“More__” one of the new arrivals said turning towards me; hastily acknowledging my existence a second before my boots landed squarely on his side. The satisfying impact was immediately dulled by the fact that it felt like hitting hardwood; lacking the crunch of an armored foe and while the impact easily caused him to lose his balance and he was sent tumbling away I didn’t hear the crack of ribs signaling my advantage in a fight.
Well, that meant that at least one of the two knew how to take a hit. That was a perfectly executed dropkick and if he could withstand it then I could give props to him as a punching bag if nothing else.
I touched down gently on the floor before I was immediately forced to pivot out of the way of a hail of blades. I barely got my other foot on the ground before the blades that I barely dodged, curved backwards and I grabbed the ground with my mana increasing the friction of the surface massively before contracting my knees and crouching under the blades that collided in the space that my neck was situated just moments before. Alright, that was now pretty darn aggressive, even by my standards.
I placed my hand on the ground providing myself a minor boost in my stability before idly catching one of the blades falling towards me. I kept my eyes on my attacker who lunged towards me with hands extended in a transparent attempt to tear me in two before I managed to get my bearings, before suddenly his entire body contorted into an ellipsoid with a nasty set of blades along the edges giving him the appearance of a buzz-saw.
I was not the one that he should have been focused as a blade of air clashed with the spinning disc throwing him off course and sending him ricocheting off course until he crashed through the wall to the bathroom. Eh, I've always found that one of the downsides of the Kaminotochi style of building is that the interior walls get damaged at the slightest knock; but it works out that they are cheaper to replace, in theory at least. No amount of steel and concrete is going to properly protect the construct if a serious fight among the upper echelons takes place. I casually stood up drumming my fingers against the countertop before my musings were cut off as the guy who I had kicked, the fatter one, had crawled to his feet in that short time; looking only a bit worse for wear.
“I’ll take right, you take left,” I said to janitor weasel as I jumped to my feet, before I turned to the rookie. “Jennings you just watch and see how a mage actually fights.” To her credit she didn’t say anything, except stepping back with her gun held steady aiming in the direction of our two assailants. A well-trained reaction, even if ultimately useless, considering just how hard their bodies felt.
“First one to beat his opponent buys drinks,” janitor weasel said taking a stance that I vaguely recognized from some of the Martial Arts movies that I occasionally watched when there was nothing better on.
“I hate/despise arbitrary/stupid games. Makes boring/not fun,” I remarked. “I’ll buy drinks once over.” I stretched out my muscles trying to remember the last time that I had actually been in a proper fight; sure I had been mugged once but despite what the Maverice government seemed to push; no mere user of magic could ever beat a wielder. Was this going to be my first proper fight in years?
My opponent didn’t give me any more time to ponder as a fist thrust towards me and I neatly stepped backwards only for three claws to extend from between the fingers. The move was quick but too straightforward I grabbed the wrist a finger’s length before the metal sabers plunged into my throat. Except in just two seconds the blade suddenly shifted turning into wriggling snakes that struck at my unprepared body. It was a perfectly executed move and I had no time to react__
Or so I lied. While the move was well executed it was just too slow and too obvious for how simple it was. I’ve already had the old weapon turned into summon trick pulled on me before and it was by a much more dangerous fighter than my current opponent. A flick of my fingers and a small shield of White Zurite started forming in my hands, right before the serpents impacted and barely penetrated, before the magic constructed hardened around the necks of the summons. A quick spin of the shield turned my shoddy weapon into a makeshift guillotine and I decapitated the trio before dissolving the shield with a thought.
“Got any more?” I asked right before the white Zurite fell away revealing a bright orange maw with fangs the size of sabres lunging towards me. Was that a Lesser Crested Dryke; I hadn’t seen them in real life before. We didn’t have them on the continent as far as I am aware. I must tell Virta about this later, the man always seemed to be interested in his scaled kin. The brief moment of surprise distracted me and the serpent filled with the element of surprise and colossal striking momentum snapped its fangs shut around my body.
