, for the first time in a long, time. "Mom, dad" A sense of nostalgia then hits her and she smiles. Unlike the plenty of times that she woke up from her nightmare feeling terrible, she feels great today. *knock* *knock* "Kotone, are you up?" She then hears Red knock and call out to her from outside her door. "Yes, Kichirou-san." She replies and she immediately sits up from her futon. "Good. Fumio and I made breakfast..." She hears Red say before his footsteps fade away. "Breakfast" She utters, Red''s invitation making her feel warm. Chapter 46 - Promotion "H-hey~ Kotone." Fumio greets Kotone as he sees her descend the stairs to the dining area. "Hey." Kotone immediately notices that something is awkward in Fumio''s greeting, but she joins Fumio and Red at the dining table nonetheless. "Did uh did you sleep well?" Fumio asks. The question makes the atmosphere between the trio odd. Red side-eyes Fumio. Fumio almost knocks his own forehead in regret. And Kotone immediately figures that her night terror must have been heard by Fumio and Red. "Did I disturb you two? I''m sorry." She apologizes. "What? No This is uh, a nice place and I slept well. I was just curious if you did too." Fumio hastily comes up with an excuse before starting to set up Kotone''s side dishes for her. Fumio acting awkward and more hospitable than usual however, makes Kotone more apologetic. "It''s fine. Everyone has nightmares. However, I noticed that your nightmare last night was not normal. Must be a recurring one?" Red asks. "Yes." Kotone, caught off-guard by the accuracy of Red''s guess, can only admit. "From childhood?" Red asks. "Yes." Kotone nods. "Then I have to apologize. I know that recurring nightmares are triggered by stressors. Had I known, I should have not let you deal with all the events yesterday all at once, when I could have slowly introduced them to you." Red expresses his regret. "It''s fine, Kichirou-san. Really." Kotone assures. "It''s true that I get nightmares when there are changes in my life. When I moved here to Nerima with my brother, when I started working for you, when I started training. But after I got used to those changes, the nightmares don''t appear." She explains. "Are you sure?" Red asks. "Yes. In fact, I feel great today. I don''t know what happened, but something was different with my nightmare last night. Usually after a nightmare, I would wake up with a throbbing headache, and I would feel sluggish. But today, I feel light or should I say Less burdened." Kotone explains with a subtle smile on her face and her eyes unfocused as she replays in her head the latter part of her dream in her mind. Has her attention not left Red and Fumio, she would not have missed the questioning stare that Fumio is giving Red. "Well then. I''m glad you''re fine." Red nods as he starts eating, prompting his two students to start eating as well. <> *Clank* Kotone and Fumio just finished washing the dishes together. As the two wipe their hands on their self-cleaning clothes, "You two, come out.", they hear Red call out to them from outside the door leading to the backyard. "How does he know we''re done? No... don''t you think that he can see through walls?" Kotone asks Fumio in amusement. "Figures. Maybe the same skill he uses when fighting blind in the arena." Fumio shrugs. "I''d love to watch him fight some time." Kotone gets curious. "It''s a spectacle. You should ask boss." Fumio suggests. Stepping out to the backyard, they see Red standing with his back against them, facing the woods up the hill. The two can only wait as they feel like Red has orders. "Kotone. I want you to go back to Nerima." Red instructs. "Hm just me?" She asks, just to be sure. "Yes." Red turns towards his students. "Go check on your brother. I know you''re worried." "I already talked to him over the phone earlier." Kotone reports. "I see. Take a few days off anyway. Adjust to your strength." Red instructs. "Will that be fine?" Kotone is not confident training without supervision. "Yes. Why don''t you start running from here to the highway down the hill?" Red smirks as he pulls out a black hoody, black sweat pants, and a pair of running shoes from his storage space and offers them to Kotone. "" Kotone cannot even come up with anything to say at the ridiculous instruction and can only stare at the clothes. "Or would you like me to escort you back to Nerima? It cuts down the time." Red suggests. "N-no I''ll jog to the highway No, to the village center and then take the bus from there." Kotone is reminded of the deadly speed at which they traveled yesterday under Red''s mercy, so she immediately accept the change of clothes. Red then pulls out five ten-thousand yen note from his storage space and, "Okay. Take this for you fare and snacks", hands it to Kotone. Kotone accepts it without hesitation. "How about you two?" She asks, curious as to why she is going back alone. "I will start the next step of Fumio''s training so we will stay here for a few days." Red says. Kotone nods in understanding. "What if we get appointments at the shop?" Kotone asks. "Don''t take them for now until I''m back." Red says. "Oh Musume46 reserved Wednesday, by the way. Shall I cancel their appointment too?" Kotone asks "Yes. I don''t know how well Fumio will do, so I''m not sure if I''ll be back by Wednesday. In case the other customers don''t take the news well, just tell them that I''m busy making massage solutions." Red shrugs. "Okay." Kotone finds that Red''s excuse is perfect. Red meanwhile is a bit disappointed that Kotone was unable to see an opportunity right in front of her. "Wait a minute Correct me if I''m wrong, Kotone, but you seem to have been enjoying performing the massage on the elderly yesterday?" He asks Kotone. "Yes, Kichirou-san. Especially after you said that I was doing well and that I had potential." Kotone smiles, remembering the gratitude from the villagers who she served with massages. "Then it won''t be a bad idea to have you give the Musume girls their massage, no?" Red suggests. "Huh What?" Kotone is taken aback at Red''s words. "Oho Kotone" Fumio is interested at Kotone''s potential job promotion. He is not jealous at all as during yesterday''s massage service with the villagers, he immediately realized that Kotone picks up Red''s teaching much easier than he did. "You heard me." Red smirks. "W-wh But, Kichirou-san BOSS. Correct me also if I''m wrong, but didn''t I just start learning yesterday?" While Kotone is flattered at the chance, simply thinking about doing a job that she has come to appreciate after months of Red''s massages on her during training, has her feeling very burdened. "You were doing well with the villagers yesterday. Didn''t they thank you? Didn''t they walk out of there smiling?" Red reminds her of her achievements. "S-sure But I still feel it''s too sudden, Kichirou-san." Kotone is not confident at all. "Hey Kotone." Fumio interrupts. "I felt like yesterday was supposed to be a test or something. Boss just let me try to massage three people. Keyword. TRY. I didn''t finish each of those massages before boss took over. And after that, he made me your assistant instead." "That happened?" Kotone is surprised. "Yes. Maybe you didn''t see it because you were too focused" Fumio nods. "Now. You on the other hand, after a few hiccups, like making that one grandpa scream because you applied too much strength" He continues. Kotone blushes at this. "you were doing a fine job. Boss didn''t take over, and just guided you. That means he trusted you. Didn''t he also stop looking over your shoulder during the latter part of the night?" Fumio''s words give Kotone some confidence. "He''s right." Red nods. "You might not trust yourself, but you can trust my standards. If I say that you''re ready, you''re ready." "O-okay Okay" Kotone starts to breathe faster in excitement. "BUT." Red is not finished, deflating Kotone''s excitement. "I''m only allowing you to service Musume46, the other folks from their agency, and the office buddies. After all, they probably cannot tell how far apart our massage skills are." He adds. "That''s That''s still great, Kichirou-san. That''s still like Over half of our regulars, right?" Kotone gets excited again, but she can control it better this time. "Good. I''ll unlock the storage room for you tonight. If you want to feel more at ease, take some of the solutions from there and practice on the young Haruto at home, or something." Red suggests. "I-I will." Kotone is glad to share the experience with her brother. With that, Kotone leaves Red and Fumio alone to change her clothes, and start her travel back to the city. "Shit I''m jealous" Fumio chuckles. "Well I''ll probably teach you how to mix medicines and solutions in the future. Even if you can''t do massages well, you were a natural in telling the massage solutions apart. Your memory is very good too, so I can probably teach you my brand of herbology." Red says. "Really?" Fumio''s jealousy is immediately erased. "Really. But for now. A more important matter at hand." Red calms Fumio down. "Boss uh Is the next training painful?" Fumio asks nervously. "Of course. But you can take it." Red shrugs as he starts walking to the woods. Fumio can only follow. "So Boss" Fumio, to ease his nervousness about their destination, starts conversation. "Is Kotone really alright? Like. It was a serious nightmare She also calls out to her parents and her brother in regular intervals. I felt bad when I saw her eyes wide open in fear, but watching it happen over and over again, it was creepy." He asks. "She''s fine. She said so herself." Red says. "I know, boss. But You had something to do with her being fine, right?" Fumio asks, suspicious. "I don''t know what you mean." Red feigns ignorance. "Come on boss. You kinda just knelt by her, and closed your eyes for a few minutes, you were even frowning. Then when you opened your eyes again, Kotone closed her eyes and she never opened them again ''til she woke up. I know you did something, boss." Curiosity is nagging at Fumio as he simply found Red''s actions during the night mysterious. "Have you heard of emotional support? Being there is enough. And that''s all what I did." Red shrugs. Fumio is about to ask, but somehow, he feels that he will not get any more answers, so with that, they enter silence. A few minutes later, Red stops in the middle of a small grass clearing in the middle of the woods. Fumio too, stops and waits in nervousness. Red then turns to face Fumio, then sits down on the grass, in lotus position. He then gestures Fumio to do the same. Fumio always had problems in sitting in stairs and public floors and grounds, but remembering that his kimono has automatic cleaning, he sits on the grass without care. The lotus position too is now very easy for him to do after doing the more difficult poses of Red''s 16 poses. "So You must have realized now why I told you to practice the breathing I taught you until you do it almost subconsciously, correct?" Red breaks the silence. Fumio takes a few seconds, before shaking his head. "I don''t know boss. But one thing''s for sure. After getting comfortable using it in my daily life, somehow, I have more energy to spare in training. And I don''t think it''s just because of the increase in my body strength because my mind also seems clearer." Fumio describes his experience. "I noticed that you also have condensed the steps of the breathing, making it look indistinguishable to how you used to breathe." Red observes. "Oh... I didn''t notice" Fumio realizes. "But yes. Come to think of it, I don''t need to think of the steps anymore, I just feel it when I''m not doing it right, especially when I wake up after sleep or a nap." He adds. "Good." Red nods. "Now.. You''re ready to learn more about spiritual energy." Chapter 48 - Kotone The Masseuse Nerima, Muscle Masters - 10 AM "Tomiichi-san. Excuse me." Kotone is distracted from her massage by a woman entering the massage area. "What is it, Mizuho-chan?" The sixty something year-old customer asks his secretary. "A phone call from the Vice Speaker." Mizuho reports as she walks to the massage table and reaches out Tomiichi''s phone to his reach. "Kotaru-san. Let''s stop for a moment." Tomiichi says to the in-disguise Kotone. "Give me." He then takes the phone. "Vice Speaker. What is it?" He greets the person on the other end of the phone. "Uhuh Already? It''s only been a week since the vote." "Then what? Do we expect another round of votes?" "Alright I''ll wait for the good news. Bye." Soon, Tomiichi''s phone call ends and he sighs. "Eigh. What a nuisance." He mutters as he hands back his phone to Mizuho''s care. "Let''s continue." He then orders Kotone. Mizuho also walks out of the massage room. While Kotone is curious of the phone call by the congressman, she is not curious enough to be interested, so she simply continues her work. "Kotaru-san. What do you think of the decision of the House of Representatives last week?" Tomiichi suddenly asks. "I don''t follow politics that much, congressman." Kotone replies in honesty. "But you must have at least heard of the decision by the congress last week about the Universal Basic Income for the Non-Superiori, yes?" Tomiichi asks. "All I heard was it was not passed." Kotone comments. "Uhn. What do you think of that?" Tomiichi asks. "I was not surprised. If it was an ideal world, I think it would have passed." Kotone voices honestly. "Ah Are you a superioris, Kotaru-san?" Tomiichi asks. "Yes, sir." Kotone, knowing that this certain customer is a superioris supremacist, lies. "Then why did you think the bill was going to be passed?" Tomiichi asks. Kotone wants to say she thinks the non-superiori deserve it, but she does not want to offend Tomiichi. "Because almost half of the congress is made up of non-superiori. I thought they would surely vote a bill that benefits them. And I''m also sure that there are superiori congressmen who feel for the plight of the non-superiori, so I thought they would have voted yes too. So with that, I had hope that the bill would have been passed." Kotone explains. "Ah Heh." Tomiichi chuckles, annoying Kotone. "It''s not that simple. Most people also thought the same, but they just don''t understand politics." "Hmmm. I know. But I just wish it isn''t about politics but helping out the less fortunate." Kotone lets her real thoughts slip. "You''re a very nice person, Kotaru-san. The world is full of nice people indeed." Tomiichi says. Kotone feels however that the comment is not a compliment. "By any chance, have you signed those petitions against the house''s decision?" Tomiichi asks. "No sir. But I''m guessing many did." Kotone says. "Yes. In just a week, those parties already received two million signatures. They''re working hard." Tomiichi sneers. "But it''s useless. The non-superiori congressmen that you, Kotaru-san, and other people think of as allies of the non-superiori population, are not simple. If things were simpler, then this bill would have passed long ago." Kotone hears a smirk in Tomiichi''s voice and she had to stop herself from inflicting pain on the man. "Well. Politics or not, who are still the people in charge? The reason why I don''t care much for politics is because the democracy in our country is a sham." Kotone scoffs, her words surprising Tomiichi. "A sham brought about by the Superior Clans being nice. Wait. No. Huh they can control the population better if the population feel that they are free. So it''s not them being nice." Kotone starts rambling. Ever since knowing Fumio, who was a member of a small superioris clan, she was disillusioned by Fumio''s ramblings about how Japan''s society works. " No matter how powerful one is, whether politically, or economically, they will remain the dogs of the Superiori Clans. And ordinary people like me, superioris or not, will remain the sheep." Kotone concludes. "heh-heh If you weren''t a great substitute for Kichirou-san, I would never want to see you again." Tomiichi tries his best to hide being offended. "I''m just frustrated. Had the bill been passed, I would still have hope for sheep like me." Kotone on the other hand, smirks proudly. She cannot believe that she just called a congressman a dog and she got away with it. -A few minutes later.- "Please come again, congressman." Kotone bids goodbye to Tomiichi and closes the door of the shop. "Tsk If only you didn''t have influence, I wouldn''t have accepted your appointment." She utters. The congressman, being a regular of the shop, is someone that Kotone grown familiar of. She has overhead the man''s opinions when she was working as the shop''s receptionist. But she found out today that the more comfortable the man feels, the more bigoted he becomes and the things he said during his massage are still bothering her. "Ugh." She can only shrug it off and pulls out her phone to distract herself from remembering the man''s ramblings. "Huh?" She then gets a surprise after seeing that she just missed seven calls from an unknown number. She then hurriedly calls it, in case it is an emergency. "Hello?" /Yes. Is this Yoshida Kotone? Iwai Kichirou''s representative?/ A man''s voice answers from the other end of the line. "Yes, sir. I apologize as I was busy. What''s the call about?" She asks. /Oh. We are calling from Nishitama District Office. Mr. Kichirou can now receive a copy of the deed of his land in Hinohara from the Recorder''s office./ Kotone sighs in relief. Her errand is almost finally over. -Nishitama District Office, Mizuho 2 PM- "Kotone-san, please extend my thanks to Kichirou-san." Tadao bows in gratitude to Kotone. "I will." Kotone bows back as she embraces the file case on her arms. The file case contains the things that kept her up at night for the past two weeks. "You didn''t have to accompany me to get the new deed. I know you''re a busy man." She also thanks Tadao. "It''s nothing, Kotone-san. It''s my responsibility. I had to see it to the end to make sure that not even clerical errors will get in the way." Tadao waves off Kotone''s gratitude. "Well, then. I have to go to Hinohara and hand the documents over to Kazuo-san." Kotone says. "About that Did uhhh Kazuo-san and his students say something about the property?" Tadao asks. Kotone''s brows furrow at the oddly timed question. After all, the house and land in Hinohara where she once visited, is no longer Tadao''s, but Red''s. "Aside from how beautiful and peaceful it is, nothing else." Kotone replies. "I see I just found it strange that Kichirou-san, who I never met, bought the property double the market price." Tadao says. "He simply does not have the time to... Well, he cannot be bothered to go back and forth with you in case you wanted to negotiate." Kotone comes up with an excuse she thinks Red might use. "Ah" Tadao can only accept the explanation. "By the way. How is Kazuo-san and Kichirou-san related? Did Kichirou-san buy the property for Kazuo-san?" Tadao asks. "Yes. Something like that." Kotone simply nods, not wanting to explain anything. "I-I see." Tadao sees that Kotone does not want to talk about it. "Anyways. Please extend my thanks to Kazuo-san too. I feel at ease after he promised that he won''t change a thing in my childhood home." He switches subjects. "I will." Kotone nods, but a question crosses her mind. "Tadao-san. I believe that you can no longer visit your childhood home without Kazuo-san''s permission, how could you be so sure that Kazuo-san will keep his promise?" She asks. "I just know that I can trust Kazuo-san." Tadao shrugs. "I see." Kotone is already used to people always having good impressions of Red whether he is in disguise or not. After parting with Tadao, Kotone finds a caf near the government office building. She then goes to the caf bathroom, turns on her ''Kotaru'' illusion, and leaves the caf immediately. She then pulls out her phone, opens the GPS and marks Hinohara Village''s center as her destination. With that, she starts her run. Ever since Red released her seals, Kotone found the habit of running from city to city in early mornings, enjoying her newfound mobility. Her being able to run at a speed of a car, gives her a feeling of unprecedented freedom. Adding Red''s illusion seal which she can use for half a day straight, offers her the anonymity to break the superiori speeding laws in public roads and sidewalks. After Red found out Kotone''s newfound hobby, he made use of it as a tool to move Kotone''s training forward. He asked Kotone to practice the breathing technique while running from place to place until she can execute the breathing technique subconsciously. While she still needs more practice to match Fumio''s mastery in it, she is already feeling the benefits as she is able to run fast for hours while using the breathing technique. An hour of running later, Kotone is now at the foot of the hill, which is Red''s new property. "Hmmm While I''ve been busy doing errands for Kichirou-san for two weeks, I wonder what Fumio''s up to? " Kotone grumbles. In contrast to her complaining words however, she is excited to see Red and Fumio. She had not seen Red or Fumio in the past two weeks after all. While she has been busy running Red''s errands like the legwork for the land purchase, which she was authorized by Red through authorization letters, she has not met Red once in the past two weeks and has only received additional orders and instructions on her training through phone calls. Regarding her communication with Fumio, they usually do not send texts or call each other and when they do, it is all about the matters of the shop. And with Fumio, busy, she has not heard a single thing about Fumio at all, and it has her curious and a bit worried. Arriving in front of the house, she immediately notices a huge change that was not present during her last visit two weeks ago. The wild grass and weeds surrounding the house is now replaced by short and uniformly colored grass, giving the house a vibrant green lawn around it. "Wow Even the plants in the gardens maintained by the shrines don''t look like this." Past the lawn, she sees that the wild plants and shrubs have been replaced by various plants she has only seen in botanical gardens. "Must be Kichirou-san''s herbs. No wonder his massage solutions are like that." She is about to touch one plant''s flower, *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* *thwack* she is startled by a familiar sounding noise coming from the house''s backyard. "What''s happening?" She recognizes however that the series of hitting sounds as wooden swords crossing each other. After hurriedly beelining to the backyard, she sees a sight that makes her eyes almost pop out of their sockets. Red and Fumio sparring. She does not know which is more amazing. Fumio moving much faster than he did during his spar with Blade Tornado. Or Red who is blocking the barrage of sword strikes from Fumio while standing still, eyes closed, and only using one hand to parry. When she was watching Fumio and Blade Tornado''s match two weeks ago, she can still process the two''s movements despite their speed. Now, she can barely catch up with Fumio''s movements, and she loses counts how many swings he does at every combo. As for Red, she cannot help look back on her lipstick sparring she had with him for months. She knew that Red was holding back because of the resistance seals, but what she is witnessing currently is beyond the body being restricted. She realizes that the hits she landed on Red to end the sparring sessions, were not even lucky hits, but simply giveaways. She figures that if Red can parry and block the attacks of Fumio who is a better sword user than her, blindfolded, then Red can keep the sparring forever with her. She is feeling a bit betrayed, but soon scoffs in amusement.. ''It was all calculated by him to measure my progress.'' Chapter 49 - Fumio-senpai After a few more combo attempts by Fumio, Kotone notices that his movements have considerably slowed down. While she sees no sign of Fumio being exhausted, the reduced speed is still a curious thing to her. Fumio is still not giving up trying to land a strike on Red however, he hopes that his considerably slowed speed will catch Red off-guard. To his disappointment, *smack*, he still gets his wooden sword smacked out of his hands with a strike from Red that matches his slowed speed. "I''ve run out, boss." Fumio can only sigh as he massages his wrists. "You''ve done well." Red then opens his eyes and nods. "Thank you, boss." Fumio is proud of himself. "So. Good things first." Red starts, making Fumio stand in silent attention. "You''ve quickly gotten used to channeling spiritual energy from your elixir sea to your meridians. And I like how stable you maintain the supply of spiritual energy throughout your body." Fumio sighs in relief, as those things are what he worked on in the past three days. "BUT. It''s far from enough. There are more things I didn''t like." Fumio''s pride takes a hit. "I told you that channeling spiritual energy between meridians is just as important, if not more, than releasing them out of your body" Red starts listing things that does not satisfy him. Kotone, while clueless of what the two are talking about, is trying hard to pick up things, not wanting to bother the two. After all, this is the first time she witnessed a spar and a teaching moment between Red and Fumio. "But boss I just need more practice, right?" Fumio says after Red''s input. "True. But the problem is your approach. You keep practicing what you''re good at. But with the aspects you find difficult or complicated, you become neglectful. Am I wrong?" Red asks. "" Fumio takes a moment, before realizing that he indeed practiced like how Red described him. "I''ll work on them." He can only promise. "Good." Red moves on. "Another thing, is your reserves. You only have a limited amount in your elixir sea, but you use what''s in it with reckless abandon." "Uhhh.. five minutes of continuous use wouldn''t that be enough?" Fumio asks. "If you want to drain yourself and leave nothing for at times when you have to flee. After all, it takes you how many minutes to fill yourself up?" Red shakes his head. "During a fight, you have to conserve spiritual energy. Why keep them running in your arms when you''re not attacking? Why keep them running in the rest of your body when using just your footwork? It''s a waste." "Then I would have lasted ten minutes" Fumio realizes his mistake. "But it sounds complicated and mentally draining." He also realizes the effort and focus it takes to control his meridians while fighting. "Yes. But you can do it. Just like how your breathing technique has become second nature, you will eventually master the control of your meridians in no time as long as you practice." Red explains. "Okay, boss." Fumio takes it to heart. "I also want to see you control the output of your spiritual energy." Red resumes his guidance. "Question, Fumio. Do you open the faucet of your kitchen sink all the way when rinsing a pair of chopsticks?" he asks. "No. That''d be wasting too much water" Fumio shakes his head. "I''ll learn to control the faucet better, boss." He pledges, understanding Red''s metaphor easily. "Good." Red nods. "Boss Uh" Fumio suddenly gets an idea. "Can I improve my elixir sea first?" He asks. "Why?" Red raises his brows. "Well, you call it elixir sea, but mine looks like a puddle on the ground after a light rainfall. Is there something that I can do to at least make it a pond? No, at least a basin?" Fumio asks. "Didn''t I just tell you that you need control more?" Red scratches his eyebrow. "Yes boss But still, may I? So, I can have enough spiritual energy to practice my control for long periods of time without the interruption of running out?" Fumio reasons. "You can''t yet. That''s all your body can handle." Red reveals. "Oh" Fumio is disappointed. "Yeah. Even though I upgraded your resistance seals, and you can power them with your own spiritual energy, it''ll take weeks to months again before your body increases in strength. So instead of waiting for your body to be stronger and expand your elixir sea, it''s more efficient if you practice control starting now." Red explains. Fumio, getting a reasonable answer, gives up on his idea. "Don''t be too impatient, Fumio. You''re already progressing fast." Red assures him. "Okay." Fumio can only nod, glad of Red''s assessment of his progress. "How long have you started training? Nine months, right?" Red asks. "Yes. September last year." Fumio nods. "So, nine months ago, you were just a regular non-superioris. Now, you''re as strong as top tier C-Class Physically Enhanced Superiori. So what''s the worry? You might harm yourself." Red warns. Fumio realizes that indeed, he has been too greedy. "So, tell me. What do I want you to do for now?" Red asks. Fumio inhales deeply as his mind churns. "Mastering my meridians, conserving my elixir sea." He recalls. "That''s the gist of it." Red nods. "And to give you a better image to strive for" He leans closer to Fumio. "You have the strength greater than what ''Old Phantom'' has showed in the arena so far. You can beat an average B-Class with what you have right now." Red says. "Wha-" Fumio is stunned. "I have to so I can learn how to maximize what I have right now" He then recovers and utters his realization. "Precisely." Red nods. "Good afternoon." He then turns his attention to Kotone. Fumio snaps his head to Kotone''s direction and is surprised to see her as he did not notice her arrival. "G-good afternoon, Kichirou-san, Fumio-san. Long time." Kotone, caught off-guard by the attention from the two men, awkwardly greets back. "Barely noticed the time. Those must be the documents?" Red asks, pointing at the envelope on Kotone''s arms. "Yes. Congratulations, Kichirou-san. This place is officially yours." Kotone walks to Red and hands over the envelope. Red receives the envelope, takes the documents out for a simple scan, and nods. "Good job, Kotone." He then puts it away to his storage space. "Thank you for doing the legwork. I''ll give you a bonus on your next payday." He promises. "You don''t have to, Kichirou-san. You already let me keep half of the earnings from the shop these past two weeks." Kotone adamantly refuses. "Your loss." Red shrugs. "I''ll leave you two. I have to continue what I''m doing." He then leaves the two. "Wha.." Kotone is at a loss at Red suddenly zooming out the backyard. "He''s just leaving like that?" She asks Fumio, a bit hurt. "He''s not even going to check the progress of my training?" "He already knows." Fumio says, making Kotone raise her brows in skepticism. "Even I who barely knows anything have an idea how far along you are with your breathing. But I''m guessing boss must have already noticed as soon as you arrived." He continues as he looks at the air around Kotone. "So? How am I doing?" Kotone asks. "I don''t know what boss thinks, but I think you''re still far from reaching what''s required for the next level." Fumio shrugs. "Just keep on practicing your breathing. It may be slow, tedious, but it''s worth it. I myself took months to do it subconsciously." He assures. "Okay" Kotone trusts Fumio. "Still. Can''t he at least tell me what he thinks? It''s been two weeks since I last saw him." She is still hurt by Red suddenly leaving. "Hey. I get it. But don''t take it to heart. During the months I was mastering my breathing, he was with you every day. I barely saw him and when I did, all we talked about is his side rackets." Fumio sympathizes. Kotone on the other hand, immediately feels guilty hearing Fumio''s concern which stemmed from herself and her training. "Even though I thought he was neglecting me and my training, I still kept on my practice to reach the requirement he put on me. He told you, right? What to do with your breathing?" Fumio asks. "Yes. I have to make the breathing technique replace my regular breathing Something like that." Kotone recalls. "But How''s that even possible?" She sighs. "Uhn. I thought it was impossible too. But that''s exactly what I accomplished, or at least almost did. I kept on practicing the breathing technique to the point that I can breathe using it almost subconsciously as long as I''m awake. And suddenly, without any signs, after being unchecked by boss for three months, he just told me I''m ready for the next step of my training. That was the morning you left for Nerima." Fumio accounts. "Ah" Kotone is feeling somehow inspired, now having a better idea of her goal, and having someone in front of her who achieved that goal. "Thank you, Fumio-san." She cannot help but be grateful. "Heh You''re lucky to have a senpai like me. I didn''t have one to give me tips." Fumio rubs his nose, feeling burdened of Kotone''s gratitude. "Kichirou-san might be strong, and very knowledgeable, but he seems to be a bad teacher. Fortunately, I have you." Kotone realizes how lucky she is. "Alright. I was just sayin'' shit." Fumio shakes his head, embarrassed. "About Kichirou-san..." Kotone smirks, noticing Fumio blushing, stops her flattering. "Where''d he go? He did say something about continuing what he''s doing?" She asks. "I don''t know what he''s doing, but he seems busy I myself only saw him a few minutes every day over the past two weeks." Fumio shrugs. "Huh If that''s Doesn''t that mean that he takes better care of me?" Kotone chuckles. Fumio knows that Kotone is starting to tease, so he smirks. "Hey. I at least got to eat a lot. He cooks three meals a day for me." He brags. "Hah. Yeah, right." Kotone rolls her eyes. +"Hey, it''s true. I don''t lie like that. It''s like boss wanted me to REALLY focus on my training." Fumio insists. Kotone looks at him and after seeing no signs of teasing or lying, feels a bit jealous. "I hate you." She can only send him a glare. "Hey. I''ve stepped to the next level of his training. Must be the benefits of that. What can you do about it?" Fumio teases. "About this next level Can you give me an idea?" Kotone asks. "Secret~" Fumio teases. "But. I got another bonus from boss." He switches topics, wanting to brag further. "What gift?" Kotone asks in anticipation. Fumio then goes to retrieve the wooden sword that Red smacked away earlier, and shortly rejoins Kotone. "Look at this." Fumio stretches out his hand which is holding the sword, to Kotone. The next moment, Kotone''s eyes widen when the wooden sword suddenly disappears out of Fumio''s grasp. "T-that t-that" Kotone has only seen Red making things disappear, but seeing Fumio also doing it is incomprehensible to her. "Heeheee~" Fumio is tickled at the face Kotone is making. "Tada~" Suddenly, the wooden sword reappears in his hand. "C-can you teach me?" Kotone asks. Fumio almost steps back at the hunger in Kotone''s eyes. "I can''t. You''re not ready." He says. "Can''t or won''t?" Kotone realizes how presumptuous she sounded but decides to insist nonetheless. "Can''t. Because you really aren''t ready. Can''t, because only boss can teach you." Fumio explains. "Oh" Kotone deflates. Fumio no longer finds Kotone''s reaction funny, and sighs and covers his thumb, feeling protective of it. Kotone however catches Fumio''s guarding behavior and her eyes are drawn to Fumio''s hands. Soon, she remembers something. Throughout the sparring earlier, she dodged countless of punches from Fumio to her face, so she cannot help but take in the details of Fumio''s hands and she remembers that Fumio''s left thumb is donning a broad silver ring embedded with different gemstones of varying colors. "Hey.. Nice ring, by the way." Chapter 50 - A Glimpse "Hey. Nice ring." Kotone comments. "Yeah Thanks." Fumio answers awkwardly. "Huh Looks expensive." Kotone becomes suspicious. He then recalls that Red too has a thumb ring which looks like Fumio''s ring, only without the gemstones. "Yeah. Spent a fortune on it." Fumio quickly comes up with something to say. ''Pocket Ring'', as Red named it, is the gift Fumio received the day he discovered how to use spiritual energy. It is a variation of Red''s own Storage Ring. Unlike Red''s plane storage ring made of solid platinum and that only has one large pocket dimension, Fumio''s ring has many small sized pocket dimensions. As for why Red needed to make Fumio''s ring differently to his own, it is because Fumio have not awakened his spirit sense yet. Red, who has already activated his spirit sense, can visualize and organize the objects in his pocket dimension, while Fumio cannot. So, to bypass Fumio''s blindness in using an ordinary storage ring, he made different dimensional pockets for Fumio to assign those pockets with whichever types of objects Fumio would want to store. Fumio''s ring, having twelve small gemstones like topaz, amethyst, diamonds, garnets and corundum, embedded in them that contain space storage seals, means he can store twelve different types of things. This feature is what made Fumio dub his ring as his ''real-life game inventory.'' "May I take a look?" Kotone asks. Fumio then channels the small spiritual he absorbed since his sparring with Red ended, to his brain, immediately calming him down even for a bit. The spiritual energy flowing to his head also makes his thoughts faster. "Why don''t we make a bet?" He quickly comes up with an idea. "What''s on your mind?" Kotone realizes that Fumio wants to wager. "We haven''t really finished our sparring two weeks ago in Chofu, have we?" Fumio asks. " Yeah?" Kotone steps back in caution. "Well" Fumio tosses his wooden sword to Kotone, which Kotone catches, and, "If you can give me a good spar, I''ll allow you to have a closer look of my ring.", he proposes. He already knows that Kotone noticed that his ring has something to do with his ''magic trick'', but he also knows that she cannot do anything with that information. And him, having the need of a sparring partner, decides to trick Kotone into agreeing to be one. "It''s obvious that you''re much stronger than me. Will you hold back?" Kotone asks. "Yes. I''ll suppress my speed and strength to match yours." Fumio says. The challenge of doing what he is suggesting is a welcome distraction for him after two weeks of doing the same things. He misses the freedom and control he has on purely using his physical capabilities after suffering the uncomfortable focus of infusing his body with spiritual energy all the time. "Nice Here I come." Fumio, with a short warning, rushes to Kotone. <> "Ugh While this ring is nice, it''s not worth fighting and getting beat up for a few hours for it." Kotone tosses Fumio''s ring and grunts bitterly. "Heh.. I have to say, you''re getting used to the pain of blocking attacks." Fumio proudly smirks as he slides the ring back on his thumb. Kotone is lying on her back against the grassy backyard, feeling exhausted after two hours of training with Fumio. Fumio meanwhile, is feeling fine as every breath he takes, takes in a bit of spiritual energy, helping to fuel himself. "I feel bad" He sighs as he looks at the reddened arms of Kotone she used to block his strikes. "But why didn''t you just ask to stop instead of fighting me until you''re this exhausted?" He asks. "I have too much energy in my body. Where else can I spend them? Running around from city to city became a chore." Kotone complains. "Boss didn''t teach you any kata?" Fumio asks. "Kata? No." Kotone shakes her head. "Ah I knew it. So that''s why you''re formless." Fumio nods. While he finds Kotone''s brand of swordsmanship cool and a challenge to deal with, with it being wild, unpredictable, and efficient, he realizes that such swordsmanship borne out of pure fighting or sparring, is difficult to practice if its practitioner is left to their own devices; just like Kotone. She does not know how to practice her swordsmanship without a sparring partner. "Formless?" Kotone asks. "Yeah. Aside from basic blocking and sword strikes, you have no style. But it''s cool. Hard to practice though. You should ask boss for some sword exercises." Fumio suggests. "I''ll do that." Kotone welcomes it. "Still, I can''t believe that just three? Four months ago, you never held a practice sword before. You can probably defeat some members in Hasegawa who have been practicing the sword their entire lives." Fumio shakes his head. "Am I that good?" Kotone is surprised. "Yeah. But I''m just talking about sparring, not a real sword duel." Fumio says. "Duh. Of course. I''ve never even held a real sword before." Kotone scoffs. "Heh" Fumio chuckles in approval at how easy Kotone admits her inexperience. "Still. What kind of training did you go through with boss? You dodge attacks really well." He asks. "Don''t want to talk about it." Kotone shakes her head and she looks back at the sky. "Come on. I gave you tips. It''s really interesting because you have to have been hit many times by boss to learn to have that tight defense. But then again, you''re not used to getting hit either. So, it''s confusing." Fumio complains. "It''s not anything special" Kotone hesitates a bit, before deciding to share. She then sits back up to tell Fumio more about her training. "He hit my pride instead. In addition" "So Lipstick, huh?" Fumio nods. Kotone however sees that Fumio''s face is twisted ugly, an obvious sign that Fumio is stifling at least a belly laugh. "Yes." Kotone nods seriously. Fumio looking at how serious Kotone''s face is, "PUHAHAHAHAHAHA!", can no longer hold it in and bursts out laughing. "It''s not that funny." Kotone rolls her eyes, not even embarrassed. "I mean, it isn''t but Man. Ain''t that fresh? To force you, someone who would never have otherwise learned how to fight, somehow work hard into being capable of fighting. Ah. Boss is something." Fumio can only imagine what Kotone''s training was like. "Still. I don''t know much about make-up but if you say that they''re limited lipstick from various international brands, then boss really must have used a lot of money on you." He sighs. "Yeah. I don''t even want to think about it." Kotone chuckles, remembering the day that Red used the most lipstick on her. "Still. It didn''t take long before I no longer cared about the make-up. I just wanted to hit him. Imagine, every day, trying to swing at him, while being hit, is demoralizing. And by the end of the day, all I get is a brush of my sword to his sleeve as a reward." She sighs. "And after watching your sparring with him earlier, I realized that I never had the chance of hitting him at all." She lays back down on the grass. "Awwww Buddy~ You''re not the only one who hasn''t landed a single hit on him." Fumio consoles. "You haven''t either?" Kotone is in disbelief. "But That doesn''t make sense" "It makes sense B-" Fumio suddenly stops talking and he snaps his face towards the direction of the forest, his eyes are distant as if trying to look through the trees. "What''s wrong?" Kotone is alerted. "Something''s happening." Fumio says as he takes a deep breath. "Let''s go take a look." He then stands up, urging Kotone to do the same. The two then start to run to the forest. Soon, the two reach the top of the hill and Fumio stops in his steps. Kotone has blindly followed Fumio as he quickly but carefully led the way through the thick shrubbery of the forest, and her curiosity is answered. A few meters away from them, is a small grass clearing, shined by the light of the sun just a few minutes away from joining the horizon. And in the middle of the clearing is Red, sitting in a lotus position with his eyes closed. While Kotone figures that Red is simply meditating, Fumio takes a deep breath in awe. Fumio sees that Red is glowing, with spiritual energy spiraling inwards with Red at the center. Red currently, is in his transition between the moonlight stage and sunlight stage of his Celestial Breathing Technique. As the moonlight is already useless in aiding him in his cultivation, he is now accustoming his body to use the sunlight. He is still not ready to use the sunlight all throughout the day however and can only choose the hours when the sun shines the weakest. That is during the twilight hours, and during the sunrise and the sunset. "Hey Something feels different in the air." Kotone whispers to Fumio, as she notices something about the atmosphere. "Is this what you felt?" She asks. "Yeah. And boss is right at the center of it." Fumio whispers back, but a bit surprised that Kotone feels it. "Oh What''s he doing?" Kotone asks. "I''m not at liberty to say. Boss will tell you when the time comes." Fumio shakes his head. He does not want to talk about about spiritual energy to Kotone yet as he figures that Red must have had a reason of not talking about it to him when he was at the same training stage as Kotone currently is at. "Oh But why?" Kotone asks. "Trust me. It''s more beneficial if you know nothing about it until you''re ready." Fumio assures her. "Okay then." Kotone is about to give up when she suddenly sees that Red''s skin is starting to turn pink. Then red. Soon, the two get scared as the situation proceeds. "I-is he sweating blood?" Kotone''s eyes are wide in fear as she notices the red liquid running down Red''s face and neck. "I-I think so." Fumio, who has a clearer vision, sees it even clearer. "S-should we do something?" Kotone asks in worry. "Not yet. He seems fine." Fumio says, seeing that the spiritual energy around Red''s absorption rate is gradually increasing. A minute later, Kotone is still not assured, and Fumio is also getting uncertain about the situation. Red had not only stopped sweating blood; the grass under him is also soaked with blood as a result of the self-cleaning seal''s work on Red''s kimono that prevented it from getting soaked in blood. The two''s worry are unnecessary as not much sooner, Red opens his eyes and he releases a gentle blast of spiritual energy which the two feel brush past their bodies. "Oh?" While Kotone only feels it as a refreshing gust of wind, "Whoa", Fumio stares in wonder and curiosity at how Red can release such thick spiritual energy. "Thank you for not interrupting me." Red was almost distracted when he felt the two''s arrival, worried that they might destroy his work of three days with their excessive worry. Fortunately for him, Fumio had good judgement of the situation. Red then commands spiritual energy around him, collecting the blood, sweat and filth that accumulated on his skin, to his palm, and lights it on fire with a simple manipulation of the nature of the spiritual energy. The two, watching Red''s actions, cannot believe how convenient it looked. "Boss Can I learn that?" Fumio asks. "When your elixir sea is thicker and when your control is better." Red says. "That''s not what''s important" Kotone, not knowing as much as Fumio does with Red''s display, simply brushes Red''s display aside as one of Red''s oddities. "Kichirou-san What were you doing just now? And why were you sweating blood? BLOOD?" She is instead worried about Red''s well-being. "It''s a way of me removing the impurities in my body." Red explains just one of the uses of his celestial breathing technique. "Anyways. I''ll teach you two in due time, when you satisfy the requirements." He promises. The two however do not have good impressions after witnessing him sweat blood. "I think you''ve seen enough. Can you two let me continue? You two are not the only ones who need to train." He asks the two. "Oh" The two, hearing Red talking about his own training for the first time, suddenly get inspired. ''If Boss/Kichirou-san is still training despite his level, then why can''t I?'' Chapter 51 - One Night In Nikko... 6PM "Sigh" Gin, a reporter, sighs in frustration as he aimlessly walks the quiet streets of Nikko, hoping that something interesting will happen. *ring* *ring* His phone suddenly rings and he already has a suspicion of what it is about. "Hello? Akiyama-san?" Gin answers his phone in interest. It is rare for him to receive a phone call from his boss. /Gin. Come back to Shibuya. You''re done there./ Gin almost drops his phone at the order. "Sir, the serial killer is still at large." He politely protests. /I know. The whole of Japan knows. But what can you do about it? It''s been two months since the killings started and the killer hasn''t been caught yet./ Akiyama dismisses Gin''s protest. "Sir. And I''m one of the first reporters to find the scoop. I can''t just give up a month of work." Gin insists. /Yes. And what results have you shown for that month of work?/ Akiyama counters. "" Gin is stumped. /I have things and scoops in mind that you have more use for. So, come back. Other networks are also giving up on it./ Akiyama says. "May I ask for a week more? I''ll use my own money on my food and lodging." Gin is not ready to give up. /What''s the use of one more week? Since surveillance increased there in Nikko, the serial killer hasn''t made any movements in more than a week. Even your partner thinks that the killer has already left Nikko and lying low somewhere. / Akiyama reasons. "Still, sir. Just one more week. After that, I''ll go back there without regrets." Gin tries again despite not having a convincing reason to back up his request. / Okay/ Akiyama hears the desperation in Gin''s voice. /Just one week. And you will come back. If you won''t, you''ll be in big trouble./ He relents. "Thank you, sir!" Gin bows even if the person he is speaking with is not with him in person. /Yeah, yeah. You''ve contributed many exclusives for the network. I''m also giving you the benefit of the doubt./ "I''ll work hard, sir. If this results to nothing, I''ll pay you back with many more exclusives." Gin promises. The phone call ends at that note. "Haaaa" Gin however, is not happy. He is still frustrated. His producer partner and his cameraman has already given up on the case earlier in the day and went back to Tokyo, leaving him alone to do legwork in the small Nikko City. He then looks around the quiet streets and he cannot help but note that the police patrol has considerable thinned compared to a week ago. This is the reason why he decided to stay. He feels that at the first sign of police patrol laxing, the serial killer will make a move again. While he does not want anymore victims, there is a part of him hoping that another killing will happen. "Even if that killer decides to lay low from now on, at least no one else will be killed." He can only utter to himself as he continues to walk around aimlessly. His utterance somehow makes him feel better at his horrible thought. *ssk* suddenly, another pedestrian brushes lightly on his shoulder as they pass him. "Hm?" He also smells something strange. A mixture of human body odor and what he can only guess as the smell of a wild animal, has just assaulted his nose. Gin then looks back and realizes that he just crossed paths with a man of around 6 feet tall, fair skinned, and lanky. Even though the man is wearing what looks like expensive clothes, he is sure that the horrible smell that assaulted him came from the man. He is about to move on when he suddenly remembers one of the witnesses he interviewed. That witness is the one who found one of the victims'' body, with that certain victim being that witness'' close neighbor. The witness claimed that when she found the victim''s body in the victim''s apartment, she noticed a smell of strong body odor and stray dog, lingering in the victim''s bedroom. So after the witness called the police, she opened the victim''s apartment windows to let out the smell she could no longer tolerate. Remembering the witness'' claim, hope and suspicion rises in Gin''s heart. Gin then pivoted on his foot to turn around, and takes in the details of the man''s appearance. After familiarizing himself, he immediately finds a deserted alleyway, and transforms into a cat. He does not look exactly like a cat however. He looks more like a living wooden sculpture of a cat. Gin ready in his cat form, immediately runs out of the alley. The tall man, standing out of the crowd due to his height and expensive looking clothes, is easy enough for Gin to spot again. And so, with agile movements, Gin stalking begins. An hour later, Gin is still boringly tailing the man. The tall and smelly man had an hour-long lunch in one of Nikko''s classy restaurants. After that, he then starts to wander around the city streets seemingly without a certain destination in mind. He would sometimes stop in front of a store front if he finds something interesting, and goes on his way after losing interest. The only reason why Gin has not given up is because the man is the only lead that the he has. Soon, the man starts to leave the busier parts of the city. Gin regains his curiosity as the man seems to be heading to the direction of the industrial parts of the city, a place that is supposed to be vacated at this hour instead of visited. Gin also notices that the man upped his speed into a running pace. A few minutes later, like Gin expected, him and the man are now in the industrial part of the city. Not only that, they are at the edge of the city, near the forests. Gin''s journalistic instincts flare as the man he has been following, makes his way to the woods, so he follows the man in. While the forest is dark as the sun has already set, Gin''s cat form allows him to have the night vision of a cat, so he has no problem tailing the man. A few minutes after the two entered the forest however, Gin suddenly loses sight of the man and he stops in his steps in confusion. He looks around to see if he simply oversaw the man, but he confirms that he indeed lost sight of his person of interest. Soon, a chill runs up his spine. The forest is too quiet, not even cicadas which are supposed to be abundant during the spring, can be heard. Only the wind and the sound of leaves dancing can be heard, but those do not help with the discomfort that Gin is feeling. He then takes this feeling as a warning and decides to give up his pursuit. As he turns around however, his heart almost jumps as the man he thought he lost sight of, is just a step in front of him, looking down at him with an amused expression. Gin realizes that he became the one who is being followed. "Well. Hello there." The man greets Gin. While the man is handsome, Gin shivers at the man''s sadistic grin. A grin that does not belong to a human, no matter how evil a human is. Gin, realizing that the man knows that he is not a cat, does not bother replying and simply kicks his paws against the ground to get away as far as possible. A few tens of meters away from his original position, and just as he thinks that he will not be pursued, black spikes suddenly grow out of the ground at a speed that will kill him if he didn''t dodge. Gin, after dodging the spikes, increases his speed once again, running the hardest he has ran in his entire life. He does not know why, but his guts is telling him that if he does not get back to the busy areas of Nikko, he will not live to see tomorrow. Suddenly, right above him, he sees that the man has caught up to him. Gin notices that the man is wearing shoes that are made out of the same materials that the black spikes were made of. He figures that the man not only has the ability to manipulate the shape of a certain material, he is also part psychokinetic. Gin knows that it is common for manipulation / psychokinetic hybrid superiori who are at least Class D, to be able to fly by simply transforming a certain material into an object they can ride, and mentally controlling that certain object''s movement. ''Fuck. He can fly.'' Gin curses his luck. While he can run as fast as a cat, a superioris who can give themselves the ability to fly will always be faster. 3Soon, *krr krr krr* spikes shoot out from the ground once again but this time, in a way that it forms an improvised cage. *thunk* Gin''s tiny cat body then crashes to the bars of the cage and he almost switches back to his human form after being rocked. As he struggles to stand up to his four feet, he realizes that he is trapped within the cage. To find a way to escape, he takes a closer look at the material the cage is made of. Suddenly, a realization dawns on him and he freezes in fear. The bars of the cage seem to be made up of the same black ice that the serial killer encased their victim with. He then looks up at the man to take in the face of who he now all but confirmed is the Nikko Ice Coffin Killer, in his mind. "Little cat, why were you following me?" Gin is interrupted from his thoughts by the tall man''s question. "*Meow*" Gin replies in a low growl, to confuse the man. "You''re not going to speak properly?" The man walks closer to Gin and Gin once again sees the evil grin on the man''s face. "*Meow*" Gin can only try to distract the man again as he thinks of a way to get away. He is starting to feel helpless however. He knows how tough the black ice is based on what he had seen in the bodies of the victims, so he knows that his cat form, or even his human form is not strong enough or hard enough to break it apart. "Hmmm Do you need to transform to your human form to talk properly?" The man asks as he summons more spikes outside the cage, and transforms them to a bigger cage. The smaller cage that was containing Gin then slowly disappears. Gin realizes that the man made the new cage large enough to contain a human. Seeing that the serial killer does not seem to want to kill him immediately, Gin sighs in relief and he calms down. ''Should I talk to him'' Gin is tempted to answer properly, but he realizes that the man''s victims are both men and women of all adult ages, so he is not sure if he can talk himself out of his predicament. "*MEOW*" "Are you really not going to talk?" Suddenly, Gin sees black tentacles start to grow out of the man''s back. Then those tentacles slowly approach the cage. ''Think fast!'' Gin''s brain goes to overdrive. ''Wait a minute. He doesn''t know why I''m following him And he doesn''t know I know'' Just at the moment the black tentacles get inside the cage, he gets an idea. "Mister.. Hold on for a moment!" He calls out, actually making the man pause his actions. Chapter 52 - Bad Luck "Mister. Hold on for a moment!" Gin calls out, actually making the man pause his actions. "I''m just a petty thief. When I saw your expensive clothes, I thought you were rich, so I tailed you, trying to get an opportunity to pick your pockets." He explains himself. "Oh?" Gin then sees that the man is taken aback. ''Did it work?'' Hope rises in his heart. "Y-yes! I thought you were an easy target, but it turns out, you''re a powerful superioris." Gin imitates a cat''s body language of submission. "So, even though I did no harm, I''m sorry! If you let me go just this once? I promise I''ll get my shit together! I''ll live a better life!" He pleads. *clap* *clap* *clap* Suddenly the tall man starts clapping, puzzling Gin. "Ah Ain''t that nice?" He asks. Gin knows that the question is rhetorical and he gets nervous. "Too bad, I don''t care." As soon as Gin heard the man''s words, he jumps away and tries to squeeze through the ice bars. Realizing he cannot escape, "WAIT!", he demands at the man. "What? Any last words?" The man asks. "YES! Last words?! So, you really was about to kill me?" Gin is more than resentful. The man shrugs as if it is obvious making Gin want to curse the him to hell. Unfortunately for Gin, he is in no position to. "THIS AIN''T FAIR! I just attempted to rob you, and you want to kill me?" He tries to reason instead. "Uhuh" The man rubs his chin, before wearing a grin again, " but I don''t care about fairness." "Okay. You don''t care? How about this? Why don''t we make this fun, huh?" Gin asks. "Fun?" The man retrieves his tentacles a few inches away from the cage. Gin knows he got the man''s interest judging on the man''s face. "Yes. Isn''t it boring to just kill me like this? Why don''t you give me another try to run away?" Gin proposes. "It''s not about whether you can catch me, because we both know I''m gonna get caught anyways. It''s about how long before you can catch me. Also, I want to find out if someone weak like me can pose a challenge to someone like you. Let this be an opportunity for a useless man like me to try to achieve something." He does not forget to stroke the man''s ego too. "Heheh" The man suddenly chuckles, "You''re alright." and nods. "Your idea sounds fun." He then melts away the cage and retrieves his tentacles to his body. Gin does not want to cheat the man by running without warning, wanting to have the man keep his guard down out of arrogance. His decision is rewarded, to his relief. "Huh Why aren''t you running already?" The man asks. "Because I want you to be ready." Gin proudly says. "Oho For a thief, you''re rather honest." The man chuckles in amusement. "Of course! I''m just a thief, not a cheater!" Gin declares. "B-But Can you give me five seconds for a head start?" He suddenly requests as he swallows his saliva. He knows that he is treading the line by such request. "I-I mean, you caught me easily just now. So, where''s the challenge if you don''t give me extra time?" He asks. "" The man simply stares at him. "T-Three! Three seconds!" Gin amends immediately. "What? You don''t think I can''t do five?" The man scoffs. "Let''s do five!" "Okay!" Gin can barely stop himself from transforming back to his human form just to do a fist pump. "Dear sir. Just give your signal to start." He then asks. "Run on three." The man starts. "One" Gin starts reviewing the plan in his head as he assumes the cat version of a running start. "Two" Gin sneakily looks around using his peripheral vision, and he spots a potential path. "Three!" Gin kicks off his legs and runs past the man. "One!" Gin then hears the man start to count again. He is more than relieved that the serial killer actually is honoring their agreement. After running 30 meters away, Gin suddenly jumps off the main path, and dives to the bushes. ''I was such a fool Why escape like a human when I have a cat''s body?'' With this method, Gin wishes that him using the cover of the bushes will make it harder for the serial killer to catch him. ''Now let''s find more bushes.'' He continues on his run. Five seconds later, "Kitty! Where are you?", Gin hears the man''s almost unintelligible call from quite a distance from behind him. ''Phew He''s pretty far. But I have to be careful.'' While he is feeling safe among the bushes, he slows down a bit and controls his movements more carefully, not wanting to disturb the shrubbery. He knows that hiding among the bushes is only safe when he is hiding. But when he is moving, the plants he disturbs will give away his position. His careful movements also calm his mind down. ''Wait. He definitely knows I''m heading for the city.'' He suddenly realizes that while he can hide, he still has one destination in mind; the city. The serial killer, he figures, is smart enough to figure out where he would flee. After all, the serial killer would not have evaded the police, Nikko City''s Kumagai Clan, and some volunteer heroes, if he does not have the talents of hiding, fleeing, and seeking refuge. ''It doesn''t matter.'' Gin realizes that he lost his sense of direction after straying off the main path of the forest, therefore he does not know which way the city is. So, he decides that for now, he should get away as far as possible from where he was caught. After few minutes of trying to move around from shrub to shrub and tree root to tree root soundlessly, *burble**burble* Gin hears the sound of flowing water from a distance. Recognizing the sound it as a stream or a river, he gets his hopes up of finding a way out of the forest, and makes his way noiselessly to the source of the sound. Soon enough, he reaches a small river. ''I can finally find my way back.'' He sighs. He is more relieved however that the sound of the river will mask any noise he makes as he moves, making him no longer worry about exposing his location to his pursuer through sound. Meanwhile, at the entrance of the forest. The serial killer, after losing sight of Gin, decides to simply wait at the entrance of the forest, as Gin predicted. A few minutes has passed since however, and, "Damn human. I''ve been had.", the man realizes that his prey has gotten away. "Oh well He seemed to have only been E Class." He shrugs off his disappointment quickly, and goes back to hunt for a new prey. -The next morning.- Nikko Police Department, 6AM After finding his way back to the city, Gin took a shower and a short nap in his inn to refill his energy for what he expects to be a good day. Having had his morning coffee and toast, he heads to the Nikko Police. "Good morning officer." Gin immediately greets the first police officer he sees in the police station at this early hour in the morning. "OH? Aren''t you that reporter from THK? You''re still in town?" The police officer is familiar with Gin. "You know me? That''s good then. Can you bring me to Adachi-san?" "The Captain? He''s not accepting any interviews. He pulled an all-nighter." The officer refuses. "No, I''m here to report something about the Ice Coffin Killer." Gin says. The police officer wears a face of skepticism at Gin''s words. "Come on. I''m not like those fake witnesses." Gin insists and he leans in closer. "I might have just encountered the killer last night." He says in a hushed tone to the officer. "Alright. You seem invested in this case. But if I get chewed out for this, I''m calling your superiors." The police officer leads the way to the Captain''s office. "Captain, good morning." Gin, looking at Captain Adachi, would not have entered the office had he not have something important to report. Captain Adachi, currently, looks pale with dark circles around his eyes; obvious signs of stress and lack of sleep. "Officer, who''s this?" Captain Adachi gives the officer a stern look. "Captain, I''m Morimoto Gin. One of the first reporters who camped here in Nikko. You might not remember me, but I''ve attended all of the press conferences about the recent menace." Gin introduces himself. "Ah Come to think of it, you look familiar." The captain nods. "But that''s not the point. I''m not giving interviews." "Captain. I think I encountered the serial killer last night." Gin reports. "Oh?" Captain Adachi gestures Gin to sit down on the office couch. "It started" Gin happily starts to recount his adventure. A few minutes later, the police officer that escorted Gin enters Captain Adachi''s office once again, to find Gin and Captain Adachi still sitting across each other over the coffee table. "Did you check everything?" Captain Adachi asks. He just asked the officer for some errands. "Yes, sir." The officer then passes photos of the CCTV footage to the captain with an awkward expression. "This" The captain, seeing the photos, looks at the officer in confusion. "Captain, I didn''t know. Mr. Reporter here sounded so sure. We''re hungry for leads too. So" The officer says in excuse. "Wha-?" Gin, listening to the two, is out of the loop. "Officer, did you just throw me under the bus? And for what?" He feels like he just became a scapegoat. "Why are you here?" Captain Adachi suddenly asks Gin. "What?" Gin is confused at the question. "Why are you really here? Did someone send you?" Captain Adachi asks as he signals the officer to lock the door of his office. "What''s going on, captain?" Gin, while not afraid, gets cautious. The captain however does not respond and looks something up in his phone. "Morimoto Gin So, you''re a really a reporter from TNK." The captain ponders after checking the background of Gin. "Of course." Gin nods, his conscience is clear. "Do you think this situation is a game? A joke?" The captain''s already dark expression darkens further. "I don''t get what you mean, sir. What''s really going on here?" Gin asks. "What? Because we can''t find the killer, you want to frame someone so that you can report something?" The captain accuses. "I''m not framing anyone! I''ve not lied since I entered this office, captain!" Gin gets defensive immediately, offended that his integrity is suddenly being openly questioned. "Yeah? Talk all you want. Is this the guy you were talking about?" The captain slams the CCTV photos, on the coffee table. "Yes! Yes! This is him!" Gin excitedly points at the photos, seeing that the man he encountered the previous night is in it. "Yeah? Well. This guy, is Hideki Hasegawa. Heir of the Hasegawa Clan." The captain says, stunning Gin. "W-what? Hasegawa? That samurai clan in Sagamihara?" "Yes. He was initially one of our suspects as he moved in to town a week before the first victim was killed. But we scratched his name off the list after we found out that he suffered an unfortunate event that cost him his superioris powers. "Do you think a now non-superioris can beat any of the victims? "Even if his powers weren''t crippled, it wouldn''t be possible for it to be him as he is a physically enhanced type superioris, not an elemental manipulator." Captain Adachi rants in one breath. "" Gin''s mind at this point is spinning. "So You''re either a dishonest reporter, which I don''t mind, or someone who was sent here by the rivals of the Hasegawa, which I''m hoping that you are not. Which one are you?" Captain Adachi continues his questioning. "N-neither." Gin is feeling wronged at the accusations. "I really encountered him last night! I followed him because he smelt weird! Smelling exactly like how one of the witnesses told me" But he does not know how to defend himself. "Mr. Morimoto. You are in the turf of Kumagai Clan, a close friend of the Hasegawa Clan. You better come clean now, or you''ll stay here in Nikko forever." Captain Adachi has long lost his patience. "I-I really don''t" Gin does not know how to get out of this very complicated misunderstanding. Chapter 53 - Anniversary "Thank you for coming, dear guests." Red, bids his customers goodbye. "No Thank you, Kichirou-san. You don''t know how badly I needed your services." Fire Colossus thanks Red profusely. "That''s right. But, where have you been for the past three weeks?" Gorilla asks. Fire Colossus rolls his eyes at the sense of entitlement of the man. "The massage solutions that you B-Class need are hard to make. I had to take that long to stock up again." Red smoothly rolls out his excuse. "Oh" Gorilla is immediately convinced. "In that case, thank you." And the shop is empty once again. Except for Red and his two employees. "You two, lock the shop up. I''m heading somewhere." Red excuses himself. "Uh boss. Can I come with?" Fumio asks. Kotone snaps her head to Fumio''s direction, interested at the question. "I told you to take a break. Not only from training, but to have fun. Don''t you have fun things to do?" Red tilts his head at the odd request. "You gave me a week off, boss. I don''t have anything in mind for fun, but I want to see something interesting." Fumio shrugs. "And you think that my day is somehow interesting?" Red smirks. "Yeah. If you''re going shopping, you might need an extra hand. If you''re going somewhere fun, maybe it can give me an idea for something fun. Besides, I''m already wearing a nice kimono. Wherever you go, I''m properly dressed for it." Fumio has been too focused on training his spiritual energy control, and has actually learned to love doing it, and so he forgot about the other aspects of his life, until Red reminded him the previous night. "Alright. But don''t ask too many questions. And if you get bored, just leave." Red gives Fumio an inviting gesture. "Nice! Kotone, see ya~" Fumio walks to Red with bouncy steps. "Wait! May I come too? I''ll go quickly change to my kimono too!" Kotone asks in a hurry. "Sure. But I ask you of same thing. Don''t ask too many questions, and if you get bored, just leave." Red figures that having companions is not that bad. "And oh. Wear your illusions." <> Suginami City 11 AM, Sunada Medical Center "Why a hospital?" Kotone whispers to Fumio, curious at where Red carried them to; outside the main entrance of a hospital. "I dunno. We traveled much faster than we did when we first went to Hinohara. He must have thought you fainted." Fumio teases. "I-I''m already used to it" Kotone has no retort. They then see Red wave his hand to their direction. Fumio feels spiritual energy envelope him and Kotone, as if another illusion is cast to their already existing illusions. Fumio looks at the nearest reflection and he notices that him, Kotone, and Red do not have reflections. "Look at that." Fumio points his observation to Kotone. "Whoah" Kotone''s eyes widen in realization. "We''re gonna do something sneaky." Fumio whispers in excitement. "Hehe~" Kotone is infected by Fumio''s mood. A few minutes later, the trio are now in one of the many medical wards of the hospital. Fumio and Kotone stop in their steps as they see Red stops his. The two are about to wonder why Red is simply standing in the middle of the ward when they notice that the noisy and busy room suddenly turns silent. They look around to find that the patients, the visitors, and the nurses, all suddenly fell asleep. Before they can express their concern of Red''s actions, Red approaches the bed of one of the patients. Red then lays his palm to that patient''s belly. Fumio and Kotone then see Red''s palm emit a green light for a few moments, before shortly disappearing. For the next few minutes, they can only watch Red as he repeats the same action, and its different variations depending on the medical condition, to the rest of the seven other patients in the ward. "Let''s go." Done with the remaining patient in the ward, Red makes his way out of the room. While Fumio and Kotone are still confused at what just happened, they can only follow red out. A minute later, the trio are now back outside of the hospital, walking to where ever Red wants to go. "Kichirou-san, if I may ask?" Kotone prefaces, getting a discouraging look from Fumio. She ignores him however. "Did you just treat those patients?" She asks Red. "Yes." Red nods. Kotone already knows Red''s identity as a ''doctor'', but she is more curious as to why he just did what he did. "Do you do this often?" She asks. "No. This is the first time. As I am celebrating something, I want to share it with others." Red says. Today marks the first anniversary of his arrival on Terra: this planet. The hospital ward where he healed the patients was the room he woke up in a year ago. For eons, he has experienced many things, enjoyed all the pleasures the infinite realms offer, and possessed all the material and mystical treasures that other sovereigns envied. Therefore, barely anything brings him joy anymore. That resulted him being more sentimental. Keeping things like important dates, and objects that has good memories attached to them, has become a habit of his which many of his servants in Okuba never understood. He is still the same in this world. Not even the things he first found novel in Terra''s society mean anything to him. The only thing he finds important, is the date of his arrival. "May 17th..." Fumio notes in his head. "Boss What makes today special?" He asks. "You know, maybe I can celebrate it too." He adds, after getting a look from Kotone. "Hmmm Even though I''ll teach you more secrets in the future But the meaning of today, you''ll never know." Red smirks. "Yes. It must be very personal for Kichirou-san." Kotone nods as she elbows Fumio. "I''m sorry for asking, boss." Fumio scratches his cheek out of embarrassment. "But boss. How did you make that entire room fall asleep?" He asks instead, which is the thing that mystifies him more than Red''s healing powers. "I don''t only make massage solutions and medical concoctions, Fumio. I make poisons too. And what I used, was some sort of a knock out gas." Red explains. The two almost take a step back to get away from Red, out of caution and fear. "Heheh~" Red is pleased of the vigilance of the two. "But Kichirou-san, how come we were unaffected?" Kotone asks. "Because I already sprinkled the antidote on your noses when you two were hanging on to me." The two realize that Red had plenty of chances of doing so on their way from the shop to the hospital. "Anyways, where do we go next, boss?" Fumio asks, not wanting to think about it anymore. "You won''t go knocking out people again, would you?" He jokes. "Nah." Red smirks. "But I''m going to meet someone for a private lunch. Might take me an hour or so. So, if you two don''t want to wait for me, then see you two tomorrow." "Is it a date?" Kotone asks, interested of Red''s private life. "No." Red looks at her weirdly. "Oh" Kotone is disappointed. "Then I''ll just go to lunch while I wait for you boss." Fumio insists on following. "Me too" Kotone does not want to be left out. "Alright. Come." Red offers his hand to his two students, which they take. Half a minute later, they are now in Suginami''s most exclusive neighborhood. "This looks like the Sunada Clan''s compound." Fumio says as he recognizes Sunada''s Kamon (crest) plastered in sides of the buildings and in the signages of what looks like luxurious businesses. "It is." Red nods and cancels his illusion. Fumio and Kotone get interested seeing that Red is no longer the 40 something year-old Iwai Kichirou, but a young 20-year-old non ethnically Japanese man with black hair and black irises. His haori also changed colors from its original black, to maroon. Soon however, they shrug off their interest as they know that it is simply one of Red''s many disguises. After all, even the two of them have different disguises provided by the clothes Red made them. "Let''s go." Red then leads the two inside what looks like a high class French restaurant. Unlike three weeks ago in Chofu, Fumio and Kotone are now much more confident in walking in such an establishment. "Good morning." The ma?tre d'' greets the three by the entrance. "Reservations?" He asks. "Red." Red says in English. The ma?tre d'' looks at his clipboard before nodding. "And, is it possible for these two to take any available table?" Red asks. "Of course." The ma?tre d'', knowing that even a friend of a friend of Junichi''s should be treated a bit more special. "Welcome." He then leads the three in. <> "Red. You son of a bitch." Junichi gives Red a bear hug as soon as Red enters the private room that Junichi reserved. "Hello to you too" Red tries his best to act glad to see the young man. "If you didn''t text from time to time, I would have posted a missing''s person report on you." Junichi disengages from the hug, holds Red''s shoulders, and gives his ''friend'' a once over. "Who knew you''d look great in a kimono." He nods in approval at Red''s fashion. "I know. I can''t stop wearing them after I found out." Red wears a playful smirk. "Damn it. You now acknowledge that you''re handsome? You''ve really changed." Junichi laughs. "Heh...Won''t you offer me a seat?" Red asks. "Ah.. That''s right. Sit. Sit. I have a lot of questions." "I bet you do." Red chuckles. While he does not want to meet Junichi, he owes it to the original Red to do so. After all, Junichi is the only family that the original Red has ever known. <> "Which one''s good?" Kotone scrunches her nose in frustration, looking at the names of the French dishes on the menu. "I don''t know" Fumio too, has his head spinning at the odd combination of ingredients in the dishes'' description. "Shall we ditch Kichirou-san and go somewhere else?" Kotone suggests. "Shall we?" Fumio likes the idea. "If I may make a suggestion?" The ma?tre d'', seeing the two struggling, and hearing the two''s words, offers his assistance in concern. "I''d recommend our French onion soup for the appetizer. The soup is made of beef stock and onions, served with croutons and melted cheese on top. It is the appetizer I''ve seen couples enjoy best in our restaurant." "" "" Kotone and Fumio look at each other and indeed, their illusions just happen to match, making it easy for strangers to misunderstand their relationship. Fumio''s illusion is a handsome looking 30-something year old man in a suit, and Kotone''s is a gorgeous lady who looks mixed race due to her oriental and western features going well with a simple but classy cream dress. "T-that sounds great" Fumio utters. He then realizes his thoughtless words and his eyes widen in regret. "I-if you want, of course." He adds, to cushion his embarrassment from Kotone. "Y-yeah. That sounds great." Kotone nods thoughtlessly, escaping the situation not even in her mind. "That''s great. You two seem to be on a date? I recommend a bottle of Chablis Grand Cru Vaudesir. Strong enough to help you two loosen up, but not strong enough to get you two drunk." The ma?tre d'' continues to suggest. "Ehhh.. wine at this hour is a bit" Fumio winces at the suggestion. "Yeah" Kotone on the other hand, never had French wine, and is curious of how it tastes. Thankfully for her, "Aherm.", the ma?tre d'' speaks up once again. "The young man who was with you earlier, insisted. He also wants me to pass this to you two." He hands a folded note to Kotone, "You can tell me your entre later on.", and excuses himself. Kotone then opens the note, for her and Fumio to read. [Why don''t you two enjoy more finer things in life? Order whatever you want. They''re on me. Treat it as a payback for the lunch you two refused back in Chofu. You two know I''m rich so don''t hold back. And by the way. I just realized that your disguises look good with each other. So why don''t you two roleplay? It''s not like you two have relationships of your own.] After reading the note, the two realize that their heads are too close to each other. "Aherm" The two lean back at the same time, embarrassed. "Hmmm.. When''s that wine coming." Fumio drinks the water from his wineglass to swallow his embarrassment. "I don''t know if this is a treat, or a prank.." Kotone mirrors Fumio''s actions. Chapter 54 - Anniversary (2) (Cont''d) While waiting for their food, Fumio and Kotone become self-conscious at being mistaken as a couple. The contents of Red''s little note replaying in their minds is not helping either. "Uhm How''s young Haruto, by the way?" Fumio asks in an attempt to break the awkwardness. "Young Haruto" Kotone giggles at how Fumio phrased her question. "Are you that old?" She asks back. "Oh You''re right." Fumio feels less awkward after Kotone''s mood brightens up. "Maybe because it''s always that''s how boss says it when he talks about your brother." He chuckles. "Oh that makes sense." Kotone nods. "He''s fine. He just turned 19 last month." She answers shortly, figuring that Fumio does not really care and is just making conversation. "Oh? Is he going to college?" Fumio asks. "I''m planning on sending him to vocational school. Learn construction management or something." Kotone shrugs. "Is he uh" Fumio is about to ask more about Haruto''s powers, but decides against it. It is a taboo after all and it is up to the person in question to reveal their powers on their own and the extent of it. "Nevermind." He shakes his head as he tries to think of another topic to talk about. Fortunately for him, Kotone is curious too. "How about you? I recall Kichirou-san once saying that you met up with your sister. That was months ago, I think." Kotone asks. "Ah Yeah. That." Fumio smiles bitterly. "That was nothing. Just the clan bothering me." He shakes his head. "Oh" Kotone nods, not understanding what Fumio''s words mean, but hears the heavy feeling that is contained in them. "So, you''re really not going to visit your parents?" She asks. "Nah. But I''m more up for meeting up with my sister again. She''s the only one who at least texted me a happy birthday." Fumio says. "Oh" Kotone regrets asking. "Anyways. For a fancy place like this, I thought it''d be full." She then looks around, noticing that the restaurant is only half of its tables are occupied. "This is actually common in restaurants and bars in clan compounds like this to not be full." Fumio''s eyes brighten that he can keep the conversation going with his knowledge. "Why?" Kotone is surprised by the information. "Well. It''s exclusive. Establishments like this probably only serve people that meet a certain criterion. We would have been refused service at the door if boss did not have a reservation." Fumio explains. "Ah" Kotone is surprised, and burdened. "Wow. And here I thought that restaurants like this are only seen on TV." She says, becoming self-conscious. "Relax. Right now, we have looks that suit the place. All you have to do is straighten your back, stick your chest out, and don''t stoop so low when you eat or drink." Fumio says. This assures Kotone. "Is it your treat this time?" "Yeah. As a thanks for that favor." The two are distracted by two newcomers taking the table next to theirs. The new customers take Kotone and Fumio''s interest as they look like people who will stand out in a crowd, even amongst rich people. Two men in their 40s after all, simply carry themselves differently from average people like second nature. The tall bald one, is wearing an obviously expensive set of brown checkered three-piece suit and crocodile leather shoes. The short handsome one is wearing a set of glossy and silver-colored corporate suit with matching shoes and tie. The two men look immaculate with not even a single hair on their head out of place. Their clothes do not have a single thread sticking out or a lint even if one intentionally looks for them. "Sorry for making you wait. And not answering your phone call. I was driving." The handsome man apologizes as they sit. "It''s fine. But, can I ask what held you up?" The bald man asks. "Heavy traffic on my way from Koto, at Chiyo. It''s those protesters." The handsome man explains himself. "Huh They''re still going, huh?" The bald man chuckles. "Yes. Probably until tomorrow when the congress would announce their decision." The handsome man replies with a smirk. "What do you think their decision will be?" The bald man asks. "Probably the same." The handsome man shrugs. "Would you like that?" The bald man asks. "Yes I would be out of my mind to think otherwise. Giving the non-superiori free money? Do you know how much our taxes will be just to afford that?" The handsome man scoffs. "Then they''ll protest again." The bald man smirks. "It''ll die down anyways. What can they do?" The handsome man scoffs. "Right... But I actually support it." The bald man says. This surprises his friend, Fumio, and Kotone. "What? I''m not the only one. My family, other families. Probably half of all the superiori clans think the same." The bald man continues. "Why?" The shorter man asks. "To shut the non-superiori up. Besides, the clans will definitely make the price of commodities slowly rise anyways, eventually offsetting the increase in our taxes." The bald man chuckles. Fumio and Kotone feel their stomach sink at how casual the man said it. "Ah" The handsome man widens his eyes in surprise. "Wouldn''t the people notice though? Not only the non-superiori will be affected if we do that." He soon realizes a problem. "They will. But what can they do? Ask to raise their UBI? Ask to lower the prices? The middle-class superiori who will get caught in the middle will buffer the non-superiori, making it harder for anymore protests and demands to arise." The bald man shrugs. "And whichever clan is smart enough to sell things at a lower price to be more competitive, they''ll be pressured by other clans to follow the trend." He adds. "That sounds a lot of trouble just to accommodate these leeches." The shorter man leans back in his chair with a sigh. "Meh. It''s not really. This is nothing compared to when the clans made the country wear the mask of democracy." The bald man says in dismissal. The two''s conversation pauses as one of the waiters arrive at their table to serve their wine. "Wanna get out of here?" Fumio meanwhile, asks Kotone, noticing her face is looking gloom. "Nah. I''ll be fine." Kotone refuses. "How about another table?" Fumio asks instead. "Sounds good." Kotone supports the idea this time. The two can only hope that the food will taste good enough to soothe the bitterness brought upon by the conversation they overheard. The two are about to call for a waiter to request for a change of seats when, "Hey there.", the handsome man calls out to Fumio. "Hello." Fumio nods politely to the man. "Nice shoes you got there. Custom tailored?" The man asks. "Thank you. Yes. It is custom tailored. You have great sense of fashion yourself." Fumio smoothly replies as he releases some spiritual energy to his brain to clear his mind. He also silently grumbles at Red in his mind for making his disguise stand out. "Heh. I wasn''t fishing for that, but thank you." The handsome man smiles and nods to Fumio. "You''re new in town?" He asks. "Oh? New faces? Hello there." The bald man also greets the two amicably. Fumio and Kotone''s faces freeze at this. They did not expect to be bothered. "We''re simply visitors from out of town. We have heard of the reputation of this fine establishment, so we decided to drop by." Fumio replies. The bald man and the handsome man simply stare at Fumio and Kotone for a few seconds before exchanging looks. "I see." The bald man nods. "Who did you hear this restaurant from?" He asks. "We heard it from a friend who lives around here." Fumio almost freezes at the question, but manages to answer. "Well. Everyone has friends from here. Maybe we know that friend of yours? I am looking to make new friends these days." The handsome man asks this time. Fumio is stumped. He does not know what relation Red has to the Sunada Clan. He also does not want to lie either by saying that he is a friend of a random Sunada Clan member he has heard of as it will simply put him in trouble. "I''m sorry, sir. While I''d love to know you more, I have a prior arrangement with my date. And this is our first date after all." He can only attempt to escape the conversation, "Excuse me?" and get the attention of a nearby waiter. "Yes sir?" The waiter, clueless and too good at his job, attends to Fumio immediately, unknowingly blocking the handsome man and bald man from asking anymore questions. "We''d like to change tables please." Fumio requests, softly. "Very well, sir." The waiter is eager to help. Fumio''s voice is still heard however by the bald man. "I''m sorry. Did we offend you?" He asks with a hint of offense in his tone. "Oh. No, no." Fumio immediately wears an apologetic face. "I''m terribly sorry for causing a misunderstanding. It''s just, I do not want to make my inexperienced and embarrassing dating approach, which you two might inadvertently witness, be the first impression I make on you two. After all, I really do hope we meet again in the future." He apologizes. "I see. Well, in that case, it should be me apologizing for misunderstanding." The bald man accepts Fumio''s explanation. "And I apologize too... For interrupting your date." The handsome man politely nods to Kotone, which Kotone is compelled to reply with a nod of her own. Seeing that things have become amicable once again, "Well then. Excuses us.", Fumio stands up and gracefully extends his hand to Kotone, which Kotone gladly takes. She does not know what just happened, but she is glad to escape the situation as other customers are now looking at them. "Here you go." After the waiter brought them to a new table at the corner of the restaurant, right beside the window, Fumio sighs in relief. "I didn''t know you can speak flowery like that." Kotone gives Fumio a strange look. "Hated it, but had to play the part. Or else, whatever is boss up to, we might ruin it if we get in trouble." Fumio scoffs. "Trouble?" Kotone is surprised. "All I saw were those two jerks wanting to know us." As soon as she said it however, she realizes it. "They were suspicious of us?" She asks. "Not really. Nosy people like them are just common among places like this. They have to know the identity of whoever shares the space with them." Fumio explains. "Wow..." Kotone scoffs. "Yes. But the more we interact with them, they will be more suspicious. They actually asked us where we''re from, or who in the Sunada is our friend. We don''t have an answer for those so I had to get us out of there." Fumio says. "Oh" Kotone recalls the conversation and realizes the hidden meaning among the words exchanged. "Yeah. They just used a common speech trick. I just didn''t expect that boss will bring us here, a place where people like them are everywhere." He Fumio shakes his head. "Well Well, done, then." Kotone gives Fumio a look of approval and relief as she realizes that they almost got into a trap amongst what she considers are people that she can never afford to offend. "Ugh. Kichirou-san" She can only grumble. "Hey. It''s us who followed him, remember? He''s even paying for lunch." Fumio reminds her. "Oh That''s right. Hahaha." Kotone almost slaps her forehead, realizing that the situation is partly her responsibility. "Haaa Took them long enough." Fumio''s eyes brighten as a waiter, carrying a tray of food, is walking to their direction. Meanwhile, a the private room a floor above. "By the way. This whole UBI thing for the non-superioris, does your family support it?" Red asks. "No" Junichi shakes his head. "You''re not having money problems, are you?" He asks in worry. Chapter 55 - Minor Unrest (Continued) "You''re not having money problems, are you?" Junichi asks in worry. "No, no. It''s just my new friends need the littlest bit they can get. You know how hard it is for non-superiori to get a stable job. If it wasn''t for the recommendation letter I asked from you, I would not have been employed by a famous manga artist." Red explains. "I see. Unfortunately, father doesn''t support it. He said if it passes, then the F-Class who will not benefit from it despite being practically on the same boat as the non-superiori, will also demand to be included. Father said that would result to the superiori clans to raise the price of goods so they can shoulder that responsibility." Junichi smiles bitterly. Red is trying his best not to laugh. After all, Junichi''s debut mission as a hero is protecting bribes of lobbying groups to stop the UBI Bill from being passed. "But I call bullshit. The superiori clans have overflowing wealth that will last generations. They can afford to pay for what the bill asks of them." Junichi sighs in disappointment. "Well, that''s too bad." Red shrugs. "Oh look at the time." He then checks his watch. An hour has already passed since they started their lunch. "You have somewhere to be?" Junichi asks. "Yeah. I have to find a studio that would want to adapt my boss'' manga to an anime." Red uses Fumio''s job as an excuse. "I see." Junichi tries to hide his disappointment. "So You''ll disappear again after today?" He can only ask. He already has the feeling. "Disappear is a bit much. But yes. It''ll be a long time before we meet each other again, unless you REALLY need me. There''s a lot I''ve missed out on in the world." Red nods. "I don''t have to worry, right?" Junichi asks, concerned. "Nah. Tell me, how many times have I crossed your mind since we last saw each other?" Red asks. Junichi takes a deep breath. "Honestly? At first, I tried to look for you, but you were simply too hard to find. After months of exchanging texts and assuring me you''re fine, you cross my mind less and less." He admits. "And that''s a good thing. We are now starting to focus on our own lives. That means we''re moving on." Red nods. "We are." Junichi smiles in bitter realization. "Anyways. You still don''t remember anything?" He asks instead. "Unfortunately." Red shakes his head, reading Junichi easily. "But does that matter? Even though I don''t have memories of you prior to a year ago, I feel that we''re friends. That means that even though I have no memories, my heart remembers our friendship. So know this. We might not see each other for another year, or two, or five, or even a decade. But I know that the next time we meet each other, and if you need my help then, I''ll have your back." He assures. "Aherm Thank you." Junichi can only pour wine in his and Red''s glasses as he tries to stop himself from breaking down from Red''s words. "What should we drink to?" He then asks after finishing filling their glasses. Red picks up his glass, "To growing up?" and raises it. "To growing up." Junichi nods. *CLINK* <> "So. How was lunch." Red asks his two students as they walk out of Sunada Clan''s fancy neighborhood. "Delicious." Kotone smiles in gratitude. "It was. You should have seen the waiter''s face when he saw how much we ate." Fumio brags. "Must have been a sight." Red is satisfied of the two''s mood. "I just wished we never met those two." Kotone grumbles. "Agree." Fumio readily agrees. "Who?" Red gets curious. "Just two fancy pants. Probably members of the Sunada, or some other clan. Talking about the universal basic income as if it''s a game." Fumio reports with a sneer. "Ah." Red simply nods, dropping his interest at the two''s encounter. "How about you, Kichirou-san? What do you think about all of this?" Kotone asks, interested of Red''s opinion. "It''s just that, you seem like someone who belongs to something secular. As if none of this concerns you." She adds. "Hmmm It''s the fundamental law of the living." Red starts. His mysterious preface getting a curious look from the two. "There is no equality. The strong and merciless will always stand on the heads of the weak and kind-hearted." "W-what?" "B-boss" Kotone and Fumio express their disbelief. They never imagined that Red will say something so cold hearted. "You two always knew. In your hearts, you always knew. What''s there to be surprised about?" Red looks back at the two with a smirk, making them shudder. "Are you really the same person" Kotone cannot believe that Red is the same person who treated Haruto and the patients for free. The same person who gave the elderly of Hinohara Village free massage service. The same person who took her in. "Boss. You''re not saying that it is natural for the non-superiori to suffer, right?" Fumio asks. "Yes." Red says, making the two downcast. "But one of the things that make humans unique is that they always wish to defy the natural, and do their best to achieve just that." He then continues. "I wish that weak humans should be allowed to live comfortably and happily. They should not live simply as sustenance to the powerful. In fact, the powerful should thank the weak, as they are nothing without the weak." This gives Fumio and Kotone their good impressions of Red. "You want to know what I think of the UBI?" Red goes back to Fumio''s question, making the two wait in anticipation. "Let''s drop by Chiyoda." He simply states their next destination, disappointing the two that they their anticipation is prolonged. <> Chiyoda City. The National Diet Building. It contains the chambers of Japan''s House or Representatives. In a usual day, it would look peaceful with its massive green lawn surrounding it, and the cars passing by the roads around it are forbidden from blowing their horns. Currently however, that massive green lawn can hardly be seen as a crowd of thousands of protesters are currently assembled on top of it. The members of the crowd are holding all sorts of signs, pumping and making them dance in the air. With the lead of a few people with megaphones, they are also chanting phrases in unison, hoping that the congressmen or other people of authority inside the building can hear them. "Rich people, powerful superiori, hear us!" "HEAR US!" "Your brothers and sisters are non-superiori too!" "RAAAAHHHH" "You''ve exploited us long enough!" "RAAAHHHH" "Having no powers makes us work harder!" "RRAHHHH" "We are your fellow Japanese!" "WE ARE JAPANESE TOO!" "We are your fellow human!" "WE ARE HUMAN TOO!" "What do we deserve?" "WE DESERVE BETTER!" "Rich people, powerful superiori, hear us!" Red, Fumio, and Kotone, who have arrived a few minutes ago, are quietly watching the crowd from the distance, hearing them repeat their chants in a loop in consistent loudness and intensity. "Uhhh Kichirou-san? Why are we still invisible? And why are we not joining?" Kotone asks, confused as to why they are just standing, watching, from a distance. Fumio meanwhile, notices that Red seems to be looking beyond the protesters. "Boss. You waiting for something?" He asks Red. "Yeah There''s an Aura of mass malice in the air." Red says, making his two students nervous. "They are not just planning on protesting?" Fumio asks. "It''s not the protesters. It''s another group." Red tilts his head. Fumio then spreads a thin sphere of spiritual energy around him but soon, "I don''t feel it.", he fails to pick up anything. "You can''t feel it with just that." Red says. While Red can use some special spiritual energy technique or even his spiritual sense to sense ill will, he does not have to as he has lived eons to feel it simply with his gut. Especially if the ill will he is sensing is coming from hundreds of individuals. "Are you saying that some superiori are planning on attacking the protesters?" Kotone meanwhile, is concerned more about the well-being of the people. "Not to that extent. Maybe these people just want to cause some disruption." Red says. Soon enough. A group of people, wearing green windbreakers as uniforms, arrive and they penetrate the weak crowd of the mostly non-superiori protesters, easily reaching the front of the crowd. "Shit Are they from Citizens for Self-Governance?" Fumio''s eyes widen, recognizing the people he learned to scorn over recently. He never imagined that the group that only spout things online actually showed up in person. Citizens for Self-Governance is the loudest special interest group on TV and on the internet that is against the passing the UBI Bill. Fumio knows however that it is simply one of the many groups that are being unknowingly manipulated by some clans. "What?" Kotone, who doesn''t have as good an eyesight, looks closer. "They''ve come personally?" She winces, knowing the bigotry the group express under the their deceptively flowery statements. "GO HOME! YOU''RE ALL CAUSING US TROUBLE." The leader of the CSG announces sternly with the aid of his wind ability. "YOU''VE COST US LOSS IN INCOME IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS! HAVE YOU NO CONSIDERATION?" He continues to admonish the crowd. "DON''T TALK ABOUT CONSIDERATION. WE PROTEST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES AND THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT US?" One of the leaders of the protest bites back, elevating the subject, as he knows that the CSG leader is simply using the disruption caused by the "WE''VE BEEN LICKING THE GROUND OUR ENTIRE LIVES! YOU ONLY LOST TWO WEEKS." Another protest leader declares. "RAHHHHH!" The crowd of protesters roar in support. The reporters and their camera people immediately convene between the two sides like hyenas, hungry to capture what looks to be an interesting discourse. "HOW CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THAT IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR BEING CITIZENS IN A COUNTRY BUILT BY SUPERIORI? THE PRICE FOR THE PROTECTION WE PROVIDE? WHEN ENEMIES ATTACK WILL YOU BE THE ONE WHO WILL DEFEND THE COUNTRY?" The leader of the CSG argues. "KNOW YOUR HISTORY, CHILD. IN THE CONFLICTS AFTER THE GREAT WAR, WE HAVE USED GUNS. IT IS US NON-SUPERIORI WHO FOUGHT IN THE FRONT LINES, ACTING AS CANNON FODDER FOR SUPERIORI COMMANDERS WHO NEVER SAW BATTLE." An old man from the protesters'' side speaks up for the first time. "OOOHHHH" The protesters jeer at the CSG members in support of the old man. "AND WHO HAVE YOU FOUGHT? YOUR OWN KIND. WE SUPERIORI HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IN RESERVE FOR THE HARDER BATTLES." The CSG leader coldly returns. "BOOOOO." This rouses the protesters. "THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO, BUT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. YOU ARE USING THE SAME EXCUSE USED ON US FOR DECADES. ALWAYS APPEARING TO PREPARE FOR "HARDER" BATTLES. YET THOSE BATTLES NEVER CAME." The old man says. "rAAHHH." The protesters yell out their own support. "I THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, SIR. BUT PLEASE UNDERSTAND. PEOPLE ARE NOT VALUED BASED ON HOW HARD THEY WORKED OR HOW MUCH THEY SACRIFICED. THEY ARE VALUED BASED ON HOW HARD THEY ARE TO REPLACE. AND YOU, NON-SUPERIORI, ARE REPLACEABLE." The CSG leader harrumphs. "" the crowd is silenced. The protesters cannot believe that someone would say those words to their faces. Even the more sensible members of the CSG are wearing awkward expressions, shocked at what their leader just said. The leaders of the protest, despite being offended, are more worried of a fight breaking out as they feel tension rise at an almost palpable level. "CALM YOURSELV-" Before they can advise their side, "What did you just say?!" "You dare?!" "Are you looking for a fight?!" many of the protesters are already on the CSG leader''s face. The people of the press, who were hungry for footages, did not wish to see violence so they attempt to get away. But when they are squeezed back in the middle, they can only try to get in between the two sides. The police who are on standby, also dive to intervene. Their commanders however did not even consider that this situation will happen, so they are undermanned and unequipped to deal with the situation. "Boss We have to do something!" Fumio, seeing the chaos starting to explode, asks Red for help. Kotone too, looks at the crowd in worry. "Heh" Red simply chuckles. Kotone and Fumio are annoyed at Red''s unusual expression, but as they look at Red''s face, they see Red wear an expression they have never seen before. A face of pure excitement. "This is perfect for stirring trouble.." Red says with a shit-eating grin. Chapter 56 - The Jester Fumio and Kotone then see Red take a step forward. And with that step, they see that he morhps his appearance to something that is absolutely out of their expectations. Red has changed to what looks like the joker card from a typical deck of playing cards, only looking much more sinister. His face looks like it is painted white with his lips and nose exaggeratedly painted in a mix of red and black. He is wearing what looks like a typical medieval jester''s costume, only made of fine-looking fabric, and is colored bright red with golden checkered patterns on his vest and cloth shoes. To top it off, with his gloved hands, he "puts" on his head, a ''Fool''s Hat'' that has three points with balls of gold at each end. "You two stay here." He then orders his two students. Fumio and Kotone notice that even Red''s voice has changed; from its original baritone pitch to a high, slightly nasal one with a tinge of innocence and mischief on it. They also notice Red''s posture change from a perpetually straight one, to one with a slight slouch leaning forward, looking more aggressive. The two can only nod at Red''s command, too taken aback that their teacher seemed to have changed to an entirely different person, and not just his appearance. Red as he walks to join the crowd, smirks. It has been a year since he arrived in this world. And for a year, he did nothing but peacefully travel around the world while taking in how society works. He figures that just for today, and just to celebrate the anniversary of his arrival, he will do something that will disrupt a society he deemed to peaceful for a mortal realm. At the same time, he will show his two students the strength they will hunger for and will strive to achieve. Meanwhile near the front of the National Diet Building, the tension between the protesters and the members of Citizens for Self-Governance, is about to break at any moment. The CSG members are hoping that the protesters will start something, and the protesters are trying to hold themselves from mobbing their disrupters despite the smirks and the words they are hearing from them. "THE NON-SUPERIORI, PLEASE STEP BACK. THE SUPERIORI, MOVE FORWARD." One of the popular leaders of the protest, a strong voice of the movement despite being a C-Class Superiori himself, instructs everyone. "SEE? SEE! YOU HIDE BEHIND THE SUPERIORI!" The CSG leader smugly points out, "RAHHH!!!", and his associates are roused. "Tatsuji-san! This is our fight!" Some of the non-superiori protesters however, are not willing to back down, their pride taking a hit from the CSG leader''s words. "That''s right! So what if they have powers? We outnumber them!" The others also never had the intentions of backing down in the first place. Suddenly, "HEEE HEEE! HAHAHAHA! AHAHA!", the people in the scene, almost two thousand of them, protesters, CSG members, press people, and policemen alike, all suddenly hear a mischievous cackle in the air, cutting through sounds of chaos and arguments, as if the person who the laugh belongs to is right next to them. "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The voice urges the two opposing as it continues to laugh. Soon enough, they notice that tens of feet above, they see a man, wearing the most outrageous and eye-catching jester clothes, jumping and leaping around the scene using invisible footholds. "HEHEHAHA! THIS IS FUN! SO MUCH FUN! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The jester continues to chant as he continues hopping and skipping around with comedic grace. His urging however, achieves the opposite effect of the meaning of his words. The crowd''s tension dies down a bit and are now either confused, curious, or apprehensive. They are not sure of the identity of the man, but they are getting nervous. They figure that the man, despite being in odd costume, is definitely not a hero. They can only assume that he is either a crazy superioris or worse, a superioris criminal. The only hundred or so policemen, meanwhile, collectively sigh in relief, half-thanking the jester''s actions in their minds, as the crowd is now less agitated than before. "EH?!" The jester suddenly stops hopping around and stands in one place, twenty feet above the ground. "NOT FIGHTING?" He asks the crowd as he puts his hands on his hips. "YOU! SMELLY MAN!" He then points at the leader of the CSG. "NOT FIGHTING?" He asks. The leader of the CSG is taken aback, being addressed directly, and unsure of how to answer. "NO?!" The jester''s gasps. "YOU GRANDPA? NOT FIGHTING?" He then asks one of the elderly leaders of the protesters. "NO." The elderly leader responds using a megaphone, thankful of the jester for calming the situation down. "WHY NOT~?" The jester then does a spin on his foot and asks the crowd in a childish tone. "YOU TRICKED ME!" He yells out, as if having a tantrum, then waves his hand to the side of the protesters. Following that gesture, is a huge breeze of wind that caresses the half of the protesters. A second or two later, half of the thousand-men protesters that are the closest to the jester, the same people who were touched by the jester''s wind, almost in a unified fashion, all faint. This stuns the other half of the protesters at the back and they stand frozen, speechless. It does not take them long however to confirm that the jester in front of them is a supervillain. Not only a supervillain, but a powerful one. "AAHHHH!" Nobody knows who initiated it, but they all then turn around to flee in panic. "FREEZE!" The police, realizing what just happened, spring to action. Half of them attend to the fainted protesters to assess the protesters'' conditions, and half of them convene to the jester''s direction. Unfortunately, they are slowed down out of caution as they do not want to step on the fainted protesters. This slowed action is enough for the jester to once again wave his hand, and just like what happened with the protesters, a gust of wind caresses them policemen and they shortly faint afterwards. The CSG members and the people of the press and their crews who are the only ones left standing in the scene, are horrified at what they had just witnessed. The CSG members try to nudge each other into action, but all of them know that they do not have a powerful superioris with them. The reporters, most being thinker superiori, do not have the brute to fight. Finally, these two groups decide to flee. They are about to do so, when suddenly, "DON''T LEAVE YET~" the jester says. Along with the jester''s words, a heavy and choking feeling descend upon the CSG members and the press, making their legs weak, making them unable to run away. Along with the burdening feeling, they also feel an impending sense of doom, as if the doors of death is just somewhere near them. The superiori in the crowd that have the abilities to flee in normal crises, cannot as they are simply too scared to concentrate on activating their powers. "AH!" The jester, out of nowhere, gasps and covers his mouth with an exaggerated manner. "ARE THOSE CAMERAS?" He then waves at some of the cameras that are bravely pointed at him by cameramen with giant balls. "AM I ON TV?" He asks one of the camera men. "Yes." The cameraman bravely answers. He feels like he is about to die at any moment, so he can only try and broadcast a good footage to make his death meaningful. "CAN THEY HEAR ME ON TV?" The jester asks. "YES." A man beside the cameraman, holding a huge microphone, says. "OKAY!" The jester exclaims in excitement. "HI MOM! HI DAD! I''M ON TV! ARE YOU WATCHING?" The jester addresses the camera once again. The people present would have found the jester''s actions at least even a bit adorable had it not been for the feeling of death whispering to them if they dare make the wrong step. "THIS SMELLY MAN TRICKED ME~!" The jester points at the leader of the CSG once again and the man falls flat on his bottom. "WHY DID YOU TRICK ME?" He addresses the leader more directly. "Dear sir, I don''t know what you mean." The CSG leader tries to sound amicable. "WHY DID YOU WANT TO FIGHT? BUT YOU DIDN''T FIGHT? THEN YOU WANT TO FIGHT, THEN YOU DON''T WANT TO FIGHT?" The jester''s limited and childish vocabulary and grammar, while confusing, gets across to the ones who are listening. "We just wanted to talk!" The CSG leader answers. "THEN WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO THESE WEAK PEOPLE?" The jester asks, but this time, in a more serious tone. "'''' The CSG leader has nothing to say. "WHY?" The jester asks again. "I-I" The CSG leader, despite guessing that the jester is a simple-minded fool, is scared to come up with a lie. "WHY?" The jester then turns the questions to the other members of the CSG, but just like their leader, they do now know how to respond. "WHY?~ WHY?~ WHY?~" The jester asks three consecutive times, like how a toddler asks series of it to an adult. Each ''Why'' he spoke, the choking feeling increases in the CSG members and they are forced to kneel. The news crews around then notice that they are unaffected by whatever happened to the CSG. They know however that they might be next, so they simply continue documenting everything while hoping that their live broadcasts are being seen by police or any strong superiori nearby, which will subsequently lead to their rescue. The jester on the other hand, goes on the move again and starts jumping, hopping, and skipping in the air around the CSG members and the press people in great speeds, while still chanting ''why''. And at each ''why'' the CSG members hear, the heavy and choking feeling increase once again, making them feel as if death is getting nearer and nearer. No matter how much the CSG members fight the feeling, they cannot even talk, much less scream for help. Slowly, one by one, the CSG members who can no longer stand the pressure, start fainting one by one, until none are left conscious. "OH!... GOODNIGHT!" The jester, seeing that the final green wind-breaker-wearing person has fallen, stops in one place again, and waves at their unconscious bodies. The news crews meanwhile, do not know what else to do but stare at the jester. And when they see the jester look their way, they get scared again. Fortunately for them, the pressure they were feeling suddenly disappears, and they feel light again. They all collectively sigh in relief, feeling that they finally found land after days in the story seas. "PRETTY NEE-SAN!" The jester turns his attention to one particular reporter who looks to be young and inexperienced. That reporter gulps, and she gets nervous again. "Y-yes?" She manages to respond. "THE PEOPLE INSIDE THAT BUILDING" The jester points at the National Diet Building. "ARE THEY GOOD PEOPLE?" He asks. "Uhhh some of them are, some of them are not." The reporter says in honesty, making the other news crew members look at her weirdly, even though they know truth. "ARE THEY GOOD AT FIGHTING?" The jester then asks in excitement. "Uhhh. No. But, some of them are." As soon as the reporter said that, a figure of a human bursts out from the entrance of the National Diet Building and quickly reaches the jester and the press people, crossing fifty meters in a second. "W-WHa" That figure, which the press people now recognize as a government employee based on how he is dressed, stare in shock at the hundreds of unconscious people lying on the green grass of the building''s huge lawn. "Murakami-san" One of the reporters who is acquainted with the man, greets. "Hiroki Murakami? The Sergeant at arms?" The jester hears some of the press people whisper about the man''s identity. "You there! You did this?" Hiroki asks the jester, trying to get over the dangerous feeling he is feeling from the strangely dressed man. "YES." The jester plainly admits, as if having done nothing wrong. Hiroki on the other hand, is taken aback at the honesty. "Are they dead?" Hiroki asks. "NO. SLEEPING." The jester answers. "WHO ARE YOU? YOU LOOK STRONG. WANNA FIGHT?" He does not give Hiroki a chance to ask anymore questions and simply challenges. Hiroki simply stares at the jester, and takes a deep thoughtful breath. "Sure But let''s go somewhere where there are not many people.." He decides. Chapter 57 - Keeping Up The Act Murakami Hiroki, 46 years of age, is the current Sergant at Arms, or in more simple terms, the head security-cum-butler for the House of Representatives. Being a decorated police officer in his prime, and coming from the Murakami Clan whose domain is Chiyoda City where the House Representatives is based in, earned him the appointment to the position of Sergeant at Arms. But most importantly, being a mid-tier A-Class Superiori, who is not a clan leader, is the greatest factor of his appointment. Had he belonged to the main family bloodline of the Murakami Clan, and had the main family already not having a powerful heir, he would have a chance of becoming a clan head, but because he was born in one of the branch families, he does not have much future in the clan aside from simply being an elder by the time he turns 50. At age 22, he realized he did not want to simply be a muscle and elder for the clan, so he decided to simply work for the government, hoping to grab an opportunity to enter politics. At age 41, after almost two decades of hard work and fighting superioris criminals as an officer of the Superioris Police, and adding his excellent record, it is as if the heavens rewarded him and he is suddenly appointed as the new Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, and the youngest one in history at that. Finally free from the daily life of training and preparing for any strong superiori to become antsy somewhere, he wholeheartedly embraced his new job, and did well on it. Fast forward to today, on an important day, a serious security threat appears on his job for the first time since his appointment. "Hiroki-san!" "Report!" Hiroki immediately orders one of the security officers that just barged in his office. "A powerful superioris criminal no appears to be a terrorist, is outside. He just attacked the protesters." The officer reports. "Was it a deadly attack?" Hiroki''s face turns icy cold. "No, sir. According to my contacts among the press present outside, it doesn''t appear to be so. But half of the protesters have fallen unconscious, and half are currently fleeing." The officer explains. Suddenly, Hiroki realizes the unintelligible chanting outside has already stopped and *scream* and just like what the officer reported, he hears a faint sound of screaming. "Okay. Start the evacuation protocols. I''ll stop the discourse of the house members while you do that." Hiroki orders and he stands up. "Yes sir." The officer leaves the office immediately to start. Hiroki then presses a button on his table and leans forward to the microphone on his table. "This is the Sergeant at Arms speaking. Members of the house, please move to the security room immediately. I repeat, please move to the security room immediately. The security officers are on their way to escort you all. I-" He is about to continue with his announcement when he suddenly shudders, feeling a dangerous presence coming from the distance. " Please remain in the security room until further notice." He concludes his announcement. He has not felt such danger since the High-tier A-Class super terrorist Rock Stampede almost razed the streets of Itabashi City ten years ago. Even though Rock Stampede was apprehended and was subsequently sent to prison, almost a hundred are still dead due to his actions. The events of that day replay in Hiroki''s mind, and he does not want to see the same thing again. He then presses buttons under his table, sending distress calls to both the Superiori Police and to the Army before promptly walking out of his office. <> A few breaths later, Hiroki almost loses his breath, stunned at what he is seeing in the distance. Hundreds of bodies lying right outside the gates of the National Diet Building. He then materializes a steel spear on his hand, holds it tight, and manipulates it to shoot to where he sees people are still present, using it at his vehicle. As he arrives where remaining people present, immediately, he feels a dangerous aura emanating from a tall young man dressed in jester clothes. "Murakami-san." A reporter he is familiar with greets him as soon as he joins the group of press people. Hiroki ignores the greeting however as he notices that the press people seem too relaxed in front of a terrorist. "You there! You did this?" He then asks the jester, figuring that the jester stopped on his attacks. "YES." The jester plainly admits. Hiroki is taken aback by two things. One is how the jester is too honest, and two, he heard the jester''s voice too close to his ears, even though the jester, ten meters above him, did not shout. "Are they dead?" Hiroki then asks, to assess how dangerous the man in front of him is. "NO. SLEEPING." Hiroki cannot help but notice that despite the danger the jester is emanating, the jester''s voice sounds innocent and simpleminded. He hopes to use this as an advantage. Every second counts to him, and the longer he delays the jester''s actions, the quicker back-up arrives, minimizing collateral damage. He is about to ask what the jester''s intentions are, when he is interrupted by the jester''s question. "WHO ARE YOU? YOU LOOK STRONG. WANNA FIGHT?" Hiroki takes a deep breath as he struggles to think about how to deal with the situation until help arrives. Suddenly, an idea pops up. "Sure But let''s go somewhere where there are not many people." He says, hoping that the jester is not too unreasonable. "WHY?" The jester asks. Hiroki then sees the press people clamp up, which makes himself get more cautious. "Because these people will get hurt." He decides to reason. "OH OKAY. IT''S NO FUN HERE. IT''S BAD IF I HURT SLEEPING PEOPLE." The jester says, making Hiroki and the press people almost do a double take at how easy it is to talk to who they already classified as an unreasonable terrorist. And the same terrorist who made hundreds of people unconscious. Hiroki however is still cautious, and he is glad he already called all possible back-ups he can. Soon, he gets over it, and he proceeds to act on his delaying tactic. "When are they going to wake up?" He asks. "OH COUNT 2,000. LIKE ONE, TWO, THREE." The jester demonstrates his counting which makes the people present realize that it takes around 2,000 seconds for the unconscious wake up. This relieves Hiroki and the reporters. "Do you like racing?" Hiroki then asks, still wanting to isolate the unpredictable presence. "YEAH I LIKE IT!" The jester approves with an exaggerated body language. "Okay." Hiroki materializes a spear yet again, holds it, and slowly levitates himself to the jester''s level. "See that place over there with the grass and trees?" Hiroki points to the edges of the Murakami Compound three hundred and fifty meters away from the front lawn of the National Diet Building. He is planning on luring the jester to the unpopulated grass field of his clan compound. "THAT ONE PAST THE RIVER?" The jester asks. "Yes. Beyond the river." Hiroki nods, not correcting the jester''s assumption that the huge and wide man-made ditch surrounding the entirety of Murakami compound is a river. "Every good fight needs a warm-up, right? We should race there to warm up." Hiroki offers. "OKAY." The jester easily accepts it. "Then you go ahead." Hiroki says, wanting to make sure that the jester will honor the agreement. To his surprise, the jester, suddenly shoots off to the direction of their agreed destination at a speed that is just as fast as his flying speed with his spear. Hiroki''s heart sinks and he follows. While following the jester, he assesses the superiori ability he is seeing for the first time. The jester using invisible footholds in the air to travel. Hiroki and the jester are too fast however as only six seconds later, they cross the huge ditch and land on the grass field as large as the National Diet Building''s lawn, not allowing Hiroki to assess the jester''s abilities any further. "I won!" The jester does a comedic and theatric shuffle in celebration. Hiroki also notices that the jester is no longer amplifying his voice. "Oh look! Metal bees!" The jester suddenly points to the sky, and Hiroki also sees that drones have followed them. "Tsk." Hiroki clicks his tongue, annoyed at the persistence of the reporters. "How do we fight?" He can only ask the jester. "We just fight!" The jester says. "How do we know who wins?" Hiroki asks. "The one who sleeps loses!" The jester raises his right hand to his side, and, " or if one loses his spark, he loses!" raises his left, to present the rules. ''So knock out, or go for the kill.'' Hiroki shudders at this, realizing that he just got himself to a potential death battle. "But can I turn off your spark when you are sleeping?" He asks just to be sure. "NO! That''s not fair!" The jester says. Hiroki nods, clear of the rules, but he does not want a death battle. He does not know who he will offend by killing the jester, and he does not know if he will survive if they fight either. "Why don''t we just make each other sleep?" He asks instead. "Why?" The jester asks. "Because if you lose your spark, you''ll never get it back." Hiroki says. "Oh. Okay then!" The jester easily accepts, to Hiroki''s relief. Hiroki realizes that the jester, while dangerous, seem to be very honest. Something that he can exploit. "Can you let me warm up some more? I did not fight in years. You want a fair fight, right?" He asks as he feigns stretching his body. "Okay! I''ll wait!" The jester puts his arms across his chest with a harrumph. Hiroki at this point, realizes a few factors that are not making sense. "Why did you make them sleep by the way?" He asks. "Because the bad guys tricked me! They look like they want to fight the good guys, but they didn''t." The jester answers. "Why did you think they would fight?" Hiroki asks in confusion. "Because the bad guys were mean." The jester answers. Hiroki nods, assuming that the CSG members he saw on the ground were bothering the protesters. "If you know that they are the bad guys, why did you also make the good guys sleep?" Hiroki asks. "Because the good guys were no fun and weak." The jester''s answer makes Hiroki dizzy at how confusing the jester''s logic is. "Weren''t you afraid of hurting them?" Hiroki asks. "I didn''t hurt them! I made them sleep! Sleep is good! Good does not hurt!" The jester proclaims. Hiroki is now clear that the jester did not hurt anyone intentionally. One thing still concerns him. The jester is simply giving him the creeps, and not because of the costume. It is because, it is as if the smell of fresh blood is emanating from the young man. So, he decides to find out. "How many people have you fought so far?" He asks. "Lost count after I counted 500!" The jester shrugs, but his answer makes Hiroki''s eyebrows jump. Not even him, who spent almost two decades on the force fought that many people. "How many of them lost their spark to you?" He asks with a nervous chuckle. "Uhhh Around half?" The jester makes an uncertain gesture. "Yeah. Half of them are bad people and want to turn off my spark." Hiroki shudders at this. It does not matter to him if the jester is acting or not, but someone killing that large number of people explains to him why he feels what he is feeling towards the man. He is about to ask more, when suddenly, "OH! They look like they can fight!", the jester points at the sky. Hiroki looks and he sees that there are indeed five people flying over the moat, heading their way. As those five figures land, Hiroki immediately recognizes them, and he almost curses. ''Young members neighboring clans. Eager for name recognition.'' Hiroki was once a young man too, and he too, wanted the recognition of the Murakami family. There were many options he could have taken to prove his worth and that included being a superhero. But to him, being a superhero is too flamboyant, too flashy, but actually achieves nothing significant. He''d rather earn power and influence at a more subtle and more legal way. "Hiroki-san.." The five young superheroes greet Hiroki. Chapter 58 - Mr. Fool "Greetings, Hiroki-san." The five superheroes greet Hiroki as they stop ten or so meters away from Hiroki and the jester. Hiroki wants to tell them to scram because of their insufficient strength, but before he can, the jester interrupts. The jester who was just a few steps away from Hiroki, suddenly appears in front of the five and, "Hey. Are you good at fighting?", asks. Four of the five superheroes are stunned at the jester''s speed, and the one with the ice disk ability throws one sharp ice disk to the jester out of instinct. "YES!" The jester cheers in a childish tone as he swipes his hand at the ice disk, breaking it to pieces. "My turn!" The jester playfully warns before throwing a slap to the ice disk user''s face. The ice disk user cannot even see the attack due to the jester''s speed, much more avoid the palm that is only a millimeter away from his face, so he is helplessly slapped away like a tennis ball from a tennis player''s racket. The four other superheroes cannot help but turn their heads to watch as their friend fly ten meters away, smash to the grassy ground, bounce even more like a ragdoll, and finally land on his back, unconscious, but breathing. Before they can even do anything to help, *whoosh* they see the jester suddenly appear before their friend, standing, bent over as if looking at something interesting. They get worried that the jester will deliver a killing blow, but to upend their expectations, "HAHAHAHA! Night night ~ Sleep tight~!", the jester instead starts dancing around the ice user''s unconscious body. The four remaining superheroes immediately regret coming, realizing that they severely underestimated the enemy. It only took a split second before their B-Class Superioris friend, who they know is equal in strength to any of them, got taken down. Suddenly, they step back as they see the jester stops dancing, stands in place, and looks their way. "Who''s next?" The jester asks, his mischievous grin looking sinister to them, making them shudder. "Ah. Young man. They just want to watch!" Thankfully for the four superheroes, Hiroki interrupts. "Oh" The jester wears an exaggeratedly disappointed look. "But I''m getting bored! I thought he''d last!" He points at the unconscious ice user as if the ice user wronged him. This pause in action makes the four young superheroes sigh in relief and at the same time, notice that the jester seems to have a child''s mind. "Are you ready yet? I''m getting bored!" The jester asks Hiroki. "Not yet. I''m not as young as you, so I need more warm-up." Hiroki nervously says. Just from the short display of the jester, he immediately knows that he is inferior in speed and physical strength. The four young superheroes meanwhile, immediately see through Hiroki''s act. "Ah! Yes! Mr What should we call you?" The shortest of the four superheroes, and who looks to be the shrewdest of them, asks the jester, to help Hiroki. "Ehhh My friends call me ''Fool''! But, we''re not friends, so you can call me ''Mr. Fool''." ''Mr. Fool'' introduces himself. This makes Hiroki and the four young superiori, hesitate. They did not expect an insult to be used as a name. "Mr. Fool, my name is Taiga. Nice to meet you." The shorty bravely introduces himself. "Nice to meet you!~" The jester does a theatric bow. Slowly, the four young superheroes realize that the jester is much more civil than they expected. They look at Hiroki in confusion and Hiroki can only helplessly shrug. "Well, Mr. Fool, may I check on our friend?" Taiga asks. "Of course." The jester steps back from the ice user. Taiga then cautiously, but intentionally takes his sweet time approaching the ice user. He can already see that his friend is still alive and stable, but he wants to use this a chance to buy time for back up to arrive. "But wait a minute" the jester suddenly comments, making the people present nervous. "Can I go have fun somewhere else? I''ll come back after you''re done warming up!" He wears a pondering expression. "No, Mr. Fool. Can you slowly count to 50? I''ll be done warming up then." Hiroki promises. He cannot risk Mr. Fool getting back to crowded places again, so he decides to fight right in this place. "Too long, but okay!" Mr. Fool nods and, "123", actually stars counting. The four superheroes drop their jaws in disbelief as they look at Hiroki. And Hiroki himself actually cannot believe that his request worked. At the same time, Taiga hurriedly carries the ice user on his back, "I''ll bring this guy to the hospital.", gathers wind on his feet, and takes off. The three other superheroes cannot believe that Taiga left just like that. "You kids" Seeing that Mr. Fool is busy counting; Hiroki turns his attention towards the young superheroes. "It''s been over a minute since Mr. Fool and I came here, but only you five came. That means that the back-up I called are confident I can take him down alone." The lack of confidence in his voice, makes the young superheroes nervous. "I''m going all out. So, if you kids get in the way, you and your clans can''t blame me if you all get hurt, or worse." He concludes. The three superheroes immediately retreat away to the distance so they can safely watch what is about to happen. "31, 32, 33" As Mr. Fool''s count gets closer to 50, Hiroki finally gives up hope of any back-up arriving anytime soon, so he focuses his mind to concentrate, bringing back the exhilarating memories of his days as a Superioris Officer. Soon, "48, 49 AND FIFTY! Are you ready?" Mr. Fool is done counting. "Yes." Hiroki nods, his mind in battle mode once again after a long time. He then materializes hundreds of meter-length steel staff around him, and points them to Mr. Fool''s direction. He could have materialized sharp spears, but to not break the rapport he established with Mr. Fool, he decides to go with the less lethal version of his ability. He is also pretty sure that many interested groups, including his own Murakami Clan, will want to capture Mr. Fool alive. Hundreds of dull staff are still deadly however, and the three young superheroes watching in the distance immediately shudder looking at them even though they are not the target. "HAHAHAHA!" The jester then cackles in glee and he starts zigzagging on the ground as he approaches Hiroki. *shooo-shoo-shooo-shoo* Hiroki does not want to give Mr. Fool the chance and he immediately starts throwing the spears he materialized. He is also moving while doing so. If Mr. Fool takes a certain distance to his left, Hiroki also takes the same certain distance to his left. If Mr. Fool moves diagonally forward, Hiroki also moves diagonally backwards. And if Mr. Fool takes some steps forward, Hiroki takes his own steps backwards. This simple but effective method is what helps Hiroki in maintaining his range advantage. Despite doing a good job maintaining the distance though, Hiroki is getting frustrated. It has already been around a minute since the fight began and not a single staff has landed on Mr. Fool yet. To make him even more helpless, every time he throws staffs that cannot be dodged, he sees that Mr. Fool parries them masterfully by brushing them aside with his palms. "HAHAHA! I like this dance!" Mr. Fool enjoying dodging is also not helping with his focus. "Oh?" Mr. Fool suddenly retreats, and stops thirty meters away from Hiroki. "Hit me! Hit me!" He then starts taunting. Hiroki takes this as an opening and throws tens of his steel staff to Mr. Fool and any possible direction that Mr. Fool can dodge to. Mr. Fool however puts one hand on his left hip and simply waits, making Hiroki''s eyes widen. Then, just an inch away in front of Mr. Fool, the cold and deadly staffs fade into nothingness. "CRAP!" Hiroki''s face freezes. "HAHAHAHA! I knew it! I knew it!" Mr. Fool suddenly starts twirling in place in celebration. Hiroki also does not know what to do. There are two major limits to his abilities. One, is 30 meters: the limit of his abilities'' range. The spears he throws will fade once they cross 30 meters away from him. The second limit is that he can only summon 360 spears at a time. These two limits however, produce a surprising advantage. Within a thirty-meter radius, Hiroki can practically throw unlimited spears as long as he controls the interval of his throws. This advantage protected him from Mr. Fool''s incredible dodging skills. He knows however that the weakness of his ability can be figured out by a clever opponent given enough time. But Mr. Fool, who he thought would be simpleminded, figured his weakness easily and at a very short amount of time. As he is about to feel regret, he realizes that it is not of his negligence that Mr. Fool discovered his weakness early on, but because Mr. Fool seems to be someone with terrifying battle sense. He can only take this pause in action as consolation and a chance to take a breather. He is not tired, but he knows he has to save as much energy as he can, seeing that Mr. Fool is still lively after moving much more than he did. As he is about to drop his guard, to his surprise, Mr. Fool leaps to the air. Hiroki smirks because it is easier to hit a flying target. He then continues his attack, but he soon realizes that it is not as simple as he thought. This time, Mr. Fool is zigzagging at a three-dimensional way by stepping and kicking his foot against invisible walls and ceilings mid-air. It is unlike when he was zigzagging in a more predictable manner by using a 2-dimensional plane that is the ground. Hiroki almost gets dizzy from following Mr. Fool''s movements with his eyes, and it drastically worsens his aim. This allows Mr. Fool to easily close the distance. Hiroki can only hurriedly hold onto one of his spears, and fly away with it to distance himself from Mr. Fool. He then realizes that he can no longer use his method of maintaining distance as they are no longer in the ground where he can predict Mr. Fool''s movements, but in the air, where Mr. Fool is easily changing directions like a dragonfly. Thinking he is at a severe disadvantage, and attacking any further is useless and wastes excessive energy, he stops throwing staffs and simply surrounds himself with them. The staffs suspended around him also stop pointing at Mr. Fool, and they start spinning like propellers. Hundreds of spinning staffs make not only an interesting sight, but also an intimidating sound, and it makes Mr. Fool stop in place to appreciate it. "WOW! THIS IS HARD!" Mr. Fool amplifies his voice once again so Hiroki can hear what he is saying amidst the WHOOSHING sound being made by the staffs. Hiroki can only defend and wait for what Mr. Fool is about to do. He had not carefully studied Mr. Fool''s abilities yet so he wants to take this chance to see what the limits are of Mr. Fool''s invisible platforms ability. He also had not seen how Mr. Fool took out hundreds of people in such a short amount of time, so that makes him even more cautious. "I''LL SHOW YOU SOMETHING COOL!" Mr. Fool announces as he does a twirl in the air. Slowly, Mr. Fool morphs his appearance to the ice user he knocked out. Hiroki''s eyes widen. The three young superheroes watching on the ground are even more shocked. As if his transformation is not enough to shock Hiroki and the superheroes, Mr. Fool extends his hand forward, turn his palm upwards, and slowly materializes a meter-long diameter spinning ice disk on the top of it. "WHAT ARE YOU?!" Hiroki loses his cool. This is the first time he is seeing someone who can copy abilities. "I''M MR. FOOL! I CAN BE WHOEVER I WANT TO BE~" The three superheroes on the ground cannot help but be irked by the childing tone coming from someone who looks like their friend who has a rigid personality. Then, Mr. Fool throws the ice disk to Hiroki. Hiroki without hesitation, decides that he will dodge. He had seen ice users fight before. And while his steel spears can break ice, the sharp shrapnel from the ice breaking is troublesome at best and deadly at the worst. With the disk only a meter away, he flies to his side, letting the ice disk safely pass him by. Soon however, he sees a smirk appear on Mr. Fool''s face, and Mr. Fool''s hand still stretched outwards. He then sees Mr. Fool do a gesture with his fingers. At first, he is confused, but he immediately realizes what the gesture might mean. He then hastily dashes to his side once again, and to his horror, the ice disk he dodged earlier, came back, almost hitting him or his spears had he not blindly dodged. "HEEE HEEE~!" Mr. Fool then summons five more ice disks around him. This makes cold sweat run down Hiroki''s forehead. He figures that if Mr. Fool can manipulate six ice disks at the same time, then, "I really need back-up now." Chapter 59 - Mr. Fool 2 *Zzzmm* *zzzmmm* *zmmm* Through the sounds of his spears propelling, Hiroki still hears the bone-chilling sound of Mr. Fool''s six spinning ice disks flying around, ready to shoot towards him at any moment with Mr. Fool''s command. He is now starting to suspect that Mr. Fool knows how to play mind games. If it were any other superioris he is fighting, that superioris would have tried attacking already. But Mr. Fool, whether intentionally or not, is using intimidation by not attacking him, but simply playing around, making him more tensed and anxious. Suddenly, "Nope", Mr. Fool transforms back to his original appearance, and the ice disks also fade back into nothingness. "What the f" Hiroki is dumbfounded. He also feels unpleasant. The tension that has built up in his mind, the adrenaline that has accumulated in his blood, were not released as he expected. And Mr. Fool not promising that release angers him. "YOU!" Hiroki summons back around a hundred spears, not staffs, but deadlier spears, to existence and throws them to Mr. Fool. "HEEE~ HEEE~ HAHAHAHA!" Mr. Fool however does not care if the attack is deadlier or not. It is still the same attack pattern to him, and dodges the spears easily. "MORE POINTY THINGS!" Hiroki does not know if Mr. Fool is taunting him, but he gets affected by Mr. Fool''s urging, and he throws more and more spears. Soon however, he cannot believe what he is seeing. He thought at the beginning of the fight that Mr. Fool cannot defend any smoother, but Mr. Fool is doing just that, dodging and parrying spears smoother than the staffs. "I''M GETTING BORED" Hiroki hears Mr. Fool say with a disappointed voice, and it frustrates him further. His frustration however is not helping as Mr. Fool is getting closer to him again. He can only thank that he has his spinning spears as his shield. Unexpectedly, to his surprise, Mr. Fool is not thwarted, but simply dashes forward after dodging a bunch of spears, and throws a straight punch at one of his spinning spears. *THUNK* The spear that was punched is actually swatted towards him, to his shock. And that shock makes him freeze, allowing himself to be *THWACK* hit by his own spear. Luckily for him, his spear did not hit him squarely. But more unluckily, Mr. Fool found his spear shield weakness. A weakness he and other superiori with similar abilities to his only theorized, but no one actually dared to exploit. His spinning spears is just like a propeller or an electric fan that rotates; and everything that rotates has its center as the weakness. And Mr. Fool exploited that exact weakness. He wishes that it was bad luck on his part, or reward of foolishness on Mr. Fool''s part that his weakness was exposed, but, "SMASH! HEEE~ EHEHEHE!" Mr. Fool once again goes on and successfully punches his other spears. Unlike earlier, Hiroki gets hit this time more squarely with his spears. He no longer wants to block as he knows that his rotating spear will no longer shield him, so he flies higher, hoping that Mr. Fool''s abilities have altitude limits. "FLY~ FLY~ SPEARMAN~!" To disappointment, he is still being chased by Mr. Fool no matter how high he goes. Slowly, Hiroki is starting to feel tired. So, he dives back down, not wanting to plummet to his death if somehow Mr. Fool can do something that can disable his abilities, like a knockout punch or simply himself getting tired. He also knows that he has already lost. A few seconds later. "Mr. Fool, a moment please." Hiroki can only ask for a break after they are both back on the ground. Mr. Fool also stopped attacking. "I admit defeat. I no longer wish to fight." Hiroki says. "BUT THAT''S NOT FUN!" Mr. Fool whines. "I know. And I''m sorry. I thought I can have more fun with you." Hiroki apologizes as he looks up at the drones flying in the sky and shakes his head at them. "Oh But we should finish the fight! No one''s asleep yet!" Mr. Fool raises his hand as if remembering something. "How about this? Mr. Fool. Let''s stop fighting. If we just stay here, then stronger people will come here and you can have fun with them." Hiroki says as he raises his palm on the air folds his thumb in the middle of it, and closes his hand; a gesture he deliberately sent to the drones. He can only hope that his signal for help will force those watching who are stronger than him, to take his place in isolating Mr. Fool. "But Spearman. What time is it?" Mr. Fool asks instead of agreeing to Hiroki''s request. "Almost two in the afternoon." Hiroki replies, confused at the question. "Oh Then I don''t have long" Mr. Fool''s body language and facial expressions show a disappointed face. "What do you mean, Mr. Fool?" Hiroki asks. "My mom said that too much fun is bad. So, I should only have fun until two!" Mr. Fool says. "Well. Can you stay any longer? Your mom can just pick you up, right?" Hiroki''s eyes brighten in curiosity at Mr. Fool''s family. . "No! If I don''t follow the rules, I can''t go out again!" Mr. Fool complains. "So, let''s finish the fight! Mom said, if you don''t follow the rules, then you''re bad. So, we should follow the rules of our fight! If you don''t, I''ll still make you sleep. I''m just following our rule." He continues to rambles. Hiroki can only look at Mr. Fool, speechless. "If you''re not going to fight, I am!" Mr. Fool then charges forward, waking Hiroki up from his state. Not long after, Hiroki can be speechless all he wants in his sleep. <> The three young superheroes who were watching the fight, are now currently tending to the unconscious Hiroki. "Isn''t that" suddenly, one of the three who has the sharpest vision spots a figure of a man, holding on to a shiny metallic polearm, is fast approaching their direction from the sky. Soon, the man joins the three young superheroes, and, "Murakami-sama.", they greet him with respect. After all, the man''s status is only slightly inferior to the leaders of their own respective clans. Murakami Yashin, a 40 something year-old A-Class superioris, Hiroki''s childhood friend, and the heir of the Murakami Clan, just arrived to the scene. "What happened? I rushed over when I saw his sign on TV." Yashin asks as half of his attention is checking on Hiroki, and half of it is watching out for someone''s presence. "The clown knocked out Hiroki-san, sir." The medic of the three superheroes reports. "It''s not even a minute since he sent a sign." Yashin is dumbfounded. "Mr. Fool is much stronger than we thought. It only took one punch from him to take Hiroki-san down. Thankfully, it doesn''t look serious." The medic superhero reports. This makes Yashin sigh in relief. Even though Yashin has only seen a small part of Hiroki''s fight on TV, he knows that he could not have done much better than Hiroki did in fighting the clown. He finds it unfortunate that he was not informed of the situation earlier, or he and Hiroki could have tried to capture the clown together. "So, where''s the clown this Mr. Fool now?" He asks the three young superheroes. "Mr. Fool" The sharp-eyed one points to the direction of the National Diet Building, " said that he''s gonna have fun back there before going home." "Murakami-sama, I think his idea of fun, is fighting." The fire user in the team reports. "Or anything trouble, really. Like making hundreds of people faint." He adds as he shrugs. Yashin immediately notice the three''s attitudes, despite the reports he has heard of the chaos and chatter Mr. Fool''s caused in only the past ten minutes. "You all don''t look worried." He cannot help but ask. The three superheroes exchange looks before all shrugging helplessly. After what the three have seen and observed from Mr. Fool, they realized that the jester is not as harmful as they thought. They only worry that the jester will be instead lured easily by some terrorist groups like how some children are easily lured into a white van by free candy and ice cream. "According to what the reporters said, and what we''ve seen, we are not worried. He might be dangerous, but he doesn''t seem evil. Even Hiroki-san who resorted to deadly methods earlier, only got off lightly." The sharp-eyed one reports. "Still. Why of all places, in Chiyoda?" Yashin grumbles. "Uhhh Murakami-sama. Are you not going after Mr. Fool?" The fire user superhero asks. "Why would I?" To their shock, Yashin simply shrugs. "B-Because someone is making trouble in your city?" The medic superhero frowns. "He will be handled by my clan leader." "Murakami-dono?" The three young superheroes get excited. "Yeah. He must have seen by now how strong Mr. Fool is. Even I would not have better than Hiroki. It''s stupid for me to go after him." Yashin explains. The three young superheroes, despite being taken aback by the ease at which Yashin admitted his inferiority in strength, understand Yashin''s reasoning. <> "HEY OLD MAN! YOU LOOK STRONG!" Just like Yashin said, Mr. Fool is now facing the Murakami Clan leader, in the air above the National Diet Building. The two sharing the same place seems like a scene not even seen on TV. The two''s proximity to each other is a rare sight because people their appearance simply seem to rarely interact in society. Murakami Atsushi, 72 years-old, and a high-tier A-Class Superioris, is the current clan leader of Murakami Clan, and the guardian of Chiyoda City. Despite his relatively old age, he would look like Yashin, his son''s older brother, when they are put together side by side. One thing that can betray his age however will be his speech manner and the way he carries himself. One thing that makes him recognizable that he is Murakami Atsushi, is if he has his power activated, like now. He is currently floating to match Mr. Fool''s altitude in the air by holding on to what looks like a naginata made of metal. And that metal is glowing orange from extreme heat. To the part of the population who belong to superiori clans, but do not recognize Atsushi, they will respect him nonetheless and will know of his status as a clan leader if he is wearing his clan leader samurai armor, which he currently is. "You are the one who they call Mr. Fool." Atsushi responds with Mr. Fool''s comment with his own. "YES! YES! THAT''S ME! NICE TO MEET YOU!" Mr. Fool does a theatric bow like how stage actors introduce themselves during a curtain call. "" Atsushi simply looks at Mr. Fool with a scrutinizing gaze. He could have attacked immediately if not for what he has heard of the man in front of him. His clansmen are currently speaking to him through an earpiece, reporting to him the things they have compiled about the jester in front of him. The more he hears however, the more he is confused of the situation. "May I ask. What brought you back here, Mr. Fool?" He asks. "BECAUSE THERE ARE BAD MEN INSIDE." Mr. Fool points to the National Diet Building, his amplified voice clear to Atsushi''s ears, and to the microphones on the drones'' cameras. "This is not the prison. There are good people inside." Atsushi explains. "I''VE SEEN PRISON. THIS PLACE REEKS OF WORSE THAN PRISON I SMELL THEM. I SMELL BAD MEN INSIDE." Mr. Fool pinches his nose, as if disgusted by something. Atsushi''s face almost twitches. "What do you do to bad men?" He asks, trying not to look bothered. He can only hope that his clansmen and all parties concerned had forbidden reporters from recording the audio of whatever is happening. "ME? I''LL MAKE THEM SLEEP. THEN WASH THEIR STINK OFF!" Mr. Fool says. "And how will you do that?" Atsushi asks, not sure if Mr.. Fool is speaking about actual smell, or is using smell as a metaphor. Chapter 60 - Mr. Fool 3 ------- Hello, reader. I have to apologize. The following chapter is quite a mess. Today has been a stressful day, so my mood is off. Anyways. I''ll fix this after I write the ne xt chapter. Thank you. ------ (Continued from previous chapter) "I''LL WASH THEM WITH WATER AND SOAP OF COURSE!" Mr. Fool laughs at Atsushi''s question as if his answer is obvious. "I''LL WASH THEM FOR DAYS, AND DAYS, AND DAYS, AND DAYS" He then starts chanting and dancing. "But there are also good men inside, right?" Atsushi asks. Mr. Fool suddenly stops dancing and wears a thoughtful expression. "THERE ARE" He nods. But soon after, "BUT THERE ARE MORE BAD MEN!" He points at the building once again. "Well. Why don''t I talk to them? I''ll tell them to take a shower more often. So, for now, why don''t you come with me?" Atsushi asks. "NO!" Mr. Fool harrumphs. "No?" Atsushi is taken aback and frowns. His clansmen reported that as long as one does not express malice to Mr. Fool or others, Mr. Fool is easy to talk to. "Why?" He asks. "BECAUSE I HAVE TO MAKE SURE! BAD MEN SAY THEY CLEAN, BUT THEY NEVER DO. THEY PROMISE, BUT THEY ALWAYS LIE. THEY ALWAYS TRICK ME. THEY ALWAYS TRICK PEOPLE." Mr. Fool unlike the cheerful tone he has been using, speaks with a more serious tone, his childish tone somehow manages to sounds cold, expressing suppressed anger. "IF THEY CAN''T CLEAN THEMSELVES, THEN I''LL BURN THEM LIKE TRASH." He adds. *vooommm* Atsushi''s eyes widen and chills climb up his spine. He is sure, despite only feeling it for a split second, that a suffocating amount of bloodlust just slipped out of Mr. Fool. He curses inside in regret, wishing that everyone took Mr. Fool much more seriously the moment he appeared. The man in front of him, ignoring the childish nature aside, is a man who definitely bathed in battle and blood. The chilling murderous aura he just felt from Mr. Fool, is something he only felt from his grandfather''s generation; a generation that fought in the great war and after it, survived the humanity''s chaotic warring period amongst each other. Remembering the murderous aura his grandfather once expressed, he tries to wrap his mind around how a man like Mr. Fool can have such bloodlust at this day and age when wars are nothing but passages in history books. He himself, a clan head, and has lived for more than seven decades, experienced no wars no matter how much he would have wished as a young man to fight in one. "J-just who are you, Mr. Fool?" His question slips out of his lips without thought as he tightens his hold on his naginata. "MOTHER SAID I SHOULDN''T ANSWER HARD QUESTIONS." Mr. Fool smoothly refuses to answer. "When were you born, Mr. Fool?" Atsushi''s curiosity however is at an all-time high. He feels that Mr. Fool''s identity is too special and not only because of Mr. Fool''s attire. "ON A SPECIAL DAY! WHEN THE GREEN LEAVES TURNED YELLOW, AND WHEN THE SUN BECAME A RING OF FIRE IN THE SKY!" Mr. Fool proudly says. "An eclipse during the autumn" Atsushi mumbles to himself and tries to remember when he saw it. "Atsushi-sama. He was probably born in the autumn of 1987. Making him age 33." He then hears a report from his earpiece. He sighs. He cannot believe that someone so young fights like someone beyond his years. "If you want to entertain the thought that he is even older than you, then it is possible that he was born during the autumn of 1941, making him almost 80." His clansman adds. Atsushi almost scoffs at the report, but remembering Mr. Fool''s bloodlust, he nervously entertains the thought. "Then how many times did you see the sun become a ring in the sky, Mr. Fool?" He then asks. "TWICE!" Mr. Fool brags. "Twice? I''ve seen more then." Atsushi nods, at least thankful that he is not facing an old monster. "OH YOU''RE JUST OLD SO YOU''VE SEEN MORE!" Mr. Fool wears a disappointed face. Atsushi brushes aside the slight on his age, and instead thinks of how to deal with the situation from now on. Primarily, he wants to resolve the situation without a fight to avoid potential collateral damages that will especially affect the National Diet Building just below them. And if Mr. Fool is not putting up an act, Atsushi feels like he can calm the situation down. "Mr. Fool, why don''t you come back to my home as our esteemed guest?" He invites. "GUEST? ME?" Mr. Fool tilts his head. "Yes. We can provide you a good bed and delicious food." Atsushi offers. "HAH! LIAR!" Mr. Fool, simply points his finger at Atsushi in an accusatory tone. "I''VE HEARD THAT LIE MANY TIMES BEFORE! AND THOSE LIES ARE TOLD BY BAD MEN! BAD MEN LIKE THOSE DOWN THERE." He adds as he points at the National Diet Building once again. "No. I am truly having my people preparing a room and a feast for you." Atsushi says, not stating what kind of feast and what kind of room he is preparing to contain Mr. Fool. "AHA!" As if a light bulb lights up in Mr. Fool''s head, he exclaims in realization. "YOU ARE LYING. JUST LIKE BAD MEN. I''LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR TRYING TO TRICK ME!" Mr. Fool, with that insufficient warning, immediately dashes towards Atsushi. Atsushi, who has been preparing to fight since he arrived at the scene, manages to react by summoning a hundred naginatas, and throws them at Mr. Fool for interception. Mr. Fool, as if incorporeal, appears to have simply phased through the wave of fiery and sharp naginatas, and continues his charge. After successfully closing in to Atsushi, he throws a wide middle kick to Atsushi''s midsection. Atsushi, then blocks the kick with the pole of his naginata. He underestimated Mr. Fool''s power however and *CLANG* the pole of his naginata snaps, and Mr. Fool''s kick continues on to land on his midsection. Atsushi is thankful that he is wearing his armor, or else, he would have been rocked. And he knows that being rocked for even a second is deadly after seeing Mr. Fool''s physical capabilities and almost mystical evasive skills. Using the force from Mr. Fool''s kick, Atsushi propels himself backwards to a safe distance and replaces his broken naginata with a new one. While doing so, he immediately cancels the naginatas he threw that missed Mr. Fool, summons 120 of them back again, and points them towards Mr. Fool as he tries to come up with a battle plan. He decides to be more careful than his usual fights. After all, he has seen how Hiroki, a junior clansman who has a similar superioris power to his, was defeated. Mr. Fool being able to figure out Hiroki''s limits in under a minute, to Atsushi, is a huge testament of Mr. Fool''s battle sense and something that he should be extra wary of. Even though he has currently a limit of 540 naginatas and a 72-meter radius, unlike Hiroki who has a current limit of 360 spears and a 30-meter radius, he decides to use not even half of his maximum range. He figures that with Mr. Fool, or anyone else clever enough, will be able to see his limits just as easy as the clown saw Hiroki''s, if he does not fight carefully. With those things in mind, Atsushi furrows his brows in concentration. The 120 naginatas around him all start spinning. Unlike Hiroki who can only use the rotating spears technique to repel attacks, Atsushi''s version of it with his naginatas, can be used as a powerful attack. Atushi figures that Mr. Fool is a master of evading stabbing attacks after seeing Hiroki''s fight, so he wants to try if hacking and slashing attacks will work better. He sends his naginatas, spinning in different angles, one after another to Mr. Fool''s general direction. The next moment, he is not surprised that Mr. Fool managed to duck or jump over them with ease. Instead, as soon as his spinning naginatas crossed 30 meters from him, he cancels them, making them fade out. He then retreats once again seeing Mr. Fool charge after dodging. And as he retreats, he once again throws spinning naginatas at Mr. Fool, and cancelling them out again once they are 30 meters away from him. His ease at measuring distance and cancelling his naginatas are now almost second nature to him due to his years of doing so. Unlike Hiroki who already exposed his range to many people, Atsushi made it sure that his range is a secret not even to his closest allies. And he made sure of that by doing what he is doing now, not using the maximum extent of his abilities. After more cycles of him attacking while retreating and Mr. Fool dodging while pursuing, Atsushi realizes that Mr. Fool has gotten more comfortable in defending. What makes him almost speechless and frustrated however is that Mr. Fool has incredible body awareness he has never seen before in anyone. It is as if Mr. Fool''s limbs, torso, and head, have a mind of their own, allowing them to as if move independently, dodging his naginata by hairs breadth. Atsushi decides to regroup. He cancels all the naginatas he sent out, and summons 120 of them again to surround this body. This time, he arranges his naginatas in a way that it makes him look like he is inside a fiery sea urchin, with his naginatas acting as its spikes. The naginatas also spin in place, not like before which they look like deadly propellers, but in a way that mimic how drills spin. This time, Mr. Fool stops in place in mid-air, looking stuck for the first time since the fight began, wearing a serious and pondering expression. Atsushi also sighs in relief. Suddenly, Mr. Fool dashes down towards the building. Atsushi''s stomach sinks, thinking that Mr. Fool is giving up on their fight and instead turned his attention to the members of the congress. The next moment however, to Atsushi''s relief and confusion, Mr. Fool simply rips out one of the three-meter-long flag poles on top of the building, removes the random flag hanging on it, before swinging it around, as if testing its weight. Atsushi swallows his saliva at Mr. Fool''s actions. Mr. Fool''s simple swings of the flagpole might be simple to other people, but he saw how unfaltering and crisp those swings were. This makes him suspect that Mr. Fool is also a skillful spear or staff user. As if to prove his observations right, Mr. Fool goes back up mid-air, stands in place, and assumes a doublehanded spearman''s stance. Atsushi wants to test Mr. Fool, and he throws a random speeding naginata. Mr. Fool simply swats the naginata away by hitting the flat of the blade of it with his flagpole, with ease. Mr. Fool''s simple display is enough for Atsushi to know that Mr. Fool is more than just a skilled spearman. He also notices that the flag pole on Mr. Fool''s hand, despite its supposed inferiority in quality to the metal his naginatas are made of, is not bent after intercepting his attack. Before he can continue to once again assess the extent of Mr. Fool''s abilities, Mr. Fool suddenly jumps to the side, then to the other side, then upwards, then downwards. "Here it is" Atsushi swallows nervously. This is the only thing he has seen in Mr. Fool''s fight earlier with Hiroki, that he has no idea how to deal with. Mr. Fool''s unpredictable zigzagging in the air. He knows that he is not much stronger than Hiroki physically, so he gets nervous. To add reassurance to his safety, he then summons more naginatas to surround him, making his already dangerous layer of 120 spinning naginatas, double in number, becoming more compact. After that, he bites his teeth as he summons more naginatas, making the total number of his naginatas present, three hundred sixty; the most naginatas he has used in a long time. With 240 naginatas for defense, and 120 naginatas for offense, he goes into action to disrupt Mr.. Fool''s eye-quaking acrobatics in the air. Chapter 61 - Aftermath *ssk* Atsushi can barely believe it. Had he not overestimated Mr. Fool, he would not have dodged the flagpole that was thrust to him. Despite his sea urchin defense, Mr. Fool somehow accurately thrust his flagpole inside, bypassing the drill naginatas. *CLANG* As he dodges, his urchin defense also moves, and one of his drill naginatas manages to parry away Mr. Fool''s flagpole. He then sends five rotating naginatas to Mr. Fool, making Mr. Fool retreat once again. Soon however, *clang* *clang* *clang* in quick succession, and in great precision, Mr. Fool manages to swat away three of the naginatas and dodges the remaining two. After doing so, he charges once again to Atsushi. Atsushi this time, switches tactics. He no longer wants to resort to throwing naginatas, but instead to use those naginatas in closer proximity. He summons back the rest of his naginatas and surrounds himself with them for defense. The innermost layer of his defense is still the sea urchin defense, and the outer layer now comprises of his sawblade-like rotating naginatas. Atsushi has used this tactic before and has a name for it; The Meatgrinder. The Meatgrinder is his ultimate defense and also offense against melee type superiori. Defense because no one in their right mind will attack sawblades and drills head-on, and offense because all Atsushi has to do aside from maintaining the shape of it, is to easily levitate himself towards the enemy. He has the right to be proud of his technique as it indeed stops Mr. Fool from charging. Atsushi however, suddenly gets a bad feeling in his gut. Mr. Fool, standing still midair, coldly observing his ''Meatgrinder'', is sending alerts throughout his mind. As to why, he does not know. Suddenly, Mr. Fool simply vanishes to thin air. This makes Atsushi tense his muscles, and ready to go full-out any time. He then randomly flies to random directions to make himself less vulnerable to whatever Mr. Fool is up to. He knows that Mr. Fool did not simply flee, but is still somewhere around, he simply does not know where. Suddenly, something red appears out in the corner of his eyes. Before he can react, *Cla-cla-cla-cla-cla-clang!