The Unusual Injury

"What's wrong? Don't even tell me you can't figure it out?" someone from the bureau spoke out but Asato paid him no attention.

The teen had his whole attention focused on the body in front of him. The male body had an average build with average features and one might also have passed upon it as a natural death.

If not for the pulsating red and black marks all over the torso. The spread and contracted in time with Asato's heartbeat giving an illusion of the guy being alive too.

Asato raised his hand to touch the body, the phoenixes on his shoulder flying a little away to provide him with more moment space. The gloved hand almost made contact with the body before a cry broke out.

"Don't or you'll get cursed too. Everyone who touched the body is dead too" a panicky bureau person spoke out, clearly concerned for his own

health.

Haru and Erin just passed him a cautious look but didn't interrupt so Asato continued his observation ignoring the clearly distraught person in the back. He was fourteen and still had a better head on his shoulder than all the other idiots here combined.

"Can you try to heal the wounds? Be careful though" Asato asked the phoenix which stood just a little away from the dead body.

There was a cry of agreement and everyone watched in rapid attention as the phoenix shed a few tears on the marks. This was one of the only times someone had seen a phoenix at work, so everyone was almost in awe.

The other one flew laps around their head, keeping a vigilant eye on everyone. It was an assurance that no one would make any sudden moment.

The tears touched the marks and Asato prepared himself for something to happen. The result could range from cure to explosion, and yet nothing happened.

The tears rolled away like water.

"That confirmed it, this was most likely the devil's hand curse. It was used once almost three centuries ago which caused the last great war when both side leaders were killed" Asato confirmed.

He had thought to lie at first but that would likely blow upon his face sooner rather than later. He would prefer if he had the connections still maintained even after the people left.

Acidic looks were passed to the calamity pair as people almost growled at them. Asato made no move to stop them, for once they broke the stalemate he would have the full right to deal with them.

However, Haru was awfully quiet throughout the deal which made him wonder if it all was planned. It won't surprise him at all if it was. There was always an attempt from both sides to break the delicate stalemate everyone was in.

Especially the underworld which was getting impatient and prone to lash out.

"What? We're not involved in this at all. Don't pin your own faults onto us" the female snapped, clearly getting annoyed with all the looks being thrown her way.

The child on her said was still sitting in the same pose which he had taken when he first entered. If not for the blinking eyes and breathing, you could even take him for the dead. Especially with the ashy complexion of the skin.

"You demons always like to hide your faults but we're onto you. You won't survive for long" the person clearly had a death wish.

Not only was he starting a fight on the neutral grounds but also with a calamity. If it came down to fighting he would die and doom everyone to fight a long war with no winner.

Asato could not allow it to happen on his own territory for his job was to construct balance. But he really wanted the person to meet his doom too for he was way too foolish for anything else.

"Calm down. I'm sure you want to return home alive after all. Don't forget where we are" Erin was the voice of reason, his words having a mix of comfort and steel in them.

The other calmed down instantly but you could see the defiance in his eyes still. Clearly, he had not had enough of the argument.

"Please, as if we have any need to do anything in the shadows unlike you humans" Haru made a jab which enraged almost every human in the room. Asato observed various shades of red and purple that passed the faces of the bureau's face.

That was a low jab to the bureau as a whole which could not operate in an open environment due to the presence of innocent people. Mass panic would spread which would just hinder their moment and would just fuel the other side.

Erin however only enjoyed the situation. Clearly, someone was a few up with their company and wanted out desperately.

Asato just passed him a look that said to fix his mess and got a cheeky smile in return.

"I apologise for the loudmouth our people have. They don't have much use except to speak a lot" Erin's world was clear and spoke more for which faction he supported and the person in the back who spoke up paled.

Clearly, he had not expected the chief to place the neutral treaty way above his own life and dignity only to be proven wrong.

"Don't start your game here when you have a whole world to play in. And I better not find your mess all over the place again. Learn to clean up after yourselves" Asato's meaning was clear, he wanted nothing to do with their game as long as the balance didn't break.

They could kill each other or have an alliance, whatever they wanted.

"What about the body? We can't handle it like this, but we really need to get rid of it at all costs" Erin asked and Haru passed them a curious

look.

Asato understood the reason behind Erin's urgency. Every bureau person's body was a treasure tomb of information pertaining to certain techniques which they excelled at. Mostly they were passed down after the body was dealt with in a certain way.

This was the way they maintained their status quo and power balance. However, a high ranked body in such a position made things difficult for them. They had no way to get rid of it properly.

And if it fell into the hands of the other party, a lot of ground would be lost for the bureau. Asato let out a sigh.

"Shouldn't we find the culprit first?" the bureau members, having not learned his lesson at all and you could see the twitch in Erin's eyebrow.

"We'll deal with it when the time comes. Don't try to cross me when I decide something. Asato, what do you know about this situation?" Erin's the voice was annoyed as it faced the way older members but returned to calm when faced him.

Asato considered the question for a moment before deciding how much he needed to tell everyone present.

"I know how to remove the marks well enough to perform your rites on it. However, the ingredients are not so readily available. I would like someone to accompany me on the journey through"

There was pin-drop silence after his announcement, every one weighing their options inside their mind. Asato waited for someone to volunteer.

He didn't particularly need help, but it made paperwork easier by a lot and helped gain access to places that were not readily available to him

before.

Besides, the place he would find the main ingredients at had the illumination grass he really wanted to plant in the back yard which was difficult

to find.

If someone was there to do the manual labour, it would mean he would have a lot of time for other things himself.

"I'll make an appointment with the upper staff and accompany you. I hope you won't have a problem with it" Asato didn't have a problem with Erin. The person was overbearing but he was a decent enough fighter to get passed by.

Besides, Asato had a feeling that the person hid too much of himself and showed only a portion of himself and it intrigued him a lot. That was one of the only reason he had allowed the person to keep him company despite the invasive nature.

"Then I will volunteer my younger brother Nate too. You would help, right?" Haru asked the child on her side who nodded in agreement.

Voices of protest rose up so fast that it gave Asato a headache. Their voices were sharp like a banshee and refused to hear anything else but

themselves.

Asato understood the reason too, for there was too much unrest between fractions to take the offer laying down. For them, this was likely a

scheme to find out more about their side.

But it was purposed on neutral territory so there was not much they could do except protest. And it created a problem for Asato to solve since it

was his territory.

He had anticipated such a development when he had thought to invite Haru here, but the reaction in his thoughts and reality was miles apart. Mostly because he forgot to take the idiot members of the bureau into account.

"Alright, I understand the situation. I'll leave the decision up to chief Erin to make for it is his request. You are invited to stay as long as you want in here as long as you don't cross the parameters of the boundary. I'll get the body relocated now" a shadow servent emerged to pick up the body.

No doubt the low power level of most humans only made them seem like normal humans too and some almost raised up to stop them. However, when no one fainted or dies, they finally understood that those were the shadow puppets.

There was a hush talk between Haru and Erin which Asato was not interested in. Whatever the outcome would be, he would get to know.

For now, though, he had a body to place and spells to place for the protection of the body.

Besides, he would need to recheck the positions of all the plants and material he would need again. The materials he wanted were recorded a long time ago and had since been displaced from their original habitat a long time ago.

To find out their new locations would be a pain he would have to undertake.