"Elder brother Akashi, was that your girlfriend?" Kana asked with a teasing smile.
'Finally, a chance to see him embarrassed!' Kana thought and other girls who heard Kana's question immediately pricked up their ears while boys looked outside of the carriage to take a look at the so-called girlfriend.
"Curiosity killed the cat, do you know this proverb, kids? And no, I have just met her but I need to drop you off at my place and return so I won't be around for you for a few hours at most." Akashi replied.
"So you are saying that you will ditch us so you can go on a date?" This time, Tetsu asked with a slightly upset tone but it was apparent that he was just playing it.
"...Yes" Akashi didn't want to play this game with them any longer so he just confirmed it with a casual smile.
'This guy! Ugh...' Tetsu rolled his eyes. After spending some time with Akashi, he already knew that he was just trying to get rid of them without explaining himself.
Upon hearing Akashi's words, a few kids looked down and their mood worsened a bit so Tetsu worked on explaining things in Akashi's stead.
Akashi obviously noticed this but he let Tetsu do this job. It couldn't exactly be taken as Tetsu working for him already but it was the beginning. It was a small test on how he can solve minor problems in Akashi's stead, after all, Akashi can't pay attention to everything.
Akashi already included the guards of the entrance to his residence into his organization so he just showed them the coin and they immediately let him in without demanding him to take off his hood.
---
"Who was that? Why did you let unknown carriage inside?" The maid who was working in the garden immediately ran up to the guards and asked them with a stern tone. Not exactly all maids here knew how to fight, Aiko for example...This one was also one of them so she wasn't the part of the organization.
Akashi's so-called organization already has around a thousand members which might not be much for some people but all of them were carefully scouted and there are even people who are working for his family for more than 3 years yet he didn't include them yet for safety reasons.
"That's none of your concerns, of course, we have no problem with you reporting this to the Lord Phoenix." The guard replied while standing straight and looking straight in front of him without showing any fear in his expression.
'...Maybe they have some kind of permission from the lord. Anyway, it's none of my concerns, he is right.' The maid returned to her job while occasionally glancing at the carriage.
---
Akashi used his Wrigglers to signal for Ichika to come outside. After a few seconds, she hurriedly arrived with a slightly panicked look.
"*Y-Young lord! You are finally back, it felt like an eternity! C-Can I?*" She approached Akashi and opened her arms, wanting to go for a hug but she stopped herself and asked first, however, she completely disregarded the presence of those kids behind Akashi.
Akashi just shook his head with a helpless smile and just spread his arms. Ichika immediately tightly hugged him with a peaceful smile on her face and closed eyes.
"..." The kids behind Akashi could only stare in disbelief as a tall beautiful lady with tanned skin and long black hair tied in a ponytail and mesmerizing violet eyes just asked for a hug from Akashi.
"Tch, playboy" Tetsu clicked his tongue and muttered while looking sideways.
"?! What's going? What happened to your eyes, young lord?" Ichika instantly started questioning Akashi when she noticed his blindfold while holding his hands with a worried expression.
"Nothing happened to them, don't worry, trust me. I need your help to accommodate these kids within our residence. We will talk about details later, I still have somewhere to go but it's just within the Capital." Akashi replied while putting Ichika's hands on her chest to reassure her.
"Can I come after you once I am done with this task?" She asked with a pleading look but before Akashi could reply to her...
"I wouldn't recommend it, that is if you don't want to ruin his da-teee ouch! What's wrong with you, Kana?!" Tetsu said while looking away from them but before he could finish, he was pinched by his sister.
Kana just gave him death stare so he just retreated and played dead.
'Date? Nah...young lord wouldn't prioritize normal date over greeting his entire family first unless behind that date is some kind of hidden meaning which wouldn't make it a "normal date" anymore.' Ichika looked at Tetsu with a smile before she looked at Akashi and nodded her head.
"Thanks, I promise to tell you everything that happened to me. Also, don't inform anyone of my return, I want to surprise them myself." Akashi said with a gentle smile while ruffling and playing with her hair tied in a ponytail.
Once again, kids were shocked to see this gentle smile on Akashi's face since all they got from him was a small smile.
"Listen up kids! This is Ichika and she will take care of you, for now, you don't have to be afra-" Before Akashi could finish talking...
"Big sis Ichika! How come you have such nice tanned skin?!"
"You have such a nice silky hair!" Boys ignored Akashi and immediately jumped on their new beautiful big sister, bombarding her with questions. The girls immediately glared at boys since it was far too obvious that they were trying to impress Ichika.
'Ungrateful pricks' Akashi thought with a wide smile but anyone who saw that smile got scared for some kind of reason.
"Anyway, you know the drill. Behave!" Akashi said for the last time with a stern tone before leaving.
---
"Well, you have heard young lord, you need to behave. How about we eat something and you tell me where are you from in the meanwhile?" Ichika asked with a friendly smile while bending a bit to match their height.
Everyone agreed and after spending a few minutes with Ichika, they got to know that she is extremely patient with them, gentle and understanding.
'She would be a perfect mother.' All kids thought after interacting with Ichika for a few minutes.
---
"Sorry for the wait, are you ready to go?" Akashi asked when he finally arrived at the pub where Seryu was waiting
"Yup, let's go! Koro-chan is already restless, tehee" She replied with an embarrassed laugh at the end while scratching back of her head.
Akashi just nodded and led Seryu to a more remote area filled only with a few stalls of food.