Well it made a sincere attempt to reach that unfortunate reality. However, you don’t survive years of war to get beaten by some jumped up thug with a snake fetish. My corroded reflexes were just fast enough to grab the twin fangs that struck at me before the entire package of summoned snake mailed me right through the bedroom wall in a feeling that I could only describe as nostalgic. It had been actual years since somebody had thrown me through a wall, even if that wall was made of paper and wood instead of good hard steel. The sudden acceleration and change of scenery as well as the feeling of my back hitting wood for a brief second before the inferior material gave way was one of life’s unique pleasures.
I landed on my feet mana clinging deeply to the wood and shredding the high class pine before finally bringing both myself and the summoned snake to a stop. Catching my breath I tightened my grip on the fangs and felt languid mana respond to me giving me a burst of strength which I gratefully used to brutally tear off the twin sabers before turning them around and viciously jabbing them straight through the eyes of the Dryke ‘killing’ it instantly and causing it to dissolve into component mana in a sordid display of amateur work.
Well I suppose I can give them props for quickly summoning the thing, even if it felt a bit like complementing the color of the cart wreck.
“Is it my turn?” I said stepping out of the bedroom brushing off the bits of pine and paper that clung to my clothes. A room that it should be noted was gradually filling up with snakes, like some sort of herpetologist’s wet dream, creating a living carpet of writhing coils that aimed towards me with clear murderous intent. I couldn’t even recognize half of the species of serpent in front of me and the numbers were steadily growing as more and more mana coalesced into serpentine shapes in front of me; probably taking attributes from the more venomous specimens judging by their comparative compactness.
Jumping across the room like two cracked up crickets Janitor and Thug one were fighting together in a blur of motion and mana displaying speed and power far beyond that of your average human and technique a little bit above average as well. Off near one of the corners of the room Jennings was silently edging away from the snakes, a wise choice and I gave her a quick thumbs up to show my approval of her strategy before I focused on the Thug two. With a snap of my fingers I created a needle of White Zurite before digging into my teeth extracting some of the precious sugar that had gotten stuck there previously.
“Wow, you’re actually giving me my turn. Is this the famed Kamijo politeness,” I said sarcastically; getting a flinch from the waiting hood. Gotcha! Not that there was any doubt in the first place. I’ve fought enough humans to realize when I’m not fighting one and I doubt I’m going to run across a vampire in the yolky district.
Actually to be honest I seriously disliked dealing with swarming enemies like this. I flicked out the needle through the head of one of the nearest snakes and watched as it broke down into component mana. Not strong, but there were a large amount and I had no doubt their poison would be particularly deadly; if their fangs could actually penetrate my mana barrier.
I stepped forward heading towards the wave of snakes waiting for the inevitable strike that would emerge. My mana felt heavy and awkward, like armor long rusted but even rusty armor could defend against these small serpents. As one the serpents reared indicating their predilection towards violence and in response I summoned White Zurite to my hands and performed a signature spell of yours truly.
White Zurite was originally an indication of a product of failed summoning and the sign of a novice. It broke down into the component mana quickly, was soft, was corroded by nearly everything and didn’t deal well with heat or cold. The only redeeming point of the useless substance was that it conducted a certain level mana well and was very easy to inscribe runes on. My will set and my brittle mana flexed summoning two specific runes directly from my mind and engraving them directly onto the eight small spheres that I had just conjured.
My opponent looked unimpressed beneath his all-concealing cloak and I huffed slightly at the weak blow to my pride. That was some amazing magic that he had just witnessed; it was magic that some people literally died to see. At the very least he could try and look enthralled. Without saying a word the mass of snakes surged forward spreading out like a wave concentrated on yours truly. They were too concentrated, the sign of an amateur.
