#74 Part of the Secret discovered
When we were done with the introduction, we began our journey to the Putolu and since it was 8 years since the sisters saw each other, we let them walk some distance away from us in the back.
----Akame and Kurome's reunion----
"I can't believe we are finally together once again!" Akame said with a happy smile and soft eyes.
"It's indeed very delightful that we can be once again together, at least for the time being. I am so happy that Akashi Nii-sama took me with him." Kurome nodded her head with a similar expression and then looked in front at Akashi's back with a gentle smile.
"A-Akashi Nii-sama?...Anyway, tell me, how were you the entire time since we were separated?" Akame muttered with a dumbfounded expression while glancing at Akashi before throwing it aside and asking with a previous smile.
"I was very well, Nii-sama showed me a lot of sides of this world and taught me a lot of things. Including some combat skills." Kurome replied with a nostalgic smile before showing off her sheathed katana with a wide smile and closed eyes. The scabbard itself was already very refined and beautiful, it was apparent that it was a great weapon just from glancing at the scabbard.
"I see, then it's alright...By the way, is that weapon a Teigu?" Akame asked while glancing at the beautiful craftsmanship of the scabbard.
"Oh? You see, actually, Nii-sama c-...he bought this for me in one town. It's made from very durable metal and a few components of strong Danger Beasts" Kurome wanted to say that Akashi created it but she suddenly stopped herself and said that he just bought it with a wry smile. It hurt her heart when she had to lie to her sister but she was aware that it would only brought trouble for her Nii-sama. However, there was also another feeling of regret...and that was because she couldn't show off how her Nii-sama cares for her by even crafting a strong weapon for her.
Kurome draws her katana from the scabbard to show it to Akame.
"Whoa, that's a really beautiful blade." Akame exclaimed with sparkling wide-open eyes when she saw a combination of pure black with a slightly glittering green blade.
"It's also very sharp." Kurome added and used only one hand to slash at one smaller boulder they were passing by just to cut it in half without any problems.
'It might be actually as sharp as my Kiriichimonji. It's an incredible weapon, I am so happy for my Kurome~' Akame thought with a gentle smile while looking at Kurome who started bragging about how was Akashi taking care of her.
----Akashi's POV----
"..." We kept on walking towards our direction on the road but I noticed Najasho occasionally throwing a few glances at my weapon attached to my belt.
"What is it?" I could no longer take it and asked with a small smile since it was visible that he is very interested in swords.
"I think Najasho is just interested in your unique-looking scabbard and hilt of the sword." Poney stopped whistling and said while glancing at both of us with her hands behind her head.
"Shut up shrimp or I will increase your work the next time we will be hunting food." Najasho said with a stern expression.
"Pff" Poney hid from his glare behind me and stick out her tongue at him with a resentful expression.
"...Anyway, since Poney already mentioned it, is that sword unique in any way?" Najasho stopped glaring at Poney and asked while glancing at my weapon once again.
Unique, huh? I was actually trying to discover anything regarding it but I was only able to form a little connection to it, nothing more. But since I haven't drawn it for a whole month, I might feel a difference this time. I know that this sword can absorb blood but I have yet to discover any use of it, also...what would happen if it drank my own blood?
"Well, it's my house's heirloom so it's definitely a strong weapon." I decided to answer this way and pull out one of my hands from my pocket to draw my sword by its hilt that looked like a part of phoenix while its spread wings served literally as a crossguard.
When I draw it after the whole month I felt like my connection to it became even stronger than before, however, it still felt like that sword still wants something from me.
"Hm?" Najasho held his chin with a thoughtful expression while examining the shape of my sword with furrowed brows
"What a unique looking sword, its blade is similar to katana yet it's not curved. Not to mention its pure red color." Even Poney who didn't look much interested at first, couldn't help but take a closer look with a curious expression.
"Um...Akashi? Why did daddy call you 'Red Devil'?" Suddenly Cornelia who was talking to other people behind three of us, suddenly asked and everyone turned their attention to me.
"Hm?" I glanced behind me just to see everyone staring at me with curious expressions. I sheathed my sword and raised my hand so everyone could see my palm clearly.
"Because of this" I said and flames suddenly appeared out of nowhere on my palm.
"Oh?!" Everyone's eyes widened when they saw this.
"To what extent can you control your flames?" Najasho instantly asked me with a curious expression.
"To what extent...huh?" I muttered and put my hand on Poney's shoulder who was conveniently walking next to me.
"Huh?" She looked at me with a confused expression but suddenly everyone looked at her with shocked expressions.
"Hm? What are you all lookin-?! My hair?! Water! Water! Put it out, I don't want to become bald!!!" Poney looked confused when she saw everyone's stares before she suddenly felt unusual warmth from her hair. She caught her own ponytail with her hands and started running around with a horrified expression while trying to find any river.
"Stop panicking, don't you feel that you aren't burning your hands while holding your ponytail that's on fire?" I caught her by the nape of her neck and raised her above the ground like a kitten to stop her from running around.
"Huh? Now that you mention it...it doesn't hurt or feels uncomfortable." Poney suddenly blurted out with a dumbfounded expression.
"Pfft" The girls immediately started laughing at her while Najasho just shook his head with closed eyes and Green just smiled.
"What a terrifying control...It must be your Teigu, right? How long do you have it to have such a control over it?" Green adjusted his glasses and asked with a serious expression.
