Chapter 155 - "...Let's 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.