*, he sees Mr. Fool do a series of thrust with his flagpole, knocking away a substantial amount of his sawblade naginatas aside. And before he can command his naginatas to attack, he already sees a black shadow, made of pig iron, just a foot or so from his face. *THUNK* <><><><><> "To our main story tonight. The superioris terrorist, only known as Mr. Fool, makes a series of unprovoked attacks on the protesters and the members of the Citizens for Self-Governance in the early afternoon in front of the National Diet Building. On the scene is our reporter, ******-san. ******-san, what else can you tell us about what the people are now calling ''The Fool''s Hour''?" "Thank you, **** ****-san. Fortunately, there have been no deaths or serious injuries out of the hundreds of people who fainted under Mr. Fool''s attack. While there are no casualties on both sides, there are numerous reports on the side of Citizens for Self-Governance that its members who encountered Mr. Fool, are suffering minor to serious mental shocks. The most serious ones are expressing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. As for the members of the house, there are no reports yet from the building''s staff regarding their status." "******-san, were there any attempts in stopping Mr. Fool?" "Yes, there were in fact. The first one in the scene to confront Mr. Fool is the House''s Sergeant at Arms, Mr. Murakami Hiroki. I have personally seen how Hiroki-san managed to convince Mr. Fool to go with him at the edges of Murakami Compound. Here is what our drones have captured after they left. [Footage of the short fight]. "To all of those who haven''t seen it, Hiroki-san tried his best to capture Mr. Fool. Unfortunately, he is not powerful enough." "After fighting the Sergeant at Arms. Mr. Fool went back to the National Diet Building, correct?" "Yes. Fortunately, Hiroki-san''s efforts did not go to waste and it gave time for the rescue teams to evacuate the unconscious protesters, CSG members, and the police officers to safety." "What about the appearance of a retired hero?" "Yes. The A-Class superioris Murakami Atsushi was forced to fight in public again, 30 years after taking off his cape. Apparently, as we now know, he must have retired from his superhero duties as he assumed the responsibility of becoming the Clan Leader of the Murakami, and therefore, the guardian of Chiyoda. Unfortunately, despite being much more powerful than he was 30 years ago, he wasn''t able to stop the Fool." "From the drone footage you captured, it seemed like Mr. Fool infiltrated the National Diet Building after taking down Mr. Murakami. Are there any updates since then?" "Yes. Our cameras were turned off with the request of the numerous A-Class Superiori that arrived to the scene. However, we heard that Mr. Fool managed to leave the building unseen. We have no idea what happened to the members of the house, but at around 3pm, the building staff released a statement that the members of the house of representatives are all safe and sound. We are currently on standby as we heard reports that the congress or the Murakami Clan will soon release statements." "I see. ******-san, how about any statements from Mr. Fool? Did he say anything about why he did all of this before he left?" "None. Aside from claiming, using his own words, that ''the place is full of smelly people'', and that ''he wanted to have fun'', he did not give any clear reasons." "Do we have a clue of his identity and whereabouts?" "Unfortunately, none." "Unfortunate, indeed. *******-san, you are one of the first-hand witnesses to the entire inciden. Is there anything YOU can tell us about him?" "Yes. Mr. Fool is the type of superioris we have never seen before. He has a great variety of abilities that do not seem to be at all connected. First, he is definitely a physically enhanced superiori, being able take down A-Class superiori with his physical strength. "Second, he was able to make people who are under B-Class Superioris in power, faint with but a wave of his hands, or with just his voice. "Third, he can use invisible footholds, which we assume is a variation of wind manipulation, to mobilize himself mid-air. "Fourth, he can turn himself invisible for a short period of time, which is what started the downfall of the Murakami Clan Head" "It is indeed unprecedented to see a superioris like Mr. Fool How about his transformation? The one he shortly displayed during his fight with Hiroki-san?" "Ah, yes. And last of his abilities, although we do not have much evidence of it, he can mimic a superioris for a short period of time, and possibly use the superioris ability of that person he mimics "Combining all of that, we can say that Mr. Fool''s strength falls in between the peak-tier A-Class, and the S-Class. Personally, I think that Mr. Fool, is one of the elusive S-Class. One of the few hundred around the whole world." "A-are you certain of that, ******-san? I mean, the appearance of a S-Class in public is a huge deal." "Of course, we aren''t. But being able to defeat one of the most powerful superiori in Japan with relative easy in a short amount of time? It is not too farfetched to assume so." "I see. Do you think he''s dangerous to the Japanese people? How''s he like?" "He is a danger. All powerful superiori are a risk to the safety of the Japanese people. But from what we''ve seen so far, Mr. Fool did not seem to carry the evil intentions unlike the average terrorist. I hope however, that he will be able to work with the authorities, and establish himself as one of the future backbones of this country." "That''s a bold thought, ******-san, but a---" <><><><><> "Kiddies~ What are you two doing here?" Kotone and Fumio look up from Fumio''s phone, startled at Red'' sudden arrival at Muscle Masters. "BOSS!" "Kichirou-san" The two greet Red awkwardly. Kotone and Fumio were just watching the livestream of Fumio''s most trusted nightly news. "What''s with those faces?" Red asks the two as he goes to pour himself the tea that Kotone already prepared on the table. "Boss. I still can''t believe that you did all of that." Fumio shakes his head at the out-of-character act of Red. "Kichirou-san, do you have multiple personalities?" Kotone too, feels the same. While she knows that Red has the tendency to play small pranks, Red doing what he did during the afternoon is simply inconceivable to her. "I did say that today is a special day to me. That was just my way of having fun and celebrating." Red shrugs. "But, why do it publicly like that?" Fumio asks, confused by the contrast between Red''s reclusive nature and his actions. "I don''t know where to find the strong superiori, so I made them to come to me." Red explains to Fumio. "Huh" Fumio shakes his head. "But what about those people? Was it really necessary to drug them like that?" Kotone asks, still feeling bothered at how casually Red decided to poison hundreds of people, even though she figures that Red''s sleeping poison was harmless. "I had to. I could feel that there are hidden actors in the protesters. They would have thrown the first punch at the CSG, making CSG have the excuse to unleash their powers on the protesters. It would have gotten ugly." Red explains to her. "W-Wha" Kotone''s eyes widen at the information. "Boss, those actors; did they collude with the CSG?" Fumio asks. He is not as surprised as Kotone as he has heard of similar things before. "No. The CSG doesn''t know about their presence." Red shakes his head. Fumio''s eyes narrow in anger. "How could they do that?" He clenches his teeth. "Who were they?" He asks. "Don''t worry about it. I already talked to the congressman involved. It was a funny coincidence actually. The man is our regular." Red chuckles. "Tomiichi-san?" "That bigoted geezer?" Kotone and Fumio express their disbelief. Red simply nods in confirmation. "Well, you must have given him a lesson." Fumio can only shake his head. "Anyways. Boss. I have a lot of questions I mean, I thought you were an A-Class or something, but to be that strong" His eyes sparkle. "Go ahead. I won''t answer ones I deem you''re not ready to ask." Red gives his permission. "Boss. That your footholds. What were they?" Fumio asks. "Manipulated my elixir." Red says. "But how? Isn''t it supposed to be incorporeal?" Fumio is shocked at the information. So far, he has only dealt with spiritual energy in its untouchable fog form. "When you refine your elixir sea to my level, you can do it too instinctively." Red says. "Shit But that seems far away with a lot of refining to do." Fumio shakes his head. "Well. What can you do about it?" Red chuckles. Kotone meanwhile, is lost. "How about that transformation to that superhero? Can you also use his ice disk?" Fumio asks again. "That was an illusion." Red admits. "Oh" Fumio is disappointed. "Still, illusion huh Boss. How did you copy that superhero guy? You just met him, right? There''s no way you made an illusion seal that quickly." He suddenly realizes. "What? You can do it too. You can cast an illusion on yourself if you want." Red says. "I can?" Fumio''s eyes widen. Kotone, even more so. "Yeah. That is if you have incredible control and focus to maintain the illusion. Took me decades to use illusions without seals." Red says. "Oh" Fumio is disappointed again. "Buddy Let''s do what we can do for now." Kotone jokingly consoles. "Yeah" Fumio nods defeatedly. "Anyways, boss. Did you go all out on Atsushi?" He resumes his questions. "Not really." Red shrugs. Fumio and Kotone are shocked. "Not really?" Fumio repeats. "Yeah. All I did was use footholds, strengthen a flagpole with my elixir, and used the basics of spearmanship." Red explains. "Damn" Kotone is in awe. "Sounds easier than it looks, Kotone." Fumio says, no longer surprised. "Still, boss. S-Class? Are you really?" He then asks, with a serious tone. "I don''t know. Never saw S-Class fight before." Red shrugs. He genuinely had not met any S-Class superiori yet, much more witness a fight between two. [[["Wait a minute, *******-san. We have an update." "Please go ahead."]]] The three''s chat is interrupted by the news from the phone. <><><> "The government has just released an official statement. ''As of 7 p.m today, Mr. Fool, suspected S-Class terrorist, is wanted alive. Anyone who has valuable information of Mr. Fool''s whereabouts will be rewarded a hundred million yen. Whoever can capture Mr. Fool and bring him alive to the authorities, will be rewarded five billion yen.'' <><><> "OHO~! You two can basically report me, and you two can live comfortably for the next decade or so." Red smirks at his two students. The two only scoff at the ridiculous idea. "By the way, Kichirou-san. Have you seen the comments about you on the internet? They love you.." Kotone instead is excited to show Red the results of his afternoon fun to the internet. Chapter 62 - Body Training A certain bus stops at a certain bus stop. A middle-aged couple stand up together from their seats, being the only ones among the passengers to alight at the stop. "Hm? That''s odd." The husband furrows his brows as he takes his duffel bag from the overhead storage. "Something wrong?" The wife asks. "Huh? Where''d it go?" The husband shoves aside the other things in the overhead, looking for something. "What are you talking about?" The wife asks. "It''s nothing. There was this wooden statue of a cat that was in the way when I stuffed our bags here. It disappeared." The husband explains. "Well, it''s not ours. Why bother looking for it?" The wife scoffs. "Hurry. Let''s get off." And she urges her man to hand her her carryon. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Here you go." Soon, the couple are off the bus. "Whoah. It''s been a while, and nothing''s changed." The man says as he looks around Hinohara Village''s center. "I know" The wife also gets in a daze, feeling nostalgic. While they take in the view of their hometown, unbeknownst to them, a the man''s duffel bag slowly unzips, and a cat''s paw reaches out from the inside. The cat''s paw is then followed by a cat''s head peeping to see its surroundings, and soon, an entire wooden cat silently jumps off the man''s duffle bag before disappearing to the bushes in the side of the road. ''Phew'' Gin then looks around more to guess where he currently is and to his relief, he is in the village center of Hinohara, his destination. While the place is a few hours from the city, and is a bit remote, he has been here before, and wanted to come here. After all, Hinohara is a known spot for hikers. But he is not a hiker. His former boss was. When he was in his first year in his first reporter job at an independent news network, he wanted to make good impressions on one of the bosses. One day, he overheard that his boss'' hiking partner cancelled, he volunteered himself to accompany his boss. Gin simply wanted to accompany his boss one time, but because he was liked by that boss, he was invited again and again. Remembering his rookie days, Gin smiles bitterly. ''It''s been ten years. If I went back in time to tell my younger self that I''ll be a wanted fugitive, would the younger me believe it?'' he chuckles mirthlessly. After being contained by the Nikko Police for a week, and had not cracked from the police''s interrogation, Captain Adachi passed him to Kumagai Clan where he suffered another week of waterboarding. And when the waterboarding did not work on his clear conscience, he suffered another week of solitary confinement under them. And while he suffered, he also felt relief that the Ice Coffin Killer, or Hasegawa Hideki, never visited him during his time under the custody of Nikko Police or the Kumagai Clan. Today is his lucky day. One of the guards who brought his food to him, neglected their duty, so he was able to escape his confinement room through the flap of his room''s door. While he is resentful of the Kumagai Clan, he begrudgingly thanks them that they did not starve him, providing him the energy to be in his cat form for hours. Even though he managed to get away, he was not able to retrieve his phone and belongings so he had no idea how to contact someone. He then realized that it is a blessing in disguise. If he had his phone, and could not stop himself from contacting his family, his family will get in more trouble. So, for now, he decides to disappear for a while, to somewhere isolated, but near enough the city to hear news. And the only isolated place he knows is Hinohara Village. A place he figures, is a good place to start thinking about his future plans. It also helps that he made an acquaintance here after visiting the place with his former boss many times ten years ago. ''I''ll head there. I hope she still remembers me.'' He then starts his run to his destination. <> About ten minutes later, Gin is stuck at the bottom of a hill. He is confused however for the past five minutes since he arrived. He has been wondering if the hill in front of him is the same one, he visited in the past. The steep and almost straight clay access road he used to walk to reach the house in the middle of, and halfway to the top of the hill is gone as if it never existed, and is populated by bamboo trees and shrubs. If it wasn''t for the familiar looking boulders he recognizes, he would not be so sure. The old access road is now replaced by a new road to the side, that he figures will spiral upwards to the top, following the natural shape of the hillside. "Did Chuoko-san get a car? Why would she make the road longer and winding? Making it harder for her?" Gin asks himself as he goes to climb the path of where the old road was. Being in his cat body, he can easily do so. Not long after he started his climbed, he is stuck scratching his head. In front of him, is a wall made of tall, thick, and lush bamboo trees. And arranged in a way that it does not even offer a peek or a glimpse of what is behind it. Therefore, there are also no holes or gaps that he can squeeze his tiny body in. "Who''s crazy enough to do this?" He can only shake his head as he walks alongside the wall to look for an opening. "Okay... This is really crazy." Soon, he realizes that the wall of bamboo trees is spread wider than he originally thought. It is as if the one who planted the bamboo trees wants to cover the upper parts of the hill. After walking some more, he reaches a part of the new road that he didn''t take earlier. He already expected to come across the road at some point. He also expected that a gate, connected to the wall of bamboo trees, will block it. What he did not expect however, is the size of the gate. The gate in front of him, is made of long bamboos tied together, and is big enough to cover the opening of a Shinto shrine. "What the hell is up here?" His journalist spirit is awakened. It does not take a genius or a journalist that something intricately walled and gated, has something interesting in it. He then starts to climb the gate. Unlike the wall of bamboo trees he cannot climb, the bamboo gate is easily climbable to him because he can grab the ropes tying it together and use them as footholds. Soon, he reaches the top of the gate and, "Wow", he cannot help but take a deep breath by what he is seeing. The vegetable farm he last saw that was populated by crops, now has various lush herbs, flowers, berry bushes, and fruit trees. Their varying colors make the vegetable farm no longer look like a farm, but a paradise-like garden. He then looks at the direction of the house that he used to visit, and to his surprise, the house still looks the same. It even looks newer than he last remembers it. The pathway adorned by vine arches leading to it, adds an ethereal effect to it; as if a deity resides inside. *Whooosh* Gin suddenly feels the breeze blow, and it pulls him out of his daze. He does not know how long it has passed, and he realizes that he must have been lounging at the top of the gate for quite a while. ''Chuoko-san is definitely not here.'' He realizes that the property has either a new owner, or a new inhabitant. And he gets curious of that person''s identity. ''Well. Trespassing is trespassing if only I get caught.'' He then scales down the gate and heads for the direction of the house. Soon, he finds that the doors of the house are open, so he enters, and after entering, he looks around in interest. ''Still the same. But all look new.'' The kitchen, the living room, the furniture, still look the same as he remembers. The only difference is the patina and the vintage smell of the house is gone, the signs of families being raised in it are no longer there, making him feel like he is visiting a different house. "nfoif dfjnwq" Suddenly, with his sensitive cat ears, he hears a female voice coming from the backyard. He notices that the sliding door to the backyard is also open, so he carefully prowls, trying not to make his presence known as he takes a peek at the backyard. Then, he sees, in the grass lawn in the backyard, a young couple wearing what looks like expensive-looking training kimono. He cannot help but feel jealous that young lovers like the two are living in a beautiful place like this, making the perfect picture of a married couple. The young lady is beautiful and looks like the ideal wife, appearance wise. The young man, while not possessing the handsome face to match the young lady''s, has an athletic body, and gives out an aura of competence and respect; the impression a competent husband has. Getting over his jealousy, Gin notices something strange. The young man is sitting cross-legged, with the entirety of his top exposed, and the young lady is kneeling behind him, drawing something on his back. Gin then looks more closely and sees that there are irregular shapes drawn with black marker throughout the young man''s torso and arms. Soon, the young lady stands up and puts a cap on the marker before putting it under her kimono robe. "Ready?" She then asks the young man. "Yes." The young man nods and hands a wooden sword to the young lady. Gin is about to wonder what the two is up two when he sees *whoosh* the young lady casually swing her wooden sword downwards, *thwack* hitting the young man''s shoulder. His eyes widen in surprise. Not only because of the ridiculous sight, but also because of the speed of the young lady''s movements. He can estimate that the lady is at least a D-Class physically enhanced superioris while the young man might be stronger for letting the young lady do that to his body. "Stronger." Gin hears the young man order, and *thwackkk* the young lady complies without question, hitting the young man''s shoulder once again, producing a louder sound. "Okay. Please start." He sees that the young man seems satisfied with the strength of the swing. As if he isn''t already surprised earlier, he sees the young lady swinging her sword again. Not just once, but continuously, and hitting the same spot on the young man''s shoulder. He notices that they young lady is hitting one of the shapes she has drawn on the young man''s shoulder. Gin shudders at the sight. He knows he will not survive a few of those. With that thought, he is curious as to why the young man is silent. He then looks at the young man''s face, and is in further awe seeing that there is not even a frown on it. It is as if the young man is not feeling pain, and is simply in a daze. Gin can only continue to watch as the young lady moves on to the other ''shapes'' she drew on the young man''s body after the young man asks her to. From time to time, he also hears the young man remind the young lady of something about breathing. A few minutes later, Gin''s interest and surprise of the sight has already worn off. He already got used to what he is seeing, and figured that it is a form of training for physical type superiori. He is also no longer sure if the two are husband and wife, or even a couple. Even though the two are sharing the space, he notices that it is as if the two are lost in their own thoughts, their minds focused on different things. Suddenly, from the top of his vision, Gin notices a figure of a man, wearing cream-colored kimono, standing on top of one of the trees beyond the backyard. He thought his eyes are playing tricks on him, but as he looks more closely, he indeed is looking at a man who looks to be a decade or two older than the young pair training on the backyard, standing on top of a tree. Not on a branch, but on the leaves on top of the tree, swaying along with the movement of the leaves being made to dance by the wind. Then, his stomach sinks. He realizes that the man is also looking at him. Chapter 63 - The Visitor Gin quickly turns around to the direction of the front door and quickly dashes towards it. Before he can leave the house through it, *thunk* he bumps into something hard. To his horror, he sees in front of him, the same man who was standing on top of the tree just two or three seconds ago. Before he can even have the chance to be stunned at the speed of the man, "Hello, little kitty.", he is already scooped up by his abdomen by the man, and is cradled like a pet without resistance. No matter how much he struggles, he cannot get out of the man''s embrace. He notices however that the hold on him is not too tight, and does not hurt as long as he does not struggle. So, he stops struggling and can only be let himself carried by the man to backyard. "You two, take a break. We have a guest." Red orders Kotone and Fumio. "Welcome back." The two greet Red. "Oh? You got yourself a pet? Cute!" Kotone almost squeals looking at the cute cat in Red''s arms. "Can I pet it?" She asks. "Nope. He''s feisty." Red refuses. "" Fumio meanwhile is taken aback, seeing a sign of intelligence in the cat''s eyes. He also notices that the cat is made not out of fur and flesh, despite how well the material it is made of makes it appear so. ''A superioris'' He furrows his brows in suspicion. "Let''s go in. Who''ll make the tea?" Red leads the way in. "I will!" Kotone volunteers. A few minutes later, three humans and a cat are at the dining table. While Kotone is pouring tea, she pauses. "Kichirou-san. Tea for the cat? Really?" She asks, noticing the extra cup on the table. "Uhuh" Red simply nods, still embracing the cat in his arms, while caressing its prickly wooden fur. "" Fumio on the other hand, has all but confirmed his suspicions that the cat is a superioris. His apprehension towards it earlier has changed to pity. He can see the discomfort in the eyes of the cat. He even saw it give him or Kotone a few pleading looks, as if asking to be rescued. "So, boss. How long will you keep this act up?" Fumio can no longer take the looks the cat is giving him. "Hm? What act?" Kotone asks as she sits down beside Red, and across Fumio. "Have some tea." Red then tosses the cat to the sitting pillow across the dining table, and the cat lands on the sitting pillow beside Fumio. Kotone is about to make a weird face, when suddenly, the cat slowly morphs into a slightly good-looking man who looks to be in his mid-30s, wearing a set of plain black pajamas. This stuns Kotone and Fumio. Even though Fumio already knew, he still cannot believe that the small cat is this man beside him. "Well, hello there. Nice to meet you." Red is the first one to speak to the stranger. "Likewise" Gin tries to hide the nervousness he is feeling. "Good lord. You reek." Fumio''s nose twitches catching a whiff of the man''s sour odor. Since he started to strengthen his body with the help of spiritual energy, his senses have also improved. So, Gin''s body odor, despite not smelling that bad to more ordinary people, is potent to Fumio. "Yeah. Sorry. I only got to shower once every three days." Gin apologizes. "Who are you, mister?" Kotone is feeling a bit betrayed that the cute cat she wanted to pet, is not a real cat, but a grown man at least ten years her senior. "My name''s Souta." Gin makes up a name on the spot. "So, Souta-san. Why are you trespassing on my property, and spying on my students?" Red asks. Kotone and Fumio''s glare at Gin, making Gin shudder. After all, he has an idea of how formidable the two are. "I was just looking for old Chouko when I happened to see their training. It was just interesting to watch. I didn''t mean to spy." He explains himself. " ''Old Chouko''?Are you related to her?" Red asks. "No, sir. She is a friend I made here. When I was passing by earlier and saw the way to here, she crossed my mind. And I haven''t seen her in years, so I decided to drop by. She said I was always welcome, and I was hoping that''s still the case." Gin aside from his purpose of visit, is honest about his history with the place. "I see. Well, unfortunately, Chouko-san moved away two years ago to the city to live under her son''s care. And she passed away peacefully last year." Red breaks the news to him. Gin is stunned by the news and he does not know what to say. While it has been 10 years since he last saw Chouko, the old lady still made a great impression to him. "Well That''s good. She seemed really lonely then. I''m glad to hear she didn''t die living by herself." He sighs after recovering. "So. What are you really doing here? You''re not here just to visit." Red asks, already seeing through Gin''s ruse. After all, he has seen the man''s face before. "Wait a minute I''ve seen you before" Kotone looks more closely at Gin''s face. "Mister. You said you only got to shower once every three days That means you were in some institution or something. A mental? A prison?" Fumio asks. "I-I" Gin, not expecting to be assaulted by three questions doubting the identity he presented, does not know how to answer, or which question to answer first. "You two, do you remember when we were having lunch in Chofu? We were watching TV then." Red asks his two students, to try to remind them. "We were." "So?" Kotone and Fumio raise their brows at the unrelated topic. "We were watching a news channel. Then there was a news report about that serial killer. This guy''s the one reporting it from Nikko." Red recounts. As the two try to remember, "Isn''t that right, Morimoto Gin?" Red turns his attention back to Gin. "Errr Yes." Gin has no choice but to admit it. After all, the man clearly recognizes him. "Whoah You still remember that? That was a month ago? I''m not even sure when that was, much more what we''ve seen on TV during that day." Kotone looks at Red in amazement. Fumio on the other hand, is less impressed as he attributes the feat to Red''s use of spiritual energy. After all, he himself already feels the effects of spiritual energy on his memory and thinking speed. Instead of being impressed, he is instead interested on the connection between Red''s question about Gin''s real purpose of coming, why Gin is wearing pajamas, and why Gin is only allowed to shower every three days. "I''m gonna make it easier for you, Morimoto-san. You were supposed to ask Chouko-san if you can seek refuge here, weren''t you?" Red rephrases his question. Gin does not know why but he feels like he can trust the man. "Yes." He admits. "Huh. Never met her, but I doubt she would have taken you in." Kotone scoffs, finding such request to an old woman a bit too much. "Maybe, maybe not. It''s worth a try. After all, she used to make this house some sort of a bed and breakfast for hikers. I thought she still does, and I would have offered my services for free in exchange for food and a space in a closet for me to sleep in." Gin says in defense, feeling that Kotone thinks that he is entitled. "Well. Too bad. Our rooms are full. And as you can see, we''re the types to seclude ourselves, so even sharing our closets is burdensome." Red says. "We also don''t know why you''re on a run. We can''t involve ourselves." Fumio adds. "I" Gin has no words. He knows that he is technically trespassing, and he is thankful that the three even served him tea, although he has not touched it yet. But he is desperate. While escaping the Kumagai Clan offered him a few hours of relief, his mind is still chaotic. He does not know how much influence the Kumagai Clan have on other places, or in Tokyo, but he is starting to become paranoid, cautiously watching over his shoulders at every moment. Only after reaching Hinohara, and especially Old Chuoko''s former property, did he finally find a place that makes him feel safe. And he needs that feeling of safety to finally relax without worry. He desperately needs to refresh his spirit even for just one night. "Can I just stay for the night?" He can only swallow his pride, and ask straightforwardly to the strangers. "I just want to sleep somewhere where I don''t have to think about people looking for me. This place is walled off, so it''s perfect. I can just sleep on the lawn. And I promise, before sunrise, I''ll be gone, and won''t come back again." He promises to take the bare minimum he figures he can ask strangers, hoping that they''ll feel his sincerity. He then notices that aside from the two men, the young lady is the only one who is showing pity with the way she is looking at him. The next moment is something that he will remember for a long time. *rumble* His stomach protests and wants to be filled. The three strangers also look at his gut, before looking at each other. The embarrassed Gin also caresses his stomach. "B-Boss I mean if we''re not letting him stay, can I at least give him a few bucks so he can go eat something warm?" Kotone feels bad for Gin''s plight. Before Gin can have the chance to process the gratitude brewing inside him, "No wait a minute." Fumio shakes his head and interrupts. "What''s your name again, mister?" He asks Gin as he takes out his phone. Gin looks at him in worry. "Don''t worry. I''m not calling the cops on you." Fumio promises. With Gin still hesitant, Red answers on his behalf. "Morimoto Gin. Gin is written as ''silver'' if I remember it right." Gin almost panics at this. Fumio meanwhile, after a few taps, and a few scrolls with his phone. Done checking Gin''s background, he passes his phone to Kotone for Kotone to read. He then looks at Gin, before looking at Red. "Boss I''ll offer him my room for the night if he can tell us why a reporter like him, who seems to have a bit of reputation in his field, and has a bit of a niche following in social media, has disappeared for a few weeks, and is now here, seeking refuge." He proposes. His interest is piqued. "Oh that''s right. I also want to hear about the serial killer." Kotone, looking at the online articles referencing Gin''s reports, also gets interested. "Alright It''s been a boring week. We need some entertainment." Red''s interest is already piqued from Fumio''s proposal. "Entertainment" Gin''s face twitches that his experiences in the past few weeks is only considered entertainment by who he suspects is a very powerful superioris. He swallows his offense however, as the feeling of gratitude overwhelms it. "Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed this." He says. "Yeah. Yeah. So? What happened to you?" Fumio is excited. "Okay. It all started in May 10th. A date I''ll never forget. I was walking" And so Gin starts his tale. A few minutes later. " But isn''t the captain right, though? Are you really sure that it is that Hideki Hasegawa" Kotone steals a glance at Fumio before, "that you saw? It''s not possible to have an entirely new ability, especially after his powers were crippled.", concluding her question. "Yes. I know it''s hard to believe. I know you might also think I''m lying, and think that I''m making things up after weeks of frustration of not finding anything, but I stand by it. I know what I saw. I clearly remember the face of the man who almost killed me." Gin insists. "Hmmm~" The two''s discourse is interrupted by Red''s melodic grunting. "How about you, boss? Do you believe him?" Kotone asks. "Well, I believe him. Or at least I can see that he genuinely has told us what he thinks he has seen and experienced." Red shrugs. "However, I''m not sure if what you, Morimoto-san, really seen and felt the things you claim, lik how they really happened." He then addresses Gin. "A-at least you think I''m not lying." Gin is relieved. "Well. This is indeed interesting. You can have my bed tonight, Gin-san." Fumio then stands up. "If you would all excuse me, I have to continue my training." And fixes his training gi. Kotone, hearing a slight break in Fumio''s voice, gets worried. "Hey, don''t train alone. Let me come with you." Kotone also stands up. "It''s fine. I''ll train alone." Fumio says almost dismissively before leaving the house. "Boss." Kotone then looks at Red. "Let him. He needs it." Red simply shrugs. "Okay" Kotone can only give up. "Wow That kid must really hate serial killers huh?" Gin noticed the strange reaction of Fumio, but does not know what caused it. He can only guess. Chapter 64 - Guilt Kotone cannot sleep. The look on Fumio''s face earlier while Gin was telling them his story, keeps on crossing her mind. It is as if Fumio ate something bitter that made his eyes red and teary. What confuses her even more is the guilt in Fumio''s eyes. What she knows about Fumio and the Hasegawa is simply just Fumio being raised in it before he left the clan in his own accord. This makes her curious of Fumio''s relationship with the heir of the Hasegawa Clan and why she saw him look like that earlier. *ssg* Her thoughts are interrupted when she hears a soft thud coming from downstairs. She figures that it was either the front door or the backdoor being slid close. *snore* She still hears Gin''s snoring coming from Fumio''s room, so she knows that it is not Gin who is downstairs. She also knows that Red, who gave up his room for her even though she only comes by once or twice a week, disappears at this hour of the night to go sleep somewhere and would come back the next day. ''Fumio'', who gave his bed up for Gin, and is supposed to be sleeping in the living room tonight, can only be the only one downstairs. She then gets up from her futon, deciding to speak with Fumio. It has been hours since Gin told his story, so she figures that Fumio is feeling better enough to speak about what happened. Reaching the first floor, she finds that there is no one. Even Fumio''s sheets she moved to the living room remains untouched. *dnfdalnbf* Then, from outside at the direction of the backyard, she hears Fumio''s voice, *Adnvaf* followed by Red''s, which surprises Kotone. Figuring that the two men are talking at the veranda, she gets curious. Sometimes, she feels resentful that she often gets lost in the topics of the two''s conversation whenever she is with them. Even though she expresses that she feels left out, the two simply smile at her. Remembering those times, she without guilt, decides to drop eaves. She then tiptoes and walks closer to the front door and puts her ear against it to hear what the two are talking about. "Are you sure that it''s the same person?" She hears Red ask. "Yes. The way Gin described him, it''s the Hideki I used to know. Only much more murderous, and much more powerful if he was able to have a C-Class Superiori among his victims. I don''t know how he got new powers, but I know it''s him." She hears Fumio answer. "I see." Red simply shrugs. Fumio, looking at Red treat it indifferently is bothering him a bit, but he brushes it aside. He figures that Red has seen many things that a serial killer is nothing to the man. "So What should I do?" He can only seek advice. "It''s up to you. But I think you already have some plans in mind." Red looks him in the eye. Fumio shakes his head at being called out. He indeed has a few plans in mind, but he does not know if he can act on them, or if he even has the ability to. Then, "I-" he clenches his teeth. "Boss. Was it my fault? Had I finished Hideki then, he wouldn''t have killed 30 people. Was me making him powerless somehow snapped something in his mind, and he became something even worse?" The eavesdropping Kotone widens her eyes in shock. She cannot believe it. Connecting Gin''s story to what she is hearing right now almost makes her weak in the knees. [I know. Logically, it''s impossible. Captain Adachi, and even that Kumagai clansman said that Hideki is no longer a superioris. That someone crippled him of it. That''s why they did not believe me. They could not believe me.] She remembers Gin''s words earlier. "If I said that it isn''t your fault, would it make you feel better?" Red asks. Fumio shakes his head. "Do you regret avenging your friends? Avenging yourself? Avenging the first woman you ever loved?" Red asks. Fumio ponders. "Don''t think too hard. Feel." Red stops Fumio. "I don''t regret it." Fumio''s face hardens. "No. Because in your heart, and even in my eyes, it was the right thing to do." Red smiles. "So. What do you plan to do then?" He then asks. "I don''t know Maybe..." Fumio sighs. "... Maybe I''ll have to stop him again. I can''t kill him. I know I can''t. But I can do what I already did to him." He says in resolve. "You might." Red nods, but almost rolls his eyes. "But what if he comes back again even stronger? Will you stop him again?" He asks. "Yes. I''ll have to get stronger to do it again." Fumio nods. "Will you be quick enough to stop him from claiming his next victim?" Red asks. This stumps Fumio. "What if his next victim will no longer be a stranger to you?" Red adds. "T-That" Fumio''s heart drops, and he becomes speechless. "Kotone, let me ask you a question." Red suddenly addresses Kotone. Kotone, who is behind the door, falls on her bottom out of shock. Fumio also snaps his head to the door''s direction. He realizes that he has been too distracted on his thoughts, or too focused on talking with Red, that he did not hear Kotone''s breathing. Soon, the door slides open to reveal an embarrassed Kotone. "What is it, Kichirou-san?" She asks. "Do you get the picture? Of Fumio''s difficulty?" "Yes, Kichirou-san." She does not, but she knows enough. "Is it his fault?" Red asks. "Of course not." Kotone readily defends Fumio. "Then If you were in Fumio''s shoes. Would you end Hideki?" Red asks. "WHA-,." The question is too sudden and too drastic a change of flow for Kotone. She is not sure if Red is serious but looking at the two men genuinely waiting for her opinion, she takes a deep breath. "Theoretically, it''s a reasonable choice. Eye for an eye sort of thing But I don''t know if I can do it." Kotone shakes her head. The thought of killing someone simply has never crossed her mind before, even if that someone she would kill is a serial murderer. Even Red''s question makes her feel nauseous. Fumio smiles, glad that Kotone empathizes with him. "And. If I may be presumptuous?" Kotone asks, heat starting to brew in her guts. This gets an amused look from Red and a surprised look from Fumio. Kotone always treaded the line after all. "Please." Red entertains the rare occasion. "I owe you a lot. I owe you mine and my brother''s livese, even. But" Kotone hesitates for a moment. "Go ahead." Red cannot wait to hear what she wants to say. "Okay" Kotone''s eyes change. "Why does it have to be Fumio? Hideki is no longer just Fumio''s concern." She then swallows her spit for courage. "I know you''re strong, Kichirou-san. You have the power to stop Hideki. I just don''t understand why you want Fumio to handle it, and handle it in a manner that might traumatize him for the rest of his life?" She asks with a hint of defiance in her eyes. "T-that''s Kotone I-. It was ME who wants to handle it." Fumio says honestly, but he also wants Kotone to stop from saying something that might offend Red. "Oh?" Kotone freezes for a moment, but her defiance continues. "Doesn''t matter. Why do you want him to kill, Kichirou-san? If you want to kill that much, why don''t you just do it yourself? It''s not like that guy is somewhere far, so I would have understood the disconnect. But, Hideki''s just a few hours away on car, or maybe a few minutes to you." Fumio realizes that it is indeed what Red has been doing, and he looks at Red. Kotone, meanwhile, almost starts huffing, still angry at what she witnessed. "Well, what would YOU do, Kotone?" Red asks, with a smirk, almost annoying Kotone. "If I had your power? If I was as powerful as Fumio and has his skills? I''d go to Nikko right now, and look for Hideki. And do what Fumio san did to him before." Kotone proudly claims. "As expected of a vigilante." Red nods. "WHAT?" "HUH?" Kotone and Fumio exclaim almost at the same time. Kotone because she is caught, and Fumio because Kotone is the last person he expects to be playing vigilante. "I have to hear about this." The revelation immediately distracts Fumio from his worries. "Story for another time, Fumio." Red chuckles. "But that''s beside the point." He then goes back to the subject. "Do you know what would have happened hadn''t you been listening in?" He asks Kotone. "No." Kotone shakes her head. "Then let''s continue, Fumio." Red turns his attention back to Fumio. "Do you remember that day? When you woke up in my apartment all okay after almost dying? Do you remember what I offered you?" Red asks Fumio. Fumio also remembers the day clearly. "I felt like you wanted me to borrow your hand to take revenge." Fumio says. "Yes. Had you made that choice, I would have done it for you and that night would have been Hideki''s last." Red nods. How casual Red said it sends chills down Fumio and Kotone''s spines. "Yet that would have robbed you of the feeling of avenging your friend and yourself by your own hands hand. If you also made that choice, then you wouldn''t have proven yourself to me until much much later. Maybe Kotone would have proven herself first, and therefore would have learned our practice before you." Red continues. Fumio realizes that his impulsive decision that day turns out to be this important. "But this time, it''s different. And I agree with Kotone when she said that this is no longer your concern alone. After trying to convince you to end him, I am sure now that you won''t. So I''d rather not have you act. If you want to do it by yourself because you feel it is your responsibility, and do it the way you did it the first time, which you again prefer to, then I''d rather tie you up here to stop you." Red presents his objection. "" Fumio is too stunned. This is the first time that Red is like this. "And after I tie you up, I''ll go to Nikko myself. Find Hideki, kill him, and burn him to ashes. He will only end up being one of the 100 thousand Japanese who will make themselves disappear this year." Red paints a picture that sends chills up Kotone and Fumio''s spines yet again. "I can''t risk him surviving and getting powers again, whatever or whoever will give him that. Not to mention, he always has the perfect alibi for every victim he gains. And Gin, who also knows the truth, cannot make people believe him." Red concludes. Fumio at this point, realizes that while he thinks he is doing this not only for himself, the way he is doing it is na?ve and selfish. "Boss May I ask. Why didn''t you kill Blade Tornado?" He suddenly asks, making Kotone''s eyes widen. "I''m no judge, but Blade Tornado''s kills have only been self-defense." ''He also does not have a bloody aura.'' Red adds in his mind. "But correct me if I''m wrong. You said ''I''ve taken enough lives in my prime.'' Was that true?" Fumio asks. Red already knows what Fumio is saying. "Yes. It''s been a while. And I''d rather not again." Red nods while hiding a smirk. Fumio and Kotone look at each other. Fumio smiles bitterly, and Kotone winces to hide her embarrassment. Red seeing the two''s faces, figures out what the two are thinking. "So. Unless you two has a better way, and surer way, of stopping Hideki that does not have to resort to you staining your hands, or me bitterly swallowing the act of killing again, then by all means, say it." He challenges the two. <> A few minutes later, the three are still in the veranda facing the backyard, using nothing but the moonlight as their source of light. Fumio and Kotone are still wearing pondering expressions while whispering to each other, while Red is smoking something with a bamboo pipe, while lounging lazily but gracefully against the wall. Suddenly, "AH!" Fumio gets an idea, as Red''s posture reminds him of something. "BosS How about becoming Mr. Fool again?" Fumio asks with excitement in his eyes. ''Finally.'' Red nods. He is already planning on it even if Fumio or Kotone do not think of it. Chapter 65 - Exposure Nikko, 6 AM "So, how do we find him?" Kotone asks her two companions. Her, Red, and Fumio just arrived in the streets of Nikko. After deciding on their plan of action, they decided to act during the day. "Uhhh. Boss, Kotone, you do know what Hideki looks like, right?" Fumio asks. "Uhhh" Kotone does not. "I don''t, but I have a guess of where he is." Red says. The two look at him to ask how, but they notice the serious expression that he is wearing. Red meanwhile, is curious. He can smell traces of malice in the spiritual energy in the air. Not the type that the members of the CSG had during the protest, but something else. A murderous one that is combined with hunger. It also obviously belongs to a single person. From what he can gather, that person has passed by where they are currently standing in, in the past twelve hours. As to what kind of person would have this potent malicious aura that it leaves traces after hours, Red has a few ideas. Unfortunately, those ideas are based on his experiences in his previous world, and may not necessarily be applicable to his current one. "Hang on to me." Red instructs the two and they take each or Red''s arms, before they travel to the air again. Soon, the three arrive at Lake Chuzenji, a few kilometers away from the Nikko City''s center. Even though the lake is large, and there are plenty of vacation mansions by its lakeside, Fumio already knows where their destination is. After all, he has been here before once. "The Kumagai Compound." He utters. At the northern side of the lake, is what looks like a village settlement, scattered with buildings made using Japan''s traditional architecture. And at the center of it, is what looks like a medieval Japanese Castle. Fumio however knows that just like in the Hasegawa compound, these traditional looking buildings are only skins and they actually have modern appliances and amenities in them. The Kumagai Clan has a long lineage, dating back to the 1700s and have lorded over Nikko even during Japan''s feudal era until the Great War. Just like other noble clans of that period, Kumagai''s authority has also collapsed due to the rise of the superiori among the common people they lorded over. But unlike most noble houses that did not live to see the end of the Great War, the Kumagai did as they were blessed with a great number of superiori that were able to protect their lineage long after The Great War. As for how the Hasegawa and Kumagai Clans became allies, was simply because the founder of the Hasegawa was a Kumagai clansman. That Hasegawa founder after becoming even stronger than the Kumagai Clan Head, decided to leave the Kumagai to avoid making things awkward. "So, Hideki really is staying here, huh." Fumio says as Red brings him and Kotone closer above the Kumagai Compound. "Where do you think is the perfect place to shoot it?" Red asks the two as they land at one building''s rooftop. "On the rooftop of that one over there." Fumio points at one of the tall buildings below the castle. "Okay." Red nods. Fumio then takes out the news camera that Red stole from somewhere, and fiddles with it skillfully. After hours of preparation, he was able to get some basic understanding of how to use it. "Boss. You put an invisibility seal on me and Kotone. What about this camera? People might see it." Fumio asks. "There''s one under it. Power it with your elixir." Red says. Fumio then activates the seal, but can still see the camera. Kotone, then steps a few steps away from Fumio, and just like she suspected the camera is only invisible after a certain distance from it, just like how the invisibility illusions that Red has put on them in the past. "Alright. You two go in position. Fumio, flare up a wave (of spiritual energy) if you''re ready." Red instructs. "Okay." And with that his two disciples hop away. <> The morning is usually peaceful for Kumagai Takeo. He would usually wake up at six in the morning for tea, train his swordsmanship for an hour or so, having his breakfast and taking a shower, before starting his duties as the clan head. This morning however is, is different. "HAH.. Hah HAHAHAAAAAAA" A strange and raspy laugh reverberates from outside the castle. He feels his skin tingle as the voice seems to contain an eerie sense of chaos. He quickly gets up and opens his window and he sees, above the clan compound''s center, and just a few meters away from him, a man wearing familiar looking jester clothes. "M-Mr. Fool" He wants to refuse believing it, but the man that crushed the pride of the powerful Murakami clan in front of the nation, the man who the clans labeled as a terrorist, is in his tiny and peaceful home. During the emergency meeting of the clan heads a day after Mr. Fool''s attack on Chofu, it was revealed to him and others by Murakami Atsushi, that Mr. Fool to some extent is civil and peaceful This makes him not as scared as one should be when facing a real terrorist of Mr. Fool''s strength. But remembering Atsushi''s claim of Mr. Fool''s motivations in attacking the National Diet Building, he cannot help but be worried. [Mr. Fool, as from what I observed, can "smell" corruption and bad intentions. The members of the congress he attacked, which are currently in a coma, are either our puppets, or have committed less than honorable acts.] Kumagai is not a powerful clan, but they are satisfied with their stable position. As long as everyone in Nikko is happy, then they are proud. That also means that Takeo''s conscience is clear about his clan''s practices. So, seeing Mr. Fool in his compound makes him think that Mr. Fool thinks that there is corruption in the place. "MR. F-" He is about to call out when Mr. Fool suddenly starts dancing, "SMELLY MAN! SMELLY MAN! WHERE ARE YOU?" and singing. ''Smelly'' Takeo remembers that it is the word Mr. Fool use to address those that Mr. Fool finds evil. "YOU!" He cannot help but take a step back when Mr. Fool''s attention is suddenly on him. "Y-Yes?" He can only speak meekly. "WHERE''S THE SMELLY MAN?" Mr. Fool asks. "I don''t know. Were you looking for me?" Takeo asks just to be sure that he is not the target. "NO! NOT YOU" To his relief, Mr. Fool simply ignored him after that. Mr. Fool then continues to hop and dance in the air above the buildings and houses below, while obviously looking for that ''smelly'' man. *slam**slam* Takeo then sees that some of the buildings below also open their windows to also see what is happening. Some of his clansmen even step out. This makes his heart beat out of extreme anxiety as he does not know what to do. He cannot order them to get inside, or gather at the clan hall as he does not know what Mr. Fool''s actions will be. Fortunately for him, his ignorance is cleared, as Mr. Fool suddenly jumps down to one of the buildings. Not only jump down, but stomp down, breaking that building''s roof, making a hole on it. ''Use the doors!'' Takeo wants to reprimand Mr. Fool, but he can only swallow the destruction of his clansman''s property. Soon, Mr. Fool jumps out of the hole he jumped into but this time, carrying a person. "SMELLY MAN! SMELLY MAN! I FOUND YOU!" Mr. Fool continues to chant again. It takes Takeo a few seconds but soon, he recognizes that that person is his friend''s son, and the now former heir of the Hasegawa, Hideki. He knows that while Hideki already lost his value to the Hasegawa as a clansman, his friend Gorou still values blood. Gorou, to focus more on clan politics and train his younger son, while also ensuring the safety of Hideki, he sent Hideki to Takeo''s care. Takeo however, can only be a loyal friend to a limit. He will not risk himself or his clan by attempting to stop an S-Class Superioris. So, he can only bitterly watch at whatever Mr. Fool is about to do to Hideki. Mr. Fool then throws Hideki to the village square from a great height, and Hideki sails on the air at a great speed. Takeo is about to look away at what he knows is a certain death, but to his shock, as if an octopus, black tentacles suddenly grow out of Hideki''s back, and encases its owner''s body. *CRASH* An audible loud shattering noise is heard when Hideki landed on the stone ground of the village square. While his tentacles shattered, they did enough to protect him and he comes out unharmed. "HAHAHA! SMELLY SQUID! I FOUND YOU! HAHA! I WAS RIGHT!" Hideki meanwhile curses. Even though he quickly retrieved his ice, his act is finally revealed. He also feels wrath on the man in front of him. He does not know what he did wrong, being suddenly exposed like this after months of being careful, by a stranger and a fool, makes him feel beyond indidnant. ''It''s over.'' He immediately decides to disappear. He has not grown strong enough to instantly kill the Kumagai Clan leader, much more to fight the man in front of him, or else he would have wiped out the whole of Kumagai compound to eliminate witnesses. Unfortunately, he can only wish as he turns around to flee. *WHOOSH* Suddenly, in front of him, Mr. Fool appears, shocking him greatly. "SQUID! LET''S DANCE!" The man then throws a kick his way. He summons bars of ice in front of him, successfully blocking the kick. He then surrounds himself in his ice cage to buy himself time as he coats his feet with ice, to levitate himself and fly away. Unfortunately for him, *CRASHHHH* before he can even fly away, his ice cage is broken and he feels his feet be grabbed by the jester. The next moment, he feels the earth approach him, or the other way around, and he smashes to the ground once again, only this time, without his ice to cushion him. "MR. SMELLY! MR. SMELLY! WHAT ARE YOU?" While stunned on the ground, he can only sigh in relief Mr. Fool is asking questions instead of continuing an attack. After all, once he loses consciousness, it''s over for him. "I''m a friend. My friend, can you let me go? Why are you hurting me?" He can only plead as he tries to recover his bearings. "NO. MOTHER SAID I SHAN''T BE FRIENDS WITH MURDERERS." Mr. Fool harrumphs. "" Takeo at this time, has already jumped down from the castle, and has approached closer, so he has seen and heard everything. This reminds him of Gin, who he and his clansmen detained for two weeks until the man''s escape the day before. The reporter who he thought of was a spy at first, and then a crazy man after insisting on a crazy claim even after enduring coercion, was right all along. But while he is thankful of Mr. Fool of exposing Hideki, he wishes that Mr. Fool not have done it in his home as it will look bad for him. "I don''t know what you mean." Hideki meanwhile, tries to reason, hoping to fool a fool. "NOPE! YOU LIE! YOUR ICE! IT SMELLS LIKE PEOPLE!" Mr. Fool scoffs. "Mr. Fool! You can''t kill him!" Takeo suddenly interrupts hoping to take a chance. If he takes Hideki in his custody, he can appease the bereaving family of the victims, and he can also minimize the news that him and his clan harbored a serial killer. "YES. YES. MOTHER SAID I SHAN''T KILL. WE SHOULD SEND HIM TO PRISON!" To his surprise, Mr. Fool is even easier to talk to. He does a double take however at Mr. Fool''s next words. "BUT YOU PROTECTED HIM! YOU''LL PROTECT HIM AGAIN! YOU LIE!" Mr. Fool accuses. "I didn''t know!" Takeo argues in defense. "If I knew, I would have sent him to prison myself!" He then glares daggers at Hideki. But to further his rage, he sees Hideki simply smirk at him. "HHMMM THEN LET ME MAKE HIM SLEEP FOR YOU." Mr. Fool approach Hideki once again. Suddenly, "HAHAHAHAHA!" Hideki starts laughing. Not a joyous one, but a bitter one. Then he stands up and looks at Mr. Fool. "THIS ISN''T THE END YOU CLOWN!" He says one last time before "*BLLURGGHHH*" thick black smoke rush out of his mouth, then nose, then ears, and finally, his eyes. Chapter 66 - The Demon Hideki, currently has his back arched, his head thrown back, his face parallel to the sky, as black smoke suddenly rush out of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Kotone covers her mouth. Fumio almost drops the camera. Takeo''s eyes go wide as saucers. And Red''s brows jump in surprise and his gaze sharpens in interest. Not only them, but the other spectating members of the Kumagai are shocked at the sight at the center of the village. Red, looking at the black smoke start to convene in the sky, quickly thinks of his feet and has come up with a few theories and courses of action to take. He takes one of them, and acts on it. Red, balloons a condensed sphere of spiritual energy with him at the center while also doing the same with his spirit sense, and expands it enough to cover 50 meters radius in all direction, covering a quarter of Kumagai Compound. This means that the black smoke is also inside Red''s spiritual energy / spiritual sense sphere. Red then flares his eons old killing aura, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING, SQUIDDY~?", and addresses the black smoke, while maintaining his Mr. Fool character. The black smoke freezes in the air, looking afraid. Takeo, Kotone, Fumio, and other people within Red''s 50-meter radius sphere, unanimously fall to their knees. They all suddenly feel a choking feeling, and a sense of their own bloody imminent death coming from the man in red. Red, seeing the collateral effect, curses his thick killing aura. He can only focus and concentrate it to the black smoke. That worked in alleviating the effect of his death aura to the bystanders and they now feel fine and relieved. The black smoke meanwhile, originally felt confident that it can flee. Now, it no longer feels so. He feels that if he continues his efforts to flee, his death will be delivered. Soon however, he feels his confidence grow back. ''This is not how to kill me.'' It pumps itself up and continues to remove the rest of itself from Hideki''s body. "YOU WILL STAY, SQUIDDY~" It then hears the clown say, and the dreadful feeling that made him freeze, is now not only palpable, but is actually trying to pull it back to Hideki''s body. It tries to fight back, even cut the rest of itself off, but not only does it feel it can resist, the force pulling it back even increases. Soon, its entire self is back inside its host, Hideki. Unlike its dashing and confident look before in its host''s body, it now looks haggard, with blood leaking out of the orifices of its head. It looks even more pitiful as it is forced to its knees by the feeling of death that that is being squeezed down on it. "YOU''RE INTERESTING WHAT ARE YOU? SQUIDDY?" Red asks. "W-what are you? How are you doing this?" The black smoke, now being able to speak again through Hideki''s body, instead of answering, asks instead. This is its first time meeting or even being in a vicinity with a human like Red. It has to know what it can of him so it can share the information to its kind. "I''M HUMAN! STOP ASKING. SMELLY SHOULD NOT ASK QUESTIONS!" Red, initially simply wanted to kill Hideki, but the strange situation with the black smoke and bleeding orifices piqued his curiosity. "I-" The possessed Hideki is about to speak, when Takeo interrupts again. "Mr. Fool! That young man is possibly possessed by a demon! The black smoke is the proof!" Takeo claims. Everyone who heard him widen their eyes either in shock, or in disbelief. It has been almost 150 years since the great war ended, and a century after the last demon in the world was killed. While they have heard many stories about demonic possessions in the modern world, half the population simply think of those stories as some superiori going crazy, or scams of the once powerful ascetic forces who spearheaded the fight against the demons. These ascetic forces include the Knights of the Church, the Shinto priests and maidens, or other shamanic orders throughout the world. Takeo himself, even though he has lived for almost seven decades, has never seen witnessed a demonic possession and had doubted the stories and the claims of those ascetic groups. After all, even the videos released by the modern Knights of Orders or other organizations like it, do not match with what is written on his great grandfather''s journal. One more important evidence missing from those claims, is something, an object that can be harvested from a demon after killing one. He has never heard of anyone possessing it, much more sell it. "DEMON?" Red gets even more interested. He then brushes his spirit sense on the possessed Hideki''s being. A second later, he retrieves his spirit sense. ''How foul'' he shakes his head. ''And crazy'', he ponders. Just like the superiori he scanned before, the demon too, has a mutated spirit root. And the demon''s mutated spirit root has eaten up Hideki''s original spirit roots. As to how the demon is able to do it, he can only suspect that the demon has similar abilities to a race of parasitic demons in the infinite realms. Red knows however that unlike the demons in the infinite realms that were born out of the evil side of the void, this demon in front of him is simply some sort of an abomination that he suspects is a product of someone or something''s doing. And that someone or something is powerful enough to screw around with the biology of the creatures of this realm. Unlike the mutated spirit roots of superiori that Red believes to have more likely resulted from exposure to something, the mutated spirit roots and the biology of the demon looks to be deliberately designed. ''Need more data, but it''s probably a race made by a natural born Demigod or a True God'' As for why he thinks it is a natural born Demigod or a True God, only these beings that were born alone, and had no one to teach them their powers, are the curious and odd kind. They will experiment with their powers to explore them, and that includes changing or even giving birth to mortal creatures that the void compels them to. Whoever that being is, Red wants to meet them and give them a nice talking to. He then spreads his spiritual sense again to the demon, and reaches for its sea of consciousness. After a year of relaxed training, Red''s body can now handle more abilities of his spirit sense, and that includes being able to take a peek at someone''s sea of consciousness which contains that someone''s memories and thoughts. <><><><><> "Hm?" I seem to have been unconscious for a while. Where am I? Ah. The mortal world. I remember now. Zograthan, that traitor. Why would he betray Hell? After he closed the gates of Hell, me and other demons'' abilities to recuperate have disappeared. We can only rely on swallowing the life essences from humans. And with our numbers that quickly dwindled, we can only hide from humans that are hungrily hunting us for our cores. Thankfully, the humans themselves started fighting against each other. That allowed me to live amongst them for a few years. Unluckily, I was found out. The last thing I remember, I was hunted by a human. Thankfully, she wasn''t able to land a killing blow. However, I have lost a lot of my essence and I managed to find some cave under the sea before I ran out of it and went to sleep. And that is where I am. What do the humans called it? ''Devil''s luck''. Heh. I seem to have it. Now, let''s see how long it has passed. <><> My Hells It has only been 120 human years since I went to sleep, and this is the human world now? And their weaponry. How majestic. Their guns have become even more dangerous. And the horrifying new weapons. Bombs. Missiles. Atomic and nuclear weapons. These could have wiped us out had these humans had them during the war. Well. They couldn''t have. Maybe they can put us to sleep, but they cannot kill us without their weapons that has anti-demon runes in them. The only problem with these is that they are most effective against humans themselves. We can just steal it from them. HAhahaha. Wait a minute. No. If they are smart enough to come up with these, then they can simply carve their runes and talismans in their guns just like how they carved runes in their arrowheads. Does not that mean that they can only carve runes in their bullets and I do not even want to think about it. How horrifying. <><> So that''s how it is. Now I know why I woke up. I feel it Home. Hell. It''s far and unreachable, but it has a bit of connection to this real once again. It means that whatever that traitor Zograthan and his angel friend did to the gates of heaven and hell, it is not permanent. Or maybe the princes and the king managed to work some magic out? HAHAHA If that''s the case, then we can finally harvest again. But I have to find a way home first. I have to inform them of the improvements in the human civilization. If the gates of hell open once again, maybe this time, the lords, princes, and even the king might finally ascend to this realm. For now. I have to regain my strength. I can barely absorb souls in my prime, much less now with my weak form. I have to absorb life essences from souls for now. Where should I start. <><> Who is this man? How can he. This is not good. Not even my lord has this amount of bloodlust. Is he really a human? He''s definitely no angel. How did I offend this being? Why of all times, now?! Is this it? Maybe I can ask to be spared. I feel it, hell, it''s presence has become a bit stronger. I need to survive a century more. No, maybe even decades. No, maybe years if the king figures something out. I have to see hell once again! <><><><><> "Mr. FOOL!" Red is interrupted by Takeo calling out. "He''s a demon! We have to kill him now!" Red raises his brows, seeing the greed in Takeo''s eyes. "BE QUIET." Red sends a sliver of his killing aura to Takeo, making the man shut up. Red wants to try something. [Demon. Hope that what I''m about to try will not work, or else it''s your last day.] Red sends a mental message to the demon with his spirit sense. The demon''s eyes widen for a moment, before swallowing in acceptance of his fate. Red then puts his spirit sense in overdrive to take a peek at the demon''s soul, and soon he finds it. Just like he suspected, there is something anchoring the demon''s soul. He figures that without it, a demon will die as easy as a human would and its soul will dissipate back into the void. The object, is something he compares to a cultivator''s method of preserving their soul essence if their body gets destroyed during a battle. Unfortunately, for Red, this is all he can figure for now as his body is not strong enough to use more powerful abilities of his spirit sense. While he can sever the anchor between the demon''s soul and the object, and then kill the demon, he wants to see what the object can do. "YOU." He then turns his attention back to Takeo. "BRING ME A RUNE WEAPON." He orders. "Y-Yes" Takeo can only comply after Red released the killing aura on him. Chapter 67 - Demon Core ========== Author here. Personal thanks to Rivel_Emerald for the numerous Colas and Pizza. Parsonal thanks to Sleeping_Mist for the pizza. It''s good to see a reader of my other work here. But a few words. Please don''t send gifts for now. Not until I reach 150 chapters. I just feel like I don''t deserve these gifts yet. But anyways. Thanks again. Your gifts give me motivation... So. On to the story. ============= (Continued) "Mr. Fool This sword is my family''s treasure. I''m not comfortable letting others use it." Takeo did bring his great grandfather''s katana, a weapon carved with a demon-killing rune, but he also feels that this is his chance of getting his hands on a demon core, something that is a described in detail in his great grandfather''s journal. While the demon core is not some obscure knowledge, the use of it was intentionally made obscure. After all demon cores are not reusable, and the sources of it has become more and more sparse. "HMMM" Red smirks in amusement at the greed flowing out of Takeo''s eyes. "I''LL BRING HIM HOME THEN." Red then turns his head to the demon''s direction. "Don''t!" Suddenly, the Peak B-Class Takeo draws the katana as he slashes an almost perfect iai (draw strike) on Red. Red is impressed at the man''s skills, but not that much. He is more interested in crushing the man''s pride as a punishment for the greed. So, with the roughly same speed that the katana is travelling, Red raises his hand and the next moment, the sword is caught by the point between his index and middle fingers. Takeo''s eyes widen in disbelief but he has clearly seen how skillfully Red did it. "HMPH. SNEAKY MAN." Red then yanks the sword out easily out of Takeo''s hands. "STAY DOWN." He also flares his killing aura to Takeo again, forcing Takeo to his knees. Takeo feels a more intense feeling of death from Red that he holds his throat to fight the choking feeling from it. "CLAN HEAD!" The Kumagai clansmen, are about to mob Red, but Takeo shakily raises his hand to gesture them to stop. He was too late with his order however, and swords are already approaching Red. The next moment, those attackers too, are forced to their knees. "M-Mr. Fool. *kkk* Please let them go. It was only a misunderstanding." Takeo pleads for his clansmen. While he can endure whatever Red is doing, his clansmen might not. The next moment, the clansman, including Takeo feel the threat of death leave their bodies. They then exchange glances, before Takeo leads them to retreat carefully. Seeing that Red does not mind them making space, they sigh in relief and decide to stop and watch Red and Hideki from the edge of the village square. "Mr. Fool. Read my thoughts." The demon suddenly asks Red. Red, out of curiosity, does so. [Mr. Fool. You humans have just seen the surface of Hell''s real power. At some point, Hell will ascend to the world again. I don''t know when, but I assure you that the demons that will come then will be much more powerful than the ones that appeared during the great war. The most powerful ones you have seen are only the Demon Generals which are comparable to humans'' A-Class Superiori. The Demon Lords, the Princes of Hell, and not to mention the Demon King, they have unimaginable power. Your rune weapons will barely work on them.] Red gets interested at the demon''s monologue. [Ehhh I''m dumb. What are you saying?] He wants to move it along however. [Spare me, and I''ll put in a good word to my Lord for you. I will do my best to ensure your survival when Hell ascends.] The demon promises. Red feels that the demon is actually being honest. [But why kill us humans?] He fishes more information. [I don''t know.] The demon pleads ignorance. [You lie.] Red feels a shake in the demon''s consciousness. The demon, meanwhile, gets frustrated. He does not know how, but he feels as if Red knows if he is lying. [I can''t say.] He prefers to refuse to answer. [You lie.] Red says once again, making the demon wince. [I don''t want to say.] The demon can only go with honesty. [Then bye bye for you.] Red raises Takeo''s Katana to threaten the demon. While he can read the thoughts and some memories of the demon with his spirit sense, he would rather interrogate as it is still difficult for him to sort the memories he wants and does not want to see. [Wait!] The threat worked and the demon hurriedly pleads. [Demons can grow stronger eating human souls.] It says. [You are not telling the whole truth.] Red smirks. The demon wants to pull Hideki''s hairs out of frustration. [You can know the whole truth if you spare me.] It tries again however. [You are tricking me.] And just like before, its deception is called out. [I''m serious.] It says, as a last attempt to lie. [I smell lie.] Red calls it out again. [Then I''d rather die.] The demon grits its teeth, hoping that Red will value it alive rather than dead. To its disappointment, [Okay. Bye bye.] Red does not care either way. While impressed of the demon''s loyalty to its race, Red has not received enough information that warrants the demon to be spared. [Wait!] The demon has not yet given up. [Truth?] Red raises his brows. [No. Remember, I can ensure your survival once the forces of hell ascend back here.] The demon starts to negotiate after failing to deceive Red. [Don''t care. I want to fight your Lord.] Red shrugs. [] The demon is speechless at Red''s ignorance and recklessness. It does now know how else to talk itself out of its situation. [Bye, bye. Squiddie.] Red this time, loses interest. He knows that he can just find another demon after familiarizing himself with the aura of one, and ask that demon for more information. [Wait a minute. Grant me one last request.] The demon feels the finality in Red''s words, and can only accept its fate. At least it knows that it died in the hands of a very powerful superioris who it figures is as strong as the strongest demon lords. [Uhhh What do you want?] Red asks. He did not expect the demon to give up just like that. He appreciates the demon''s loyalty a bit. [In exchange for a hint. I want you to remember my name, and send my regards to the Demon Lords you meet in the future.] The demon says. Red just happened to have a soft spot for sentimental people, and he nods. [Thank you.] The demon smiles seeing Red''s nod. [If you value someone, then die before them. You will not want to see what awaits those who live long enough. Even if you somehow manage to survive our next harvest, it''s meaningless. The forces of heaven and hell, after empowering themselves with human souls, will have their destined final battle. This ball of earth is also destined to be a lifeless battlefield that will be filled with nothing but death.] Red smirks at the demon suddenly being cryptic, but he does not dismiss the demon''s words. Instead, he considers it a huge hint, especially after associating the memories he saw in the demon''s sea of consciousness earlier. The demon, in its memories, is sure that the reason why it awoke from its long slumber it did not expect to arise from, is that Hell re-established its connection to the human world. [I will heed your words, demon.] Red drops his act just for the demon. The demon''s eyes widen in surprise, before that surprise is replaced with defeat and amusement. [Haha Dropping your act for me. I somehow feel honored.] The demon chuckles. [Heh. Your name?] Red chuckles in return. [Ag''dramos.] Ag''dramos proudly says his name. [Very well, Ag''dramos. Be proud that you died at the same hands that will claim the lives of Demon Lords and Princes in the future.] Red says. Ag''dramos closes its eyes and the next moment, *slurch* it feels the blade enter its body. Kotone, Fumio, and the Kumagai people around, witness as Red slowly stabs the katana to Hideki''s body. Soon, as if lightning is traveling through Hideki''s body, Hideki''s body becomes a bit translucent due to the lights sparking inside him. A split second later, the sparks stop and gray smoke rush out of Hideki''s mouth and convenes in front of his face. The smoke continues to condense until it forms a small, marble-sized, matte black colored, spherical shaped object. After the last of the smoke enters the small spherical object, it falls to the ground with a clack. Red then picks it the marble with his spiritual energy and puts it in his pocket. Then, he holds up Hideki to keep the kneeling Hideki from falling, and pulls out the sword from the young man''s body. Red did not deliver a deadly blow to Hideki, as a test, and he is pleasantly surprised to discover that Ag''dramos died because of the runes, and not because of the injury, leading to the real Hideki, surviving. Red performs a healing technique on Hideki''s body, just enough to stop the young man from having blood loss. He does not want his healing abilities be seen for now. He let go of Hideki, making Hideki fall face flat to the ground. He does not like Hideki so he does not bother handling the young man with care. He then flicks off the blood off the sword before tossing it to Takeo. "THE DEMON IS DEAD. THIS SMELLY GUY CAN LIVE." He tells Takeo. "A DEMON. AH! WHAT A FUN DAY." He then jumps up and using his footholds made of spiritual energy, he starts to leave. "Mr. Fool! Wait!" Takeo calls out, actually stopping Red from leaving. Takeo seeing that Red is willing to listen, orders his clansmen to tend to Hideki, before walking towards Red, not wanting anyone to overhear him. "That thing that came out from the demon. May I propose a trade for it?" He asks warily. "No." Red refuses. He too, cannot wait to examine the demon core. "I''m willing to pay a hundred million yen for it." Takeo offers price he is comfortable to part with. "Money? No." Red says, and with that, he disappears to thin air. "Damn" Takeo almost passes out of anger. Soon, a woman in her 40s joins him. "Father." "Yuri." Takeo greets his daughter, embarrassed. Yuri simply gives him a consoling smile. After all, what else can her father do in the situation. "Were you asking for the demon core?" She asks. "Yes. A shame." Takeo shakes his head. "Indeed." Yuri too, can only accept. "What''s it used for, by the way?" She asks, to help her father move on from the humiliation. "It''s like a battery for superiori." Takeo starts. "It extends our endurance, sometimes even magnifies it depending on how strong the demon it came from was." "Hmmm. Battery is it rechargeable?" Yuri asks, actually interested now. "No. It contains a certain amount of energy, and once it''s used up, the core becomes useless." Takeo explains. "I see. But The world''s peaceful. What would you need it for?" Yuri asks, finding the use of the core not that impressive. "Who says it can only be used for fighting? Imagine this. Do you know that child from Tamura? The one with that fire blast ability?" Takeo asks. "Yeah. She''s basically the fuel of" As soon as Yuri said it, she realized it. "It saves a lot of oil, or coal. After all, superiori abilities are more efficient than fossil fuels." "Exactly. Especially in places that are difficult to transport those things to. A demon core is the perfect substitute." Takeo says. "And who knows what kind of useful abilities are out there." The demon core''s uses are beyond Yuri''s imagination. "Well. It looks like Mr. Fool just increased his bounty.." Takeo can only console himself with the thought of Red carrying something burdensome. Chapter 68 - Demon Core... Food Coma Gin has just taken a shower and changed to the clothes that Fumio left for him to use. "When do they return though? Do I just leave?" He already realized that none of the people are around, figuring that they went somewhere. *rumble* Soon, his stomach is calling for food once again. He has not eaten anything in twenty-four hours. He was not able to have dinner the night before as he fell asleep immediately after seeing how warm and comfortable Fumio''s room was. He then swallows and goes to the kitchen to look for food. Unfortunately, he finds none. "huh That''s strange." All he found is the refrigerator filled with glass bottles filled with viscuous creamy substances. He knows that strong physical type superiori, like Red, Hideki, and Kotone, have very huge appetites, so he finds it strange that there are not food in the fridge or in the cupboards. "Well... That sucks." He can only close the refrigerator in disappointment. While he is hungry, he is not starving enough to try and eat or drink something that he finds suspicious and have no idea what it is. Remembering the fruit trees and berry shrubs he saw in the gardens when he arrived the day before, he gets hopeful and excitedly goes out to the beautiful garden to pick some fruits he can eat. He figures that the owner of the place will not mind. After all, there are plenty of trees and hundreds of fruits so he figures that there is no way the owner will notice if one or two fruits suddenly go missing. Soon, he is now within the herb garden, and he notices something strange. "Whoah These are persimmons?" Because he was quite a distance when he saw the fruits yesterday, he did not notice that the fruits are larger than normal. The persimmons that are in his reach, for example, are at least 10 cm in diameter. After picking out one persimmon and one oversized peach, he goes to the find a place to eat them along the wall surrounding the garden. He does not want Red, Fumio or Kotone to find clues that he ate their fruits without permission. Saliva quickly accumulates in his mouth by simply looking at the plump and perfect looking fruits in his hands. He has not broken their skins, but he already smells the fruity fragrance coming from them. He rarely eats persimmons so he sets it aside, intending on eating it last. He then takes a bite off the peach and he feels the juice of the fruit assault his taste buds immediately. His eyes widen in shock in gustatory pleasure. ''This must be the best peach I''ve ever eaten.'' He takes a break and looks at where he took a bite. ''My word.'' He takes a deep breath seeing the golden color of the peach''s flesh. ''Am I still eating peach? Is this what gold tastes like?'' He chuckles as he continues to chew and savor the flavor. Soon, he realizes something and he stops chewing as a terrible feeling comes over him. ''How much are these when sold?'' He realizes that the fruits he just stole are obviously luxury fruits, grown by the best superiori farmers, and are only afforded by wealthy people. Soon however, ''whatever I already took a bite. Might as well go all in'' the taste of the peach overpowers his worry and he on gradually devouring and savoring the peach. A few minutes later, Gin is now reclined with his back against the bamboo wall, dazed. "Whoah the peach and the persimmon must have been one and a half kilograms heavy combined. I can''t believe I finished them all." He mutters as he strokes his full belly in satisfaction. "Food coma. It''s been a while." In addition to being full, he also feels very drowsy. Not long after, he can no longer keep his heavy eyelids open and he falls asleep. <> Red and his disciples are now back in the hill. As soon as their feet touch the ground, Kotone and Fumio both breath sighs of relief. The two cannot believe what they had just witnessed. A demon. Red is about to take off once again when, "Boss." Fumio calls out. "Yeah?" "That demon did it say anything before it died?" Fumio asks. "Nothing really." Red shakes his head. "Huh it seemed ready to die. Like it accepted its fate." Fumio looks at him suspiciously. "It did." Red nods. "Kichirou-san, why didn''t it look as evil as Mr. Morimoto claimed?" Kotone asks. "I don''t know what you might call evil." Red looks at her. "To me, the demon didn''t seem that evil compared to some humans." He smiles. This confuses the two, and Red notices. "Demons treat humans like how humans treat animals and oil. Food and energy resources. Humans just happen to be stronger and smarter than animals. That''s why we can fight back and discuss things such as the morality of our predators." Red shrugs. The two are stunned at the analogy. "I mean, just look at how we treat our food. We smash their flesh to make something like hamburger patties. Demons don''t seem to be that sadistic. I mean, the victims of that demon were reported to have not even suffered any physical trauma." Red adds with a chuckle. "Food" Fumio nods in understanding, but has a hard time accepting it. "You''re awfully sympathetic to demons after killing one." Kotone looks at Red weirdly. "Yeah. In fact. I saw you two exchange smiles before you killed it." Fumio is reminded of what he saw. "Well. I liked how the demon was loyal to its kind. I liked how sentimental it was. But don''t get me wrong. They''re threats to our kind. I''ll still kill one if they''re a threat to us." Red shrugs. "Anyways. Aren''t you two sleepy? You pulled an all-nighter." He then asks the two. "I will." Kotone yawns. "Boss. Is it normal that I only sleep four hours a night?" Fumio asks suddenly. "Do you feel fine throughout the day?" Red asks. "Yeah." Fumio nods. "Then you''re fine. That''s a benefit of your elixir." Red shrugs. "I see." Fumio nods. He asked just to make sure. "Well Your elixir is quite potent, boss. Don''t you need sleep?" He realizes, and asks out of curiosity. "Maybe once every few days." Red says. "I thought you just go back to Nerima to sleep every night, but you don''t even sleep?!" Kotone exclaims, receiving a nod of confirmation from Red. "So that''s why you gave me your room here" She now feels less burdened. "Damn. That sounds boring. Being awake all the time." Fumio''s scoffs. "Not really. I''m recently making my own anime. It''s fun." Red shrugs. Fumio takes second to process what he just heard, and realizes that indeed, Red can do that with his visual and auditory illusions. "And., I have a lot of skills to practice. In fact, I''m even dabbling on video game design and programming recently. Maybe I''ll make my own video game." Red rubs his chin. "You serious, boss?" Fumio is unsure whether it was an unfunny joke, or Red making a video game, something he never imagined Red doing, can really happen. "Yeah. I mean, all I need to pay for is software and time. I can do the voice acting and animations. If it gets popular, I might buy the neighboring properties here." Red explains. After accessing more his spirit sense, and learning computer language, he can now control a computer or something digital with just his mind. He even finds it easier to make a game asset with a game engine. While he finds these useful, he wishes his body is powerful enough to handle his spirit sense covering the world wide web. After all, free access to an information, no matter how secure, is very useful to him. "Hm?" Red suddenly raises his brows, and suddenly, *whoosh* zooms out of the backyard. The two disciples are confused, and worried, but soon, they Red return with a floating Gin behind him. After taking a closer look at Gin, they notice that Gin is sweating hard and his sin is flushed. "What happened to him?" Fumio asks in interest. "Ate one peach." Red says. "WHAT?!" Fumio and Kotone exclaim. "Is he okay?" Kotone asks in worry. Red does not answer and simply lays Gin on the ground before applying a healing technique to the man. "I didn''t believe you, Kichirou-san when you told us about the fruits but damn." Kotone shakes her head in amusement. "I mean, they are delicious. I can''t really blame him." Fumio chuckles. The two know that the fruits and berries in Red''s garden are special. As for how special, they do not know. Red once told them that his fruits should not be consumed by people whose bodies are not as strong as an E-Class Physically Enhanced Superiori''s. After all, all the herbs and trees in Red''s garden, including the bamboo trees that comprise the wall, are all pseudo-spirit herbs, except for the ones that Red had for years which are low-mortal herbs. Gin, despite being an E-Class superioris, still has the body strength of a non-superioris, and cannot handle eating a pseudo-spirit herb. A few seconds later, Gin stops sweating and his flushing also fades. "You two take care of this guy." Red then excuses himself. The two disciples, while curious of what Red is always up to, no longer ask, as Red always come up with silly answers. Soon, Red is now on top of the hill, sitting on a stone platform in lotus position. On his hand, is Ag''dramos'' demon core. He tried putting it in his storage ring earlier, but it refused to get stored. Red figures that the demon core is either alive, has something living in it, or contains energy that is beyond his storage ring''s capacity. He then takes a peek inside the object with his spirit sense, and his brows rise in interest. "Empty souls" Red immediately realizes. He nods, confirming what is in the recorded history of this world. Demons indeed ''ate'' souls to power themselves. He is also relieved because the souls are empty of their essences, and judging from the how the empty souls look, the essences were not destroyed, but were never absorbed in the first place. After all, a soul essence contains a soul''s memories and karmic luck. If it is destroyed, then the soul will no longer have the chance for reincarnation. Meaning, the victims whose souls Ag''dramos'' absorbed in his core, will still undergo true reincarnation and will be reborn to wherever the void want them to. While he is not surprised, he is relieved to make sure that a weak creature like Ag''dramos do not have the ability to destroy a soul essence. "Ag''dramos you greedy demon." Red shakes his head. Ag''dramos trapped six souls in its core, but have not made the energy in them, its own, but is simply storing them, slowly absorbing them. "Now A natural born True Godor something like it I''m sure of it." Red is even surer now that the demon race in this realm, is made by someone. As to why, he does not know, aside from that certain being experimenting on their newfound ability to create life; a common thing he observed not only among natural born True Gods in the infinite realms, but also those who cultivated to True Gods. Red himself, when he was a True God, played around with his abilities. "Now what do I do with you?" Red ponders, feeling a bit tempted. Empty souls after all, are no longer souls, but simply containers made of any type of energy that can handle a soul essence''s karmic luck and memories. For example, a sovereign''s soul essence is encased in very condensed primordial energy, while a mortal''s soul, just like the ones inside the demon''s core, is made of very condensed spiritual energy. "Spiritual energy mixed with something probably the autochthonous energy of wherever this realm is." Red guesses. "Well, whatever. It''s safe to absorb" He smirks. "But I''ll keep it for now.. Maybe take more in the future." Chapter 69 - The Reporter Five in the afternoon arrives, and Kotone wakes up from a 10-hour long sleep. Having stayed up the night before, and struggling to fall asleep after what she witnessed in Nikko earlier in the morning, made her very tired. "Ugh Thank goodness. No nightmares." She gladly notices and gets up from her futon. As she descends the stairs to the first floor, she notices Fumio on the kitchen area, sitting on the floor by the dining table, staring intently at his laptop screen, his hands busy with the mouse and keyboard. Kotone raises her brows. "You look awfully aggressive for someone playing a video game." She assumes. "I''m not so serious about video games anymore..." Fumio responds without thought. "You''re just waking up?" His hands stop and looks at Kotone. "Yeah. I''m not like you and Kichirou-san." Kotone shrugs. "But Gin-san''s still passed-out, huh?" She then looks at the unconscious man on the living room floor. "Uhuh" Fumio takes his attention back to his computer. *taptaptaptaptap* "FUCK" He curses out, almost yelling in frustration. "What''s wrong with you?" Kotone frowns as she joins Fumio in front of the laptop. "What am I looking at?" She is confused, looking at the tabs and windows of an internet browser, quickly switching from Fumio''s control. "Ugh Look." Fumio switches tabs to some social media pages. "Here. These are my acquaintances." He provides context. "Current servants of the Kumagai. None of them posted things about what happened this morning." He explains. He then switches to the tab that contains his news alert about Nikko. "And here. Every online article about Nikko since last week were erased." He explains. "They''re trying to cover it up?" Kotone asks. "Yeah" Fumio scratches his brows in irritation. He then pulls out his phone and dials a number. As the call attempts to connect, "Who''re you calling?" Kotone asks in interest. "My sister. OH" Fumio then puts his finger to his lips and mouths ''Watch this'', before putting his phone, in speaker mode, on the table. "Hello Sayuri-san." Fumio greets. [Fumio This is unexpected.] Sayuri''s professional comes out of the speaker phone. Kotone, while having a lot of questions in her mind about the way the two siblings address each other, keeps her curiosity to herself. "So. I heard something interesting happen in Nikko this morning." Fumio says. Kotone''s eyes widen, and she immediately taps the mute button on Fumio''s phone. "Are you crazy?! Why''re you asking her?" Kotone exclaims in panic. Fumio''s eyes widen too. He just realizes how rash calling his sister is. He is about to hang up when, [What have you heard?] the two hear Sayuri ask, her voice obviously colder than before. Kotone looks at Fumio in worry. Fumio on the other hand, with the help of a pump of his spiritual energy to his brain, comes up with something. "Well. Someone saw Mr. Fool flying over the Kumagai compound. I thought it was just rumors, after all, why would an S-Class Superioris visit the Kumagai? Right?" Fumio asks. [Right] Sayuri interjects. "But when I thought about it, out of all possible rumors, why that? Why do they have to involve Mr. Fool? And judging from your reaction seems to be true?" Fumio says. [It''s great that you didn''t flaunt your cleverness in the clan.] Fumio and Kotone hear Sayuri sigh. [Yes. The rumors are true. But Mr. Fool didn''t just visit the Kumagai Compound. He attacked it. Several Kumagai clansmen are injured.] Sayuri reports. Fumio sees Kotone is about to exclaim, so he quickly seals her mouth with his hand. "Why?... Why''d he attack them? I thought the Kumagai aren''t that bad." Fumio asks, trying to calm himself down. He too, just like Kotone, feels offended for Red. [Word is, Mr. Fool was looking for something in the Kumagai''s possession, and when he found it, he stole it.] Sayuri reports. "Huh" Fumio disguises his scorn with a sigh. Kotone then takes off Fumio''s hand off her mouth, finally calm, but still finding it hard not to defend Red. "I find that hard to believe. What would subordinate clan have that an S-Class would want?" Fumio asks. [You''re too smart for your own good. I warn you to stop snooping around this matter.] Sayuri does not have the ability to lie, so she can only resort to what she knows. "Isn''t it a bit much to resort to threats? I''m just asking questions." Fumio scoffs. [It''s not a threat from me as a Sunada clansman. This is an advice from me as your sister. So, heed my advice, brother, or Gorou-sama will call for you again.] This stumps Fumio and Kotone. [Seems like you''re considering it. Good.] Sayuri, not receiving an immediate response, is satisfied. "Tell me one last thing then, sister. Do you think it''s true? That Mr. Fool stole from the Kumagai?" Fumio asks. [] It is Sayuri this time who cannot come up with an answer. [It''s not.] She decides to go with the truth. "I see. I won''t look into it any further then." Fumio nods, satisfied that Sayuri is honest with him. [That''s good then. Is that all?] Sayuri asks. "Yes. Oh. That''s right. I wish you a happy birthday in advance." [ Thank you] Fumio and Kotone can hear Sayuri stunned speechless. [Well then.] With that, Sayuri drops the call. "Damn." Fumio shakes his head. Kotone has heard that Fumio never had a good relationship with his family, and that only his sister, which she now finds out is Sayuri, is the only one Fumio wants to maintain contact with. Seeing the two''s interaction however, she feels sad. Especially if she compares her and Haruto''s relationship to Fumio''s relationship with Sayuri. "S-so How did they manage to hide something that huge?" Kotone does not want to pry at Fumio''s family anymore. "They''re masters at it. And it helps that Kumagai compound is geographically isolated." Fumio explains. "Huh. Then why don''t you upload the video you shot?" Kotone thought that the reason why Red approved Fumio''s idea of filming the trouble they made, is also to publicize it. "I want to too, you know?" Fumio grumbles. "Why don''t you?" Kotone frowns. "It''s not like a human died." "Boss took it." Fumio pouts. "Well. I want to have a recognizable face to record it." Red suddenly appears out of nowhere, startling the two. "Huh. I thought you''d be at the peak at this hour." Fumio is curious of Red''s appearance in the house. "Cloudy." Red shrugs as he joins them at the dining table. He then takes out a set of expensive-looking three-piece suit from his storage ring and lays them on the table. "You just gave me new clothes a month ago, boss." Fumio scratches his head, but realizes something. "This is not my size." "It''s not yours." Red says as he snaps his fingers. The two disciples are confused at the action, before they hear footsteps from upstairs. Soon, Gin joins them. "So, uhh" Gin wears a guilty face, not knowing what to say. "Wanna pay for the peach you ate?" Red smirks. "I don''t have money." Gin sheepishly rubs his neck. "The fruits in my garden are only for people with strong bodies." Red explains. "You almost died from eating that peach by the way. You should thank your luck I found you." He adds, making Gin sweat cold. "Anyways. I want you to do something for me." Red then hands the clothes to Gin. "Whoah these look nice." Gin is immediately distracted by the clothes. "Yes." Red then pulls out a laptop from under the table, opens it, and faces its screen to Gin. "IF you were the reporter, how would you report this footage?" Red then presses the spacebar. <> "Whoah Something this big" Gin cannot believe what he just watched. "They covered it up, yes." Kotone confirms. "Still. A real demon... And ... Mr. Fool, huh." Gin mutters as he looks at the grinning Mr. Fool in the video. "Wait a minute" he then realizes something. "This looks like unedited footage." He then looks up at his three hosts. He catches Fumio suppressing a proud smirk, and something lights up in his head. "Y-y-y-you" Gin points his fingers at Fumio. "What?" Fumio gets worried at Gin''s reaction. "Who are you? No. Who are you all? It seems like you knew Mr. Fool was going to be there!" He accuses his hosts. "Yeah. We did." Red admits. Fumio and Kotone look at him, frowning, confused at why he just admitted their connection to Mr. Fool. "Then the only way you can know is" Gin starts formulating possibilities in his head, but the least possible he can think of, is what happens next. "Is that I''m Mr. Fool, of course." Red then transforms to Mr. Fool. Fumio and Kotone look at Red as if he had gone crazy. "HUHhhH.g" Gin faints and slams his head on the table. "BOSS! WHY" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Fumio and Kotone now express their shock at Red''s actions. "Relax. He won''t say anything." Red assures them. "What makes you so sure, boss?" Fumio asks. "Well, I just am. Trust me on this." Red simply shrugs as they wait for Gin to wake up again. Red, after examining the demon core earlier, and after accessing his spirit sense''s abilities more, he suddenly came up with an idea. Soul contract. It is a common method used by cultivators who have activated their spirit senses and can access their soul bodies, to ensure that all parties honor a certain pledge or promise. But because Gin is not a cultivator, and that Red has a soul that is infinitely more powerful, and infinitely bigger, it was easy for Red to enforce a one-sided contract on him. Red could have made Gin his peon or minion if he wanted to by tying Gin''s soul to his, but he had to consider one thing. He is not sure if the soul container of a mortal''s soul essence like Gin''s, will survive being tied to his huge and powerful soul. If Red ties Gin''s soul to his, and Gin''s soul essence container shatters, Gin will die. "Disclosing our identities, or even this hill, will not even cross his mind." Red tells the two. "How''s that even possible?" Kotone frowns in skepticism. "I''ll tell you when you grow up." Red pats the top of Kotone''s head. Fumio snickers at Red treating Kotone like a little girl, while Kotone is annoyed at Red''s very, very condescending tone. <> "Nice Now that''s the dignified Reporter Gin I''ve seen on TV." Red nods in approval after Gin comes back to the living room after changing to the three-piece suit. "No. I feel fancy. Only news anchors wear something like this." Gin shakes his head. *CliCK* Kotone snaps a picture too, impressed at how different Gin looks compared to earlier. Gin, looking at the photo Kotone just took, is stunned. "Wow I look even better than the news anchor." Gin is impressed at how sharp he looks. "Hey. Let me..." Red then stands and starts applying foundation to Gin''s face. While Kotone, Fumio, and Gin are stunned, they keep quiet as Red expertly uses things in a make-up kit that they are sure they did not see before. Soon, the three see the almost finished result of Red''s handiwork. Gin''s skin now looks unblemished, his skin glowing, and his facial features sharp. "Daammnn Haha." Fumio nods in approval. "Boss. You can be a make-up artist too, huh" "Kichirou-san you" Kotone narrows her eyes at Red. "Yes, Kotone. I knew the quality of the make-up thingies I wasted during your training." Red admits as he does some finishing touches. "Oh..." The heartbreak Kotone felt at every swipe of lipstick, foundation, or mascara on her gi, all comes back to her. "So Gin." Red closes the make-up kit, done with his work. "No turning back now. You will offend two clans after this. You will also stay wanted, though not legally, by them, out of revenge." He paints a picture on Gin''s mind. "I''m sure. This is the biggest story in my career so far, and the biggest story I will probably report on. It''s worth ruining my future over it." Gin says with conviction. Red feels that Gin is being sincere. "You crazy bastard." Fumio gives Gin an admiring look. "So. Ready?" He turns on the camera. Gin picks up the microphone that Red stole from somewhere, looks at the camera, and nods. "Ready." Chapter 70 - Effects Tokyo Hoso Kyokai Headquarters, Shibuya [This has been Morimoto Gin, reporting.] A man in his 50s, wearing a dress shirt and khaki pants, throws down his cigarette butt and gently steps on it without looking, and takes a deep breath. "Did you check if it was tampered? Or has some visual effects on it?" He asks a 30 something year old man beside him. "Yes, sir. Aside from Gin using a greenscreen of Lake Chuzenji as a backdrop It''s as legit as it can be." The younger man reports. "Gin. He really did it" The older man chuckles. "What do we do, Akiyama-san?" The younger man asks, his voice trembling a little as he closes the laptop he has been holding up. The younger man, by holding up a laptop, just showed the older man the news segment that Red and his gang made with Gin. "Yoshinori, how long do we have before the show starts?" Akiyama Ichiro, THN''s THN Nightly News'' program director, and Gin''s boss, asks his assistant. "Just fifteen minutes, sir." Yoshinori reports. "Let''s do it. Let''s insert it to the show. Make a preview. And oh, call the anchor to the conference room now." Ichiro orders. "Sir. Are you sure? Like Aren''t you gonna be fired for this?" Yoshinori asks. "Nah, I won''t be. I''ll just get chewed out. I can even argue to the folks at the top that even if they try and block it, they can''t stop Gin from uploading it to his social media. Hell, Gin can even go to other networks to sell this. We''d rather squeeze it for ratings than pass it to others." Ichiro smirks. Yoshinori is still scared, but follows the logic enough to understand. "I''ll get on it." He goes back inside. "Gin." Ichiro shakes his head before continuing his smoke break. He might not have another chance of having a cigarette until the night is over. <> Nikko. "CRAZY BASTARD!" *CRASH* Takeo throws the remote control to the huge flat screen TV. One servant in the living room witnessing the scene, winces, finding such newly bought, state of the art tech, is broken just like that. "Father. At least he didn''t talk about being detained here." Yuri, Takeo''s daughter, does not really care about the image of the clan. She was also against the decision of covering the early morning incident. "Sir, if I may speak freely?" The servant asks. Takeo and Yuri raise their brows at him. "This serves as proof to present the Sunada." The servant reminds them. "The old ways no longer work, father." Yuri smiles, seeing that Takeo''s face shows acceptance. <> Sagamihara "Demon" Gorou looks at his son lying on the hospital bed. His wife and his son, who are with him in Hideki''s hospital room, do not know what he is thinking. The three are still processing that Hideki was possessed by a demon, and they had no idea. *ring**ring* Hikaru, Hideki''s younger brother, answers his phone. "Yes *****-san. The clan head is not available for the moment. If this is about the demon core, then I will tell you what I told others. Mr. Fool took it away." He immediately explains without even letting the person at the opposite end, talk. "Get offended all you want. We are having tough times and it is quite disrespectful of you to do this. If there''s anyone who should be feeling offended, then it is me." He drops the call, annoyed. Gorou smiles for a bit, but soon it fades. Hikaru''s way of dealing with the annoying inquiries of other clans makes him feel better at least for a short while. "What if What if it was the demon that made Hideki the way he was?" The Hasegawa matriarch utters weakly. Gorou acts as if he did not hear it. ''You were bad parents.'' Hikaru meanwhile, is trying his best not to scoff. He has no love for his brother. After all, he too, before he grew strong enough to defend himself from Hideki, suffered from Hideki''s bullying. He has love for his parents. But while he does, he holds quite a bit of resentment for them. They turned a blind eye on Hideki''s actions towards him, and only admonish Hideki after the deed is done. It was not until Hideki was crippled of his superioris powers that his parents started to pay attention to him. *ring**ring* His phone rings once again but when he sees the caller ID, his annoyance that start to form in his heart once again, did not come out. "Father, Mother. I have to deal with these calls." He excuses himself. <> Stockholm. A fancy office. "General. There''s news from Japan from two hours ago." A young Caucasian man who looks to be in his late 20s, wearing a nice suit, reports to a caucasian woman who looks to be in her 30s. "What news?" The woman raises her brows as she looks up from the paperwork from the table. "I don''t care about Japan unless one of our partners went bankrupt." "A demon was killed." The young man reports. The expensive fountain pen the woman is holding get crushed. The young man then plays a video on his phone before handing it to the woman. A few minutes later. "AhhhThat idiot." The woman can barely suppress her anger as she tosses the phone back to the young man. "Did you know him?" The young man asks. "Ag''dramos" The woman reveals. "Ag''dramos?!" The young man''s eyes widen in shock. "That general Ag''dramos?" He asks just to be sure. After all, he has heard of Ag''dramos'' exploits and achievements during the great war. "Did he live after the gates were closed?" The young man asks. "He lived among humans years after that. But just like us, he was discovered and hunted. He survived and went to slumber. He even woke up a decade before we did." The woman remember the day Ag''dramos found her. "Without his help, I could not have established a base here." She adds. "I see" The young man nods, feeling a bit grateful for Ag''dramos. "I told him to be patient. We had time." The woman then sighs and buries her face on her hands. The young man tries to keep calm. He has never seen the woman be so emotional before. A few minutes later, the woman gets back her bearings. "This oddball in red. Who is he?" She asks the young man. "They call him Mr. Fool on the internet. A possible S-Class Superioris." The young man reports. The woman can only shake her head at her acquaintance''s misfortune. "But, general. Have you seen a superioris like this? To be able to force Ag''dramos'' demon specter back to his host Seemingly without spells, runes, or any artifact?" The young man asks, witnessing such scene for the first time in his life. "I don''t know what kind of superiori powers humanity have given birth to since the war. There might be things we know that no longer apply." The woman explains, while internally, also nervous at the ability she saw. "I see." The young man can only accept. " So an S-Class huh... He could have gotten away had..." The woman shakes her head and sighs. "So stay by my side until hell ascends again. You never know who''s watching." She can only warn her subordinate. "I know, general." The young man easily accepts. "You were right. Even though I just got this body two decades after waking up, at least I survived longer than a general." "Good." The woman nods. "How about the newbies we found? Are they still antsy?" She wants good news to feel better. "Yes, general. Now that they''ve got their own bodies, they can''t wait to grow stronger and go out to play." The man scratches his brows in frustration. After knowing about Ag''dramos'' death, this bad news is barely a nuisance the woman. "You were just like them. Maybe you can help them accept their situation." She suggests. "I told them. I told them that lying low and assimilating is the way. And that has made rescuing them and sheltering them easy. But I guess there is no reasoning with demons of pride." The young man complains. The woman leans back on her chair. "I can''t help you there. I failed to convince Ag''Dramos to stay, and gluttons like him are easier to talk to than the prideful ones." She shrugs. "Why not just let them go, general? They can only possess the non-superiori anyways. They barely add power to our forces." The young man suggests. "You don''t think they''re worth the effort?" The woman chuckles. "Yes, general." The young man admits easily. "Good. Then eliminate them." The woman orders. The young man is taken aback. "Will that really be fine?" "Yes. Like you said, they''re not worth the effort. If you let them go, they might expose us. You do know that humans are rather creative in their interrogation methods, right?" The woman asks. "Then I understand, general." The young man accepts the order. He is still not leaving the office however. "Problem?" The woman asks. "Yes uhhh" The young man takes a deep breath. "Those newbies, the pride demons? They weren''t the only ones I found." He confesses. "And I hope you have a good reason of keeping it from me." The woman raises her brows. "General, they refused my invitation. Said they would rather have fun among the humans. Said they feel happier than ever. I didn''t know how to bring it up." The young man reports in defeat. "All of these things are temporary. Once our lords and prince ascend, they will know that." The woman scoffs. "Scamps? Soldiers?" She asks. "Scamps." The young man confirms. "Pff. So scrubs even back in hell. Eliminate them too. Reminds me of Zograthan. We don''t want anyone else following the footsteps of that traitor." The young man gets chills, feeling the anger in the woman''s voice. "I''ll start a plan on it, general." He accepts the order. "Oh. And please tell the others to stay in the city until further notice. We don''t want another demon-hunt to begin before we''re ready." "As you wish, general." <> Hinohara "Hahhh It''s over." Gin lies down happily in the living room floor. For the past three hours, he has seen how much attention his video garnered online and internationally. "Hey. Watch the jacket. You''re gonna stretch it!" Fumio nags at Gin as he takes back his laptop. "Oh Shit. Sorry." Gin quickly gets back and takes off the jacket. "What do you want to do now?" Kotone, setting up dinner at the dining table, asks. "Oh. That''s right. Your wallet. Your phone" Fumio starts enumerating. "And yeah. Are you sure your stuff wasn''t already thrown out by your landlord?" "Yeah. It''s gonna be a mess to sort out." Gin sighs. "Hey Gin." Red, who the three forgot is lounging on the frame of the sliding door, smoking something with a pipe, calls out. "Check the pockets." He points, with his pipe, at the jacket that Gin wore. "What?" Gin then pats the pockets of the jacket until he finds one that contains something. He then takes them out, and to his surprise. "My phone my wallet" He cannot believe what he found and he kisses his items. "The only concern now, is although you''re not wanted, officially, you now have a bounty on your head." Red says. "Bounty?" Gin gets scared. "What do you mean, boss?" "Isn''t it over? Didn''t he prove his innocence?" Red''s two disciples are confused. "Many people will want to know your connection with Mr. Fool, Gin." Red shrugs. Gin deflates. "I guess you really can''t have it all, huh." He smiles bitterly. "Well, why don''t you work for me?" Chapter 71 - Talismans, Sigils, And Such "Ah I can''t believe I''m helping in clearing their name." Gin shakes his head after doing one last read through of the script he worked on for the past few hours. "I know. The uh detention of you has been rather excessive, but you were simply caught up between the politics, and clan bullcrappery." Fumio consoles Gin as he does a final check of the filming equipment. "I know." Gin sighs as he fixes his suit and hair. "Hey. You''re getting skilled at that." He then comments on how comfortable Fumio looks in setting up the filming equipment. "Hey. It''s interesting." Fumio simply shrugs. "Hey. How did you go back to the Kumagai unnoticed, film the things they''ve been doing, and come back casually like you didn''t just trespass in a clan compound alone." Gin asks as he goes to stand with his back towards a wall covered in green cloth, and facing towards Fumio''s camera. "I know boss said that you won''t even think about betraying us, but I''d rather keep these secrets." Fumio shrugs as he adjusts the lighting. "Hell. I get it." Gin gives up his curiosity. "So ready?" Fumio asks. "Ready." Gin nods, and with that Fumio rolls the camera. <><><><><><><><> Good day. Despite the countless experts that confirmed the legitimacy of the footage our team shot, there are still many skeptics among the public. It is understandable. After all, many believe that demons are no longer among us, and that they were wiped out a lifetime''s worth of years ago. So, I have a follow-up regarding my report yesterday about the demon incident in the Kumagai Compound at Nikko City. This morning, my team and I managed to infiltrate the Kumagai Compound once again. Here is what we''ve witnessed. {Roll Footage} As you can all see, some of the Kumagai clansmen have gathered in their clan hall. The white powder they are collecting in those vats is salt. Your common salt. You are all curious why the Kumagai need this large amount of salt, and you all will see in a moment. To those who are not familiar, these two people leading this procedure are a Shinto Priest and a Catholic Knight, probably invited by the Kumagai Clan. Using the salt collected in the vats, the Shinto Priest on the left is drawing a giant talisman on the floor, and the Catholic Knight on the right is drawing a giant sigil. The two are basically making the same thing; wards that have been widely used by mankind during the great war and the few subsequent years after that, to ward off demons. Moving forward, the wards are done and the Kumagai clan head enters the talisman of the Shinto priest, and proceeds to and walk to the middle of it. As you all can see, nothing happens and he proceeds to successfully exit the boundaries of the talisman. That means that the Shinto priest''s talisman did not detect a demon inside the clan head. But it seems that the Kumagai want to make sure so they invited this Catholic Knight. The Clan head safely walks over the Catholic Knight''s sigils, and exits it, therefore the Catholic magic did not detect a demon. The same result with the Shinto priest''s talisman. It is safe to say that the clan head, passing the test of two kinds of wards, is clear of being possessed by a demon. With the clan head''s lead, the rest of the Kumagai clansmen also follow. This scene is not only happening in the Kumagai clan, but in Sagamihara''s Hasegawa Clan. The demon, assuming the identity of one Hasegawa Hideki, and disguising its demonic acts through serial murders, probably is what prompted the Hasegawa Clan to do the same. These two clans'' anti-demon efforts also prompted some other clans to do the same. Here is a footage of ****** Clan from *******, ****** Clan from *******, and some others that we have not documented. <><><><><><><><> A few minutes later, "Phew This is nice. Shit." Gin takes a deep breath and takes off his tie, proud of his work. The filming of his segment was just done. "Good job." Fumio nods as he quickly turns off the equipment. "But I''m not sure if THN will take this one this time. After all, there are five clan compounds in our footage this time in our footage." Gin scrunches his brows. "Yeah, well, this time, we''re only uploading this to the internet." Fumio tells him. "I only have a few thousand followers on my social media." Gin scratches his head, confused at the decision. "Boss will handle it." Fumio shrugs. "Aight." Gin can only accept. "So. Where''s Kotone-san by the way? Haven''t seen her all day." He asks. "Ah. Well, she does have a job." Fumio replies as he sorts what he just filmed. "Oh And you?" Gin asks. "Staying here to train is my job. And picking fruits. And weeding things out. And whatever errands boss sends me outside." Fumio explains. Unlike Red''s more mystical secrets, Fumio is more comfortable sharing to Gin other things. After all, "I wonder what job Kichirou-san will give me?", Gin is now in Red''s employ. "You really wanna work for boss? There must be other jobs you can do with your skills." Fumio asks. "Yeah. Kichirou-san told me that he will use my face from time to time, just like what we''re doing right now. Well, for now at least." Gin shares. "Huh I wonder what he needs you to do that for." Fumio is confused by Red and Gin''s arrangement. "Ouch. Hey. It would break my heart to live on my savings. Kichirou-san is my lifesaver." Gin chuckles. "Besides. It''s risky to go job hunting for me. I''d rather do this for now." He too, is confused why Red has to use him, when Red''s Mr. Fool is enough to gather fanfare. [-][-][-] Chiyoda "There! " A man in his 30s excitedly points at a monitor displaying CCTV feeds. "Finally" His partner, around ten years older, perks up. "Where?" The older man then leans closer to the monitor, looking at a square displaying the feed of a side-walk. "Guy in green." The younger man says. "Okay" The older man taps a few keys on the keyboard, and a profile appears on his laptop. And a few more taps, he sends the profile to someone. "Phew. Already the second one this week, right?" The older man asks. "Yeah." The younger man nods. "Probably the demons up north all fled here. Probably to get away from Mr. Fool." He guesses. "Yeah" *ding**dong* suddenly, the older man''s phone rings from a text. . . "Hm?" A few minutes later. "Damn it." The older man almost smashes his phone on the table. "What''s wrong?" The younger man rarely sees his partner annoyed. "It''s that damn reporter. Made another video. Spread in the internet real fast too." The older man reports. "What?" The younger man quickly searches for any videos about Gin, and opens one, and him and his partner start watching. After watching the latest video of Gin, the two are in a daze. "It''s worse than I thought." The older man says. "Yeah." The young man can only agree. "It won''t take long before B-Level Clans start doing what we''re doing." The older man shakes his head. The two are clan members of Chiyoda''s Murakami Clan, and are working under Murakami Clan''s secret Demon Hunting Squad. Clans like them that have the longest histories, and have more resources to spare, have long found out about the rise of the demons in the past few decades. They not only treat demons as enemies, but also resources because of the demon''s cores. One of the ways they find demons, is by setting up demon warding sigils in sidewalks and crosswalks, and cover those locations with high-definition, facial recognition featured CCTV cameras. If these two men, through these security cameras, see a person that tries to circumvent walking on the demon warding sigils, just like the man in green that the young man spotted in the CCTV, they will immediately match that person to the government database, and if that person is in the database, they will send that person''s profile to the ones who are responsible for the actual tracking and killing of the demon. Murakami''s secret demon hunting squad would usually harvest one demon core twice to thrice a month from their hunt. The demon cores, being expensive and rare commodity, fetch high price among people of high society, making them a nice side-gig for the Murakami Clan. Now that Fumio and Gin exposed some clans'' demon warding activities, the other clans who never saw demon hunting as a good source of income, will get an idea. "More clans trying to hunt demons, the more demons will lie low. And the more demons lie low the less commissions we get. I mean, our squad only catch two demons a month. If that becomes even less, we''re fucked." The older man starts panicking. "Hey calm down, senior. Heheh." The younger man consoles. "Easy for you to say. My girl''s going to college this year. I need those commissions." The older man gives his partner a glare. "Hey. It''s better to not panic, that''s all I''m sayin." The younger man shrugs. [.][.][.][.][.] Somewhere in Saitama. A Mountainside. A man hurriedly ties up an unconscious man, in case his captive wakes up immediately. Done tying up, he takes out his tanto, draws it, and is about to deliver a stab, when *crshh**crshh* he hears something behind him. He instinctively knows that the sound is produced by someone stepping on dry leaves and twigs. The sound of the twigs is followed by a familiar voice. "Hands off the demon, or I''ll pepper you with arrows." A woman calls out. "And why would I do that? Eri-san?" The man turns around and tries not to close his eyes at the bright sun rising behind the woman. "Jiro-san?" The woman drops her bow. The two after all, are from neighboring rural clans. "Nice to see you." Jiro greets, still holding the point of his tanto against his captive''s neck. While he has a smile on his face, he wants to curse Eri to the depths of hell. His clan having more foresight than the Kumagai, and lesser number of members, already started looking for hiding demons amongst their members as soon as they heard of the rumors that leaked out of Kumagai. His clan however did not find a demon through the sigils. After all, the demon noticed immediately and knew how to hide. Jiro on the other hand, by chance, noticed that a fellow clansman, an acquaintance of his, was acting oddly. That made him suspicious. That suspicion led to hours of observation. The observation led to a confrontation. And that confrontation led to pursuit. A great achievement is right within his reach, but Eri suddenly gets in the way. "Nice to see you too. But please, hand over the demon." Eri does not want to fight. It has been a while since she last saw Jiro and she does not know how strong the man is now. "Look, Eri-san. I''ve been tailing this one for a few hours now." Jiro argues. He is also as wary as Eri. "Well, too bad. You''re trespassing." Eri argues back. "Come on. It''s my clansman it''s possessing." Jiro argues again. "How do I know that?" Eri is skeptical. Jiro, with a swipe of his tanto, cuts his captive''s shirt open, revealing a clan emblem tattooed on his captive''s chest. "Convinced?" He smugly asks rhetorically. Eri is about to retort when, "Hah..hahhahhh" , the two of them hear a familiar laughter reverberate in the air. "Oh no" Jiro''s smug smile transforms to a face of defeat. Like the two feared, a man in red jester costume appears out of thin air in between them. Chapter 72 - Time Skip, Blood Magic, And Swords Kawasaki, 2AM. "M-Mr. Fool. P-please spare me. Even better! Join us! We" The demon tries to plead. "NO." Red simply refuses. "I LIKE INFORMATION." He demands. He does not use his child act as there are no cameras and witnesses around. "A deal?" The demon gets hope. "Yes. Give me information. I will make it quick and painless." Red offers. "I-I" The demon''s eyes widen. "Demon, would you like me to hand you to your victim''s family? I don''t care about your demon core." Red plays with the demon''s imagination. "I-I''ll talk." The demon, feeling no way out, accepts his fate. Soon, *shlink* Red, with a simple nick of his self-made rune knife on the body of the demon''s host, "BLLGUUHHH* the demon is dead, and its core condenses in front of its former host''s mouth. Another demon core is added to Red''s possession. Only the demon core he just collected, does not have as much energy as Ag''Dramos''s. It has been a month since he made trouble in the Kumagai Compound, and he has been in his spare time, scouring Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama Prefectures for demons. He expected that demons are hard to find, but to his surprise, he found one every four or five days, a rate he considers not that rare. With the demon he just killed, he accumulated his demon body count to eight. He figures that there are still possibly thousands of demons still left wandering the earth. "It''s not worth it anymore " Red sighs. Originally, he does not care much about the energy from the demon cores, and is only after information. But after gathering information from his fifth demon, he found nothing new. After all, the ''Scamps'', which he now learned are what the demons call their lowest rank ones, are the only ones Red has found so far, and they do not know much. He also does not expect to find stronger ones in the future. After all, demons of Ag''Dramos'' pedigree are rare even in hell. <> 8 AM Hinohara. Red is done cultivating for the day and he zooms back to the house. He has progressed pretty quickly in his Celestial Breathing Technique. After successfully transitioning to the breathing technique''s Sunlight Stage six weeks ago, and has conditioned his body enough that he no longer bleeds through his skin when cultivating, he has progressed fast and can now cultivate during the earlier hours, and the late hours of daylight. After learning what the Scamp level demons know, he has focused more on his cultivation and body refinement, instead of wandering around, observing people. While he has gathered from the demons that the hell will more likely not be open in a very long time, he wants to grow strong to survive what might come. He also wants his students to survive. "Kotone. Fumio. Good morning." As soon as he arrives at the backyard of the house, he greets his two disciples who are busy training together. "Good morning boss / Kichirou-san." The two pause their training immediately. After all, Red does not usually interrupt their training unless they are doing something wrong. "Let''s talk." Red says as he goes to sit on the grass. The two disciples join him. "How about Gin?" Fumio asks. "I''ll talk to him separately." Red says. "What''s this about, Kichirou-san? You look oddly serious." Kotone says. "Okay" Red starts telling them about his demon hunting escapades for the last month. <> Outside of the bamboo walls of Red''s herb gardens. *inhale* *Exhale* Gin takes a deep sniff of satisfaction of the tea in his cup. He is currently sitting on a bamboo chair, on the second-floor terrace of a two-story traditional Japanese house. "Ahh.. This is life" He smirks as he takes in the view of mountains of Saitama. The house is positioned right outside the bamboo walls, and beside the huge bamboo gate. <><><><><> A month ago. "A-are you serious?" Gin cannot believe seeing a two-story ''minka'', a smaller one than the one where Fumio and Kotone stays at, is right in front of him. "Yeah, Kichirou-san. Are you serious?" Kotone eyes Gin in envy. "Yeah." Red nods. "I would make you one too, Kotone, but you spend half your time in the city." He shrugs. Kotone drops her envy. "I didn''t see this when I came here." Gin says. After all, it is as if the two-story house appeared out of nowhere. "I had a friend with a wood ability make it. It has electricity, water, heater." Red introduces the house''s features. "When you said I have to live outside the garden, I was a bit hurt but this Thank you, Kichirou-san." While Gin is happy, he gets suspicious. "But what''s the catch?" He asks. "Working for a Superioris of my level, it wouldn''t look good if I don''t treat my employees well, right?" Red smirks. "Come on, Kichirou-san. What work do you want me to do?" Gin is amused, but Red''s answer makes sense. "Okay. You will be taking Fumio''s caretaker responsibilities." Red starts. "So removing the weeds, paying the water and electric bills, buying food?" Gin enumerates. "Yes. Guard the gate too." Red says. "Guard? I''m not strong though." Gin is taken aback. "Well, if people want to enter by force, just flee. We can take care of anyone who wants to make trouble. But aside from that, you will entertain curious visitors." Red says. "I see. Well, that''s easy enough." Gin easily accepts the job. <><><><><> "Hey kid!" Gin is interrupted from his daze by someone calling out to him from the road. "Oh? Village Chief?" Gin looks down and he sees the Village Chief in an electric car, sitting at the driver''s seat. He raises his brows, curious at the man''s visit. "Is Kazuo-san around?" The village chief asks. "Ah. He''s still on his trip abroad." Gin comes up with an excuse immediately. "I see. That''s too bad." The village chief deflates, making Gin feel guilty. "Anyways. He did tell me to give you some tea leaves if you visit again. I''ll be down in a moment. [.][.][.][.][.] "After a month of ''talking'' with demons, I think we need to change things around once again." Red starts, making his two students pay attention immediately. "The demons said that the connection of hell to our world, is back. It''s weak, but they feel that it''s a sign that the gates of hell are starting to open back up." This makes Fumio and Kotone feel chills climb up their spines. Red then continues to tell the two about the hierarchy of demons and their human equivalents. A few minutes later. "W-what do we do, boss?" Fumio asks. He looks fine, but inside, he is afraid. Kotone too, is scared, and she is already trying to think of how to make herself and Haruto safe. "You two are strong enough against demons for now. Fumio, you can defeat their Knights. Kotone, you can defeat the average Soldier." Red assures the two, making them feel better. "H-how long do we have? Before the demons come back?" Kotone asks. "Ag''dramos, said a few centuries at most. After all, that is how long it took for both Heaven and Hell to start the Great Harvest. And a decade at the least, if the leaders of hell figure something out. One of the demons I talked to, some sort of an analyst, theorizes that even if the gates will open tomorrow, it will take a year or two before the demons equalling the B-Class Superiori in strength, start appearing." Red explains. The two sigh. They both feel that they have plenty of time to get stronger. "However. Nothing is always sure." Red then pulls out two sheathed katanas from his storage space and offers it to his two students to take. They are cannot even express their surprise for the gifts as, "Unsheathe them for me please." Red orders them. *shink* *shink* The two follow and the katanas silvery white beauty is revealed. The shine they expect in such a weapon, however is not present. "huh What kind of alloy was used in this, boss?" Fumio, more than familiar with swords, asks in interest. "Not metal. Bone." Red says. The two disciples'' eyes widen in shock. "B-bone" Kotone even almost drops her sword. They then try to look for Red''s body if he is missing any bones, but they see none. "I''m kidding." Red smirks, making the two relieved. He indeed put shavings of his bones in the forging of the katanas. This makes the katanas have the ability to channel spiritual energy. While some metals can channel spiritual energy, his bone can channels spiritual energy almost seamlessly. "Hold them up, please." Red asks. The next moment, the two disciples'' eyes widen as they see on Red''s palm, a wound open up, and from the wound, leaks out a stream of blood which Red suspends in the air. They then hear sizzling sounds coming from their swords, and they see the flat of the blade start glowing from high temperature. The two also cannot help but notice that the glowing parts are displaying some symbols. "Runes" Fumio guesses. "Correct." Red confirms. The next moment, the blood suspended in the air moves to coat the blades. The two students meanwhile, are confused and weirded out at Red''s actions. "Talismans and sigils made of salt, only lasts temporarily and will turn to dust after trapping enough demons. If those talismans and sigils are made of blood, they last longer and their magic juice won''t run out. Blood is also used in carving Runes. If runes are not made with blood, then those runes are useless." Red provides an explanation. "Are those family weapons and heirlooms by the clans made just like this?" Fumio asks. "Not exactly, but follows the same concept." Red explains. "Effective against demons. And adding their history, no wonder they''re very expensive." Fumio. He is reminded by one of the rumors that a superioris clan bought a rune sword of a fallen clan for a few hundred million yen. "But why does it have to be YOUR blood, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks. "I found that runes infused with my blood are stronger." Red shrugs. The two look at him in interest and surprise. The knife he used to kill the demon earlier in Kawasaki is a testament to the power of his blood. With just a nick of his knife, the Scamp possessing that human, died. During the last month, Red not only trained the Celestial Breathing Technique, and went to hunt for demons, he also went to look for knowledge. Knowledge of anti-demon magic to be precise that is kept in Japan''s branches of the Catholic Knights and the Brotherhood of Adam. He also paid visit to the shrines of the Shinto Order. After studying enough, he realized that the magic of this world is powered this realm''s autochthonous energy. Meaning that the magic of this realm only works in this realm where the same energy is present. However, Instead of using the knowledge he learned and apply them by the book, he was not satisfied and he tried playing around with it. This resulted to him successfully making a budding branch of anti-demon magic of his own. A type of magic that combines this realm''s autochthonous energy, to the more universal spiritual energy. His personal magic is what he used to make his rune knife, and the rune swords that he is about to bestow on his two students. A minute later, *Tssssssss* Red coats the katanas with a layer of water to quench the hot blades. "And these now, are your personal rune weapons." Red says, done with his work. "W-whoah" Kotone holds her breath as she unsheathes the full beauty of her new katana. "Phew" Fumio whistles, doing the same thing. "sss" Suddenly, Kotone takes a deep breath after accidentally nicking her finger. Careful." Red smirks. "I''m not healing that. You should be careful next time." He gently rebukes Kotone. "I-I will." Kotone nods, but her minor injury is nothing compared to the happiness she is feeling for her first real weapon. "Goodness. Just how sharp" Fumio shakes his head, still in disbelief at the quality of the blade he is holding. "How do you like them?" Red asks. "Kichirou-san ... Somehow, it feels perfect in my hand." Kotone notices immediately. "Yeah, same here. How''d you do it, boss? Did you hold our hands while we were sleeping?" Fumio jokes. The image he painted with his words makes Kotone blush. "AHAHA!" Red cackles. "That''s a great idea! I should have done that. It would''ve made it easier." He nods. Fumio shrugs, not curious anymore. "Alright. You two can appreciate your katanas more later. I need to check you two''s progress." Kotone is up first for the assessment. As soon as Kotone and Red are in the middle of the backyard, "Use your sword, Kotone." Red orders. "W-will that really be fine?" Kotone feels her blood run cold at the request. "Why don''t we make a test swing?" Red asks. "A downward swing would do." Kotone nods, raises her sword above her head, and swings with all her might downwards. Suddenly, to her shock, Red appears in front of her. Her swing is already in full swing and it is too late for her to stop it. She can only watch as Red stops her sword with his forearm. *thunk* The sound makes Fumio and Kotone''s stomachs sink. Kotone immediately retrieves her sword. "See?" Red rolls up his sleeves and shows his exposed arm to Kotone. Kotone looks closer and to her surprise, Red''s arm does not appear to be injured. Except for a small indentation, and a small wound that looks like a papercut, she sees nothing else. Fumio too, dashes to join the two to take a look at Red''s arm. "Holy shit" "Yeah." The two disciples can only stare in disbelief. "Even if I somehow slip up, you''re not strong enough to hurt me." Red assures Kotone. His words give Kotone a huge sigh of relief. "Well then.. Let''s continue." Chapter 73 - Bubble Bath "*huff* *huff* *huff*" Kotone is lying on her back on the grass, exhausted after a ten-minute spar with Red. "Well done, Kotone." Red stands over her. "Thanks, Kichirou-san." Kotone rolls her eyes. "Really. Of course, you''re a long way off in landing a hit on me, but you really did well." Red assures her and Kotone is consoled. "Now just work on what I''ve taught you today." With that, Red is done guiding Kotone for the day. "My turn." Fumio excitedly joins Red, to prepare for a spar. "We won''t be sparring. Come with me.." Red gestures as he starts to lead the way to leave. "Kichirou-san. May I come with and watch?" Kotone asks in a hurry as she sits up. "It''s Fumio''s call. He''s gonna get need to get naked." Red says. "I-what?" Fumio is dumbfounded. "I won''t go then." Kotone drops her curiosity. <> "So uh what brings us here, boss?" Fumio asks as he looks around. Red just brought him to the peak of a mountain neighboring Red''s garden hill. The peak, being a difficult place to access due to its terrain and not having a path leading to it, probably has never been visited in years, possibly even decades. "Isn''t it good to share the nice early morning breeze breathed by wild birds and boars?" Red asks as he takes a good satisfying deep breath. Fumio cannot help but feel peaceful looking at Red''s graceful figure being shined on by the sun. Soon however, he smirks and shakes his head. He knows that Red has other intentions. "Okay. At first, I was gonna let you train painlessly and at your own pace. But I think you need some boosts." Red starts. He originally wanted Fumio to train aware of each and every improvement. After all, cultivators who grew stronger relying on alchemic assistances, all have weak resolve and would rarely reach their potential. Many of his contemporaries might disagree, but he has seen that cultivators who put unproportionate effort and struggle to acquire their strength, are weak-minded. And weak-mindedness is a huge obstacle in reaching immortality. "Wait, wait a minute, boss. You said painlessly? Having Kotone continuously swing her sword down at me is painless?" Fumio asks. "Bah. That''s routine. And for conditioning. Something similar to what professional fighters do." Red explains. "Ah makes sense." Fumio accepts it. "Before, you told me to slow down, and be careful. But now, I feel like you want to help me speed up my training. Is it because of the demons?" He asks. "Yes. After I learned about all this demons and hell debacle, it got me thinking. Why do you have to grow organically at this situation? Growing organically only works when there''s no incoming threat. Besides the threat of death and demise will offset whatever risk I fear in me assisting your cultivation." Red nods. "Wait, what?" Fumio''s head spins at Red''s rambling, but he gets goosebumps at the mention of death and demise. "I''ll tell you more in the future." Red shrugs. "Okay. But it seems like I''ll be in a world of pain, huh." Fumio smiles bitterly. "Yeah." Red confirms with a not. "But for now." He then pulls out a wooden bathtub. "Hah. Brings back memories." Fumio chuckles, seeing the familiar bathtub he used in the shop. "So, another medicinal bath?" He asks as Red starts to fill the tub with clear water conjured out of spiritual energy. "Uhuh. Been a while, huh?" Red confirms. "Been a while indeed. But why does it have to be done here? In this isolated place?" Fumio cannot understand. "What? Having a nice bath within nature? Are you kidding me? It''s the dream!" Red says as he pulls out a glass flask containing an emerald green, crystal clear substance. "Damn That.. What the hell is that?" Fumio hisses in awe, noticing that the substance is also glowing. "It''s brimming with spiritual energy." He walks closer to Red. Before he can take a closer look at the solution, Red dumps it to the water in the tub. "Skin gotten tough lately?" Red asks as he continues to prepare the medicinal bath. "Yeah! But you should have at least given me a heads up." Fumio''s eyes shine. "That reminds me. That lotion you gave me. That''s it right? That''s what made my skin tougher?" He asks, referring to the Skin Cleansing Solution disguised as lotion, given to him by Red. "That''s just one aspect of it. The second one is the punishment and stress your skin went through under Kotone''s sword practice on you. The third one, and most importantly, is spiritual energy you infuse in your body while training." Red explains. "I see." Fumio nods, his curiosity satisfied about his skin. "So. Spiritual energy. No wonder it didn''t work." He utters. "What do you mean?" Red raises his brows. "Look boss. I don''t know if it''s just me and Kotone, but I think I have better skin than even celebrities." Fumio says. "Uhuh. That''s a side effect of the lotion." Red nods. "I knew it. Kotone saw me apply lotion on my self a couple of times. So she asked me if the lotion made my skin look better than hers." Fumio reports. "And you said yes, then shared some to her?" Red smirks. "Yes. You gave me plenty of the thing. More than I can use. And she''s a student just like me, so I shared. Was it a mistake?" Fumio nervously asks. "Not really. It was just a waste." Red shrugs. "So. That''s what you meant when you said it didn''t work? The lotion didn''t work on Kotone?" "Yes. She was rather annoyed and envious of my skin. Aside from the skin on her palms getting thicker, the beauty benefits she was hoping for didn''t come." Fumio chuckles. "Ah. Well. She''s not too far away from harnessing spiritual energy." Red reveals. "Already? It''s only been two months?!" Fumio is shocked. It took him three months to master the breathing technique. "She captured the trick faster than you did. Who would have thought?" Red says dismissively. "Damn." Fumio is itching to train again, not wanting to close the gap. "Alright. It''s done." Red is finally done mixing up the bath water. "Strip and go in." He then orders Fumio. . As soon as Fumio settles himself in the bath tub, covering his entire body with the bath water, "hiSsssss." he takes a deep breath through his teeth. "AHHHHH. what the FUCK!" Soon, he cannot help but curse out, trying his best not to scream from the pain. The painful tingling and stinging feeling he has gotten used to from the herbal lotion he has used in the past two months, is nothing compared to what he is feeling currently. The lotion, which helped toughen his skin, only works on his skin. The medicinal bath on the other hand, is digging in his muscles. "aRe You Sure this is SAFE, bOSs?!" Fumio asks through gritted teeth. "Yes. Yes." Red assures dismissively. "What does this exactly do, boss? Is it even worth the pain?" Fumio asks. "Oh, it is. Come on. Just apply spiritual energy to your muscles and stop whining." Red instructs. Fumio acts on the instruction and immediately, he feels its effects. "Okay.. now this feels weird." He then feels something else. While the pain has gone down, he feels a strange sensation and spasming in his muscles. A few minutes later, he notices that the emerald-green bathwater is starting to change colors to brown. The crystal-like clarity is also starting to get cloudy, as if slowly being infused with mud. "W-what is happening?" Fumio nervously asks. "That, buddy, is the solution sucking out the impurities from your muscles that accumulated there since you were a baby. And your newly tough skin, is strong enough to be the passageway of the impurities in your muscles." Red explains the effect of his Basic Muscle Cleansing Blend in simple terms. "The lotion you gave me. It was white in color upon application, but after leaving it on for a few minutes, it turns honey-colored. That also works the same way as this bath, then." Fumio compares. "Precisely." Red nods, satisfied with Fumio being able to come up with ideas from the limited information that Red provided. A few minutes later, Fumio still feels the teeth clenching pain, but he has already gotten used to it. "Good. I think the juice is gone." Red nods. Then, with his spiritual energy, he envelopes the bathwater, lifts in the air, before tossing it to a nearby grass patch. "Phew... Thank goodness, it''s over." Fumio is no longer shy being fully exposed in front of Red. "Uhhh.. Boss. Do I still have to bath in this solution in the future?" He asks as he looks at where his bathwater landed. Before Red can reply however, Fumio notices that the grass patch where his bathwater landed, starts to wither as if being cooked. "W-what the fuck was that?!" He asks Red in panic. "Toxic shit." Red smirks. "Wait a minute boss. That''s how dirty my muscles are?" Fumio asks, getting goosebumps, assuming that he has lived with poisonous impurities in his body his whole life. "Nah." Red gets Fumio''s concern. "Your impurities are not poisonous on their own. Only when it is mixed with the solution, does it get toxic." He then sees Fumio''s face twitch. "And yes, had you not been coating your skin with spiritual energy, it would have burnt you." He adds with a smirk. "What the fuck" Fumio sighs in relief. "Yeah. And to answer your question earlier; you will soak yourself in this solution every couple of days." Red instructs. "O-oh" Fumio feels great hesitance in bathing in such dangerous thing again. "Don''t worry. You did it just fine today, right? And, there are still impurities in your muscles." Red assures him. "Alright then." Fumio easily accepts after the thought of toxins in his muscles is forced to him by Red. "Next up." Red brings out a bucket-sized glass container that contains a creamy white substance. "Is that milk?" Fumio asks. "Or our nutritious milkshake?" He adds, referring to Red''s special milkshake that is loaded with condensed carbohydrate and protein he and Kotone drink for sustenance in place of loads and loads of regular food. "Something similar, but more protein loaded than the one you regularly eat You need this. You''re looking rather skinny." Red says as he stares at Fumio''s body. Fumio, getting self-conscious from the stare, looks at his own body. The next moment, his eyes widen in shock. "WHAT THE HELL?!" He notices that his body has gotten skinnier than before. "HAHAHAH!" Red is amused at Fumio''s reaction. "It''s not funny, boss! What''s happening?!" Fumio asks frantically. "You''re just dehydrated. And your muscles are starving after getting cleaned." Red then hands the container to Fumio. Fumio, receiving the container, suddenly feels that his limbs have become weaker. "I-I''m starving" He notices. After all, it has been two months since he started eating Red''s milkshake, and he has not felt hunger in a while. Fumio is about to start drinking when Red suddenly stops him. "Infuse spiritual energy to your muscles, your stomach, and your small intestine." Red then orders. "Like when I''m eating regular food?" Fumio asks. Fumio once asked Red what to do if he does not have access to Red''s special milkshake to eat. Fumio''s concern was it takes a lot of time to eat regular food, and Red''s special milkshake saves time. So, Red taught Fumio a method to digest mountains of food easier, and that is by infusing spiritual energy to the meridians on the stomach and the small intestine. "After you''re done eating.. I''ll start teaching you how to make the massage solutions for the shop." Chapter 74 - Yoshiko Suginami Orphanage, Suginami. "Goodbye, class." "Goodbye, Yoshiko-sensei!" Yoshiko is done with another morning lecture with the new students of her homeroom class. After becoming a homeroom teacher a year ago, she got used to the job quickly, and she felt time pass her by. She feels proud however. Successfully sending off her first homeroom students to the higher grade brought great satisfaction to her. Currently, simply watching her the new students come in, listen, and leave the classroom is enough to make her feel proud and excited everyday. As she starts to gather her things from the teacher''s table, "Aherm" she hears an adult man''s voice from the classroom door. She then looks and sees a middle-aged man leaning against the door frame. "Director, good morning." She greets the middle-aged orphanage director C slash C principal. "Something is going on" She then looks at the man in attention, noticing something different with the orphanage director''s smirk. "Something is." The Director nods as he enters the classroom. "Kichirou-san is looking for you." He reports, suppressing his excitement. "Kichirou-san who?" Yoshiko tilts her head, not familiar with the name. "You know Chihiro, right? He was in your class last year." The director asks. "Yes. I heard he got adopted last week by some mysterious rich man." Yoshiko nods, but internally, she is suspicious. After all, non-superiori children are very rarely adopted, and when they do, they usually do not receive as much care as the superiori orphans receive. In some cases, the non-superiori children that get adapted even suffer abuse, leading to those children becoming runaways. And in rare cases, the non-superiori children are treated as modern-day slaves. "Yes. Kichirou-san was the one who adopted him." The director clarifies. "Well, what does he want with me?" Yoshiko asks, getting more suspicious. "All I can say is I smell opportunity for you." The director says. "You''re not trying to throw me away, are you?" Yoshiko nervously jokes. "Is my job performance not satisfactory?" She asks. "Hey. When I said opportunity, I wasn''t lying." The director sighs. "Look, your job? This job? It should be done by retired teachers, and not for a 24-year-old with a bright future ahead of her." "So. Just try to talk Mr. Iwai and hear what he has to offer. If you don''t like what he offers, then you are more than welcome to stay here." He assures her. "Okay. If you weren''t once my teacher, I would be thinking that you''re pimping me out." Yoshiko shakes her head. "*gasp*" The director holds his chest in offense. "Anyways. He''s waiting in my office." He can only point Yoshiko to his office in defeat. <> As soon as Yoshiko steps in the director''s office, she sees a man looking out the window with his back towards her. Her eyes are quickly caught by the man''s nice blue kimono and haori. Even though the man''s clothes do not have fancy patterns on it, she cannot help but appreciate the obvious quality of it. "Kichirou-san. Here is Yoshiko." Yoshiko is distracted from her assessment by the director introducing her to the man. The man then turns around and looks at Yoshiko, before saying "Hello.", to her. "I''ll leave you two alone." The director says and leaves the office. "Director!-" Yoshiko cannot believe that the director left her alone. "Yoshiko-san. Please, take a seat. I''ve heard a lot of good things about you from the Director." The man''s amicable, kind features, and warm smile catches Yoshiko off-guard and she is compelled to sit down on the chair in front of the office table. "What have you heard about me?" Yoshiko asks, her caution dropping. ''He seems kind'' Her first impression of the man is forcing her to reassess her preconceptions. "Well. Got yourself a scholarship. Graduated university with honors, which is impressive for someone who is not a thinker superiori. Can speak three languages aside from Japanese." Yoshiko feels embarrassed at the man listing her academic achievements. "Those are all in the past now." She shakes her head. "Kichirou-san, you didn''t ask for me just to cite my resume, right?" She wants to get to the point immediately. "I heard from the director that you grew up here. Probably would have stayed if you weren''t forced out when you turned 18." She frowns, uncomfortable that the man knows a lot about her. "Let me ask you something. And don''t take this as me dismissing your sentiments for this place Why are you back here, Yoshiko-san? With a person of your talents, you could do well in society, save up, start a life." The man''s question, whether the man is aware or not, stung her a little. "I did try." She starts. "Can''t get into my dream job. Settled for less. Got abused at work by co-workers. And the students. I was undermined by students younger than me. The bullying, being the target for their powers. I tried complaining but the parents simply dismiss my concerns as the kids being playful. Or maybe they thought that their darlings can''t be at fault." She then realizes that she has overshared to a stranger. "Are you a superioris, Kichirou-san?" She asks. "I am." The man''s answer stuns her. "I-I''m sorry. I''m not saying that all superiori are like them." She apologizes profusely. "No, no. It''s fine, Yoshiko-san." She is relieved as she sees the man give her a warm consoling smile. "As a superiori, I did not realize that the things I took for granted, are the privileges that the non-superiori can only dream to have. Talent wise, or social status. The least that we the superiori should do, is to recognize, and respect the non-superiori as they have to live without those privileges. This is why I hold a certain respect for you, Yoshiko-san." She exhales deeply, the man''s words seemingly taking off a huge weight on her shoulders. "Thank you. Kichirou-san." She sincerely expresses her gratitude. "Are you satisfied of your station here?" The man''s question this time, makes her smile. "I am. I am earning enough. Adding my tutoring gigs, it''s not that bad." "Is this where you see yourself ten years from now?" "I think so. I just want to give back too. I would be dead, my friends would have been dead, if it wasn''t for this place." "I see. Well, that''s a bit disappointing." She does not know if she heard wrong. "Excuse me?" "I was going to offer you employment." "Huh" She gets interested. "What job?" "A teacher and a caretaker. The young Chihiro, is not the only one child I adopted. There''s four more." Red reveals. Yoshiko raises her brows in surprise and suspicion. "However, I am not experienced in actual childcare and babysitting." Red adds, making Yoshiko confused. "Then why adopt them then?" "Even though these children are non-superiori." Red''s preface surprises Yoshiko. "I see potential in them. And me, not knowing what to do with my excessive possessions, I am glad to help them use that potential." "Huh" Yoshiko is impressed. "While I respect what you''re doing, I think the children here need me more. Especially the non-superiori children that might need my guidance." "I see. I was going to offer you a generous salary. With free lodging and food. Not to mention the quiet and peaceful countryside." Red offers. Yoshiko gets a bit tempted. But after thinking about it more, and the faces of her students crossing her mind, she still feels the same. Adding her suspicions to the benefits that are too good to be true, she is confident in her refusal. "I have to refuse." She says firmly. "I see." Red nods. He is satisfied by the young lady''s character. "But why me, Kichirou-san? Whatever job and benefits you want to give me, I feel that there are plenty of superiori that deserve it." Yoshiko gets curious instead of Red''s intention. "I need a role model for my children. That even though they are non-superiori, they can be as smart and as competent as you." Red explains. "Well.. That''s flattering." Yoshiko gets shy. "Not to mention your character, Yoshiko-san." Red adds. "What about it?" Yoshiko frowns in confusion. "It''s something I value." Red answers vaguely with a smirk. He is satisfied that Yoshiko is unaware of how kind and nurturing she is. "Anyways. Is teaching here the only way you can help the kids here?" He asks. "It''s the only way I can help." Yoshiko shrugs. "How about this? What if I donate 50 million yen to the orphanage, in your name?" Red offers. "W-what?" Yoshiko is stunned. "And I will set-up a college fund worth a hundred million yen for deserving non-superiori children, in your name too." Red adds, almost making Yoshiko choke on her spit. "And all you have to do is to help me nurture my adoptive children." He concludes his offer. "I-I accept." Yoshiko can only accept. Just thinking about the number of children Red''s money can help makes her head spin. "But" She stops herself from getting carried away. "How do I know if all your offering is real?" She asks. "I heard that you''re free for the rest of the day?" <><> "Are you okay, Yoshiko-san?" Red offers a hand to Yoshiko who can barely stand straight. "Oh dear Oh no Oh Too fast" Yoshiko is sweating coldly, pale, and hyperventilating, almost traumatized by the speed they were traveling. After a healing technqie from Red, she suddenly feels fine. "Which Superioris class do you belong?" She asks in great curiosity. "A. Probably." Red shrugs. "Wow" Yoshiko feels self-conscious, getting to know an A-Class superioris for the first time in her life. "Stop looking at me like that, Yoshiko-san." Red snaps his fingers in front of Yoshiko''s face. "Oh.. Oh. I''m sorry, I was staring. So... Where are we?" Yoshiko asks she looks around the hillside, and the view of Hinohara it offers. "Let''s take a walk." Red leads her up the road. Soon, they reach Gin''s house. "Oh your family''s home?" Yoshiko asks, appreciating the homely beauty of Gin''s house on the left side of the road. After building Gin''s house, Red also built a similar looking and similar sized house beside Gin''s, and another house, more than twice the size of Gin''s house, on the right side of the access road. "No. My house is beyond these bamboo trees." Red says as he points at the huge bamboo gate where the access road is cut off. "Anyways. This is your would-be co-worker''s house." He points at Gin''s house. "That will be where you will be staying if you accept the job." He points at the house beside Gin''s. "And that" He points at the biggest house, "Is where my children will be staying." Yoshiko has no words, not even knowing which one to think about first. "A-anyways. Can I see the children?" She asks instead. "They''re not here at the moment. Why don''t you take a look at their house first? I''m proud of it." Red says. <> A few minutes later, "How was it?" Red asks as Yoshiko steps out the door of the house of his adoptive children. "I have to say Even adults can only dream of living here." Yoshiko, alone, had just looked around the children''s house, and she is very satisfied by what is in it. "I mean, I didn''t think they''d have their own rooms. Each room almost as big as my apartment." She is a bit envious even. Ultimately, she still feels very happy for the children. "Well. You can live in a house to your own If you accept the job, of course." Red says as he points at the house beside Gin''s. Yoshiko is very tempted to accept the job, just looking at the beautiful minka. *Vroom* Suddenly, the two hear a car engine from the distance. Soon, a large SUV parks in the road. The vehicle''s yellow color attracting Yoshiko''s eyes. The next moment, one of the doors open and a 10-year old boy runs out from it. "Yoshiko-sensei!" The boy greets in excitement as he stops in front of Red and Yoshiko. "C-Chihiro?" She almost cannot recognize her former student. Chihiro after all, is wearing a well-tailored light-blue colored yukata.. An expensive outfit that the children in the orphanage can only dream of wearing. Chapter 75 - Kids "Children. Line up!" Gin commands the children, breaking Chihiro away from Yoshiko. The children follow the order immediately and they line up side by side in front of Red. "Good afternoon, Kichirou-san!" They greet Red enthusiastically. "Good afternoon, children." Red smiles at them. "Let me introduce you to this young lady." Red gestures Yoshiko in front of the children. Yoshiko almost shakes her head at Red''s move. She knows that Red is doing it to play with her heart, making her want the job. But she already has decided to take the job. "Good afternoon, children. I''m Yoshiko." Yoshiko cuts Red off and introduces herself instead of letting Red do it for her. "You can call me Yoshiko-sensei. I will be your school teacher, and I will be living in that house over there." Red smirks, pleased that Yoshiko decided to take the job. Gin meanwhile, nods, now understanding that it is the young lady in front of him will be his neighbor in the future. "Good afternoon, Yoshiko-sensei!" "Pleased to meet you, sensei!" The five children greet Yoshiko chaotically, saying their own welcoming words. The dissonance within the five''s greetings meanwhile, bring adoring smiles to the adults. The children immediately have a good impression of Yoshiko. Not only because Chihiro was happy to see her, but she also has a dainty and kind impression to her. "Where did your uncle Gin bring you all today?" Red asks. "We went to" "The river.." "The village" The children start talking over each other excitedly. "Alright. One by one, please. Ran, why don''t you start?" Red asks the children to speak in turns starting from the girl at the leftmost of the line, Ran. Ran, a lively nine-year old girl whose face looks skinny and small due to her long and voluminous straight raven black hair, steps up. "Kichirou-san! Uncle Gin brought us to the river! We wanted to play in the water, but we are wearing nice clothes." She excitedly recounts. "But we were skipping rocks" A tall and skinny boy next to her mutters softly. "Yes, Osamu? What was that?" Red asks. "W-we were skipping rocks" Osamu softly reports. "And did you have fun?" Red asks. "Y-yes" Osamu softly nods with a straight face, but one can see the glint of happiness in his eyes. "Yes! Osamu is great at it! He made one stone skip seven times!" Ran hypes Osamu up, making Osamu smile shyly. Red however knows that Osamu does not like attention, so he wants to avoid bringing the kid any more discomfort. "Well done, Osamu." He compliments the child before turning his attention to the next one. "How about you, Taishiro? Did you see something you liked today?" He asks the bespectacled, bowl-cut having boy beside Osamu. "Yes, Kichirou-san. I liked the waterfalls." The boy answers straight. "What did you like about it?" Red asks. "The sound it makes. And the cool droplets." The boy recounts. "And why did you like the sound and the cool water?" Red asks. "I" Taishiro struggles for a moment, before, "I just do.", finding his answer. "Very good." Red nods. He likes that Taishiro sees things as they are, and says things as they are. But he plans on having the child express himself more emotionally in the future. "We should bring these kids to go swimming some time. It''s the middle of the summer after all." Red turns to Gin and Yoshiko. The two nod, approving of Red''s suggestion. "And you, Kanon?" Red then turns his attention to the girl next to Taishiro. The girl is quite short for her age, tan, and her shoulder-length hair which should have been naturally black, has become dark brown-colored due to its overexposure to the sun. She also has another trait that Red finds amusing. "Kanon? Hey" Taishiro calls out to Kanon as Red failed to pull her out of her daze. "O-oh What was that, Kichirou-san?" Her thick Okinawan accent comes out as she asks for the question she missed. Red smirks. He has noticed the moment he met Kanon that the girl always has her head in the clouds, or day-dreaming. "Did you have fun?" Red asks. "Y-yes?" Kanon asks in confusion. "Where did you go with Uncle Gin today?" Red asks more specifically. "Oh. There was a river, the waterfalls, and the bridge." Kanon lists. Red hears Kanon''s excitement at a certain word. "Did you have fun at the bridge?" Red asks. "Yes! I was watching the birds fly over the river. Then then the leaves! They looked like boats." Kanon recounts. "Good. Good." Red is satisfied by Kanon''s mood. "And you, Chihiro?" he then turns his newest adopted child and Yoshiko''s former homeroom student; a slightly plump but lively child. "I had fun with everybody! I liked everything!" Chihiro reports excitedly. "Also. A grandma from the village gave us red bean sweet rolls. It was delicious!" He is more excited about the snack however. "You dropped by the village?" Red asks Gin. "Yes. Kanon had to go to the bathroom. I was also not confident in packing their lunch, so..." Gin scratches his chin, nervous if he made a mistake in having the children dine out. "Alright. Move on with the schedule." Red will have to hear whatever Gin said to the villagers to explain the children''s presence. "Okay. Kids! Take a nap for an hour. Big sister Kotone will come and play with you all." Gin informs them. The kids'' excitement deflates at it, and Yoshiko notices. "Who is Kotone?" Yoshiko asks Red. "And why do they look scared?" "A student of mine." Red does not explain further as they watch the kids enter their house. "So. What changed your mind?" He then asks, switching subjects. "And so suddenly at that. This place is quite isolated too, so a city girl like you might not get used to it." "Well... I actually already decided. But I had to make sure if you have the ability to fulfill the things you pledged to me earlier." Yoshiko says. "I see. That''s good then. You have helped build the future of quite a number of non-superiori children." <> An hour later. The children are now seated on the stone-paved ground of the training yard beside their house. In front of them is Kotone, and behind them is Yoshiko and Red. "Alright kids. I know, it''s hard and it''s painful But..." Kotone starts, but she gets distracted immediately. "Kanon?" She calls out to the absentminded girl. "Y-yes, Kotone-nee?" Kanon gets her attention back. "Why are we doing this again?" Kotone asks. "To grow stronger TO defend ourselves." Kanon says, with determination in her eyes. "Very good." Kotone nods, seeing that Kanon''s answer helped the others to get into what they are about to do. "Okay! I heard from Fumio-san that you can all do pose 1 already." She asks. "Yes! And Pose 2! Fumio-san taught us pose 2, but I can''t do it yet!" Chihiro reports. "Alright then. Everyone, assume pose 2!" Kotone then starts the lead in assuming the pose. "Pose 2?" Yoshiko asks Red beside her. "Yes. A form of an exercise." Red assumes the front-split-like second pose of the sixteen basic poses he first taught Kotone and Fumio. Yoshiko frowns and in the corner of her vision, she sees that the children also start attempting in assuming the pose. Her heart aches looking at the determined expressions of the children. "Look at Kichirou-san!" Ran is the first one to spot Red following along with the exercise. The children also look at him in excitement. This is the first time that Red is joining their afternoon training after all. Kotone, meanwhile, cannot help but feel jealous of the children. It has only been three days since the children started training the poses, but they already had the first pose down without any assistance. She herself took three entire days, and with Red''s assistance, before she can assume the first pose on her own. What she is more jealous of however, is that the children are more natural in the basic breathing technique. While they are still not skillful at it, Kotone can see that it will not take long for any of them to complete one breathing cycle at each pose. The only consolation she can use to soothe her feeling of inferiority, is that the kids give up easily and they do not push themselves to increase their breathe repetitions, and that delays the kids to achieve their first breath cycle. "Kichirou-san. What is this training for? It doesn''t look yoga." Yoshiko asks softly. "The first steps of their martial training." Red explains. "Martial training Why do they need that?" Yoshiko asks, feeling protective of the children. "I know what you''re thinking, Yoshiko-san. And I assure you, it gets easier for them. And. Once they grow up, and they progress in their training, they would have no problems defending themselves against D-Class Superiori." Red assures her. Yoshiko looks at Red in skepticism. Red simply smiles at her. He has severely undersold the potential of the children he adopted. "Just trust me on this." He adds assurance. Yoshiko does not know why, but she feels that Red is not lying. "Yoshiko-san, are you flexible?" Red asks suddenly. "I think so. I did some home yoga. Why?" Yoshiko shares. "Oh? You don''t look like someone who gets interested in yoga." Red wants to know more. + He already knows that Yoshiko is flexible with his spirit scan of her the previous week he visited the orphanage, so he brought it up. "I didn''t think I would either. When I saw this Yoga DVD on sale for a dirt cheap price, I bought it. Before I realized it, I was already following along the poses." Yoshiko explains. "Oh Those shows." Red nods dismissively. There is another reason why Red chose Yoshiko out of all the potential caretakers and teachers he could have hired. It is because of her spirit root. A spirit root that is just slightly inferior to Fumio''s. "Well, why don''t you join in with the kids'' training? When I said that they need a role model non-superioris, this may be one of the ways you can establish yourself as one." Red then suggests. "But if you don''t want to, then, hey." He shrugs to not force the young lady. "Alright." Yoshiko finds no problem joining the kids. "But you have to catch up to them first. I''ll teach you the first pose. It should be easy for you." Red then starts guiding Yoshiko. The next moment, "Okay. You undersold your flexibility, Yoshiko-san." Red nods, seeing Yoshiko assume the side-split-like pose 1 in one go and with ease. "I mean home yoga." Yoshiko can only shrug. "Good. Now follow the kids'' breathing." Red proceeds to instruct and explain the breathing technique. A minute later. "*Huff* *huff* *huff*" Yoshiko gives up. "Nice 12 breath repetitions in your first attempt." Red nods in satisfaction. Three breaths more than Kotone''s first attempt, and two breaths more than Fumio''s. And looking at Yoshiko''s ease in achieving 12 breaths, he is positive that Yohiko can complete 64 continuous breath repetitions, or one breathe cycle in under five days. "IT feels weird." Yoshiko complains. "I know. Had you started younger, it wouldn''t feel as weird." Red explains. "So you don''t have to worry about them. Their bones and muscles are still young and moldable. Their breathing patterns too is not as stubborn as an adult''s. They would not get hurt, and they would not suffer in this training." He then reassures her. "Well then. I have to train hard then to keep up with them." Yoshiko nods, noticing that the children are struggling less in their breathing than she just has. "And trust me. This is for their health. And healthy children have too much energy. You will need to be as healthy as them if you want to keep up." Red warns her. Yoshiko takes the suggestion seriously. Meanwhile in the distance, in Gin''s front yard. "This oddly looks similar to how judo athletes train." Gin says to Fumio beside him, who is also observing the training of the children. "It is." Fumio confirms. "Ah Youth. I would join in the fun if I was younger." Gin sighs. Fumio smirks meaningfully. Looking at the children doing much better in the poses than he did, he starts to feel competitive. He also feels regret. But soon, he drops it. He is already lucky to have met Red. Him wishing to have met Red when he was the age of Red''s adoptive kids makes him feel pathetic. Chapter 76 - Fumio Goes Back To Work Muscle Masters "Good morning." Fumio is interrupted from his morning tea by the arrival to Muscle Masters of a good looking young man in his late teens. "Good morning. Haruto, I presume?" Fumio guesses, as he immediately notices that the young man ''s facial features resemble Kotone''s. "Yes, sir. You must be Fumio-san." Haruto greets with a smile. He was already briefed by her sister over the phone about Fumio''s identity. "Yes. Pleasure to finally meet you." Fumio directs Haruto to sit at the common table. "Tea?" He then offers. "No,no. I- uh already had some at home. These are for guests and you, of course." Haruto refuses. Fumio is satisfied at how familiar Haruto seems to be with the shop. "Then, I thank you in advance for your help." He joins Haruto at the table. "No, no. I should thank you well, thank the owner-san instead. Not only did he cure me, he also gave nee-san her job. This is something I feel like doing." Haruto is burdened by Fumio''s thanks. Since Kotone was put in charge of the massage clinic, Haruto has been helping her out as a receptionist and tea server for the guests. Red, through Kotone, offered to pay him for his time, but Haruto refused. Even if he accepted, Kotone would have admonished him. "Hey, I heard from your sister that you turned 6 college girls into returning guests. She said they adore you." Fumio teases Haruto to have the young man loosen up to him. "Eheheh" Haruto shyly looks away. "..." Fumio''s face twitches seeing Haruto''s unintentionally cute gesture. ''So Kotone wasn''t just bragging And why she is so protective of him''. He can see that Haruto''s pure and adorable impression can naturally pluck women''s heartstrings. "Anyways. Go change to your kimono. The guests will arrive shortly." Fumio orders before draining his teacup. "Please take care of me." Haruto bows politely to Fumio before heading to the change room. A few minutes later. "Good morning guests. Arina-san. Konno-san." Haruto greets the pop idol and her manager as they enter the door of muscle master. He is already familiar with the guests and the rest of their pary that come regularly every two weeks. Before the two ladies can fawn on the young Haruto, they freeze on their steps, as they see behind him someone they have not seen in a long time. "... good morning" Manager Konno, after confirming, absentmindedly returns Haruto''s greeting while staring at Fumio . "Is it really you?" Arina too recovers and asks Fumio. "It has been a while, dear guests." Fumio politely bows. "Wait. Don''t give me that!" Arina points at Fumio as if he did something wrong. "Where have you been?" She asks. The last time she saw Fumio was more than two months ago when he visited their company to give Shigeo Red''s newest compositions for Musume46. Fumio has made a good impression on her and the other members of Musume46 as Red''s receptionist, and then agent. Had he been less busy with his cultivation, he could have cultivated friendship with the girls instead. "Well, I had some things to do for boss." Fumio answers vaguely. "You''re here So does that mean that Kichirou-san is here? Will he do our massage this time?" Arina asks excitedly. "Hm? Is Kotone''s service not satisfactory?" Fumio asks. "No, no. It''s not that. She is very good! But she always say that her skills are nothing compared to Kichirou-san''s. That makes me want to try his massage again." Arina avoids being misunderstood. "Ah. Then, I will extend your compliments to Kichirou-san and Kotone." Fumio nods. "Wait" Manager Konno notices something from Fumio''s words. "You mean Kichirou-san is not around?" She asks. "Yes. It will be me who will do the massage services today, dear guest." Fumio informs them. "HUHH???" The two ladies exclaim in surprise. Fumio knows that unlike Red, he has not established trust among the customers of the shop, much less with the female ones. He could have asked for a female disguise from Red but he figures that he will already be breaking the customer''s trust before even establishing it, so he decided to simply give service as his real self. "Yes. On behalf of the shop, I apologize for the last minute changes." He bows in apology, understanding the two''s concerns. "It''s fine, Fumio san. But I hope we can trust your skills." Arina can only accept the changes. "Yes, dear guest. I assure you that my service is in no way inferior to Kotone''s. Kichirou-san is confident in substituting Kotone with me after all. '''' Fumio assures them. Fumio is confident with his massage skills. When he gets bored training, also practices his massage through free home visits to the elderly villagers of Hinohara, allowing him to actually practice his massage skills as often as Kotone does. With how flexible he is, he also gives his own body massages if Red is not available to treat his aching body. While he admits that his massage skills may be a bit inferior to Kotone''s, he is confident that he can provide a quality of service that is better than Kotone''s by relying on his spiritual spiritual energy which maximizes the massage solutions'' effectiveness. Another advantage he has over Kotone is his newfound knowledge of how the massage solutions work, providing a logical purpose to every massage maneuver he does. "Anyways. From the amount you already paid us, it seems that all the members of your group are attending?" Fumio asks. "Yes. They are on their way." Manager Konno confirms. "Shall we start then?" Fumio asks, seeing that the clock has already struck 8. "Then please take care of me." Arina wants to go first. Half an hour later. "Zzz zzz hn?" Arina wakes up and sees a familiar ceiling. She then looks around and finds herself lying on the massage table, isolated from the rest of the massage room behind a panel divider and realizes that she has fallen asleep during her massage. From beyond the panel divider, she can hear Fumio and Manager Konno chatting, with Manager Konno moaning and grunting from time to time. She then removes the linens covering her body, gets up, grabs the bathrobe hanging on the panel divider, and puts it on. She then steps out from the covers of the divider to join Fumio and Manager Konno. "Dear guest, you''re awake." Fumio acknowledges her before continuing his work on Manager Konno. "My goodness. You''re as good as Kichirou-san." Arina gives Fumio her review. She stayed quiet during her massage as she was very immersed in the soothing feeling the process provided her. "I never fell asleep from Kotone-san''s massages." She adds. "I noticed the difference too." Manager Konno agrees. Fumio is satisfied by the two''s reviews, but feels bad for Kotone. He also scoffs in wonder, remembering Red''s prediction: ''They won''t notice the difference between our skills.''