He figured that is where {she} was. He didn’t know in what state or in what form, but he could just feel her presence there.
After all, the two were merged as one for a short time.
{Promise me… that you will come for me. That you will not keep me waiting for long.}
{Don’t be too long, but don’t be too early either.}
He clenched his fist and remembered what {she}, the tri-colored butterfly, the Shadowy Woman, had told him at the end before her figure completely disappeared in front of him.
He knew he wasn’t ready to help her, nor was he nearly strong enough to take on the Leviathan or the Undying Elder.
His first priority would be to become stronger, strong enough to get what he wants.
And to do that, he would first need to…
“So, you must be the troublesome kid.” Taiga, having noticed his line of sight, quickly stood up and addressed him, “The one who destroyed our ancient gate and led that monster Kerberos to our clan.”
This again?
Lawkey couldn’t help but feel mentally frustrated and annoyed at hearing those words directed at him once more.
“Please, let me explain-”
“Munisai!” Taiga cut the Sword Saint off before he could finish his plea, “Let him talk. I want to hear it directly from him.”
“What do you have to say for yourself, kid?” Taiga narrowed her eyes and looked down at Lawkey, exuding the presence and authority of a royal queen.
He’s too reckless for this! Munisai expressed inwardly and reached out to Lawkey with his hand, fully knowing what kind of kid he was. If he didn’t stop him now…
“Wait!”
But he had been too late.
“Yeah, it was me. I saw a way out of that valley, and I took it.” Lawkey ignored Munisai and took a step forward.
“...”
“No one died, and I took care of the monster myself!” The boy gritted his teeth as he looked up at Taiga, glaring at her with no sign of submission in him, “So, spare me the speech!”
Shivers went down Munisai’s body as his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach.
This kid is going to be the end of me…
Lawkey on the other hand, stared up at the Shadow Queen, his gleaming emerald eyes meeting her striking pink irises without faltering.
image [https://i.imgur.com/tKSaAxT.jpeg]
She looked down, studying his face and expression carefully without saying a word.
“Who do you think you are?! You’re talking to the Shadow Queen, you imbecile! I should kill you where you stand!” Hachi shouted at him, not standing for any disrespect toward his Queen, not to mention it was straight up punishable by death.
Munisai felt the strength in his body drop significantly as he lost complete control of the situation. All his efforts to warn and prepare the kid had gone in one ear, and out the other.
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“The name is Lawkey.”
I don’t think that’s what he meant by that question, kiddo… Munisai couldn’t help but bring his palm to his face as he lampooned, realizing Lawkey had no idea what he got himself into, and kept making things worse.
“I don’t care if she’s a queen! I despise royalty!” Lawkey faced Hachi with a disgusted expression, as if egging the Commander of the Royal Guard on.
“What?!”
“Just because of some bloodline, they think they can control everyone’s lives!” He continued.
“...” Munisai couldn’t help but stay silent, remembering the details of what Lawkey had told him early that day, the story of his past.
“I only came down to this valley because of that!” Lawkey shouted as he pointed towards the sliding door, still leaking the ominous aura that no one seemed to be noticing but him.
Munisai, Hachi and especially Taiga, the Shadow Queen herself, were taken aback by Lawkey’s statement. They looked at him with wide eyes on their faces, not believing the words they had just heard.
“And as for me staying here and training, I’ll let you have the monster’s bounty as the first payment. It’s of four gold stars grade or whatever, right?” With his thumb, Lawkey pointed behind his back now, implying to the entrance of the village where he last saw Keberos’ body, “I’ll eventually pay for all the damages too!”
“…”
“How about that, Oh Queen?” He ended with a question, accompanied with a slight snicker.
Hachi and Munisai swallowed their own saliva and stayed silent, nervously waiting for how the pressure the Shadow Queen was exuding was going to show itself.
And then, to everyone’s shock…
“Pffft!”
The unexpected happened…
“Hahahaha!”
