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.