Chapter 266 - Vol. 4 - 65

Ash

Two Days Later

The half-demon's eyes blinked open, and she guessed that it was still very early into the morning, based on the severe cold in the air. For the past few days, every time Ash woke up, there was a small amount of determination burning under her skin. 

Today, however, for the first time in a while, Ash's body felt so heavy she was reluctant to even get out of bed. 

... Fuck. 

Closing her eyes again, Ash took a few seconds to just breathe, before she felt something across her stomach and looked down. 

Keiko had a hand over Ash's body. The Zayama was to her left, and as Ash looked over at her, she saw that the woman was still asleep. Facing her, Ash placed a hand on her cheek. 

"..." 

Looking at her now, she wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but this was the most peaceful face Ash had seen her with in a while. And, honestly, she was happy for her. At the same time, though, those tears she had shed before let her know that something inside of her didn't quite feel right. 

Yawning, the half-demon turned away and got out of bed, throwing on a white shirt and some shorts as she exited the room. There was no one outside, and Ash walked through the halls mindlessly for a while, before coming out to the garden. 

Here, she saw one person she hadn't seen much of lately. 

Zafir was standing by the railing with some other senator, both looking out at Amber's landscape. Ash had been about to turn around and walk back inside but Zafir caught her just before she did so, and called out to her. 

"Ah, Savior," he said, and Ash stopped. 

"Yeah?" 

"I had been meaning to speak with you. Do you have a moment?" 

Ugh.  Ash nearly rolled her eyes as she walked over to him. Putting her hands on her hips, she asked:

"What is it?" 

"Good morning to you as well," he laughed. "I won't take up much of your time. I simply wished to inform you that there is one more church to the south of the city, that you may not have inspected yet." 

"Seriously?" Ash asked. 

"Yes," Zafir nodded. "I too had wondered how this one escaped my attention, however, after a bit of inspection I discovered that although this one started off as a church, it later became a standard house belonging to a family that wished to surround themselves with nature. I do not know if it fits your specific criteria," he shrugged. "But I felt it may be good to bring it to your attention." 

"... Where is it?" 

"You can see it from here," Zafir stated, pointing over the railing. "Do you see that place in the distance? Looks almost like an old barn." 

"Uh, yeah," she replied, narrowing her eyes at the object. 

"That is it," Zafir said. "Apparently, it used to be a church. It is just half an hour's walk away. Unless a dragon decides to swoop in on you during your brief journey, you likely won't even run into any monsters." 

Hey, careful, with my luck, that might actually happen. 

"Thanks," Ash said quickly, cutting the conversation short. Apparently, Zafir disagreed with that.

"It is no problem... Actually," Zafir added, "do you have a moment later? I would like to speak with you about something."

"Probably not," Ash quickly replied, turning around and walking away. 

She wasn't sure what he was going to ask her about, but Ash's danger senses were firing off as soon as he said that, and as she'd established a few times already, she wanted nothing to do with it. However, her mind then pondered that church for a few seconds while Ash stood in the center of the empty manor. 

Hm, honestly, it might not be a bad idea to check that place out. If only just to get my mind off of things,  Ash thought.  Who knows? Maybe I'll find a couple of monsters to break in half and take my... whatever the fuck I'm feeling, out on. 

Nodding to herself, she quickly decided that this would be how she began her day. 

She walked back into her room and quickly devoured the remainder of whatever bread was left in her bag, before she took her Savior's Weapon and put on some leather pants. She didn't bother putting on all of her armor, half because it was annoying and half because she wanted to get walking as soon as possible. 

In all honesty, this was just an excuse to try to walk her stress off. Even if this place had been a church, Ash doubted it was an actual Site of Power. Still, she welcomed the distraction right now. 

Just as she was about to exit the door, Keiko spoke up. 

"Ash?" She asked, and the half-demon froze. 

"... Yeah?" Ash turned toward her and saw the girl's eyes blinking open, in a pretty adorable way. Keiko propped herself up on one arm and went to sit up, though, Ash stopped her. 

Ash walked over and lightly put her hands on the girl's shoulders. 

"You don't have to," Ash said. "It's still pretty early." 