“Learn to flank,” I criticized softly knowing that he couldn’t do anything of the sort. Splitting attention required training and it seemed to be the weakness of this Yolky. For a moment I recalled an earlier battle; the image of hundreds of tongues like bullets homing in from every angle; a beautiful inescapable barrage, before that image of the past faded and I was confronted by the army of slithering summons. Well you get what you get and you don't get upset.
I waited until they were a hair’s breadth from striking before I flicked the balls forward while simultaneously leaping backwards out of their meagre range. The white briefly surged into red before the runes activated, briefly hardening and becoming brittle spheres, before they exploded in the middle of the serpent wave sending a light but pointed shower of shrapnel down onto the pseudo reptiles decimating the horde and tearing holes through the floor. Divi bombs were a solid anti-personnel weapon and probably the best I could currently do against a swarm without destroying the room.
While still moving backwards I snapped my fingers and another eight of the same explosives appeared in my hand before I lobbed the my left glove and tossed the impromptu weapons towards him where it was blocked by a wall of summons that coalesced out of the surrounding snakes protecting him but getting shredded in return. It was a novel solution to a problem that could be much easier solved by dodging, but then again if you have the energy why not use it right?
“You poor dumb sucker,” I mused out loud as I stepped forward kicking at one of the slithering summons and sending it crashing into a wall. “You never learnt to split your attention did you.” It was a common problem with those new to their craft and made my already shaky estimation of the competence of my opponents dwindle somewhat. White Zurite formed once more before it took on a boomerang shape that I flicked between my fingers before I spun and launched it at him smiling as I saw the result.
“I’m honestly surprised I’m still so good at throwing those,” I said as my opponent stumbled backwards clutching their shoulder as the wall of snakes collapsed before my eyes causing the serpents to disperse haphazardly. A couple slithered towards me and I casually stamped down crushing their skulls reverting them into component mana.
“I forgot for a moment. Isn’t swam summoning one of the most intensive types of magic to perform; concentration-wise that is of course.” I mused to myself as I summoned a ball of White Zurite preventing it from mustering up it's concentration again to start resummoning. "I mean you have to initiate the spell and control the thoughts of the constructs and keep all that mana from dissipating. I guess dodging is just too much for you to do as w__”
I dodged sideways as a pair of jaws like a steel trap shut themselves over my right arm crunching deeply into my mana barrier and lightly scoring the skin. A snake twice my height in length had crossed the floor before biting into right arm with teeth that resembled a sawblade if nothing else. I didn’t recognize the species I was being bitten by, but that was an impressive bite force for a venomous snake. Even now I could feel drops of venom enter my bloodstream before my own antibodies crushed the interlopers in an analogous manner to the way I reached out and crushed the snake’s skull.
That seemed to be the last gasp from my opponent as the remaining swarm of miscellaneous serpents collapsed into mana. I bet that last bite was aimed at my throat and the fact that the best that he could do was give me a few scratches must have been pretty demoralizing.
I was just about to offer terms of surrender when the cloak started to tear and I instinctively stepped backwards feeling a jolt of instinctive panic as a familiar looking mass of scales emerged before my eyes before I relaxed as I recognized the creature in front of me.
“So you’re an Orochi then,” I said sighing out loud as I watched as the eight-headed, eight-tailed snake of legend emerged from the confines of its robe like a lion emerging from a hat. “Honestly, I thought you were a Tsuchinoko originally. But I suppose this confirms that you are a Yolky. At least you weren’t a Hydra. I’m honestly not confident in defeating one of those without burning down this entire building.” There was no way that he could be a hydra anyway, those things were mercifully non-sentient.
“You just adore the sound of your own voice,” eight heads said in perfect Galmanic, speaking up for the first time since the start of the fight. Now that I look even more closely at it I’m fairly certain that this is not a full grown Orochi. No I’m pretty sure an adult Orochi would never fit inside the room. Even this relatively smaller one had to crouch to be able to fit in the room and I silently applauded the creator of those cloaks that allowed them to disguise their original size. The serpent youkai’s shoulder was twice the size of my height and its bulky torso was armored with scales that at this young stage of its life were already tougher than steel.
