A few hours passed and it was soon mid morning. We patted our guest down this time and took turns while taking watch by pairs. Mr. Williams paired up with Tyrell while I was with Rebecca. I was in the room with Rebecca as I was getting dressed. I put on my tactical gear and armor on me with my mask. Then I go out of my room to find Rebecca at the walk in pantry. She grabbed some chips and two sodas. Mr. Williams knocks on the door with Tyrell. "Your turn." Tyrell told us. Tyrell then goes back at his workplace where he fixes tech. The old man decided to lay back at the sofa and rest. "This is already too much action for one day." Mr. Williams complained.
Their wasn't really much to expect. Our leader is after all retired. Me and Rebecca then continue on with our shift. But before we can go to the door Mr. Williams calls me, "Rin you decide what you want to do with them."
"Why me?" I asked.
"He could be useful, try to get him on our side."
"I'll see what I can do."
We went down the stairs to find Richard and the orc still paralyzed. The orc was on his belly but Richard was much like a statue as his face was paralyzed and maintained his pose of creeping, even when sideways. Rebecca and I then just sat there as we watch the two. I could even see them jitter a little but it was barely enough to call it movement. It was pretty boring halfway there. To pass the time Rebecca opened the chips from before and started to eat them. "You still didn't answer my question from a while ago." She reminded me. "About what?" I asked. Rebecca then started to pout. I soon realized what she was talking about. There I took out a small flask from Richard's coat pocket. "If I remember correctly, if this guy was really Sakamoto… he's actually a sore loser, especially if he's tipsy." I told her. I opened the flask hidden at Richard's pocket and put the nozzle near her nose. Rebecca sniffed it and was curious what it was. "What is that?" She asked. "It's Koshu style sake. He pretty much uses this as liquid courage whenever he's going to do something stupid." I told her.
"Like drunken master meets Jack Sparrow." She added.
"This guy even tried to spar with me drunk when I was Hijikata."
"Did he win…?"
"By win you mean pass out drunk on me… I think you could say that."
"..."
We then hear a growling sound coming from in front of us. It looked as if a sour look formed from their eyes. I looked at the direction of their eyes and they were looking at the chips. To even make sure I even moved the bag a couple of times. Till that time their gaze was still fixated towards the food. I then gave a big sigh and took off the paper charms. They were finally able to move but Richard fell hard on his. "Damn, I'm stiff." The orc said. "Told you these collars were just a bluff." Richard told him. I then gave a light cough. They directed their gaze to me. "Actually those collars are real." I told them. I then took the remote from my pocket and shocked them a few volts of electricity. The two of them jittered in pain then dropped at the floor. "That's horrible, Hijikata-kun." He told me in Japanese. "That's payback for a while ago, and some others back at the day." I told him in the same language.
The man then snatches the flask from my hand and started to drink. He takes a few sips from the flask and gives a big sigh. There the man's cheeks becomes red. "As always cool and calculating but a total demon at the battlefield." He says in Japanese, "Your good looks are a waste like the last one. I wouldn't be surprised if you died a cherry boy too at this life too." That pissed me off real good. Out of response I pressed the remote and shocked the both of them. The orc headbutts him behind the head. "I may have not understood that but I'm sorry for my superior's manners." The orc apologized. The orc then sits properly by crossing his legs and bowing his head down. "It's alright, he's always been like this when he's tipsy." I assured to the orc.
As a sign of goodwill I asked Rebecca to get a few snacks from the pantry and give it to them. We sat there and ate as we didn't know what to do. But for now we started with introductions. "My name is Magna Orthus, and this is my superior: Richard Samson." The orc greeted. "I'm Rin Kamiyama, and this Rebecca Smith. The old man and the one with him was Benedict Williams and Tyrell Powers." I replied.
"I guess you are cut out for being the leader here."
"Actually Mr. Williams is the head around here."
"Really…? I thought an experienced magic user like you would be the leader around here, a demonfolk to boot."
"Mr. Williams is the only one with real survival and military experience. I'm just a martial arts teacher."
"I was wondering how he managed to hold off so well."
But while at our conversation, he then noticed my holster full of paper charms. Out at the open he takes my hand and closes his eyes. It felt awkward but I felt that there was a reason for that. "You're really something, Rin." He says out of the blue, "Not only a swordsman but you have quite the magic potential. No wonder the boss wants you." I then stopped him right there. "What are you talking about?" I asked him. The man pointed at my paper charms. "I like how you were even able to spy on us with those charms, too bad that lead us to you." He told me. I bowed my head dumbfounded. "I should have been more careful." I told him. "No, you made things easier for us. Guess you know our boss, huh?" Richard put out.
"How is Kondo-san?"
"He's a girl now, a tough one too."
"You changed too, I never figured you became a Westerner."
