"Paul long time no see." A very pretty girl maybe the age of eighteen with long white hair with the slightest hint of blue tied in a high ponytail, wearing leather or leather-like material chest piece along with a skirt that was also covered partially by leather armour and what seemed to be an outer coat with designs and patterns that remind me of Japan, she looked like what I would imagine a female samurai would look like.
"Oh Masumi! Long time no see!" Paul smiled joyfully like he met a true friend. "Sorry Commander Tarric, This is Masumi Sakai from the continent of Xashuan," He introduced her to him, and "Masumi, this is Commander Tarric, and my mentee, Emilia." He introduced us to her.
"Wow Xashuan, that's very far away." Commander Tarric commented in shock.
"Yes it was, it was the first time I use the waypoint system your people use here, I still find it so amazing to travel such vast distances in an instant." She said speaking in a tone and way presenting herself was perfect politeness and courtesy they made me feel so ungrateful.
"How comes we don't see many of your people here? from what I understand we do get many visitors from your neighbouring continent but not quite yours." Commander Tarric questioned politely.
"That is just the way of our people, we prefer to be more secluded." She smiled.
"Ah, that's very interesting." Commander Tarric smiled, "Anyways it was a pleasure meeting you Emilia and Masumi, but I must take my leave. Ladies, Black Dragon Slayer." He said with a courteous bow and made his exit.
"So Masumi how is your brother doing?" Paul questioned the moment Commander Tarric left.
"He is doing great, he wanted to apologise that he couldn't make it here personally and that he really wish he could." She smiled looking up to Paul with a look of genuine thankfulness and joy.
"His condition hasn't worsened I hope," Paul questioned a little worried.
"His condition isn't getting better but it isn't getting worse, he has adjusted to his new condition now so he's doing a lot better." She answered still smiling.
"Paul, may I ask a question?" She politely requested her politeness verged on the end of being too polite it made me feel awkward and uncouth.
"Of course," Paul smiled.
"Is this Emilia, 'The Emilia?'" She questioned curiously giving me a quick look.
"She is," Paul smiled, Paul's answer making her let out a small gasp of shock.
"Hi Emilia, it's nice to finally meet you!" She smiled giving me a very straight bow of respect.
"Um, nice to meet you too?" I smiled back looking at Paul quickly as he instructed me through his body to give her a bow. Unsure how to do it properly I bowed keeping my back and legs straight copying her in both posture and depth.
She raised herself with a genuine and joyful smile on her face, "Thank you for everything you've done." She thanked me instantly.
"Ummmmm, what did I do? if you don't mind me asking." I politely asked back in return.
"Because of you, Paul saved my dearest brother from a horrible curse." She smiled.
"I did?" I questioned a little confused.
With a cough, "You see, Masumi here believes in fate and things, so she believes I am who I am because of you, so because you made me who I am, she is thankful because you played a part in saving her brother." Paul interjected.
"Oh...." I nodded with a smile.
"It's a surprise you made your way here, did your clan manage to persuade the other to finally install waypoints and accept visitors?" Paul questioned with a genuine smile.
"We did manage to persuade a few but many of my people still object to change but hopefully with time they will see the benefits. It is now one of our goals to introduce the world to the people and culture of Xashaun and the world to Xashuan." She smiled.
"Oh! so you're the one doing the Xashuan dance!" Paul smiled in shock connecting the dots.
"Yes, brother told me to present Xashuan to your people, and what better way to do it than with the historical dance of my clan." She smiled.
"Oh wow, I'll be sure to attend that presentation for sure, I remember how beautiful it looked last time." He smiled making me give him a cynical look, since when did he enjoy the arts and performances...."And what of the demon problem?" Paul questioned like it was a friend he hasn't met in a long time.
"Unfortunately the Oni problem is still prevalent although not as rampant as to when you came to help." She answered.
"But I thought we defeated Yami on that day," Paul replied.
"We thought so too, but it seems after that day Oni activity and population is on the decline but somehow we are still seeing new Oni appear somehow so we assume he must be alive still somewhere." She answered him with a hint of sorrow in her voice.
"My apologies, if you are in need of help please let me know." Paul instantly replied back after hearing her answer.
"Unfortunately we may need to refrain from asking for your help." She informed him.
"Ummm, okay?" Paul accepted her answer but didn't quite understand.
