Chapter 148 - "You Really Don't 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.