A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 114: Three pounds!?

Kureha watched unbothered.

The silence stretched between them as Kiyori pulled her bow forward, her hand resting on the arrow behind. ”You look like a human... Who are you?”

”I’m not interested in the introduction, so be gone if you don’t wish to die.” Kureha murmured before turning toward the demonic dragon and jumping onto it. His eyes lingered at her waist where the bag was hanging... he knew what it was, the artifact, but he said nothing and moved away.

Kiyori stared at the man who seemed unbothered by her immense spiritual pressure; her bow slowly shifted downward, her hand moving away from the arrow when she understood he didn’t care enough to be a threat.

Ryotsu yelled at her. ”You filthy priestess, how dare you point that weapon toward my lord Kureha.”

Kureha looked at him. ”Ryotsu.”

Hearing that tone, Ryotsu stopped in his words. He looked ahead at the Ruler, and his voice gradually lowered. ”Yes, Lord Kureha.”

The dragon demon flew high with a loud rustle of wind.

Kiyori watched him go; she had felt that vast demonic energy that had no bottom or top. It was stupid to fight that demon unreasonably, but that thing seemed too indifferent. No demon she ever seen had an enormous amount of demonic energy, but he had no shards...

She thought of following him, but then Serpent’s voice echoed in her mind. ”Great Mistress, it’s better to stay away from him. That presence is of a Daiyōkai and not just a strong Daiyōkai... He is Kureha, the direct descendant of the great moon mother, Amaterasu.”

Kiyori paused and looked at the disappearing dragon demon. ”The moon mother’s descendent...?”

The Serpent spoke in his usual calm tone. ”The artifact you have is hers. He is one of the four rulers of the directions, her grandchild.”

Kiyori’s eyes flickered as she heard his words. He was the Ruler... if he was that strong, how could she even try to seal even one of them?

She walked forward away from the place and bit into the fruit. ”Can I...”

From behind her, a growl came. As she turned, suddenly a large demon stood behind her a few meters away. It grunted and walked forward. ”Give me the shards...”

”Again?” She pulled out her arrow and shot the demon, but beneath it, a rock made it stumble as it trudged forward and fell on the ground. A white smoke emerged, covering the ground as it cleared; a little boy lay with fox ears on his forehead and crimson hair with a fluffy, thick red tail. He looked like he was only eight years old but even small than kids.

The boy’s eyes watered up as his head hit the stone beneath. The illusion shattered, and the arrow hit the tree behind.

Kiyori blinked a few times, confused by the scene. It was a Kitsune fox’s child, but why did it want the shard?

She lowered her bow and walked toward it, surprisingly, her immense spiritual pressure did nothing to that small demon, who was merely the size of a newborn. Kiyori paused for a moment as she observed that her purification didn’t affect him, which meant in simple terms that he wasn’t an evil demon.

The demon rubbed his head and looked at her, slowly stepping away. ”It didn’t work; run.” He whispered and quickly turned to run away.

Kiyori pulled his tail and lifted him up. ”You’ll tell me now, why did you do that?”

The demon, wearing a bright turquoise coat and a fur vest, glanced back at her and scratched his head. ”I’m sorry.”

Kiyori tilted her head. ”Who are you? Why did you want to take my shards, and who told you of them?” She let go of his tail as he bumped on the ground.

The demon boy looked ahead and muttered. ”It’s not your business.”

Kiyori’s expression hardened. He flinched at that and moved his hand to his head. ”I’ll tell!”

He paused for a second and then began speaking. ”My father is a strong Kitsune fox, and yesterday two demons came and demanded the shard, which my father had... they called themselves the weather duo. My father fought them, but they killed him using the shards’ power. I ran away, and I heard that you had them, when you fought that woman... I thought I could scare you away and take them to become strong enough to take my father’s revenge.” As the boy spoke, he slowly began to sob. ”They killed everyone.”

Kiyori bend down in a squat slowly and put her hands on her knees. The boy flinched and stepped back a step. ”What is your name?” She asked.

”Kikyo...” He whispered.

”That is a nice name.”

”My father gave me.”

She stared at the boy, yes, he was a demon but even though just being born one would make him evil? A birth couldn’t decide the deeds. Kiyori spoke next. ”If I help you avenge it, then?”

”You will?”

”Yes.”

”Can you?”

”Yes.”

Hearing that, Kikyo blinked. ”How can you?”

”You don’t have to worry about that. You can stay with me.” She offered, knowing her reputation with strangers was already worse due to her appearance, and moreover, a demon with her would bring even more trouble, yet she chose it.

Kikyo nodded.

Kiyori stood and asked. ”You tried to rob me with that illusion, but why?”

”It usually works...”

”You have seen me fight that woman, then why did you try?”

”I needed to be strong, so I tried...”

Kiyori patted his head. ”That’s not your fault that you are weak. No one is born strong, they become one.”

Kikyo looked down, his tail moving around with nervousness. She blinked once and asked. ”Tell me then, where are they?”

”They must be near the mountain. Near the place we live.”

Kiyori nodded and turned. ”So, where is this mountain? Show me.”

Kikyo ran forward. Just then he noticed a few villagers coming forward, he ran back and hid behind her.

She lifted him up and walked away to hide behind a tree and muttered under her breath. ”Mo Fei, are you listening?”