"You see, Yami at first didn't want to curse and infect you because he felt you were inferior to him. On the other hand, since we managed to defeat him, we fear he may try to infect and curse you if he were to meet you again. So to avoid potentially the most catastrophic thing we could ever imagine from happening, unfortunately, we may never request your assistance." She explained herself with a sense of deep sadness.
"It's okay I understand." Paul smiled, "but if you are in dire need, please send word to me," Paul pleaded.
"I believe my brother did say we would only request when the situation is most desperate." she smiled.
"That's a relief." Paul smiled.
"But we are slowly winning the fight, can you take me to see Ashley as well? I wish to personally thank him for his lanterns that project purple light they have really made it safer in cities and single-handedly reduced Oni attacks at night to almost zero." She smiled.
"What about you? Have you fully recovered from using one of your runes on your arm?" She asked with the utmost sincerity.
"I recovered great, so much so I can even utilize the 3rd one soon I hope," Paul smiled.
"Woah! three of them?!" She looked at him in shock.
"Well, two at the same time and then one later on once I've recovered." He smiled with a smug look.
"It's a relief that you recovered, we were quite worried it would have a lasting effect on you." She smiled letting out a sigh of relief.
"And what of yourself, are you a master swordsman now?" Paul smiled, "Wait where is your katana?" Paul questioned in shock making me also scan for her sword.
"Unfortunately it was Atlantis' protocol to hand my weapon in to stop anything from happening." She smiled.
"No no, we can't have that." Paul replied looking a little shocked, and opened a red portal behind him, "Be right back." He smiled and disappeared through the portal making everyone look wondering what the red flash was or where Paul needed to suddenly go.
I began waving to every with a slight gesture to ignore what happened and before long everyone began returning to their conversations. "So Masumi how long have you known Paul?" I questioned curiously.
"Hmm I maybe last saw him around two years ago I think." she smiled.
"So how have you liked it here so far? Did you come on your own?" I smiled.
"This place is lovely, although not as lovely as home it does have its own sense of beauty." She smiled. "And I also came with two guards." She hesitantly replied looking around.
"Oh? shouldn't they be here? like by your side?" I questioned a little confused.
"Oh they are, they reassured me that they wouldn't follow behind me so no one would feel intimidated, so they said they would hide and keep watch over me." She chuckled.
"Oh?" that's cool," I replied looking around and more or less instantly noticing two individuals that stuck out like a sore thumb staring at me with contempt. "Oh, I think I see them?" I hesitantly replied.
"Really? they told me they are masters of blending in." She gasped in shock like she was totally unaware of how inept they seemed to me.
"Ummm... they are very good at what they do, I'm just a very perceptive individual." I lied to her.
With a red flash, Paul's Portal came open and out stepped Paul with a long curved katana that looked very similar to Scarlet's wooden sword. "Here you go," Paul said throwing her sword to her.
"You didn't have to, sorry for the trouble." She smiled catching her sword in mid-air and pulling out the blade to check it. The Scabbard was primarily black with a beautiful light blue floral design stretching from the tip to the base, with the sword blade looking pristine and clean as it reflected the lights from the chandeliers in the room. "Is it really okay to have my sword back?" she questioned looking a little worried.
"It is fine, special VIP's like S-Ranked are generally allowed to keep their weapons inc ase something happened, so it's totally okay." He smiled.
"I promise I won't cause any trouble." She smiled and began fastening her sword to her hip.
"I know you won't, so have you mastered all the Sword techniques? It's been what two years now?" Paul questioned.
"I have been almost able to match my brother in our family's sword technique now but for the others not yet, still a disciple." She answered.
"Oh did you know Emilia? So in here region it is ruled by eight clans, but her clan is special the clan leader and their children must be taught all the sword styles of the seven other clans to keep the peace between the seven clans." Paul smiled.
"That is true, from a young age I had to master my own clan's sword style, and one by one each Clan Leader must teach me and my brother their style of swordsmanship." She smiled.
"Wow must be a tough and strict life," I replied without thinking.
"It is hard but that is the way of our ancestors, passed down generation by generation." She answered.
"So when you or your bother becomes the next Clan Leader what happens?" I question curiously.
"So once my older brother becomes Clan Leader, his children will be trained to become the next Clan Leader and must learn all the other sword styles." She answered.
