I look at Asia as the two of us sit in the Gazebo in the middle of the rice field.
"How is it, Asia? This is your first time working in the field, right? Is my mom making you do something difficult?" I inquire.
"It's great, Ryan. It's tiring, but at the same time, it's fulfilling. No, your mother didn't give me a hard job. She only asked me to carry, wash, and cut the vegetables and meat while she cooked them."
It seems our timing is perfect because we're currently in the spraying season when we need to spray pesticides around the field. Because of this, my parents decided to take us to the rice field to help them with the spraying.
By that, I mean letting my father and I do the work while she takes Asia to the kitchen on the edge of the field to cook some food. As for Kunou… She fell in love with swimming in a nearby river with the other children.
She might not understand what they are saying, but she still enjoys playing like a normal kid. The Karasu Tengu who came with us are the ones watching her. Of course, I also keep an eye on her using my Senjutsu. I let her have fun without worrying about someone taking advantage of her.
"How is the food? This is your first time eating Indonesian food, right?"
I give her a teasing smile as I remember how she sweats like crazy when she tries to eat my favorite food. It was Roasted Pork with a special sambal on the side. She likes the roasted pork, but when she tries the sambal alongside it, it makes her sweat like crazy.
"Mou!" Asia pouts at my teasing. "You are mean. You didn't say that it was very spicy."
"I already told you, right? The sambal is spicy."
"But I thought it was just like in Japan."
Right. You can't compare the spice level between Japanese and Indonesian cuisine. When an Indonesian says it's not spicy, it might still be spicy. If an Indonesian tells you that it is spicy, run away from it.
"Sorry. Sorry. I'll buy you some ice cream when we're in town."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
She smiles a little at my promise and then rests her head on my shoulder. While we're enjoying our time, I feel one of the Karasu Tengu walking toward me and say, "My lord."
"Haru. What is it?"
"I need to deliver a message, my lord."
I look at him and say.
"What is the message, and from where is it?"
"It is coming from the Paranormal Investigation of Indonesia of the Siborongborong Branch. They are the humans that take care of any paranormal activity in this country."
"I see"
This is the first time I hear about it. I know the existence of 'Dukun,' an individual who is supposed to be able to communicate with the spirit and the spirit of the dead. I don't know if they are the real deal or not because there are a lot of fake ones running around the country offering a way to duplicate your money or something alongside that line.
"Let's visit them tomorrow. Can you tell them that?"
"Of course, my lord."
After bowing, he disappears and returns to his duty of watching over Kunou.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|3rd POV|
Justus Nababan, the captain of the Paranormal Activity Group of Siborongborong, looks at his clock while waiting for the guests to arrive. Yesterday, one of the Karasu Tengu walked to their base and informed them that his lord would come today and Justus needed to prepare his best.
He hates welcoming some nobles but hates paperwork more and gladly does this to avoid doing paperwork for a few hours.
However, this was the first time he met a foreign race from Japan. He has met other races from China and even Korea but never once from Japan. Youkai of Japan did not like going outside their Island, after all.
"Sir, they have arrived. They are in the parking lot."
"Great! Guide them here. I will welcome them."
"Of course, sir."
Justus takes a deep breath and waits as the door to the main lobby opens up. He can see six people walking inside the building. He already knows the trio of Karasu Tengu, but this is the first time he sees the other three.
He instinctively activates his innate talent to see someone's soul, but as he looks at the young man coming at him, his eyes get burned by the bright soul inside Ryan's body. Ryan's soul is a dragon soul, something that is a thousand times more powerful than a human soul. It is so powerful that it hurts Justus' eyes.
He closes his eyes, deactivates his innate talent and smiles a little. Justus opens his eyes and says.
"Welcome to the Siborongborong Investigation Branch. My name is Justus Nababan, the captain of this branch and the one guiding you through the building and answering any question you have."
"Thank you for welcoming us, Justus. My name is Ryan Hernandes Nababan. Yup, we have the same last name. The young woman to my right is Asia Argento."
Asia gives a small bow.
"And the one on my left is Kunou."
Kunou gives a small bow.
"We will be in your care from now on."
"Of course! Please follow me. I shall give you a tour."
Justus gives the six of them a tour around the facilities. He takes them to the training room, crafting room, the cafeteria and even the Spirit Radar Room.
"Spirit Radar is a massive machine that we created using something we once saw from China. It lets us know if there is a massive spiritual energy nearby. That is the reason why we immediately noticed your group. Look at that dot."
Ryan, Asia and Kunou look at the circular machine in front of them to see three massive circles on the machine.
"The biggest one is Ryan, and the rest are Asia and Kunou. As for your guardians… they are so great at hiding their presence the machine cannot detect them. It is one of the weaknesses of the machine. It cannot detect someone with great presence concealment ability."
Ryan nods and says.
"What kind of spirit do you guys usually fight?"
"Most of the time, it is ghosts who have grudges or unfinished business in the mortal world. However, we sometimes face a cursed spirit like Begu Ganjang and Sigulambak."
"What kind of spirit are they?"
"Begu Ganjang is massive, ten meters tall, and has a spirit of enormous strength and durability. At first, this spirit is created as a guardian spirit, but after the creator feeds it human blood to increase its power, it becomes corrupted. Now, it is a bloodthirsty spirit that used to kill someone from far away and steal their wealth. Of course, it can only do that if the one summoning or creating the spirit can control it. Most of the time, they cannot."
"What about the second one?"
"Sigulambak. It is a nasty spirit. It can hide its presence and stalk its prey before ripping their hearts and eating them. However, that is not the worst thing that a spirit can do to its prey. It is when it brings its prey to its home that it is the worst. Getting them back from the spirit world is a chore, and takes a long time before we can find them. Even then, the victim will usually already be dead and its heart and brain already eaten by the spirit."
Ryan is about to say something, but before he can do that, an alarm starts to ring, and one of the staff walks toward Justus and says.
"Sir! One of our agents found a freshly summoned Begu Ganjang nearby! The summoner is already struggling to control it!"
Justus nods and looks at Ryan, then says.
"Do you want to see us in action?"
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AN*
"Hello World" English
"Hello World" Indonesian