Chapter 56 - Vol. 2 - 21

Ash

The next day

The half-demon sat by her lonesome at a small lobby in Jade's Palace. 

She had been called here in the morning by way of a courier the Royal Council sent to the Savior House. Ash had answered the door with bags under her eyes, her and the other girls' sleeping schedule ruined by the fact that they'd went to sleep in the morning after the battle. 

"Greetings!" An overly excited courier said to her with a smile, his expression fading when he saw the horns on her head. 

"..." Ash stared at him with narrowed eyes, lacking the energy to even speak.

"U-Uh," the boy scratched his chin. "Here!" 

She was handed an envelope and the boy took three steps back. 

Looking down at it, Ash sighed and walked back in. Metsumi was making some coffee for everyone. Keiko and Kaori were on the couch, the Zayama laying her head on Kaori's lap, trying not to fall asleep as Kaori yawned above her. 

"Wh..." Kaori mumbled. "What's that?" 

"A letter. Kaori, can you read this?"

"Huh?" Kaori tilted her head. 

"I can't read, remember? I mean, not well, anyway." 

"Oh. Sure." 

She handed it over to Kaori and the blonde struggled somewhat to tear it open due to the absence of one of her hands. But, once she did, her eyes scanned over the words written on the paper inside. Ash peeked over her shoulder. The handwriting was some of the fanciest she'd ever seen.

"Dear Savior Ash," Kaori started, "your presence is being requested by Savior Satsuhiro as a new mission has been determined for the both of you. Please, follow the courier to the palace and the details will be given to you there. With regards, the Royal Council."

"A mission with Satsu?" Ash asked. "Did you read that right?" 

"I'm not the dropout, Ash," Kaori said with a smirk, something that caught Ash off-guard. The hybrid blinked. 

"Damn. Alright then." Ash chuckled.

"Uh, s-sorry, I-it's the morning and..." 

"No, no. That was kinda..." Ash turned away, chuckling. "Anyway, I'll be back later then. Let's see what these people want. See ya." 

She walked outside and, as was instructed, she followed the courier to the Palace. 

That led to the current moment, where she was sitting around trying her absolute hardest not to fall asleep. Metsumi had suggested that she and the other girls tough it out, stay up until nighttime and fix their sleeping schedules that way. That meant as these talks were about to happen, Ash felt like she cared even less than usual. 

The only good part about this was that she could barely feel her Lust, as her mind was overtaken by thoughts of a warm bed. 

Eventually, a person in a white and gold ji approached her, their hands behind their back as they walked up with a smile. 

"Savior, please, follow me." 

"Four words. No bullshit. Thanks," Ash muttered. The worker laughed. 

"You do not seem like you would appreciate a conversation at this moment." 

"That's right. Where do we have to go?" 

She was led up a floor to the same meeting room where she and the others had been immediately after arriving at the city, only this time, it was just Talo and Satsuhiro occupying the room as she entered. She quickly sat down at the first chair she saw and put a hand under her chin. 

"What's up?" She asked. 

Talo grinned. 

"Ah, Ash. As charming as ever," they chuckled. "We trust you are having a good day?" 

"No. So, what's up?" 

Satsuhiro walked up to her and handed over a piece of paper. 

"Hm? Satsu, you know I can't..." She was about to say,  I can't read, but then she saw that there weren't words on the parchment. There was a map. "What's this?" 

"Stop calling me that..." Satsuhiro mumbled, equally as exhausted as she was, even though Ash guessed he was far more accustomed to these sorts of days. "Another portal opened up." 

"What?" 

That statement woke the half-demon up. 

"Yep." 

"You're joking. Where?" 

"Calm down," Satsuhiro said. "It didn't open up anywhere near a city or a village or anything. It spawned in the middle of the woods." 

"What the hell?" That made Ash raise a brow.  I mean... These things aren't random, right? Niven opens them up at his own will, so, why would he make one in the middle of nowhere? 

Satsuhiro continued. 

"I figured this was a good opportunity." 

"For what?"

"To see if there's any way to close these things," Satsuhiro explained, pacing back and forth. "I think at this point, a few assumptions can be made. Firstly, at some point, they'll probably invade the other cities the same way they did with Pearl. Second, fighting these demons in a straight-up battle when they do that is suicide. The buff they receive is too strong. At least," he locked eyes with her, "if we're under the assumption that the portal remains open the entire time. If it doesn't, then the number of demons we have to fight becomes finite, and in that case, we can have a much bigger impact. We, being, you know, the Saviors."

"Yeah," Ash nodded. It made some sense to her, though she was still firmly in the camp that believed this entire struggle to be unwinnable. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Simple," Satsuhiro said. "I've been studying dimensional magic. From that research, I've come to the conclusion that there are three ways for a portal to be maintained. One, it is spawned by an object and will remain as long as the object remains intact. Two, it is spawned by a person and will remain as long as the person remains alive, three, it is a spell with a set duration, and that means eventually, the portal's magic will run out." 

Ash nodded, trying her best to follow along. 

"You and I are going to head out to see if either of the first two options are the case." 

"What about the third? And, why me? Why not take the other Saviors? They have more experience." 

"About that third one, we can just send some scouts to Pearl to see if the portal is still up. Monitor the area and see if it ever fades out. Now, about why I want you with me," Satsuhiro looked away, "you're right. They do have more experience, but because this buff affects you, the hard truth is that you're probably the strongest individual person in the entire city right now." Satsuhiro shrugged. "I don't need someone else trying to come up with strategies. I just need someone who I don't have to worry about while I work." 

Ash nodded. 

