A slow creak of a door is heard, before a servant comes in with a obvious forced grin, the woman was shaking in fear before she forced herself in.
Quickly walking in kneeled infront of an elder oni,not daring to show her fear infront of the lord.
"Otao Higbana-Sama is requesting a audience with you,lord Hajime!"
The servants words were quick but cautious,she made sure not to look up, staring at the floor below,and awaiting the elder's oni's next command.
The elder, Hajime nodded acknowledging the request,speaking in a low voice.
"That child agin..?,Let her in..."
"Yes, My lord!"
The servant swiftly left,the room it wasn't long before the door swinged open to reveal.
A tall girl with sharp red horns protruding out, alongside her long pink hair tied up on her head,contrasting with her unkind blue eyes,along with her furrowed brows entered.
The Oni girl kneeles Infront of the elder Oni,And patiently waits for approval.
"Speak, what brings you here today?"
The words that came out of the hajime's words were stern and cold.
"My lord...Our troops have fallen victim to yet another ailment.. I'm requesting help for the-"
Before the Oni warrior finished speaking,a cup filled with steaming hot tea came flying towards her head, nearly hitting her.
"We're already struggling to survive and yet here you are, bringing new and foreign diseases to our lands..."
Hajime's words were sharper than daggers,his piercing gaze staring at him in anger and disapproval.
"Tell me Higbana...Tell me, why I made you incharge of our troops?.."
Higbana looks down at the floor,still kneeling infront of the elder Oni,sweat starting to form on her brow, the air was suffocating.
"Look at me,when I'm speaking.."
Higbana slowly raises her head,not daring to show her emotions on her face,she tried to keep a neutral face as best as she could, she reluctantly spoke in a hesitant voice.
"To track down,the traitor who betrayed our kin..."
She knew it was far-fetched of the elder to show her some mercy,she was willing to accept any punishment all she wanted was for her troops to be treated.
Hajime just sighs out in frustration, before he could speak,there was a knock on the door,and a familiar voice spoke.
"Hey, Hey,Can I come in?"
A familiar male cheery voice speaker from behind the door.
Both Higbana's and the Hajime's face soured,both of them letting out a frustrated sigh.
And soon the door swung open, revealing a Oni with a casual grin,forced himself in.
The young Oni in question has a slim build, blue horns and hair and his eyes are always close,his fangs weren't visible and he could be easily mistaken as a regular human,if it weren't for his horns.
"Guess what,Gramps!,Oh hey si-"
The elder's Oni face quickly turned into a glare,as though he was going to through him out of this room.
Higbana couldn't believe her ears her idiot brother was speaking care freely with the most reverend Oni and not only that but calling him 'Gramps',Her face boiling with rage.
"AO,YOU IDIOT!!! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL THE LORD 'Gramps'!!"
Higbana scolded Ao,who couldn't care less about proper ethics at all.
"Hey, Hey calm down well ya? He's our grandpa after al!!"
Ao nonchalantly says as he casually walks over and casually puts his elbow on her head.
"You-!"
Higbana's face was boiling with rage
"Higbana silence!"
Higbana quickly quited down while Ago looked at her smugly as though to taunt her.
The older Oni with a tired sigh, looked over at Ao.
"Was the negotiation with the outside worldsuccessful?.."
Higbana eyes widened,upon hearing this information.
'negotiations with the the outside world?...but how?...we were forcibly cut off from the outside world,after being exiled..?'
Higbana thought to herself as she wouldn't dare say it out loud,and stared at her brother wide-eyed.
Ao has a casual grin,he slowly nodded his head.
"Yep! We can send some of our clansmen into the outside world and finally gather supplies we need and finally trade, although..."
Ao paused dramatically and his grin turning sly.
"There's no confirmation,that our men won't be harmed by civilians~ Nor are the merchants obligated to trade with us especially looking at our economic situation... Just because the officials allowed us back in, doesn't mean the civilians are gonna forget,are you really willing to take that risk Gramps?..."
The elder Oni suddenly goes quiet,he seems to be in deep thought, Higbana also has a complicated expression.
"What do you have in mind,Ao?..."
The elder Oni asked with a serious face
"Hm?"
"You probably have a plan already,seeing how relaxed you are..,so what is it?..."
Hajime and Higbana looked at Ao expectingly,Ao smiled grew again.
"The main problem is our reputation isn't it?,but what if one of our kin perhaps becomes a hero?.."
Ao pauses to look at their faces,Higbana looked confused on where Ao is going with this,while the elder Oni knew exactly where he was going and was basically telling him to stop with his eyes.
"I need you to stop right there,We don't want another repeat of the guardian incident"
Hajime sternly urges Ao to stop.
"The guardian incident?... What's a guardian?.."
Higbana asked confused,they both looked at eachother, then at her.
"You didn't tell her?"
"You haven't taught you're sister yet?.."
They both asked eachother at the same time,then stared at eachother in silence.
The elder Oni sighs, and begrudgingly spoke
"I'll tell her... Higbana,a guardian is basically a protector of the people and the energy balance,they either eliminate a dangerous entity or keep the peace between nations... They're universally celebrated and respected wherever they're from..."
"Which is why I propose we send one of our kin"
Ao says as he intervens,in between their conversation.
"We can't the risks are too high...we don't even know how one can become a guardian,since we were cut off from the outside world."
"...And need I remind you,We're still searching for that woman...Even if one of our kin does become a guardian,they still won't trust us...not until she's dead..., she should focus on our goa-"
"But she's probably not here.. She's probably on the run,in the outside world,my guess would be Western Kingdom"
Ao intervens the elder's words.
"After all that's where the incident happened after all..She wasn't once spotted in our lands.."
'the lord isn't wrong... after all, our kin will probably be treated with prejudice by the citizens of the outside,although they have every right to be upset...after all,she committed horrendous crimes but...'
"I'll go, I'll track down the traitor and become a guardian."
Higbana spoke with no hesitation.
While Ao and Hajime stared at her stunned.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sorry if the chapter wasn't written that good, I promise to write it better.