Yoruichi immediately secured Stralit and Benihime's surroundings with her own barrier but before she started, she looked at Stralit while thinking, 'These guys sure are underestimating me. Were they certain that I wouldn't notice this or just didn't care? Haaahh... Either way, a confrontation is unavoidable now. I should at least get some names for my request.'
Yoruichi turned around and said to the distant veiled woman and her aide, "I'm starting. Whatever happens, please don't approach."
She didn't wait for their reply and took out a cylinder glass tank of crystal clear steaming water just big enough for one person.
Benihime didn't need to wait for Yoruichi's instruction and for the first time ever since arriving in this place, she started moving Stralit's body and dunked her into the water after cutting away all of her clothes.
Corvina and Adrenna both frowned at the sight of their princess' naked body but didn't say anything and carefully observed what was happening.
Benihime's careless movement splashed some of the water out of its glass container which prompted Yoruichi to say, "Be careful. This is all I have."
Adrenna went towards the terminal that monitors the condition of the room and started reading through the data that was streaming into it in real time.
[So what is it?] Corvina asked through the previously established telepathic link after letting Adrenna inspect it for a minute.
Adrenna couldn't immediately answer. Her audible gulp surprised Corvina and made her ask again, [Adrenna, what's wrong?]
[Ah... I apologize. I'm just confirming if what I'm seeing is true.] Adrenna rekindled her focus, [That unknown substance contains a very massive amount of Spiritual Power. So much so that it won't be strange to think if that's the materialization of Spiritual Power itself.]
[...Our scanners are functioning properly, yes?] Corvina had no choice but to take her eyes off Stralit and took a peek at the terminal, [How is that possible? I can feel a substantive amount of Spiritual Power from it but far from what you're describing.]
[There's no doubt. Its appearance is deceiving. But even after looking through it, I still can't figure out what it's trying to do. Is she trying to mend her body by injecting Spiritual Power directly into the young miss?]
Naturally, even Corvina couldn't easily answer that and returned her sight to her daughter. However, she was sure that her aide's assumption was wrong. Very wrong in fact.
At each passing moment, Corvina's frown grew deeper and deeper as she slowly realized what's happening. Exactly five minutes after Stralit was submerged in the crystal clear water and saw that various parts of her skin started to scald she finally figured out what was going on, "...Could it be!?"
As Corvina loudly muttered in shock, she returned her sights towards the monitoring screen and looked for the exact values that would answer her questions, [There's no mistake...]
Adrenna only kept quiet and waited for the continuation of her words.
[That unknown substance is melting away Stralit's soul and body.]
[!? Then shouldn't we stop her!?]
It was at this same moment that Yoruichi took around a container that seemed to be filled with blood and without any delay in movements, Benihime transferred Stralit into this container in one fell swoop.
Thanks to the previous knowledge that she could use as reference, Corvina could easily see what this one is doing now, 'This time, it's replenishing those lost parts.'
She stopped Adrenna who was about to launch herself and said, [Let's watch for now. My daughter is not yet in danger. And make sure that you record everything that's happening down to the smallest detail. I'd like to review them later.]
[...Should I export it to a secure data bank?]
Corvina looked at Adrenna and went silent for a few seconds before nodding, [Please.]
.
.
.
Yoruichi wiped the sweat off her forehead as Benihime and she had to repeat the process of dipping Stralit into the two hot springs. While Benihime was the one controlling the timings of how long Stralit should be in each hot spring, it was Yoruichi who was filtering the gunk that was being left behind as Tenjirou instructed her, especially within the White Bone Hell, 'It's really a wonder how he was doing this nonstop and for multiple people at a time.'
Another thing that was heavily contributing to Yoruichi's mental fatigue was her constant watch of every movement within the room. Although she gave them a reminder not to interfere, Yoruichi did not have even an ounce of trust in them. Case in point, she felt Adrenna's intention to interfere on the first cycle.
Three hours in and only half of the hot springs are left, Yoruichi asked Benihime, [Benihime, do you think this girl could wake up?]