"I accidentally took it from my father when I was quite small. At such a young age, one would expect it to overwhelm me and kill me but I was able to tame it. So I have it for...maybe 8 years?" I replied with a wry smile.
"Ah! I once read about Elemental-type Teigu, they are very mighty but one must be completely compatible with it or he won't be able to fully control it. It's much harder to get selected by it than by usual Teigu in form of weapons or armors. I also read that one should receive some kind of marking on their body as proof that they possess such Teigu." Poney said with excited expression while her ponytail was still on fire which made her look quite funny. Also, once she was done with explanation, she kept staring at me with a curious expression and I completely knew why.
"Um, I would like to show you such a marking but...it's in the inconvenient place to show" I said with a forced smile, trying to make it less awkward.
I have no such marking...
"Oh..." Both Cornelia and Tsukushi exclaimed with slightly awkward expressions while glancing down at the ground.
"Hm? What do you mean? Where is it that you can't just show it right now?" Poney, however, didn't get my point and instantly asked with a slightly disappointed expression.
"Shrimp, I think it will be better not to talk about it" Najasho came to my rescue and said with closed eyes.
Poney glanced at him before looking at me with pleading eyes.
"Simply put, it's in the indecent place, Poney. Which isn't that surprising, I have heard that fire and lust associate with each other." Green said with a small smile.
"?!...Why didn't you say so from the beginning, you pervert?!" Poney immediately shouted at Green with flushed cheeks and closed eyes.
"Huh?" Green was petrified by her words.
---
'Why am I the one being yelled at?!! What the hell?!' Green thought with a dumbfounded expression.
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"*sigh* I would welcome it if you didn't put any weird images of me in girls' minds. Just because the marking is placed in a "difficult" place doesn't mean that it's because of lust. Plus being born as noble in one of the most prominent families, I have been trained against seduction so my lust is on extremely low levels." I sighed and said to Green with a stoic face.
"I am sorry, that wasn't my intention..." Green just replied with a forced smile when he noticed Poney's hateful glare.
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'*sigh* Two Najasho in one team.' Everyone thought when they saw Akashi's stoic face.
Instantly when everyone thought of the same thing, Najasho suddenly stopped walking and turned around, glaring at them as if he felt them slandering him.
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.
.
.
There are too few cities on the way to Putolu so we would have to camp outside a few times.
I was currently having night duty with Poney. And I instantly understood why her of all people here...They didn't want to assign Kurome to me since she was my companion and they still don't know us very well and another point is...I am a man. They probably make all the time teams of girls and boys together.
I thought with a slightly annoyed expression while throwing a small branch to the campfire since I felt like they were treating me as some kind of pervert.
I really wonder how other boys behave around them since they need to do this...
Anyway, this is a good chance for me to try something I wanted to try for a long time. The only possible problem here is Poney...
I thought while glancing at her sitting opposite to me.
"Hm? Is there something wrong?" She asked me with a puzzled expression.
"No...I will practice for a bit so don't get surprised." I said and drew my sword from the scabbard.
"?! Practice? Right now?" She asked me with a completely dumbfounded expression while tilting her head to the side.
"It's a different kind of practice. I will be practicing my connection with my sword." I replied and cut my right palm with my own sword and then tightly gripped the blade with my bleeding hand.
[Health: 720/750]
"?! Connection?" She was surprised when she saw how I easily cut myself without any change in my expression or without any hesitation.
"Spiritual connection to be more precise." I said and looked at my sword slowly absorbing my blood while the blade started slightly glow in red color.
When I felt that it no longer wants my blood in this way, I gripped the hilt of my sword with my injured hand.
I tightened my grip as much as I could making bleeding even more severe.
[Health: 700/750]
"Hey, are you alright?" Poney asked with a slightly concerned expression when she noticed blood slowly pouring out of my palm.
Suddenly...I felt like my connection with my sword to break thought some kind of barrier and I could finally feel a clear connection to it instead of just a faint connection.
When I felt this...I immediately knew what I should do as if the sword itself was hinting me.
"Sword" I muttered with a half-open eyes while tightening my grip on the hilt.
*Splash* The blood suddenly splashed out of my hand gripping the hilt of the sword and Poney widened her eyes in shock.
From the hilt, spikes came out of nowhere and pierced my palm and stopped only when they pierced through my entire hand.
[Health: 650/750]
I felt as if my sword was slowly drinking my blood through those spikes and the slightly dull red blade started glowing and by looking at it, one could almost see the blood flowing inside it. The blade became redder and redder each second and I could feel that it was becoming much stronger.
"Wait here, I will be back in a few seconds." I suddenly said
"Huh? Wait a m-" Poney wanted to say something but I already jumped a safe distance away from the camp but Poney was still able to see me. I mainly let her see me because I didn't want her to grow suspicious of me or something.
I also didn't want to wake up everyone.
When I was far enough from the camp, I looked up at the dark sky filled with stars. I gripped my sword even more tightly.
"ha!" I released a low shout and performed diagonal slash towards the dark sky.
*screech* A crimson-colored energy fired from my sword in the same arc as my slash towards the sky while being accompanied by piercing sound. The energy traveled for a few seconds until it finally dispersed in the sky.
Looks like I found part of this sword's secret. Thankfully, I moved far enough so that piercing sound shouldn't have woken up anyone.
I thought with a small smile while looking at the glowing red blade of my sword.
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While on the other side, Poney who watched all of this had wide-open eyes since she was sure that crimson-colored energy wasn't created by sending a wave of wind with his strike.
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