Chapter 35 – Caught

Kai and the others moved from the counter to one of the tables at the corner of the bar. They had become a group of 4 now and would be looked at strangely if they kept sitting around the counter.

Their conversation topic wasn't something that should be heard by normal people either, and that was why they moved to the corner of the bar. Rebecca had also woken up and listened to the conversation silently.

Robert desperately explained why Kai was here and that he was already forgiven to the point he made a vow with his Spirit Power to help Kai when he was in need. Somehow he could feel that Amber was dangerous, so he didn't tell a single lie.

Of course, he also promised to visit the foxes with them to apologize on a later day after the Oni Festival.

When his explanation ended, Amber's anger also subsided, and she nodded slightly.

"I see."

The crisis had been avoided successfully, and there was no need to turn them to ashes.

"In other words, you have vowed to become Kai's servant. Can I take it like that?" The Phoenix Girl asked as her smile returned.

"I-Indeed." Robert nodded obediently.

"That's good. I am looking forward to your performance in the future." She turned to Kai. "I am sorry for making a conclusion, Kai. I thought you were so caught up in drinking that you forgot you promised to protect the Spirit Foxes."

"Definitely not." Kai shook his head as he glanced at Robert. "I have settled the problem, so I thought of having a few drinks. What about you, Amber? Have you fully replenished your Spirit Power yet?" He smiled at Amber warmly while trying to hide his real reason for being late.

'I surely can't say that I am too caught up in drinking.'

The bad habit was hard to cure. He got it from his grandfather, and he blamed it on him.

"I have replenished all of it." She replied. "If the matter with the Spirit Foxes is over with this, can you accompany me somewhere, Kai?"

"Hmm? Where?"

"Somewhere nice." She smiled playfully. Then she turned to Robert and Rebecca, who tried their best to stay as inconspicuous as possible. "And that's it. I need to go somewhere with Kai, so please excuse us."

"Please feel free to," Robert replied nervously.

Nodding her head, Amber stood up, took his hand, and pulled him. "Let's go, Kai."

"W-Wait!" Kai stopped himself from being pulled by Amber and stood up slowly. "Sorry, Robert. Let's waste ourselves another day."

"Hahaha, yeah. Have fun."

Kai smiled and turned around. He walked out of the bar with Amber in tow as the Phoenix girl giggled.

Robert stayed silent and followed them with his gaze before sighing in relief as they disappeared outside the bar.

"That was scary…" He muttered as he took his newly ordered whisky and gulped it in one go. "Aaah! That was actually scary."

"Y-Yeah. I even woke up when I felt her presence." Rebecca nodded her head slowly from the side. "What's with that girl? She clearly showed her hostile intentions toward us!"

"Well, I can't blame her. We tried to kidnap the Spirit Foxes and even fought with Kai, though we were defeated easily." He smiled wryly. "Still, I never thought I would meet a Mythical Beast in a place like this.

"Me too." His wife added. "That signature golden eyes and that aura. There is no mistaking it."

"So even a Mythical Beast followed that guy. I think I made the correct decision to vow with my Spirit Power earlier."

***

Amber told Kai about her suspicion about something outside the bar, making him raise his voice a little bit.

"He knew that you're a Phoenix?"

"No. But I know that the one called Robert and Rebecca noticed that I am a Mythical Beast. I didn't try to hide my signature Spirit Power and my eye color after all."

"Huh?"

Kai couldn't understand what she had implied, and the Phoenix girl just smiled playfully as usual as she pointed at her eyes.

"Look at my eyes. They are golden, no? All Mythical Beasts and their descendants have golden iris color, and all Supernatural Beasts have red iris color. That's the distinction that's famous in the Supernatural World."

"Is it just me who doesn't know that?"

"Yup!" She happily replied as she closed her eyes and took his hands. "But don't worry. He made a vow with his Spirit Power, no? He will not tell anyone about it."

"That's not the problem…"

If he knew about it, he would buy some soft lenses to hide them.

Still, that new knowledge was really useful to him. That meant that he could differentiate between Mythical Beasts and Supernatural Beasts easily.

"Some Mythical Races also have golden irises. For example, the vampire progenitor, Oni Gods, the Devil King, and Queen Succubus. They have similar strength to Mythical Beasts too, so please don't be too rash if you meet them by chance tomorrow. We're not invincible, Kai."

"I understand that." He replied.

He wasn't just someone who would pick a fight wherever he went. Not to mention someone as strong as them, whom even Amber was wary about.

Still, Kai remembered one Supernatural Beast with golden irises. It was Rena, the three-tailed Spirit Fox, the protector of the hidden Fox Temple. She said she was something like Kyubi's descendant; maybe that was why she inherited the golden irises.

"Then what about your Spirit Power? You said something about how you didn't hide it."

"Ah, about that! It's a bit complicated. Hehehe." Amber laughed a little as she leaned closer to Kai.

"So basically, if we intimidate other people with our Spirit Power, they will hallucinate a shape closer to our real being. Usually, it is related to their base power, such as the Fire element or others. But for me… I think they clearly see golden irises belonging to Mythical Beasts glaring at them because I wasn't serious about intimidating them, so they don't see my real shape as a Phoenix."

"That's why he acted differently as soon as you arrived." Kai looked at Amber with a hopeless gaze.

"H-hahaha. That's right."

"Well, that was it."

He knew that Amber did that because she was worried about him. Still, he should learn that trick. Being able to intimidate your opponent just with Spirit Power would be a good technique when he didn't want to spill unnecessary blood and inflict trauma like what he did yesterday.

Let what happened in the past stay in the past. He'd like to move on from it.

"So, where are we going tonight?" He asked curiously. At first, he thought they would go to Fushimi Inari Shrine again, but she pulled him in a different direction from the shrine.

"Fufufu." Amber chuckled in a low voice as she looked straight into his eyes. "I'd like to buy a dress for tomorrow. Do you mind accompanying me a bit, Kai?"

Buying a dress? That meant they were going to a mall. What perfect timing.

"Sure, no problem." He replied. "We will buy soft lenses too while we are at it."

"Huh, why?"

"To avoid some trouble."

'I'd like to enjoy the festival in peace.' He added in mind.