24 Chapter 23: Unknowable Sins (II)

As Sora, Lucas, my new friend Chizuru, and I were having a conversation, we heard something that made me and Sora freaked out.

We heard it again, the cries of the ghost girl that scared us when we were walking in the creepy hallway.

Both of us almost screamed again from fear, until Lucas and Chizuru suddenly ran in the direction we were supposed to go.

"Hey wait! Don't leave us!" I shouted and ran up to them as fast as I can.

"Hey! Don't forget about me too!"

We finally caught up to the two, we saw what we were actually looking for, Millie's secret lab.

There were tons of gadgets and scientific experiments more developed than the lab in the city.

It was like a futuristic lab that scientist from the future uses.

And also... There's a little girl about the age of six or seven crying in the corner.

Sora and I almost shouted the word 'ghost', but good thing Lucas and Chizuru went to the girl immediately and calmed her down.

Chizuru hugged the crying child and whispered to her. "It's okay, don't cry... We're here, your big sister Chizuru and big brother Lucas are with you, so don't cry."

The little child nodded slowly at Chizuru and wiped her face to finally stop crying.

Both Sora and I sighed in relief that the ghost that we were afraid of was just a normal crying child.

We went to where Chizuru and Lucas were and took a peek at the little girl.

The girl noticed us and immediately hid behind Chizuru's back.

How cute! This is my first reaction after seeing the girl's face. "Hi! Nice to meet you, I'm Haruki Hotaru, what's yours?"

Chizuru immediately hugged the little girl again, and she began to cry.

"There, there, big brother Haruki is scary isn't he? So don't cry, he won't bite."

Did I do something wrong to be called scary? And how did I make the girl cry?

Sora looked at me and said. "Haruki you're the worst, how dare you make a little girl cry."

"It's not my fault! Right, Lucas?!"

"Well... It is actually your fault since you talked to her when we said that Talya doesn't like talking to people."

"Wait, Talya? You mean the General of Melancholy is this little girl?!" No way, she suffered so much at such a young age?! Whoever made her suffer shall die!

"Yes, I know that it's horrible that a little girl like her is the General of Melancholy."

I sighed slowly and went to Talya and kneeled to talk to her.

Even if I don't look like it due to my personality, I'm quite good with children, since one of my friends Asahi has a little sister.

I said to her in a slow and calm voice. "Hey Talya, I'm sorry for making you cry, so here."

Taking the sleeping Flint from my shirt, I gave him to Talya. "This cute guy's name is Flint, I wish you two can get along, as well as the two of us." I softly said to her with a smile.

Talya looked at me for a bit and took Flint from my hand slowly.

When she finally took Flint, he woke up and bark with joy, and licked Talya.

Talya smiled while holding Flint, which made not only me happy, but also the other three.

"I didn't know you were good with children Haruki, I can see this as a win..." Lucas whispered

"Impressive Haruki, Talya wouldn't do that everyone she just met, but for her to interact with you a bit, I can see why Lucas said that you and Akemi are close."

Smiling from their compliments I said. "Of course, since I'm the best-"

Sora disturbed what I was supposed to say. "No, you're only good with children since you have the nature of a trained pedophile."

"What did you say!" I tried to punch Sora, but I immediately stopped because I forgot that Talya is still a child, so making her see something like violence is not good for her mind.

"*Cough* Anyway, where's Akemi? I thought she was with you Lucas?"

"Oh, Akemi? She's in the other room with Ruri." Lucas said while pointing at a door.

"Oh really... I heard that Ruri has some kind of incurable disease, so what's up with that? And all of Millie's strange gadgets here could be used to cure it, right?" Since the gadgets here are completely unnatural to the gadgets of Earth, so why don't they use them? For the looks of it, the gadgets here use lasers and even the small knife here is a laser.

Chizuru sighed and took sat at the chair and she said. "About Ruri's illness, she has a type of illness that's very rare that only about 3 people have it, and the other two people were weakened and almost died because of the illness."

