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.

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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.