章節 6: The neutral territory
When you are about to have guests over, there are a million things to prepare. Even more so when the guests have been invited are not to your liking at all.
That was a similar case for Asato who was knowingly having his home invaded by the people of the bureau. They were a major headache for him since they had no concept of the boundary. They snooped everywhere and did not listen to reason once they set their minds on something.
It irritates Asato a lot but he could not do anything about it at all since they were a necessity he had to make good with.
So he had to endure for the time being. That also meant he needed to keep the sensitive places far out of reach for readily accessible people.
There were far too many nuances and the present paranormal bureau leader was a headache. A former demon lord who was half-human and knew far too much about what was going on.
He gave Asato far too many scares. Every time Asato saw him his mind flashed to a childhood memory of holding strong hands as he ran.
He understood the signs his memory was giving him but he was not ready to accept this right now. Not when he had carved out a new life for himself and a new body and new powers.
The past was something that was long forgotten.
"What do we do with the library master?" a shadow man asked as he bowed in front of him. That was another problem Asato faced. He was going crazy with only shadow humans as a company but the alternative was too much for him to handle.
Somehow, all he could imagine was a party of him stuck with a loudmouth for the company. If that happened, he would just end the loudmouth,
law is damned.
"Seal it for the time being and leave the dogs inside to keep a watch. Also, keep a tight eye on all our guests. I'm sure some would try something which they should not" it happened every time and the offender was removed by force.
No one ever said anything, so Asato took it as a tactical agreement to deal with his intruders as he saw fit.
"Sir, there is a pair of calamities down the waiting room" a shadow person called out and Asato almost smiled. It looked like Haru could not wait after all and decided to take the initiative to seek him out herself.
"So she took the bait after all. Have her be comfortable in the clinic guest room for the time being and direct the other guests there too. I'll be down once they arrive" It was a balance game he was playing but it would be worth it if the results came out as he desired.
"I'll inform the others" with a bow the shadow human left his side. Asato paid no attention to them as their personalities were a result of his magic. Ever since his teacher, the spirit had disappeared they had been under his control.
They and all the beasts inside the mansion. And there were too many to count on the vast expanse of land. Some with free will and the ability to speak, those he allowed to roam the world. The others a mindless monstrosity with beauty beyond measure.
For today, he decided he needed to make an impression so he headed outside the back. Unlike the front yard which was a maintained English garden, the back supported all the wilderness. It was an endless expanse of green, black and brown intertwined to give shape to a forest.
If you walked in, you were unlikely to walk out as yourself. You could even lose your soul there.
But the forest had something Asato needed for toward, so he whistled to call it forward.
A flash of blue and red flew toward him. A pair of soul-stirring colours flew around him as their tails rubbed against his skin.
Claws landed on his shoulder as the blue one made its home on him. The red one saw his partner take a seat and did the same on his other
shoulder.
"Hey, beautiful, I'll need your help today. Are you willing?" Asato asked the pair on his shoulder.
Phoenixes were one of the rarest and most powerful magical beasts known to man and had almost been hunted into extinction. The one here was a protected pair, a male and female almost 500 years old.
They squeaked in agreement and Asato took off with a smile. They sealed shelter here and the magic here protected them. They knew no danger would ever come to them so they followed him and helped him out when he asked.
It was nice to feel such joy in being trusted.
"You're back master. Your guests are in the waiting room, just as you instructed" a shadow person informed him and he nodded his thanks.
Asato made his way to the assigned room and even before he entered he had an idea about what he would find inside. A showdown of wills and
clashes of egos.
And as he opened the door, the frosty atmosphere made itself known inside the room.
Haru with a young boy sat in one corner of the room while the delegates from the bureau with their young chief Erin sat on the other corner.
Haru had forgone her human persona and was now in her calamity form. Her former brown hairs were bloody red and supported small curved horns near her scalp. Acidic green eyes, the pupils shaped like a snake missed no detail of their surroundings.
The child she had been with was the youngest calamity, only a few decades old. Blood red hairs with blue eyes similar to the older ones marked his face.
Both their faces were a cold stone which made Asato almost smile.
Erin on the other hand looked far too comfortable, leaning back into the couch with his arms out. He seemed not to mind the calamities like the others in his party.
Black hair, similar to Asato's with amber eyes, almost like a cat greeted whoever met his gaze. There was a lazy grin on his face which matched the loose posture of his body.
"Asato, welcome back. Are those birds for us to roast?" the irritating voice called out to him and even before anything had begun Asato wanted it to end.
The two phoenixes on his shoulder also didn't pay any mind to the man, too desensitised by his words. While training, his master had made him play nice with the younger generation of the bureau, which at the time also included Erin.
That had given him the misconception that He and Asato were friends. Something he would have to correct in the near future if he didn't want to go deaf in fact.
"What I want to know is what they are doing here?" another delegate from the bureau pointed toward Haru and the child, far too much anger in his voice. The situation between this side of the world with the other hand has not been normal for a long time and it showed in the atmosphere.
However, they were forgetting that this was neutral ground and they needed to take their differences outside it. Did they really think that they were in charge here? That was an insult to him in all senses of the world.
"If I were you I would make sure that I don't speak unnecessarily at the wrong time. Is that how the bureau teaches nowadays?" Asato asked as he released his power a little.
The faces of everyone present bearing Erin, Haru and the child looked to be in pain. Most of the people who believed themselves to be important and had thus bullied their way into this meeting looked to be uncomfortable.
Most of those people came from money and had cashed their way in their high position, but they were also the ones who deserted their duty at the drop of danger.
It disguised Asato to see the bureau as such, but that was their own problem now. They chose that for themselves.
"Oh, you all don't look too good. I'm sorry that they are in such poor company today Asato. I'll try to get better company next time, one who understands the meaning of neutral territory" the message was clear, Erin was bullied to bring his present company and Asato understood him.
No one wanted to see these people cry out about the injustice of being left behind despite their posts. It was just better to humour them than to have them cause problems. But now it caused a problem for Asato to solve but he could see where Erin was coming from too.
"Alright, I understand. Now would someone enlighten us with the situation?" he asked the present bunch of company. Behind Erin, the rest of the bureau gained colour but maintained the posture of being unaffected.
"Sure. Hey, bring the guy's body out, would you? You see, he died yesterday during the attack but we can't figure out the cause at all. We want you to have a look at it for us" Erin's voice was serious, maybe the most he had ever heard it be.
And that highlighted the situation's urgency in his mind. Erin was hardly ever serious and the bureau had decent enough medical staff. For them to be unable to figure out the cause behind the death meant that means behind the death had not been conventional.
"I'll take a look, don't worry. We'll figure out the cause" it could be a million things or it could be none of them. It would only become clear once he saw the body for himself.
However, once the body came out, it was far worse than he could have imagined it to be. He knew it was for it was a case familiar to the past. A case that had started a war long ago.
Behind him, everyone waited for his verdict which put him into a dilemma. Should he tell the truth and risk a war or lie and let it pass.
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