[Impossible. Her mind instinctively shut down to protect it from the erosion of Hyousube's power. It made my work so much easier but she won't be waking up any time soon.]
[Seriously? I'll have to leave you alone then.]
[It's fine. I can't really leave that man's power uncontrolled in her hands anyway. Kisuke probably would also like to see what will happen to an Etoulde once he or she gains Shinigami Arts.]
[That's true... But you're treading a very dangerous path.]
[I know that... But isn't this how we always do things?]
[...Fair point.]
[And that bastard overworked me in our home world so let me mooch off this rich kid for a while.]
Yoruichi froze for a little bit before replying, [That's the real reason, isn't it?]
Benihime didn't give an answer.
.
.
.
At the five-hour mark, the hot springs have already lost most of their effects but Benihime's cuts and stitches have also stopped appearing, signifying the end of the treatment.
Benihime lifted Stralit up out of the glass container for one last time before returning to her cane appearance.
Yoruichi instantly moved to catch her and took out a large towel to wrap her with it before passing her to Adrenna who already ran over to them.
Adrenna also took out more towels and blankets while drying Stralit with Magic. Although she tried to be discreet, it didn't escape Yoruichi's notice that Adrenna took some samples of both White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell. But Yoruichi responded as if she didn't notice a thing.
"What about this, sword? Cane?"
"Take it. I won't be able to separate them.", answered Yoruichi while cleaning up, taking everything that she took out back in, including the gunk that resulted from the treatment, "You can artificially inject her with Spiritual Power to replenish her stamina but I wouldn't recommend that. Instead, wait for her to wake up and feed her all the Spiritual Power-rich food you can provide her."
Adrenna picked up Benihime while slowly distancing herself from Yoruichi.
Once Yoruichi was done, she turned to Corvina and said, "I fulfilled my part. It's your turn."
Editors:
28th00: They gonna actually pay or try and betray?
Corvina was already prepared and tossed a small terminal towards Yoruichi's direction, "It was easy to figure out which clan it came from with an available sample at hand. What took time, however, was searching for possible member presence within the vicinity of the Draconic Deus."
While listening to her, Yoruichi also took a look at the terminal and summarized the document she was presented, 'Qira Clan. A nomad clan that roams through the whole Etoulde territory and experts of poison-type spiritual abilities. They are under the direct orders of the Holy Family but their members would sometimes take an outside commission under the table.'
Yoruichi couldn't help but click her tongue, 'This is going to be harder than I thought.' In addition to the document about the Qira Clan, there's also a note at the bottom of it, 'To cure their poison, one has to use the antidote from their members. As there are multiple types of poisons, getting the antidote from the attacker will yield better chances of success. If one can't find any of its members, the alternative is a soul surgery which can only be done legally if performed within the Holy City with an accredited Spirit Doctor and at least three witnesses from the Etoulde High Court.'
'What the heck is this?' Yoruichi asked herself after reading that note, 'I wasn't sure at first since it's hard to find relevant records but could it be that their technology regarding souls is even more primitive than that of Soul Society?'
If that's really the case, then Yoruichi just dug her own pitfall, 'From all the data I've gathered and this note, I can be pretty sure that research about souls and their link to spiritual abilities are banned or a taboo. Is it to protect the sanctity of their unique abilities? If so, I just showed them something very illegal and something that violates their moral code. F*ck.'
As if confirming her thoughts, Yoruichi heard a metal clicking sound and when she turned around, she saw Adrenna placing a thick metallic collar around Stralit's neck and as soon as it locked, the leaking Spiritual Power from her immediately disappeared. Yoruichi knew the significance of Adrenna sealing Stralit's Spiritual Power, 'You don't have to do that. Benihime won't be able to act without the girl calling her name.'
Nevertheless, she still has to try to settle things peacefully. Yoruichi turned back to Corvina while reorienting her body towards the door, "Now that I'm done here, I'll be taking my leave. I won't bother you anymore but I'd like you to give me a call when the girl wakes up for further checks."
