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Feng Ping Lan and the others rode on the vehicle for about forty minutes before reaching the hotel Kiyohara had arranged for them.
Although it couldn’t be compared to the luxuriousness of the original inn, its facilities were complete and cozy. To be able to find such a room in such a short time was already exceptionally good. Besides, the accommodation fees had already been paid.
“That guy’s not bad, I like him.” Morris had an extremely great impression of Kiyohara.
Having been busy for the past two days, they all relaxed and rested in this hotel. The returning flight had already been booked, in the afternoon this Saturday.
Morris had forcefully occupied the TV, with Conglong and Simo using the hotel’s wireless connection to madly surf the internet. The others rested in their own rooms. Ivan pulled Igor out to stroll down the street, Byriel running off to who-knows-where beauty hunting.
Only Feng Ping Lan was left sitting on the sofa, deep in thought.
“Is there something the matter?” Dongya handed a drink over to him, gently concerned.
“Something feels a little odd.” Feng Ping Lan scratched his head.
“Didn’t the entire process operate very smoothly according to the plan, which part of it feels odd to you?”
“I can’t exactly describe it, it’s just a feeling…” Feng Ping Lan spoke hesitantly, “The hotel staff wasn’t curious about our identities, nor did anyone search it up on the internet or contact any news reporters. None of the guests came over to inquire.”
“It could be that they attached importance to the hotel’s reputation.”
“When we found the suspect earlier, we didn’t meet a single server or tourist…” Feng Ping Lan paused for a moment, “I feel that everyone was just too obedient, too well-mannered.”
He had already anticipated the possibility of a sudden situation, so he had left Simo and Byriel in the hall before tailing the target, just so that they could immediately cast befuddlement spells on any ordinary people they met, wiping their memories.
But other than one female attendant, they had not encountered anyone else, so smoothly that it felt inconceivable to him.
Now that it was mentioned by Feng Ping Lan, Dongya could sense a few peculiarities, “But if it was deliberately arranged by someone else, what is that person’s purpose?”
Feng Ping Lan gave a hollow laugh, “I have no idea…”
His phone suddenly started ringing, and Feng Ping Lan’s attention was pulled away. He looked at the screen, a number he had never seen before displayed on it.
He picked up. “Hi? Hello? May I ask who this is?” A few seconds later, he revealed an astonished expression, following which he speedily rushed to the room next door.
“Kaido! Kaido quickly open the door! Kaido!”
The door opened, a sleepy Kaido speaking aggravatedly, “What!”
“Kaido! It’s your mother, she called me!” Feng Ping Lan pointed at his phone, saying excitedly.
“Ah?” Kaido froze, momentarily not knowing how to react.
“Pick it up pick it up!” Feng Ping Lan shoved the phone into Kaido’s hand, then pushed him into the room, right into the bathroom, “You can converse slowly we won’t interrupt you!” He then closed the door, waiting in the room.
“Do you need to be so excited?” Zong Yu could not understand.
“Young Master Kaido has not been in contact with Lady Sei for a very long time, because the Clan does not wish for them to have too many interactions…” Tan Hua spoke pensively, “I did not realize that Young Master Ping Lan knew of this.”
“I didn’t.” Feng Ping Lan smiled foolishly as he spoke, “I just thought, if it was me, I would be as happy as he is if I received a call from my mom!”
A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Kaido walked out from within.
“Was it alright? What did you guys talk about?” Feng Ping Lan asked excitedly.
“…She says I can meet her tomorrow.” Kaido murmured as he replied, entirely different to his usual insolent self, “But Tan Hua has to wait outside, or the shikigami will worry.”
“That’s great!” Feng Ping Lan clapped hard, “That’s really great! Kaido! Yay yay yay!”
“You’re noisy…” Kaido reprimanded, shoving the phone back into Feng Ping Lan’s hands, “Thanks…”
Feng Ping Lan realized that the tips of Kaido’s ears were red.
“Is Kaido feeling shy? Is your face red?”
“Shut up!”
*
Just as Feng Ping Lan’s group was terribly busy with frolicking around, in the hotel, the banquet at the Takusetsu inn had also entered its coda, all the guests returning to their rooms in succession.
Out of an unknown implicit agreement by all of them, no one went out for a moment, everyone remaining in their rooms, no matter the guests of the hotel staff. Every single one of them perplexingly did not want to leave their rooms.
The enter inn entered a state of exceptional tranquility.
Knock knock. The sound of knocking transferred over from one of the side rooms.
In the next moment, the door was opened, revealing a pretty complexion.
“May I ask what you’re here for?” The golden-haired woman asked, puzzled, the evening gown on her yet to be changed, exquisite black yarn gloves worn on the hand gripping the doorknob, appearing to have returned to her room not too long ago.
The person standing outside had gentle Eastern features.
“Hello, I’m Kiyohara, one of the attendees of the banquet earlier.” Kiyohara spoke courteously, “May I ask if Mr. Burns is here? I’m trying to find him, but I haven’t been able to.”
