Chapter 96 96 – Amber’s Feeling And Ibaraki’s Mistake

Amber and Ibaraki returned to the hotel late at night after the rain had died down and people stayed in their homes.

Ultimately, they were still a bit drenched from some leftover drizzle, but it could be easily solved by drying their clothes with Phoenix fire.

Kai welcomed them, and three of them sat around the bed, exchanging information they got. It started with Kai, and he told them about the strange driver's behavior and his encounter with Jack-o'-lantern, which was timely as he was with a Vampire then.

He asked Amber whether there was a hypnotic spell or Talisman that could be used to brainwash a vampire. And she answered.

"There is no Talisman or spell to hypnotist people. However, there exists a spell and Talisman to confuse people. Because you couldn't feel a Talisman, I think this driver was under a confusion spell. But that's also strange…"

Then she continued about how the spell worked. Basically, the caster needed to insert his or her Spirit Power into the unconscious individual beforehand. The spell would activate immediately without an exception when that person had woken up.

This is where the strange thing she talked about came from.

"You said he suddenly changed when he entered a mountainous area, right?"

"Yes." Kai nodded.

"Then it's probably not a confusion spell, but something that I don't know about. Maybe it's a dark spell used by Vultures or troublemakers that is banned or something. I don't know every spell in this world, especially those from underground."

"Dark spell…"

Just as its name implied, it was a banned spell that shouldn't be used by and to other people. The reason was simple.

"Yes. The side-effects that both caster and the casted one experienced are way harsher than the effect of the spell. I guess even if the Jack-o'-lantern didn't kill your taxi driver, he would die after the spell's effect had ended. With a more gruesome death than being decapitated without feeling any pain."

"That's scary."

"It is scary, Kai. That's just how the world worked."

Amber smiled wryly at him with a sad expression.

'And I am sorry, but I purposely made you experience these things first so you won't get overwhelmed when the others take notice of your presence in the future. I know you will be involved in a bigger danger than what we experience now.' She added in mind.

From the fight with Ranga, protecting the Spirit Foxes, leaving the Tear and Boogeymen's fake bodies to him. All of that was done purposely by Amber to give Kai a fighting experience.

'Maybe you will hate me when you find out about it later, but I will always love you. Because you are…'

She glanced at Kai, who was holding his chin and in deep thought. His mouth moved slightly, mumbling something in a low voice.

Kai tried to connect what happened here to what happened in Time Square, New York.

'Presence?'

The senses he got from Ibaraki detected noise, presence, and sight. He could hear better, feel better with his skin, and see better with his eyes.

It wasn't like he had a good enough skill to detect other people by feeling their Spirit Power. Only Amber could do that between the three of them by using a technique, not her innate power from being a Phoenix.

He needed some training before he could successfully do that. And that said, training might be required time, which they had no leverage of currently.

Then he remembered. Ibaraki might have seen how the Alchemist disappeared. The paper that the mysterious man threw only clouded his sight. Ibaraki had a different view point from him even though she fused with him at the time.

"Ibaraki." He raised his head to look at the Oni who sat across from him. "Do you know how the Alchemist disappeared after we talked to him at that time?"

"The Alchemist? Do you mean that masked person whose presence was strange that we couldn't feel? I did see how he ran from us, Master. His body melted and became a silver liquid." The Oni girl replied with a confused look.

Amber raised her head and looked at Ibaraki. She had heard about the mysterious man from Kai's story that day, but she still wanted to hear this conversation as Kai seemed to have realized something.

Kai nodded at Ibaraki's words.

"Yeah. When I think about it again, it's a bit strange. How could both of us not feel his presence?" He continued, putting on a serious look.

"At that time, I brushed it off; maybe it was because of the effect of the barrier, but… After this incident, I think he might have a way to escape our senses. Like turning himself into something inorganic, or something like that."

"That's…" Ibaraki's eyes opened wide. "I apologize, Master. If only I had told you right after that! I-I thought you already knew about it!" She bowed deeply at Kai, her lips quivering.

Ibaraki knew she had messed up. She was afraid her Master would get angry at her, so she apologized. If she was kicked, forgotten, and got thrown away, she would just be a disappointment to Shuten Douji, which also affected the whole reputation of Oni.

Also, her dream of serving the Ruler would be destroyed. A thousand-year-long dream that she couldn't achieve had finally presented itself in front of her. If she was thrown away just because of one mistake, then…

Ibaraki herself knew that her Master wouldn't do that. But just imagining that was scary. Her instinct as a subordinate pushed her to apologize as soon as possible.

However, instead of an angry voice, she felt a soft touch on her shoulder, followed by a soft voice.

"It's okay, Ibaraki. Raise your head."

Ibaraki hesitantly lifted her head and was met with a gentle smile from Kai.

"I'm not angry with you, Ibaraki," he said. "Mistakes happen, and it's important to learn from them and move forward."

Ibaraki felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders, and she couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief. She had never felt so grateful for a kind gesture before.

Maybe she was prepared to get Kai's anger because she had served under Shuten Douji since ancient times. But what she got wasn't that, but comforting words.

She realized that the man she served was a kind soul who would forgive her with a comforting word instead of hitting her and getting angry with her. That lifted a bit of her worry, and maybe she would get a bit bolder in the future.

"Thank you, Master," she said. "I won't let it happen again."

"Yes." Kai nodded, satisfied with her answer.