I want to beat them up, but how am I supposed to find where they are?

“Say Kanabo, what does the persons who kidnapped you looks like?”

Kanabo glanced strangely at Shina for a moment.

“Umumu~ How should I describe them to you…? Why do you want to know?”

Harboring a nasty smile, Shina giggled while staring at her eyes.

“I am just wondering what kind of people they are, from how you described how they tried to capture you within the city while ignoring every rule, they must hold a certain amount of power.”

“Well, that pretty much the case… Let’s see, if I had to use a word to describe them it would be… a frog?”

Hearing the kidnappers were frogs, Shina’s eyes widened as countless thoughts harassed her mind.

“F-Frog?...” Shina grumbled with slightly reddened eyes.

“Umu~ Or perhaps they were actually closer to toad than frogs?”

Rubbing her teary eyes, Shina looked at Kanabo with pity and sympathy.

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked? A lone girl being captured by a group of toad and sequestered in a dark prison at their mercy… I shouldn’t have asked at all!

“Why are you looking at me like that? Hic~ You’re definitely misunderstanding something…”

Shina patted at shoulder a few times before hugging Kanabo wriggling body.

“You don’t have to make yourself look strong, you can cry a bit if you want. I’ll lend you my shoulder as much as you want.

Seeing Shina completely ignore her actions, Kanabo finally gave up and took a mouthful of her gourd as she sighed.

“You’re DEFINITELY misunderstanding something… Hic~ Well, I don’t care that much anyway.”

“It’s fine… Everything is fine, even if your body is dirtied… You’re still pure.”

“Jokes aside, don’t try to confront them. Okay?”

Shina chuckled, releasing Kanabo from her embrace with a teasing smile.

“You realized it already? Not funny…”

“How do you expect me not to realize anything after overreacting like that?”

Clicking her tongue, Shina’s expression turned a little more serious.

“You still didn’t really go into the details, even if you say that they look likes toads, I’ve seen at least thirty differents types of toad ever since I came here.”

“I really wonder why you’re that curious about them…”

“To be on guard if they approach me!”

To be ready to be them up if I find them!

*Stare* “Jiii~ Something tells me that you’re mouth is speaking the complete opposite of what you’re thinking.”

Shina’s eyes wandered here and there for an instant, trying to avoid Kanabo’s stare. Holding her reddened face with both her hands as if trying to escape Kanabo, Shina’s tone became shaky.

“P-Please stop staring at me like that~ It’s embarrassing~”

“Jiiiiii~ Is that so?...”

“A-Anyway, I am asking just in case I come across them.”

Pretty much embarrassed from Kanabo’s serious-like face as she stared at her, Shina tried to escape by changing the subject.

“There’s not that much to say, they look like humanoïd toads with clothes covered in mucus. They are the type who never bathes to avoid losing their poisons so you can definitely feel them coming miles away just based on their odors.”

Shina made a shocked expression as she once again looked at Kanabo with sympathy, but her gaze was much more earnest which made Kanabo feel slightly uncomfortable.

“It must have been hard… Staying in a place where people never bathes, good job enduring it.”

Completely ignoring Shina’s comment, Kanabo pursued without a care.

“Their leader is the despicable type who like to use numbers to make up his weakness, moreover it seems that they have a strong backer so most people just turn a blind eye to their actions.”

“I see… by the way, your hiccup disappeared.”

“Umu~ Oni digests alcohol pretty quickly after all.”

Taking a few mouthful of alcohol, Kanabo breathed out relievedly.

“Kuuu~ There’s nothing better than drinking after all!~ Hic~”

“I guess Oni truly loves drinking.”

“Of course, we mainly live for that! Hic~ Come on, drink some too!”

“No thanks, I told you that I don’t want my mother to find me completely drunk.”

“Don’t be so shy~ If you don’t enjoy yourself when you are young, you’ll regret it after growing older! Listen to this senior’s of yours advise and drink! Hic~”

Kanabo’s nasty grin and scheming eyes scared Shina as she took a few steps back, trying to run away. But before she even managed to start running, Kanabo held her arm, preventing her from running away by using sheer strength.

“Y-You, what do you mean by senior? You’re still a child you drunken old man!”

Struggling to escape, Shina realized that even by using all of her strength she couldn’t make Kanabo budge.

“Fuhaha~ Trying to compete with an Oni using strength? Just give up and drink with me!”

While struggling, Shina noticed something strange in the sky, a gray light in the form of a ball gradually became larger and large…

Is that a star?... No why does it feel like it’s becoming bigger and bigger? Wait doesn’t it looks like it’s falling toward us?

The gray ball became quicker and quicker like a meteor entering the atmosphere, falling in the girls' directions.