Suddenly, the Shadow Queen began to laugh uncontrollably, barely able to hold onto her stomach to avoid falling over.
“?”
As Lawkey questioned her reaction and scratched the back of his neck, the other two stood speechless, jaws lowered.
“I like you, kid! You’ve got guts!” Taiga gently wiped a tear from the side of her eye, that’s how hard she had been laughing, “It’s a nice change!”
Then, she quickly adjusted her stance again and stood up straight.
“Sure, the Kage Clan was once part of fourteen Royal Clans! Or twelve nowadays, to be precise. But nevertheless, everyone should be free to do whatever they want! You’re right!”
She spoke with a serious look in her eyes now, but still wearing a wide smile across her lips.
“However, we have lived in hiding for so long that we’ve grown weak and paranoid over the centuries! Thanks to the recent events, I might be able to convince the clan to start establishing contact with the outside world again!”
“What?!” Munisai couldn’t help but blurt that out.
“It’s about time we stop hiding!” Taiga announced.
“So, I can stay?”
Lawkey ignored what she was talking about and pushed her to answer the question they came here for.
“I heard you have the same Sign as us, right? To use the correct term, the Shadow Manipulation Sign.” Taiga turned around and began to walk toward her throne again, revealing what looked like a big and colorful feline tattoo on her back. Her hair made it difficult to tell clearly, but there were hints of orange and black on it.
Lawkey noticed it, and tried to go through the animals he had learned about from a picture book Jay had shown him. He was quickly pulled back into the conversation before he could figure out what animal it was exactly.
“Although it’s quite rare, children do occasionally manifest Signs from different clans. Either way, according to the Absolute Law, this means you’re one of us. You have the right to the Kage name just as much as any of the people here.”
“...” The three listening to her simply waited, some out of respect, while others out of confusion.
“Besides, we already have your payment.” Taiga turned her head to wink at Lawkey over her shoulder, all the while making a coin shape with her thumb and index fingers.
“That easily? The clan has never accepted anyone like this before…” Hachi asked nervously.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Munisai followed.
“I am the Shadow Queen and that is my final decision on the matter! Have I ever led us astray before?” Taiga bellowed after turning around in front of her throne, the bottom of her Kimono flapping to the side along with her sleeve.
“Not at all, your majesty! My deepest apologies!”
“We are grateful!”
The Commander and the Sword Saint both bowed their heads forward as they responded, all the while Munisai forced Lawkey to join them by pressing down on his head.
“...”
Lawkey fought back against Munisai’s hand and looked up at the Queen.
She was different from what he had expected, in more ways than one. He had expected a stuck up and arrogant woman making unreasonable claims and demands to get what she wants. The boy didn’t think she would be this reasonable and accept him into her village, her Kage Clan.
However, that wasn’t fully set in stone just yet either…
“However…” The Shadow Queen took her place on the black throne once more, the atmosphere around her quickly beginning to darken, “there is still one important matter we have to clarify!”
All three stood up straight, waiting for her to continue.
Lawkey felt a cold chill run down his spine as the pressure coming out of the Shadow Queen reminded him of a recent encounter he didn’t want to remember.
Although it paled in comparison, his body still recognized a higher form of being in front of him. It made the recent imprint on his neck slightly tingle.
This was a true Queen, one that held enough authority to command an entire clan of people, some of which were much stronger than him.
This was evident by how the Commander of the Royal Guard Hachi and the Sword Saint Munisai were currently looking at her.
The Shadow Queen had mostly been laid back so far, but now Lawkey knew for certain she wasn’t kidding anymore.
She crossed her legs, and let out one last breath of smoke, obscuring her face behind it.
“Lawkey, was it?” She began, narrowing her piercing pink eyes at him from behind the smoke, “Answer truthfully.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/QKcqO01.jpeg]
“...”
“Are you a Hyking?”
image [https://i.imgur.com/FYMJyFq.jpeg]
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]