. Red accurately predicted the two ladies'' reactions to his first massage to them. "Thank you, guests." He however does not correct them from their assumption that his skills are as good as Red''s. In addition to Red predicting the clients'' reactions, ''...But don''t tell them that'' Red also asked him not to correct them. As for why Red wanted that, he does not know why. "By the way Kotone told me about the linens I also noticed the new couches... it seems that you all made yourselves home in the shop." He chuckles. Before the two guests came in earlier, he noticed that the shop''s couches were replaced with new ones that can transform into huge cushioned recliners. "Kotone-nee was nice enough to let us sleep here the entire day. She also replaced the couches. She said it''s Kichirou-san''s way of thanking our patronage." Arina says. "Too bad the lounge is too small to accommodate them all. That''s why we divided the group into two, one half for the morning, the other half for the afternoon." Manager Konno explains. "I see. I hope Boss can expand the shop to the entire floor." Fumio wants the best for Musume46. "I''ll go take a shower, and continue my sleep." Arina excuses herself. "Uh, Fumio-san?... Not that I''m not satisfied with Kotone-san''s massage but Are you here just for the day? Will Kotone-san be back next time?" Manager Konno asks. Fumio smirks at the question. "No. I will take over the shop until further notice from Boss." Fumio''s answer makes Manager Konno relieved. "Where is she, by the way?" Manager Konno asks, worrying about Kotone''s sudden absence. "She''s resuming her training under boss. When she''s done, she''s probably as good as me by then." Fumio answers with a white lie. In actuality, Kotone has recently accessed her spirit root and meridians, making her spiritual energy training begin. "I see. Is that why you were gone for so long? You were training under Kichirou-san?" Manager Konno asks. "That''s right." Fumio confirms 7 pm soon arrives, and Fumio''s last massage for the day concludes. He then steps out to the lounge area to find 8 members of Musume46 still in the shop. "Thank you guests for coming. I hope my services were satisfactory." He gives them a customer service bow. "It was great, Fumio-san!" "You are like Kichirou-san.." The girls also give him their thanks. Seeing the guests'' satisfied expressions also brings him satisfaction. That satisfaction cannot be seen in his face however. After all, even though he adores the pop idols, the smiles he brings out of the elderly villagers with his free services back in Hinohara, brings him more joy. After the guests leave, Fumio sighs deeply as he plops himself down in one of the couches in the lounge. Even though he is not tired and that he still has a quarter of his spiritual energy reserves remaining, performing sixteen consecutive massage services in great concentration, in great control of his physical strength, and doing so without breaks for ten hours, exhausted his mind. He regrets not drinking one of Red''s special teas: the one that preserves his physical and mental endurance. "Nice work today, Fumio-san." Haruto then gives his words of approval as he hands Fumio a warm cup of tea. "Thank you, Haruto." Fumio gladly takes a sip. He is also feeling proud of bringing out the same satisfaction from the customers that he saw Red bring them. "Oh did you get a chance to grab lunch by the way?" He asks Haruto, not wanting to dwell too much on the achievement. "I didn''t, but" Haruto looks away guilty. "What?" Fumio gets interested in the face Haruto is making. "The guests uh I uh... I can''t refuse the snacks they keep insisting on me so " Haruto scratches his cheek in embarassment. "..." Fumio gets the urge to flick Haruto''s forehead. "Tsk. Whatever." He can only click his tongue. "Good job today too. I''ll treat you to dinner." He then offers. "I didn''t do much -" Haruto is taken aback by a free dinner from someone he just met today. "I can hear adoring giggles towards you from the massage room." Fumio rolls his eyes, embarrassing Haruto. "How about ramen? Man, I miss REAL ramen. Can''t have one in the countryside." He insists <> The two young men just finished a huge dinner and are on their way home. "Hmmm.. we seem to be heading the same way, Fumio-san." Haruto notices. "Ah. My apartment is in that building." Fumio points at a residential high-rise in the distance. "Ah you live right next to my building?" Haruto is surprised. "Yes. It was me who recommended your place to Kotone." Fumio reveals. "I see. I think we''ll run into each other often." Haruto is pleased that his new acquaintance is also a neighbor. "Yeah. Now that I''m back in the shop again, I will spend more time here." Fumio nods. "By the way. And don''t take this the wrong way." He suddenly gets curious. "What is it Fumio-san?" "Are you fine with your sister spending more and more time away recently?" He asks. "I''m fine. Why?" Haruto is confused at the question. "It''s just... Kotone has been protective of you. But recently, she has been fine leaving you here alone for days." Fumio is worried that the cute and na?ve looking Haruto is prone to being picked on. "Ah I see." Haruto smiles bitterly. "I''m actually glad she''s spending more time for herself." He feels guilty about Kotone sacrificing her youth just to take care of him. "I should be the one protecting her now." "Yeah?" This gets Fumio interested. "Uhuh. Since Kichirou-san cured me, my superioris ability continued to grow. The last assessment of my abilities put me in mid tier D-Class." Haruto reveals. "Really?" Fumio is pleasantly surprised. After all, it puts Fumio in the top 5% of the superiori. "Yeah. If she didn''t tell me that Kichirou-san is a high class superiori and that she is safe in his care, I probably would have gone with her to wherever she is right now." Haruto chuckles. ''If only you knew, buddy'' Fumio smirks. "She''s right. Where she is working right now is one of the safest places I know." He adds on Kotone''s cover-up story. "Then I''m even more assured." Haruto sighs in relief. "Alright then. I guess, good night, huh. Let''s meet again in the shop the day after tomorrow I''m excited for you to meet the regulars that your sister can''t provide service to." Fumio is comfortable parting with Haruto for the night. Haruto tilts his head in confusion at Fumio''s words, but nods nonetheless. "I will see you then, Fumio-san.. It was nice to meet you." Chapter 77 - Fumio Back In The City After parting with Haruto, Fumio proceeds to his apartment. It has been two months since his last visit, and he is concerned about its state now. After all, he is still paying the mortgage for it. As he steps into his apartment, he smells a whiff of all sorts of unpleasant smells with his sensitive nose, so goes to open his windows to let the smell out. "I wonder when boss will teach me how to make seals?" He gets wishful seeing the dust and spunk that has accumulated in his apartment. He is in no mood to clean however, and after seeing that there are no signs of break-ins or any of his appliances missing, he steps to his veranda. "Nice." He smiles, pleased to see the clear night sky. He then leans over the ledge of his veranda, and looks up to find the location of Red''s veranda a few floors above. After gauging a few things in his mind, he activates the invisibility illusion on his kimono. Then, he jumps to the wall beside his veranda, attaching himself to it, with no footholds or cracks for him to hold on to. "The lizard" as Fumio calls it, is an unnamed elixir control training method that Red taught him. As for why he dubbed the training method as such, is because it allows him to easily climb walls as easy as a lizard does. By applying spiritual energy to any part of his body, and shaping that spiritual energy into something suction-like, he can easily traverse vertical surfaces no matter how smooth, as long as he has enough spirit energy to do so. After an easy climb, Fumio successfully reaches the veranda of Red''s apartment. He then takes out the key Red gave him, unlocks the backdoor, and steps into Red''s apartment. "Damn. Clean as ever." Fumio sighs as soon as he turns on the lights, revealing Red''s immaculately clean apartment. "Well. Looks more like an apartment now." The plants that he bought for Red during the first months being under Red''s employ, which Red grew to make his own mini garden in his living room, were already transferred to Red''s garden. "There." Fumio does not bother looking around and instead spots a small cabinet next to Red''s couch. He then goes to open the drawers, and he finds the things he is looking for; eight postcard sized metallic plates. He takes the plates and goes back to the veranda. "Boss said I should" He then puts down the plates to the floor and arranges them in a formation that Red instructed him to. Then, he sends a pump of his spiritual energy to the plates. As soon as he does, *voom* He immediately feels the spiritual energy in the atmosphere gather around the middle of the formation. "Whoa nice. It''s almost as rich as Boss''s garden." He sighs in wonder at the thickness of spiritual energy. After getting over the scene, Fumio simply sits down in the middle of the formation in a lotus position, and starts meditating. He then holds his breath as he activates a few spirit meridians nearest to his core. Soon he feels that the moonlight shining on his body is no longer just light but is some energy he can feel. And he feels that that energy allows him to absorb more condensed spiritual energy. The Celestial Body Breathing Technique. The first cultivation technique that Red used in this world, was introduced to Fumio by Red a few days ago. Fumio noticed that the technique allows him to refill his reserves faster, and also allows him to expand his Elixir Sea faster. Not only that, he also realized that the breathing method is leagues more efficient in absorbing spiritual energy than the basic breathing technique. Fumio came up with a comparison between his old and new breathing techniques. The Basic Breathing Technique is like fetching water with a cup that has a huge hole at the bottom of it, while the Celestial Body Breathing Technique is like scooping water with a huge pristine bucket. So even though the atmospheric spiritual energy in the city, even with the help of 8 spiritual energy gathering formations, is thinner than in Red''s hill, his new cultivation method allows him to absorb it better by making use of the moonlight. This is also the reason why Red has no problem in having Fumio Cultivate in the city because Fumio''s problem is no longer with the thickness of spiritual energy, but the rate at which Fumio''s can take in spiritual energy. Once Fumio grows strong enough to require thicker spiritual energy, he will go back to Red''s hill. "Huuuuu. Huff huff huff." A few seconds later, Fumio gasps for air as he stops his Celestial Body Breathing Technique and switches back to his Basic Breathing Technique. "Damn. Just 15 seconds of absorption with one breath." He shakes his head. "Boss said he can do a few hundred to a thousand seconds of absorption with one breath." He bitterly compares. "I wonder how much he can absorb if he can do it for that long?" He notices that the longer he executes Celestial Body Breathing Technique in one go, the thicker the spiritual energy he can absorb. "What am I comparing myself to Boss for? He is decades ahead of me." He soon gets over his frustration however. A few hours later, Fumio''s Elixir Sea is now filled with spiritual energy once again and he feels proud at how it looks. Compared to more than two months ago when he just began his spiritual energy refinement, his Elixir Sea that looked like a puddle after a rain, has become deeper and wider, and now looks like a basin sized pond. He then checks the time and sees that it is already 2 in the morning. Usually, filling his reserves, he would continue on cultivating to expand his Elixir Sea. But after his work earlier in Muscle Masters, his mind is too spent to focus. "Hmm. I''ll probably sleep like a baby, so maybe I''ll wake up at 8 perfect." He ultimately decides to go to bed. He has an appointment later. <> Chofu City. Chofu Combat Gym. "Why did you want to meet me here? You wanna spar or something?" Fire Colossus arrives in front of the combat gym building, and greets the already waiting Blade Tornado. "Nah I have an appointment with Old Phantom''s uhh student. I thought it might interest you." Blade Tornado says and smirks, satisfied with the surprise that appears on his friend''s face. "He has a student?" Fire Colossus asks. "Correction. Students. I met two of his students two months ago. He might have more." Blade Tornado shares. "Huh so. Where''s that student?" Fire Colossus looks around? "He''s already waiting inside he asked me last night if I was interested in a spar." Blade Tornado says as he leads the way in. "While I''m excited to see action I''m not here just to watch, right?" Fire Colossus wants to engage in the action himself. "We''ll see.." Blade Tornado simply says cryptically "Fukashi-san! Haha! I thought you already forgot about me!" Blade Tornado greets the disguised Fumio as soon as he and Fire Colossus arrive in the combat room that Fumio rented. "I''m not the type to break promises, Blade-san. I have just been very busy since that day." Fumio, while having a good first meeting with Blade Tornado, is pleasantly surprised by the man''s friendly attitude towards him after a long time. "And Mr. Fire Colossus. It''s a pleasure to meet you." He also greets Fire Colossus. "I''ve seen you fight twice in the arena." He immediately addresses the man''s surprise at him knowing the alias. "I see. Well, it''s nice to meet you too, Fukashi-san." Fire Colossus is pleased with Fumio''s attitude. After more pleasantries were exchanged, "Well then. We''re not here just to suck each other''s dicks, right? Let''s get to it.", Blade Tornado can no longer hold his desire for a spar. "You''re right, Blade-san." Fumio nods, he too is excited. He cannot wait to use Blade Tornado to measure his progress. Soon, the two are now in the middle of the room, with Fire Colossus to the side as the only spectator. "sshink" "shink" Fire Colossus is surprised to see the two fighters draw their weapons. Fumio pulled out his practice katana, and Blade Tornado pulled out all his blades. "WHOAH! ARE YOU TWO INSANE?!" Fire Colossus cannot believe that the two''s sparring is seems to be more than just sparring. "Fire-san. It''s not a real sword." Fumio rubs his hand against the sharp of the blade, making Fire Colossus realize that it is a blunt katana. "Old Phantom''s told me to go all out for my safety." Blade Tornado shrugs. After Blade Tornado received Fumio''s text message about the spar, he texted Red to ask for permission to accept the invitation. Not only did he receive an okay from Red, he also got a warning and a tip. While he still has reservations about Fumio being strong enough, he trusts Red enough to take Red''s warning seriously. Seeing that Fire Colossus is ready to shut up, Fumio and Blade Tornado finally start. Blade Tornado starts bouncing on the balls of his feet and weaves from side to side while carefully approaching Fumio. Fumio meanwhile, holds his sword horizontally with one hand, establishing his reach advantage. While waiting to defend, he also pumps spiritual energy to his brain to make himself focus more. He is not infusing spiritual energy to the rest of his body however as he already knows that he is physically stronger than Blade Tornado. As to what extent, he wants to find out. Blade Tornado after getting Fumio in his range, and Fumio letting him, *Whoosh* *whoosh whoosh* throws a barrage of bladed punches and kicks. *Clang* *clang* *clang* Fumio meanwhile is masterfully executing defense maneuvers, efficiently dodging, blocking, and parrying Blade Tornado''s bladed limbs. He is not Red however, and one or two blades graze him. But he does not care, and keeps himself under pressure. He has already gauged Blade Tornado''s strength and speed and he is confident in avoiding serious injuries from Blade Tornado''s attacks. Fire Colossus meanwhile, is surprised that Blade Tornado is already going all-out and even more surprised at Fumio''s ease in defending the attacks. Aside from Red, he has not seen anyone else engage Blade Tornado in a very direct manner. Fumio''s one handed swordsmanship also reminds him of Red''s cane work. . Blade Tornado, after a hundred or so attempts in drawing blood, realizes that Fumio is adjusting to his attacks very quickly, so he disengages immediately to come up with another plan. "Holy shit. You''re really better using a sword." Blade Tornado praises while trying to hide his frustration. "You''re ten times more dangerous with your blades, Blade-san." Fumio returns the compliment. . Inside however, he is a bit disappointed and feels that Blade Tornado can no longer help increase his defensive experience. This makes him switch his motives in the spar. He then executes the Hasegawa footwork 3, dashes forward at a speed that startles Blade Tornado. Then, he proceeds to shower Blade Tornado with sword strikes at a speed he estimates that his sparring partner can cope with. He wants to return what he gained during his spar with Blade Tornado two months ago. Blade Tornado, while defending, is frantically thinking about how to break Fumio''s offensive flow. But soon, he realizes that he cannot. Not with Fumio''s superior strength and speed, and his reach advantage. He knows that the spar is near its end. few more moments later however, he finds it strange that despite his helplessness, Fumio is not ending the spar, or even using sword thrusts which are difficult to defend. Then, he realizes that Fumio is no longer acting as a sparring partner, but as a trainer. Fumio sees the look of realization in Blade Tornado''s face, and he stops his assault. "You did say you need practice against swordsmen." He explains himself. "Well I know I already lost." Blade Tornado smiles bitterly in acknowledgment. "Might as well get a free lesson." Chapter 78 - Fumio Sparring "I think we should stop?" Fumio stops swinging at Blade Tornado and asks. "Yeah I think we should." Blade Tornado sighs in relief as he collapses to one knee in exhaustion. "Fuck. You''re ruthless. I thought you''d stop once I can no longer maintain my blades." He complains. "Well, you''re lucky it''s not my teacher who''s here. Heh." Fumio thinks he is not as bad as Blade Tornado thinks. During the spar, once he noticed Blade Tornado''s gradual improvement in dealing with the sword, he wanted to see more. When Blade Tornado started to get tired and his movements slowed, Fumio adjusts his speed and strength accordingly. ''I think this is what boss feels when training us?'' he chuckles internally, thinking about his rare but fruitful spars with Red. "Yeah? Well I''m lucky then. I almost asked Old Phantom for lessons." Blade Tornado chuckles in relief. "But man how did you get so strong in just two months?" He asks about what has been bothering him the entire spar. "I just regained my strength. It took me two months to rub off the rust." Fumio already predicted Blade Tornado''s question and he has prepared an excuse. "Ah. That''s right. You''re old." Blade Tornado can only pick on the age of Fumio''s disguise as a minor revenge. "Heh. Yeah. You should have seen me in my prime." Fumio rides on Blade Tornado''s teasing to supplement his act. "Still. Despite your age, you seem to have more gas in you than us. How are you not winded? You were swinging non stop for an hour." Fire Colossus, who has been quietly spectating the spar, chimes in. Blade Tornado is surprised, just noticing that Fumio is not even breathing heavily. "I had nothing to do but train. I''m in top shape for the first time in years." Fumio shrugs. This gets a nod from the two. "Right. Fire-san. Care for a spar?" Fumio asks suddenly. He is curious how he will fare against a low tier B-Class Superioris, or maybe the other way around. "You sure?" Fire Colossus wants to spar, but is concerned that Fumio is more tired than he looks. "Yeah. I have plenty of gas left in the tank." Fumio assures. "Then. Let me warmup." Fire Colossus tries not to look excited. After all, he noticed that Fumio''s fighting style is too clean. Something that he rarely sees in his opponents in the arena. He wants to try fighting who he assumes is a disciplined martial artist. "Alright. I''ll get out of the way." Blade Tornado, having recovered enough, walks to the edge of the room gladly, anticipating to see what else Fumio can do. A few minutes later, Fumio and Fire Colossus are now in the middle of the room, ready to jump at each other any moment. *Fwahhh* Fire Colossus takes the initiative. He covers his hands with huge fire gauntlets, assumes a peek-a-boo boxing stance and charges forward while weaving his body. Fumio, this time, is not using his sword, and wants to make things more challenging for himself. He assumes a loose karate stance, slightly swaying from side to side, his weight not resting on one leg for more than a second, for a more agile fighting approach. *Fufufufufufu* Fire Colossus immediately throws a series of very quick jabs to establish range and gauge Fumio''s reaction. Fumio simply retreats his steps, treading the edges of Fire Colossus''s range. He is not intimidated by the hot ember gauntlet as he already expected Fire Colossus'' approach. Fumio also knows that even though Fire Colossus is a B-Class Superioris, the man''s physical strength is not much higher than Blade Tornado''s who is a high tier C Class. As soon as Fire Colossus pauses his jabs, Fumio takes a quick step and *whack* lands a low kick on Fire Colossus''s thigh. Fire Colossus is taken aback by the strength of the kick, but he endures it as he throws a strong right straight to Fumio''s body. Fumio quickly meets the punch with an elbow, successfully blocking Fire Colossus''s punch. *Fwahhh* He is hit however by the hot blaze that came from Fire Colossus''s gauntlet exploding. "Tsss.." While he already expected it, he still closes his eyes to protect them from the fire. He then quickly retreats to regroup. While he knows he can be hit once or twice by the fire blast, he does not want to be hit consecutively by it. He has, after all, seen how the opponents of Fire Colossus suffer after being consecutively hit by the fire ability. Fire Colossus meanwhile, catches Fumio''s reaction, takes it as a chance for an opening, and pursues to maintain his attacking range. "Tsk." Fumio realizes that even though he is physically stronger and faster than his opponent, he still feels his height and reach disadvantage. After all, he is only 170 cm tall while Fire Colossus is 190cm, with long limbs. "Screw it." He curses inside and finally infuses a bit of his spiritual energy to his skin, making them tougher temporarily. Then, he also infuses some to his feet as he executes a Hasegawa footwork that Red modified for him. Blade Tornado''s eyes widen as Fumio suddenly blurs out of his vision to his right. He did not expect that Fumio could get any more agile and fast. Before he can turn his head, *Thwack*, He is hit once again, but this time by a mid kick to his stomach. He feels his organs get rocked, and he immediately takes a few steps back while keeping an eye on Fumio. While watching Fumio earlier, and assuming that Fumio learned how to fight from "Old Phantom", he wants to minimize any openings as much as possible. After all, with his three matches with Old Phantom, he learned that if he leaves even the tiniest of openings in his defense, Old Phantom can easily exploit it. To his relief, Fumio pauses. Fumio, meanwhile, is feeling proud. With just a bit of spiritual energy spent, he closed his disadvantage. While he already knows his strength, making a B-Class Superiori, one of the only ten thousand in Japan, retreat, is still a flattering sight to him. Fire Colossus, remembering the speed Fumio just displayed, decides to get more serious. He then materializes his giant fire boots, covering his feet and legs up to the knees. The thickness of his boots also adds a few more centimeters to his already tall height. his height by even a few more centimeters. Blade Tornado, watching this, is surprised. ''It''s only been two exchanges and he''s already using his second level'' Fumio meanwhile, after getting over a short-lived caution, is torn between infusing more spiritual energy to his body, or using his sword without the help of spiritual energy. Ultimately, *shink*, he decides to draw his practice sword, and withdraws his spiritual energy from his feet, only leaving it on his skin for protection. He figures that using spiritual energy in his movement and attacks is overkill compared to using just his sword. The next moment, Fire Colossus and Blade Tornado are surprised at Fumio''s next actions. Fumio tosses his drawn practice katana aside, and assumes a one handed kenjutsu stance with just the scabbard. He is comfortable with using just the scabbard as it is just as long as a tanto, and can go all out with his swordsmanship without inflicting deadly damage to his opponent. Fire Colossus would have felt insulted if it was not for Fumio''s serious expression, and with the scabbard''s metal tip giving him a small sense of danger. With the two fighters ready once again, they charged toward each other. *fufufufuffu* Fire Colossus starts his assault once again and throws a barrage of jabs using his two hands. Fumio meanwhile is doing his best dodging. While trying to gauge anything he can exploit, *Fwahhh* *fwahhh*, he cannot dodge everything and is forced to block the fire gauntlets with his sword, forcing them to explode consecutively, sending scorching hot air his way. Thankfully, the spiritual energy he is infusing to his skin is enough to protect him from minor burns. Unless there is prolonged exposure of his skin to fire, he is not worried. As Fire Colossus reloads his hands with fire gauntlets, Fumio''s mind sparks with an idea. *Fdufufu* Fire Colossus once again continues his barrage of punches. Fumio watches closely and as Fire Colossus''s left hand is retreating and right hand approaching, Fumio thrusts his scabbard to the retreating left hand while dodging the incoming right hand. *Fwahhh* Fire Colossus''s left gauntlet explodes. With Fire Colossus''s vision partially blocked for a split second, Fumio thrusts his scabbard to the fire gauntlet of Fire Colossus''s outstretched right arm, making it also explode. His rhythm broken, Fire Colossus is stunned for a split second. As soon as he recovers, he also feels his fire boots get popped by Fumio, and he loses his balance. Feeling goosebumps, he quickly kicks his feet to the ground, propelling himself to the side as he does a shoulder roll on the ground, successfully distancing himself. He then quickly faces Fumio''s direction while covering his limbs with his ability once again. Seeing Fumio not proceeding to attack, he tries his best to think of what had just happened. Fumio meanwhile, is pleased that his idea worked. After watching Red and Fire Colossus''s fights, he realized which weakness Red exploited to draw a convincing lucky win. That is Fire Colossus''s vision being obstructed by his own ability. Fumio does not have Red''s reflexes to easily exploit the weakness, so he had to lengthen the process by waiting for one of Fire Colossus''s fire gauntlet to be nearest Fire Colossus''s face before popping it, covering almost the entirety of Blade Tornado''s vision for a split second. This allowed Fumio to pop the rest of the fiery things covering Fire Colossus''s limbs. After making Fire Colossus lose balance, Fumio could have finished the spar, but he wants to try again if he can do it smoother. "Let''s go." Fumio taunts Fire Colossus A few minutes later, Fire Colossus feels his fire cuirass explode in his body, and as the fire clears, he sees Fumio''s outstretched hand in front of him and he feels the hot tip of Fumio''s scabbard pressed on his neck. "Y-you win." He can only admit defeat. He has always used his ability to both burn, and blind his opponents temporarily, but he did not expect that he too is vulnerable from it to some extent. His own fire obstructing his own vision, something that he only saw as negligible at best, and inconvenient at worst, has become a serious weakness he has to face. After learning of it through his matches with Red, he thought that only Red can exploit it, but now that even Fumio, Red''s student, also can, he is now seriously thinking how to deal with it, or at least hide it better from others. While he can face being overpowered by superiori leagues above him, his pride will not take it if weaker superiori can defeat him using his newfound weakness. *clap**clap**clap* Blade Tornado starts clapping, breaking Fumio and Fire Colossus apart. "Good spar." Fumio offers a fist bump to Fire Colossus. "Yeah." Fire Colossus returns the gesture. "How are your legs and thighs?" Fumio asks. "Ah damn." Fire Colossus, reminded of someting, suddenly feels dull pain littering his lower limbs. They suffered from Fumio''s strikes whenever Fire Colossus attempted to send kicks to Fumio. "Do they have a dry ice bath here?" He asks as they walk to join Blade Tornado. "They do." Fumio nods. "You can put it on my tab." He offers, feeling bad. He figures that Fire Colossus did not expect to come here to spar and get injured. "Alright. Thanks." Fire Colossus accepts it easily. "Shit. You got beat." Blade Tornado immediately breaks Fire Colossus''s balls. "No shit." Fire Colossus scoffs as he plops down to the ground, his back against the wall, to rest. "Heh." Blade Tornado does not tease further and turns to Fumio. "Fukashi-san. Why not fight in the arena? Damn. With your skills, you can probably fight the top five of the Champion''s Row." He suggests. "You really think so?" Fumio tries not to look flattered. "Yeah, man. You beat Mr. Top 9 here, with just your scabbard. If you used a real sword? Ssss.. man." Blade Tornado tries to imagine Fumio fighting in the underground arena. Fumio is tempted, but in the end, he still does not want to fight in a place that makes money on death battles. "Not for me." He smirks at Blade Tornado. Blade Tornado looks at Fumio strangely as if saying ''what a pity'' with just his eyes. "Leave the guy alone." Fire Colossus chuckles. "Fine" Blade Tornado shrugs. "You''re too strong for me to spar with." He changes the subject. "How about your junior? What was his name?" He asks. "Oh. Kotaru?" Fumio remembers the name Kotone used during her spar with Blade Tornado. "Yeah! That wimpy kid. Maybe he needs a sparring partner. I''m available." Blade Tornado offers. "Heh... Yeah. He''s probably as strong as you now, but he doesn''t have much fighting experience." Fumio chuckles. "I see.... " Wait. What did you just say?!" Chapter 79 - Kotones New Job "Okay done!" Kotone pats Ran''s head as she finishes her massage treatment to the child. "Thank you Kotone-nee!" The little girl excitedly hops off the massage table and rushes to the bath house beside the children''s house, to soak in a prepared medicinal bath. Kotone then starts cleaning the massage table for the next person. "Hahahaha" "*splash*" "CHIHIRO! STOP THAT!" "Sorry ojii-san!" "Just don''t do it again! Your bathwater is very expensive!" Hearing the commotion outside the massage room, "Sheesh", "haha" Yoshiko and Kotone share a giggle. "Gin-san is not that patient with kids" Kotone shakes her head. "He is plenty patient. He has it hard. Boys are more naturally unruly." Yoshiko empathizes with Gin''s plight. "Huh would he have been the same?" Kotone tries to imagine Haruto being a healthy child like Red''s adopted children. "Hm?" Yoshiko is confused at Kotone''s words. "Nothing. Anyways. Are you ready?" Kotone gestures to Yoshiko at the massage table, the young woman being her final massage for the day. "I''m excited." Yoshiko says as she strips off her kimono and lies down on the table. Kotone immediately starts her massage. "Uhmmm" Yoshiko is about to ask something, but holds herself back. "Yes, Yoshiko?" Kotone is sensible enough to notice and she welcomes any questions. The two ladies also dropped their formality to each other. After all, it has been a month since Yoshiko''s first time on the hill, and three weeks since she moved in. The two are also only a year apart with Yoshiko being older by a year. "There''s something bothering me" Yoshiko still hesitates. Kotone already has some guesses of Yoshiko''s concern. Yoshiko has already spent enough time on the hill to notice some strange things. "Please, speak freely, Yoshiko-nee." Kotone urges, as she applies a hint of spiritual energy to her massage strokes. "Hmmmff" Yoshiko cannot help but groan in pleasure. "The children they are very energetic than normal." She asks, her muscles relaxed, making her drop her guard. "And so are you." Kotone adds. "Yes, yes. But how?" Yoshiko asks. "It''s a result of the training. Adding the perfect diet, the massage treatment, the herbal baths, it''s only natural." Kotone explains. "Huh" Yoshiko simply grunts, not satisfied by the explanation. "Don''t worry. When the time comes, Kichirou-san will tell you himself." Kotone notices Yoshiko''s skepticism. "Will he really?" Yoshiko almost scoffs. She has noticed that whether it is Fumio, Kotone, or Gin, whenever she asks them about Red, they all refuse to say anything and would all skillfully change the subject. "Yes. He will. But I''ll give you a hint." Kotone''s words make Yoshiko perk up. "Just work on completing one breath cycle at each of the 16 poses, and maybe he''ll tell you things himself." Kotone reveals. "*Sigh* It''s been a month and I''m only on my seventh pose." Yoshiko sighs. "I noticed" Kotone nods. "In fact, you''re doing quite well." She figures that Yoshiko being flexible and has some fitness prior to the start of training, provided Yoshiko with some advantages. "I myself was only at pose five or six after a month." She reveals. "I see" Yoshiko nods. "How about the kids? How do you think they''re doing?" She asks about the children instead. "Uh I don''t know. It''s my first time teaching children." Kotone is not confident about her assessment of the children. "But I can say that they all seem to be doing well. Aside from their lack of focus in the breathing technique, I am satisfied that they can bear the struggle and pain of doing the poses." She evaluates. "Is the breathing technique that important?" Yoshiko asks. "Yes. Very." Kotone simply smirks and does not explain further. <><><> A few minutes later, Kotone is done with Yoshiko''s treatment. "Thank you. Your hands do wonders." Yoshiko sincerely thanks Kotone. "It''s nothing." Kotone waves the gratitude off. "I should thank you instead." "Huh" Yoshiko finds Kotone''s response odd, but does not ask. "Well. I''ll see you tomorrow." She can only leave to have a medicinal bath in her house. "Phew" Kotone stretches her back. With her physical strength and endurance now, adding to her body starting to be exposed to spiritual energy, she is not tired. Her muscles simply has gotten stiff by stooping down for an hour while doing massage. "Kotone-san. Are you done?" Gin peeks his head in the door of the massage room. "Yeah. Did you put the children to their nap?" Kotone asks. "Nah. You know how they are." Gin sighs as he enters the massage room and starts cleaning up. "Heh. Well. Hopefully, their homework from Kichirou-san will tire them out." Kotone only shrugs. "Uhh.. about those homeworks..." Gin starts. "Is Kichirou-san really teaching the kids magic runes or something?" He asks. "Uhh.. yeah." Kotone simply nods, but inside, she feels a bit jealous of the children. Since three weeks ago, around the same time when she established access to spiritual energy, Red started teaching the children how to draw seals. The Spiritual Energy Gathering Seal is the first on the children''s learning. She wishes that she too started learning spiritual energy seals as young as them. "Still, huh. Kichirou-san really has sentiments to something traditional. I mean brush and paper? Gin starts to chat as he mops the floors. "He does." Kotone agrees. "Anyways, I have to go back in." She excuses herself. "To train again? I admire your discipline." Gin shakes his head. "Heh." Kotone can only acknowledge, but does not comment. Even though she does not want to train, she has to. ''I have to get stronger before the demons come back.'' She has a lot to protect now, not only herself and her brother. "There''s Kotone nee!" As soon as she steps in front of the bamboo gate, she sees the three little boys who just finished their medicinal bath, gathered in front of the bamboo gate, obviously waiting for her. "Hello." Kotone''s heart warms seeing their anticipating gazes. Even though this scene has already been repeating itself for a month now, it still brings her pride. "Kotone-nee! Can you wait for the girls?" Chihiro, the liveliest among the boys, asks. "No. I have to go now." Kotone refuses, she will just have to show the girls tomorrow. Their medicinal bath is more important. She then approaches the bamboo gate, and the three boys wait in anticipation. Then, she bends her knees, and she kicks off the ground, propelling herself at least three meters high, around a third the height of the bamboo gate. "WHOAH!" The boys below her all exclaim in amazement. Then, she grabs one of the ropes tying the gate together with her fingers, and pulls up, furthering herself vertically until she is two-thirds the height of the gate. "Grab the rope!" Taishiro, seeing Kotone not grabbing another rope to hold on to, gets anxious. Usually, Kotone would use the ropes tying the gates, as grips and footholds to climb over the wall, but this time, ''I''ll show you boys something new.'', she plans a different approach. She then applies spiritual energy to her palms and feet, and attaches them to the smooth bamboo wall. "Whoah! Awesome!" Chihiro exclaims. "*Gasp*" The quiet Osamu gasps in disbelief. "*Clap**clap*" The straightforward Taishiro starts clapping his hands. Kotone meanwhile, is relieved that she did not choke on her spiritual energy control in the presence of spectators. She then starts climbing up the wall like a lizard. Soon enough, she reaches the top of the bamboo gate, and turns around to face the boys below. "Kotone-nee! You''re awesome!" "Clap clap" She is pleased with the boys'' reactions. The next moment, from the boys'' view, Kotone waves at them, before starting to fall on her back, as if she lost her balance. The boys however are not worried as it is Kotone''s unique way of saying goodbye. From the other side of the gate, Kotone, while falling, does a maneuver in the air to have herself face the garden and her back towards the wall. She applies spiritual energy on her legs and feet, and lands squarely on the clay road, soundlessly. Due to the enhancement provided by spiritual energy to her legs, it did not hurt her in any way. Even if she did not use spiritual energy, she will still not get hurt, but landing noiselessly without bending her knees, provides Kotone a sense of achievement. "Pfff. Show off." She is greeted by a scoff from Fumio who is apparently waiting, while chewing on a fruit he just picked from one of the trees. "Oh. Look who decided to show." Kotone returns a scoff of her own. "Your lips say hurtful words, yet your eyes show longing" Fumio says theatrically. "Longing my butt." Kotone rolls her eyes. "But seriously. What are you doing here?" She asks. "Picked up the new volume of boss''s manga." Fumio pulls out a stack of papers from his storage ring, shows them to Kotone, before shortly storing them again. "Nice." Kotone is not that interested in manga. "Hey. Can you give this to Haruto?" Instead, she pulls out 50,000 yen notes from her own storage ring and hands them to Fumio. "I will." Fumio nods, chuckling as he puts away the money. "I don''t understand you and your brother. You obviously miss each other very much. Why not visit him?" He asks. "It''s just " Kotone sighs. "I know we only have each other in this world, but we have an almost codependent relationship or something." She explains. "What? Did boss say that?" Fumio asks. "Yeah." Kotone nods. "And it''s an issue. We have to learn to live without each other before it becomes a problem." She explains. "I see." Fumio nods in understanding. "Well then. Go in the house. It''s a special day for you." He is excited for what Kotone is about to receive from Red. "Okay." Kotone nods, but she is not leaving yet as she is curious how Fumio will bypass the wall. She watches as Fumio simply bends his knees, applies spiritual energy to his legs, and jumps up, easily clearing the height of the gate, and disappearing to the other side. "Show off." Kotone rolls her eyes, but is motivated to train just seeing Fumio jumping over the tall wall in one go. <> "Kichirou-san?" Kotone, right after stepping in the living room of the house, sees Red kneeling by a spread out futon. "Kotone." Red nods at her. "What''s going on?" Kotone asks, hoping that she is to receive a massage from Red as it had been a while. "You have two choices." Red starts. "First. Upgrade your resistance seals." He says as he pulls out what looks like a ball of yarn, only silvery white in color, from his storage ring. Kotone gets interested. She did not see how Red applied her current resistance seals, and she is hoping she can watch this time. "Will you knock me out again?" She asks. "Yes." Red nods, disappointing Kotone. "At least you''re telling me this time." She can only quip. "Heh. Yeah. Sorry. I had to do it secretly then." Red says. "Can I stay up and watch how it''s done?" Kotone asks. While she trusts Red entirely, and has no problems getting naked in front of the man under the right circumstances, she is curious this time why Red would need what looks like silver wires in his hands. "It will hurt a lot. The last time, I just carved seals on your skin, but this time, it''s deeper." Red explains. Kotone gets goosebumps from the description. "H-how deep?" She asks nervously. "Surface of the bone deep." Red reveals. "W-what?!" Kotone gets scared. "I will carve resistance seals on the surface of your bones using these platinum wires as my ink. " Red explains further. "A-and this is what Fumio has?" Kotone asks. "Yes. I had them too, but I removed them once I no longer needed them." Red assures her. "Even though it''s painless, as you''ll be unconscious during the procedure, you don''t have to if you don''t want to. That''s your second choice. The disadvantage is, your physique''s growth in strength will be slower without the upgraded seals. Making the growth of your elixir sea slower too." But he still presents a chance for Kotone to refuse. "What''s your choice?" Kotone ponders for a minute. Within that minute, Fumio''s growing strength, the children''s being clueless about the ease they do the 16 poses, Yoshiko''s quick progress, all crossed her mind. And those thoughts influences her. "Please apply the resistance seals to me, Kichirou-san." Chapter 80 - Kaoru Again "Good morning, dear guest." Haruto welcomes a new face in the shop. "Is the owner around?" The new face, a man in his 30s, well-dressed in a blue suit, looks around the shop. "No, sir. Did you reserve an appointment?" Haruto asks. "I''m not here for the massage. Where''s the owner?" The man asks, his tone intimidating Haruto by quite a bit. "I don''t know sir, but I heard that he is somewhere far away." Haruto explains. "Our massage therapist is present though. He is currently tending to a guest." He adds. The man simply grunts in annoyed acknowledgement as he goes to sit on one of the couches in the lounge area. "Sir, may I ask what your business with the owner is?" Haruto asks. "An official business." The man says dismissively. "If I may know more sir? If this is official business, perhaps I can give my employer a heads up?" Haruto insists. "It''s officially none of your business, kid." The man gives Haruto a glare. Haruto cannot help but step back. "I''m sorry." He can only apologize. "Would you like some tea while you wait?" He offers instead. . "How much longer?" The man ignores Haruto''s offer and asks impatiently as he looks at his watch. "Maybe around fifteen minutes, sir." Haruto estimates. "Damn it." The man grunts in frustration. Haruto can only wait uncomfortably with the man for Fumio. Thankfully for Fumio, the man is busy with his own thoughts. A few minutes later. "Have a nice day. Please come back again, dear guest!" Haruto bids goodbye to the only supposed customer that reserved an appointment for the day. "The therapist will be here any moment, sir." Haruto addresses the stranger, noticing that the man is slowly losing his patience. He also gave Fumio a heads up. "Haruto. Please go put away the things in the massage room please." Fumio orders Haruto immediately as soon as he enters the lounge area, already knowing that this arrogant looking guest is not here f or a massage. "Good morning, sir, what can I do for you?" Fumio greets the man. "Call the owner right now. I have to talk to him." The man demands. "I''m sorry, but who are you? And what do you want to talk to my employer for?" Fumio gets a bit annoyed at the man''s tone, reminded of some people. He already figured out that the man in front of him is a member of some superioris clan. "You don''t have to know that, kid." The man harrumphs. "Well, I don''t have to follow the demands of a stranger either." Fumio shrugs. "So, if you don''t have anything else, then please leave. We''re closed for the day." Fumio gestures towards the door. Suddenly, the man jumps at Fumio. "You will call him. NOW." He grabs Fumio''s collar and demands through gritted teeth. Fumio quickly deactivates his resistance seals and *thunk* headbutts the man''s nose. "ARIGH!" The man steps back in a panic and holds his nose. Fumio gives no chance for the man to recover as Fumio kicks the man to the floor. The man is stunned. Even though he is not injured by Fumio''s attack, he is still surprised by what had just happened, "damn.", and curses his luck that he just happened to meet a strong superioris masquerading as a massage therapist. "It didn''t have to come to this, mister." Fumio says as he pulls out a tanto from his storage space, and disguises it as drawing it from inside his kimono. "Wait, wait!" The man gets scared that Fumio would be so agitated to use a weapon just because he grabbed Fumio''s collar. Not to mention from the short exchange, he felt his B-Class strength was easily overpowered by Fumio. "Okay. I deserved that. I wasn''t thinking straight." The man apologizes as he stands up. "Can we talk?" He asks. "Then talk. If you can tell me your name first." Fumio says as he stores away his tanto. "Okay. My name is Murata Taro." Taro introduces himself. "And your employer, Iwai Kichirou? My young miss is in urgent need of him." The man comes clean. "Which clan? Young miss?" Fumio gets interested. "Nagano." Taro says. Fumio''s eyes widen and his mind runs. "That Nagano Clan?" He asks. "Yeah." Taro nods. "How do I know you''re not lying?" Fumio asks, frustrating Taro. Taro can only take something out of the inner pocket of his jacket and tosses it to Fumio. Fumio catches the object and sees a huge brass coin with the Nagano Crest embedded on it. Fumio immediately knows that it is the real deal. "Okay." Fumio nods as he tosses Taro''s clan coin back. He then pulls out his phone and calls Red. [Hello.] Red picks up. "Boss. Someone wants to talk to you." Fumio switches the phone to speaker mode. "H-hello Kichirou-san." Taro greets. He can only hope Red can help. "I''m Murata Taro. I''m Kaoru-sama''s secretary. I''m the one who got you your id-" [Alright Taro-san. What can I do for you?] Red stops Taro from revealing his fake identity to Fumio. "Kaoru-sama is in urgent need for you, Kichirou-san. It concerns her life." Taro reports. [Where is she right now?] Red asks. "Minato. She''s at Azabu Hospital." Taro reports. [Fumio. Can you restrain Taro-san?] Red asks. Taro, before he can even process the question, *thud* his world goes dark. <><><><><> Minato, Tokyo 9AM "*mmfff*" Kaoru wakes up in her hospital bed, feeling heavy and weak. As she struggles to look around her hospital suite, she finds the guards, her parents, and the other people in her hospital room all unconscious. After getting over her daze, "W-wha", she finally realizes the oddity of the sight. "Tsk.tsk.tsk." She suddenly hears someone clicking their tongue beside her. She looks and sees that sitting on the chair on her bedside, is the man she has always wished to see but have not seen in more than a year. "R-red" She utters in disbelief, her voice hoarse. "They''re just asleep. Why don''t we talk?" Red asks. "H-how did you" "That''s not what''s important." Red cuts off Kaoru as she already knows what she is about to ask. "What happened? I thought you would live a full life. But just after a year, you''re dying again?" He asks. "What?" Kaoru is confused but the next moment, memories of what happened before she fell unconscious come back to her. "I-I The last thing I remember, I was being swallowed by blue fire." She recounts weakly. "Well. That explains why you look ugly right now." Red chuckles. "What?" Kaoru looks at her body, and she sees that indeed, bandages upon bandages are wrapped on her entire body. "I-I''m still alive" She sighs. "Obviously." Red shrugs. "D-did you heal me again?" Kaoru asks. "Nah. I just woke you up so I could talk to you." Red reveals. "I see I guess healing me again is too much for you." Kaoru chuckles but, "ouch", she feels her chest engulfed in pain. "Depends." Red shakes his head. "Why were you swallowed by blue fire? And why a powerful clan like the Nagano would let their young miss be in that situation in the first place?" He asks. "I-it was a test. A test to find out if I deserve to be the heir. And I guess I failed." Kaoru looks away. "A test? Why did you have to take it then?" Red asks. "I uh I don''t know" Kaoru shakes her head. "Come on." Red knows that Kaoru is holding back. "I just want to prove myself. That I wasn''t just born with my powers, but I also can use them skillfully But I guess they were right all along" Kaoru looks down in embarrassment. "Heh Youth." Red shakes his head, but he spotted a sign of deception in Kaoru''s eyes. "But I can tell that this test was very dangerous. You''re dying right now. Your heart is barely working." He reveals, shocking Kaoru. "What kind of test was this exactly? It helps me knowing what injured you." He continues to ask. "They had me fight a demon. A strong one. I should have turn and ran the first chance I got." Kaoru says, and just remembering the demon and its power makes her shudder. "A strong demon?" Red gets interested. "I heard that that one killed in the Kumagai Compound was around A-Class, and ones like that one are rare. How did your clan even find one that can hurt you this bad?" He asks. "I uhh" Kaoru does not want to answer. "Come on, Kaoru." Red sends a mental compulsion to Kaoru''s head through his spirit sense. "I just found out that the clan has been keeping demons." Kaoru finally confesses, but talking about it is hard for her. "The clan has been To make them stronger, the clan..." She tries to continue however. "Alright. That''s enough." Red stops her, worried that Kaoru getting agitated any further would worsen her condition. But Red''s mental compulsion earlier worked too well. Kaoru wants to share more because she feels that if she can''t talk about the secret to anyone, it will drive her insane. "The clan has been feeding those demons with with people I-I was going to kill that demon So, the clan would stop." She recounts again, barely holding back her tears. "Wow" Red is surprised. He has long figured out that some of the clans have already begun their demon hunting activities for a decade now, but them keeping demons is a surprise to him. But thinking about it more, he realized that indeed, such practice is very lucrative. The clans can just capture demon, feed them souls to get them stronger to their maximum, and kill them for their high-quality core. "Okay There... There." Red touches Kaoru''s forehead as he applies a healing technique. "So, you tried killing the demon, but you weren''t powerful enough. Instead, you angered it so bad, it tried to kill you." Red asks. "Yeah. I guess." Kaoru nods. "Where do you your clan keep these demons? They can''t possible keep them where people live, right? Because if they are, then they''re crazy." Red acts worried. "Don''t worry. The clan keep them in a private island, in a deep bunker." Kaoru assures. Red then starts to narrow things down in his mind. He figures that while the Nagano keep the demons in a private island away from people, they also want that certain private island to be still in their reach. ''So a private island around the eastern part of Kanto region.'' He concludes, but such information is too broad. "Where is that island? So I can stay away from it in the future?" He asks, to fish for more. "I don''t know either. I was blindfolded by my dad when he brought me there. All I know is that it''s a small island with just the sea in sight." Unfortunately for Red, Kaoru does not know. "Well then" Red gives up for now, but decides to scour the East of Kanto region when he has time. "So You obviously want to live, right?" He asks. "You''re really going to heal me?" Kaoru asks in excitement. "I don''t know." Red shrugs, "oh.." shutting down Kaoru''s excitement. "In addition to your burnt body, you also had a massive heart attack due to your injuries, killing a majority of your heart tissues and your other organs. Even if a superioris doctor can somehow successfully transplant an artificial heart to you, can they do it quick enough before your brain, lungs die next?" Red explains Kaoru''s condition. "It''s that bad, huh?" Kaoru smiles bitterly. "Yeah. If I didn''t make your mother fall asleep, she would be crying for days until you die." Red points at the sleeping Mrs. Nagano. "So What do you want in exchange for my life, Red-san?" Kaoru can only attempt to buy her life. Chapter 81 - If Jesus Can Walk On Water, Can He Swim On Land? "There you go, buddy." Fumio pats the shoulder of Osamu. + He was just done applying massage to the parts where the pose Osamu trained today, benefitted. "Thank you, nii-san" Osamu softly expresses his gratitude as he dazedly gets off the massage table. Osamu is about to leave the massage room to have his medicinal bath when *thunk* he bumps into someone at the door. He looks up and sees the man he has been very thankful for. "Kichirou-san!" He greets, his usually soft voice is replaced by an excited tone. "How was training today?" Red asks. "V-very good! I can do pose 9 now!" Osamu reports. "Good. Have you completed a breath cycle in any of the poses yet?" Red asks. "Y-yeah. I finished a breath cycle from pose 1 to 5." Osamu embarrassingly reports, but Red sees a glint of pride in the kid''s eyes. "According to Kotone, he''s the second fastest after the daydreamer kid." Fumio reports. "Very good. Keep it up, yes?" Red pats Osamu''s head. "I will work hard! I''ll catch up to Konan!" Osamu straightens his back and promises with conviction. "Very good." Red nods in satisfaction. "Damn boss. It''s only been two months since they started and most of them are already half-way completing the task." Fumio says as he washes his hands. "I mean. They didn''t train as intensely as I did, so they are obviously slower than me, but they only train two or three hours a day!" He continues to lament. "Haha. That''s why I told you and Kotone before. I wish I found you two as little children." Red consoles. "Yeah. I can only wish." Fumio shakes his head. "Same here. Anyways. What are you doing after this?" Red asks. "I''ll practice making the solutions boss. Then strength training after that. Then cultivate after the moon shows." Fumio lists. "I see. I was about to invite you for a walk." Red says. Fumio''s eyes widen in surprise. Every time Red ''invites'' him to something, it has always resulted to him seeing something cool, or learning something new from Red. It has been two months since Red invited him to somewhere, and he would definitely want to see it. "I can do them tomorrow. I haven''t stretched my legs in a while." He gladly accepts the invitation. Red smirks in return. <<<<<>>>>> A few minutes later. "Ohhh. Shit shit shit shit shit." Fumio can barely stand, his legs weak after him and Red landed on some random seaside. "You okay?" Red asks. "What?... Oh. Yeah. I''m okay." Fumio gets his bearings. "What the hell.... I can''t even everything was zooming past!" "Okay, yeah. You look lively." Red pats Fumio''s back. "So, where are we boss?" Fumio asks as he realizes that him and Red are below a cliff before some sea shore. "We''re somewhere in the southern coast of Chiba." Red says. "Chiba? We were in Hinohara not even five minutes ago!" Fumio processes before his eyes widen in surprise. "Just how fast were we traveling?" He asks. "Mach 2. You handled it quite well." Red reveals. "M-mach 2 twice the speed of sound." Fumio is baffled. "Okay Now let''s see your progress with the water walking." Red orders as he jumps high up in the air, and lands in the chaotic waters of the seashore. Fumio figures that Red wants him to stop acting shocked. "Wha-.. You don''t expect me to So this is what you meant by going for a walk?" His shock is replaced by a feeling of defeat. "What the Walking on a calm lake is already hard!" He cannot help but grumble, but seeing Red already waiting for him on top of the water, he can only follow. After storing his phone and wallet on his storage ring, he too jumps high in the air, before landing a few meters from Red, and manages to stand on the water. Soon however, a gentle wave goes his way making him lose his balance. "AH!" *splash*, he falls face flat on water before sinking quickly. He then dives a bit deeper, puts his legs together, and kicks them at the same time to mimic how dolphins swim. A few seconds later, *swoosh* he shoots out of the water. While on the air, he focuses once again and applies repelling force under his feet before landing on the surface of the water. He manages to stand a few seconds before *Splash* losing his balance once again. This time, he can only take a break and keeps himself afloat for now, to think about what he has done wrong, to make his spiritual energy usage more efficient. He then finds Red still watching him, still standing on the surface of the water, bobbing up and down with the movement of the water. He looks closer at Red''s feet and studies them. A few moments later, he realizes that what Red is doing is not as simple as it looks. Red, seeing that Fumio is getting closer and closer to figuring out the trick, nods. Seen enough?" Red asks. "Yeah. Thanks boss." Fumio smiles in satisfaction. "Good. I''m going somewhere nearby." Red starts to leave. Fumio is no longer surprised by Red always leaving after teaching him something. "How long will it take?" He asks. "An hour in the least, four hours at most." Red says. "Alright. I''ll keep practicing while I wait." Fumio knows what Red wants him to do. Compared to the ''lizard'', the ''water strider'' consumes much less spiritual energy but takes a lot more mental concentration to perform. While he does not have to worry about running out of spiritual energy, he knows that he will be just as exhausted, just mentally. <<<<>>> At the center of a certain private island, lies a square-shaped, two basketball courts sized, one-story building. That building is surrounded by four walls ten meters high and two meters thick. On top of the walls are superiori guards who are all equipped with cutting edge optical devices and are armed with automatic rifles as their main weapon, handguns as their secondary, and a bolo for their melee weapon. They are also wearing Kevlar armor vests. Civilians who would not know any better would simply mistake these guards as a part of the military or armed police. "I see you''re back." "Yeah." On top of one of the walls where the huge gate to the compound is, are two guards of the many guards chatting, having nothing else to do. They are after all forbidden to use their phones, much more the internet. "So, any news from the outside world?" The shorter guard asks. "Nothing much really. Except Kaoru-sama." The taller guard reports. "Oh yeah. I returned from my break a few days after the incident. I heard it was pretty bad." The shorter guard''s interest is piqued. "Yeah. I heard that Kaoru-sama basically had a death sentence. The doctors gave her two days." The taller guard reports. "Oh from the way you talk about her, she''s still alive?" The shorter guard is pleased with the news. "Yeah. It was like a miracle. The day after her admission, she suddenly didn''t need the breathing machines." The taller guard says. "But here''s something strange." He then looks around for eavesdroppers, and finding none, continues. "I know one of the guys guarding her room. One moment he was listening to the elders about what to do with Kaoru-sama, the next moment, they find themselves waking up all at the same time, as if they were knocked out." He whispers. "Hah Right" The shorter guard scoffs in skepticism. "Yeah. And when they looked at Kaoru-sama, her breathing machine was unhooked, and she was fine! Except for the burns, she was sure to live." The taller guard reports further. "Huh" The shorter guard knows that his acquaintance is not the type to joke around the important clan members, so he is getting convinced. "Anyways. You''re on your break again starting next week, right? You can confirm the rumors yourself." The taller guard no longer bothers to explain. "Alright." The shorter guard simply shrugs as he does a once over the surrounding areas. "Hey. That manga you love, by the way. I brought you the new volume." The taller guard says. "Oh. Thanks! I''ll give you the cash later." The shorter guard is pleased. "Nah. Don''t bother. I''m lending you, my copy. I also brought the earlier volumes." The taller guard refuses. "Huh Well, thank you." The shorter guard is pleased. "Wait" He realizes something. "Your copy? You started reading it?" He asks in surprise. "Hell yeah. I was wondering why someone like you would suddenly get interested in a manga. SO I checked it out. Turns out, man it''s like a glimpse at an alternate world." The taller guard reviews the manga. "I know, right?" The shorter guard is happy to meet a fellow K.IWAI fanboy. "Shit. The author claimed that Japan would have continued to wage war against the world with barely any allies. The people would still see the emperor as a god..." He starts rattling off. "I know. It''s crazy, but if all those small events before The Great Harvest, continued, what K.IWAI-san claimed would really have happened." The taller guy supports. "Ohoho.. You''d love the next volume." He cannot wait to discuss with his friend more. "Can you tell me somethin'' bout it?" The shorter guard asks. "Yeah. It''s about World War 1." The two suddenly hear a voice behind them. But before they can turn around, they suddenly feel sluggish and sleepy, and the next moment, *thud**thud* they both fall to the floor. "Sleep tight, my dear fans." Red chuckles as he takes the taller guard''s access card. Red, under his invisibility illusion, enters the building. After descending to the first sub-level floor, *beep**beep* he hears a beep as he passes by a sensor. "Huh They have thermo sensors too?" Red is impressed, and he controls his spirit energy to blend his detectable temperature to the room temperature, before proceeding to walk the hallways. During the past month after saving Kaoru''s life, and finding out that the Nagano Clan has been keeping demons as livestock, Red has been busy with his own cultivation instead of bothering himself with the demons. After all, he has progressed with his Celestial Breathing and he can now cultivate all the hours of the daylight except for the three hours when the sun is at its highest in the sky, and the feeling of devouring spiritual energy gives him great satisfaction. But while casually scouring East Kanto during the previous evening, he felt the aura of tens of demons all gathered in once place. The auras are what led him to this island he is currently infiltrating; the same private island that Kaoru was talking about. From what he can feel with his guts and his spirit sense, the first sublevel contains the weakest of the demons imprisoned in the facility. The deeper the floors go, the more powerful the demons that are trapped are. *Tap* Red stops at the door of the first room of the hallway and caresses the door and the door frame. The door frames are all engraved with runes. *Clack* He then slides open the small slit on the door and peeks inside. Soon, he spots a figure of a naked female human chained up the wall. As he looks closely, he realizes that the chains are engraved with runes. "Nice But overkill." Red nods at the level security the Nagano is placing on what looks like a weak Scamp level demon. "Hmmm." He stops peeking and ponders. Soon, his eyes glisten. "Hmmm experiment sounds like a great idea." Chapter 82 - Experiment "Hmmm experiment sounds like a great idea." Red then taps the access card he stole from the guard against the sensor beside the door of the demon''s cell. *buzzer* To his surprise, the access card was denied and alarms start blaring throughout the facility. "Oops." Red is taken aback. "Haha. I was careless." He can only chuckle as he hears footsteps approach his location. Soon enough, one guard appears in the end of the hallway after climbing a staircase. Red simply steps aside to prevent the man from accidentally bumping into him. The invisibility illusion works its charm and the guard simply runs past Red as if he didn''t even see Red, before climbing up the stairs leading to the main entrance. Half a minute later, "Area clear. Not a single soul." The guard descends as he talks to someone through his in-ear communication device. "Yeah, I''m sure. I got here in under three seconds after the alarm" "Uhuh Yeah, I checked too. He''s on top of the wall, right? Yeah, I saw just saw him." "Man. I don''t know why his access card showed up on the system. System malfunction maybe? You can review the CCTV of the top of the wall and this floor if you have to." "Yeah. So please, shut it off, it''s making my ears ring." And with that, "Thank you." the alarms are turned off and the guard jogs back to his previous post. "Now" Red then sends his spirit sense to the electronic lock and it immediately swims throughout the electronic security system of the facility. The next moment, *beep* he manages to unlock the electronic lock while preventing its activity from registering to the system log. He then inserts his mercury-like spirit energy to the keyhole of the manual lock before snapping it solid. *click* *clack* The lock is picked, and the cell door is finally unlocked, but Red does not open it yet as he had detected with his spirit sense scan that there are two security cameras inside the room. So after simply casting an illusion to the door, he opens it and enters the room confidently. This awakens the chained-up demon and she looks at direction of the door, only to see no one, or nothing. Before she can resume her sleep, [Hello, demon] A relatively tall 40 something year old man, wearing a set of nice kimono appears in her vision and at the same time, hears a voice in her head. She widens her eyes in surprise. [How are you?] The man''s voice rings in her mind once again. She looks at the security cameras warily. [Only you can see and hear me.] The man explains to her, confirming that he is communicating to her mentally. [What are you? An angel?] The demon asks in surprise, in her mind. The man reminds her of the clean and pure aura that angels have, but at the same time, different. [I am but a man.] The man humbly replies. The demon realizes that the man seems to be talking to her without the knowledge of her captors. She also notices that the man is not talking down to her condescendingly, or warily like how the usual human would. This results to her lowering her apprehension. [You don''t seem like one of them] She asks the man. [Because I''m not.] The man responds. [How long have you been here?] He asks. [Two months.] [I see. Interesting. This is the first time I''m meeting a demon of lust.] The man''s assumption surprises her. [If this is the first time you''re meeting a demon like me, how did you guess?] She asks. Red smirks. Through his leading questions, he has already started reading the demon''s surface thoughts and memories. The first thing that the demon tried to do, out of instinct, was to seduce him. But the unfortunately for her, the rune chains are not only sealing her movements but also her powers. [I heard from other demons that demons of lust, if their original bodies are killed, almost always possess good-looking humans.] Red explains. The demon nods at Red''s inference. [How many humans have you killed so far?] Red asks, his question taking the demon aback. [I-I] She does not want to answer but she suddenly feels an overwhelming sense of danger from Red. [I lost count.] She can only answer honestly. [No. I mean since you woke up from your slumber.] Red asks. It is obvious to him that she has killed many people during the Great War. [None.] The demon this time, answers confidently. [Heh-heh.] Red suddenly chuckles after reading the demon''s plight since its awakening. [What''s so funny?] The demon asks in annoyance. [I don''t know if it''s bad luck, or fate playing with you, but It''s amusing. I mean, you just happened to find the perfect host just after a year of waking up, but not even a day later, you got captured.] Red just found out from the memories of the demon that the original owner of the body, willingly gave up her body to the demon after losing her will to live. Unfortunately, while the demon was roaming around happily with her new body, she just happened to enter a giant demon warding talisman on some sidewalk, making the folks of Nagano Clan notice her. She was captured shortly after. [Are you just here to make fun of me?] The demon begrudgingly asks. [Oh. No, no. Of course not. I''m just here to ask if you want to leave this place.] Red asks. [Duh] The demon rolls her eyes. [But you can''t though?] Red smirks. [I can''t. But I know an opportunity will present itself.] The demon says in resolve. [Okay. Say you escape, then what? These people who captured you can easily trace you again. Don''t tell me, you''re going to abandon the body that you have now made your own, and look for another one?] Red asks. [I-] The demon, while having entertained the thought, is not willing to act on it. She would rather wait for an [What were you planning on doing with your new body, by the way?] Red asks another leading question. [I just want to live among humans. That''s all. I know it''s hard to believe.] The demon responds with a sigh. [I believe you.] Red nods, feeling the sincerity in her intentions. [Y-you do? Really?] [Yes. But so, what? You''re going to just continue eating souls.] [I wont! Besides, I don''t need to anymore. This woman was an E Class Superioris. Stronger than I was in my original body. Her soul was enough for me to hit my limit. I just want live in society. It''s the most peaceful time and place I''ve ever witnessed.] The demon explains herself. [After your body grows old, then what? You find another host to possess and take over?] Red asks. [I-uh] The demon hesitates to answer. Red suddenly pulls out his rune tanto and acts like he is examining its blade. The demon feels an unprecedented danger coming from the blade. [Y-Yes There are plenty of potential hosts out there that no human will miss.] She answers honestly out of fear. [I see.] Red stores his tanto back to his storage space. [Wanna try something with me?] He then asks. [W-what? Try escaping?] The demon gets hopeful. [Depends if it succeeds, THEN we can try.] Red offers. [Okay. What do we do?] The demon is trying her best to hide her excitement. [Just stay quiet.] Red orders. Then, he closes his eyes and furthers his spirit sense to reach the demon''s soul and at the same time, he accesses his own soul. With his will, he pulls a very tiny piece of his infinitely large soul and makes a string out of it. He takes the string and slowly guides it to the demon''s soul. Right before the string touches the surface of the demon''s soul, the demon''s soul shakes. Red immediately retreats his string, knowing what had just happened. [*Gasp*] The demon at the same time, felt that it just dodged death. [W-what] She then looks at Red in fear. [It''s fine.] Red chuckles and returns the string to his soul. He just found out that his soul is too strong to enslave the demon''s weak soul forcefully. And a soul, no matter how weak, would try to fight back any attempts. But if a weak soul forcefully fights a soul of Red''s pedigree, it will only dissipate. Red noticed however that the demon''s soul is much stronger than Gin''s due to the years that the demon has lived. ''Maybe tricking her could work?'' [How about serving me?] He offers. [Hah! Serve you?!] The demon guffaws in contempt. Suddenly, *vooommm* she feels that her demon specter is getting forced out of her body. She then feels extreme pain as the runes in the chains start to burn her body. She is about to scream but, [Quiet.], she hears Red''s voice and at the same time she gets a choking feeling, stopping her voice from coming out. Soon, the pulling force on her demon specter disappears, and the runes on the chain also stop their magic. [W-what are you?] The demon looks at Red in fear. [Someone you''re lucky to serve. And someone who is offering you a way out.] This shuts the demon up. [Now. You demons usually convince humans to let welcome you in, and if that don''t work, you force your way in, correct?] Red asks. [T-that''s right.] [I''m doing the same. The only difference is, I''m not trying to possess you. I''m just trying to get you to be my sl*ve.] He explains. The demon is skeptical. [That feeling you got earlier, the feeling of dodging death. That was me trying to ensl*ve you.] [Then why didn''t you?] [If I did, you could have died. Which is a shame. So, if I can''t make you my sl*ve, I can only ask you to be a servant.] The demon at this point is taken aback at why Red is being so civil to her despite his power. [So, by ''serving'' you, what does that mean?] She asks coquettishly as she licks her lips. [Heheh] Red is amused by the attempt. [Anything you''re good at Except for what you''re best at.] He smirks. [You can''t possibly want me to be something like a maidservant?] The demon widens her eyes in realization. [Yes. Or maybe an errand girl. Whatever you''re good at.] Red confirms. The demon''s jaw drops. Red then pulls out something from his pocket. [What''s this?] He asks as he shows it to her. The demon obviously knows that it is a demon''s core in Red''s hand. But as she looks more closely, her eyes widen. [A demon general.] She utters according to what her gut tells her. [The famous Ag''dramos''s, yes.] Red nods, shocking the demon. He does another quick scan of the demon''s surface thoughts and he finds something he can use. [Now. I''m pretty sure that a Scamp like you must have served under a Knight-ranked demon at best. But how about serving someone who is a Demon Lord''s equivalent?] Red says as he casts his Mr. Fool illusion. [Y-You] The demon would run away if she can. After all, she saw the video of Red killing Agdramos easily. [What do you say?] Red asks as he transforms back to his Kichirou disguise. [I-I will serve you] The demon submits out of fear. Red then attempts again to put a string of his soul to the demon''s. Then, just like earlier, the demon''s soul shakes once again, but this time, much much weaker. ''Her soul starts to feel willing'' Red nods at the progress. [No You''re submitting out of fear.] He retreats from the demon''s soul. [You don''t have to be afraid. I killed Ag''dramos because he took too many people''s lives.] He assures, making the demon drop her apprehension. He is lying. If his experimentation does not work, then he would simply kill the demon for her core. [Now, demon.] He takes the demon''s attention back. [As my servant, you will have some freedoms. I''ll give you a salary, accommodation, and vacation days.] He offers. The demon gets excited, but as she is about to say yes, she realizes something. [Hohoho That was close, human. You almost had me. What use is a salary and vacation days if I''m wanted by the clans? Despite your strength, you can''t possibly waste it on protecting someone like me.] She scoffs. [Oh I forgot.] Red casts an illusion copying the appearance of the demon''s body, shocking the demon. [I can give you a new identity and a new appearance.] He adds another benefit. The demon at this point, is breathing heavily. [I-I will serve you] she finally decides. [Good.] Red nods as he again attempts to mark the demon''s soul. The demon''s soul this time, no longer resists as strongly as before, due to the intentions of its owner. Soon enough, the thread from Red''s soul successfully attaches itself to the demon''s. Her soul is now in Red''s mercy. Even so, the demon feels a refreshing sensation wash over her being. It has never felt so good in a very long time. [Rizretheen at your service, Master.] The demon would bow to Red right now if it can. Red smirks in satisfaction at his first soul sl*ve in this realm. His experiment is a resounding success. Chapter 83 - Recruitment [Rizretheen at your service, Master.] Rizretheen is aware that her life is now under Red''s mercy, but strangely, she feels fine with it. While her brain also knows that she was tricked into submitting her life and freedom, she feels fine with it too. [Alright. You''re one step away out of this hellhole C heh C out of this place.] Red jokes as he turns around to leave. [W-where are you going, master?] Rizretheen is afraid of being abandoned. [While I''m more than strong enough to break you out of here right now, I''d rather do it discreetly. Endure a few days more. I''ll be back.] Red commands. [I will wait for you, master.] Rizretheen accepts her situation for now, relying on the hope that Red brought her. Red then proceeds to the room or cell next door and finds a demon of pride. Unlike with Rizretheen, the demon of pride is a lot harder to talk to. [Hah! Serve you?! YOU?! If I had the strength, I wouldn''t be caught dead rubbing shoulders with a human!] Red immediately knows that it is not worth his time so enslave the demon so he simply marks it with a one-sided soul contract, similar to what he has put on Gin, to prevent it from speaking about his visit. While he can kill the demon, he spares it for now as it is the convenient thing to do. Each demon has metallic bands locked on their wrists that monitors their vital signs, and if any of them suddenly die, the security system will be alerted. For the next few hours, he proceeds to talk to the rest of the demons in the floor and the next three ones below; talking to them, acquiring their history, assessing their character, pledging half-true promises, and finally subjugating them. The ones he didn''t find worthy to ensl*ve, he enforced a ''non-disclosure'' soul contract on them. After ''speaking'' with 31 demons, he stops to count his harvest. In total, he now has 9 demon sl*ves. 1 Scamp-rank one which is Rizretheen, and 8 Soldier-rank ones. He could have subjugated more, but these nine demons are who he likes the best. Just as he suspected, the more powerful the demon is, the stronger their souls are. Therefore, the stronger the demon is, the less cordial he has to be in enslaving them. *tap* Red steps to the third sublevel floor where the Knight-rank demons are imprisoned, and his excitement increases. He steps into the first room of the floor to talk to the first Knight-rank demon he is meeting. The facility''s assessment of this demon in front of him is someone who has the strength of a bottom-feeder A-rank, if that is so, then it is the strongest demon he has met aside from Ag''dramos who was equivalent to a mid-tier A-Class. [Hello, buddy.] Red shows himself to the demon. "Oh? You look new." Contrary to the other demons, the demon in front of Red seems too relaxed for its situation. The demon is currently possessing a balding man in his late 40s, borderline obese with a big belly, looking like some middle manager of some company. It is also not chained up the wall unlike the others, and is simply lounging on a bed lazily. It even has its own TV in its room. [I''m not. I''m trespassing. We can converse mentally.] Red comes clean, feeling the lack of care in the demon. [Hm? Nice.] The demon''s sleepy eyes become alert in interest immediately. [Yeah.] Red nods. [So. You seem to have made yourself at home here. You should see the others'' rooms.] He says. [Well, what can I say? They''re not as cooperative as me.] The demon shrugs. [Huh Still. Being captured like this. I''d expect some signs of defiance in you at least.] Red shakes his head. [Heh. When I was outside, I had to work in an office. Had to swallow the bosses'' bullying just to afford food and house. Here? Free food and free housing.] The demon smirks. [Uhuh You don''t seem stupid, but I just have to ask. You know that they''re just fattening you up for slaughter, right?] Red asks. [Yeah? So?] The demon asks dismissively. [So?] Red, for the first time in this realm, is taken aback. [Meh. I''m not eating the souls of the people they offer anyways.] The demon shrugs. [Why?] Red asks. [To make my stay here longer of course.] The demon says. [Well, why? How so?] Red is getting more interested in the demon. [The more I eat souls, the stronger I become. The stronger I become, the better my demon core becomes. And when I reach my limit, they harvest it. All I have to do is to do the opposite of that.] The demon says. [Huh. They don''t force it on you?] Red asks. [Nah. Even if they will, they can''t force me to digest it. My core will still be as shitty. Heh~] The demon chuckles smugly. [I see. They won''t be crazy enough to pump your ''stomach'' full of souls to further force you to digest them because that''ll only be a waste.] Red nods. [Heh. Precisely. I''ll just enjoy my time here ''til they lose patience with me. If they decide to kill me, then, hey] The demon shrugs. [Huh You don''t want to live to see the day the hell ascends again?] Red asks. [Yeah. I don''t care. I''ve lived long enough. And if hell ascends, my Lord will force me to fight again, when all I want is to just sleep. And death eternal sleep ain''t that the dream?] The demon starts daydreaming. Red is amused at the odd demon. [So, you must be a demon of sloth.] Red says. [I am.] The demon confirms. [Well, isn''t wishing for death just so you can sleep a bit too much? Even for a demon of sloth.] Red says. [Well. Others from my species might agree with you.] The demon shrugs. [I see. But why? Aren''t you interested in doing other things? In fighting against angels?] Red asks. [Nope. I know how it''ll end up anyways. If demons win, then, yeah, sure, cool. If angels win, then, whatever, I don''t care.] The demon yawns. [Well, why not just put yourself to the eternal sleep you long for?] Red asks. [I would if I could. I don''t know why but no demon can commit suicide.] The demon says. [Interesting.] Red nods. [What if humans win?] He asks. [Pfff] The demon scoffs. [Well, what if it''s possible?] Red asks. [Yeah. Yeah. I''d exchange my sleep to see that.] The demon waves his hand dismissively. [I mean. I''m not a superioris, but I''m as strong as an S-Class superioris.] Red reveals. [What?] The demon is surprised, but soon, his contempt returns. [Yeah. You heard about Ag''dramos''s death?] Red asks. [Uhuh. I''ve seen it on TV.] The demon nods. Suddenly, its eyes widen in surprise as Red suddenly transforms to Mr. Fool. [Whoah] After the surprise, is awe. [Well, who do we have here?] And after the awe, is interest. Red nods in satisfaction at the absence of fear from the demon. [But come on. Unless you''re a demon or an angel, no way you''re not a superioris.] The demon goes back to the subject of the conversation. Red then pulls out a superioris detection talisman from his storage space and hands it to the demon. [You know what that is?] Red asks. [Uhuh.] The demon bites its finger, drawing blood, and smears the blood on the paper. The talisman lights up with a yellow light shortly, before the paper crumples. [Huh. Your host is still alive?] Red asks. He was too absorbed in talking with the demon that he did not use his spirit sense. [Yeah. But barely hanging in there. The guy didn''t know I was sleeping inside him until he got caught by the Nagano. They tortured him and when he was almost dying, I was forced to wake up.] The demon recounts. [Huh. Poor guy.] Red smirks. [Meh.] The demon is indifferent as he tosses the crumpled talisman to the trashcan. [So. What was the point of that?] It asks Red. [I was the one who was supposed to use it.] Red shakes his head as he pulls out another talisman. This time, he opens a wound on his hand and drops it on the talisman. The two then wait, but after a few seconds, nothing is happening. [What?] The demon then snatches the talisman away and smears its host''s blood on it once again. Then, the talisman lights up. The demon is in shock as it looks at Red more closely. [You''re really not a superioris.] It asks. [I''m not.] Red confirms. [What are you then? A Cambion? A Nephilim?] The demon asks, starting to get scared of Red''s identity. [Human!] Red scoffs, just thinking about a human giving birth to a hybrid of an abomination like a demon disgusts him. [A Cambion? Nephilim? How does that even make sense?] He adds in hidden disdain. The demon''s head spins at Red''s denial. "It makes more sense than you being a NORMAL HUMAN!" The demon cannot help but yell out using his voice. [Hey, hey. You''ll alert them] Red calms the demon down by using his bloody aura. [*Choke* *choke* Okay Okay. Chill out.] The demon, being naturally calm in the first place, easily calms down. Red retreats his bloody aura too. [Okay. I felt you could have killed me. With your strength, it should be beneath you to mess with me That means You''re really a normal human?] The demon asks. [I really am.] Red nods. [And I''m training more people just like me. They''re growing stronger and maybe after a decade or two, the weakest of them can go toe to toe against the Generals, maybe even some Lords.] [Damn I have to see that.] The demon''s eyes glimmer. [That''s something I really want to see.] And its body shakes in excitement. [Yeah. I can break you out of here, and give you front-row seats to watch my project.] Red says. [What''s the catch?] The demon asks. [Be my slave.] Red decides to be honest with the demon as he likes its attitude. [Okay... Sure.] The demon scoffs with sarcasm. [Really. Are you willing?] Red asks. [I''m willing.] While the demon is skeptical, it still is hoping to work for Red. Then, Red easily marks a sl*ve contract on the demon. He finds it ironic that the strongest demon he has come across so far in the facility, was the easiest one to subjugate. He contributes it to the willingness of the demon, and the demon''s old and strong soul that is less fragile than others''. [Sorry for the late introduction, master. I''m Tezguniuth.] Tezguniuth, while still rudely sitting on his bed, introduces himself and nods to Red. With his gut feeling and his rational thinking, he is pleased with the new arrangement. [Nice to meet you, Tezguniuth.] Red nods in return. [Okay. Can you tell me about the two other knights in this floor?] He proceeds to gather information. [Okay. I don''t know much about them really. They have put measures to prevent us from talking to each other. [But I heard that one of them is a demon of envy that took over the body of politician. The other is a demon of wrath that possessed some a Superioris police officer. I don''t know if that''s gonna be helpful.] [How about that one below this floor?] Red asks, referring to the demon that Kaoru fought. [Oh. That guy. Even though he looks different because of his human host, I recognize him from his demeanor. It''s General Xoz''gekal. A demon of wrath. Even though he had less notoriety than General Ag''dramos, I think he''s stronger.] Tezguniuth recalls. [I see. Well then. I''ll go check them out. Please endure a few days more here. I''ll come take you out.] Red promises. [Take your time, master. All I have to do is to take a nap..] Tezguniuth bids Red farewell. Chapter 84 - Recruitment 2 The big room, with its plain white floors, walls, and ceiling is slowly but surely draining his sanity. Even the wards in the room that are keeping him, are lacquered white, almost blending them to the color of the room. He does not know how long it has been since his capture. If it weren''t for the food and souls that are delivered to him through a trapdoor from the ceiling of his room at a clockwork-like schedule, he would have totally lost his sense of time. He has almost given up in trying to escape. Even though he has been devouring the souls given to him by his captors, it only provides him with very little hope as he knows how strong the superiori have become. He figures that a person, or a group of people that can afford to imprison him in a fine facility like this, are powerful superiori. Early in his captivity, he thought that the humans will not be able to make him submit and crack. He has fought battles in hell, got captured, and endured painful tortures for years at a time. But out of his expectations, the humans deferred from physical torture, and instead resorted to isolating him in a bright, white blank, and silent room. He has tried to sing and shout to relieve his boredom, but that lost its effect after only a few days. He tried to draw on the walls and floors using the utensils from his food trays, but his captors replaced them with white plastic and white Styrofoam. He tried using his blood, but his captors would simply gas him unconscious, and waking back up to find a clean and repainted room. No matter how much he gets angry, or tried to resist, his captors have very indifferent attitude towards him, something that he thought would not get to him. Even when he tried to kill the young superioris girl a month ago, he still was not granted the only way out he was hoping; death. He never would have thought that he would see death as hope, but his captors have successfully suppressed him, and even his fiery nature, something that is an innate part of him, is neutralized. ''hahAHaha'' ''Xoz''gekal, my friend. I''ve come to visit.'' He does not know when it began, but every now and then, he hears giggles of his daughter, or the greetings of his closest friends. He would love to immerse in them but ultimately, he knows that they are just day dreams, figments of his imagination from the loneliness and intense boredom brought upon by the white, bright room. Suddenly, *clack* there is a movement in his empty world. The door of his room, one that is not inferior to the average bank vault''s door, gets unlocked and is silently pushed open. He raises his brows seeing no one. He would try to dash to the door, but he cannot even hope to reach it, not with the talismans and sigils painted on the ceiling and the floor. Soon however, the vault door closes back up, breaking his heart. Suddenly, a man in a fancy formal kimono appears in front of him, startling him. "Interesting. Why wouldn''t they put a security camera here?" The man scrutinizes his room without even giving him a sign of acknowledgement. Had it been his earlier self, he would have lashed out. But now, he knows that doing so is pointless even if he kills the man in front of him. Then, to his surprise, the man steps inside the range of the talismans, meaning the man is now at his mercy. "Xoz''gekal. What happened to you? The knights from the floor above told me you were feared during the Great War, and here you are, all tamed." The man''s words annoy him. "What do you want?" He asks as he approaches to intimidate the man. "Let me show you something." The man pulls out what he recognizes a demon core. But looking more closely at the core, his eyes widen. "Ag''Dramos." He cannot help but mutter. "Oh? You recognize who it belonged to just by how it looks?" The man seems to be impressed with him. "I know how Ag''Dramos smells" He takes a deep breath, feeling a bit sad for a comrade. "So. You folks are trying intimidation now?" He asks with a scoff, getting over his feeling of loss quickly. Finally, someone is here to break his boredom, and that someone does not seem to have an idea that speaking to him is better than just leaving him alone. "No. I just want to talk to you, buddy." The man''s words surprises him, but the man''s use of ''buddy'' as if they are friends sounds eerie to him. Suddenly, he realizes something. "You- You''re speaking our language" He is taken aback even further by the man''s fluency with the demon language, even though he feels that the man is human. "What? You speak human languages just fine. Why can''t I?" The man shrugs. "Benefits of possessing humans." He responds. "But you... Why have you even bothered to learn our language? And... Who are you?" He is now more than interested in the man. "Someone who is torn between breaking you out of here, or just leaving you after a short chat." Red reveals his intentions. "W-what the. What?" Xoz''gekal is confused. "How were you captured, by the way? I heard that you''re one of the strongest generals during the great war." Red asks instead of answering, taking the demon out of his confusion. "Y-yeah They happened to capture me when I just took over the body of this host." Xoz''gekal starts. "My strength back then wasn''t even at a Knight''s level, so I was powerless Wait" he immediately notices how easy the man is pulling out information from him. "Damn. I must have been very lonely. I think I''m oversharing even to a human like you." He almost groans. "You must have been." Red nods. "What day is it?" The demon asks. "September 7, 2021." Red says. "Shit It''s only been four years?" Xoz''gekal is shocked. "Only?" Red figures that the demon is very old. "Yeah. I was tortured once. Took the Lord I once served, seven or eight human decades to make me submit to him But here. I''m starting to lose my mind after only four years of isolation." Xoz''gekal explains. "A-hah, well." Red smirks. "Humans do know a thing or two about breaking their enemies down." "That, they do... They fucking do..." Xoz''gekal readily admits, but his body starts to tremble out of anger. "Uhuh. So want to get out of here?" Red offers. While he senses that the demon has a lot of anger for the humans in this facility, it does not hold hatred towards humanity. At worst, it feels disdain towards humans. "Why would you do that?" Xoz''gekal asks warily. "I find you useful. Instead of letting you rot here, serving me would be a better alternative, no?" Red offers. "Serving a human" Xoz''gekal''s years'' worth of suppressed anger explodes and he jumps at Red. *SLAP* But the next moment, to his surprise, he finds himself hugging the floor. He feels dizzy, and an intense stinging pain on his face. He looks at Red and sees that Red''s hand outstretched to his direction, making him realize that he indeed, was just slapped to the floor. "W-what" Despite his disbelief, his anger still has not subsided and it fuels him to stand up. "Let''s not resort to violence, shall we?" Red says as he flares his killing aura. "*kkk**kkk*" Xoz''gekal cannot help but kneel at the pressure he is feeling, and hold his throat with one hand to try to resist the choking feeling. He then raises his palm towards Red with great difficulty, and releases a torrent of blue flame. Red smirks as he simply strips his clothes off and lets his body bathe in the blue flames. Then, he circulates his spiritual energy quickly throughout his skin. He wants to try if Xoz''gekal''s flames are suitable for him to use to further temper his skin. After feeling the burn for a few seconds, he is pleased to find out that the flames indeed suitable. The flames are do not hungrily consume, but hungrily persist. A perfect type of flame for skin tempering. Xoz''gekal, feeling the pressure and choking feeling gone, stops his flames. Then, his eyes widen in surprise to find that Red is stark naked, and that Red''s skin looks very smooth and unblemished, unaffected by his flames. "Oh? Why''d you stop?" Red says, making Xoz''gekal''s jaw drop. "Well. That burnt a little. You''re more useful than I thought." He continues to say as he puts his kimono back on. Xoz''gekal''s anger at this point, has evaporated. His mind runs and he suspects that the man in front of him can possibly be at the level of the strongest Demon Generals, or maybe even as strong as some weak Demon Lords. As he knows that even Demon Lords would not dare to face his flames with their bare skin. Xoz''gekal tries to make an estimation of his peak self, his self when he was still in his original body, if he can give Red a fight, but he immediately figures that even his peak self can not hope to resist Red for even a little. "Ready to hear me out now?" To his relief, Red does not seem to be angered or even annoyed. Red''s confidence and tolerance to simply brush his attack aside, makes him sigh in defeat. "What do you want?" Xoz''gekal asks as he stands up. "Like I said. I want you to serve me." Red proposes. "Okay And what makes you different from the people here?" Xoz''gekal asks. "Oh. Great difference. With me, you can have a new identity, you can roam around everywhere as long as you''re careful of sigils and talismans." Red says. "Okay. And what makes you think I won''t even try to resist, or attempt to escape from you if you offer me that freedom?" Xoz''gekal scoffs. While he fears at Red''s strength, he is not impressed by Red''s blind confidence in holding him down. "I have my ways to make sure you won''t do that." Red says. "So. What do you say?" He asks. "I will. Sure. But" Xoz''gekal readily admits, but swallows his next words. He hopes that the man in front of him is arrogant enough to be careless, allowing him a chance to escape. Suddenly, Red disappears from his sight, and the next moment, he is already in front of him. His eyes widen as Red holds him down with pure strength. Then, he feels his world shake, and something inside of him changes. He does not know what, but he is sure that something has changed. "Kneel, Xoz''gekal." He hears Red command, and without second thought, he follows it. He does not know why, but he feels that this man in front of him is worthy, nay, an honor for him to serve. Even more worthy than the previous Demon Lords he served before. "Good. Wait a day or two. I''ll come back for you." Red further instructs, surprising Xoz''gekal. "My Lord, you can just remove the talismans and sigils from this room. I can tell you how." Xoz''gekal wants to leave and go with Red immediately. "I already know how, Xoz''gekal. Just wait for me here. And trust me, we can get out of here without fighting anyone." Red says, and with that, he leaves, leaving the dumbfounded Xoz''gekal behind. <> Chapter 85 - A Dinner With Fumio 6 PM "99 100! Yes!... 101, 102, 103" Fumio gets excited after surpassing one hundred seconds standing and walking on the surface of the chaotic sea water after four hours of water walking practice. His excitement cost him however, and *SPLASH* he loses his control and falls in the water once again. *splash* He resurfaces on the with a smile, and lets himself float, satisfied with his progress. "Alright. That''s enough for the day." He decides to stop his water walking training as he is already feeling a huge headache coming, which he attributes to the mental drain from four straight hours of concentration and focus. After reaching the shore, he activates the drying function of his kimono, and the water soaking him is flicked off of his body. "Phew Looks like boss won''t be here anytime soon." He then pulls out his phone and looks up where he currently is. "Nice." He is pleased to find that a tiny town center is just two hundred meters away from the cliff above him. Soon, he reaches the town center and immediately enters the first restaurant he finds, deciding an early dinner. He is famished and it also has been a while since he indulged himself with delicious food. The restaurant he is currently at, has few reviews but all of them rated it at least four stars so he figures it could not be that bad. After ordering his food, he settles himself at one of the outdoor tables of the restaurant to have a view of the sea, and the sun that is around an hour away from setting. While waiting for his food, "Young patron, may I join you? Spare me a few minutes of your time?", a fifty something year-old Zen Buddhist monk stops by his table. "What can I do for you, sir?" Fumio hides his annoyance at the intrusion and decides to be polite. While he knows that the gods of humanity never existed, organizations like the Western Church, Shinto Orders, Buddhist Sects, or Islam, still preach morality to people. If they are not around, Fumio figures that the world will be chaotic and heartless. Fumio respects people like this monk in front of him as they are doing what is supposed to be God''s work with minimum compensation. "You know that demons are coming back, right?" The monk asks as soon as he sits down. "Yes, sir." Fumio nods. "Young patron, what they didn''t tell us is that demons have been around for decades now. And demonic possessions are more common than one might think. People need protection from them, wouldn''t you agree?" The monk asks. "Absolutely." Fumio is now more accommodating of the monk, and interested to have a conversation about demons. "One of the ways to do that is to always have a talisman with you." The monk gets to the point. "May I ask for one from you?" Fumio realizes that even though he is now as strong as a B-Class superioris, he is not sure if he can protect himself from demonic possessions. "Yes. I can give you one for free. But you see, my temple is suffering greatly these past few decades" The monk dances around his purpose. "I get it. I''ll give you a donation." Fumio is more than comfortable sparing the monk some. He has earned a lot from being the new ''Master'' of Muscle Master in the past three months, but he did not find the time to spend some of it. "But first I have some questions." "Please, young patron." The monk gets ready. "Say How do I know if someone is possessed?" Fumio asks. "You will know with demon-warding magic of course." The monk readily replies. "Okay. Talismans, sigils, wards, sure But, what if those aren''t available?" Fumio asks. "Well" The monk winces at the question. . Fumio chuckles, finding the monk transparent. "Come on, sir. You know something." He takes out a two-thousand-yen note and slides it to the monk. "I-" The monk shakes his head. "There''s more of that where it came from." Fumio smirks. "Come on. From human to human. We shouldn''t keep things from each other regarding enemies, no?" He asks. "And, please. Accept my donation. It''s an honest, hard-earned money." He adds. The monk sighs as he takes it. "Okay. According to the historic texts from our temple and from our Shinto brothers" "You share texts with Shinto priests?" Fumio is surprised. "We might hold different philosophies, but we do share the same mission; being the moral compass of this godless, faithless world. All the different ''religious'' orders do interact often, so we share historic accounts." The monk explains. "I see." Fumio understands. "Anyways. Did you know that a demon that possesses its human host will have access to the host''s memories?" The monk asks. "Yes. I heard. They can act just like their hosts. That''s why I''m asking you about how to tell apart the real person from the demon." Fumio nods, having heard from Sayuri that the possessed Hideki did not act any different from the original Hideki. "Yes. But while demons can do that, there are other signs in their behavior, depending on the nature of that demon." The monk explains. "Nature?" Fumio leans forward, interested. "Yes. Demons of Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Wrath, Envy, and Sloth. Regardless of how good an actor the demon is, they cannot hide their nature." The monk cites. "Seven types of demons I''ve heard of it." Fumio nods. "So that means Let''s say a friend starts a habit of excessive indulgence in food all of a sudden, it''s likely that, that friend is possessed by a demon of gluttony." He makes what he heard about Hideki from Sayuri, as an example. "Exactly. But it''s not reliable. Talismans and sigils are still the answer." The monk says. "True." Fumio agrees. "I really have to know a person to even be sure." "That''s right. And not only know them, but know them very well, know their true self. What if a friend of yours act differently from their real self when they''re with you? How would you know?" The monk shrugs. "Yeah." Fumio smiles bitterly, feeling it a shame. "Well. Are there any more ways?" He asks. "I''m afraid I don''t know anything else." The monk is honest this time. "Very well." Fumio nods in acceptance. "I''d love a talisman from you, monk." He is about to pull out more money, but someone suddenly appears and stops his arm from doing so. That someone''s sudden appearance startles Fumio and the monk. "I''ll donate on your behalf, Fumio." Red says. "Here you go, monk. May I speak with my friend?" He then hands the monk two bills. "Thank you for your generosi- Wha-?!" The monk thought he just received two thousand yen at least, but he is shocked to see two 50,000-yen bills. "I''ll make talismans for each of you right away!" The monk excitedly vacates his seat for Red, afraid that the donation will be taken back. "We don''t need it, monk." Red shows the monk a sigil tattooed on his clavicle, or the illusion of one. "O-oh Well. You already have a protection?" The monk does not recognize the symbols on the sigil, but he figures it is an anti-demon seal, similar to his talismans. "Yes. And so does my friend here." Red points at Fumio. "I see... Have a nice day. Thank you for your generosity, patrons." The monk is smart enough that he is being shooed away, so he bids his farewell. "Uhhh, boss I don''t have a talisman?" Fumio looks at Red weirdly. "I''ll tattoo you one later." Red promises. "Alright." Fumio is excited. "So, boss. Where''d you go this afternoon?" "Recruiting." Red simply shrugs. "How about you? Looks like you improved your control. It''s almost unnoticeable, but there seems to be less spiritual energy leaking from your body." He proceeds to ask about Fumio''s training. "Boss. Heh" Fumio smirks proudly. "I managed to ''water stride'' a hundred consecutive seconds." He reports. "Good. Good." <> "Here you go sir." The owner of the restaurant herself serves Red and Fumio''s food personally, with a waiter. "Sorry, you had to close the rest of the restaurant." Red nods at the owner. "No. Instead, We thank you for dining, here, sir. Your order is two days worth of sales." The owner waves Red''s apology. "Just wave us over when you''re ready for the rest of your food." She bows before leaving Red and Fumio alone. "Uhh Boss. You starvin''?" Fumio cannot believe the amount of food Red ordered as he looks at the staff inside the restaurant busily cooking the rest of the food that Red ordered. "Yeah." Red simply nods with a smirk as he starts digging in. *SLUUURRPPP* Fumio''s eyes widen as he watches Red slurp all of the noodles in a bowl of ramen in one inhale. "What the Boss. You okay? Slow down." He asks, but in his head, alarms are blaring. "Just eat your food." Red says before refilling his bowl with the side of noodles. Fumio does so, but in the corner of his eyes, he is watching Red closely. From Red''s current actions, he suspects that Red is being possessed by a demon of gluttony. "Heh" Red suddenly chuckles. "I heard your conversation with the monk, and I know what you''re thinking. I''m not possessed." "What? Of course not, boss. I just never saw you eat this much before, that''s all." Fumio proceeds pick up his noodles using chopsticks with his right hand. But while doing so, he casually puts his left hand under the table, activates his storage ring and pulls out his rune sword from his storage ring. "I like to indulge myself sometimes." Red shrugs as he continues to eat. But in his mind, he smirks, waiting for whatever Fumio is planning to do. Fumio sneakily applies spirit energy to his limbs, core muscles, and his runic sword, then *stab* quickly thrusts his weapon to Red''s thigh at an incredible speed. "Ouch." Red feels the sharp blade dig into his thigh by half a centimeter and smirks at Fumio. Fumio misinterprets Red''s smirk as being smug and he pulls the blade back before stabbing once again, this time upwards, cutting through the table, and to Red''s abdomen. "Ouch again." Red feels the sharp blade dig into his abdomen, but only managing to cut through his skin, his abdominal muscles stopping the blade from digging any further. "Oh come on." He almost laughs at the situation. "Put away the blade. You''re embarrassing yourself." "I-it''s not working." Fumio''s eyes widen in fear. "Because I''m not possessed." Red shrugs. "OWNER-SAN!" Red suddenly calls for the owner. "Yes, yes! Dear customer?" The owner immediately attends to him. "That monk earlier, does he come by here often?" Red asks. "Yes. He would ask for alms, and make talismans for our guests. In fact, he gave me and my employees talismans. He warded our restaurant too." The owner explains. "What''s the range of the warding?" Red asks. "The entire restaurant. It covers your table too, according to him." The owner says. "See? I wouldn''t have been able to come in." Red says to Fumio. "O-owner, do you think the monk earlier is legit?" Fumio asks the owner, still wary of Red. "Yes. I saw him from time to time at the local temple with the other monks. Seems to be a high ranking one." The owner confirms. This makes Fumio drop his apprehension. "Owner-san. I apologize for the table. This kid thought I was possessed, so he stabbed me with his anti-demon sword." Red apologizes as he points at the table and Fumio''s sword. "W-wha?" The owner''s head spins, but decides to not question the guests. Guests who she figures are strong superiori. "We''ll compensate for the table, of course." Red pulls her out of her daze. "Y-yes. Okay." The owner can only say before going back inside. "PHEW" Fumio sighs in relief. "But why would you have to stuff yourself with food today of all days?" "Nah. Why did you have to meet that monk of all days?" Red throws back. "Huh Bad coincidence, I guess?" Fumio can only shake his head. "Yeah. Whatever. Just eat.." Red simply goes back to his feast. Chapter 86 - Adverse Reactions, Progress, Robbery "Anyways, boss. Do you indulge yourself with real food like this from time to time?" Fumio strangely feels honored seeing Red''s seemingly odd human action of gluttony. "Not really. I just have something to celebrate today." Red lies. "Celebration?" Fumio''s curiosity is piqued. "Yeah. None of your business for now." Red smirks. "Whatever, boss." Fumio is disappointed. "Yeah. Anyways. Wanna stay here for a few days? The shore under the cliff is isolated, perfect for your water walking training. If you manage to feel out more tricks, you can traverse the water for hours at a time, just like how comfortable you are in walking a calm lake." Red suggests. "Okay. Sure boss. Your spiritual gathering plates are in my storage ring, so I''ll cultivate later tonight there too." Fumio nods, hungry for progress. "I''ll book a nearby hotel for the both of us." He then pulls out his phone to look. "Sounds good." Red approves. Red, after subjugating 1 Scamp-rank demon which is Rizretheen, 8 Soldier-rank demons, 2 Knight-rank which include Tezguniuth, and the General-rank demon Xoz''gekal, all 11 demons in total, his body is a bit in a mess. The reason why he asked his new minions for a few days is because the moment he subjugated Rizretheen, he already feels the side effects of it. Side effects that did not affect his soul, but instead manifested in his body. Effects that he figures will take him days to recover from. Even though food will not solve his problem with his body, he figures that eating delicious food and letting loose will help him to calm down. Another effect he did not expect from his abuse of his soul techniques, is his reduced control over his spirit sense. He would either access too little of it, or too strong of it. He will have to see how long the effect will last. <><><> Hinohara - Three days later Yoshiko is currently in her front yard, doing a set of karate kata taught to her by Red. While her movements do not look strong, they are still strong enough to make the sleeves of her training kimono,*fwoo* *fwoo* *fwoo* produce satisfying sounds. A few more snappy movements later, "Huuuu" she stops and takes a deep breath, and "HAH!" she yells as she throws three consecutive punches. This concludes her kata practice for the morning. "Ooohhh.. scary" Her neighbor Gin, sitting at his second-floor terrace from above, heckles her. "Good morning, Gin-san." Yoshiko greets the man, already used to the man''s teasing remarks. "Good morning, Yoshiko-chan. Coffee?" Gin offers just as courtesy as he sips on his mug, knowing that Yoshiko will refuse anyway. "No, thank you." Yoshiko refuses. "I thought this was gonna be only a short-term interest, I didn''t think you''d persist doing kata every morning for two weeks." Gin asks as he drains the remaining coffee in his mug. "And why would you think that, Gin-san?" Yoshiko and Gin are startled by Kotone jumping down from Gin''s rooftop, to Gin''s terrace, joining him at his outdoor table. "She just seemed the gentle school-teacher type to me." Gin shrugs as he recovers. "Good morning, Kotone-chan!" Yoshiko greets Kotone. The two no longer find it odd to see Kotone, Fumio, or Red jumping around high places. "Good morning, Yoshiko-chan." Kotone returns the woman''s greeting. "Coffee?" Gin offers, genuinely. "No thanks. I''ve quit." Kotone refuses. Gin scrunches his brows in amusement. "It''s not like it''s cigarettes." He mumbles. Yoshiko meanwhile, takes her attention back to herself, executing the Basic Breathing Technique to recover. "How about you, Gin-san? Not interested in learning self-defense?" Kotone asks Gin. "Nah. What''s the point?" Gin shakes his head. "Instead. I have to build up my strength. I noticed that the kids have gotten very strong recently. It''s hard to keep them in line whenever I bring them out." He sighs. "Yeah?" Kotone smirks. The children indeed, after just two months of practicing the 16 poses, adding their very nutritious diet, have grown taller and stronger. "Huuuu" Kotone then notices that Yoshiko seems done with her morning exercise and is about to enter her house. "Yoshiko-chan" She then joins Yoshiko at Yoshiko''s doorstep. "Here you go." She pulls out a small corked glass bottle containing a diluted version of Red''s special milkshake from her storage ring, and hands it to Yoshiko. "Hm? What''s this?" Yoshiko asks as she studies the beautifully crafted bottle. "Protein milkshake. Helps with the hunger." Kotone introduces the substance. "What? How''d you know?" Yoshiko is surprised. She indeed in the past two weeks, found her usual intake of food inadequate. "Because I''ve been there. The dieting, controlling your food intake? You no longer need it. The sudden increase in physical activity makes your body demand more food instead." Kotone explains. "I see. Thank you then." Yoshiko nods before proceeding to uncork the bottle and chugging its contents. "Uhuh. It''s better to be fit and healthy than staying skinny and starving all the time." Kotone advices. "*gulp* Of course." Yoshiko accepts the advice as she steals a glance at Kotone''s figure hidden under kimono. "Ahh That was heavy, but delicious." She is done drinking the milkshake, and just notices the delicious aftertaste. "I''ll take the bottle." Kotone asks for the bottle, satisfied with Yoshiko''s reaction. "No, no. I''ll wash it first. Come in." Yoshiko refuses as she leads the way inside her house. "No. I have a special way of washing it." Kotone says as she follows inside. "Special way?" Yoshiko''s brows rise. "Yeah." Kotone snatches the bottle before storing it again in her ring. "Instead. Why don''t you show me your arms?" She asks. "Okay?" Yoshiko is confused but she folds the sleeves of her training kimono nonetheless. Kotone, under the guise of gently massaging Yoshiko''s muscles, sneakily activates her spiritual energy and infuses it to the Spiritual Energy Storage Seal connected to Yoshiko''s Resistance Seals. A minute later, she frowns. ''Just how much do you need?'' She complains internally as Yoshiko''s Spiritual Energy Storage Seal is still hungrily eating her spiritual energy. Two weeks ago, Yoshiko completed her training in the basic poses, having achieved one breathing cycles in each of the 16 poses. Her achievement unnerved Fumio and Kotone. After all, Yoshiko only took one and half months to do so; only half the time Fumio and Kotone completed their first breathing cycles. After Yoshiko completed her first steps in training, Red was satisfied and immediately carved Resistance Seals on her, without her knowledge. Kotone also witnessed the entire process of Red applying Yoshiko''s Resistance Seals. Red fusing silver threads to Yoshiko''s skin, making use of them to draw the seals, was a very memorable scene for her. "Where''s Kichirou-san by the way? He hasn''t been around for three days. He usually shows himself every day or every other day." Yoshiko asks. "He said he''s busy with something." Kotone passes Red''s excuse. Last night, Red tasked her to refill the Spiritual Energy Storage Seal supplying Yoshiko''s Resistance seals. From Red, she found out that Yoshiko''s resistance seals, just like her advanced ones, also require manual refilling of energy. But Yoshiko, not having access to spiritual energy, therefore not able to refill her own seals, has Red refilling it for her. Another minute later, "Done You''re good." Kotone is done refilling Yoshiko''s seal, trying her best not to curse at spending three quarters of her elixir sea. She cannot wait to go back in the gardens to continue cultivating, to refill her elixir sea as soon as possible. <><><> Chiba City, Nagano Compound. Five one thousand-kilogram weights are currently levitating three meters above the ground. Suddenly, *slam* *slam* *slam* the weights are dropped, causing a shake in the combat room, and cracks on the clay ground. "One minute. Very good, Kaoru" An 80 something year-old man, looking two decades younger than his age, and looking immaculate in his brown colored kimono, nods in well-hidden satisfaction at his granddaughter. "Thank you, grandfather." Kaoru, without much enthusiasm, accepts her grandfather''s appreciation. "" Nagano Sora, the current Clan Head of the Nagano, despite his calm demeanor, is troubled in his heart looking at the current state of his granddaughter. The once beautiful Kaoru wrapped herself up in bandages to hide the burn scars throughout her body. Her once lively and cheerful nature has changed to an almost unemotional one. His only consolation of the incident, though he can only bitterly accept it, is Kaoru''s drastic increase in control of her abilities. "Grandfather, what''s wrong?" Kaoru asks. "Nothing, my dear." Sora shakes his head. "Kaoru. Are you sure you don''t want to undergo reconstructive surgery?" He asks. "No, grandfather." Kaoru coldly refuses. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Suddenly, someone starts banging on the metal doors of the combat room. Sora, with a flick of his will, pulls open the heavy doors with his telepathy. "What is it?" He asks as some attendant frantically rushes inside. "Sora-sama! The island! It''s being attacked!" The attendant reports. "What''s there to worry? Unless someone is at my level, they won''t dare intrude." Sora frowns at his attendant''s overreaction. "I-uhhh Sora-sama, it was a legitimate distress call. So the head guard must have thought that the threat must be at your level." The attendant reports. "WHAT?" Sora''s ever calm attitude cracks. He immediately acts and levitates himself to fly. As he is about to fly off the combat room''s doors, "Grandfather. May I come along?" Kaoru asks as she too, flies to follow her grandfather. "No. It''s dangerous." Sora immediately refuses. "I''ll be on the side. I''m strong enough to just watch." Sora, seeing the fire in Kaoru''s eyes, bites the bullet and nods. "Fine. But promise you''ll just watch." He puts his arm around Kaoru, holding her firmly. "I promise, grandfather." <> Fifteen minutes later, the grandfather and granddaughter pair arrive at the Nagano''s demon prison 90 kilometers away from the Nagano Compound. Sora, who was preparing to fight, is dumbfounded, looking at the scene from above. The building below now has a huge hole at its center. The twenty or so armed guards on top of the walls are all lying down unconscious. He also notices that the place is quieter than usual, even with the guards down. "Stay here. If something happens, hide." He orders Kaoru as they descend to the top of the wall. "Yes, grandfather." Kaoru obeys, and she starts levitating the unconscious guards by their clothes to gather them in one place. With that, Sora flies to the hole on the roof of the building to take a look at what happened inside. The facility is Sora''s own brain child so he knows all the ins and outs of it, and would immediately notice something unusual. And the silence of the facility is unusual to him. Usually, the moans, groans, and screaming of the demons in captivity are heard even through the thick walls of doors of their cells. At the end of the hallway, he sees a boot sticking out. He figures that it is a foot of guard''s body. He rushes to attend to the guard, and to his relief, the guard is only unconscious, although ungracefully lying down on the stairs. After making the guard lie down comfortably, he proceeds to check each and every room of the first sub-level. <> A minute or so later. Kaoru sees Sora fly out of the building, with five unconscious guards floating behind him. "How are they?" Sora asks Kaoru he joins her. He is referring to the unconscious guards that Kaoru attended to. "They''re not dead." Kaoru reports. "Good. So are these ones." Sora says as he puts the five guards he was carrying with his telekinesis, to the guards gathered by Kaoru. Kaoru meanwhile, cannot help but stare at her grandfather. She has not seen her grandfather wear the expression he is currently wearing on his face. Sora''s face looking almost purple also worries her. "What happened inside, grandfather?" She asks. "I''ll tell you later." Sora sighs. "I understand." Kaoru suppresses her curiosity. "Come with me." The next moment, Sora and Kaoru arrive at the office of the head of the guards and they find the head guard unconscious. "Hey, wake up." To Sora''s relief, he manages to shake the officer awake. "S-sora-sama!" The head guard frantically gets on his feet and bows to Sora. "A-and Kaoru-sama" He gets startled by the mummy-like Kaoru. "Drop the formality. What the hell happened here?" Sora asks. "I-I" The head guard takes a few seconds to remember what happened before he went dark. "I saw in the camera feeds our guards all simultaneously collapsing. Knowing that we were going to be helpless against what was happening, I immediately made a distress call. After that making the call, our surveillance expert over there also collapsed. After that I don''t remember anything else." He reports shortly in as much detail. He then looks at the wall clock and finds that it is not even 20 minutes since he made his distress call. "Oh, thank goodness. You got here early, Sora-sama." The head guard sighs in relief. "No. I got here too late." Sora collapses on the closest chair he finds. "Too late?" "Sir?" Kaoru and Sora ask. "Yeah. 26 dead demons, with no cores left behind. And 9 missing ones." Sora informs the two. "WHAT?" The head guard is stunned. "Grandfather. What about the demon general?" Kaoru asks, clenching her fists. "Gone. My guess is, he got away. I''m sorry, Kaoru." Sora reports. Kaoru''s fingernails dig in her palms. Chapter 87 - FRUIT! Fumio, after practicing his water walking skills on the nearshore for the entire morning, he decides to take a break for brunch. He also realizes that forcing himself to train without seeing progress, is a waste of time and effort. He is satisfied in his progress in the past three days, and is feeling a bit complacent. After all, he can now stand atop the water until he runs out of spiritual energy. The high waves are the only ones that are giving him problems. Half the time, he manages to stay balanced, half the time, he is toppled by them. As soon as he lands back on the beach, he pulls out his phone from his storage ring. *b-bzzzt* His phone suddenly vibrates, receiving a text message from Manager Konno. [Fumio-san. Is the shop available all of tomorrow to book for the girls? The usual arrangement.] Fumio immediately texts a response. [Yes ma''am. I''ll see you all tomorrow.] He then taps Red''s contact, and sends a text message. [Boss. Musume46 reserved tomorrow. I''m going back to Nerima tonight.] .After climbing the cliff, he immediately receives a reply from Red. [I just arrived in Nerima myself. If you didn''t have lunch yet, come over that fancy restaurant a block away from the shop.] "What the f-? He went back without telling me?" Fumio feels betrayed. Being able to maintain a running speed that is a bit faster as the fastest fastball from a non-superioris college baseball pitcher, he estimates how quick he can reach Nerima. [I''ll run over there right now, boss. I''ll be there in 30-40 minutes.] He can only shake his head as he sends back a text. <><><> Some time later, Fumio is back in Nerima. After entering the fancy restaurant, he immediately spots Red who is wearing a brown-colored three-piece suit, and Tarou wearing his office outfit, sharing a table. "Boss. Tarou-san." Fumio greets the two as he joins them. "You''re here." Red acknowledges his arrival. "Hello there." Tarou also greets, but Fumio spots the man''s unease. "Tarou-san. Sorry about that day. I was just following orders from boss." Fumio smirks, referring to when he knocked Tarou out, from Red''s command. "*sigh* I know." Tarou shakes his head, but he still feels uneasy how easy it took Fumio to take him down. "Did you wait long?" Fumio asks as he sits down. "I just got here myself." Tarou says, making Fumio relieved. "How''s Kaoru by the way?" Red asks Tarou, continuing where their chat left off. "She''s healthy now, Kichirou-san. Thanks to you." Tarou reports with a grateful look. "Uhn." Red simply nods, not worried at all that the man will tell others about him. The man''s loyalty to Kaoru, and his willingness to keep the secret to her recovery, made it easy for Red to mark the man''s soul with a non-disclosure contract without any consequences. "But, uh I don''t know if it''s too much to ask" Tarou starts, hesitating. "Please, speak your mind." Red already has an inkling of what Tarou is about to ask him. "C-can you convince Kaoru-sama to undergo reconstructive surgery?" Tarou asks. "Why would I do that?" Red asks. "I-uh She seems to trust you very much. Since she woke up, she has almost become a recluse. Her demeanor has also turned very cold. And the bandages" Tarou shakes his head. Red smirks, amused at Kaoru''s act. He has already healed Kaoru''s skin as a bonus, restoring her beauty. Kaoru simply made use of her incident as a tool to use in her future fight for the clan head position. ''Red-san. Wouldn''t it be cool if I wrap myself in bandages? I''d look scary.'' He remembers Kaoru''s words that night. "As her doctor, I want the best for her physical and mental health. I would have sent her my plastic surgeon friend..." Red says. "Why didn''t you?" Tarou asks. "Because it''s what she wanted." Red says. "Don''t ask my why she wanted it." He adds to stop Tarou from asking any further. "I-I see" Tarou can only drop the matter after receiving an intimidating look from Fumio. "About the payment." He proceeds to open his briefcase. He then pulls out a stack of file folders from inside and slides them to Red. Red covers the folders with his spirit sense, and a second later, "Good.", he nods in satisfaction. "What are those, boss?" Fumio asks, finding the official-looking things interesting. "Something I''m trying out." Red simply responds. "" Tarou gives Red a confused look. The folders, all 4 of them, are the identities that Tarou gathered during the past month. They all belonged to dead homeless non-superiori and unclaimed dead patients from hospitals; people who had no family and friends to remember them. Tarou either stopped these identities from getting death certificates, or eliminated their death certificates in records. Red was planning on handing these identities to Gin, Fumio, Kotone, and Yoshiko. To the three aspiring cultivators especially, in case they expose their abilities to the world in accident. But due to the events of the past three days, Red found a better use for the fake identities. "Thank you." Red takes the folders, puts them under the table, and stores them in his storage ring, disguising the action. He then grabs a small gift box from his storage space and puts it on the table. The box interests Fumio and Tarou. Red simply proceeds to open the box, revealing three yellow-skinned fruits inside. "Hm?" Tarou raises his brows, finding the fruit familiar, but cannot put a name on them. "These are loquats." Red says. "L-loquats?" Tarou''s brows jump in surprise. "Well, those are very, very big loquats then. They''re as large as pears!" He cannot get over the fruit''s size. He also notices that they more colorful, and fragrant than average loquats. "Oh sspp. " Fumio meanwhile gulps, craving to eat one. He knows how good the fruits that are grown in Red''s gardens taste. Red then picks one loquat out of the box, and splits it in two. Tarou''s eyes widen at the yellowish gold - like shine of the fruit''s flesh. Saliva starts pooling in his cheeks and thankfully for him, "Have a taste.", he is handed a half of the fruit by Red. The other half goes to Fumio. "Sure" Tarou tries his best to not look excited as he takes a bite. "Mmmmm.." He cannot help but moan at the sweet flavor exploding in his mouth. The tarty flavor of the fruit is also perfect, awakening his taste buds. "Great, right?" Fumio proudly asks, looking at Tarou''s face. "It''s rare too. I don''t think loquats are in-season." He adds. "It is It is." Tarou nods after swallowing. "This must be the tastiest fruit I''ve ever eaten. And trust me, I''ve eaten all sorts of luxurious fruits grown by the best farmers in the clan." He reviews the taste. Suddenly, he feels a refreshing feeling coming from his throat and stomach, spreading to the rest of his body. "W-what" He is stunned, unsure if what he felt was real. "It is not your average loquat. It can only be eaten by people whose bodies are at least D-Class in physical strength." Red says. "Huh" Tarou processes the information as he eats the rest of the fruit. "You haven''t slept well in this past month. Feeling better?" Red asks. Tarou immediately connects the dots. "There''s no way" He stares at Red in disbelief, but he knows that the fruit can be the only thing that made him feel energized. "This must have been grown by a superioris farmer, right?" He asks. "Yes. A friend of mine. Don''t think about scouting them. They''re just as reclusive and talented as I am." Red already knows what Tarou is thinking. "O-oh Okay." Tarou is disappointed. But he knows, or thinks he knows what Red is really saying. "So it was those farmers that needed the uhh folders?" He asks. "Yes. It''s them. You know how highly coveted our talents are." Red nods. "Uhn." Tarou nods in acknowledgement. "Are they, by any chance in need for a distributor?" He asks instead. Red smirks at Tarou looking for a deal. "These fruits are limited in number. They are not for sale. Can only be exchanged or given out as gifts." Red says. "A shame, then." Tarou smiles bitterly. "How about I give you, say 5 boxes of these? A total of 15 loquats, and some spare for taste tests." Red offers. "In exchange for?" Tarou is tempted, but the fruits are still fruits. And he has a limit for favors. "Four more ''folders''. Is it doable?" Red asks. "I mean Sure. But Fruits are very perishable." Tarou is put off by the offer. "Oh. Okay. Why don''t you go home and try it?" Red starts. "How good is your cardio?" He asks. Tarou, knowing that Red is a ''doctor'', entertains Red. "I can maintain a 160 kilometer per hour sprint for twenty minutes before I run out of breath." Tarou says. "*pfft*" Fumio snorts. "Well? How good is your cardio?" Tarou is offended and challenges him. "Double the time and speed." Red answers for Fumio to stop Fumio from bragging. The information meanwhile, shocks Tarou. "Back to the fruits. Just one of these gives your heart and lungs a 50 percent boost if you work them a 100% that lasts an hour. They also reduce inflammation by 75% for a day on people whose bodies are not enhanced. For superiori like you who have enhanced bodies, it''s like steroids without side effects." Red then sees Tarou wear a skeptical expression at the fruit''s features. "That''s why I''m giving you this box for free. You can go home, give it a try on your cardio. As for the anti-inflammatory effects, Kaoru can back it up. It''s what aided the healing of her skin." He says. Tarou ponders for a while, before nodding. "Alright. I trust you. 5 boxes, right?" He asks. "Yeah." "How long do they last?" "Months if properly refrigerated. Just to be safe, just eat one a day." "Alright. When do you need them?" "Depends on how long you get them." Tarou and Red then exchange smiles. They have reached an agreement. "Alright. I''ll call you, Kichirou-san." Tarou says as he stands up. "Not staying for lunch?" Fumio is taken aback by the man''s sudden intention of leaving. "No. I would love to, but I have a full schedule. If I want to test these fruits'' effects, then now it the time." Tarou explains. "I see. Must be tough for you." Fumio smirks. Tarou can only shrug. "Thank you Kichirou-san again for Kaoru-sama." He then turns to Red. "And for these fruits. I know these are valuable, so taking lunch from you will already be excessive of me." "It''s still business. No need to thank me. I''ll be waiting for your call, Tarou-san." With that, Tarou leaves. "Alright. Then more for me." Fumio raises his hand in the air to call for a server. "Don''t order." Red says. "Huh?" Fumio gets disappointed and puts down his hand in confusion. "Follow me." Red then stands up and leads the way. Fumio can only follow. As they reach the corner of the restaurant, he frowns as Red stops by a huge table occupied by what he figures is a group of twelve office workers, basing on their outfits. Fumio is confused as Red is usually not the type to hang around people, much less white-collar workers, much less twelve white-collar workers. "Sir." The large group stand up and bow shallowly at Red in unison. Fumio is taken aback by the situation. "Please, sit." Red gestures to them, and they obey. "Fumio, these are my new employees." He then introduces them to Fumio. "The ''recruitment'' you mentioned?" Fumio asks, enlightened. "Yes." Red confirms with a nod as he takes a sit. "Wow. You work quick boss." Fumio nods. He then turns his attention to the employees and does a shallow bow. "Well Nice to meet you all. I''m Fumio. You can all consider me your superior." He smirks at them to establish his dominance. "Fumio-san. Nice to meet you. You can have my seat. I''ll just sit on your lap." One of the employees, a gorgeous looking woman, winks at Fumio with a lip bite. "A-aherm There''s a vacant seat here." Fumio swallows his embarrassment and sits beside a tall and slender male employee. "Hello there." He greets the slender employee. "Nice to meet you, senior. As for a name, you can call me Number 1 for now." The slender man introduces himself as he offers a handshake. "Strange name, but nice to meet you." Fumio takes the man''s hand, but as soon as he does, alarms start blaring in his head, and he gets goosebumps. ''This guy''s f*ckin dagnerous'' He cannot help but swallow nervously. His nervousness is removed soon however. "Let''s order, everyone? I''m sure you''re all starving after the lengthy interview process, and eventful commute.." His apprehension is shut down by Red''s unusually light tone. Chapter 88 - Third Week Of September "Hmm Hmm Hmmmm.." Yoshiko is in a better mood after taking a warm morning shower, feeling fresh washing off the grime and grease that accumulated in her body during her kata training earlier. While changing her clothes *laughter* *laughter* she hears Chihiro''s boisterous laughter from outside and she cannot help but smile. "Saturdays." She figures that the kids are probably playing in the yard unworried because they do not have classes with her, or training with Kotone today. Stepping out of her house, she finds Red and the children in the training yard. She frowns seeing Red holding Chihiro up by Chihiro''s underarms. Suddenly, Red throws Chihiro meters up in the air. She is about to scream in panic, but as Chihiro falls back down, Red catches him smoothly, making her sigh in relief. Her relief is short lived however as she sees Red throw Chihiro high up once again. Her voice gets stuck in her throat, and she can only watch in frozen anxiety at Chihiro laughing unrestrained while rising and falling. She is about to run to the group and stop Red from continuing the activity but thankfully for her, "Okay You''ve had enough." Red puts Chihiro down. "More! More! Kichirou-san!" Chihiro tugs on Red''s sleeve, but Red refuses. "My Turn! My Turn!" Ran meanwhile, brushes Chihiro aside and tugs at Red''s clothes too. "No. Or else Teacher Yoshiko will give you more homework" Red then turns to Yoshiko. "Good morning, Yoshiko-sensei." He greets. "Good morning, Yoshiko-sensei!" The children also greet her. "Good morning, everyone." Yoshiko jogs across the clay road to join the group. "K-Kichirou-san" She wants to address what she just saw, but drops the matter. She just realizes that Chihiro is in safe hands, remembering that Red is an ''A-Class Superioris.'' "Nevermind." She sighs. "Okay You kids have breakfast first! Chef-san must be done cooking your breakfast." Red commands the children and the children, all feeling famished, excitedly rush to their house. "Yoshiko-san. I know it''s the weekend, and your day-off, but can you spare me a few minutes?" He then asks Yoshiko. "Kichirou-san, with the generous salary you''re paying me, a few minutes is nothing." Yoshiko finds Red too polite. "Let''s talk over there." Yoshiko leads the way to the patio she is sharing with Gin, where an outdoor table and chairs are set up. "By the way. Did Kotone happen tell you where she went and when she''s coming back?" Red asks as they sit down. "She didn''t tell you? It''s been five days since she left." Yoshiko is surprised that Red does not know Kotone''s whereabouts. "She accumulated a lot of vacation days, so I just approved without questions. I just realized my mistake." Red says. He already knows where Kotone is and what she might be doing. He is just asking Yoshiko to figure out how close she has become with Kotone. "Well. I don''t really know when she''ll be back, but I know that she went home to visit her brother, Haruto. I heard that they haven''t spent much time with each other since the kids arrived here." Yoshiko says. "Okay." Red is satisfied with the answer. "So. It''s been more than three months since you''ve been with us. How''s everything for you?" He asks about Yoshiko instead. "Everything''s perfect, Kichirou-san. There''s really nothing to complain about." Yoshiko says as she looks at the view of the mountains and hills. The trees and vegetation that were green when she first arrived in the hill in the middle of summer, are now yellow and orange, giving out a different type of beauty to the unchanging landscape. "I heard you went for a short visit in the city two months ago?" Red asks. "Ah. That was when the director of the orphanage invited me out to lunch. To thank me for YOUR donation. I wouldn''t have gone if I didn''t know him." Yoshiko recounts. "I see." Red nods. "You don''t miss the city life?" He asks. "No. I guess I''m enjoying my time here more than I thought I would. Didn''t even cross my mind to at least visit." Yoshiko says. "How about your friends in the city? Don''t you miss them?" Red asks. "Didn''t really have friends. More like acquaintances." Yoshiko shrugs. "Grew apart with the friends you grew up with in the orphanage?" Red asks. "Yeah. Who knew six years was too long." Yoshiko bitterly confirms. "Hey, at least I''ve made a new friend." Her smile returns. "Kotone?" "Yes. Kotone-chan." She nods. "I would love to be friends with Fumio-san too, but he went back to the city before I had the chance to. And Gin-san well. It''s hard to be friends with him because of the generation gap." "I''m glad to hear that." Red is satisfied that Yoshiko is sincerely happy here. "Oh. Here''s our breakfast." He then pauses the chat, as one of the demons he rescued and subjugated, who took over a chef''s body, is approaching the table with a breakfast tray. While the demon is setting the table, Yoshiko realizes that this is the first time she and Red are eating together, alone. She gets over it soon however. "Thank you." Red nods at the demon after the table is set. "No problem, sir. Please enjoy." The demon gives Red a knowing smirk before leaving. "Let''s eat." Red digs in his plate. Then he realizes the weird look on Yoshiko''s face. "Something wrong?" He asks. "N-nothing." Yoshiko sighs as she picks up her spoon. "Come on. You can tell me." Red urges, making Yoshiko pause. "It''s just Chef-san, the Maid-san, the babysitters. I find it too luxurious." She shakes her head. "They''ve been here for two weeks now. Not used to them yet?" Red asks. "Not really. I''m fine with the babysitters, but Maid-san and Chef-san I even had to ask Maid-san to not do my laundry for me. Chef-san though, still insists on bringing breakfast to my doorstep." Yoshiko chuckles, remembering the incidents with the demons. "They''re for the kids, but it''s nothing for her to include you and Gin in her responsibilities." Red shrugs. "I know. But us non-superiori have it rough" Yoshiko starts, but hesitates. "May I speak freely?" She asks. "Please." Red is willing to hear her out. "Us non-superiori have it rough in the real world. So, if these kids grow up in luxury, not getting their hands dirty, not training their discipline with chores I don''t know how they''ll face the world once they become adults." Yoshiko expresses her concern about the recent addition of the servants. "Hah. That''s too huge of a jump in conclusions, don''t you think?" Red is amused. "I- You''re right." Yoshiko realizes it. "I''m just saying stuff, Kichirou-san. Sorry." She apologizes. "It''s fine. You do have a point. But at their age, their martial arts training is enough to instill self-discipline to them for now." Red acknowledges the concern, making Yoshiko feel a bit better. "Kichirou-san. May I ask these new employees of yours. Something''s strange about them." Yoshiko says as she looks at the newly built houses beyond Gin''s and her houses. "How do you mean?" Red asks. "Like They are friendly, don''t get me wrong. It''s just. They''re too professional... All the time." Yoshiko struggles to explain. "Distant?" Red helps her. "Yes." Yoshiko nods. "Distant. They''re all cordial and all, but they draw the line. Like they don''t want to be too close or something." She adds. "Heh. Don''t worry about them. Give them time." Red shrugs. "Besides. That''s how they were trained. They used to serve some rich family or something." He makes an excuse for the demons'' strange behaviors before dismissing the subject. <><><> Chofu Combat Gym, 8AM. "Kotone. Long time no see." Fumio greets Kotone as she enters the combat room he reserved. "Phew Yeah. A month." Kotone is glad to see Fumio, but her excitement to see Fumio is dampened by what is about to come. "So. Spent enough time with your brother yet?" Fumio asks. "What? You feel jealous?" Kotone scoffs. "Hah. Good one." Fumio chuckles. "You must have missed each other so much. Even Haruto wasn''t available. I had to ask for one of boss'' new guys to be my assistant in the shop." He smirks. "Well?" Kotone can only shrug, not bothering to explain. "Anyways. What is up with you? Are you sure you want to do this?" Fumio asks. "I don''t know, but" Kotone deflates at the question. "I''m not sure but I feel like Kichirou-san is hinting that I need more fighting experience." She sighs. "How so?" Fumio asks. "He just is" Kotone does not want to explain. "He''s that mean?" Fumio frowns at the face Kotone is making. "No. It''s just how nice he is about it that''s irking me." "Huh" Fumio knows the feeling. *bang* *bang* Someone starts banging on the combat room''s door, making Fumio and Kotone turn on their Fukashi and Kotaru disguises, respectively. "You ready?" Fumio asks. "Y-yeah." Kotone takes a deep breath. Soon, Blade Tornado and Fire Colossus enter the combat room. "Fukashi-san." Blade Tornado just nods at Fumio but, "Ahah! Long time, kid!", he greets Kotone cheerfully. "Hello, Blade-san Fire-san" Kotone greets back. "You know me?" Fire Colossus asks, finding it odd that Kotone seems to be too happy to see him, even though they are meeting for the first time. "I-I" Kotone gets caught off-guard by the question. "Kotaru here saw you fight once, Fire-san." Fumio is quick on his feet. "Yeah. Yeah, I did." Kotone immediately jumps on the excuse. "I see." Fire Colossus nods. "So, Kotaru-kun. Fukashi-san said you need some sparring partners?" He asks. "Yes. I thank you in advance." Kotone bows. "Fukashi-san. You said he''s green. Am I really needed here?" Fire Colossus asks. Kotone gets burdened and leans closer to Fumio. ''Yeah. Why''s he here? He''s a B-Class superioris!'' She whispers. ''Then don''t waste their time. You don''t want to disappoint them.'' Fumio whispers back. ''You-'' Kotone is about to protest but Fumio already moves things along. "Fire-san. I wouldn''t have asked for you if you won''t gain something from this." Fumio replies to Fire Colossus'' question. "She''s like a younger me. Isn''t that fun?" He adds. "I guess." Fire Colossus is interested, seeing Fumio back Kotone up. "Looks like I''m gonna get my ass kicked again." Blade Tornado, on the other hand, sighs. "Huh.. That''s not the confident Blade Tornado I know." Fumio frowns at Blade Tornado''s lack of confidence. "Hah I am STILL confident, but I''m not fuckin stupid." Blade Tornado scoffs. ."Yo, kid. Let''s go. You''re Old Phantom''s student. I won''t go easy on you." He removes his jean jacket starts warming up. ''Kotone. You''re stronger than him now. But you have to be careful of his blades.'' Fumio starts giving Kotone a pep talk. He is very nervous for Kotone, but Kotone herself not only wanted a spar, she even asked for a dangerous one. Meanwhile, Fire Colossus goes to sit on the floor to the side, ready for the show to start. "Alright. Let''s start barehanded." Seeing that the two are done warming up, Fumio gestures Blade Tornado and Kotone to the middle of the room. "So, kid. You didn''t exactly put up a fight last time. How frustrated were you then?" Blade Tornado starts taunting Kotone. Kotone clenches her teeth remembering the first time they met. "I''m not the same person anymore." She replies, trying to calm herself down. Blade Tornado sees the anger in Kotone''s eyes, and he smirks. "Oho That was the first time you were beaten up, right? Seems like it got to you more than I expected." He spots Kotone wince. "I feel that you''re a lot stronger now, but have you grown teeth?" He taunts further. "Enough talk." Kotone pounces on Blade Tornado. Chapter 89 - Random Villain Alert Kotone and Blade Tornado are about to exchange moves when suddenly. *BUZZ* *BUZZ* *BUZZ* The PA system, starts blaring in the combat room. Not soon after, *ringgg**ringgg**ringgg* Fumio and the other three''s phones also start playing an alarm. The four of them find the ringing familiar, wear interested faces. The alarm is a part of Japan''s Emergency Alert System that alarms the citizens for any crises like storms, earthquakes, flooding, and even supervillains. "DAMN" Kotone stomps hard on the ground out of annoyance while Blade Tornado gets goosebumps looking at the footprint that was formed by Kotone''s stomp. The group of four immediately pull out their phones to turn them off, but as they read the alert, they stop from turning the alarms off. [VILLAIN ALERT Estimated Threat Level C Town. Areas Affected C Inagi, Komae, Chofu, Mitaka. HERO ASSISTANCE REQUIRED C B-Class and Above.] "Damn. It''s nearby." Blade Tornado raises his brows in interest. "Are we going to help?" Kotone asks Fumio. "No." Fumio shakes his head, disappointing Kotone. "If you won''t help, then I will." Kotone says in a tone of finality. "How about you two, gentlemen?" She asks Blade Tornado and Fire Colossus. "We''re unregistered superiori, so no." Fire Colossus is indifferent. "What he said." Blade Tornado shakes his head. "So are we, Kotaru. And besides Master Phantom You don''t want to risk it." Fumio reminds Kotone about their promise to Red. "Tsk." Kotone clicks her tongue, remembering her promise to Red, fearing the consequences of breaking it. "But that don''t mean we can''t watch. It''s been a while since a B-Class villain made trouble. I have to see this." Blade Tornado goes to pick up his jean jacket, and puts it on. "I''ll go watch too." Fumio says, and with that, him, Fire Colossus, and Kotone follow Blade Tornado out. As the group exit the building, "Okay. The villain is halfway through Inagi, making their way to Chofu." Fire Colossus says, his eyes are glued to his phone, reading some live update app. Suddenly, "Cool. See you, boys." Fumio bids them goodbye as he sprints away, using spiritual energy. Kotone follows Fumio''s lead, but at a much slower speed. "What the fuck w-was that" Blade Tornado cannot believe the speed the two cultivators are running and soon, the two are out of his and Fire Colossus'' sights. "Shit. Just how strong are their bodies?" Fire Colossus gets goosebumps, at the same time feeling lucky that he did not have to fight the two at their real strength A few hundred meters away, Fumio and Kotone are now traveling through building rooftops. "Hmmm. Where could the villain be." Fumio pulls out his phone to look at the live updates. "Hey. Look at that." Kotone says. Fumio looks at where Kotone is pointing to find a city block-sized, thick white fog rolling in the distance, covering some buildings. "Let''s go." Kotone leads the way this time. As soon as they enter the fog, they feel the commotion. *Crash* *Screams* Broken windows, stampeding pedestrians, and car crashes caused by the thick fog, all sorts of sounds reverberate from time to time. Despite the commotion, the place is not as chaotic as they expected. Most of the pedestrians have vacated the streets and entered the nearest building they can for shelter. Kotone and Fumio then slow down and they descend to the streets, afraid that they will bump into something in the air and fall to their deaths if they stay traveling on the building rooftops. "Get out of the way!" Fumio and Kotone immediately hop to the side, hearing the voice and they see a white-garbed superhero fly past them, its figure soon veiled in the covers of the fog ahead. "Oh. She looks familiar." Kotone recognizes the superhero''s figure as they decide to follow the superhero. "Yeah. Some famous wind type superhero. Kaze-something. Forgot her name, but she got some commercials." Fumio says. As the two continue on their pursuit, *whooosshh* they hear strong whistling of the wind, followed by the fog moving to every direction. Soon, as if willed by someone, the fog is lifted high up in the air, providing a clearer view of the streets. The two watches in interest as the rest of the fog is being blown away by the wind superhero, with the wind superhero theatrically waving her arms around. With everything clearer, Kotone and Fumio now realize that the superhero is actually chasing a man who is running fast on foot. "Why isn''t she stopping the villain?" Kotone asks. "Waiting for back-up maybe? The villain is running using his body. This superhero looks like she got a non-superiori physique." Fumio explains. "Meaning she can''t fight head-on, just support." Kotone nods. "VILLAIN STOP!" The two of them see two other superheroes join in the chase. One is a man dressed in an office suit, flying on top of a huge pot that looks to be made of clay. The other is a man wearing a blue tracksuit, looking like a Physical Education teacher, and seems like a pure physically enhanced superioris. The villain meanwhile, as if not hearing the heroes, continues to run. Then, he points his palm behind him and produces thick steam, obstructing the view of his pursuers. Such attempt for diversion however is useless as *whoooshhh* the wind superhero blows the steam away again before it turns into fog. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" The villain then throws a ball of water behind him, accurately hitting the tracksuit-wearing superhero. The superhero is slow to react and he is hit in the face with the ball of water. "AHHH!!" He slows down as he holds his face, obviously in pain. "Boiling water." Fumio realizes, witnessing it happen. "Damn." Kotone gets goosebumps, imagining the pain the tracksuit superhero is feeling. The clay pot superhero, seeing the villain resorted to violence, summons ten clay pots and throws them all to the villain''s direction. *thunk* one of the pots hits the villain on the back and shatters, but it was not enough to stop the villain. "VILLAIN! GET BACK HERE!" The tracksuit superhero is back in the chase after recovering. Fumio and Kotone''s faces become weird, seeing the tracksuit superhero rubbing what looks like a huge boomerang made of ice on his face while running. Not long after, the tracksuit superhero throws the boomerang to the villain''s direction, and follows it through with two more. *whack* One of the boomerangs lands on the villain and this time, the villain is rocked, and almost stopping in his steps. "SURRENDER OR GET HURT!" The tracksuit superhero closes the distance between him and the villain. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, AND NO ONE ELSE HAS TO GET HURT!" The villain replies as he summons balls of water around him, threatening to splash it to the pedestrians that remained on the sidewalks. This causes the pedestrians to all flee to the buildings. The commotion distracts the three superheroes and *Fsssss* the villain produces steam and fog once again, hiding his figure from them. The wind superhero, having repeatedly dealt with such attempt by the villain in two cities now, easily blows the steam away. To the superheroes'' surprise, the villain, while not escaping their sights, is already almost a hundred meters from them. "Something''s weird." Fumio suddenly says as them and the superheroes chase after the villain again. "What is?" Kotone asks. "The villain is too careful. He has not really hurt anyone yet, or taken someone as hostage." Fumio says. "Huh" Kotone ponders. "And don''t you feel that?" Fumio asks with a serious and confused expression on his face. "Feel what?" Kotone asks. "Might be nothing. Let''s watch for now." Fumio shakes his head. "KIDS, RETREAT." Another superhero joins in by landing from a building rooftop to the street, and with her arrival, is a commanding order. "O-Obsidian Huntress" The superheroes immediately recognize the forty something year-old hero and they acknowledge her arrival in respect. The kyudo-outfit wearing superhero nods at them in response. "You. Wind Girl, come with me." She then commands and sprints to the villain''s direction. Fumio and Kotone also ditch the two male superheroes behind and they follow Obsidian Hunter and the wind superhero. "Obsidian Huntress? Top Tier B-Class hero, right?" Kotone asks. "Yeah." Fumio confirms. Obsidian Hunter after all, is quite known. "SHIT!" Minoru, the villain, curses in frustration recognizing the newcomer chasing after him. He then starts running in a zigzag manner as he tries to think of a way to get away. He is not given a chance however as *whistle* he hears something dark zoom past his ear, followed by a stinging pain on his shoulder. He looks at his shoulder and finds it wounded. He is sure that he was just grazed by an obsidian arrow from Obsidian Hunter. He then looks back and he finds that Obsidian Hunter is already in a bow drawing stance. Before he can run away, a black slender bow appears on Obsidian Hunter''s grasps, and four more around her, all cocking three arrows each, all pointed to him. "FUCK" He panics and finally to resorts to something he found that is beneath him. "Don''t!" He immediately finds a cover behind a random female pedestrian. He is pleased to see Obsidian Hunter put away her bows except for the one that is in her grasps. "VILLAIN. LET THE CIVILIAN GO." Obsidian Hunter orders. "No. I''ll let go of her if you all stop chasing." Minoru refuses firmly. "Why don''t you just surrender? You didn''t hurt anyone yet. All you''ll get is a slap on the wris. Maybe a couple nights in Superioris Jail." Obsidian Hunter starts to negotiate. "You don''t understand, Obsidian Hunter. Just turn around and leave. Then we all go home happy." Minoru greets his teeth. "Take the shot!" Some pedestrians start urging Obisidian Hunter, giving her the urge to yell back. While she is a very good archer, her skills not even as good as non-superiori Olympic archers, so she has no confidence if she can shoot Minoru without hurting the hostage. Suddenly, her eyes glint, and gets hopeful. "No, villain. I''m not going anywhere and neither are you. If you hurt the lady, you''ll spend the rest of your life in prison!" Minoru on the other hand, gets frustrated. Gritting his teeth, he puts his hand on the hostage''s mouth and starts dragging her with him to get more distance from Obsidian Hunter. He is confused however as while Obsidian Hunter is not willing to leave, she seems to be more relaxed than he thought a superhero would be in a hostage situation. Suddenly, he feels something wrap around his neck and tightens, choking him. "It''s over for you, villain." He hears a voice behind him and from the corner of his vision he sees someone he recognizes. "Chofu''s Guardian." He utters in defeat before his world goes dark. <> "I guess that''s it, huh?" Kotone asks as she and Fumio watch the superheroes leave, and Chofu''s Guardian carrying the unconscious villain away with what looks like a stone rope. "Yeah" Fumio simply nods. "What?" Kotone asks, noticing that Fumio seems to be distracted by something. "I thought it was nothing but Let''s wait for a moment until the guardian leaves." Fumio says. "Okay." Kotone is curious of what Fumio is up to. After making sure that the things are slowly returning to normal, Fumio leads the way to where the villain fainted, and starts looking around. "Oh Yeah. I feel something." Kotone now has an idea of what has been bothering Fumio. "Good. I thought it''s just me." Fumio nods. A few seconds later. "There it is." Fumio excitedly picks up something from under a car. "A... piece of wood? Really? ?" Kotone frowns, looking at the piece of wood the size of a toddler''s pinkie that is making danced by Fumio between his fingers. She knows however that the piece of wood is not as simple as it looks. "I don''t know.." Fumio is just as clueless. Chapter 90 - Random Interrogation Aikawa, Kanagawa *SPLASH* "*GASP*" Minoru is waken up with a bucket of water splashing on his face. He finds himself chained up on a wall, just like how the demons his clan keep captive when they are freshly caught. With his head down, he sees a pair of legs in front of him and the familiar looking white concrete floor of his clan''s demon prison, and, "Heh", he chuckles bitterly. ''I''ve been caught.'' He realizes. Someone then grabs his hair, forcing his head up, and he sees a familiar face. "Minoru, Minoru, Minoru You still have the nerve to laugh." A man, who looks to be in his 40s, growls at Minoru. "Ah. Shou-senpai. How are you doing?" Minoru smirks at Shou. *SLAP* Shou gives Minoru a huge slap. "Call me senpai again, you traitor and I might not control myself." He growls, and Minoru can feel the sincerity in his words. "Force of habit. Heh." Minoru chuckles. *Slap* Shou gives Minoru a slap once again. "AH" Minoru groans. "What was that for?" "Your smirks. Your smug chuckles always irked me." Shou this time, smirks. "And as long as you''re alive, I can do whatever I want with you Why don''t I start with your face? Hm?" He then pulls out a blade and brushes it on Minoru''s cheek. "You know what? Let''s skip all this shit and just kill me already." Minoru sneers. Shou is taken aback. He had seen the look on Minoru''s face plenty of times in the faces of demons who are proud to die. He frowns and unsheathes his tanto engraved with demon-killing runes. *snip* He cuts a small wound on Minoru''s arm and waits. "Hehehehhh. I''m the good ol'' human Minoru, baby." Minoru gives out a prolonged chuckle, finding amusement in Shou''s expression. This makes Shou look at him in annoyance. "Then what did you steal it for? Hm?" Shou sheathes his tanto. "Steal what?" Minoru plays innocent. "YOU KNOW WHAT I''M TALKING ABOUT" Shou grab''s Minoru''s neck. "So what if you do? Did you find it? Do you even know what it is?" Minoru asks. "I don''t care what it is, but we found it. It was very stupid of you to carry it in your pockets." Shou smugly taunts Minoru. Minoru winces. "Yeah That''s right. What''d you think was gonna happen?" A 80 something year old man, wearing a nice quality tailored suit, enters the ''interrogation room''. "Gentarou-sama. You didn''t have to be here for this." Shou is taken aback that Oonishi Gentarou, a high-tier A-Class Superioris and the Head of their Oonishi Clan, makes a personal visit. "You don''t tell me where and where not to be, boy. Go feed our livestock." Gentarou orders Shou. "As you wish, Gentarou-sama." Shou bails out, afraid of offending the clan head any further. "Oohh.. The big boss showed up." Minoru taunts. "You seem to really want to go out with a bang, don''t you, traitor?" Gentarou''s interest is piqued at the unusual attitude from a junior. "I don''t know where you got your balls, boy, but mind how you speak." Gentarou takes a chair on the side and sits himself in front of Minoru. "Yeah? Why should I? Because you don''t dare speak like this to that S-Class geezer Yamada like I can to you? Wait Doesn''t that mean I got bigger balls than you, the mighty Gentarou? HAH!" Minoru scoffs. Gentarou, despite knowing that Minoru is simply provoking him, winces at the insult. "I''ve no patience for this." He can only swallow it for now, however. "You have no leverage. So, speak up now. Why don''t you tell me why you did it and you''ll go painlessly?" He asks. "Jog my memory, will you?" Minoru asks. The rude tone used by Minoru is starting to get to Gentarou. He is wishing he did not send Shou away. But asking Shou back in, and in case Shou tells the others about his failure, he is afraid of the embarrassment it may cause. "I heard from my buddy Sora that his demon facility was broken into eleven days ago. Do you know something about that?" Gentarou asks. "Huh? Sora? Nagano Sora? They had a demon facility too?" Minoru is surprised. His surprise however is misinterpreted by Gentarou as mockery. "Twelve of his demons were stolen away, and you steal ''the thing'' just a couple of days later? Don''t play dumb with me, boy." "Huh. Do they have also a piece of that wood like the one I stole? Damn. I should have robbed theirs instead. Wouldn''t that have caused friction?" Minoru plays a character for now and decides to get more information. "Heh. They don''t. This?..." Gentarou pulls out a small, slightly tinted glass tube containing a piece of wood the size of a toddler''s pinkie, out of his suit jacket''s inner pocket. "It''s one of a kind. Maybe only I have it in Japan." He starts caressing it like the most precious thing in the world. "I guess that''s the only consolation for your stunt." He then sneers at Minoru, but suddenly realizes that Minoru might be distracting him. "Now. It just occurred to me. This thing is so rare and looks very unassuming. Out of all the things you could have stolen, why this?" He continues questioning as he pockets the glass tube. "I don''t know. For fun?" Minoru smirks. "Hmmm That so?" Gentarou goes to pick up a huge syringe on a surgical tray. "You know The old clan head didn''t really give me this job when I was younger. What he didn''t know is that I had ideas myself." He approaches Minoru as he unscrews the needle from the syringe, and tosses the syringe to the side. Minoru''s eyes widen in fear at what Gentarou is about to do. The next moment, he almost pisses himself as Gentarou pulls his lower eyelid down, exposing his conjunctiva. "I read somewhere that the tear ducts is one of the most sensitive parts of the human body. How painful could it be if I stabbed it?" He hears Gentarou''s intimidation right next to his ear. The imagery alone makes Minoru''s heart palpitate. Thankfully for him, "But that''s for later." Gentarou retreats the needle and lets go of the eyelid. "I stubbed my toe once, and it hurt. When one of my toenails was ripped off, that hurt even more. So, there must be a lot of nerves under the nails. Hmmm Would it hurt as much if I stabbed it with a needle? You have ten nails, meaning plenty of attempts to find out." Gentarou''s anecdote and musings pull Minoru''s fear back in the surface. "Just kill me!" Minoru yells out subconsciously. "Oh? What happened to your balls? They shriveled up?" Gentarou mocks, feeling victorious, now confident that he can make Minoru sing. "Heh. Now, talk. Why''d you do it?" "Because I can''t take it anymore. What you''re doing." Minoru says through gritted teeth. He knows that he will die anyway, and is prepared for it, so he figures he would rather be honest, and make things quicker. "What I''m doing?" Gentarou is taken aback, strangely feeling the sincerity of Minoru''s words. "Hah. You''re a good actor. But, answer the same question earlier. Out of all the things you could have stolen, why this?" He asks patting the pocket where the piece of wood is in. "Because the thing''s evil... Wait no. Now that I think about it. YOU''RE evil. You''re no longer human, Gentarou." Minoru growls. "Evil?" Gentarou scoffs. "You must be working for some interesting people." He then raises the needle again. "Thousands! THOUSANDS!" Minoru yells, not caring about Gentarou''s intimidation anymore. "You have sacrificed thousands of lives to feed your demon sl*ves. You must have been the greatest sinner in humanity since the Great War." Gentarou''s face freezes. Not because of being called the greatest sinner, or being reminded of the number of lives he sacrificed, but by, "Demon Sl*ves? How do you know about that?" "Because I saw how you did it, you son of a bitch. I thought it was funny at first. Holding a piece of wood to the demon, and chanting some funny spell. I couldn''t believe my eyes when you actually made the demon dance." Minoru starts breathing heavy out of anger. "How many of them are there now, huh?" "Not enough But I''m doing this for the clan, boy. I''m doing this for the clan''s elevation. NO. For survival." Gentarou gets a bit irritated by what he sees as naivety in Minoru. "So, what if I sacrificed thousands? Those useless, faceless nobodies that no one will ever remember, should be glad, NO, HONORED to have contributed to the making of A-Class level beings. Our clan will forever have their never-ending gratitude." He smirks conceitedly. "And those A-Class level beings. What are you gonna do with them? Unleash them on more innocent people? Like what you did with the so-called ''Villain'' Rock Stampede in Itabashi 10 years ago? " Minoru smirks back conceitedly. His anger is a bit relieved seeing Gentarou''s smug face freeze. "Yeah. Knowing what I know, it won''t take a genius to connect that the demon we once trapped in here, suddenly became a villain." Seeing Gentarou''s face morph into suppressed anger, he takes it as a chance for another slight. "Wow. It really is, huh? Well, that''s really f*ckin dumb. That''s your ultimate plan to ''ELEVATE'' the clan? Sounds idiotic to me." "Enough!" Gentarou yells out, his pride hurt. "That was merely an experiment that went out of control. And it was ten years ago. I''ve learned my lesson. I-" As he is explaining himself, he catches himself doing so. "I don''t have anything to explain to you, boy." He feels bitter. "HAH Accident or not, doesn''t change anything I thought at first you were just using people in death row, pedophiles and sexual predators, but to use innocent people? No. Even if the clan dies out, no leader in their right mind or right morals would do what you''re doing. *Pew*!" Minoru spits at Minoru, successfully landing it on the clan head''s face. "Listen here boy." Gentarou simply takes a handkerchief out and wipes Minoru''s spit. "It''s because of people like me who make tough decisions that allows people like you to live in comfort." "Bullshit. There''s a difference between making tough decisions and doing something evil. When I saw you submit that one demon to your bidding? When I saw you watch that demon swallow its first meal? I didn''t see the face of someone making a tough decision. I saw the face of evil." Despite Minoru''s passionate speech, Gentarou is unaffected. He coldly analyzed that Minoru is being sincere. "So. You really weren''t under anyone''s orders?" He asks. "I''m not." Minoru admits in defiance. "Heh. Well, then. You only have one use left." Gentarou chuckles and materializes a seven-foot-tall mud golem beside him. The mud golem then undoes Minoru''s chains, and before Minoru can struggle, the mud golem engulfs his body, only leaving his head exposed. "*mmm**mmm*!" Minoru''s mouth is also sealed by mud. Then Gentarou leads the way out, with the golem containing Minoru in it. <> *creak* *Slam* Gentarou and the mud-wrapped Minoru arrive at the deepest floor of the demon prison. Minoru then sees a familiar looking figure chained on the wall, which he remembers is one of the most recently caught demons. "Hey. Wake up." Gentarou slaps the demon awake. "Just you wait, kid. I will gut you once I get out of here." The demon can only threaten Gentarou with words. The golem then brings Minoru next to the demon. "*hh* *hh* *hh* *hh* *hh*" Gentarou suddenly hears Minoru chuckle, despite the mud sealing the ''traitor''s mouth. Knowing that no one will not hear anything even if Minoru screams, Gentarou decides to uncover Minoru''s mouth. "What''s so funny?" He asks. "So This is how you deal with the scandal? Make me the host of your new demon bitch?" Minoru chuckles. "At least you''re not stupid." Gentarou smirks. "And you seem oddly relaxed for someone who''s about to be demon food." He adds. "I don''t know. Maybe a miracle will happen. Maybe I eat the demon''s soul instead." Minoru smirks. "Are you so scared that you''ve lost your mind?" Gentarou is amused. "What? Are you so disappointed and mindblown that I''m not begging for my life that your emotions got inverted?" Minoru asks back. "You got balls, boy. I give you that.. Be honored that I''ll remember you for a long, long time after your enter the demon''s stomach or whatever organ demons use to digest souls." Chapter 91 - Bonnie And Clyde Gentarou pulls out once again the glass container with the piece of wood in it, holds it towards the demon chained up beside Minoru, "O, kanerakkah", and he starts chanting an incantation in an unknown language. "Muvachip''hramak aiklakun" Minoru''s eyes meanwhile, glints in expectation, having witnessed Gentarou do the ritual three times already. "Mhehehehe" The demon suddenly starts chuckling in contempt, confusing Gentarou. Gentarou also feels something strange, but does not let it distract him. He takes a deep breath and, "KRUITTALE TAYA''UNNE!", completes the spell with a theatric shout. He waits for one, two, three seconds, but realizes that something happened, or did not happen. "Huh?" Gentarou frowns. "Mmhhahaahaha!" The demon''s chuckle this time ascends to a full-on belly laugh of ridicule. Minoru, finding the ridicule in the demon''s laughter satisfying, "Hhahahaha!" copies it and directs it to Gentarou. "You shut up." Gentarou stuffs hardened mud on the demon''s mouth. "What did you do?" He asks Minoru with a dangerous glare. "Nothing. You must have mispronounced the spell or something." Minoru smirks at him. Gentarou takes a deep breath to calm himself down before begrudgingly taking the suggestion. "O, kanerakkah Muvachip''hramak aiklakun KRUITTALE TAYA''UNNE!" He completes the spell once again, but just like earlier, nothing is happening. "Hhhueehehhhh" Despite the hardened mud stuffed in the demon''s mouth, it still manages to express a ridiculing smile and grunt. Minoru too, smiles in glee. "Tell me what you did, or you won''t even be worthy to be the demon''s host." Gentaro, with a flip of his will, manipulates the mud golem encasing Minoru to tighten its hold on Minoru''s neck. "*khk* I didn''t do anything. I was busy running away from heroes." Minoru''s gleeful smile has not left his face. "Why don''t you calm down, geezer? Maybe you shouldn''t be chanting while angry?" He suggests. Gentarou, finding that indeed, this is the first time he is performing the ritual angry, takes the suggestion to heart. After a few deep breaths, he manages to calm down. " KRUITTALE TAYA''UNNE!" He chants the spell for the third time, and just as before, it does not work again. "Pfft" He receives a funny look from the demon and Minoru once again. "You! You did something didn''t you!?" Gentarou is losing his patience and his anger manifests in the mud golem tightening its hold on Minoru once again. Despite his muscles being squeezed and compressed, and his bones starting to get dislocated, Minoru still manages to not scream in pain. "L-Like I said, you senile bastard I had my hands full with those meddling superheroes to do anything." He replies through gritted teeth. Finding Minoru''s answer logical, Gentarou wants to pull his hair out in frustration. Minoru, feeling the mud golem''s hold on him slacken, relaxes. "I read from somewhere that a priest or a monk should be in a certain state of mind to perform a ritual. Maybe you''re not in condition to do that." He suggests once again. Gentarou sneers. He always performed the demon subjugating ritual almost casually. "You''re really treading the line here, boy. After what you''ve done, you won''t see tomorrow anyway." Gentarou takes a deep breath, and mulls over what he is not doing right. "Can I tell you a story?" Minoru takes Gentarou''s attention. He wants everything to be over. Gentarou simply gives him a dismissive look, but has his ears open. "After I stole that wood fragment of yours, and I was about to escape, I just happened to stomp hard on some random log. It got crushed, and pieces of wood flew everywhere" Minoru pauses and smirks. Gentarou gets a terrible feeling in his stomach. "I didn''t think I''d be lucky enough to actually find a fragment that looks just like your uh, treasure." Minoru continues, barely stopping himself from giggling. "And th-" Before he can continue, Gentarou is now in his face holding a dagger to his neck. "WHERE''D YOU PUT IT?" Gentarou growls, barely suppressing his rage. "I don''t know where it is now. I flushed it down some random public toilet" Minoru was planning on doing so, but he figures that doing that and only just that, would not have been satisfying, and would not have gotten him some infamy in the clan. He only regrets that he was not able to see the piece of wood get flushed down a toilet like he planned, but instead, he had to resort to just chucking the thing under a car. He can only wish that the wood fragment was ran over by cars, and is now in useless, smaller pieces. "That''s it That''s the look I wanted to see. Hehehehhhh" Minoru gloats over Gentarou who is about to lose his mind. "A ''boy'' you always looked down on, has destroyed your f*ckin dreams, geezer." "Are you done?" Gentarou asks, his voice cold. "I''m n---" Minoru is about to say something clever but, "I don''t care." Gentarou already stabs him in the chest. Gentarou pulls out the knife from Minoru''s chest and as he is about to deliver another, "*GASP*" he hears a female voice behind him audibly gasp. Before he can even turn around, *smack* he feels something hard and powerful hit the back of his head, flies away, and *SLAM* he bounces hard on the thick, reinforced concrete wall of the most reinforced floor of the facility. "W-who" His mind reeling, his world spinning, and his body slack from an obvious concussion, he can only imprint in his mind that is already slipping in and out of consciousness, a kimono-wearing, 40 something year-old man holding his fist on the air. The man who is obviously the culprit of his current state. "Fuck off, you monster." Fumio leaps to the helpless Gentarou, mounts the man, and gives a few more spiritual energy infused haymakers. He only stops after making sure that Gentarou is knocked out cold. He is sure that Gentarou is knocked out as he sees the mud golem encasing Minoru has suddenly disappeared. Kotone meanwhile, dashes to the fallen Minoru immediately and presses her palms to the blood spurting wound on his chest. "A-are you okay...?" She realizes she just asked a stupid question as soon as she asked it, but seeing someone mortally wound another human being is a first time for her. But while she is confused, she has enough awareness to apply spiritual energy on her palms as an attempt to constrict the blood vessels on Minoru''s chest. "I- Who are you guys?" Minoru asks, surprised by the two''s appearance. He scratches his curiosity however. "Don''t mind me. Kill him now!" He asks Fumio through the pain. "I know that he''s a monster, but I can''t." Fumio refuses and joins to attend to Minoru. "Let''s pick him up and go. Boss might be able to save him." He frantically says as he too, applies a small stream of his spiritual energy to Minoru''s wound. "Don''t you two dare bring me anywhere! Please. Just leave me here. *Cough*" Minoru pleads them. "You''re gonna die!" Kotone frantically argues. "And that''s exactly what I want. I- Wha-?" Minoru suddenly realizes the strange energy that is being applied to his wound. "Look, we can slow down your bleeding, but we only have so much energy. Gentarou too might wake up anytime soon." Fumio, while worried for the man, wants to save his and Kotone''s spiritual energy for them to use to flee. He also only has a half of his energy reserves left as he applied too much spiritual energy on his punches to Gentarou earlier. He also feels that his wrists might be slightly dislocated, and he does not want to fight injured. "I''m not worth saving. Just leave me here so I can bleed out like a gentleman, will ya? *cough*" Minoru chuckles as he coughs out blood. "You''re worth saving! You doing what you did, means you''re a good person!" Kotone insists as she slides her arms under Minoru. "Stop it! *cough*" Minoru yells at her, him coughing up blood stops her from lifting him up. "Do you know how many bodies I''ve burnt?! Even though I didn''t know it at first, I personally escorted innocent people to their deaths!" Minoru looks at them in defiance. "So please. I don''t want to see their faces again in my dream." He pleads them as he slacks his body defeatedly. Fumio and Kotone exchange glances for a moment, before the two of them stop infusing spiritual energy to their palms. "You didn''t know, yes. But you also saved thousands of innocent lives that would have been sacrificed by that asshole. Is there anything we can do for you?" Fumio asks. "Yeah. A couple of days ago, I saw a colleague escort a teenage boy to a demon''s cell. A TEENAGE BOY!" Minoru''s face crumples remembering the boy''s face. "I couldn''t do anything to save him But there''s this little girl on the list. Her number is already approaching, so maybe she only has two or three days left. Please, save her before they sacrifice her. Please, do it on my behalf." He asks of them. "Alright. Where is she, and how many guards are there?" Fumio asks. "Just the opposite wing from here, accessed through the first sub-level. I don''t know how you two made it in here, but if you two managed to stay invisible long enough to know enough, then you won''t find the security there a problem." Minoru instructs. "We will save her." Kotone promises, getting a look from Fumio. "What are we supposed to do?" She grumbles at him. "You''re right." Fumio realizes that his usual indifference and distance to others'' plights is not applicable in this situation. "I only have around 55? 