"Watch out, brother! It can be dangerous!" Enatsu stammered, touching his wound with one hand. "What are you standing there for? I'm telling you, there's a demon back here!" he yelled at Ryutaro and Shioko, knowing he couldn't escape the carriage in his current condition.

Before receiving a response from the two more experienced warriors, Yoichi looked out from the other side of the carriage. His gaze framed the wooden spokes of the wheels and gradually lifted to peer at something strange.

​​

A little coal-black creature was hanging with its tiny hands from the hidden edge of the carriage. As soon as it felt Yoichi's eyes on itself, it crossed his gaze: two big blue eyes were separated by an enormous triangular nose, far too big for his tiny face.

The eyes blinked rapidly, reflecting the light like two shiny sapphires. That little demon seemed to lack a mouth, and the shape of its body resembled that of a miniature man.

Both its arms and legs were identical to those of a human being, only much smaller. A small, all-black man with two big blue eyes was hanging on the carriage as if he was peering at Enatsu.

Kenji saw that demon and tilted its head, curious. Yoichi knew that if his Oracle didn't perceive any threat, perhaps there was no need to worry. Imagining finding a ravenous hidden demon waiting to attack, the young tamer was interjected when such a harmless being appeared before him.

"What...who...who are you?" he asked, stowing his dagger and extending a hand towards the unknown little monster.

*Phwwht* - a sudden whistle awakened the blue-eyed demon's attention. The little black humanoid let go of its grip and fell off the carriage, landing with its tiny feet on the ground.

Yoichi quickly returned to a standing position, and both he and Enatsu turned away, realizing that the whistle was coming from behind them. In a hurry, the little unknown demon ran towards the archer with a comical movement: his black arms were pointing upwards and swaying like ears of corn in the wind, following the trajectory of its run.

The most incredible thing was the sound caused by the steps of that little monster. Its feet were totally silent, and its body made no sound as if it had no weight.

The small shrubs and gravel that characterized that country road would have made audible even under the footsteps of a lizard, but not those of that humanoid demon just over a foot tall.

When it came within a meter of Shioko, it jumped towards her, throwing itself into her arms. The archer grabbed it with both hands and pulled it close to her chest, comforting it.

"Well done, you scared Ayumu," she said, stroking the black demon's head, smaller than the palm of her hand. Ayumu rested its triangular nose on its tamer's chest, hiding its gaze from Enatsu and Yoichi.

The two companions looked at each other for a few moments, then looked at Shioko again. "What did you say?! I scared who?! That little thing was about to give me a fucking heart attack!" the merchant boomed, clutching his chest with one hand and acting with his usual theatricality.

"Shh... take it easy, Ayumu. Those two aren't bad. They just have a bit of a gruff manner," Shioko whispered, holding the little demon in her arms as if it were a weird-looking baby.

"Go back to lying down, Enatsu. Your wound will only get worse if you don't stay still," Ryutaro spoke, continuing to go about his business. Puffing and trying to calm himself, Enatsu immediately obeyed the gatekeeper. Perhaps Ryutaro instilled more fear in him than any unknown demon.

"I didn't know you had other demons, Shioko," Yoichi pointed out, lowering himself to Ayumu. "Wow! It's beautiful!" he continued, trying to show cordiality towards her. The shy little demon hid in its tamer's arms once again.

"A professional demon tamer can't rely on his Oracle only. You only met Nobu because its power was instrumental in that cave, but I've tamed many other demons during my travels," Shioko explained, taking advantage of that moment to brag a little.

"I've never seen a demon like that... what did it want with Enatsu? Why was it hiding right there?" Yoichi inquired, trying to bring a hand closer to Ayumu. It had a decidedly harmless appearance.

"I thought the future Nightblades wizard had already seen a Kurotoko in one of the books he talks about so much. It's a fairly rare demon, but just as well known," Shioko replied, making snide remarks to her still bedraggled companion.

"A Kuro... what?! I've never heard of anything like that! True, I know many exotic demons, but not this one!" Enatsu ranted, taking advantage of it to brag about his studies. "What was it doing next to me? It was staring at me with those blue eyes and... brr! It gave me chills!" he retorted, returning to lying down and narrowing his eyes due to the burning wound.

"Ayumu is the latest addition to my demon pets' team. Kurotokos are quite common in dark, damp places like swamps. They have a... well, peculiar diet," Shioko chuckled, letting the little black demon jump off her arms.

"Was it maybe trying to eat Rokuro and me? What the heck is this?!" the merchant muttered again.

"Kurotokos feed on dreams, Entasu," Ryutaro interrupted, placing the perfectly rolled mats inside the carriage. The gatekeeper arranged each item with extreme order, following a precise criterion and using the same feng-shui of his private room.

Just as in that room every item of minimal furniture had a specific purpose and function, so did all the equipment in the carriage serve a purpose. Yoichi turned to his master, not believing that he knew that kind of demon.

"They feed on dreams? How... how do they do that?" he asked, stupefied. Until that moment, Yoichi had only known omnivores or carnivores demons. What did Ryutaro mean by that sentence? Maybe Ayumu didn't need to eat like everyone else?