“He went missing en route, I have no idea where he’s gone either.” The woman smiled self-deprecatingly, “I was only in charge of accompanying him here to have fun, he didn’t let me ask too many questions…”
“I see.”
“Getting stood up on a date is a pretty horrible feeling, can I rest now?” The woman snapped.
“There are a few more matters I’d like to consult with you.” Kiyohara smiled, “Why aren’t you taking your gloves off?”
The woman did not answer.
“Could it be that you’re afraid of your hand lighting up a bluish color, just like an alien in the night?” Kiyohara smiled.
The woman’s face darkened, waving a hand to shoot a quite powerful spell at Kiyohara’s face.
Bang! Flames lit up.
In a normal course of events, this demonic attack would blast Kiyohara’s face into pulp. But as the smoke drifted away, Kiyohara was left completely unharmed.
He tidied his hair, giving a dry smile, “Not funny?” It seemed that he really had to put in more practice.
The demon’s hand transformed into about a dozen fine needles, simultaneously, a monstrous demonic spell circulated around her entire hand, rushing at Kiyohara’s chest.
Kiyohara lightly received her wrist, twisting it down and dissolving the attack. The light of the demonic spell circulated in his palm, letting out an ear-piercing explosive sound, but Kiyohara was completely unaffected by it.
“Y-you’re a—”
“A demon’s spell doesn’t work on me.” Kiyohara smiled, “Let us go in and have a chat.”
He waved his hand, and the demon was jolted back into the room by an invisible force. Kiyohara stepped in gracefully, turning his hand over the door.
An ear-piercing sound of collision sounded from the room, the metallic clanging of shackles.
Following which, the strong scent of blood disseminated.
In the back garden, the little mound under the maple trees moved slowly, and a blue butterfly crawled out of the earth, slowly flapping its wings to fly off to its master’s side.
But halfway through its flight in the air, it was shocked to a descent by the intangible barrier, shattering into pieces.
The inn was as tranquil as ever.
Twenty minutes later, the door to the room was opened, Kiyohara lifted a leather suitcase as he slowly walked out.
The room was slightly disarrayed, but there weren’t any unusual traces left behind, just that there wasn’t a single person left in the room.
The wine-red leather suitcase was the belonging of the room’s original owner. He had borrowed it to place the suitcase’s owner in it.
Kiyohara left the inn by car. The moment he stepped out of the inn, the building within returned to its usual liveliness, the people walking out of their rooms and moving in various directions.
Feng Ping Lan’s premonition had been right. The ordinary tourists and servers were acting exceedingly orderly.
That was because, before Feng Ping Lan and the other VIPs of the Green Lion arrived, he had already set up the incantation. The guests and servers were subjected to an intimation, wherein the incident a spell was unleashed on the inn, they would subconsciously move to their rooms, remaining within until the danger was eliminated.
He had come here because he had been commissioned, not by the business tycoon as he had claimed, but by the Phantom Department.
He hadn’t expected to meet Summoners on a bounty mission.
“Considerably outstanding, but inexperienced…” Kiyohara smiled, muttering.
The plan was detailed, but there were too many uncertain elements. Additionally, they had assumed their target was only one individual, not expecting any accomplices, this was an oversight.
Although the captured Opposer and Contract had given a reaction to blood on their faces, their hands were clean. The actual person who had scraped off the victims’ faces must be someone else.
He was told, this was the first mission those kids had gone on. He was looking forward to watching their growth.
*
An hour later, Kiyohara arrived at a high-grade flat of a downtown quintessential district, one of his strongholds.
Riding up the elevator, he reached the residence on the highest floor. Pressing the electronic password to the entrance, he swiped a chip card.
The moment the doors opened, he sensed a presence within the house.
Kiyohara guardedly took out the short blade inserted by his waist, slowly shutting the door close.
“Good evening. No need to be on your guard, it’s me.” The uninvited guest within the house spoke generously.
When he saw the familiar face in the living room, Kiyohara released a sigh of relief, then smiled helplessly. “It’s you.”
“I was passing by Kyoto, so I came to visit, to greet an old friend.” The man who looked to be about Kiyohara’s age, around his twenties, smiled to ask, “You’re not welcoming me?”
“You know the Association forbids any miemoshi from privately interacting with each other, Jing Lan.”
“Rules are meant to be broken, they’re not considered a violation before you’re caught.” Feng Jing Lan stood up with a smile, “Besides, although you say that, you always keep in contact with me. You actually like the feeling of excitement too, as if you’re having a clandestine love affair, don’t you?”
Kiyohara sighed, “I have never had a love affair with a man, I wonder what it feels like.” He was suddenly reminded of Byriel’s words at tonight’s banquet, the corners of his mouth subconsciously quirking up.
“That was just a joke, you’re still as humorless as ever.” Feng Jing Lan returned to his seat, “You look like you’re in a good mood, did something great happen?”
“I met a few interesting people.”
“Who are they?”