60? percent left in my tank. You?" He asks. "Three quarters maybe. It''s probably still less than what you got." Kotone says, knowing that Fumio''s elixir sea is vaster and his spiritual energy thicker than hers. "Okay. You power our seals, and stick close to me. I''ll be in charge of the assault." Fumio immediately comes up with a plan. "Okay." Kotone finds the plan acceptable. "Good. Even though I didn''t understand what you two just said, looks like you got a plan." Minoru is relieved, as he feels that he does not have much time left. "Okay It''s getting cold." Minoru feels his heart quiver. "I don''t have long, and judging from your face miss, I think I can trust you." His eyes soften looking at the caring Kotone. "Anything." Kotone is ready, knowing that Minoru is about to ask something. "I''ll tell you the passwords of my apartment, my ATM card, and my computer. Pawn it, sell it, for the girl to use. I know it''s nothing compared to the things I''ve done here, but I hope my life savings can give the girl a chance in life." Minoru says. Fumio and Kotone are moved by Minoru''s final wish. "I''ll make sure of that." Kotone immediately pulls out her phone. <> "Hm? Where are we? Nee-san? Nii-san?" The seven-year-old young girl in Fumio''s arms wake up. "Oh, you''re awake?" Fumio smiles at the girl. "Ooh! Wah! We''re so high up!" The girl''s eyes go wide as saucers as she realized that Fumio and Kotone are jumping from building rooftop to building rooftop. The two easily broke the girl out of Oonishi Clan''s demon prison, and flee without anyone noticing because of their invisibility seals. They did not have to fight too because of their use of the sample of Red''s sleeping powder she asked from Red. "You''re not scared?" Fumio asks. "No! It''s exciting! Are you two superheroes?!" The girl asks cheerfully. Fumio and Kotone both smile bitterly at the girl''s innocence. The Oonishi clan made the girl''s cell look like a nice bedroom, making the girl feel lucky that she has a nice room for herself unlike when she was in the orphanage. She did not have the slightest clue of what was waiting for her. "Okay. But you have to sleep for now, okay? Close your eyes." Kotone asks and as the young girl closes her eyes, she sprinkles a very small pinch of sleeping powder in the girl''s nose. "How about the people back there?" Kotone feels hesitant leaving behind the eighteen other sacrificial prisoners. "If we break them out, what''ll change?" Fumio shakes his head. . "If we break them out, yes, they''ll stop what they''re doing, but only temporarily. Maybe they''ll even transfer their operations to who knows where?" He figures. "Yeah" Kotone realizes that it is not as simple as just breaking in and breaking out. "Maybe Kichirou-san will know what to do?" "Boss knows a lot of things about a lot of things. So, hopefully, yes.." The two can only hope. Chapter 92 - Meet The mowns. "Hm?" Yoshiko, while leading the kata training with the kids, sees in the corner of her vision, something zooming past in the distance. She looks at that direction and finds Kotone and Fumio at Gin''s front yard, figuring they just arrived. She sees Fumio leave a sleeping little girl in his arms to the care of Gin before he and Kotone jump over the bamboo wall. "Kids. Let''s take a break." Yoshiko tells the kids before leaving them to their own devices. "Yoshiko-san." Gin greets Yoshiko awkwardly, with a helpless look on his face, not knowing what to do with the little girl in his arms. "Am I looking at a kidnap victim?" Yoshiko asks, her heart almost breaking looking at the little girl''s dirty face and greasy hair. "Yeah. Kotone said they rescued her from somewhere." Gin reports. "I see." Yoshiko nods, feeling glad for the little girl. Then, the two see one of the babysitters under Red''s employ, exit the employees'' house where her quarters is located. "Hachiyo-san!" Gin calls out to the babysitter. Hachiyo hurriedly attends to the two, seeing the new child. "I''ll take care of her." She takes the child from Gin''s arms and leaves without asking any questions. "T-thanks Hachiyo-san." "T-thank you" Gin and Yoshiko are caught off-guard by the babysitter acting as if the situation is normal. "Okay" Gin sighs, shrugging off the confusion. "Yeah." Yoshiko sighs. The two have already gotten used to the strange things happening around Red and the hill. "It''s finally nice to call them by their names. We just used to call them by their jobs." Yoshiko smiles. "HUH?" Gin looks at Yoshiko weirdly. "What''s wrong?" Yoshiko asks, somehow feeling offended by Gin''s tone and stare. "Say, Yoshiko-chan. It''s really weird. Is Hachiyo really her name?" Gin asks. "What do you mean?" Yoshiko asks, confused. "I mean. She and her colleagues. They''re perfect at their jobs, but something''s weird about them." Gin starts. "Starting with their names. The chef-san calls himself Ichiki. The three babysitters, call themselves Yoneko, Nana, and Hachiyo. Then, maid-san calls herself Roku, which is usually a guy''s name." "What''s wrong with their names?" Yoshiko frowns. "Can''t you see it? I don''t know if it''s just me, but they sound like numbers to me. Ichi (1), Yon (4), Nana (7), Hachi (8), and Roku (6). I wouldn''t be surprised if boss'' farmhands that live in the garden with Kotone are based on Ni (2), San (3) and Go (5)." Gin explains. Yoshiko is stunned for a second before, "Ehhh?!" gasping in realization. "H-how could" She cannot even express what she is feeling. "Yikes" Gin cringes, heavily regretting what he said, seeing the look of betrayal on Yoshiko''s face. "Hey. Maybe it''s just coincidence?" He compensates awkwardly. "N-no. It is just exactly like how you said." Yoshiko takes a deep breath. "There must be a reason why they''re using fake names." She sighs. "Yeah. That''s why I didn''t bring it up to Kichirou-san. Maybe it''s him who gave them the names." Gin is relieved, seeing Yoshiko being understanding. "No wonder. They seem like strong superiori, but they''re here, working simple jobs." Yoshiko further realizes. "Well. Whatever it is, Kichoru-san is very powerful. Of course, his servants will not be ordinary too." Gin shrugs. He then sees a huge vulture made of yellow flames approaching fast in the horizon. Soon the flame vulture slows down as it approaches the hill. "Oh They''re here too?" Yoshiko gets interested as she spots three familiar men standing on top of the fire bird. She and Gin has seen this scene twice already and they know that the men riding on the bird, are the most powerful of Red''s new servants. "Huh. Kotone, Fumio, and now these three. They''ve been out for quite a while and they all suddenly come back. Looks like the big guys are having a meeting." Gin figures. <> "So, that''s what happened, boss." Fumio recounts everything that happened in Oonishi Clan''s demon prison. Him, Kotone, and Red are seated at the lawn in the backyard. "I heard that Oonishi Gentarou is a high-tier A-Class. How''d you get away?" While Red is interested in what he is sensing from Fumio''s pocket, he wants to hear Fumio and Kotone''s adventure first. "I-uhh I got him with a sneak attack. He might be a powerful earth-type manipulator, but his physical body does not match his Class. If he covered himself in his mud ability, I might not have even scratched him." While Fumio feels proud beating an A-Class Superioris, he attributes that achievement more to luck and a perfect circumstance. "And he''s old too." Kotone adds, the sight of the unconscious old man on the floor, with blood leaking of out his nose and mouth is something she will not forget in a long time. "Might be old, but he looks young enough to pass as a fifty-year-old. And even fifty-year-old non-superiori can still handle themselves in a gunfight." Fumio might have felt lucky, but he does not want to entirely disregard his contribution. "And that thing in your pocket is the thing that ensl*ves demons?" Red asks. "O-oh yes" Fumio hurriedly takes the piece of wood out from his pocket and hands it to Red. "Can''t put it in your storage ring?" Red asks as he receives it. "It won''t go in boss. That''s when I knew that it might be more valuable than at least five of your special peaches combined." Fumio says, confirming Red''s suspicion. "B-boss Uhh That thing might be evil." He warns. "Interesting" Red pays the warning no mind as he studies the piece of wood in his hands. Seeing the keen interest in the usually disinterested Red, the two disciples perk up. "You know something about it, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks. "I might have an idea." Red nods as he looks closer. The three suddenly feel the air become warmer. They look up and they see Xoz''gekal''s, the formerly imprisoned General-ranked demon, flame vulture descend. Before his flame vulture can do damage to the grass, Xoz''gekal cancels it and him and his companions land before the cultivators. "Sir." Xoz''gekal greets first. "You''ve called?" Tezguniuth, the knight-ranked sloth demon asks. "Mind your tone." Rezanod, the other knight-ranked demon that Red rescued, rebukes the sloth demon before, "Good day, sir.", giving his own greeting to Red. The three demons received a signal from Red, making them rush over. "Okay. You three sit with us." Red orders them and they are quick to comply. "Okay. You folks know what this is?" He tosses the piece of wood to Xoz''gekal. Fumio and Kotone are surprised at Red''s consultation to the three. "Hmmm No idea." Xoz''gekal shakes his head. "Same." Rezanod too do not know. "Hmmm" Tezguniuth meanwhile, cannot help his brows from jumping. "I''ve seen this before It''s used by humans to summon demons, if I recall correctly." He takes the piece of wood from Xoz''gekal. This surprises the group. He then takes the piece of wood and takes a closer look. "Maybe angels too." He adds, making the group''s jaws drop. "How?" Kotone asks. "Magic." Tezguniuth scoffs. "I don''t know who figured it out but humans used to use magic to summon demons." "So, they use spells, right?" Fumio asks, connecting the dots. "That''s right." Tezguniuth confirms. "Okay. Does it sound like this?" Fumio clears his throat, "O, k*ner**kah M****''hr***k ***la*un KR*****LE TAY*****E!", and recites a poor imitation of Gentarou''s spell. Due to Minoru''s taunting that made Gentarou repeat the spell three times, Fumio picked up some parts of the incantation he can pronounce. The group meanwhile, frown in confusion at the gibberish. "What was that?" Xoz''gekal chuckles, embarrassing Fumio. "I tried. That''s what I heard." Fumio shrugs. "You recognize it?" Kotone meanwhile, sees Tezguniuth''s pondering face. This takes the attention off of Fumio to the only person in the group who has knowledge of it. "Do that again?" Tezguniuth asks, and Fumio does. "Okay. The rhythm, the pattern of pronunciation, it sounds a bit like the oldest human language I have ever heard." Tezguniuth guesses. "Sumerian? Egyptian?" The well-red Fumio asks in interest. "No. Older than that." Tezguniuth shakes his head. "I don''t even know what it''s called. It was spoken around eight thousand years ago by people that lived in the fertile crescent. That was two or three thousand years earlier than Sumerian, or Egyptian, or Tamil." The two other demons, Red, and Kotone nod at the information, finding it interesting, but Fumio realize something strange. "Wait You''ve HEARD? How could you have heard languages that died thousands of years ago?" Fumio chuckles, feeling smug that he is the only one who fell for Tezguniuth''s joke. "Huh I didn''t know you lived that long." Red is pleased to find out something new about Tezguniuth. "Meh. I lived longer." Xoz''gekal scoffs. "But you don''t know shit now, do you?" Tezguniuth scoffs in return. "And how''d you get to know shit in the first place? Maybe you were probably a Scamp back then. Weak enough to actually fit in the gate that was very, very slightly ajar." Xoz''gekal sneers. "And? I was a child. A CHILD, you geezer." Tezguniuth scoffs. "Geezer..." Had Red not put restrictions on Xoz''gekal, he would have blasted Tezguniuth with at least a tiny flame vulture. "When I was a scamp, I was summoned once in Hittite." Rezonad cuts in. "You guys are joking, right?" Fumio''s mind is spinning, unsure whether the demons are serious, are having a shared paranoia, or are simply riffing off of each other. "Hey. I think I have a good guess at the incantation you heard." Tezguniuth brings the group back in topic. "Yeah?" Fumio looks at him funny. "Boss. Here. Who knows, I might actually trigger a real spell." Tezguniuth tosses back the piece of wood to Red. "Alright." He clears his throat. "O, kanerakkah Muvachip''hramak aiklakun ~~~ KRUITTALE TAYA''UNNE!" He successfully incants. Fumio and Kotone''s eyes widen in surprise. "T-THAT WAS IT!" Fumio almost stands up. "It sounds more beautiful than how Gentarou said it." Kotone comments. "What does it mean?" Red asks. "It roughly translates to ''Demon, submit yourself unto my bidding.''" Tezguniuth says. "Ah" The group is enlightened. "So yeah. I thought that little thing was just for summoning, who knew it can ensl*ve demons too." Tezguniuth sighs heavily, just thinking about how harmful the piece of wood is to demons. "WAIT!" Kotone suddenly calls for a break. "Yes. Let''s take a break, please." Fumio too, wants to adjust to the conversation. "Kichirou-san and you gentlemen I''m not going crazy, am I?" Kotone asks. Fumio too anxiously awaits. "Yes. These three are demons." Red confirms casually. Fumio immediately jumps back, prompting Kotone to do the same. The two looks at Red and the demons with apprehension. "Oh, come on..." Rezonad encases Kotone and Fumio in a sphere of ice, intending to drag them back. Before he can drag the ball of ice however, *Crash* it is broken by Fumio. "Don''t you f*ckin touch me!" Fumio half yelps, and half roars, spooked by the demon''s actions. "Ooh strong." Rezonad stands up in surprise at how easy his ice was broken. "Oh, sit your asses back down." Red sends them a compulsion attack with his spirit sense. The three immediately calm down and they get back to their previous places. "We''ll talk about this later." Red tells his two students. "Anyway." Tezguniuth shrugs at the short drama, and continues. "During my time in the fertile crescent nine thousand years ago, I witnessed quite a few demon summoning rituals performed with human sacrifices. Usually, a ritual to summon one Scamp level demon will take three human sacrifices. But that little thing in your hand, it felt powerful. The shamans simply used goat blood to summon Scamps." He explains to Red. "If it''s so powerful then why do the Oonishi clan need thousands of people to ensl*ve demons?" Kotone asks. "They don''t need it. The actual subjugation might not need any soul at all. But those souls They''re feeding them to demons to make them stronger." Tezguniuth explains. "I-I see" Fumio and Kotone get goosebumps. "How strong was the host?" Tezguniuth asks. "B-Class, Mid-tier." Kotone answers. "Okay. The Oonishi, right? They won''t waste a B-Class Superioris to be the host of a scrub demon. They must have been trying to subjugate a demon that is just as strong as that poor sap, and after they''re successful, that''s when the feeding starts. "Demons of that level will require 1 to 2 souls from B-Class Superiori, OR 5 to 6 souls belonging to C-Class Superiori, OR 30 something souls from D-Class Superiori, OR 150 to 160 souls from E-Class, OR 320 something souls from F-Class Superiori, OR at least 600 Non-superiori souls. You follow?" Tezguniuth allows Fumio and Kotone to process. It does not take the two cultivators long to feel disgusted. "And A-Class level demons like me..." Xoz''gekal cuts in. "Unless someone supplies me a soul of an A-Class Superioris my level, I will need at least three thousand non-superiori souls to get back to my peak power." He explains. "Y-you You t-three" Kotone''s mind is blown, and just thinking about how the demons in front of her got their powers back, terrifies her. "Hey, it''s free." Rezonad shrugs, making Fumio furious. "To be fair, my host was willing. He was suicidal. I didn''t have to eat." Tezguniuth has a more acceptable excuse to Fumio and Kotone. "I was fed supervillains, so my body count is just under ten." Xoz''gekal says, but it does not make Fumio and Kotone feel any better. "You two." Red takes his students'' attention. "Get over it. I know this sounds cold coming from your fellow human, but how many animals have you two eaten in your life?" He asks. "Still" "T-hat" Fumio and Kotone cannot swallow the logic. Chapter 93 - A Chat Under The Moonlight "Okay, while I appreciate your acts of heroism today, you two have to follow along if you want ears on this, ''kay?" Red asks his students. Fumio and Kotone swallow their questions for now and force themselves to treat everything that is happening currently, as normal. "Tez. Seeing as you recited that spell beautifully, I''m guessing you''re still fluent in the language?" Red asks the demon of sloth. "I might be rusty, but I guess. Speaking the only human language I learned without possessing someone, is not exactly a skill that''s easy to forget." "Good. It might be fun to learn it." Red nods. "I''ll teach you Cuneiform." Rezonad also volunteers. "That would be nice too." Red gladly accepts. "Huh. You two. How do you even remember these? It''s been a long time." Xoz''gekal gives the two demons an odd look. "You won''t understand." Tezguniuth shrugs. "Yeah. The mighty general Xoz''gekal won''t." Rezonad comments too, sarcastically. "Nah, don''t give me that. I''m genuinely curious, so humor me." Xoz''gekal asks. Fumio and Kotone too, become curious especially about Tezguniuth. They feel that the demon of sloth simply do not feel like a demon to them. "I lived among the Hittites for 70 years. I was fighting, feeding for that long until I grew strong enough to break away from my summoners. I lived the life of a leader, of a king. I was someone important! It''s not exactly a time to be easily forgotten." Rezonad explains. Kotone and Fumio get weirded out by the demon''s reminiscing expression and relatable sentiments. "You This is sacrilege" Xoz''gekal is speechless. "Hah! Sacrilege my ass." Rezonad scoffs at the accusation. "He''s not the only one." Tezguniuth speaks up. "To be honest, my time with those bronze wielding tribes was the most memorable time of my youth. Although I already forgot their faces, I still remember their voices, how they were." He shares. "And. I spent most of my life sleeping or being with myself reading. So, even though that was 9 thousand years ago, it was only two or three thousand waking years ago." He adds. "You two" Xoz''gekal would have blown his top off if he can. "So, you were treated as lords. My hounds back home treat me as their god." He can only insult them. "They were weak, but they were smarter than most demons. And yet, they still revered me." Rezonad argues. "That''s because you had power to throw around. That wasn''t reverence. That was fear." Xoz''gekal argues back. "It''s not about power... Never mind. You weren''t there to see it." Rezonad says through gritted teeth. "Can you two stop, please?" Tezguniuth interrupts. "Like I said earlier, General, you won''t understand." He tells Xoz''gekal. "Okay. It''s fun to watch this, but I''m more interested with this uhhh twig. Tez, is there any other things you''ve seen it used for?" Red asks the demon of sloth. "Well. Nothing else." Tezguniuth starts. "Unless that one claim by a friend of mine during her time in India 8 thousand years ago, is related to the thing on your hand." He shakes his head. "Well? What did she see?" Red asks. "Said she saw some shaman summon an angel with a twig and bucket of sheep blood. Quite similar the ingredients that was used in a ritual that summoned me." Tezguniuth recounts. "Ah" Red loses interest. The demons find it odd seeing that Red is not impressed. "Do you have an idea how powerful that thing is?" Xoz''gekal cannot help but ask. "Oh, I do. Just touching it, and looking at it, I have a better idea than you do. It being used for summoning or subjugation? It''s like using a cannon to kill a fly." Red shrugs. "Hm?!" The group are shocked by Red''s casual comment. "Okay, then. Thanks for taking this thing to me." He says to his students as he stands up. "You three." He addresses the demons. "Introduce the rest of the gang to these two. Hang out for all I care." This makes Fumio and Kotone flinch. "Oh, relax, Fumio kid. You can beat the others easily." Rezonad is amused at the two''s expressions. "Okay. You two, stay here for a few days. Teach the kids and Yoshiko, refill their seals for me." Red orders his students. "You going somewhere, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks. "Yeah. I''m going on seclusion. It''s not every day I get to play with an interesting toy." Red smirks as he plays with the wood fragment between his fingers. Before any of the group can say anything, *whoosh* Red fades into thin air leaving behind a blast of air. "Damn, he''s fast." Xoz''gekal whistles. "So D-demons huh." Fumio starts a chat nervously. "A-Aherm" Kotone wants to run away. The two are now given the chance to process their situation. "Hehehhhh.. We outnumber you now." Rezonad licks his lips, looking at the two with a sinister grin. "W-wha" "Stop!" Fumio and Kotone jump back in panic and they pull out their rune swords and assume their fighting stances. "H-hey I was just joking." Rezonad retrieves his grin and puts his hands up in the air to make himself look less threatening. He feels a dangerous aura from the two cultivators'' swords. "That''s what you get." Xoz''gekal laughs at Rezonad, but inside, despite feeling that he can beat Kotone and Fumio at the same time, he is feeling very threatened by their weapons. "We''re harmless. Don''t worry." Tezguniuth, who noticed the two cultivators find him the least threatening, assures them. "How do we know that?" Kotone asks. "Boss has us by the balls. We kill anyone of you, he''ll make us suffer that we would wish for death." Tezguniuth shrugs. Fumio looks at the two other demons to see them nodding in agreement. This makes him relax, and him relaxing relaxes Kotone. It takes a few more seconds before they store back their swords to their rings. "So, what now?" Kotone asks. "You heard the boss. We introduce ourselves and the others to you. We''ll be around, maybe working with you two for a very, very long time." Xoz''gekal says. "Or maybe ''til hell ascends." Rezonad adds. "Still. I''m that''ll take a lot of time. I wanna enjoy the world before it gets destroyed." Tezguniuth mumbles to himself, but he is still heard by the others. "Okay" Fumio shakes off the image of the gates of hell in his mind. "Names first, gentlemen. We never really knew your names aside from your jobs." <><><> Night soon arrives and every inhabitant of the hill just had their dinner. Kotone is currently casually walking to the top of the hill. Despite the dark shadows of the trees, making everything dark, she can see through it by infusing spiritual energy to her eyes. After everything that happened during the day, she wants to be alone. Arriving at the small clearing on top of the hill however, she finds an obstacle to her desire for isolation; Fumio, sitting in a lotus position on the middle of the clearing, being shined by the moonlight, almost making him look ethereal. Feeling that Fumio is hungrily absorbing the spiritual energy in the air, she turns to leave, not wanting to disturb him from cultivating. Before she can walk away however, "Kotone." Fumio calls out to her. "I was just leaving. Sorry for disturbing you." Kotone gives Fumio an apologetic nod. "It''s fine. Join me. We didn''t exactly have the chance to catch up earlier." Fumio invites her over. "Alright." Kotone joins him. "So. Demons. They seem nicer than I thought." She starts the chat. "Yeah. That trumps the things I''ve been doing for the past month." Fumio chuckles. "So. What are you doing here? Don''t you train in the backyard during this hour of the night?" He asks. "Nothing. Just nice and quiet." Kotone shrugs. "Nice and quiet" Fumio half-mocks. The backyard is much better for relaxation than the clearing surrounded by weeds and trees, so he knows that Kotone just wants to be alone, suspecting that she wants to get away from the presence of the demons. "What''s up with you? You seem off since lunch time." He asks. "It''s just a lot to process. That prison." Kotone takes a heavy breath remembering what she saw in the facility. "I know. I''m not sure who''s the demon. Tez, or Gentarou?" Fumio shares the same sentiment. "That reminds me. We forgot to ask Kichirou-san what to do about it." Kotone says with a snap of her fingers. "I texted him. He said he''ll take care of it." Fumio relays. "I see. I just wish he takes us along." Kotone is disappointed. "I asked actually. But he refused." Fumio reports. "Why?" "Said we aren''t strong enough. So the more I thought about it, I''m pretty sure that it''s heavily guarded now after what we did. Gentarou might have already figured out our ability to turn invisible, so him and his guards are ready for us." This stumps Kotone. "I uh Can you teach me weight training?" She asks instead. "Huh.. All of a sudden? I thought you didn''t want to become buff?" Fumio gets interested. "I didn''t. But I want to get stronger faster." Fumio cannot help but notice the firmness in Kotone''s tone. "Okay but you might injure yourself." "I''ll be careful." Kotone insists. "Why? What''s this about? Your growth is very fast already. A bit faster than me even." Fumio asks. "I just Just until I have the power to beat Oonishi Gentarou." Kotone reveals. "Heh. Well. Get in line. I''ll defeat him first before you do." Fumio smirks. The next moment, he leans away from his friend. He was only trying to light up the mood, but the look he is getting from Kotone scares him a bit. "Wait, it''s not like you hate him more than I do. What''s with you?" He asks nervously. "I do hate him more than you do" Fumio notices Kotone''s face turn stone cold. "I hate him enough that I want to kill him." She adds. Fumio''s eyes widen in shock. He cannot believe that the usually meek and caring young woman, seems to be exuding a dangerous aura of murder, comparable to what he has seen in Hideki the day Hideki attempted to kill him. "H-hey. This isn''t something to joke about." He can only hope that she is acting. "I''m not joking." "Why? Why do you have to?" "You don''t understand." "Then help me understand." Fumio gets worried. "*haaa.* I thought I got over it, that I''ve moved on But learning what I''ve learned today, I feel like I should do it." Kotone shakes her head and sighs. Her words, not having context, confuses Fumio. "Okay. I''ve heard of your vigilante activities from boss. Stopping petty criminals, subduing gangs'' extortion activities. But this. This is different. It''s murder." Fumio continues his dissuasion attempt. "You yourself told me, that these people are above the law. If they get to do whatever they want, hurting innocent lives, without repercussions, then why can''t I stop them because I want to?" "It''s not about being lawful. It''s about you getting your hands bloody. This will stay with you for the rest of your life." Fumio gets goosebumps at how Kotone is acting. "It''s not about that. It''s about revenge. He ruined my life, Haruto''s life." Instead of being dissuaded, Kotone gets even angrier. "Ruined your life? What do you mean?" Fumio asks in surprise. "Have you ever wondered how me and my brother were orphaned?" Kotone asks. "I did. But you don''t have to tell me." "I will tell you so you''ll understand. Ten years ago, in Itabashi. The villain called ''Rock Stampede''" Kotone starts to recount her family''s tragedy "And thanks to Minoru-san, I found out who''s really to blame. The man who took away my parents, and my childhood." She concludes her story. "" Fumio does not even know what to say, as he processes the information, empathizing better with Kotone''s resentment. "This gives me the right, don''t you think? Fumio?" Kotone asks, seeing that Fumio is not talking. "I-I" Fumio takes a deep breath. "I''ll help you get stronger. I''ll even help you fight him." He can only accept Kotone''s desire for now. "But I''m still against you killing him. It doesn''t have to be your hands." "I hope that I don''t have the guts to when the time comes... But we''ll find out then.." Kotone is glad that Fumio will not get in her way. Chapter 94 - Before Going To Seclusion Aikawa, Kanagawa Prefecture 10 AM "MMffff.." Gentarou wakes up, and after adjusting himself, he finds himself in his bedroom. His memories before he was knocked out also come back to him. "Hello there. You were out bad..." Before he can get angry at what happened to him, he is greeted by a familiar face. A face that belongs to a friend his age. While his friend is also in her 80s like him, she does not look like she is in her 50s like him, but in her late 30s due to the nature of her ability. "Emi" He greets back in relief knowing that he is out of danger in the presence of the best Superioris Doctor he knows personally. Suddenly, "AH", a severe headache assaults him and he cannot help but groan in pain. "Compared to being paralyzed, that headache is nothing." Emi explains, noticing Gentarou''s eyes starting to tear up from the pain. "It was that bad, huh? How long was I out?" Gentarou asks, after the headache stops blaring. "Around 26 hours." Emi grabs a syringe and an ampule from the pocket of her doctor''s gown, and starts preparing for a shot. "Well, damn." Gentarou shakes his head. "Anyway. Are you here as my friend, or the daughter of Yamada-dono?" He asks, helpless at the situation. "While I would prefer to visit you simply as a friend, I have my responsibilities." The honesty of her reply makes Gentarou feel relieved. "Okay. Someone managed to infiltrate my facility. Must be the traitor''s buddy." He starts to explain. He has no problems sharing everything that happened, to Emi. After all, not only is Yamada Emi his childhood friend, she is also the bridge between the Oonishi Clan and the Yamada Clan. He will not however, tell her about the Oonishi''s demon ensl*ving activities. The Oonishi is subservient to the Yamada, and his clan''s attempts of raising General-level demons, if found out by the Yamada, will cause his clan''s destruction. After all, the Yamada are not stupid and they will immediately see his actions as a threat to their rule over the Kanto Region. "Look. The man who attacked me had the ability to turn invisible. That''s just as rare, maybe even rarer than your biokinesis abilities. Of course, I wasn''t ready." "I''m not questioning your competence, Gen." Emi chuckles as she injects the painkiller on Gentarou''s IV line. "But I told you so. I told you to station more guards. A few more people being in on the secret is not that harmful." "Yeah? Like that makes a difference. I''m sure you''ve heard what happened to Sora''s prison? It''s in a private island, with armed guards watching it 24/7. It was still wiped out." Gentarou argues. "Well. Fair enough." Emi does not really care. "Anyway." Gentarou wants to take this chance to prove to Emi that his clan is not that affected by the incident. "As a sign of my thanks, I can give you our tributes this year early. I-" "I''m afraid you can''t." Emi cuts him off. "I''ll talk to my father. I''m pretty sure he will understand your situation enough to waive your tribute the second half of this year." "T-that''s g-great." Gentarou suppresses his excitement. "But why can''t I?" he asks. "Ah. Of course, you haven''t heard." Emi stops in realization. "Well, just three hours after you were assaulted, there was a second wave of attacks. Your demons got killed, their cores were taken, and your sacrifices were rescued. And just like the first time, the culprits managed to enter and exit undetected." She relays. This news stuns Gentarou. "You can''t exactly pay your tributes if you failed to harvest demon cores, can you?" Emi asks rhetorically. "And money is not exactly what the Yamada need for tributes currently." She adds. Gentarou feels his stomach sinks, before anger starts brewing in his heart. He wants to lash out, but suppresses it for now. "You know And I don''t intend to offend you, but Are you sure this is not your clan''s?" He regrets the words that just came out of his mouth. "My clan''s doing?" Emi is still offended however. "Well, I don''t intend to insult you, too Gen, but what you''re suggesting is beneath us." "Alright. I''m sorry." Gentarou is glad that Emi does not seem to be angered. "But. You know What you said, it might not be that off the mark" Emi wears a pondering expression, her words confusing Gentarou. "What if A clan, or clans, outside our region are the culprit." She continues. "Huh" Gentarou feels it might be plausible. ."I don''t think there are powerful enough terrorist groups that can do what they did, much less have the information network to know about the demon facilities." "Yes. So, you need to investigate your men, as there might be other spies aside from that child you offed yesterday. I''ll tell Sora to do the same to his. Attacks on each of the Yamada''s arms, and only days apart? This is obviously not a coincidence." Emi''s voice becomes serious. <><><> "Oh, what a coincidence. Good morning, Fumio-san, Kotone-san." Ichiki, the demon chef, greet Fumio and Kotone as soon as the two land in front of the bamboo gate they just jumped over. "I was just about to bring your breakfast inside." He raises the breakfast tray on his hand to the two. "U-uh.. Thank you. We want to join the children for breakfast." Kotone awkwardly nods at the demon. She is still processing that the man who served her meals in the past ten days is a demon. "Ah. That''s perfect. Kichirou-san is also having breakfast with the children. Worry not, there''s plenty of space for you two at the table." Ichiki leads the two inside the children''s house. <> After having their breakfast, Red and his students arrive at the hilltop. "So, boss I thought you went to seclusion?" Fumio asks, puzzled by Red''s presence. "Slight change of plans after visiting the Oonishi yesterday. You''re still gonna be in-charge for a few days, buddy." Red smirks at Fumio. "That''s not" Fumio is speechless. "That reminds me. How did it go at the Oonishi, Kichirou-san?" Kotone asks. "Done. Killed the demons, dropped off the humans to some shelters." Red summarizes. "What about Gentarou?" Kotone asks. While the anger in her voice is unrecognizable to most, "Hm?" Red feels a slight murderous intent in her question. "Well. He wasn''t exactly in the fighting mood after what Fumio did to him." He figures that Gentarou''s actions must have twisted Kotone''s sense of justice. "Anyways. How are your reserves?" Red asks them as they sit on the grass. "You two seemed to have been busy together the entire night" He winks at them. "W-we! We were just training, Kichirou-san." Kotone almost yelps at the insinuation. "Your jokes again, boss" Fumio scoffs, but his cheeks have turned slightly pink. "What? I smell bit of lactic acid wafting off of your skins. Especially from you Kotone. Must have been intense training?" Red asks. He then sees a conflicted expression on Fumio''s face, and the Kotone seems to be hiding something. ''You will tell me about this later.'' He sends a mental message to Fumio. "" Fumio can only nod in response. "Never mind. Training is training." Red feigns losing interest in the matter. "Here Trinkets." He pulls out two leather watches from under his robe and hands them to his disciples. "What''s this, boss?" Fumio asks as he plays around with it. He knows that Red''s gifts are not what they appear to be. "Oh What''s this tiny thing?" Kotone sees a shiny, pellet-sized, black ball embedded at the back of the watch. "That, my dears, is a demon core." Red tells them. "Demon core? Why''s it so small compared to the one that came out of the demon that possessed Hideki?" Fumio asks. "The one inside Hideki was a General-ranked demon. Those on your hands belonged to Soldier-ranked demons." Red explains. Seeing the two''s understanding expressions, and questioning stares, he proceeds. "Now, why don''t you connect the meridian on your wrists to the demon core?" He instructs, and the two students immediately do as they are told. The next moment, "T-this!" Fumio and Kotone are shocked. They feel a huge supply of spiritual energy inside the cores. "T-this can fill up my elixir sea many times over." Fumio compares. "Me too." Kotone feels the same. "Yeah. Souls are very rich in spiritual energy." Red nods. "T-that''s right" "Eek!" Fumio and Kotone suddenly recoil from the demon cores. The demons explained to them yesterday how demon cores work, and remembering that demons absorb human souls to their cores, the two of them suddenly feel disgusted of the thing in their hands. "Relax, you two." Red understands how the two are feeling. "Once person''s soul leaves its lifeless body, it''s no longer a soul. It becomes pure energy, that''s it." He explains. "It doesn''t make me feel better about it." Kotone grumbles. Fumio frowns, feeling the same. "Look. A person''s memories, emotions, what makes them, them? They go back to the void the universe, if you will. The vo-, the universe has its way of sending them to other places, giving them new lives." Red explains further to make them feel better. He sees however that they do not entirely believe what he told them, which makes him nod at them in approval. "I know, it''s hard to swallow. Many lives, more innocent ones than not, are sacrificed for those cores. But would you rather have demons and the greedy clans use those for their less than savory purposes? Or use it yourselves for things you deem righteous? Use it to strengthen yourselves to stop any more demon cores from being made." He asks them. The two however do not even know what to say, and are only looking at the demon cores, their minds stirring. "Just have it with you for now. In case an emergency arises, and your reserves run dry, you have something that can save your lives." Red decides to drop the matter for now, to allow the two to process it. While he wants them to use the demon cores, he does not want them to accept the use of the cores immediately and easily, as he does not want them to rely on exterior sources. "For emergencies only" Kotone puts on the watch with hesitation. This prompts Fumio to do the same. "Alright. That''s it for now. Be careful training, Kotone." Red warns Kotone as he stands up. "I will. Don''t worry." Kotone nods. "Okay. Piss off for now.." Red orders her. Fumio is about to leave too but, "Fumio stay. I have some tasks for you." Red stops him. Kotone gets worried for a bit and sends Fumio a look. Fumio simply returns a nod, assuring her. After Kotone left, "So What tasks do you have for me, boss?" Fumio asks. "Nothing. Answer me this instead. Does Kotone want to kill Gentarou?" Red asks Fumio. "T-that" Fumio is taken aback by the very direct question, also stunned at how Red knew. "Come on. I can feel her rage, just mentioning Gentarou''s name. What happened?" Red asks. "Boss" Fumio feels trapped and he decides to be honest. A minute later. " Oh I see." Red now knows the relation between Gentarou and ''Rock Stampede'', the villain whose rampage killed Kotone''s parents. "Please don''t tell her I told you." Fumio pleads. "Don''t worry, I won''t." Red assures him. "So. What do we do now? Are we going to stop her?" Fumio asks in worry. "I don''t know." Red shrugs. "You DON''T KNOW?!" Fumio is shocked at Red''s dismissive reaction. "There''s a difference between intent, and actually doing the deed. For now. I''ll let her use her anger to fuel her drive to get stronger. I''ll decide on what to do when the time comes." Red explains. Fumio can only accept the plan for now, finding it logical enough. "Go. Help Kotone train." <> After parting with his students, Red is now inside a cave. The cave, the size of a basketball court, is actually inside the hill itself. It is not a natural cave, but a huge dwelling he himself made that took three months of work. Had he used spiritual energy and earth nature energy techniques, he could have made the cave in a few hours. Instead, he used it as a chance to train his body. With his resistance seals that burdened him, suppressing his strength and speed to that of an ordinary man, he carved out the side of the hill using punches, kicks, palm attacks, claw attacks, or any other fighting techniques. Sitting at a workshop table made of stone, he pulls out the demon-summoning piece of wood. Since the moment he was handed the piece of wood, he tried, with great self-control and discipline, his best to stop himself from studying it, and instead settled things that might interrupt his study of the object. Now that he is ready, he cannot wait to occupy himself with quite possibly the most valuable object he has laid his hands on in this world so far. "Hello, baby.. I can finally take a closer look at you." Chapter 95 - Cause And Effect [We''re sorry. The number you are trying to call is not reachable at this time, thank you.] *Clack* "The hell?" Fumio tosses his phone on the outdoor table in front of him out of irritation. "What''s wrong with you?" Kotone asks, stopping the phone from sliding off the table. "Nothing." Fumio simply shakes his head as he turns his attention to the training yard to continue watching Yoshiko and the children training their kata. The two are currently sitting together at Gin and Yoshiko''s shared patio, having tea at the patio table. They themselves were training just until a few minutes ago and are now taking a break from their training. "Look at Konan. Is it just me, or she''s daydreaming while doing her kata?" Kotone asks. "" Fumio did not hear her question however. She then looks at him and sees that Fumio''s head is somewhere else. "Hey." Kotone snaps her finger near Fumio''s ear. "Hm? What?" Fumio asks, wakened from his daze. "Okay. There''s clearly something going on. Something''s off with you since last night. And tossing your phone so carelessly doesn''t seem like you." Kotone asks. "It''s just" Fumio hesitates, before deciding to share. "My sister. She was supposed to set up a lunch date with me for today, but I can''t reach her phone. She''s not answering her text either." "Aww You miss her so much?" Kotone teases him. Fumio scoffs. "It''s not that. Since March, we''ve been meeting every last day of the month, like today. It''s her turn to reserve a place for us, and she was supposed to tell me the meeting place yesterday It''s weird. I can''t even reach her KokoTalk." He explains. Kotone''s eyes go wide. "Then why aren''t you looking for her right now?!" She exclaims in panic. "Whoah." Fumio is startled by the outburst. "Calm down. She''s a C-Class superioris. She can take care of herself." "Calm down?! You''re too calm!" Kotone tries to reason. "Fumio. Last time I checked, you are able to call her anytime. So, there must be something that''s making her unreachable." Fumio finds Kotone''s argument valid, but he shakes his head. "It''s just What if she just doesn''t want to see me? I''d uh rather not confirm it." "Was there anything she said that made you think that?" Kotone asks. "Not really." "Good. Then go. Go look for her. At worst, it''ll just be a sibling spat. But what if she needs you?" Kotone kicks Fumio''s leg. "If you won''t go, I''ll ask Xoz to torch your ass out of here." She adds a threat. "Fine Fine." Fumio stands up and takes a deep breath to pump himself up. He has made up his mind. "Will you be fine?" He asks Kotone. "Yes. It''s been more than a week since Kichirou-san went out. So, whatever he has with the demons, we can rest assured that he still has them on a leash even while he''s away." Kotone assures him. "Okay then. I''ll be back as soon as I can." "Take your time. I want to be king of the hill too!" <><><> Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. Hasegawa Clan Compound. A quarter an hour later, under the invisibility seal in his kimono, Fumio bypasses the security check at the compound gate, and easily enters the compound undetected. He then takes a slow stroll towards the center of the compound to think about how to start looking for Sayuri. On his way, he sees the street heading to his family''s house. Before he realizes it, he is already walking the street. A few minutes later, he arrives at the gate of his family''s home. He sighs. The wooden gate, the walls, the vines decorating them, still look the same the way they looked the day he walked out on his family. Not wanting to use the gate to enter, he jumps up and reaches a second-floor window which belongs to his parents'' room. He takes a peek inside the room and finding no one, he slides open the window, and enters. "sssss" He immediately smells the scent of his parents in the room, making him smile bitterly. He did not expect that just the smell alone makes him nostalgic. He then proceeds silently to the next room, which is Sayuri''s. To his disappointment, he does not find her, her work laptop, or her phone. He then descends to the first floor. As soon as he steps off the stairs, he is startled seeing his mother kneeling on the living room floor, busy doing something at the tea table. He knocks his forehead, as he forgot that even when he was still in the clan, his mother always spent the majority of her time in the house, living comfortably as a housewife who has a servant assisting her with the affairs of the household. He looks around and enhances his ears, and finds out that the servant is nowhere nearby, figuring they might be out on an errand, to his relief. He then looks at his mother again and he cannot help but notice that beside her, right under the table, are crumpled pieces of paper with ink blots in them. Then, his mother''s hand moves in a position where he can see it over her shoulder. He gets interested, seeing her hand holding a brush. ''Calligraphy?'' He never saw his mother write something with ink and brush, so he walks silently behind her to take a look at what she is writing. The next moment however, his eyes widen at what he is reading. =========== Gorou-sama. On behalf of my child, Sayuri, I apologize. I also ask you to forgive me for this presumptuousness. I know, I am but powerless housewife, but as a fellow parent, I hope you understand my desperation. I know that there is no excuse for what my daughter has done to Hideki-sama, but I ask you to please, be lenient on her punishment... =========== Fumio does not have to finish reading the letter to know that something serious went down that involved Sayuri. He silently steps back, and goes on to exit the house where he entered it. Judging on what he has seen, he figures that Sayuri must have done something bad, at least to the eyes of the clan. He only has one place in mind where Sayuri might be. <> A few minutes later, Fumio is looking down at what looks like a road descending to an underground parking lot of a building. He knows however that it is the entrance of the clan''s jail. He has never really seen the interior of it, and never hoped to be inside it for whatever reason, so just thinking about Sayuri being in it makes him very anxious. He the descends to the entrance and he finds a lone guard, guarding the metallic main door. Luckily for him, the guard is just a few breaths short to nodding off. Fumio creeps up to the guard and while doing so, he takes out a small container of sleeping powered, which he himself cooked up based off of Red''s recipe. He then grabs a small pinch of the powder and flicks it to the guard''s nose. Not soon after, the guard is stretched over on his table, lightly snoring. He takes the guard''s access card and ID, and enters the jail''s doors. Unlike the Oonishi''s demon prison, the clan jail''s security is nothing, with not even a security camera. Perhaps it is because there is no incentive for the clan in making the prison high security, and that they are satisfied as long as it can hold prisoners. It is also not hard for Fumio to find his sister''s cell. Unlike the Oonishi Demon Prison which can confine tens of demons in it, there are only ten cells in the Hasegawa jail. And in those ten cells, only two are occupied, and Sayuri is one of them. Looking at his sister, staring emptily at the air of her jail cell with her reddened and sleep deprived eyes, breaks his heart. "*sssss*" He takes a deep and long inhale as he thinks about what to do next. Sayuri meanwhile, heard Fumio''s breath sounding so loud in the silent facility, and, "Who''s there!", she calls out. Fumio takes a few seconds to consider his next actions, before releasing his breath. He switches on his disguise and takes off his invisibility, showing himself to Sayuri. "Sayuri-san" He greets. "" Sayuri is stunned at the sudden appearance of the stranger. "W-who are you?" "Who I am isn''t important. Your brother has asked me to look for you." Fumio gets into his Fukashi character. "My brother? Yuuki?" Sayuri asks. Fumio feels a small pang in his heart. "No. Your younger brother, Fumio-san. You missed your lunch, so he got worried." Fumio says. "I-I see." Sayuri is beyond surprised. "How did you get in here?" She asks, still stunned at the situation. "Just some tricks." Fumio does not want to explain. "What brought you here, Sayuri-san?" He asks instead. Instead of an answer, he receives a weird look from Sayuri. "Please go back. Tell Fumio that I''m fine." Sayuri simply dismisses Fumio. "Just tell me why you''re locked up, Sayuri-san. Who knows? I might be able to break you out if I don''t find your confinement here, just." Fumio asks. "I deserve this punishment, mister. So please, just go. I don''t want to involve Fumio." Sayuri insists on sending Fumio away. Fumio gets frustrated, but racks his brains anyway. A few seconds later, "Sayuri-san. I''m not the type to rip off my clients. Fumio-san paid a fortune for the down payment. He probably sacrificed his mortgage. I''m not going to report back to him with a lie." Fumio comes up with a convincing lie. Sayuri meanwhile, feels guilty at Fumio''s ''sacrifice''. "What do you want to know then?" "Just tell me the whole story." Fumio asks. "Okay" Sayuri does not want to waste Fumio''s money so she feels that she might as well tell the stranger. "Hideki used to have High C-Class to Low B-Class bodyguards until he was kicked out 5 years ago. But since he returned to the clan as a cripple, his guards were downgraded to my tier, Low C-Class. I don''t know what happened, but his guards since he came back either quit, or were fired, until there are no other candidates left for his bodyguards, but me." She pauses to let Fumio keep up. "You became his bodyguard." Fumio says, knowing how the clan works. "Yes. But" Sayuri sighs and Fumio sees the pain in her eyes. "For months he took advantage of me. He kept touching me when no one''s looking. It was it was difficult." She cannot express fully what she felt just with words. Fumio at this point is fuming. Sayuri however interrupts his anger by continuing her story. "Then, last week. I don''t know what got to him, but he tried to stab me, maybe even tried to kill me, when I slapped his hand away. I don''t know what happened to me too. My vision turned red, and everything was a blur. When I realized what I was doing and stopped, his face was already bloody, and I''ve already broken his nose, arms and some ribs. Thankfully, it wasn''t too late, or I could have killed him." "So Where is Hideki right now?" Fumio asks, barely containing his anger. "Hospital, the last time I heard. But having a superioris doctor in the clan''s reach, he''s probably all healed up." Sayuri frowns. "And what did Gorou and the council decide to punish you with?" Fumio asks. "I Don''t know yet. They''re still probably deciding. I don''t know what the verdict is going to be, but I can only hope that some of the elders will be on my side. They seemed to believe my claims." Sayuri states plainly, but Fumio can see worry in her eyes. Fumio hurriedly supplies spiritual energy to his brain, fearing that he might do something stupid. This provides him clarity, and with that clarity, comes guilt. "I heard that Hideki seems to believe that it was Fumio-san who crippled him?" He asks. "Yes" Sayuri nods. "And he probably vented his anger towards Fumio-san to you" Fumio sighs, realizing that Sayuri ending up in jail rooted from his actions. Sayuri immediately figures what Fumio is insinuating and, "I-It''s not his fault.", defends Fumio from Fumio. "Hideki was screwed in the head in the first place." "But why didn''t you say anything to your father? To the clan?" Fumio asks. "Even though Hideki has become harmless after his powers were taken away, He had become pettier and sneakier. That makes him dangerous in another way. He made sure that I didn''t have a way to gather proof of his actions." Sayuri can only helplessly sigh. "Don''t worry, Sayuri-san. I''ll find a way to help you.." Fumio can only promise, but he does not know where to start. Chapter 96 - A Taste Of Power And Control In the Hasegawa''s Conference room, are five men whose ages range from late 60s to 80s. To any outsider who do not know any better, they would simply look like a bunch of old geezers having warm sake, but to anyone in the know, they will recognize the five as the most powerful men of the Hasegawa Clan. "We''ve been on this for an hour now. Can''t we just let the girl go?" Hasegawa''s First Elder, Hasegawa Gorou''s uncle, and the former Hasegawa Clan Head scratches his brows in annoyance. "Let her go? After what she did?" The Third Elder, Gorou''s father, sneers. "Why make things complicated when it''s not? That''s why we don''t use civilian law. Gorou''s kid harassed the treasurer''s daughter for months. The girl decided to fight back for the first time, which made Hideki unreasonably snap, which made the girl snap too. We all know what happened next. We should be thankful that Gorou''s kid wasn''t killed." The First Elder explains in dismissal. "First Elder, I know my son''s fault" Gorou argues bitterly to the First Elder. "It''s just excessive, don''t you think?" "Excessive?! Hah!" The second elder, Gorou''s second uncle, cuts in with a mock. "Isn''t that nice, Gorou? What would you call your son''s actions?" "T-that" Gorou struggles to argue. "He''s paid for it, second elder. He was exiled, lost his powers, was even possessed by a demon. The girl kicking a man down who already hit rock bottom, is indeed, quite excessive." The fourth elder, and Gorou''s older brother, argues. "Rock bottom And whose fault it was that lead to him hitting it?" The second elder argues back. "I don''t care if he hit rock bottom. Hideki tried to kill the girl, and the girl was simply defending herself. In quite an excessive manner, yes, but Hideki trying to kill her released the resentment that she has been building up." The first elder defends Sayuri. "This is why you weren''t exactly a respected clan leader, brother. Why are you defending this girl from a distant branch family anyway?" The third elder asks with a sneer. "I don''t know. Just to annoy you?" The first elder returns with a sneer, ignoring the slight on his former leadership. "And, I could care less about the girl. It''s about how you run things. Letting that little devil do what he wants? Even when he''s now powerless? That will make the rest of the clan''s trust in the main family, very fickle." He continues. "Oh, I worry about this clan''s future under you, brother" The second elder laments, wiping a fake tear towards the Third Elder''s direction. "You too. You''re really smart, you know that? Sticking the sister of the person in Hideki''s delusion to him? Isn''t that smart?" He mocks Gorou too. The third elder and Gorou do not bother replying. "So. What were you three planning to do to the girl? Before we caught a whiff of this mess?" The First Elder asks Gorou, the Third Elder, and the Fourth Elder. "" The three people being asked refuse to answer. "Come on. Answer. Or I will make sure that this discussion will never end." The Second Elder says. "And no lies. Remember, I''m retired. I have nothing better to do to occupy my time." The First Elder adds. "We were supposed to give her the injuries that she has given Hideki." Gorou confesses. "And cripple her powers too" The Third Elder adds. "I do not support the Third Elder and the Clan Head with the crippling part, but she needs to get what she has given." Fourth Elder says. "Wow." The First Elder shakes his head. "And what would Hideki''s punishment be? For attempted murder?" He asks. "Clan exile" Gorou says through gritted teeth. "Ah Well. Fair enough." The First Elder shrugs, finding the arrangement acceptable this time. "Fair" The Second Elder scoffs. "I guess they''re going to ''exile'' him to another ally clan. Or your private villa in some distant village. What''s the point of that?" He quips to the First Elder. "Sends the same message to the clansmen anyway." The First Elder does not care about the details of the punishment. "No. Exile is too light still. He should be BANISHED. Never to return again. Should he stir trouble outside, he should suffer the consequences of it. No bailing him out and let him be incriminated by civilian law. If he offends someone he shouldn''t have offended, and get beaten up to near death. There''s no rescuing." The Second Elder suggests. "BUT HE''S MY SON!" Gorou cannot take the Second Elder''s suggestion. "AND HE''S MY GRANDNEPHEW." The Second Elder matches Gorou''s yelling. "AND A DISAPPOINTMENT TO OUR BLOOD!" He adds, embarrassing Gorou and slighting the Third Elder. "Alright Father, Uncle, please..." The Fourth Elder calms the two down. "Banishment is too much But why don''t we have Hideki abandon his Hasegawa name while in exile? He will still live in comfort, of course. What do you think, brother?" He asks Gorou, and at the same time it being an effort to reach a compromise with the Second Elder. Gorou takes a few moments, before accepting the suggestion. Before he can express it however, the Second Elder interrupts. "It''ll just be another repeat of what happened in his first exile. He must have offended someone, and got almost beaten to death for it. What if that happens again, we accept him back to the clan again? Then he''ll make trouble for us again?" "We will have to force him to take a more active approach in earning his name back." Gorou haggles. "How would you do that?" The Second Elder asks. "I''ll have to force him to take a more active effort in earning his name back to the clan. If that doesn''t work, uncle. Then we''ll go with banishment." Gorou asks for a compromise. "Keep your words, kid." The Second Elder accepts it. "Alright then. Cripple the girl. Exile the boy. Is that it?" The First Elder summarizes. "Yes." The room reach an agreement. "Is that so?" A man suddenly appears in their presence out of thin air, with a question. The appearing act of the man is ignored as they see that he is carrying the gagged and tied unconscious Hideki on his shoulder. "LET HIM GO!" Gorou is the first one to react, also noticing that Hideki, who was all healed up, is once again beaten up black and blue. "OR WHAT?" Fumio asks back as he rests the sharp of his katana on Hideki''s neck. Unlike his anger after visiting his sister, he is now much calmer. He had already vented enough of his anger to Hideki while abducting the man. "Who the hell do you think you are?" The Second Elder, despite his old body, dashes towards Fumio at a great speed. "No!" Gorou shouts to stop the Second Elder, fearing that the stranger will harm Hideki. Unfortunately for him, the Second Elder is not at all concerned about Hideki''s safety and is already throwing a karate punch to Fumio''s face. *whoosh* Fumio easily dodges the Second Elder''s attack, and while doing so, he infuses a bit of his spiritual energy to the hilt of his katana and smashes the bottom of it to the Second Elder''s face. *Thump* The Second Elder is already unconscious before even hitting the floor. Fumio then throws Hideki to the side and takes the Second Elder as a hostage replacement. "WAIT!" The First Elder stops Gorou and the rest of the elders from taking action. "What do you want?" He asks Fumio. "Last year, while I was on a trip abroad, two of my most brilliant people got married. As a bonus, I sent them for a long vacation." Fumio starts his made-up story. "But that kid over there" He points at the unconscious Hideki, "turned what could have been a nice honeymoon, and the start of a new happily married life, into a..." He takes a deep breath. "Do you all know what I''m saying?" He leaves the rest to their imagination. The Hasegawa men are speechless. "So. I''m here to collect from those who can actually pay." Fumio declares as he ''accidentally'' nicks the unconscious second elder''s neck. A few seconds later, blood start leaking out from the small wound. The Hasegawa men swallow nervously seeing this. "We are at a disadvantage here, and we also cannot take your words at face value. May we know who you are?" The First Elder, despite being older than Fumio''s disguise appear to be, asks politely. "Are you asking which clan I''m from?" Fumio asks in return. "" The First Elder''s silence answers his question. "You don''t want this private discontent turn into an inter-clan issue, would you?" Fumio asks, hoping that his bluffing works. "You still have not answered my question earlier? What do you want?" The First Elder asks. "I want you to ''Unkill'' my subordinates." Fumio declares. "T-that" The Hasegawa men almost stagger at Fumio''s demand. "It''s not possible, right?" Fumio asks them. "So how about this? Because your child killed two of my men, how about I take the lives of two of your own?" He suggests. "Who the hell do you think you are?" The Third Elder can no longer take it as he draws his sword. "Brother, stop." The First Elder stops him. "No. If he''s really here to collect lives, he would have killed Hideki already. Or brother (2nd elder)." The Third Elder says as he marches to Fumio while unsheathing his katana. Putting Fumio in his range, he quickly thrusts his sword forward. Unfortunately for the Third Elder, he severely overestimated his abilities. Fumio easily evades the blade thrust and, "*WHACK*", throws a very fast roundhouse kick to the elder''s temple, sending the elder to the floor unconscious. Fumio is starting to feel anxious. Not only because he already spent 10 percent of his spiritual energy on his instant knockout attacks on the two elders, but also because the Third Elder calling his bluff out affected the First Elder, Fourth Elder, and Gorou. "The only reason why I haven''t drawn blood yet, is because I''m a reasonable man, and someone who does not killing." He says, as an indirect way of dissuading the men from resorting to violence. While he easily knocked out the two elders and is confident in doing the same to the First Elder because they are nothing compared to their prime, he is not sure if he can do it as easily to the Fourth Elder and Gorou who were both peak B-Class in their prime years. "Technically, your elder is right. I actually do not want to kill anyone from the Hasegawa well aside from Hideki. But I still seek compensation for my men." He continues to demand. "Well, this is not the right way to go about it, no? To come marching in after beating our clansman?" The Fourth Elder asks. Fumio does not like the sly vibes that the Fourth Elder is giving him. "How do you expect me to behave after seeing the man who killed people I treasure?" Fumio asks back. "Don''t try applying the civil way with me. Had you given up the kid to the civilian law and had him receive the punishment he deserves, it wouldn''t have come to this." He adds. "Still. You should have informed us of your visit. This is rather improper." The Fourth Elder argues. "Elder, or whatever your position is. The moment you decided to simply exile the little devil after the things he has done, any decorum has already lost its meaning." Then, Fumio suddenly disappears from the Hasegawa men''s visions, and the unconscious Second Elder falls limply to the floor. The disappearing act shocks them greatly. "If I don''t leave here today without getting the compensation my dead people and I deserve..." They continue to hear Fumio''s voice while Fumio''s figure evades them. Suddenly, the Fourth Elder gets goosebumps. His instincts are warranted the next moment, he feels a sharp object pressed on his neck. "I will just have to bloody my blade and offer your heads to their graves and get away with it without consequences..." Fumio concludes his threat as he shows himself behind the Fourth Elder. ."" The Hasegawa men get goosebumps and they start sweating cold. They exchange glances with each other and they know what each other are thinking. Chapter 97 - Fake It Til You Make It "So. What''s it gonna be?" Fumio asks as he presses his katana to the Fourth Elder''s neck a bit harder. Inside however, he feels nervous. He has already realized the holes in the plan he made with an agitated heart, and that him taking hostages will not work as well as he thought. He can only try intimidation using his invisibility to make the Hasegawa think that he can take their lives whenever and wherever he pleases. Fourth Elder meanwhile, is getting tempted to grab the sword with his bare-hand, and perform a maneuver that will remove himself from his predicament. Ultimately, he decides against it, knowing that it has been years since he stretched his body, much less fight. He has also not seen the extent of Fumio''s physical prowess. He can only ask the First Elder and Gorou for a rescue with his eyes. "My good man We get what you''re saying. Please, put your weapon away. We can''t exactly talk things out like this." The First Elder asks Fumio. Fumio nods and *clack* sheathes his sword and slowly but deliberately goes to sit on the chair that is the most distant from the men. While doing so, he also guides small amounts of sleeping powder to the Second Elder, The Third Elder, and Hideki''s noses, using his spiritual energy to prevent them from waking up anytime soon. Even though he put away his sword and things have turned civil, his alertness is still at an all-time high, watching every movement of the men through the corner of his vision, while circulating spiritual energy in his brain. "I-I see that you''re a fellow swordsman as well. That''s a very nice blade." The Fourth Elder compliments Fumio''s katana. "And it also appears to be a rune weapon." The fear he felt earlier allowed him to take ingrain the details of the Fumio''s katana in his mind. "Well, thank you. But too bad, it''s too clean for my taste. Demons are rare after all. A katana is not a katana without a bit of rust in it, don''t you think?" Fumio smirks at the Fourth Elder. The Fourth Elder swallows nervously at the subtle threat. "Then I wish you luck that you might use your swords on demons more than humans." He answers without much thought. The First Elder and Gorou almost slap their faces in embarrassment at the Fourth Elder''s show of weakness. Right before the First Elder seceded his position as Clan Elder, the brothers Fourth Elder and Gorou, both being peak B-Class in their prime, were the frontrunners to take his place. Ultimately, Fourth Elder lost the race due to his inferior mental tenacity and extreme conservativity. "Incredible" Fumio on the other hand, is shocked at the Fourth Elder''s words, but disguises it with a sarcastic compliment. "May I ask Were your subordinates superiori?" Gorou asks. Fumio winces at the question. Even though he made his story up, his heart aches for his non-existent subordinates that their worth as humans is being coldly based on their superiori abilities by Gorou. "They were. Both Thinkers, one C-Class, one a peak D-Class. Brilliant people." Fumio says in a cold tone. He decides to speak the language of Gorou to move his plan along. The Hasegawa men on the other hand, feel their stomachs churn. They were hoping that Fumio would say E-Class. "How do you like your compensation?" The First Elder asks. Fumio then takes out the small 10 mm sized black marble from under the leather strap of his watch, the one given by Red, and shows it to the group. "You all know what this is?" He asks them. The Hasegawa men take a few seconds before all coming up with the same conclusion. "D-demon core." They eye the demon core greedily. "Yes. Belonged to a Scamp I recently hunted down." Fumio confirms as he pulls a bit of energy from it. The three men see the black pellet glow weakly at its center, confirming further the authenticity of it. "Ooops." Fumio stops taking in the energy from the core, and the glow in the demon core also stops. "Force of habit" He adds to make the men think that a demon core is not that valuable to him. To his satisfaction, he sees the men wince at his wasteful action. "Scamp level demons are around E to D-Class, no?" He then asks. It is easy for the Hasegawa men to know what Fumio is insinuating. "I''m sorry, but We haven''t possessed a demon core for decades now Much more two of them." The First Elder says. Fumio hears a disappointment in the man''s voice. "" He then stares at the First Elder in the eyes as an act of deciphering the truth. In actuality, he is not surprised that the Hasegawa do not have demon cores. He is simply making it appear as though he is using his imaginary dead subordinates as a way to extort the Hasegawa Clan. Fumio''s serious silence and stare however, makes the Hasegawa men tensed. "Decades huh There are still clans who do not have demon cores these days?" Fumio feigns skepticism. His skepticism embarrasses the Hasegawas, while also giving them a hint that his background is at least more powerful than the Hasegawa that he is able to say such remark. ''We really don''t have one, you lavish f*ck!'' The three men would be cursing at Fumio right now if they feel a bit safer in Fumio''s presence. "I''m telling the truth. We don''t even know where to find one." The First Elder adds, maintaining eye contact with Fumio despite the fear starting to creep up in him. "Mr. Fool took away our demon core before we even had the chance to see it." The Fourth Elder says bitterly. ''You entitled f*ck'' Fumio curses in his mind. "*AHERM*" Gorou is displeased at Fourth Elder''s words. "Well That''s disappointing." Fumio grunts. "I can''t simply leave either I haven''t gotten my compensation yet." He says as he puts the demon core back to its receptacle under the leather strap of his watch. "I want to make your son suffer, Gorou-sama, but even I have my limits in being disrespectful." He then looks at the unconscious Hideki, but still watching the three men in the corner of his vision. With Fumio''s eyes off of them, the three men exchange gazes, as if conversing mentally. Just a few seconds later, they exchange smirks. "What about this?" First Elder calls out to Fumio. "How about replacing your men with one of our own?" He asks. Fumio gets hopeful, but quickly wears a stone-cold expression on his face. "Excuse me?" He asks in an offended tone. "Please, listen first. We have a talented young woman with quite the potential. She might be a high-tier C-Class when she reaches her prime. She might be useful to you." The First Elder offers. Fumio is getting excited and he circulates spiritual energy to his organs and his brain to not show it. "What is her ability?" He asks with a fake dismissive tone. "She is just physically enhanced, but she her physical injury recovery is very fast compared to the average superioris of her kind and level. She is also a good martial artist." Gorou explains this time, knowing about Sayuri more than the two elders. "Tsk. What do I need a meat shield for?" Fumio clicks his tongue. His reaction disappoints the elders. "Is she smart, at least?" He asks however. "Y-YeS!" Gorou can barely suppress his excitement. "She used to manage two of our small businesses. She also has some secretarial skills. She might not be a genius, but she''s reliable." "Huh" Fumio fakes a pondering expression. "How old is she?" He then asks. "26 years old." "Tsk Too old to train." Fumio shakes his head. "How long has she been managing your businesses?" He asks. "Since she was 19." Gorou reports. "Did she manage to grow those businesses?" Fumio asks. "Ehh" Gorou''s face freezes. "Heh~!" Fumio scoffs. "But she never lost us money. That''s why she maintained her position for that long." Gorou argues. "Fair enough." Fumio shrugs, but still showing great hesitation in his face. "She''s the best compensation we can offer to you, young man. Aside from that, we''ll have to raise this personal grievance to an inter-clan issue." The First Elder interrupts. "Not to mention your impolite actions and your intrusion." The Fourth Elder says. At this point, Gorou and the elders no longer doubt that Fumio is indeed looking for compensation. Based on what they''ve seen on Fumio''s actions and words, they can only arrive at that conclusion. "Will you even have the chance to raise this issue to others?" Fumio caresses the hilt of his katana. "No one even knows that I''m here." He continues to say as he drums his fingers on it . The older men are reminded of Fumio''s display earlier, and they settle down with a grumble. "But worry not. Whoever she is, she would do" Fumio nods. The three men are surprised before relaxing. "But" Fumio stands up from his chair, making the three''s butts clench again. The next moment, they can only watch helplessly as Fumio goes to *crack* breaks one of Hideki''s legs. "I better see this little devil in a cast for the next month, or else" Fumio tells Gorou in particular. "I would want to restrain him myself. Don''t worry." Gorou, despite his resentment, swallows it. "Good. Now how long does it take before she''s ready to leave?" Fumio asks. "Would you like to stay for lunch?" The First Elder invites him. "After our impressions with each other? I''ll have to refuse." Fumio scoffs. "I see" The First Elder is more than relieved that his invitation is refused. "Gorou, go make the girl a banishment record. Fourth Elder, go help her pack up." He can only order. "No one leaves the room. Why don''t we chat for a while instead while your subordinates do the work?" Fumio stops the two brothers from leaving. "Isn''t this a bit excessive?" Gorou asks, his patience running thin. "I simply want to minimize my chances of drawing Hasegawa blood." Fumio looks at Gorou''s eyes with a cold stare. The staring contest do not last long however as Gorou sits back down. "Fine. What do I have to do to have you leave as soon as possible?" There is still defiance in him however. ."Now we''re talking. I want to leave these boondocks as soon as possible as well, so just the banishment record and her identity documents, please." Fumio rudely asks. <> "Sayuri-san. I''m sorry this happened to a nice person like you." The prison guard hands her a trench coat and a manila envelope. "Thank you." Sayuri nods as she wears the free trench coat over her prison pajamas and picks up the manila envelop which she knows contain her identity documents. Sayuri is now out of her cell and is at the prison guard''s office. "And I thank you for kicking that little shit''s ass for me." The prison guard chuckles. Sayuri cannot help but smile. Despite her actions, most people in the clan secretly approve of what she had done to Hideki. "Here" The prison guard suddenly offers her a 5,000 yen note. "It''s not much, but it can get you a nice lunch." "A-are you sure?" Sayuri is taken aback by the gesture. "Of course. It''s not like we''re total strangers before you got in here. This is my last chance of treating you well as a junior clansman." The prison guard insists. "Besides Banishment not only takes your clansman status; they also took away your possessions." He adds. Sayuri meanwhile, does not know what to feel. After she met the stranger earlier, she felt hopeful. She did not however expect that she will get out of jail through clan banishment. "Then I''ll accept happily." Sayuri takes the money gratefully. She is now basically homeless and free money, not matter how small it is, is a great help to her. "Oh. Someone told me to pass you this." The prison guard passes a note to her. "Well then. See you around." The prison guard bids her farewell. While walking out of the prison, she starts reading the note. [Proceed to the rooftop of ***** building. - From the stranger this morning.] She now feels hopeful that her new life will not start from zero. Whatever Fumio has arranged for her, she can only accept for now. Soon, Sayuri is now outside the clan compound and is at a rooftop of a nearby skyscraper.. Suddenly a giant flame vulture, the size of a small airplane appears just a few meters above her, gliding around the rooftop. Chapter 98 - Grumpy Sloth Demon While appreciating the fiery beauty of the huge flame vulture gliding around the rooftop, "Our ride''s here.", a familiar voice suddenly rings out behind Sayuri. "M-mister." Initially surprised by the appearing act, she gets over it and greets the middle-aged man that broke her out of jail, politely. "Sayuri-san." The middle-aged man nods before proceeding to walk to the edge of the rooftop, where the flame vulture is now hovering before. "Coming?" A 30 something year old man, who she did not realize was manning the flame vulture, beckons to her. <> Sayuri for the moment, forgets her worries as she looks at the aerial view of the city she grew up in, below her. She never had the chance to leave Sagamihara for more than a few days due to her tasks in the clan, but now that she is free, she cannot wait to explore. "Sayuri-san." Fumio takes her attention. "Yes?" "You seem to look fine for someone who was just banished." "Despite its cons, it has some pros." Sayuri smiles bitterly, just thinking about how to start her new life. "I don''t know if I should thank you, or not." She adds. "A thank you would be appreciated. After all, I saved you from the punishment they were about to award to you." Fumio shakes his head. His sister is still as prideful. "Oh?" Sayuri gets curious. "What were they planning?" "They were about to cripple your powers." Fumio reveals. Sayuri is beyond stunned. It takes her fifteen seconds flat to recover before saying "Thank you." "You''re welcome." Fumio wants to claim the credit as his real self very, very badly, to Sayuri, but just thinking about the complications it might cause, he stops himself. Even though he has rekindled his relationship with his sister, he does not trust her entirely yet. "S-so How much does Fumio owe you?" Sayuri asks, fearing that Fumio seeking the services of two superiori who she suspects are more powerful than the clan head and elders of her former clan, could lead to his bankruptcy. "Are you going to help him with the fees?" Fumio asks just for kicks. "Er Can I do it in installments?" Sayuri can only ask for leniency, knowing her situation. "You don''t have to worry. He doesn''t owe me anything." Fumio''s heart warms at Sayuri''s intention. Sayuri does a double take. "B-but you said-" "You looked stubborn, so I had to lie to make you talk." Fumio cuts her off. "I-I see Heh." Sayuri is amused at being tricked. "By the way." She realizes something that does not make sense. "My brother is a non-superioris. How can he even ask for help from someone your level?" She asks. Fumio chuckles helplessly. "Let''s just say that I owed him. And now, we''re even." He can only lie. His casual lie however increases the gratitude in Sayuri''s mind. Suddenly, "Buddy. Drop me off here." Fumio says to Xoz''gekal and soon the flame vulture starts descending. "Wait. Where do I go next? Where''s my brother?" Sayuri asks in panic. "My buddy here will take care of you." Fumio says and after gauging the altitude, he jumps down. Sayuri frantically looks below the bird, but Fumio has already activated his invisibility seal. A few minutes later, Fumio rents himself a random combat room. Unlike the empty boring combat room he used for sparring, the combat room he is currently in is scattered with wooden statues, sculpted by someone with their superioris ability. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" With a scream that sounds like a beast''s, he wails at the wooden statues around him. His strikes however lack the technique he usually puts in fights, and is solely based on instincts. His heart is billowing with mixed emotions. The anger towards his former clan, the killing intent he held towards Fumio that he suppressed, the relief after pulling one over them and rescuing his sister, and the freedom he felt from being able to act rudely in front of the people he would not dare offend as a child. And most especially, the twisted joy he felt from making the people he once feared, helpless with his own power. He knows Red''s invisibility seals were a huge part of the success of his operation, but is still proud that he has the strength and some brains to make full use of it. "Is everything alright?!" A combat gym employee suddenly barges in on Fumio after hearing the louder than usual commotion. "Oh wow." She then sees the broken wooden statues and cracked floors. This is her first time seeing such destruction caused by a customer in her one month of experience in the job. "Haaa Everything''s perfect, miss. Haaaa" Fumio assures the employee between light huffs. The employee meanwhile, is weirded out by the contrast of Fumio''s joyful smile and the destruction in the room. "I would like to order fifty more statues please." He then requests. "O-okay!" The employee flees the room in fear. "Phew" He still has not vented all his anger. His anger towards himself. ''If I were you, I wouldn''t have spared him.'' Red''s words one winter morning seven months ago, after he took his first revenge on Hideki, becomes clear in his mind once again. "I wanted to, master. But I''m not like you." <> Ome City, in a random hotel. 12 nn. *splash* "Haa." Sayuri has had enough of a soak and she gets out of the hot tub. For the past hour, she has immersed her body in the warm bath, and her mind in her own thoughts, still planning what to do, where to look for a job, and most importantly, what to say to Fumio. After taking a cold shower, she walks out of her hotel room bathroom, feeling fresh for the first time in days. "Sayuri-san" The feeling of freshness does not last long however and is replaced by embarrassment as she sees Xoz''gekal waiting for her by her hotel window. Even though it is Xoz''gekal who checked her in the hotel, the presence of the man is especially uncomfortable for her because she is wearing nothing under her bathrobe. To her relief, Xoz''gekal is not acknowledging her embarrassment and instead "I just got those for you.", he points at the bed where she is now realizing, is full of shopping bags. "T-that was fast" She is surprised. "An hour is long, and I was bored." Xoz''gekal almost rolls his eyes at the how long Sayuri spent in the bathroom. Despite her initial hesitance in accepting Xoz''gekal''s offer of buying her clothes, she can only swallow her pride and receive them as even her clothes were taken away from her by the Hasegawa. "Y-you picked them out yourself?" And having a powerful superioris she perceives to be leagues above her level, going to a store personally to buy her clothes is a new experience to her. "Yes. Something the matter?" Xoz''gekal asks. "Nothing I''m just sorry you had to buy underwear for me." She apologizes. "I''m used to it" Xoz''gekal smirks. "Just not in this type of situation." He adds. Sayuri tries not to make a face at what Xoz''gekal meant. "I appreciate the clothes, the room, the looking out for me, sir But may I change now?" Sayuri asks carefully. "Ah. Alright. I''m leaving anyways. I also bought you a new phone, it''s in the pile. You can call your brother." <> "Hello. You look great. It seems that my worries were needless." Fumio smiles in greeting as he joins Kotone at her table in the hotel restaurant. After venting at the combat gym earlier, his emotions are a lot more stable now. "And you look comfortable." He adds, seeing Kotone wearing a hoodie, sweatpants, and sneakers; an outfit he never seen, or even expected her to wear. He also silently thanks Xoz''gekal for buying Sayuri new clothes and shoes in such a short amount of time. "According to the man who has that huge flaming bird... It''s all thanks to you." Sayuri has no one else to thank. "I guess they''re really returning the favor all at once, huh." Fumio waves his hand in front of his face, feeling burdened from the gratitude from Sayuri''s eyes. "I''m sorry. You used the favor of a powerful superioris for me." Sayuri apologizes. "No. It''s partly my fault Let''s just say that my bad luck infected you. You never would have been in your situation if it weren''t'' for me." Fumio struggles to say through his guilty conscience. "You know it''s not your fau-" "Why don''t we take things slow? We have plenty of time to talk." Fumio interrupts her as he calls for a waiter. <> Hinohara. Kotone enters a newly built house at the eastern edge of the garden, located alongside the bamboo walls. Aside from the previous owner''s old house, this house is the only other house inside the bamboo walls. Beside the house is also what looks like a warehouse and is also newly built. "Nishiki-san, Goichi-san. Oops Sorry." Kotone greets two men having lunch at the dining area. The two men are soldier-rank demons, and two of Red''s twelve demon servants, who are living in the house. The two demons, after their rescue, have become the farm hands in Red''s gardens. "Good afternoon, Kotone-san." Goichi greets. "Lunch?" Nishiki offers. The two are having their late lunch after a busy morning. "I''ve just had mine. Thank you." Kotone politely refuses. "Is this about the milkshakes?" Nishiki asks. The two demons, taught by Red how to make his special milkshakes, are also now in charge of making the essential drink. "Yes. I think we only have enough for the next two days." Kotone says. "It''s alright. The batch we''re making will be done by today." Goichi says, pointing to the direction of the warehouse next door. "BUT... Your personal stash is all ready for your enjoyment. It''s in the warehouse too." Nishiki adds. "Thank you." Kotone nods. As she is about to leave, "Kotone-san." Goichi calls out to her. "Yes, Goichi-san?" Kotone asks. "I know that us demons do not exactly have a good reputation amongst humans after, you know that time But I hope I am not causing you too much discomfort? After all, only Nishiki and I are living inside the walls with you." Goichi asks. "No. No. Of course not." Kotone profusely denies. "That''s good to hear At least I can sleep more peacefully now." Goichi says in relief. Kotone actually likes Goichi and Nishiki. The two after all, are demons of sloth. The type of demons that, from what she has gathered from the other demons in the hill, are the most peaceful types due to their nature. That reason is enough for her to feel safe around the two demons, and she can even take a nap in their presence. After spending 20 days with the two, she has grown a bit fond of them. She admires how the two find the most efficient ways to do their jobs and the speed they perform. She is disappointed however to see that the time the two demons save from being fast and efficient are used by them to sleep excessively, to stream TV shows, or simply lie on the grass while listlessly looking at the sky. The only problem she finds in spending too much time with the two, is that she too, sometimes gets affected by their laziness and perpetual drowsiness. "UGH DAMN IT" Kotone is startled by the groan coming from behind her. She turns around to find Tezguniuth in the living room area below a window, getting up from a lying position. "T-Tez-san. I didn''t know you were here." She cannot believe she overlooked the plump man. "Oh It''s you, Kotone." Tezguniuth yawns. "I thought I could sleep here because it''s quiet. And here you are." He grumbles. "S-Sorry for the disturbance." Kotone apologizes immediately. This is the first time she is seeing Tezguniuth in a grumpy mood. She also heard from the demons that Tezguniuth is the ''least restricted'' out of all of them by Red. While she does not know what that meant, she still is very wary of the extent of Tezguniuth''s actions in the hill. "Damn. I thought I could finally sneak in some nap time Now I''m awake again." Tezguniuth continues to grumble. Kotone knows of Tezguniuth''s nature, so she also feels guilty. "Do you know that unlike those two who can sleep whenever they want, boss set a limit to mine?" Tezguniuth asks as he points at Goichi and Nishiki. "I didn''t know that. I''ll be careful next time." Kotone can only appease the demon. "Right Whatever. I heard you''ve increased your training and your intake of that wonder milkshake?" Tezguniuth asks. "Yes." Kotone is relieved to see that he is no longer agitated. "Then let''s spar. Let''s spar until I''m dead tired enough to fall asleep." Tezguniuth stands up and walks out the house in a lazy, but imposing manner. "O-okay" Kotone nervously swallows. She has always been curious and itchy to spar with all the demons in the hill, but she did not expect that Tezguniuth will be the first one. She also fears what she has awoken from the usually mild mannered demon. Chapter 99 - Tezguniuth, The Mean ========= Advance Merry Christmas Folks. Sorry, this chapter is very short compared to the usual, and time was tight due to me doing a lot, I mean, a LOT of cooking, for very little pay. But hey, free food for days. It will be the same tomorrow too. I just wish I was a fast enough writer to have prepared a few chapters in advance. Unfortunately, not. As you might all notice, even this author''s note is haphazardly written. ========= Kotone and Tezguniuth are now in the front yard of the Red''s house, standing a few meters apart, facing each other. Kotone is already assuming a stance, ready for action at any moment, while Tezguniuth simply has his arms crossed on his chest, resting them on his big belly. "Make your move" Tezguniuth then lazily beckons Kotone before putting his hands down on his sides. The intimidation Kotone felt earlier from the demon towering over her, is taken down a notch. She is instead a bit irritated seeing that Tezguniuth seems to not see her as a threat and is not taking the spar that is about to occur, with an air of dismissal. *thck**thck* with just two quick huge steps, Kotone is already in front of Tezguniuth, her arm cocked, about to throw a punch. Midway through her punch however, *slap* her fist is parried by Tezguniuth to the side with a forehand slap, forcing her out of balance. As she tries to regain her balance, the back of the hand that slapped her fist aside, is now approaching her face. She can only try and duck as quick as she can as an attempt to dodge. Her attempt is only half successful as *thnk* Tezguniuth''s hand grazes her forehead. The simple graze however is enough to shake her vision for a moment, almost making her trip. She then hurriedly hops to the side to regroup. As soon as she distanced herself, she gets goosebumps, just realizing that Tezguniuth''s slap that looked casual and lazy, is powerful enough to potentially knock her out. Before she can come up with a new approach for an attack, Tezguniuth starts marching towards her direction at an imposing manner with his arms swinging on his sides. She nervously swallows and gets ready to defend. As Tezguniuth is at a certain reach, he raises his hand to his face''s level, and swings it down at her. Kotone leans back, easily dodging the slap but almost gets caught again by another backhand. This scene repeats itself as Tezguniuth continues marching forward while throwing alternating forehands and backhands at different angles, forcing Kotone to continue stepping back while dodging. A few moments later, Kotone gets used to the pattern and she realizes that Tezguniuth is not as quick as she feared, making her calm down a bit. She is about to make a move, when *fwap* Tezguniuth''s hand comes at her again, but this time at a much faster speed that the ones that came before. . She manages to dodge the hand but her nose being grazed by it stuns her. Before she can recover, a shadow draws closer which she knows is a backhand from Tezguniuth. Unfortunately, her body is not cooperating with her mind''s intention of dodging and she can only close her eyes and braces herself. The next moment however, to her confusion, no slap lands on her face. She slowly opens her eyes and finds that Tezguniuth actually stopped his hand just a few inches from her face. *tk* *tk* The hand then pats her cheek softly twice, followed by "HAH. Flinchy flinch~" a teasing comment from Tezguniuth. She sighs in relief, watching Tezguniuth retreat his hand. "Weird Why do you look so scared? I thought we were just warming up?" Tezguniuth asks as he steps back. "W-warm up?" Kotone is taken aback. "Yes. I caught a glimpse of you mercilessly whacking Fumio''s body with a steel pipe. I''m no match to Fumio-san, but from what I saw, I thought you at least have the strength to tire me out." Tezguniuth ponders with a hum. "Ah I see" Kotone is enlightened. She realizes that Tezguniuth must have seen her use her spiritual energy. "That was me going all-out, Tez-san." Even though she finds herself outmatched, she does not want to use her spiritual energy for the spar. Especially in a spar with someone who does not seem interested in sparring with her again in the future. She is actually planning on using her spiritual energy to power in her resistance seals for weight training later in the afternoon. If she spends all of her reserves in the spar, she will also have to wait for the night time, for the moon to show, to quickly refill her reserves again using her newly learned Celestial Body Breathing Technique. "I''m sorry, Tez-san. Even if I go all-out, I don''t think five minutes is enough to tire you out." She can only apologize to Tezguniuth. "Oh" Tezguniuth nods. Kotone is relieved that Tezguniuth does not seem annoyed or disappointed. "Well. Doesn''t matter. Let''s continue our warm-up. I''ll go a bit easier on you this time." Tezguniuth marches to Kotone again and swings his hand at her once again. "W-wha" Kotone jumps away. "Why not just ask Xoz-san or Rezonad-san?" She wants to get out of the sparring, finding that she is not ready to face someone of Tezguniuth''s strength. "Hah! Boss man wasn''t lying. You really are afraid of getting hurt..." Tezguniuth says as he goes on pursuit. "I''m not afraid. I just hate the feeling" Kotone gets offended. "Either way. You''re still not used to it. And I gave my word to boss man that I''ll help you with that fear." Tezguniuth swings. "Kichirou-san asked you?" Kotone is surprised as she ducks under a forehand slap. "Yes." Tezguniuth confirms. "Why didn''t he tell me?" Kotone hops back to avoid a backhand. "He forgot, maybe?" Tezguniuth takes a swing once again. "He doesn''t forget anything" Kotone grumbles as she dodges. She figures that Red must have kept it from her just for kicks. "But, why are you coming to me just now?" Kotone asks as she distances herself for a breather. "We should have started a few days ago." "I was busy starting a toy company for boss man." Tezguniuth says, marching to Kotone again, not allowing her to take a break. "Wow For a demon of sloth, you''re rather busy." Kotone asks as she takes a stance. "I hate the errands. But whipping you to a fighting shape I can enjoy." Tezguniuth as he ups the speed. <> An hour later. "Haaa Holy shit. I need to get used to this body" Tezguniuth says, as he sits down on the clay ground with a satisfying grunt. Kotone meanwhile, is lying flat, dead tired, not caring at all about getting dirty, "*haaaaaa. Ha..." and is hungrily catching her breath using the basic breathing technique. Unlike Tezguniuth who is only lightly winded, her body is drained. "What do you mean, Tez-san?" She asks. "Unlike my original body, this one is a bit stiff to control." Tezguniuth says. "I hope you don''t get used to it before I beat you." Kotone jokes. "With how well- or should I say, how badly you''re doing? I don''t think so." Tezguniuth shakes his head, not in the mood to joke after getting disappointed. "An hour, girl. An hour. You never forced me to use two hands." "R-right Just one hand... Sorry." Kotone realizes and her confidence takes a hit. "But you have thousands of years of experience fighting." She argues however. "Wrong. I''m a demon of sloth, so just a few decades, a century at most... "But I acknowledge your point. Still. You have the strength and if you know what to do with it, you can get me to fight you seriously." Tezguniuth throws back. "What should I do then?" Kotone can only accept the criticism. "The first step to getting used to the pain, is blocking. Starting tomorrow, stop dodging, and resort to blocking." Tezguniuth says. "sssss?" Kotone hisses, just imagining how much it will hurt. "If I were you, and I would be jumping at this head on. Boss man told me that he left you different types of medicinal baths. What''s there to worry?" Tezguniuth scoffs, a bit jealous at Kotone''s privileges. "You don''t know how much those baths hurt." Kotone grumbles. "Right I heard from boss man that you want to beat Oonishi Gentarou? Then I approve of your attitude Very nice" Tezguniuth claps at Kotone. "" Kotone gets embarrassed at the sarcastic comment. "Or is it all just smack talk? Because if that was all that was, then hey, sorry for misunderstanding." Tezguniuth shrugs. "I-I''m not talking smack..." Kotone gets offended. "Then prove it to me tomorrow. Prove to me that you have the right to the potential that you hold." Tezguniuth challenges. He can only hope that his bitter but encouraging words, can fan the flames of motivation in Kotone, just like Red asked of him. <> 9 PM "Wow you look f*ckin serious" Kotone is interrupted from her cultivation in the backyard, under the moonlight, by Fumio joining her. "Uhn" Kotone simply nods in acknowledgment. "Wow. Something happened today?" Fumio is taken aback by Kotone''s mood. "Yeah" Kotone nods and starts telling Fumio her spar with Tezguniuth. ... "So, yeah..." Kotone concludes her story, feeling better after sharing her frustration. "Wow Tez-san''s that mean, huh? Looks like you really have to do better tomorrow." Fumio can only console her. Inside however, he scoffs, knowing that Red is manipulating Kotone. "Anyways. Did you find your sister?" Kotone asks. "Yeah." Fumio nods. "So? How did it go? Why wasn''t she answering your calls?" Kotone asks in great curiosity. "Secret" Fumio smirks in reply. "Not fair! I told you about my embarrassing sparring!" Kotone complains. "Okay. Something happened that made her quit the clan. We talked and we agreed that she will live with me temporarily before she''s back on her feet." Fumio satisfies the curiosity. "That''s great news! When''s she moving in?" Kotone is happy for Fumio. "In a few days." "Then what are you doing here? You should be helping her." Kotone gets invested in Fumio''s situation. "Because it''s that time for Yoshiko-nee." Fumio says. "What do you mean?" Kotone asks. "Boss told me that if he''s not back by the end of the month, we''ll have to give Yoshiko-nee the talk ourselves." Fumio says with an excited smile. "Wha-" Kotone takes a few seconds before her eyes widen in realization. "O!! ''THE'' Talk!'' She stands up in excitement. "Yes. Let''s rehearse.. We''ll wake her up at midnight." Chapter 100 - As The Ninth Month Ends, And The Tenth Month Begins ========== Merry Christmas y''all. ========== "AAAHHH!!!" Yoshiko is startled awake by a man''s scream coming from outside. "NooooO!!!" Another scream follows, from a woman this time whose voice she immediately recognizes; one of the babysitters. She immediately storms out of her room, flies down the stairs, and flings her front door open. She is immediately stunned by what she is seeing as she steps out to her doorstep. The light from the outdoor lamps allows her to see a man laid out in her patio, which she immediately recognizes by his chef''s clothes. "I-Ichiki-san" She then hurriedly approaches the fallen Ichiki, but as she gets closer, she realizes that Ichiki is lying on his own pool of blood. Her stomach sinks and she step back in fear. The next moment, the safety of the children comes to her mind. She then looks at the direction of the children''s house across the road, and her heart drops seeing five more bodies leading to it, which she recognizes as the other servants. She is about to sprint to the children''s house when she sees a suit-wearing man step out of its front door, carrying the unconscious Osamu, and lays the child next to a pile she now recognizes as the other adopted children, all also unconscious and tied up. She immediately runs to the man at an incredible speed and throws a punch his way. The man easily dodges her punch however while sticking out his foot, making her trip and fall. "Oh? You should have stayed in bed, missy." She hears the man say. "W-who are you?" She immediately gets up and assumes a stance. "Hey! Come here for a second! We missed one!" Instead of answering, the man instead calls out to someone from inside the children''s house. Yoshiko watches the children''s house''s front door, and sees a woman, wearing black pant suit, which she assumes is the man''s partner, carrying an unconscious and tied-up Chihiro out of the house. "Huh. I thought we had them all." The woman casually says as she lies Chihiro together with the other children. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" Yoshiki asks in fear and anger. "AND WHY DID YOU KILL THEM?!" She asks, seeing the fallen bodies of the servants. "We are what you can call professional kidnappers. And as for why we killed the adults? They were in the way." The kidnapper simply shrugs at her. "Y-yo" Yoshiko takes a deep breath, to think quickly. She knows that the kidnappers do not seem to want to hurt the children so she is assured of the children''s safety for now. As a non-superioris, she also knows that she will not be able to run away even if she wants to. Not from people who killed the superiori servants. So, she decides to fight and hopefully buy time for Fumio, Kotone, or Red''s arrival, in case they were called by any one of the servants before the servants were taken down. "H-h-h-h-haAAH!" She immediately throws a chain of karate punches to the male kidnapper, landing most of them squarely on the man''s torso. "Oooff!" The male kidnapper''s knees buckle for a moment and he retreats a few steps back. "Ohoh Looks like she has some spunk in her." The female kidnapper claps for Yoshiko. Yoshiki too is stunned by how fast she just moved, but she gets over it quickly as she sees the male kidnapper pats his torso, obviously brushing off her punches. "Yes, she does. I guess I can have fun before I kill her." The male kidnapper says with a grin as he slowly approaches Yoshiko. As soon as he gets in Yoshiko''s range, Yoshiko throws more attacks, and with kicks this time. The man meanwhile easily parries each and every fist and leg she throws. Yoshiko, while starting to feel discouraged at the man''s defense, proceeds to pull out everything she can use from the kata sets she has learned in the past six weeks. Karate chops, punches, knees, kicks, and every combination and order of those strikes she can think of, she throws them at the male kidnapper. A minute later, her discouragement deepens as she disengages for a short breather. Most of her attacks were either evaded or deflected. Even though she landed a few, they did not land squarely, only grazing her opponent. "Is that all you can do?" The male kidnapper taunts her. "" Yoshiko responds by resuming her attacks. "No, no. My turn this time." The male kidnapper dodges her kick before throwing a left jab. Yoshiko is startled at the speed and she retreats her steps, luckily in a way that allows her to dodge the next few quick jabs that followed. She quickly concentrates hard, and tries to take in every movement of the male kidnapper. Then, she executes the footwork from her katas, allowing her to dodge more of the male kidnapper''s punches. Shortly after however, *ssss* she is grazed on the arm by one of the punches, and the pain slows her down. This allows the male kidnapper to land a punch on her gut. *oooff* Air is knocked out of her and she is immediately floored. "Alright. Enough." The female kidnapper calls out. "How much fun can you squeeze out from someone who doesn''t know how to fight?" She asks. "Hah. That''s rich coming from you." The male kidnapper returns with a scoff. "You-!" The female kidnapper gets offended. Yoshiko is surprised by the sudden banter of the two. "Okay. Fair enough. But I''m not the one looking for fun, am I?" The female kidnapper asks. The male kidnapper has nothing to say. "So, just kill her, please?" The female kidnapper asks dismissively. "You heard my partner." The male kidnapper then pulls out a hunting knife from the inside pocket of his jacket. A chill climb up Yoshiko''s spine, seeing the glint from the knife''s blade. While thinking of what to do, the male kidnapper turns his head once again to his partner. "Can I have more fun?" He asks. "Tight schedule. We still have 14? 15? More kids to round up tonight." The female kidnapper says. "We-" As the two kidnappers banter, anger is building up in Yoshiko''s heart. She figures that if she is going to die, she wants to do something that will matter, something that will make it hard for the kidnappers from abducting her students, and other children. She pounces on the male kidnapper, who is not paying attention to her, grab his knifed hand, and proceeds to tackle the man to the ground. The kidnapper''s hold on his knife loosens, and this allows Yoshiko to yank it out of his hand. With the knife on her hand, and a superioris under her, she suddenly feels a sense of power. A power over a superioris. The memories of the abuse, the harassment, and the transgressions she suffered under superiori''s hands, flash in her mind. The anger she has been suppressing comes out and fuels her to drive the knife down to the male kidnapper. Unfortunately for her, *thck* the male kidnapper easily catches her hand, stopping the knife point just a few inches away from his chest. "sssss" Yoshiko hisses as she uses her other hand to push down the knife. No matter how hard he tries however, the knife will not move any lower. "NN-noooO!!!!!" She howls in great frustration, as the feeling of powerlessness washes over her. "Okay I''ll take the knife now." The man says as he yanks the knife out of Yoshiko''s hands quite easily. Earlier, Yoshiko felt that she had the chance of taking down the male kidnapper as long as she got a lucky strike in, or if she catches him off-guard, but now, with the strength that she is feeling from the man''s body, she feels totally helpless and defeated. No matter how hard she exerts her full strength on pushing the man down, she is still helplessly pushed aside, and quite gently at that. "I think we should stop this." The male kidnapper says as he detaches himself from Yoshiko''s hold. After standing up, he tosses the knife away, surprising Yoshiko. "Yeah. I think we should. I feel bad now." The female kidnapper says. Yoshiko is even more confused seeing the apologetic expression on the woman''s face. "W-what are you two" She cannot even form a question. The kidnappers however, know what she is possibly thinking. "It''s me." The male kidnapper says as he touches his collar, making him transform into Fumio. "*gasp" Yoshiko''s eyes widen in disbelief. It is not until Fumio offers his hand to her, that she snaps out of it. She takes Fumio''s subconsciously, and pulls herself up to her feet with it. The female kidnapper meanwhile joins Fumio and Yoshiko. She also touches her collar, and she transforms to Kotone. Yoshiko is shocked again, seeing Kotone. "Everything''s okay" Kotone assures Yoshiko. "Yeah... B-but B-ut" Yoshiko frantically points at the fallen servants who she assumed dead, but the next moment, she sees them stand up one by one. She is assured that they are all fine as they even wave their hands at her in greeting. "T-the kids?" She then asks. "They''re fine. Just sleeping." Fumio assures her. Yoshiko spaces out for a few moments, and after she processes the situation, her legs turn to jelly, making her fall to her knees, and "*sob*", she starts crying out of relief. "It''s okay I''m sorry, Yoshiko." Kotone also drops to her knees to console Yoshiko. "I knew it was a bad idea." She then glares at Fumio. "Well" Fumio is speechless. He gave Kotone a choice whether to participate in the act or not, and Kotone chose to join in. He wants to argue, but he knows he also did wrong. "Okay. I''m sorry." He can only apologize. "*hic*B-but why? *hic* Why did you all do this?" Yoshiko asks in between sobs and hiccups. "Okay. First of all. This was Boss''s idea." Fumio wants to wash some blood from his hands with honesty. <> A few minutes later, in Yoshiko''s house. "So You, Kotone, and Kichirou-san and now, me We''re not really superiori?" Yoshiko has now calmed down, and her righteous indignation for all the people involved in making her have a break down, has passed. Her eyes are still red from crying earlier however. "No, we are not. My former clan leader even tested my blood with a magic talisman, and it was negative." Fumio confirms. "Wow THIS FLIPS EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT PEOPLE ON ITS HEAD!" She exclaims. "Okay Okay." Fumio backs off. "We know" Kotone smirks, understanding what Yoshiko is going through. "Okay Wait a minute" Yoshiko is reminded of something. "But why did you have to use the children on the act?" She asks. "Boss'' idea. Everything was his idea. And if you acted along the way boss expected you to act, you have passed his test." Fumio explains. "A test?" Yoshiko frowns. "Yeah. I don''t know why he had to do it this way, but it''s best if you ask boss yourself." Fumio says. Yoshiko notes the suggestion in her mind. "How about you two transforming? Can I do that too?... How about ? How about that?" She then resumes her questions. The three are in for a long conversation that will last until sunrise. Chapter 101 - Seclusion October 13, 2021, Hinohara It has been three weeks since Red secluded himself in his cave under the hill. Aside from taking naps from time to time, all he did was to tinker with the wooden chip that Fumio acquired from the Oonishi. Being able to see through the dark by infusing spiritual energy to his eyes, he did not even bother to set up a light source. If someone will shine a light on his eyes currently however, they will either be bothered, worried, or scared away by how red they are. These red eyes, for most of its opened hours for the past three weeks, have seen nothing but the surface of the wooden chip. The wooden chip in his hand, is something he did not expect to fiddle with for such a long time. During his initial examination, he figured that the wooden chip is simply a fragment of a larger spirit treasure or object that a certain being made. Even though it is but a fragment, it can be utilized on its own. One of its uses, as Tezguniuth told him a few weeks ago, is to act as a focal point of magic for summoning demons or angels. After taking a real close look, however, with his spirit sense, he was able to see millions of lines comprising the treasure fragment, making him take the small wooden chip seriously. He immediately recognized these lines, as insights; a certain being''s understanding of a certain natural law. And these insights are what that certain being may use in many things like making spiritual treasures, cultivating, or plain old fighting. In this treasure fragment''s case, it contains a certain being''s insights on the natural law of space. These lines of insights however, are basic for Red. So basic in fact that he figures it was made by a being that is even younger than an embryo in a pregnant woman''s womb in comparison to his own age. Using his eons of wisdom regarding natural laws of the void, it was easy for him to read and understand the insights left on the wooden chip in just a day or two, and has figured out the treasure fragment''s use according to its structure. While he has already understood the insights on the objects, what took his time was his work in re-aligning the lines to their logical arrangements. He also went all out on his use of his spirit sense on the project so he had to spend time to sleep like a non-superioris to restore it. Thankfully for him, his work for the past three weeks is about to finish. With just one last tug of his spiritual energy, *tk* he aligns the last line of insight on the object. The next moment, the irregularly shaped wooden chip, suddenly *click* snaps to take a form of a wooden cube. He immediately jumps away from the wooden cube after feeling a force coming from it. The wooden cube, free from Red''s grasp, stays floated in the air, and *Vwommm* a small yellow shockwave like energy explodes out gently from it, making the pitch dark cave bright for a second. The energy, passing through Red, makes Red disappointed. It is because it is not made of spiritual energy, but of this realm''s autochthonous or native energy. After the small shockwave, the cube falls to the ground and from it, starts to form a glowing yellow oblong ring around three meters in height and two meters in width, immediately brightening up the dark cave. The middle of the oblong ring is nothing but a billowing veil of yellow light. "Nice" Red smirks in recognition at the space-time phenomenon. Through his understanding of the insights and from his own experience, he knows that he is now looking at a portal. A portal to the dimension hidden inside the wooden chip. He is not too eager on exploring it just yet however. He walks towards the portal, picks up the wooden cube, slips a sliver of his spiritual on it, and *tk* disarranges one line of insight. The wooden cube *click* snaps back to become a wooden chip, and the portal immediately dissipates after. He then realigns again the line of insight he previously disarranged, and *click* the wooden chip again transforms to a wooden cube. Then, a small blast of autochthonous energy comes out of it, before forming a portal once again. He nods in satisfaction, noticing that the scene happened perfectly like before, assuring him that the treasure fragment is at least consistent. He then proceeds to deactivate, and reactivate the portal a few more times by disarranging different lines each time, and to his satisfaction, the portal and the wooden chip are working consistently. *click* After deactivating the portal one last time, he pockets the wooden chip and walks to the entrance of his cave. While he is excited what the dimension at the opposite side of the portal offers, he will rather not enter it yet. Instead, he pushes the stone door of his cave open and calls upon one of his demon sl*ves through his soul connection to them, and waits. . An hour later, Red has already tried out a few more features of the treasure fragment without actually going inside the dimension inside of it. Suddenly, "Master?" Rizretheen arrives at the entrance of his cave and she calls out to him in caution. Caution perhaps brought upon by the pitch-dark cave. "Enter." Red says as he materializes yellow flames to brighten the cave up. "Greetings, master. You''re finally looking for my companionship?" Rizretheen smiles coquettishly at Red as she joins him. "I have to say This is the perfect place. Just us two? We can be as loud as we want." "You wish. Heh." Red chuckles in amusement, but he is in no mood to joke around. "Instead, I have a task for you." He says as he activates the treasure fragment. Rizretheen is both mystified and apprehensive at the portal that appeared in front of them. "Y-you don''t want me to go in there, do you master?" She asks nervously. "Oh? How do you know you can go inside it?" Red asks in interest. "It''s like the gates of hell, but much smaller. But it couldn''t be a gate to hell because I don''t feel hell from it." Rizretheen explains. "I see" Red takes Rizretheen''s words as a clue. "Alright. Yes. I''m asking you to enter it." He then orders Rizretheen. Rizretheen does not want to, but she cannot fight the compulsion from her soul connection with Red. "Also, here. Wear this." Red hands her his watch. Rizretheen takes the watch and wears it before entering the portal without hesitation. As soon as Rizretheen disappears from the veil of the portal, *click* Red deactivates it. He then waits for ten minutes before *click* activating portal once again. A few moments later, Rizretheen dives out of the portal, and falls face flat on the ground. "" She hurriedly stands up and looks around and to her relief, she finds Red. "Master!" She then dives Red for an embrace. "*sob* *sob* Master, I thought you already abandoned me!" She starts sobbing on Red''s chest. "Okay Okay" Red this time, feels that Rizretheen is genuinely crying, unlike her usually crocodile tears which she uses to make men''s hearts go soft for her. "Why would you think I abandoned you? What did you see inside?" He starts questioning as he pats her back rhythmically. "Nothing." Rizretheen says. "Nothing? How about the huge stone I threw in there?" Red asks. "Oh. It''s in there. Aside it and the ground made of stone, there is nothing else. Nothing blue skies." Rizretheen reports after calming down. "Alright. Alright." Red pries Rizretheen off of him. "Let me see." He then takes his watch back from Rizretheen, covers its face with his fingers, just to give himself the suspense. He then takes a deep breath, looks at the watch''s covered face before quickly uncovering it. "PHEW" He exhales deeply out of excitement. Before he handed Rizretheen his watch earlier, he saw the hands of it portraying 11:07 AM. After trapping it with Rizretheen for ten minutes inside the treasure fragment''s dimension, his watch is now displaying 3:08 PM. Four hours has passed inside the treasure fragment''s dimension, meaning 1:24 time ratio between the real world and inside the treasure fragment. "I''m sorry I left you in there for that long." Red apologizes to Rizretheen. "Please, don''t send me there alone again. You can join me next time." Rizretheen is now back to herself. "I''ll reward you instead with some vacation days." Red promises. "No need, master. Just play with me for four hours. The same time I spent trapped in that place." Rizretheen clings to Red''s arm and starts rubbing her well-endowed body against it. "How about I give you an anti-anti-demon magic clothes?" Red instead changes the subject. "anti-anti-demon magic clothes? What''s that?" This gets Rizretheen''s interest. "Yes. I can give you clothes that can block out demon-trapping talismans and sigils." Red says. "T-that means I can go anywhere I want?" Rizretheen''s eyes glisten. "Well, not anywhere. You can simply walk over simple ones like the ones in public places. You still can''t go inside Shrines, Churches, or anywhere that has powerful trapping magic." Red explains. It is enough for Rizretheen however. "Thank you! Thank you master!" Rizretheen gives Red another tight hug. Red meanwhile, smirks. He is going to give those anti-anti-demon magic clothes to the other demons anyway. Rizretheen is simply going to get them earlier by a few days. "Uhn Now go." Red compels Rizretheen to leave him alone. After closing the stone door of his cave, Red reactivates the portal once again. He then punches a feet deep hole in the ground, drops the treasure fragment in it, and covers it with soil. Figuring that no one will enter his cave anytime soon, he enters the portal. *whoosh* Aside from the sound of the veil of light brushing against his ears, he does not feel any other unpleasant feelings after crossing it. It is just like walking through a doorway with bead curtains. He then looks around and sees how accurate Rizretheen''s description of the dimension is. It is a boring, yet vast expanse made simply of a flat land of stone, and an endless clear blue sky without clouds in it. The square shaped land, around the size of twelve football pitches, looks like it is floating in the sky. Red dashes to one edge of the land hoping to see what is below, but just a meter or so from what he assumed is a cliff, he bumps to an invisible barrier. "I see" he nods in understanding, knowing that it is the lateral limit of the dimension. From that understanding, he assumes that there is also a vertical limit to the dimension. He then looks down and stomps his foot on the stone ground. To his surprise, he failed to even put a dent on it. He infuses spiritual energy to his foot, and tries again. *slam* the ground is still unharmed. He gets curious at what the ground is made of, but he decides to study it later. While he finds the dimension very useful in the future, he is also disappointed by it. "Dead. And no spiritual energy." Finding nothing else to do, he sighs. "This place needs some dcor.." He starts planning as he leaves the dimension. Chapter 102 - Somewhere Siquijor, Philippines A mansion. In the master''s bedroom. Despite the bedroom crowded by 6 people, it is very somber and quiet. At the center of the northern wall, is a queen-sized bed where a very old man, who has already passed his 100th birthday, and looks to be in his last days, is lying unconscious and hooked to two medical equipment on his bedside, a doctor and a nurse silently monitoring his state. From the wall opposite the bed, are two couches facing each other. On one couch are two women who are in their 70s, dressed in quality blouses and pantsuits, and are softly chatting with each other. Seated on the couch across them is a 40 something year old man dressed in a brown suit reviewing files through the spectacles rested on his nose. *knock* *knock* A soft knock on the door interrupts the mundane atmosphere, shortly followed by the door being opened by a tan-skinned old man who looks to be in his 60s. The newcomer enters the room and "How''s father?", asks to no one in particular before closing the door behind him. "Still stable, sir." The doctor answers automatically. "Looks like I''m the last to arrive, I''m sorry. A long way from Manila." The newcomer apologizes as he joins the group. "I informed you a week ago, Reynante." Nimfa, the older of the two women admonishes Reynante. "Relax, big sis. You know his situation." Marites, younger woman scoffs at her sister as she sips on her coffee. "Hn" Nimfa simply acknowledges. "It''s been a while since I''ve seen you two, my dear big sisters. You can scold me all you want tomorrow, sister." Reynante says as he sits beside the only man in the group. "Hello. You must be father''s new lawyer." He acknowledges the 40 something year old lawyer, beside him. "Yes sir. I''m Fermin Cuenco, at your service." The lawyer introduces himself and offers his hand for a handshake. Reynante raises his brows and shakes the lawyer''s hand. "Cuenco? How are you related to Mrs. Cuenco?" He asks Fermin. "She was my mother, sir." Fermin answers. "I see. How''s your mother, by the way? I don''t remember the last time I saw her." Reynante asks. "She has passed, sir." Fermin breaks the news. "Huh" Reynante is taken aback. "I''m sorry to hear that." "It''s fine. It''s been six years. Mr. Tabal is kind enough to let me take over mother''s responsibilities with his estate." Fermin explains. "I see. If it''s father himself who chose you, then you must be exceptional." Reynante nods. "Okay. Now that Reynante''s here, should we wake father?" Marites moves things along. "Yes. Mr. Tabal requested to wake him up as soon as all his children arrive." Fermin nods. With that, the siblings and the lawyer stand up to approach their father''s bed. After the doctor injected something in his patient''s IV line, the three''s father slowly opens his eyes. "Mr. Tabal. Can you hear me?" The doctor asks. The people in the room get nervous as the centenarian is silent, his eyes are dazed. "Father?" Reynante asks. Fortunately, "O-oh You''re all here." Mr. Tabal answers, recognizing his children immediately, making the room sigh in relief. "I still got some left in me. You all think I''d die lying down like this?" Mr. Tabal scoffs at them. "Then you still have time to gather all your grandchildren and your great grandchildren." Marites is glad to see her father''s mental state solid. "Nah. After the stories you told them about me? ''The Hero of Siquijor''? I don''t want to be remembered by my grandchildren as a weak old man." Mr. Tabal, Gener Tabal, was an A-Class Superioris who conquered the island of Siquijor from pirates and supervillains who populated it during the 1960s. "I always hated the embellishments myself." Reynante smirks. "Heh. Of course, you did." Gener smirks back in approval at the only child who shares his opinion about the matter. "So, Fermin. Let''s get my bequeathments out of the way so I can chat with my children before I go." He then orders Fermin. "As you wish, sir." <> A few hours later, Gener and his children are the only ones left in the room. For the past few hours, after the bequeathments are arranged, they have been chatting about random things and Gener reminiscing his stories to his children. "Ohhh.. I feel death calling to me." Gener says lightheartedly, an ominous feeling suddenly dawning upon him. His children meanwhile, while sad, understand their father very well so they are not feeling devastated. "So What else do I want to say?" Gener ponders. "Any of you wanna ask something?" He asks his children instead, after figuring that he has ran out of what to talk about. "Father." Marites speaks up. "About your necklace. It''s the only necklace I saw you wear. Where did the necklaces and pendants I gave you?" She asks. "I''ll give them back to you, don''t worry." Gener smiles at his daughter. "It''s not that." Marites gets embarrassed. "I just wonder why you''re wearing that necklace if you can wear the ones I gave you, which obviously look better." "I''m curious too, father. Where''d you get it? There must be a story behind it." Nimfa asks. "Ah" Gener then fiddles with the necklace he is wearing with a reminiscing smile. His actions attract his children''s undivided attention. The necklace is as simple as it gets, even unassuming. It is after all, a simple necklace that is just comprised of a string tied around what looks like a random wood chip that came out of a tree being axed by a lumberjack. "From a friend. He died in battle while wearing it. It was before any of you were born." Gener explains. His children immediately feel the sentimental value of the thing. "It has become my lucky charm since then." He adds. "Huh well. I won''t call something a lucky charm if the one who wore it previously died wearing it " Reynante is amused. "Fighting to death against pirates and criminals on a day-to-day basis for years, and surviving with but a few scars? I can''t help but become superstitious." Gener explains. "And. This is not exactly an ordinary piece of wood." He takes off his necklace and passes it to Reynante. "Bite it. See if you can leave a mark." He requests. Reynante frowns, but the request coming from a man who will not live past the day, he humors it. As soon as he bites down however, he immediately feels like he is not biting wood, but stone, or even a gem. "Bite harder." Gener requests again, and Reynante does so. The next moment however, *click* Reynante feels the joint of his jaw pop. "Yeah Whatever that is, it''s a very hard wood." He does not want to damage his teeth and passes the necklace to his sisters. "It smells like wood." Nimfa shrugs after taking a sniff. "But it''s older than us. Wood fragrance lasts a few years at most." Marites argues. "It smells like wood." Nimfa insists. "Yeah. Tastes like it too." Reynante supports, tasting the aftertaste. "Mysterious, isn''t it?" Gener asks. "Yes." His children agree. "For years, I''ve wondered what type of wood it is. There was even this one man from the Brotherhood of Adam who tried stealing it from me." He recounts. "And? Did he tell you what it is?" Marites asks as she hands Gener back the necklace. "No. Too bad he tried killing me, so I killed him first. I should have kept him alive to ask." Gener shakes his head. "I dared to keep wearing it in public, hoping someone might be able to identify it, but since that man, no one else has taken interest in it. "It is one of my few regrets in this life. Not being able to find out what it is. Maybe you all can find out. "So. Who wants it?" He asks his children. "I''ll take it." "May I?" Reynante and Marites express their interest. "Sure, but I have to warn you both. You two are no longer in your primes and are now top-tier C-Class at best. That man who tried to take it from me was a high-tier B-Class. Who knows who else from Brotherhood of Adam knows what it is? Or wants it? That organization have influence all over the world, they are not simple." Gener wants to make sure that his children understand the risk. "Well If an A-Class tries to take it from me, I''ll just give it up. I''ll just beg them to tell me what it is." Marites chuckles. "" This gets stunned looks from her siblings and her father. The next moment however, "Hahaha" Gener softly chuckles. He would laugh out loud if he can. "I like it. Yes. Do that. No matter how valuable this thing is, you are more valuable to me." He nods in approval as he tosses the necklace to Marites. "Hey. Tell what you find out about it." Reyante is not bothered by his father''s decision. "I will." Marites says. Suddenly, the necklace, or more precisely, the wood chip, levitates in front of everybody at a vertical position. Then, it slowly angles to a horizontal position. It then rotates further until it locks on a certain position. "What the fuck?" Gener is beyond stunned at what he is seeing. "Father?..." Maritess asks in wonder, her siblings sharing what she is feeling. "I don''t know. This is the first time this happened!" Gener says in exasperation. "Let''s just watch." He requests as he keeps his eyes on the wood chip. "Yes." His children proceed to observe with him. The next moment however, the wood chip falls back down, and Marites is quick to catch it. She then hands it to Gener. "Ah damn this thing. I hope you''re just trying to send me away. Because if you''re not, then I really hate you for doing this on my last day on earth." Gener tells the necklace. His children meanwhile can feel the bitterness in his voice. Before they can start to talk about what happened, Gener feels the necklace move from his grasp, so he lets it go. The group see the necklace float up once again, replaying its earlier display. "Huh" Nimfa notices something. The rest of the group get curious at her tone. "What is it?" Gener asks. "It''s floating at the exact angle and position as before." Nimfa tells them. "Huh" "It kinda is." The others realize and confirm Nimfa''s observation. Shortly after, the necklace falls back down again. The family wait again, and they are not disappointed. The necklace floats again, and just before, it is suspended in the air at the same angle and the same position as it did earlier. "Hey What if it''s pointing to somewhere?" Reynante guesses. "Hopefully." Gener says, hoping to have his questions about the thing he wore on his neck for the vast majority of his life, answered. A few minutes later, "why''s it not coming back down?" Nimfa wonders aloud, but as soon as she said her words, the necklace starts to move horizontally to the direction of its largest side. "Where does it want to go?" Gener''s eyes glisten. Unfortunately for him, the wood chip is stopped from flying further by the bedroom wall. The chip tries to fly up, but it is also stopped by the ceiling. "Help me up. Let''s take it outside." Gener orders his children. "Father, I''ll take it." Reynante volunteers. "No! I have to see more of this before I die." Gener argues. "Fine" Reynante does not want to argue. "Doctor!" Marites calls for the doctor''s assistance. Chapter 103 - Sowing Motivation, Fueling Competition, Frogs Peek Out Their Well Yoshiko is currently seated cross-legged, eyes closed on the edge of the gardens. "*haaaaa*" She exhales the breath she was holding and opens her eyes. She decides to take a break for now and looks at the beautiful flowers, plants, and fruit trees in the view in front of her, her appreciation of their beauty making her dazed, her mind at peace. "Who do we have here?" "*gasp*!" Suddenly, someone appears in front of her, startling her. "Kichirou-san." She greets in recognition. As she is about to stand up, "Keep seated.", Red stops her and sits down himself. "I see that the two already helped you access your inner world." Red nods in approval. "Y-yes" Yoshiko simply nods, not knowing what to say. "T-the reason you hired me is it because I have what Fumio and Kotone call, ''potential''?" She asks. "Yes." Red confirms. "I am not going to apologize for lying to you." He adds. "I understand" Yoshiko nods. " After all. This all of this is bigger than me. Instead, I am honored to be one of the people you''ve chosen." She would bow if Red did not gesture her to stop. "I don''t know if Fumio and Kotone told you the responsibilities that goes along with this honor?" Red asks. "Protect the secret?" Yoshiko says uncertainly after recalling her conversation with Kotone and Fumio. "Yes. And to pass our legacy to others who are like us." Red adds. "I know that people like us are non-superiori, but how do I know who are like us?" Yoshiko asks. "That will come later. Your responsibility for now, is to grow strong enough to help me." Red says. "Help you? Someone as powerful as you?" Yoshiko is burdened and confused. "I''m not invulnerable, Yoshiko. Who knows? If one day, if somehow, I happen to meet my end at someone''s hand, then I know that I have someone else to hide and protect our art, our brothers and sisters, and OUR CHILDREN." Red tells her. "I " Yoshiko does not know what to say. "Very good." The resolve in her eyes is enough to satisfy Red however. "So, uh What should I call you now? ''Kichirou-san'' is a bit So, Teacher? Master?" Yoshiko asks. "Anything you''re comfortable with." Red says. "Then I will use Teacher, Teacher." Yoshiko addresses Red. "Good. Now. Continue what you were doing, student. I will guide you, teach you more in the future when you''re ready to learn more things." Red says and with that, she disappears from Yoshiko''s sight. <> "Okay. That''s enough the day." Tezguniuth nods after slapping Kotone to the ground. The two have concluded another sparring session in the front yard. "Phew This training is intense!" Fumio who is sitting at the veranda whistles. He has witnessed the entire session, and is seeing Tezguniuth''s work on Kotone for the first time. He purposefully avoided looking at Kotone''s gradual progress as he wants to surprise himself, and his decision did not disappoint him. "Right." Kotone struggles to stand up. She was rocked from the last slap from Tezguniuth on her arm. Even though she blocked it, she was too exhausted and slipped up, failing to brace herself sufficiently. After almost two weeks since she started her training with Tezguniuth, she is now capable of blocking the demon''s swipes. Aside from getting used to the pain of blocking strikes or being grazed by them, her capability of meeting Tezguniuth''s attacks more head-on, is afforded to her by the increased strength and toughness of her body due to her weight training and plenty of herbal baths. Fumio meanwhile on the side, is a bit impressed and proud at Kotone''s growth in practical combat. In the past, he is confident to dance around Kotone''s attacks like how Red as Old Phantom can dance around Fire Tornado''s assaults. Today however, he is no longer confident in coming out of a spar with Kotone without taking at least a few grazes. While such growth does not make him feel threatened at all due to their vast gap in skills, he is motivated by it. He does not want Kotone to close the gap between them and lose his seniority. He also feels his respect for Kotone as a fighter grow as she is no longer afraid of the pain from blocking attacks or being grazed by them. "You don''t look happy at all, Kotone. After only two weeks, you seem like another fighter." Fumio is intrigued by Kotone''s serious face. "I just don''t get it. I''m faster, and almost just as physically strong as Tez, but why can''t I land a serious hit?" Kotone huffs in frustration. "Even though I can make you use all your limbs now, I know you''re not fighting seriously." She says to Tezguniuth. Fumio smirks. "It''s just experience." He assures her. "It is." Tezguniuth backs up. "Even Fumio. When he limits his strength to mine, he loses our spars." "Is that true?" Kotone asks Fumio in skepticism. She has heard about the two sparring from time to time, but she has never really witnessed it as they always spar when she is focused on her weight training. "It''s true. Let me quantify it for you. I can only beat him if I set my speed and strength at 130% of Tez''s speed and strength. And that''s fine. That''s natural. Tez-san has thousands of years of combat experience." Fumio consoles Kotone. "Are you going all-out during your spars?" Kotone asks Tez. Tez simply nods in confirmation. Kotone grits her teeth. "I still have a long way." "You do." Red suddenly appears in the yard, joining them. "Boss!" "Kichirou-san!" "Bossman." Fumio, Kotone, and Tezguniuth greet respectively out of pleasant surprise. "Hello." Red greets back. "My good demon, you earned two nap days." He then tells Tezguniuth. "Thank you." Tezguniuth knows that Red is shooing him, so he nods and happily leaves. Before Kotone and Fumio can express their curiosity at Red''s more than three weeks of absence, "So. What did I miss?" Red asks them about any important events that happened while he was gone. "The kids completed all completed breath cycles in all the basic poses." "I rescued my sister." "I accumulated some injuries that the herbal baths cannot heal." "Yoshiko-san took the talk well and she''s excited." A few minutes later, Red is brought up to speed. "Good." Red nods, the events almost in parallel to his calculations. Except for one that is. "What happened to your sister?" He asks. "I uhh It started with her and Hideki" Soon enough, Red has gotten the full story about Sayuri. "Huh. I''m surprised you didn''t lose your mind at Hideki." He asks. Fumio grits his teeth, knowing what Red means. "I almost did. But... I can''t do it, especially seeing him weak like that. And besides" He looks at Red in the eyes in resolve. "Dying is easy. But being a superioris who does not even have powers? It''s probably worse than death for him." "Alright." Red does not really care much about Hideki. "Your sister found a job yet? An apartment?" He asks instead. "She''ll move in with me. But Rizretheen-san is not yet done setting up her bedroom, so she''s still cooped up in a hotel in Ome." Fumio reports. He will not usually share such a private matter to a boss, but Red is more than a boss to him. Not to mention asking for the assistance of one of Red''s demons, and the risk of Sayuri discovering his powers as a cultivator. "As for a job well. She''s gonna be looking after she has settled down at my place." He concludes. "Alright." Red nods. "Tezguniuth might have a need for an assistant." He suggests. "Will that really be fine?!" Fumio is more than excited to secure a job for Sayuri. "Yes. Didn''t you tell me before that she has a business degree and that she can work non-stop with just a few hours of sleep?" Red asks. "Yes." Fumio nods. "She''s perfect to help Tez set up some businesses that I have in mind." Red smirks. "What businesses?" Kotone asks in interest. "What? Wanna hook your brother up with a job?" Red immediately sees through her. "W-well" Kotone gets embarrassed. "I''ll hire him if I find a good use for his talents" Red nods. "Why don''t you just make him a pop idol, boss?" Fumio jokingly suggests. "I only met the kid once, but he''s quite adorable, isn''t he?" Red jokingly considers it too. "He is. Even the Musume girls adore him. It''s mind blowing the first time I saw it." Fumio nods. "That''s right." Kotone is proud that Haruto is being acknowledged. "Uhn With his pretty boy face and cuteness, his nice slender proportions too, he''s perfect. I bet he can sell my songs easily with just a bit of training and dancing training." Red nods with a smirk. "And the fan girls too. Oh Imagine this? Thousands of them, screaming his name, clawing for his attention." Fumio immediately catches on what Red is doing. "Right? I''ll have to invite young Haruto and Shigeo-san to lunch. Let the two talk." Red nods. "Boss My sister can be Haruto''s manager!" Fumio expresses an idea that just crossed his mind. Kotone meanwhile, "fan girls" is not getting over those two words. Just imagining her brother getting surrounded by girls gives her terrible goosebumps. "NO! Please don''t!" She cannot help but exclaim. "Heh." Red and Fumio are amused by the reaction. "Good job teaching Yoshiko on my behalf, by the way." Red had enough of joking. "I wish you didn''t." Fumio scoffs. "Yeah." Kotone shares Fumio''s sentiment. "What? Did you make her cry?" Red asks. "That too, but It''s her growth." Fumio shakes his head. "Yes It''s been only three or so months since she came here, but she''s already accessed her inner world. It took me seven months." Kotone grumbles. "It took me eight." Fumio says bitterly. "Yeah, well. Her body is more sensitive in the breathing technique, meaning she felt the effects of the breathing technique much earlier than you two deed. And feeling the benefits of it, she started doing it all the time even when she was not training the poses. So, by the time she started her resistance seal training, she is already half-way ready in accessing her inner world" Red explains. "" His two students are speechless. " Anyways" Kotone is the first one to recover. "We''ll work hard, I assure you, Kichirou-san." "Yeah, boss. Why don''t we talk about why you were gone for three weeks instead? You must have something fun." Fumio does not want to feel inferior to his two juniors any further. "About that I have something I forgot to tell you two." Red says. "Oh?" This takes the two''s attention immediately. "The stronger you two grow, and the richer your elixir seas grow, the longer your lifespans increase." Red prefaces. "W-what?" "L-lifespan?" Kotone and Fumio are not sure if they heard right. "Yes. For example, with my strength, and the potency of my elixir, I can live up to three hundred to five hundred years old, if someone doesn''t kill me." Red says. "Bull" "Right" His two students immediately express their skepticism, but the more they think about it, "", they realize that Red''s words are not ridiculous as it sounds. "Boss If I may ask, what does your elixir sea look right now?" Fumio asks. Kotone winces, finding Fumio''s question too personal, but inside, she too is very curious. "I don''t have one anymore." Red says with a smirk. "What?!" "Huh?!" His two students are confused. "What I have is an elixir core. Thousands of times denser and more stable than your elixir seas." Red explains. "I can''t even..." Kotone breathes heavily at the magnitude of the difference. "How long will that take?" Fumio too is mind blown. "Your elixir seas right now, is what I call ''False Seas''. Kotone, I bet your elixir sea is only the size of a big basin. And you, Fumio, is only the size of a small pond''s. Until they look like huge lakes or the seas, can you call them ''True Elixir Sea''." Red tells them. The two students immediately feel the magnitude of their task ahead. "So How long will I live after making a True Elixir Sea?" Kotone asks. "Two hundred years at most." Red reveals. "*gasp*" Kotone is in disbelief. "But that''s more than the estimated life-span of A-Class superiori!" Fumio exclaims. "Yes. But unlike the superiori, you use spiritual energy which has more benefits to your lifespans than the energy that the superiori use. And you''ll be around Top-tier A-Class strength too once you have established a True Elixir Sea. Maybe even S. Who knows?" Red compares. "I want to live that long be that strong" Fumio gets excited, greed appearing in his eyes. "Yeah True Elixir How long will that take? How long ''til I''m ready?" Kotone meanwhile, is concerned about how long it will take her to grow powerful enough to have her revenge on Oonishi Gentarou meanwhile. "Work hard you two." Red is satisfied by the two''s motivations. "We will." The two are beyond motivated. "I''m not only telling you this to motivate you two Let''s move this conversation somewhere." Chapter 104 - Farmville "I can''t believe you locked yourself here Right under the hill." Kotone says she, Red and Fumio step inside Red''s cave. Fumio meanwhile, accepts it as simply one of Red''s oddities. "But boss. This cave does not seem natural." He observes. "It''s not. It''s a product of my own strength training." Red explains to the two. "Strength training?" "How?" Kotone and Fumio ask respectively. "Without using any tools, and using just my limbs, I carved this place out. Took me a month actually." Red explains. The two students are shocked. They cannot even imagine reproducing such feat. "S-so that''s why you gave your room to Kotone without hesitation." Fumio gets over his surprise. "Yes." Red confirms as he leads his students to the furthermost wall of the cave. Kotone and Fumio thought they already had their dose of surprise and shock of the day, but their jaws drop as a huge ring of yellow light appear in front of them. <> Sometime later, "1 to 24 time ratio This is " Kotone still cannot believe it as she looks at her watch that is lying on the ground. She just left Red and Fumio inside the independent dimension of the treasure fragment that is the wood chip, and stepped back in after a short while. "You really spent just a minute outside?" Fumio asks in anticipation. "I did. Counted to sixty." Kotone nods. "Whoah I mean We are really inside that wood chip? How is this possible, boss?" Fumio asks Red. "Someday. When you learn enough to understand, I''ll explain." Red says to the two. "How difficult could it be" Kotone grumbles. "It''s like explaining how to solve a mathematical conjecture to someone who does not even know how to do one plus one." Red says. "What?" Kotone does not understand. "That proves boss'' point." Fumio understands what Red is saying. "What I can tell you two, is that the wood chip, is just a small fragment of a larger treasure made by someone who had just reached godhood. Or maybe a newborn god birthed by the vo- the universe." Red says. "G-god?" "A what?" His students are confused. "Uhuh. Probably the same one who gave life to this planet. The same one who made the demons, the angels." Red explains further. "Are you serious?" Kotone frowns. "" Fumio meanwhile knows that Red is not the type to joke around about things of this matter. "" Red on the other hand, realizes that he just overshared. "So God is real?" Kotone asks. "I''ve spoken too much." Red chuckles. "Boss This Why do I get the feeling that ? Never mind." Fumio cannot find the words to express his suspicion that Red knows something that is much bigger than the world. "So, if God is real, where is he? Or she? Why did they let The Great harvest happen? Why did he make angels and demons in the first place?" He asks instead. "I don''t know. Like I said, it''s all theories for now." Red drops the matter. "Now You two kids, can use this place. Even though there is no spiritual energy here, you can still do weight training, strength training until you run out of spiritual energy to fuel your resistance seals, or even sleep. Then you go back into the real world to refill your elixir seas, or cultivate." He tells them. "The only problem is We grow older faster." Fumio realizes the side effect immediately. "It''s worth it to me." Kotone has no problem with the side effect, her reaction getting a look from Fumio. After pondering for a few seconds, Fumio raises a question. "Boss How long do you think before I can make a True Elixir Sea?" "Without the assistance of this place and with your talent? Never if you''re lazy. A few decades if you''re diligent and focused. A decade or two if you can withstand the uhh grueling pain of a training method I have in mind." Red shrugs. "Grueling how?" Kotone asks. "With the time mojo or this place, and if I can endure the training you''re talking about, Kichirou san, then wouldn''t that mean that it will only take me ONE real-world year or less to You know." "The training you''re doing is nothing. By ''grueling'', I mean much more intense work-outs, bathing in Xoz''gekal''s flames, drinking poisons to stimulate your organs, herbal baths that are much more potent than you''re used to, and many more." At each thing that Red lists, the more intimidated Kotone and Fumio get. Seeing that the two are actually pondering the option he has given, Red nods in approval. He will not be disappointed at the two if they choose to refuse the alchemic assistance that he can provide. But he would rather have them accept his offer because he severely overstated the time the two will take to make their True Elixir Seas in comparison to their potentials. "You two can think it over. In the meantime, you can have a go at this place." He concludes his offer for now. <> "Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu" "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-" Kotone and Fumio are doing their own strength and weight trainings. It has been a few treasure dimension hours since the place was introduced to them by Red, and they have set up their own training camps fifty or so meters apart. It is as if they are in their own tiny worlds. To help them take their minds off the pain of their training and focus a bit better, the two are listening to either music and spoken literature which Red himself composed and wrote, using spiritual energy seal-enhanced earphones which Red himself designed. Their focus however cannot continue as, *GGGRRRRR* they hear a strange rumbling reverberating from the distance, tainting the sound coming from their earphones. They look at the direction of the rumbling and they see Red''s tiny distant figure, standing a few meters above the ground using spiritual energy platforms as footholds, pouring stones of all sizes and shapes to the ground, forming a huge pile of them. After covering around two basketball court size''s worth of ground, they see Red leave through the portal. The two then exchange looks for a moment before going back to what they were doing. While they are interested at what Red is doing, the high and the rhythm of their workout overwhelms that interest. A few hours later, Fumio and Kotone are now sitting together, having a break, enjoying bottles of milkshakes. "How much do you have left?" Fumio asks. "Half. You?" "Same." "What are you listening to?" "Classic American rock and roll. You?" "Radio drama" The two''s small talk is interrupted by Red entering the treasure dimension once again. The two watch in interest as they Red ascend again, stand a few meters off the ground, and pour clay soil beside the pile of rocks and at the same volume. "Okay. I have to see this." Kotone says as she starts to make her way to Red to take a closer look. Fumio gets interested too and follows behind her. "Boss!" Fumio calls out as he and Kotone are close enough to Red. "What are you doing?" He asks. "Just go back to your nests, children. You''ll see it when I''m finished." Red tells him and Kotone. The two simply shrug and they go back to their own camps to resume their training, having had enough of rest. For the next few hours, they see Red bring in more soil, more rocks, and even river sand, until a third of the dimension''s grounds are covered with all sorts of these materials. At some point, the two stop training, feeling their spiritual energies running low. Just in time for Red to return from the real world once again. The two then decide to watch Red again. They see Red levitate, break apart, and cut rocks using his thick, solid, and very stable spiritual energy. After cutting the rocks to different small shapes, they see him attach, and assemble the rocks into bigger shapes, and finally assembles those bigger shapes to what looks like a small complicated structure. Before the two can figure out what the structure is for, Red buries it with the orange clay soil, only leaving small parts of it, which look like tubes, sticking out from everywhere. "Pipes?" Fumio cannot help but compare. No answer from Red, or support from Kotone however is received, so he simply proceeds to watch as Red compresses the poured clay soil with a cylindrical shaped stone that Red carved. After that the two young cultivators see Red pour loads of black colored soil evenly, making a layer on top of the clay soil. "So, a farm?" Fumio comments. "Precisely." Red overhears the comment and nods in approval. "But why the rocks?" Fumio asks. "Irrigation.", is Red''s one word explanation. Fumio, remembering the elongated shapes, slaps his head. It could not be more obvious. "Irrigation" Kotone is almost speechless that the scene that awed her was simply for making a pipe system. "Making an irrigation system this quick and easy is impressive, Kotone." Fumio comments. Kotone is not impressed with the irrigation system however, but something else. "*haaaa*" She does a drawn-out sigh looking at Red''s fingers. "What are you looking at?" Fumio asks. "Kichirou-san''s storage rings. He''s got one in each finger And each can carry THIS MUCH! He only used five so far." Kotone expresses her envy. "What are you going to use it for though? Steal a mountain of gold?" Fumio scoffs. "N-no" Kotone says meekly. Fumio however spots something strange with Kotone''s expression. "Wait Don''t tell me you used your ring for stealing" Fumio looks at her weirdly. "I" Kotone is taken aback. "You did, didn''t you? Shoplifting?" Fumio almost gasps in disbelief. "I just tried it once!" Kotone argues. "" Fumio is still giving her a look. "Honest! I just tried it with a bottle of water, that''s all!" Kotone insists. "Leave her alone, Fumio. She''s telling the truth." Red says as he finishes leveling the black soil. "But you''re right. Your rings can be dangerous on the hands of people with less than savory characters." "And you just gave it to us, boss?" Fumio cannot believe such oversight. "What? I gave those rings to you two because I trusted that you wouldn''t use them for something as low as petty theft." Red shrugs. With that, Red proceeds to reshaping and reassembling the rocks and makes them into a shape of a small building''s size hollow structure and attaches it to edge of the dimension before filling it up with water. Just like that, he is done making a small water dam. He then connects that water dam to the irrigation system he made, and with the power of gravity, water starts flowing, and the pipes sticking out of the soil, starts sprinkling water gently to the surface of the black soil. As the water wets the land, Red also sprinkles seeds on it. "Uhhh boss. The sun?" Fumio asks. "What about it?" Red asks. "don''t they need sunlight?" Fumio asks. ."Nah Spiritual energy is enough for the ones I''m planting." Red explains. "What are you planting?" Kotone asks. "Coffee, tea, cocoa trees. The tastiest species. By the time Tez and Rizretheen are done setting up my coffee shop business, there''ll be plenty to serve." "Will they be as good as your magic teas?" Fumio asks. "No. But they will be the best the general public will ever have." Red pledges. Fumio and Kotone can already imagine Red''s not yet existing coffee shops, being filled with customers. "Goodness. If you can compete with Tomoyuki Clan''s coffee shop chain That''s money right there! Billions, boss! Even if you convert the revenue to US Dollars, it''s still billions!" Fumio is excited for Red. "Well That''s for the future, and more corporate battles to be fought by Tez. But I have a jackpot product that will immediately earn me even more money than the arena." Red smirks as he joins them. "What is it?" Kotone asks in great interest. She has heard from Fumio of Red''s earnings whenever he fought. "It''s this." Red pulls out a lush green leaf with nine serrated leaflets spreading out beautifully from the center. "T-that" "W-whoah" his two students'' recoil from the leaf. "Yes The beautiful Lady Mary Jane." "But that''s illegal!" Kotone protests. "To who?" Red scoffs. "R-right You can sell them to those who don''t care about civilian law." Fumio nods. "That too, but I''ll just sell these abroad.." Red says as he sniffs the leaf. Chapter 105 - Accidental Intruders "COME BACK HERE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" "HEY MAN! I''M SORRY. I DIDN''T KNOW!" Two figures suddenly emerge from the forest and they fly up to the night sky. A man in his late twenties whose toned body is exposed due to the absence of clothing on his top, and has his pair of huge earthen owl wings flapping on his back, is currently attempting to flee from a tracksuit wearing thirty something year old man who is currently atop of a giant flame wasp that is brightening the thick woods he passes by. "YOU CAN''T RUN FOREVER! JUST GIVE UP!" The older man yells. "AS LONG AS YOU DON''T HURT ME!" The younger man yells back still frantically flapping his wings. "ALRIGHT! STOP THEN! I''LL HEAR YOU OUT!" The older man says. "FOR REAL?!" The younger man is tempted to stop as he his already starting to get exhausted after tens of kilometers of intense flight. "YES." The older man says. "ALRIGHT." The younger man then anxiously stops flapping his wings and decides to simply glide in a circular manner, having no choice. He is close to his limit. There are also holes on his wings from suffering the man''s flame wasp''s flame stingers. To his relief, his pursuer also slows down and looks to have calmed down. "Speak." The older man orders coldly as he wills his wasp to hover. "Can we land somewhere?" The younger man asks. "No." The older man makes his wasp show its stinger, intimidating the younger man. "Okay" the younger man grits his teeth and starts to recount his story. "I was delivering a package to my last customer for the day, which is her. Then she y-your" He nervously swallows. "My girlfriend" The older man clarifies through gritted teeth. "Y-your girlfriend" The younger man almost sighs in relief finding out that he did not sleep with a married woman. "She invited me for a cup of hot cocoa. I was exhausted, and thirsty, so I took the offer. Then one thing led to another" He is tempted to run away seeing the grim look on the older man''s face, and the flame wasp lighting that face from below it is not helping. "Look, sir. That''s really it. I really regret doing what I did. If it''s worth anything, I would never have done it if I knew she''s taken." He can only plead. "So did she have fun?" The older man asks. "What?" The younger man is taken aback by the question. "I said did she have fun?" The older man asks again. "I-I guess? I mean" The younger man shrugs. But as soon as his answer came out of his mouth, he regrets it. "Is that so?" The older man''s face takes a darker tone even with the light coming from his flame wasp. "No No. I saw wrong I was a virgin before tonight, so everything''s fuzzy." The younger man says in panic. "Is that so?" The older man asks. "Yes. For sure." The younger man nods. "What''s your name?" The older man asks. "Ippei, sir." The younger man says. "Last name?" The older man asks. "*gulp*" Ippei swallows nervously, and his mind starts running. He realizes that such pattern of questioning only comes from people who can ruin his life. "Haruki" He quickly comes up with a fake surname. "Haruki huh" The older man expresses his skepticism. "Y-yes." Ippei says, cursing himself of coming up with a fake name that can also be used as a first name, therefore making his answer. "Right" The older man growls. Ippei knows that he has angered the man and hastily looks around. A second later, he spots a very thickly vegetated hill nearby. Seeing a potential refuge, he shoots a few earthen feathers from his wings to his pursuer''s direction before diving down, hoping to use the covers of that hill''s vegetation to hide. Unfortunately for him, the crumbly feathers of his wings are not enough to injure his pursuer and it even angered the man. "IPPEI! HOW DARE YOU!" Ippei''s looks behind him and his eyes widen as the injury or at least distraction he hoped to achieve did not work. Instead, tens of smaller flame wasps are now pursuing him, all ready to shoot their stingers at him once they close a certain distance gap from him. His hope is not lost however as the hill is already right below him. As he unfolds his wings to land however, his brain short circuits. The thickets he was hoping to hide in, suddenly disappears. What appears below him instead is what looks like a much clearer hillside, and a traditional house