"Even more with you. Demonfolk, huh?"
"Looks like we ended up becoming our names and titles."
"I'd say...Westaboo to Westerner."
The both of us laughed but we returned to complete seriousness. Richard then looked at me with great resolve. He sat upright and kneeled. "Please hear what I have to say." The man insisted. I felt embarrassed a little for such a response. But then I noticed someone at the corner of my eye. That man did a light cough, it turned out to be Mr. Williams. "Maybe you should ask my leader for that favor then?" I humbly suggested. He looked at my shoulder, and Mr. Williams only happens to notice this now. "I'mma gonna need some whiskey for this." Mr. Williams randomly implied.
We then hear the clattering of the tin can traps. Out comes a man with a staff, ready to shoot out a firebolt and an archer with an arrow already drawn. Richard then comes out in front of us cursing with arms wide open. "Didn't I tell you to give me a day whenever I needed a search party?!" He shouted. "We were told to go out after two hours." The mage answered. Richard then looked pissed. The man rolled his eyes and grit his teeth. "By whose orders?!" He yelled in anger. "The boss of course." The Archer replied. Richard then panicked and had an anxious look at his face. The man had a chill up his spine. He then moved his head at us as he scratched it with one hand and rested his other hand at the back of his neck. I recognized that move but somehow I found it annoying. "Can I just tell my party to go on a cease fire before they do plan B by blowing up the apartment?" He asked in an embarrassed manner. All our jaws dropped. But soon I slammed my hands at the floor and got angry. There I then crushed my soda at my hand and shouted in Japanese, "For goodness sake! Quit being a loose cannon, you imbecile!!!" The mage shot a fireball at me and the archer fired an arrow. I then quick draw my sword and blocked the both of them out of thin air. "It's been a hundred years now and I still deal with this bullshit!!!" I exaggeratedly shouted with my demon form accidentally coming to light. The two additional guest we're paralyzed in fear and kneeled to the ground. "As always... the demon vice-commander and his menacing presence..." Richard blandly mumbled. "SAYS THE MAN WHO'S THE BIGGER FOOL THAN THE ONE IN OWARI!!!" I shouted angrily as I pointed my katana at him. But even with Rebecca pointing her shotgun at them, Mr. Williams didn't react at all. So he instead went back into our room in a very normal fashion. He then shouted out the hallway, "I got Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker! If any of you can make ice out of thin air...that would be nice!"
That itself was an ice breaker on its own. In the end we decided to go with the ceasefire. With Mr. Williams and a bit of alcohol we were able to come with a decision. As the deal went, our group would release Magna and Richard from their shock collars if they would provide security and slay the remaining monsters left inside the building. Richard went to explain back to his group to explain the situation. However the request was done barely in an hour which left all of them to squat around the building. All that remained was the burning of undead corpses and dire rats. I used familiars to check the perimeters of the building. Bird shikigami were scattered thought the building as I checked each of the individuals' progress. All were in sync and were still doing perimeter checks for anything out of the ordinary. In total Richard's party was composed out of twenty people; about the size of a small army. All was left were the supplies to salvage from the rooms. I then got up from my seat and went to the doorway. "Where are you going?" Mr. Williams asked. "To help out. Like hell I'm going sit on my ass all day." I replied.
"It's harder to tell who's the leader now."
"I guess it's the Hijikata part in me."
I then take my stuff and my sword as I find the keys to unlock the door. Mr. Williams then stands up and takes a shot of whiskey. "Well I guess this means I'll be helping too." He says, "I need the exercise either way." Mr. Williams then gets me the keys at the rack and opens the door. "You guys wanna help?" Mr. Williams asked the rest of my group. "I'm still fixing the metal bat. You go on ahead." Tyrell told us. Mr. Williams then directs his head towards Rebecca, only to find her with something on hand. From judging on the contents at the table Mr. Williams' face was turning pale. I didn't know what it was at first until I saw the anarchist cookbook on the table. I put the two together and it looked as if it were the ingredients for a pipe bomb. There I got a hold of Richard and Magna. "How about we leave the three of them alone and you guys join me in with the work." I insisted. Richard then formed a whiny look at his face. "No thanks, I'm still stiff by that petrification spell you put us on." He declined. But as Richard was about to lay in the couch, Magna got him by the ear and started dragging him on his feet. "Then get up your mortal ass and start moving. We might as well help before dinner." He told him. "I thought I was head of this mission?" Richard implied.
"Remember what the guild master said? 'Those who don't work, don't eat'."
"Alright! Quit pulling my ear already! You're yanking it off!"
And just like that, the two were first out of the door. But it was only me that went out after. Mr. Williams looked too worried to go anywhere. He told me to go on ahead while he made sure Rebecca didn't blow up the apartment. Self admittingly there had been too much action for one day and no way in hell did we didn't want any more accidents.
