belly of the beast part 1

“Do you have any idea where the ester grass might be?” Asato asked his companion who just followed his lead without any question. It made him wonder just why was he being followed with such intensity but he did not question it at all.

For all, he knew Sumeru was just curious enough to follow him around because she was bored and there was no other reason for it. That was likely as well.

“No, I have no idea where you might find the grass” by her tone it was clear that she was playing around with him. Asato was sure that she knew exactly where the grass was and how to get it.

But she was not willing to tell him. Did she want something in return for it? Or was there some other reason? Should Asato ask the reason at all here? Somehow, it just did not feel safe asking any question here.

But Asato decided to take his chances with her. At least he could get to know her angle of thinking here which would help out a great deal later.

“What are you after? What are your goals here?” Asato asked, his tone firm. He decided not to beat around the bush at all for it would just complicate the situation.

From the amused and relaxed expression on the other's face, it seemed as if she did not mind at all which made Asato take a deep breath right inside his heart. At least one thing was not messed up in his haste.

However, whether she replied truthfully or not was not something that was in Asato’s control any longer. The ball was in her court from here after all.

“Me? I’m after nothing. My goals? It’s the same as your own” her reply left him a little put-off. Those would have been the standard replies Asato himself would have given had he not been the one receiving answers.

They were perfectly reasonable and he could not ask any more since they shut off any attempt of probing for information. Not to mention, that anything more could be considered rude which he was trying his best not to be.

“Miss Sumeru, are you sure you have no idea what is going on here? With the fire and everything?” as soon as Asato asked, the whole atmosphere of the place changed in an instant. The earlier easy-going attitude was now somehow heavier.

And darker too.

It felt a little stiffening to Asato’s senses but he did ignore it for the time being. He had answers he needed from her and he would get them right here if he laid his cards right.

“The fire you say? Perhaps I do know something about that. Why, are you curious?” her playful tone made Asato grit his teeth. Was she even taking anything seriously here anymore? Or was she only interested in playing around?

Little by little, the impression he had of her beforehand was crumbling and a new hypothesis was building on her character. Asato was not sure if he liked her character or not but he was sure of one thing.

This person had a lot of information about what was going on and if he could get it out right now then it would help out a tone. But he had to be careful too.

He already could see her hiding information behind the mask of her irritating personality. The further they walked, the more closed off she got and it was difficult to tell from her attitude but this person was actually quite cold to those who were not of her circle.

And she clearly did not consider Asato to be of her circle yet so he would have to change his strategies.

“I admit I am curious. I would like to exchange pointers if you were interested in it” while Asato himself might not know much about the fire, there was a lot more he knew about other things.

If he could bait her out with those topics and gain knowledge about the fire incident then it could very well benefit himself in the long run too. But if not, then he should back off for now. Pressuring her would not do him any good.

Especially now in the times where her knowledge, as well as skills, would be most appreciated here.

“Perhaps next time. We’re quite busy this time, won’t you say it?” that was a clear dismissal to his words but at the same time an assurance this was not a no forever. It was just not a good time for information exchange.

And Asato could see her point too. The place was less than ideal for sitting and chatting away. The place was dangerous and gloomy. What Asato needed to do for now was to get out of here and find a place where they could sit and talk later.

“I think we should go this way” Sumeru stood in the middle, pointing toward a seemingly random direction but it made Asato stop as well. The direction she was pointing seemed to be a random one at first, but he could feel it.

There was a small swell of power in that direction which beckoned people to follow them inside. It was not strong enough to weave a full glamour at all, but it seemed enough to tempt people to step inside the trap.

“This is weird'' Aasto muttered as he followed her in that direction. While he still had his goal of getting the grass and getting out as soon as he could, a new layer of urgency had been added to the whole sequence now.

He needed to check this source out and see if there was anything that was out of the ordinary.

The direction led them toward a hole in the ground, a deep hole where it was impossible to see the end of.

“It’s down there?” Asato asked, a question in his tone. From the looks of it, the hole was newly dug with the sides still fresh of the dirt. It was not difficult to see that it was not a natural feature of the land there for the surroundings were too rock-solid for it to occur naturally.

“Someone dug it out? But what for? It’s not even enough to transport a human inside?” it was not and that was the biggest mystery here.

If this was not for going inside then it could only be to pull something outside. But a hole this small being used for such things did not sit well at all with anyone.

“Someone used magic here. Perhaps this hole used to be bigger but got stuck at this size when they were closing it?” it did make sense. Creating such holes came under the usage of common first aid magic in case of landslides and other disasters.

While everyone learned this, people were not foolish enough to leave the evidence behind. So, either the person who did this was clumsy enough to leave the hole as it was or they were unlucky enough to not be successful.

“Or perhaps they stopped because they heard us coming this way? Maybe they are still around here” her words made Asato aware that they might not be the only ones in the vicinity.

He could not see or feel anyone else inside there but that did not mean they were not here. If he concentrated hard enough he could feel his magic brush against the outline of a few bodies. \

It felt like there were 6 of them out there who were standing in plain sight.

“Come out, we know you are there” Sumeru called out, staring dead centre where his senses brushed against their magic. Asato stood up, his scythe in hand and his body tense enough to be standing at ready.

Then the first person came and there was no longer any holding back for any side. There was a flurry of moments as the attacks got stronger and stronger.

Asato did his best to not hurt the opponent for he still wanted the answers to his questions. Pls, he did not want to spend any more time here than he had to.

But his partner had no such problems. Even before Asato could knock the person out, they were dead. Sumeru was killing their attackers instead of capturing them.

“What are you doing? We need them to gather information” Asato called out, his desperation only making Sumeru’s attacks faster. There was a mad grin on her face which made her look demonic, her eyes glowing with unholy light as her blade danced in between the dying bodies.

Soon the dance came to a standstill with only Sumeru as the winner and the 6 bodies lying dead around her as a tribute to her skills.

“We don’t need them to tell us what is going in here. We’ll draw our own conclusions” Asato did not like her tone at all. The female raised her sword and he could feel the energy build up in it escape through her sword directly at the area around the hole.

It gave way as easily as butter did around a knife, and all of a sudden, the hole was much wider than before.

“Let’s have a look down there” Asato just sighted at his fate but he chose to follow her in her craziness. If he was stuck with her, then he will make the best out of this situation.

He dipped his head inside the whole and the sight in front of him took his breath away. That was not something he had thought to witness anytime soon.

(if you are looking for another thing to read then my other book called 'Leave the Monster alone' might interest you. I genuinely think it had a better plot than this but then again, I might be a little biased toward it since I recently started it and it is close to my heart. Hopefully, you'll check it out too and add it to your library)