Chapter 51: 51: Kid's Adventure [pt1]
With everyone else in the room asleep, Amane had to take any and all advantage she could.
As one would expect from an outburst of an expert like her, even her opponent was not able to keep themselves on their feet and they fell asleep. That was one obstacle down.
\'But this does not mean anything. Until I deal with the source of this gas, I cannot relax.\'
This was the most difficult part for someone like Amane. She had a really sensitive nose so smells like these were a pain to her. She was more likely to feel the effects of this gas than most people as well.
If not for her special constitution, she would have scummed to her senses far earlier.
"Oi, you. I know you managed to avoid my outburst so there is no need to hide. Come out if you value your life."
Amane pointed toward the rock that had a shadow behind it. She could sense human lifeforce coming from behind it.
The person was weak enough to escape Amane\'s notice for this long but they could not hide the sound of their breath.
The kid that had been hiding behind the rock came out. Her dirty face and broken teeth were adorable in Amane\'s eyes.
But she was not going to let her guard down just because her opponent was a kid. God knew how vicious kids could be when they wanted something.
"I-I\'m sorry. I did not mean to listen to your talk and see what you were doing. P-Please, let me go."
The girl looked ready to cry which made Amane feel bad. She had a soft spot for kids and that showed in her expression.
Since the girl was already like this, there was no point in threatening her anymore.
"Don\'t worry kid. I will not harm you in any way. But I am curious to know how a kid like you joined this group in the first place."
Amane was curious about it but she would not be surprised by any answer here.
The kid could be a child of their existing members, someone they had picked up on the way, or even someone whom they kidnapped. The possibilities were endless.
Amane had seen some fucked up things in the times of war so her expectations were really low.
"Umm, I followed you and these bad people. They have been causing trouble around our home lately and I was worried for you since you were following that bad man from before."
The kid seemed extremely honest. Her face did not hide any of her thoughts and her worry was evident.
Amane wanted to sigh and melt at the same time once she heard those words of concern from the kid.
\'This kid is far too pure. She\'s nothing like those wild monkeys I raised before. I wish at least one of my kids turned up to be this cute and sweet.\'
Amane complained in her heart but she was thankful for her kids being hard-hearted. It protected them and even kept them going after her death.
Just the fact that Charlie had managed to survive this long was proof of her toughness.
"It\'s good to be a worried kid but don\'t chew more than you can swallow. It won\'t serve you very well in the future. Instead, call someone else for help if you ever feel like someone is in trouble."
The kid shrank as she heard Amane\'s complaints. She likely felt wronged at her concern being wavered off but Amane needed to set an example here.
"I-I just wanted to help you…"
"And to do that you ever walked into a room full of enemies and wild beasts? What if these beasts were not restrained and had attacked you? You won\'t have survived."
"I know but I still wanted to help. Why are all you grown-ups so hard-headed? I hate you all…"
The kid did not allow Amane a second to get her words in before she was pushed back and the kid ran away.
Amane was left behind with her hand held out to stop the kid. But the kid was too fast to be caught by her.
"Ugh, I forgot that kids can be such a huge pain in the ass as well when they want to be. Now I have no choice but to go after her. Hey moony, wake up for a second. I can feel that you are awake."
Amane had felt the moon dragon wake up the second her powers had blown out. It had made the sleeping smell go away and moony had woken up.
"I trust that you will be able to break the device that is making this smell come out while I take care of that kid."
Amane asked and the moon dragon looked offended at being questioned. If her facial expression could be translated into the human language then Amane was sure that it would read as \'huh? Did you just question me?\'
The moon dragon let out a huff of air and leaped into the air from Amane\'s shoulder. That was one problem taken care of.
"Now to find that kid. Oh, and I forgot. MOONEY, COME BACK TO ME ONCE YOU ARE DONE."
Amane dodged the blast of fire that was heading her way. Mooney was taking her words as an insult rather than a compliment or a command. But Amane was reassured that Mooney would come back when she was done throwing her temper tantrum.
\'Well, now to get to the more challenging side of things. I wonder where the kid went to. Looks like I will have to track her manually.\'
Amane opened her system and the game began.
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"Psss, how long do you think we will need to stay in this village? I am ready to escape from here."
Sakura asked Eclipse with an eager voice. She could feel that his magic was getting more and more concentrated. As a result, more and more beasts were coming near the settlement.
It was making the warriors stationed around the village a lot tenser as well. And security was rising as a result.
"Just a little more and I will be done. But it will take much longer if you keep on distracting me like that."
"Sheesh, calm down. Why are you so cranky right now? Don\'t tell me! Are you going through puberty?"
"Don\'t be silly. I am not old enough to be hitting puberty. And at least I am not whining like a kid right now."
"Why you!!!!"
Sakura seethed at Eclipse\'s words. The kid was learning too many bad things these days and it was testing Sakura\'s patience. She was not even sure why Amane had taken this kid in and not thrown him at others\' mercy.
Why did she value this kid so much? Because he had the safe affinity as Amane? Why did that even matter?
Sakura was sure that even she would be able to train hard and control beasts if she tried. But Amane had no interest in teaching her.
"\'She\'s here…"
"I cannot believe she came here…"
"Were these kids telling the truth after all? For lady Suzuki to come here personally is a little…."
The tense atmosphere around the village was broken by the sound of gossiping. Sakura instantly strained her ears to be able to hear more but Eclipse did not need to do that.
He groaned out tiredly as soon as he realized what was happening.
"Oh god. Why did I even try that hard if she was going to come here in the first place? That Charlie Suzuki is a pain in my ass."
Sakura agreed with Eclipse but for different reasons. She could see the villagers looking toward Lady Suzuki with their gazes filled with admiration.
But personally, Sakura could not see what was so great about her.
"Lady Suzuki, so you did come. Do you happen to know these people?"
It was the elder village leader who asked that question as she pointed toward Sakura and Eclipse.
Sakura glared at Suzuki to not say anything unnecessary but Lady Suzuki took it the wrong way.
"These kids? Of course, I don\'t know them at all."
Sakura could only look on in shock as Lady Suzuki proclaimed that. Everyone in the village glared at them as one but the scout who had brought them in even had her knife pointed toward Sakura\'s neck in record time.
Sakura raised her hand to show that she meant no harm while sending glaring and helpless looks toward Charlie Suzuki the whole time.
In the end, it was not Lady Suzuki who saved them but the elder village leader who signaled for the buff scout to lower her weapon.
"It seems that Lady Suzuki\'s sense of humor is still all there. You can let them go now because they are Lady Suzuki\'s companions."
Sakura sighed in relief as the weapon was lowered from her neck and she could breathe easy again. She had just been saved.