“If you had a brain in any of your eight heads, you would listen to what I said,” I pointed out mercilessly as I reached into one of my jacket pockets and pulled out an ebony metallic glove. “You attempted a spell far beyond you and at the first sign of failure you abandoned that same spell instead of scaling it back and then tried to rely on something that wouldn’t fail you; your body.” I scoffed in slight dismissal as I pulled the glove over my right hand. “Every single move you have made was just trumpeting your inexperience. If I lost to a kid like you then Kat would never let me live it down.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
It didn’t like that and the displeasure was made clear as with an explosion of movement a trio of heads lashed out at me; one towards me and two cutting off any path for dodging. Ha, as if I would dodge. As soon as the strike began the course was set as the blinding speed of the serpents strike didn’t permit any course corrections; not that a course correction would be necessary under most circumstances as most humans would never even perceive the attack.
A second later my glove transformed into a black metallic gauntlet and combined with my admittedly rusty mana to impact against the skull of the snake yolky producing a sound like a hammer on an anvil; as our momentum reached zero and I turned my punch into a grasping claw that latched onto the scales before kicking upwards landing a direct blow on the chin of the Orochi which reeled backwards as something in the path of my boots cracked.
Another head, undeterred by the beating its buddy sustained, chose to launch a strike at that very moment as I was returning to a stable footing. Nice, he could hold more than one thought at the same time. A burst of mana from my feet reversed my fall and propelled me upwards and to the ceiling where I increased the friction once more allowing me to cling to the ceiling like Maverice's second scariest spider.
The ceiling creaked beneath my weight and I had less than a second to balance myself before I was forced to dodge to the side as another one of the heads tore clean through the wooden ceiling.
“Screw you,” I said as I grabbed the ceiling with my hands increasing the surface area attached to the ceiling in an attempt to stop peeling off. That sudden bending over wasn’t very good for my unused muscles and I felt a spike of pain and discomfort as I definitely pulled something. I skittered forward on my hands and knees; dodging left and right as the ceiling was repeatedly rammed by the overpowered child beneath me before I leapt downwards towards the hulking body that more closely resembled a mobile weapon’s platform far more than anything associated with snakes; except dragon’s, but if you call a dragon a snake you are simply looking for a fight.
White Zurite formed into an oversized Warhammer and I added weight, impact and gravity runes improving it as much as I could in the brief few seconds before it hit the scales with the crunch of dry cereal. The Yolky buckled under the blow its trunk-like legs bending but keeping it upright before the floor collapsed sending the both of us into the apartment below.
“Good day,” I said to the family of tanuki who were watching us with wide eyes before I raised my glove-covered fist and sent a punch into the side of the Orochi pressing him downwards and causing him to spit out blood from eight mouths simultaneously.
“You bastard___” the Orochi coughed moments lashing out with his so-far-unused tail which missed without me even moving hitting his own stomach causing him to flinch.
“Nice try,” I said sardonically flipping myself to my feet before I raised my hands and performed an axe kick downwards blasting mana from the soles of my feet as I did so. In retrospect a bad move as the floor cratered and the two of us plunged further downwards hitting the ground hard and possibly traumatizing a young kitsune who was watching; erm adult movies.
“Bout ready to give up now,” I said hopping off and resolving not to try any more blunt force directed downwards for the moment. “Or should I try something more drastic.” I smiled as I walked towards the neck and new Zurite formed in my hands; briefly taking its familiar bleached hue before the mana content soared and it darkened and darkened taking on a ruddy hue as the mana surged to explosive levels.
“What do you think I should use,” I said as the Red Zurite followed my command, sluggishly forming itself into facsimiles of the weapon I named. “Club, spear, mace, hammer, oh I’ve got it.” The Red Zurite formed into the shape of a triangular axe before the edges started to slowly rotate letting out a keen whine as I pumped more mana into the handle.