As we go down though there was barely anything to do other to salvage what we can. The three of us decided to head to the landlord's room. If I'd remember well the landlord was at a trip to Australia so he was able avoid the HAPs in Los Angeles. However the crew wasn't able to unlock this one since it was hooked with a master lock and a heavy duty gate with another lock on it too. Magma got ready his metal club but I decided to stop him. Instead I took a few lockpicks and opened the door without any issues. The only problem was that it was a pigsty. I guess you can say the man was kinda a slob. All around there was crusty clothes and underwear along the way. On the bright side though there was a pantry full of food and some other things as well. Medicines such as Tylenol and multivitamins was another good find and were hard to come by. A few days ago we were lucky to get a first aid kit from a medical student living here. Other than that...nothing.
For now we just got what we can and put our loot in cardboard boxes. Aside from food we got other things such as cleaning supplies, toiletries, and other means of entertainment. Magna managed to find a portable DVD player that still worked along with some CDs. Richard on the other hand was still rummaging around the pantry and I couldn't help but to be curious. "So what you looking for?" I asked. "There's something odd about this pantry." He said. The man extended his arm up front as he cop a feel of each of the shelf. He pushed a false bottom at the lower level of one of the compartments. Richard took the contents out and it turned out to be a pound of marijuana. "I would want to try some of this...too bad it's moldy." He said. "You wouldn't be able to either way." Magna put out.
"A man can dream."
"Well...since it's bad I guess we can use it for tinder."
"Don't! We might get the party members high!"
"I'll just keep it...maybe make it into something."
The orc then takes out a notebook from his pack and writes a couple of things. He then puts the Ziploc bag and puts it at his pack. "So what are you going to do with that stuff?" I asked. "Maybe marinate it into some drugged meat." He told me. I watched the orc writing at a journal and next to it there was a diagram that looked like an exploding tripwire trap. "So you do this a lot?" I asked. "Yeah, there are a lot of monsters in Laputa so we might need a way to deal with them." He told me.
We then hear noise coming from outside. It sounded like a crowd of loud moaning. I send out a bird shikigami outside to check out the situation. From outside there was something I didn't expect. It was a horde of ghouls walking in a pack composed of four dozen. Richard then gets out a walkie-talkie out of his side and tunes in the frequency. "Alpha team. Go at the roof. Code name: Taiko Rakuen." I then hear the sound of loud steps sprinting from the staircase. From the bird shikigami I see two people at the roof throw something that looked like a grenade the size of a baseball. They pulled the pins and I watched the grenade bounce like a ball. Taiko drum music starts to play from them. The sound attracted the ghouls as it lead to an alley. I made the shikigami hover in for a closer look as the ghouls started to gang up on that location. From Taiko drums to bells started to ring from the grenade. It then exploded and a fireball engulfed three stories with a parameter of a fifty yards. My shikigami wasn't able to escape the explosion and burned away into ash. I could even feel the shockwave pass by the buildings as it shook the buildings. The three of us looked outside as we saw a scarlet inferno form in between the alley. We see a burning ghoul pop out of the flames and dropped dead once it got out. Richard then gets a his canteen and looks at Magna. "Maybe we need to tone down on the use of Salamander oil and refined Agni's blood." Richard suggested to Magna. "You're right… those things together are stronger stronger than TNT." Magna agreed. It was hard to react to anything. An unreal explosion that can only exist in movies just happen come to life and all I can do was keep a poker face.
Richard then drinks from his canteen and walks to the supplies. He lifts a box and says, "We got so much stuff to do. Better not waste time." When he turned his back I soon remembered something. It was the time when I once went shopping with them with Kondo. This would be around the time where his wife, Oryo needed help getting food for dinner. It made me wonder where she was now. I realized that no matter how different he was now, a part of him still remains. Magna then taps me at the back. "We still need to go on two trips to get this in the room." The orc told me. I snapped out of it and took out a couple of paper charms. "I think I can handle it here." I told him. There I summoned a few doll shikigami and told them in Japanese to lift all the boxes towards my room upstairs. All that happened next were jaws dropping as a parade of my shikigami walked up the stairs. "You could have just done this before, you know." Richard told me. I didn't answer at all. My mind was too clouded in thought. A mysterious floating continent, reincarnated heroes, monsters, magic and many more are starting to come at my doorstep. Everything was coming too fast. I didn't understand what was going on. The walls of fantasy and reality were starting to fade. What am I supposed to do? The answer was simply nothing. There was nothing that I can do at all. Things were pulsing in an alarming rate and going at their own speed. The only thing I can do is ride this wild bull till I fall off. What the world would bring is up to the gods. I'm just wondering where are they now in our time of need.