“I didn’t ask in detail. One of them seemed to be the Wei Family’s young master, the one connected to the Imawabe Family.”
“Is the one you’re interested in a man or a woman?”
Kiyohara smiled, “Both.”
Feng Jing Lan looked at the wine-red suitcase in Kiyohara’s hands, “Do You need my help in reporting?”
“No need.” That would not conform to the rules. “If you continue breaking the rules. It might bring you trouble one day.”
“Before that happens, the people causing trouble for me would hardly have any time to fend for themselves.” Feng Jing Lan glanced at his watch, “I have to go. See you.”
Feng Jing Lan waved, the bracelet on his wrist letting out a crisp sound.
A metal pendant was tied on the leather rope, it was a shape of a hand. Carved onto the palm was a rhombus and a conical intersection, the numbers 9 and 1, as well as a whirlwind, a ripple, and a half-moon.
*
The next day. Kaido headed towards the Imawabe Family’s shine once again in the early morning.
Feng Ping Lan had insisted on coming along. Kaido could do nothing about him, and adding on the fact that Feng Ping Lan had pulled strings to have this meeting, he let him accompany him.
Kaido had expected Feng Ping Lan to follow him into the house, but he expressed that he was willing to wait in the outer courtyard along with Tan Hua.
“Why did you not follow him in? Lady Sei should welcome you.” As they waited, Tan Hua asked curiously.
“I thought, Kaido would like to meet his mom on his own, I would feel embarrassed interrupting them.” Feng Ping Lan replied with a smile. “By the way, why can’t Kaido meet his mother?”
Tan Hua was silent for a moment, looking at Feng Ping Lan, at last slowly speaking.
“Young Master Kaido’s mother is a Miko of the Imawabe Family, who married into Wei Family, to the Wei Family’s second young master Wei Shouken. Young Master Shouken was a frail and sickly person, with not much of a position in the Wei Family. Although Lady Sei is a descendant of a prestigious Miko family, she has no abilities either. This marriage was completely out of convenience…”
To put it simply, both sides had thrown out their own unimportant roles, letting their useless chess pieces to shine their one and only efficacy, making use of waste material.
“The Wei Family is a strict clan, giving status in return for power, so much that only the people acknowledged by the clan would receive the surname Wei, all of them taking on their mothers’ family name before that. So Young Master Kaido had an extremely lowly status in the clan, not receiving any favor, frequently bullied and humiliated by his other brothers as well.” Tan Hua sighed lightly, “Until he broke the clan’s seal, binding a contract with me, he was then acknowledged by the clan leader Master Wei Shouhou, granted the family name Wei, and taken in as his adopted son.”
Tan Hua’s master had been the last clan leader, Kaido’s paternal grandfather.
After the former clan leader’s passing, no one had the capabilities to master Tan Hua, but the people of the Wei Family were not resigned to let go of such an outstanding Contract, so they had sealed Tan Hua off, forcefully keeping her in the human world, until the emergence of the next successor.
The person who had broken the seal and established a contract with her that year, was Kaido.
From then on, Kaido had obtained an exclusive Contract, exclusive weaponry, also receiving reverence and status.
“I see…” He never thought it would be such a complicated past.
It was no wonder why Kaido never wrote down his surname, they were so used to it, they had forgotten his surname was Wei.
“Why was he taken in as an adopted child?”
“Because Young Master Shouken passed away.” Tan Hua sighed lightly, “After Young Master Shouken’s death, Lady Sei was still living in the Wei Family. But ever since Young Master Kaido revealed his abilities, he was taken in as the clan leader’s son, and the clan leader sent Lady Sei back to the Imawabe Family, as well as forbidding the young master from having any contact with Lady Sei…”
Now that Kaido had been identified as the clan leader’s son, there was no more reason for a woman from the Imawabe family to remain. Kaido was a powerful chess piece, he had to side with the Wei Family wholeheartedly, they could not give the other family an opportunity to snatch him away.
And so from then on, only on Wei Shouken’s death anniversary or the clan’s worshiping ceremonies would Lady Sei have the chance to come to the Wei Family and meet with Kaido.
“I see…” Feng Ping Lan nodded his head, not saying much more.
Not long after, Kaido’s silhouette appeared from another direction. He hadn’t stayed for long, about an hour or so.
But when he appeared, that usually obstinate expression had softened quite a lot. When they returned to the hotel and met up with the rest, his words were not as sharp as before either.
Feng Ping Lan looked at Kaido, then glanced at his own phone.
He wondered, was everyone doing alright?
He looked at the times ever since the start of the term in retrospect, thinking of his current plight, everything about the Shadow Academy, as well as his Contracts.
Was it alright, concealing it from everyone?
Perhaps… If Jing Lan-ge knew about all these, he would be willing to accept these facts beyond common sense, accept his new companions.
Perhaps, Jing Lan-ge would start to grow the slightest bit concerned for him due to it…
After thinking about it for a moment, he made a firm resolution.
When they got back, he would give Jing Lan-ge a call…