“W_what is that,” the Orochi said trying to stumble to his feet, unsuccessfully. From the looks of it he had sprained or broken something in the fall, the unstated disadvantages of weighing over a ton.
“A Sawaxe,” I said grasping the handle firmly as I felt the vibration increase with a cantankerous wail. “Some clever lumberjack in the Luina forest came up with the idea of one in order to help cut down the various species of trees before the trees cut them down. It’s honestly such a simple yet effective weapon. I wish I had conceived of it. Still I’ve seen it work on trees but not on scale. Would you like me to help me test it out?” I smiled politely, eagerly wanting to see what he would do next. A handful of seconds ticked on when it looked like the Orochi would not concede and my hand slipped over the ignition.
“I surrender,” the Orochi said bowing his heads, in a disappoint show of submission. With a grunt of exertion he began to shrink until he was just slightly taller than me. He stood slowly making a hissing sound that was probably their equivalent of a wince as he tried to put weight on his left hind leg, reluctantly leaning on those other three pillars to keep his bulk aloft. He tried to focus his eyes on me but his head swayed noticeably until it rested at a point somewhere to my left. Ooh, that was probably a concussion. I didn’t think that eight-headed snakes could even get concussions.
“That was so cool,” oh the young kitsune had pulled up his pants by now. Still hadn’t turned off the porn. I blinked as I actually took in the screen. Damn, that looks like some unconventional off brand. I make a point not to kink shame, but you aren’t making it easy Mr. Fox. “Um, would you like some lunch.”
“You’re not my type,” I said bluntly watching him deflate. He was far too young and to non-human for my tastes. “Bill the Tower for the repairs to the roof and spread the word to the family above to do the same.”
xxx
“How?” the young Orochi said radiating disbelief as he saw his companion on the floor covered in azure blood. A more scrutinizing look indicated that some of that blood was from the weasel indicating the fight didn’t go entirely all his way. Huh, it seemed that he believes that his accomplice was more likely to escape then him, did that mean he believed his accomplice to be more competent or my accomplice to be less.
“I apologize,” the other snake said, who I now recognized correctly to be a Tsuchinoko, as he held the gaping wounds in his stomach. Oh, I could actually see he was holding some of his organs in his hands. To my side the Orochi gasped as he took in just how bad the wounds were. Weasel really didn’t pull his punches, did he?
“Mr. Oki,” the Orochi said lumbering towards his companion and I glared at Weasel as he seemed prepared to intercept. Let them have his moment. “Can you heal him?” he turned his eyes towards Weasel and then me as Weasel looked away.
“Sorry, my healing would probably just do more damage,” I declined, noting that the wounds were severe but not fatal. With Yolky healing he should completely recover with the passage of time. Shrugging my shoulders I contemplated how weirdly casual it had just gotten. Still it wasn’t all bad. I wasn’t one to normally let enemies go but I absolutely wasn’t one to kill children if it could be avoided. Those two desires conflicted and I ultimately decided to take the path of mercy unless the situation changed. Maybe Maverice was making me soft.
“Ahhhh,” Jennings moaned up and I turned towards the half-mage. Wait, no. I smiled as I watched the surrounding mana start to drift towards her. The young policewoman’s eyes were wide and unfocused and her hands trembled uncontrollably while natural mana swirled around her skin slowly seeping inwards.
“Congratulations,” I said stepping past the Orochi and towards the newly awakened mage. There seemed to be no problems with the awakening; or at least any that I can see. “Now you just have to present yourself to the Tower of Bremen within seven days and you are officially recognized as a mage. How does it feel? Looking forward to the salary increase.”
No response was coming instead the younger woman who slowly sank to her knees before her shoulders shook. Okay she was crying. I’m not going to deal with that right now. I carefully looked to the side to see the non-humans of the room and was met with three reflective stares; well the Yolky sure wouldn’t be helping with this. Neither would I.