"Who were those two?" I asked her.

"The original Astaroth, and the second generation General, Ivy Astaroth."

"Wait, Ruri is an Astaroth too right? So that means this illness is passed down to the Astaroth? And wait, I thought the third generation only inherited their names and they're not really related to the original Archduke?"

"Well that's the truth, but Ruri, me, and Milicas are like cousins but not, and we're related to the original Astaroth, Belial, and Lucifer."

"Really..? But Millie and Faust are both respected and intelligent scientists, so they might know how to cure her sickness." If they kept on trying to create a medicine for her, then her sickness would be cured. But if they aren't creating one, then there must be a reason why.

They both know how to cure it, we older Generals know that since it was used by Faust in the past to cure the original Astaroth's illness."

"Then why can't they use it again if they have it? Does it only work on one person?"

"Of course it doesn't work only on one person, but Faust didn't use a medicine on Astaroth, instead he used a fruit to cure it."

Not expecting a fruit, but in many stories, there are some powerful fruits out there. "So which fruit is it?"

"You probably heard of it from many stories back on Earth, the mythological fruit that cures all diseases and was used to create the idea of immortality, the golden apple."

"The golden apple? Then why can't we just grow them? Is it a rare species?" I know that this question is a bit dumb, but with the latest technologies here can they create medicines that have the same effect as the golden apple?

"It's was very common to see them in the past, but the Gods destroyed many golden apple trees when they found out its ability."

"Then all hopes for Ruri has disappeared; since the golden apple trees have all been destroyed..." Could there be another way?

"It's not extinct yet, since there were findings that the Gods uses them for some sort of experiments, so bring back your hope."

"Of course! I forgot that there's no such thing as 0%, so I'll visit them and introduce myself quick." I said while I ran up to the door.

"Wait, Haruki stop!" Chizuru shouted.

I didn't hear what Chizuru said and I burst open the door with joy and looked at the room and saw... The beauty of death.

Right before my eyes were two beautiful girls inside dressing up, and those two were Akemi and another girl which is probably Ruri Astararoth.

Ruri Astaroth was a beautiful blonde girl with heterochromatic eyes and looks almost exactly like Akemi.

Looking at her made me tingly; because I thought that she was the same blonde girl that I saw when I got Soul Bound.

But the difference between her and the one I saw is that the types of blonde hair they have, Ruri has a light-type blonde, but the girl has a golden type, and most of all their main difference is their eyes.

If it weren't for Ruri's heterochromatic eyes like Dawn, I wouldn't notice the differences.

And while looking at my death, I already thought to myself, I messed up, and so I closed my eyes and got what I deserve.

Slap!

The slap from Ruri was so strong that I fell down and almost fainted, but good thing I was only dazed.

"Who the hell is this pervert?!" Ruri shouted in anger.

Sora and Lucas went to me quickly and try to wake me up and ease the pain from the slap that I received.

Akemi stopped Ruri from trying to kick me and said to her. "Stop Ruri! That's the Prince!"

Ruri was shocked upon hearing what Akemi said and shouted. "This pervert is the Prince? How?!"

Hearing that, I want to say how rude of her, but due to the impact of that slap, I couldn't even move my mouth.

Am I gonna die like this? How short have I lived... Then goodbye cruel world.

"Hoy! Snap out of it Haruki!" Sora shouted and used a skill that forcedly woke me up.

I shouted tremendously from the skill he used; because it felt like I'm gonna have a heart attack. "What are you doing Sora!? I almost died!"

"Good thing you're awake, but d*mn... That slap though, that was cool."

Cool? How does he think being slapped in the face is cool?!

Well to be honest being slapped by a beautiful girl is a gift for sure, so better not blame him.

I stood up and stretched my arm and introduced myself to Ruri. "Hi, I'm Haruki Hotaru, nice to meet you, and I'm sorry for barging the door and seeing you two..."