that still has its lights on a few tens of meters away from him. The next moment, he feels his body land on something soft which he figures is a bush. He does not have time to process where he just landed as he sees his surrounding get brighter, which he knows is coming from the flame wasps that followed him. . He quickly summons his wings once again to prepare to fight with the remaining energy of his ability, hoping that the smaller flame wasps are weak enough for him to put out. Meanwhile, on the sky, the man with the flame wasp ability, is surprised to see his wasps suddenly disappear almost all at once. What he found more mystifying is Ippei''s figure suddenly disappeared too. He then wills his ride and goes to where he last saw Ippei''s figure. The next moment, he is mystified that the forest he was about to burn down, is actually not a forest. With his flame wasp as a light source, he sees that he just arrived at what looks like a hillside garden. He immediately finds that on a pathway, the flame wasps he thought have disappeared are currently assaulting a figure which he knows is Ippei''s, shelled under wings. "Ippei. How long can you keep it up?" He grins savagely, imagining Ippei''s body peppered with burns from the stingers of his wasps. "WHO GOES THERE?!" The wasp man and Ippei are interrupted from their activity by the arrival of a gaunt and tall, kimono-wearing man. "OH NO! THE HERBS!!!" The gaunt man''s appearance is immediately followed by the frantic arrival of a plain looking man, also wearing a kimono. "THEY''VE BEEN BURNT TOO! YOU''VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" The plain looking man continues to rage. "I''ll compensate you generously. All I ask is your silence." The flame wasp man says in dismissal. "Silence my butt!" The plain looking man''s arms suddenly transform into thorned vine whips and slaps it to the wasp man. "I warned you!" The wasp man simply retreats, dodging the whips. He summons tens of wasps, smaller than the ones assaulting Ippei, and sends them to the plain looking man. *tatatata* The plain looking man is almost defenseless against flaming stingers. "AHH!" and he cannot help but yelp in pain as the stingers start burning his skin. "Goichi!" The gaunt man attends to the sloth demon, and hurriedly puts out the flame stingers using his sand ability. "Thanks, Nishiki." Goichi is relieved of the rescue of his fellow sloth demon. "I''m warning you. Stay out of this, and we all go home happy." The wasp man says to Nishiki who is about to attack. Nishiki stops. He also knows that he is no match for the superioris, so he "INTRUDERS!!!" yells for help instead. The wasp man is taken aback by Nishiki''s yell, finding it too similar to how the security guards of his clan compound, yell out the same word. A few moments later, Kotone arrives. "Who are you?" She asks the wasp man. The wasp man''s eyes jump looking at Kotone''s facial features, and the shine on her almost flawless skin. "Nagasawa Amon, from Kofu''s Nagasawa Clan. Pretty lady, I can only wish we''re meeting in a more civil circumstance." Amon introduces himself. "AHH!H!" Ippei at this time, manages to put out two thirds of the flame wasps that Amon has on him, but his wings are at an even more pathetic state, with only a few of its feathers remaining, while his body already has a few small stingers on them, slowly burning his skin. "How about more?" Amon sends thirty more flame wasps to Ippei''s way. "What''s your name, my lady?" He then turns his attention back to Kotone. Kotone''s attention meanwhile, is on the herbs that are being burnt by the flame wasps. "Stop your flames." She requests from Amon. "Those herbs are hard to grow." "I assure you, my lady, that I will compensate your herbs with better ones." Amon says. Kotone at this point gets angry, looking at the continually burning herbs. The next moment, *whoosh* she is already beside Ippei and, proceeds to *sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh* put out the flame wasps with swipes of her katana. Amon''s eyes widen at the speed at which Kotone dashed to Ippei''s rescue, and is at an even more intense disbelief at the blinding speed at of Kotone''s sword. Soon, all the wasps are neutralized. "You" Kotone then looks at Amon. "*gulp*" Amon swallows nervously as he sends wasps towards Kotone while willing his ride to retreat and fly up ten meters up. He is relieved that he was able to flee, seeing Kotone dodge the stingers, and subsequently puts out the wasps. Unfortunately for him, Fumio suddenly appears in front of his flame mount. With but a swipe from Fumio, he sees his wasp mount collapse to unstable flames. "AH!" He yelps in panic as he starts falling. He knows that he is not fast enough to summon another mount, so he can only brace himself for a fall. Before he can hit the ground however, he is caught by Kotone. Even though he is saved, Kotone''s arm that caught him by the abdomen "*EUGHGHH*" rocks his organs. "Wait Let''s talk about this, my fair lady!" Amon frantically pleads as he scampers backwards. "What''s there to talk about?" He feels his back bump into someone however. After turning around, he panics seeing Fumio, the one who easily clawed his big wasp with bare hands. Despite his fear of Fumio, "Y-you can''t hurt me!" he manages to express. "Oh? And why is that?" Red suddenly appears out of nowhere, startling Amon. "Oh? The intruders?" Yoshiko also arrives, late in the action. "Boss." Fumio greets Red. "Ki- Master." Kotone greets. "Sir Here''s what happened" Goichi is also quick to report, while giving Amon glares. "S-sir Are these your herbs?" Amon asks Red. "Yes, they are. And You''ve made a mess of them." Red says coldly. "I-I''m sorry. That villain over there was the first to intrude your property and I just happened to follow him in." Amon points to Ippei who is being dragged closer to the group by Nishiki. "I''m not a villain! You liar!" Ippei still has the strength to pounce on Amon, but he is held tightly by the demon of sloth. "Liar?! Who really did wrong here?" Amon yells back. "I did wrong, but what you were doing was not fair! In fact, I''m an assault victim here!" Ippei argues. "She''s mine!" Amon growls. "Not your wife!" Ippei bites back. "Nishiki. Knock the guy out, please." Red orders. The two intruders'' thoughts are too loud that even just a brush of his spirit sense managed to get the whole story. "Thank you, sir!" Amon says smugly seeing Ippei knocked out cold. "Thanks? For what? I don''t care about your business. It''s what you did to my herbs that''s the problem here." Red says coldly. "Sir.. I assure you that me and my Nagasawa Clan can compensate your herbs two times over!" Amon promises. Chapter 106 - Happy New Year Folks. "Sir. I assure you that me and my Nagasawa Clan can compensate your herbs two times over!" Amon promises. "I don''t think you can." Red then grabs Amon by the neck and lifts the man up. "Kkkk" Amon''s eyes widen in fear. Not only is he scared of Red''s vice-like grip, but also by Red''s dismissal of his clan''s name. "Boss Nagasawa Clan" Fumio says. "Yes. I know. Nagasawa Clan from Kofu City 50 kilometers away. Kid, after you spent that long in that place, you now have the strength to kill the Nagasawa clan head in a duel as long as you''re not being stupid and once you train your elixir control to match the size of your elixir sea. If you can do that, should I be afraid?" Red asks Fumio. "N-no" Fumio''s is reminded of his new strength. Amon meanwhile, almost pisses himself that the very young Fumio has that ability. "Now, young Amon. You can only blame your bad luck that you just happened to land here and saw things you shouldn''t have seen." Amon hears Red say before he goes limp and his lights go out. "Now, that''s over. You all go back to your affairs. I''ll take care of these two." Red orders his demons and students as he tosses Amon to the ground. "Sir, can I do the ''taking care of''?" Goichi asks as he eyes the unconscious Amon in excitement. "Yes. Leave it to us, sir. Things like this shouldn''t be handled by you." Nishiki adds. "Next time. I''ll do some questioning first. You two can go." Red refuses. "Even though you two are weak, you will be rewarded for this." He promises them instead. With that the demons leave the cultivators alone. "K-kichirou-san What do you mean ''take care''?" Kotone asks, getting goosebumps from the words exchanged between the demons and Red. "Make them disappear, of course." Red says in a casual manner. "W-why?" Yoshiko asks, her stomach sinking. "" Fumio meanwhile, winces bitterly, feeling bad for the two intruders'' fates, hoping that Red is really not going to do what he said. "I''m not really asking for your approval. I''m just letting you know." Red says. "T-that." "Oh" Kotone and Yoshiko are stunned. "But I''ll play. Do you have better ideas?" Red asks the group. "Can''t we just let them go?" Yoshiko asks. "We can scare them for their silence." Kotone suggests. "" Fumio has no answer, and the two ladies look at him in surprise. "From what I know about you, you seem the type of person who should not approve of this." Kotone tells him. "I don''t approve but I understand?" Fumio can only say with uncertainty. "Understand?" Yoshiko asks in disbelief. "Yoshiko. I heard that you would have stabbed Fumio to death during your initiation if you had that strength. I thought you''d have no problem with this?" Red asks Yoshiko. "That''s different." Yoshiko recoils, remembering the night. "It''s not much different." Red tut-tuts. "They saw our faces. They saw our base of operations. They have seen things they should not have seen. Tell me, what will happen if we let them go?" He asks. His students go quiet, his question making them ponder. "That''s right" He nods in approval. He can see the conflicted expressions spreading to the faces of Kotone and Yoshiko, making him know that they are starting to understand. "We let them go, they tell others. What do you think will happen next then? This place is very important to us and we can''t simply abandon it because of these two." His reasoning is still hard for his students to swallow however. "This is a rare occurrence. But if in the future, if something like this happens again, something that will threaten to expose us before we get powerful enough to stand proudly on top of this world, then I hope you three are ready to step up. When I said ''protect our secrets'', this is a part of what I was asking for." He concludes and he disappears from the area with the two unconscious people. "Well I can only hope this doesn''t happen again." Yoshiko sighs, her shoulders slumping in pressure. "I hope so too." Kotone agrees. "I was only planning on killing one person, and now that I''m close to the strength to do it, I''m not sure if I can really act on it. But those two men they only trespassed. They don''t deserve to die, but" "I was too eager. Greedily increasing my strength with boss'' resources I didn''t realize No I forgot that there is a price for it." Fumio smiles bitterly. Yoshiko and Kotone, hearing this, become gloomy. "What do you think we should do?" Yoshiko asks. "I don''t know about you two, but I''ll just keep training to grow even stronger. Boss said, we have to be powerful enough to stand on top of this world. I think that if we''re that powerful, people will fear us. And fear will prevent them from asking questions, and keep their curiosities to themselves. By then, we will no longer be afraid to show people what we are capable of because people themselves will not dare look into us." Fumio rambles. "Does that make sense?" He asks, catching himself blabbing his chaotic thoughts on the matter. "Ugh I mean, I guess?" Yoshiko groans, finding Fumio''s plan the only thing she can follow for now. "How strong are you two now, by the way? If it''s not too rude to ask?" She changes the subject instead. "Teacher said you two were on an intense training course. You were gone for more than a week." She is also glad to see the two again. Kotone and Fumio exchange glances before both sharing knowing, and bitter chuckles. "A week? More like six months." Fumio scoffs. "It is six months." Kotone smiles before her face crumples. "Kotone, are you okay?" Yoshiko gets worried seeing tears starting to pool from Kotone''s eyes. "Y-yeah she''s more than okay." Fumio says. Yoshiko looks at him and she sees that Fumio''s eyes too are tearing up. "I-it must have been a tough week? Now that I''m looking closer, you two look..." While her two senior students look very healthy, and that she has seen them deal with Amon easily, she notices that their eyes look very exhausted, dull even. "Tough can''t even begin" Kotone cannot finish her sentence before her voice breaks. "Was it worth it then?" Yoshiko asks them. "It was to me, that''s why I didn''t quit. But it doesn''t mean that it was easy. We''re just glad it''s over... Well, at least for now." Fumio sighs. "Immense, pain was inflicted on us. Skin, muscles, bones, our bowels, they hurt. We were even lied to, just to keep us going. I might have hated Kichirou-san for the things he did, but they were all to my benefit " Kotone recounts while not disclosing the treasure fragment. "I" Yoshiko gets scared imagining what the training the two must have done. "Can I do it too? Will I be able to?" She asks herself aloud. "Can you go through literal hell to grow more powerful? Maybe you can." Fumio shrugs. "I don''t know..." Yoshiko does not want to consider it for the moment. Looking at Yoshiko, something suddenly crosses Fumio''s mind. "I don''t know if you''re willing to go through that hell again, Kotone, but I am." He says. "You will?" Kotone asks in surprise. "Yes. The kids, man. Look. I''m not good with them. I also haven''t spent as much time with them as you two did, but I care about them." Fumio starts. "They''re living a really peaceful life. I want them to keep that peace for as long as possible. But what if one day, something bad happens? And at a time when Boss is not around? Something that will force them to protect themselves before they''re ready? I would rather be the one to deal with that so that they won''t be forced to grow strong fast by going through the hell that Kotone and I went through." He concludes. "" "" Kotone and Yoshiko have a new impression of Fumio. <> It has been 8 real world days, or 192 days in the treasure fragment dimension, since Red introduced Kotone and Fumio to the place. Since then, the dimension now not only contains farms and crops, it also has its own water cycle. A water evaporation seal on the land sends humidity to the cold air seal on the sky, which in turn forms clouds. This allows the farms to be watered regularly by artificial rain. There are also three log cabins in the dimension which are the living abodes of Fumio, Kotone, and Red. At Red''s cabin. Unlike what he told his disciples of what he was going to do, Red is currently having beverages with Ippei and Amon on the cabin''s dining table. The two intruders are also safe and sound, and all healed up. Red just made Amon realize that he was played by a gold digger making Amon and Ippei sit amicable together at the table, as if Amon did not just try to mess Ippei up. "You two must be curious about who I am." Red tells the two. Ippei simply nods. "Sir, are you a member of those mysterious untouchable clans?" Amon asks in caution. "You can say that." Red nods before transforming to Mr. Fool. "!" "Y-you!" Ippei and Amon both get up in panic, knocking their chairs down. "Oh. Sit your asses down. It''s not like you can run away from me." Red tells them while sending mental compulsion attacks with his spirit sense. "Y-yes, M-mr. Fool." The two superiori grab their chairs and they sit down. "Now. Fate must have brought us together. It''s the first time that my place was disturbed." Red starts. Ippei and Amon are relieved by Red''s words and non-threatening actions. "How about you two serve me?" Red asks them. "Serve how?" Ippei asks, interested serving under a superioris that the public has deemed ''S-Class''. "I already have a clan, sir." Amon meanwhile, is hesitant. "You, Ippei. You''ll still be a courier, but for my people. I''ll double your salary and you will be working less hours than in your current job. But I also want your silence." Red says. "I won''t be carrying illegal things?" Ippei asks warily. "No. Of course not." Red assures him. "Then I''ll quit my job right now if I can, sir." Ippei excitedly accepts. Red then snaps his fingers and Ippei feels something weird happen deep within himself, but he does not know what. He knows however what to say. "T-thank you." "Good." Red smirks. "And you, Amon. Your case is a bit different because of your clan. Are you the heir?" He asks Amon. "No, sir. But I have good chances of becoming a respected senior member." Amon says. "Okay. How many demons have your clan captured over the years?" Red asks. "H-how" Amon''s eyes widen in disbelief. Red with his spirit sense, sees in Amon''s thoughts, Nagasawa Clan''s demon prison. The prison is not as big as the Oonishi''s or the Nagano''s, and only contains three demons. "Oh please. Look at my bracelet." Red says. Amon looks and his jaw drops. "S-soldier Rank demon cores." He utters in shock looking at what Red''s bead bracelet is made of. "My clan only killed five." He adds in envy. "Work for me. Be my liaison. Would you want to stay subservient to the Nagasawa main family? Or would you want to work for me, and start something that will become bigger than JUST the Nagasawa Clan?" Red asks. "I-I" Before Amon can answer, Red already knows what he feels. *click* Red snaps his fingers again. "I will serve you." Amon bows his head. "Very good." Red nods. Just like that, he now has his first human sl*ves. "Had enough tea?" He then asks the two. "Yes. It was nice. Thank you, sir." Ippei says, burdened to drink more of the delicious tea. "I would love to take some home. It must be the best tea I''ve ever tasted." Amon cannot help but appreciate the tea he just drank. "Good. Let''s go to the yard for your first tasks." Red gets up and leads the way out while removing his Mr. Fool disguise. Arriving at the yard, Red gets down to the ground and slowly assumes pose 1 of the 16 meridian unlocking poses. "You two. Copy me." He orders Ippei and Amon. The two superiori immediately sit on the ground, and attempt to copy Red. While Red knows that the two cannot cultivate, he is hoping to see if his poses can widen the meridians of the two superiori, which in turn, will improve their superioris abilities. "If this experiment fails, and you two die.. I can only say sorry in advance." Chapter 107 - Kotone 3 Here he is, Oonishi Gentarou. Sleeping on his bed soundly as if he didn''t cause me and my brother''s suffering over the years. Sleeping without worry as if he was not sacrificing innocent lives every day. How can someone who has done reprehensible things sleep so soundly like this? And this woman next to him. I''m pretty sure this woman is too young to be this man''s wife. A mass murderer and an unfaithful husband, what a ''nice'' combination. The last time I saw Gentarou, Fumio was able to send him in a coma. But after Fumio and I spent six months in that dimension, Fumio is now multiple times more powerful than he was then. Even I am a lot more powerful than the Fumio then. Even though Fumio''s growth in strength has slowed down since he started consolidating his True Elixir Sea, and that the gap of strength between him and I are now much closer, I still can''t beat him. But even though I can''t hope to defeat him anytime soon, doesn''t mean I don''t have the power to take my revenge on Gentarou At least that''s what Kichirou-san said. I take out Fumio''s concoction, the sleeping powder, and flick it to the woman and Gentarou''s noses. I then carry Gentarou out of his house. I visited the Oonishi''s demon prison just a few minutes ago, and I am relieved that they have paused their activities, therefore no guards. But where did the human sacrifices go? I''ll find out later. For now, I settle Gentarou in the lowest, and biggest sublevel of the facility where the most powerful demons were kept. I can''t believe that with just an illusion seal on my clothes, it is this easy to break in and kidnap a clan head. .I can just drive my blade to his neck, and my revenge is done. But no, I can''t let him go that easily. Not after the things he has done. Not after his actions took my parents away from me and Haruto. Killing him in his sleep is no different than waiting for him to die of a heart attack or a stroke. He deserves worse than that. Much worse. For now, I sprinkle the antidote in Gentarou''s nose and wait. I did not wait too long as just a minute or two after I applied the antidote, Gentarou is now awake. "*groan* How did I get here?" He gets up and checks his surroundings, immediately seeing me. "Oh? Hello there~ Who are you?" He asks me with a flirtatious grin. Pervert. "I''m here to kill you." I return. "Kill me? Why?" He asks. "Itabashi, ten years ago. Rock Stampede." With my simple answer, his eyes widen in recognition. That confirms it. It really was his fault. "You could have killed me in my sleep. Why didn''t you?" He asks with a mocking smirk. What an arrogant bastard. I simply run at him with a punch as a response. As I approach, I see him coat his body with a layer of clay. I don''t care. After Kichirou-san ''washed'' my bones and muscles with his poisons, clay won''t stop me. And I was right. *Thud* My fist penetrates Gentarou''s clay shield easily without resistance and proceeds to land squarely on his face. He flies a few meters away and is caught by the wall. Even though he was knocked down, the fight is not over. Five seven-foot-tall humanoid mud golems suddenly spurt off the floor and they start marching towards me. Behind them, I see Gentarou encase himself with another clay golem. These golems, while tall and big, are slower than Tez-san at full speed, and I can beat Tez-san easily now. I easily dodge the golems'' swipes and bypass their line to get closer to Gentarou once again. Gentarou now looks like a mud golem himself and only has his face exposed at his golem''s head and the rest of his body is covered with mud. With a much faster speed than the other golems, Gentarou throws a kick at me with his huge clay legs, which I easily jump over. The kick is followed by a straight, which I easily dodge with a step to the side. I then grab the outstretched arm and yank it towards me, hoping to make him lose his balance. Instead, the arm is simply stretched and tries to grab me. I hop back to get away, not only dodging the arm, but also unintendedly dodging the assault from other golems. That was close. "You should have killed me when you had the chance." Gentarou says as he summons more golems. This makes what is supposed to be a spacious floor, very crowded, and harder for me to approach him once again. Do these golems have a mind of their own? Or are they all individually controlled by him? These golems do not have eyes, or ears, so can they hear? While these golems are slow, there are many of them and I don''t know how tough they are. I don''t know what will happen if they manage to catch me. I apply a bit of spiritual energy to my left leg and I throw a front kick to the nearest golem on its waist. To my relief, the golem breaks apart easily in huge chunks. As the chunks of the golem fall to the ground, I observe it in the corner of my eye as I continue to flee from the other golems coming my way. I then notice that the fallen golem is not getting up, or reattaching itself. Instead, it crumbles to dry clay soil before fading away into nothingness. So that''s how it is. They''re not as tough as I thought. I could have simply broken the arm of Gentarou''s main golem, and the fight would have been over then if it weren''t for the other golems. Alright. I then proceed to break apart every golem that comes my way while slowly approaching Gentarou. I realize while doing so, that I''m breaking golems faster than Gentarou can summon them. Gentarou''s frantic face gives me confidence in that realization. While this is the case, I can''t keep this up forever. Breaking apart Golems one or two at a time is a waste to my elixir sea. So, I apply some spiritual energy to the bottom of my feet, giving myself a speed boost, making myself half as fast as a full-speed bullet train, and I proceed to weave through the crowd of golems, and only breaking the ones that I can''t pass through. Soon enough, Gentarou, in his main golem is within my reach again, and I throw a punch infused with spiritual energy to his golem''s midsection, breaking it apart and the leftover momentum of my punch lands on Gentarou''s body. "*ack*" I stunned him and I continue to assault him with punches, ones without spiritual energy this time as I don''t want him to die, at least not yet. While doing so, I peek at the other golems and see that they are frozen in their places, making me realize that they don''t have a mind of their own and are instead controlled by Gentarou directly like puppets. I throw one more haymaker, to his head this time, and he is sent flying back against the wall once again. I see the golems in the room also crumble all at the same time, disappearing back into nothingness. I then look at Gentarou again and while he is still conscious and giving me a glare, he cannot stand up anytime soon. "HELP! ANYONE!" He suddenly starts screaming for help instead. What on earth. Luckily, I decided to bring him here. This place really is perfect. Any screams, any noise, cannot be heard by the Oonishi clansmen near the facility. "Shut up!" I yell at him. "You know this place better than I do. So you know how useless screaming is." He shuts up, hearing that. "Are you really an A-Class Superioris? A high-tier one?" I cannot help but ask. I found it too easy. He glares at me. "You fight me in a place with no clay soil, limiting me to just a third of my abilities. You trap me in here, limiting the size of my golems. And you ask me that? Is there a need for this mockery?" He asks through gritted teeth. So that''s how it is. Well, that''s really inconvenient for him. It doesn''t matter. "But could you get any faster than what you''ve displayed?" I ask him. "" Gentarou glares at me bitterly. It seems like he can''t be any faster. Doesn''t matter. As long as I''m faster, he can''t harm me. "Who are you?" He asks me instead. "Someone whose childhood was ruined by you. Whose loved ones were taken away by your failed demon experiment." I reply as I pull out my katana. While I''m not going to tell him my name, I want him to know that he has an unpaid debt. "What do you want? Money? Demon cores? I can give them to you!" He''s negotiating? Really? "None of the above. Can you bring back the dead?" I ask him. "" He''s speechless. "Your life isn''t even worth the thousands of innocents lives you''ve taken. But it is the only one I can take. Don''t you think it''s unfair?" I rest my sword on his neck. I''m so close I can''t believe it. "Unfair? In this world, the powerful dictate what is fair and what is not." He tells me. Is that conviction in his eyes? It looks like he really believes what he just said. "I''m more powerful than you. Does that mean that if I say it''s fair to detach your head from your body, then it''s fair?" I ask him. "" Instead of replying, he suddenly slaps my sword instead. He''s too slow however as before he can summon a golem, I simply stomp at his chest out of anger, keeping him pinned to the wall. *crack* I also hear some of his ribs break. "*ACK!*" He coughs up blood, the golem he was summoning beside him crumbles before it can even be fully formed. "According to what you believe, I''m more powerful than you right now, so I dictate that you die. Isn''t that right?" I ask him. "T-that isn''t always the case." Fear. I see fear in his eyes for the first time. "Y-you told me that my life isn''t worth the lives I''ve taken, right? If you kill me right now, you''re losing out." He says. A clever argument. ''People like them, like Gentarou, are different, my dear child. Things you see as unfair, wrong, or deplorable, they simply see as normal practices.'' I hear in my head what Kichirou-san once told me when I asked him how people like Gentarou can do the things they are doing. I also asked him if people like Gentarou know how terrible their actions are. ''It''s a difficult question to answer Do they know it''s wrong? They do, at least that''s what I think. But that''s it. They ''know'' it''s wrong because that''s what majority of the people in the world feel. Now, do they feel it too? That what they''re doing is wrong? Maybe they don''t, not anymore after getting used to doing the wrong things. They no longer see lives as belonging to people. People with emotions, with families. No, they just see them as figures in spreasheets.'' From what I''m seeing in Gentarou right now, and the things he said, it seems that Kichirou-san is right. "One life for thousands. I''m losing out indeed. But remember this. You''ve killed sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. The rest of the debt that your life cannot cover, I''ll collect from your songs, daughters, and grandchildren" I tell him. I don''t know if I can do that, but I just want him to lose his mind before I end him. "No! No! They''re innocent! Leave them alone! It''s me who''s sinned! It''s me who should pay!" He gets down to his knees to plead. "And how would you pay? Hm? Just you?" I rest my blade to his neck again. This is it. I can already see it. Just one pulling motion, and my blade will cut open a bloody wound on his neck, bleeding him to death. Just one pull. Come on. Why is my hand shaking? "*sigh*" Why can''t I do it? He sacrifices all those lives easily like drinking water, but why can''t I take one life? It''s just one, deplorable life. Chapter 108 - Food, Tourists. Right after Kotone left the demon prison, Red and Xoz''gekal suddenly appear beside the unconscious Gentarou. "Okay I knew she didn''t have it in her, but Really? Broken limbs? That''s it?" Xoz''gekal is half-disappointed, and half-pleased of Kotone''s decision. "Nah. It''s more than that. She crippled him." Red says, brushing his spirit sense throughout Gentarou''s body. "Crippled? Superioris doctors can easily heal him." Xoz''gekal scoffs. "No. What I meant is his superioris abilities are crippled. Fumio must have told her how as an alternative." Red says, proud of Kotone''s work. She has shattered the majority of Gentarou''s meridians. "A fate worse than death" Xoz''gekal grins in glee. "Daring to ensl*ve our kind?" He adds as he kicks Gentarou''s body. "I''m right here." Red chuckles. "I-I... I didn''t mean it like that. I feel like I can beat this bitch at my prime. You, master, are worthy to serve." Xoz''gekal says in panic. "Relax" Red pats Xoz''gekal''s back, making the demon feel relieved. "Now... If this involves only Kotone, this is a good outcome. But it involves me and others as well. I wish she had killed him." Red scratches his cheek. "About that The bet?" Xoz''gekal gloats. "Yes, yes. You will have your own house on the hill the day after tomorrow." Red admits his loss in dismissal. "Nice." Xoz''gekal pumps his fist. "But it was kind of obvious that she didn''t have it in her to kill. Why''d you still stupidly propose a bet? And you don''t even get anything even if you''ve won." He asks Red. "Isn''t it just satisfying to win a bet against all odds? I want to feel like I''ve won the lottery. But hey, today''s not the day." Red shrugs. "True." Xoz''gekal shrugs. "So what now?" He asks. "Now, the upside of this... is you get to feed." Red gestures Xoz''gekal to Gentarou. "W-wha" Xoz''gekal is stunned. "Can I, really?" He asks in excitement. "Yes. While my disciples benefitted from your flames, I haven''t yet. It''s not powerful enough." Red insists. "Then, I''ll gladly accept." Xoz''gekal kneels down, holds Gentarou''s forehead and activates his demon core. The next moment, grey-colored thick fog rushes out of the orifices of Gentarou''s head. Xoz''gekal, as if yawning, opens his mouth as he takes a deep breath, making the glowing thick fog enter his being. A few seconds later, Gentarou is no longer breathing, his heart stopped beating. Xoz''gekal meanwhile, "Hhaaaa" exhales in satisfaction. "How was it?" Red asks in curiosity. "Mmmmh Tainted, powerful, and easy to absorb. Just how I like it." Gentarou licks his lips. "After I''m done digesting in a few days, you won''t be disappointed by my flames then." He promises to Red. "Good." Red cannot wait. "But for now How do we deal with this body?" <> Haneda Airport, Ota City, Tokyo "- Well. I don''t know about that. According to the recent chapters, they seem to be the most advanced. They also have a great manufacturing line." A man in his 30s, wearing a nice pair of office suit, frowns as he fixes his posture on the sofa, and grabs his coffee from the coffee table. "True, senior. But I tell you, Germany is going to lose the war. Sure, they have great tanks and guns, but they only have so much resources." Another man, who is in his late 20s, and is similarly dressed, explains to his colleague. "Okay. But they already invaded eight countries. They can use their resources. K.IWAI based the geology on the real world, right? France''s iron reserves for example. They can use that." The older man argues. "If you talk about resources, then the Allies have Russia, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Those countries can just make the war a war of attrition, and Germany will eventually lose. Making its allies in Europe collapse too. It won''t take long before Imperial Japan falls." The younger man argues back. "Okay. Okay. You''re really into this manga, huh." The older man chuckles and gives up arguing. "We have a lot of time to kill." The younger man shrugs. "True. Hey, have you heard ab-" As the older man is about to bring up something, *knock**knock* he is interrupted by a knock on the office door. The office door opens ajar, and an office lady peeks in. Seeing the interested looks from the two men in the office, she enters. "Good morning, Nori-san, Jotaro-san." The office lady greets the older man and the younger man, respectively. "Yes, yes. What is it?" Nori asks with a hopeful look. "A high-profile tourist?" Jotaro too, waits in anticipation. Their reactions are understandable because only if they have work to do, will people like the office lady will enter their office. "We''re not sure. Please take a look at these first." The office lady approaches the couch and hands the two, two folders each. Nori and Jotaro get to browsing immediately. A few minutes later. "Good morning, Mister Tabal. Miss Tabal." Nori greets Reynante and Marites in the Filipino Language as the two Filipinos enter their office. "My name is Nori Haneda, and this is my partner, Jotaro Haneda." "Good morning." Jotaro greets too, in the Filipino language. "Ah. You two speak great Filipino." Marites compliments the two glorified airport security officers. "It''s not much, ma''am. We are thinker superiori, so learning languages come easy for us." Jotaro brushes the compliment aside. "Ah. Please accept our condolences. Your father, Mr. Gener Tabal was quite the legend." Nori says. "Thank you." Reynante and Marites nod, but they know that the man is just being courteous. "Anyways. We have seen your passports and on behalf of the Haneda Clan, we are honored that you chose our country to be your first international destination in decades." Nori says. His insinuation is obvious to Reynante and Marites. "What can I say? Japan is a beautiful country. I''m curious to see what changed since my last visit 40 years ago." Reynante says, appearing honest. "The Philippines too, has its slices of paradise scattered throughout its territory. Your hometown, Siquijor is a great example. The crystal-clear blue waters alone make me want to visit." Nori and Jotaro accept the answer and Jotaro returns a compliment. "Excuse me, brother, gentlemen, can we move this along? I''m no longer young, and a five-hour flight was already a chore to me..." Marites meanwhile, loses her patience, already knowing that the men are about to start a meandering conversation, which is actually a security check in disguise. "We are aware, that our presence here should be questioned because of our status. But I assure you, we are just here as tourists. This is our first time gathering our grandchildren for a trip like this." She gets to the point immediately. "Well. I apologize for our inconsideration and the inconvenience." Nori winces, and bows his head slightly. "With such a big group, it will be tough for you two. May we offer our assistance?" Jotaro is quick to bring out his hospitality. "Tell me a random direction, ma''am. North? East? West? It''s a good start." He then points at the huge map of Kanto Region behind him, and cautiously asks. "From here, I''m thinking north. Are there any good places to stop by?" Marites is glad that the security officers are now more straightforward. Jotaro tries his brows not to jump in interest. "Of course. Let me make a quick call to one of our experts." Nori pulls out his phone to delegate the task. "Do you need interpreters? Drivers?" Jotaro asks. "No. We''re traveling with our own. But thank you." Reynante refuses. A few minutes later. "We officially welcome your family to Japan. I hope you enjoy your stay." Nori and Jotaro bid Marites and Reynante goodbye. After the two Filipino elderlies'' departure, Jotaro looks at Nori. "Thinking what I''m thinking?" Jotaro asks. "Am I a mind reader?" Nori frowns in confusion. "Listen. First, relatively high members of Brotherhood of Adam. I overheard them talking about heading up north. "Remember? I also asked the B-Class couple from Australia like how I asked the Tabals earlier; they''re also heading up north. And finally, a decently known family from the Philippines, also heading up north. Don''t you find something strange?" Jotaro asks. "Uhhh No. I don''t. What can I say? Our tourism industry is booming. Besides. From here? There''s nowhere else to go but up north. If they said east, then they would have landed at Narita Airport. If they said west, then they would have landed at Chofu Airport." Nori shakes his head. "True True" Jotaro admits. "But! In your years of experience, when else did you receive people with these statuses in a span of a week?" He asks. "" Nori is stumped. "You might be on to something there." He admits after pondering shortly. "And what do you plan to do with this?" He asks. "Our job''s boring. If people like them arrive at our airport, then you''re more than enough to handle that. Me on the other hand, will look into it more." Jotaro says. "My goodness. I won''t stop you. But be careful. They have guest rights." Nori shakes his head. "Of course." . Meanwhile at a random SUV heading out of the airport. "May I?" Reytnante asks Marites as he reaches his hand out to her. "Here." Marites hands what looks like a spear head made of clay to Reynante. "When''s the last time it drifted?" He asks his sister as he caresses the wood fragment at the center of the spear head. The two decided to embed the wood fragment to something arrow-shaped for them to see the direction it is heading to, easier. "When we were at the plane. I had to hold it down however." Marites says. "Do you have an idea where it was pointing to?" Reynante asks. "North. Northwest. Around that general direction. I''m not sure really. I didn''t know which direction the plane was flying to. Let''s just wait." Marites relays. "I hope we''re close to... whatever the hell is happening." Reynante sighs. "Uhuh. Maybe our tourist guise will not be a guise after all." Marties agrees. <> Hinohara, Red''s Gardens. *slide* *thud* Fumio cautiously steps in Kotone''s room and finds Kotone lying on her side, awake. "Hey." Fumio greets. "Hey there. I didn''t see you as someone who would step into a woman''s room." Kotone jokes. Fumio chuckles. "Well It''s been two days since, you know, that and I haven''t even seen you cultivate." He asks. "Ah. Yeah that." Kotone gets up. "Look. I''m not gonna ask. But I''m worried. Are you alright?" Fumio asks. "Yes" Kotone nods, before "Well, no.", shaking her head. "I might have screwed up." She says. "Screwed up how?" Fumio asks. "I let Gentarou live. I even showed him my real face" Kotone sighs. "Gosh, I''m so stupid. I''m gonna become a wanted criminal. You guys might be caught up in it." She grabs her hair in frustration. "Y-you" Fumio is about to admonish Kotone but catches himself. "I wish I''d have killed Hideki too. But didn''t have it in me. I understand why you didn''t." He sighs, empathizing. "But It''s a clan head we''re talking about. Did you tell boss?" He asks. "Not yet. I can''t find him. He can''t be contacted either What if he kicks me out?" Kotone asks in fear. "Well. Did you look yourself up online?" Fumio asks. "I can''t bring myself to." Kotone shakes her head, afraid of what she might find. "Did your brother call you?" Fumio asks. "I missed two calls. I don''t want to answer it. I don''t want to know what he''s going to say." Kotone explains. "Okay Boss said he values us, right? You also did the right thing. So he probably won''t kick you out" Fumio consoles Kotone. "Do you think so?" Kotone asks. "Yeah. But he''ll probably lock you in this hill if you indeed become a wanted supervillain." Fumio says as he pulls out his phone. Kotone knows that Fumio is looking up her name. So, she braces herself. Chapter 109 - White Lies After a minute of anxious wait, Kotone sees Fumio look away from his phone. "Well. You''re not on any wanted list. At least not yet. I can''t find anything about the Oonishi either. They probably sealed the news about what you did. Congratulations." Fumio tells her. "T-that''s good" She is relieved for now. "It''s great news." Fumio smiles at her, feeling just as relieved. "Hm?" He suddenly frowns as he snaps his face to random direction. "What is it?" Kotone asks. "Scan around." Fumio tells her. Kotone concentrates on feeling out the atmospheric spiritual energy and "Huh?", she feels what Fumio just detected. "Feels familiar." She notices. "It is. Let''s go." Fumio leads the way. A few seconds later, the two are atop the bamboo walls, standing on the bamboo leaves, both staring stunned at an object drifting slowly towards their direction. "Is that" Kotone cannot believe it. "It is" Fumio says and as the object gets in his reach, he grabs it. "I thought Kichirou-san finds it valuable. What is it doing out here?" Kotone wonders aloud. "It''s Huh It''s a different one." Fumio says in interest as he caresses the wood chip on his grasp, one that is similarly sized as the one that was owned by the Oonishi. "Wow" Kotone, knowing what the thing is used for, cannot believe that something so valuable just came to them on its own. "Wait Wasn''t Gin-san tasked by boss to look for other wood chips?" Fumio asks. "He was We haven''t seen him in a few real-world weeks, so it must be really hard to find one but here is one." Kotone feels bad for Gin. Fumio frees the wood chip from his grasp and lets it drift in the air once again. Soon, the wood chip descends to the garden, and tries to burrow through the ground. This is enough for Fumio and Kotone to realize that it is heading to the direction of Red''s cave under the hill. "Okay." Fumio quickly picks up the wood chip. "I''ve got an idea." He tells Kotone. "What is it?" Kotone asks. "When boss finds out you let Gentarou live, he might not like it. He might get angry even. But if you present this to him maybe you can appease him?" Fumio suggests. "But what if Kichirou-san already knows of this? After all, it looks like it''s going home to his cave." Kotone asks. "It''s fine. Let''s decide what we''ll do based on boss'' reaction when you hand it to him. If he gets pleasantly surprised to see it, then he doesn''t know about this. If he looks at you weirdly, then tell him that you just fetched it for him." Fumio suggests. "O-okay But you know him. It''s like he can read minds." Kotone is hesitant. "Well? I''ll just be honest and tell boss it''s my idea if we get caught." Fumio assures. "Y-you don''t have to. This is my mistake, my fault." Kotone is against the idea. "I feel partly responsible. If I had ended Hideki, and if I hadn''t taught you how I did it" Fumio is about to say that had he not taught Kotone how to cripple a superioris'' powers, she would have not have had that option and instead had gone in for the kill; which does not sound great. "Never mind. I feel responsible." He assures her. A few moments later, the two find themselves in Red''s cave, finding the portal to the treasure fragment''s dimension, activated. "Huh. He''s back." Fumio says. Only Red can open the portal after all. "haaa" Kotone takes a deep breath to calm herself down. "Let''s go in?" Fumio asks. "Yeah. Let''s get this over with." Kotone nods. Fumio decides to enter first but as he is about to, *fwahhh* he is repelled by the portal''s light veil, forcing him to take a few steps back. "*gulp*" Kotone swallows nervously. "You think he heard us earlier?" She asks, her resolve to talk to Red evaporating immediately. "Relax. Try entering first." Fumio tells her, sharing Kotone''s fear. Kotone nods and steps in the portal, successfully entering the treasure fragment''s dimension. As soon as she enters, she immediately sees a noticeable change. The farms no longer look like traditional farms which crops blanket the vast land. Instead, it is as if she is in front of skyscraper-sized shelves. Each giant compartment of the giant shelves contains a parcel of farm in it, which lush crops are grown. "Good lord" Just looking at the structure makes her feel insignificant and small. Then something else catches her eyes; a large clay oven. Something that brings her painful memories. The oven is what Red had her and Fumio use to bathe in Xoz''gekal''s flames. Even though the experience made her skin as tough as copper, the memories of it still give her cold sweats. Especially because the process burnt her long silky hair, making her unavoidably bald. If it weren''t for Red''s hair-growth concoction, she never would have gotten her head hair back quickly. She finds something unusual with the oven today however. Xoz''gekal is on top of it, infusing blue flames inside the oven. She never saw Xoz''gekal use his flames inside the pocket dimension except for when he uses it on her or Fumio. This scene takes her curiosity and she quickly joins the demon. "Kotone-chan what are you doing here?" Xoz''gekal asks. "I''m looking for Kichirou-san..." as Kotone states her purpose, she notices that Xoz''gekal is looking pale. "Are you okay?" She asks in worry. "Yeah. I''m just approaching my limit." A soon as Xoz''gekal said that, he stops infusing flames to the oven, and he falls to his knees. "Xoz-san! Are you okay?" Kotone has never seen the demon looking so weak. "I''m fine. Just need some breather damn." Xoz''gekal stands up and jumps down to the ground. The next moment, Kotone sees ''door'' of the clay oven and from inside, Red steps out. Kotone frowns seeing Red fully clothed, his hair not burnt. "Kotone. Hello." Red greets her. "Good job on Gentarou, by the way." He says as he tosses something to Xoz''gekal. "Thanks boss." Xoz''gekal says and leaves for the portal immediately. "Uhh Thank you?" Kotone is taken aback. "Yes. A very clean job." Red nods. "Huh?" Kotone is confused. "I''m sorry, I didn''t trust you, so I checked in the Oonishi to make sure that you didn''t leave any loose ends. To my surprise. You did it perfectly. You even made him disappear. The Oonishi seek the help of other clans to look for Gentarou." Red keeps nodding in approval. "B-but I di-" Kotone''s stomach sinks. Being mistaken for a perfect murderer makes her feel worse than bad. So she takes a deep breath and a glint of resolve appears in her eyes. "Kichirou-san No Sensei. I have a confession to make." She starts telling Red of exactly what happened. A few minutes later, Kotone is done confessing everything to Red, including her fears and thoughts of the matter. "I see Well. That isn''t so bad either." Red nods. "You''re not" Kotone is surprised by Red''s non-reaction. "Don''t get me wrong. I''m a bit disappointed. But that raises an interesting question. Where is Gentarou right now? Maybe him being ''missing'' is a ruse, and that they are actually looking for you. Maybe a fellow clansman of his who has been eyeing his position finished him off for you. Whatever the case is, you left loose ends." Red says. "I-" Kotone looks away. "I''m willing to take any punishment, Sensei." She accepts her fate. "No punishment. But responsibilities. If this bites us in the ass in the future, be sure you''re powerful enough to fix it. And I''m not going to interfere." Red says. Even though this is the first time that Red is talking to her this seriously, Kotone is relieved. "I understand, sensei." She accepts the responsibility. "Good." Red nods. "That''s right Did you block out Fumio from entering here?" Kotone asks. "Hm? No. Why? He can''t get in?" Red asks. "Yes. He was repelled by the portal." Kotone reports. "Interesting" ... "Boss." Fumio greets Red as soon as Red and Kotone leaves the pocket dimension. "Kotone said you can''t get in?" Red asks. "I can''t." Fumio nods. "But I''m not in a hurry to go back in there. Instead Kotone found this for you." He then takes out the wood chip and hands it to Red. "Oh nice" Red grins as he scans the treasure fragment with his spirit sense. Fumio and Kotone are pleased by Red''s reaction. "I''m guessing you can''t enter because of this." Red says. "Why?" Fumio asks. "I''ll explain in due time." Red shrugs. The explanation is pretty simple. A pocket dimension cannot contain another object that contains an equally or superiorly classed pocket dimension to it. From Red''s scan on the new wood chip, he figures that it contains a pocket dimension inside of it, which is of the same level as the pocket dimension of the first treasure fragment he activated, therefore cannot be contained inside the first treasure fragment''s pocket dimension. Pocket dimensions like the ones inside Red''s, Fumio''s, and Kotone''s storage rings meanwhile, are inferior to the treasure fragment''s pocket dimension, so they can be used inside the treasure fragment''s dimension. "Now. Try going inside." Red then gestures Fumio to go in the portal. "Okay." Fumio nods and he dives in to the portal. As if proving Red''s guess, Fumio disappears in the portal. Just a few seconds later, Fumio steps back out of the portal. "Boss That''s a high-tech lookin'' f*ckin farm!" Fumio says in excitement. "Uhuh" Red waves off in dismissal. "Now This is interesting." He says, feeling a very slight movement from the wood chip on his hand. "Boss. Release it." Fumio says, and Red does so. The three cultivators then see the wood chip drift down, until it reaches the ground and starts burrowing on it. "That''s where I buried Huh." Red gets interested as he digs out the activated wood chip with his spiritual energy and drags it to his grasp. They then see the new wood chip float back up to follow the activated wood chip. "So... that''s why." Kotone expresses understanding on behalf of Fumio and Red. "Where''d you find it, Kotone?" Red asks. "I uh" Kotone is not a good liar. "Okay. We found it right outside the " She comes clean about how she and Fumio got their hands on the treasure fragment. "Ah It''s hundreds of years before you two can try to fool me. Just one question collapses your lie." Red is amused finding the two''s original plan of lying to him. Fumio and Kotone are embarrassed, but relieved of Red''s reaction. "But based on the speed of how the treasure fragment is drifting, why didn''t it arrive much earlier?" Red then questions aloud and as the words come out of his mouth, a few guesses appear in his head. He then suspends the two treasure fragments next to each other, and lets the two treasure fragments do their thing. The next moment, the two treasure fragments join together, the surfaces where the two fragments attach, *click* perfectly fit. He then scans the second treasure fragment and just as he expected, it is not activated. "Of course, it''s not that simple." He nods. He then takes the two treasure fragments apart and manipulates the first treasure fragment and suspends it a few meters away from him. Then, he releases the second treasure fragment from his grasp, letting it drift to the activated treasure fragment. As the second treasure fragment is halfway on its way, Red deactivates the portal, making the second treasure fragment fall to the ground, unmoving. "Ahhhh" Fumio and Kotone are mystified. "Fascinating isn''t it?" Red tells them as he returns the two treasure fragments to his grasp. "But this means disturbance, if not trouble." He ponders. "Why?" Kotone asks. "We don''t know how many pieces are out there and how many of them have owners." Chapter 110 - Experiment 2 (cont''d) "So to avoid trouble, the portal should not be opened for too long?" Fumio asks, finding it inconvenient. "Yes." Red nods. "Leave it to me, boss." Fumio suddenly becomes earnest. "My elixir control has improved tremendously since I came out. I will focus on defending the hill while you focus on your business inside." He volunteers. "You don''t have to. I will be stepping out every hour to recharge anyway. I will keep watch while cultivating." Red refuses. "I see" Fumio nods. "Why don''t you go back to the city instead? Muscle Master has been closed for two weeks now." Kotone tells Fumio. "Oh I forgot about them." Fumio just realizes. Six months'' worth of time inside the treasure dimension with nothing in mind but training, and focusing on his elixir control for the past few days, it was not surprising for him to forget. "Ah. That''s right." Something crosses Red''s mind. "Go back to train Haruto." He adds on Kotone''s suggestion. "Eh?" "Haruto?" Kotone and Fumio are surprised and confused hearing the unexpected name. "Kotone. You once asked me if Haruto can learn our ''practice'', correct?" Red asks. "I did?" Kotone cannot remember. "Yes. During our lunch in Chofu last May." Red reminds her. Kotone only gets a vague recollection of it as it has not only been 6 real world months since that lunch, but a year in her mind. "S-so The reason you brought him up Is because he can?" She asks in suppressed excitement. "N-no way" Fumio meanwhile is in disbelief. "He can''t of course But the 16 basic poses and basic breathing technique can be beneficial to him. And if he can strengthen his body, it MIGHT even strengthen his superioris ability." Red reveals. "T-that''s great news" Kotone is more than thankful of Red. "Wait That means my sister can benefit from it too?" Fumio asks. Before, he always felt envious of Sayuri, but after becoming a cultivator and all the power he got from being one, he is more concerned about her safety instead. "Yes. And I can have Kotone supervise her." Red suggests. "Boss uh. I''m not saying that my sister is a bad person but You haven''t met her yet." Fumio scratches his head. While he values his sister, Red''s secrets to him, are just as valuable if not more. "Well. It''s not useful to them without us anyways." Red shrugs. "What do you mean?" Kotone asks. Red does not answer them immediately. Instead he activates the portal once again, attaches the two treasure fragments together before burying them together. "I''ll explain inside." He says and leads the way in. As soon as the three are inside, Kotone and Fumio are in shock of who they see are waiting for them. "Aren''t they" Kotone cannot finish her question in confusion. "Phew" Fumio meanwhile, sighs in relief. The two other people inside after all, is Ippei and Amon; the two accidental trespassers from six days ago, who Kotone and Fumio thought Red already killed. "Sir." "You called?" Ippei and Amon greet Red. "You''ve met these two before." Red gestures to Fumio and Kotone. "Hello." "Nice to meet you again." Red''s human sl*ves greet Red''s disciples. The behavior takes Fumio and Kotone aback and they give Red a questioning look. "I was really about to make them disappear, but I found a good use for them." Red says. "So you''re keeping them as prisoners here?" Fumio asks. "I''ll let them go soon. If they squawk, it''s not only them that will suffer the consequences." Red explains. This makes Kotone and Fumio entertain the idea that the two superiori are better off dead, than involving their families. "And. Thanks to them, I was able to figure out which of our techniques are beneficial for the superiori." Red adds, making Kotone and Fumio shudder. "Assume pose 1." Red then orders Ippei and Amon, which the two follow. "Now." He turns to Fumio and Kotone. "Why did I have you two start with the 16 poses?" He asks. "To unlock our meridians." Fumio answers first. "And the more cycles of the basic breathing technique while in the poses, the meridians expand." Kotone supplements. "That is correct." Red nods. "The superioris on the other hand, already have their meridians unlocked since birth." He explains. "T-they''re natural born cultivators?" Fumio asks in envy. "Hah. No." Red scoffs. "Their meridians are only functional based on the abilities they were born with. Ours can be used on many things. In the future, once you learn more techniques from me, it will be easy for you two to reproduce many superioris abilities." This makes the two excited. "Okay. So, how do the sixteen poses benefit the superiori then?" Kotone asks. "Before that, how do they grow stronger?" Red asks rhetorically. "The superiori''s meridians expand and mature as they approach their prime. The more they use their abilities, the more potential they can use. However. Their meridians are stiff, and no matter how often they abuse their abilities, and I''m guessing that very few of them actually achieve the maximum of their potential." He continues to explain as he materializes thick strings made of spiritual energy. His two students are still mystified by Red''s display of his elixir control. "But we can help them with that." Fumio and Kotone see Red''s spiritual energy threads ''stab'' the two superiori in the thighs, to the part where they figure are where two major meridians are located. "Let me guess, boss. That stimulates their meridians?" Fumio asks. "Yes." Red confirms. "Like how we massage stiff muscles." Kotone asks. "That''s the perfect example." Red nods in approval. "Do you two still remember the abilities of these two?" He asks his students as he retrieves his spiritual energy strings. "Ippei has wings made of soil. And Amon has flame bees." Kotone recalls. "Wasps." Amon corrects. "Yes. Wasps. Whatever." Kotone does not really care, which offends Amon. "Now. After four months under my experimentations, I present to you the new them." Red says. The two superiori, receiving Red''s commands on their soul, immediately stand up and activate their abilities. White owl wings burst out of Ippei''s back, and flame wasp the size of a ten-wheeler truck appears behind Amon. "Whoah holy shit." Fumio steps back in shock at the size of Amon''s flame wasp. "Huh My goodness." Kotone''s brows jump in surprise seeing that Ippei''s wings no longer are made of compact soil, but what looks like white colored stones. "Ippei''s wings are now made of lime-stone and his powers can now last for sixteen hours straight flight." Ippei, receiving another order from Red flaps his left wing to Kotone''s direction, shooting sharp feathers to her way. While the feathers are as fast as arrows fired by non-superioris archer, she easily dodges them. "Amon''s change meanwhile, is not qualitative like Ippei''s." Amon, receiving the order from Red, summons hundreds of small wasps at once and sends them Fumio''s way. Fumio''s figure blurs and dances amongst the flame wasps. A few moments later, the small wasps are wiped out. "After four and a half months of stimulating their meridians, Ippei came from being a bottom-feeder D-Class to a low-tier C-Class. And Amon from a low-tier B-Class, to a peak B-Class." Red concludes making Ippei and Amon deactivate their powers. "" Fumio and Kotone are intimidated by how quick the two superiori grew in strength. "Uhhh Boss. Uh what happens if they''re given more time?" Fumio asks. Red knows what Fumio actually means with the question. "Ippei here is quite young, and he is also a physically enhanced superioris. He can still grow stronger especially if we apply resistance seals on him. But Amon has already reached the limits of potential." "T-that''s cool, I guess." Fumio is more than relieved. "I wonder what Haruto''s potential is?" Kotone wonders aloud. "He''s just 19, right?" Red asks. "Yes." Kotone nods, the question making her anticipate. "Well. Why don''t we find out in the future?" Red smirks. "" Kotone is disappointed at the non-answer. "Anyways. Fumio. This will also help immensely with your elixir control, output control more specifically. I will teach you how to do it later." Red says. "Thank you in advance, Fumio." Kotone immediately feels grateful. "You''ll be doing the same with my sister once she earns boss'' trust." Fumio shrugs. <> Nerima, 5pm. *tap**tap**tap* Sayuri is briskly walking to a random restaurant for an appointment. She would run if she can but her fear of damaging her company-issued heels and expensive office dress stops her from doing so. *Bump* She accidentally bumps into a random male pedestrian, making the pedestrian fall on his butt. "I''m sorry!" She apologizes immediately. The pedestrian, processing the strength he felt from Sayuri, does not dare accept the apology. "It''s fine, young miss." He says as he stands up. "T-then I''ll be on my way. Thank you." Sayuri sighs in relief that she did not offend someone she should not have, and proceeds to walk inside a building. Soon, she arrives at the building''s tenth-floor restaurant. After looking around, she immediately finds her destination. "Sorry sir. I''m late." Sayuri apologizes profusely and keeps on bowing as soon as she arrives at Tezguniuth''s table. "Hey, hey. Sit down. You''re making a scene. Good lord." Tezguniuth is taken aback by Sayuri''s behavior. Sayuri, not wanting to offend her new boss, takes the vacant seat in front of him. "Sorry again." She apologizes one more time for good measure. "It''s fine. Order first." Tezguniuth hands her the menu to calm her down. "I" Sayuri wants to refuse, but Tezguniuth''s stare forces her to choose. Soon, she is done ordering form a waiter. "Salad? Puhup." Tezguniuth snickers. Sayuri, seeing her boss'' mood, sighs in relief. . "Tell me, Sayuri. Why were you late?" Tezguniuth asks. "I uhh The equipment for our Itabashi branch was delivered today. It was-" Before she can explain further, "Alright." Tezguniuth gestures her to stop. "It''s a valid reason. Why were you acting as if you made a severe mistake?" Tezguniuth asks. "I" Sayuri struggles to find an answer. "Afraid of getting fired?" Tezguniuth asks. "Y-yes." Sayuri nods. "No that''s not it. What else?" Tezguniuth reads Sayuri. "" Sayuri cannot answer. "Have I been a horrible boss? You''re not afraid of me, are you?" Tezguniuth frowns in confusion. "N-no! Of course not." Sayuri exclaims. "It''s just With a job with so many perks I think making mistakes is not excusable." She says. "Ah A pressure on yourself then." Tezguniuth now understands why Sayuri looked so burdened since she started her job. "What I want from my employees is their longevity. They can make mistakes here or there, but as long as they can serve the company for years to come, that''s ideal to me. Do you understand?" He asks. "Y-yes, sir." Sayuri is consoled. "Very good." Tezguniuth nods. Suddenly, he notices someone from over Sayuri''s shoulder, is staring at him.. He would have ignored the stranger, but the stranger''s stare is something he knows quite well. Chapter 111 - Fancy Seeing You Here. (cont''d) " Do you understand?" Tezguniuth asks. "Y-yes, sir." Sayuri is consoled. "Very good." Tezguniuth nods. Suddenly, he spots someone from over Sayuri''s shoulder, staring at him. He would have ignored the stranger, but the stranger''s stare is something he knows quite well. For now, however, he takes his attention back to his new employee. "But that doesn''t mean you are at liberty to make mistakes that would cost me huge money." He says to conclude his consolation for Sayuri. "Of course, sir." Sayuri understands well what Tezguniuth means. "By any chance This pressure you''re putting on yourself. Is you being recommended by your brother to me, have something to do with it?" Tezguniuth asks. "No, sir." Sayuri denies. Tezguniuth softly scoffs. He has lived for millennia and he can easily see if a person means what they say. "Heh. All your brother did was to make sure that I read your resume, and assure me that you leaving your previous job is not your fault, that''s all. He had no say, or influence in my hiring of you." He tells Sayuri. Sayuri is taken aback, but at the same time, she is both relieved and proud. Relieved that her job performance will in no way affect Fumio, and that she got her new job because of her experience and skills. "I''ve seen your resume. I also had some people look into the ledgers of the businesses you''ve managed" Tezguniuth pauses and he sips on his wine. "" Sayuri clenches her butt. "And I figured that your management style is conservative. Do you agree?" Tezguniuth asks. "Yes." Sayuri admits. "Were you forced to? Or was it your natural style?" Tezguniuth asks. "More like forced to follow my former clan''s way of conducting business. Preventing losses and having stable profits, no matter how small, are more important to them than doing something fresh and new." Sayuri explains. "Didn''t follow trends?" Tezguniuth asks. "Not until the trends were at their peak." Sayuri shakes her head. "Were there any successful trends that you wanted to follow early on, but didn''t because your clan stopped you?" Tezguniuth asks. "Only a few." Sayuri says humbly. "Oh? Looks like you have an eye for them." Tezguniuth gets interested. "I don''t, sir. In fact, if I had been more in control in those businesses, I might have driven them to the ground." Sayuri bitterly denies. Tezguniuth sees that Sayuri is not trying to be humble, but is simply being honest. He was a bit let down, but shrugs it off. "Oh well. What I need for now is stability of operations, and your expertise is exactly one of the things we need with that." "Uhh" Sayuri wants to ask something but stops herself. Tezguniuth meanwhile, notices. "Please. I''m open to any questions. We''re both learning the ropes here. If it can help you perform your job better, I''m willing to help." He encourages. "So far, we are currently constructing five branches our coffee house in five different cities. And these branches are not small too. What makes the owner so confident in opening this many branches all at once? And at a time when coffee loving population is in a tight grip of a few and powerful caf chains?" Sayuri asks. "Ah" Tezguniuth nods in understanding. If he does not know Red, he would also wonder the same thing. "All I can tell you for now, is that our beverages will be superior in quality than other caf chains'', and will have a competitive price at that." He defends vaguely with a mysterious smirk. "O-oh" Sayuri feigns understanding while suppressing her skepticism. "uhuh" Tezguniuth knows what Sayuri is feeling but decides not to address it for now. His attention instead is on the man that has been staring at him for a few minutes now. "I''m going for a smoke." He excuses himself from Sayuri and makes his way to the stairwell right outside the restaurant. After climbing half a flight of stairs, he stops by the window, watches the view of the city from it, and waits. A minute later, the stranger from the restaurant joins him with a greeting. "I can''t believe you''re still alive." Tezguniuth turns around to look at the stranger more closely. An average looking man who looks to be in his early thirties. The man''s quality office suit, nice watch, and the general air around him, tells Tezguniuth that he is a corporate drone of some sort. Tezguniuth however knows that the man is not just an average corporate drone. "I''m one of the few unlucky ones." He says in the demon language. "''Unlucky'' Ah That''s right." The man chuckles. "Demons of Sloth of your strength rarely ascended. So when you decided to ascend, all of those who knew of you were more than surprised. After all, aside from the Prince of Sloth himself, you are the last demon to take such an action like that. But when I heard you say, how did it go?... ''I am here to explore the bigger world, and search for my eternal slumber'' Those words of yours would have been enough to explain that decision." Tezguniuth nods. He does not remember saying those words, but he knows that it is something he would say. "You oddly know a lot about me. Do we know each other?" He asks. "I''m sorry. Greetings, sir. I''m Vaskumus, a soldier. We might not know each other personally, but we crossed paths a few times in Hell, and I saw you ascend to the mortal realm a few days before I was purged from my original body and forced to my long slumber." Vaskumus introduces himself. "When did you fall?" Tezguniuth asks. "Around the fourth year of the Great War, sir." Vaskumus asks. "You said we crossed paths? Either my memory is fuzzy, or you''re simply mistaken. I don''t recognize you." Tezguniuth says. "You are quite famous, Ser Tezguniuth. The embodiment of sloth only second to the Prince of Sloth himself. As for why you don''t recognize me, I simply do not have the fame. If my original body wasn''t destroyed, you might recognize me." Vaskumus says respectfully before flaring a bit of his demon aura. "Ah" Tezguniuth softly exclaims, finding the aura familiar. "You were under Galgredol''s command." He says. "Yes. Ser Galgredol is my unit''s leader." Vaskumus is glad to be recognized. "Well. It''s good to see you alive, and found a new body." Tezguniuth does not want to speak with the demon any longer. "Ah. Yes." Vaskumus notices, and he is more than disappointed from the reaction of the demon who he once fought alongside with. He does not want to let go of Tezguniuth yet however. "Ser. I have news." "What news?" Tezguniuth gets curious, seeing Vaskumus''s expression. "Ser Galgredol still lives, and has recently awoken." Vaskumus reports. "And she walks among humans?" Tezguniuth asks. "Yes. And she is quickly gaining strength." Vaskumus confirms. "As expected. Send her my regards." Tezguniuth nods. "Y-y" Vaskumus is taken aback by Tezguniuth''s disinterest. "Ser Tezguniuth. This modern world was already dangerous despite the efforts of the powerful superioris clans and groups to limit information about us. But everything changed after that jester in red''s activities. "I saw children''s playgrounds littered with demon traps and wards. I''ve seen homeless people have anti-possession talismans in their person. I''ve seen housewives carry fruit knives engraved with demon-killing runes. Everything has turned perilous for us. Do you really want to walk amongst humans alone?" Vaskumus starts swaying Tezguniuth. "It is not too hard to guess that you and her already formed a little group. How many of you are there?" Tezguniuth asks. "Aside from Ser Galgredol, we have seven scamp-ranked demons and three soldier-ranked demons including me, in our group. Your chances of survival during these times will increase if you join us." Vaskumus proudly reports. "Hm sounds like a nice little group. I wish you luck. I hope you all survive ''til Hell ascends again." Tezguniuth nods. "Y-you Do not want to join us?" Vaskumus cannot believe that he was refused. "I am doing fine on my own." "Are you not afraid?" " ''I am here to explore the bigger world, and search for my eternal slumber''. Even though you had to remind me, those words are true to myself. If I get caught, and killed. I welcome that. At the worst I will only find it a shame that my time in this interesting era is cut short. Ultimately, I will achieve what I ultimately want." Tezguniuth shrugs. "Do you not want to see a former comrade at least?" A woman''s voice suddenly rings out from behind Tezguniuth. "And here I thought you''d simply drop eaves and let your subordinate do all the talking" Tezguniuth turns around with a smirk. "Galgredol." And greets in acknowledgement, but his face freezes. "Tezguniuth." Galgredol greets back, amused at Tezguniuth''s expression. Tezguniuth recovers and almost cackles. "hah Of all the flesh suits you can get" Tezguniuth is taken aback by Galgredol''s human body; a petite Japanese woman in her late 20s. A huge contrast to her original seven-foot fat demon body. "This girl''s bowels have malabsorption that allowed her to eat kilograms of food in one sitting without getting fat." Galgredol explains. "How luck for you." Tezguniuth shakes his head. "And this girl was she willing?" He asks. He knows that B-Class Superiori, which are the ideal bodies for Knight-ranked demons, are not easy to give up on life. "Of course. The poor girl. A physical type superioris like her already needs loads of food. But having a malabsorption disorder on top that? The amount of food she would need... Her social life suffered because of it, making her miserable." Galgredol recounts. Tezguniuth finds it plausible. "Ser let the girl''s soul go." Vaskumus adds. "Huh" Tezguniuth is more than surprised. "You? A demon of gluttony?" He can barely believe it. "There are things that might overwhelm our desires and natures. My gratitude for the girl kept me from eating her soul is an example of that. Another example is your desire to stay asleep in Hell is overwhelmed by your interest and curiosity of the mortal realm " Galgredol pauses and her eyes change. "Just like how something has made you lie just now." She adds. "What do you mean?" Tezguniuth raises his brows. "Something has changed in you. It feels like you have put on hold, your search for your eternal slumber you so desire. Or dare I say" Galgredol steps closer to Tezguniuth and looks at him straight in the eyes. " that desire is no longer there?" "" Tezguniuth simply stares back. "Which one is it, Tezguniuth? And what suppressed that desire?" Galgredol asks. "It seems that you don''t know me as well as I thought you did, old friend." Tezguniuth answers vaguely. "Then let me think outside of what I know about you Is that young lady back there at your table your new desire?" Galgredol asks. "Isn''t that a bit farfetched?" Tezguniuth smirks. "As you know, my desire to sleep was suppressed by my curiosity. But there is a desire that was forcefully suppressed even back in hell." "Oh?" Galgredol challenges. "Yes. You know, after I''ve woken up, I realized something. No more Generals or Lords that have me in their beck and call. No more ''big mission'' to take part of. My longest desire to be left alone, to be allowed to do whatever I want to do has all come rushing back." Tezguniuth grins. "S-Sacrilege" Galgredol cannot believe it. Tezguniuth smirks. Knowing Galgredol, he already knew that she wants to raise forces, and she wants his help. "To who? To what?" He asks. "To our responsibility to demonkind." Galgredol says through gritted teeth. "What responsibility is that exactly? To feed human souls to your Lord? Your Prince? Why? What has your Lord and your Prince done for you?" Tezguniuth continues to challenge. "" Galgredol is speechless. "My old friend. With the gates closed, your Lord''s hold on you has been cut off. What''s stopping you from doing what you want to do?" Tezguniuth asks. "Wh- Are you not afraid of following through Zograthan''s footsteps?" Galgredol asks in frustration. "I''m not. Unlike him, I want the gates of hell to open once again." Tezguniuth says, making Galgredol and Vaskumus''s jaws drop in shock at the unexpected statement. Their minds are spinning at the dissonance of his words. "What do you really want?" Chapter 112 - Chapped The Tezguniuth in front of Galgredol is like a stranger to her. She knows his name, and his history, but the fellow Knight no longer resembles the one she knows in the past. "What do you really want" She subconsciously utters in confoundment at his words. "To live among humans until hell comes back. To be a spectator of the ''Final Battle''. To see how heaven and hell fare against the power of mankind." Tezguniuth declares. "Shouldn''t it be the other way around?" Galgredol says in contempt. "" Vaskumus''s face twitches, and Galgredol notices. "You don''t agree with me?" Galgredol asks, displeased. "I agree, Ser." Vaskumus replies quickly out of panic. "Hn." Galgredol grunts, planning on talking to the Soldier about the reaction later. "If you want to live long enough to see that day, Tezguniuth, isn''t it better for you if you join us?" She proceeds to persuade Tezguniuth instead. "Hm" Tezguniuth softly exclaims, reminded of something. "I noticed these past few days that many demon traps throughout Nerima were all sabotaged. Was it your group''s doing?" He asks. "Yes." Galgredol confirms. "So your group is based in this city." Tezguniuth nods, hiding his annoyance. "And pretty recently too. That means your group was forced to move. Were you chased out of your previous nest?" He asks the two. "" "" Galgredol and Vaskumus are speechless by the accuracy of Tezguniuth''s guess. "And Vaskumus here told me that you recently awoke. It seems like you, Galgredol, were the cause of your group''s nest being discovered." Tezguniuth adds, and while stating his guess, he sees Galgredol''s face slowly crumple, making him feel pleasantly surprised that his guess is more accurate than he expected. "I''ve lived in this city for a few years undetected " Het gets the nerve to lie . "and you moving to this city, nay, even talking to you, risks my peaceful life here, getting destroyed." He steps away from Galgredol. "How can you assure my safety if you can''t even properly take care of yourself?" He concludes his rant. "I''ve learned from my mistakes, Tezguniuth" Galgredol can only bitterly admit. She is not about to give up however. "But if you don''t need our help, then we definitely need yours. You claim you''ve stayed undetected for years. No matter how much I try to think about how you managed to do that, and by yourself, just does not seem possible to me. "Unless, you can walk in and out of demon traps yourself, which is not possible, there is only one way you can do that; you have a human, no, humans working for you, informing you of demon traps'' locations, rescuing you when you get trapped in one." Tezguniuth sighs. He already expected this outcome the moment Galgredol showed herself, but he was still hoping that she will not make that connection. Even though Galgredol''s conclusion is not true, denying it will be hard and useless. Furthermore, Galgredol simply believing her conclusion makes his job much more complicated. "Looks like I''m right. That girl back there at your table, is she one of yours?" Galgredol asks. "If you want to threaten me, then just do it honestly." Tezguniuth scoffs. "Give me a few days." He can only try to stall or weasel his way out. In his heart, he does not care about Sayuri''s safety. He would even eliminate her himself to erase a burden. But Sayuri is Fumio''s sister, and Fumio is his master''s disciple. "A few days, huh? Can you lend your human to us?" Galgredol asks, barely suppressing her gloating as she wordlessly orders Vaskumus to prepare for action. "No." Tezguniuth refuses. "Oh If you dare take her, then I''ll just disappear to my back-up identities. I''ll even report you to the Iwamoto Clan just to be petty." At each precaution he cites, Galgredol''s smug face slowly disappears. "You dare do that to your fellow demon?" Galgredol asks, barely suppressing her anger. "You threaten my peace, my man, and you don''t expect me to fight back? Do you think you can just roll over me?" Tezguniuth growls. "" Galgredol is stumped. "You are still as arrogant as ever and because of that, my considerations in joining you, are gone." Tezguniuth says in finality. "You Vaskumus, I have not seen how you have lived since you woke up. But I know Galgredol. If you want to live longer, and enjoy the identity of your host''s body, then leave her leadership." He gives Vaskumus advice, knowing that Vaskumus is only staying under Galgredol because of her strength. "You bastard." Galgredol glares at Tezguniuth. She would have jumped on him by now if they are not in a public place. "And a traitor" She can only weakly add. "Traitor? To what? To who? Have I ever been TRULY loyal? Or was I simply forced to?" Tezguniuth asks. He then raises his hands to the side and snaps his fingers making a *CRACK* loud crisp sound. Galgredol and Vaskumus are caught off-guard, and even if they were not, they are not faster than sound. The sound wave produced by Tezguniuth''s snap enters their ears, making them freeze. Even though their brains are still alert, their bodies are paralyzed, so they can only look at Tezguniuth in defiance. "A piece of advice. I can easily start a new life. You two cannot. So keep your heads down and learn to live like humans. Don''t try to do something as stupid as raising hell on earth." Tezguniuth says, before activating his invisibly seal. Tezguniuth disappearing into thin air shocks the two demons greatly. "Next time we see each other, I hope we can all act like strangers." They then hear his voice one last time before they are sure that he has left. A minute later, the effect of Tezguniuth''s ability wears off of Galgredol. Galgredol can only shake Vaskumus, freeing her subordinate from his state. "What do we do now, Ser?" Vaskumus asks, trying not to laugh at what just happened to Galgredol. "Lets just count our losses." Galgredol bitterly grumbles but swears inside to get back at Tezguniuth. <> 9PM. "Nana-san. Are all of them in bed?" Yoshiko asks one of the demon baby sitters as she sees the demon exit the children''s house. Even though it is no longer her job to be the children''s caretaker, she still feels worried about the amount of sleep that they are getting. "Yes, Yoshiko-san. Kichirou-sama''s drink did their wonders." Nana reports as she does a polite bow. "T-that''s good" Yoshiko still cannot believe that Nana in front of her is acting so politely to her. That is the same with Red''s other demon servants. "If there''s nothing else, I bid you a good night." Nana excuses herself before leaving. "*Phew*" Yoshiko sighs in relief. "Good job, Yoshiko Good job." She pats herself on the shoulder. "Demons" She then shakes her head. She wants them to stay away from the children and herself as far as possible. But the demons being under Red''s employ, she can only wish. "Yoshiko-san." She is startled by a female voice from behind her and turns around in panic. "R-roku-s-san" She greets the demon maid awkwardly. "We''ve noticed your behavior since last night. Did Kotone-san finally tell you?" Roku asks. "E-er yes." Yoshiko gets embarrassed that she did not act as normal as she thought. "Even though Kotone-san assured you, it seems that it was not enough. Your hatred for us after all, seems personal and deep." Roku says. "I don''t-" Yoshiko wants to deny, but her heart cannot. "It''s understandable." Roku nods. "I will not make excuses for my kind. I will also not tell you to trust any demon that you meet." "I-I see" Yoshiko frowns, confused at Roku''s words. "But the ones in this hill; me and the other demons living here, I ask that you give us the benefit of the doubt. Kichirou-sama handpicked us for a reason, and even trusted us to take care of the children. Whoever that demon is, that one who made you hate our kind so deeply, we are not like them." Roku attempts to assure Yoshiko. Yoshiko feels the demon''s sincerity but she does not want to promise anything to her. "I will try." Is the best she can do. "This might be rude to ask, but Do you still remember that demon?" Roku asks. "What abilities did they have, or what they look like? I might have known them." She adds. Yoshiko''s eyes widen for a moment, realizing the benefit of Roku''s help. "Yes." She nods. "He had a long shiny knife which " She takes a deep breath to stabilize her emotions. "he used to slash my mother''s chest. He also had this shiny bowl, which looked to have been made with the same material as the knife, which he used to collect some glowing liquid flowing from my mother''s wounded chest, which I figure was her soul. Then then he moved on to my father." She recounts with difficulty. "I''m sorry, I asked." Roku apologizes. "N-no no. You will do me an immense favor if you identify him for me." Yoshiko waves the apology off. She knows that she now has the strength to take revenge, and recounting what happened will help her. "Okay." Roku nods, but she finds something strange with Yoshiko''s story. "Can you describe the man''s knife in more detail?" She asks. "It''s A knife that does not look like anything I''ve ever seen. I haven''t even seen one like it since. It''s uhh" Yoshiko cannot find the words to describe it. "By any chance, did it look more like a spike than a long knife? Very elongated, very pointy? Shiny and uniform in color?" Roku asks. "Yes! Yes!" Yoshiko cannot help but exclaim. "It really was a spike. I thought I saw wrong because of how the demon used it but" "How about the bowl? You said it looked like it was made of the same material as the knife right? How big was it?" Roku asks. "I I''m not sure. It was pretty small. The man''s hand easily cupped it." Yoshiko recounts vaguely. "I see" Roku san shakes her head. "Roku-san. Do you know this demon? Was his weapon rare?" Yoshiko asks in anticipation, finding Roku''s knowledge of the man''s weapon accurate. "T-that" Roku is not sure whether or not she is the right person to break the news to Yoshiko. "Please, tell me." Yoshiko holds Roku tightly by the shoulders. "He was no demon, Yoshiko-san." Roku helplessly says, Yoshiko''s raw strength overwhelming her. "What?! If it was not a demon, then what was he?" Yoshiko almost snarls. "An angel." Roku answers straight. Yoshiko is stunned, and her hold on Roku loosens. "The man''s knife is an Angel''s blade. A common weapon used by the lowest class of angels; the seraphim. And that bowl is a tool used by them to collect souls." Roku explains. "You said your mother was wounded, but was there blood? Or was it just a wound glowing white?" She asks. "G-Glowing white" Yoshiko utters. "Yes. Angel blades do not physically harm humans, just the human life." Roku explains further. "What happened to your parents, that was an angel having a feast. I''m sorry." She concludes. "A-angel" Roku''s revelation is a huge blow to Yoshiko. "Yes. I didn''t think they''d be living among humans. I heard that they were either killed, or were forced back to heaven when the gates of heaven were closed." Roku too, is surprised by Yoshiko''s story. "But I thought angels had wings? I didn''t see on one him." Yoshiko asks. "They do. But I''m guessing that that angel you met took over a human body." Roku explains. "There are angel possessions?" Yoshiko is surprised. "Angels find humans disgusting and they are too proud to possess a human body. But even if they want to, they cannot simply possess a human body without the owner of that body''s permission. So, yes. Angel possessions happen, but very rare." Roku confirms. "But" She takes a deep breath. "The considering that heaven is closed, angels that must have escaped from their original bodies for survival, are desperate.. Angel possessions might be more common than I think, especially these days." Chapter 113 - Blind Courage "*huuuuu*" Yoshiko sighs deeply as opens her eyes. She cannot focus on cultivating. She thought expanding her energy reserves could help her take her mind off of her conversation with Roku, but she was wrong. She felt a tug to one of her meridians just now, a sign of a backlash. She knows she will only injure herself if she forces herself to cultivate at her mental state. Growing up after the tragedy of her family, there was a time when she obsessed with finding answers and has read all things demon-related she can put her hands on. But after learning that demonic abilities are just as diverse as human superiori abilities, and that their way of eating souls are just as diverse as their abilities, she felt that any further efforts she would put in to searching for the demon who destroyed her family, are useless. She did not expect tonight however to have a conversation that would pull out that obsession back and flip it on its head. Even though she cannot entirely believe Roku''s claim, she knows that the demon''s claims have their own merit which she should seriously consider. She realized after her conversation with Roku tonight that she has been potentially misled by her own preconceptions, lack of information, and influence by people of authority who were as ignorant as she was. She then looks up and, "ssss" inhales deeply to comfort her restless heart. The moon suddenly reminds her of Kotone and Fumio. Recently, with her own eyes, found out that her two senior disciples only cultivate during the night until the early hours of the morning under the moonlight. This hour of the night also reminds her of what happened a week ago, when two people accidentally entered the gardens. The scene which displayed the ease of which Kotone dealt with Amon''s attacks, and Fumio just clawing the huge flame wasp to nothingness, is still fresh in her memory, and kept on replaying in her mind whenever she sees the two. What stuck in her mind the most from that night however, was Fumio''s words. '' what if one day, something bad happens? And at a time when Boss is not around? Something that will force them to protect themselves before they''re ready? I would rather be the one to deal with that so that they won''t be forced to grow strong fast by going through the hell that Kotone and I went through.'' She saw a glimpse of how powerful Fumio is, but he still has those worries. If someone as powerful as Fumio has those worries, then she cannot relax either and wants to catch up to him. Fumio''s words further reminded her of her night of initiation. Even though it was all an act by Fumio and Kotone, the feeling of powerlessness while the children were being ''abducted'' is real and kept bothering her since and has brought upon great anxiety. That anxiety made itself most apparent when she heard Goichi''s pain while confronting Amon. She knows that Goichi is a demon who is equivalent in strength to a C-Class Superioris. And for someone of that level to be helpless against a trespasser brought upon a sense of helplessness to herself. "Superiori. Demons. Angels." The number of potential threats that are a danger to herself and to the children makes her heart feel restless. A few moments later, she finds herself walking to the center of the garden where Red''s house is. She also sees Kotone sitting cross-legged on the rooftop. After a slight hesitation, she decides to "Kotone" call out. Kotone looks unresponsive, but she decides to wait. A few seconds later, "Sssss" she sees Kotone let out a long breath and she feels the air around her move slightly. Just the power of Kotone''s breath alone intimidates her and she can only hope that she did not interrupt Kotone at a bad time. "Yoshiko-nee." To her relief, Kotone seems to be in an accommodating mood. "May I have a word?" She asks. Kotone immediately notices how troubled Yoshiko looks. "Of course." .. "So Angel." Kotone ponders. Yoshiko had just shared her life story to her. "What do you think?" Yoshiko asks. "I''m not sure, but it feels like Kichirou-san''s demons won''t lie to us. Especially about something this serious. I think it''s best if you talk to Kichirou-san." Kotone suggests, hoping that Red''s knowledge covers angels. "Is it okay to disturb him?" Yoshiko asks. "Why wouldn''t it be okay?" Kotone asks, confused at Yoshiko''s reaction. "It''s just He seems to have bigger things to do and deal with." Yoshiko shakes her head. "Anyways. I think I''ll bring it up to him more organically." She adds. "Are you sure?" Kotone asks. "Yes." Yoshiko nods. "No. I''ll take you to him." Kotone says before jumping off the roof. She is worried about Yoshiko, seeing her look this troubled for the first time ever. "" Yoshiko is surprised, and subconsciously follows Kotone. A minute later, the two ladies arrive at the entrance of Red''s cave. Yoshiko immediately notices the unusually round and flat boulder in front of her. Before she can wonder why they are among the thick bushes, she then sees Kotone pull out an object the size and shape of a huge coin before staring at it for a few seconds. The next moment, she gets startled as *rumble* *rumble* the round and flat boulder in front of them starts rolling to the side. It is easy for her to realize that the boulder was hiding a dark cave behind it. "Let''s go in." Kotone beckons to her and leads the way in. Before she can infuse spiritual energy to her eyes to give herself a bit of night vision, the surrounding suddenly brightens up. She looks to where the light source is coming, and she is surprised to see a ball of flame floating on Kotone''s palm. "You will learn how to do this at some point." Her question is answered by Kotone before she can even ask it. After being led throughout the long and winding path, she finally sees the end of it where she finds a large chamber the size of a basketball court. The chamber however looks empty because aside from a bed and a few furniture, there is nothing else. At the center of the chamber, she finds Red stooped over at a stone desk, busily tinkering with something in his hand. She does not want to bother the busy man, but Kotone proceeds to lead her to him. As soon as she and Kotone arrive in front of Red, Red looks up at them and "Kotone, leave us.", orders. "Yes." Kotone leaving her and Red alone makes her nervous. "Sit." Red orders her as he puts away everything on his table. Seeing that she will get all of Red''s attention, she gets even more nervous as she sits down. "" She wants to say something, but the unfamiliar location, the intimidation, and being unprepared to talk to Red, stops her. "Continuing to cultivate at your state is too dangerous." While she is a bit uncomfortable at being seen through, she is thankful that Red immediately noticed. "Yes, sensei." "What troubles you?" "I" She hesitates. She fears that her troubled mind is a sign of weakness and might disappoint Red. "The last time I saw you was only a week ago. What happened since?" Red asks. While he does not want to invade his disciple''s privacy, he is concerned of Yoshiko''s mental state, so he uses his spirit sense on her mind. It does not take long before he gets a picture of everything. Angels, a childhood trauma, agitation, anxiety, and an intense sense of urgency. While he gets interested with Yoshiko''s memory of the angel, Yoshiko''s state of mind is the most pressing matter. While he can suppress these emotions using his tea or some potion he can concoct, it is not the best solution. He also realizes that he has been negligent to Yoshiko as a teacher. Even though it has only been almost a month since Yoshiko established her inner world and that his negligence did not affect her cultivation as she is only starting out, it affected his relationship with her. His image on Yoshiko''s mind has transformed from a humble and generous mystery billionaire (in yen), into an unapproachable and distant figure. "I" Yoshiko''s hesitance in sharing her story, and the caution in her words to him is the evidence of that. "Angels, huh." Red starts. "H-how" Yoshiko''s brows jump. "Kotone told me before entered." Red explains. Yoshiko easily connects that the coin shaped object held by Kotone earlier is another magical tool, just like the storage ring that Red gave her. "I''ll give you copies of all the literature and journals I have about angels. Ones that are not available to the general public." Red promises. "I - I thank you in advance, sensei." Yoshiko bows in gratitude. "No problem." Red nods, seeing that Yoshiko''s eagerness suppresses her traumas for now. "Even though I''ve been less present recently, I''m still keeping tabs on my students. Especially you." He moves on. "From Nishiki and Goichi''s reports, you seem to be living your life as if you''re running out of time ever since those two trespassers." He asks, based on what he saw in Yoshiko''s torrent of surface thoughts. "That" While initially taken aback that she was being observed, and very closely at that, she is moved. "Yes." She admits. "May I know why?" Red asks. "I know I might sound power hungry, sensei, but I feel like I''m not powerful enough." "Was it because of what I said the last time we talked? " Red asks. "A little?" Yoshiko turns her face away. "Go on." Red compels her with a spirit sense attack. Even though he can read Yoshiko''s concerns easily, her voicing them out will is better for her. "I I thought being as powerful as a C-Class superiori, at least a low-tier one, is enough to protect myself and the children But why does it feel like nothing has changed?" Yoshiko starts spilling her concerns. A few minutes later. Yoshiko is now more comfortable talking to Red, just like how she felt when she was just the school teacher and caretaker of the children. "so. I heard a rumor among the demons that Fumio has already reached A-Class in strength. Is that true?" She asks. "That indeed is the case. Same goes for Kotone." Red admits. "" Yoshiko is stunned. "S-so You''re S-Class." She confirms her suspicions. "Yes. But that''s not relevant to why you''re here." Red moves along. "Y-yes." Yoshiko gets over it. "Well. Fumio and Kotone told me about training in hellish conditions for the eight days that they were gone. Was them becoming A-Class due to that?" She asks. "Yes." Red nods. He already knows what Yoshiko is verbally dancing around of. "You want to go through that training?" He asks. "Yes. " Yoshiko nods. "But I know that I didn''t do anything to even deserve that opportunity. Is there a way I can prove my worth?" She asks. "What if I say that you''re worthy?" Red asks. "Then, I''m willing to go through it." Yoshiko says in conviction. "Did the two tell you in detail how much pain they went through?" Red asks. "They didn''t. But for strong people like them to almost cry just recalling their training? I can''t even imagine." "And do you think you can endure the same training?" "I may not be as strong as them, but from what I''ve heard, as long as I have willpower, I can do it." Yoshiko is sure of herself. Red smirks at Yoshiko''s blind courage. He gets the idea of giving her the same intensity of training as the one he gave Fumio and Kotone while claiming that it is mild, and Yoshiko will not know any better. "If your will is stronger than Kotone and Fumio''s, then I guess you deserve to have the chance to become as strong as them." Chapter 114 - Playing "Good morning, everyone." Kotone greets the children gathered at the training yard. "Good morning" The children greet awkwardly. This is the first time that Kotone is starting their day. The maid, Roku, also had them dress in their training gi''s, an outfit they only wear during physical training. Kotone also wearing hers, which is rare even when she is training them, makes them anxious. "Nee-san! Where''s Yoshiko-sensei?" Chihiro asks. "Did she go home?" Ran follows up. "She will be away for a few days to learn something." Kotone tells the two lively kids. The two are still the liveliest and the leaders of the bunch. Chihiro, who was a bit plump when he arrived in the hill, is still plump but half of his fat is converted to muscles. Ran who had a very long raven hair, cut it short as to not get in the way of her physical activity. "Yes!" Osamu, the tall and quiet boy quietly celebrates at the absence of Yoshiko. "She left you some homework to do though." Kotone tells Osamu. "Oh" Osamu deflates. Unlike when the he first arrived in the hill, Osamu is no longer skinny, and has a perfectly balanced proportions just like the other kids. He has also grown even taller, and grown the fastest among the children, approaching five feet tall. While he is still quiet, he has learned to express himself more to others. "Too bad. School is easier" Taishiro, the bespectacled, bowl-cut having boy, is disappointed meanwhile. Even though Red already fixed his eyes, he still wears fake glasses because he likes the weight of it on his nose, and how he looks in them. "You don''t like training with me, Taishiro?" Kotone asks the child with a smile. Her smile immediately scares Taishiro. "I love training!" Taishiro answers in panic. Kotone simply nods in approval. While Taishiro does not like training as much as others, he is keeping up with others. "Kanon?" Kotone calls out to the tiniest child of the bunch. Kanon is still as absentminded as before. Kotone and Yoshiko raised their concern about her habit to Red more than a few times but Red told them to leave her be. After all, not only is Kanon the most gifted with the 16 poses, the basic breathing technique, and can perform kata on hours end while being absentminded, she is focused enough when doing something, and easily alerted when the situation calls for it. "Yes, Kotone-nee?" She wakes up from spacing out. "How do you feel?" Kotone asks. She is already seeing some spiritual energy activity around the girl. "Good, nee-san. Why?" Kanon tilts her head in reply. Kotone''s heart almost melts at the girl''s cute habit. "Do you sleep well these days?" She asks. "It''s hard." Kanon pouts. "I see." Kotone nods. She will have to ask Red what to do later. "What will we do today, nee-san?" Ran asks. "I''ll just play some games with you all!" Kotone announces. "YAY!" The children get excited. "Okay. First game!" Kotone pulls out five short wooden swords. "Magic!" The children still find Kotone or Yoshiko using their storage rings entertaining. "Nee-san, why are they painted?" Taishiro asks, noticing the oddity of the wooden swords. The edges of the wooden swords after all, were coated by Kotone with oil pastels. Instead of answering, "Pick your color.", she starts distributing the swords instead. "Ahdirtytsk." Osamu accidentally stains his hand. He is not the only one. "Hey!" Taishiro exclaims as he notices a new green stain on his gi. He looks around and finds Kanon holding the wooden sword coated with green oil pastel. "Sorry." Kanon apologizes half-heartedly. "Not cool!" Taishiro complains. "Paint on me too." Kanon offers her sleeve. "Hmph. Never mind." Taishiro harrumphs and gives up, knowing Kanon''s disposition. "" Kotone meanwhile, takes a deep breath to suppress her desire to nag. They have not started with the activity yet and the children''s hands are already dirty. "Kids!" She then takes the children''s attention as she takes out a red oil pastel. "You kids try and paint on my clothes." She announces. "" The children are not reacting as excitedly as she thought however. "What''s wrong?" She asks them. "You won''t get mad?" Ran asks. "No. We''re just playing a game." Kotone shrugs. She knows that her being a stern training teacher did not exactly help her become approachable to the kids. "Okay!" She claps. "Those who can stain my clothes, less homework for them later!" She announces. "WHOAH!" The children are excited except for Kanon who could care less, and Taishiro who prefers to draw seals and school than training. "Less training for you Taishiro, if you manage to paint my clothes, and you Kanon, you get to ask for a wish from me if you succeed." Kotone adds special condition to the two. "But Kotone-nee! You''re strong! Roku-san said you''re stronger than her. You''re stronger than Ichiki chef-san too." Unlike the others, Taishiro immediately realizes that it will not be easy. "Yes. But I will go easy so we can all have fune. Promise." Kotone says as she applies resistance seals on herself except on her mind. "I will weaken myself to Roku-san''s strength." The lowest she is willing to limit herself however is around high-tier D-Class. Limiting herself any further is only when she is training her body. She is also not afraid of harming the children as even though they themselves are wearing resistance seals, making them just as strong as health non-superiori children, their bodies are D-Class level strong, meaning they will not get hurt in case she accidentally gets rough. "Now. If I paint your clothes five times, you''re out!" Kotone she then presents another challenge as she does a painting motion with her hand that is holding the red oil pastel. "Are we clear?" She asks. "YES KOTONE-NEE!" The children answer in unison, all eager to play. "Are you ready?" She asks as she bends her knees a little, ready for action. "YES!" The children too get ready to jump at Kotone. "Alright." "COME AT ME!" Kotone announces before running away to the road for more space. *SCREAM* *LAUGHTER* The children also run after her immediately, waving their wooden swords around. "Looks fun" Ichiki who was watching from the veranda of the children''s house, is amused at the scene. "Wanna bet?" He asks Hachiyo, a fellow demon, and one of the babysitters, who is also watching beside him. "Bet?" Hachiyo gets interested. "Yes. The one with a worse guess on who gets a first hit on Kotone-san, will wash the dishes." Ichiki offers. "Alright. Let''s do it. My first pick is Osamu." "Mine''s Kanon." The two start setting their picks as they follow behind the group from a distance. After Kotone reaches the road, she stops running. Not soon after. *whoosh* *whoosh* *hah* *hah* *hah* Chihiro and Ran are the first to pounce on her flailing their swords at her. The two however are moving in slow motion in Kotone''s eyes, so their attacks are easily dodged. *Whoosh* *whoosh* Osamu and Kanon meanwhile, are making use of Chihiro and Ran''s attacks to sneak in their own. The two quiet ones are the ones who Kotone is keeping an eye the closest on. "Hm?" Kotone then notices Taishiro missing. The next moment, *taktak* she hears small footsteps from behind her and she quickly jumps in the air. She looks down and "ahh!" sees from under her Taishiro''s figure sailing past, failing to land a sword on her and fails to control his momentum. "Oho" She softly exclaims, impressed. The other kids did a great job acting as if Taishiro did not sneak behind her. "So close!" The children exclaim in unison. "You kids are sneaky but you have to try harder!" Kotone challenges them as she steps back down on the ground and smears her oil pastel on Taishiro''s back. "AH! NO!" Taishiro cannot help but cry out, feeling something brush on his back. "Taishiro! Stay back for now! You only have four lives left." Chihiro gets in front of Taishiro. Taishiro nods, grateful for his friend''s gesture. "Be careful too. Conserve your energy." Taishiro gives an advice in return. "Everyone. Spread out. It might be easier." He adds to advice the others. Kotone meanwhile, becomes more alert and is forced to admit to herself that she underestimated the children. She does not want anyone succeeding at the game early, preferring the kids to keep moving for an hour straight until the game is over. ... Half an hour later. "YES!" Taishiro manages to paint on Kotone''s sleeve with his sword. "Everyone stop!" Kotone orders, and the children freeze in their places. "Very good, Taishiro. You can rest for the next game." She congratulates Taishiro. She actually let Taishiro paint on him seeing how tired the boy is. She is also impressed of Taishiro''s approach. Unlike the others who wanted to paint her torso or her thighs, the boy consistently tried to paint the sleeves of her gi, or hem of her pants, making things annoying for her. "Taishiro! Taishiro!" The other children are feeling proud of Taishiro. They have never seen him put so much effort into something after all. Even though he was the first one to suceed at the task, they do not feel envious at all. "" Taishiro is moved by his friends chanting his name. ... A few minutes later. "Ran! On your left!" Taishiro yells out. Ran glances to her left and catches Kotone''s hand coming at her. She immediately ducks, successfully dodging Kotone''s oil pastel. Also seeing an opening, she excitedly strikes her sword on Kotone''s exposed underarm, successfully smearing it. "STOP!" Kotone makes everyone freeze again. "Very good, Ran. You can rest." Kotone pats the girl''s head. *clap* *clap* "Ran!" "Ran!" Osamu and Kanon applaud Ran, while Chihiro chants her name. Ran cannot help but feel proud. Just like what she did Taishiro, Kotone actually intentionally let Ran hit her as Ran is also at her limit. She actually exposed even more openings to Ran earlier, but the latest one being the easiest to see, Ran was able to exploit it. .. A few minutes later. "Now Chihiro!" Chihiro hears Taishiro''s voice, allowing him to see an opening in front of him. He then swings his sword sideways, smearing oil pastel on Kotone''s waist. "Alright. Good job, kid." Kotone tells Chihiro before hopping back to distance herself from Osamu and Kanon. "Yes!" Chihiro excitedly joins Ran and Taishiro. Kotone once again, intentionally let a sword land on her. Just like her earlier two decisions on who to land a hit on her, she decided on who is the most tired, which is Chihiro. This time, she made use of Taishiro''s coaching to let Chihiro spot her opening easier. "Oh Look at Osamu-chan and Kanon-chan They look angry." Ran points to the two kids still in the game. "They are" Chihiro feels bad. "Osamu! Kanon! It''s okay! Only two of you are left so it''s harder! Concentrate!" Taishiro continues to coach. "Yes! It was easier for us!" Ran supports. "That''s right, you two. That''s why if only one of you can paint my clothes, then I will count it as two. So, work together." Kotone says. She does not want the two kids'' to be in a bad mood. There are after all, more games for the morning. ... A few more minutes pass. "Okay. Only two more lives left for you two." Kotone says. Osamu and Kanon simply look at her with sharp gazes as a response. The two have received three more stains on their gi''s. The stains however, were not for nothing. Osamu gets a few ideas because of them. "When I say ''now''. You go for the legs. I go for her body." Osamu he whispers to Kanon. "Okay" Kanon is getting frustrated so any plan no matter how bad, is still a plan to her. "Follow closely." Osamu leads the way. As soon as Kotone is in his reach, he goes for a tackle. The move surprises the children, and even Kotone. Kotone meanwhile, easily steps aside as she brushes her pastel on Osamu''s back. As soon as Osamu feels the pastel, "NOW!" he yells as he, in a feat of incredible flexibility, turns around to swipe his sword at Kotone''s chest. Not soon after, Kanon dashes to swipe her sword on Kotone''s leg. "" Kotone''s brain short-circuits in surprise, seeing no way out from the simultaneous swords. Osamu''s is coming for her chest, while Kanon''s is coming from behind her knees. She can still dodge if she just looses her resistance seals a bit, but she has to admit that the kids had her. They deserve the satisfaction. *thunk* *thunk* "YES!" "OSAMU!" "KANON!" "OSAMU!" "KANON!" Chapter 115 - Yoshikos Training *FFFUUUUUUU* *ssssss* She does not know how long it has been since she has sat down inside the oven, or how long has she been bathing under Xoz''gekal''s flames. This is not her first time undergoing what his teacher calls ''cleansing by fire'', but the pain is still the same. The only hope she holds on to during this, is that it will eventually end. "Yoshiko, Yoshiko, Yoshiko SAN! Heheheheh~~~" Hearing the familiar voice from above the oven, she grits her teeth. Xoz''gekal''s provoking voice added in the suffering and almost made her lose her mind during the first ten or so times since he started doing it during the flame baths. "Yoshiko SAN! Are you still cool in there?" Xoz''gekal continues to provoke her. When she still living in her previous apartment, there was a neighborhood dog that would not stop barking. For most nights of two months, she lost sleep. She got so sleep deprived that she even had intentions of offing the dog herself after the authorities never did anything about it. In the end, she learned to filter it out of her ears and out of her mind. She always had confidence in her mental fortitude because of that achievement. "Yoshio-san Want some ice cream? It''s rather deLIGHTful" "Yoshiko-san I hope you''re not FUMING in there" "Yoshiko-san I was once inducted to the half of FLAME." But Xoz''gekal''s puns, while funny at first, has become hell for her that even followed her to her dreams, breaking her pride on her mental fortitude very easily. "XOZ-SAN! SHUT UP!" She yells, even though she knows that Xoz''gekal will not until the flame bath is over. "Aww.. Why, Yoshiko-san? I thought we were KINDLING spirits?" Another smart response, just like she expected. Yelling at the demon however, made her feel a bit better. A few minutes later. *FFUuuuu...* Yoshiko''s flame bath is finally over and she takes off her clay goggles and takes out her clothes from her storage ring. Done covering herself, she steps out of the oven. "Ah. Yoshiko-san How about we go back to the real world first? You deserve a break." Xoz''gekal greets her as if he did not just torture her with puns. "You know I can''t." Yoshiko would love to leave, but she has a tight schedule and breaking it will earn her some penalties from Red. "That''s too bad. I was going to treat you to a BARBECUE" Xoz''gekal shrugs and wiggles his brows. "Humph" Yoshiko simply turns around to leave. She was a bit hurt, thinking the offer was real. "Awww I thought you had a longer FUSE Hahahahaha!" She grits her teeth hearing the demon''s laughter, but at least her time with him is over for now. Arriving back in her cabin, she looks at the wooden bathtub in it, and sees that Red already prepared her bath. Stripping her clothes off, "*phew*" she takes a deep breath to prepare herself. To anyone else who do not know any better, the bathwater''s crystal clarity, and gold-yellow color make it appear very regal that only kings soak in. After her first flame bath, she herself was excited to dive in the bathwater not only because Red said it will heal her burns instantly, but also because its appearance gives it a very luxurious impression. She could only scream when she found out that its healing properties are almost just as painful as the flame bath itself. Feeling ready, she soaks in the bath water without any hesitation. An hour later, double the time of her flame bath, she is done with her herbal bath. The gold-colored water now looks like liquid chocolate not only in color, but also in consistency. Its smell however, is too horrible to compare to chocolate. Looking at how dirty her bathwater is, she rushes to take a shower. Done washing up, she realizes that she still has some spiritual energy left after her strength training. She then pulls out what looks like a set of medieval knight''s armor, and wears it. After that, she heads to the yard of her cabin where metal poles, standing at least three meters and at most five meters tall, an inch in diameter each, and arranged a meter apart, are sticking out of the ground. She applies a bit of spiritual energy to her feet and legs, jumps up three meters high, and lands on top of two poles, using them as footholds. Stabilizing her balance, she then activates her resistance seals, limiting her speed and strength to that of a regular non-superioris''s. She then starts hopping from one pole to another at a pre-determined manner. A few seconds later, *thud* outside the borders of the metal poles, some floating compartments suddenly open up, and from them, tennis balls, baseballs, and ping pong balls start shooting at her at arrow-speed. While the ping pong balls and tennis balls do not hurt her because of her armor, the annoyance and inconvenience they bring is enough to make her lose her balance if she is not careful. The baseballs meanwhile, are the ones she is wary of the most. Not only do they directly make her lose her balance, they will even rock her if they hit her helmet. *thck* *thck* *thck* After dogding, parrying and enduring the hits from the balls, she finally slips up and starts falling from four meters high. She wants to hold on to the poles, but her armor''s gauntlet was designed by Red to prevent her from doing that. She also wants to land on her feet, but it is already too late for her to fix herself mid-air. She can only brace herself before, *THUD* hitting the ground on her back. "Ooofff" Air is knocked out of her and she feels her organs shake momentarily. Fortunately for her, after two months of training inside the dimension, her body is already strong to resist injury from such fall, so she gets back up and tries to go for a longer record. This scene of her climbing up the metal poles and falling from them replays itself for the next hour. An hour later, after feeling her reserves almost running dry, she takes off her armor and leaves the treasure fragment''s dimension. This is the part of her training where she is the most relaxed about and finds the most satisfying. Even though she is not allowed to leave the gardens, the real world is still a treat to her. *SSSSS* *HUUUUU* The feeling of spiritual energy running throughout her meridians, and feeling his elixir sea being filled, and subsequently expand at each cultivation session, makes her feel that her daily painful grind is worth it. Four hours later, she is finally done refilling her elixir sea and her expansion of it has also reached its limit for now. Arriving back in the treasure dimension, she immediately pulls out a bottle of Red''s special milkshake. Even though she loved its taste, and the various flavors it comes with, she has grown tired of it. She has no choice but to drink it however as it is the only thing that can fill her stomach instantly. While enjoying the drink, she decides to find Red in the dimension. She is sure that he is around as *bang* *bang* *bang* she can hear a soft banging sound reverberating around the silent dimension, the sound that only reverberates whenever Red is inside. A minute later, she finds Red under the water dam, shirtless. Red is currently standing with his back against some kind of a stone wall, while folding pillars of wood and stone stuck on rotating wheels, controlled by some rotary machine powered by water from the dam, are continually smashing on his body. She cannot complain with her training as Red''s looks even more painful than hers, even deadly. She almost feared for Red''s life when she first saw the scene, but after witnessing such scene for more than two months in the dimension now, she is no longer worried for Red''s safety. She finds the it hypnotic instead, and just imagining the pain Red is undergoing alleviates the pain of her own training. Her pleasure of Red''s pain gave her the habit of watching him train while enjoying her drink. A few minutes later, right after draining her fifth bottle of milkshake, she sees Red jump away from the stone wall and soon, the mechanism grinds to a halt. Red then puts on his kimono as he approaches Yoshiko. "Wanna try it?" He then asks Yoshiko as he points at the mechanism behind him. "N-No?" Yoshiko almost chokes on her drink. "Oh You filled your reserves?" Red asks, noticing. "Yes, sensei." Yoshiko nods. "Too bad. Maybe next time." Red shrugs as he pulls out a demon core and absorbs its spiritual energy. "What do you mean?" Yoshiko asks, feeling like she missed out on something. "Do you know that Kotone and Fumio only cultivate during the night?" Red asks. "I noticed." Yoshiko is excited to find out the reason why. "They no longer use the basic breathing technique when they''re meditating. Instead, they have an upgraded version of it, and you''re ready to learn that." Red explains. "Thank you, sensei. I can''t wait." Yoshiko can barely suppress her excitement. <> Hinohara Village, some hiker''s lodge. A brown-haired woman who looks to be in her 30s steps into the lodge''s restaurant. Her tall, fit, and curvy figure catches eyes of the male patrons having their breakfast. "Hey babe." She shortly joins a brown-haired man at his table. "Hey. Slept well?" The man asks as he sips on his coffee. The two get a few glances from the people around from time to time as aside from looking like they are the only ones who do not seem like they are staying in the village to hike, the two look like they just came out of a foreign fitness magazine. "Yeah. When did you leave the room?" The woman asks. "Just around 30 minutes ago. Went out to look for an aerial view of the place." The man reports. "Found something interesting?" The woman asks. "Nah. Peaceful village and few hikers too." The man shrugs. "Oh." The woman loses interest as she looks at the menu. "He''s here." The man perks up seeing a skinny Japanese man enter the restaurant. "Samuel, Eliza." The man stops at their table and greets the couple. "''sup man." "Good morning, Daigo." The couple greet their translator slash tour guide. "Join us for brekkie?" Samuel gestures to the vacant seat. "You sure?" Daigo asks. "Yeah. Let''s eat while you tell us what you found." Samuel insists. "It''s not much really." Daigo feels burdened. "We''re the ones to decide if it''s much. Please." Eliza tells Daigo. "Okay." Daigo sits down, intimidated by the woman''s stare. After ordering, Daigo starts his report. "Like I said, it''s not much. This is just a regular farming village, like I told you. Those who don''t farm own inns like this to cater to hikers." "How about something unusual? Anything that happened in the past two weeks or so?" Eliza asks. "None." Daigo shakes his head. "Any missing hikers?" Samuel asks. "None. I asked around. The locals said that even first-time hikers are not easy to get lost in the trails here." Daigo reports. "Any other foreigners around?" Eliza asks. "Well. There is this large Filipino family staying on the other side of the village. Then there are these two gentlemen a few inns away. They stand out even more than you two." Daigo says. "How so? How do they stand out?" Samuel gets interested. "The two are wearing casual suits in a hiking village." Daigo shrugs. "Huh Weird." Eliza gets curious. "Do you know where they''re from?" She asks. "I''m not really sure. They speak Persian with each other, so they''re probably from Iran. But I heard them talk on the phone separately. One guy spoke British-English. The other guy spoke Hebrew." Daigo reports. This makes Samuel and Eliza exchange glances. "How about local legends? Is there one here?" Samuel asks. "You mean strong superiori?" Daigo frowns. "Look. I''m loyal to my customers, but if they''re here to make trouble, I have my responsibility as a Japanese." "Jeez. Relax. I''m just asking so that I know who to avoid." Samuel chuckles. "We just don''t want to be inconvenienced by any local tyrants who extort tourists, that''s all." Eliza assures. "Oh" Daigo relaxes. "Then don''t worry. There are no such people here." He reports. "As for local legends, I heard some interesting rumors among the locals.. It''s not a legend exactly." Chapter 116 - Meeting Of Four Parties Hinohara, some random tea house. "Jotaro." Haneda Jotaro receives a casual greeting from his friend who is just joining him at his table. "Masuo." Jotaro is pleased with his friend''s arrival. "So Just us?" Masuo asks. "Yeah. Others are too busy." Jotaro shrugs. "Oh Well. I shouldn''t have showed too." Masuo chuckles. "Hah." Jotaro simply smirks at the jab. "What are we doing here in these backwoods anyway? I''ve never even heard of this place until today. And hiking? Really?" Masuo asks. "Ugh. We haven''t even started yet you haven''t even heard me out yet, and you''re already complaining. Just go home if you want. I''ll just do this alone." Jotaro scoffs. "Hey. I''m already here I was just saying." Masuo does not want to waste dressing up like a hiker. "Anyway. I hate being cooped up in the airport. Your job isn''t any better. What would we rather do?" Jotaro asks. "True." Masuo shrugs. "So. What are we doing here, really? I know you won''t leave Ota just to hike." "Okay It started last week" Jotaro starts recounting his week. A minute later. "So Three six foreigners in a week, and you''re saying they all somehow ended up here? In this village?" Masuo''s skin tingles at the mystery. "Who are they exactly?" He cannot wait to find out more. "The first duo is actually over there. Just in time" Jotaro points outside the tea house''s window to two tall bearded gentlemen in their 40s, wearing casual suits, and are making their way to a dining establishment across the street. "Huh Southern Europeans?" Masuo asks. "Nah. Northern Middle-easterners maybe? Anyways. The one with the thick beard is Jamshid Shojaii and that one with the huge glasses is Heydar Yesil. They are from the Brotherhood of Adam Headquarters. I really can''t find any information on them, or if those are even their real names, but they are special enough to have their travel request to the country approved in a single day while they were in Shanghai." Jotaro introduces. "Headquarters huh one day approval." Even though the information is incomplete, it contains enough to impress Masuo. "Yeah." Jotaro nods and pulls out his phone, opens something in it, and passes it to Masuo. "The next duo, is Samuel Little and Eliza Fowler - Little from Australia. Both B-Class superiori with Samuel being a high-tier one, and Eliza being low-tier." "Don''t tell me" Masuo''s eyes widen. "Are they from THE Little and Fowler families?" He asks. "They are." Jotaro confirms. "Damn." Masuo is intimidated by the couple''s status. "And the last group. If I didn''t know any better, I would have been fooled by their ''we are tourist'' act. The siblings Reynante and Marites Tabal from the Philippines. Both were peak B-Class in their prime, but are now only at peak C-Class in strength. While they are not threats as superiori, they are wealthy and thanks to their father''s connections, they have been seen with two S-Class Superiori." Jotaro introduces the final group. "Okay So Possible High-ranking members of Brotherhood of Adam, a power couple, and power siblings I don''t think us two should be messing with them." Masuo says nervously. "Did I say that we''ll be messing with them? We''ll just watch what they''re up to. Even if we get caught, what will they do? They''re not in their turf." Jotaro explains. "Makes sense" Masuo finds it logical. "And in case we see something lucrative, we''ll report it to our clans immediately and claim credit." Jotaro says. Masuo''s eyes glisten at this. "We''ll just watch?" He asks to be certain. "Yes! What are you so scared of? I should be the one being scared because I''m not as strong as you." Jotaro assures. "Whatever. At first sight of trouble, I''m out." Masuo is not falling for Jotaro''s words, but he is already invested in the matter. "Of course. And don''t leave me. Without your powers man, I can''t run away." Jotaro scoffs. "Alright." Masuo is assured. "Jotaro-san Chibana-san." The two are suddenly interrupted. "Daigo?" Masuo is surprised to see a familiar face. "You''re working for Jotaro?" He asks, immediately finding the connection. "Yes, Chibana-san." Daigo confirms. "I need a pair of good ears literally." Jotaro chuckles. "Hey. What are you doing here? Did they suspect you?" he asks Daigo. "They didn''t. They simply sent me away." Daigo reports. "Who sent you away?" Masuo asks. "I had him replace the Mr. and Mrs. Little''s tour guide and interpreter." Jotaro explains. "Ah" Masuo is enlightened. "But why''d they send you away? Did they catch you?" Jotaro asks. "I don''t think so. What was weird though was, although they tried to hide it, they seemed very interested hearing some of the local rumors that I collected for them. After that, they thanked me and sent me away." Daigo reports. "Huh" Masuo ponders. "What rumors exactly?" He asks. "There is this mysterious uhhh massage master who recently retired and moved here six months ago. Him and his students would give the elders free massages around once or twice a month. I heard that the elders now have their backs straight thanks to that." Daigo starts. "Do the Tabal siblings also know of this rumor?" Jotaro asks, hoping to find a connection. "Yes. I actually found out about this while following the steps of their interpreters." Daigo nods. "And here''s the interesting part. Where the Littles and the Tabals have in common. The general direction of what or who the Littles are looking for? The general direction of the Filipino interpreters was asking about from the locals? That''s where that massage master lives." He reveals. "Which direction is that?" Jotaro asks. "About southwest from here. On large hill around six kilometers away at a linear distance." Daigo reports. "Huh" Jotaro nods. "It''s safe to assume that the Jamshid and Heydar are heading the same direction." He figures, after observing the two the whole afternoon the previous day. "Why haven''t they made their move yet?" Masuo asks. "Probably gathering intelligence. The Littles asked me earlier if there was someone they should watch out for. Probably the same with others." Daigo figures. "Probably." Jotaro nods. "But now that they know that there''s no one, they''re about to make a move. That''s why they sent you away." He guesses. "So Let''s go check the place out?" Masuo asks. "Let''s have bre-..." Jotaro is about to order when he spots something. "It looks like The Brotherhood members are on the move." He points at Jamshid and Heydar who are leaving the restaurant across the street in a hurry. Daigo, Jotaro, and Masuo then see the two foreigners take off the ground and fly towards somewhere. <> "Oh Damn it." Reynante cannot help but grumble as he sees two figures fly past him in the air. "Yeah" Marites, being carried by Reynante frowns in agreement. Before the two can register who the figures are, *whoosh* *whoosh* two more figures fly past them. Reynante and Marites, agreeing not to get in conflict with anyone, simply watch as the figures ahead of them draw farther and farther away. A few minutes later however, they spot the four figures that flew past them, have landed at the bottom of a hill. "Are they waiting for us?" Reynante utters in realization as he sees the four figures are looking at him and his sister. "Looks like it. I fear we''re all here for the same reason." Marites nods. Reynante then stops flying forward. "What do we do?" He asks. "Let''s go back?" Marites chuckles. "Come on." Reynante scoffs. "Let''s go see. They wouldn''t hurt old people like us, would they?" He asks. "I hope not." Reynante can only sigh. Soon, they are now with Jamshid, Heydar, Samuel, and Eliza. "" The six stare at each other, not knowing who should speak first. Although there is no hostility present, the tension out of apprehension is palpable. "We''re leaving first, kids. As you were." Marites breaks the silence and gestures to Reynante. As the two are about to leave, "Wait a minute." Heydar calls out to them. "Yes?" Reynante asks. "Do you even know what it is that is in your possession?" Heydar asks. "Will you tell us?" Reynante asks. "" Heydar answers with silence. "If you''re not going to tell us, then we''ll just go back to where we came from. We can always come here again." Reynante shrugs. "If we tell you, will you hand it to us?" Samuel asks. "No. We know where to get answers anyway. I won''t be giving away an heirloom that was passed down hundreds of years that easily." Reynante overstates the amount of time his family had the wood chip. "Well. Sir. How about we purchase it from you for a high price? Our group has been collecting these for thousands of years now." Heydar cuts in. "Hah!" Eliza snorts aloud. "Is there something funny, miss?" Heydar asks. Eliza is taken aback that Heydar is serious. "Thousands of years? Excuse me?" She then scoffs. "Our order has thousands of years of history." Heydar reveals his background. "If you folks are powerful enough to keep what are in your hands, then you will recognize this." He then pulls out a small bronze token from his pocket and shows it to the group. Jamshid, who has been quiet, also pulls out his. "" The Australians and the Filipinos instantly recognize the tokens. "Brotherhood of Adam." Samuel grumbles. "But how do we know if your tokens are real? How do we know if you''re telling the truth?" He asks. "You cannot with a hundred percent certainty, of course." Heydar says as him and Jamshid put their tokens back in their pockets. "All I ask is that we don''t get in each other''s ways. In fact, it''s best that we seek answers together peacefully." He proposes. This tempts Reynante and Marites in staying. "Alright." Samuel voices agreement. "We''re strangers in a foreign land, with a common mission. Might as well." He shrugs. "Let''s just leave. We''ll come back someday." Reynante says to Marites in their native language. "Are you sure, brother?" Marites asks. "We don''t know what they talked about before we got here. They might gang up on us." Reynante says. "You''re right." Marites nods, finding Reynante''s worry valid. "Well then, gentlemen. Lady. We all wish you luck." She bids farewell to the others. "Are you really leaving? You''re so close." Eliza asks, confused by the two elderlies'' behavior. "Yes. Who knows what is hiding in that hill? We are not fighters." Reynante shrugs. Suddenly, Jamshid leans towards Heydar and whispers something to his partner''s ear. This immediately attracts attention from the others. As soon as Heydar nods, the four others get apprehensive. To their surprise however, Jamshid rushed out not to them, but to some bushes nearby. A few moments later, "AHH!" "WAIT!" they hear three male voices scream from where Jamshid rushed to. "What''s happening?" Eliza asks in worry. "We have some eavesdroppers." Heydar says, shocking the group. Soon, the group see three figures walk out from the bushes and behind them is Jamshid forcing them to walk forward with his sharp blade. "Don''t you dare hurt us! Our clans know we''re here!" Masuo threatens. But because he cannot speak English, the Australians and the Filipinos do not understand him. The man beside him however, surprises the group. "Is that" The group, except for Jamshid, is surprised to see Jotaro, the airport security officer who welcomed them to the country. "Hello folks.. If you can all really tell me what you''re doing in Japanese land?" He asks them, as if Jamshid''s blade on his back is not a threat. Chapter 117 - Visitors "Hello folks. If you can all really tell me what you''re doing in Japanese soil?" Jotaro asks in a condescending tone, as if Jamshid''s blade on his back is not a threat. "I knew it. I knew you were snakes the moment I met the both of you." Eliza says through gritted teeth looking at Daigo and Jotaro. Daigo especially as she trusted him as her tour guide and interpreter. "Mrs. Little. I''m just here to help." Jotaro shrugs. "Whatever, or whoever you are looking for, don''t you think that having a local representative makes everything more official?" He asks. "" The foreigners do not even want to answer him. "Unless of course, you don''t want this thing going official?" Jotaro grins at them. Unlike the confident-looking Jotaro, the interpreter Daigo is about to piss himself from the tension and fear. Masuo meanwhile, seeing his childhood friend being this confident, gives him confidence that they will make out of this debacle alive, maybe even unharmed, as Jotaro will only be this confident if he is sure of the situation. "I''m just here to make sure that no funny business occurs. I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, you would rather have me than more enthusiastic parties." Jotaro continues to talk out of his ass. The foreigners roll their eyes at Jotaro. "Are you threatening us? You?" Samuel asks, not liking the tone of the superioris that is weaker than him. "You can take it however you want. But one thing is true. As long as you folks are not here to do something illegal under the superiori clans'' noses, then we''re good." Jotaro shrugs. "Then you have my word that we not here for any funny business." Reynante claims for himself and Marites. "Yes. We''re are simply too old for that." Marites adds. The two know that with Jotaro around, it is too late for them to walk away. They also witnessed how easy it was for Jamshid to suppress the three Japanese superiori, so they know will only be forced to stay if they try to flee. *AHHHHH!* *HAHAHAHA* The group suddenly hear a faint sound of children''s laughter and cheers from the distance. They know immediately that the clamor is coming from the hill above them. The group unanimously realize that what they heard about children living in the hill are true. "How can something illegal exist in a place of happy children?" Heydar smiles at Jotaro. "Children are ignorant, and you know the saying about ignorance." Jotaro returns. Marites and Reynante exchange glances, sharing a look of relief. They know that no one in their right mind will fight in the presence of children. Samuel and Eliza bitterly swallow their pride as they do not want to cause an international incident by hurting the Japanese superiori. And if gets out of control, it will not only be the Japanese Clans that will take interest in their wood chip, but others too. Finally, Heydar does not want any conflict in the first place, so he accepts Jotaro''s request. While he had Jamshid touch the three Japanese superiori, it is not too late. With that, the group of nine, with the help of the ones who have the ability of flight, make their way to the hill, to the direction where they heard the commotion. Soon, the visitors find an odd sight, making them stop mid-flight. At the clay road below them, a third of the way up to the hilltop, five children, at an incredible speed for their age, are chasing an adult woman dressed in pink scrub suit, flailing their wooden swords on her with grins on their faces. The visitors notice however that the woman seems to be enjoying herself too judging by the smile on her face. They then see the woman swipe at the tallest child on the face, leaving a blue-colored smear on it. The visitors now realize what caused the clamor they heard earlier at the foot of the hill. "HAHAHA!" "OSAMU!" "HAHAHA!" The children laugh at the tallest child before proceeding to chase the woman again. The visitors then see the woman in scrub suit spot them making her stop in her steps. "Children, stop!" She then orders the children. "Wow Now, I feel bad." Eliza cannot help but comment seeing the smile on the children''s faces get replaced with apprehension as they are spotted by them too. "Children, stay away." The woman in scrub suit orders the children again, and the children comply immediately, distancing themselves away from her. The visitors then see the woman and Jamshid stare each other down. "********." The woman tells Jamshid at a language that is alien to anyone except for Jamshid. "********." Jamshid replies back. Even though the visitors did not understand what they said, they are sure that there is hostility between the two. Before anyone can ask about it, Jamshid shoots towards the woman. "!!!" The visitors are stunned at his action. Before they themselves can take action, "*STAB*" Jamshid has already plunged his shiny sword on the woman''s body. Immediately, the woman''s body becomes translucent and everyone sees thunder-like light roll throughout it for a second. A split second later, grey smoke rush out of the woman''s body, accumulates in front of her mouth, and convenes into a marble-sized ball-shaped object. "Demon" Jamshid announces to everyone as he picks up the demon core and letting the woman''s now normal body hit the ground. This is enough for the rest of the visitors to understand why Jamshid took action and they descend to the ground to join him. Unlike them however, the children''s reactions are different. "NANA-SAN!" Ran rushes out to attend to the fallen demon''s body. "Ran! Don''t!" Taishiro steps in her way, stopping her from getting near the group of visitors, especially from Jamshid. "BAD PEOPLE!" Chihiro screams at the visitors, but he is afraid to attack them. The visitors immediately realize that the children did not know of the demon''s identity. "Children, ''Nana-san'' was a demon." Heydar tells the children in fluent Japanese. "No, she''s not! She''s nice! She''s KIND! AND HE KILLED HER!" Ran denies as she looks at Jamshid in indignation. "Huma-Children. Ungrateful like always." Jamshid coldly says in Japanese. His words get him a weird look from Daigo, Masuo, and Jotaro. "Wow. What a psycho." Jotaro utters. *tap**tap**tap* The group then see that someone has arrived. "Ichiki-san!" The children are glad to see the demon chef. "" Ichiki, seeing Nana''s body on the ground, sighs in sorrow at the fate of his acquaintance. He then looks at the man standing beside her body, and he is stunned. And looking at the long blade on the man''s hand, fear knocks on his heart and his stomach sinks. "Children. Go back inside." Ichiki tells the children. "Bu-" Ran is about to protest but, "NOW! If your teachers are present, tell them to come here." Ichiki orders more forcefully. The children, seeing the always friendly Ichiki raise his voice at them for the first time, can only follow the order and they all run back up to their house. The visitors watch as the children''s figures disappear as they take a turn at the curve of the road. Jotaro is about to follow them, when he suddenly feels something. He looks down and sees a huge tendril sticking out of the ground, wrapped around his leg. "Leave the kids out of this.", He also hears the voice of Ichiki. "Demons. How many of you are here?" Jamshid asks. "What''s it to you, angel?" Ichiki asks instead of answering. Ichiki calling Jamshid ''angel'' shocks the group except for Heydar. Ichiki meanwhile, knows that the angel in front of him is much stronger than he is. He can only hope that he can distract the group long enough for back-up to arrive. "Angel, huh." Samuel, despite his casual words, is trying to hide his fear. "" Eliza meanwhile, wants to leave. The two have read about angels in their families'' accounts of the great war. The Filipino and the Japanese superioris, having had no access to historical records as much as the Australians, simply look at Jamshid in great curiosity. Seeing the visitors'' reactions to his words, Ichiki feels a bit of relief. "Something you don''t see every day. A prideful angel, possessing a human body, rubbing shoulders with humans. What has the world come to?" He continues to delay. Ichiki''s words suddenly makes Samuel realize something. "So the thing. It also works on angels?" He asks Heydar, who he noticed Jamshid seems to be subservient to. Eliza takes a few seconds to realize it too. "He does not have wings, so the process must be similar." She says in certainty. Heydar, having his and Jamshid''s secret exposed, feels that denying is useless. "Precisely. Works on angels too, and in a similar process." He admits. "Demons. Angels. I''m sorry. This is beyond me. I''m leaving." Masuo, after being brought up to speed to what is happening by Daigo''s translation, expresses his intention. "You are not going anywhere." Jamshid suddenly gets in his way, however. "F*ck you." Masuo''s expression crumples. He looks at Jotaro, and Jotaro also do not look as confident as before. "Hey Jotaro. Fuck you too." He can only curse in frustration. "Eh Mr. Demon." Reynante calls out. "You''re not taking the children as hostages, are you?" He asks. "How low do you think of me?" Ichiki scoffs. "" The visitors simply look at him as if he asked a stupid question. "Fair enough." He can only shrug. "But do you think that angel beside you is any better? They will kill any children without emotion simply because they are ''impure''." He argues. "Is that true?" Marites asks Jamshid. "" Jamshid prefers to ignore the question. "If my great, great grandfather''s stories and journals are to be believed, then what this demon said is true." Samuel says. "But this angel is under a . Special circumstance. So far, I trust him more than you." He tells Ichiki. "I too am in a special circumstance. Just look at what I''m wearing. I cook delicious food for those children every day." Ichiki says. "Tell me, angel. Am I lying?" He asks Jamshid. "" Jamshid prefers to ignore the question. "Angels don''t lie unless told by a superior. They can also tell if someone is lying. If I lied, he would have called me out on it. But because I''m not, he''d rather stay silent than to admit that I''m telling the truth." Ishiki says. Everyone looks at Heydar and Jamshid for confirmation. Heydar, caught off-guard by Ishiki''s cornering, is helpless and he is seen through by Reynante and Marites. "This woman" Marites points at Nana''s body. "Who was she to the children?" She asks Ichiki. "Their babysitter." Ichiki reveals. He is pleased to see that half of the visitors get obviously uncomfortable at the information. "Yes. That''s right. Your angel just killed someone who is the second mother to the children." He adds. "Then let us talk to whoever you''re working for. We will personally apologize and offer our compensations." Heydar say to Ichiki. Samuel and Eliza pick up on what Heydar really means. "Just to be sure. Do you think he is just like your angel?" Eliza asks. "Yes." Heydar nods. "I believe that they are subservient to whoever is in this hill. And we''ve only met two. Who knows if there are more under that person''s command?" He adds. "And, Jamshid. Stay your hand for now." He orders his angel. "Now. Please. Bring us to your boss." Samuel demands. "I AM HIS BOSS." A voice reverberates above them and they all look up. They are surprised to see a young woman standing on the air, looking down on them, her kimono beautifully billowing from the wind. Ichiki, looking at the newcomer, gets confused at first as he does not recognize her. After a closer look however, he realizes who it is based on the way the woman disposition. "Yoshiko-san.." He utters. Chapter 118 - Task At the hilltop, leaves and grass are billowing, much livelier than the breeze should be able to make them dance. This is all because of a figure in the middle of the clearing, being shined upon by the moonlight. "*sssuuuu**hhpppp*" Yoshiko finishes another cycle of Celestial Body Breathing Technique, and her elixir sea cannot expand any further. She then stands up and is about to go back to the treasure fragment dimension when Red appears suddenly in front of her. "Sensei." She is taken aback. She knows that Red only cultivates at the hilltop during the day. "You have hit a wall." Red tells her. "Yes, sensei." Yoshiko is no longer surprised or uncomfortable by Red seeing through her. "The past few cultivation sessions, my elixir sea barely expanded." She reports. "I never heard Fumio or Kotone suffer this. Is it because I used demon cores and they didn''t?" She asks in worry. "Yes. But not in the way you think." Red chuckles. "Because unlike you who only utilize the breathing technique when you expand your reserves, they always used it to both refill their reserves and to cultivate, making them capture the trick in it. You would have too had you not chosen to use demon cores to refill your reserves faster. They also are more familiar with their meridians. You who only focused on growing your strength and elixir sea, have not yet." He explains. "I see." Yoshiko is relieved. "What do I do now?" She asks. "It''s time for you to pause your physical training and cultivation training and start on more advanced elixir control training." Red recommends. "How do I do that?" Yoshiko asks. "Before I tell you, I think you should pay for my demon cores that you used." Red smirks at her. "O-oh" Yoshiko is stunned. She was too focused on growing stronger and trying to catch up to Fumio and Kotone that she almost forgot the deal she made with Red regarding the demon cores. Unlike Fumio and Kotone who were hesitant in using the demon cores, Yoshiko was more liberal about it. "I-I''ll go hunt for demons as soon as possible." She promises. "No." Red says, surprising her. "I have a task for you instead. Consider it a test too. Within the next few days, maybe later, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, the peace of the children will be disturbed. I have sent Kotone and Rezonad away. Fumio will be staying in the city until further notice. Xoz''gekal will also spend time with me. Therefore, this thing? I want you to deal with it alone." He orders cryptically. "I will be ready." Yoshiko promises. "Very good." Red nods before disappearing. "Damn. I need to learn that." Yoshiko knows that Red did not use an invisibility seal because she would have seen through it. A few hours later. Leaves are floating in front of Yoshiko, morphing into different Kanji (Chinese written characters) letters by Yoshiko''s spiritual energy. It is one of the elixir control training methods she once saw Fumio. At the time, her spiritual energy did not have the potency to replicate the feat, but now that she has an elixir sea the size of a lake, she can now practice her elixir control using the method. She actually likes elixir control training better than any other type of training she has to do because she can do it without costing her spiritual energy. Her mental endurance will have to be spent however. "WE NEED HELP!" She is startled by Goichi''s shout and all the kanji she wrote in the air collapse to a small pile of leaves. She was not expecting the trouble Red was talking about to come so soon. Using the basic traversing technique that Red taught her, she zooms out of the hilltop and arrives at the training yard of children in three seconds flat. "What happened?" She asks the children. "Nana-san... Nana-san is dead! She was killed down the road!" Taishiro reports immediately in panic. Yoshiko looks at the children and she sees that they are either sullen or are in shock. Especially Ran who is alternately holding her back her tears and being in a daze. Her heart shakes realizing that the children''s ''peace being broken'' is much worse than she thought. She can only hope that Nana, who the children care about, is not really dead. A second later, she arrives above the visitors and she stops in mid-air, using a flat surface she made using her spiritual energy as a platform to stand on. Her world goes silent as she sees Nana''s body on the ground, bleeding out through a stab wound in the middle of her chest. Ichiki not doing anything to revive Nana also tells her that it is too late. Nana is dead. Even though Nana was a demon, Yoshiko has come to appreciate the demon''s competence as a babysitter, and the demon''s efforts in making the children comfortable and happy. Even though she can never be too sure if Nana really loved the children, she knows that the demon would have provided a caring environment for the children. Looking at the demon''s dead body makes her angry at the culprit. She is also angry with herself however. Had she taken Red''s warning more seriously, had she put off her training for the day to at least feel things out first, then Nana would not have been killed in the road like a dog in the street. " Now, please bring us to your boss." She is pulled out of her daze by Samuel''s demand of Ichiki. She takes a closer look at each of the visitors, and her eyes are caught by the man who is holding a long blade she figures was what used on Nana. As she looks at the blade more, she is stunned. The blade''s uniform color from handle to point, and its excessive shine reminds her of the most tragic night of her night. "Angel" She realizes and she decides to make a move. "I AM HER BOSS." She announces herself. The visitors all look up at her and they all give her a skeptic look. Instead of explaining herself, she rushes to Jamshid at a speed everyone present can barely keep up with. Even though Jamshid is already raising his hands to defend, Yoshiko is simply too fast for him and *WHACK* he receives a straight punch to his face. He is not able to absorb the punch and the leftover force from it flings him back and he smashes against the hillside. Yoshiko meanwhile does not give him time to recover. She dashes to the knocked down angel and presses her foot on his chest. She pulls out her katana from her storage ring, rests its point to Jamshid''s neck and, "How dare you.", looks at Jamshid coldly in the eyes. Jamshid meanwhile, is stunned. He does not feel superioris energy on Yoshiko. "W-what are you?" He asks in confoundment. "What else would I be but a human?" Yoshiko answers and slashes her blade on Jamshid''s neck. Soon, a glowing white yellow smoke quickly rushes out of the wound and surrounds the angel blade on Jamshid''s hand. "" Jamshid, seeing his sanctic essence uncontrollably leaving his being while his life fleeting just as quickly, holds Yoshiko''s foot, attempting to free himself from being pinned by it. His efforts are useless however because just a second later, his angel blade and his sanctic essence merge with each other and compress into a small glowing crystal. The small glowing object that contains his angelic being is the last thing he sees as his world goes dark forever. "" The visitors, seeing the angel, the only person they were scared of in the group, was dealt with very easily, unanimously feel chills climb up their spines. They also eye Yoshiko''s sword, feeling that something that can cut an angel''s skin so easily and can result to the angel''s death, has to be special. "" Heydar meanwhile, feels like he was just robbed. A no-name someone, one that is very young, snatched his angel while he can only watch helplessly. He knows the full extent of Jamshid''s ability, and if he did not personally witness Jamshid''s downfall, he would not believe it. Their brotherhood''s information about the demographics of a place is almost always accurate so he always trusted the information they give him, including the one they received from Hinohara. Unfortunately, the brotherhood''s information about the place is years behind as it simply was not a place of superioris activity. He can only accept his bad luck. As Yoshiko turns to them, the visitors unanimously take a step back. Yoshiko meanwhile, after venting her anger, has finally calmed down and is now looking at the ''guests'' more closely. She also feel things she knows she missed because of her state of mind earlier; things that are in the guests'' pockets. "You three." She addresses Samuel, Marites, and Heydar. "I know you are looking for answers. But did it have to come to this?" She asks them as she puts away Nana''s body in her storage ring, and pick up the demon core and the angel crystal with her spiritual energy. "To be fair, miss? The angel''s at least a Peak B-Class. He acted on his own accord and we are not powerful enough to stop him." Eliza reasons. "You should ask this man" She points at Heydar. "He was the one holding the angel''s leash." She washes hers and Samuel''s hands. Yoshiko waves her index finger towards Heydar''s body and shoots an invisible spiritual energy blade on it. A cut appears on Heydar''s suit and from it, rushes out a wood chip and enters Yoshiko''s waiting hand. Yoshiko, seeing the familiar object, confirms her theory. The three indeed are carrying things that is similar to the wood chip that Red is using to cheat time. She also knows that unlike Red''s wood chip, the visitors'' wood chips are not activated and are only used to ensl*ve demons. This realization makes him connect another thing. "That angel was serving you?" She asks Heydar as she plays the wood chip between her fingers. The guests, except for the three Japanese ones, who are still in shock that Yoshiko can detect and telekinetically manipulate Heydar''s wood chip, snap out of their state by Yoshiko''s question. "Y-Yes." Heydar misinterprets Yoshiko''s question as a rhetorical one, but he answers anyway to avoid conflict. "Then you should thank me for dealing with an insubordinate angel." Yoshiko harrumphs, copying the arrogant bosses she once had. "" Heydar can only swallow his resentment. "Uhm Young Lady?" Marites takes Yoshiko''s attention. "Ours is the heirloom of our family. But me and my brother are willing to give up. As long as you tell us what it is for, we are satisfied to leave and never speak of what we have seen today." This is the only way out she can think of. "I''m sorry. None of you can leave. You should have left things that want to go home, well, go. I cannot risk you all coming back here." Yoshiko refuses. She has made up her mind to make the visitors stay in the hill forever, no matter what method, dead or alive. "This is ridiculous!" Jotaro scoffs. "We have left our marks in the village. My clan knows that I am here." He boldly claims. "Oh? And which clan do you belong?" Yoshiko asks. "Ota City. Haneda Clan. And my friend right here is from the Chibana Clan." Jotaro proudly states his and Masuo''s backgrounds. "Haneda Chibana" Yoshiko sorts through her memories, and quickly finds what she knows about the two clan. "It doesn''t matter. I can wipe them out if they come looking." Yoshiko shrugs. She can make Xoz''gekal, a high-tier Demon General, sweat in a spar.. While she is confident to fight a mid-tier A-Class Superiori clan heads of the Haneda and Chibana at a standstill, she is even more confident in ending them with sneak attacks. Chapter 119 - Visitors 2 (cont''d) "Haneda Chibana It doesn''t matter. I can wipe them out if they come looking." Yoshiko shrugs. "And us?" Samuel cuts in. "Are you willing to incur the wrath of the Little and Fowler families? We are just foot soldiers of our families, but this mission was entrusted to us by our patriarchs, both being S-Class Superiori." He challenges. Originally, he is proud and confident to complete his mission with his high-tier B-Class strength, but after the appearance of Jamshid the angel, and subsequently, the mysterious Yoshiko, he swallows his pride, his ego has taken a hit. At this point, he knows that his background is the only thing that can potentially save him. "I also represent the highest members of the Brotherhood of Adam. If I meet my end here, they will find out not long after. Can you handle a global organization alone?" Heydar challenges too. This time, Yoshiko is stumped. While she is not sure if Samuel and Eliza are telling the truth, she knows she cannot offend the Brotherhood of Adam. After reading about angels in the documents provided by Red, some of which were taken from Brotherhood of Adam members and annexes, it was inevitable for her to also read about the organization itself. "Will I be able to trust that if I let you all go today, you won''t be coming back bringing more people, disturbing our peaceful life?" Yoshiko asks. She then spots Eliza put her hand in her pocket, so she sends a spiritual energy blade to the Australian''s arm, stopping it. "What do you think you''re doing?!" Samuel forces himself to stop taking action against Yoshiko and attends to his wife''s bleeding hand immediately instead. "I''m a bit jumpy and paranoid. What were you doing just now?" Yoshiko ignores Samuel and asks Eliza. "" Eliza grits her teeth and simply glares back as a response. "Is that it, miss? You will kill us simply because you might be inconvenienced?" Reynante asks, feeling indignant at the situation. Looking at the superiori in front of her who have backgrounds she always envied, Kotone cannot help but be a bit angry at their sense of entitlement. Growing up as an orphan, among orphans, and working with orphans, she knows that many powerless people, the non-superiori especially, suffered and died simply because they were at the wrong place and at the wrong time, orphaning too many children. She has long accepted that it is how the world works and she could do nothing about it, until now. "You all talk to me like civilians. Tell me. How many people have died simply because they ended up in your way? Simply because you found them inconvenient?" She asks Reynante and the other visitors. "" Reynante and the rest are speechless. "What gave you the right to come waltzing in here and destroy property? It never even crossed your minds that maybe we don''t want you here?" She asks again. "" And the rest are speechless again. "Right." Yoshiko scoffs. "Now that it comes around you, the rules of the world change? HOW RICH" She says through gritted teeth. "I''m sorry. But just like the people who suffered as collateral damage by your whims, I will have to remove you too, simply because it''s inconvenient for me to let you all go." She then slowly walks towards the visitors. Masuo, while he did not understand the exchange of words in English, is quick enough on his feet to know that danger is coming. He activates his earth telekinetic ability and propels himself in the air. He is too slow however. Yoshiko''s figure zooms above him, and he gets hit on the head, making him fall back down, crashing to the ground unconscious. The next to flee is Samuel, carrying Eliza. Only two seconds after lifting off the ground however, they come crashing back down, the impact of their fall incapacitating them immediately, their consciousness leaving them for the moment. Reynante, who has not been in a fight in decades, freezes, so he cannot even attempt to flee with Marites. Heydar, who relied on Jamshid''s ability of flight, to move around, cannot flee too. Jotaro, who is a thinker superioris, knows that he cannot even dare to flee by running. And Daigo, the only civilian in the group, is already sprinting away. He is but an F Class Superiori however, basically an ordinary person only with superb hearing. He gets hit in the back of the head with something that Yoshiko has thrown and he falls to the ground unconscious. With four intruders down, Yoshiko lands back to the ground. The four left, Jotaro, Reynante, Marites, and Heydar, watch nervously as Yoshiko simply stares at them. Ichiki meanwhile, cannot believe that the dainty, soft-looking school teacher has become this strong. "Young lady." Marites calls out. "Me and my brother are just retirees who are just enjoying our remaining time. We even brought our grandchildren with us here in Japan." To her relief, Yoshiko seems willing to listen. She then pulls out the ceramic spearhead from her bag, breaks it, and reveals a wood chip that was once in her father''s possession. "This here, although has been in my family''s possession for generations, seems to obviously belong to you. Although we have no use for it, and would rather not find out what it''s really used for, this has been treated by my father as his lucky charm. He believed that he would not have survived deadly battles had this thing not been in his possession. If he was alive today, I bet he would be thanking you for lending it to him." She offers her wood chip to Yoshiko. Yoshiko then snatches the wood chip with her spiritual energy. The display, although she has showed it not too long ago, still mystifies the wood chip holders. "Do you really have no idea what this thing is for?" Yoshiko asks. "No. It was just my father''s necklace until three weeks ago." Marites tries to look as convincing as she can. "" Yoshiko simply stares blankly, hoping that it will make the old woman uncomfortable that she becomes honest. "" Marites meanwhile, has a clear conscience and has no problem having a staring battle with Yoshiko. A few seconds later, "Very well." Yoshiko nods. She decides to not touch the Filipino duo for the moment and she is planning on tailing them later. "Thank you." Marites sighs in relief. "Young miss." Heydar takes the attention. "I won''t even attempt to get it back." He starts, referring to the wood chip Yoshiko took from his pocket earlier. "I''m from the Brotherhood of Adam, a scholar with great curiosity, and it is not my intention to start a conflict. As for what happened with your demon, you know how it is between angels and demons. The angel''s desire overwhelmed my control for a moment." Heydar starts making his case. He no longer thinks that he can rely on his status to scare off Yoshiko as Yoshiko seems not to care about the Little and Fowler families, evidenced by her actions towards the Australian couple. "I know it''s not my place to ask, but as a scholar, I have to know why we were brought here even if it cost me my life." He concludes his request with a bluff. "Even if it costs you your life?" Yoshiko is not sure if she heard it right. "Yes. Similar to the case of these two siblings..." He points at Marites and Reynante. " my wood chip has been held and passed on by generations of of scholars from the Brotherhood for hundreds of years. I should be the current holder of it in my generation. Me and my predecessors know what it is used for, and used it conservatively. This however is the first time since we have known about their existence, that they can act on their own accord. I want to know why. I want to bargain the answer with any information you might be looking for as long as it is within the scope of my authority." He concludes his newly made-up plan. "And if I don''t want any information from you?" Yoshiko asks. "That''s why I said ''even if it costs me my life''. I can die satisfied to know why something so ancient suddenly became alive." Heydar says. "I see." Yoshiko nods. "Unfortunately, I do not have any use for your life. You are more valuable to me dead than alive." With that, at a speed Heydar can barely keep up with, Yoshiko appears in front of the man and knocks him out with a strike to the neck. "H-hey" Jotaro does not know what else to say as Yoshiko''s attention gets to him next. "Hey yourself." Yoshiko says before knocking out Jotaro too. "My Lady." Ichiki immediately comes up with what to call Yoshiko, while avoiding calling her with her real name. "What do we do with them?" He asks. "You know me." Yoshiko sighs. "While my head tells me that they should be eliminated, I''m not the type to kill my fellow humans. May I entrust the task to you?" She asks the demon. "Of course, my lady." Ichiki is happy to be of service, and to eat Masuo and Daigo''s souls. Daigo''s F-Class soul for appetizer, and Masuo''s C-Class soul for the main course, almost brings tears of joy to his eyes. Unfortunately, he cannot absorb any more souls aside from those two''s, which he finds a shame. After Yoshiko collects Nana''s demon core, Jamshid''s angel crystal, and Samuel''s wood chip, Yoshiko feels that her job is done. "Then I leave them to you." She orders Ichiki before leaving the scene, rushing to go back to the children, to resume consoling them. After Yoshiko left, "*Phew*" Reynante and Marites, the only ones who are left unharmed and standing, sigh in relief. Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice, says in English, behind them. "Ahhh, children they grow up so fast, don''t they." They look behind them and they find a man and a young woman standing. The siblings do not care about the woman, and their eyes are focused instead on the man and his clothes. After their initial confusion at the man''s outfit, they are stunned, their eyes go wide in recognition. "M-Mr. F-fool" Reynante gets his words back. "Hey there." Red greets the two. "Why don''t you two forget everything that happened here? If I hear some babble about what happened here, it can only be you two who talked. By then, the consequences will not only be carried by you two. If that happens, then I''ll make sure that anyone who carries the Tabal blood will be purged from this world. Am I clear?" He tells them. He decides to let the two go because he feels that they are decent people. Marites and Reynante meanwhile, both start trembling, feeling a sliver of Red''s bloody aura. "Y-Yes." "T-that much is obvious." The two answers both out of fear and sincerity. "Good. Now go back to your grandchildren and enjoy the rest of your vacation here." Red says in finality. Reynante and Marites start their flight, trying their best to look as casual as possible, avoiding quick movements that might alert Red or Ichiki. "Master, Kotone-san." Ichiki finally greets Red and his disciple. "Ichiki-san." Kotone greets back while Red simply nods. "Ah. Poor Alvannath." Kotone laments Nana''s fate, and calls the demon in the demon''s real name. "It''s her luck. An angel. Who would have thought?" Ichiki sighs. "Kichirou-san. What do we do now?" Kotone asks as she looks at the unconscious Jotaro, Masuo, Daigo, Samuel, and Eliza on the road. "I''ll deal with them." Red says. "Will you end them?" Kotone asks. Although she is still uncomfortable talking about murder, she has gotten more used to it. "No." Red shakes his head. "I find them more valuable alive than dead." He says. "I see." Kotone figures that Red will do what he did with Ippei and Amon. "Unfortunately, I can''t give a soul to you today, Ichiki." Red smirks at Ichiki. "Oh. That''s fine, master." Ichiki simply accepts even though he is a bit disappointed. "So Yoshiko acquired three all at once. You said you caught two more wood chips while I was inside the dimension?" Red asks. "Yes. Here they are." Kotone hands Red two wood fragments that came to the hill on their own, without owners, which she collected. "Wanna have your own dimension?" Red asks Kotone. "C-Can I?" Kotone is not sure if she heard right. "If you can assure me that you can protect it." Red shrugs. "I''m not ready." Kotone finds it a shame, but she knows that she does not deserve what Red is offering, at least not for now.. Even though Red now has a total of seven wood chips, she knows how valuable they are, and the dangers of one activated fragment will attract. Chapter 120 - Later In The Evening Good day folks. I''m sorry about this chapter. I am really off today. Something happened that affected my concentration. I''ll make it up in the future chapters. ===== It is already ten in the evening. Osamu, who is supposed to be in bed at his hour, is instead seated on the grass patch on the side of the clay road. It has been minutes since he took his seat and had been staring at the place where he saw Nana collapse and bathed in a pool of her own blood. "Osamu-kun." He is startled by the arrival of Ran but quickly gets over it and "Ran-chan.", simply acknowledges with a nod before taking his eyes back on the road. Ran then silently sits beside Osamu. It does not take long before the three other children arrive at the scene to join them. The five children, sitting next to each other, all wearing black kimono, presents a very somber sight. None of them says a word, and they simply share the silence and the moonlight. Unbeknownst to them, four figures are standing a few meters above them, watching over them. "Tough kids." Fumio bitterly comments at the sight. He has heard of what happened and he immediately rushed over from Nerima. "They are" Kotone says in a trembling voice. The kids'' sorrowful gesture for Nana moves her. "S-sensei" Yoshiko starts tearfully. "They already lost their loved ones at a young age. For them to see Alvannath No, Nana-san die like that It''s my fault they had to go through loss again." "" Kotone puts her arms around Yoshiko to console her. "I deserve to be punished" Yoshiko is not consoled however and asks of Red. "You blaming yourself is enough punishment." Red refuses, his cold voice making Yoshiko blame herself even more. "I-I" Yoshiko is stunned, her tears flowing even more freely. "Take a break for a few days, Yoshiko. Kotone, please take her away." Red orders. Kotone and Yoshiko can only silently leave. "Boss" Fumio looks at Red, before looking away, stopping himself from asking. "You''ve figured it out?" Red asks. "Yes." Fumio nods. "But did you really have to sacrifice Alvannath like that?" He asks. "Do you know how I made these demons serve me?" Red asks instead of answering. "No." Fumio shakes his head. "It''s useless for you to know for now, but I''ll tell you this. Alvannath is a demon of gluttony. Before I subjugated her, she had eaten more than forty souls. She preyed mostly on the non-superiori. There are even children in her body count." Red reveals. Even though Fumio suspected that the demon was in no way innocent, "I-I see." he is still shocked by the information. "But why did you have to do this to Yoshiko? Why did you have to let the children see death again? The children obviously loved Alvannath." He asks instead. Red''s cold-blooded manipulation is eating away at his conscience. "I want them to grow up protecting each other, to belong with each other. It''s experiences like these that establishes and strengthens that bond." Red explains. "Are you not worried of traumatizing them?" While Fumio understands the logic, he is still worried. "I will cushion their minds against that, don''t worry." Red assures. "They will grow up comfortable under me. But I will not let them forget that the world is a dangerous place and the things they fear the most can happen at any time." He adds. "And Yoshiko?" Fumios asks. "She is ahead of you and Kotone in making tough decisions. She needed just one more push." Red says vaguely. "Push?" Fumio is confused. "What would you have done in her place?" Red asks. Fumio ponders for a few seconds, before, "I don''t know.", giving up. "You know what she did?" Red asks. "I don''t." Aside from hearing about Yoshiko killing the angel, Fumio failed to extract the whole story from Yoshiko, Kotone or Ichiki. "She does not have the stomach yet, but I think she made a huge step today She ordered Ichiki to kill the visitors." Red reveals. "" Fumio feels his blood run cold. "And while she is a bit remorseful, it won''t eat away at her in the future. She is also prepared to deal with whoever else it is to come here." Red adds. "Huh" Fumio can hardly believe it. "Yes. Unlike you and Kotone, Yoshiko grew up a real pragmatist. You and Kotone are idealists compared to her." Red concludes. "Do we really have to kill in the future?" Fumio asks, knowing that he would not have made the decision Yoshiko made. "You won''t have to if you don''t have to. But here''s the thing. Yes, you can live your life without making enemies. But what happens if you can''t? What if there comes a time when you have to kill to protect? You have to prepare, steel your heart for that. Hesitating, debating in your head if killing is right or wrong will only get you and the people close to you, killed." Red warns. Fumio has nothing to say. While Red''s warning is heavy on his heart, his mind is telling him that Red is right. He the sees Red descend to the ground, joining the children. "Good evening Kichirou-san." Fumio seeing the children forcing themselves to look alright as they greet Red, breaks his heart. "Kids. What did you call the game you were playing earlier with Nana?" Red asks them. "We don''t know." Chihiro answers on behalf of the children. "Why don''t we name it Nana Game from now on? Nana really liked playing it with you all." Red suggests. "Yes!" "Nana game sounds cool." The kids seem to like the idea. <> Australia, a boat in the middle of the sea. A man who looks to be in his late 40s, is seated at the deck of the fishing boat, staring peacefully at the calm blue sea. His balance and his body perfectly swaying along with the fishing boat. *zzzt* He then sees movement in his fishing rod, quickly grabs it, and *crrr* starts reeling in whatever is caught in his hooks. Soon enough, a huge Australian salmon that is almost as long as his arm arises from the water. *thud* *thud* *thud* As soon as the salmon is caught in the man''s hand, it cannot shake itself off no matter how hard it flaps. The man then holds the fish by its gill plates with his right hand and delivers a quick stab with his knife to the fish''s head, killing it instantly. The man smirks, excited and cannot wait to grill the fish. Before he can start prepping the fish however, "Sir.", a man wearing a butler''s suit descends from the sky and greets him. After taking a deep breath to get over his annoyance from the interruption, "What is it?", he asks his attendant. "We have word about Samuel." The attendant reports. "Oh." This gets the man''s interest. "When was his last report?" He asks. "Two days ago, in a small village in Japan." The attendant reports as he pulls out his phone. "Unfortunately, the news is not good." He then plays a video and passes it to his boss. The man sees in the display, a conscious but gagged and tied Samuel. A dark figure then gets in front of the camera, covering Samuel''s figure. [Aherm] He hears the dark figure''s voice. [Mr. Dominic Little. I bet you are currently in the middle of the sea grilling yourself a huge catch.] The man, Dominic Little, is amused at the accuracy of the figure''s guess. [I apologize for your great, great, grandson''s state. I had to tie him up due to his uncooperative behavior. He also has quite the mouth on him, so it forced my hand to make him quiet. Aside from that, he is not hurt, as you can see.] Dominic feels irked by the abductor''s polite tone. He does not know if the abductor is simply polite in nature, or is purposely mocking him. [You see, Samuel here trespassed in our property and one of my more enthusiastic men did not like how Samuel was walking in the property as if he owned the place.] Dominic does not know who to blame at this point. He knows that the figure is not lying as he knows that even though Samuel is polite on the outside, Samuel is hiding the arrogance of a king. [Due the emotional damage your grandson has caused me, I am asking for compensation.] "I knew it." Dominic scoffs at the abductor''s predictability. [All I am asking is a thousand kilograms of gold. The time, date, and coordinates of the drop will be given to you after this video.] "This son of a bitch." Dominic was expecting that the kidnapper would ask for money, not an important commodity. [I want you to come alone. I don''t care how you bring the gold, but I want you to be there in the right place and the right time, to personally exchange with me.] The figure states his demands. "" Dominic this time, immediately feels that something is wrong. "It must be a trap, sir." His attendant comments from the side. "Unless he himself is an S-Class Superioris, then I don''t get his courage." Dominic agrees with his attendant. [If you don''t come, or if you show up with company, then not only is Samuel''s life forfeit, ...] He then sees the figure''s hand hold up something that is familiar to him. [I will have to give people a demonstration of its use. Maybe auction it off to others? Or maybe, I''ll just inform the public about why there are too many missing persons reports in Brisbane over the years?] Dominic gets goosebumps at the man''s threat. He does not care about Samuel, but if his demon ensl*ving activities are exposed, the other S-Class families will pounce on him and the rest of the Little Family. The video soon is already at its end, displaying the coordinates of his supposed meeting place with the kidnapper. "This insane bastard" Dominic can only curse at Red. Chapter 121 - Some Spars "Look up the coordinates for me." Dominic orders his attendant. "" His attendant shakes his head. Dominic has his own internet connection in his boat and uses one of the latest smartphones yet he never bothered learning how to use them. After a simple search, the attendant sighs. "Sir, I don''t think you should go." "Why not?" Dominic asks. "It''s halfway between Hawai''i and Bora-bora." The attendant answers. "Hmmm" Dominic ponders. "It''s really isolated, huh." He shakes his head. "How valuable is a tonne of gold to us?" He asks. "Last time I checked, it should around 5 percent of what our mine in Brisbane produces a year. Or 0.7 percent of what we harvest in all of our mines each year." The attendant reports. "Ah. Well, it''s not that expensive then." Dominic nods. "Sir, I really think this is a trap. Who knows who the culprit is? It might even be the Fowler Family. We didn''t see Samuel''s wife in the video." The attendant suggests. Dominic gives the attendant a glare. "Why would they do that? Angus and I are friends for almost a hundred years and we still talk over the phone every few days. Do you know that it was him who gave me my wood chip?" "I''m just exploring all the possibilities." The attendant sighs. . "It might not be the Fowlers, yes. But maybe the culprits are just as powerful. Maybe they''re just trying to lure you out of here. Who knows what will happen while you''re away? What if other S-Class superiori are waiting to gang up on you?" He raises valid questions. "Well, what do you suggest I do?" Dominic asks. "You haven''t made a public appearance in years. Samuel also was not sure if he really received his mission from you. No one knows what your real status is." The attendant says. Dominic gets what his attendant is implying. "You''ll represent me?" He asks. "Yes." The attendant confirms. "I''ll claim that you''re sick or dead. That way, whoever it is that harbors ill will towards us will be brazen to attack. Even if no one is really plotting, this will buy us time to figure out how to get the wood chip back." He explains further. "Alright. A week is a plenty of time. Go now. I too will prepare with my nephew." Dominic then enters the water, transforms into a mansion-sized turtle made of water with him in the core of it, and carries his boat on his back as he makes his way back to shore. <> Hinohara. "Yoshiko. You can take a break. I don''t think we won''t have any other visitors anytime soon." Fumio says to Yoshiko as he joins her at her patio. Since the event two days, ago Yoshiko has not slept and simply trained her elixir control in her house while guarding the hill with unease. "No. Who knows how many more are out there?" Yoshiko refuses. "I checked for you. I spent the whole night scanning the ten-kilometer radius around us." Fumio says. "Really?" Yoshiko asks in skepticism. "Yes. I was running around in a spiral. It probably ran almost 500 kilometers." Fumio assures. Yoshiko knows that Fumio did it for her, so she even feels more burdened. "I''ll rest later." She can only promise. "Why don''t we spar then?" Fumio asks. "" Yoshiko is stunned by the invitation. "I know you won''t rest anyway. And. What''s the use of cultivating if you don''t your abilities often?" Fumio asks. "Where? I can''t let the children see what I can do. The gardens are full of valuable herbs too." Yoshiko asks. "" Fumio sees that Yoshiko is simply scared of him. "Boss'' dimension. He keeps it activated all the time now." He suggests. Yoshiko, seeing the stare from Fumio, she knows she cannot refuse. <> *Whack* Yoshiko gets hit in the shoulder and "Offf.." she grunts in pain as she backs away. Fumio however pursues her immediately and *whack* lands another hit to her arm. She then produces steam with her spiritual energy by combining the basic fire summoning and water summoning technique. After that, she jumps meters in the air to distance herself. Before she can sigh in relief at the momentary break, "Hello.", she hears Fumio''s voice from behind her. Before she can turn around, or defend, she gets hit in the back, making her shoot towards the ground. *THUD* Her organs are rocked and wind is knocked out of her lungs as she lands. She gets worried that Fumio will continue to attack her, but fortunately for her, Fumio seems to be waiting for her to stand up. "You''re ruthless." She says through gritted teeth as she sends tens of spiritual energy blades to Fumio''s direction before quickly standing up. Fumio meanwhile simply dodges the blades. The blades are only as fast as an arrow shot by a non-superiori recurve bow archer, and he can run twice as fast as that without effort, so Yoshiko''s attempt was moot in the first place. In Yoshiko''s eyes, it was as if Fumio was miraculously not hit by her volley. She knows however that Fumio''s dodging is no miracle. "That won''t work. Too slow." Fumio remarks, annoying her. She does not listen however and sends more and more spiritual energy blades. Fumio this time, is not confident in dodging all the blades so he summons a spiritual energy shield and easily shatters Yoshiko''s blades. "My elixir is more potent. That won''t work." He advises again as he goes on pursuit. Yoshiko grits her teeth and decides not to run away for now. She swings her wooden katana at Fumio. "What the-" Fumio''s jaw drops at how bad Yoshiko''s swing is. Even though Yoshiko''s sword strikes earlier in the spar can pass for a beginner, her anger fueled sword strikes currently is worse than lousy. "Calm down. It''s not a baseball bat." He can only advise. It is as if he was not heard however and Yoshiko continues to blindly swing. A few swings later, Fumio gets taken aback. The lack of pattern in Yoshiko''s swings makes it hard for him to predict the attacks, and *whoosh* he gets a graze on the thigh. He is not impressed however. It was obviously a close lucky shot. Yoshiko meanwhile, after landing one, hops back, feeling proud. That feeling does not last however as Fumio charges towards her. Fumio this time is not using his wooden sword and instead opts to continue the spar with bare hands. "You" Yoshiko gets annoyed, feeling like she is being looked down upon. Her feelings do not matter however as after painfully blocking just one punch, she gets hit in the gut with one of Fumio''s body blows. She gets frustrated. Fumio is obviously holding back his speed and strength to her level and yet, she cannot land a square hit, or even prolong her defense. Fumio''s casual expression furthers her frustration. ."Are you a better fighter than Sensei?" She cannot help but ask. "What?" Fumio scoffs. "No. Why?" He asks, interested at her conclusion. "I at least get a few hits on him." Yoshiko claims. "Right" Fumio smirks. "I did! Many times!" Yoshiko gets offended at the obvious skepticism. "Right Tell me. Do you only land a hit on him whenever you''re at your limit?" Fumio asks. Yoshiko takes a few seconds to process the question before, "Y-y" she gets stunned by it. It does not take her to realize what Fumio is saying. "That''s right. Every time one of your attacks landed was simply because he let you." Fumio smirks. "You should not have said that." Red appears in front of them. "Sensei." "Boss." The two disciples greet Red. "Kotone knows though?" Fumio asks. "Yes. And because you two realized, you started to refuse sparring with me, no?" Red asks, feigning an annoyed face. "S-sorry, boss." Fumio bows deeply. Red meanwhile, internally shakes his head at Fumio''s unusual behavior and the reason for it. Unlike Kotone and Yoshiko who have intense motivation to train, Fumio feels that he is not as motivated as them. Seeing that Yoshiko''s elixir is now almost as potent as Kotone''s after the hell training, he got intimidated. Instead of dwelling on that feeling however, he started utilize it to give himself motivation. He decided to give Yoshiko more motivation by letting her know the difference between them, and by revealing to her that she is but a frog in a well. The faster Yoshiko grows, the more motivated he will become. "A very convoluted way, Fumio. I''m not impressed." Red tells Fumio. "I''m sorry, boss." Fumio bows again. "Xoz''gekal!" Red then calls out and a few seconds later, Xoz''gekal joins them. "If you''re so strong, why don''t you fight him?" Red asks Fumio rhetorically. "" Fumio knows that he cannot get out of this, so he can only accept. "Yes boss." "" Yoshiko seeing Fumio''s face, rejoices inside. Seeing Red step aside, Yoshiko does so too and stands beside him. The two''s gesture signals Fumio and Xoz''gekal to start at any moment. "Please take care of me." Fumio does a shallow bow to Xoz''gekal while swallowing his anxiety. He had never sparred with the demon before. The demon''s fire even left a few fears in himself. "Uhuh" Xoz''gekal meanwhile, nods in dismissal. ''It''s just a spar.'' Fumio takes a deep breath and undoes his spiritual seals. After that, with just his body''s strength, he charges towards Xoz''gekal. Xoz''gekal meanwhile, simply steps aside and while doing so, a small flame vulture appears behind his ankle before using the leg to kick Fumio. Fumio is stunned by the speed and he steps to the side immediately, dodging the kick effectively. He then throws a leg of his own to which Xoz''gekal parries easily aside with his hand which wrist is also sporting a small flame vulture. The force of Xoz''gekal''s parry forces Fumio off-balance. Fumio meanwhile recovers immediately and uses the forces of the parry to do a cartwheel kick. The kick however is dodged narrowly by Xoz''gekal. Before he can fix himself back to the ground, he feels his gut take a huge hit, and he is sent flying back a few meters. While he gets his footing back, prevents himself from falling down, he is rocked. Thankfully for him, Xoz''gekal seems to be physically weaker than him. "The hell? Do you think you''re in an action movie?" Xoz''gekal then mocks him. "" Fumio does not take offense however, having heard much worse. Instead, he focuses. With just a few exchanges, he immediately feels Xoz''gekal fighting experience. He is about to infuse spiritual energy to his body but, "Don''t you dare.", he hears Red''s voice. "B-but..." Fumio is stunned by the order. After all, he knows he can offset the difference in battle experience between him and Xoz''gekal using spiritual energy, like how he did with Tezguniuth before his hell training. "Would you rather spar with me?" Red asks. " O-kay boss. No elixir.." He can only swallow. Chapter 122 - Disapproval After a few close exchanges without each combatant landing significant damage on one another, one of Xoz''gekal''s vulture flame boosted punch finally lands squarely on Fumios torso. *Fwahh* Fumio''s body is immediately wrapped in flames. Through his crossed arms, he tries to look through the flames to give Xoz''gekal a look of defiance. Xoz''gekal takes Fumio''s momentarily limited field of vision, and rains more flame boosted strikes on the cultivator. Fumio tries to retreat, but blindly dodging attacks from a fighter much more experienced than he is, is useless. After a few more consecutive hits from Xoz''gekal, the flames accumulate until he is encased inside a huge ball of very condensed fire, even hotter than the ones he endured from the demon during his training. Xoz''gekal meanwhile, clicks his tongue. Even though he can see that Fumio is struggling and is in pain, he knows of Fumio''s physique. He knows that Fumio cannot be taken down yet. Soon, *whoosh* Fumio breaks out of the ball of flames, and charges at Xoz''gekal in great speed. Xoz''gekal notices something odd with Fumio''s glare and it tingles his instincts. He then boosts his legs with flame vultures and retreats immediately at a much faster speed that Fumio is charging. He does not know what Fumio is planning, and decides to be careful for now. While Fumio was forbidden by Red to use spiritual energy in this spar, he still boosts his speed momentarily by 30% by executing Hasegawa Footwork 3 and he closes his distance with Xoz''gekal immediately. Xoz''gekal gets confused because while he is in Fumio''s range, he is not seeing any signs of attacking from Fumio. The next moment, however, he finds out why. Fumio dives towards his abdomen and, *thud* he is lifted to the air. Fumio is pleased at this. But as he is about to continue to take Xoz''gekal down, the feeling of resistance from Xoz''gekal disappears suddenly and he loses his balance. He has no time to wonder what type of maneuver Xoz''gekal did as he is suddenly hugged by the demon in a way that wraps his neck. Xoz''gekal then squeezes hard but as soon as he does, he immediately feels immense power coming from the contraction of Fumio''s neck muscles. He already had an idea of how strong Fumio''s physique is because he is a first-hand witness of how Fumio was able to withstand an hour and a half of his second level flame which can melt copper, but hugging Fumio''s body for the first time, he realizes that he severely underestimated it. Fumio, while being choked, panics and he lifts Xoz''gekal off the ground once again while trying to remove the demon''s hold on him. After a few shakes, he feels does not feel Xoz''gekal''s hold loosen, so he jumps meters high in the air bringing Xoz''gekal with him. Xoz''gekal knows what Fumio is thinking of doing so he immediately summons a flame vulture under him to stop himself and Fumio from falling, to persist his choke hold. He then expands the flame vulture to cover the two of them, hoping that the pain the fire inflicts on Fumio will make the young man''s resistance weaker. Fumio meanwhile, is not distracted by the flame. Instead, he realizes that Xoz''gekal is not physically as strong as he thought and that he still has a bit of time before he gets choked out, so he calms down. He then stomps hard on the flame vulture, making it explode. As soon as him and Xoz''gekal start falling back down, he forces Xoz''gekal under him. Xoz''gekal realizes that he does not have much time to summon another vulture and detaches himself. Even though he is much more experienced than Fumio, and can possibly turn around Fumio''s move, Fumio''s crazed recklessness made him nervous. He is also not willing to risk being smashed to the ground by Fumio given the disparity between their physical strengths. "Damn So, grappling doesn''t work either." Fumio says in frustration as him and Xoz''gekal lands back on the ground. "Don''t even try. I''ve taken part in hundreds of wresting and grappling tournaments in Hell." Xoz''gekal smirks. "Wrestling? I use jiu-jitsu though." Fumio grumbles. "So? In over fifteen thousand years of wrestling and grappling history, I''ve seen many jiu-jitsu practitioners among demons. They just don''t have a name for it." Xoz''gekal scoffs. "Right" Fumio gets it. "Tezguniuth-san''s fighting style that looks so close to the Russian Systema''s slap techniques, but he never knew until I told him." He compares. Xoz''gekal shrugs, not really interested at the comparison. He then summons tens of chicken-sized flame vultures and throws them to Fumio. Fumio''s eyes widen in shock. Unlike the yellow flame that Xoz''gekal has been using before, the small flame vultures are made of blue flames. As he dodges, he feels the heat coming from the flame vulture that passes by him. He figures that they must be two times hotter than the flames Xoz''gekal uses on the oven on him. Even though the flame vultures travel much slower than Yoshiko''s spiritual energy blades, he still cannot dodge all of them, so he can only block and pop the ones he cannot block. Xoz''gekal''s flames however are unusual. His limbs that blocked the flame vultures immediately feel hot. His socks and the bottom of his kimono even caught on fire which fortunately put out immediately. Seeing Xoz''gekal elevate things, he takes out his practice katana from his storage ring. He then looks at Red as if asking permission to use a weapon. To his relief, Red nods in response. As soon as he takes his attention back on Xoz''gekal, more flame vultures come his way. Unlike the first time, the flame vultures are now much smaller but they are now numbering more than a hundred. Fumio then continues to dodge and the vultures he cannot dodge, he blocks with his sword. Unlike the first time, he fails to protect himself totally from the flame vultures and he gets hit in various parts of his body. The hotness of Xoz''gekal''s flames display their danger as even his clothes that were special due to them being Red''s handicraft, immediately starts being consumed by the leftover blue flames. Instead of putting the flames out, he rips his clothes off of his body, finding clothes inconvenient at this situation. He does not care about the presence of a lady as he is still wearing boxers, covering his lower parts well. He can only hope that Xoz''gekal is honorable enough to spare his underwear. Yoshiko meanwhile, cannot help but blush at Fumio''s daring action, but her interest in the spar overwhelms her shyness. Before Xoz''gekal can summon any more flame vultures, Fumio charges forward in a zigzagging manner. Xoz''gekal nods in approval as he boosts his legs once again with flame vultures and starts retreating. While doing so, he summons double the amount of flame vultures he summoned last time and conservatively throws them to Fumio while reading Fumio''s pattern. Soon enough, just as Fumio is starting to close the distance, he gets hit by two flame vultures in the chest. This stops him for a moment, and his momentary vulnerability is immediately exploited by Xoz''gekal as Xoz''gekal throws a hundred flame vultures towards him all at once. He also realizes that the flame vultures are flying at him at a formation that blocks any path forward. He can only retreat while dodging or swatting off the flame vultures with his katana. After retreating a certain distance, he sees Xoz''gekal charge forward, matching his retreating speed. Fumio immediately figures that Xoz''gekal''s powers has range limits. With this in mind, he estimates the current distance between himself and the demon which is at around fifteen meters. A plan also brews in his mind, and it being the only plan he has for now, decides to act on it. As soon as he sees Xoz''gekal run out of flame vultures, he immediately charges forward. Xoz''gekal who still has not stabilized himself from his forward momentum, cannot retreat as fast as he wants. Seeing that Fumio will easily close the distance, he can only quickly summon flame vultures and keep sending them to Fumio. Fumio however, as if not feeling any pain, and has learned his lesson earlier, continues to charge, not caring about the flame vultures that are assaulting his body. Soon enough, he is already in front of Xoz''gekal at a sword swinging motion. Xoz''gekal meanwhile, is not fast enough to retreat or defend any further. As soon as he feels the warm blade on his neck, he stops on his steps. "I guess it''s my loss." He can only admit. "I got lucky. And you were holding back." Fumio retreats his katana. He heard from Tezguniuth that Xoz''gekal recently got stronger and is now a mid to high tier A-class level, and from what Xoz''gekal displayed during the spar, he feels that Xoz''gekal did not go all out. "Lucky? Maybe. As for holding back, I''m not the only one. Kichirou-sama stopped you from doing something earlier, didn''t he? I wonder how our spar would have gone if we both went all out." Xoz''gekal shrugs. He is not stupid. He has seen how Fumio, Kotone, and Yoshiko train. He has also seen Fumio and Kotone spar with each other in the treasure fragment dimension. The Fumio who sparred with him today, moved much, much slower than the fastest he has seen the young man move while sparring with Kotone. He has always been confident that he can defeat Fumio and Kotone in nine out of ten fights even though the two are physically stronger than him, by resorting to his superior aerial mobility and the longer range of his attacks. But now that he lost a spar, albeit due to his own carelessness, from the obviously powered down Fumio, he is not so sure if he can even win against Fumio in three out of ten fights. "If boss didn''t stop me? ..." Fumio smiles. He just realizes that he was able to beat Xoz''gekal just with his physical body. "It probably would have ended the same?" Fumio smirks. Xoz''gekal smirks back. ''As expected from master''s disciple'' He realizes that Fumio already blew past him. "Now put on some clothes like a self-respecting human." He scoffs at Fumio. Fumio realizes that he is still half-naked so he immediately pulls out a bathrobe from his storage ring. He chose the outfit as he will go for a medicinal bath to treat his burns anyway. He then looks at Red but instead of receiving at least a look of approval from the man which he was expecting, Red is busy chatting with Yoshiko instead. "B-boss" He calls out, in case there are anymore orders from Red. "Oh. Well done." Red nods. His tone is a bit dismissive however, which hurts Fumio a bit. "If you want to spar with someone, choose someone who you''ll learn something from." He continues. "Yes, boss." Fumio can only accept, reminded of what he did to Yoshiko earlier. "Good. Now go treat your burns and after that, let''s talk about your progress." Red nods and dismisses Fumio. "That was a bit mean, sensei." Yoshiko, seeing Fumio''s retreating back, feels bad. "Think of it as a medicine he needs." Red shrugs. He has treated Fumio very well and has always expressed his approval towards the young man. But with how Fumio is now, he wants to remind the man that getting his approval will also become harder the more powerful Fumio becomes. He hopes that Fumio seeking his approval will help with the motivation that Fumio so desires. Chapter 123 - Lunch "You''re here." Sayuri greets Fumio who just arrived at the private dining room that she reserved for the two of them. "Hi." Fumio greets back with a smile before sitting on the floor across the table from Sayuri. "I''m surprised. I thought you''d be very busy. You''re still in your boss woman attire." He remarks, noticing Sayuri''s pantsuit attire, looking the part of an executive. "Came here straight from the office." Sayuri shrugs. "But you. Why are you wearing a fancy kimono? Don''t tell me you dressed up for this?" She asks, amused. "This is my work attire." Fumio shrugs. "Hah. Good one. What kind of an entertainment agent wears kimonos for work?" Sayuri scoffs. "Well, my client is an oddball." Fumio does not bother to explain his Muscle Masters uniform. It has been a month since Sayuri''s rescue from the Hasegawa and today being the end of the month, also comes the two''s monthly lunch date. The two initially thought that with Sayuri out of the clan, they would be spending more time with each other, but they are only half right. Ever since Sayuri started working for Tezguniuth, she and Fumio rarely spend time with each other. She has been busy handling the construction of three locations of Red''s future coffee shops. She was so busy that she only got to sleep an hour or two a night; half of her usual full night''s sleep. Fumio meanwhile has also been busy day and night. During the day, he is cooped up in Muscle Masters, serving customers, studying the basics of Reds herbology and herbal compounding, or has been teaching Haruto the 16 basic poses and massaging the young man''s meridians. During the night, he is focused on cultivating and consolidating a True Elixir Sea. "Right As if you didn''t ask my boss." Sayuri scoffs. "I didn''t though?" Fumio is confused. "You didn''t?" Sayuri is confused too. "You sure? He gave me the rest of the afternoon off to, using his own words, ''hang out with Fumio''." She asks. "No Wait" Fumio''s mind churns and immediately reaches a guess. He figures that Tezguniuth must have heard from Kotone or Xoz''gekal his rescue of Sayuri all started out from a missed lunch date. "Okay. He must have remembered huh." Fumio uses his realization to come up with a lie. "Remembered?" Sayuri asks. "Yes. Was it the end of June? Or July? He asked me out to lunch, but I refused. I can''t come up with a lie, so I told him the truth. That you and I were going to have lunch. After I explained why it was special to me, I guess it must have stuck with him." Fumio lies smoothly. "Ah" Sayuri is enlightened but at the same time, moved that Fumio refused to have lunch with a powerful and smart ''superioris'' like Tezguniuth, to have lunch with her. "W-well. I didn''t think he couldn''t be any nicer. I would have asked and insisted to take the afternoon off, and it would have made things awkward." She is planning on thanking Tezguniuth some time. "Yeah. I''ll invite him out to lunch some time as a thanks... Let''s order?" Fumio wants to stop lying. "I already did. My treat, my food choices." Sayuri says in a playfully stern manner. "Whatever. You know good food." Fumio shrugs, knowing Sayuri''s taste. "Instead" Sayuri takes something from under the table and puts it the table. "" Fumio is taken aback by what looks like a gift. A small one, but is wrapped in a fancy looking box. It even has a ribbon on top of it. "What''s that?" He cannot help but ask, unsure if what he is seeing is what he hopes it to be. "A gift of course." Sayuri says as she slides over the box closer to Fumio. "For what?" Fumio asks, feeling taken aback and pleasantly surprised at the same time. "" Sayuri gets confused at Fumio''s reaction. "What''s up with you? It''s not like I''m bribing you." She cannot help but ask. "Ah" Fumio catches his own reaction. "Of course, not Thank you, nee-san." He gently puts his hand on top of the box. "Don''t thank me just yet. Why don''t you open it first?" Sayuri asks in hidden excitement. "Okay." Fumio starts unwrapping the present. Sayuri while watching Fumio, gets confused even more. She sees that Fumio is too gentle at untying the ribbon as if he is afraid of leaving folds on it. She also notices that Fumio''s hands seem to be slightly trembling as if the lid of the box he is lifting is kilograms heavy. Finally, she sees Fumio look inside the box with an unreadable expression with his lower lip is trembling. "H-how is it?" She asks in worry. "It looks good." Fumio nods. Sayuri, seeing the subtle but genuine smile from Fumio, is relieved. "Well? Try it on" She urges. "Alright." Fumio then removes the watch he received from Red from his wrist and puts it on the table. He then takes the brand-new watch inside the box, which is Sayuri''s present, and gently wears it on his wrist. The watch is silver in color including the watch bracelet. While it does not have intricate design and is displaying a minimalist look, it would look suitable for any occasion. "You really know your stuff about watches." Fumio thanks Sayuri after appreciating it. "Even though I can''t afford luxury watches, this one will last decades." Sayuri is proud of Fumio''s assessment. The reason why she chose a watch to gift Fumio is because she is an expert in it, having managed Hasegawa''s watch store for years. "Thank you. I like it." Fumio says as he starts adjusting the time in it. "That''s a relief. I was worried because you looked like you were defusing a bomb." Sayuri can now relax. "Was that how I looked?" Fumio is amused. "How long has it been since I received a gift? Like, a REAL gift? Ten years ago or so? I can''t help but look awkward." He chuckles. He received gifts from Red like seal-imbued clothes and trinkets, but Red insisted many times that those are not to be treated as gifts. Red said it so many times that Fumio is forced to simply treat the things he received from Red as ''company-issued'' things. " ''Ten years ago'' ''or so''" While he said those words in passing, Sayuri is taken aback hearing them. " Wasn''t that" She starts calculating and shortly comes up with a connection. "your genpuku?..." She is referring to the ceremony that the Hasegawa or any other clan that descended from nobility practice. It marks the transition of a child to adult status in the clan. Fumio underwent his genpuku at a relatively young age of thirteen. "Uhuh" Fumio nods. "But looking back, is a clan-issued wakizashi really a gift?" He shrugs. "" Sayuri is speechless. She knows that non-superiori clan members did not have it as good as the superiori members, but for Fumio to not receive a gift even from their parents, is a shock to her. She always thought that because their family celebrated Fumio''s birthday, it was a given that Fumio was also given some gifts. This realization makes her wish she could have given Fumio gifts while he was in the clan. "Anyways. I hope you didn''t break the bank with this, Nee-san. It looks expensive." Fumio takes off his new watch and puts it back in the box. "Wow" Sayuri rolls her eyes. "What?" Fumio is confused by Sayuri''s reaction. "I guess you find my watch too cheap to wear instead." Sayuri says as she picks up the watch that Red gave Fumio and takes a closer look at it. "This, if I''m not wrong, belongs to Grand Makoto''s Dash Line." She says as she looks at the back of the watch. "I don''t know what that means." Fumio tilts his head and knowing Sayuri''s expertise, waits for an explanation. "Grand Makoto is Makoto''s luxury brand, and Dash Line is one of their latest design series. This looks brand new too. Did you buy it?" Kotone asks. "No. Someone gave it to me." Fumio corrects her. "I thought you didn''t receive a gift in ten years?" Sayuri asks. "I said ''real'' gift. My two colleagues also received the same watch. It''s more like receiving a giveaway than a gift." Fumio explains. While he is appreciative and thankful of the things he received from Red, he feels the lack of sentiment from them compared to Sayuri''s excitement, worry, and happiness in giving him the newer watch. "Wow A 2-million-yen watch is a give-away?" Sayuri is surprised. "2 million?" Fumio is surprised too. But comparing it to his earnings in the four months as Muscle Master''s master, which sums up to 14 million yen, he realizes that he can afford it himself, although he would have to grit his teeth to buy one. What makes the watch''s value drop even more in his eyes however is why it was given to him in the first place. The watch is only a glorified receptacle that came along with the demon core that Red gave him, which could possibly sell ten times the price of the luxury watch. While he wants to refrain from using the demon core to recharge his reserves or to cultivate, he still finds it valuable. The watch can be ran over by a truck for all he cares as long as the demon core is fine. "Oh well. My boss is rich. Makes sense." He finds an excuse how such a luxury watch ended in his possession. "Wow. You''re big time now." Sayuri is amused by Fumio''s dismissal of the watch''s price. "Big time? Nah. I''ve just seen bigger things." Fumio chuckles. "This expensive watch can go fuck itself. The watch you gave me is priceless." He assures Sayuri. "" Sayuri is pleased with Fumio''s words. *knock* *knock* "Excuse me." The two suddenly hear someone outside the room''s door. "Our food?" Fumio asks. "Yeah." Sayuri nods and "Come in.", orders the server in. Soon, a petite lady, with two tall men following behind her, enter the room, carrying trays of food with them. "You why''d you order that much? You already spent a lot on the watch." Fumio asks Sayuri. He feels burdened being treated to what looks like a kaiseki meal. Although the kaiseki meal is the casual type, it is still a master craft of a sumptuous feast and therefore is very expensive. Even though he has an idea of the salary that Tezguniuth is giving Sayuri, he suspects that this meal, in addition to the watch, put a hole in her wallet. "Special occasion. My first paycheck outside the clan." Sayuri dismisses Fumio''s concern. "Don''t worry. I''m not as rich as you. This will be rare from me." She adds. "Aight" Fumio accepts it for now. Suddenly, *clank* one of the male servers setting up the table accidentally topples one of the saucers, spilling soy sauce. "Sorry." He apologizes immediately. "It''s fine." Fumio waves the apology off, but he observes the servers as he immediately noticed something strange with them. First, the food is not that much that it requires three servers to set up the table. Second, Fumio figures that the servers seem to be inexperienced basing on their rough and overly cautious movements; ones that should not be serving customers in private dining rooms. And finally, he feels as though there is a snake in the room that is ready to strike at any moment. Chapter 124 - Complications Fumio, feeling danger from the servers, frantically tries to observe the reason why while trying to appear calm. As the petite female server lays down his plate in front of him, he catches a whiff of something familiar. A scent that is not the olfactory kind, but something that knocks on his gut feeling that makes him scrunch his nose. This brings him to that time when he first found out the hidden identities of Red''s servants. He then looks more closely at the two male servers and also starts getting the same feeling that he got from the female server. He looks at Sayuri who got lost in appraising his watch, hoping that the servers will not see or detect the demon core that is in the strap of it. He swallows nervously, takes a deep breath, and infuses a bit of spiritual energy to his brain and heart to calm himself down. Soon however, he realizes that his efforts to appear relaxed is too late. As he steals a glance at three servers again, he sees all the three, which he is now sure are demons, already stopped what they are doing and are looking at him strangely. This immediately brings tension in the room. Sayuri, whose attention was on Fumio''s watch, notice the sudden silence and looks around. .She immediately notices the strange atmosphere, and feels that something is wrong. "What''s going on? Do you all know each other?" She asks as she sneakily puts her hand over her ankle where her dagger is concealed. Fumio meanwhile, undoes his resistance seals and prepares to take out his sword from his storage ring. "Don''t dare to be brazen. We are in a public space." Fumio warns the female demon, which he figures is the leader of her group, as soon as he feels the tension rise. "Only us inside this room are the ones awake in the restaurant, kid." The female demon smirks. "You''re too observant for your own good. You two were going to die today without knowing it. Now you have no choice but to witness it." She adds. With this, the male demons each jump at Fumio and Sayuri. Fumio quickly processes the everything and decides to be brazen himself, while dropping his concern about questions for later. Seeing the two demons'' speed of movement, Fumio figures that they are at least C-Class in strength. While the two are fast for the average superiori, they are moving almost in slow motion in Fumio''s eyes. But even though they are slow, Fumio does not want to risk them harming Sayuri. He quickly pulls out his rune katana from his storage ring, strikes one thrust each at the male demons'' torsos in quick succession, before storing back it back his storage ring. The two demons then freeze in their steps. "" "" Sayuri and the female demon, are stunned at what had just occurred. All that Sayuri saw was a glint of something shiny. The female demon meanwhile, definitely saw Fumio attack her subordinates but the speed of it and the disappearance of the sword she definitely saw, makes her question if what she saw was real. Before the two women can wonder, grey smoke rush out of the male demons'' bodies before quickly condensing into demon cores. "N-no" The female demon wants to deny what is happening but, *thud* *thud* *clack* *clack* the bodies and demon cores dropping to the floor almost makes her dizzy in shock. Before she can even think of fleeing, Fumio who was just sitting on the floor, zoom in front of her and she gets pinned to the wall by him through a hold on her neck. "WHY?..." Fumio asks through gritted teeth. "" The demon cannot come up with an answer. Seeing the demon speechless, "Nee-san. Please check the bodies if they are still alive." Fumio can only request Sayuri. "Y-Yes" Sayuri is pulled out of her shock and confusion and does as what Fumio say immediately. A few seconds later, "T-they''re dead" Sayuri reports. "That''s unfortunate." Fumio sighs in relief. Understanding that the demons already made the bodies they possessed as their own, he is relieved that he did not just inflict lethal wounds to temporarily possessed humans. "I''m not gonna ask again, WHY?" He asks the demon again. Instead of answering, the demon gets the courage to fight back. Before she can, however, she feels Fumio pull her towards him before receiving a huge headbutt from the young man. Her world is rocked and her command on her powers is cut. If it is not for Fumio holding her up, she would have already collapsed to the floor too. "" She cannot help but curse her luck. The reason why she was so brazen in attacking random humans is because encountering a superioris stronger than her in a small city like Nerima, is statistically less than .01 %. After feeling out atmospheric energy which helped him learn that the people in the restaurant, at least the ones within twenty meters from their dining room, are unmoving, confirming what the demon said earlier. "There is no movement outside. You left us for last when we should have been the first ones based on our location. That means you were targeting specifically us. Why?" Fumio asks again after feeling out the atmospheric spiritual energy. "Just kill me." The demon glares back in defiance. Fumio shakes his head. Suddenly, he gets an idea. "Nee-san. I know you have a lot of questions." He turns to Sayuri. "" Sayuri simply nods. She cannot even dare to speak. "I will try and answer what I can later. For now, please step outside the room. If there are more demons outside, just barge back in." Fumio asks. "O-okay." Sayuri can only swallow her curiosities for now and steps out of the room without question. With the demon and Fumio finally alone, Fumio lets go of the demon and gestures her to sit at where Sayuri''s spot. The demon is taken aback by Fumio''s sudden change in attitude and but his non-confrontational body language warns her not to flee. She also knows that she cannot flee even if she is in perfect condition. "I''m sorry about your men They were out for me and my friend''s lives after all. I couldn''t just sit by, no?" Fumio asks. "" The demon cannot retort to the logic. "I''m not the type to kill demons as soon as I see one. Do you know Tezguniuth, or Xoz''gekal?" Fumio asks the demon. "" The demon''s eyes widen. "I-I do" She cannot help but react to the question genuinely as humans rarely get to know demons'' real names. "Then take a seat. I''ll tell you about them." Fumio gestures the demon again to seat. "Okay." The demon can only powerlessly heed the request for now. "I know them personally. Would you like to hear about their current whereabouts?" Fumio asks. The demon, while initially pleased and excited, gets skeptical immediately. "Right" "It''s true. I beat Xoz''gekal in a spar lately. His flame vultures burned me a lot though and were annoying to deal with. As for Tezguniuth, well, he''s asked me to invest in the coffee business he is building." Fumio starts. Even though she is not showing it, what Fumio said about Xoz''gekal and Tezguniuth surprises the demon. Fumio''s claim about Xoz''gekal''s ability is too specific to be made-up and his words about Tezguniuth perfectly coincides with what she and her men has observed ever since they started tailing Sayuri. "So. Let me ask you again. Why were you targeting us? If you answer me honestly, whether I like your answer or not, I will help you contact Xoz''gekal or Tezguniuth." Fumio asks. "You won''t kill me, would you?" The demon smirks. "You saw through my apprehension earlier. With how long you''ve lived, I''m too young to deceive you through words. Do you honestly think I''m lying?" Fumio asks. "" The demon indeed feels that Fumio seems to be telling the truth. "I approached Tezguniuth a few days ago, to" The demon spills the story, feeling she might as well might even if she does not make it out of the room alive. "So. We were about to use your friend as a warning to him. I''m not going to apologize for what we tried to do earlier. We are desperate." She concludes her story in resolve. "That seems to be so, Galgredol-san." Fumio nods. "I''m glad you understand." Galgredol is relieved by Fumio''s reaction. The next moment however, she sees Fumio''s face crack into an expression she never expected, or hoped to see. Before she can take action, she already sees Fumio''s arm suddenly move to a blur. She realizes what had just happened and she feels an unimaginable pain assaulting her entire being. "Y-you!" Before she can express her disbelief at being deceived, her demon specter already goes haywire and leaves her body. Her consciousness starting to wane, her life she feels that is fleeting, she can only accept her death in resentment. After Galgredol''s demon core drops to the ground, "Phew" Fumio sighs in relief that it is finally over. By applying his spiritual energy to the part of his brain that controls his emotions, he was able to lie to the demon knight''s face. After picking up the three demon cores and storing the demons'' bodies in his storage ring, he feels out the atmospheric spiritual energy, and detects that Sayuri is still outside, waiting by the door. He does not invite her back in however and instead sits back down and pours himself a glass of the still warm sake. While he easily solved the unexpected situation, he feels burdened by the complications it has produced. ."The fuck do I do now?" He can only bitterly down his sake. .<> Hinohara *crrr* An almost dilapidated sedan slowly pulls over at the bottom of the hill. Inside of it is a Japanese couple in their early 30s, dressed in outfits that does not fit the country side. The man, who is seated at the driver''s seat, is sporting a baseball cap, thick oversized hoodie, loose jeans, and sneakers. The hip-hop attire may be easily ignored but the man''s tattoos on his neck and the back of his head will definitely make most pedestrians stare. The woman meanwhile, seated at the passenger''s seat, is dressed in a way that matches her man''s fashion. She is wearing a loose-fitting crop top she crafted out of her man''s old button up shirt, exposing her belly. Her legs are draped with breathable skinny jeans, and her feet are sporting a pair of sneakers that has the same design as her man''s shoes. Unlike her man who has tattoos, she does not. She however has piercings on her ears, nose, and lips. "Are you sure we''re in the right place, babe?" The woman cannot help but ask as she looks at the plain, warehouse-looking building that seems to be embedded at the bottom of the hill. Beside it is a clay road that goes up the hill. "It looks spooky." She continues to comment. "I''m not sure either" The man too, is not too sure now. "So much for a ''life-changing opportunity''" The woman grumbles. "Hey. They already gave us 50,000 yen just to get here." The man reminds her. "Oh" The woman nods, but she is still unsure of what awaits them at the isolated place. Chapter 125 - Dancing Hello Readers. ''Sup? Just want to apologize. The chapter''s a bit shorter than usual, and again, unpolished. I''m writing this while having a fever, and my focus is yet again, off. I''ll make it up in the future chapters. On to the story. ===== The couple, despite already receiving free money, hesitate stepping out of the car in front of a warehouse, in the middle of nowhere. ."What do we do?" "Let me call them." While the two are discussing what to do, *knock**knock* they are startled by a young gorgeous woman, dressed in an orange, leaf patterned kimono, knocking on the passenger window. "" While the two are stunned, the young woman gestures to them to roll their window down, which the woman in the couple hesitatingly does. "Mr. Tajima Yori and I assume Mrs. Tajima?" The woman greets them and, "I''m Riz.", she introduces herself. "You''re Riz?" The couple is surprised that the one who sent them the mysterious text a few days ago, who has given them directions to the place, who has wired them the free money, is the woman in front of them. They do not know why, but both of them have assumed that ''Riz'' was a man. "Yes." Rizretheen simply nods, understanding their surprise. She after all, did not introduce herself properly in her texts to them and has only given them her nickname as their way of addressing her. She actually did not expect the couple to accept her invitation so to receive a text from them the night before is a pleasant surprise to her. "Let''s head up the hill." She says as she turns to the direction of the clay road heading up the hill. She then activates her powers. Her head hair suddenly grows very long, flowing outwards like a flood, before divide into six sections. The six sections of hair then quickly morph to the form of what looks like six huge ant legs, not only appearance wise, but also how they move. The couple immediately get spooked by Rizretheen looking like a hybrid of a giant ant and a human. "" The couple exchange looks, before nodding at each other. They decide to follow Rizretheen for now and they start driving. "Okay are we really in the right place?" Akane, Mrs. Tajima, cannot help but ask herself as she and Yori arrive at the middle of the hill under Rizretheen''s lead. "I know I feel I''m not dressed appropriately." Yori feels the same as he turns off the car engine. While they appreciate the beautiful traditional houses, they feel very out of place. Especially when the kimono-wearing inhabitants of the hill, the children and adults alike, are looking their way curiously. They somehow feel comfort looking at the expensive looking yellow SUV parked in front of the giant bamboo gate, and the huge tablet PC held by one of the demon servants, as those things are the only ones that give them a sense of familiarity in this beautiful and fancy but archaic looking place. "At least this place look peaceful" Akane says as she gets out of the car, urged by Rizretheen''s beckoning to her and her husband. "Yeah. But as to why we''re invited here " Yori sighs and he gets out of the car too. "This way." Rizretheen then leads the two to the shaded training yard slash outdoor classroom of the children. "S-sorry for the disturbance" Akane quietly apologizes seeing that the children and Yoshiko who she assumes to be their teacher, are looking at them instead of the notebooks and books on their desks. "Are they?..." Yoshiko asks Rizretheen, looking at the newcomers with a curious eye. "Yes." Rizretheen nods. "Okay. The kids are done anyways." Yoshiko nods. "Kids. The is over early today." She then informs the children. The children excitedly close their books and notebooks, and then carry their own desks inside their house. Suddenly, Red appears in the training yard. "Sensei." "Sir." "Good morning, sir." Yoshiko, Rizretheen, and the demon servants are already used to Red''s habit of appearing suddenly. The Tajima couple meanwhile are startled enough that they recoil from Red. "Hello, everyone." Red nods at Yoshiko and the servants before, "Hello there.", greeting the couple in a casual manner. "Y-yes." "Hello, sir." Akane and Yori bow in greeting immediately, feeling the authority oozing off of Red. "Well. I guess one should not really judge a book by its cover. You two are rather polite unlike your appearances suggest." Red jokes. "Heheh" "Hah." Yoshiko and Rizretheen chuckle at Red''s comment. "" Akane and Yori do not know how to respond, but they relax a bit seeing the accommodating mood from Red and the others. The next moment, the children, having all finished putting away their desks, come back in the training yard. Seeing Red, they immediately assume their line-up and "Good morning Kichirou-san!" greet Red in unison. "Never mind that, children. Please, take a seat." Red orders them. With the children seated, "We have here Akane-san and Yori-san." Red introduces the newcomers to the children. "Good morning." The children greet the couple. "Good morning." "Hello." Akane and Yori, despite the strangeness of the situation, manage to greet back smoothly. "Akane-san! Your piercings are cool!" Ran points at Akane''s face. "T-thank you?" Akane is taken aback by Ran''s open-mindedness for her age. "Are you a yakuza?" Chihiro asks Yori, obviously referring to the man''s tattoos. "No. I just like how it looks." Yori explains immediately, not wanting to cause a misunderstanding. "Ask questions later, kids." Red stops the two energetic children. "Now. I heard from Hachiyo-san and Roku-san that you kids are spending your internet time watching dance videos?" Red asks the children, especially Ran, Chihiro, and Osamu who the demon babysitters reported as having the deepest interests in the subject. "Yes! I''m learning how to dance like Arina-san (Musume46)!" Ran reports. "I want to breakdance!" Chihiro raises his interest in the matter too. "I see" Red smiles in acknowledgement. "Osamu, you?" He asks the child who is hesitant in expressing himself. "Just any hip hop dance." Osamu shyly says. "Good. That''s good." Red nods. "Do you all want to see those dances in real life?" He asks the children. "Yes!" The children, except the daydreaming Kanon answer. "" Akane and Yori exchange glances, now realizing why they are in the place. "hip-hop dancers!" Osamu points at the couple out of excitement, suddenly realizing something. "They are?" Chihiro and Ran get interested at the couple. "That''s right!" Red confirms with a smile. "But they are more like freestyle dancers." He corrects them. "Freestyle?" "What''s that?" Chihiro and Ran ask. The dancer couple meanwhile, look at Red in surprise at his knowledge of them. "That means they can dance many types of dances, not just hip hop. They can also dance to any song." Red explains. "Dance to any song?" Taishiro gets more interested at what is happening. "That''s right." Red nods. Akane and Yori suddenly get uncomfortable and uncertain, feeling that Red is one of those cool dad types who does not know much about a subject but gets overly enthusiastic about it. Red notices this and he smirks at them. "Don''t worry. The songs I''m gonna play are the clich pop songs and hip-hop songs you''ve probably both heard before." He assures the two. The couple sigh in relief. "Akane-san! Can you dance like Arina?" Ran asks. "Arina?" Akane fails to recognize the name. "Musume46 member. One of those bubblegum type idols." Red explains. "Oh" Akane processes before nodding. "I can dance like Arina. Just show me and I can copy her." She tells Ran in confidnence. "Really?!" Ran asks in excitement. "Yes." Idol dances are too easy for Akane to replicate. "Okay. Why don''t we start?" Red says, and with that, music suddenly starts playing in the background. Akane and Yori then look around, trying to find the speakers, but they see none. They look at Red in wonder, but they get no answer. "The music seems to be for you, Yori-san. Why don''t you start off?" Red starts the two''s task immediately. Soon, *ooohh* *ahhhh* *Whoah!* all sorts of exclamations of wonder and appreciation come out of the children as they watch Akane and Yori take turns in dancing to random songs. Yoshiko and Kotone, who are watching this from a distance, feel their hearts warm up. "So, sensei cared about them all along." Yoshiko sighs. "Of course, he does." Kotone looks at Yoshiko strangely. "That''s not what I meant." Yoshiko gets defensive. "What I meant was, I thought he was the tough father type." "I know. I was just messing with you." Kotone chuckles. "Anyways. It''s good to see them like this." She says as she takes her attention back to the children. "I know. What a relief." Yoshiko agrees. This is the first time that they are seeing the children in high spirits since the demon soldier Alvannath, or Nana-san to the children, died. It has been four days since then and the two young ladies had growing concerns when the children, instead of showing signs of moving on, were growing somber and serious instead. They can only thank Red for inviting the two dancers to entertain the children. An hour later, the music stops playing and Akane also concludes her freestyle to the song with a nice ending flare. *clap* *clap* *clap* The children, for the nth time, give her applause. "I think that''s it for Akane and Yori-san, children." Red addresses the children. "Aww" The children groan unanimously in disappointment. "Well. They''re tired. Let them rest." Red says, making the children realize that Akane and Yori are sweating hard despite the cold weather. "We can go on, sir." Yori says to Red softly. "This is nothing for us. We just have to take a break, and we''re good to go." Akane adds. Usually, they will dance to compete with others or to make themselves feel alive. But after bringing smiles to the kids'' faces and making them cheer in enthusiasm, it made them feel a new flavor of happiness for the first time in a long time, making them want to dance for the children more even for free. "Okay. Let''s do that later. Instead, is there something basic that you can teach the kids in a few minutes? Something that can make them dance together?" Red asks the two. "We can do that, sir." Akane nods. "I have something in mind." Yori adds. "Good. If I''m satisfied by what I''m seeing, maybe I can offer you, as what Riz told you over text, ''a life changing opportunity.''." Red promises the two. "" Akane and Yori are determined to achieve results. Chapter 126 - Another Layer Of Deception "Nee-san." Fumio calls out to Sayuri who despite getting over her shock at everything she witnessed earlier, is still muddleheaded with questions that have immediately brewed in her mind. "Y-yes" Sayuri responds in panic. Looking at Fumio, who she now assumes to be at least a high tier B-Class Superiori based on the speed he displayed earlier, she no longer certain of how to act. "I''m still your brother." Fuimo says, a bit bitter of Sayuri''s change in attitude. "Of course." Sayuri nods, feeling a bit relieved by Fumio''s words. Seeing that Sayuri is ready to listen, Fumio takes a deep breath. "First of all. I owe you an apology." He starts. "Apology? For what?" Sayuri asks. "Is it because you''ve kept your abilities from me?" While she feels a bit betrayed by Fumio keeping his ability secret, she feels that it is Fumio''s right to do so. "No. It''s Because of me, you had to suffer under Hideki." Fumio looks down at the cold food on the table, not knowing where else to look. "What do you" Sayuri is about to wave off the apology, but when she sees Fumio''s guilty expression, and an idea suddenly clicks in her mind. "Hideki It was really you?" She asks in incredulity. "Yes. It was me." Fumio admits. Sayuri looks at Fumio with conflicting emotions, not knowing what to say. "I was so blinded by revenge that I didn''t think of the consequences. I''m sorry." Fumio continues to apologize. "Just" While Sayuri feels that Fumio is a bit at fault with what happened to her with the clan, she does not feel that it is right to blame Fumio. She knows how much Fumio has suffered under Hideki, and also knows about his special female friend who died under Hideki''s hands. "What was her name? ... I guess you loved her more than I thought." She can only conclude, accepting that she just happened to be collateral damage. "It was not only about Ine." Fumio shakes his head. "I wouldn''t even have touched Hideki if he didn''t try to destroy my life outside the clan." "What do you mean?" Sayuri gets curious at what exactly happened. "Did he ever tell anyone that we met each other by accident months before his accident?" Fumio asks. "I didn''t hear anything about it." Sayuri is surprised at the information. "We did. Around September last year, I was living my peaceful life in this city like usual. I was walking back to work when he appeared, insulted me, and attacked me. With the lethal injury he inflicted on me, I was left by him in some back alley to die like a stray dog. It''s actually just a few blocks away from here....." Fumio starts recounting. Sayuri, listening to every detail of the encounter, starts getting angry for Fumio. "... Thankfully, my boss found where I was, and sent me to be healed by people he knows." Even though Fumio is changing the events in his story, the emotions he is feeling remembering that day, is still fresh in his heart and mind. "Who would have thought that that incident awakened my superioris ability. And not only awaken, but also grow very fast with the help of some people." He pauses for Sayuri to process. "T-that''s possible?" Sayuri is mystified. "Of course, it is" She answers her own question however, seeing the evidence in front of her. "What happened to me is what people who are in the know, call a ''Late Awakening''." Fumio starts making it up on the fly. "I''ve not heard of this happen before." Sayuri''s world view is upended by the information. "They are cited in some books. But they''re very rare and happen usually late in childhood." Fumio adds. "But you''re not a child" Sayuri''s eyebrows raise. "Yes. Late Awakening in early adulthood is even rarer." Fumio nods. "And to grow this fast and this strong, is unheard of." He adds. "It''s a miracle then." Sayuri has no other words to describe Fumio. "You can say that." Fumio shrugs. "Talking about growing fast and strong" Sayuri changes the subject. "May I know by how much?" She asks, intensely curious at the extent of Fumio''s abilities. "You don''t have to tell me if you don''t want to." Seeing that Sayuri is now asking a sensitive question , which is a sign that she is back in her more frank self, Fumio is relieved. "Low A-Class." He undersells his real ability. "A-Class" Sayuri is shocked. "No need to react so strongly, nee-san. I''m low-tier." Fumio feels that he should have undersold his abilities more, seeing Sayuri''s face. "You''re still A-Class! One of the few hundred in the country!" Sayuri feels as though Fumio has no idea of how big deal being an A-Class is. "I am. But I''m still hiding my abilities. I''m still an unregistered superioris." Fumio shrugs. "Why?" Sayuri''s one word question expresses the amount of answer she requires. "Would the clans really believe that I''m someone who awakened late? They''d simply think that I''ve hidden my powers my whole life." Fumio explains. "That''s true" Sayuri realizes Fumio''s predicament. "But more importantly, once the Hasegawa find out, then Hideki''s claims will all become true. What will happen then? To mother? To father? To Yuuki-nii?" Fumio adds. "Oh" Sayuri realizes that Fumio still cares about not only her, but to their family, and it comes as a surprise to her. "But you''re already powerful enough to take over the leadership of the clan. If you kick out the main family, wouldn''t that solve all of your problems? You can assure the safety of our family and you''ll be able to rewrite your records in the clans as you see fit." She suggests in excitement. "The main family has cultivated many alliances outside the clan. The clan will not be the clan without them." Fumio shakes his head. "..." This stumps Sayuri. "Also, the Hasegawa is just a subservient clan. What if someone in the Date Clan feels threatened and accuse me of being possessed by a demon or an angel?" Fumio explains. "D-demon You." Sayuri''s eyes widen in suspicion. Fumio simply drags the collar of his kimono down, exposing his chest. "I see" Sayuri drops her suspicion seeing the familiar anti-possession sigils drawn as tattoos in Fumio''s chest. "But that''s the proof right there. Nobody can accuse you." She then goes back to the topic. "But I''m no longer a clan member. If I make a move on the main family, it will not just be a Hasegawa issue, but an attack on the Clan system The ally clans will help the main family in stopping me. The Date Clan might even interfere to protect their authority." Fumio explains. "" Sayuri is stumped. "What''s the problem, nee-san? We''re already living peacefully. While waiting for the clan''s restriction on you contacting the family, you can just build a career." Fumio asks. "It''s just Without the stability of a clan, these things can be easily taken away. What if some clan stops the coffee shops before they even get built? What happens to my job then? "What if the house that you''re paying mortgage for, whichever clan that ''really'' owns it might make it harder for you to really own it? Even if you really buy out the house, it can be taken away." Sayuri states her fears with a sigh. "I don''t think that will happen." Fumio shakes his head. "Your boss has a much more powerful background than you think. And me, I''ve also made some powerful friends." He assures Sayuri. "You really think so?" Sayuri asks. "Yes." Fumio nods. "And. Who knows? I might establish my own clan someday in the countryside." He adds. Somehow, Fumio''s certainty assures Sayuri, at least for now. "You''re not really some agent to some celebrity, aren''t you?" Sayuri asks. "I am. At least that was my full-time job before I awakened my powers." Fumio explains. "But where I''m getting my money these days are these" He then takes out the three demon cores he collected from Galgredol and her soldiers. "Demon cores" Sayuri knows that they are valuable. "So you kill demons regularly?." She asks in surprise. "Yes. My job currently is hunting them." Fumio nods, coming up with a fake job. "I see That''s why you spotted them immediately, and killed them rather easily." Sayuri feels that it makes perfect sense. "The demons that came earlier were after me. They knew one of the demons I hunted. I''m sorry you had to get involved." Fumio apologizes. He is willing to take blame for Tezguniuth''s mistake, at least for Sayuri. "It''s okay." Sayuri waves off the apology. "At least because of them, I got to find out" She smirks at Fumio. "Indeed." Fumio chuckles, feeling better even though he came out to Sayuri with twisted truths. "But I''m worried. Do you work alone? It''s very dangerous." Sayuri raises her concern. "Don''t worry. I belong to a team. And this is the first and only time that I was ambushed after more than a year on the job." Fumio assures. "Still. Be careful." Sayuri is not entirely comforted. "I always am. But for you, I''ll take extra care." Fumio promises. "And besides, I only go out for a hunt twice a month on average with information from my team." He adds. "Okay." Sayuri can only accept. Her worry is breaking Fumio''s heart however. "You said team, right? May I join in?" She asks suddenly. "No. My team does not accept anyone under B-Class." Fumio says. "Oh" Sayuri is disappointed. *murmur* *murmur* *murmur* The two suddenly hear commotion coming from outside their room''s door and their window. "Looks like everyone''s starting to wake up." Sayuri guesses. "Yeah. Being woken up by superheroes maybe." Fumio says, basing on what he can feel with his scan of the atmospheric spiritual energy. "The cops will be here at any minute too." He can hear a faint sound of sirens too. "I can''t believe I have to do this." Sayuri sighs. "We don''t have a choice. We''ll be suspicious if we go missing." Fumio says as he lies down on the floor and pretend to be unconscious. Sayuri can only follow Fumio''s example. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "Is anybody in there?!" Chapter 127 - The Dancers --------- Dear Readers. Sup? I''m still feeling off today. I''m still having fever and it took at toll on my focus. Still. I did my best. I hope y''all still enjoy it. --------- "Alright. Everyone ready?" Akane asks the kids who are already in formation. "YES!" The kids are excited as they hear the music started by Red. "Here we go. One! Two! One, two, three, four! AND One!..." With Akane''s count, she leads Yori and the children to start dancing. For the past hour, the children have been practicing the choreography that Yori came up with in the fly. The process has been a bit tedious for the children, but they enjoyed it, happy at gradually building up the steps, moving in unison with each other. Even though the children are dancing messily and without much skill, Akane and Yori are surprised that the children all have sense of beat and rhythm, knowing how to synchronize their movements to the beat. The couple is also impressed that despite the children dancing for the first time in their lives, at least in a structured way, they have memorized the steps without difficulty and even caught the subtle details in those steps and movements. "It seems that Ran, Chihiro, and Osamu have head start." Red remarks. "Uhn." Yoshiko nods. "I didn''t expect that they''re more than just interested in watching it." "Oh my~ Taishiro and Kanon~." Kotone meanwhile suppresses a giggle. She cannot help but notice the difference in Taishiro and Kanon''s movements compared to the other three children. It is as if they have made the dance into a kata. "That''s actually very clever of them." Red chuckles. A few minutes later, the adults and the kids are all convened at one corner of the training yard, watching the video of the kids dancing taped by one of the demon servants. "Oh! We look bad" Ran pouts. "Eughhh This is embarrassing." Chihiro comments too. "C-can we do it over again?" Osamu asks. "Are we that bad?" Taishiro is confused at the three''s reactions. "It was fun though." Kanon shrugs, not really caring. "I was going to upload it to YouTube for millions of people to see." Red comments. "Don''t!" A protest immediately occurs with Ran, Chihiro, and Osamu being the loudest voices. "Okay, okay." Red pacifies them. "Well, it''s good enough for first time to me. But for now, why don''t you all go have a snack? Ichiki-san prepared cake!" He then orders them, to which the children excitedly follow due to the word cake. "You four." He then addresses Kotone, Yoshiko, and the dancer couple. "Let''s have cake and tea too." He leads them to Gin''s house where no one has been living in since Gin left for his vague mission to find wood chips and demon prisons. Kotone and Yoshiko exchange glances, knowing that sharing a table with Red is rare. Akane and Yori meanwhile, while they are excited to finally step in one of the beautiful houses, feel burdened and out of place. There are also a few small things that intimidate them, making them feel like they are intruding. They realized that even though they are wearing brand clothes, the quality of the clothes everyone is wearing in the hill is much higher than theirs, even the servants. Everything also looks immaculately clean. The grass is lush and excessively green. The training yard and the patios of the houses are dustless. The wood floors of the verandas are shiny. These things make them feel that their presence in the place will dirty it. Soon, the group of five are inside Gin''s living room where five cups of warm tea is already prepared for the group. "Relax you two." Red tells the couple, noticing that they are looking around and are too careful in each move they do. "Y-yes." Akane nods. Suddenly, *blimp* Yori''s phones rings out unusually loud, receiving a notification and *blimp* a text message. Yori''s face twitches at the timing. "Sorry, sorry." He hurriedly turns his phone silent. Akane, who gave Yori a glare, also feels embarrassed the next moment as *beep* her phone too receives a notification and then *beep* a text. "No need to feel sorry. I am to be blamed for your phones beeping." Red tells them. "" his words confuse the couple. "Check them before we talk." Red orders the two. As soon as the couple check their notifications and text messages, their eyes widen. "T-this" The two are stunned seeing that there was an online transfer of one million yen each to their bank accounts. They have no idea how Red got their bank information, or how he transferred money to them when they did not see him touch an electronic device of any sort since they met, so the they are very confused, and very suspicious at why they are both receiving something that can save them year and a half''s worth''s rent. "You''ve driven what? A hundred kilometers? I can''t send you two back emptyhanded now, can I?" Red says before picking up his cup and taking a sip from it. With Red already drinking tea, Yoshiko and Kotone also pick up theirs. "Y-you''re very generous." Yori says. "But there has to be a catch." He expresses his suspicion. "" Akane cringes at his husband''s question, but she shares the same feeling. "We are non-superioris, sir. This never really happens." She adds. "Kids..." Red shakes his head. "It''s just two million yen. Ask me those questions when I''m giving tens of millions of yen." He chuckles. Despite his light tone, the couple misinterpret his words as expressing offense. "I''m sorry, sir. It might not be a lot of money to you, but it is for us." Yori tries his best to avoid misunderstanding. "W-we''ll gladly accept." Akane adds. Yoshiko and Kotone, watching this, cannot help but be reminded how good it has gotten for them, and they suppress their hearts from being moved by the scene. "Anyways I''ve seen you two last year in some dance battle event in Shibuya Station. You must be the best dancers in there that night. No. You two must be the best freestyle dancers I''ve seen in Japan yet." Red tells them. "Ah" The couple are enlightened. . "Thank you, sir." "That means a lot." Akane and Yori are moved by Red''s assessment. Soon however, the bitterness of that night and nights like that one, replay in their hearts. "With your skills, you must have won some prizes and fame here and there. Why does it look like you two are having a hard time?" Red asks. He already knows the situation of the two, but he wants them to express it to him. "Not everyone has your eyes for skills, sir." Yori starts. "We might be two of the best in technical skills, but we can never be as flashy as ones with powers. That makes people overlook us." He sighs. "We''re also not as strong. We can''t compete with superiori dancers who can practice and perform non-stop, so we can''t even book jobs as back-up dancers." Akane sighs. "Ah That makes sense." Red nods. "Still. It''s hard to believe that two of you are non-superiori with your skills." He sighs. "Well, you two must still be earning from your skills teaching, no?" He asks them. "*sigh*" The couple sigh in unison. "We don''t." Akane shakes her head. "We can''t find people who want lessons from us. So... we thought we can make people find us instead. We''ve saved up for years to open our own dance studio, but" She cannot even finish her sentence, starting to feel emotional about the matter. "It went bust. We don''t have many awards or fame to establish our prestige. We were hoping that our dancing skills were enough, but... I guess it wasn''t enough." Yori holds her wife''s hand under the table, which is trembling. "You two seem to be living worried about how to afford the next meal or the next rent yet it''s obvious that you two still dance. You haven''t become rusty since the last time I saw you two. So, may I know why you''re still dancing? Why are you still sacrificing time, and sleep for it?" Red asks. "What can I say? It''s the only thing I''ve known, and I''m good at. Without dancing, I" Akane cannot express what she feels with words alone. "It''s life for me. I feel alive when I dance. I can''t imagine living without feeling the control of my body, and to express what I feel with it." Yori expresses his sentiment. "Would you two still dance even without someone watching?" Red asks. "Yes." The couple immediately answers in unison and at the same level of conviction. "Hm what''s the point of that?" Kotone is confused at why the two are sacrificing their bodies for something that is impractical. "You wouldn''t understand." Red and Yori tell her at the same time. "" Kotone not only is taken aback by the two''s reaction, her confusion also furthers. "Well, help me understand." She cannot help but utter. "When you find something that will give more meaning to your life more than just your brother, or your dreams, you will understand." Red tells her. "" While she is still confused, Kotone drops the matter for now, taking Red''s words to heart. "Passion." Yoshiko meanwhile, cannot help but utter in a whisper.. She has found a parallel between the two dancer''s passion for dancing with her passion to help non-superiori children like her. Chapter 128 - 128 "Anyways. I didn''t call you two here just to perform for my children." Red switches the subject, taking everyone''s interest. "I want to offer you two, jobs." "Jobs" The couple perk up. "Yes. As dance teachers for my kids." Red confirms what the two have already figured out. "But why us?" Akane cannot help but ask. She and Yori suspect that the hill is some sort of a clan compound, and they feel underqualified teaching at such a place. "Like your husband said, when it comes to technical dancing skills among freestyle dancers, you two are two of the best. Your skills are what I need for my kids. I have no need for flashiness." Red explains. "Then we are confident, sir." Akane accepts the explanation. "May we know how much our pay would be?" She asks. "500,000 yen a month for each of you. The average monthly salary for high school teachers your age." Red offers. "" The couple feel that the salary is very generous especially for non-superiori like them. "What are the conditions?" Yori finds the offer too good to be true. "First. You two have to live here on the hill, in this house, rent free. Free breakfast, lunch, and dinner too every day of the week." Red presents. "T-that''s a condition?" The couple is shocked. "As a compensation for you being away from the city, from your friends, from your families." Red shrugs. "W-we" Akane and Yori exchange glances. "W-we have no problem with that." Akane can barely suppress her excitement. "We do not exactly have close family. As for friends, we haven''t made many." Yori says. "That''s even better." Red nods. "Because the second condition is that you have to keep it secret from your friends and family that you two are working and living here." He adds to the list. "That''s not a problem for us." Yori accepts immediately. "B-but what are we going to say to them? You know, in case they ask?" Akane feels that the condition is very easy to break by accident. "We''ll be honest?" Yori shrugs. "Just tell them that we''re working as dance teachers and trainers. As for our new address, we won''t be telling them. It''s not like any of your family, or mine, has come to visit since our wedding. Why are they going to visit us now?" "That''s true." Akane is assured. "Do you two use social media?" Red asks. "We don''t anymore." Akane immediately figures that it has something to do with the privacy of the place, so she decides to stop using social media on the spot. "In case we need to post something, we will go to the city to post something." She assures Red. "Very good." Red nods. "" Kotone and Yoshiko meanwhile, exchange looks before look at Red weirdly, finding the scene familiar. Red simply ignores them as the next condition for the couple will answer Kotone and Yoshiko''s suspicions. "The third condition. You two will have to engage in flexibility training. You will learn from these two." Red points the couple to his disciples. "Flexibility training?" The couple frown at the odd condition. "I''m flexible enough, sir." Akane swears. "I''m a decent break dancer. Flexibility comes with the territory, sir." Yori too. "I know..." Red waves their words off. "But are you two yoga level flexible?" He asks them. "" This stumps the two. "It''s a weird condition, isn''t it?" Red smirks. "But if that''s the deal breaker to you two, then I can only find someone else." He shrugs. "That''s no problem to us, sir. It was just weird, that''s all." Yori evades the misunderstanding as he squeezes Akane''s hand. "We''ll do it, sir." Akane says, swallowing her opinion about the activity which she finds a waste of time. "Good. And, if you just happen to be good at it, then hey, it''s all just a chore, and won''t be difficult." Red shrugs. Yori looks away from Red, his thought on the flexibility training seen through. "W-when do we start, sir?" He asks to dodge the embarrassment. "As soon as you''re done moving here." Red says. "W-we''ll pack up as soon as we arrive back home, sir." Akane cannot wait to start her meter on the job. Yoshiko and Kotone meanwhile, give the couple welcoming smiles, which weirds out the couple. "Let''s work well together in the future." Yoshiko welcomes them, getting on Red''s act. "Let''s." The couple return a bow, feeling somehow moved by the gesture. "Good." Red nods and turns to his students. "And you two Are going to train dancing." He orders. "" The group is surprised by this. "What for?" Kotone subconsciously protests. "I''m sorry I''m just surprised." She immediately corrects her tone, getting a look from Red. "I''m actually interested, sensei But this will remove some of my focus off the children''s school lessons." Yoshiko is hesitant too. "Then reduce the children''s school time." Red tells Yoshiko in dismissal. "Wha-" Yoshiko is stunned. "Tell me, once they move up their training like you have, would they really need to spend so much time learning mundane things like that?" Red asks. "No." Yoshiko is defeated by the logic. She herself knows how smart she has gotten since she unlocked her Inner World. "Anyways. Kotone, do you know why you can hardly match up to Fumio even if he handicaps himself to your level?" Red asks. "No" Kotone looks away in embarrassment. "One factor is your lack of body awareness. Awareness to your body parts and their dimensions." Red reveals. "I don''t get it." Kotone is confused and so is Yoshiko. "Akane-san, Yori-san. Don''t you feel that sometimes you have eyes on your limbs? On every part of your body? Especially when you''re dancing?" Red asks the couple. "That''s actually an apt way to put it." Akane knows what Red is talking about. "Sometimes, we don''t even need mirrors to practice." Yori adds. "I think I kind of get it." Yoshiko cuts in. "So, Fumio has incredible body awareness?" She asks Red, her sparring with Fumio and how badly she lost is still fresh in her mind. "Fumio has been a swordsman, a martial artist since he was a kid. Even before he met me If he suppresses his abilities to a non-superiori''s, he can stand his ground against trained F-Class and E-Class superiori." Red starts. This surprises Kotone and Yoshiko. "So, yes. Yoshiko. Fumio has great body awareness. With great body awareness, he can dodge some hits without even looking because he knows how his body is positioned and where it is located in space, instinctively." Red concludes. "And dancing can help us have that quickly." Kotone now accepts. "Yes. And not only body awareness. Dancing can also help you train your muscle memory. Someday when I''m in the mood to teach you some martial techniques, it will be easier for you to learn it." Red adds. "Well, then. Count me in." Kotone cannot wait to start dancing. "Please take care of me in the future." She also addresses the dancer couple. "Yes." Akane replies, distracted. She and her husband has been listening and they both realize something. "Sir We''re really going to teach dancing, are we?" She asks Red. "Having eyes on our bodies That''s what you want for the kids, sir?" Yori asks too. "" Red''s smirk is enough an answer to them. The couple do not know why, but teaching dancing this way disappoints them deeply. "You two, relax. You can still teach them whatever you want. Who knows? IF they want to be professionals and IF they become famous, they can then credit you two as their dance teachers. Wouldn''t that be something?" Red smirks at the two. "" Kotone and Yoshiko both shake their heads, thinking the same thing. ''That won''t matter soon enough.'' <> Evening soon arrives and everyone has had their dinner. "So, dancing huh?" Fumio drops by Gin''s former house, or more specifically, Akane and Yori''s house now, for a visit, and finds his fellow disciples and the new inhabitants chatting. "Yeah." His fellow disciples nod in acknowledgement at his arrival. "Oh. Sorry. What was I thinking not introducing myself first? Hello Akane-san, Yori-san. I''m Fumio. We''ll see more of each other in the future." Fumio introduces himself to the couple. "H-hello." "Please take care of us." The couple greet Fumio awkwardly. "I''ve heard from the others of your addition to the place. It''s great to see new faces." Fumio wants to make a good impression on his future junior disciples. "Thank you." The couple are processing the disconnect between the Fumio in front of them and their image of him in their mind before. From the way Red, Kotone and Yoshiko were talking about Fumio earlier, they thought that Fumio would look like a samurai. But not only does he look like some sort of the office worker type with his stature and the way he carries himself, he is also younger than them. "When I''m free, may I learn some break dancing moves from you, Yori-san?" Fumio asks. "Of course. It''d be a pleasure." Yori nods. "Hey, just focus on your own thing... This is our thing." Kotone protests at Fumio with a glare. "The hell?" Fumio is taken aback by the reaction. "I have the right to fit in!" He can only jokingly protest back. "puhup." Kotone is immediately disarmed. "I won''t get to have time anyways." Fumio shakes his head. "Are you staying the night?" He then asks the couple. "Yes, Fumio-san." The couple confirm. They are now much more comfortable in the hill compare to earlier as they have received nothing but welcoming smile and remarks. "What are you doing here, by the way?" Yoshiko asks, after not seeing Fumio since one of the demon servants'' death. "Well, I received a text from Riz-san that we have two new additions here. I just had to see what''s up." Fumio shrugs. "Anyways. Let me go report to boss first." He then excuses himself, leaving the group stunned at his sudden departure after just a minute of talking to them. A few minutes later, Red and Fumio are now climbing a neighboring mountain as if taking a stroll. "Well. Good job." Red nods in approval. Fumio just confessed everything that happened during his lunch date with Sayuri. "Considering how surprised you must have been, you came up with quite the solid fake story." He smirks at Fumio. "I''m sorry. I should have kept it a secret longer." Fumio apologizes again. "Well, what can we do? You had no choice. You had someone to protect, and the situation arose due to Tezguniuth''s oversight. I also can''t punish him for not killing someone he fought alongside with during the great war. This all happened out of circumstance." Red shrugs. "I-I see" Fumio almost chokes up in relief. He thought he would get punished heavily by Red, even get kicked out for having his secret exposed. The bullying he did to Yoshiko a few days earlier also added to his difficulty in confessing to Red. But to receive understanding and forgiveness from Red, he almost feels that a miracle just happened to him. "But this shows that no matter how careful we are, one simple thing has the potential to tear away our veil from the world." He is pulled out from his daze by Red''s words. "Indeed." Fumio agrees. The two become silent after that as they stare at the starry sky. "You must have realized that I''ve kept on underselling your potential and your strength, no?" Red suddenly breaks the silence with a question. Chapter 129 - "I Have Something To Ask Of You." "You must have realized that I''ve kept on underselling your potential and your strength, no?" Red suddenly breaks the silence with a question. "Yes." Fumio chuckles at the sudden, but an overdue admittance. "Probably to keep me working hard?" He asks. "Yes." Red nods. "I don''t need it, boss. My current situation is a motivation on its own." Fumio sighs. "Oh? How do you mean?" Red asks in interest. "I thought I''m gonna be all set in life once I reach the strength of a peak B-Class, around the strength of all the past and current clan heads of the Hasegawa clan. But now, even though I can beat high-tier A-Class like Xoz''gekal, why do I still feel restricted? I can''t even enjoy the freedom someone of my strength should be enjoying." Fumio lets out his frustrations. "You can." Red shrugs. "What?" Fumio looks at him in confusion and surprise. "You can go out and play, do whatever you want." Red clarifies. "But, wouldn''t that mean that I will have to leave your tutelage? " Fumio cannot imagine himself from doing so. "That''s right. But don''t tell me you never even thought about leaving?" Red asks. Fumio, feeling that Red is not asking, but is simply stating a fact, shakes his head. "I did at first." He can only admit. "I imagined going abroad to start a new life even." He goes further. "But This is home. You, my fellow disciples, my sister, the children The closest I have to family. What I desired in the past; I already have it." He concludes. "Hah! Bitch." Red teases. "" Fumio is stunned by the response. "I admit that was cheesy, but it doesn''t mean it''s true." He stands by his words. "Heh. Alright." Red is pleased that Fumio seems to be more than just loyal. "Anyways. From the potency of your spiritual energy, I''m guessing that you''re almost done consolidating your first elixir sea?" Red guesses, changing the subject. "T-that''s From the descriptions you said of what a True Elixir Sea should look like, that''s my guess as well." Fumio is surprised by the accuracy of Red''s guess. "You once said that it would take years, even decades to consolidate it, but I''m guessing that''s a lie too?" He asks in amusement. "It isn''t exactly a lie. Because at the time when I said that, that was indeed the case." Red smirks. "But after months of refining your body in flames, poisons, and herbal concoctions, that''s no longer the case. Your body, your meridians, your spirit root? They are all starving for spiritual energy. Everything''s changed." He explains. "I see Wasn''t exactly a lie, indeed." Fumio nods. "Wait" He realizes something from Red''s words. "You said ''First elixir sea''. What does that mean?" He asks. "You will have eight more to consolidate." Red shrugs. "WHAT?" Fumio''s jaw drops. "Yes. Eight more, nine in total. It will take years for you to consolidate them all." Red clarifies. "Years For real this time?" Fumio asks. "Yes." Red nods. "But I''m almost done with my first? It''s only been almost three weeks?" Fumio asks in confusion. "Sure. But each succeeding True Sea you consolidate will take longer than the last, especially the seventh to ninth." Red says. "May I have an idea?" Fumio asks. "Your ninth True Sea will be almost fifty times larger than your first." Red shrugs. "" Fumio gets to thinking and his imagination runs wild in calculation. A few seconds later, "Eight years." Fumio comes up with an estimation. "If I work as hard as now, it''ll take at least eight years to form nine True Seas." "Huh..." Red frowns in confusion at how Fumio managed to come up with the accurate number. After a moment of thought, "I shouldn''t have been too specific." He shakes his head in amusement. "Heh" Fumio chuckles. "I didn''t expect to guess that accurately either... Well unless you were too specific on purpose for me to guess it right?" He asks in suspicion. "I wasn''t." Red shakes his head. "At this point. There''s no point in lying. You have reached a plateau in your growth." Red says. "" Fumio tilts his head. "But the more True Seas I have, the stronger I''ll be." "No. Your ''juice'' will only increase in quantity, not in quality. You will be able to fight longer, but you won''t be stronger." Red shakes his head. "Let''s make use of non-superioris boxers as an example. Right now, you''re like a featherweight boxer who can fight twelve rounds while throwing barrages of punches tirelessly. Against other featherweight boxers of the same skill, you can probably outlast them because you have a lot of juice. But that won''t be the same against heavy weight boxers. Your punches will be too light to them so they can take your punches. Even if they can''t fight for as long, all it takes from them is one good punch, and you''re out." He explains. "Oh" Fumio immediately gets the difference. "Anyways. Once you consolidate nine true seas, and after I help you consolidate them further into a core Well You''ll get stronger." Red stops himself from revealing too much as more information might even distract Fumio. "The hell? You don''t say?" Fumio thought Red was about to say something great. "Anyways. It''s actually great that you came to see me tonight." Red changes the subject. "I have something to ask of you." "Oh? Of me?" Fumio feels that the task somehow feels special. "First of all" Red pulls out two objects from his storage space. "Chinese butterfly swords?" Fumio cannot help but comment seeing the weapon he has only seen in the movies. "But that''s not right.." He notices however that unlike regular butterfly swords that are short and pairing, Red''s swords are longer, a bit narrower. And while the two swords'' shapes are similar, they do not look identical. "Here." Red tosses one of the broad swords to Fumio, which Fumio catches. "Ever rode a skateboard before?" Red asks as he releases the sword he is holding to the air, making it float to his chest level. Then, he jumps on it, standing on it like a skateboard. "Boss This a hoverboard? It looks like one from that movie." Fumio cannot believe what he is seeing. "Now that you say it, it kinda is. I always called it as a flying sword." Red nods. "Flying sword." Fumio shakes his head at how obvious the name is. "But... You can sell this" He then imagines Yen bills raining looking at the floating sword mounted by Red. "Get your head out of your ass." Red scoffs. "This can only be used by us. Just like that communication token, or your resistance seals." "Oh" Fumio is disappointed, but he gets excited once again as he tosses the sword on the air. Unlike his expectations however, the sword *clink* drops to the ground. "Where''d your brain go? Put some elixir in it." Red scratches his brows at the unexpectedly idiotic mistake from Fumio. "O-oh.. That''s right." Fumio picks up the sword with his spiritual energy. As the sword draws closer, he cannot help but notice etches and lines engraved on it. He is already starting to dabble on drawing spiritual seals and is confident in drawing a basic spiritual energy storing seal, but the seals on the sword is making his head spin. He decides to stop studying the seals and a familiar emblem catches his eyes. This emblem, he can study as it is an Advanced Spiritual Energy Storing Seal that is drawn to imitate an emblem. Now is not the time however to study it and he infuses some of his spiritual energy on it instead. The next moment, the sword floats in front of him on its own. As he jumps on it, his legs buckle before quickly finding his balance. With his well-trained balance and coordination, he would not have buckled, but something distracted him. "Illusion seals?" He asks Red in wonder. "Yes." Red confirms. "So, it can also be used like this wow." What distracted Fumio is the heads-up display that suddenly appeared in his vision which displays icons that symbolize the amount of spiritual energy on the sword, its speed levels, and even an invisibility feature. "Try supplying 10 percent of your reserves." Red suggests. Fumio follows and he sees the ''battery'' symbol be filled a third full. "Boss This thing is a glutton." Fumio cannot help but complain. Ten percent after all is enough for him to boost his body strength and speed by 25% for an hour. "What? You can recharge it for an hour using just the basic breathing technique, if I''m not wrong?" Red asks. "" Fumio does not bother arguing, but he still finds it a waste. "Just follow me. Set it to level one." Red orders, and soon they are off. It does not take Fumio that long to operate the flying sword with skill, and him and Red are now flying smoothly 1000 kilometers per hour 500 meters in the air, heading north. While Fumio is having fun at the fresh experience, he is keeping his eye on the ''battery'' of the sword. To his relief, it is not draining as quickly as he expected. Ten minutes later, the two enter a mountain range. Red, through the communication token, "Slow down.", orders Fumio. "" Fumio follows and soon, he has a guess of their destination. A huge hill, attached to a mountain side in the middle of nowhere. No roads accessing it, or even near it. Isolated, and hidden, surrounded by other hills. If it is not for the thick spiritual energy he can feel convening towards it, he would have not given the place even a second glance. He then sees Red start to descend and he does the same. The next moment however, what he thought was a hill filled with trees, is actually a hill with its land tilled, ready to be used for farming or gardening. As soon as they land, Fumio sighs in relief. He checks the battery of his flying sword one last time and sees that it used barely half of what he supplied to it. "Incredibly efficient, isn''t it?" Red asks. "Yes." Fumio nods. "183 kilometers in ten minutes." He reads the distance travelled that the illusion display is showing and, "Just five percent of my reserves", utters in satisfaction. He feels disappointed however as he deactivates the sword. He does not want to part with it. As he is about to hand it back to Red, "Hold on to it for now.", Red stops him from doing so. " I- uhh" Fumio hesitates, feeling that the sword is very, very valuable as he has not even seen the second or third level of its speed. "Hold on to it for now. I have something to ask of you. If you accept it, it''s yours. If you won''t, then, I will have to take it back.." Red says. Chapter 130 - "Youre Insane." "Hold on to it for now. I have something to ask of you. If you accept it, it''s yours. If you won''t then, I will have to take it back." Red says. Fumio frowns. This is the first time he is seeing Red ask something like this. "How bad could it be?" He asks. "First of all. Take a look around. What do you think?" Red asks. Fumio scans for a while and comes up with a few observations. "It''s just like the hill in Hinohara? We''re inside a natural spirit gathering formation?" He asks. "Exactly." Red confirms. "And it feels like the spiritual energy here is a bit thicker." Fumio reports. "Yes." Red nods. "Thankfully, it''s private land. Rizretheen, with some persuasive methods, managed to sell the landowner to sell." He chuckles. "Ugh" Fumio feels disgusted. "Relax. The young man spent a night of unbridled pleasure with a very beautiful woman, and able to sell the land he thought was an insult for an inheritance, for above average price It''s the best thing that happened to him in a while, don''t you think?" Red smirks. "It''s not about the previous owner It''s about Riz-san." Fumio frowns. "What? The man was her type. It was also her who proposed the ''method''." Red shrugs. "Good lord." Fumio''s frown deepens. "Your fault. She once told me that you never helped her to ''recharge''. She had to look somewhere else." Red says. "Oh Right. A demon of lust" Fumio shakes his head. "Anyways" He wants to change the subject. "You didn''t bring me here to ask me to manage it, right boss?" He asks. "Good. You''re quick to pick up." Red nods. "Wha-" Fumio is taken aback. *snap* Red then snaps his fingers and suddenly beside them, two small traditional houses appear out of nowhere a few steps away from them. Fumio then sees someone familiar lounging at the veranda of one of the houses. "Nishiki-san?" He cannot help but call out to demon of sloth in surprise. He now realizes why Nishiki has been absent in the hill in his past two visits, and has only seen Goichi tending the land. "Fumio-san." Nishiki greets back with a wave. "Let''s go sit." Red leads Fumio to the veranda of the other house and they sit down. "What do you think? Can you watch over the land?" Red asks. "It won''t be a problem, boss. With the flying sword, the distance to the city doesn''t matter anymore. I can also cultivate here without worrying of anyone interrupting my concentration." Fumio is quick to accept the job. "Don''t say yes yet." Red stops Fumio from getting carried away. "Take a look at this first." He then pulls out what looks like a tennis-ball sized metallic orb from his pocket and tosses it to Fumio. "What''s this?" Fumio asks as he studies what looks like a small mechanical object. With his sharp eyes, he immediately sees the mechanisms and parts in the object that look to be even more intricate than what is found in a well-engineered watch. "Oh" He then notices that at the center of the orb, is a wood chip. "That is just a trinket I whipped up. It can be used to activate that treasure fragment." Red explains. "Huh" Fumio looks at the object in wonder. "Why don''t you" Red starts instructing Fumio on how to use the trinket. Soon enough, *Vmmm* a familiar light portal appears in front of Fumio and Red. Unlike Red who has a spirit sense that can see the lines of insight in the treasure fragment, Fumio cannot. Even if Fumio has activated his spirit sense, he does not have the spiritual energy control to align or re-align the lines of insight in the treasure. With Red''s trinket however, Fumio can now activate the treasure fragment without Red''s help with just a bit of his spiritual energy. "This is really what I want to ask you about." Red takes Fumio''s attention away from the portal. "I want you to keep the treasure fragment in your care." He reveals. "" Fumio does not even know what to say. "I can''t let you cultivate peacefully for years. Getting the strength of possibly an S-Class superioris like that is too easy, don''t you think?" Red asks. "I admit, it''s smooth, boss. But wouldn''t the tediousness of it make up for the difficulty?" Fumio chuckles nervously, fearing another hellish training. "I don''t think so." Red shakes his head. "So. While you cultivate here, I want you to protect this treasure fragment from interested parties." Red reveals. "Do I get to use it too? You know, for studying herbs or seals?" Fumio asks, relieved that Red is not proposing what he feared. "Of course." Red nods. "Do you dare accept the job?" He asks. "Dare? Why wouldn''t I?" Fumio says out of excitement. "There''s a risk for death." Red is a bit taken aback at Fumio not seeing the dangers of the task. "I know, boss." Fumio nods. "Those who will come looking might even be more powerful than that angel that Yoshiko killed, but if the statistics is to be believed, then only a few thousand people in the world can beat me." "" Red smirks at Fumio''s shortsightedness. "I won''t allow the treasure fragment to leave this place. Will you still accept?" He asks. "" Fumio this time is taken aback. "Boss. If an opponent I can''t possibly match comes I''m not allowed to flee with it?" He asks. "No. Either you protect it, or abandon it." Red shakes his head. This silences Fumio. "I knew it wouldn''t be that easy." He sighs after a few seconds of pondering. "It wouldn''t." Red agrees. "And if I fail to protect it?" Fumio asks. "Then you take the treasure fragment back from whoever took it. By the time you consolidate nine True Seas, and you don''t have the treasure fragment with you, then I won''t help you step to the next level. You will have to blindly figure it out, but if you mess up, you''ll cripple your cultivation. Or worse, you''ll die." Red presents the consequences. "sss" Fumio inhales sharply. "So If I refuse to take the job?" He asks. "Then that''s too bad. At each enemy that you thwart, and with each treasure fragment you gain, you will receive huge rewards." Red presents. "W-what rewards?" Fumio asks in anticipation. "Jade slips first of all." Red presents. "Jade slips" Fumio gets interested. After all, his knowledge of herbology and spiritual seals are passed down to him from Red through jade slips. "Jade slips can also contain my knowledge on spiritual energy techniques." Red adds. "Spiritual energy techniques" Fumio''s salivary glands are activated at the words. "Yes. And second. Demon cores if I have them, and if you want to use them to speed up your consolidation." Red presents. "Demon cores?" Fumio is surprised by the benefit. "They can help me?" He asks for clarification. "Yes. Like I said before, they contain souls, and souls are pure spiritual energy. Not only do they help you recover, they can speed up your cultivation" "" Fumio is immediately tempted. He currently has two Soldier-ranked cores and one Knight-ranked core which he harvested during his lunch with Sayuri. "But with your strength right now, cores that belonged to soldier-ranked demons and below, are no longer useful to you." Red informs him. "Oh" Fumio is both disappointed and relieved at the information. Disappointed because knight-ranked cores and above are very rare. Relieved because he the difficulty of finding rare cores stops his temptation from using them and therefore preventing himself from eating up souls, though indirectly, like demons or angels. "So. Now that you have all the choices. What now?" Red asks, interrupting Fumio from his internal discourse. "I''ll do it, boss." Fumio figures that if pure spiritual energy, and the increase in the quantity of it, is not enough to add to his strength, then spiritual energy techniques are the only things that can help him get more fire power. "Very good." Red nods. "I''ve carved a cave under the hill. You put the treasure fragment there later." He orders. "I will." Fumio nods as he deactivates the treasure fragment and its portal. "Oh. You''re carrying demon cores." Red changes the subject. "Ah. Yes." Fumio is not surprised that Red is able to detect his demon cores as he himself feels the aura coming from demon cores. He then takes them out, not fearing that Red will take them away from him. "Wanna trade them?" Red asks. "T-trade for what?" Fumio asks in return. "Money." Red shrugs. "I can earn money myself." Fumio is disappointed. "I''m just kidding. How about some basic spiritual energy techniques then?" Red presents. Fumio gets excited with this. "What are you going to use them for, though?" He asks. From what Red told him earlier, he figures that with Red''s strength, the level of his demon cores are useless to Red''s cultivation. "I use them to grow spirit herbs..." Red explains. "Ah..." Fumio has learned one more thing today. Meanwhile, next door, Nishiki has actually been eavesdropping. ]"Master got you, kid " The demon shakes his head. He failed to follow Red and Fumio''s conversation about cultivator stuff, but he catches something in the conditions of Fumio''s job that Fumio failed to realize. " You will have to kill" He cannot wait for Fumio to ask him to kill intruders so he can snack on some souls. <> The next day, 8 AM. Pacific Ocean, 500 km East of Kiribati. "..UHmmff" Samuel wakes up and finds himself in a beach. "Fckkk." He immediately feels that he still gagged like the last time he was awake. He also cannot move as much as he wants as the ropes that was tying him up the last time he was awake, is now changed to chains. He can only look around and it does not take him to realize that he seems to be in a deserted island. That would be the case if he did not find a familiar figure sitting beside him. "You''re awake?" Red, disguised as a Caucasian man in a suit, greets Samuel. He also removes the gag on Samuel''s mouth. "Where''s Eliza?" Samuel asks in panic. He does not know how long he was kept captive, but he figures it must have been days at the least. "Oh. Don''t worry. She''s unhurt. She''s probably in dreamland right now." Red assures the Australian. "She better is. Because if she gets even a papercut, I''ll cut your throat. I don''t know how I''ll do it, but I''ll bleed you dry." Samuel promises. He knows that he is powerless for the moment, but him being still alive means that he is valuable to his captor. He also hopes that his sincerity will keep Red from hurting his wife. "Bah. You don''t have to tell me. Hurting her will be bad for business." Red says in dismissal. "As long as your families will cooperate, you''ll all go home just fine." He adds. "How long was I out?" Samuel asks, immediately feeling comfortable from Red''s words. "Nine days." Red chuckles. "How the F-" Samuel is shocked because he actually feels perfect. Not only does he feel sluggish from being out for so long, he also feels that the injury inflicted upon him by Yoshiki is no longer there. "Looks like you do this often. You treat your hostages well." He then starts to chat Red up as he starts to plot in his head how to take revenge. "Who''s going to pick me up?" He asks. "Dominic Little." Red says in dismissal. "" Samuel''s eyes go wide. "You''re insane." Chapter 131 - Rendezvous "Who''s going to pick me up?" Samuel asks. He has seen enough of his circumstance to figure out that he will be released in exchange for whatever Red has demanded of his family. "Dominic Little." Red reveals in dismissal. "" Samuel''s eyes go wide. Of all the people, he was not expecting his great grandfather, who he has not seen in years, and suspects to either be sick or even dead, to be the one who Red asked for. "You''re insane." He cannot help but utter. "I''m not important enough to be rescued by him." He adds. "And yet you look very hopeful." Red chuckles, seeing through what Samuel really is feeling. Samuel is rendered speechless at getting caught. "Well, we''ll find out soon enough." Red says and points at some random direction on the horizon. Samuel looks and sees what looks like a small ship, or a very large yacht, drawing near at top speed that the watercraft can go. The two of them sit in silence as they wait. A minute or two later, *vooommmm* the ship blows its horn, as if announcing its arrival. After the ship anchors a few meters off the beach, a human figure flies out of the its deck and starts making its way over to Red and Samuel. "Mr. Wenham" Samuel utters in recognition as a man sporting a combat jumpsuit, carrying a wood crate draws near enough. Even though he is a bit disappointed, he knows that the man who arrived at his rescue is one of the strongest superiori he knows. The man who looks to be his age, is actually 75 years old whose youthful looks is a benefit of the man''s superioris level. Soon enough, *thud* the newcomer drops the crate a few meters away from Red and Samuel before landing himself on top of it. "You are not Dominic." Red says in acknowledgement. "No. I am not. I am Darcy Wenham, Mr. Little''s representative." Darcy introduces himself. He then notices that Red is barely giving the wood crate a look, which confirms to him that Red is not after the gold he brought. "My instructions were clear." Red says in a dismissive tone. "Yes. They couldn''t be any clearer." Darcy nods. "However, Mr. Little is not in good health to travel long distances especially to destinations like this place." He smoothly rolls out his excuse. "Is that so" Red simply smiles mysteriously. "" Darcy immediately feels that something is wrong. "A-anyways. Here''s the gold" Darcy stomps on the crate under his feet, making it collapse, revealing a 50x50x50 cm stack of gold bars. "It looks way more than what I asked for." Red says. Darcy gets apprehensive, seeing the disinterest in Red''s face. "As Mr. Little cannot come himself, we have doubled the amount that you asked for. I hope it''s satisfactory." He confirms for now as he steps away from the gold bars. "Meh." Red grunts in dismissal. Samuel and Darcy are surprised at Red''s next actions. Red simply unchains Samuel and, "Nice doing business with you." gestures Samuel to join Darcy. While Samuel is relieved that he is finally free, his gut is telling him that the exchange was too easy. "You can go now." Red adds, pulling out the two men from their dazes. "Samuel. Can you go to the ship by yourself?" Darcy asks rhetorically. Samuel quietly and excitedly takes off the ground and flies to the ship for safety. "I thought our business is over?" Red asks. "I''m here to trade for the thing." Darcy gets to the point immediately. "Ah" Red takes out a wood chip from his pocket and, "This?", he asks. This action immediately triggers excitement in Darcy. "Precisely." Darcy is trying his best not to pounce on the treasure fragment. "No." Red refuses as he pockets the thing again. "There are three more tons of gold in the ship." Darcy reveals. "We are already generous to pay you for something that rightfully belongs to the Little Family." He adds. "Rightfully yours? If these babies can speak, I bet they''ll disagree." Red scoffs. "They wanted to come home, TO ME. And now they''re home." He emphasizes. "..." Darcy cannot argue with the logic. "The Fowler family''s is it in your possession?" He can only change the subject. "Of course Where else could it be?" Red gives him a strange look. "Will you really not consider a trade?" Darcy asks. "For the second and last time. No." Red shakes his head as he walks towards the gold bars. As soon as Red turns his back to him, Darcy immediately summons his powers. A huge cloud of silver colored sand-like substance suddenly appears, making the air around a thirty-meter radius look like it is in a thick sandstorm. Darcy hurriedly manipulates his silver-colored sand to congeal it towards Red. The next moment however, he feels that something is amiss. The figure he was expecting to trap suddenly disappeared from his detection. "Ooh. Nifty." He suddenly hears Red''s voice from behind him and at the same time feeling the man''s presence once again with his sand particles. He turns around immediately while sending his silver sand to the same direction. Yet again, he does not find Red however or the even man''s presence. "Titanium sand? Nice" He hears Red''s voice from behind him again and at the same time, Red''s figure is in his senses once again. "Wha-" Despite turning around, reacting much faster this time, Red''s figure escapes his sight and his detection again. This is not the first time that his detection abilities within his sand cloud became faulty. In his experience, there is only one reason why; hi opponent is moving much faster than he can control his sand. The last opponent that managed to achieve what Red is doing currently left fear in his heart. Fearing that the same thing will happen again, he immediately ascends to the air, hoping to distance himself from his opponent. Unfortunately for him, "Hey.", Red suddenly appears in front of him. Before he can even react, he is already hit in the face with a strike he did not even see, and he is smacked back down to the ground. He thanks his reflexes that he was able to cushion his fall with his sand, coming out of the short exchange unharmed except for his stinging face where Red''s strike landed. His relief is short lived however as he sees Red zoom towards him. He manipulates his sand to act as a shield, but before the shield can even be formed, Red penetrates his thick sand like knife through paper. Even though his eyes can catch up with Red''s speed, his body cannot react fast enough and he receives a strike to the face squarely. This time, his stomach sinks as the strike he received this time is much stronger and made his concentration slip, as evidenced by his momentary loss of control of his sand. Before it is too late, he goes on defensive, and collects his titanium sand to himself to form a full body armor. In just ten seconds flat, it is as if he became a three-story tall silver giant. His armor, formed from his titanium sand, follows his form and image and therefore looks just like him. Instead of a full-body armor, it is more like a humanoid robot that copies his movements. Then left-over sand, he manipulates into a vortex around him. As he cannot see Red, with his entire body being covered in his armor, he makes use of his sand particles as radar to detect Red''s presence. Soon enough, he feels his sand particles brush against Red''s figure prompting him to swing his huge arm to the direction where he detected Red. Unfortunately, his limb fails to catch anything. While he knows that he has the strength to hurl cars to the air easily with one hand in his current form, he also knows that his speed suffered and can only move his giant body as quick as a C-Class physical superioris at best; a speed that he knows is useless against Red. "Hey man. Why don''t we stop here?" He can only ask, his giant titanium sand armor amplifying his voice. "I admit I was wrong with what I just did. I wasn''t thinking straight." He adds after feeling that Red''s figure also stops moving. "WHY SHOULD WE STOP?" Red asks in return, his own voice amplified. "Because we won''t be able to hurt each other anyway. I can''t match your speed, but you also can''t penetrate a meter thick titanium." Darcy reasons. "You can''t be that ignorant, right?" Red says, making Darcy apprehensive. "You''re wearing compacted titanium sand, not a titanium plate." Red adds before charging forward once again. While Darcy knows that what Red said is true, he is still confident in his defense. The next moment however, he is stunned by Red''s next action. He feels that Red, with what he figures are strikes, are digging away at his armor like shovel. He tries to congeal his sand back, but Red is digging in his armor much faster than he can fix it. He cannot even try to bury Red among his sand as Red easily shakes off the sand that he sends to capture the man. Soon enough, the darkness in his vision disappears as he sees Red''s bare hand dig the last layer of his armor right before his face before, "Hello.", being greeted by Red''s smiling face once again. He takes this taunt as an opportunity to wrap Red around his armor, but before he can, *THWAK* he gets hit in the face. A sudden bout of dizziness assaults him immediately. Along with the dizziness is a huge headache and sluggishness of his body. It has been a long time since he has felt the feeling, but he knows that he just received a moderate concussion. The concussion also breaks down his concentration, making his full body armor collapse in form. He can only helplessly fall to the ground along with his sand. With his barely conscious mind, he can only look in disbelief at Red before getting buried in his own sand. Chapter 132 - Why Dont We Stop Here? *DONE EDITING* Fumio descends and stops on top of the mound of Darcy''s titanium sand. "Is he still alive?" He asks Red who is still standing in the air. He has been watching from his flying sword two hundred meters above the island. He wanted to watch the fight closer but Red ordered him not to. Now that everything is over, he cannot wait to study Darcy''s sand. "He''ll live." Red confirms. "But you shouldn''t have showed yourself yet." He shakes his head. "Huh?" Fumio gets apprehensive immediately and he activates his invisibility seal. "Too late. Hope he didn''t memorize what you look like." Red chuckles. Before Fumio can wonder why or who Red is referring to, *FwAAAHHHH* the water at the beach suddenly starts rising. Fumio is startled and he flies away immediately. Reaching a safe distance, he watches in awe and fear as a giant Tokyo-dome sized turtle made of water come into existence below him. He cannot help but feel small seeing that the turtle is even larger than the small deserted island. The turtle is already as large as Tokyo dome being half submerged, so he is curious to see how large the turtle''s entire body is. He also notices that the turtle is not simply made up of static water, but water that is flowing at great speeds. He figures that if dives into the turtle''s body, he will get carried away by the water current. He is sure that it is a superioris ability as he can make out a middle-aged Caucasian man''s figure, at least the upper half of it, standing on top of the turtle''s head. "DOMINIC LITTLE" Red calls out. He has already felt the superiori''s existence with his spirit sense even before Darcy and Darcy''s ship arrived. That is the reason why he woke Samuel up. He figures that Dominic must have planned to show if the negotiations broke down, which is exactly what happened. "MR. ZAYTSEV" Dominic calls out the pseudonym that Red used in the video he sent Dominic. "OR WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS." He adds. "NICE WEATHER, ISN''T IT?" Red does not address the man''s skepticism of his name. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Dominic does not address the weather and gets to the point immediately. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I WANT?" Red asks in return. "I DON''T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, BUT YOU HAVE WHAT I WANT. I DON''T KNOW WHAT SPELL OR ABILITY YOU USED TO CLAIM MY AND THE ARGUS''S LITTLE TRINKETS, BUT THEY''RE OURS." Dominic proclaims. "YOURS?" Red pulls out the wood chip that belonged to Dominic and raises it towards Dominic''s direction. "WELL COME GET IT THEN." He then taunts. "" Dominic frowns. "WHO ARE YOU? AND WHY CAN''T I FIND ANY INFORMATION ABOUT YOU?" He asks. He is not falling for the taunting as he can feel an unexplainable danger and hidden bloodlust from Red. He feels that Red is like him who traversed many battlefields. He suspects that Red has killed even more people than he did. He figures that someone with Red''s aura should not be unknown. "WHAT''S IT TO YOU?" Red continues to taunt. "THERE ARE ONLY A SHORT OF FOUR HUNDRED OF US S-CLASS. WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER. I''VE ASKED AROUND ABOUT YOU, AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT YOU." Dominic says. "DID YOU REALLY ASK EVERYBODY?" Red smirks. "" Dominic has no answer. He knows that people can lie to him anytime. The only thing that worries him is who he will offend if he kills Red. "THIS THING IS MINE NOW." Red pockets the wood chip back and turns around. Even though Dominic is wary of Red''s identity, he is willing to risk offending whoever is backing Red for the wood chip. He quickly loads the mouth of his giant turtle with water, before firing a car-sized water ball towards Red. Red simply steps aside, dodging it without looking. *FFFWWWAAHHHH* "...shit'' Fumio who saw the water ball zoom past ten or so meters away from him, feels his spine tingle. He estimates that the water ball was as fast as a bullet. ''Get away.'' He then receives a message from Red through his communication token. "Boss" Fumio is speechless that Red has the nerve to send him messages while dodging giant bullet speed water balls. Dominic does not stop at just one water ball. Seeing Red dodge his water ball easily, he continues to fire water balls upon water balls of differing sizes to Red''s direction. A few moments later however, fear starts knocking on Dominic''s heart. After firing water balls like a machine gun at Red, Red is still unharmed and successfully dodged everything. Dominic grits his teeth and opens more water cannons in the shell of the turtle above him, and continues his assault. *BUBUBUBBUBUBU* Fumio this time, cannot believe what he is seeing. The deserted island that was peaceful just a few minutes ago, is now full of holes and new ditches on it. It was not even directly impacted. Around the giant turtle, whirlpools are also start appearing, as if vacuuming the sea water around it. What he is more awed by however, is Red. He is already confident in his eyes, but seeing Red dodge what can only be considered as giant bullets, is making his head spin and his eyes hurt. It looks as if Red is phasing in and out of everywhere. Dominic on the other hand, is starting to sweat. Fear is also starting to seep in his heart. He knows that if he does not hit Red with anything substantial, he will lose, judging on how easy it looks for Red to dodge his attacks. His fear is proven true as he sees Red suddenly zoom towards him at a speed that even he who can see bullets travel with his naked eyes, can barely follow. He quickly sinks himself to the depths of the body of his turtle for protection. The next moment, to his surprise, Red actually dove in the body of his turtle. He watches stunned as Red gets carried away by the water current in his turtle''s body. He then sees Red''s figure suddenly stops and he sees Red''s legs kicking incessantly as if swimming. His eyes widen in surprise, witnessing such scene for the first time. The water current in his turtle is five times faster than the speed a riot control water spurts out water. He can crush buildings with such force just by getting them inside his turtle''s body, and yet Red is swimming against that strong water current. He then manipulates the water to attempt to drag Red closer to the center where the current is much stronger. To his relief, it works and Red''s figure gets carried away again, now much deeper. The next moment however, to his disappointment, Red suddenly escapes. He does not know how Red did it, but he is not that surprised. He has seen how Red dug through Darcy''s titanium sand with bare hands so he is wary or Red''s physique. Through the clear water, he can see Red''s figure outside, standing in the air, and looks to be waiting for him to take action. Dominic does not want any factors affecting the fight so he wants to go all out immediately in case something happens that prevents him from doing so. So, he wills his powers to once again continue absorbing seawater expand his turtle. A few seconds later, he has reached his limit. His turtle is now 100 meters tall and 400 meters long. He is still feeling apprehensive however. While expanding, he saw that Red is still standing outside, simply maintaining the distance with arms crossed, waiting arrogantly, not showing any signs of fear or even wariness. He then wills his power to switch purposes and hundreds of small whirlpools start appearing on the surface of his turtle. Soon, these whirlpools start transforming to giant water balls. And the next moment, they all shoot at Red. Not all at once, but strategically. *FU**FU*FU*FU*FU Not only has the number of his water balls increased; their speed has doubled too. The next moment however, Dominic''s jaw drops as he sees Red still confidently dodge the water balls. He wants to pull his hair out seeing that even though he already increased the speed and quantity of his attacks, Red is still comfortable dodging. Not only that, he also notices that Red has not geared up speeds. He cannot help but entertain the thought that Red can read his mind; knowing where he attacks next, knowing which of the prepped water balls will be shot off next. Soon enough, the 100 meter tall and 400 meter long turtle has shrunk by a few meters. This signifies that the water he has put under his control is starting to run out after wasting them on his attacks on Red. Not only that, the smaller his turtle is, the slower his water balls will be, so it will be useless to continue attacking at this state. At this point, he does not know what else to do. He can only figure that they are at a stalemate. He cannot land a water ball on Red no matter how he tries, and Red too cannot break through his turtle to attack him. "WE BOTH KNOW THAT WE''RE AT A STALEMENT. WHY DON''T WE STOP HERE?" Dominic swallows his pride and decides to resort to a more civil method. "YOU''VE GONE ALL OUT, IT SEEMS. BUT DO YOU THINK I HAVE?" Red asks in return. "..." Dominic grits his teeth. He hears the certainty in Red''s voice. He has been seen through. "EVEN IF YOU HAVEN''T, WILL YOUR BEST BE ENOUGH TO EVEN HURT ME?" He is still confident with his defense however. "DON''T YOU FIND THIS SCENE FAMILIAR? YOUR FRIEND DARCY SAID SOMETHING SIMILAR.." Red smirks. Chapter 133 - Do What I Tell You To Do... "EVEN IF YOU HAVEN''T GONE ALL OUT, WILL YOUR BEST BE ENOUGH TO EVEN HURT ME?" Dominic is still confident in his defense as he increases the speed of the water current in it. "DON''T YOU FIND THIS SCENE FAMILIAR? YOUR FRIEND DARCY SAID SOMETHING SIMILAR." Red smirks. Despite his words, he is impressed with power of Dominic''s defense. He then pulls out ten anti-material (anti-tank) rifles he stole from the Japanese military and points them at Dominic. "" Dominic is mystified at the scene. Not because of the anti-material rifles, but because of how Red seemingly pulled out the big guns out of nowhere. He cannot ask what trick Red used to do it as the next moment, *BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BANG*! the anti-material rifles fire in quick succession. *zip**zip**zip* He then sees the big bullets enter his turtle but he is indifferent to them. The bullets only managed to enter twenty or so meters in the turtle before their momentum are stopped and are carried away by the water current. *BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BANG*! The rifles fire once again and just like the first volley, the bullets did not enter any deeper. "IT''S USELESS." Dominic dissuades. "NOT EVEN ARTILLERY SHELLS CAN REACH ME. EVEN MISSILES ARE NEUTRALIZED IN MY DEFENSE." He proudly professes. "I CAN SEE THAT." Red gets excited at the potential of Dominic''s powers. Dominic who was expecting Red to be discouraged, is confused at Red''s excited smile. Then, he sees the big guns suddenly disappear, replaced by a huge katana on Red''s hand. He notices something odd with the weapon. Not only does he find the katana oversized, he also notices that unlike the curved blade of an average katana, Red''s sword has a straight blade. Despite his interest at the beautiful looking weapon, he drops his interest in it for now and waits for Red''s next actions. After all, he feels the danger from Red increase as soon as the man''s sword appeared. "What the" Fumio who is watching from above, is stunned, feeling the atmospheric spiritual energy move. He has never seen such huge movement of spiritual energy before not even when he is using the spiritual gathering seals when cultivating. He then returns his focus on Red, seeing that the spiritual energy is condensing with Red at the center. Then he feels goosebumps seeing Red assume what looks like a basic kendo stance. He does not know why but his gut is telling him that he should observe Red''s next movements. Then he sees Red''s figure blur in place. Despite the speed of Red''s movements, he sees glimpses of Red doing downward and upward sword slashes. Dominic meanwhile, also sees the what Fumio sees. He is confused at first but soon, he sees a phantom of what looks like a huge sword tip form in front of Red. Then, he sees Red stop doing alternating downward and upward slashes and assumes what looks like a thrusting stance. His gut is tell him to run, but before he can, Red does a thrusting movement. The phantom of the sword tip then zooms towards his direction at a much faster speed than the anti-material rifle bullets that Red fired to him earlier. Then, a large cut appears suddenly in his turtle, reaching him, making him feel gentle a breeze for a moment, before the parted water fixes itself. "" He is confused, but seeing that his turtle is back to its original form, and the water current running just strongly as before, he feels relieved. He smirks. What looked like an impressive attack from Red still failed to hurt him. "I DON-" Before he can gloat however, he feels sharp pain travel from his left shoulder down to his right thigh. He looks down and, "WHA-", he sees a huge deep cut across his body, running right along where he feels the intense pain. The next moment, "*ACK*", he coughs up blood. The water running around him also starts getting dyed red and he can taste a slight metallic flavor from it. Then, he feels the strength in his entire body slowly drain away, followed by his vision starting to tremble. Fumio from above, who was disappointed after not seeing Red''s attack take effect on Dominic, is surprised seeing the huge imposing water turtle start losing its form in its shell and head. The turtle looked to be struggling for a while before finally exploding into a shapeless wave of water collapsing back down to the sea. *ROAR* The force of the sudden movement of water causes huge waves upon waves and starts eating the deserted island. He is suddenly reminded of Darcy who is still buried unconscious among the titanium sand. But knowing that Darcy is around a high-tier A-Class, he is not worried of the superiori''s safety. He instead looks at the huge ship where Samuel currently is, and sees it get carried by the water before getting flipped over shortly after. Seeing Samuel''s figure fly out from under the water, he drops his worry, seeing that the man is safe. " D-Dominic" Samuel meanwhile, has seen everything. While he is unsure of what happened to his great grandfather, he knows that the man he respects the most to the point of worship, just lost the fight, seeing Red''s figure still standing in the air arrogantly, unharmed. The next moment, he sees another water turtle take form on the surface of the sea, only much smaller, having the size of a two-story building. He takes a sigh of momentary relief seeing Dominic alive. "Ha Ha" Dominic is breathing heavily while trying his best to slow down the bleeding from the large cut on his body. He does not want to look at his wound again because just basing on what he is feeling and what he is smelling, he already knows that his left lung and his digestive organs are affected by the cut. While he still has the strength to access a small part of his powers, he knows that he will not last long without medical attention especially at a place where the nearest facility that can tend to him is at least two thousand kilometers away. He can only look in disbelief at the man who caused all of his injuries. He sees that Red is still standing in the air, looking down on him lazily, as if the lethal attack he received was delivered casually, which makes him feel even more powerless than how he is already feeling. He then sees Red start descending towards him, as if walking down on invisible stairs. Instead of feeling apprehensive, he is just confused. The feeling of danger he felt from Red earlier has disappeared, with only a tinge of it remaining. This gives him hope that he will be spared. "Are you that afraid of death?" Red asks him as soon as the man arrives in front of him. "" He frowns at Red''s slight but, "I wouldn''t have lived as long as I have if I am not.", he can only be honest. "That''s true." Red nods. "So. What now?" Dominic asks. "Either I end you right here, right now, or I leave you here. I don''t think it makes much difference." Red addresses Dominic''s wound. "It won''t." Dominic bitterly admits. He regrets not being more careful during the fight, but as soon as the thought comes to his mind, he realizes that it would not have made any difference. One of Red''s sword attacks managed to lethally wound him. He cannot even imagine suffering two of those sword attacks. He proceeds to regret not asking his friend Argus to come with him, or setting up a back-up plan. But thinking about how easy Red took him down, he fears that if Argus came with him, then it is not only him that would be in this state, leaving the whole of Australia without a single S-Class superioris. He then proceeds to regret initiating the fight, or even coming to the place in the first place. But thinking about the secret of the Little family''s demon ensl*ving activities being exposed by Red, he feels that being in this situation where he alone is in danger, is much better than his entire family being in danger under other superiori families or groups. Thinking about all of this, he realizes that he has been at Red''s mercy the moment Samuel ended up in Red''s hands. He did not have the chance or a choice in the first place. "Are you acting alone?" He asks Red. "I am." Red nods. "You are already about to take my life. I hope you spare my family. They''re nothing to you anyway." Dominic can only spend his last moments to negotiate. "I would not touch your family even if you didn''t ask. I already took what I need." Red shrugs. "Ah" Dominic realizes that Red is talking about the wood chip. Weirdly, he also feels that Red will really spare his family. He does not know if his mind is playing tricks on him as an effect of his fleeting life, or if Red is really honest, but he prefers to believe the latter. The only consolation Dominic has now, is his son who has the potential to become an S-Class superiori in the near future, replacing him as the guardian of Little Family. "Alright. May I know who you really are? I think you owe me that much as my executor." He then asks of Red. "What makes you think that you don''t have the choice to live?" Red asks back, surprising him. "What?" He can only express an honest confusion. ."I can save you." Red tells him. He feels yet again, that Red is telling the truth, but he feels that he will not be saved out of the kindness of someone''s heart, especially if that someone is the one who delivered him to his death door. "Dying here like this? Isn''t that unfair?" Red''s question pulls him out of his thoughts. "What do you want?" He asks. He agrees with Red. He does not want to die like this in the middle of nowhere, under the hands of a nobody. A very powerful nobody, but still a nobody. "I want you to simply do what I tell you to do.." Red offers. Chapter 134 - "Is That A Challenge?" "Dying here like this? Isn''t that unfair?" "What do you want?" "I want you to simply do what I tell you to do." Red offers. Dominic is so offended by this; he cannot even feel angry about it. After getting over it, "Do what you tell me to do? I''d rather die.", he scoffs in disdain. "Oh. Alright. Then poor little Little family." Red returns with a sadistic grin. He also flares his bloody aura for added effect. "You" Dominic grits his teeth. "You gave me your word." "You gave me the idea. What can I say?" Red shrugs. "And You expect honor and fairness from me? Can you honestly tell me that you have been honorable and fair to the weaker ones?" He asks. "" Dominic is forced to be reminded of the things he has done and the things his family is still doing. "That''s right. You should not feel so indignant. This is simply how the world works, doesn''t it?" Red hums, knowing Dominic''s internal conflict. "What kind of things do you me to do?" Dominic can only ask. "I''m not as merciless as you are. I will not ask anything that will cause you and your family destruction or even harm. Nothing will change in your wealth and influence. Your family will still hold half of Australia." Red says, surprising Dominic. "On the contrary." Red continues. "You and your family might even benefit from this, as long as you do my bidding." "" Dominic is skeptical, but he has no choice in the matter anyway. "Fine." He swallows his pride and sighs in bitter acceptance. He promises to himself however, that if or when he gets out of this bind alive, he will think of ways to take revenge. "I''m being honest, you know?" Red shakes his head. There are no openings in Dominic''s soul yet for him to exploit. "I will even be the hidden protector of your family in case they are attacked." He offers. Dominic''s eyes widen, unsure if he heard correctly. He is pulled out from his surprise when he sees Red pull out a wood chip once again. "These things." Red says as he activates it. Dominic''s jaw drops in shock as a portal appears beside him and Red. "I am probably at the forefront of research on these things in this world. Even the Brotherhood of Adam will kill for what I know." Red continues to say as he expands and contracts the size of the portal. Dominic''s breathing gets heavier in excitement and awe at what he is witnessing. "I may be strong but I am quite poor compared to you. I am reaching an important stage in my research, and I need your resources." Red continues to lie. "And if I succeed, you and your family will be the only beneficiaries of my knowledge aside from myself." "" Dominic cannot take his eyes off the portal as he processes Red''s words. "So What do you say?" Red asks. "I-I" Dominic looks at Red, in hidden excitement. "Why me?" He asks. Red deactivates the portal and pulls out the treasure fragment that Dominic once possessed. "Simply because of this." He says as he joins his and Dominic''s former treasure fragment. Dominic seeing the two treasure fragments perfectly fuse into one, understands. He does not know whether to feel hostility at Red, or feel lucky that he met the man and receive the man''s offer. "This is the benefit you were talking about?" He finally gets his word out. "That''s right." Red nods. " Then I''ll provide you whatever you need." Dominic says. Red feels an opening to Dominic''s soul with his spirit sense, and he assaults it immediately with a sliver of his soul. "" Dominic immediately feels something weird, as if something inside him is being swallowed by a whirlpool. At first, he figures that it is because of his injuries, but he is starting to feel that what he is feeling is much deeper than just his flesh. The next moment, the feeling disappears. He does not know what changed, but he feels with his instincts that something definitely has. He then looks at Red, and notices that Red has suddenly transformed into a young racially ambiguous man. Before he can ask or wonder what had just happened, Red suddenly drops to his knees. He also sees that Red is now severely sweating. He tilts his head, immediately realizing something strange. In the past, he would have immediately gone in for the kill, but now, at least to Red, he does not feel even the slightest intention to kill. Instead, he is worried for Red. "Are you okay?" He asks. "I''ll be fine" Red replies in a trembling voice. "A-" Before Dominic can ask more, *whoosh* a young man, which he recognizes as the same young man he saw briefly speaking with Red earlier, suddenly appears out of nowhere beside Red. "B-Boss? You okay?" Fumio asks. While he is confused as to why Red switched to another disguise, he is more worried of Red''s state. "I''ll be fine." Red says as he struggles to stand back up. "You sure?" Fumio asks. "Yeah." Red nods. "Carry us to another island, please." He asks. Fumio immediately acts on the order. "Excuse me." Fumio holds Red and Dominic at each arm and controls his flying sword. He feels disgusted feeling Dominic''s blood, but he toughens his gut, seeing the man''s state. "What''s going on?" Dominic, who just happened to learn Japanese at some point in his long life, asks in Japanese while they are zipping through the sky. "You''re not the only one who''s injured." Red chuckles, his words making Fumio worry more. As soon as the trio land on another deserted island, "Activate your trinket for me." Red orders Fumio. Fumio is confused by the order but pulls out the metallic orb that Red gave him a day ago, and activates the treasure fragment given to him by Red. A portal soon appears, mystifying Dominic once again. "You try and slow down this guy''s bleeding." Red orders Fumio. "O-okay." Fumio immediately attends to Dominic, making the man lie on the ground. "Good. I''m entering to recover. Close the portal, and open it back up in an hour." Red adds to his orders as he enters the portal. "alright..." Fumio utters in worry as he closes the portal. This is the first time he is seeing Red look so weak and he did not even get the chance to ask Red if there is anything he can do to help. He can only follow Red''s orders for now. "Excuse me." Fumio says as he rips Dominic''s shirt off, before laying his spiritual energy-infused palms on the man''s wound. While he cannot cover the entire length of the wound, his two palms are enough to attend to the damaged organs. "Phew" Dominic sighs in relief, the pain from his wound feeling better. Fumio then focuses inside himself and increases the spiritual energy flow in specific meridians in specific order, and in specific intensity, until ''Ice Palm Technique'', activates a spiritual energy technique. He cannot help but chuckle as the basic spiritual energy technique he learned just to chill his drinks, he is now using on something gory. To use it to constrict the blood vessels in Dominic''s wounds with the cold temperature to try and slow down the bleeding until Red is back. "" Dominic, feeling that he is safe for the next hour until Red returns, relaxes and looks up at the sky. Fumio, looking at the dazed Dominic, gets worried. "So uh I''m guessing you two talked things over" He tries to strike up a conversation to keep Dominic awake. "Heh." Dominic chuckles. "If only it''s like that." "What do you mean?" Fumio asks. "" Dominic tries to tell Fumio the truth, but he cannot. This confirms his suspicion. "Only the S-Class have the right to know." He can only have fun with his new situation. Fumio is taken aback by Dominic''s words, making him replay what he has seen earlier in his mind. He still cannot believe that he witnessed the fight of two S-Class superiori. Dominic''s titanic water turtle that looks like some godly beast of the ocean. Red''s giant phantom sword tip that managed to cut through the invincible looking colossal turtle. "You know. If I witnessed your fight with boss as my past self, I would have felt like an ant watching two gods fight. I would have felt lucky to witness something larger than life before I died." Fumio''s preface takes Dominic''s interest. "What are you saying?" Dominic asks. "Nothing. I just think that while I cannot survive a fight against an S-Class superioris right now, I feel like I''ll become someone strong enough to do just that in the future." Fumio says in determination. "Oh?" Dominic is surprised by how sure Fumio seems to be in himself. "What makes you so sure?" He asks in amusement. "How old do you think I am?" Fumio asks. He figures that something happened between Red and Dominic that made Red comfortable exposing the real function of the treasure fragments to Dominic, so he feels that he can trust Dominic too. "I can only tell that you''re very young." Dominic decides to humor Fumio. After all, he has nothing else to do. "I am. I just turned 24 two months ago." Fumio nods. "What''s your point?" Dominic asks. "I''m just 24 and I think I could have given that guy Darcy a good fight. Maybe even to a draw." Fumio estimates. Dominic''s eyebrows jump at this. He is not as strong as Fumio when he was at Fumio''s age. "And you feel that you''re still growing stronger?" He asks. "Yes." Fumio confirms. "Huh" While Dominic is not showing it, he is more than impressed by Fumio''s strength. He knows however how hard it is to ascend to an S-Class Superioris. He even felt in the past that he became one in accident. "Give me two decades. I''ll only be 44 by then. I think I can give you a fight." Fumio looks at Dominic in the eyes. "Is that a challenge?" Dominic is amused. "I guess it is?" Fumio returns. "Would you have the balls to say the same thing if I wasn''t in this state?" Dominic chuckles. "Probably not." Fumio shrugs. "But now that I''ve said it, I wouldn''t want to disappointment myself if I fail to live up to it." "Alright. Because this is rare, I''ll remember this. I will be waiting.." Dominic does not know why, but Fumio''s challenge gives him a strong feeling of anticipation. Chapter 135 - To Witness Inside Fumio''s treasure fragment, Red is currently seated cross-legged. If any of his disciples would see him currently, they would feel endless worry. That is because he currently looks like someone who is in need of urgent medical care. His skin is swelling, red, with white and yellow blobs accumulating on its surface as spots, looking similar to a burn victim''s. The next moment however, aurora-like blue-green lights appear throughout his body and start revolving around him in a spiral pattern. Then, his flesh and skin start healing up, starting from the least damaged parts and spreads to the worst injured parts. A few hours later, a thick layer of hardened black substance has accumulated all throughout the surface of Red''s body, wrapping the man''s being in it, making him look like a mummy that is not wrapped in bandages, but in pure asphalt. The next moment, *crck* a crack appears on the layer of the black substance and quickly spreads throughout. Then, with just a shift in his position, the black flakes and crusts fall off of his body one after another until none remains stuck. He no longer looks like a burn victim, but simply his regular healthy self only with his skin that is even more tender and smoother than ever before. After donning a new kimono, he then tries to pick up the black crusts and flakes, which were actually his dead tissues, with his spirit sense. After a few seconds of struggle, he finally manages to manipulate the waste products smoothly and accumulate them to a small pile. While he is pleased with his spirit sense control, he knows that he will still need more time to rest to recover the rest of his spirit sense. *fufufufufu* He then starts throwing punches and kicks in the air. It takes him a minute of warm up to be satisfied of the control of his body. Just like his spirit sense however, he will need more time to feel a hundred percent coordinated. This reminds him of his first month in the world, when he was still unused to his then new body. He then stops shadow fighting and sits back down to the ground. "*huuuuuu*" He takes a huge sigh of relief. "A bad gamble.", he utters with a bitter smile. He was not injured from the actual fight with Dominic. After all, he won the fight with only a small cost of his spiritual energy he converted to sword energy with a fairly advanced sword art. What injured him was his soul subjugation of Dominic. While Dominic''s soul is nothing compared to his, his body cannot handle performing the soul technique without costs unlike when he subjugated the much weaker demons. Even though he looks fine on the outside, he is still injured and is only at 60% of his abilities and it will take him a month or more to fully recover the remaining 40%. "Thank goodness, I can cheat time." Fortunately for him, he can recover inside a dimension which the time is flowing 24 times faster than the real world. *Vmmm* The portal of the dimension suddenly appears just a few steps away from him. This tells him that an hour has passed in the real world. He stands up and heads to exit. Even though he is not yet a hundred percent himself, healing Dominic''s wounds is nothing to him. <> "..acy" "D..rcy" "DARCY." Darcy is awoken by Samuel shaking him and calling out to his name. As soon as he opens his eyes, the bright sky''s glare assaults him and triggers a huge headache. "Ah" He cannot help but groan. "Oh. Thank f*ck." Samuel sighs in relief. "Are you okay?" He asks. "" Darcy looks around the unfamiliar beach and for the next few seconds, the events that led to his current state replays in his mind. "Yeah. I''m okay." He finally answers Samuel. "How long was I out?" He asks. "Around two hours." Samuel says after checking his watch. "Shit. How am I still alive?" Darcy wonders aloud. If he was Red, he would have gone in for the killing blow. "I thought he would have killed you had it not been for that other man." Samuel comes up with a wild guess. "What other man?" Darcy asks. "That man you fought wasn''t alone. I saw another man appear briefly. They seemed to have exchanged a few words before the other guy disappeared, like literally. And then" Samuel hesitates to continue. "Out the f*ck with it." Darcy, with his concussion, has no patience. "Dominic came here" Samuel says and starts his report. A few minutes later, "I don''t know where Dominic is now. I just saw his smaller turtle collapse and just like that, he''s gone Along with the man." Samuel concludes his report. "Fuck." Darcy can only whisper in shock. "Did you call for back-up?" He asks after processing the news. "I wasn''t able to. I thought Dominic would have been enough. The moment I realized the need for help, the ship already sank, destroying the comms." Samuel looks away in shame. Darcy then hastily searches his pockets and finds his satellite phone immediately. "Thank goodness." He sighs in relief finding his phone still in perfect condition. He is about to dial a number when, "I don''t think we need that.", someone grabs the phone from his hand. Him and Samuel are startled and, "Y-You son of a" they immediately recognize Red in disguise, who just snatched the phone. They are more surprised however as they realized who it is behind Red. "Dominic." "Sir." Darcy and Samuel greet Dominic in daze. Dominic simply nods at Darcy, not acknowledging Samuel. The next moment, Red raises his finger towards Samuel and sends a small sword energy. The sharp energy easily penetrates through Samuel''s skull before proceeding to destroy Samuel''s spinal chord and midbrain. Darcy sees Samuel freeze in place before quickly collapsing to the ground. He then sees blood flow out of Samuel''s eyes, and nose. He realizes that the man has also stopped breathing, making him reach a conclusion: Red just killed Samuel. He then looks at Red and Dominic wide-eyed. Seeing Dominic not taking action, his surprise furthers. "It had to be done. He has seen too much." Red tells Dominic. "Of course." Dominic nods, playing along with Red. "It was a quick and painless death. He must not have even realized that he just died." He shrugs. "W-wha" Darcy, hearing the exchange, immediately feels a sudden bout of dizziness. Even though Samuel is not an integral part of the Little Family, the man still had the Little blood in his veins, so Darcy is stunned seeing that Dominic is not at least offended by Red''s actions. Dominic has a good guess of what Darcy is thinking. "It is exactly because my blood runs through his veins that it was not I who silenced him." He tells Darcy. "I see" In contrast to his words, Darcy is actually suspicious of how Dominic is acting. A suspicion immediately crosses his mind and, "Animus meus potestatem invoco, animus meus potestatem invoco Exorcizo te omnis daemonica potestas", he starts chanting. "" Red and Dominic are stunned and they give Darcy a weird look. "Exorci-" Darcy, on the process of his chant, is stunned seeing that his spell which should be working by now, has no effect. "I''m sorry. Did I hit you too hard?" Red interrupts Darcy in amusement. "" Darcy immediately feels embarrassed and does not continue with his spell. "Just making sure." He says in excuse. He now realizes that Dominic and Red being civil with each other must have been a product of some sort of an agreement reached between the two, and not due to any other reasons. "But yes. You did give me a concussion." He adds. "Then let me help you with that." Red suddenly appears in front of him before feeling the man''s hand on his head, startling him. He wants to run away or resist, but his concussion makes his body feel like it is a hundred miles away from his brain. Fortunately, he feels his headache and his shaky vision ease the next moment. "Y-you have healing powers too?" He is stunned by the variety of Red''s powers. Red does not even bother answering. Darcy again, suddenly has another suspicion cross his mind. "A-angel" He utters in fear. "Hang on You should be in your right mind by now" Red smirks. "Hey Dominic, is your peon here prone to coming up with farfetched theories?" He asks Dominic. "Yes. He didn''t want me to come in fear that I''ll leave my territory powerless. He even suspected Argus Fowler, who''s been a good friend of mine for almost a hundred years." Dominic too is amused by Darcy''s wild guesses. A few minutes later, "How do you feel?" Red asks Darcy as he removes his hold on the man''s head. "I feel great." Darcy is still in awe of Red''s healing ability. "Good." Dominic cuts in. "You go back to Brisbane. This guy and I have more to talk about." He orders Darcy. "Okay." Despite his confusion and questions upon questions flooding his mind about the situation, Darcy accepts Dominic''s orders for now. After Darcy left, Fumio deactivates his invisibility seal. "" He stares at Samuel''s lifeless body on the ground in a daze. He did not expect that the first murder he witnessed ever in his life, was done by someone who he considers as his father figure. With knees that he is trying to stop from trembling, his skin continuously tingling, and his stomach he wants to stop from sinking, he steals a glance at Red. He is startled to see that Red is already looking at him. And looking at him with eyebrows raised as if asking ''What''s up?'' or ''What''s wrong?''. He has received such look from Red countless of times before, but to see such innocent inquiring look from someone who just took a life, gives him a feeling that is beyond just odd. He had always known that Red is not entirely a good man based on what he observed of Red''s actions in the past, and the words he heard that came out of Red''s mouth. But witnessing Red''s actions just now, turned those that knowledge into a more instinctive feeling. The knees he tried suppressing start trembling hard. His skin that was tingling, spread bone deep. And the feeling of sinking on his stomach, has now spread to his heart. In the sixteen months that he has known Red, this is the first time that he is feeling real fear of the man. Chapter 136 - "Lift Your Heads..." Hinohara, 8 AM "SSssss huuuuu" "Ssss. Huuuuu." Yori and Akane are currently in the training yard, facing each other while assuming some sort of a pose that makes their bodies look contorted, while breathing in a unified pattern. "Good morning, Yori-sensei, Akane-sensei!~" Chihiro cheerfully joins Yori and Akane who are already waiting at the training yard. "Good morning, Chihiro." Yori and Akane return the greeting at the lively child. "Wow! You''re already at pose 16?! So quick?" Chihiro immediately notice the pose that the two are doing. The couple has learned the poses relatively easily over the past two weeks since they moved in and has substituted the 16 basic poses to their usual warm-up routine. They were also pleased to find out that the children also do the 16 basic poses everyday which tells them that the children are used to warming up, making their jobs easier. Chihiro then joins that two and, "Hufff.phh.." with difficulty due to his full belly, assumes the same pose the two are doing, just a step away from them. "How was breakfast?" Akane asks through an exhale of her basic breathing technique. "It was delicious!" Chihiro reports with an exhale. "Ssss.. Hu The rest are not yet done?" Akane asks. "No *inhale* *exhale* They''re slow" Chihiro pouts as he impatiently looks back at the children''s house. "*Inhale* *Exhale* I know that you are excited to learn how to dance, but you should slow down what you eat. You might get a tummy ache." Akane softly reprimands. "Yoshiko-nee said the same thing, but my tummy is strong! Heheh!" Chihiro sticks his tongue out at Akane. Akane almost shrieks at how cute Chihiro is, but fights it back. "Don''t stick your tongue out. It''s rude." She reprimands. "Sorry-sensei. A habit." Chihiro apologizes immediately. "It''s okay But you should slow down when eating, okay? You should appreciate the taste more. And it''s nice if you finish eating with the others too." Akane tells Chihiro honestly this time. " Okay" Chihiro does not understand what Akane means, but seeing her smile, takes her words to heart. "" Yori, looking at Akane being the way she is to Chihiro, feels warmth spread to his chest. Ever since they officially moved to the hill and started teaching the children dancing two weeks ago, he noticed that Akane''s mood has improved drastically and is smiling more often. He knows that just like him, she too, is happy. Not just because of the scenery of the hill that greets them every morning, or the nice house they are living in, or being able to sleep eight hours a day once again, or being served restaurant-grade meals three times a day. It is because of the sudden turn in their life and their newfound happiness teaching the enthusiastic children. He then sees Akane reach out to Chihiro''s face and wipe something off of its cheek. "Jeez. You should be more careful when eating, okay?" It is moments like these when he finds Akane the most beautiful. After spending time with the children, he is reminded of why decided to marry Akane in the first place. Not only because he loves her, but also because Akane gave him the dream that he has almost forgot after years of hardship; raising a family one day. He can only hope that him and Akane can work in the hill for a long time, which might help him achieve his and Akane''s dream one day. "Yori-sensei!" He is pulled out from his daze by a call from Chihiro. "What, kid?" He subconsciously replies. " ''What, kid?'' oh, that''s cool..." Chihiro mimics Yori. "" Yori, seeing Chihiro''s impression of him, gets embarrassed. That is because if Chihiro is mimicking him accurately, then he must have looked like a punk to the child . "Aherm." He also gets a look from his wife. "I''m sorry. What is it, Chihiro?" He corrects himself immediately. "Your jacket looks awesome!" Chihiro points at Yori''s oversized baseball jacket. "Thank you." Yori nods but inside, he cannot help but shake his head. Ever since he entered the hill, he always felt underdressed. He has also seen how the children would play roughly and recklessly while wearing their quality kimonos, which he finds hard to watch. "But Are you freezing? Your jacket looks thick and hot." Chihiro asks. "Akane-sensei too" The child also points at Akane''s jacket. "" Akane and Yori exchange looks. It is already in the third week of November and the weather has gotten colder and this morning is the coldest yet of the month. Because there is no insulated indoor practice room in the hill, and that they have to teach outside in the training yard, they are forced to wear thicker clothes. The two are jealous of the inhabitants of the hill because they immediately noticed that the servants, Yoshiko and Kotone, and even the children seem to not feel the cold, just like the non-superiori they know. "We are non-superiori so we are weaker than you." Yori tells Chihiro without much thought. "W. hoa" The couple then see Chihiro''s eyes go wide as saucers and his jaw slack open. "..." The two of them suddenly realize what Yori just said, and they fear that Chihiro is some sort of a young bigot. "I''m jok-" Before Yori can take back his accidental confession, "Really? Me too!" Chihiro exclaims. "What?" "Huh?" Akane and Yori are surprised by this. "I''m a non-superioris too! So are Ran, Osamu, Taishiro, and Kanon!" Chihiro confirms. "" Akane and Yori look at each other in confusion. They have witnessed together and talked about each other how the children seem to not run out of energy and can play and dance for hours on end without getting tired. "That''s awesome! You are just like Yoshiko-sensei! She''s smarter than many superiori, but she''s not one. And you two are great dancers and are cooler than superiori dancers! This is so cool!" Chihiro starts gushing over Akane and Yori. "" The couple is speechless. They do not know if Chihiro is joking, mocking them, or being honest, and they do not know how to react. "I have to tell the others!" Chihiro says before rushing back inside the children''s house. "What on earth" "I know" Yori and Akane exchange worried looks. A few moments later, the children all start filtering out of their house, to the training yard, joining the dancers. "Akane-sensei! You''re a non-superioris too?" Ran, who Akane has been the most attached to, asks the dancer. "''Y-Yes" Akane answers, but is confused of Ran''s enthusiastic reaction. "Really?" Ran asks as she leans closer, just to be sure. "Yes. I guess." Akane cannot help but be carried away by the momentum of how Ran asked the question. "Wow! I''m a non-superioris too! can I dance as well as you someday?" Ran starts hopping in place. "O-of course If it''s someone like you, sure" Akane answers with her mind spinning in confusion. "Yori-san, is it true?" "Are you really not a superioris?" Yori is not faring any better, being double teamed by Osamu and Taishiro. A few moments later, "EVERYONE?" Roku, one of the demon babysitters, who came upon the scene, takes everyone''s attention. "Take it easy on your teachers, please?" She asks of the kids. "Yes-!" The kids immediately take the babysitter who they deem as the strictest, seriously. "I can''t believe it" Roku sighs. "Akane-san, Yori-san, I think it''s best if you go back in your house for now." She then tells the couple. "" The children are about to protest, but Roku''s stern stare shuts them up. "" Akane and Yori are stunned by the order. They immediately figure that the situation is much more serious than they thought. They feel that Roku is not speaking to them as a babysitter, but as a senior or a superior. "Please. Stay in your living rooms until further notice." Roku urges them. "Very well." Yori and Akane can only follow the order. ... "Are we gonna get fired for this?" Akane asks in worry as soon as she and Yori sit down on their couch. "Can''t be, right? It wasn''t in the contract." Yori tries to assure, but he too is uncertain basing on the oddity that had just occurred. "Let''s relax for now. Let''s do the breathing technique together." He says to distract himself and Akane. "Okay" Akane nods. The two were quick to notice the benefits of the breathing technique just in their first day of practicing it. While it is not enough to ease their worry currently, they hope it will help. The two are about to execute the breathing technique when, " Oh" " yeah " they notice that they have been doing the basic breathing technique without realizing it. "What do we do now, babe?" "I don''t know." The couple can only exchange bitter smiles. They decide to simply sit in silence, to prepare for whatever is about to come. A few anxious minutes later, *Knock* *knock* the two are startled, hearing the knock on their door. After taking one more repetition of the basic breathing technique, Yori stands up to open it. "Hello there. Good morning." "S-sir." "Kichirou-san." The couple is surprised to see Red who they have rarely seen in the past two weeks. "Excuse me." Red says before entering. "It''s your house, sir" Yori says without much thought, now knowing else what to say. "But you guys are living in it." Red smirks as he goes to stand in the middle of the living room. "I like what you''ve done with the place." He says as he looks around, pleased to see that the bare living room, even when the minimalist Gin was living in the house, now has more personality due to how the couple decorated the place. "Y-Yes." Unlike Red who looks relaxed, the couple get nervous, misinterpreting Red''s words as the final words they hear before getting kicked out. Yori suddenly stands in front of Red and, "S-sir, I was careless. I apologize." bows to his waist. "We''re sorry." Akane too joins beside Yori and follows his example. "Sorry for what?" The two hear Red''s mellow voice but they still do not look up from the floor. "We" Akane cannot come up with an answer. "I accidentally told the children that me and my wife non-superiori." Yori hurriedly says, finding the root cause of the situation. "Is that so wrong" Red utters, feeling a bit bad for the desperate couple. "" The couple hears Red''s utterance however and they are tempted to look up. "Lift your heads" Chapter 137 - "I Called First!" "Lift your heads. I understand the desperation you feel, but lowering your heads this easily to me might just lower my good impressions of you two." Red tells the couple. The couple immediately straighten their postures out of panic. Red still sees the worry in their eyes however. "I''m not going to fire you two." His preface drops the couple''s stiff shoulders. "But you did make things move faster than I had estimated." He shrugs. The couple are confused, but they stay quiet. "Come with me." Red tells them as he makes his way to the door. After a short walk, the three arrive at the training yard where Kotone, Yoshiko, and the children are waiting. "" Kotone and Yoshiko give the couple strange gazes. "" The couple has noticed those looks from the two young women since yesterday. But due to their perception of the two young women being powerful superiori, they did not dare to find out why the two cultivators'' treatment of them suddenly turned lukewarm. They can only tread lightly while in the two women''s presence. Thankfully for the couple, they are saved from the intimidating looks by, "Good morning Kichirou-san.", the children''s warm greetings to Red. "Good morning, everyone." Red returns with a warm smile. "Kids, wanna go inside the gate?" He then asks the children. "Really?!" "AWESOME!" "OOhhh!" The children exclaim in disorder. They were always curious about what is beyond the huge bamboo gate they see every day. The gate they never saw anyone open, only jumped over or climbed. "But I''m not going to open it." Red''s words, like a bucket of ice-cold water, snuffs out the excitement of the children. "If you want to see what is beyond the gate, you all have to climb it." He asks of them. "" Everyone, including the adults, are stunned. They do not know why, but they feel that Red''s words is not a jest. "C-climb" Taishiro utters. "Yes. Climb over and there''s a reward for you waiting." Red nods. "Yoshiko already climbed the gate. And she already got her reward." He adds. "" Yoshiko is taken aback by being suddenly involved, but she already knows what to do. "I did." She nods. "Yoshiko-nee did?!" Ran looks at Yoshiko in disbelief, reflecting what the children and the dancer couple is feeling. "Want her to show you all?" Red asks the children. "*hehe~*" Kotone''s sudden and out of place giggle makes the children nervous. Soon, the group is now in front of the bamboo gate. "" Yoshiko who is standing right in front of the gate, gives Red a look of amusement. She just noticed that the ropes tying the bamboo logs together, seems to have multiplied overnight, and are tied closer to each other. They look perfect for foot holds and grips for the children''s small limbs and short reaches. "Yoshiko-nee, be careful!" Chihiro says in worry. "I will." Yoshiko nods to assure Chihiro before grabbing one of the ropes and pulling herself up with it. Soon, she finds herself on top of the wall, and waves at the children. "She really did it!" Chiro starts jumping in excitement. "The other side looks so cool. You kids should see it." Yoshiko goads the children. "I''ll see you on the other side! It''s nice over here." She then starts to climb down, instead of simply jumping down to keep the farce up. She is not at all worried about the children''s safety. After all, she knows, just like Red, Fumio, and Kotone knows, that the children, after unknowingly training their bodies with resistance seals in addition to bathing in herbal concoctions and eating the most nutritious food she knows, can survive falling the height of a two-story building, even if there is no one to catch them, even if they land to the ground head first. Whatever injuries they might incur, she knows that they will still come out of it perfectly fine with Red''s healing powers. The children however, does not know that. *CLAP* "Alright." Red clasps his hands together loudly. "Who''s next?" He turns to the children. "" The children look at Red and they confirm that their adoptive father really is not kidding around. Osamu looks at his step brothers and sisters and Kanon who is beside him stands out to him. After all, unlike the three others who all look scared, Kanon is looking up at the top of the gate with pondering eyes. " Are you going for it?" He asks the girl quietly. "Uhn." Kanon simply nods as if it is obvious. This pulls out a feeling of competitiveness out of Osamu''s heart. He noticed that it is always Kanon who was the best out of all the children in whatever task Red and Kotone wants them to do, except for school and drawing seals as Taishiro is number one in those, but he does not like school and drawing seals. He noticed that Kanon was the first in completing the 16 poses, the first to be praised by Kotone for her use of the basic breathing technique, and the first to paint Kotone''s clothes during their ''Nana Game''. He was always puzzled because he is taller and bigger than Kanon, but he is always lagging behind her. "I''ll go first, Kichirou-san." He steps forward from the line-up. "Oh?" Red raises his brows in false surprise. "" Osamu frowns at Red. He does not know why, but Red getting surprised at him volunteering makes him feel slighted. "Go right ahead." Red''s allowing gesture however eases that slight. "Wait a minute, Osamu." Taishiro grabs Osamu''s arm. "It''s dangerous." He warns. "" Osamu sees that Kanon is still looking at the top of the gate. "I know. But I wanna do it." He tells Taishiro. "But" Taishiro is taken aback. "Kichirou-san will you catch him if he falls?" He asks Red. "I won''t fall." Osamu however answers on behalf of Red. "You don''t trust Osamu?" Red asks Taishiro. "I trust him. But it''s still dangerous." Taishiro reasons. "Yes. It is. But if in case he falls, I won''t catch him." Red says. "This" Yori, who has been standing behind the children with Akane and Kotone, hears Red''s words and he gets agitated. "Sir. You really won''t?" He asks. Him speaking out, gathers the eyes of everyone. "I won''t. But that doesn''t mean that I won''t send him to the hospital." Red shrugs. Yori is not appeased and, "I won''t stand for this.", words of protest come out of his lips before he even realized it. And when he realizes what he just said, "I" he is stunned. "This is abuse and manipulation, sir." Akane supports her husband. "Well, well" Red smirks at the two. "Do you really think my kids are ordinary?" He tells the two through spirit sense. "Wha-.." The couple is stunned, hearing Red''s voice in their heads, but not seeing his lips move. "So just shut up and watch." They hear Red''s voice ring in their voice again, and they feel a choking feeling, any intentions of protesting are replaced with fear. "Now, Osamu." Osamu''s attention on Yori is taken by Red. "I won''t catch you in case you fall, and you might get hurt. Will you still do it?" Red warns Osamu one last time. "I" Osamu hesitates this time. Then, out of the corner of his vision, he sees Kanon''s figure appear. "May I go first?" Kanon asks Red. "I called first!" Osamu says in panic. "" Kanon is taken aback Osamu''s outburst. "Okay. Sorry." She apologizes. Osamu, seeing Kanon''s stunned face, realizes what he just did and, "It''s okay. I''m sorry for yelling.", apologizes in return. "Well then. Osamu." Red interrupts the moment. "Be mindful of each of your movements, okay?... And.. " He starts prepping Osamu. Soon, Osamu is now standing before the gate. He always knew that the gate is huge, obviously. But thinking of climbing it, makes him feel like it grew a few more meters than usual. He wants to back out, but after Red''s advices, and the supportive comments from his brothers and sisters, he figures it will be to embarrassing to quit now. "*sssss**huuuuu*" He takes one long drag of the basic breathing technique and after calming himself down, he grabs one of the ropes. ''Mindful of each hold and step. Focus on climbing up'' Red''s words earlier replay in his mind, and before he knows it, he already feels himself ascending. "Just me *hup* and the wall *hup*" Some time has passed, and after repetitive climbing movements while whispering the mantra he derived from one of Red''s advices to himself, Osamu feels his body starting to feel heavier. He knows that he is starting to get a bit tired, but seeing that he is almost at the top of the gate, he smiles in excitement. A few more seconds later, he finally grips the top of the gate and pulls himself up. "Whoa" After peeking his head just enough to see the gardens, he is stunned by its beauty. The lush green grass, the emerald green leaves of bushes and trees, the sparkling fruits and berries, and the flowers glowing under the sun, makes him feel like he is in a dream. He figures that even the flower gardens he saw in the film ''Princess Peony'' is nothing compared to what he is looking at. He does not know how long he has been appreciating the view, but he is pulled out from his daze when he feels his limbs starting to ache. ''Always be careful, even at the top, no matter what you see'' Red''s advice rings in his head once again. After a split second of decision, he pulls his right leg up above his head with great flexibility and feels out the surface of the top of the gate. After estimating the entire thickness of the gate with his foot, he hooks his leg on the opposite edge of the gate, and pulls the rest of his body up with his hand and arm. Soon, he is now saddling the gate between his legs, sitting on it as if riding a bicycle. "HE DID IT!" "WHOOO!" "OSAMU!" "AWESOME!" He suddenly hears cheers and applause from the foot of the gate. He looks at the group, smiles, and waves his hand at them. Suddenly, "Whoop!!", his heart drops realizing how high up he is. His excitement and pride is slowly replaced by fear and he starts feeling dizzy. "Very good Osamu! But it''s not over yet! Now climb down to the other side and join Yoshiko!" Red''s words do not help and instead almost makes him puke. Chapter 138 - "... A Ladder All Along ..." "Very good, Osamu. Great job" Yoshiko immediately give Osamu praises as soon as the child finally climbed down the gate. "Phew" Osamu looks at the gate in relief before, "Thank you nee-san.", accepting Yoshiko''s praise. "OSAMU SUCCEEDED!" Yoshiko then yells out loud for the others on the other side of the gate to hear. *wooo* *. Clap clap clap* Osamu, hearing the muffled cheers and applause from the other side, feels proud once again. "You crossed the gate quite fast! How was it?" Yoshiko who has sensed Osamu''s climb through the atmospheric spiritual energy, asks. "Fast?" Osamu is quite pleased and proud at his achievement. "Yes! You spent a longer time sitting up there than the actual climbing." Yoshiko nods. "Really?!" Osamu softly exclaims in suppressed excitement. "It was scary, nee-san. But it''s easier than I thought." He starts sharing his experience. "*Sigh*" Yoshiko shakes her head seeing Osamu still shaking from the nerves. "Kichirou-san is crazy, huh?" She ruffles the child''s head for comfort. "Crazy?" Osamu is taken aback by Yoshiko''s choice of words. "Yes." But he agrees. "Heh." Yoshiko finds amusement at Osamu''s adorable frown. "But he trusts you. He trusted you that you that you could really do it." She explains. "He trusts me?" Osamu is surprised. "Of course! He never would have asked you to do this if he didn''t trust you. He trusted me too, that''s why he asked me to climb the gate before." Yoshiko explains. "He trusts me" Osamu utters to himself. "" Yoshiko''s heart warms seeing Osamu''s rare but sweet smile. After a few moments of silence, "Oh Nee-san. What''s the reward?" Osamu asks, reminded of the subject. His objective after all, was not the reward that Red was talking about earlier, but to be the first one among the kids to climb over the gate. "I also don''t know." Yoshiko shakes her head. Even though she has a good guess, she knows that it is not her place to tell. "Oh" Osamu shrugs, dropping his interest in the matter. "Hey, look." Yoshiko, sensing that Kanon has reached the top of the gate, takes Osamu''s attention. Osamu looks up and he is not surprised to see Kanon''s figure saddling the top of the gate. He then sees Kanon''s usually stoic face wear a fearful expression. This worries him as he knows how daunting looking down at such height. "K-" He wants to cheer Kanon up, but he does not know what to say. He also fears that him yelling might distract her, and might cause her to fall. "Kanon!" Yoshiko however, is less worried, and calls out. "You can rest there for a moment. Look at the gardens. Aren''t they beautiful?" She advices. "" Osamu, hearing the same advice that he was given earlier, feels less worried for Kanon. He too was stuck for a few moments at the top of the gate, but after looking at the gardens, and getting used to the height, he managed to relax and thus giving him the guts to descend the gate. Soon enough, he sees that just like him, Kanon also manages to relax, and starts descending. Kanon, after scaling down with focus born out of fear, successfully steps on the soil on the inner side of the gate. "Good job, Kanon." "Congratulations, Kanon." She immediately receives praises from Yoshiko and Kotone. "T-Thank you" Kanon returns while sighing in relief. Her body and limbs that felt heavy, now feel much lighter. "KANON SUCCEEDED!" With Yoshiko''s announcement, the spectacle continues. Ran and Chihiro soon succeed at the task too. They however climbed less proficiently than Kanon and Osamu, and they were even more nervous. But after cheers from Yoshiko and supportive comments from Kanon and Osamu, they managed to descend the wall with a few stumbles. Then, it is finally Taishiro''s turn. "You read, buddy?" Red asks. "" Taishiro grimaces. "May I not do it?" He asks in return, intending to decline the task. "It''s up to you. But would you really be the only one who did not climb the wall?" Red asks. "" Yori and Akane frown in hidden repulsion at Red''s goading. *t..sh..ro..