“I’ll let you have a moment,” I said conjuring a small amount of mana and reaching out towards the summoning runes on my bag. Through the open doorway my bag flew towards me and was plucked out of the air. Rummaging around I pulled out a small artefact that I had worked hard to create. The artefact had the size and shape of your standard dice but about three times as large and instead of different numbers there was an image of a closed beaked mouth which sprouted antenna in each direction which almost appeared to protrude from the flat surface. “What were you here for?” I asked the pair.
“W-what is that?” the Orochi said stuttering over his words. It was rather good for ones work to be appreciated and this little doohickey was worthy of both appreciation and fear.
“A lie detector,” I said truthfully as the visible mouths seemed to open before they peacefully returned to immobility. “As long as you tell the truth there will be no ill-effect.” That was also truthful. Unfortunately, I wasn’t immune to the effect of my own invention. I placed the device on the table. “I can also promise you that you won’t like what happens if you try to lie to me.” No reaction from the dice.
“We were just coming to visit Ms Neposa,” the Tsuchinoko said while amazingly standing up slowly; keeping his organs inside his body under the wary eyes on the janitor who silently stood back ceding decision making to me. “We were worried for her safety.” The first statement was true, but as soon as the second statement left his lips a horrifying slurping sound came from the dice as one of the beaked mouths on the die opened eagerly as if awaiting some terrible reward. The noise sent a shiver down my spine before it ended in an instant leaving the mouth open.
“Lie,” I stated wondering, not for the first time, if maybe I should just tone down the noise from the artefact or at least install a mute button. “Tell me why you really came here?”
“What if we refuse to answer?” Orochi asked timidly.
“Then I beat both of you up and then politely ask you again?” I stated mercilessly. “I’m sure you have plenty of fight left in you, but are you sure your companion can handle it.”
“We don’t beat up the suspects,” Jennings said climbing to her feet. Her eyes were streaked with tears but her voice was firm on that point. Hey you came out of your fugue, and to the defense of police procedures everywhere. Good job. Unfortunately, this was closer to a military procedure than a police procedure.
“Don’t listen to her,” I said. “She’s the good cop. We can totally beat up suspects.” A light lit up on my lie detector and I stared at it in exasperation, betrayed by my own device. With a snap of my fingers I reset the device before I took a deep breath. “You have attacked me within the course of doing my duties and I am free to detain you. There is a distinct possibility that wartime rules will kick into effect within the next week if something isn’t done to stop it. Are you aware what that means for two people, such as yourselves, who the prisons would incur a significant amount of trouble detaining for an extended period of time?”
“Summary execution,” the Tsuchinoko said grimly arousing a gasp from Jennings the Orochi’s body to rapidly start shaking.
“Regrettably, that is the fate of powerful prisoners in wartime. However I can let you go. In fact I would much rather that we do that.” I turned around, thanking that the cube was not great at picking up lies by omission, walking towards one of the chairs that had survived the battle and sat down. To their credit, both of them at least had the common sense not to go after me once my back was turned. “All you have to do is tell me the truth.” The two of them remained silent for a while before the Tsuchinoko bowed his head, seeming to almost defer to the Orochi. That was unordinary considering that the former seemed more experienced; but not unusual in view of the Orochi’s exalted status among the Snake Clan.
“Neposa was allegedly a spy,” the Orochi said reluctantly and my cube didn’t react. “We received information that she was spying on Lord Sukumo although we didn’t exactly find out yet who she was spying for. We just came to take her in. We didn’t expect such a gathering.”
“It was an anonymous tip then,” I mused to myself and got confirmation in the form of eight heads nodding simultaneously. “Think its coincidence,” I said turning to Jennings who shook her head vigorously. Yeah she was right. There’s no way that the two things would be unrelated. Somebody was screwing with me.
“What is a coincidence?” the Tsuchinoko said immediately seizing onto those words.