"Sorry if I am not well dressed for this." Akashi apologized while pointing at his cloak with his hands.
"Oh, don't worry! I don't mind at all, really." She immediately started waving her hands in front of her to intensify her words.
'Good, it looks like she has forgotten about the whole name guessing thing. I am planning on telling her my name but only after I get more information from her. If she isn't a spy, I don't mind her being here' Akashi thought with a small smile.
Akashi ordered some steaks made from special delicious Danger Beast for all of them. He didn't forget on Koro and even ordered a bigger serving specifically for Koro which impressed Seryu since most people usually forget about its presence or they just ignore it. Of course, one who was the most happier was Koro itself.
Akashi started conversation since he didn't want Seryu to remember the fact that she still doesn't know his name. Wherever it looked like a conversation about one matter was about to end, Akashi instantly asked another interesting question. He also used those questions to see what kind of person Seryu is and most importantly if she is truly here just for the sightseeing or whatever. Akashi never studied Human Psychology but he learned a lot in his previous life and even in this one.
He just couldn't get how some people perceive right and wrong. There was no absolute and everyone has their own opinions, the only thing that is absolute and can be distinguished is black and white.
They were having quite a good time with a merry atmosphere around before Seryu suddenly looked down at her half-eaten steak with a sad look in her eyes.
"...I joined the Imperial Police mainly because my pop used to be one, and a pretty good one at that." Seryu suddenly said with a sad tone.
'...Is that girl actually opening up to me? She must be emotionally pretty unstable if she can open up to a stranger. Or she must have a lot of emotions pent up inside her and she needs to release them.' Akashi thought while poking into his own steak with the fork.
"Used to be?" Akashi asked, although he already guessed what happened to this girl, he decided to play along.
"Yeah...He was killed by the revolutionaries. T-That's why I joined them! I will deliver justice to all of them!" She said and her tone was gradually becoming colder, at the end, she clenched her hands while gritting her teeth.
"I am sorry to hear that." Akashi said while keeping his head low, keeping the sour mood.
"No...I am sorry for bothering you with this..." She shook her head and forced out a smile.
"However, are you sure it's the justice you want?" Akashi suddenly asked her with a curious tone, making both Koro and Seryu look at him in puzzlement.
"W-What do you mean?" She asked while perking up her ears.
"Justice in this world is such imbalanced word bordering with revenge. One doesn't even know if what they truly want is justice or revenge. I haven't lost anyone dear to me like you, however, I already know that I would choose revenge. You can perform justice on those who wronged others but if anyone hurt you, you should learn how to be selfish and accept that boiling rage inside you and release it all at once. If you will keep telling yourself that you want "justice" that rage will never come out of you and will keep boiling inside you until it explodes...making you unstable." Akashi took a sip of his tea and then said while playing with the cup of his tea.
"...Thanks" Seryu said with a genuine smile across her face and small blush on her cheeks, she probably thought that he was trying to cheer her up but despite thinking this, she still took a few of his words to her heart.
'Father taught me a lot about justice before he was killed and he would perhaps want me to deliver justice to his killers but... perhaps all I-I want to be is a little bit selfish. Why did he have to die? He was a good man...' Seryu thought and a few tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.
*clap* "Anyway, let's forget about this depressing matter, and let's talk about something else. For example...Have you heard about the heir of the Phoenix house that occupies this area of town? Apparently he is going to have a marriage in a few weeks." Seryu wiped the tears in her eyes with her hands before she asked with her previous cheerful smile.
"Heh. I have heard about that, do you know more about this matter?" Akashi released a sarcastic chuckle and replied with an amused smile across his face. He was already thinking about revealing his identity but he decided to wait for a bit and have some fun.
'Asking people about their opinion on me without revealing myself is kinda fun and addicting...' Akashi thought.
"Well..." Seryu looked around if anyone is listening to them.
"There is a rumor going around that those 2 never even met each other. I can't imagine marrying someone who I haven't even seen yet. I guess being the son of a noble house isn't always that nice." She leaned closer to me and said in low voice.
"Maybe there is something more into it. Maybe, he can stop this marriage from happening but he has some kind of goal in mind...After all, he is the heir of one of the most powerful nobles in the entire Capital and he is marrying a girl from some minor noble family. Who knows what is this all about..." Akashi said with an amused tone while sipping on his tea.
Seryu looked more carefully at Akashi.
'There is something that doesn't make sense...His amused tone...that sarcastic chuckle from before...' Seryu thought and then remembered that she still doesn't know his name.
"Hey, I know that it's kinda late for this but...you never told me your name." Seryu said with an awkward tone.
"Aren't you going to take a guess?" Akashi asked with a smile and Koro immediately stopped eating and looked towards his master.
Seryu just shook her head with a helpless look in her face, after all, such a task was as good as impossible.
"It's Akashi, nice to meet you Seryu, finally" Akashi said and held his hand in front of Seryu, she unconsciously accepted the handshake while looking at Akashi with a thoughtful expression.
"Um, I know that it's kind of rude of me to ask this but...Can you take off your hood, please?" Seryu asked while still holding his hand.
Akashi just shrugged his shoulders and took it off, revealing his distinguished red hair, making Seryu's jaw drop down as she stared in shock at him. Koro on the other hand just looked at Seryu with a confused expression, wondering what she is doing.
'As I thought, she already knows how I look despite never meeting me. It's no wonder that a member of the Imperial police knows me based on my appearance.' Akashi thought while flashing Seryu a wide smile.