Relative?

Day 30

So, I assumed that I had managed to escape the guys claiming to be a hero party. However, I had to give it to them. They were a whole new breed of persistent, even managing to track us down to the mansion.

"Tori, how old are you?"

Marcus decided that that would be his first question for me.

BAM!

He received a dangerous knock to the head from Mira. She even bowed her head to apologise for his foolishness like she were his caretaker.

"Sorry, once again excuse him. Stupid and all."

"Hinotori-sama, these humans are weird."

Nukeme whispered into my ear. I let out a tired sigh.

'How did you guys find me?'

I asked them.

"Answer my question first, then we answer yours!"

'And that is?'

"How old are you?"

He asked again. Right now he was becoming quite insufferable, but since I had nothing other than time on my hands, I think I could go at least humour them for now.

'How old do you think I am?'

"I don't know… thirteen? Twelve? Ten?"

'Interesting.'

"So you are twelve?"

'Do I really look so young?'

"Huh? What do you mean?"

'Nothing.'

"Are you some kind of princess?"

Then he suggested something weird.

'Hmm? No. Why do you think that?'

"Why wouldn't I?"

'What's that supposed to mean?'

I looked up and noticed the others were groaning and had their palms in their face. It would seem that this was his pedophilic pick up line. Seriously?

"You don't act like how I'd expect a twelve year old to act."

'Is that so?'

"It's almost like you are some kind of princess."

"Fufufufu!"

I actually giggled at the thought. A chips eating hentai pervert like me as a pervert. Someone probably died of shock thinking about this.

"What's so funny?"

'Sorry, it's just that you are the first person to call me that. Also, never call me princess again. I'll kill you.'

I warned him, causing him to gulp and remain silent.

'Now answer mine. How did you find me?'

"Hehe… would you believe me if I told you that an angel told me?"

____________________________________________________

Amongst the party of aspiring heroes, several reactions flew.

"Wheeeeewwww."

"Holy…"

"…"

"Ah-"

"Damn… I did not see this coming at all."

Marcus blurted out as he looked at his party members all roughed up and Celica having an arrow stuck in her arm.

"Seriously Marcus? You seriously did not see her wiping our asses with the floor after we held her minion prisoner for the second time in a row?"

Celica sarcastically asked and the young boy could only scratch the back of his neck

"Sorry."

"Sorry? You idiot! Do we need to die before you realise that this isn't the sort of thing we are cut out f- hmhmfmmahmmmmmmm!"

Daryl grabbed her and placed his hand over her mouth.

"What she is trying to say Marcus, is that maybe we should just give up on the kid. I am actually starting to suspect that she is some kind of [Demon Lord Candidate]."

"Yeah, yeah! Remember that time when she said Marcus doesn't possess a [Sacred]?"

Kira spoke out and it suddenly hit the others. How would she know unless she possessed something of the sort herself? It didn't need to be a [Sacred]. In fact, she just having the title [Hero Candidate] or [Demon Lord Candidate] itself would allow her to tell those who do have a [Sacred].

Marcus looked down on the ground. Mira walked up next to him and leaned on him.

"I know you want this really bad, but Marcus. Maybe, we should just give up on this one. There's countless other adventures out there."

While the team conversed on the issue, a cloaked figure approached them quietly. She folded a scroll and shoved it into a sort of pocket dimension before clearing her throat, drawing in the attention of the members.

They all looked back and had different reactions to her presence. None the less, they were surprised.

"You're back?"

Marcus asked and the figure nodded. He stood up and let out a wide grin, almost as if he didn't care about it anymore.

"Hehe, boy have we got a story for you."

The cloaked figure approached him and put their hand to his cheeks.

"You always were bad at hiding your emotions."

He grin was slowly replaced with a downward curvature of his lips. His eyes lacked the excitement he normally carried.

"Did you meet who I sent you to meet?"

"Yeah."

"Did you find their sister?"

"No."

"… I see."

The person removed their hands from his face then grabbed their chin. As if deep in thought, the person remained like a statue for a brief second before moving on.