* *t..sh.ro*. Taishiro then hears his adoptive siblings'' muffled cheers of his name from the other side. With Red''s words and the other children''s cheers, he is starting to feel pressured. "Taishiro. Weren''t you watching closely? Don''t tell me you didn''t learn from how the others climbed?" Red asks. "I did but" Taishiro sighs. "Weren''t the others safe? Didn''t you see that they climbed the wall rather easily?" Red asks. " That''s true" Taishiro is starting to feel convinced. "You are just as fit as them. No, you''re even stronger than Chihiro and Ran. What''s stopping you?" Red continues to goad. Taishiro''s mind starts running and processes Red''s logic. ''Yeah why can''t I do it?'' The more he thinks about it, the more confident he gets. "So Are you going to do it?" Red asks the child. "I''ll do it." Taishiro, figures from how he saw others climb and knowing what his body can do, that he has a very high chance of success. "Very good." Red nods. "Okay. Don''t let anything else distract you Just focus on your hands, your feet, and the next place to hold on to or step on Before you know it, you''re already on the other side with the others." Red advices. "Okay." Taishiro takes Red''s words to the front of his mind. "Good. Every time you feel nervous, just stop, relax, and think of the next step calmly, okay?" Red advices one more time and sends Taishiro off. A moment later. "Just me, and the wall Earthquake is unlikely. Strong wind is not enough." Taishiro, while ascending, mutters to himself his own thoughts. Unlike Ran and Chihiro who climbed before him, he is not feeling as nervous with the help of his mantra. " Good odds As long as I''m careful, I''ll be fine Good odds" He also figures that there is no outside element that will lower his chances of succeeding, so as long as he does what he is supposed to do, then nothing or nobody will stop him. Using his estimations to boost his confidence, he finds himself near the top of the gate before he even realized it. "Nervous. They were nervous." He then remembers the looks on his adoptive siblings'' faces after reaching the top of the wall. "As long as I''m doing it right, no need to be nervous." He prepares his emotions and remembers his estimation of the thickness of the wall based on how the others were sitting on top of it. With his guts and his estimations prepared, he quickly pulls himself up and immediately mounts the wall in two smoothly connected motions. As soon as his buttocks rest on the gate, "Phew" He sighs in relief. "He made it!" "Whooo!" He receives cheers from the other kids from below. He simply nods in acknowledgement, not in the mood to showboat as he realizes why the others looked nervous before. "So this is what it feels like" His stomach sinks at the height. Then, just like the others, he decides to rest for a moment to get used to the height while satisfying his curiosity at what is beyond the gate. "So that''s why they looked like that" He utters seeing the beauty of the gardens. "I want to take a closer look" The view motivates him, and he recovers quickly. As soon as he starts his climb down however, he freezes, his body resting on top of the wall, with his legs hanging over the edge. He just realized that he has no idea how to climb down. He also did not see how others descended, so he feels unprepared. He looks at Red as if asking for help. "I told you all you needed to know I gave you more advice too." Red tells him. "" Taishiro''s heart drops. He realizes that Red indeed not only told him what he told the others, he was also told some extra. With that, he starts remembering all what Red told him and soon enough, he finds the advice he deemed useful. ''Stop, relax, and think calmly'' He repeats in his mind. It takes him a minute before coming up with a realization. "The bamboo logs are stitched by the ropes. The way they looked on the outside, is the same as the inside" He leans further over the wall to look at how the ropes are tying the gate together from the outside, to get a general idea of the pattern of the ropes on the other side. The angle at which he is looking at the patterns gives him another realization. "Looks like a ladder" He utters. "I was climbing a ladder all along Only I can''t wrap my fingers around the ropes." He chuckles at the realization, cutting down his nervousness substantially. He then moves his legs and as soon as he feels one of his feet touch one of the ropes, he proceeds to climb down. While he is still cautious, his observations have given him confidence. Soon enough, he reaches the ground and joins his adoptive siblings, starting another round of commotion. "" Red after connecting Taishiro''s utterances that he heard clearly, is pleasantly surprised and impressed by the boy''s thought process. "I hope he''s a good seed " He utters, hoping that Taishiro has the potential in the field of Spirit Formations like how Fumio has potential in the field of Herbology and Apothecary. He then puts his thoughts about Taishiro to the back of his head for now. After all, Taishiro still have more immediate priorities. "That wasn''t so bad now, was it?" Red then turns to Akane and Yori. "" While the couple are impressed by the children''s display, they still found it harrowing. "May I ask something?" Yori asks. "Please." Red allows it. Yori hesitates for a moment before encouraging himself to proceed with his daring question. "What was the point of them doing that?" "A test." Red shrugs. "Compared to how some superiori clans test their children, this is nothing." He adds. "Then why did you have us watch it? And what happened at the training yard earlier, how did it end up like this?" Akane asks. "Because I also want you two to take this test.." Red smirks. Chapter 139 - "Would You Accept Your Rewards?" (Cont''d) "Us?" Yori asks. Him and Akane are not sure if they heard it right. "What? You two can''t do it?" Red scoffs. "With all due respect, sir. It''s not that we can''t. It''s just, we won''t risk it." Yori argues. "Even if you get a reward for it?" Red asks. "" The couple is immediately tempted. They do not know what reward it is, but if it comes from Red, then they figure that it can only be good. "Kichirou-san. I''ll be waiting on the other side." Kotone, knowing Red, shakes her and proceeds to jump over the wall. "" The couple, despite witnessing Kotone''s jumping down the gate a few times already every time she arrives to the compound, are stunned seeing that Kotone actually only takes one jump to cross the gate. "Come on" Red interrupts their stunned state. "Even if you get hurt, healthcare''s mostly free, and I''ll pay for the rest of the hospital bills. Not only that. It''ll also be like a paid sick leave." He tempts them further. "Whatever reward it is, Kichirou-san, I don''t think it''s worth it." Akane says, realizing the danger of the task. "Well then. That''s too bad. I hope the children don''t get disappointed. " Red nods. "''Huh. We did it. Why can''t our sensei do it?'' ''Are they not as cool as I thought?''" He adds with a few hypotheticals. "" The couple feel each example that Red cited stab their hearts. "We won''t fall for that, sir." Yori says. "You''ll destroy our image to them?" Akane says through gritted teeth. "Not really. But it might slip out easily like how you, Yori-kun, unintentionally confessed being a non-superioris to them." Red smirks. "So, this is a punishment for that all along." Yori sighs. "A punishment is a bit much." Red chuckles. "It''s not like I''m firing you two. Take it as my way of reprimanding you for your mistakes." He adds. "It''s still" Yori wants to say that he did not know, or that he triggered such reaction from children by accident, but he ultimately decides to stop arguing. He then takes a deep breath and, "I''ll do it.", decides. "Husband" Akane is startled by her husband''s sudden decision. "Darling" Yori looks at Akane in the eyes. "It''s only been two weeks but, you know how those kids look at us Especially after what happened earlier." Akane, after a split second, understands what Yori is saying. "Oh" She softly exclaims. "Yes." Yori nods, seeing Akane getting him. It has only been two weeks since they started teaching the children, but they have received so much love and appreciation from the children that makes up for some years of indifference they suffered. With Red''s threat, they fear that the children''s pure affection will be tainted by disillusionment. "Let''s do it together." Akane nods. "Okay" Yori, seeing the look in his wife''s eyes, knows that he cannot dissuade her. He is also confident of his wife''s physical strength. <> "Wow" "Yeah" The couple climbed up to the top of the gate easier than they thought and they can now see what is beyond the bamboo gate. Their appreciation of the view however, is interrupted by, "WHOO!" "THEY CLIMBED TOO!" cheers from below them. The couple''s hearts warm at the sight of the smiling children. It does not take them long to climb down after that. "Akane-sensei!" "Yori-sensei!" After receiving congratulating gazes from the children, the couple see a simple nods of acknowledgement from Yoshiko and Kotone. They know that the two are unimpressed, but they could care less. The children''s approving gazes after all, are more than enough for them. "Very good." Red''s voice suddenly ring out, interrupting the commotion. "Let''s take a walk, everyone." He says as he starts leading a stroll towards the Kotone''s house in the center of the gardens. While the group is walking, a few ''Oohs'' and ''aahhs'' are heard from the children who cannot stop themselves from looking around everything they pass by. "They almost look fake" "Yeah. They almost look plastic." Akane and Yori, whisper to each other. Despite their words, they are stunned by the beauty of each plant they pass by. "But they look strangely familiar." Yori notices. "They are. Because they''re common plants." Akane who knows a bit about gardening, reveals. "I saw an oregano plant, a mint plant, and even a wild sunflower back there. But they''re not ordinary. It''s as if the plants either had plenty of water and fertilizer, or they somehow evolved." She explains. "Or maybe grown by a gardener with the perfect superioris ability for plants." Yori spots Goichi who is squatted by one of the plants, removing weeds. "That explains it." Akane nods in realization. "But why common plants though?" She however is confused with that aspect of the gardens. "Don''t even try to find out. There a so many weird things outside. This place being walled in like this, it has to be weirder." Yori chuckles. "Kichirou-san! Can I pick one of these?!" Chihiro who is ahead of the group, asks excitedly as he stops in front of a dense crown of strawberry plant that is even taller than him. Everyone looks and sees why Chihiro wants to have one. "Are those..." Yori is stunned. "Yes. Strawberries." Akane nods, stunned. The strawberries hanging from the plant, after all, are the size of apples, some even larger. "Sure. Just pick one for everyone." Red stops the walk for now. Soon enough, "Wow!" "Delicious!" "So sweet" All sorts of exclamations ring out from the first time garden visitors. "I can''t believe luxury fruits is just at the road." Akane shakes her head. "Luxury fruits I wonder how much these will sell for?" Yori entertains the thought in amusement. After the short break, the group arrive at the yard at the central house. After Red had the children and the dancer couple sit cross legged at the porch, "Kichirou-san. What''s the reward?" Ran asks in anticipation. "Later." Red brushes the question aside and turns to Yoshiko. "Yoshiko, please?" He asks aloud while sending his disciple instructions with his spirit sense. "phew" Yoshiko sighs, receiving the instructions. She can finally come clean to the children. She bends her knees and pushes herself off of the ground. "WHAO!" The children all exclaim and would have stood up in surprise if they were not sitting cross legged. Yoshiko after all, has just jumped even higher than the height of the bamboo gate. As Yoshiko feels herself reaching the peak of her rise, she summons a small spiritual energy platform and kicks it. With that, her entire body starts twirling in the air gracefully looking like a spinning baton tossed by a majorette of a marching band. "My goodness." The usually stoic and daydreaming Kanon utters in wonder. As soon as Yoshiko lands back down to the ground, *clap**clap**clap*, she hears Red slow clapping. "Wonderful display, Yoshiko-chan." Red compliments. Yoshiko rolls her eyes. The task was easy for her. The next moment however, she notices that the atmosphere turned strange. "Y-you''re not a superioris?..." Ran asks, wide-eyed. "I-" Yoshiko sees a look of betrayal in Ran''s face and she does not know what to say. "I-" It breaks her heart further seeing that the other kids also look betrayed. Fortunately for her, "Alright kids." Red cuts in. "Your Yoshiko-nee, is not a superioris." "B-but But.." Taishiro cannot process the contrast of what Red said and what he just witnessed. Red then turns his back on the children and he starts ascending up the air, as if climbing up an invisible flight of stairs. In addition, he also starts glowing under the already bright sun. The sight is a wonder to all present, including the cultivators. Yoshiko and Kotone can also make spiritual energy platforms with their spiritual energy control, but seeing Red''s paper thin platforms make them feel like prodigals with how they use their elixirs. They are also inspired seeing that Red seems to be summoning the platform at will unlike them who have to take imagination and a bit of focus to do the same. The thing that mystifies them however, is that something that is making the atmospheric spiritual energy move aggressively with their master at the center. To the children and the dancers, meanwhile, Red looks like a king ascending the heavens. The group see Red stop his steps and turn around to their direction. "YOSHIKO DID NOT LIE. SHE WAS NOT A SUPERIORIS, AND IS STILL ISN''T." The master of the hill tells them, his booming but soothing voice reverberating like an echo to their ears make them feel that they are in the presence of someone beyond just grand. That sense of grandness suppresses any intentions of speaking up. "RAN, YOU ASKED ME WHAT THE REWARDS WAS?" Red addresses the little girl. "Y-y-yes" Ran, having a glimpse of Red''s power, is tongue-tied and intimidated. "THAT REWARD IS SHARING MY POWERS WITH YOU ALL." He reveals. "" This stuns the children. "" The dancer couple meanwhile, feel out of place. They are not sure if they should be present, witnessing a huge secret like this. "FUMIO, KOTONE, AND YOSHIKO HAVE RECEIVED THEIR REWARDS LONG AGO." Red continues. "NOW, CHILDREN. WOULD YOU ALL ACCEPT YOUR REWARDS?" He asks as he sends them a blast of spiritual energy. The gate climbers feel a strong breeze brush their bodies and they immediately feel calm and clear-headed. The children look at each other, figuring that that they are all thinking the same thing. "YES. KICHIROU-SAN." They all answer in unison. "MR. AND MRS. TAJIMA." Red addresses the dancers. "Y-yes?" "Sir?" Akane and Yori are taken aback getting attention from the powerful man. "WOULD YOU ACCEPT YOUR REWARDS?" Red asks them. "Us too?" Akane asks, she cannot believe what she just heard. "OF COURSE." Red nods. "W-" Yori is about to ask why Red wants to include them, or why Red even trusts them, but he cannot bring himself to ask it. The opportunity is just too tempting to even show hesitation to. Before long, "Y-yes." "W-we accept.", the couple finally answer while suppressing their excitement. "VERY GOOD." Red knows what the two are thinking, but he trusts the two''s characters. "LET US BEGIN. CLOSE YOUR EYES." . . To the side, Yoshiko and Kotone are now standing next to each other, the two excited for the children to finally access their inner worlds. "I wish my ''initiation'' was as grand as this." Yoshiko chuckles in envious amusement. "I know, right? Mine was done casually, like on a whim." Kotone shares the sentiment. "At least you didn''t have seniors to pull an act on you." Yoshiko scoffs. "You still haven''t forgotten about that, huh?" Kotone shakes her head. "It was all an act, but it was cruel." Yoshiko argues. "That''s true..." Kotone utters. "But I had to spar with teacher every day for three months before I was ''initiated''." She is not willing to lose the banter however. "So I''ve heard" Yoshiko shrugs, having heard it before. She can only give in. She cannot imagine getting her pride hurt every minute of two months. "But Akane-san and Yori-san Those monsters." Kotone then sighs. "Ugh. I know. I guess talented people have it better, even under someone like sensei.." Yoshiko too, sighs in envy. Chapter 140 - "Your Silence Confirms It." "There" Chihiro smiles with eyes closed, feeling something inside him snap right in place. "Very good, Chihiro." Red nods, seeing the once ordinary boy finally step into the path of cultivation. Chihiro is the last one of the new cultivators to access his inner world and connect his meridians to his budding elixir sea without Red''s assistance, lagging a bit behind Ran. Kanon and Osamu, who were actually two weeks ahead of the rest of the children, were the first ones to access their inner worlds and subsequently connect their meridians to their elixir seas. They were followed by Taishiro. Behind Taishiro, to the surprise and envy of Yoshiko and Kotone, are Yori and Akane who just moved in the hill a little over two weeks ago. And finally, Ran and Chihiro, whose short attention spans, made them access their inner worlds and connecting their meridians the last in the group. Red, done with his guiding, then drops back down to the ground and walks to the group. "Stand up, children." He orders. The children follow and wait in anticipation at what is going to happen next. They still cannot believe that something so vast is now inside them. *Click* Red deactivates the children''s resistance seals with a snap of a finger. "Why don''t you all play a game of tag?" He asks of them. "" The order confuses the children. "Go ahead" Red gestures to them as he goes to sit beside Yori and Akane. The children seeing Red not bother with them anymore, exchange looks. "You''re it" Osamu pokes Kanon''s arm before running away. The next moment, however, "AH!" He gets scared at the speed he is running. "WHOA!" The rest of the children are stunned by Osamu''s speed. *sssss* After a few attempts, Osamu finally stops himself from running, and his feet slide for a few feet against the clay yard before his momentum runs out. Kanon is the first one to recover and "You''re it.", she pokes Taishiro beside her before *whoosh* running away. "whoop" She too, just like Osamu, gets scared at her new speed. But before she crashes into a bed of flowers, she manages to stop herself. Not long after that, "You''re it!" "AH!!!" a real game of chaotic tag begins. Yori, recovering from his stunned state at the children''s physical display, "Hup.. hup.." throws a few jabs in the air. " I don''t feel any different." He says in disappointment. Akane realizes what her husband is doing and she too throws clumsy jabs in the air, and she too, realizes that nothing changed. "Hah Thank goodness." The two are interrupted by Kotone and Yoshiko joining them. "''Thank goodness?''" Akane asks, confused by Yoshiko''s remark. "Yes. I thought you would suddenly be B-Class after your initiations." Yoshiko explains. "Huh?" "B-Class? What?" The couple''s heads spin. "Unlike us and the kids, they have not trained their bodies intensely." Kotone did not have Yoshiko''s worry. "HAH!" Red''s cackle takes the interest of the group. "Their bodies are trained enough. Dancing from a very young age after all." He comments. "Yori-kun, Akane-chan. Don''t tell me you haven''t noticed the changes in your bodies in the past two weeks?" He asks the couple. "I do feel stronger and more energized." Akane confirms. "Was it the food?" Yori asks. He figures that eating the most nutritious and filling meals for the past two weeks changed him. "Yes. The food. But also because of the poses and the breathing technique. Now that you have activated your inner worlds, you will feel small changes by the end of the day." Red adds. "I see" The couple are enlightened and relieved. "Kichirou-san." Yori suddenly stands up. "Thank you for sharing your powers with us!" and bows to his waist. "Thank you, Kichirou-san." Akane follows too, realizing the possibilities of their new powers. "I said no bowing" Red''s voice suddenly turns cold, making the couple stand straight back up. "I won''t refuse your thanks. But I lied about something. The power you possess is not mine, but yours. I just helped you two access it." Red says. "Huh?" The couple are confused yet again. "Here''s how it is" Red starts orienting the two about cultivation. A few minutes later. " " The couple are quiet, pondering the things Red just told them. Red allows the two to get used to the information and, "KIDS!" calls out, interrupting the children who are still playing tag tirelessly. It takes not even ten seconds before the children are now lined up in front of Red. "Now, kids. How do you all feel?" Red asks. "We feel great!" "It''s awesome!" "Thank you!" The children express what they are feeling in their own way. "Good. But if you do bad things with your powers, I''ll take them back." Red tells them with a hint of his bloody aura. "" The children freeze at this and they start sweating cold. The children are not the only ones affected, but also the adult cultivators. Yori and Akane too, start sweating. Kotone and Yoshiko are reminded for the first time in a long time, that Red is dangerous. "Do you all understand?" Red asks before replacing his bloody aura with a blast of spiritual energy. "YES!" The children feel how serious Red is, and they also seriously reply. "Do you all promise?" Red asks. "We promise!" The children nod in return. "Good." Red nods. Akane and Yoshi, even though Red was talking to the children, feel like they too, are being addressed. More specifically, they feel they are being warned. So just like the children, they too promise not to do anything bad with their powers, only silently. The two now know that their powers can be crippled, and they do not even want to imagine being crippled, or worse, being crippled by Red. "Okay. Your Yoshiko-nee here will teach you all more about your powers." Red orders Yoshiko to teach the children how to cultivate. The children having all near perfect initiations, is not worried about a rookie cultivator like Yoshiko teaching them. "And you two." Red turns to the dancer couple. "I need to tinker with your bodies." "" The couple is weirded out. "Kotone. You assist me." And with that, the group enter the house. A few hours later. *FWAAAHHHHHHH* A loud disturbance destroys the peace of the hill. The children and the dancer couple who are cultivating together all open their eyes. Yoshiko and Kotone look towards the direction of the noise with serious eyes, feeling immense power coming from the north side of the hill. "INTRUDER!" They all hear Ichiki, the demon chef''s scream piercing the air. "Wha..>" The new cultivators are shocked seeing Kotone and Yoshiko suddenly wrap them in what looks like ropes that are made up of spiritual energy. "Do not fight it." Kotone''s serious voice stops the group from resisting the hold of the rope on them. Soon enough, they are all in the air, the new cultivators being dragged along by Kotone and Yoshiko. "Where are we going? Kotone-nee?" Ran asks in worry. "Somewhere safe." Kotone says. As soon as they are at a high enough altitude, "Oh dear." Akane exclaims, being the first one to spot something. "WHOA" The rest of the group also see that right beside the hill, a huge turtle made out of water, two thirds the size of the hill itself, is standing. "Take them there." Kotone passes the people she is carrying, to Yoshiko. "Alright. How about you?" Yoshiko asks. "I''ll check it out. If they''re enemy or not, we have to find out." Kotone explains. "Be careful. I''ll be back." Yoshiko nods and proceeds to bring the children to Red''s cave. She can only hope that Red has not yet left to somewhere. "WHO ARE YOU?" Kotone asks, amplifying her voice with an elixir technique to make sure that whoever the turtle belongs to, or maybe the turtle itself, can hear it. She then sees that at the head of the turtle, a figure of a Caucasian man resurfaces. "YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT I NEED." The man responds in foreign accented Japanese. "WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY NEED FROM US?" Kotone asks. "YOU HAVE TAKEN SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME." The foreigner declares. Kotone frowns, not knowing how to proceed. She knows that the man must be talking about one of the treasure fragments that ended up in Red''s hands. She figures that the man is related to the two Australians, or the man from the Brotherhood of Adam. Before she can deny any fruther, "YOUR SILENCE CONFIRMS IT." the man says in certainty. Kotone swallows in nervousness, seeing that on the turtle''s body, tens of spinning water balls the size of volleyballs, materialize. "LET''S BE CIVIL." Kotone reasons. "CIVIL? WITH YOU? WHY WOULD I BOTHER?" The foreigner asks. "YOU ARE TRESPASSING." Kotone can only say, not coming up with something else. "THEN SHOW ME IF YOU''RE WORTH TALKING TO." The man says before sending the water balls to Kotone''s way. "" Kotone''s heart jumps at the speed of the water balls. She immediately summons platforms in the air and jumps on them in a zigzagging manner to try and dodge the attack. "YOU''RE PRETTY GOOD." The foreigner nods in appreciation at Kotone''s evasive maneuvers. The short pause by the man gives Kotone a breather and she immediately activate the invisibility seal on her kimono, making her being pop out of existence in the eyes of the man. "Huh" Dominic smirks in interest. He has seen the same feat performed by Fumio when he first met the young man. "TRICKS." He says before sending two water balls at a seemingly random location. He then sees the water balls he sent suddenly explode in the air, as if impacting something. "Ooff" He also hears Kotone''s grunt follow. Unlike ordinary people and weaker superiori, he has sharp eyes that can see subtle contortions in space around Kotone, or more specifically, light being bent by the illusion seal. Even though he cannot see through the illusion seal, he sees enough to know Kotone''s location. Suddenly, his gut tells him to dodge, which he does. *fwap* he then sees the top of the head of his turtle he is standing up, get a small cut before that cut fixes itself immediately. "She must be the other one." Dominic utters to himself as he looks at the direction of where he figures the attack came from. "" Yoshiko, who just attempted a sneak attack, feel her heart drop, seeing Dominic look exactly to her direction. "CHILDREN." She then hears from Dominic before seeing water balls upon water balls come her way. Chapter 141 - "I Deserve Your Anger." "Y-Yoshiko-nee Will Kotone-nee be fine?" Ran asks Yoshiko as they arrive at a dense thicket somewhere at the foot of the hill. "She will be" Yoshiko nods. "S-She c-can f-fight that giant, right?" Taishiro asks, the image of Dominic''s turtle etched in his mind. His words and his terrified state also makes the others tremble. "Of course, she can. But she and I will fight together her so we can take the enemy down easier." Yoshiko assures. "" Akane and Yori however, see that Yoshiko is worried. They want to help out but they know that they are still weak and powerless. They can barely suppress their fear themselves. The children are distracted from their fears for now as they see Yoshiko push aside a huge boulder, revealing the entrance to Red''s cave. They are also awed by Yoshiko''s simple display of a basic fire technique that lights their path. As they arrive at the cave''s main cavern, "Damn" Yoshiko curses softy. Akane and Yori hear it. "Something wrong?" Yori asks in worry. "This is sensei''s house. But it seems that he left to somewhere." Yoshiko shakes her head, helplessly. "Anyways. You''re all safe here for now. I''ll go provide back-up to Kotone." Yoshiko says aloud, assuring the group that the cave is the only safe place they can hide. "We''ll take care of the children." Akane promises. "Okay. The other servants will be here at any moment." Yoshiko nods and with that, she zooms out of everyone''s sight. "Children. Why don''t we all cultivate? It''s the best we can do for now." Yori tells the children with a convincing smile. "..okay.." The children know that it is the only thing they can do. For the next two minutes however, they cannot concentrate as one after another, they feel subtle vibrations coming from above the cave, which they know are the tremors of the Yoshiko and Kotone fighting the giant turtle, making them imagine all sorts of things in their heads. The next moment, the demon servants then arrive to join them. "Hello children." Ichiki is the last one to arrive with a huge basket on hand. "I made you all sweet milk tea." And hands out the contents of his basket. "How is everything outside?" Akane asks Roku. "Dangerous." Roku''s one word does not assure the group. "A-are they winning?..." Osamu asks. "We are too weak to tell." Roku shakes her head. The cultivators are disappointed and the silence in the cave resumes. *zzzt* *dum* *dum* Even though the sounds that reach the cave are soft to everyone''s ears, it is loud to their hearts. Every vibration, every percussion no matter how small, makes everyone''s hearts restless. Then, "", the sounds and vibrations suddenly stop and everyone one waits in bated breath. A few seconds of not hearing anything, "I-it''s over?" Chihiro whispers in worry. "I''ll go check it." Hachiyo, one of the demon babysitters, says and heads out. "Hachiyo-san!" Ran and Chihiro call out in worry, reflecting the rest of the children''s sentiments. They do not want to see another one of their babysitter get taken away from them. "I''m good at hiding, don''t worry everyone." Hachiyo assures. Before she is about to leave the main cavern however, *whoosh*, a man with flaming feet enters in great speeds. "" The cultivators'' hearts drop seeing the unconscious and bruised Yoshiko and Kotone being carried by the man at each shoulder. "*EEK*!" "*AH*!" All sorts of gasps and exclamations ring out. "Y-yoshiko-nee.!" Chihiro runs towards Xoz''gekal. "They''re still alive, and they will live." Xoz''gekal assures everyone as he lays the unconscious cultivators down to the ground with care. The group, seeing Yoshiko and Kotone still breathing, all sigh in relief. "But they are heavily injured and will probably be unconscious for days." Xoz''gekal sighs. "N-no" "uuuuu." Ran and Chihiro start crying. Osamu, Taishiro, and Kanon want to cry too but they are suppressing their tears from falling. "Was the threat dealt with?" Yori''s worried question reminds every one of the threat that is still looming. . "M-" Before Xoz''gekal can answer, *DOOM* *BRRCKK* everyone hears the loudest sound they have heard yet, followed by the cave trembling. "Kichirou-sama is fighting the enemy now. Thankfully, we arrived just in time." Xoz''gekal says as he looks up, his explanation calming the group down. "Huuu.." The cultivators all sigh in relief. *DOOM* *CRASH* The noise and the trembling of the cave continues, making everyone wait again in tension. A few minutes later, "", the sounds and tremors once again, stop. The new cultivators, seeing Kotone and Yoshiko''s states, are no longer confident in Red''s abilities and their worries increase. "A-are we gonna die?" Taishiro wonders aloud. This increases the tension in the cavern. "" Yori and Akane exchange glances. They do not know how Red can possibly beat something so titanic, but they still hope that Red had won the fight. "Don''t be stupid, kid. Kichirou-sama is stronger than you think." Xoz''gekal scoffs. *Tap* *tap* *tap* The next moment, the group hears footsteps approach from afar. "" They look at the direction of the entrance of the cavern in worry and anticipation. Soon enough, they see Red''s figure emerge out of the darkness. "We''re safe now, everyone." Red smiles at everyone. As he walks closer to the group however, they see that the left sleeve of Red''s kimono is soaked with blood. They notice further that something is missing under that sleeve. "Y-your arm" Akane''s shrieks. "*!*" The rest of the group also realize and they gasp. "Yes." Red simply shrugs. "One forearm for one S-Class Superioris? I''m lucky." He explains. "S-Class" Everyone shivers at the word. They have heard of S-Class Superiori and how elusive and legendary they are, but never really had the slightest idea of how powerful one really is. Even A-Class superiori''s fights are rare to see. But with the colossal thing they have seen earlier, the feeling of insignificance standing before it, and how Yoshiko, Kotone, and Red ended up, they now have a clearer image of what an S-Class superioris really is. "A-are you alright?" Kanon asks. She cannot believe that Red who she deemed like a deity just a few hours ago, is now injured like this. "I''m alright, my dear. Don''t worry." Red walks to the girl and ruffles her hair. "But Yoshiko and Kotone are not." He adds. "Rekka." Red addresses Xoz''gekal. "Yes, sir." "Please take everyone outside. I will treat Yoshiko and Kotone''s injuries." Red orders. "As you wish." Xoz''gekal nods and leads everyone out. The group soon exit the entrance of the cave and Xoz''gekal also seals the entrance once again with the boulder. "My goodness." Akane cannot help but gasp, seeing the once beautiful hillside has become muddy and the trees uprooted. "Are we really safe now?" Yori cannot help but ask. "We are." Xoz''gekal nods as he summons a huge flame vulture. "Hop in." The group ascend once again. . . "Haaa.a" Xoz''gekal sighs and stops the bird to fly stationary as they gain enough height to look at entire size of the hill. "" The cultivators cannot help but become silent seeing that the hill has car sized holes spread throughout. Half of the bamboo wall is wiped out alongside with half of the gardens. There are also landslides that has changed the shape of the hill itself. "We''re lucky." Xoz''gekal shakes his head, interrupting the silence. "The turtle was bigger than the hill. We''re lucky that our hill wasn''t destroyed, and you weren''t buried under it." He adds. "" Everyone is stunned. "B-But It was smaller when we saw it." Yori asks wide-eyed. "It was? Huh. It must have gotten bigger." Xoz''gekal shrugs. The children all ponder in horror, trying to imagine the turtle''s size. "But Why were we attacked? We didn''t do anything wrong" Taishiro asks aloud in indignation. "This was my fault, children. I''m sorry." Xoz''gekal says, receiving strange and inquiring gazes. "I took revenge on Nana-san''s killer. But I didn''t know that the killer knew an S-Class Superioris." He says with an apologetic face. "Nana-san''s killer." Taishiro is taken aback. The children are reminded of that peaceful morning. Nana''s beautiful smile, her hair dancing behind her as she ran. Her figure being shined upon by the sun. A peaceful morning that ended in tragedy with their beautiful babysitter being taken away from them suddenly. "You took revenge" Osamu looks at Xoz''gekal. Not knowing if he should admire the demon for doing what he himself always wished to do, or blame the demon for nearly causing another tragedy. "Yes." Xoz''gekal nods. "Kichirou-sama asked me to let it go, but I didn''t. Now this happened. Yoshiko and Kotone are in a coma. Kichirou-sama lost an arm. It''s all my fault." Tears start flowing down his cheeks. "It''s okay It''s okay" Kanon grabs the hem of Xoz''gekal''s shirt and consoles the demon. "No" Xoz''gekal falls to his knees. "I wish I was stronger. I wish I could have helped Kichirou-sama. I''m such a weakling." He starts sobbing weakly. "Rekka-san" Hachiyo calls out. "You are a high-tier A-Class superioris. You are strong" She stands in front of Xoz''gekal. "A-class. High tier" Despite Hachiyo''s casual words, the cultivators'' jaws almost drop at the information. They rarely met Xoz''gekal, or Rekka as they know him. Although they know that the demon is strong because they always see him fly beyond the gate every time he visits the hill, they did not know that he is a high-tier A-Class superioris. Before any of them can raise the issue, they cannot as "We were just unlucky. That''s all." Hachiyo continues to console Xoz''gekal. "Still. This wouldn''t have happened if I listened to him." Xoz''gekal shakes his head. "I understand. But at this time, crying will not help. What will help is you assisting Kichirou-sama while he heals." Hachiyo says. "Assist him" Xoz''gekal nods, and he stops crying. "Yes. So stop dwelling for now, and follow his orders perfectly." Hachiyo smiles. "Alright." Xoz''gekal look consoled. "*sniff* Alright. Let''s bring you away for a few days." He then controls his vulture to fly away from the hill. During the silent flight, Xoz''gekal notices that the cultivators are stealing glances at him. "Again, I''m sorry, everyone." He says. "I deserve your anger." "W-we''re not angry!" Chihiro says in panic. "I-it''s not like that, Rekka-san." Akane follows. "They''re just interested in you, Rekka-san." Ichiki says, despite knowing that Xoz''gekal knows. "Interested? Me? Why?" Xoz''gekal asks. "Y-you''re a high-tier A-Class I heard that some clan heads are just B-Class." Yori says. "You''re stronger than the top 3 pro hero!" Chihiro adds. "Yes. So? My strength is not enough. I''m still weak... Let''s stop talking about me now, please." Xoz''gekal shuts down the issue. "Weak" The cultivators are confused at why Xoz''gekal thinks that he is weak.. And it turn, makes them feel powerless. Chapter 142 - "Its Not Like I Took His Chip..." "My good man Did you really have to have me destroy these?" Dominic smiles bitterly as he squats by one of the ruined plants in the gardens and sniffs it the very pleasant smell emitting from it. He feels bad looking at the beautiful things he destroyed just for the act. "Meh. I have excess of them stored away in my chip." Red shrugs as he fixes the ruined bamboo walls by replanting the uprooted bamboo trees that make it up. "About that" Dominic is reminded of his interest. "How did you even find out about the function of that thing?" He asks. "Secret." Red smirks. Dominic shrugs, not surprised. He was just shooting his shot after all. "But Aside from an independent dimension inside the chips, is there anything else it could be used for? For the benefit of the superiori?" He asks, with a knowing look. "Yes. Accelerated time. Perfect for emergency training." Red says. "I already figured that." Dominic scoffs. "Come on. You have four, FOUR, A-Class Superiori serving under you. Three of which are in their early twenties. That''s not normal." "It has nothing to do with the chips. I just have a knack for finding talented people." Red explains. "Hm" Dominic does not know if Red is lying or not, and he gets frustrated not getting his curiosity satisfied. "You know. If somehow, I give you your freedom back, and you earn my trust after that, I''ll tell you." Red smirks, dismissing the subject. Dominic''s face falls in disappointment. "Can I at least get my chip back?" He asks instead. "Sure. Here you go." Red tosses the treasure fragment that once belonged to Dominic, to Dominic. "" Dominic catches the chip while staring at Red blankly. "Really?" He scoffs. "What? Do you really think it''s easy to activate it?" Red scoffs in return. "You make it look easy." Dominic shrugs. "But I get it." He then tosses the treasure fragment back to Red. After seeing what the thing can do, he feels that possessing it just to subjugate demons is not worth it. He figures that something mysterious must take a lot to activate. "Anyways. I heard from the grapevine that your friend Argus is here in Japan. Is that why you''re here?" Red asks. "Yes Well, he was. He went back to Australia last night." Dominic confirms. "What''s up with him? It''s not like I took his chip." Red asks. "I actually told him about my chip acting weird and he got invested in it immediately. He and I were not that curious however, so we sent Samuel and Eliza in our steads. "And as you know, Eliza was also his great grandniece, and one of the few in the new generation whose names he actually bothered to learn. "So, when he did not receive a remote report from her for two weeks, he suspected that something went wrong with her and Samuel. He immediately came to me after that." Dominic reports. "You had to put up an act." Red nods in understanding. "Yes. I had to act worried about my stolen chip because he was starting to ask questions. So, we traced Eliza and Samuel''s footsteps until we found their bodies in Wajima yesterday." Dominic explains. <><><><><><><><> Outskirts of Wajima City, 1 day ago. In a farm house. "Two Australians? Tourists?" An old farmer asked. "Yes. A married couple. Both in their early thirties." Dominic said. "Both having brown hair." Argus added, his Japanese is not any worse than Dominic''s. "I did indeed see them. They also had three Japanese with them. Their interpreters, I think." The farmer confirmed. "Well, did you know which direction they went?" Argus asked. "Ehh Let me think. They went east wards from my rice field." The farmer said in certainty. "Point it in this map." A few minutes later, in a forest. "Hello there." Argus greeted, spotting two foreign men who he figured are middle-eastern descents, heading to the same direction that he and Dominic were flying to. From his and Dominic''s investigations, they already knew that they were not the only foreigners asking around in the city. "" The two strangers stopped in their flight as they immediately recognized Argus and Dominic. "M-Mr. Fowler and Mr. Little." The taller one of the strangers, returned the greeting with a nervous one. "Did you just arrive here?" The shorter one asked, handling himself better than his companion. "We did." Argus frowned, finding the question odd. "Then you don''t know yet." The shorter stranger said. "Stop speaking around the bush and tell us what happened instead." Dominic urged, feigning impatience. "It''s best if we show you." The taller stranger said as he led the way while acquainting with Argus and Dominic. The group soon arrived in a clearing at the foot of a small mountain. "Damn" Argus scrunched his nose at the scene after quickly processing it. On the grass, he saw the lifeless Samuel lying on his back with a dried stream of blood that originated from Samuel''s forehead. On top of Samuel was Eliza, lying on her stomach and she too, had a dried stream of blood that started from her head. A few steps away from the couple, were two more dead bodies belonging to two other foreigners, men in casual suits, who Argus figured to be the acquaintances of the strangers they met along the way, based on the two bodies'' ethnicity. Unlike Samuel and Eliza who he figured to have been killed by one attack each, one of the two dead middle-easterners looked worse with his body riddled with deep wounds and looked to have died more painfully than the rest. Then away from the foreigners, were three bodies of young Japanese men, all lying on their stomachs, and just like Samuel and Eliza, each seemed to have been killed in one shot. "Who are you two?" A casually dressed Japanese man asked with authority as he approached the two Australians. "Sir. They are Argus Fowler and Dominic Little. From Australia." The short middle-eastern man introduced. "O-oh" The Japanese man was stunned, recognizing the names. "N-nice to meet you. I''m the local clan leader of this parts." He humbly introduced himself. "Yeah. Whatever. Tell us what happened." Dominic demanded. "Let me." The taller Brotherhood member started. "The group were probably lured here by someone. After reaching this isolated place, the killing began. We are thinking that the culprit must be someone who is at least a low-tier A-Class Superiori. "After all, they were able to kill our friend over there, Miss Eliza, and Mister Samuel, who are all B-Class superiori, with one shot each. Then our other friend over there, is bordering A-Class and seemed to have put up a fight. Ultimately, he was killed. "Our three young Japanese over there, looked to have been trying to flee, but failed as the strongest of them was just C-Class." He concluded. "Any idea who or where the culprit is now?" Argus asked. He figured the same as the middle-easterners'' guesses. This was a very common sight in one of the wars he participated in. "No, sir." The shorter middle-easterner shook his head. "You folks are from The Brotherhood. You must have records of the culprit based on what their abilities left behind." Dominic asked. "We have not found anyone in our database matching the things here." The shorter brotherhood member shook his head with a sigh. "This is the first time we saw a superioris ability cause this. The victims'' external wounds look small, but inside?... It was as if the tissues or organs surrounding their wounds'' entry points were minced finely by a chef." "" Argus and the local clan head felt their spines tingle. "" Dominic on the other hand, was now sure that Red killed all of the victims. The shorter middle-easterner''s descriptions of the victims'' wounds were exactly what happened to him when he was wounded by Red. "God damn it" He then cursed in false anger. "We are sorry for your loss." The clan head sent his condolences to the two Australians. "A shame." Argus shook his head. "We''ll take our people away now." He demanded. "Of course." The local clan''s head stepped aside. <><><><><><><><> "I see." Red nods, losing interest after hearing the story. He already expected things to have happened as such. "Heard of anything about the Haneda and Chibana clans?" He asks. "I heard that they didn''t care especially when they found out that me, Argus, and The Brotherhood were involved." Dominic shrugs. "That''s good then." Red nods, satisfied by his handiwork. "Okay" Dominic is reminded of another thing he is curious about. "I have to ask. How did you make 7 dead people walk around Wajima?" He asks. "I didn''t." Red scoffs. "You''ve seen me look like three different people so far." He gives a clue. "Y-you assumed their identities" Dominic realizes. "Not exactly." Red says before casting an illusion technique. Dominic''s eyes widen as he sees Samuel, Eliza, and the five more of Red''s victims'', pop into existence behind Red, all looking alive and well. If he did not see the bodies of the seven with his own eyes, he would have believed that they are still alive and are standing behind Red. "T-that" Dominic walks towards the nearest illusion and touches it. After feeling nothing however, "This is more than just assuming identities.", he looks at Red wide-eyed. "Heh. Never gets old." Red is amused by the superioris''s reaction. Unlike the demons he subjugated, whose emotions and even thinking, are easily programmable by him using some soul techniques, Dominic, being an S-Class costs too much for his spirit sense to do the same. So, to keep the burden on his spirit sense minimal, he simply established four basic soul rules for Dominic to follow. One is for Dominic to do anything to protect the secrets between him and Red. Two is for Dominic to never knowingly harm anyone he knows is connected to Red. Third, is to never lie to Red. And lastly, is for Dominic to follow Red''s orders as long as they are rational and will not cost him a huge sacrifice, like his safety, his power and influence, people who are important to him, and his life. This is preferrable to Red too because he still wants Dominic to be Dominic as much as possible, while ensuring the man''s subservience. "Alright. Be quiet for now." Red suddenly orders Dominic. "" Dominic did not need to be told as he can hear something incoming. Soon enough. *whoosh* *whoosh* The recovered Kotone and Yoshiko arrive at the gardens, joining Red and Dominic. "Sensei!" "*GASP* What happened to your arm?!" Chapter 143 - "...Ill Go With Her." "" Kotone opens her eyes and sees a familiar ceiling. Then, a rush of headache assaults her with the memory of the events that transpired that made her end up in her barn in Red''s treasure dimension. <><><><><> "How are you on your side?" Kotone asks Yoshiko through the communication token as she hides behind a big tree. "I can''t get closer. I tried to water walk the shell, but the current is as strong as a raging river''s. And it seems like he''s got eyes on every part of his turtle." Yoshiko replies. "YOU CAN''T HIDE FOREVER." The two hear Dominic''s booming voice. "Tsk. What do we do now?" Kotone clicks her tongue. "I''ve noticed something." Yoshiko reports. "This man doesn''t seem to us as well while we''re moving." "Oh?..." Kotone gets curious. Before she can get a reply, *puu-pupupu* tens of water balls assault her surroundings. She does not know how Dominic knew where she hid, but she goes on to switch hiding places. "That was close." She hears Yoshiko''s voice from the comms token. "While the trees are nice to hide in, we can''t initiate attack like this." Yoshiko continues. "What do we do?" Kotone asks, feeling helpless. "I''ve got an idea." Yoshiko says as she gathers a small mound''s worth of assorted leaves and shoots them at Dominic. Kotone witnesses the scene and she shakes her head. " That''s useless." She says, knowing that the leaves are not hard enough, and seeing that they are not traveling fast. She feels that even the non-superiori will only get paper cuts from such attack. "It''s distraction. Maybe I can obstruct his vision, keep them on the leaves while you get closer to him." Yoshiko explains. " That''s doable." Kotone approves of the plan. The two ladies observe Dominic and they see that the man is not even bothering to block the leaves, making them convinced that the plan could work. Yoshiko continues to send waves upon waves of sharp leaves towards Dominic, and behind those waves of leaves, Kotone beelines to a direction outside Dominic''s field of vision. Soon enough, Kotone is now just a few meters above Dominic, and her heart is starting to beat faster as she gets in position. With her sword ready, she summons another spirit energy platform above her in addition to the one she is standing on. She bends her knees and *whoosh* she jumps up at an incredible speed. She then maneuvers her body which makes her feet land under the spiritual energy platform above her, making her look as if she is crouching upside down for a moment. Then, she kicks off again, making her shoot downwards, diving towards Dominic at an incredible speed. Gauging a good distance, *fwip* she thrusts her sword towards Dominic''s torso. Just as the sword is only a meter away from Dominic, she sees Dominic simply step back without even looking, dodging her sword narrowly. She feels helpless, as she sees herself sail past Dominic, before diving into the head of the turtle. As soon as she enters the water, she immediately feels her body get carried away by the current. No matter how hard she struggles however, she cannot free herself from the flow. All she can do is hold her breath to think. A few dizzying seconds later, to her surprise, she finds herself suddenly free from the turtle''s body. Before she can sigh in relief however, she realizes that she is approaching the hill at an incredible speed, like she was a cannon ball shot from a cannon. She does not even have the time to materialize a spiritual energy platform to slow herself down, or increase the infusion of spiritual energy throughout her body to reinforce it further, before *THUD* crashing to the hill. One crash is not enough to stop her momentum however and *thud..thu-thud-thud." she feels herself bump into small rocks and break some thin trees along the way until *THUD* her finally being stopped by a big pine tree. *ACK* She cannot help but cough up blood, feeling her lungs be filled up by it. "Damn" Looking at the red substance that splattered to the ground, her stomach churns in anxiety, figuring that she is bleeding internally. While she found out from Red that her flesh can be comparable to a thick layer of tin sheets, her organs are not as tough. She wants to stand immediately, but it seems as if her body is a hundred miles away from her brain. The next moment, *THUD* she sees Yoshiko''s figure smash to the ground in front of her along with a huge splash of water. And just like her, *ACK* Yoshiko too, coughs up blood and cannot get up immediately. "YOU TWO ARE STRONG FOR YOUR AGE IT''S A SHAME I HAVE TO END YOU." They hear Dominic''s voice once again and they look to his direction. To their horror, the already huge turtle is getting even bigger. They want to run away, but their already uncooperative legs start trembling out of fear. "A NICE HOME, THIS HILL IS. A NICE HOME TO DESTROY AND BURY YOU TWO UNDER IT." They hear sadistic joy from Dominic''s voice as they see tens of car-sized water balls materialize on the turtle''s surface. They can only stare helplessly as the water balls sail to them at bullet speed, too fast for them to dodge even when they are in perfect condition. *WHAM* *WHAM* The two ladies get hit by one water ball each. Even though they know that it is water that hit them, the bone deep pain made them not feel so. The monstrous impact is enough to send them to a state of stupor and their consciousness is starting to slip away. "DON''T DIE ON ME JUST YET. I STILL HAVE TEN FOR EACH OF YOU." Dominic''s taunting helps them regain clarity once again, but it simply adds to the fear that they are already feeling. *FWWOOO* *FWOO* They see two more water balls come their way, and they try to brace themselves. The next moment however, *WHOOSH* a man suddenly appears in front of them, his back looking familiar. *VWWOOMMM* Along with the man''s appearance, is a transparent barrier that managed to block the water balls. . "Sensei" The two ladies utter in recognition, relieved that their savior has arrived. "WHO DO WE HAVE HERE?" Dominic asks. "THE REASON WHY YOU''RE HERE." Red replies. Yoshiko and Kotone then see Red turn to them with a smile. Their visions suddenly turn dark and, "You may rest now.", they hear Red''s assuring voice comfort them one more time before they sink to sleep. <><><><><> "" After the memories replay clearly in her head, worry comes back to Kotone. She then frantically looks around and sees Yoshiko lying unconscious on a bed beside hers. "Yoshiko" She then shakes the lady awake. After the two reorient themselves, they walk out of the barn. "Was it him who brought us here?" Yoshiko asks in worry. She came up with the question because only Red can open the treasure dimension. "Has to be. At least we know that he''s alive." Kotone nods. "But... we don''t know if he''s unharmed." Yoshiko utters. This prompts the two to start frantically searching inside the dimension, calling out to him. After a few minutes however, they fail to find him, so they hurry outside to the real world. "" The two traverse the sky in silence, seeing the destruction that they figure was caused by what could have only been the battle between Red and the attacker. Soon, they arrive at the gardens, and they find Red, who is fixing the bamboo walls. "Sensei!" They immediately greet in relief, more than just glad to see that the man is alive and looking well. "Hello there. You''ve had plenty of rest?" Red asks them. "Ye-." Before Yoshiko can answer, she notices that something is missing under the left sleeve of Red''s kimono. "Y-your arm What happened to your arm?!" She asks frantically, hoping that what she is seeing is simply an illusion. "K-kichirou-san" Kotone too, is stunned, her eyes stuck on Red''s missing arm. "An arm in exchange for an S-Class Superiori''s life. It''s not such a bad trade." Red shrugs. "S-Class" The two disciples are stunned. "That was an S-Class?!" Kotone exclaims. "He was. And count yourselves extremely lucky to be alive. He could have ended you two as soon as he saw you, but because he played with you for a bit, it bought me some time." Red confirms. "" The two disciples go quiet, stunned by the information. A few seconds later, "So, he''s gone?" Yoshiko asks. "Yes. I had to end him and not leave a single trace of him behind." Red nods. Yoshiko ignores the brutality of the words and "Still Your arm.", looks at Red''s ''missing'' forearm once again. "It''s just an arm. With my knowledge, I can just replace it with something mechanical or even robotic." Red assures. "It''s not just an arm, sensei." Kotone shakes her head. "Along with that arm were four meridians. The spiritual techniques you know that made use of those four meridians, are now useless." "So? What do you think I should do? Cry about it? It''s already gone." Red tells Kotone. " Sorry." Kotone realizes that there is no point talking about it. "Is there anything we could do to help you?" Yoshiko asks. "Let me ask you two first. Do you still want to continue your lives here?" Red asks. "Obviously." Kotone replies without hesitation. "So do I." Yoshiko too has no intentions of leaving even after her experience. "Good Now, follow the children and the demon servants and join them for their trip." Red orders the two. A trip?" Kotone asks, confused. "Yes. It will take some time before I restore the hill to its former state. And in case one of that superioris''s allies come here, I''ll have to wait for them and deal with them too." Red explains. "May I stay here and assist you instead?" Yoshiko asks, not really interested in the trip. Kotone is surprised by the lack of concern for the children especially from Yoshiko. "They might need our protection." She tells Yoshiko. "Maybe not. Statistically speaking, as long as the trip is within Japan, they are safe under the care of someone of Xoz-san''s strength and experience. The only reason we were attacked today was due to bad luck, and because of those damn treasure fragments." Yoshiko explains. "So, I think sensei, who is injured, is the one who needs our help, in case someone like that turtle man comes again." She adds. "" Kotone feels that the logic makes sense and she feels that staying with Red is the best idea. "Heh." The two''s exchange is interrupted by a disdainful scoff from Red. "You two can''t even take care of yourselves." Red says, embarrassing the two immediately. "If you don''t want to go on a trip, then there is indeed something you can assist me with." He then tells Yoshiko. "Anything." Yoshiko gets ready. "Okay." Red pulls out a map from his storage ring and hands it to Yoshiko. "What''s this?" Yoshiko asks, seeing what looks like a map of Honshu Island (Japan''s main island), with six red dots placed on the different parts of it. "Those are demon prisons that Gin marked out in his investigations. I want you to go and clean them up, and collect some cores for me." Red orders. "I always wondered where Gin-san went." Yoshiko utters as she studies the map more. The next moment, "I''ll do it.", she comes up with a decision. "You''ll do it?" Kotone cannot believe how easy Yoshiko decided. "Why?" She adds. "If what you and Fumio-san told me about demon prisons are true, then by killing the demons, and breaking these clans'' efforts, I''ll be preventing thousands upon thousands of innocent people from becoming demon feed. I have the power to do it. Why wouldn''t I?" Yoshiko looks at Kotone weirdly as if her decision could not be any more obvious. "" Yoshiko''s words reminded Kotone of that one innocent girl she and Fumio rescued from Oonishi Gentarou''s demon prison, and the other innocent souls they left behind. "You can join her if you want, Kotone. The children will be fine. I''ll be keeping an eye on them too." Red, having a good guess of what Kotone is thinking, urges his disciple. "Then I''ll go with her." Kotone decides. Chapter 144 - Havvah /We have landed in Yamagata Branch''s private airfield. To the first time visitors, I welcome you all to Japan./ The pilot''s voice coming from the PA speakers is ignored by the few passengers in the plane. After all, they are more concerned with something else. "With all due respect, sir. The High Scholar asked us to keep our eyes on you at all times." A hulking Caucasian middle-aged man wearing a black suit and tie, says sternly as he blocks the aisle of the plane. "What''s the big deal? Japan is a very peaceful country. I speak the language too." The man whose way was blocked, an olive-skinned, masculinely good looking, ethnically ambiguous man who looks to be in his 30s, stops in his steps as he adjusts his already impeccably adorned tie and suit jacket. "I don''t know what''s your rank in the brotherhood, sir" A Caucasian woman steps behind the man. "But from the High Scholar''s orders, your safety is the utmost priority. And you traveling Japan alone, compromises that." "Ugh, angels as bodyguards The worst combination ever..." The olive-skinned man groans as he brushes his shoulder long black hair up. "You really like being told what to do, huh?" He shakes his head as he asks. "" The two angels do not bother responding. "Just let me go alone~ please?" The man starts whining like a child, attempting to look adorable. "" The angels however are unaffected. "How about you two? A little help here? As fellow humans?" The man then addresses two other men sitting together at the back of the private plane; one of African descent sporting fade afro haircut, and the other of European descent whose blonde hair styled to a bowl cut, both wearing casual suits. "Sorry." The afroed man shakes his head. "According to the High Scholar, we are to follow your orders except for what you''re asking." He relays. "And even if we want to, they''re the High Scholar''s angels, not ours." The blonde adds. "Now I regret even asking for his help." The olive-skinned man chuckles in amusement. "" The angels suddenly feel something and they both take a step back from their protectee. "What are you doing?" The female angel asks as she draws her long angel blade. "Don''t. We are not to hurt him." The male angel frowns seeing his partner''s actions. "Who''s hurting who?" The olive-skinned man smirks and, "**** **** ***", chants something. "*OOF*" "*ACK*" The angels suddenly feel a choking feeling and they are forced to their knees. The next moment, to their horror, bright white yellow smoke starts to leak out of their eyes, ears, and nose, and they see it getting sucked into the inner pocket of the olive-skinned man''s suit. "My sanctic grace no" The male angel wants to fight back, but he is powerless. A few moments later, the two angels drop to the floor, dead. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The afroed man stands up in shock after what he just witnessed. He is about to charge the olive-skinned man when, "Brother, don''t!" his blonde friend from him from doing so. "Those were Hashmallims, A-Class Angels and they died just like that. He''s dangerous." The blonde warns. "Oh, don''t be like that, fellow humans." The olive-skinned man heard what the blonde said. "Where did you hear magic that can harm us humans?" He asks. The afroed man ignores the question. "The High Scholar said that you do not have the strength to defend yourself. Wasn''t it stupid to kill your bodyguards like that?" He asks instead. "Why would I need to defend myself if I can stay out of trouble?" The olive-skinned man shrugs. "But trouble may find you." The blonde man reasons. "I am guessing that the High Scholar himself sent you to investigate the wood chip. One of our brothers already lost their life doing so. The High Scholar said that you are very important to the Brotherhood, so we can''t risk losing you too." "Please. I''ve been doing just fine even without your Brotherhood''s assistance." The olive-skinned man scoffs before squatting down and searching the dead angels'' bodies. Soon, "Nice.", he manages to loot two high-caliber handguns from each of the angels. "Now. Go back to your headquarters and tell your High Scholar that if he keeps sticking his eyes on me, I''ll cut my ties with the Brotherhood." He says one more time before exiting the plane. *SLAM* "We''ve prepared the best of what we have. Please choose any one you like." The olive-skinned man is led to a garage the size of a parking lot, by a middle-aged Japanese man, just beside the landing strip. "*Phew*" The olive-skinned man whistles. "Even though your branch here is small, you still have a lot of fancy cars, manager-san." He shakes his head. "I''ll take that pick-up truck over there." He then points at a silver-colored pick-up truck at the back of the garage. "T-that. Are you sure?" The Japanese facility manager is stunned. He intentionally put the less fancy cars at the back of the garage, which include the pick-up truck, and presented the best cars in front. "Yes. I told you I would drive passing the countryside and take a look at rural towns. And you want me to be in a sports car or an intimidating black SUV? Are you insane?" The olive-skinned man playfully reprimands the facility manager. "Alright. I''m sorry." The facility manager can only accept. "I''ll prepare your papers and fill up the gas.", and leads the way out again. "How old are you, manager?" The olive-skinned man asks as they walk back to the main building of the facility. "64 years old, sir." The facility manager replies. "Ah. I thought you were 50 at the most!" The olive skinned man acts surprised. The facility manager simply rolls his eyes. "I''m a superioris, sir." "Hah. You have no sense of humor." The olive-skinned man chuckles. "Anyways. How much have changed in the past say 30 years in Japan? In general?" He asks. "Nothing much really." The facility manager starts. "Aside from the more advanced technology, the people, the society, still the same. Some B-Class clans fell, replaced by new ones. The A-Class clans are still unchanged..." He starts recounting and answering the olive-skinned man''s questions. Two hours later, the olive-skinned man finds himself driving along the northern roads of Fukushima Prefecture. "hmmm..hmmm.. laladida", the new scenery adding to the view of the beautiful Lake Inawashiro to his left puts him in a greater mood. He then slows down, spotting a familiar place. "30 years, and nothing''s changed." He chuckles, seeing a tourist stop ahead; one where he stopped by 30 years ago. Unlike 30 years ago however, the one-story small restaurant has turned into two story building. Despite the difference, the restaurant is still in business. "Except for you" He then sees a familiar woman through the restaurant window who is serving the customers, which makes him stop the car. "You''ve aged." He sighs, seeing the once young woman he spent a couple of warm nights with, is now at the age when one has teenage grandchildren of their own. Seeing the wrinkles on the woman''s face even at the distance, he chuckles bitterly. "And I still look young. You''ve lived a fuller life than I did since the last time we met." He utters. After observing the woman for a minute more, he resumes his drive, moving on with his life and the memories of the tourist stop. *zzz* Suddenly, he feels something deep inside of him quiver and he almost loses control of the steering wheel in shock. "Her Near" He utters in excitement and confusion. He then looks at the wood chip that is floating like a kite that he tied to the dashboard with a string, and then to the direction the quivering feeling is telling him to go, debating within himself which one to go to first. It does not take him long to decide and he pulls out his phone and looks at the GPS map for possible places that the quivering feeling wants him to be within a hundred-kilometer radius from himself. After all, such feeling only comes to him when she is that near to him. An hour later, he finds himself entering the town center of the small town of Tsugawa. " Closer She''s waiting" he utters in excitement, feeling the quivering in him becoming stronger. It does not take him long to see a shabby inn ahead of the road. And in the parking area, an expensive-looking black SUV is parked, standing out among the cheap and dusty sedans and trucks beside it. His interest is not on the car however, but on the beautiful brown-skinned woman leaning against the back of it, who is now looking at his direction. Her wearing the same expression on her face as his, tells him that she too is feeling what he is feeling and had decided to wait for him. *Slam* *slam* The olive-skinned man does not bother parking his pick-up truck properly in such an idle rural road and instead parks it parallel to the road in front of the woman, and gets out of it in a hurry. "Havvah" He utters in bated breath as he stops just ten steps away from the woman. The woman''s black hair swaying in the cold wind, her unblemished face shined upon by the sun, and her smile, is all like a dream. He does not want to move too fast or too loudly in fear of shattering that dream. "Ahdem" The woman utters in return, also looking at the man in careful uncertainty. But seeing Ahdem''s chest rising up and down, and fog forming out of his breath, she is sure that what she is seeing is real. "Havvah it''s really you?" Ahdem cannot believe it. "It''s me" Havvah says as she invites Ahdem for an embrace. Ahdem quickly approaches and as soon as Havvah''s is in his reach, he embraces her entire being. Havvah can feel the happiness and relief emanating from the man and she cannot help but embrace him back tightly. "You''re that happy to see me?" She asks. "Of course For a century, I thought you were dead." Ahdem says.. his voice quivering. Chapter 145 - Catching Up Ahdem and Havvah, after being in each other''s embrace for a good minute, still have not had enough of it. "What happened? I couldn''t find you after the World War." "I was simply caught up in a battle between two forces" The two starts talking while in each other''s arms. "Why''d you think I was dead?" Havvah asks. "It''s just. You disappeared from my senses. No matter how hard I looked, and after exhausting maybe hundreds of horses to death travelling the world, I could not sense you." Ahdem says, remembering the ten years of nonstop search and another ten years of mourning his loss of Havvah. "Oh it must have been tough." Havvah feels the sadness in Ahdem. "How about you? Did you ever look for me?" Ahdem asks. "I did" Havvah breaks off the embrace and looks in Ahdem''s eyes. "I first seek Raheem. But at the time I reached The Brotherhood, the members already went into hiding. Raheem was already dead." "Only he knows of our existence." Ahdem nods. "A tragic time that was." "Yes. And after 60 years, when women could finally travel the world alone, did I try to go back to our home, hoping to see you there." Havvah sighs. "But the town was wiped out and landscape itself was changed." Ahdem nods, having tried to do the same. "Probably a huge battle took place there." Havvah nods. "And after almost getting caught by some perverts, I gave up looking for you and settled down in Cairo. Accumulating wealth." She concludes her story with a bitter smile. "I understand. It was the best decision." Ahdem gives a consoling smile. "I always believed you were alive, out there. So, all I had to do was to survive until the day we met again " Havvah says as her eyes start to water. "I''m glad you did" Ahdem sighs as he kisses Havvah''s forehead. "I''m glad you did." He flushes out the last of his relief from his heart. The two then share a knowing look, hold each other''s hands and excitedly enter the inn to book a room. A few hours later, the two collapse on the bed, once again in each other''s embrace, with nothing but a blanket covering their dignities. "Looks like you forgot me for a time I can smell another woman''s scent on you" Havvah jokes as she traces her fingers along Ahdem''s body, even the scars on it, making her nostalgic. "Ugh come on, it was fifty or so years ago." Ahdem groans as he lays Havvah''s hands on his cheek. "Same goes for you, though. You even believed I was alive." He teases back. "We lived long. But we''re still human. You don''t expect me to hold my desires for a hundred years?" Havvah scoffs. "Besides. It''s your face that I saw while I was in those men''s arms." She adds. "Yeah, well it''s just pleasures of the flesh. Who knew that the moment we felt each other again nothing has changed." Ahdem ends the banter. "...I actually thought I would fade in your memory, and so would you to mine." Havvah changes the subject. "Oh? Why?" Ahdem raises his brows. "You know, after Father left, I thought our connection would be lost. That we only felt this way because he made us to be." Havvah chuckles. "A valid observation. After all, we started to resent each other''s company from time to time." Ahdem gets it. "Yes, but after more than a century of not seeing you. I longed for you greatly almost every day." Havvah gently kisses Ahdem''s cheek. "So did I I still can''t believe we''re here together" Ahdem kisses Havvah''s forehead. The next day. "The Japanese really define the word passion." Ahdem says as he drains the last drop of his miso soup before laying down his bowl on the table with a clack. "I know. This place is cheap and shabby than McDougall''s but the food is five times better." Havvah says as she too finishes her breakfast. "Auntie!" Ahdem calls out to the owner. "Oh. You younglings are done? My, my, you cleaned the bowls!" The owner of the small restaurant says proudly despite her old age and crooked back. "The food was great. Thank you." Ahdem is about to pull out his wallet, but Havvah stops him. "Let me." Havvah says with a smirk. "Ooh hashtag feminism~" Ahdem pockets his wallet. "Heh. Good one." Havvah smirks before pulling out ten 10,000 yen bills and hands it to the owner. "T-this" the owner''s eyes go wide. Ahdem''s brows jump too, but gets over his surprise quickly. "You must be mistaken." The owner refuses to take the money. "Owner-san. I insist. You have no idea how much you''ve made our morning even better. I am merely sharing my happiness." Havvah holds the owner''s hands. "And besides. I value the history and the spirit of this place. If this money will help a bit in running this place for just a bit longer in the future, I''m glad to part with it." She coaxes. "..." The owner is moved by Havvah''s words and sincerity. "Then I''ll accept it graciously, dear customer." She receives the money happily. "Thank you. I hope this restaurant is still standing when me and my husband find out ways here again." With that, the couple walk out of the restaurant, leaving a happy restaurant owner behind. "Still generous as ever." Ahdem smiles as he offers his arm as they start a stroll. "Of course. And it''s a happy occasion." Havvah says as she takes Ahdem''s arm and enjoys the warmth of it. The two soon arrive at the Havvah''s parked SUV where a middle eastern man wearing a black suit and trench coat is waiting. "I wish I brought my own demon too." Ahdem comments as he and Havvah take the back seat. "Haaa.." Havvah meanwhile, sighs. "I actually brought two, but the other one was caught at the airport. I almost wasn''t let in the country because of it." She recounts. "Heh." Ahdem chuckles. "I heard from the High Scholar that Japan is probably the country with the most number of demon warding per square kilometer right now." "I bet. Luckily, I managed to draw an anti-warding rune on this other one before it''s too late." Havvah points her thumb at the demon driver. "How strong is he?" Ahdem asks. "Peak Knight Class. He can fly too." Havvah reveals. "So around low tier A-Class. Not bad." Ahdem is relieved. "Master. Where are we headed?" The demon driver asks Havvah. "Let''s continue to Niigata for now." Havvah says as she pulls out a wood chip that is tethered to her purse, and let''s it float in the air like a kite. Ahdem pulls out his too and does the same. "They''re heading to the same direction, right?" He asks. "Yeah. Who knew that collecting the fragments of it will lead us to each other again." Havvah says with a smile. Ahdem also thanks the two floating wood chips in his heart. "How many do you have, by the way?" He asks. "Twenty-six. I lost seven over the century and found two new ones." Havvah sighs in disappointment. "A shame, but hey." Ahdem shrugs. "I lost nine, and I didn''t find a new one. So I still have thirty-seven." He reports. "The Brotherhood has more than fifty by the way." He adds with a chuckle. "What?!" Havvah is shocked. "How did they even find that many?!" She asks. "Well, apparently, between the end of The Great War and the whispers of the World War, they uncovered one megalithic site, a place we just happened to have settled down the longest. After reading the wall carvings we left behind, they learned the fragments uses. They started looking for the fragments since then. Even Raheem kept it from me." Ahdem shakes his head. "How did they even read the wall carvings?" Havvah asks. "Well.." Ahdem scratches his cheek in embarrassment. "No way" Havvah looks at Ahdem with narrowed eyes. "You taught them the First Language" She says in disbelief. "Correction. Not ''them'', just Raheem. I liked the kid Then he passed some useful phrases to his protg which is the current High Scholar. The Brotherhood only knows them as spells and not as language." Ahdem rationalizes. "Ah so that''s why I saw them working with demons. Those demons were actually subjugated." Havvah connects what she has seen. "Angels too, actually." Ahdem adds. "How?" Havvah is surprised yet again. "Apparently, just like the demons whose true bodies died, the angels left on earth, whose bodies were destroyed, and had roamed in their incorporeal forms, had learned that humans weren''t as bad as they thought. So, they set aside their pride and possessed some humans for the experience." Ahdem shrugs. "The High Scholar even had two Hashmallims to escort me. Too bad, I killed them." He adds. "That''s just so you. You could have just used them." Havvah shakes her head. "Na-uh. I don''t trust the High Scholar yet. He''s not like Raheem." Ahdem shakes his head. "Wait so why''d you initiate contact with them? They don''t seem to be purely scholars anymore. Do you know that their whispers caused anguish?" Havvah asks with a suspicious glare. "I know They''ve become a psychopathically greedy consultation firm. Don''t produce sh*t, but makes ungodly money. Money, which I found out, they use to experiment on demons and dig more megalithic sites." Ahdem shakes his head. "At first, I made contact with them, to attempt to stop them from doing that and sacrificing humans for souls. But when I found out that they have quite a few S-ranks in their innermost circle, which includes the High Scholar, by the way, I can only observe to the side." He sighs helplessly. "I can''t believe it A small circle of scholars has become like this." Havvah cannot blame Ahdem. "Yeah I don''t know if Raheem would be proud, or repulsed if he''s alive to see it." Ahdem chuckles bitterly. "So. Do they know the real you?" Havvah asks in worry. "Of course not. I didn''t even join their ranks. To them, I''m just some grassroots researcher who just happened to have chanced upon ancient knowledge that only I have knowledge of." Ahdem explains. "So You killed two Hashmallims and two high ranking members You must be quite important to dare do something like that?" Havvah asks in suspicion. "Fine. I gave them the angel subjugation spell. In exchange for wealth and some privileges." Ahdem says, embarrassed. "And you didn''t actually expect that angels will start possessing humans." Havvah nods in understanding. "Yeah" Ahdem bitterly nods. The two become silent after that, to ponder, while continuing to enjoy each other''s company. Chapter 146 - "PLEASE REVEAL YOURSELVES." "What can you see?" Havvah asks her demon driver who is currently suspended a few meters above the ground, looking at the view above the tall trees. "Nothing, master. Just a regular hill." The demon reports. "Seems uninhabited too" He adds. "No" Ahdem who was looking around, shakes his head as he gets on one knee, lowers his face to the ground, and sniffs it. "Yep Someone''s been here, recently." He says as he stands back up. "... How recent? " Havvah asks, not wanting to sniff the footsteps Ahdem saw. "Two? Three days?" Ahdem says as his eyes get busy again. "There." He spots another object of interest in the ground nearby. This prompts an investigation from him. A few minutes later. "So the footsteps are heading to the same direction as us." Havvah notes the obvious. "What have you surmised?" She asks Ahdem. "Just one man. If his superioris ability is not morphing his body shape, then I estimate he''s around 176-183 tall and very light for their height. Probably a physically enhanced superioris. Based on the consistency of the footsteps, the man knows, really knows where he is going." Ahdem reports. "Like he''s been here more than a few times?" Havvah asks. "Exactly." Ahdem nods. "That makes me sure that the other indentations around here really were old and weathered footsteps, made by the same person around a week ago." "Any guesses on who they are?" Havvah asks, worried. "Unfortunately, no. But he seems to have been beyond relaxed, lazy even, while walking. Not the footsteps of a warrior, at least not a melee one." Ahdem guesses. "So, a lone man living around this area" Havvah does not know what to make of it. "Shall we continue on?" She asks. "I think so. We don''t know if whatever or whoever is attracting the fragments will stay for long. I mean, ''the pull'' stops quite a few times a day. It stopped pulling my chip for two entire days last week. I don''t know when it will happen again, or how long it will stop." Ahdem suggests. "Happened to me to, but ... " Havvah meanwhile, is hesitant. "That Brotherhood member who was killed. Where did they find him?" She asks. "Outskirts of Wajima City. Around 200 kilometers away from here at a linear distance. What''s ahead of us might be related to that, but the direction of the pull on my chip has not changed even during the time that member was killed. "So while it might be related, I think we can still risk it." Ahdem says. "Haaa" Havvah sighs at Ahdem''s recklessness. However she does not feel any danger nearby, and she also fears that the attracting force will one day just stop before they find what is causing it, so she too is tempted to finish their search as soon as possible. "I will protect you two." The demon driver lands back to the ground as he transforms into a car sized horned beetle that is made out of grey colored stone. "Later for that" Havvah orders her demon to switch back to his human form. "Let''s use the cover of the woods for now so we stay undetected." She accepts Ahdem''s suggestion to continue their search. A few minutes more pass and the party stops following the footsteps when Ahdem gestures to stop. "What''s wrong?" Havvah asks. "Something is wrong with that patch of grass." Ahdem says as he points at the grass they were about to step on. "A trap?" Havvah asks as she studies the surroundings. "It''s not." Ahdem says as he walks closer to the patch. He gets on one knee, digs his hands on the soil, before doing a lifting motion. The entire patch of grass is pulled up, and then folded once by him like how one would partially fold a rug. With the soil under the grass patch exposed, he once again lowers his face on the ground, and sniffs the exposed soil. After doing so, he continues to roll the blanket of grass like a carpet to expose more soil and carefully sniffs around a quarter of a basketball court size of land. A few minutes later, "Damn" Ahdem stands back up with a grunt, done sniffing around. "Four separate holes were dug here, containing one body each. A total of three humans and one demon." He reports while returning the grass patch to its original state. "Thank FUCK for my immunity." Ahdem says, scrunching his nose while dusting off his hands. "They were killed somewhere else." Havvah notes as she finishes scanning the surroundings, finding no signs of battle anywhere. "They were." Ahdem agrees. "How long were they dead? Were they all killed in the same day?" Havvah asks. "If I were to base it on when they were buried, then no. But as for when exactly, I can only roughly estimate.. December weather makes the ground cold after all..." Ahdem shakes his head. "I''m guessing that they belonged to two different groups. The first group was alone, and was buried around two or three weeks ago. The second, three of them including the demon, were a day or two ago." He estimates. "Shall we still continue?" Havvah asks, seeing the uncertainty in Ahdem''s expression. "Peak Knight Rank, right?" Ahdem asks the demon driver. "Yes." The demon nods. "How easy can you defeat a Shinnanim?" Ahdem asks. "Rather easily." The demon claims confidently. "..." Ahdem looks at the ground, pondering. "What are you getting at?" Havvah asks Ahdem. "I didn''t tell you that alongside that dead Brotherhood member that was found, was his subjugated angel. A peak-tier Shinnanim, bordering low-tier A Class. But that angel seemed to have been brutally killed without any resistance. "So... if it just so happens that the culprit of that kill and the person who these footsteps belong to are, you know, the same, I''m worried if your servant here can protect us." Ahdem explains. "Tsk. You should have told me earlier." Havvah clicks her tongue at their lack of preparation. "I know. I''m sorry." Ahdem says sheepishly. Suddenly, "hm?""huh?" Ahdem and Havvah notice something, and they exchange looks. They hurriedly pill out their respective treasure fragments from their pockets. Their treasure fragments that cannot sit still in their pockets, have stopped moving. "Let''s take a break in silence" Ahdem scratches his brows as he sits down on an exposed tree root. "Let''s And maybe come up with a a plan for now." Havvah knows that Ahdem wants to wait for the wood fragments to start floating again. A few minutes later, *Rustle* *rustle* the group is startled by the sounds of bushes and leaves being disturbed, drawing nearer. They all look at each other before "..." Ahdem does a shushing gesture. He then signals the two to hide in certain spots where each of them can have a view of the burial site. Reaching their hiding spots, Ahdem and Havvah skillfully suppress any possible noise they can make including breathing silently. Havvah also silently orders her demon to do the same. With this, they wait. A few moments later, the arrival of a tall and gaunt man, carrying what looks like a fresh corpse on his shoulder, and holding a shovel on one hand, makes the three observers apprehensive. It is obvious what the tall man is here for. Ahdem''s guess was also quite accurate. The tall man seems to be underweight for his height, and is physically enhanced based on how easy and lazily he is carrying the corpse. The next moment, the group is startled by the sudden but silent arrival of a young man who is holding a bundle of beautiful white flowers. "Fumio-san, you''re doing this again?" Nishiki asks as he lays down the body and kicks away the grass patch covering the burial site he made. "It makes me feel better." Fumio solemnly says. "It''s obviously hard for you." Nishiki says as he starts digging. "I feel like I have to face my guilt... It makes me feel human." Fumio shares. "It was me who killed them, not you." Nishiki scoffs. "But I did everything except for the last blow. You couldn''t have killed them." Fumio argues. "Fair enough." The demon of sloth chuckles. "But, even though you had the choice to let them go, you didn''t. Despite your hesitation, you still ultimately decided their deaths. Why is that?" He asks. "I would have let them go if they were good people" Fumio sighs. "But you yourself heard them. Not only do they know how to use these wood chips, they also farm innocent people to fill their enslaved demons'' cores. I had to take their power away and their future decisions to continue their activities." He explains. "Oho~ are you sure you''re not doing it for ''justice''?" Nishiki asks snidely. "Maybe? But I don''t feel good punishing them." Fumio shrugs. "Or maybe, it''s just my justification for claiming their lives for my own gains?" He chuckles bitterly. "Well. If it matters, I thank you for stopping them from enslaving my kind." Nishiki says as he finishes his dig and climbs out of the hole. He then kicks the dead body to the hole with a laid-back kick, making it sail into the hole. "Do you always have to do that?" Fumio asks with a frown, finding the demon''s actions distasteful. "According to your moral compass, do people like them who''ve got the blood of hundreds of innocent lives on their hands, deserve respect even after they''re dead?" Nishiki asks. "Aherm" Fumio has no argument. He instead stares at the body in the hole for a few seconds, before dropping the bundle of flowers on top of it. After doing his sentimentality ritual, Fumio with his spiritual energy, manipulates the mound of soil, and starts to slowly pour it to the hole it was dug from. "I wonder when they''ll stop coming" Fumio says with a sigh. "I sure hope it won''t be anytime soon. Out of all the visitors, I only ate the soul of one." Nishiki chuckles. "You really can''t eat the soul of a B-Class?" Fumio asks out of curiosity. "I may. But the soul will either go to waste, or I''ll implode." Nishiki explains. "Can you eat demon cores? Aren''t they souls too?" Fumio asks. "I can. But I eat their desires too." Nishiki is repulsed by the idea. "Imagine me, being a sloth, gaining the desire of gluttony. Gluttony will simply get in the way of my nature." He explains. "Oh. That''s inconvenient." Fumio cannot empathize, but he gets the gist. Soon enough, he is done filling the hole, adding another unmarked grave to the area. Fortunately for him, *Whhooooshhh* the cold December breeze blows gently to his face, making him feel better at what he just did earlier, even just for a little. As he inhales the fresh fragrant air however, "hm?", he catches out of place scents. Then, with his spiritual energy infused vocal cords, "PLEASE REVEAL YOURSELVES..", he demands with a booming voice. Chapter 147 - "...Told You..." "Sssss" Fumio fills his lungs with the fresh December air, the satisfaction that should come with it does not arrive however, as he catches a whiff of out of place scents, making him freeze mid-breath. ''God damn it.'' He curses internally. ''Damn ritual'' He was too focused on his ritual that he failed to catch the presence of potential enemies. He then infuses his elixir to the atmospheric spiritual energy in his surroundings, and just like radar, senses three crouched figures hiding behind some trees and foliage. He shakes his head, feeling stupid that he put his guard down against that many potentially hostile actors, two of whom are carrying what he suspects are handguns, based on the shape he can make out of the objects in their hands. He wonders however why none of the strangers have attacked yet. He can only hope that they are not as hostile as his previous visitors, as he feels he already spilled enough blood for the day. He is even willing to let go of the two treasure fragments he is sensing from two of the strangers. He then pulls out a small bottle of white powder of his own concoction from his storage ring, takes out some of it, and scatters it to the air. With his elixir, he then carries the particles of the powder and sends them to the figures, hoping they will inhale some of it. A few seconds later, after estimating the time his concoction might be starting taking effect, he casts the basic voice amplification technique on himself and "PLEASE REVEAL YOURSELVES.", calls out to the three figures hiding in a booming voice. "..." Havvah, Ahdem, and the demon driver exchange glances before deciding to continue staying still. They hope that they are not the ones being addressed by Fumio, even though in their hearts, they know that they have been exposed. "How many?" Nishiki asks, alerted by Fumio''s words. Fumio gestures to Nishiki to stand down, to which Nishiki complies, while staying alert. Fumio, feeling no movement, sighs. "COME ON OUT, LADY, GENTLEMEN. LET''S TALK. IF IT MAKES YOU ALL FEEL SAFER, YOU CAN EVEN HAVE YOUR BIG GUNS POINTED AT ME AS WE SPEAK." He demands again. "..." Havvah and Ahdem exchange nervous glances. They do not know how Fumio detected them and how he was able to guess that they are carrying firearms. Fumio''s words, despite their assuring intention, also intimidates the two due to how confident Fumio said them. The demon driver also gets nervous. After all, even he would be wary of the .46 caliber rounds shot from what are basically hand cannons disguised as revolvers, as they have the potential to kill him in his untransformed state. And yet he does not feel a shred of apprehension from Fumio. "..." A few more seconds of silent communication between Havvah and Ahdem, they nod to each other in decision. *Rustle* *rustle* They step out of their hiding spot while pointing their guns at Fumio. The demon driver also transforms into his beetle form and stands in front of the couple for added protection. "..." "..." The two parties stare at each other before, *click* *click* Havvah and Ahdem uncocks their revolvers and holsters them. With how long they have lived, they can see that Fumio does not have any murderous intentions. They can even see in his eyes some signs of weariness. Weariness brought upon by the weight of guilt; guilt that they have witnessed Fumio tried to soothe earlier. They can also see that Fumio is very young and very easily seen through. For example, they can see that Fumio hide his appreciation of Havvah''s beauty very, very well for his age. They are confident that they are safe, at least for now. "You seem to know what led us here." Ahdem breaks the silence. "I do." Fumio nods while inside, he curses. Based on Ahdem''s fluency in the Japanese language, he figures that if Ahadem had been eavesdropping, which is what most probably happened, then his conversation with Nishiki was not only overheard, but was comprehended well. "Whatever led you all here, is no longer around." He can only say. "Young man." Havvah cuts in. "We can''t take your word for it." "My word is the only proof I have." Fumio says stubbornly. "Let me ask this. The wood chips, do you all know what they are for?" He asks. "Of course." Ahdem says without much thought. As soon as his words came out of his mouth, he realized something is wrong. "Do you sacrifice innocent lives with your use of those things?" Fumio asks again. Ahdem stops himself from answering. Unfortunately, "Of course not. We are not like the ones buried" Havvah starts answering. But as she is about to complete her sentence, she realizes something strange too just like Ahdem did. "What have you done to us?" She asks in alarm. "If I let you all go on your way, do you all have intentions of coming back here?" Fumio asks instead of answering. "It depends" Ahdem says honestly, and with that answer, he confirms his suspicion. "Why?" Fumio asks. "Because we know that you know that whatever led us here, is still somewhere around here." Havvah answers, but the next moment, "Damn it.", she cannot help but curse. "I think we should trying to lie, my dear. Let''s just avoid answering his questions." Ahdem whispers as he gives Fumio an uneasy look. "You don''t have to tell me that." Havvah says bitterly. The couple all but confirmed that Fumio did something to them that forced them to answer his questions honestly. "Damn..." Fumio is both surprised and disappointed that the couple realized what is happening almost immediately. He prefers if it the couple are unaware of their honesty. "Buddy" Nishiki gets Fumio''s attention. "There''s no use in deceiving them." He whispers to Fumio''s ear. "What do you mean?" Fumio asks. "This couple. Is quite special. They''re humans but they seem to be very old. Even older than me. They can see through you easily, including your ''It is no longer here'' claim." Nishiki steals a glance at the visitors. "Damn." Fumio scrunches his brows. He was hoping to convince the couple to leave, but if they stick around, he cannot access the treasure dimension. "They''re even older than that demon knight with them." Nishiki adds. "..." Fumio is stunned. The only demon knights he knows are the ones serving Red; Tezguniuth who is at least eight thousand years old, and Rezonad, who is a millennium younger. "Are you humans?" He then asks Ahdem and Havvah to counter check Nishiki''s suspicion. "Yes." Ahdem and Havvah answer, feeling that revealing such information is helpful to them. "How are you older than ten thousand years?" Fumio asks to compare their age to Xoz''gekal''s, who is eleven thousand years old. The couple is surprised by the question coming out of nowhere. Ultimately, they decide to answer with silence. "" Fumio then turns his back to the couple to face Nishiki, hiding his stunned expression successfully. The couple could have denied if the answer was a negative, but them staying silent to avoid telling the truth means that the truth can only be ''yes, they are older than ten millennia''. This all but confirmed to Fumio that what Nishiki said is most probably true. "Told you." Nishiki smirks and says softly. "How is this possible?" Fumio asks. "I don''t know either. I''m just as curious as you are." Nishiki shrugs. "But, it''s strange. If they lived that long, they should be very powerful. But, the concentration of my poison is not even that potent, but it affected them quite easily They also need guns" Fumio ponders. "A mystery." Nishiki nods. "If it was the others, I would have suggested that we eliminate them too. But these two are different. I think we need to inform boss man about this." He suggests. "*sigh* alright. But let me deal with it my way for now." Fumio shakes his head as he pulls out another bottle of his concoctions out of his storage ring and uncaps it. As Fumio and Nishiki exchange words, "Master. He knows too much." the demon driver whispers to Havvah. "" Havvah and Ahdem exchange helpless glances. Fumio to them, while very young, is one of the more mysterious people they have seen in the modern era. "My name is Mar- Havvah tsk." Havvah clicks her tongue, failing to lie even to herself. "My name is Jos- Ahdem" Ahdem almost groans, experiencing the same thing. Then, they see Fumio turn to them once again. "" They are confused however. Fumio does not seem to want to talk to them any further and instead, is waiting. As for what he is waiting for, they have no idea, but it makes them nervous. The next moment, their visions start spinning and their bodies starting to feel slack. They try to fight the feeling, but they both collapse unconscious shortly. " You" The demon driver is alarmed and suddenly the already car-sized horned rock beetle grows to the size of a small truck. He wants to increase his size further, but the trees around will only limit his movements. *WHAM* With his horn, he digs up the ground and sends the soil to Fumio and Nishiki, hoping to blind the two. He is relieved to see Fumio and Nishiki cover their eyes with their hands, and he summons stone spikes in his mouth and spits them to the two. The next moment, his stomach sinks. He sees Fumio''s arms blur and his spikes are slapped to the side. Fumio''s figure suddenly dashes to the forefront of his vision and he is startled by the cultivator''s speed. He is still quick on his feet however and he thrusts his horn to Fumio. He is not surprised that Fumio dodged his strike easily. What he did not expect is for Fumio, with two chained chopping motions of the hand, cuts off his biggest horn. He almost tears up from the pain, and almost passes out from the injury but endures it. Instead, with his two front legs, armed with sharp serrations and spikes, swings at Fumio. To his frustration, Fumio easily dodged his attack yet again. He would even be impressed at Fumio for not simply dodging, but doing so in an intentionally narrow margin, if he is not the one in the receiving end. Before he can continue his chain of attacks, he sees Fumio take a swing at him. He is too slow to dodge, and he raises his front legs in front of his head. Through the gaps of his legs, he sees a huge phantom of a clenched fist covers Fumio''s hand as it approaches him. *SHATTER* *SHATTER* *WHAM* He then feels his front legs break into pieces easily before his head is hammered by a huge force he did not expect, or would never expect to come from Fumio''s smaller than average frame. He feels his entire body slide a few meters back before *crack* he feels a huge crack on his head snap into existence, making him scream in pain. The injury is too much for him to keep his beetle state, and he quickly morphs back into his humanoid form, revealing his broken arms and dented forehead. Even in his basic form however, he cannot remain standing and he *thud* falls to his knees. *step* *step* His eyes that are on the ground in front of him suddenly see Fumio''s feet appear. He looks up and seeing Fumio''s expression, he swallows nervously. Unlike his master and Ahdem, he notices that Fumio does not seem to have any reservations in ending a demon like him. Chapter 148 - "You Really Dont See It?" "Umfff" Havvah wakes up and finds herself looking at an unfamiliar ceiling. After just a few seconds, the memories of the events that led up to her finding herself in the room, all come back to her. "Ahdem" She then quickly looks around in panic. + To her relief, she finds Ahdem asleep beside her. Looking around the room more, she finds that she and Ahdem are lying on their own quality futons and blankets. The tatami, the ceiling, and the lighting in the room provided by paper window shade being shined through by the sun, all look traditionally Japanese. The size of the room too is quite large, having the space for a small elevated irori containing glowing wooden embers that is providing heating in the room. Remembering the kimono wearing Fumio and Nishiki, she connects in her head that she is in the two''s property. She hopes however that she and Ahdem are simply not in a fancy prison cell. She is about to wake Ahdem up when Ahdem wakes up by himself. After Ahdem reorients himself, "I wonder where they brought us to...", he says with a sigh. "How do you feel?" Havvah asks. "Perfect. Which is weird." Ahdem shakes his head. "Good." Havvah is relieved. "So. What do we do now?" She asks as she goes to the window, slides it ajar, and takes a peek. "" Her eyes widen and her breath is immediately taken by the sight from the second-floor window. "What''s wrong?" Ahdem notices. "Nothing''s wrong It''s come see for yourself." Havvah says, her eyes still peeking outside the window as she thoughtlessly slides the window wide open. "" Ahdem, having the view of the window revealed to him, also freezes. "My goodness." He softly exclaims. "It can''t be, right?" Havvah asks as she gives Fumio''s beautiful garden a hopeful look. "I want it to be, too, my love." Ahdem sighs. "But it does remind you of Home." Havvah bitterly chuckles. "It does." Ahdem is affected by feeling the nostalgia emanating from Havvah. "Maybe it''s a place that''s just like home? Maybe that''s why the fragments to come here?" Havvah asks. "If that''s the case, then out of the more than sixty combined fragments in our possession, why did it only pull two?" Ahdem shakes his head. "But still. Something is special with this place. The plants that should not be growing in winter, are blooming here, better than they should be even during the spring." Havvah notes. "It must be related in some way. Hopefully." Ahdem nods, hoping to find out more about it. "Let''s look around." He then walks to the door of the room and, *sss* *thd* slides it open gently. While he appreciates the gardens, it would be best if he takes a closer look. Havvah then sticks to Ahdem and they leave the room in caution. Even though the house is supposed to be immaculate and homely, the couple''s shoulders are tensed, watching out for anything that might jump on them. As they reach the first floor, they see that one of the sliding doors to the outside is open. Before it is Fumio and Nishiki, seated across each other over a go table, both deep in thought of where to put their stones to next. "Master." Ahdem and Havvah''s attentions are caught by the demon driver who is sitting on a futon at the living area, his back rested against the wall. "Olthralos" Havvah''s utters the demon driver''s name. She and Ahdem are stunned by the demon''s state. The demon has a big bump on his forehead and his broken arms lying limply on his abdomen, chained with steel chains carved with runes. "Ah. The old geezers are up." Nishiki comments to the side, noticing the two''s arrival. *clack* "Your move." Fumio meanwhile, places his black stone on the table. This gets Nishiki''s focus back on the game. While waiting for Nishiki''s move, "In your years, you two probably learned some healing skills I can''t exactly send him to the hospital.", Fumio addresses the couple and then shortly takes his attention back to the game. Feeling no hostility from Fumio, Ahdem and Havvah immediately attend to Olthralos. "What happened?" Ahdem asks in a whisper, seeing that Havvah can handle the assessment. "Shortly after you and master fell unconscious; I fought the young man." Olthralos starts after a quick cautious and fearful glance at Fumio, which Ahdem captures. "I was defeated in fifteen seconds." He continues. "Fifteen seconds" Ahdem and Havvah exchange looks in disbelief. "Yes. He must be as strong as the average Demon General, and I think he held back greatly." Olthralos reports. "So around mid to high-tier A-Class." Ahdem notes with a helpless sigh. " You''ll be fine." Havvah cuts in, done with the assessment. "The young man applied some splints on my arms soaked it into some herbal solution. He also decreased the swelling on my head with a long touch." Olthralos recounts. "Huh" Ahdem and Havvah are surprised by Fumio''s efforts on his captives. "You two were out for two hours by the way." Olthralos reports. "And yet I feel like I''ve slept for days." Ahdem chuckles. "You''ve been observing him for two hours, I''m guessing?" He asks the demon. "Yes." Olthralos nods and "He''s" starts reporting. Sometime later, " He''s very powerful and yet, not tainted with blood. Even though he was not the one who killed the visitors of the hill, his part in it weighs heavily on his guilt A good kid." Olthralos concludes. "A good kid But that makes his guilt heavier." Ahdem nods, as he looks at Fumio who looks focused on the go game on the outside, but is in fact distracted. "It will consume him." Havvah remarks. *clack* Nishiki places his stone and looks outside. "Oh. Would you look at that." He says before falling into a daze. His words make everyone look outside. " It''s late, but it''s here..." Fumio says with a smile, as he looks at the first snow falling gently on the gardens. His words prompt everyone to silently enjoy the view. <><><><><><><> Ehime Prefecture, Inland Sea, Mata Island. *WOOoooOOOoO* Kotone and Yoshiko, while cruising on their flying swords, hear the sound of siren blare behind them. The two looks at the direction of a small island and after seeing no one go after them, they then share relieved looks with each other. . The duo have just raided the demon prison of Shikokuchuo''s Akaboshi Clan and have just added 17 demon cores in their record. The most notable of their new demon cores are two that Knight-ranked ones. *sshhh* *shshhh* *shhshs* The two are almost alarmed when suddenly, sharp paper blades of uniform sizes zip past them. "GET BACK HERE!" They then hear a male voice follow and as they look behind them, they see a man, pursuing them using his wings made out of paper. "Paper Vulture" Kotone utters in recognition. "Superhero?" Yoshiko asks. "Yes. A high-tier B-Class." Kotone shares the information. "Real name Akaboshi Motoo How did I not expect this?" She adds. "A superhero protecting a demon core farm Is this something we should have expected?" Yoshiko grits her teeth. "How deplorable." She growls as she sends blades upon blades of spiritual energy towards the superhero''s direction. Paper Vulture, who cannot see the invisible blades, suddenly feels something whip across his chest, along with a sharp pain. The next moment, his paper wings suddenly get cut cleanly into divisions before shortly collapsing, making him free fall. While falling, he also notices that there is now a long gash across his chest, his blood starting to dye his shirt. "W-wha" He can only brace his wound and stare at the two retreating female figures zoom away to the horizon, in disbelief. Fortunately for him, he is not injured too badly that he manages to summon his wings once again, saving himself from smashing to the water below. However, his injuries are enough to limit him from pursuing his targets. "Wow" Kotone looks at Yoshiko before shaking her head to herself. "What?" Yoshiko asks, almost offended. "It''s just" Kotone scoffs. "Lately, we''ve been very comfortable inflicting life threatening injuries against people. Not demons people." She sighs. "" Yoshiko frowns. "You really don''t see it?" She asks. "See what?" Kotone asks in confusion. "We" Yoshiko is about to explain but, "Never mind.", ultimately decides not to. The two are already in their third week on their task of cleaning up various demon prisons slash farms and it did not take Yoshiko long to realize how easy she and Kotone had gotten used to hurting people, and killing demons that look the same as humans. Due to that, she slowly formed in her head, a nagging suspicion that Red sent her and Kotone to the task to exactly get used to spilling blood. "About Sensei" She shifts the talk. "What about him?" Kotone asks. "Do you believe him? When he said that he can grow his arm back someday?" Yoshiko asks. "" Kotone is silenced by the question. "What do you think?" She asks instead. "I''m not too sure" Yoshiko sighs. "It''s been three weeks but he doesn''t seem to be putting effort in healing his arm. Instead, he''s gotten used to living with one arm so easily. It''s as if he knows that he will never get it back." She shares what she has observed. "Sensei is a capable man. If he says he can grow it back, then he can." Kotone does not even want to imagine Red''s arm to be missing forever. "Hopefully." Yoshiko shakes her head, seeing through Kotone''s denial. "But the children." She sighs. "After that water turtle, they''ve all been pushing themselves to their limits, every day. They barely play anymore, and are training and cultivating from sun to dawn" She says. "T-that" Kotone''s eyes widen. "It''s the children who volunteered, who begged for Sensei to make them strong as fast as possible." She argues. "But I have a suspicion that if Sensei was not injured, he would not have given in to the children''s requests." Yoshiko says. "What are you getting at?" Kotone frowns. "He has reduced his training substantially. He''s been spending more time with the children too. I have all the respect in the world for Sensei, but during his fight with that turtle man What if it''s not just his arm that was taken? What if he is more injured than we thought? Injured to the point that he cannot train properly?" Yoshiko presents one of her suspicions. "A-are you saying that he wants the children to be combat ready as soon as possible because he is too injured to protect them?" Kotone asks in worry. ."Yes." Yoshiko nods. "Look. Akane-san and Yori-san, as much as I like them, did not do enough for them to deserve Sensei''s hell training. And yet, why did sensei give it to them? What if he actually needs powerful hands quick? He''s just not willing to admit to it?" She asks. Yoshiko''s words and rhetorical questions makes Kotone ponder. Chapter 149 - "... Rest Easy For Now..." *sniff* Gin takes a long drag of the fragrant steam coming out of the teapot. "ahhh I missed this" He smiles in satisfaction as he watches the tea leaves slowly melting in the hot water inside the pot. After almost six months of absence in the hill, he is finally back. Not only did he miss the tea, but also the hill itself. He then picks up his tea set, puts it in a tray, and carries it with him as he leaves the kitchen. As he steps in the living room, he stops in his steps and smiles quietly. He always thought of himself a minimalist. Even when he was living in this house alone, he did not bother decorating the place, already finding the house''s architecture and bare interior design sufficient for his tastes. After spending the night in the house however, which Akane and Yori had taken over and has made a home out of during his absence, he realized that it was not because he was a minimalist that made him put no effort in making a place look like his own, but because he never really felt at home at the places he has lived in before except for his childhood home. His first apartment in Tokyo, the apartment he lived with an ex-girlfriend with, or even this house itself, never felt like a home. It is not until he spent a night getting to know Akane and Yori did he realize what a real home looks like. "Aherm" He swallows his jealousy of the married couple and continues his way to the second floor, to the second-floor balcony where he frequently enjoyed tea in, before his long-term mission. Settling himself at the table, he gets a view of the training yard where the children and the dancer couple are currently gathered. "" He smiles watching the lively scene of the children vigorously shaking their bodies and moving their limbs non-stop to the music, while Akane and Yori are watching them with critical eyes. Unlike six months ago when all he saw everyday were the children training under Kotone''s guidance, or listening to lectures from Yoshiko, this scene he is currently watching is a refreshing change. "How nice" He chuckles as he pours himself a cup of tea. He needs such scene after spending six months on the road. During his absence, he was tasked by Red to scour as much of Japan''s land area as he could, to look for treasure fragments. He did not find a single one however; not even after infiltrating almost a hundred clan compounds with the aid of Red''s demon-core powered invisibility trinkets. He already expected as such because he already thought that the task will be all in vain as soon as Red ordered it to him. That is why only a month in his mission, he asked Red for something else to do while putting the search for treasure fragments to the background. He figured that searching for a treasure fragment actively is just as efficient as coming across it by chance. Red agreed and he was given various things to do by the man, like looking for demon prisons instead. After finding his first demon prisons, and witnessing how many innocent lives were sacrificed by the clans, he wanted to destroy the prisons himself, but he did not have the power to do so. Each night that passed, he cannot help but think about the people he left behind whose faces engrained in his mind, and how to help them from their predicaments. But he is only one man, and a weak E-Class Superioris who cannot even take down an ordinary prison guard. Doing anything beyond pranks and minor sabotaging, was a death wish. So, he tried asking Red to do another expos like the ones he did about Hideki''s possession and the various clans'' efforts to detect demons possessing their clansmen. Red however refused his suggestion, and was instead ordered to keep looking for more and map them. While he accepted the order, he also asked Red to end the demon prisons, if Red does not want to expose them. It was refused too, and was simply told by Red ''all in due time''. Such decision by Red, negatively changed his impression of the man forever. Even though he knows that Red is not responsible for the actions of the clans, Red''s refusal in dealing with those actions planted a small but deep resentment in his heart towards the man. Innocent lives being sacrificed everyday is not something he thinks should be dealt with ''all in due time'', but is something that should be dealt with as soon as it is discovered. And Red, or the widely suspected S-Class Mr. Fool, who has the power to deal with the demon prisons, yet choosing not to, added even more bitterness in his heart towards the matter. The only reason why he did not go rogue was because of Red''s words during one of his complaints to the man. ''This is a worldwide problem, and a secretly coordinated activity by the most powerful people. Exposing them to the public, or cleaning their prisons up, will not stop them. They will only suppress the media. If they cannot, they will learn to be more secretive. ''The best way to deal with it, is to sweep all the demons in a simultaneous attack. But there are only a few of us. It is unfortunate but, until we can find a way to do that, more people will have to be sacrificed.'' He found Red''s words reasonable, but that did not help him remove the feeling that he too has innocent blood on his hands. Fortunately for him, there came a development in his mission one night three weeks ago when Kotone and Yoshiko came knocking on his hotel room unannounced, and were asking to be briefed about one of the largest demon prisons he found. While he briefed the two in detail, he was confused for the reason why he was asked to in the first place. It was only the the next day when he found out that Kotone and Yoshiko managed to rescue the human prisoners, and kill the demon prisoners, which he further found out, were done in Red''s behest. "How are you?" "Ah!" He is startled by Red''s sudden arrival. "I forgot how that feels." Gin chuckles, holding his chest in relief. "You seem to be in deep thought." Red says as he takes the seat across the table. "It''s nothing." Gin shakes his head. As Red puts his hand on the table, Gin cannot but notice the man''s missing left forearm. While having a late-night dinner with some of the demon servants the previous night, he heard from them the news about the hill being attacked by an S-Class Superioris a little more than three weeks ago, and Red fighting and killing that Superioris which cost him half an arm. Even though he believed it immediately, and is impressed that Red killed an S-Class Superioris, seeing the man''s injury gives him three thoughts. First is that Red has the strength to rule over a small country, being an S-Class Superioris. Secondly, Red is not as invincible as he thought. And thirdly, Red''s injury has quite possibly reduced his fighting prowess. Simple realizations, but contrasting and sobering. He also cannot help but think that Red''s injury has something to do with Red ordering Yoshiko and Kotone to start cleaning up demon prisons. As to why that is, he does not want to think about it for now. He simply wants to rest and use the peaceful hill to recover from the things he has seen for the past few months. Unfortunately for him, Red does not let him. "The past few months must have been hard on you. You did well." Red''s words pull his attention away from the man''s arm. "Compared to those demon feed? Some hardship that I suffered. Even you seem to have had a harder time than I did." He scoffs. "Oh the arm? Bah, it''s nothing. But those innocent souls, fair enough." Red nods. "Uhn" Gin grunts as he takes a sip of his tea. "If it makes you feel better, Kotone and Yoshiko were just finishing off that demon prison in Mata Island." Red informs. "That That''s the biggest one I''ve found" Gin gets excited. "Yes And our dear dancers over there?" Red points at Akane and Yori in the distance. "They just have to toughen their stomachs, and learn some infiltration tricks, and they too, can join in the mission of erasing these damn demon core farms." "T-they" Gin is stunned. "Wow" He is impressed. "You know. The most powerful clans I''ve infiltrated have 3 A-Class superiori in them, at the MOST. But you have four under you." He shakes his head in amusement. He has figured that Yoshiko and Kotone are A C Class because he witnessed one of the two cultivators'' prison raids. He saw how Yoshiko took down a peak-tier B-Class clan head with just a wave of her hand. "Four? Have you forgotten Fumio?" Red reminds. "Oh... Kotone and Yoshiko grew a lot stronger. Why can''t Fumio?" Gin''s head is starting to spin. "My goodness." "I have another fire type A-Class loyal to me. So, make it six. Not to mention me." Red adds. Gin at this point, is stunned. "Thanks to your work, I now have a plan on how to shut down multiple demon prisons simultaneously. Even though it won''t stop these operations for good, they will be halted for the time being." Red thanks. "I-I see... That''s good." Gin does not know how to react to Red''s genuinely looking smile of gratitude. "I know you feel powerless not being able to save those people. But with your work, you have saved many more people before they were even abducted." Red''s words makes Gin feel as if a mountain is lifted off his shoulders. "So, rest easy for now. Go visit your family, or take a trip" Red then starts addressing Gin''s mental state. Even though Gin thinks he can simply sleep through his burdens, Red does not think so. Chapter 150 - "Listen You Two..." "Feeling better?" Red asks after having given Gin a disguised therapy session. "Yeah. I do. Thank you, Kichirou-san." Gin confirms with a smile of gratitude. "Good." Red nods. "Now. Knowing the type of person you are, you simply didn''t stand by and do nothing no?" He asks Gin. "What do you mean?" Gin asks. "Don''t tell me you didn''t look and listen for any juicy information about some clans? Maybe some potential blackmail material?" Red asks. "" Gin is taken aback by Red''s accurate guess, but recovers quickly. He is reminded that Red has the ability to see through him. "I did." He admits with a sigh. "Ever tempted to blackmail them?" Red asks with a chuckle. "I almost did. I found out about this one clan heir, let''s call him Heir 1, killing the girlfriend of a rival clan''s heir, which we''ll call Heir 2, out of jealousy. I was about to tell what happened to Heir 2, but someone was even faster than me. In fact, the information was as widespread as I thought." Gin recounts. "What happened next probably disappointed you, huh." Red chuckles. "How do you know?" Gin frowns. "Was that girlfriend someone important to Heir 2''s clan, or to another clan?" Red asks. "No." Gin shakes his head. "And do you think Heir 2 really is mad because he loved that girl, or was it simply because he was slighted?" Red asks again. "That, I don''t know." Gin is disgusted by the latter half of Red''s question. "Either way, it''s nothing serious if you look at it beyond more than just the three people involved." Red shrugs. "So, how was it settled? A slap on the wrist on Heir 1? Some settlement given by his clan to the girl''s family? A simple chat of two clan heads over a nice dinner to quell the tensions among their members?" He asks. "You''ve already heard of this" Gin does not believe that Red is simply guessing. The guess after all is entirely accurate save from the chronological order of what exactly happened. "I have not. This is just more common than you think. I know too many precedents of it." Red says. "" Gin feels that Red''s words are reasonable. "So. You must have also realized that blackmailing them wouldn''t work?" Red asks. "That''s right." Gin rubs his eyebrows in frustration. "I''ve already guessed that they will simply ignore blackmail. I did not expect to find out that they''re already blackmailing each other as a method to keep each other in line." Gin says bitterly. "But Did it ever cross your mind? You simply spread what you know to other clans, causing various accusation of betrayal, making all hell break loose?" Red asks. "Heh" Gin chuckles. "I have to admit. I felt a power trip with all the stuff I know, and I was tempted. But I was not stupid to be carried away. Especially when I know that such power was due to your invisibility toys." "A shame. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened." Red chuckles. "You" Gin cannot believe what he just heard. "The deplorable ones, despite the power they hold, and the innocent blood on their hands, are a minority. A vast majority of their clan members are innocent. Just as innocent as the clans that are subservient to them. "''Hell breaking loose'' will put even more lives at risk." He reasons. "Oh, relax. I wasn''t being serious. At most, it''s just something I think about in amusement. You''ve read my manga." Red scoffs. " Ah" Gin realizes that Red having such thoughts is exactly what produced the most compelling manga he has ever read. "Anyways. Give me a copy of all the things you''ve gathered." Red changes the subject. "Right now?" Gin asks, caught off-guard. "Once you''ve done organizing them." Red says. "Expect to have them by tonight." Gin promises in relief. Red then stretches his arm out and opens his palm facing up. "" Gin''s left brow raises in interest. Soon, he sees a shotput sized water ball materialize just a few inches above Red''s palm. In addition, strong blue flames materialize under that water ball. It does not take long before he sees the water come to a boil. Before he can ask what Red is doing, Red pours the boiling water ball on his teapot. "You know" Gin shakes his head in realization. "To use your powers for such mundane things does not make me feel good." "Oh, boohoo." Red mocks in dismissal. Gin is stunned by such blatantly disrespectful dismissal but realizing the privilege of an S-Class superioris brewing him tea, "HAH!" he can only laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of the scene. "By the way Your adult students are not the only ones who grew in strength." Gin looks at the training yard where the children are still vigorously dancing non-stop for more than an hour now. "I feel like one of them can kill me with a single punch." He says with a nervous chuckle. "How do you figure?" Red is amused at Gin''s joke being actually close to reality. "Well, I witnessed the most intense game of tag and snow fight this morning. A non-superioris has a death wish by getting in between those." Gin shrugs, remembering the scene. "Also, after breakfast, Ran was so excited to see me that she rushed towards me with a hug. With how fast she ran, I thought she could outrun me even when I''m in full sprint in my cat form. "I also thought my organs will be crushed with how hard she squeezed me. I almost puked my guts out on the girl." He chuckles. He then unzips his thick jacket, lifts his shirt and shows Red his lower torso. "My word HAH!" Red guffaws, seeing the bruise that formed on Gin''s left side. "I see the humor in it, but I don''t find it as funny as you do." Gin returns a bitter smile. "I''ll have Akane, or maybe Yori treat you to a nice massage and an herbal bath." Red appeases the man. "Thank you." Gin nods. Then he realizes something. "He as good as Fumio? Or Kotone?" He asks. He was after all, for a short time, has been Fumio''s massage practice dummy, and Kotone''s after Kotone moved in the hill. "They are." Red nods. "Huh" Gin cannot wait. <> Taishiro feels his lungs and guts twitch. He then bends over, holds his knees tightly, and "UEEEKKK...", dry heaves a few consecutive times before finally feeling better. The child''s actions stop the music immediately, resulting to the other children stop their dance workout. too "Alright. I think we''ve had enough for the morning." Akane claps her hands. "Yes" Taishiro collapses to his knees in relief. "Oohh Thank you!" Chihiro sits on the ground. "Ahhh I''m so tired." Ran quickly follows. "" Osamu meanwhile, is trying to keep himself standing. His knees are shaking and his entire body hurting, but seeing Kanon still on her feet, only heavily breathing, he is not willing to rest yet. The next moment however, to his surprise, Kanon slowly crouches down before carefully seating on the ground with legs crossed. "Haaa" He then quickly falls to his buttocks in relief. "" Akane and Yori, seeing Osamu''s quiet but petty competitiveness showing, smile in amusement. "Alright. You all can deactivate your weight and resistance seals." Yori orders the children. After letting the children take a breather, Akane and Yori divide the children into gender and guides them to the massage rooms just ahead the training yard. An hour later, "Thank you, Yori-sensei." Osamu thanks Yori. Him, Chihiro, and Taishiro were just finished with their massage under their teacher. "Here''s for your medicinal bath." Yori hands Osamu a glass tube of emerald colored, and crystal clear solution. "What do you do?" He asks. "Pour every last drop." Osamu replies. "Good." Yori nods and lets the kid leave the room. The next moment, "Yori-san." Roku enters the room and starts cleaning up. "Roku-san." Yori nods at the demon housekeeper before proceeding to document something on his clipboard. Done documenting, he leaves the massage room and outside, is Red and Akane waiting for him. "Sir." Yori greets Red. "Good job today." Red nods before leading the two to the couple''s house. "" The couple is mentally preparing for the second weekly meeting. "Thank you, Gin-san." Akane thanks Gin after the man is done serving her, Yori, and Red cups of tea. "You''re welcome." Gin nods before proceeding to get out of the house, feeling that the three cultivators are about to talk about something he should not be involved in. "So. Surprise me. Let''s do the body refining solution first." Red begins the meeting. "I''ll go first." Akane starts. "Kanon is now at 15% concentration while Ran is still at 9% concentration." "Taishiro is at 8%, Chihiro is at 9%, and Osamu at 13%" Yori reports. "Good." Red nods. "Alright. Note this." He prefaces. The couple perk up to focus more. "Starting this Monday, let''s jump up the concentration." Red says, surprising the two. "First. Ran''s will be upped to 12%. Kanon''s will be upped to 19%. Taishiro''s will be increased to 11%..." He is about to continue with his directions when he notices the couple''s expressions. "What''s wrong?" He asks them. "Sir" "Are you sure..?" Yori and Akane protest simultaneously. The two, after Dominic''s fake attack on the hill, underwent Red''s hell training in the treasure fragment dimension. As for why the two subjected themselves to such a long and painful experience, there are a few factors. First was Red''s injury and Red''s coaxing of the two. It gave them an illusion that the man needed their help. Second, the two received advice from Kotone and Yoshiko about what they would expect in the training. Third, they wanted to grow strong enough to flee with the children easily at times of crisis. And finally, they were promised by Red that if they endure the entirety of the training, they will become as strong as A-Class Superioris. Kotone''s, Yoshiko''s, and Fumio''s testimonies about the training''s benefit, also helped with their decision. Throughout the hell training, they have learned all sorts of pain and that included the excruciating pain that the body refining solution brings. Even though they have stayed inside the treasure dimension for a total of one year, twice as long as the other disciples'', they have not gotten used to the pain of the body refining solution and its upgraded versions. Knowing the pain well is what makes them hesitant in administering them to the young children. So, they were unpleasantly surprised when two and a half weeks ago, when the children started their own drastically intensified training, they found out that Kotone and Yoshiko started mixing the diluted form of the solution to the children''s bath water. The two wanted to protest with the decision, but they changed their minds when they further found out that the body refining solutions were started at 1% concentration, and is incrementally increased in accordance to the children''s speed in improving their physique. "Isn''t this too much?" Akane asks. Their problem with Red''s current order however, is that the children''s bodies might get shocked due to the drastic increase in the concentration of the solutions. "Listen you two...." Chapter 151 - "Working Harder Is Useless." "Listen, you two" Red''s noticeable change in tone intimidates Akane and Yori. "If you two are too softhearted with the kids, I think I''d rather have you two do something else and I''ll have to take over." He continues. "I-" Akane is speechless. "That''s it''s just" Yori stumbles in his words. Their minds running fast in panic, they fear that Red will subject the children to painful training if they get assigned to new tasks. "What? Do you two really think I''m so cold hearted to torture the children?" Red asks. The couple shake their heads, hiding their embarrassment at being seen through. "You yourselves have experienced the hellish training. You two felt like you were dying, but you never were close to doing so, did you? Not once did I cause either of you serious injuries either, no?" Red asks again. "" The couple can only silently admit, knowing that Red''s words are true. "But I understand how you two feel, trust me." Red smiles at the two. "Even though I''ve not been spending time with them more than you two, I can roughly tell how tough each of them is and their attitudes with short observation." He assures. "Ran and Taishiro, for example. They''re indeed the weakest of the bunch, but they''re not too far behind. The only reason why the two are suffering the most with the physical training, is simply because they have low pain tolerance and weaker wills than the other three. "They are afraid of pain and too injury cautious, further making them afraid of pushing their bodies to their limit unlike the other three who keep going beyond their limits." He observes. "I know how much they can tolerate, and it''s best to keep them working as close to their limits as possible, for the maximum speed in their growth without having to experience too much pain." He concludes. "Do they have to grow too fast?" Akane asks. "Unlike us who were late to the party, they''re still young." Yori adds. "Let me ask you this." Red takes a second to sip on his tea. "Do you really know what the children want? Or do you only project what you two THINK they want?" He asks. "They''re children" Yori argues. "That cannot make reliable decisions on their own, yes." Red nods. "But you should take into account what they want, and what they feel they need. It''s not like they want stupid toys or junk food, do they? It''s about training. Did you two bother finding what their wants even are?" He asks. The couple is stunned for a few seconds before, "No" shaking their heads. "And none of them voiced it to you either?" Red asks, which receives another shake of head from the couple. "You sure?" Red asks. "..." The couple simply look at him in confusion. "Why do you think they''re so hell-bent on training? Even Taishiro, who was always less than enthusiastic to move his body just three weeks ago? Even Ran who always cried in pain? Why?" He asks. "..." The couple ponder seriously. Red''s observations on the children loosely parallels what they felt heavily before their hell training, and are still feeling even though they now stand above 99.9999 percent of the entire world''s population when it comes to strength. "They want to get stronger. All of them, on their own accord It was so obvious why didn''t I see it?" Yori utters in realization. "That might be true, but" Akane shakes her head. "Do they have to grow stronger too fast?" "Too fast?... Even Taishiro-kun has more foresight than you." Red chuckles. "What do you mean?" Akane asks. "The child is willing to grit his teeth to train even though he hates it. He is trying his best to train at the pace of his peers, not willing to get left behind. Do you know why?" Red asks. "No." Akane shakes her head. "Because he hates feeling weak and helpless more than his hate of physical activity. He hates the feeling of having to be rescued. He hates the feeling of being a burden. To him, the pain is worth the pain of having the strength to defend himself, and even to defend his siblings." Red rambles. "Do you really want to suppress the kid''s desires to be not the thing he hates?" He concludes with a question. "" Akane looks down in guilt. "And you, Yori. It''s heartbreaking to see Ran cry, I know. But doesn''t she always pick herself back up?" Red asks. "She does." Yori nods. "She wants to grow strong to be a hero. Do you want to stop her from dreaming?" Red asks. "I''m sorry. I didn''t know." Yori can only apologize. "Excessive worry, lack of faith in the children, and arrogance. Those are the things have blinded you two from your judgements." Red advises. "" The two reflect on Red''s words. A minute of silence passes. "Judging from your breaths, it looks like you two are almost done consolidating your first True Seas?" Red breaks the silence. "Yes." "That''s right, sir." The couple is spooked by the accuracy of Red''s guess. Red ignores the two''s inquiring gazes. "Very good." He compliments instead. The couple after all, will not take long before they catch up with his other disciples. Not only are the couple''s potentials being at least twice the potentials of the rest of his disciples, he is surprised that they are much more naturally talented than he thought. His only regret is to have not met the two in their childhood. He figures that if he did, then the two would be in his current level right now. "Sigh" But regrets will not do anything. He can only try and compensate for the cultivation years that the couple have innocently wasted. "What''s wrong, sir?" Akane asks. She and Yori managed to catch the disappointment that appeared in Red''s face for a split second. Their pride from Red''s ''Very good'' is quickly replaced by fear of having done something that disappointed the man. "Nothing." Red shakes his head. "It seems that you also are practicing your elixir controls very diligently. Very good." He compliments instead. "Thank you." The couple thank Red, but they no longer dare to feel proud. The crack in Red''s demeanor that showed great disappointment, has been etched in their minds and they suspect that they are not improving as quickly as Red would have liked. "W-we''ll work harder." Yori pledges. "Working harder is useless. What you need is to improve your mastery over the Celestial Body Breathing Technique." Red advises. "I understand." Yori takes the advice to heart, and so does his wife. "As for your practice of your elixir control and basic spiritual energy techniques, you all are lucky to cheat time and practice in the treasure dimension." Red comments before standing up. "Are you going to the pocket dimension, sir?" Yori asks as he too stands up. "Yes. You two, come with me. It''s been a while since you have had your battle training." Red says as he leads the way out. "" The couple exchange nervous glances. While it had been ''a while'' for Red who stays in the treasure fragment all the time doing all sorts of things, to the couple, it has only been two days. Even though they can refuse Red''s offer for sparring, they know that they need it so they can use the extent of their use of spiritual energy, and more importantly, to prepare themselves for when they are confronted with threats. <> Aga, Niigata Prefecture, Fumio''s Hill. "How is this possible?" Ahdem asks himself in disbelief. "" Havvah meanwhile, is speechless. The two are currently riding atop of the Olthralos who is has transformed into his beetle form, and are suspended twenty meters above the ground, looking down at Fumio''s hill in stupefaction. What has them mystified is instead of the beautiful gardens, they are seeing nothing but a barren snow-covered hill that has some shrubs and wild grass scattered throughout it. "Go down slowly." Havvah orders Olthralos and they descend slowly. When they reach the height of a two-story building, the barren hill suddenly transforms into the ethereal gardens that they have come to know in the past two days. "Go up" "Go down" The trio repeat their actions a few more times just to make sure that the phenomenon they just witnessed is true. Ultimately, "My word" Havvah utters, reflecting what her two companions are feeling. "It''s real." Ahdem adds. "No wonder that demon said that this place is undetectable from the sky." Havvah says, still in wonder. "Will you please stop doing this?" The trio is startled by a voice that echoed beside them. They look towards the direction of the voice and find Fumio, standing on an invisible platform, and is looking at them with arms crossed across his chest. "Excuse us. This is mindboggling to us, is all." Havvah says as she orders Olthralos to bring them back to the grounds. "Why are you all still here, anyway?" Fumio asks as soon as they all land. "I told you that you are free to go." It has been three days since the visitors arrived in the hill after all. After Fumio''s ''interview'' of the three in their day of arrival, he is satisfied of his findings and is convinced that the three mean no harm. The three even want to keep the hill''s secret to themselves. That resulted to him telling the three to leave first thing the next morning, ordering Nishiki to keep eye on the visitors, before going back to his treasure dimension. To his surprise, after leaving the treasure dimension earlier, he found that the trio is still in the hill. "May we stay for a few more days? It''s the holidays." Ahdem asks. "This place is perfect. We''re rich too and we can pay generously for our accommodations." He offers. "I''ll even cook every meal for you." Havvah offers too. "I''ll show you the culinary experience of someone my age. Ingredients are on me." She adds. "" Fumio gets tempted, especially by Havvah''s offer. He figures that someone like Havvah can only be a great cook. And him spending a total two months in the treasure fragment focused on studying and training, only going back out to the real world to cultivate during the night, had not eaten good food, which makes him crave. "Okay..." He decides. The good food is only a part of his decision. It has something to do more with the idea that crossed his mind seeing the couple''s eagerness to stay. "You can stay, but I don''t need your money." He says. "Instead, you will have to answer whatever questions I have." He proposes. "What questions?" Ahdem gets cautious. "History of the world? Of civilization? Demons and Angels? You can refuse to answer if you find a question too intrusive." Fumio explains. Ahdem and Havvah can see the honesty in Fumio. "Very well." Chapter 152 - Is There A God?” WARNING TO RELIGIOUS READERS: SACRILEGE IN THIS CHAPTER. ========= "You can choose to stay here in my house, or my friend''s house." Fumio tells Ahdem and Havvah as they all sit down at the living room table. "Our houses are practically the same, structurally." Nishiki informs the couple. "Just have them stay here at your house. You don''t use this place that much anyways." He complains to Fumio however. "Alright. You two can stay here, then." Fumio addresses Ahdem and Havvah. Nishiki''s complaint reminds him that just like Red in Hinohara, he prefers to stay under the hill in his cave, where everything he needs is available, and the treasure fragment dimension is always accessible. "Do you know my name, by any chance?" Fumio asks the couple. "Wasn''t it Fumio?" Havvah says. "Tsk. I was hoping you were not able to overhear it." Fumio clicks his tongue. The couple can only shrug. "Then please tell me your names." Fumio politely demands. Havvah gestures to go first. But as she is about to introduce herself with a fake name, "Hav" she cannot help but utter the first syllable of her real one. "Y-you did it again" She complains bitterly. Ahdem immediately realizes that Havvah and possibly him too, are once again being forced by Fumio to answer honestly. Fumio meanwhile, sneakily stores his Truth Powder back in his storage ring. "I know that you don''t mean to harm me or my domain. I just don''t trust you two enough. My garden''s illusion was also discovered by you two earlier, which is not helping." Fumio shrugs. "..." The couple finds it logical, but they are still uncomfortable by how overbearing Fumio is. "And besides. I''m at a disadvantage because you know my name and I don''t know yourses." Fumio stands up and heads to the kitchen. The couple then watch in interest as Fumio opens the wooden chest near the sink and takes out what looks like a giant pear from it. The two have seen giant strawberries and berries in the gardens but they did not dare try the fruits due to Nishiki''s warning them not to unless Fumio permits it. So seeing the new fruit, and noticing its size, interests them. "So? What are your names?" Fumio asks as he takes out a knife from the nearby drawer and slices the pear into two halves. "My name''s Ahdem." "Mine is Havvah." The couple answer without much thought as their attention is focused on the pear. The pear''s white sparkling flesh gives them another round of nostalgia. "Sounds Arabic? Or Hebrew?" Fumio asks, finding the sound of their names pleasant. "Yes." Havvah nods. Fumio frowns, noticing the oddity of the answer. "I see." He nods nonetheless, knowing the two cannot currently lie. "Ahdem Havvah Ahdem Havvah" He then repeats the two''s name to familiarize himself in saying them, while he starts to slowly and carefully cut the pear into smaller pieces. Even though the pear is dime a dozen in Red''s hill, he still feels that he should respect the fruit by preparing it carefully and serving it beautifully. "Ahdem Havvah " On his third repetition of the names, he freezes suddenly, his fluidly moving fruit knife stops carving another slice off of the pear, and he looks at the couple strangely. "Ahdem Havvah..." He repeats their name once more, but this time, with a tinge of shock and suspicion in his tone. "..." The couple are taken aback, immediately figuring out what caused Fumio''s reaction. "Damn" "Yeah" The couple exchange frustrated grunts. "Yes. You got us." Ahdem then says to Fumio helplessly. "You might have heard of our names in English." Havvah adds with a sigh. They know that Fumio is not stupid and can suppress their ability to lie, so they know that denying it is useless. They can only hope that by admitting their identities to Fumio before Fumio can even ask, they can lower the chances of them being hurt or experimented on by the cultivator. "Huh Adam and Eve, sitting in my living room. What has the world come to?" Fumio chuckles in amusement. He then continues to finish slicing the pear and arranging them on a plate. Ahdem and Havvah are taken aback by Fumio''s reaction and they exchange confused looks. "You are taking it quite well." Havvah cannot help but ask Fumio. "Yeah?... How am I supposed to react?" Fumio asks as he serves the plate of pears to the two. "The last person who we told wasn''t exactly calm." Ahdem says, reminded of someone. "Oh. Trust me. I''m shocked and excited." Fumio says as he sits down. The couple look closer and they notice that Fumio indeed is trembling for a bit. "Anyways. Doesn''t your existences mean that you two are the first superiori?" Fumio asks. "We are." Havvah confirms. "Huh I have to say, I''m a bit disappointed." Fumio shrugs. "Oh?" Ahdem is intrigued by the opinion. "Why?" He asks. "I thought you would be S-Class Superiori. But You seem to have the physique of E-Class Physically Enhanced Superiori." Fumio says. "Ah" The couple understands. "Well. That''s not how we look at it." Ahdem scoffs. "We might not have the destructive force of your regular S-Class Superiori, but I consider myself and my love here, S-Class." He argues. "" Fumio thinks for a moment, before coming to a guess. "Longevity." He says. "That''s right. Longevity." Havvah confirms. "As long as we''re careful, we feel that we can outlive everyone living in the world right now. Not sure if we can outlive angels and demons though." She explains. "How long did you two live?" Fumio asks. "" The couple refuse to answer. Fumio, seeing the two''s hesitance, shrugs and takes a piece of the pear and pops it to his mouth. "Please." He then urges the two to partake in the fruit he prepared. Ahdem, smelling the fragrance, grabs a piece of the pear and ungraciously chucks it to his mouth. "My goodness" He immediately tastes the pear''s sweet but subtle flavor exploding in his mouth. He also cannot help but tear up a little, being reminded of something in the distant past. "" Havvah notices Ahdem''s actions and copies it. The next moment, unlike Ahdem who held his tears in, her tears fall freely from her eyes. "Ah I missed this." She utters to Ahdem. "So do I." Ahdem smiles in consolation. "" Fumio is simply observing the two, connecting things in his mind. A few moments later, the couple recover from their nostalgia. "How did you make the connection by the way?" Ahdem asks Fumio. "Exactly. No one has heard of our names since the downfall of the Salvation Religion, Yehudism, and Submission Faith." Havvah adds. "Huh. You two must be out of the loop. There are still copies of The Bible, the Avrhamic scriptures, and Al Koran around." Fumio looks at the two weirdly. "Yes. But only scholars and historians are interested in those. Are you one of them?" Ahdem asks. "And you''re Japanese too. There were very few Iesous worshippers here in Japan before the great war, much less Yehudists and Moslems." Havvah comments to herself. "Ah. Not a scholar." Fumio shakes his head. "You two heard of anime?" He asks. "Uhuh" Ahdem nods. "What''s that?" Havvah asks Ahdem. "Japanese animated tv shows." Ahdem explains. "Oh" Havvah gets the idea. "What about it?" Ahdem asks Fumio. "Well, it just so happens that you two appeared as minor characters in a famous anime I enjoyed as a child. Sometimes, characters in anime are based on real life, so I looked up who the characters in that anime I''ve seen, were based on. "From my random research, I found out that only you two were the only ones that were not based on real people, but on people that are in religious texts. Then from that, I got curious why the maker of that anime had to use characters from religion, so I searched for more. "That''s when I found out that you two were the first humans in Yehudism, and Salvation Bible''s Old Testament. Maybe that''s why the writers of the anime named their first humans after you two." Fumio explains. "Interesting" Ahdem smirks. "I can''t even..." Havvah giggles in amusement. "I have to say. They got your skin tones right." Fumio nods, referring to the two''s brown complexions. "I don''t know if it''s our bad luck, but You, connecting a piece of entertainment from your childhood, to us It''s just" Havvah shakes her head. "That makes me think I know that Mohammed and Buddha were real people. How about Iesous?" Fumio asks out of interest. "Correction. Buddha is the title of an enlightened one in Buddhism. But I know who you''re referring to. It was Siddhattha Gotama." Ahdem corrects Fumio. "Yeah. Siddhattha. Whatever. How about Iesous?" Fumio asks. "He was real." Ahdem reveals, surprising Fumio greatly. "Originally named Yeshua, who was born to Yehudist parents." He adds. "If he''s real, then doesn''t that mean that God is real? Because if I recall my high school history subjects, Salvation Followers worshipped Iesous, who was sent by God, to die for humans'' sins." Fumio asks. "" Ahdem and Havvah exchange conflicted glances. "Iesous was but a man. Born of Yosep and Maryam. It''s in the Salvation Bible." Ahdem finds his words. "Yes, but what was it again?... Immaculate conception or something?" Fumio asks. "No." The couple scoff. "How the hell you know?" Fumio frowns at the two''s disdain. "We met Iesous." Havvah shrugs. "Talked to him even. Told us himself." Ahdem adds. "Huh" Fumio would not have believed the two''s words if they are not under the influence of his Truth Powder. "That''s too bad." He sighs. "Was he a superioris? I read somewhere that he can walk on water and swim on land." He asks. "Puhup!" "AHAHA!" Havvah and Ahdem burst out into laughter. "What''s wrong?" Fumio is a bit offended. Finding being made fun of for simply making a serious inquiry, a bit distasteful. "It''s just funny. Swimming on land" Havvah giggles. "According to the gospel of his disciples, he walked on water. He never swam on land." Ahdem explains. "Oh" Fumio''s misunderstanding is cleared up. "But was he though? A superioris? They said he made water to wine, and multiplied bread and fish to feed thousands of people." He asks. "He was not." Ahdem says. "Those were just embellishments and fiction written by the Salvation followers decades upon decades after Iesous'' death." He explains. "Oh. And by the way..." Havvah cuts in. "We never met any other superiori until the Great Harvest. When the gates of Heaven and Hell appeared on our world." "Ah Well, that shuts down a lot my questions." Fumio is disappointed. He is not out of questions however. "Is there a God?" He asks. Chapter 153 - "Theyve Lost Their Minds..." "I noticed earlier that you two were quite emotional as you took your first bites of the pear" Fumio resumes his questioning. "It''s not surprise, nor gustatory pleasure, but strangely longing. Why is that?" He asks. "" The couple refuse to answer. They did not expect Fumio to notice that much. Fumio shrugs at the couple''s silence, already expecting it. "It also seems like you''ve had a fruit as good as this before. That reminds me, if what I read on the internet were quoted from The Bible and Avrhamic Scripture, that you two lived in the so-called ''Paradise'', a garden that''s name I don''t recall. Is that true?" He continues to ask. "" The couple again remain silent as they look at each other, knowing each other''s discomfort with the questions. "Come on. Just tell me if it''s true or not. It''s not like you don''t lose anything if you say ''No.'' I won''t even ask where you two were born." Fumio attempts to coax. "But if that ''paradise'' really existed on earth, and you two came from it then just say ''yes''. I won''t ask where it is anyway." He adds. "You can think whatever you want." Ahdem shrugs. Despite his casual tone, he knows, and his wife knows, that it will not take long for Fumio to figure out answers even without resorting to torture. "Alright" Fumio shrugs in return. "So you two are real, and so is paradise. Does that mean then that God is too?" He asks. Despite the couple''s refusal to answer once again, his eyes that can see a speeding rifle bullet in detail, just saw the crack in the two''s poker face. "Are They alive?" He continues to ask, confident in his assumption. "..." He is met once again with silence, but with glares this time. "Well. If They are, They''re probably an indifferent existence. Or maybe they gave humans superiori powers and let the gates of heaven and hell open, and just watched on Their throne from the clouds for Their amusement. Either way, They''re an asshole." He resorts to insults hoping to get a reaction. To his chagrin, "..." he sees another crack in the couple''s expressions. "IF THERE''S A GOD OR GODS OUT THERE, HEAR ME! AND YOU MAY STRIKE ME DOWN!!!" He suddenly yells out in a booming voice and lifts his face to the direction of the sky. He wants to incite more reactions from the two, and wants to have fun doing it. "Wha-" The couple is startled, but seeing that Fumio''s attention is not on them, they continue to sit silent. Fumio meanwhile, waits for ten seconds or so, before "hahah.", returning his attention to the couple with a laugh. "Huh. Maybe they''re not around? Ever tried calling out to them like that before? The first humans after all must have some brand recognition from God or the gods." He asks the couple with a smirk. He knows that the couple will not answer him. He is simply trying to gauge how effective his display was, and he is pleased with his assessment. He once again looks up and raises his middle finger to the direction of the sky. "IF YOU''RE SO POWERFUL, WHY DON''T YOU COME DOWN IN HERE AND FIGHT ME? YOU PIECE OF DIVINE SHIT! You" He continues to yell all sorts of insults. At every insult, Ahdem and Havvah feel like they themselves are being insulted. "BWAHAHAHAHA!" To add insult to injury, the hear Nishiki, who was busy doing his garden duties from the outside, laughing boisterously, obviously hearing Fumio''s insults. "O, WHERE ART THOU WRATH? COME ON! LET THIS BLASPHEMER HAVE IT, O'' ALMIGHTY SMITER!!!" Fumio at this point is simply having fun. The stress, the guilt, the exhaustion, and the frustration that has built up in his heart ever since the first death in his hill, is eased up a bit by the catharsis brought upon by his ridiculous and carefree insults. All the cruelty he has seen in the past year alone, has made him angry and he did not know how to release it. Now that he found out that there is a God, he became even angrier. He wants to know why God or other gods, if they too exist, are letting all injustices and atrocities happen to good and innocent people. Even though he felt angrier, it also makes him feel a bit better as now, he found something, despite symbolic, to blame and vent his anger on. "YOU-" He is about to go another round but "ENOUGH!" Havvah yells as she can no longer listen. "Whii o ah.." Fumio is taken aback and tongue tied by the outburst he was not at all expecting. "You ignorant, ungrateful child!" Havvah adds through gritted teeth. "Then please. Help me get rid of my ignorance God''s daughter." Fumio spits the latter part of his sentence in disdain. "He would not let this happen if he is still around." Havvah defends her father''s honor. "" Fumio''s eyes widen. "He''s dead?" He asks. "I hope not." Ahdem shakes his head. "Shall we tell him?" He asks Havvah. "haaa I don''t care anymore." Havvah simply sighs in defeat, but she feels she can trust Fumio with the knowledge. The two''s exchange excites Fumio. "Father didn''t die. He left." Ahdem tells Fumio. "Left?" Fumio leans forward in interest. "Yes. He gave us the fruit of knowledge, commanded me and my wife to expand our species, and left." Ahdem sighs, remembering the final encounter. "The forbidden fruit, or something? " Fumio asks. Ahdem shakes his head. "The first generations knew of our story accurately. After hundreds of thousands of years however, by the time Avhram started Yehudism, many details of what really happened have been changed either due to mistranslations or faults in the memory of those who passed on the stories. "Some of those changes were the Fruit of Knowledge being dubbed as the Forbidden Fruit. Or that it was Lucifer who tricked us to eating it, when it was Father who gave it to us. We never even met a demon until we summoned one." He explains. "Fascinating" Fumio is compulsively recording it in his brain. A few moments later, he has formulated more questions based on Ahdem''s claims. "That''s a lot to unpack, especially you living hundreds of thousands of years. But first. Why did he leave?" Fumio asks. "Loneliness, perhaps?" Havvah shrugs. "I never realized it for a long time after he left, but from my memories of him, he looked lonely." "And his last words make more sense the more we learned about the world." Ahdem adds. "Last words?" Fumio gets excited at a God''s last words. "Yes. ''I leave you behind to look for something equal or even bigger than I.''" Ahdem recounts. "For someone so powerful it must indeed have been lonely." Fumio nods. "Anyways. It''s not useful to me." He shrugs it off easily however. "So. Which came first? You two or the demons and angels?" He moves on. "They did." Ahdem says. "Ever wondered why God made them?" Fumio asks. "We don''t know. Like Ahdem said earlier, we didn''t know about their existence long after Father left." Havvah answers. "I see." Fumio nods. "And you said you summoned a demon how did you do that?" He moves on. "It was included in the Fruit of Knowledge." Ahdem explains. "Using these?" Fumio pulls out the two treasure fragments he took from the couple while they were unconscious, and plays with it between his fingers. "Yes." Havvah nods. "Do you know what these are? They obviously belong to one treasu- tree." Fumio asks, basing his knowledge on Red''s theories that Red once blabbed about but never concluded. "We do not know either." Ahdem shakes his head. He wants to hide from Fumio that he has more of the treasure fragments, and some of those fragments match each other. "And I wish we never summoned one" He sighs in regret. "How do you mean?" Fumio frowns, seeing the man''s shoulders dip. "When our numbers were sparse, every one of ours was extremely valuable. But how were we supposed to survive against lions, alligators, rhinos, and giant snakes? Not to mention periods of extreme global freezing. "We needed help. Maybe that''s why Father left us the knowledge to summon demons to protect us, and angels to heal our sickness." Havvah explains. "That''s understandable" Fumio nods. "But why the regret?" He asks. "We suspect that the more people summoned them, the stronger the connection between heaven and hell became. It was especially so in the centuries before the Great Harvest when wars were widespread in the world. More wars meant more people resorted to secretly summoning demons to their ranks." Havvah explains. "" Fumio feels conflicted. On one hand, he understands the two''s abuse of demon and angel summoning ensured that humanity survived against the wildlife, but on the other hand, he cannot ignore that their actions led to the most disastrous event in mankind. Seeing the couple''s faces of regrets however, and knowing even more that they are honest due to his truth powder, he cannot bring himself to hate the two. "Fortunately, we had the Archangel and Prince of Hell who helped us." He can only console the two. "Yes. Fortunately." The couple nod. "Huh... Ever met them?" Fumio asks. "We did meet them once around 20,000 years ago, when we summoned them for protection. They spent a few hundred years with us until one day, they both just left disappeared." Ahdem says. "I thought they betrayed us after learning some of our magic. We didn''t think they would reappear during the Great Harvest and help us." Havvah says. "Huh So the Catholic Church were honest about that." Fumio nods. "Do you think they''re still alive? I mean, they''re two ranks above the strongest demons and angels that walked the earth during the Great War. They might even be stronger than S-Class superiori." He asks. "I don''t know." Ahdem shakes his head. "Closing something that was created by Father himself might have been too much even for their caliber." "But I hope they still live They deserve our personal gratitude." Havvah adds. "I hope so too." Ahdem sighs. "We need their magic." "That''s right. Some demons I spoke with can feel the connection to hell again. It''s not a good sign. We should find a way to prevent it from opening back up again." Fumio gets worried. "Heh" Ahdem chuckles suddenly. "What?" Fumio asks. "You see the threat clearer than even the S-Class members of the Brotherhood of Adam." Ahdem smiles at Fumio. "How many S-" Fumio is about to ask before he realizes something. "Wait. The Brotherhood is named after you. Do you own them?" He asks. "Hah. No. I have no longer have association with them." Ahdem scoffs. "Ah. Well. That''s a shame." Fumio is disappointed. "I don''t think it is. They''ve changed. I resent that they are still using my name." Ahdem says, feeling blood rush to his head in anger, remembering the things that the organization is currently doing. "So, they know about incoming threat then." Fumio diverts the subject away from the organization''s name, hearing Ahdem''s reaction. "What do they think about it?" He asks. "I once heard that they want Hell''s gates to appear sooner so they have more demon cores to harvest." Ahdem says. "They''ve lost their minds" Fumio is stunned. "" Havvah, who is hearing of the information for the first time, is also in disbelief. "You should spend time with them. The arrogant f*ckers.." Ahdem sighs helplessly. Chapter 154 - "What A Beauty..." "Ah My hunger is gone. This pear is almost as good as the ones in Eden." Havvah compliments as she swallows the last bite of the pear that Fumio prepared. "Keyword. ALMOST." Ahdem scoffs. Fumio however witnessed how much the man enjoyed the pear. "Well. Even if the pear is not special, the size of it will sure fill anyone." He shrugs as he tosses the plate to the kitchen like a flying saucer. The couple watch the plate sail through the air and lands nicely inside the sink with a clang. "Hm I wonder what that thing is made of?" Havvah is interested that what seemed like a clay ceramic plate did not break from Fumio''s reckless handling of it. "So magic." Fumio continues his inquiry. "What about it?" Havvah and Ahdem get nervous. They have not been comfortable with the questions so far and how much they had to reveal. But Fumio knowing of their history is nothing to them as even if Fumio somehow spreads the knowledge to others, others will simply dismiss it as Fumio''s delusion. They are not however willing to share the knowledge of magic to someone they just met. But they are willing to die defending that knowledge. Fumio then pulls out his rune katana from his storage ring, making the couple clamp up their bottoms. "Relax. Here. What can you tell me about it?" He hands his katana for the two to take a look at. "What a beauty" Ahdem''s breath is taken away by the beauty of the katana. The warrior in him cannot help but hold the katana''s hilt and does a few swings with it in the air. "Beautiful swordsmanship" Fumio meanwhile, is stunned by Ahdem''s display. From start to finish of each swing, the sword blade''s angle perfectly aligned with the trajectory it travels. He can do it himself if he focuses, but seeing Ahdem do it consecutively with what looks like thoughtless and subconscious effort, almost takes his breath away in admiration. He almost cannot control himself from asking Ahdem to be his swordsmanship teacher. To his disappointment, Ahdem''s display is cut short as Ahdem stops it. "My word" Ahdem''s eyes widen, finding the runes that are carved in the blade''s surface. He hurriedly but carefully lays the sword down on the table. "My love, look" He calls out to Havvah as he traces his fingers along the runes. "T-this" Havvah too, is stunned. The couple lower their faces closer to the sword as they continue to examine it. A minute later, "So" Fumio calls out. "What can you tell me about it?" He repeats his question earlier. "It''s this is not based on existing runes and seals." Havvah shakes her head. "Not even runes by demons and angels?" Fumio asks. "No. Their runes are only against each other''s kinds. Zograthan taught us runes and seals against Angels. And Saraqael taught us runes and seals against Demons. Then Havvah and I combined the rune systems we know with what we learned from those two and made new variations." Ahdem explains. "Variations?" Fumio is confused. "Yes. Catholic runes used in Europe. Shamanic runes used by Maya, Inca, and Aztecs in the Americas. Eastern Shamanic Runes used in the middle east, east Asia, and south Asia. Those were borne out of our trials and errors." Havvah explains. "Poor Africa." Fumio jests to keep his surprise of the information. "We don''t even know what these runes are for. And This sword looks relatively new." Ahdem finally looks up from the katana. "Did you make this yourself?" He asks with a serious and hungry look. "I did." Fumio nods. "No" Havvah detects his lie. "You''re too young." She scoffs. "I''m not going to ask you anymore about magic. So don''t ask me where I got it either." Fumio takes back his katana. "Someone managed to make a new system. And it looks more complicated than ours." Ahdem rubs his brows in frustration as he tries to see through Fumio. Instead of addressing Ahdem''s words, "You should try my tea." Fumio stands up and heads to the kitchen counter. In his mind meanwhile, Red''s mystery deepens even further. To make runes that even the oldest and the foremost human users of runes and magic cannot comprehend, just utterly blew his mind. The couple is helpless, but they know they cannot find out more about the runes. "So. In your long lives Have you met someone who is not a superioris, not a demon, nor an angel, who has the powers of a superiori?" Fumio asks, hoping to find out more about the history of cultivators. Red, after all, told him and Kotone that Red is from a long line of cultivators who had to live in hiding until Red, the most talented of all, came along. "No. That''s sounds crazy." Havvah is confused by Fumio''s question. "Not even heard of one?" Fumio asks. "No" Ahdem frowns in suspicion. "Why do you ask?" He asks. "Nothing." Fumio drops it and turns his back on the couple. "" The couple however, sees that Fumio''s shoulders drop a bit. . "''disappointed''?" Ahdem silently mouths to Havvah. "''yeah. But why?''" Havvah shrugs. "''I don''t know. So strange''" Ahdem ponders. "So. You two must have been REALLY special, huh. How''d you get a Prince of Hell, and an Archangel follow your bidding instead of them killing you?" Fumio interrupts the two''s silent exchange. The couple can only drop their curiosity of what they just witnessed. "Special Possibly? But it cost us greatly. Due to some circumstances, we did not have our wood fragments with us. We had the use pure blood magic that almost bled us dry. We were crippled, paralyzed form head to toe for decades due to it." Havvah reveals. "Hm" Fumio nods. "Although. I wonder what happened that made you summon them?" He asks. "Imagine. Only the two of us in a non-superiori world. We were like heroes, the best warriors, natural leaders amongst any group we settle ourselves in." Ahdem sighs in reminiscence. "But eventually, they noticed us unageing. They didn''t understand why. Hell, even I do not understand why or how Ahdem and I are the way we are." Havvah continues. "Anyway. If you lived long enough, you will know that people fear what they do not understand. So, we were feared by people. They suspected that we were somehow ''stealing'' others'' vitality to fuel our own, blamed us for them getting old" "You were persecuted." Fumio can understand. "But there were upsides. We were venerated, worshipped. She was, for example, became the goddess queen Sobekneferu." Ahdem comments. "Remind me who that is?" Fumio asks. "The first female Pharaoh, and the last ruler of Egypt''s Middle Kingdom." Ahdem explains. "It still ended the same. The highest nobles and members of the court knew that I was never really a goddess. They also suspected my background and bloodline, which led them to attempt to assassinate me. "With that, they discovered my status as a superioris. And just like the stone wielding cavemen and bronze wielding farmers, they too, feared me." Havvah smirks. "Ah" Fumio does not care much about ancient history, but he is a bit impressed. "And you, Ahdem? Been a pharaoh before?" Fumio asks. "Nah. But I was king or chief for a few times before recorded history. By the time Egypt rose, I''ve had enough of ruling people." Ahdem shrugs. "Although, I was once an Achaemenid general who fought against Alexander''s forces." He adds however. "Alexander? The Great?" Fumio is amused. "Uhuh." Ahdem nods. "Huh I should read about it some time." Fumio says as he finishes brewing tea. "Nah. You won''t be able to find me on the internet, or any historical text." Ahdem chuckles. "Why is that?" Fumio asks as he rejoins the couple and starts setting up the teacups. "I embarrassed Alexander and his generals in many battles. So, when they won, he had my records, my name, and my achievements destroyed and buried." Ahdem chuckles. "But How did Achaemenids lose? They, had you." Fumio asks. "I was only the only competent general from an empire that forgot how to do war, and whose citizens'' loyalty was waning. "The Macedonians meanwhile, had produced the best commanders, toughest and most disciplined soldiers at the time. They were fiercely loyal too." He sighs bitterly. "If you were a general, doesn''t that mean you killed humans?" Fumio asks. "I did." Ahdem nods, already knowing where Fumio is leading the conversation to. "Look." He continues. "The Achaemenid Empire at the time, and its leaders, was the hub of culture, art, and science and technology. Alexander on the other hand, only wanted to conquer as much of the world as possible, and to swallow as much gold as possible. "He did not care about moving the civilization forward. I had to protect the Achaemenids, to keep what they were doing, going." He explains. "So It must have been weird killing things that are basically your descendants." Fumio asks, imagining what it was like as Ahdem. "I did not enjoy it one bit." Ahdem shakes his head. "But I had to do what I had to do to prevent the destructive ones from destroying the hard work and growth of those who move humanity forward." He explains in conviction. "hmmm" Fumio nods in understanding, satisfied by Ahdem''s reason. He then pours tea on the couple''s cups and then on his. "Please." He urges the two as he sips on his cup. The two follow Fumio''s example, and they are stunned by its fragrance and taste of the tea. They feel the warmth course from their stomachs to the rest of their bodies, making their bodies relax. They did not know that they were feeling restless and anxious until the tea helped them relieve it. "If only we knew how to make tea at that time it would have helped us a lot." Havvah sighs. "Uhn" Ahdem grunts in agreement and proceeds to inhale the fragrance of the tea. Havvah is about to thank Fumio for the tea, but she notices something. Ahdem notices Havvah staring at Fumio and he observes the cultivator too. The two notice that Fumio seems a lot more relaxed than he was before drinking his tea. They noticed that Fumio has been stressed and a bit restless since they met him, but they did not realize how bad it was until now, when they are looking at Fumio in his relaxed state. "You must have been carrying a lot on your shoulders, my child?" Havvah cannot help but ask. "" Fumio stares at her silently. "" The couple simply stare back, noticing that a cacophony of emotions is stirring inside Fumio. "Come now. Even though you''re countless of generations down from us, you are still our blood." Havvah urges. "" Fumio, looking at Havvah''s caring eyes and her gentle voice soothing his ears, he feels comforted. "We''ve overheard your conversation with your demon friend." Ahdem comments. "I know how it feels, having a hand on someone''s death. We can help you with what you''re feeling." He coaxes. "I...." Fumio grimaces. Chapter 155 - "...Lets Talk..." (Sorry. More Talking.) "I " Fumio is moved, but his small distrust remaining is enough to catch himself from being swayed. He infuses spiritual energy on his brain, making him as objective as possible, and at the same time, suppressing his emotions. "Rain check." He comes up with a reply. "" The couple is stunned by Fumio''s sudden coldness. "I don''t know what you just did, but it''s not wise to suppress it." Ahdem says in worry. "And, it''s obviously eating you up inside." Havvah adds. "I''m managing." Fumio refuses the counseling. "You saw me bury the body with the flowers?" He asks. "We did." The couple nods. "You''ve heard what I said before that?" Fumio asks. "We did." Ahdem nods with a sigh. "''I feel like I have to face my guilt. It makes me feel human.''