"How about your children if you have some?" I questioned,
"My children will not be part of the Clan and thus will not be required to master all Swordsmanship styles." She answered.
"Wow that's a little unfair," I answered feeling a little sorry for her.
"It's just the way it's been for generations, and if I was the eldest child I would be next in line for the Clan Leader position, It's to keep a balance between the clans if our clan was to be allowed to grow as well as master all sword style it would make us too powerful and disrupt the balance." She smiled.
"I also have something I'm meaning to ask you Paul, but it's very private." She politely requested.
"Sure," Smiled and began to lean forward.
"You currently have a demon problem in the school." She quietly informed us which was extremely shocking, how on earth did she find out?
"That nose of you're is so weirdly impressive." Paul chuckled.
"You can smell them?" I questioned finding it a little shocking but also funny that she can smell demons.
"Yeah, I don't exactly know why but they do have a unique scent to me, it also allows me to determine how strong they are as well," She smiled.
"So are your Oni and demons we have the same?" I questioned curiously.
"Not really, our Oni I feel tend to have far superior combat ability that makes them extremely difficult to kill, but from that strength, they have a weakness your demons don't have and that is sunlight Oni will simply disintegrate when in contact with sunlight." She answered.
"Oh so like a vampire," I replied in understanding.
"It's a little more complicated than that, but essentially their Oni are demons but imagines it like they are different species of Demon. One primary difference is their Oni are born when an evil person dies but also transformed if the Yami was to corrupt them, so essentially they need a human, to begin. Unlike our Demons, they are their own entity, born a Demon in the layers of hell and can only truly die is slain in hell aside from some exceptions." Paul tried to explain it in simpler terms.
"I see, so how many have you identified so far?" I questioned curiously.
"Well, I have smelled at least twenty unique scents." She answered.
"Holy crap, Paul we have a huge problem," I answered in shock.
"Yes, Yes we do..." Paul began to ponder, "So Masumi did you smell actually full demon individuals? you even tell if they are demons or students that have been touched by demons?" Paul questioned.
"These will be individual demons, real actual demons." She answered,
"Crap, how strong are they?" Paul questioned.
"Hmm overall not too strong in comparison to Oni, but it will be a challenge to get them all out and defeat them all at the same time." She answered Paul.
"Yes unless they all have a specific target, I believe it would be quite impossible to eradicate them simultaneously." She answered.
"Okay, so we have You, Ashley, Scarlet, Me, Anna, Travis, Professor Caldor, Deputy Headmistress Maria and headmaster Brann. So we're still missing at least ten individuals." Paul began to ponder.
"We can help." I Offered instantly.
"This sadly may be above what you and the rest could handle, we aren't talking about possessed or influenced students, we're talking about fully-fledged lesser demons at the very least," Paul answered.
"You're strapped for help, and even you don't know who you can trust, let us help?" I objected his point of view.
"You don't understand, we are talking about Demons here's, they aren't like humans or normal creatures, these things have powers you won't even be able to fathom," Paul explained to me.
"We're more able than you think," I replied to him getting angrier the more he dismissed our ability.
"Emilia! we're talking about the very least lesser demons even top-tiered A-ranked students would struggle to be able to handle a lesser demon!" He explained to me looking extremely serious.
"Okay Okay, how about we devise a plan with the resources we have first before dismissing them okay?" Masumi suggested trying to break the tension.
"I can't risk their life on something this dangerous, especially since we're already stretched thin enough as it is we can't ensure their safety." Paul looked at her sounding very serious.
"Okay, I know, let's just calm down, let's just see if we can come up with a plan to make use of them at the very least," She tried to explain making sure we both didn't blow out caskets.
"Fine, but if the plan is too risky I'm not letting them do anything, we are talking about demons here, they are no joke, you know they can't even die here, so they fight like they have nothing to lose, its totally different to fighting something that is mortal." Paul tried to explain himself further but still agreed.
"Okay okay, I'll take Emilia away with me if you don't mind, we'll go scout the campus and things to see if we can get any more information on our enemies." Masumi offered and gestured for me to follow.
"Okay, just remember she's still new...." Paul began to explain.
"I know, and I also know how bad your temper is, so I'll give you time to cool off." Masumi interrupted him and began to pull me away.
"Sorry," Paul apologised to me before I made my exit.
"Take care," I smiled feeling a little guilty for totally ignoring how he must have felt.