Chapter 43: 43: A late-night walk [pt1]

"Is there something I can help you with, Lady Suzuki? This is a private matter I need to discuss with Eclipse. Can you please go back now?"Until this point being polite had not worked. Amane's words had been brushed off with barely a nod of acknowledgment from Charlie.

'Ugh, this reminds me of how Charlie was when she was young. Stubborn and unwilling to listen. I had to outright scold her to get her to agree with my demands.'

And it seemed like things would come down to that again. Amane had tried hard to stop this from happening but there was a limit to what she could and could not tolerate.

"Lady Yoko is a delicate person. Of course, I need to go with her to keep her safe. As for this being a private talk, don't worry so much. I will not enter the room or even try to listen in. I just don't want anything to happen to you as well."

At that moment, Charlie's eyes had gone blank. It did not even seem like she was present in her body.

To Amane, it looked like she was remembering something horrifying and unpleasant. Charlie Suzuki was not moving at all and she might not even be breathing.

'Fuck this. I cannot deal with her.'

"Fine. If you promise to stay out of the room then you may come with me. But please ensure that this is the last time you follow me. It can get quite suffocating to have you around all the time."

"Alright, if that's what you want. I will think about it."

Lady Suzuki came around soon enough with sparkling eyes. Amane did not even try to guess her mood this time.

She just knocked on Eclipse's door before entering without hearing a reply. The kid was inside the room for sure since Amane could feel his presence.

"Are you feeling alright? I can understand why you are feeling this sick being near the island."

The kid looked up from the bed with a pained face. Amane felt sorry for him since she had been somewhat responsible for him being in this situation.

She knew she had been forgetting something in his education course. And that had been to block out strong bestial auras.

"I cannot imagine what kind of beast could have such a massive aura. I felt like I would collapse. How come you are not affected by that aura?"

Eclipse's voice came out pained. The more he spoke, the paler he looked.

Had it not been for Amane knowing exactly what was wrong with him, she would have taken him for being seasick.

'Even then he looks better than Aqua does. Aqua did get the short end of the stick by coming on this trip.'

Amane felt sorry for that half-human but there was nothing to be done there. None of the people present in their company was a healer so Aqua would have to deal with her condition.

"Desperation and experience can get you anywhere if you try hard enough. But for you? You should practice a few techniques I am about to teach you. They will help you out in the future as well."

Eclipse was a quick learner and he picked up on what Amane was teaching him fast.

Amane was thankful for that as well since she did not want to keep Charlie waiting for her out there.

"Are you done already? How is Eclipse feeling?"

Charlie did not sound too worried for the younger so it was likely an act to get some information from Amane.

"He's alright for now. He was just a little overwhelmed since there were a lot of bestial auras on this island and Eclipse is not used to it all."

"Is that so? Luckily, it happened to him. But I am curious to know one thing. Eclipse is not a Tsurugi by birth, right? Then how is he able to tame the beasts like you? And why did you adopt him into your family?"

'Look at her, poking her head where it is not needed. What is it that you need to hear from me?'

But it was good for Amane if she had the ball in her court. Charlie's question proved that she was interested in Eclipse and would also help him out in the future.

Amane did not want to think of a possible future where she would no longer be with these people but she had to.

After all, it had not been her choice to leave her family in the past as well. Things had happened and people had paid the price for it.

'Look at me getting attacked by people again. I wish I could stop feeling already.'

But Amane could not stop feeling as much as she could not stop breathing. It was something that had been integrated into her instincts long before.

"Lady Yoko, you don't have to answer me if it's a delicate question. I understand that not everything can be"

"No, it's not that. I was just a little surprised that you asked me this but I don't mind answering you. You see, beat taming is not something miraculous, but it's a talent you need to be born with."

"Even after that, it needs to be cultured young or it would wither away. Tsurugi family has an amulet that facilitates our energies in the process but it began to lose power recently. I was lucky that I was born with this natural talent but that might not be so in the future."

"That is why I want to bring in fresh blood. I do not want this practice of beat timing to go out of exitance once my time is up. I take pride in it so I want to let others see it as well."

Amane was making more than half of her reason up but she did not want to say that she was too lazy to do work out aloud.

Not that she needed to maintain a good impression of herself but because she did not want Sakura to nag her once a rumor reached her ears.

"I see. So that is the reason. I guess that makes sense as to why you adopted the child then. You had a reason for doing that."

Charlie looked relieved and disappointed by Amane's answer at the same time. Amane could guess what was going on in her mind right now.