After a few seconds of silence, Mo Fei’s booming voice came through the spirit world as his tone gradually shifted to a soft murmur. ”What do you need? I have been busy.”

”You can be busy later; I found a demon.”

”Just kill the demon then, like you do? Don’t tell me you just wanted to tell me any mundane detail you see.”

”It’s serious!”

”Yeah, Miss Serious.”

”Listen me.”

”Cough, yeah, continue.”

Kiyori grunted softly and said, ”How do I hide it?”

”Huh??” Mo Fei’s voice came confused by that, hiding a demon? ”You are hiding a demon...”

”Yes, but that demon is different.”

”Oh come on, Kiyori, every demon would say they are some kind of saint.”

”It’s a child.”

Hearing her stern tone, Mo Fei paused and thought for a second and finally answered. ”A demon child? I doubt it, but anyway, now continue.”

Kiyori peered through the tree at the people behind, who walked through the path. She looked at the Kitsune in her hands, who was looking at her with a deeply judging look. ”It’s not evil, his family was killed and I promised to take revenge on him since he tried to scare me away to take shards.”

”I believe that sounds extremely reckless.” Mo Fei walked through a marketplace, asking others the location of the tower.

”I can manage it, but I need something to hide him knowing my reputation with strangers... you know.”

Mo Fei stopped in his tracks. ”Strangers are idiots then.” With a small pause, he asked. ”So, you want something to hide him?”

”Yes.”

***

The street was a chaotic mess of horse-drawn carriages, soot-covered brick buildings, and aristocratic women lifting their heavy skirts past the mud.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering. ”Let me see. A box? A sack? No, you can’t just carry a kid around in a potato sack. Give me a minute.”

Mo Fei looked around, and his gaze landed on a bouquet. He pushed open the oak door of the shop as a small brass bell chimed overhead.

An old shopkeeper with a sharp mustache and a monocle looked up from behind a glass counter, eyeing Mo Fei’s rumpled detective attire with immediate British skepticism, then cleared his throat and spoke in a voice dripping with rigid upper-class. ”Good afternoon, sir. How may I assist a gentleman of the law today?”

Mo Fei didn’t care about the pleasantries. He scanned the shelves, his eyes finally landing on an intricately embroidered velvet and leather Chatelaine Bag hanging from a silver belt-clip display. It was deep, sturdy, and wide enough to fit a small fox demon with room to spare. ”That one.”

Mo Fei pointed a finger toward it. ”The oversized velvet pouch with the reinforced steel frame. How much?”

The shopkeeper smiled thinly and ran a hand through his long mustache, adjusting his monocle with another hand. ”Ah, an excellent and remarkable choice; that’s a great one, sir.” He paused, walked toward it, and opened the shelf.

”A premium Ciradyl waist-purse, double-stitched with a real, genuine silver-plated clasp. That will be three pounds, four shillings, sir.”

Mo Fei’s eyes twitched. Three f**king pounds? Why were there four shillings in the first place?

He leaned his hands heavily on the glass counter, narrowing his eyes under his hat. ”That’s a bit too expensive, isn’t it?” Mo Fei scoffed. ”What did you do, weave the thread out of gold leaf and dragon scales? The economy is in a recession, and you’re out here highway-robbing civil servants.”

The shopkeeper stiffened, his aristocratic pride offended. ”Sir! This is the finest craftsmanship of all Ciradyl! The metalwork alone takes days.”

”Two pounds, ten shillings.” He looked at the shopkeeper with a gaze of deal.

The shopkeeper’s eyes flickered, his monocle almost slipping. ”Sir, that’s a total of fourteen shillings of discount. Besides that, the bag you are seeing is precious; considering that fact, your lady would be absolutely pleased to get that.”

Mo Fei took a long sigh, ignoring the words. ”I’m pretty sure no one is going to buy it that expensive.”

The shopkeeper opened his mouth to deliver a grand, upper-class insult but stopped. He looked at the heavy leather and velvet bag, then back at Mo Fei’s stubborn, locked-in gaze. With a heavy, defeated sigh, the man snatched the bag off the display. ”Very well then, just this once... but don’t tell anyone that you got a discount here.”

Mo Fei shrugged with a half-hearted smirk and took the bag and slid the money onto the table. ”Oh, that’s a ’remarkable’ choice; see, we wasted no one’s time.”

With that, he left the shop, leaving the shopkeeper cursing under his breath by those last words.

He entered back into the street and asked a horseman who held the carriage. ”Hey pal, can I know where the Tower of Light is?”

Hearing that term, the man’s eyes showed recognition. ”Yes, I’ll take you there, but the price would be high.”

Mo Fei’s eyes twitched; he moved his hand in his pocket. ”Four pounds are left...” He muttered and looked at the man. ”Sure, take me there.”

”One pound.”

”WHAT TH—Ahem. Sure, let’s... let’s get going.” He kept his cold identity, while in his mind, he cursed the horseman for that price of carriage and sat quietly.

After sitting quietly, he called her out. ”Kiyori.”

”You are finally here!”

”Yes, I’ll send you the item. You can take it.”

The bag disappeared from his hand, and through the spirit world, it reached into Kiyori’s hand, who grasped it. ”I got it. Th—th...”

”Thank you.” Mo Fei completed her sentence and leaned in the carriage. His thoughts raced with the next destination. ”Tower of Light...”