"Oh well. Don't worry about it.

"I guess that's the story… wait, you have red eyes?"

Marcus noticed that a piece of their mask was broken, revealing their vermillion red eyes.

"Huh?"

The figure just realized that part of their mask had been broken. She quickly turned around and fixed a new mask on.

"Anyway… is she a relative of yours? A friend?"

Mira broke the air around those two with her question.

"You said she was a little girl?"

"Yea! She wore a similar mask and even gave the same mysterious vibe as you did. She was probably as strong as you too."

"Hmmm… well, I guess there's no point hiding it. I've been searching for any relatives I have since my tribe was destroyed. I tracked her down to this place and I believe that she could be a cousin of mine."

They all looked surprised. This caused the strange person to tilt their head in confusion.

"What is with you guys?"

"Hehe. If you were looking for a family member, you should have just told us. We would have done it within a heartbeat."

Daryl said.

"I am not a fan of family matters, but seeing as they look important to you, I would not mind helping you find them."

Celica kept stealing glances at Daryl for some weird reason. Everyone had smug looks when looking at her red face.

"Of course! Family is very important!"

Mira grabbed her little sister in between her arms and yelled.

"Yes. Especially when they are strong! Tori is very strong."

The usually reserved Kira even let out a shout, although lacking in energy.

"Well, there you have it. We'll get you to your family, just leave it to us!"

The person just stood still, completely shocked to the bone, before letting out an amused giggle.

"Thanks, but I have news of something happening in the Demon Lands as well as the Dark Church having made several movements. It looks like it is finally happening. Sorry, but you guys need to move to th-"

"Hey… now isn't the time for that."

Marcus grabbed them and brought them to face level. For the first time, even though none could see her face, she showed her feminine features. Her long silver white hair dropped after her hood fell and she squeaked from the awkwardness of the situation.

"Marcus! You big stupid! Big idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

Mira kept screaming in the background and punching his back with her phenomenal beast-like strength. With every single punch, a crack was heard.

"M-Mira… please!"

The masked figure took a step back as Marcus collapsed to the ground and the others tried to get Mira off of him so she didn't accidentally kill him.

____________________________________________________

'So basically, you met a relative of mine and decided help her find me and she gave you tips on how to find me… right. And what is this person's name?'

<<Notice: This is a highly suspicious claim. I suggest you inquire further>>

'Is that so? Very well then, can I know who this person is?'

I decided to ask, but then all of them let out a nervous laugh.

"She said you wouldn't know who she was, but if you want to meet her, you would know exactly where she was."

I was suddenly struck with the thought of this person possibly being a member of my race. My description did say I was rare. Well it also said I was a delicacy, which meant we were being hunt down.

'Still, seeing how strong I got, can I assume that we are only so weak in our first form? Also, what exactly are we. And who exactly is this person.'

I let out a sigh and leaned back on the chair.

'Can I at least get a name?'

"Oh right! Ciel! Her name, is Ciel. Kind of weird if you ask me, but I guess you guys aren't exactly normal."

'Ciel? That name sounds familiar I guess.'

"So you do know her?"

'I'm sure I've seen it somewhere before, but I doubt I know this person. Send this person my regards and tell them that if they ever want to meet me, I'll be in the West.'

Obviously, she wouldn't know what that meant, but I couldn't have her being the only one sounding mysterious and edgy! Marcus' eyes were sparkling with excitement and the others looked pleased with my response.

'Oh thank you Almighty god of Edginess!'

I kept a cool front and delicately got off the chair and walked towards the door. It was about time I got my little sister back.

'Anyway, it's time. I guess I'll meet you guys later. Safe journey to wherever you're going.'

"Yeah. Thanks."

After that, I parted with them and went to the ice cream stand, where I met the couple. They were both dressed in similar outfits as the previous day, except this time they wore masks on their faces. When I asked, they said this auction was sort of illegal so they needed to hide their faces to prevent being identified. Luckily I always kept mine on so I had no problems there. We then went to the auction house, which was actually some secret underground meeting in the most famous restaurant in the city, Hellish Bite.