'You might now know it but I never adopted out of the goodwill of my heart. Even back then, I took you all in because you were pieces on my chess board who helped me out without any questions asked. I just ended up developing feelings for my pawns and that was my end.'

"Now then, shall we head back to the camp now? Eclipse can pick up his dinner later when he feels like it."

"Alright, let's head out now. Sean can cook well and I cannot wait for you to try his cooking out."

___________________________

"This forest changed so much that I cannot even tell if this is the same place. I wonder how you lived here, my friend."

Everyone had gone their separate ways after dinner with a promise to meet in an hour. And Amane had somehow managed to get away alone without attracting attention.

Since no one had followed her, Amane did not need to care about her image or what she was saying. She could be herself and enjoy her time.

The image of the green forest overlapped with the crystalline forest it had been when Amane had been last alive.

Everywhere one had looked had been filled with different colored crystals but they refused to break even when one exhausted their magical reserves.

This place had been the ultimate mining spot but had been outlawed due to the presence of the Sunstone dragon.

Amane was busy enjoying all this beauty when she heard the voices talking in front of her in hushed voices. They did not sound like anyone from her group and it made Amane curious to check out what was happening.

"Be careful. We cannot let anyone know that we found the crystal reserves."

"But it sure was strange. We tried so hard to mine the ores but failed to do anything in the end. The only thing we managed to snag was this small stone but it's not even shiny. We won't even be able to see it."

The man held a basketball-sized moonstone in his hand. The ball didn't even move when he let it go which was odd.

How had a human-like poacher managed to seal a moonstone of all things? Those minerals did not appear naturally on this island.

Not to mention, that moonstone was giving off a familiar feeling to Amane. It was making her want to march out and take the moonstone away.

"Who cares where it came from or how much it will sell for? We just need to hurry up and leave since the Divine Guild is here for inspection already. We cannot be caught out here or we will all die."

The poacher sounded scared of the Divine Guild and for good reasons. It seemed like he was making a decision that would save him.

'Too bad that I manage to stumble upon your plans. Now, I would not have interfered if you had not taken the moonstone with you.'

Amane decided to make herself known. Keeping herself hidden like this would serve no purpose.

"Hello there. Now, I will give you all two choices to follow. You can either let the moonstone in your hands go or I will make sure you all disappear from the face of this earth."

Amane felt agitated as the aura from the moonstone became even sharper and reached out to her.

It was asking her to retrieve it and to take it back home. Now she was more than sure that the moonstone was not a stone but a magical beast.

And a new specie at that since Amane had never heard of a beast made up of moonstone before.

"Like hell, we will let it go. You have no idea how much we suffered when we tried to get a suitable ore to sell. This is our reward so don't you dare interfere."

"B-Boss, she might be from the Divine Guild. We should not talk with her like that."

"As if she is. The one who is supposed to make a round this year is Lady Suzuki. And this girl is not that bitch. We have nothing to fear from her."

Amane wanted to laugh at the arrogant tone the 'boss' was using to belittle Amane. He had no idea what dangerous thing he was playing with.

"Alright, but remember that you were the ones who made this call. You cannot go blaming me for what would happen next."

The boss scoffed at Amane's words, not believing a single word she said. He took aim toward Amane and shot his gun he took out of nowhere.

Amane would have dodged it if she did not feel the presence of another person blocking her and slashing away at the bullet.

"Tsk, in trouble again? Can you not sit quietly and enjoy a single day?"

"Nice timing Aqua. We have some guests we need to entertain. Would you like to do the honors? Just hurt them enough that they are unable to run away. We need to hand them over to the authorities."

Amane reminded the half-human who had Amber eyes currently. She had switched into a more bestial form and was inhuman looking enough to put anyone on edge.

"W-What kind of creature are you? You do not look normal-"

The man was knocked unconscious before he finished. Aqua's punch landed in his abdomen and the man went down. Sёarᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Anyone else has anything to say to me? If not then sit quietly and wait for your turn. Your pain will not be brief."

Aqua looked bloodthirsty and in a bad mood. Her sea-sickness was still having residual effects and she was unneseccariy tough on her opponents.

'Oh well, these people brought it up on themselves. I wonder how much time it will make for Aqua to deal with them all.'

Disclaimer - it did not take long and Amane returned the moonstone which felt warm to her touch and even wiggled a little bit.

And there was a heartbeat beneath her hand.

The stone was alive.