6: The Decision [Aya]

There was something refreshing about being outside Warden’s Manor, despite the heavy feeling lingering in my chest. I briefly closed my eyes as I enjoyed the cold warmth of early morning, the slight wind breezing past my cheeks, and the sound of birds chirping calmed my nerves more than I wanted to admit.

I had known that war was inching closer and closer to home. But the idea of the Revolutionary Army getting directly involved with it hadn’t really crossed my mind. No.

It did, I’d simply…chosen to ignore it.

Swatted the idea away as one does to an annoying fly.

‘There are things you simply cannot ignore, Mistress,’ Faustus commented, idly. My eyebrow twitched at his tone, instantly feeling my mood plummeting. ‘No matter how much you might act like you can.’

“Pretending and ignoring are two different things,” I mumbled, walking past the two Guards from earlier, both of whom gave me stinky looks. I sent them a peace gesture and a wink, followed by an emotionless chuckle upon their rather amusing reactions. If looks could kill, I would be dead several times now. “I’m pretending not to notice the world outside of my own. It makes dealing with everything so much easier.”

‘And? Are you gonna do what that pig of warden asked you, Mistress?’

The weather outside was slightly warmer than before, it felt less dangerous and easier to walk now that the fog was fading away. As I walked back towards the office we’d claimed as our headquarters, I spotted a few Peace Patrol members already out on a patrol. One or two looked as though they wanted to approach me, only to be pulled back by their companions who recognized me.

An understanding existed between me and Peace Patrol members, I seemed to have quite a few understandings between different factions that I didn’t feel like breaking, and that understanding extended to the members of Howling Aquilo. They let us do our thing, and in turn, we would sometimes help them out should they require it or come asking. Those cases were rare, but the head of the Peace Patrol within our Sector had quickly latched onto this agreement.

That’s where the Nation’s Dogs nickname came from.

People saw us working with the Emperor, doing his bidding, and taking orders from the much-hated Peace Patrol. In their eyes, we weren’t their allies but their enemies working with a bigger foe. The idea solidified our isolation, making it unnecessarily difficult in doing our jobs without assistance from the citizens.

“…I’ve been to Sector Forty-Four once,” I said, thinking back to my first visit outside Sector Three.

It was one of the few happy memories I have before my life turned upside down. My father went there for a meeting, taking me with him since my brother was away attending to something else. It was rare for my father to willingly take me outside our Sector, saying how it wasn’t safe for a child of my age.

I never did find out the reason why he brought me along, but I was thankful for it.

‘And that one visit is reason enough to accept the warden’s request?’

I snorted, “Nope. But I am curious what made the Revolutionary Army members work with our common enemy, what did they see there that made them turn their backs on the Sector?”

‘See there?’

A car passed by, causing me to briefly stop before I crossed the street. By now Warden’s Mansion was a good distance away from me, I could no longer see its outline.

I frowned, “The ugliness of having Clans rule the Sectors. There have been rumors flying about what secretly took place in Sector Forty-Four, hidden from the eyes of Peace Patrols or anyone who would report it to the Emperor, not that he’d do anything to stop it. He’d make a scene, putting on a show for the citizens but after a while, things would simply fall back to how they were before with just one big difference: the Emperor’s approval.”

I kept my voice low, silent enough that Faustus heard me but no one other did. Topics relating to the Emperor, the activities of Peace Patrol units, and the businesses of Clans were of no concern to the citizens. They were deemed taboo topics to bring up, to even dare to question them was seen as treason.

Before I walked out of the Hyuga Clan, I’d initially thought that the main thing my clan did was Exorcism, Sorcery, and executed deserters. Because that’s what I was told when I asked. Only to discover that there was more to it. As much as I hated to admit it, my clan wasn’t the worst of them. In fact, I had seen firsthand my father protecting the citizens while risking his life.

But one man’s good deed doesn’t undermine the rest of them.

‘From what I’ve seen in your memories, you used to spend lots of time at the Palace. What changed?’ Trust the Demon to poke at the things I had hoped to keep buried.

“It’s quite simple: I grew up,” and I was thrown into the deepest spot of Hell.

‘You never considered turning to the Emperor?’

“For what? To tell him what he already knows?” I shook my head, feeling some sort of tension leaving me once I reached Howling Aquilo’s headquarters. “He’d be more than happy to throw me back to the awaiting wolves, making it into a show to watch me suffer.”

‘Hm,’ Faustus leaned back on his stone-made throne. No matter how many times I saw it, the sight of it being illustrated with human bones and skulls was never enjoyable. In fact, it was pretty disgusting. He’d once tried to make me sit on it before there was a white soft-looking fur blanket on it.

The building, we’d claimed as our headquarters, was as simple as they came both in its exterior and interior. There was no need for anything extravagant since we rarely spent time there other than dropping by to do our reports, eat or fall straight asleep on the single couch we had. It was far from comfortable, I’ve lost account of how many times my back would be aching after sleeping on it.

The main person, who stayed there was Fuwa Setsu, our leader. Apparently, the place used to be his secret house or something like that before Seiren came out with the idea to use it as the headquarters. Seeing as Fuwa rarely used it, and how “it would’ve been a waste of perfectly good space”.

The first floor was small, consisting of two rooms: a rather large living room that was turned into an office, and an entrance hall that was full of piles of boxes and boxes. Then there was a smaller storage room, where all our non-confidential reports and papers were kept, with a Watcher to keep an eye out for anyone who wasn’t a member of Howling Aquilo.

A Watcher was a smaller demon, who was pretty much harmless until you provoked it. Fuwa’s the one, who’d tamed it and turned the creature into our so-called ‘watch dog’. It was a smaller black ball-like demon with tiny hands and legs, and two large eyes that nearly didn’t fit his body. Oboro found him rather cute and would occasionally be feeding the creature with either alive or dead bugs and insects.

Fuwa warned us not to touch the demon’s fur with our bare hands since the spikes were deadly poisonous. A single sting was enough to kill a human, especially once it drew out blood.

The second floor was Fuwa’s living space with a large kitchen and a rather nice bathroom, and a room for Seiren since he tended to stay here instead of going to the house provided by the Warden. I tended to use Seiren’s room, whenever he was out when I was too tired to go home or the couch downstairs was taken.

“I’m back,” I quietly called out to the dimly lit hallway, walking in with a light step, despite knowing Fuwa was most likely asleep.