"... Understood." Maybe it was just her sleepy mind agreeing with whatever she heard, but as far as she could tell, he was right. Fewer people meant fewer casualties to worry about, and as far as Ash could tell, as sad as it was, none of the other Saviors could match Niven's buff. 

"Then it's settled. We'll leave tomorrow." Satsuhiro stated. 

"That soon?" Ash asked. 

"Although no portal has opened up near any of the major cities, a portal could open up near them soon. We want to be done with this as quickly as possible." 

---

Kaori

As Ash left the house, Kaori rested her head against the couch. Her right hand absent-mindedly ran through Keiko's hair. The morning felt colder than usual. She could hear Metsumi humming a little song to herself in the kitchen as she prepared them some coffee. 

Kaori's eyes found her left-arm stump and she sighed. 

"Kaori," Keiko said and Kaori looked down at her. "Uh... How are you holding up?" 

"..." Kaori looked back at her arm. "I... Well, it feels pretty fricking terrible to literally not have an arm anymore. But..." she shook her head. "I had to do it. It is what it is." 

Keiko looked over at it and reached up, placing a hand where Kaori's left arm ended. The blonde flinched. 

"Sorry." 

"No, it's... it's fine." Kaori tried to smile at her. Keiko laughed lightly. "What?" 

"Nah, I was just thinking..." 

"Yeah?" 

"... Uh, that, like, e-even like this..." Keiko looked away. "Exhausted, beaten up, all that. You're still so beautiful." 

Kaori blinked. 

"Hahaha," she couldn't help but laugh a little. "I bet I'd look even better with two arms instead of one." 

"U-Uh, sorry, I..." 

"I'm joking, I'm joking," Kaori stated. "Gotta cope with it somehow, you know?" 

"Maybe this will help," Metsumi placed two cups on the table in front of them. Then, she put a hand on Kaori's shoulder. "Let me know if you need anything." 

"Will do." 

Keiko sat up and both girls took their respective mugs. However, Keiko looked down for a bit, and then she stood up. 

"C-Come with me," she said. 

"Hm?" Kaori tilted her head, but she followed Keiko as the Zayama walked out of the house. 

Kaori wasn't wearing her armor, but she still kept her head low as she came out into the city, hoping no one would recognize her. Thankfully, Keiko didn't walk too far. She simply approached the bench in front of the tree at the center of the Spirit Gardens District. 

"Keiko, what's..." 

"This was it, right?" Keiko pointed ahead, taking a sip from her coffee. "This was where we met?" 

Kaori nodded slowly. She didn't remember that day too well, the fact that she and Ash were on such bad terms back then made her cringe every time she thought of those times, but she did remember seeing Keiko here. 

"Back then, I couldn't see you," Keiko said softly. "And, I could still tell you were so bright. It's why I vouched for you when you came to the farm for the first time, why I believe in you just as much as I do in Ash. And... I still do." She turned back to Kaori. "Having one less arm won't change that." 

Kaori sighed, smiling sadly as she looked down, but Keiko walked up to her and practically forced her to look into her eyes. They were so clear, it was almost like the girl had no pupils at all. 

"I'm serious," Keiko told her, in a rare moment where she steeled herself. Kaori almost took a step back. "You're still a hero to me. Even more so now." 

"... A hero whose hugs have gotten worse," Kaori replied as she then walked up to her and awkwardly wrapped her right arm around the Zayama, trying not to spill her coffee. "Thanks, Keiko." 

"U-Uh, no problem..." 

"I'll get over it," Kaori told her, "I just... you know, it sucks." 

Have to stay strong though,  Kaori thought as she looked down at Keiko.  You're not allowed to feel bad right now. Everyone's depending on you. Keiko's right, you're a hero. Heroes don't get sad. 

It was something Kaori had been telling herself since she'd left Pearl. She had to deal with this in secret. While she was with the others though, she couldn't let them see what was going on in her head. That wasn't how heroes worked. 

"Uh... I guess this is a good time to say this too," Keiko started. "I'll be leaving in a bit." 

"Huh?" Kaori, stunned, walked back. "What?" 

"O-OKay, that sounded way more dramatic than I meant it to," Keiko waved her hands, sloshing her coffee back and forth. "I mean, for like, a week." 

That did nothing to ease Kaori's confusion. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I talked to my old teacher and she said there was a place to the east where I could learn some fighting techniques," Keiko explained. "I've been lagging behind everyone pretty badly. I need to catch up. So... I... I think I'm going over there." 

"W-When!?" Kaori was too shocked to process this. 

"I don't know, I mean, I still haven't gotten anyone to agree to take me or whatever, but I'm going to ask my teacher if she can. Or, maybe I'll ask Ioko, or whatever. But... I feel like this is something I need to do." 

"But, Keiko," Kaori looked at her with worry, "you're going to do this alone? Why not have Ash and I come with you?" 

Now, it was Keiko's turn to give a sad smile. 

"You two are Saviors. Saviors in a time where demons are getting worse and worse. I don't think this free time you've got is going to last." 

"W-Whatever," Kaori said, "we'll tell everyone to wait, we'll make time. I mean, I..."

"... I'll be back soon. I promise. I mean, as soon as I get someone to agree to even take me there." 

"Where?" A voice asked behind Keiko. Kaori looked and saw Ash and Satsuhiro walking towards them. 

"How did it go?" Keiko asked, deflecting. 

Ash sighed. 

"We have to leave tomorrow."

And then, Keiko looked back at Kaori, their eyes locking. 

"See? I told you so." Keiko said as Ash raised a brow, looking back and forth between them.