"... Aaaah," Keiko yawned. "Is it?" She asked, her silver eyes looking up at Ash, still tired. "Are you going somewhere?" 

"Yeah, I've got to take a short trip, but I'll be back before the hour's done, probably." 

"Oh. Alright," Keiko said, looking down, before quickly looking back up again. "Are you sure?" 

Hm?  Ash raised a brow. 

"What do you mean?" 

"S-Sorry, it's just... These past couple of days, that potion had me knocked out for most of the time. I haven't gotten to do anything with you in a bit." 

As Keiko just said, although Tyl had mentioned that she'd have to take the rest of the day off after downing the flask's contents, instead, for two whole days Keiko had been all but locked up in their room, as the potion's side-effects had been stronger than they'd anticipated. 

To Ash's eyes, however, it looked like the effects had finally subsided. It was strange to think about after several weeks, but, finally, Keiko was back to her old self. 

"Don't worry," Ash said, before pressing a kiss against the girl's forehead. "I won't be walking through Amber the rest of the day, or whatever. Zafir, apparently, found some other church. He suggested I go check it out, and I figured it would be a good idea. That's all." 

"Oh, I see," Keiko nodded, rubbing her eyes. As she did so, Ash gave her a little smile and softly pushed her back down. 

"Rest up," Ash said. "I'll be back in a bit." 

"... Okay," Keiko said. "I love you." 

It really is getting easier for her to say that, huh?  Ash thought, hiding a smirk. 

"Yeah... I... I love you too." 

---

With all of that said, half an hour later, Ash was walking up to a place that reminded her of Satsuhiro's farm. Only, this place showed all the signs of a building that had been up for a century and was due to fall to pieces every second now to the first strong gust of wind that hit it. All she needed, however, was an altar, if she was to turn this into a source of strength for Lumina. 

So, Ash stood outside its doors, hoping this was actually, somehow, a Site of Power. 

Here goes nothing,  she thought, as she placed a hand on one door and pushed it open. 

"Hm... Okay," Ash said, as she looked inside and, initially, she found nothing but a few tables and a room with enough dust inside of it to make Ash worry she was going to develop problems with breathing one of these days. "Well, it's definitely as old as all those other churches, holy shit." 

Walking in, she quickly began searching for any altars, but alas, her search was fruitless. One room after another, it became clear that this "church" had indeed turned into something else entirely if it had ever been a church, to begin with, and just around ten minutes after she'd walked in, Ash came right back out. 

However, to her surprise, whereas before she'd been alone when she exited, there were people here. 

She actually flinched when she saw them, her hand quickly moving to her Savior's Weapon. Instead, however, when she saw that it was just Zafir and two other men, who looked like mages, They'd come here in a cart being pulled by two horses.

Ash calmed down a little. 

"... Not gonna lie," Ash spoke up, "it's pretty fucking creepy that you just showed up like this. Got anything to say?" 

"Yes. Like I said earlier, I wished to speak with you," Zafir told her. 

"Is that a nice way of saying you wanted to kill me out here where no one would see?" Ash asked. "Because I'd rather we just get to the fighting already if that's the case." 

"No, no, no," Zafir shook his head. "I am being genuine. I did wish to talk. However, considering the people who could overhear, I figured it would be better to do this away from Amber's ears." 

"Really?" Ash tilted her head, smirking. "You want to talk? That's it? Go ahead, what do you want to say?" 

She asked, her hand still hovering over her  Lust. 

"Ahem, simple," Zafir said, before taking a deep breath. "Savior, I will ask this very clearly. What would you say if I told you that Amber's future was not one that it would spend in the shadow of Jade?"

Ash blinked. 

"I'd say I really don't give a shit, and that means nothing to me."

"... Is that so?" Zafir asked. "Hmph. From what I've heard, after researching you, I do believe this. In that case, we're done here." 

Just like that, Zafir and his mages hopped right back onto the cart. 

"Would you like a ride back to the Manor?" Zafir asked. 

Ash just stood there, stunned. 

"Uh, no. I'm good." 

"Suit yourself," Zafir replied and, just like that, the cart began rolling away. 

....  I think this would have been a lot less confusing if we just fought, if I'm being honest,  Ash thought, before promptly beginning to walk in the same direction they'd gone.