." He replays Fumio''s words. "But the people you''ve INDIRECTLY killed are not good people. I''ve myself have killed plenty of people, GOOD people, in my long life, but even I cannot imagine myself doing what the people you''ve again, INDIRECTLY killed, did." He reasons. "What''s your point?" Fumio asks. "By stopping them, you''ve saved hundreds of lives. Yes, you did use a mortal method, but you did it for the good." Ahdem praises the achievement that Fumio knew, but never recognized as his own. "I-" Fumio is about to argue, but "Don''t" Havvah interrupts him. "Don''t even say that it''s just an unintended result." She gently reprimands him. "Remember. You also said ''I would have let them go if they were good people.''. I don''t know if you realized this, but that statement alone proves that you did the things you did, for the good of good people." "HAH!" Fumio cackles in disdain. "You think I''m doing this for the good? I simply eliminated them because I don''t want to be disturbed. I just want to stay here and train in peace." He explains. "" The couple is stunned. They feel that Fumio''s sentiments in his words are what Fumio truly believes. They can also feel however, that he does not entirely believe his words. "But that doesn''t change that you''re a good man." Havvah in does not want to call out Fumio''s lies to himself. "Feeling guilty? Feeling burdened? That''s just keeping those bad people alive in your memory. They do not deserve that privilege." Havvah continues to counsel. "My love" Ahdem gestures Havvah to stop the consolation. "From what I''ve examined in that place where you buried the bodies, the killings only began three weeks ago?" Ahdem asks Fumio. "That''s right Very observant." Fumio nods. "Which is why the guilt is still heavy." Ahdem nods. "And you think time will fix it?" He asks. "Time changes everything." Fumio nods. "Does it?" Ahdem shrugs. "Keep what we said in mind, and get over your burdens quickly. You said you want to train in peace? How can you do that with the burden of your guilt? Time fixes a lot of things, but not everything." He advises. "Fair enough." Fumio nods, finding Ahdem''s words valid. What makes him takes the man''s words seriously however is that he just saw a flash of deep melancholy in the man''s eyes. "How many?" He asks Ahdem. "How many what?" Ahdem is confused. "How many people have you killed?" "Ah Too many" Ahdem grimaces. "At least a thousand with my own hands As for those who died on my orders? Roughly half a million. I''m not sure." "You had your reasons." Fumio nods. He figures that Ahdem is not a cold-blooded murderer. After all, he roughly averaged the years Ahdem has lived compared to the man''s kill count and estimates that the man only killed one or two people a year. Even though a decent modern man will not kill anyone in their entire life, it is not fair for him to compare Ahdem who lived in a much less civil world. Even though Ahdem participated in many wards, the man still has a much, much lower kill per year average compared to the people he had Nishiki kill for him. "At some point, I know that I''ll take a life with my own hands one day. Does it get easy?" He asks. "Heh." Ahdem chuckles. "The world has become too peaceful." "It has. Even I, almost forgot until now." Havvah chuckles too. "" Fumio frowns at the two. "My child. If you were alive at any point in history, you are more fit to be a healer or a scholar." Ahdem says. "Is that so wrong?" Fumio asks. "No. But they WERE considered ''soft''. Too weak-willed for battle." Havvah explains. "Weak-willed" Fumio is offended, but he cannot complain in front of people who has seen the world. He also knows that the couple''s words are true. It was his weak will to end Hideki that led to the man getting possessed by a strong demon, which further led to the death of 20 or so people. Even when Hideki s*xually assaulted Sayuri, he did not do anything to punish the Hideki beyond just a few injuries that the man can easily and fully recover from. "Weak-willed I suppose" He can only admit with a bitter chuckle. "Look. Killing good, innocent people will never be easy." Ahdem proceeds to address Fumio''s earlier question. "I for example, killed my fair share of them. Even though they were fighting for the wrong reasons, or were fighting because they had no choice, their deaths under my hands and orders, still weigh on me to this day." "But killing bad people? Stopping them from committing any more atrocities? That''s the easiest part. Nay. That''s the only good thing I enjoy from the act." He concludes. "The easiest part" Fumio utters. He does not know why, but he feels a considerable weight is lifted off his shoulders. "Excuse me." The three''s tea is interrupted by the demon driver on the door. "That''s a shit ton of baggage." Fumio cannot help but chuckle, seeing the huge bags and luggage hooked on their straps on the stone beetle legs that the demon driver activated on his sides. "How long are you planning to stay here? A month?" He cannot help but ask while watching the demon driver set down the bags on the floor. "May we stay for that long?" Havvah asks. "Wow" Fumio almost fell for Havvah''s puppy dog eyes. "It''s presumptuous, we know." Ahdem knows what Fumio is thinking. "But you have to understand. Something about this place simply reminds us of our original home. Besides. You already took our phones, so we have no way of contacting anyone outside. We''ll just be here strolling your gardens every day. Buy some fruits we can snack on. You can also charge us with your tea." "I" Fumio hesitates. He still cannot trust the two entirely to stay that long. More importantly, the hill is not his and he does not know how Red will react if he found out that he left loose ends. After all, he came to realize that Red does not like loose ends. He knows that Red threatened the first two intruders in Hinohara to stay quiet, and murdered the rest. Aside from witnessing with his own eyes Red murdering Samuel Little, he heard from the demon servants that Red also killed the man''s wife Eliza Fowler Little, three Japanese superiori who were with the Australian couple, and a member of The Brotherhood of Adam. He is not sure of Ahdem and Havvah, despite their very special statuses, will be spared by Red. "Let them stay." Red suddenly appears standing beside Fumio, startling all people present in living room. "B-boss" Fumio starts to sweat cold. Ahdem and Havvah hear the fear in Fumio''s voice and they get apprehensive. "Boss?" They then look at Red''s anxiously. "My, my Who do we have here?" Red then goes to sit on the vacant cushion beside Fumio. "What a beautiful couple" He then stares. "" The couple does not know why, but they feel exposed under Red''s gaze. Like how they felt when their father looked at them when they tried to hide their first secret. "Boss. I can explain." Fumio tries to interfere. "No explanation necessary." Red gestures the young man to be quiet. "After all They are very special" He says. *Thud* Fumio and the couple are startled by something hitting the floor. They look towards where it came from and they see the demon driver that was laying down the bags, is now lying on the floor. They are relieved however realizing that the demon looks to be only sleeping. "Who would have thought? " Red takes back the three''s attention. "Let me guess You two seem to have been a couple for ages So Adam and Eve. " He finishes with a smirk. "" Ahdem and Havvah are taken aback by Red''s certainty. At the same time, they feel that Red feels no harm, and instead is giving them accommodating looks, which makes them relax. "H-how did you know?" Havvah cannot help but ask. "Maybe because you two are the oldest living things I''ve ever seen Old enough to precede any other legend or historical figure" Red shrugs. "" Ahdem and Havvah simply stare at Red, before exchanging glances. The two are feeling uneasy that they cannot read the man. "Alright. We actually have a mutual acquaintance." Red smirks. "Who?" Ahdem asks. "Rezonad. Ring a bell?" Red asks. "Rezonad?" Fumio is surprised to hear the Knight-ranked demon''s name. "Uhhh" Ahdem and Havvah meanwhile, fail to recognize the name. "Oh well. You must have lost count how many demons you''ve encountered." Red shrugs. "One of the demons that you two summoned back when you were ruling the Hittites. Said you used his abilities to preserve food, which led to the citizens surviving the famine." He explains. It takes a few seconds before Havvah finds the memory. "The demon who can summon ice spheres." Havvah reminds Ahdem. "Was it the one we made King Ammuna?" Ahdem asks. "That''s the one." Havvah confirms. "I wonder what happened to him" Ahdem addresses Red. "Well, he survived until his summoning time ran out. Went back to hell, grew to be a Knight-Ranked demon, fought in the Great War, went to sleep, and now he is serving me." Red relays. "I see" Ahdem and Havvah do not know how to react, knowing that Rezonad definitely killed a large number of humans. "Anyways. I''ve actually been here all along, listening to your conversation with my dear student." Red reveals. "Ah" Fumio shakes his head in realization. "I can turn invisible." Red explains to the couple. "ah" The couple is curious of the ability, but keep their questions for now. "Thank you for speaking to my student, making him feel better. You know, no matter how good a parent is, they are not always the right person to give lessons. Sometimes, a child has to hear the lesson from adults other than their parents to learn it. Don''t you agree?" Red asks the couple. "I... That''s true." Ahdem nods, feeling used. "We''re glad to help..." Havvah smiles. "So" Red then clears his throat. "Igsitu da" He switches languages. "" The couple''s eyes widen. Chapter 156 - "... What Else Can We Be? ..." "Igsitu da" Red switches languages. "" The Ahdem and Havvah are not sure if they heard it right, and it takes them a second or two to process that the language only them in the world, speak, or even remember, is spoken to them by Red. " bwun" Havvah nods, just to clarify. " ymbhat" Red smiles. "D-dyisutna?..." Ahdem and Havvah are wide-eyed. "Fumio. Please, deactivate the thingy in your cave and give it to me." Red switches back to Japanese and asks Fumio. "Y-yes boss." Fumio immediately follows orders, knowing that he cannot understand the language that Red and the couple are using anyway. "Well, just like Rezonad" Red switches languages again to continue the conversation. " I have another demon knight serving under me who spent over a century in the old days. It just so happens that he knew that the spell used alongside the wood chips, were not just some random gibberish, but is the oldest human language he has ever known and the first he learned to speak. His fluency was a bit rusty, but I''m a linguist, I tried reverse engineering it." He explains. "That''s impressive." Ahdem cannot help but admire the achievement. "Did we summon that demon?" Havvah asks. Even though there are gaps in her memories, she and Ahdem know that they tried their hardest to avoid teaching any demon or angel the ''first language''. "I''m not sure. Where were you nine thousand years ago?" Red asks. "Do you remember where you were at this same day twenty years ago?" Ahdem asks. "Fair enough." Red shrugs. "Were you anywhere near the fertile crescent when the Greeks first learned how to farm?" He asks. "Uhhh" Ahdem cannot remember. "If you''re basing it on estimations by anthropologists and archaeologists, then that was 9000 years ago?" Havvah asks. "That''s right." Red nods. "Ah We were in Australia after the ice age totally ended 10,000 years ago. Spent more time there for a few more centuries because of we miss being solitary. After that, we strolled Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. "When we reached the Bengal Sea, we got the idea to learn more about the oceans. We fell in love with the ocean proceeded to sail around Indian ocean for a few more centuries." Havvah pauses her rambling. "So that means that we didn''t summon your demon who learned our language." She finally gets to what Red is getting to. "But that begs the question. How did our language survive that recently? We''ve left stopped spreading it to others when the ice age started 30,000 years ago." She ponders in confusion. "You''ve lived so long, and is still surprised by that? Now, that surprises me." Red shakes his head. "What do you mean?" Havvah is a bit offended. "It doesn''t matter." Red waves his hand. "Although. I''m interested in your ''Father''." He prefaces. "" The couple this time, visibly recoil from the subject. "The pyramid of Giza. Gobekli Tepe of Turkey. Gunung Padang of Australia. And those structures you''ve littered throughout Mesoamerica. Were those your efforts of contacting him?" Red asks. "T-that" The couple''s eyes widen. "How did you know?" Ahdem almost stands up in surprise. "Meh. No matter how different they are, it is easy to spot a pattern here and there." Red shrugs. "Aside from stargazing and counting your years on this planet, they were quite useless, were they?" He asks. "" He then sees the bitterness appear in Ahdem and Havvah''s eyes. " ''If only we had enough people to build large enough structures that Father can see from beyond the stars above'' Must have been your dream for at least a hundred millenia? "And when the humanity had enough population, you went ahead and built, and built, and built, only to find out in the end that they were useless. Must have been frustrating, no, devastating?" He mockingly laments. "Who are you?" Havvah''s looks at Red with a burning, inquiring gaze. "Does it matter?" Red asks rhetorically. "What matters is, your father is not as attached in this world as you two might think." He proceeds. "How dare you assume." Ahdem clenches his fists. "I''m not assuming. I''m empathizing with him." Red shakes his head. "A few hundred millenia is but a blink of an eye to a god like him." His words calming down the couple. "The universe is vast. It is possible that your father has barely started in his journey." Red presents a speculation. "Or maybe, he was already in his journey when he decided to rest for a few billion years and gave birth to this world out of boredom. And after having had enough rest, he went on his way." He adds another speculation. Havvah and Ahdem are stunned. They do not know why, but they feel that Red''s words make sense. "Or maybe This might offend you He just doesn''t care about you or this planet at all." Red concludes. "" Ahdem and Havvah are stunned. "N-no." Havvah denies, but in her heart, she is reminded of the thought she and Ahdem always suspected. "Maybe I''m wrong. But if he is as powerful as you two seem to think he is, then do you think this is the first world he made? That the things living in this world are the first ones he gave life to?" Red asks. Ahdem and Havvah''s worlds are starting to spin, and they cannot even find the strength to argue against Red''s questions. They cannot even be bothered to be amazed at how Red is taking a large peach out of the wooden chest beside the sink, slices it up into pieces, puts them on a plate, and lays it on the living room table, all while he sitting down and just using his elixir control to do it all. "Why are you telling us this?" Ahdem asks with an exhausted voice. "Because this is not the right way of going about finding him." Red says he takes one slice of the golden-colored peach and chucks it to his mouth. "Oh? And how should we do it then?" Havvah asks in disdain. "You two should become gods yourselves." Red says with a smirk. "You are crazy." Ahdem scoffs. "Insane" Havvah adds. "I misspoke. You should AT THE LEAST just become strong enough to travel the universe." Red says. "As if that does not sound any less crazy." Ahdem scratches his brows. "Even if I travel as fast as the International Space Station, it''ll take me 20 years to reach Neptune. NEPTUNE. And that''s IF Neptune is just suspended in its place, and not traveling its orbit, while I travel to it. And you''re talking about traveling the universe?" He rambles. "Oh well Just a thought You can take it as a joke if you want." Red simply shrugs. "Peach?" He offers the plate to the two. As the couple enjoy the fruit, Red pulls out three talismans out from his storage ring and lays it down on the table. "Oh. Pretty." Havvah immediately notices how well drawn the talismans are. "Meh. Your ''rune systems'' are too easy for me." Red shrugs. "" The Havvah freezes, realizing something. "Fumio''s sword You made that?" She cannot help but ask. "" Ahdem, interested in Fumio''s rune sword snaps his face towards Red. "Yes." Red nods. "But that''s for later." He then compels the two with his spirit sense, to stop them from asking him about his rune system. "Tell me. How do they look?" He asks the two. "Perfect. I almost didn''t recognize it as our runes. You drew them very artfully. Like calligraphy pieces." Ahdem cannot help but appreciate Red''s handiwork. "Yeah, thank you. But functionally. How are they?" Red asks. "Angel detection rune, Demon detection rune, and a Superioris diagnosis rune... Even if you drew them uglier, the lines are correct and so are the ingredients, therefore would work perfectly." Havvah shrugs, done examining the talismans. "I see." Red then opens up a wound on his thumb and smears his blood across the talismans. The couple freeze at Red''s actions before instinctively looking at the talismans to wait for any reaction. A few seconds later, to their surprise, none of the three talismans are activated. "Unless your blood belongs to an animal How are you doing this?" Ahdem asks. "Are you two animals too?" Red asks. "What" Havvah is initially confused before something clicks in her head. "How do you know?" She asks in disbelief. "That may be true..." Ahdem reaches the same realization as Havvah. " that the Superioris Rune does not react to our blood. But aside from being Superiori, what else can we be?" He asks. "Simple. You two, and me, are not superiori." Red shrugs. "" The couple look at Red as if he is crazy. "Fumio, buddy. You can come in now." Red calls out to Fumio in Japanese. Fumio who has returned long ago from getting his treasure fragment from his cave, rejoins the group. "Oh" He then sees the talismans spread out on the table as he takes a seat. "How can I help?" Fumio asks. Red pulls out three new talismans and puts away the dirty ones. "Please." He gestures to Fumio after laying the talismans down neatly. Fumio bites his thumb, drawing blood, and swipes it across the three talismans, just like the way Red smeared his. "" The couple once again wait for the reactions, but just like what happened with Red, the talismans are not activated. "And him, too. He''s also a non-superioris." Red reveals to the couple. While he is calm on the outside, he has been suppressing his excitement. He has actually been observing Havvah and Ahdem for two days now. As soon as he received Nishiki''s report about the couple and the details of it, he quickly rushed to Fumio''s hill. During his observation, he was beyond pleased to detect the couple''s unmutated, spiritual roots. The couple''s spiritual roots are even almost as good as the spiritual root that he woke up possessing in this world. "And when I told you that you are special earlier, I wasn''t lying. Unlike me and my student''s bodies here, your bodies are touched by god himself. Maybe that''s why you were, say, infected with longevity." He adds. "No. This is This is insane" Havvah is skeptical, but meeting two people, who obviously have powers, possessing blood that are not reacting to Superioris Diagnosing Rune, just like her and her husband, she cannot help but entertain the validity of Red''s words. She even hopes that Red and Fumio belong to the same kind as them. "No." Ahdem too, is still skeptical, but he so desperately wants Red''s words to be true, wanting to establish kinship with the cultivators. "I''ll draw talismans ourselves, and let''s repeat the test." He suggests. "Please, by all means.. I have all the materials." Chapter 157 - "You Know Something." "Well Nothing." Fumio points his hand at the talismans, seeing no reaction to his blood. "" The couple stare blankly at the talismans. "Come on. This is getting boring. You''ve tested all the rune variations you know, and the results are all the same." Red points at the stack of used talismans that have accumulated beside the living room table. "But how is this possible?" Havvah asks. "No. There must be something wrong with the materials." Ahdem refuses to believe as he picks up the used stacks of talismans and goes over them one more time. "Meh. Whatever." Red shrugs, knowing that despite the couple''s words, they are glad of the results. "So" He turns to Fumio and gestures a ''give me'' hand. "Sorry." Fumio apologizes to Havvah and Ahdem as he hands the treasure fragments he took from the two, to Red. "" The couple can only watch and connect in their heads that there must be some sort of an arrangement between Red and Fumio regarding the treasure fragments. "Now. The thingy." Red once again gestures Fumio to hand him something. "Boss There might still be others that will come here." Fumio argues, hesitant to take out what is in his pocket. "Will there be really?" Red asks. "Fine" Fumio takes out the metallic orb which contains the treasure fragment he was lent and hands it to Red. "" The couple get interested at the intricately built and designed trinket. "T-that was that what pulled our wood chips here?" Ahdem cannot help but ask, seeing the treasure fragment inside the metallic orb. "No." Red *crppp* crumples the metallic orb and separates the treasure fragment from it. *Gasp* Fumio and the couple are shocked seeing the beautiful thing now destroyed. "Relax. It''s useless anyways." Red is amused by their reactions. "It''s still a nice thing to keep" Fumio scratches his brows. "Then I''ll let you keep the ones I make in the future." Red shrugs. "Now" He then takes out a container from inside his kimono and pours its contents, each being the size of a toddler''s finger, to the table. "Whoa" The couple is stunned, seeing a total of thirteen treasure fragments now on the table. "Choose one." Red tells Fumio. "haaaaa" Fumio sighs. "You said you''ve been here all along, boss?" He asks Red. "I did. You''re worried about your mental health." Red acknowledges the man''s concern. "Can I take a break from guarding these things?" Fumio asks. "Hm Okay." Red nods. "Okay?" Fumio is surprised at how easy Red agreed. "Yes. ''Okay''. You''ve given me five fragments since you started watching over this hill and earned yourself many rewards. What''s the point of earning more if you can''t consume them?" Red shrugs. "Thank you." Fumio sighs in relief. "But!" Red sniggers. "Of course." Fumio almost rolls his eyes. "You''re not allowed to enter my, you know what You can only enter the ones that I''m tasking you to protect." Red raises his condition. "tsk." Fumio clicks his tongue. "well. May I take it back then?" He points at the treasure fragment he just gave up. "Even if I give it back, can you open it again?" Red mockingly challenges. "Ugh..." Fumio immediately drops the idea. He was hoping that even though he gave up his treasure fragment to Red, he can still enter the treasure fragment dimension in Hinohara where he had his hell training with Kotone. He has redeemed five jade slips from Red so far containing modern medical knowledge, spiritual seal knowledge, herbology and herbal comp knowledge, basic auxiliary spiritual energy techniques, and basic combat spiritual energy techniques. Each jade slip, he figures, will take decades for a regular person to completely learn if he studies them in the real world. Even with his cultivator brain, he figures that it will still take him a few years each jade slip. He is not willing to spend that much time in the real world. Another advantage of the pocket dimension is that he can train the combat spiritual energy techniques without regard for collateral damage. "So" Fumio sighs. "I really have to watch over a new one to continue accessing one of those places." He feels frustrated. "Are there any alternatives, boss? Something I can pay you with to enter?" He can only ask. "For now? I can''t think of one." Red dismisses the suggestion. "Okay. May I take it back for now? It might still be attracting one or two. It''s gonna disrupt you all if those chips have owners." Fumio reasons. "I''m willing to pay a knight-rank demon core in exchange for another activation device." He adds. "This here" Red picks out one from the small pile of treasure fragments, "is the first fragment I got, courtesy of you.", and shows it to Fumio, not caring about the others present. "Let''s label this fragment 1." He separates it from the pile. "This two let''s call it fragment 2 and 3" He proceeds to separate two more from the pile. " are the wild fragments you and Kotone found floating around." He lays them in order left of fragment 1. "This here, fragment 4, is the one you''ve been looking after." He picks out the fragment Fumio returned, rolls it to the ink that Ahdem has been using, painting it black. "" Fumio and the couple is confused at the actions. Red does not address their confusion and simply and lays the now painted wood fragment down after fragment 3, standing out among the rest. "These here were from Little, Fowler, Tabal, and that Brotherhood scholar. Fragments 5, 6, 7, and 8." He adds it to the lineup, not painting them unlike fragment 4. "And these remaining, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, were the things ones you''ve collected while you''re here." Red concludes the count. "What''s your point, boss?" Fumio asks. Red then levitates all 13 treasure fragments and assembles them slowly one by one with his spirit sense, until a single chunk of wood is floating above the table. "Now. Where''s fragment 4? The one you''ve been looking after?" Red asks. "I It''s entirely covered." Fumio does not find the only treasure fragment that is colored black. "It won''t attract more." He gets what Red is saying. "Exactly. That''s why Fragment 1, the first one in our possession, also no longer attracts more chips. It''s covered." Red nods. "Okay" Havvah interrupts. "So, this is what happens? Fragments that perfectly fit each other, they attract each other?" She asks. "Yes." Red nods. "But" Ahdem is about to argue, but he catches himself. Red however knows their concern using his spirit sense. "Ah. You must have more of these wood chips, maybe some of them are just like ours, perfectly fitting each other. And yet, they do not have the attracting force, do they?" He asks. "I" Ahdem and Havvah wish they never spoke about the treasure fragments. "I''m not going to take them from you two. Worry not." Red waves off their concerned. "Yet you took them." Havvah utters. "You see, that''s the price of admission." Red smirks. "Admission to what?" Ahdem asks. Red disassembles the large chunk of the treasure into their original small fragments and separates Fragment 4. "This." Red realigns the lines of insight in the fragment and *vvmmm* a portal materializes beside the group. "Whoa" Havvah and Ahdem almost jump away from the table in shock. They then look at the treasure fragment, and at the portal, then back at the treasure fragment, immediately finding the connection. "May I go in?" Fumio asks. "You must have left some stuff in there." Red nods. With that, Fumio''s figure disappears into the portal, stunning Havvah and Ahdem. "Wanna take a look inside?" Red asks, taking away the couple''s eyes off the portal. "We don''t know what''s in there." Havvah says in caution. "I''ll go take a look." Ahdem says however. "Ahdem, you" Havvah wants to admonish her husband but she notices the look on Ahdem''s face. "Fine" She can only allow the man. She knows that if Ahdem is wearing the face he is currently wearing, she will have to physical fight him to stop him from satisfying his curiosity. "I''ll go with you." She adds. She has seen Fumio''s confidence in entering the portal, which tells her that the other side of it might not be that dangerous. "Okay. I''ll go in first." Ahdem disappears to the other side, and Havvah shortly follows. Soon, the group is now inside the treasure fragment dimension. "" Ahdem and Havvah are rooted to the ground, staring ahead blankly at the stone ground and the empty blue sky. They cannot believe that the other side of the portal would look so dull. *clank* *clang* Their attention is taken away by a small commotion to their right. They look to the direction and see Fumio gathering all sorts of glass equipment. "You''re working hard." Red nods in approval, figuring that Fumio is now working on the fairly advanced Paralyzing Powder based on the most recently used equipment. "Thank you, boss." Fumio feels proud. "Let me help you put these away." With just a will, Red stores all of Fumio''s equipment to his storage ring. "Excuse me." Ahdem calls out to the cultivators. "Are we really inside the wood chip?" He asks. "Yes." Fumio confirms. "Havvah" Red calls out to the woman who seems to be lost in her thought. "Y-yes?" Havvah is taken out from her daze. "Is there something wrong?" Red asks. "No." Havvah shakes her head. "" Ahdem notices that Havvah is lying, but he stays quiet. "You know something." Red says in certainty. "Out with it. Exchange of knowledge." He urges. "I''m not trying to keep a secret. I''m just not sure." Havvah shakes her head. "Not sure about what?" Ahdem asks. "Aside from it obviously empty, don''t you feel that this place is lifeless?" Havvah asks. " Yes." Ahdem notices it. "Doesn''t that remind you of what Zograthan and Saraqael once talked about in passing?" Havvah asks. "They said many things." Ahdem raises his brows. " ''The Veil''." Havvah says. "I need more than that." Ahdem''s memory is not jogged. "A place that once connected Heaven and Hell to our world. Saraqael specifically used the word ''bridge''. I thought she was speaking figuratively, but seeing this place, it might be possible that she was speaking literally." Havvah recounts. " The veil The veil" Ahdem''s eyes glint in recognition. "I remember. ''A place so lifeless, so plain, that even I who likes order, find too dull''" He recalls the archangel''s words. "That''s it." Havvah nods. "Hmmm" Red hums in ponder. "And what happened to ''the veil''?" He asks. " ''Destroyed by the creator.'' Zograthan''s own words. By creator, I''m assuming he was referring to Father." Havvah recalls. "And why did god destroy it?" Red asks. " ''Angels and Demons, all of us, were cast back to Heaven and Hell after our battles razed the wider realm.''" Havvah recounts the Prince of Hell''s words again. " ''And so the creator destroyed the veil, confining the demons in Hell, and angels in Heaven, never to return to the wider realm.'' That''s according to Saraqael. Is that right, my love?" Ahdem asks Havvah. "That''s right." Havvah confirms. "Some effort by god. The angels and demons still found a way to our world." Fumio scoffs. The next moment, he almost steps back, intimidated by Havvah and Ahdem glaring at him. "A-anyways." He clears his throat. "Miss Havvah. Are you telling me that the wood fragments, which we all obviously know probably came from a tree, contained ''The veil''? "And that god didn''t totally destroy that tree, only breaking it apart into these wood fragments?" Fumio asks Havvah. "I wasn''t saying that but" Havvah is stunned by Fumio''s conclusion. However, " If each wood fragment contains a place like this inside them, then your theory is worth exploring.", she finds that Fumio''s theory is the only theory about the origin of the treasure fragments. "I''ve just connected what boss once said in passing, to your story." Fumio shrugs. "" Ahdem and Havvah look at Red curiously. "How do you know more about this than us?" Ahdem asks suspiciously. Chapter 158 - "... Something Stupid You Did." "How do you know more about this than us?" Ahdem asks Red suspiciously. "No. More importantly. How did you even figure out how to access this place?" Havvah adds. "Wouldn''t you like to know?" Red playfully says. "" Ahdem and Havvah feel frustrated that their curiosity is not satisfied. "You really won''t tell us?" Ahdem insists. "You wouldn''t understand anyway." Red will not budge. "I''ve lived three hundred thousand years. I don''t know everything, but I have the capacity to understand many things." Ahdem says proudly. "Perhaps you do." Red nods. "But not this one. If it was so easy to understand, I would have explained it to Fumio already." The couple look towards Fumio, and Fumio returns to them an ignorant look. "I''ll tell you someday." Red says in finality. "You two, please return outside first. It''s been a while since I''ve sparred with my disciple." He then asks of the couple. "" Fumio this time, is excited. While he dreads each spar with Red, he also treasures the experience he gets from the activity. "May we stay?" "We''ll watch at a distance." The couple are curious however. "Fine." Red nods. He mentioned sparring to the two in purpose to make them stay. A few moments later, Red and Fumio are now ten meters apart, facing each other, with their practice katanas drawn. Havvah and Ahdem, who are watching in one of the edges of the treasure dimension, wait in bated breath. Suddenly, Fumio waves his hand to Red''s direction and, *fufufufu* sound of wind being cut resounds loudly. Before the couple can figure out what made the sound, they see Red''s arm and sword blur, followed by *tnk-t-t-nk-tnk* sounds of something hitting metal. They then see Fumio''s figure blur towards Red, and a scene they can only wish their eyes follow in detail, displays itself. Because currently, Fumio''s figure looks as though it is vibrating, and in front of his figure are silhouettes of something metallic, shining from time to time. *cla-cl-c-c-c-clang!* If it were not for the harsh sound of metal clashing against metal, they would not be so sure that Fumio is currently assaulting Red with sword strikes upon sword strikes, and Red defending them. Unlike Fumio''s blurry figure however, they notice that Red''s is more detailed and more passive. Except for Red''s arm which is as blurry as an electric fan''s, they can see Red''s entire body clearly. "With just one arm" Ahdem cannot believe that Red is defending with ease with such a handicap. "I know" Havvah too, is mystified. The two noticed that Red is missing something under his left sleeve, but knowing that the man can manipulate objects without touching them, they figured that Red is the type that fights at a distance. That is why they did not expect him to confront Fumio head-on. The next moment, after hearing one more ear deafening clash of the swords, they see Fumio''s figure disengage from Red, and retreats a considerable distance. As soon as Fumio stops, the couple immediately notice Fumio''s kimono is torn in many places, exposing his muscular body. They then frown seeing Fumio''s katana suddenly disappearing from his grasp, followed by the young man assuming a loose karate stance. They look towards Red, and they too, see that Red does the same with his weapon. They are reminded that this exchange is not a fight, but a spar. The next moment, they see Fumio''s figure charge once again to Red. Unlike the last time however, Fumio stops a few steps away from Red and throws a punch in the air. The couple is shocked to see a large phantom of a fist, which they estimate is the size of a horse''s head, appear in front of Fumio''s outstretched arm, and quickly charges Red at an incredible speed. Before they can even begin to appreciate the display, the phantom fist is snuffed out by an equally sized but a more tangible phantom palm coming from Red''s direction. They then see the phantom palm proceed to charge to Fumio. They see Fumio cross his arms in front of him in defense, before getting hit by the phantom palm. The two are surprised that the impact sent Fumio flying tens of meters away. To their relief, Fumio lands on his feet and manages to stay standing after stumbling a few steps further back. They then notice that Red is not going on pursuit. Instead, they see the man starting to do what looks like a kata. They are stunned however that at each swing and thrust of Red''s limbs, phantom fists, feet, palms, and knife hand chops fly towards Fumio at an incredible speed. They get worried for Fumio at what looks like an overwhelming barrage of attacks and they feel their spines tingle at each close calls, and each blocked strikes by Fumio. Just as Fumio can no longer keep up, Red stops with his attacks. The pause in action lets the couple to let out the breath they have been holding. It also allows them to process what they have seen. "Okay. They''re obviously A class. Moving at least the speed of sound." Havvah wipes her forehead that is starting to coldly sweat. "And striking at each other at an even quicker speed." Ahdem adds. "But The ''Boss'' must be beyond A-Class. He''s too relaxed and is obviously guiding Fumio." He comments. "Hmmm" Havvah grunts, acknowledging the observation. They then see Fumio summon what looks like a bucket sized flame on left hand and a bowling ball sized water ball on his right, followed by him fusing them. *sssss* This immediately produces a thick fog. "What''s he doing now" Ahdem gets interested at the tactic. His question is answered as the next moment, a huge phantom of a sword tip, the size and thickness of a surfboard, emerges from the fog, and thrusts towards Red. They get worried, seeing that the sword phantom looked to have passed through Red''s body at a speed even quicker than the phantom strikes Red sent to Fumio earlier. They get worried even further when they see more sword phantoms emerge from Fumio''s fog, and they rain upon Red. They are shocked however seeing Red''s figure blur, and looks like it is phasing through and between the sword strikes. At the same time, phantom limbs start appearing once again around Red, and they fly towards the fog, matching the speed of Fumio''s phantom swords. The couple''s eyes are starting to hurt seeing the exchange of spectacular attacks. Not long after however, they notice that the sword attacks from Fumio are reducing in frequency, until stopping ultimately. The next moment, *THUD* they see Fumio''s figure fly out the fog at incredible speed before crashing to the ground. The momentum makes Fumio bounce across the ground a few more times before finally stopping. The scene is enough to tell the couple that Fumio failed to defend one or even more of Red''s strikes. "Let''s stop here." They hear Red announce. To their relief, they see Fumio slowly push himself off the ground, stands on his feet without a problem, and walks to rejoin Red. They notice however that Fumio is limping a little and his posture is a bit crooked, which tells them that the young man is hurt or even injured. Before they can volunteer themselves to treat Fumio, they see Red hover his palm on Fumio''s body. A few seconds later, they see Fumio''s posture gradually become straight once again, telling them that the young man''s pain is relieved at the least. Fumio, shadow boxing as soon Red retreats his palm, is an evidence to them that Fumio''s injuries are healed. They are about to rejoin the cultivators when they see a glass-like transparent dome appear around the two men. The transparent dome, in addition to Red giving them a look, makes them decide to simply stand in wait until the cultivators are done talking to each other. "Thank you, boss." Fumio says as he pats where he was injured until just now. "But come on, you should have gone easier on me. I had more to show you." He complains. "I already know that you have a pretty good mastery of your basic elixir attacks." Red says. "At least give me the satisfaction of using it more." Fumio grumbles. "Where''s the satisfaction if you can''t do it under pressure? If you want to throw attack after attack without regard, why don''t you spar against a dummy?" Red asks. "Sorry." Fumio grimaces. "But I have to say. I didn''t expect you to do it with a sword. And do it under pressure." Red compliments. "Thank you, boss." Fumio feels proud at finally receiving positive feedback. "I don''t know why, maybe because I''m a better swordsman than a karateka, but it comes easier than doing it with my limbs." He shares. "Quite possibly." Red nods. "Anyways. You should practice your footwork technique more and incorporate it in your attacks." He then suggests. "I will, boss." Fumio says bitterly. He is already doing what Red suggested, but it is not as easy as it sounds. "Basing on the movement of spiritual energy around you I''m guessing you found quite a few tricks?" Red asks. "What tricks?" Fumio frowns, but gets a guess soon enough. "I did notice that whenever I drain my reserves, my absorption increases, refilling my reserves faster. I also don''t know if it''s just my head playing tricks, but it feels as though consolidating my True Seas also increase bit by little bit." He explains. "Consolidation speed does increase, but that too has its limit." Red confirms. "I see." Fumio is glad to have confirmed it. "That''s why instead of keeping my reserves full all the time, I''ve been draining it as much as possible in the treasure dimension in training. Then, I go back out to the real world and cultivate, and when it''s full, I go back in. Rinse repeat. "Even though it took me a lot of work and might have delayed my consolidation progress by a bit compared to IF I straight up cultivated with reserves full, I got a great benefit from it." He explains. "You feel your elixir traveling in your meridians and pathways much smoother and quicker Very good." Red nods. "Yes." Fumio is glad that his method received approval. "But let''s get to something stupid you did.." Red pours cold water on his mood. Chapter 159 - "... What Is A Farm Doing Here?..." "But let''s get to something stupid you did." Red pours cold water on Fumio''s mood. "W-what do you mean, boss?" Fumio is confused and self-conscious at the change in Red''s stare. "Your meridians. You tried something with them, didn''t you?" Red asks. "I" Fumio remembers something but he is not sure if it is what Red is referring to. "Something stupid like drawing a Spiritual Energy Gathering Seal in your Inner World using your meridians?" Red clarifies. "Ah" Fumio looks away in guilt. "It''s not a big deal, though." He shrugs. "Well. How did it feel?" Red asks with an interested smirk. "I felt I was being electrocuted. BUT. As soon as I felt something was wrong, I stopped. I''m sorry. I won''t do it again." Fumio apologizes. "Don''t apologize to me." Red scoffs. "But watch out next time. You don''t want to cripple yourself Because that would really be funny." He chuckles. "Okay" Fumio did not expect that his experimentation was that dangerous and is weirded out by Red''s reaction. "Anyways. You should have told me first. Because while acting on that idea without my supervision was beyond stupid, the idea itself was pretty smart. I can''t believe you came up with it on your own." Red pats the Fumio''s shoulder in approval. "I thank you?" Fumio does not know if he is being commended, or still being reprimanded. "Uhh... You said it was a good idea? How so?" He asks. "You tried doing it while using the Celestial Body Cultivation Technique?" Red asks. "That''s right." Fumio confirms. "That''s the mistake. You should have done it with the Basic Breathing Technique." He suggests. "Huh" Fumio slaps his forehead. "Maybe because I''m doing BBT all the time without thought, I almost forgot about it." He chuckles. "Uhn. Try it later. BBT plus Spiritual Energy Gathering Seal in your inner world, might be equal to two-thirds to even three quarters the efficiency of Celestial Body Breathing Technique." Red nods. "I will, boss." Fumio cannot wait to try it. This discovery can only mean that he no longer has to pause his cultivation whenever the skies are cloudy, blocking the moonlight which is the most important part of his Celestial Body Breathing Technique "Good job today." Red pats Fumio''s back once again. "Just one round?" Fumio asks. The spar only lasted for a minute after all. "For today, yes." Red nods. "Just look at those two old geezers. They look like dogs that are standing in wait for their owner at the front door. I can''t concentrate." He points at Havvah and Ahdem. "PFff *cough*" Fumio chokes on his spit. "Oh. That''s mean, boss..." He says but he cannot help but snicker at Red''s perfect description. "What?" Red asks the couple as he and Fumio join them. "..." The couple has a lot of questions but they do not know where to begin. "Okay." Havvah soon finds which question to ask. "I''ve been thinking about everything we talked about earlier." She starts. "Fumio-san. Earlier, you asked me and Ahdem if we ever met someone who is not a superioris, nor an angel, nor a demon, and yet possess powers. Were you referring to yourself?" She asks. "Or you, ''Boss''?" She adds as she looks at Red. Fumio looks at Red, to which Red nods in permission. "I was." He answers Havvah''s question. "And you even said it sounded crazy." He adds. "Fair" Havvah admits easily. "But you have to admit. It would sound crazy to anyone." She argues. "It does." Fumio admits, seeing Havvah accept her mistake without ego. "But how?" Ahdem asks, sharing the same curiosity with his wife. "Training." Red reveals. "Training" The couple feel like Red is making fun of them. "It''s true." Fumio nods. "I was a typical non-superioris just ten months ago, and now, I can do much more than what you just saw me do." "Well Ten ''real world'' months. You''ve spent a considerable amount of time training inside a pocket dimension like this." Red corrects him. "Ah Well. It doesn''t make much difference." Fumio shrugs. Ahdem and Havvah, seeing no signs of deception from Fumio, just pure pride, are shocked by the information. "H-how is that even" Ahdem cannot even properly express his disbelief. "I believe only the S Class have as much variety in abilities as what we''ve seen you two display. But even their abilities are just varieties of their innate powers. A fire type superioris cannot and will never summon water." He still cannot wrap his head around what he witnessed. "Remember, not superiori" Fumio scratches his cheekbone to cull his frustration. "You know" Red takes the couple''s attention. "I wouldn''t normally care about you two. Even if you''re the oldest humans, or even being the seeds of humanity. But I can feel that you have the potential to practice my ''Arts''. I would really be the biggest sinner if I don''t help you two access that potential." Red starts his spiel. "W-we can do that?..." The couple is stunned. "Yes. Remember what I said about becoming gods, or at least becoming powerful enough to traverse the universe?" Red asks them. "Yes. You mean to say that if we practice your ''arts'', we can do that?" Havvah asks suspiciously. "I''m not promising that, but it''s a starting point." Red shrugs. "Becoming gods" Fumio snickers at how ridiculous it sounds. "..." Ahdem and Havvah secretly share Fumio''s reaction. "Buddy. They''re special." Red scoffs at Fumio. "Look at what you''ve accomplished in less than two years. Now, imagine these two, cultivating for say... a hundred thousand years" He explains. "..." Fumio is stunned. It only took him a split second of pondering to see the possibilities and potentials of the couple. "That''s right." Red smirks. "Work hard." "I will" Fumio looks at the couple with burning competitiveness. He is jealous that unlike the two, he has to cultivate hard to expand his lifespan. "..." Havvah and Ahdem are almost startled by the change in Fumio''s eyes. At the same time, the young man''s reaction tells them that Red''s words are not ramblings of arrogance or delusion. "So. What about it? Forget about becoming gods or finding God. What''s important for now is that with my Arts, you can involve yourselves more actively in protecting humanity when heaven and hell descend once again." Red asks the couple. "Such power is not free." Ahdem expresses his suspicion. "And I hope your ''art'' does not use human souls." He adds. "Eh?! Would someone like Fumio do something so abhorrent?" Red gasps and holds his chest in mock offense. "But you know I wou-" Fumio is about to say he could if he wants to using demon cores, but *thck* Red slaps the back of his head. "W-we use the dormant energy around us." So, he corrects himself immediately. "No souls involved?" Havvah gets suspicious at the reaction and asks Fumio who she can see through instead of Red who she cannot. Fumio long realized that he cannot deceive the couple, so he crafts his reply carefully. "Not since I started training did I use souls, nor sacrificed any lives to empower myself. And I definitely will not in the future." Ahdem and Havvah feel that Fumio is a hundred percent truthful and they sigh in relief. "I know that you are suspicious. And even more curious as to how in your long lives have you not even heard about the things you''ve seen today." Red says. The couple nod. "Someday, once you earn my trust, I will share more of my secrets." Red says as he starts to head towards the portal. The couple and Fumio exchange looks before following Red. "Stay here for a while please." Red stops them however. "I want to try something." He says one more time before diving out of the portal and closing it behind him before the others can react. "What the how do we get out?!" Ahdem panics. "You trust him that much?" Havvah notices Fumio''s relaxed expression. "Yeah." Fumio casually admits. Somehow his expression calms the couple down. "So, uh kid. How do we earn his trust?" Ahdem asks. "I''m not sure. And I suspect that Boss does not find me any more trustworthy than you two." Fumio shakes his head. "..." The couple is stumped. "You can start by not saying anything to anyone about Boss and everything else connected to him." Fumio advises however. "Obviously." The couple are a bit offended that Fumio thinks he has to remind them. This triggers an uncomfortable silence. "Hmmm" Ahdem walks closer to the edge of the treasure dimension to take a look at what is below or under the wide expanse. Unfortunately for him, "Oh" he bumps into an invisible barrier. Havvah also gets interested and tries to knock on the barrier. While she feels her hand being stopped, she actions does not produce a sound. "Huh" She grunts in fascination. "I tried attacking it, but I don''t think I can break through it even if I go all out." Fumio comments. "Well. It''s made by Father." Havvah shrugs. The next moment, *GRRRRRR* the trio hear a rumbling sound and at the same time a strong vibration in the dimension. Even Fumio, who was confident, is starting to panic. "Whoah" Havvah and Ahdem step back from the edge hurriedly, away from the invisible barrier as they immediately notice it starting to distort. The trio can only watch and wait. A few seconds later, the distortion stops and *vvwwhooommm* the invisible barrier disappears, revealing another vast expanse behind it, one that is as large as the dimension they are in. What stuns the trio further, is that they see that on the edges of the expanse, are what look like giant shelves made of white stone, the size of skyscrapers, with each shelf compartment containing what looks like farms or gardens. Suspended above the skyscrapers, is what looks like a transparent water tank, the size of a small water dam. Finally, in the middle of the expanse, is what looks like a small settlement made of a few small houses. "My word" "What is going on" The couple are lost looking at the beautiful view. "The farms" Fumio dazedly says. "Obviously. But what is a farm doing there?" Ahdem asks. "That is where I trained" Fumio recovers. "What do you mean?" Havvah asks. Fumio does not answer and instead, summons a small fireball and proceeds to throw it towards the cabin he used to live in during his hell training. "What are you doing?!" Ahdem asks in panic as they watch the fireball sail in the air and exploding softly on the roof of Fumio''s cabin. "Just testing if the barrier is still there." Fumio explains as he crosses where the invisible barrier used to be. "It seems like Boss just merged two wood fragments together." He says as he starts to stroll to his cabin. The couple immediately gets what Fumio is saying and they follow him. "Fascinating.." The couple are starting to become numb after everything that they have witnessed today. Chapter 160 - "...son Of A B*tch..." Fumio, Havvah, and Ahdem are now in the eighth floor of Red''s giant vertical farms, picking coffee beans while waiting for Red to let them out of the treasure dimension. "So 24 to 1 time ratio?" Havvah asks in disbelief, almost dropping the basket in her arms. Fumio just told them about the other advantage of the treasure fragment. "Right. 24 to 1." Fumio confirms as he continues to pick more beans from a coffee plant with care. "My love. Why would he lie to you? We''ll find out when we leave this place anyway." Ahdem chuckles, but the next moment, he freezes. "Are we getting out of here?" He asks Fumio. "Man I should be the one worried here. I''m the one who''s gonna get old." Fumio rolls his eyes. "But... What''s taking boss so long? We''ve been here for almost three hours now." He gets why the couple is starting to get antsy however. "Well If what you said is true, then it''s only been seven and a half minutes in the real world." Havvah consoles herself. "7.5 minutes It hasn''t been that long outside." Fumio groans in impatience. "Long enough." Red suddenly appears, making the trio stop their activity. "Why are you picking the beans by hand?" He asks Fumio. "Boss It''s meditative." Fumio shrugs. "So you can pick them NOT by hand?" Ahdem frowns. "*sigh*" Fumio extends thin tentacles of spiritual energy from his body, attaches them to tens of coffee beans, and picks those coffee beans all at once. "May I not treat everything as elixir control?" He asks Red as he puts the coffee beans in his basket. "Meh." Red shrugs, satisfied with Fumio''s display. The couple on the other hand, is impressed by the display. "How uncouth. And soulless. Picking coffee beans is an art." Ahdem scoffs, jealous at the ability. "You''ll be able to do it soon enough." Red smiles at him. "But for now, let''s get out of here." He then wraps the couple in his spiritual energy tentacles and jumps off the vertical farms, carrying the two behind him. Fumio stores all of the coffee beans they have harvested to his storage ring before following the three. "I hate being manhandled like this." Ahdem complains as his feet touches the ground. "Well, at least, this feels better than how Fumio carried us up. I feel like I''m being hugged by a cloud." Havvah finds the bright side. "True." Ahdem admits. The group has arrived in front of a portal. "Why are we getting out through here, boss?" Fumio asks. "And not the one right there." He points at the other portal three hundred meters away; the one they used to enter.. "Just get the hell out." Red orders. "" Fumio dives out of the portal with a shrug. The group are soon out of the treasure dimension and find themselves in Red''s cave. "Ah. It''s been a while." Fumio comments to himself, nostalgia hitting him as he looks at the interior of the cave. "Who lives here?" Havvah asks, noticing a futon, a kitchen counter, and a study. "I do." Red says. "Huh" The couple is stunned at how simple Red''s abode is. "Where are we?" Ahdem asks. "Rural Tokyo." Red says. "Ah" The couple look at Fumio for confirmation. "We are. Nishitama district, outskirts of Hinohara Village." Fumio confirms. "huh That''s almost 200 kilometers away from your house, Fumio-san." Ahdem calculates. "Yes." Fumio nods. "You''re fast." Ahdem tells Red in surprise. "Are we not getting out of here?" Havvah asks, noticing that Red is not leading the way out of the cave. "What are we waiting for, boss?" Fumio asks too, excited to see the inhabitants of the hill. "For Nishiki and the uh beetle guy." Red says. Fumio and the couple frown in confusion but soon, they see Nishiki and Havvah''s demon driver walk out of the portal. "Bossman." Nishiki greets Red. "Master." And Olthralos greets Havvah. "H-hey" "Hello there." Havvah and Ahdem are stunned by the appearance of the demons. "Boss" Fumio meanwhile, connects something. "You''ve made a shortcut? From Niigata to here? Through the fragment dimension?" He asks in surprise. "That''s right." Red nods. "Now, we leave." He does not let the group dwell on their surprise, and leads them out of the cave. Havvah and Ahdem can only stare at Red''s back, the man''s mystery growing even bigger in their minds. Soon, the group are now standing on spiritual energy platforms atop the wall of bamboo trees, looking at Red''s gardens below. "Fumio-san" Havvah call out. "Yes?" "Your garden is already spectacular. But this" She cannot take her eyes off the gardens. "Feels like home?" Red asks with a smirk. "Not even close in size. But I have to admit, this place is just full of life." Ahdem is not willing to admit that Red''s garden rivals Eden. "Boss. I''ll go see the children." Fumio asks for permission to excuse himself. "No. They''ll be here at any moment." Red stops him and points at the bamboo gate. The group look and they see Yori and Akane jump over it, followed by the appearance of the children gather standing on top it. Havvah and Ahdem''s eyes widen in panic as they see the children, all at once jump from the already high gate a meter more in the air. The children meanwhile, perform a unified front flip before landing on the clay ground squarely on their feet. Soon, laughter and screams follow as the children pull out their wooden swords and chase after Akane and Yori to begin a round of ''Nana''s Game''. "What the" Havvah and Ahdem and their demon Olthralos are stunned seeing the children running at an incredible speed on the road while swinging their painted wooden swords ceaselessly at their dance teachers. "Their physicality are at least that of the E - Class Physically enhanced superiori." Olthralos recovers his words. "The children, yes." Ahdem nods. "Incredible." Havvah comments in wonder. "They have their limiters on." Red says as he snaps his fingers. The group see that the already fast children speed up even more. "WHA!" Yori and Akane are surprised by the increased speed, making them also increase theirs. "Beetle guy. Now what class?" Red asks Olthralos. "D-D Class. Mid-tier" Olthralos stutters. "Yikes" The couple does not know how to feel that the small children are physically stronger than they are. "Ki- Sensei." "Sensei." The group grows in size as Kotone and Yoshiko appear out of nowhere. "Hello you two." Red greets. "Meet Ahdem and Havvah. New friends I made. They''re interested in harnessing their potential for our arts. Oh, and that guy is their demon bodyguard." He introduces the couple to his disciples. Kotone and Yoshiko give probing looks at the newcomers, wondering why Red called them his ''new friends''. They are also taken aback by the couple''s perfect looks. "Meet Fumio''s juniors. Kotone and Yoshiko. Don''t mind the smell of demon on them. They''ve been cleaning up a few demon prisons around the country." Red introduces his disciples to the couple. Havvah and Ahdem''s return probing looks to Kotone and Yoshiko, curious at how the two young women compare to Fumio in strength. "" Olthralos meanwhile, gets intimidated. He can only hide behind Havvah and Ahdem, detecting danger from the two demon slayers. "Hello ladies." Ahdem smiles and blows a kiss at Kotone and Yoshiko. "H-hello" "H-hi" Kotone and Yoshiko return the greetings almost stutteringly. Although they feel no sexual intentions from Ahdem, they feel shy and taken aback by the tall, dark and handsome man''s flirtatious greeting. "Aww" Havvah giggles, finding Kotone and Yoshiko''s reactions adorable. Havvah''s beautiful smile and enchanting voice immediately pull out Kotone and Yoshiko from their shyness. "Yoshiko-san wanna talk about angels and demon some time? Over drinks?" Ahdem gives Yoshiko a playful smirk. "I- I''d like that." Yoshiko blurts out in panic. She realizes what she said immediately however and, "I-I mean I''ll think about it.", corrects herself. "Oh. ''Thinking about it'' usually means no." Ahdem feigns a disappointed groan. "Kotone-san." He then turns to Kotone. "You seem like the type that likes Yakitori." He asks. "H-how did you know?" Kotone is surprised. "It doesn''t matter how. What matters is I cook the best yakitori, or any type of barbecue. Why don''t we have a yakitori dinner some time? Just the two of us?" Ahdem asks. Kotone is lost in the man''s charming smile that she did not register the ridiculousness of his offer. "I sure?" She utters before even thinking. "Unbelievable" Fumio cannot believe that the two women who are always hungry to spar whenever they see him, became shy, blabbering school girls in front of Ahdem. "How can you even" He also cannot believe that Ahdem is hitting on his junior disciples in front of Havvah. "Fumio-san When will we start our one on one training?" Havvah suddenly clings to Fumio''s arm and asks, dialing up her femininity in her voice and body language. "I-I-I" Fumio blushes immediately looking at Havvah''s beautiful face so close to his, feeling her soft body pressed against his, and her sweet scent filling his nose. He gets lost in the moment for a few moments before gathering himself. "What''s on terra is going on?" He gently pats Havvah''s arm that is clinging to his, as if asking her to let go. "Aww.. what a gentleman." Havvah pats Fumio''s cheek before letting go. "Seeing as you two are in the mood to play around You seem to have decided?" Red asks, taking everyone''s attention. "We decided long ago. We had enough time to think while we were picking coffee beans." Havvah speaks up for him and Ahdem. "And seeing this place, your children, and your disciples, we regret that we did not meet you all much earlier." Ahdem adds. "Well then. I''m glad to welcome you two to the pack." Red nods. "Welcome, Havvah-san." "Welcome, Ahdem-san." The couple is treated by welcoming remarks from cultivators. Night arrives. "How was dinner?" Red finds the couple on the rooftop of Kotone''s house. "It was nice, Kichirou-san." Ahdem gives Red a grateful look. "It''s been a while since we''ve shared dinner with such a large group." Havvah smiles sweetly. "Then what are you two doing here? The children were disappointed when they couldn''t find you after the dinner." Red asks. "We just need some alone time to process." Havvah shakes her head. "We''ve seen a lot today." Ahdem sighs. "I see" Red nods in understanding. He then notices something on Ahdem''s hands. Ahdem''s left hand is grasping a pink chalky crystal, and in his right hand, a carving knife. Red is stunned however by the pink chalky crystal. The couple notice Red''s expression. "I''m sorry for making a mess." Ahdem says as he pockets the crystal and brushes off the shavings he produced from carving it. "It''s alright. But what was that?" Red asks as he reaches his hand out, palm open to Ahdem. "It''s just Himalayan Salt. I was carving a small figurine of Kanon from it." Ahdem is confused by Red''s demanding gesture but he takes out the half-finished salt sculpture from his pocket and puts it on Red''s hand anyway. "Himalayan Salt" Red utters to himself as he examines the material of the sculpture. "I get it if you''ve never seen one before, but to look at it like it''s some beautiful treasure?" Havvah is amused by Red''s dazed expression. "I''ve seen it in internet videos. But I didn''t expect it to be like this in real life." Red infuses some of his spiritual energy on the pink crystal. A few seconds later, "What the" the couple is stunned to see that the pink crystal has now turned blue. "Son of a bitch" Red curses out with a chuckle. The couple simply look at him, confused at his reaction and the phenomenon. That confusion turns into apprehension when "H-hahahaha" Red starts laughing uncontrollably in a low tone. Chapter 161 - "Uhh... Sure?" Fumio steps out of the portal into a huge dark place. He already expected Red to be waiting for him outside the portal because he followed the man out. However, he is surprised of Dominic Little''s presence, the man holding a big LED lamp. "Hey there." He greets the man. "Hey kid." Dominic nods in return. "What are you doing here?" Fumio asks. "What? I can''t be in my own territory?" Dominic asks in return. "Huh?" Fumio frowns in confusion. "We''re in Australia, buddy." Dominic smirks. "Huh Well. Nice." Fumio is stunned. "Yeah. Incredible, isn''t it? One second, you''re in Hinohara, in the next second, you''re in Queensland." Dominic shakes his head in amazement; him traveling to Red''s cave back in Hinohara and back just a few minutes ago through the treasure dimension, is still fresh in his mind. "And oh. Are you thinking of adding some cows to your farm? I can get you thousands of calves if you want." Red''s vertical farms also made a huge impact on him. "In fact, I am My coffee shops in Japane are about to open. I will need some milk and whipped cream." Red nods as he gestures Dominic to lead them out of the cavern. As the three walk into a tunnel, "Hm?" Fumio notices shiny things sticking out of the tunnel walls. He summons a ball of flame on his hand for extra light and looks closer at the wall. "Gold?" He then touches the yellow-colored object in interest and slight greed. But as he scratches the nail on his thumb on it, he realizes that it is not metal. "Pyrite." Dominic says. "Oh." Fumio retreats his hand and resumes to follow Dominc and Red in disappointment. "Isn''t this a bit paranoid and overkill, Dominic? Putting the wood chip in an abandoned gold mine?" Red chuckles. "Am I? With how valuable that wood chip is?" Dominic looks at Red as if Red is the one crazy. "Fair enough." Red shrugs. "But. This place looks untouched in say a few decades." He notices. "It is. But the mining stopped not just a few decades ago, but a hundred and fifty years ago." Dominic corrects. "During the Great Harvest, the Great War, and the World War, this has been the sanctuary of my family." He explains. "More like a glorified bunker." Fumio comments. "Kid, what''s your problem?" Dominic stops walking and glares at Fumio. "Whoah." Fumio raises his hands up to his chest. "I didn''t mean to offend. I''m sorry." He apologizes. "But what''s up your butt?" He asks however, not finding anything he said potentially offensive. "Until you''ve wiped the milk off your lips, and get a bit of danger in your eyes, watch your words and tone with me, kid." Dominic harrumphs. "Heheh" Red chuckles. "" Fumio''s ego takes a hit and he shuts up. Red not having his back also makes him feel embarrassed. "Coffee shops, huh." Dominic turns his attention to Red. "If your coffee beans come from that incredible farm and garden of yours, it can only be killer. I mean, I''ve had your tea and it must be the best cup of tea I''ve ever tasted." "*ugh*" Fumio scoffs, feeling a sycophantic vibe from Dominic. "What?" Dominic hears Fumio. "Nothing. Just clearing my throat." Fumio comes up with an excuse. "But you''re right. Boss'' coffee is just as good as his tea." He adds. Dominic is pleased by Fumio''s change in attitude. "Anyway. I heard that Japanese clans have a very tight surveillance on non-clan affiliated business, as if their very stringent business registration process is not already enough. But if you start your business in my territory? And if your coffee will be the best around? You''ll rake in money immediately." He tells Red. "If I recall correctly, the global coffee revenue back in the turn of the millennia was a quarter of a trillion US dollars. That was equal to the entire revenue Australia''s mining industry that year. I don''t know how much the coffee industry grew since then, but it has to be huge." He starts rambling. "Buddy. I''m only opening five coffee shops." Red chuckles. "Okay. Sure. But what if I help you turn it into a coffee empire? Just headquarters your company in my country. I''ll give you tax breaks too." Dominic offers. "How much tax break? I heard that Australia has quite the high business tax. Not to mention the income tax." Red asks Dominic. "" Dominic has not thought that far. "Half?" Red asks with a smirk. "" Dominic is stunned. "Come on that''s." He is too offended that he becomes speechless. "How about the Little Family hold 25%, and all you''ll have to worry about are coffee beans, and other ingredients. I''ll worry about building the infrastructure and the expansion of your business worldwide through my connections. "As for tax break, I''ll give you 25% too. Oh. I can give you and your group, every one of them, Australian citizenship too." He bargains. "Fumio. Wanna have a dual citizenship?" Red asks Fumio. "Uhh sure?" Fumio shrugs. "But, if I may speak freely?" He turns to Dominic. "Yes?" Dominic is pleased with Fumio''s attitude, though it has a tinge of fakeness in it. "Aren''t you counting the eggs before they''re hatched?" Fumio asks. "I am." Dominic admits. "But I''m that confident with your master''s crops. Why aren''t you?" He smirks. "I am. It''s just expanding worldwide? I don''t know how Starbos Coffee did it, but I''m guessing they have great backing to do have achieved it." Fumio shrugs. "Ever wonder why Australia, with its size, and its small population, only has two S-Class Superiori in it but it''s still left alone?" Dominic asks. "Uhhh Because it''s not worth conquering?" Fumio chuckles. "Fair enough." Dominic admits. "But also, because me and Argus are friends with over half the western world. We''re even friends with the S-Class of Japan." He explains. "ah" Fumio nods, understanding that if Dominic is well-connected, then making a coffee empire is doable, especially if the product speaks for itself. "Let''s talk about this some other time." Red interrupts the two. "Did you gather what I''ve asked for?" He asks Dominic. "I did. But you should have told me to bring them." Dominic nods. "I didn''t expect you to find them easily." Red shrugs. "Can you get them for me right now? I don''t think I need a tour from you." He asks Dominic. "You sure? This place is a maze." Dominic says. "I am. You''ll find us at the deepest levels of the mine. Is it okay if I remove the furniture in it?" Red says. " How did you know?" Dominic is surprised. "It won''t make a difference whether you know it or not." Red shrugs. "Very well." Dominic is not worried for Red''s safety and leaves Fumio and Red alone. "Boss This place." Fumio takes a deep breath. "Yes." Red nods. "Mines in general, are rich in spiritual energy." He explains. "I see. Are mines within natural spiritual energy gathering formations?" Fumio asks. "No." Red shakes his head. "It''s only because it held spiritual energy conductive materials like gold, is why it''s rich in spiritual energy." He explains. The two soon reach the deepest levels of the mine. "This place is huge." Fumio says as he scatters balls of flames in each corner of the cavern. "Don''t tell me you''re building another base here?" He asks Red with a chuckle. "No. I don''t like man-made caves." Red replies as he pulls out something out of his storage ring. " Whoah" Fumio is in awe seeing a house-sized, hexagonal shaped structure made out of yellow metal. He can also see the edges of the structure has intricate lines carved on them. "These are seals." Fumio cannot help but notice the familiar looking spiritual energy gathering seals. He further notices that not only are the seals carved intricately, they are also connected to each other and are arranged in patterns, and those patterns give shapes to different parts of the structure. "Seal formations to be exact. It''s just like the eight spiritual gather seal plates you used to use when cultivating in the city." Red explains. "I see." Fumio nods. "But that ''formation'' is only two dimensional. This structure is three dimensional." He comments. "That''s right. But that could barely be called a seal formation. This right here, is what a seal formation looks like." Red nods. "And. Don''t try to examine it. It''s tens of levels above your proficiency." He adds. "Damn." Fumio shakes his head. "How long did it take you to make this?" He asks Red. "A few hours? I''m not sure." Red says as he folds a some parts with his bare hands, doing some final adjustments to the seal formation. "A few hours" Fumio sighs. He knows that one wrong move in carving or drawing a seal will scrap the material, and for Red to make the most complicated seal work he has ever seen, with a very expensive type of material, impresses him very much. Looking at the seals any further however, is starting to make his head spin because of how complicated they are. "So This is where all the gold you got from Darcy went?" He gives up trying to figure out how the seals work. "That''s right." Red confirms. "And you didn''t waste any of them?" Fumio asks. "No. I''m not like you and the others who are shitty in making seals." Red chuckles. Fumio rolls his eyes. "What are those?" He then sees Red pull out blocks upon blocks of Himalayan rock salts and puts them in the middle of the seal formation. "Himalayan salts." Red says before activating the seal formation. *VVWWOOMM* Fumio gets startled by the sudden and very violent movement of the atmospheric spiritual energy around them. He recovers quickly however and watches as the spiritual energy start gathering inside the seal formation. A few seconds later, he sees that the pink colored Himalayan rock salts are starting to absorb the spiritual energy being forced upon them by the seal formation. "Holy shit" He cannot help but utter, realizing what Red is doing and the purpose of the seal formation is. He looks at Red, and he sees an expression in Red''s face he has never the man wear before. Red is grinning excitedly at his successful experiment and discovery. To the inhabitants of Terra, the Himalayan salt is just rock salt that has impurities that makes it pink. To Red however, and the denizens of the Infinite Realms, the substance is what they call the Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystal. Spiritual Energy Crystals are dime a dozen in the infinite realms, used for currency and cultivation by low-level cultivators. Once those crystals run out of energy however, they turn to useless dust. Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystal meanwhile, is infinitely rarer than the ordinary Spiritual Energy Crystals. What makes it even more valuable than its ordinary counterpart aside from just the rarity, is because of its reusability. Once the Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystal runs out of its energy, it can be refilled again almost infinitely. The reason why Red is grinning excitedly, is that he just confirmed, that the Himalayan Salts is indeed the Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystal, basing on how it is reacting towards Spiritual Energy Crystal. Chapter 162 - "Research Purposes..." "B-boss what the fuck is that. That, is not fuckin'' salt." Fumio points at Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystals that are slowly turning blue, and feeling the spiritual energy condensed inside of it. "It''s not." Red exhales deeply, seeing the seal formation stabilizing itself just as he expected. "Man" He shakes his head, still in awe. He still cannot believe that Terra has billions of tons more of these crystals in its reserve, and that reserve is located in just one country. He hopes that there are more undiscovered reserves of it. "One piece this size..." He picks out a watermelon-sized piece from the pile of the crystals. "when filled to its limit, it''s going to be an even better spiritual energy source than demon cores." He explains to Fumio. "Well Demon cores have a lot of classes." Fumio wants a more specific comparison. "Even better than a core from high-tier Knight-ranked demon. Six cores'' worth in fact." Red reveals. "What?!" Fumio almost jumps in shock and excitement. The piece of the crystal in Red''s hand is very small compared to the entire pile in the middle of the seal formation. He can only imagine how much spiritual energy the entire pile of the Crystals will contain once they are all filled. His excitement however is short-lived. "Boss Is it wrong for me to feel that these crystals seem to be more valuable than souls of living things?" He sighs. "Heh. I don''t think so." Red shakes his head. "Buddy. These are treasures that have existed since this world came into existence. They''ve been here for billions of years even before the first single-celled organism was born. "If they stay untouched, they will still be here until this world itself, the entirety of it, will come to its timely end. They are more permanent than life in this world itself." " Humans, demons, angels We''re so small." Fumio is overwhelmed, feeling as if the world has become even larger. "And God himself" Red utters quietly. "What?" Fumio is not sure if he misheard it. "Nothing. Anyway. With these around, your cultivation will speed up even more." Red puts back the crystal in his hand back into the pile. "How about you, boss? You must need a building''s worth of these." Fumio asks with a chuckle. "Mm Hmh..." Red just smiles to himself. With his perfect foundations, his cultivation knowledge, and his current spirit root he himself as the former Red Sovereign of the Infinite Realms finds adequate enough, he can cultivate at his level without the assistance of treasures. "Wait a minute, boss. If these can be used like demon cores what about Dominic? You''ve put this thing in his territory." Fumio asks in worry. "I trust the guy. Don''t worry about it buddy." Red assures. "Hm" Fumio does not dare to question Red''s judgement. "What now? Do we wait for this to be filled up?" Fumio asks. "Nah. It''ll take hours." Red shrugs. "Now. I brought you along so we could talk." He changes subject. "When will you decide to take care of another treasure fragment?" He asks. "Because, you know, you won''t get these crystals from me for free. Unless you know how to store spiritual energy in them. You also have nothing that I''ll accept as an alternate payment." He points at the seal formation. "Haaah." Fumio scrunches his nose. "How much of these crystals for one treasure fragment?" He asks. "Hmmm I don''t know. Everything right here? How large is it? A truckload?... One treasure fragment for a truckload." Red says in a goading tone. Fumio ponders for a moment before, "Fuck it", deciding. "Huh. That''s easier than I thought." Red is pleased. "Well I''ve already been thinking about it since you took back the treasure fragment from me. Each day I spend studying jade slips and training outside the treasure fragment, I feel like I''m wasting valuable real-world time. And" Fumio rubs his left brow. "What?" Red gets interested at the reaction. "These are just fuckin'' tempting. What can I say?" Fumio chuckles in embarrassment as he steals a glance at the Crystals. "You don''t feel queasy anymore about eliminating folks?" Red chuckles. "Bad folks to be exact, boss. But yes, ordering someone''s death still bothers me. As for the guilt Ahdem and Havvah were a great help in getting me over it during these past few days. Thanks for having them stay at my hill." Fumio reports. "Good." Red nods. "That''s very good. But why am I sensing great worry still?" He asks. "I''m just worried that at some point, good people will eventually come to my hill. And I don''t know how I''ll deal with them." He sighs. "Well, if I''m not wrong, there is something you can use in one of the jade slips you earned. I mean, just reading the title of that subject would have given you an idea." Red gives a hint. "Huh You''re telling me now after I''ve decided." Fumio shakes his head. "Anyways. You can have all of this later when they''re filled." Red says as he leads the way out of the cavern. "What?" Fumio''s eyes widen as he dazedly follows Red. "Happy holidays, buddy. Treat it both as a year-end bonus and as a gift." Red explains. "W-well T-thank you." Fumio does not know what else to say. "You''re welcome." Red nods. "Now" He opens the portal to the treasure dimension once again and gestures Fumio. "Go back. Choose one of treasure fragments in my cave, and piss off." "How do I get those back to Japan?" Fumio points at the crystals. "Don''t be too excited." Red scoffs. "I''ll deal with the transport. You''ll find it in your hill after you come back from your break." "What break?" Fumio asks in confusion. "Winter break? December 24 to January 2." Red reminds Fumio. "Oh" Fumio is stunned. "But I don''t need it." Ten days of real world time is eight months in the treasure fragment dimension after all. "How about spending time with your sister? I heard Tezguniuth giving her a break." Red suggests. "Oh. That''s a good idea." Fumio realizes that while he meets Sayuri a few times every week, they have not hung out with each other aside from their month end lunch in the end of November. Fumio is about to step into the portal when he is reminded of his fellow disciples. "How about the rest, boss?" He does not find it fair that only him gets to receive the crystals. "What? You think you''re my favorite?" Red scoffs as he throws Fumio to the portal. "AHHH-!" As soon as Fumio''s figure disappears to veil of light, Red closes the portal. A few moments later, Red arrives at the entrance of the abandoned mine. He does not have to wait long as Dominic returns shortly after. "Huh. Done already?" Dominic asks. "Yes. And thank you for lending me the mine." Red says. "Just don''t fuck with the structure of it, and you can have it until the demons come." Dominic waves off the thanks. "Anyways." He then pulls out a palm-sized string bag out of his pocket and tosses it to Red. "Must have spent a lot on this, huh?" Red says as he takes a peek inside the bag. "Not really. I thought you were looking for some rare gems, but most of them aren''t. That Alexandrite is the most expensive one, but it''s just 30 thousand dollars." Dominic says in dismissal. "I thought they were rare too." Red says as he pulls out a black colored gem. "What''s this?" He asks. "Black Spinel Wait no. Black Sapphire." Dominic says. "Not sure?" Red asks. "I''m sure. Had my jeweler cut the stones in different shapes for me to differentiate them. It doesn''t help that you asked for all sorts of black gems that look similar to each other." Dominic scoffs. "Understandable. How expensive is black sapphire?" Red asks. "It''s cheap. Argus has large mines of it in his territory." Dominic says. "Damn" Red utters in pleasant surprise. "How about this?" He then pulls out another gemstone, an oval shaped one. "That is Black Star Sapphire. That I''m sure of. Unlike the ordinary black sapphire, this one''s a couple hundred dollars per carat. It''s mined in my territory." Dominic says in confidence. He also notices the look on Red''s face. "It''s not that valuable. Why are you looking at it like that?" He asks in amusement. "I don''t know why, but the color is mesmerizing." Red stops his appreciation of the gemstone. "Anyways. Thanks again." He then picks out the rest of black sapphires and black star sapphires from the bag, stores them in his storage ring, and returns the rest of the gemstones to Dominic. "That''s it? There are plenty of rarer and more valuable ones in here." Dominic is stunned. "I got all I need, buddy." Red assures. "You know what? Just keep them all." Dominic feels that his efforts are wasted if Red does not take all the gemstones. "Well, thank you." Red can only accept with Dominic''s insistence. "Remuneration?" He asks. "Nah. Just prepare to read the proposal I''m planning on writing up about that coffee thing. I think making something even larger than Starbos Coffee is really doable if the ingredients come from your farms." Dominic smirks. "Alright." Red nods. He is already planning on partnering up with Dominic anyway. The more disciples he raises, the more resources he will need. If he has a multi-billion dollar company, he can afford to do just that. The more his group expands, the more people who mysteriously acquired powers he will have to hide. If he has a company that can provide employment, at least on-paper, for the cultivators, then he can help the cultivators blend in society. "Do you have any more abandoned mines out there?" Red asks. "What for?" Dominic gets suspicious. "Do you have a use for them?" Red returns. "Well Now that you stopped me from farming demon cores, I don''t." Dominic scoffs. "But come on, it''s still my territory." He argues. "Research purposes. One mine or cave for one wood chip. We don''t exactly want people finding out in case something in my experiment goes ''BOOM!'', do we?" Red can only say. Even if Dominic is a cultivator, and he can tell them man that he needs abandoned mines to refill Spiritual Energy Crystals, the details are complicated and he is too lazy to explain. He simply wants to proceed experimenting with the gemstones he just acquired. "That happened before?" Dominic asks in surprise. "Yes. Almost lost my arm once." Red shrugs. "Damn" Dominic shakes his head. "Research purposes" He buys the excuse. He wants to see more what the treasure fragments can offer aside from the pocket dimension inside them and the pseudo teleportation that comes along with it. "How soon do you need them?" He asks. "As soon as possible, if that''s okay." Red politely demands. "When I find a way to stop activated wood chips from pulling other chips, I''ll return you your chip." He adds a promise. "Alright. I''ll contact you when the next mine is ready.." Dominic leaves, his mood cheerful for the first time in a long time. Chapter 163 - Why Were You Looking For Me?” The Toyama forests during the December nights is not only cold and dark, but also quiet and only the sounds of the winds whistling and the leaves dancing can be heard. The night however is different. "N-no Please!" A man''s pleading scream pierces the deafening silence of the forest. Among the snow-covered trees and bushes, a man who looks to be in his 30s, despite his limping, his body ridden with wounds, and his face swelling red and blue with bruises, is desperately searching for someone or something he can find sanctuary from. Suddenly, *THWACK* he feels the back of his knees whipped by something sharp and he is forced to his knees. *Sssssssss* He hisses in pain and tears almost roll down his cheeks in defeat. He knows that his body received two more wounds. Then, he sees a kimono-wearing person appear a few steps ahead of him. He would be curious as to how the person still has their kimono immaculately white and clean after going through thickets if it is not for his current predicament. "Y-you''re sick" He looks up at the woman who has been chasing him and whipping wounds on him for the past hour. It is only thanks to the cold weather that he has not lost a significant amount of blood. On a regular day, he would be attempting to coerce someone as beautiful as the woman to spend a night with him. Currently however, he does not even dare act like a gentleman to the woman. "Compared to you, am I?" The woman asks the man in return. "W-why are you even doing this? What do you want? Money? Men? I can give them to you." The man can only try to negotiate, finding no way out. "Can you? Or your clan?" The woman answers with another question. "I" The man is taken aback. "You''re nothing." The woman scoffs. "Nothing? NOTHING?! I''m a B-Class Superiori god damn it!" Something in the woman''s words triggers the man. "Do I look impressed?" The woman asks in a cold tone. "" The man is speechless. "That''s right. You''re not better than a coat hanger to me." The man hears the woman say and *wham* he gets hit in the face, sending him lying on the ground, by a strike he did not even see coming. "Uhhh Why are you doing this?" He struggles to get back on his knees with a groan. "Why have you driven women to madness and even suicide?" The woman replies once again with a question. "I-is this about that?" The man''s stomach sinks. "Answer my question." The woman orders him. "I-I" The man cannot find an answer that would please anyone, especially not the woman. "For sport, isn''t it?" The woman kneels down to the man''s level and stares him in the eyes. "I-I guess What the fuck do you want me to say?" The man gives up feeling no difference whether or not he tells the truth. "Well, there it is. That''s your sport, and avenging others'' grievances is mine." The woman smiles. Despite the woman''s beautiful smile, the man feels his spine shiver from it. "What now? Are you going to kill me?" He can only try and prepare for the fate that is awaiting him. "I don''t wanna die. Please... Spare me, and I''ll be your servant." He crawls to the woman and stopping just two steps away from her. "No. Not just a servant. I''ll be your dog! Woof! Woof!" He proceeds to beg desperately. "Kill you? No Just like what you did with your victims, I''ll let you live in hell, until you can no longer take it." He then hears the woman say, giving him goosebumps in the already freezing weather. He does not know how his victims suffered, but he does not want to imagine himself going through what the woman is planning. Feeling his abilities recovering by a bit, he summons an icicle in the ground before making it shoot up towards the woman. To his disappointment, the woman catches the icicle easily with her bare hand and *crrraccckk* crushes it just as easily as one would to a Styrofoam cup. "This has become boring." He hears the woman say before seeing her left arm blur. Immediately after, he feels something touch each of the major joints in his body. "Wha" Before he can process what he just felt, he feels a horrible combination of intense sharp and dull pain at every place he felt was touched and "AAHHHHH" a shrill scream leaves his lungs before he knows it. "Haaa Y-you haaa I''ll remember your face, you fuckin bitch." He can only threaten in between huffs. "So what? Even your clan head fell to his knees in front of me." The woman tells the man in indifference. "" The man forgets his pain for a moment, connecting something in his head. "T-the raid in the clan It was you." His eyes widen in realization. "Bingo." He hears the woman say before his consciousness leaves his body. "Haaaa" Kotone looks up at the sky and exhales in satisfaction. She then pulls out a stack of photographs and scatters them around the unconscious man. Satisfied with her work, she turns her back away from the man to leave. As soon as she turns around however, she is stunned to see that she and the man she just punished, are not alone. "F-Fumio" She utters in recognition. "It''s just you" She sighs in relief. Her relief is short lived however, realizing that Fumio just witnessed her secret. "Yes just me." Fumio says as he walks past Kotone and stops before the unconscious man. Seeing the photographs of different women and connecting the things Kotone said earlier, he realizes that the unconscious man is some sort of a sexual predator. "Fumio, I-" Kotone does not know how to explain herself. "How did you find me here?" She asks instead. The place, after all is two hundred kilometers away from Hinohara, crossing over two prefectures. Not only that, she knows that Fumio rarely visits the hill in Hinohara recently, so she finds Fumio tailing her from the start is unlikely. Fumio turns to Kotone and, "I won''t tell on you, don''t worry.", says in assurance instead of answer Kotone. "Answer me this, though" He takes a deep breath. "It''s obvious that you''ve done this before. I wouldn''t even be surprised if you did many times So, have you killed anyone before?" He asks. "I''m not sure." Kotone looks away. "Please, explain." Fumio is confused by the answer. "I''ve never killed anyone directly But, I don''t know if everyone of ''them'' managed to get to help in time." Kotone explains. "I see." Fumio nods as he steps away from the unconscious man. "I see?" Kotone is surprised by Fumio seemingly accepting the situation easily. "Yes. We''ve known each other for quite a while now. And knowing you, I trust that you never did this to anyone who didn''t deserve it?" Fumio asks. "Of course." Kotone denies immediately. Seeing the repulsion on Kotone''s face, Fumio is relieved, for now. "What if there''s someone who didn''t make it?" Fumio asks. "If they didn''t, then they had it coming." Kotone says. "" Fumio is surprised especially with her stubborn tone. Kotone catches a slight expression of revulsion from Fumio''s face and she feels a great urge to defend her actions. "Take a look at that photo next to his left ear." She asks of Fumio. Fumio sees a beautiful woman in the photo who gives him a pure impression. "A college coed of that man. He seduced her and promised her with lies. And when she was giving away her innocence to him, he secretly taped it and spread it to his other piece of shit friends. Her reputation is destroyed to the university. Even her own family shunned her" Kotone explains. "" Fumio looks away from the photo and "What happened next?", asks Kotone. "She killed herself a month after her tape was spread." Kotone informs. Fumio does not see any signs of deception from Kotone, only rage. "Look at that photo next to the hem of his right sleeve." Kotone asks again. Fumio looks at the photo and sees a beautiful woman who gives him a cheerful impression. "She was violently r*ped by this man multiple times. When she tried to report it to the authorities, her case was buried, and the officer who documented it, fired. "And when she was about to tell her story to a person who can help her, she was killed by the same person who took her innocence." Kotone stops as her anger towards the unconscious man surfaces once again. "That photo over" She is about to continue when, "Enough." Fumio stops her. "If you don''t believe me, Gin san''s reports ha-" Kotone is not done however. "I believe you." Fumio cuts her off once again. He knows that the unconscious man is evil, but he did not expect the man to be that evil. He himself gets the urge to add to the already crippling punishment that Kotone delivered to the man. "This man is one of the least evil people I''ve dealt with. You have no idea how much worse the others are." Kotone continues, seeing Fumio in ponderance. "So, tell me when even the authorities are not willing to punish these people, who will?" She asks. "You''re right. I understand where you''re coming from, more than you know." Fumio says with a sigh. Kotone''s image in his mind has changed greatly tonight. He even feels a bit envious of her resolution with justice. While he himself ordered the deaths of evil people, he was forced to it by the circumstances of his arrangement with Red. Kotone on the other hand, actively looks for evil people and delivers justice on them on her own will. Feeling Fumio''s sincerity, Kotone is relieved. "Let''s get out of here." She suggests. "Let''s" ... The two soon arrive at a fancy bar in the nearby city of Nanto. "*sigh* I''m no longer buzzed by this" Kotone caresses the beer bottle in her hand which she half emptied in one go. "Same. Maybe we can ask boss to brew beer?" Fumio agrees, matching Kotone''s drinking pace. "Talking about Kichirou-san can you not tell him about what you''ve seen?" Kotone asks. "Didn''t he know even when you were still C-Class?" Fumio asks. "He only knows about me beating up thugs. Not" Kotone looks around before leaning closer to Fumio, " crippling people or beating them up within an inch of their lives", and says in a shushed tone. "Oh. He knows more than that." Fumio chuckles. "He was the one who told me where to find you." "He''s tracking me?!" Kotone almost yells out in disbelief. *Thck* Fumio flicks Kotone''s forehead. "The communication token. Did you forget?" He reminds her. "Oh" Kotone''s anger disappears, remembering one of the functions of the token. "I forgot to turn it off." She pats her forehead. "Unbelievable." Fumio scoffs. "S-so how much does he know? " Kotone asks. "Probably more than you want. When I asked where to look for you, he told me that you were in one of your ''Vigilante escapades''." Fumio explains. "But his warning was an understatement." He utters in addition. "So, he probably knows everything." Kotone deflates. "Uhuh. Probably approves of what you''re doing too." Fumio figures. "You think so?" Kotone asks in surprise. "Yeah. He never stopped you, did he?" Fumio shrugs. "That''s true" Kotone is convinced. "I''m still gonna talk to him though." She decides to come clean just to be sure. "That''s a good idea." Fumio nods. "So" Kotone realizes something else. "Why were you looking for me?" She asks. "Do you have plans for the holiday break?" Fumio asks. "What? You want to spend it together with me?" Kotone chuckles with a tease. Chapter 164 - "Ill Explain As We Drink..." "Do you have plans for the holiday break?" Fumio asks. "Why are you asking? You want to spend it together with me?" Kotone chuckles with a tease. "You me want to?" Fumio asks in feign seriousness. "U-uh" Kotone is stunned. "Hah. I just asked because I thought you were at Nerima relaxing, and not enforcing justice." Fumio chuckles. "How''s your elixir control by the way?" He asks. "Pretty good. Why?" Kotone frowns, confused by the sudden change of subjects. "Okay. I''m thinking about your brother''s training with the sixteen poses that Boss modified for the non superiori." Fumio reveals his intention. "... you wanna start it during the break" Kotone understands. "Yes. And I was hoping you can also start teaching my sister. She was also very busy with work to make new friends, so maybe it will be nice if she gets to know you while training." Fumio nods. "Oh, I would love to make friends with her but do you think Kichirou-san will be okay with it?" Kotone is not sure of Fumio''s plan. "He approved it. It was even Boss who suggested to tell her that you are my friend and a fellow demon hunter and that you have the ability to strengthen her powers." Fumio explains. "Haaa" Kotone sighs as she gives Fumio an apologetic look. " I''ve not studied the modified poses yet, so I''m not prepared to teach her. My attention was on a few things. I''m sorry." "That''s fine." Fumio shrugs. "It was just an idea anyway. Besides, you haven''t spent that much time with your brother, I''m guessing?" He asks. "Yeah. That''s why I''ve already booked a week-long stay with him in a nice hot spring resort in Kyoto." Kotone shares. "That''s nice" Fumio nods. "He probably never spent a week outside a city." "How about you? Was training your sister really just an idea?" Kotone asks. "You got me. It was plan A." Fumio admits. "But Plan B is, I''ll take her to somewhere warm the Philippines maybe." He smiles. "Ugh. How nice it must be for you English-speaking jerks." Kotone rolls her eyes in jealousy. "Wait a minute. Don''t tell me all you did with Yoshiko was train together? You never learned to speak another language from her?" Fumio asks. "Like I said, I was focused on other things. Learning a new language is the last thing on my mind." Kotone reiterates. "But that''s a good idea. She speaks what? English, Korean, and Mandarin if I''m not wrong." She lists the idea on the back of her mind. "With your enhanced brain, plus boss'' different tea leaves, it''ll be easy for you. I myself might actually ask Ahdem-san or Havvah-san to teach me Arabic or Farsi." Fumio approves. "That''s nice" Yoshiko comments as she joins the two at their table. "Yoshiko! What are you doing here?" Kotone is surprised by the woman''s appearance. "Fumio-san called me" Yoshiko shakes her communication at Kotone before pocketing it. "My gosh We stand out a lot, huh?" She looks around the fancy bar''s patrons looking at her and her kimono before taking a seat beside Kotone. "Ooh" She impressed by the comfort of the leather seat. "At least we''re not in a f*ckin club." Fumio chuckles. "Drink? My treat." He offers as he takes the attention of one of the servers. "S-sure." Yoshiko looks at the senior disciple she barely spends time with, a bit taken aback by his hospitality. After adding more drinks to the table, Yoshiko and Kotone look at Fumio in inquiry, knowing that he is not the type to treat them to some drinks just for hanging out. "You have something to tell us." Kotone says. "Yes. From boss." Fumio nods. "Yeah. Where is he, by the way? And where did he take the children?" Yoshiko asks. "What? When did this happen?!" Kotone almost shrieks in surprise. She left the hill for Nerima the day before for her vacation so she is hearing about this for the first time. "Yeah. That happened." Yoshiko nods helplessly. She spent the first minutes of daylight in worry as she did not find the children in their house. "On a nice trip." Fumio says. "I heard the same from Akane-san and Yori-san." Yoshiko says. Her worry in the morning was relieved by a bit when Akane and Yori, who were about to leave the hill for their vacation, reported to her that Red took the children away for a trip. "But where are they exactly?" She asks Fumio for clarification, not really trusting Red entirely. "Somewhere warm" Fumio reports. "Not somewhere ''hot''?" Yoshiko asks in worry. "He''s what?" Kotone asks the two, lost in the conversation. "Putting them through hell training? I hope not." Fumio shrugs. "Is this why he asked all of us to take a break? So, we can''t stop him?" Kotone does not even want to imagine the children bathing under Xoz''gekal''s flames. "That''s true He also closed the treasure dimension to us since a week ago. He must be planning something." Yoshiko says in suspicion. "He is planning something, but not because of what you two are thinking." Fumio shakes his head. He knows that the two''s cut off access to the treasure dimension is because Red has been using it to hop in and out of Australia. Fumio pulls out his communication token, activates its illusion hologram feature, and plays a video on it that was sent by Red. Kotone and Yoshiko see the illusion hologram display a white sand beach and sparkling blue waters beyond it. Taishiro and Kanon are building a sand castle with their spiritual energies while the rest of the children are playing water with each other in the crystal blue waters. "They look like they''re having fun, no?" Fumio asks. Kotone and Yoshiko continue to watch the hologram video in relief. "Boss hasn''t been spending time with the children recently. He hardly joins them for breakfast anymore." Fumio says before turning off the video. "I can''t believe he didn''t bring you along. Wanna spend the vacation with me and my brother?" Kotone asks Yoshiko. Yoshiko after all, just like the children, do not have relatives or even friends she is close enough with to spend the holidays with. "I''m okay. I already have plans." Yoshiko is grateful of Kotone''s offer. "Anyway. Sensei actually asked me what I''ll do for the holidays a few days ago. I told him that I''m going spend it on the orphanage. Buy the children some gifts or cook them some warm meals, or something. Maybe that''s why he didn''t invite me." She explains. "Wow We have a saint here Mother Yoshiko." Fumio teases. "My ass." Yoshiko scoffs, but she is pleased with Fumio''s teasing. "Saint? Right You should have seen her in our demon prison raids." Kotone teases too. "Compared to the people I''ve hurt possibly even killed I am a saint." Yoshiko playfully pinches Kotone''s arm. "Ow Sorry." Kotone rubs her stinging arm. "" Fumio cannot believe what he just heard Yoshiko say. Her casual tone about accidentally killing people especially stuns him. But thinking about the lives that she saved, the woman''s words is entirely acceptable to him. "Anyway." He pulls out two Black Sapphire Storage Rings from his pocket and lays them on the table, each for his fellow disciples. "What''s this?" Kotone asks as she picks it up and wears it on her thumb. Yoshiko does the same as she appreciates the beauty of the black gem on the ring, and the intricately carved lines on its silver band. "Storage rings." Fumio says. This prompts the two ladies to infuse spiritual energy on their rings. The two are immediately surprised shortly after. Their old storage rings are embedded with multiple gemstones and they can only store one type of object in each gemstone. If they accidentally store different types of objects in one gemstone, they would have to empty out the contents of it so they can sort the objects out again. Their new storage rings however, offers better features. First, a visual display of the storage ring''s pocket dimension appears in their visions. They figure that it is so as they see that in a corner of the visual display is what look like bottles upon bottles of milkshakes, and only takes a small fraction of the entire space. "Only the wearer of the ring can see what you are seeing." Fumio explains. "That''s a relief." Kotone nods in relief. "You can move them around with your spiritual energy." Fumio proceeds to instruct them. The two ladies again are impressed by their new storage rings'' Second feature. With just a thread of their spiritual energy, they can move things around the ring''s pocket dimension. "You still have demon cores in your watches, right? Try storing them in it." Fumio instructs them once again. "" The two ladies find the instruction ridiculous at first, but they do it anyway. Not long after, "I-it works.", they feel the demon cores under their watches disappear into their storage rings, stunning them. The Third feature of their new rings, is that it has an infinitely higher energy limit compared to their old rings. Unlike their old rings that can only store limited numbers of spiritual fruits due to the fruits'' high spiritual energy content, their new rings can even store demon cores which contain even more energy. Yoshiko is the first one to get used to the features and she is ready to move on. "What is this huge blue crystal thing?" Yoshiko asks, seeing the pile of filled Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystals in the visual display. "Those are Boss'' seconds gifts to you two." Fumio introduces the objects. "Please, take one of them out." He starts instructing the two how to use the crystals. A minute later, Kotone and Yoshiko look at the now pink-colored baseball sized Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystals in their grasps, that were once blue. "Wow" "Yeah" They still cannot believe that they just absorbed rich spiritual energy from the things in their hands, and they eye the truckload''s more of it that remain in their rings. "Be careful not to break them, or soak them in water." Fumio breaks them out of their gazes on their rings. "They''re nothing but rock salts once they''re empty." He concludes. "Okay." The two store the used crystals in their storage rings immediately hearing the warning. "Those things are not free, so please use them sparingly." Fumio is amused at the two''s reactions to the Infinite Spiritual Energy Crystals, understanding how the two feels. " ''Not free.''? So, we can ''buy'' them?" Yoshiko asks. "That''s right." Fumio nods. "And you can only buy them from Boss." "How much?" Kotone asks. "To buy the amount of what is currently inside your rings, you will need to give him one treasure fragment." Fumio says. "" The ladies are stunned. "That''s... fair, I guess? But. Where do we even find treasure fragments?" Kotone deflates. "And Sensei knows that He must be teasing us." Yoshiko shakes her head. "It''s like those drug people getting someone addicted to a drug, and getting that new addict to be their cash cow." She scoffs helplessly. "Wait. That''s a bad analogy. We can''t be cash cows if we don''t even know how to earn cash." She corrects herself. "That''s actually an ''okay'' analogy." Fumio chuckles. "How so?" Yoshiko asks. "Boss can make treasure fragments find you two instead. There''s your cash to use for your drugs." Fumio says. Seeing how the two changed since the first time he met them, he is confident that the two will even be more ruthless than he is when it comes to gathering treasure fragments. "But how can we do that when only him can activate treasure fragments?" Kotone asks in confusion. "We have a long night ahead. I''ll explain as we drink.." Fumio takes a bottle of hard liquor from the table and opens it. Chapter 165 - "This Is Good." Treasure Fragment Dimension. "My, my." Red joins Havvah and Ahdem who are currently lazily sparring. "Kichirou-san." "Buddy." Havvah and Ahdem stop what they are doing and they greet the man. "It''s only been 71 days? Wow. 71 days and you are already sparring with the breathing technique." Red nods in approval. After Ahdem and Havvah spent some days with Fumio to counsel the young man, their training with Red finally started four real-world days ago. Red has trapped them in the treasure fragment dimension to have them focus on training the sixteen meridian opening poses and the breathing technique. "It''s been 71 days? Huh" Ahdem shrugs. "Time passes huh" Havvah too does not find the length of time a big deal. "Heh." Red is amused. "Benefits of a long life, I guess?" The two fortunately, have not been bored inside the treasure dimension as they were not only busy training, they were also busy tending to Red''s farms and feeding the thousand or so calves that Red got from Dominic as a gift. Red also drops in from time to time to monitor their progress, correct their mistakes, and to make their nutrient milkshakes. As to how Ahdem and Havvah managed to master the breathing technique inside the treasure fragment dimension despite the absence of spritual energy, Red has released spiritual energy inside the treasure dimension with the help of Spirit Crystals, making the couple feel the benefits of the breathing technique. "Let me take these off of you." Red then deactivates the two''s resistance seals, and the two immediately feel so much lighter. They proceed to lightly spar once again, and to their surprise, their bodies have significantly become stronger. "D C Class" Ahdem utters as he signals Havvah to stop attacking. "Yes." Havvah stops and says, agreeing with Ahdem''s assessment. The two are shocked by their newfound strength. "The moment I felt the benefits of the training, I already believed you. But this this is simply incredible." She then looks at Red with a complicated gaze. "Alright man." Ahdem sighs. "How is this possible? I don''t think even the demons and angels have your knowledge. The resistance seals, the automatic water cycle of your farms, hell how did you even know that Himalayan Salts can be filled with whatever you fill them. How do you know all of this?" He asks. "It won''t make a difference even if you two know. Trust me." Red shrugs. The couple simply sigh in frustration, knowing that they will not be able to get answers. They know that they also cannot beat the truth out of Red. "But I hope you''ll tell us one day." Havvah asks. "Sure. If I trust you enough." Red nods. "Anyway. If it was my students, I would not be offering this so easily, but for you two, what the hell." He changes the subject. "What offer?" The couple gets interested. "A training method. A hellish, painful one. If you spend a year more training in ''the veil'' with my method, you can catch up with my disciples in strength." Red presents. "" The couple is stunned. "A-are you kidding? That''s just fifteen days in the real world!" Ahdem says in excitement. "My love, wait a minute" Havvah on the other hand, is not as excited. "Kichirou-san. This method, even though it''ll be painful for us, is not free, is it?" She asks Red. "That''s right." Red nods. "What do you want in exchange?" Ahdem''s excitement deflates. "Wood fragments." Red says with a smirk. "" The couple immediately frowns. "You already took ours." Ahdem complains. "Ah You see, I happen to overhear you two talking after your first visit here." Red chuckles. "What was it that you said, Miss Havvah? ''I knew they were not just some indestructible three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles.'' Why of all comparisons would you compare to a jigsaw puzzle?" He asks with a smirk. The two immediately realize that Havvah''s rambling that day was enough to tell Red that they possess more than just one treasure fragment. They also feel that they cannot convince Red from thinking otherwise. Considering this, "How many?" Havvah asks. "Just one from each of you." Red says. This surprises the couple. They thought Red would be greedier. "What? You will be in a world of pain with the training." Red shrugs, seeing the two''s expressions. "Would one do? That''s fifty percent of what we have left." Ahdem asks, trying his best to hide his excitement with feign shock. "It''s a rough trade." Havvah is also excited, but hides it with an expression of struggle. The two of them are more than willing to part with one treasure fragment each. Not only because they still have sixty-one remaining treasure fragments in their possessions combined after Red took the ones they brought to Japan, they also do not need more than one or two to defend themselves against demons and angels. They are not however, willing to show that they are willing to part with a treasure fragment so easily. They want to squeeze benefits just in case Red asks them for more in the future. "A rough trade, huh?" Red has an inkling what the two are trying to do. "But why? It''s not like you can use them like I can?" He asks. "" The two almost scoff in jealously. Even though they have learned more about the treasure fragments with Red displaying its features to them, the knowledge is useless to them. "Even so, we only find one in ten or so millennia." Havvah argues. "So? Will keeping them for ten more millennia or so give you the strength of high-tier A-Class?" Red shrugs. "Alright" Ahdem is the first one to give in. "How about you? I know that you two don''t have just one each left. Or else you wouldn''t have made use a jigsaw puzzle as a comparison with the wood fragments." Red winks at Havvah. "Damn it. Fine." Havvah sighs. With Red''s teasing smile, the couple realize that Red made a fool out of them. ` Vasterfjall, Sweden. In a clearing in the middle of an isolated forest, thirty-nine people are currently kneeling in a circular pattern, each holding all sorts of sharp blades on their hands. Before of each thirty-nine people, is one unconscious person lying on their own stone benches. Right below each stone bench, are ornate copper bowls the size of small buckets. Among the eerie atmosphere, and the uniformity of their intentions, the thirty-nine people''s attentions are glued to a woman whose presence alone commands respect among them, standing in the middle of the circle they formed, and awaiting her command, ignoring entirely the presence of her fidgeting personal aide beside her. "General." The woman''s personal aide calls out, seeing the woman still has her eyes closed with her face towards the dark night sky. "Shush." The ''general'' growls at her aide without looking. This is enough to make the aide''s urge to prompt any further, disappear. A few moments later. "NOW." The woman raises her arms to the air as a signal. Immediately, the thirty-nine people around her unanimously slit the throats of the person before them. Soon, their sacrifices'' bloods start filling their ornate copper bowls. The General, seeing the seamlessly unified actions of her subordinates, smiles in pleasure before taking a deep breath. "My lord, this is your servant Gajliniz, calling out to you. If you can hear my call beyond the gates of Hell, please, give me a sign." Gajliniz recites theatrically in the demon language. She and the rest of the demons around her wait in bated breath, each second passing feel to them like eternity. More seconds pass, and the demons start losing hope, seeing no Demon Lord responding to Gajliniz''s call. "Haaa Another failure?" One of the demons utter. "I guess But have faith in the General." Another demon responds, but that demon feels hope fleeting. The next moment however, the blood that has accumulated in the thirty-nine copper bowls, burst out of their containers and proceed to accumulate a few meters above everyone until it forms a horse-sized hollow figure. Slowly, the figure morphs into a shape of horned humanoid head. Despite the lack of features in the gigantic head, everyone present find it familiar just basing on the head''s horns. "MY LORD." Gajliniz and her personal aide fall on their knees in excitement and greets the figure. "G..gj..l.niz.." Everyone hears the faint voice coming from the blood head. "My Lord. It is I." Gajliniz replies in respect. " ou lled.. a" The blood head''s words however are not only faint, but also intermittent, making it unintelligible. The next moment, the shape of the head collapses and the blood that it was made of, pours back down into the ground, bathing Gajliniz and her aide in blood. Everyone present knows that they just failed to speak with the Demon Lord and they all become quiet in disappointment. A few seconds later, "No" Gajliniz speaks up. "This is good." She gets her smile back. "I know that you were all skeptical of my claims. Especially those of you who do not serve the same Lord as I. But this, despite our failure, is a proof that my claims are true. Day by day, I feel the presence of our home getting stronger." She addresses the demons, suppressing her urge to gloat. "General Gajliniz." A demon, possessing the body of a frail old man, steps up. "I am convinced. On behalf of my group, I ask you to provide refuge for us." He proclaims. "General." "General." The rest of the demons soon pledge their allegiance to Gajliniz. A few moments later, *shriek* *haaaa* the white colored forest starts to become dark, with hundreds of demon specters arriving to join the group. Queensdale, Australia "What would you need demons for? I saw five in your place in Hinohara." Dominic asks as he leads Red down his demon prison in the lower parts of an abandoned mine. "Just for experimentation." Red shrugs. He is simply curious about the difference between subjugating a demon using a treasure fragment, and using his soul techniques. Soon, they reach a cell. The two find a young, handsome raven-haired man who are looking at them in suppressed rage. Red then pulls out a treasure fragment and "O, kanerakkah kruittale taya ''unne", and recites the demon subjugating spell. Chapter 166 - "How Are You All?" A tall Japanese man, who looks to be in his 40s, is currently walking hand in hand alongside a beautiful woman who is at least a decade his junior, at the sidewalk of one of Nerima''s busy streets. Some people they pass by cannot help but stare at the couple because not only are they good looking, they also look good with each other with their matching attires with the man wearing a well-fitting dark blue casual suit that displays his athletic figure, and the woman wearing a sky-blue halter dress exposing her fair skin and nicely toned limbs. *Wwhooosh* A gentle gust of wind suddenly blows by them, making it look as though even the March''s spring breeze wants to make them even look more beautiful. "Hm?" The man suddenly stops in his steps, noticing something. The woman almost stumbles at the action and would have broken her image if she is not wearing flat soled shoes. "What''s wrong?" She asks the man who lowered his sunglasses. "When did this appear here? It wasn''t here during my last walk a month ago." The man asks the woman while looking at the front of what looks like a coffee shop. " ''Of Eden''?" The woman reads the signboard. "Last time I passed by here, the place was undergoing construction. I thought it was never going to be finished because it was ongoing for four or five months." She explains. "No wonder it took that long. It looks very nice despite its size." The man nods in approval after inspecting the interior of the shop he can see through its glass walls and windows. "Let''s go in?" The woman asks. "Ehhh A long line." The man notices the queue in front of the counter and pushes his sunglasses back up. "What? Who would dare to not let you cut in line?" The woman scoffs. "Let''s go in~.. .hm?" She then pouts in insistence. The man''s heart softens and he gives in. "Okay. But no cutting in line. It won''t be good for our image." He says. "Okay." The woman smiles cutely. The next moment, the two are now the last people in the queue leading to the cashier counter. "My goodness" The woman sighs in awe. "Right?" The man utters. They cannot stop looking around at the strange mix of antiquity and modernity in the shop''s interior design. They can also hear the faint sound of rain and koto music in the air, making them relax even more. "It''s comfy here" The woman notices that the shop''s temperature, while cold, is perfect. "And... fresh?" The man inhales in satisfaction. He cannot put in words his appreciation of the shop''s scent that is similar to a forest''s after rain. "Excuse me." The man gently pats the shoulder of the female customer ahead of them in the queue. The female customer turns around and looks at the man. "Are you a regular here?" The man asks as he takes off his sunglasses. The female customer''s eyes suddenly widen in recognition and "Y-you" becomes tongue-tied. The man is about to shush the female customer, but it is too late. "I-Iwamoto-san!" The female customer gets her words back and she greets the man. "Hm?" "What?" "Iwamoto?" The other customers hear the female customer''s words and they look at the man. It does not take long for some of them to also recognize the man. "Takuma-san!" "S-storm of Nerima" "Whoa" The man''s name and moniker suddenly get uttered around and his presence in the coffee shop is exposed to all its patrons. "Hello, hello." Takuma can only return the greetings with an accommodating smile, regretting taking off his sunglasses, blaming his manners. "Ema-san, hello." "Hello, miss." The woman, Ema, meanwhile, smiles widely as some of the attention also goes her way due to some customers recognizing her. "I''m just here for coffee, everyone." Takuma then expresses his intention of not wanting to be bothered. "W-would you like to go ahead of me?" The female customer who exposed him, offers. "You can take my place." Other people in the queue also offer. "No, no. Please. You were all here before me." Takuma refuses profusely. "No. It''s fine. This is the least we can do to help you for your service." One of the customers say. Before Takuma can refuse any further, the entire queue has already stepped aside to give him a clear path towards the counter. "Just get your f*ckin coffee. You''re being a nuisance." From one corner of the shop, a deep male voice reverberates. The people present look towards the direction and they see a hulking man who is almost as wide as the small coffee table itself, and is taller than the average Japanese man even while sitting down. The shop become silent immediately in intimidation. The customers who already saw the man are reminded of his presence, and the newcomers realize that another A-Class Superioris is in the shop. "Nii-san." Takuma, unlike the wary customers, smiles at the man and greets. "Takeru-san." Ema also bows shallowly to the hulking man in greeting. "Heh." Takeru smirks and gestures Takuma and Ema to join him. "You, go take their order." He then shoos his male secretary who is sitting at the seat across the table from him to make space for Takuma and Ema. "What would you like to drink?" Takeru''s secretary asks Takuma and Ema. "Surprise us." Ema says, knowing the secretary''s reliable reputation. "Nii-san. With the way you hurriedly left this morning, I didn''t think you''d be coming here." Takuma shakes his head, finding his brother in a coffee shop quite odd. "Have you tried their coffee?" Takeru shrugs as he sips on his huge cup. "No, but It sure smells quite fragrant." Takuma says, the smell of Takeru''s coffee wafting his way stimulating his salivary glands. "When did this shop open?" He asks. "A little more than a week ago." Takeru informs. "I''ve been coming here for a week now." He adds. "Wh-" Takuma is about to ask more, but "Lower your voice." Takeru shushes him. "Another reason why I like this place is because it''s quiet." Takeru points at the other customers in the shop. Takuma and Ema notice that the customers who were ogling them just a minute ago, now have their attentions back in their cups, or are chatting with others in a shushed tone. The customers in the queue also are now wearing eager expressions while looking at the direction of the coffee bar or the reception counter. "" Takuma and Ema find the scene mysterious and the ambience of the shop somehow pulls out respect from them. "''Non-superiori baristas. No powers, pure craftsmanship.'' Takuma reads aloud a signboard on the wall behind the cashier counter in interest. "That''s right." Takeru nods. "Not only are their baristas, all of the employees are non-superiori." He confirms. "Why?" Ema finds it odd. "Cheap labor?" Takuma chuckles. "I don''t know about the cleaners, but I kind of get why the shop hired non-superiori baristas. Like the sign says. ''Pure craftsmanship''. Look at that guy." Takeru points at the coffee bar next to the cashier counter where a line of baristas are currently working. "Look at how he grinds the coffee with effort. That guy next to him is mixing and filtering the coffee with care and focus. It has soul in it. I''d rather have my coffee made by them instead of being fuckin shat by a machine or being soullessly made by a jaded superioris." He expresses. "" The couple find Takeru''s overly sentimental rational odd at first, but the more they watch the non-superiori workers do their craft, they slowly become hypnotized by it. "It''s still just coffee." Takuma scoffs as he looks away. "Can''t argue with that." Takeru shrugs. A few minutes later, Takeru and Ema are served their coffee. "*slurp* Ooohh" Takeru is stunned by the taste of his Americano. He also feels his mind become clearer. "Wow I feel awake." Ema too, immediately feels the effects of her latte. "Drink more. You''ll be awake even more." Takeru says proudly. "The only thing I don''t like in coffee is it makes my stomach sour But their coffee doesn''t seem to do that." Takuma comments after taking another sip. "Takeru-san Ever tried buying their beans?" Ema asks with a smirk. "Hah." Takeru scoffs, knowing that Ema really means ''taking over the business''. "I would have already if I could." He reveals. "What do you mean?" Takuma asks. "While this shop is owned by a Japanese, the business chain itself is not. ''Of Eden'' is Australian." Takeru says. "So?" Takuma asks. "It''s owned by Little Family. I don''t know exactly what happened, but even the clan head asked me to assign someone to protect this store from troublemakers." Takeru says. This surprises the couple. " I heard that Dominic Little is in good terms with every S-Class Superiori in Japan, so he must have asked that old monster from Yamada endorse this business to our clan head?" Takuma asks. "How else could it be?" Takeru shrugs. "I-I see" Ema sips her latte in relief. She almost offended someone not even the Iwamoto clan would dare to offend. Hinohara, 3PM "Hello." "Hey." "Hey man." Fumio is greeted by Kotone, Yoshiko, Yori, Akane, Ahdem, and Havvah as he joins the group at the peak of the hill. "Where''s boss?" He asks everyone. The group has received messages from their communication tokens from Red. This being the first time that they are gathered in one place per Red''s orders, they are all interested and are imagining in their minds what is about to happen. Fumio, Kotone, and Yoshiko, especially are curious. Not only because they rarely met Red in the past three months, they are also the most senior disciples among everyone. "How are you all?" Red suddenly appears and greets the group with a smile. Chapter 167 - "Oh, Relax" HINOHARA, 3 PM "Hello." "Hey." "Hey man." Fumio is greeted by Kotone, Yoshiko, Yori, Akane, Ahdem, and Havvah as he joins the group at the peak of the hill. "Where''s boss?" He asks everyone as he puts away his flying sword. The group has received messages from their communication tokens from Red. This being the first time that they are gathered in one place per Red''s orders, they are all interested and are imagining in their minds what is about to happen. Fumio, Kotone, and Yoshiko, especially are curious. Not only because they rarely met Red in the past two months, they are also the most senior disciples among everyone. "Not here yet." Ahdem says. "Here you go guys, while we wait." Havvah says before pulling out coffee cups from her storage ring, and handing them out to the group. "Thanks, Havvah-sensei." Yori nods in thanks at Havvah. "Thank you, Havvah-sensei." Akane does the same but in English. Fumio, Kotone, and Yoshiko also nod their silent thanks. "Haaa It''s tough to become friends with you all." Ahdem sighs helplessly, looking at the respect and caution that the younger cultivators are giving him and Havvah with just their eyes. "I know. It''s just coffee." Havvah shakes her head. Even the simple gesture of her giving them coffee pulled out respectful gestures, which she and Ahdem find ridiculous. "heheh" The younger cultivators can only sheepishly or meekly laugh at the two''s words. Since January, after they all came back from their breaks, they all got to know Ahdem and Havvah more as they have often seen Ahdem and Havvah in the past two months, and they have come to immensely respect the two. Not only because they learned that the couple were their very, very distant ancestors, and are the living cradles of mankind, the couple also became their mentor figures. Kotone and Yoshiko, who got their own garden bases like Fumio, started collecting treasure fragments through the same method Fumio used. While most of the treasure fragments they collected did not have owners, a significant number of treasure fragments had. Thankfully for them, they had Fumio to concoct knock-out and truth powders for them to figure out which treasure fragment owner is good or bad. All of the treasure fragment carriers they met however, were not good people and just like Fumio, they were also forced to order those treasure fragments'' carriers'' demise. While they had an easier time than Fumio in ordering their demon gardeners to kill, it does not mean that they were not affected by guilt and conscience. Thankfully for them, they had Ahdem and Havvah to provide them counseling and it made it easier for them, to eliminate evil people. Fumio meanwhile, while he had gotten more comfortable eliminating evil people, that was and still is not the same when it comes to good people. In the past two months, his fears of treasure fragment carriers who are good people coming to him finally happened. He has met a total of two carriers in two separate occasions who he considered either good or redeemable people. Thankfully for him, he figured out Red''s hint on what to use to deal with those people; the Memory Effacement Potion. Just like its name suggests, it erases memory. To be more precise, the consumer of the potion will have their memory for a maximum of four hours before the potion''s consumption, erased. Fumio would knock his target out with the knock out powder, and he would inject the unconscious target with the potion. He would then carry the unconscious target at least a hundred kilometers away from his hill, making the target wake up not knowing how they ended up waking up at an unfamiliar place. He thought of using the same potion to the treasure fragment carriers who are evil, but because he got used to eliminating those types, he chose to eliminate them fearing that they would cause further harm in the future. "Yori-san, Akane-san, you folks still haven''t dropped the -sensei?" Fumio asks the dancer couple. "No." Yori shakes his head. "It''s hard. I don''t you about you three, but it just doesn''t feel right to us." Akane explains. Not only were Havvah and Ahdem counselors and therapists to Fumio, Kotone, and Yoshiko, they have also become teachers to the younger cultivators. The younger cultivators have been learning general hand to hand combat and general swordsmanship from the couple. With the couple''s hundreds of thousands of years of experience, they know more than just a thing or two about fighting. Fumio have also been learning practical modern medicine from Havvah. Another reason why Fumio now has a stronger stomach when it comes to killing and death, was because Havvah had him dissect almost a hundred cadavers so far, for more visceral experience of the human anatomy. He asked once where Havvah got so many cadavers and he found out that those cadavers were acquired by Red. He can only wonder how Red acquired that many bodies of both the superiori and the non-superiori. Yori and Akane also learned how to fight barehanded from Havvah and Ahdem. They however, did not learn general swordsmanship from the old couple unlike their senior cultivators. Instead, they learned spearmanship, archery, and throwing weapons. Akane focused on archery. She was taught by Havvah how to make her own bow and her arrows from modern materials, and how to shoot correctly while maintaining her comfort in doing so. Yori meanwhile, focused on spearmanship and throwing weapons, learning everything he knows from the subject from Ahdem. Ahdem also served as his regular sparring partner. "I would be calling them ''sensei'' too if that title isn''t already taken." Yoshiko tells Fumio. "Huh What does that make me?" Fumio chuckles. "What would that make us feel, Fumio? Someone who kicked our asses calling us ''sensei''? It''s good that you never changed how you talk to us." Havvah tells Fumio. "With how you''ve been kicking my ass lately, I''m thinking of no longer addressing you and Ahdem-san with ''-san'', but with ''-sama''." Fumio shrugs. "Haaa it''s not fair." Kotone sighs to the side. Ahdem and Havvah also got their senior cultivators'' respect due to their cultivation. Even though they started cultivating later than their seniors, who have only started consolidating their True Seas for two months, they are currently the most advanced, both having consolidated four True Elixir Seas. Compared to the couple, Fumio who started the earliest who started consolidating true seas five months ago, has consolidated three and three quarters. Kotone consolidated three and one third, and Yoshiko consolidated three. Even if the couple limit themselves to the levels of their senior cultivators during sparring, their experience in combat is enough for them to dominate. "Well. Nothing''s fair." Fumio shrugs. "Yori-san and Akane-san already has consolidated three True Seas even though they don''t use boosters." He says. "What boosters?" Akane and Yori look at Fumio in curiosity. "Ah" The rest of the cultivators meanwhile, nod, knowing that Fumio is referring to the Spiritual Energy Crystals. "I''m not at liberty to say. Boss will tell you two someday anyway." Fumio shrugs in reply to the couple. "" The couple can only drop their curiosity. "Talking about boosters. The kids already started bathing in the poisons and the herbal baths at 100% concentration since two weeks ago. Taishiro was the last one to start." Yori relays. "WHAT?" The others, except Akane who has been taking care of the children with Yori, are all surprised. They know how painful Red''s concoctions are, having all used them in their own hell training. "Yes. They also soak for much longer." Akane adds. "Well. Judging on how not worried you two look, I''m guessing the children are fine?" Havvah asks. "They are." Yori nods. "It''s crazy. But they got used to the pain." He chuckles in amusement. "Are you sure?" Havvah asks for certainty. "Yes. Taishiro even dubbed the baths as ''crazy mouthwash water''. He said it feels like how his mouth burns when he once tried to gargle mouthwash, only worse and on his entire body." Yori explains further. This assures the group. They know that Taishiro is scared of pain the most out of the children so if he is fine with the pain, then the other children find the full concentration poison and herbal baths, at least tolerable. "Mouthwash Hah!" Ahdem chortles at the comparison, his pleasant sounding laugh removes the last worry that everyone have regarding the children''s safety. "*sluurrpp* ahhhh." Akane finishes the last drop of her coffee with a refreshed sigh. "By the way, why did Kichirou-sama name his coffee shops ''Of Eden''?" She asks the group. "Heh-heh." Fumio chuckles as he looks at Ahdem and Havvah. His simple action make the others who are not in the know look at the couple. " Eden, or to be more exact, ''Garden of Eden''. It''s what the Yehudists and Salvation Religion used to call the place Ahdem and I first lived." Havvah explains. "It''s where the word ''paradise'' came from." Ahdem explains. "Ohhh" The cultivators, except Fumio, are in awe at the revelation. "Boss'' garden hills and his farm in the treasure dimension can be considered as ''Eden'' of our time." Fumio explains. "Even though Kichirou-san''s gardens are very small, I have to admit, they look as if they are small pieces of the original Eden." Havvah explains. "It''s funny." Yoshiko smiles, amused. "The menu too. ''Cappucino of Eden'', ''Espresso of Eden'', or ''Mocha of Eden''. It''s like Sensei saying ''this coffee is of my gardens.''" She connects. "It''s clever" Kotone, Yori, and Akane are surprised that the odd name of Red''s caf chain has such meaning. "It''s not that clever." Red says, suddenly appearing. "Sir." "Buddy." "Sensei." "Kichirou-sama." All sorts of greetings come his way. "How are you all?" He asks the group. The group only answer ''fine'' and ''we are well'' as they know that despite rarely meeting Red in the past two months, his demons who they spend a lot of time with when not training, always report to Red. "Good." Red nods. "It''s obvious that you''re all curious why I''ve gathered you all here today." He starts. "" The disciples lean forwards in interest and caution. From what they know about Red, they suspect a few reasons why they are all gathered. Kotone suspects that Red will give them something. Fumio suspects that they will be given a group task. Yoshiko, Akane, and Yori are excited that Red might teach them something. And Havvah and Ahdem suspect that they will be tested. "Oh, relax." Red chuckles in amusement at the group''s reaction. "I''ve only called you all here so that you can witness something that you all will go through IF you reach my current level.." He reveals. Chapter 168 - Void. We Meet Again.” "I''ve called you all here to witness something that you all will go through IF you manage to reach my current level." Red states his purpose of gathering everyone. "What is it?" Havvah is intrigued. "We don''t even know what level you really are" Ahdem utters his thoughts aloud. His words trigger everyone''s curiosity. Everyone, including Ahdem and Havvah, had sparred with Red from time to time. Red however, always limits himself to their respective levels during the spars. The most powerful each of them has seen Red is when Red shows them the maximum potential they can do with their current cultivations, giving them something to strive for. "Then let me give you an idea." Red says, surprising the group. Before they can even confirm if they really heard what they heard, Red opens up a portal to the treasure dimension and, "Come with me.", leads everyone in. After crossing the treasure dimension, everyone finds themselves standing in the middle of a huge igloo. They find Xoz''gekal, wearing thick clothes, waiting for them just a few steps away from the portal. The demon was left behind by Red to watch over the activated treasure fragment he planted a few days ago. "Looking the part, Xoz." Red chuckles, seeing Xoz''gekal looking like a tall Inuit. "Whatever." Xoz''gekal scoffs summoning a small flame vulture to carve out the ice floor to make more room in his igloo. "Don''t bother. We won''t be camping with you." Red stops Xoz''gekal before leading the group out of the igloo. As soon as everyone step out of Xoz''gekal''s camp, they almost get blinded by the glare of the icy and snowy expanse being shined upon by the sun. Even though the group now all have incredible physiques, they still feel the cold. *whoosh* A gust of wind assaults the group giving everyone''s faces a chilly caress. "W-where are we?" Akane asks almost shivering from the cold. "Antarctica." Red tells everyone as he starts ascending the sky using spiritual energy platforms. "" The group simply follow Red by doing the same thing, no longer surprised that they are somewhere very far away from home. After the group reaches three hundred meters above the ground, "Fumio." Red calls out and stops. "Yes?" Fumio is taken aback, being solely addressed. "You''ve seen a fraction of what I can do back in that uninhabited island." Red says. "Yes." Fumio remembers Red''s fight with Dominic and his use of the giant sword tip to cut down Dominic''s almost impregnable defense. "" The others are curious as to why Fumio and Red were in an uninhabited island. "Boss showed me the Folding Sword Art." Fumio informs the group. "Ah" Everyone understands. The Folding Sword Art. With just a few quick and perfectly consistent consecutive swing of a sword, along with the circulation of elixir in specific meridians in a pattern, Red was able to condense and shape his spiritual energy into a very sharp sword energy. And just a fraction of that technique was able to easily deal near mortal damage to Dominic. Fumio has some understanding in it and has attempted many times to execute it during his spars with the others. He never succeeded in landing a strike on any of his fellow disciples using the battle technique however. "Anyway." Red interrupts. "Let me show you a hint. Watch carefully." He says and raises his hand to the sky, his middle and index finger the only fingers unfolded. Everyone then sees a skyscraper sized phantom of a sword blade appear in the sky. They feel their hearts tremble. Not only because of the sheer size of the sword, or the chaotic spiritual energy it is emanating, they also feel immense danger warning them despite the sword being at least a hundred meters away. Red then moves his hand. This makes the giant sword phantom change position from pointing straight down, to its tip raised higher than its base. Then, at an incredible speed, everyone see the sword phantom slash towards the ground. *FWAHHHH* The immaculately flat snow desert is disturbed when fog and snow dust suddenly explode on the ground at a straight line, measuring at least a hundred meters and tens of meters deep. As the dust clears, they see a perfectly straight ditch appears right where the sword swung its entirety. The cultivators and one demon, are speechless at the size of the damage to the landscape. They thought that Red''s display is over but they see that from the huge ditch, the gigantic sword they saw earlier, resurfaces and returns to its previous position in the sky. They notice that it has not lost its form despite leaving a deep cut in the thick Antarctic ice. They do not get the chance to release the breaths they are holding when suddenly, four more phantom swords, the same size and length as the first one Red materialized, appear beside it. Then, with another twitch of his fingers, Red manipulates the five swords. The scene earlier repeats itself, only this time, multiplied by five. The sound of explosion reverberates once again and followed by the ground exploding with snow dusts, revealing more ditches. Red retreats the swords once again to the sky and doubles their number, with a total of ten giant phantom sword blades. The other cultivators can only watch and feel small before ten swords arrogantly standing in the sky. Red once again with just his will and a wave of his hand, has the swords assault the ground once again. A few moments later, the cultivators can only stare muddleheadedly at the mutilated landscape. "Hmmm Not bad." Red takes them out of their daze with his words. The cultivators also see the giant swords in the sky has disappeared as if the swords were never there in the first place. They then look at Red with stunned gazes. They want to ask Red questions but they do not even know what to ask. "Havvah-san." Red addresses the woman. "If we fill the ditch with salt, or blood, wouldn''t that be perfect?" He asks as he points at his handiwork. "" Havvah and Ahdem speechlessly look at the ground. Just a few seconds later, they are stunned once again right after recovering from Red''s display. "T-that" "I-it is." The two share helpless looks. Their expressions take their fellow cultivator''s curiosity and they get inquiring gazes from them. "Kichirou-san is saying that we can just fill those lines with salt or blood, and we have ourselves quite possibly one the largest demon-trapping seals." Havvah explains to the group. The group then falls silent. Red''s display is a lot for them to process. "Boss." Fumio gets his words back first. "Did you go all out?" He asks. "No. That''s just pure elixir manipulation and control. I''ve not even used the most basic spiritual energy battle technique." Red explains. "" The group is stunned once again. If Red can cause such destruction with just his elixir and his control with it, they can only wonder what Red can do with even the most basic battle technique. "Fumio. I hope you picked up something." Red then asks Fumio. "Sorry boss It was too spectacular to learn from." Fumio answers honestly in embarrassment. He does not need to feel embarrassed however as his fellow cultivators can relate to what he is feeling. "That''s unfortunate." Red shrugs. "Anyway. The reason why I brought you here is because I will undergo what I would call a ''tribulation''." He informs the group. "Tribulation?" The cultivators get curious. "Do you all think the universe will simply let us exploit its rules without consequences? I will be the first of us to suffer that consequence." Red tells them with a smirk. "" The group feel their spines tingle. They do not know why they are currently feeling immense danger suddenly appearing in the air, but it makes them very uneasy. Red then smiles as he releases the breakthrough he had been suppressing for the past few days. He then looks up at the sky with a welcoming smile. His students see his actions and they too, look towards the sky. If they felt small while witnessing Red''s destructive display, they feel even smaller with what is currently happening. Above them, they the clear sky suddenly become darker. The clouds that were few and scattered are now quickly swimming towards the part of the sky that is directly above them. A few moments later, grey clouds, covering half of the sky, have now accumulated and are slowly spiraling around a focal point. *Krrshh* *kkrssh* They then hear the deep rumbling coming from the center of the spiral of clouds, as if an ancient primordial beast is about to show itself. "Everyone. Please, give me some space. Fifty meters should be more than enough." Red says before descending straight down to the ground. His disciples quickly take out their flying swords and they hurryingly follow Red''s orders. They cannot wait to get to safety. The unease in their hearts get relieved for now as they feel that the farther they are from Red, the safer they feel. "Haaa" Red then sits down on the cold ground, with legs crossed. Then, he starts executing the Celestial Body Cultivation Technique. Unlike his casual exterior to his disciples, there is worry in his heart. He has already lost track of how long it had been since he became a Sovereign in the Infinite Realms. That is how long since he last had a cultivation tribulation. While he vaguely remembers his previous life breaking through the stage he is about to break through, he feels uncertain of his success. After all, ascending to the Nascent Soul Stage focuses on the connection of his soul and his body. The uncertainty roots from the unequal strength of his soul and body. His body and his Core, despite being almost as perfect as his foundations in his previous life, is containing his soul which he suspects is even larger than that of a True Immortal''s. It is simply something he has never heard of before happen in his very long existence, so his wisdom about cultivation is a bit useless in his current case. *KRrrkk**Krrrk* He hears the rumble of the void thunder accumulating above him. He can only take a deep breath to clear his mind more. He has already tried his best to toughen, purify, and refine his body to the utmost limit he can. He wants to find more treasure around Terra that might assist him in this tribulation, but he ultimately decided not to. He wants to fully reap the benefits of the void lightning that will assault him at any moment from now. He knows the risks of it. He knows that not only will he fail in his tribulation; he will also die and his soul will dissipate back into the void. But even so, he does not care if his tribulation really fails. He has already lived long enough. The only regret he will have if he dies, is that he will not be able to witness his new disciples'' growth. That his disciples will have to learn from the millions of jade slips he painstakingly made and stored somewhere, instead of them learning personally from him. *rumble* A flash of light shows itself among the clouds, and Red feels a greeting coming. "Void. We meet again." He smiles as he welcomes the first lightning. Chapter 169 - "My Little Dream..." *CRACK* "Sss" Red cannot help but hiss as the first tribulation lightning, as thick as a bamboo pole, strikes down on him. He feels his skin burning as the lightning envelopes the entire surface of his body. Fortunately, he finds the pain tolerable, and the lightning was not enough to injure him. After gathering himself, he immediately absorbs the thick superior spiritual energy that has come along with the lightning. He will not let a hill''s worth of Spiritual Energy Crystals go to waste. "huuuuu" With a deep breath of his cultivation technique, his meridians go on to work faster than usual to feed his diamond-like cultivation core. After sweeping all the remaining spiritual energy from the lightning, he pumps his core to immediately refine his meridians and his organs. As soon as he is done, *RUMBLE* he hears the void lightning among the clouds finish gathering. The next moment, *CRACK* the second tribulation strikes down. The lightning this time, is just a bit thicker and more vigorous than the first. "Sss" Red hisses once again. The second lightning not only digs to his skin just like the first, it also digs deeper in his being, and reaches under his skin. He cannot help but tremble feeling as if his skin is being flayed from his muscles. He takes a moment to stabilize himself before once again absorbing the thick spiritual energy that came along with the lightning and using it to refine his body even more. Even though the process is more painful than the first time, he immediately became accustomed to using the tribulation lightning for his benefit. For now, he can rest easy as he knows that he will have no problems with the next two or three tribulation lightnings to come to come. *CRACK* The third tribulation lightning, thicker in size than the second, strikes down, punishing each muscle in Red''s body. While it was painful for Red, his ever adapting tolerance endures it and he continues to hungrily absorb the thick spiritual energy that came along with the lightning. *CRACK* The fourth tribulation lighting, thicker than the ones that came earlier, strikes down, sinking deep down in his bones. "Oof.." This time, he cannot help but softly grunt. The lightning this time, almost felt corporeal, that hammered down on him. He already expected it however and was able to brace himself. After recovering, he once again goes on to exploit the benefits of the lightning. *CRACK* The fifth tribulation lightning came down. "OOFF." Red grunts harder. He feels his organs being tormented by the lightning. Lesser willed men would be wishing for death at this point. If he, in his long existence, did not experience all sorts of pain from injuries in battle, or have built up his pain tolerance by inflicting pain on himself, he would be screaming his head off. After a moment of recovery, he manages to once again absorb the very rich spiritual energy that came along with the lightning. *CRACK* The sixth tribulation lightning comes down. "MMMMFFHHHH" He cannot help but let out a prolonged growl. He feels that each cell of his entire physical body is being torn to pieces. Instead of putting an effort in stopping the pain or fighting the damage being inflicted to his body, he simply lets it happen while gritting his teeth. A few seconds pass and he gets worried. He feels that the lightning is still tearing at his body. While is using the lightning''s effect to inflict trauma on his body, he does not want too much of it, or else it will be more than just dangerous. Before he can start fighting it, to his relief, the pain stops blaring and is now consistently pulsating; a sign that the lightning''s effect has stopped wreaking havoc in his being. He then puts his meridians and core to overdrive and repairs as much as he can, the damage that was done to his being by the tribulation lightning. Even though he is now injured, and is only fifty percent in his capacity, he knows that his tribulation had been smooth up to this point. What worries himself instead, is the upcoming eight lightning. *Rumble* He hears the eighth lightning brew in the sky and he looks up. Unlike the previous lightnings, he does not hear a crack as the lightning hits him. Instead, his world turns dark and finds himself in a dark abyss. Within the darkness, the only light is coming from his body. He finds however that he no longer is in the body of Terra''s Red Darra, but in his previous body as the Red Sovereign. Suddenly, a figure of a woman fades into existence in front of him. "Father." She greets him with a beautiful smile. " My little dream" Red can only utter the nickname him and his wife used to call her when she was a child. He wants to approach the woman, but he cannot move. When was last time he saw his daughter? When did he watch her return to the Void? He already lost track how long ago it was. Her image however never faded in his memory. "How I yearned to see you once again, father." His daughter says with a bitter sweet smile. "I" Red does not know if it really is his daughter in front of him, or simply an illusion made by the Void, but he cannot help but feel that she is here with him. "I longed for you too, my little dream." He utters. "I''m proud of you, father." She says, the bitterness in her smile disappears. "You are?" He returns a smile. It is more likely that the daughter in front of him is an illusion made by his tribulation, but he decides to indulge himself in it at least for a little while. "I always knew, father, that you would one day become the Overlord of the infinite realms. That you would then have the power to bring me back. Bring mother back. Bring brother back. If it weren''t for the other sovereigns" His daughter laments with a sigh. "" He is stunned. He knows that this is simply a trick by the void during his tribulation, but he cannot help but feel a pang of guilt in his heart. He knows that he could not have survived his last battle in the infinite realms no matter. But he did become an Overlord even though it was only for a few breaths before his death. He now regrets to not have attempted to bring his loved ones back as a last-ditch effort to see them again. He remembers an important matter however and it soothed his guilt for a bit. "I''m sorry, my little dream. When I became an Overlord, I was no longer a father, nor a friend to anyone, nor the leader of my people. I became as indifferent as the Void itself. I no longer cared about Okuba, or the people I''ve come to love. "You, your mother, and your brother did not even cross my mind, as if you were but strangers in a distant memory..." He reasons to himself and to explain to his daughter. "That is lonely." His daughter says sadly. "It was. That''s why I was grateful to the void for sparing me that fate, and let me die while wishing for the void to follow you all in the next life if there really is one." Red says with a consoling smile. "" His daughter beams a smile at him. "And yet, here we are. It seemed that the Void did not grant your wish for a true death?" She asks. "That seems to be so." Red nods. "You are special father. The void bringing you to a new world is the evidence of that. What if you can ask for more?" His daughter asks. "What are you saying?" He frowns. "To be reborn with us in the afterlife. Eternal bliss with your family and all that." His daughter clarifies. "Is there really an afterlife?" He asks. This time, addressing the void. "You''ve spent countless of years cultivating, father. And along with that, has lived longer than the permanence of many things. Isn''t it time to rest? To come with me?" His daughter says however, the void not speaking through her more directly as he hoped. "There might be an afterlife father, there also may not be." His daughter continues. "If there is, then me, mother, and brother are there waiting for you. If there is not, then look at it as a way out that the void is giving you, for you to return to it, for you to finally achieve your eternal rest." She concludes. Red does not indeed know if there is an afterlife or not. What he knows however, is that he is not special. He had become one with the void, and while it was only for a short while, he realizes that while the void is a conscious overseer, it sees all things equal. A Sovereign and a single-celled organism do not make a difference to it. After all, it is eternal and all things, no matter how powerful will return to it in the end. "My little dream" Red addresses his daughter this time. Even though there is the slightest chance that it really is his daughter in front of him, he decides to be honest and candid. "Was I a good father?" He asks. "You were the greatest man I''ve ever known, father. But as a father?" Red sees deep confliction in his daughter''s eyes. "I do not know. I should say yes because you have loved me and my brother. That you have raised us to be the best we can. And yet I did not feel any more special than the countless other people who see you as their father figure. It might be my selfishness, or my immaturity, father, but "I simply cannot say with all my heart, that you were a good father to me." She says apologetically. "I understand." Red sighs. He always knew his children have been jealous, he just never heard them say it. " Can you risk it? Father? In our next life, I want a share of your undivided attention that I longed." His daughter pleads. "My little dream" Red smiles bitterly. If he can embrace his daughter right now, he would. "I will find a way to be with you again. So, can you wait for me a for a little longer?" He asks. "This moment, father. Is it not the way? The void itself is giving it to you." His daughter asks in sadness. "It is not, my little dream. I know it is not" Red shakes his head. "I''m sorry, my little dream. But I will definitely find a way for our family to become one once again." He promises in finality. " very well" His daughter whispers, but he sees deep sadness in her eyes. While the way his daughter looks currently breaks his heart, he knows that the tribulation is not the answer. In fact, this test by the void simply pulled out his long lost desire. He does not know where he is in the infinite realms, or if he even is in it, but he hopes that the answer he failed to find in the infinite realms, he will find in wherever this place the void brought him to. As if the dark abyss was affected by his heart, *crack* a bright crack appears in it, swallowing the darkness within.