But as soon as she took a single step, Yoruichi noticed that her shadow started moving and formed a tiny cage surrounding her in an instant, "...I knew I'd been rude, but I still saved your daughter. Isn't this too much?"
"I don't care about your etiquette and am truly grateful for your help and saving my daughter, however, as a head of the Luxeux Clan and a part of the Etoulde race, I just can't ignore what happened."
"Such as?"
"Please don't act ignorant. While new, you've been dealing with information business so even though you're from Draconic Deus, you should already have some idea of the gravity of your actions just now."
Yoruichi was silent for a moment and seemingly waited for Adrenna and Stralit to take some distance from her, "I'm ignorant, alright. But even if I'm aware, I don't think your codes apply to me? Draconic Deus is not part of your territory nor I'm an Etoulde. So why should I answer to your governing body? And isn't this done in secrecy? Couldn't you just let me go and pretend that nothing of this happened?"
Corvina was silent for a moment and considered Yoruichi's words and the fact that she saved her daughter even though she had a feeling it was her group's fault that something like that happened to Stralit in the first place, "I apologize, but it's not something I could ignore."
Yoruichi's poker face turned into a frown. She was about to force her way out when all of a sudden, Corvina started moving and took out her personal terminal and the moment she pressed its screen, a holographic image of a pretty woman with deep dark red hair and eyes of the same color, [Good day to you, Luxeux matriarch. It has been a while.]
Corvina frowned, "Gwenn Yarwood... I would like to know how you got my personal contact, but I'm quite busy right now and won't be able to entertain you."
[I apologize for the sudden contact. I pestered my father nonstop for a few days to talk to you.]
"I understand, but whatever it is, it's inconvenient for me right now."
[Because of Yoruichi, isn't it? She showed you something amazing and you now see her as a threat.]
Adrenna was stunned and Corvina's frown grew deeper. The latter was silent for a few seconds before replying, "It would seem that you're here to vouch for her."
With a big smile, Gwenn nodded, [That's exactly what I'm here for.]
"You of all people should know how dangerous this is."
[Of course. But confining her would just delay the problem. You do know that there's another person like her within Draconic Deus, right?]
"But that doesn't change the fact that she's roaming around with that kind of technology and abilities. As long as we're not sure that the Evies won't be able to replicate this, we can't let her go."
At that point, Yoruichi finally understood Corvina's concerns. She was not worried that Yoruichi is going to be hostile towards her and might cause her irreparable damage but the possibility of her falling into another influence, more notably, the Evies, 'I see. She thinks that I shouldn't be running around when I look like a piece of meat surrounded by predators.'
[Which is why I'm here to request you to let her go if you think she's strong enough to protect herself.]
"..." Corvina went silent once again.
But Gwenn didn't wait for her answer and raised her voice, [Yoruichi, you can hear me right? I'm sorry but this is all I can do. If you want to convince this madam, just go ballistic. That's more of her language anyway.]
Under the veil, Corvina was smiling. But when Adrenna saw that, she shuddered because her smile didn't reach her eyes, "Are you perhaps implying that I'm violent?"
Even Gwenn in a different location couldn't help but be nervous, [Of course not. I'm just giving regard to the brightest star that decimated millions of Evies in a war a few hundred cycles ago all by herself. I figured that you'd rest easy once it's proven that she won't be captured by just anyone.]
'I guess the conditions have been set. Well, I'm also curious about the Luxeux [Quasar].' Yoruichi sighed and for the first time since she started exploring the Evie Etoulde side, she released all her seals, instantly flooding the whole room with her suffocating Spiritual Pressure and crushing the cage made out of shadows that's surrounding her.
Editors:
28th00: Ah, so they are honourless luddite traitors! Meatheaded ones at that. I didn’t have a high opinion of them at the start, but it’s sorta just plummeting more and more each chapter. They’re “Holier than Thou” types too… ugh.