“Wait wait wait! Kanabo, look at the sky, something is coming toward us!”

Kanabo merely grinned as she tried to force the struggling Shina’s mouth open.

“Hic~ Even drunk, you won’t deceive me that easily!”

“Cwhait, flooks behaind yoiu!” (Wait, looks behind you!)

Having no ways to escape, Shina had no other choice but continue struggling as the ball became closer and closer.

“Now now~ Here, drink with-”

Unable to finish her words the small gray ball landed exactly on Shina’s face, making Shina fall to the ground as Kanabo instinctively released her too lately.

“So it was true… Hic~”

Thanks to the gray ball losing most of its strength during the fall and it’s mostly unphysical form, the collision didn’t hurt Shina that badly as she rose to her knees with tears in her eyes and stared at Kanabo.

It was the stare of a young girl being hit in the face by a boy in a dodgeball match, she glared at Kanabo with a wronged expression.

“Uhhhhh~”

“I am sorry…”

“I told you to let me go…”

“Sorry…”

“You meanie-”

“Sorry…”

Washing her forming tears away, Shina stared down at the small gray ball at her feets with a mix of curiosity and anger.

Instead of calling it a ball, it was far more similar to a will o’wisp. Slightly floating above the ground, the little flame floated in her hands, giving to Shina the impression that it was staring at her just like she was staring at it.

Tilting her head, Shina looked at Kanabo with curiosity.

“Do you know what this is?”

Kanabo felt perplexed, she felt a certain familiarity with this thing.

“It looks strangely similar to that… Is that perhaps a soul?”

The will o’wisp shook at the word soul, maybe aware of their conversation it was trying to agree with her words… or perhaps deny them.

“A soul? But why did it fall from the sky? I’ve heard people talking about babies coming from cabbage, but I’ve never expected souls to simply fall from the sky.”

“You’re definitely wrong but I won’t bother explaining, that’s probably just a lost soul or something like that.”

“A lost soul?... Hey, are you a lost soul?”

The soul lit up as if trying to answer her question. Kanabo on the other hand just glanced strangely at the will o’wisp.

“But it’s still pretty strange, generally souls aren’t gray…”

“Then you mean that it’s not a lost soul?”

The soul once again lit up, making Shina sigh.

“Are you or are you not one? If even you are unsure then how am I supposed to know?”

And the soul once again lit up…

* * * * *

Holding her head with her hands, Shina sighed while looking at the will o’wisp.

“We didn’t learn anything in the end, just what is that thing in the end?”

No matter how much they had tried to question the soul, or perhaps creature; it would only lit up, bringing Shina a headache as Kanabo enjoyed drinking while amusedly watching Shina waste her brain power.

“I told you, that’s a soul.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Kanabo didn’t answer but simply pointed at her horns.

“Right, you’re an Oni.”

“Hic~ If there is something we, Oni can boast about, it’s our knowledge about souls. This thing is definitely a soul, it can’t be a mistake- Hey, what with your nose?”

Making a clueless expression, Shina touched her nose and noticed a wet feeling and the scent of iron filled her nostrils. Blood was dripping from her nose, while not being a very serious thing, she felt a strange feeling thinking that it was the very first time she ever injured herself since her rebirth.

With the protection of her parents and her resistant body, she had never truly been in danger, except for when she visited the human's city.

“It was probably from the impact earlier, it’ll probably stop soon.”

“Sorry…”

“You can stop apologizing already, though I was lucky that the soul is very soft and squishy. If it was a rock…”

“Well, you’re right there’s no use reminiscing the past. Let’s just drink and forget everything! Hic~”

“Don’t even try to manipulate me into drinking more!”

Clicking her tongue, as Kanabo was about to drink from her gourd, a large and cold pressure appeared around the girls. Her eyes narrowed and Kanabo dashed toward Shina, grabbing and wrist and tried to run toward a more densely frequented place.

But before she could even run ten meters, a strange figure held both Kanabo’s and Shina’s shoulder, preventing them from running. Her hands were firm yet gentle enough not to hurt the girls.

“Redia...Prana?”

Seeing Shina’s and Kanabo’s expression as they turned around, the figure released them while letting out a very depressed sigh.

The figure belonged to a very beautiful woman, making Kanabo relaxed as with this appearance she definitely wasn’t related to the toads who were chasing after her. While unable to drop her guards, she still felt a hint of relieve.

“An Oni… Oni King? That’s pretty rare, it’s been a long time since one was born. But I don’t remember there being any new worlds being born lately?”

Despite having hidden her gourds before trying to run, the woman was able to completely see through Kanabo’s identity which made her heart beat faster and faster, not knowing if she was in danger or not.

