"For fucks sake! We've been here for who knows how long?!"
The police came earlier but they only questioned the two of us for a bit then left immediately. Euclius and I stayed here to wait for Clattanoia to come out. But we've been sitting here on the ground for almost 2 hours now!
I'll fucking kill that damn Commander! Did he really released Clattanoia and my parents?! After waiting for two hours on this cold chilly night, I'm starting to doubt him. I take back all the praises I said for you! You're not worthy of It, you piece of crap Commander!
"Hinata, I don't know why you're so impatient. It's not like the world will end tomorrow"
"Euclius... Please just shut up..."
I don't need your opinions right now. If my patience hits rock bottom, I'll search the whole neighborhood here at Gunma!
"Hinata... there's a girl there. She wears black..."
Finally! I'm almost a grandpa waiting for her. I stood up from the ground, removed some dirt from my jeans, and approached her. Euclius behind me is squinting his eyes but I don't need to do that, I don't have eye problems.
"Clattanoia, let's go... home..."
What's before isn't... Clattanoia? What? Well, I didn't see her earlier because of the darkness but this girl, is wearing a black hooded robe, different from the bodysuit, Clattanoia wears.
They don't have the same height. This girl is slightly shorter than Clattanoia. Damn, Euclius. How could you mistake this brat for her?
"I'm sorry, I thought you're someone I know."
With that, I turned my back away from the mysterious(kind of creepy) little girl. But still, that girl sure is loitering around even though It's already past midnight. What the hell are her parents doing?
"Hinata, that girl..."
"What is It, Euclius? That girl isn't Clattanoia. You're just mistaken."
"That's not what I'm going to say. That girl is following you."
That girl? I turned my head to see what's behind me and holy shit! She's here already behind me! Oh my god! It's like I'm inside a horror film! Now that I think of It, her outfit is so fitting of a cult leader! It's so banal!
Wait a minute, her shining golden eyes are the only thing I can see inside that hood of hers. Her eyes are staring at something. What Is It?
"Euclius, is It just me, or is she staring at my dick?
"Hinata, I think she's staring at that marble you're holding."
This? This piece of trash that Commander gave to me? Does she want this? Well, she's still a kid, she probably likes marbles and toys and all those stuff and I don't really need this thing so I guess I'll just give It to her.
I approached the little girl and reached out for her hand. She let out a tiny shriek but never stopped me so I continued to open her hands and give her the marble. Now, we're done.
"Wait, what are you-"
"Don't worry, little girl. It's yours now, I don't really need It. It's useless for me."
For some reason, the girl became fidgety and should I say, active? She's moving around all of a sudden with that marble still in her hands. What is she doing?
"Hinata, why is she hopping like a rabbit?"
"Beats me"
I honestly could not, for the life of me know what she's trying to accomplish by hopping around like that but well, kids are free to like anything. I'm not a killjoy. With that, I turned my back on her and proceeded to tap Euclius shoulder
"All right, Euclius. Let's look for Clattanoia-"
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
A huge thump can be heard across the neighborhood and due to the silence that is residing here, the particular sound echoed through the trees, the houses, and also at Euclius and my ears.
I turned around once more to see the same girl, now at the ground, breathing raggedly while holding the same marble I gave her earlier. Her face is flushed red, and her whole body's shaking so aggressively
"Hinata, what did you do?!"
"I don't know! I just gave her the marble!"
"Then, get the marble away from her!"
Instinctively, I did what Euclius asked of me. I immediately opened her left hand, the one clutching the marble, and grabbed It with my left hand. Only then, that the girl finally had a stabilized breathing. She's still sleeping but at the very least, she seems fine now.
Just what the hell is this marble? Now, I don't understand anything anymore. I've been holding this ever since It was given to me and yet nothing happened to me.
"Hinata, give me that marble. I'll try to analyze and find out what It is."
"Sure, here you go."
I stretches out my left hand and gave him the marble, completely leaving my possession of It. Now that she's already on the ground, I finally the what face is inside that hood of hers.
She has porcelain skin, the same as Clattanoia but It's much smoother probably because she's a child, much younger than her. She also has a huge scar on her left eye. But the most peculiar thing about her is that colorless hair of hers.
"Euclius, are white-haired people a normal thing in your world?"
"Huh? Yeah, kind of, having white hair means getting older after all."
So this world and that world bear the same logic when It comes to having white hairs. I bet this girl came from another world. Because that would explain her peculiar aura and the hooded robe.
But... she has white hair... I hope she just bleached that. Because the only way to get white hair besides bleaching and getting older...
"Is Maria Antoinette Syndrome..."
A kid like this having that kind of condition terrifies me beyond reason. Just who the hell is this girl?
"Hinata, I found out what this marble is."
At my deep thinking, Euclius slightly tapped my back and said those words. My god, I'm having a moment here! Don't startle me like that.
"So what Is that marble then?"
"This marble is being used to torture by electrifying them. The moment your skin touches It, this will immediately send dark mana into your body."
A torture device?! Why? Why did that Commander give that kind of thing to me? I don't understand! Also, It didn't work for me and also for Euclius!
"Hinata, from your face, I already know you're confused. So calm down a bit, I'll explain It to you one by one."
Okay, all right, all right, I Get It! I took a deep breath first then flicked my fingers, indicating to Euclius that I'm ready to hear anything he's going to say
"First, this is a torture device used for people who don't want to go to wars. Neburisha has a certain rule that anyone, children or women alike will go to war once they turn 5..."
What... Once they turn 5?! Isn't that too early?! I'm shaking... I can't bottle up my emotions. The realization that the scars I'm seeing on this girl's face are because of participating in wars... I can't help but get angry...
"Once this device detected that you don't want to go to war anymore, It will automatically send dark mana into you. The reason It didn't work on me is that I'm a soldier, I'm ready to go to wars and the reason It didn't work at you is that you're probably immune to dark mana..."
I see now... The captive the Commander was talking about was not Clattanoia but this girl. And he gave me that device as a bonus gift because he thought I'm sending her to wars... Don't fuck with me you Santa Claus ripoff!
You fucking hypocrite! You came to me saying you want to pay respect, don't joke with me! The next time I see you, I'll fucking eradicate your Santa Clause species into this Earth! I'll make sure you'll never deliver stupid gifts like this again! I swear that to the Tasuke Family's name! This is the greatest insult I've experienced in my entire life!
+++++
Commander's POV
"Sir, is It really fine?"
"Fine, what?"
Clutter just asked me a strange question. Please get to the point. We're in the middle of a portal here, my 3000 men are waiting.
"Freeing Frieda, I mean. She proved to be of great asset to us at our last campaign."
So that's his issue, huh? Clatter, you're such a young naive man.
"Clutter, If you think war is just about seizing territories then I must say, you're still wet behind the ears."
"Huh? I don't understand. Please elaborate."
Well, you'll understand soon enough. Giving Frieda to them would be a great investment.
"And sir, I still don't understand why you gave the torture device to him, even though you don't like using It."
"Well... who knows? He'll probably have some use for It. You won't give an apple without the basket, right?"
As always, Clutter asks weird and stupid questions. I agree, you have talent but nope, you still have so much to learn, young Clutter. Now, let's wrap this up and eat some nice chicken for dinner. I can't wait.
END OF CHAPTER 15