“We can’t comment on an ongoing investigation,” Jennings said reverting to professional despite the wetness still in her eyes.
“But let’s just say that Lord Sukumo may have taken a one-way trip to meet his goddess,” I said looking for any reaction as I kept an eye on the cube. From my initial estimation they both seemed utterly shocked but I wanted to see how they would respond before I cut them out the suspect list.
“I didn’t know,” Orcohi said slowly as if trying to wrap his heads around the concept. He was practically shaking, whether in fear or anger I couldn't tell.
“I had no idea that Lord Sukumo was murdered nor was I aware of any plan to have him murdered,” Tsuchinoko stated clearly and decisively. Neither one of those statements lit up the cube so I picked it up before slipping it into my pocket. “Do you suspect that Asukara Neposa was the murderer?”
“If she was spying on him then who knows what else she could be doing,” the Orochi said sounding genuinely furious. “She could easily be the person who murdered Lord Sukumo.”
“Well not easily,” I refuted crossing my arms. “Remember Lord Sukumo was a champion of the Spider Clans. Even some Archmages wouldn’t be able to easily defeat him. Preliminarily it would have to be an immensely dangerous poison or illness or curse to finish him off and those were not the specialty of Moon Rabbits if I’m correct.”
“No it is not,” the Tsuchinoko agreed with my statement. “Do you think that she could have gotten assistance from the rest of the Rabbit Clans?”
“I would be very careful about making baseless speculations about that,” I said with a warning in my voice. “The Spider Clans have lost quite a bit of their power as of today and if you spread things around the Rabbit Clans may follow suit.” Still it would give us an easier fight if war broke out among the clans. If I remember correctly the Rabbit Clan was particular weak at the moment. Ever since their last lord, Musagi, died during the Rampage they had fallen from grace.
“What happens now?” the Orochi asked cautiously after a moment of silence. Well I did just threaten him with a future that could result in his death so his caution was understandable to an extent.
“Now you leave,” I said firmly. “We had a minor scrap that was eventually amicably resolved. I don’t know who is stirring things up behind the scenes but I am not going to allow it. We will find the truth behind this whole mess without you two getting in the way.” It would be the most responsible thing. This was already a huge mess and the sudden revelation as to Asukara Neposa’s possible second job made me more certain of a conspiracy. Kat and I could get off with having the books thrown at us but the young ones wouldn’t be able to handle it as easily.
“We’re just letting them go after that?” Jennings asked before biting down on her words. ‘After they attacked us,’ she didn’t say but clearly meant it. If our janitor friend hadn’t been there she would have been defenseless and from her, admittedly valid, perspective they had attacked without provocation.
“It’s not worth it,” I said firmly, trying to put some sympathy in my voice. “The towers are generally more lenient on wielder fights and the whole matter is overshadowed by the current crisis. I would rather not deal with something irrelevant to our case right now.” That was only partly true. While I was all but certain that they were not the ones behind the murder of Lord Sukumo they might still be relevant to the case, but there were too many cons involved in dragging around to suspicious Youkai and so I resolutely decided to release them. For a moment it looked like Jennings would revolt before she sighed and turned towards the beaten Youkai.
“If after you leave you find anything then you can call us on this number,” she said pulling a card out of her pocket and walking over to the pair.
“We will do our best to do so,” the Tsuchinoko said taking the card in the hand that wasn’t holding his organs in. “We wish your mind stays sharp against the trials ahead and…” he paused as if considering his words. “My deepest apologies for my rash actions and congratulations on your awakening.”
“Yeah,” Orochi said awkwardly a second later. “Sorry and well done.” In a moment the two of them adorned their cloaks once more, returning to a vaguely humanoid shape before they turned and left the apartment; turned backs indicating a newly-found mutual trust. I stretched out slightly feeling my muscles burning before I did the opposite turning and heading deeper into the house, towards the safe that I had left alone just minutes ago.