"Don't mention it, what's done is done, and I-I'm sorry too for slapping you, Prince Haruki." Ruri said and flipped her hair and pouted at the same time.

"No it's okay, it really is my fault." Also, thank you for the two gifts that you gave me.

Ruri twitched angrily and came forward to me angrily, and stepped on my foot. "What did you think, you pervert!?"

The way she stepped on my foot hurts a lot, but she can read minds?! I better be careful around her.

Talya ran to Akemi and Ruri and showed them, Flint. "Big sister Akemi! Big sister Ruri! Look, Talya made a new friend."

Ruri kneeled at Talya with a smile. "I see... Then you better take care of him, and never fight okay?"

This is so wholesome to look at... Now I want Talya to call me big brother Haruki.

Also, I noticed that Akemi is looking at me weirdly, always trying to avoid eye contact with me.

Oh right, I forgot that she fell asleep while crying on me.

What do I do? I want to get rid of this awkward atmosphere between us.

For now, I should get advice from the master of all romance, Lucas.

"Hey Lucas, me and Akemi had an incident, so she won't talk to me due to embarrassment, what do I do?"

"Just what incident happened?"

"Well when you two got here, Akemi visited me at Sora's room, then something happened that made her cry, and she fell asleep on my chest."

"So that's the reason why she's gone... Then just tell her that you didn't touch her, and immediately left, I'm sure she would understand."

"Really? Thank you, Lucas." So with the advice that the master of all romance gave me, I went to Akemi to try and talk to her.

"Hey Akemi, about what happened before at Sora's room, I want to say is..." Lucas, I'm still nervous help me.

Akemi tried to hide her embarrassment with a smile and asked me. "What is it Haruki?"

My heart is bursting into tears, I can't take this embarrassment anymore. "Akemi, I know that you might've misunderstood what happened at Sora's bed, but please believe me that I didn't do a thing to you when you fell asleep."

"Really? Are you sure you're telling the truth Haruki? Or else I'll get angry."

"Of course, I'm not a pervert like Lucas."

"*Sigh* Then I should also apologize for thinking things about you..."

"No worries, it's normal for people to think that." Yes! I've done it, thank you, Lucas!

"Then Akemi, after everything's settled with Satanael and the others, can we still go to that takoyaki store that you mentioned." This might be a bold question, but Lucas said to be like myself, so I'm doing it now.

Akemi smiled beautifully and answered. "Of course, we'll go, just the two of us."

There it is! My heart almost died from what she said, it really is a date with Akemi, thank you, Lucas!

Ruri noticed that Akemi and I are flirting, so she went to me and grabbed the collar of my shirt and gripped it hardly. "Hey, even if you're the Prince, I don't care, but if you get chummy with Akemi and break her heart, be sure to be ready for your funeral."

Scary! What's with this girl? I thought she's sick, so why is she moving like she doesn't have an illness?

She finally let me go, and I ran to Chizuru a bit to relieve my fear for Ruri, but good thing is that Akemi is making Ruri calm.

So that's when I asked Chizuru. "Hey Chizuru, I thought that Astaroth is sick, so why is she moving perfectly?"

"Well she has an illness, but it's still not deadly, and only headaches and nausea are the things she can only feel, for now..."

"I see... Then why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't get slapped and get threatened by her if you told me."

"I did try to tell you, but you didn't hear what I said and immediately burst to the door."

Then I gotta make sure to be careful and listen to people from now on.

I looked back at Ruri and I saw Sora approaching her. "*Cough* It's nice to meet you Ruri Astaroth, I'm the General of Sloth, Sora Belphegor... Still single, and it's nice to finally meet you! " Sora said while blushing.

Sora probably thought of some lewd fantasies to Ruri, so my guess is...

"Hmp! Nice to meet you Sora Belphegor, but... If you're trying to hit on me, sorry not interested, especially if it's someone like you."