Only Shina remained calm and unafraid, whether it was recklessness or an absolute confidence in her mother's words. She didn’t show the slightest fear and looked at the woman confidently in the eyes.

If it was in other circumstances, she might feel endangered… But in this place where her mother had herself assured her safety, Shina completely believed her words.

If Mystel says she is safe here, then she is.

The woman, on the other hand, looked quite surprised that Shina glared at her unpressured, her long silverish danced with the wind as her pale face gently formed an apologetic smiled

“I am sorry for startling you like this, it’s no wonder you feel a certain amount of animosity toward me.”

Opening her hand, an umbrella suddenly materialized as she covered herself. The blue umbrella completely matched her western-style blue dress which allows her to give out nobility-like feeling. Her red eyes, brighter than Mystel’s were extremely alluring and gave the impression that they could steal people's souls.

“When I heard about two newcomers being girls and roaming this space as if afraid to be discovered… I thought these two girls were back…”

Harboring a depressed expression, the woman glanced at her darkened hand holding her umbrella in reminiscence, remembering past precious moments.

“Are you two newcomers in the city? It’s strange, I haven’t heard of anything…”

Turning her eyes to Kanabo as if asking her to introduce herself. Kanabo still remained on guard, knowing that some people didn’t care about this place rules at all, she had already experienced before.

“You pretty much said it, I am Kanabo an exiled Oni King who doesn’t have a world.”

“As I thought, this has happened a few times before so don’t worry too much. Most of the time it means that a world is being conceived but was delayed.”

Her words left Kanabo who had for years thought that her birth was a mistake speechless.

“But… These wounds… They still reek of blood, they are recent aren’t they?”

Instinctively nodding, Kanabo noticed the woman’s two thin yet long teeth when she smiled or talked… Vampires teeth.

Moreover, only very high-class vampires had silver hairs. While being in the same class as an Oni King, Kanabo remembered the identity of a certain person within this small city. The amount of true vampire was really low and high-class vampires are even more scarce.

“You, you are…”

“If you need help, don’t hesitate to come to me. Especially when a few people don’t follow the rules imposed by that dangerous woman.”

“Jiiii~”

The woman merely smiled and turned toward the glaring Shina.

“And you are?...”

Not having spent that much time analyzing the girls before, looking at Kanabo she could easily find out her race. But when she looked at Shina she couldn’t see anything at all.

She couldn’t find her race, but her visage reminded her of a certain person. But the moment that thought crossed her head, she dismissed it as quickly as it appeared.

Definitely impossible…

“Could you please tell me your name?”

The woman’s tone was very gentle, despite not being able to figure out Shina’s identity, she still didn’t worry but simply curiosity toward the girl in front of her.

“Jiiiii~”

Making a wry smile, the silver-haired woman turned toward Kanabo with a helpless expression.

“Does she dislike me?”

“Hic~ I don’t know, but thats maybe her way of saying ‘Introduce yourself first’”

“Oh my~, is that so? My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Listae Bran, please call me Listae”

Shina suddenly stopped glaring and her expression relaxed as if to say ‘it’s common sense to introduce oneself first’. Smiling at Listae, she bowed her head while raising slightly raising her purple dress, imitating the noble women from the middle age.

“My name is Shinael, please call me Shina.”

Seeing Shina politely introduce herself, Kanabo made a wronged expression as she sneakily drank from her gourd behind Listae’s back.

“Um~ You weren’t that polite when you introduce yourself to me…”

Completely ignoring Kanabo’s comment, Shina suddenly realized that the gray will o’wisp had hidden behind Shina as if afraid of being discovered.

Noticing Shina’s reaction, Listae finally noticed the last party with a very shocked expression.

“Is that an Ancient soul? What is it doing here?”

Kanabo’s eyes also widened as she finally realized why this lost soul was unfamiliar.

“This is, in fact, an unborn ancient soul. That’s probably how it managed to survive to the catastrophe.”

The soul unborn soul of an ancient race and the first one to have ever existed, a pure soul not even born yet who has to shoulder the mistakes of its race.

The undying roaming soul whose conscious hasn’t even developed and merely act based on its instinct.

The one and only remaining soul of a lost era unknown to most, condemned to harbor this world without any chance for rebirth, carrying the sins of its predecessors.

“What kind of catastrophe did they meet?”

Listae looked at the ancient soul with sympathy, a child who can’t become a living being.

“A self-brought apocalypse, foolish men gathered and in their ignorance tried to usurp that person’s throne. Triggering that person’s anger who brought down her judgment upon their whole race… A catastrophe named Mystel…”

Mom… You again?