Yes, my answer is correct that Ruri would reject Sora in an instant, and in a most deadly way it is. Coming to me in tears was Sora, and he said to me. "I want to die..."

I patted Sora on the shoulder and I said to him. "Don't worry you still have a chance, remember that there's three General- wait, right I forgot that..."

Sora choked me and shouted at me while crying. "Why are you so mean! I thought we were friends!"

"Sorry, sorry... Don't give up yet, there are billions of girls in the world, so have hope."

"You're right Haruki! Even if I lost every chance with the female Generals, there still a chance."

Chizuru and Akemi looked at both of us with a worried smile, while Ruri is looking at us full of disgust, and Talya was still playing with Flint.

With Talya holding Flint with a smile, she suddenly stopped smiling a bit and inspected Flint, and she found something weird about him.

So Talya went to Akemi, Ruri, and Chizuru and began telling what she saw. "Talya found something weird with Flint."

"Oh really... What is it?"

"Look." Talya said and showed Flint's fur. "Big sister Millie told Talya that hellhounds have red stripes on their fur, but Flint has blue."

Akemi took Flint and looked at his fur to see if Talya is telling the truth.

When Akemi inspected Flint, she saw the blue stripes on Flint's fur, instead of the real color of red. "Haruki, have you seen this?" Akemi asked me.

"Oh those stripes, I noticed it when we were at Sora's bed, but I thought that hellhounds stripe color changes, so I didn't bother to tell everyone, so what's the problem."

"No, hellhounds stripes don't change colors, but the pattern of the stripes differs from the hellhounds, so this is my first time seeing something like this."

"Then, is Flint a special breed? Cause Flint didn't change a lot, except for the stripes color and the size of his body though." Actually, for a puppy Flint's sudden growth is abnormal...

"I see... So Haruki, I want to know, where was Flint when you used Soul Bound to battle Milicas?"

"Well from my memory, I remember holding Flint, before I even used Soul Bound and that's it."

"I see..." Akemi became quiet from my answer and has started to speculate something beyond my intellect.

"Akemi, is there a problem?" Ruri asked Akemi worriedly.

"No, it's just about Flint's body that piqued an interest... Because even Millie might not know this."

What are they talking about to Flint? He's just a normal pup, so why are they thinking of some kind of deadly experiment that they'll do on him? I hope they better not kill him, since Dawn might get upset at me.

"*Sigh* For now I'll show Millie this, so I think now that Haruki and Sora met you three, you three should go outside now so that you three can meet Shota and help us a little bit of work."

Wait, so they haven't met Shota yet? I'm confused why Shota can't see them when Sora is more... Dangerous than him

Chizuru was confused a bit. "Work? Oh yeah, I forgot that the Archdukes are currently busy with something important, and I've been wondering what is the work they're doing?"

"Right, Akemi; Lucas. You and the other Archdukes haven't told us yet what happened outside, and why we were moved here from Millie's original lab." Ruri said in curiosity

I grabbed Akemi and Lucas to the corner and whispered to them. "Wait, they still didn't know about Satanael and the others?"

"Well apparently not, maybe because to protect them a bit, because you heard right Haruki? Chizuru and Ruri are both related to Satanael, and Talya is still a child." Lucas said

"Then what do we do? Do we tell them? Especially you Akemi, since Ruri cares for you so much."

Akemi sighed at my question and told the both of us. "Have faith in me that they'll help, I'll tell them the truth so leave us three alone for a while, and bring Talya with you."

Lucas and I agreed anxiously and so I told Sora about it, and Lucas grabbed Talya and made an excuse to come with us. "Then we'll be leaving now." I said to the three girls, and we left.

When we close the doors and looked in front of us, Sora and I were stricken with fear when we saw at a distance from the creepy hallway, was Faust walking toward here.

"Oh it's Faust, what's his doing here?" Lucas said.

And so, Sora and I looked at each other in the eyes and started crying since we knew that Faust will report what we did to Millie. "We're dead!" Both of us shouted in agony.