Is that Spear Boy running in the air?
"We are here" spear boy simply said.
"What's wrong Morax? Is it something that important that you need to call for all of us?" asked a giant deer.
"This one feels the air more pure. Is it related to this sudden meeting?" the bird said, looking a bit surprised. And I saw a girl appear from behind her with a dead-like face, not showing any emotion.
"Yes, as you all knew, the Remnants of the gods that fell during the Archon War were causing trouble, and with the help of the child here we could resolve it once and for all" the Boss explained while nodding at me. The rest of the Adeptus looked at me in surprise, before turning into looks of gratefulness. It was an emotive moment.
"Wait, child?" it was Spear boy who asked. "He is a youkai, how can he be a child?".
I gulped. I honestly forgot about it.
"Hmm? I don't know what you are talking about, but Kenshin is a purely human" the Boss said while looking at me.
Spear boy looked at me with surprise, and then in indignation.
"Before you get angry, I never said anything about being a youkai, you assumed it yourself" I quickly added. After 2 weeks, he was more or less aware of my nature.
"You could have denied it or corrected me".
"And why should I do that?. You assumed it, it's your fault". Spear boy looked incensed.
"You...this one recognizes your voice" the bird said, making me sweat.
"Good for you. I thought we were here to talk about that lady". I had to change the topic.
'Hey, lady are you ready?. Lady?. LADY!!'
'Ah, s-sorry. I felt a bit emotional after hearing so many nostalgic voices' she muttered.
'I need you to be ready and don't distract me. When I ask you, answer quickly and concisely.'
'Yes, okay!' she motivated herself.
"Yes, Kenshin sealed the hostile gods and released the rest, making him able to experience to some degree their lives. And the last one of those was Guizhong" the Boss explained with a sigh.
"Really!?"
"Oh, old lady, I didn't see you here. With the giant deer and the 2 giant birds I didn't realize you were there". It was indeed the old lady that guided me to Ganyu.
"Rude as ever" she answered me with what seemed to be her new favourite expression, the cramped smile.
"Yes, before this turns into an argument, let us hear what the young Kenshin has to say" the Boss interrupted the big birds and the giant deer.
"Why don't you ask and I answer? It will be easier that way?" I suggested.
"Did she say anything about us?" the old lady asked.
"Yes, she asked me about you all and I told her you were good. I didn't even know who you were, but telling her that I didn't know her friends when I knew Morax could have led her to think that you were dead" I explained. It was not entirely a lie, but I don't know how many those can I say before getting caught.
"She told me that no matter how you argued, she was the better mechanic" I said to the blue bird I identified as the Cloud Retainer.
"Lies!. This one is the best one. But.....she was indeed a close second" she deflated at the end.
'Streetward Rambler was a very ingenuous person, not believing that machines could compose music' Guizhong told me to say, which I repeated. I don't even know who Streetward Rambler is.
"...." the old lady didn't say anything but took a bell. It must be important because Guizhong was extremely surprised and emotional.
And like that, I told them what Guizhong was telling me to say. It was an emotive scene until the end came.
"Morax, we need to talk with you" the deer said. I recognized that as a signal.
"I will be by the lake, why don't you come with me?" I asked the quiet girl who looked at the big blue bird. Seeing the bird nod, she walked to the lake with me.
----------------
"Morax, is that what really happened? How could a human child cleanse every Remnant in Liyue? The must have been hundreds" said the deer.
"This one has to agree. It sounds extremely strange" the blue bird agreed.
"It is true. I made a Contract with him, and I helped him and the Conqueror of Demons. Midway he got proficient enough with his ability and I wasn't needed any more, but I still accompanied them to see that nothing bad happened. But you are wrong, there were thousands of them. We couldn't see them, and I was sipping tea just 2 meters from the Remains of Chang Li".
They all gulped, knowing how powerful Chang Li was, and Morax was relaxed next to them.
"Even more reason to control him. His ability should be related to souls. if he is even able to affect them, it makes him extremely powerful. His potential is even better than my student" the blue bird said cautiously.
"In our Contract, it is written that while he is in Liyue, I will protect him. Even without such clause, we will not harm in any way a child, even less the one who helped Liyue this much" Morax said with a tone of finality.
"Then wha-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"
They looked at the one who screamed and saw Kenshin ascending at a rapid pace.
The blue bird, Cloud Retainer quickly understood what happened and caught him.
"That was scary" said the frightened child.
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I went to the nearby lake with the quiet girl to wait for their conversation to end. I saw the uneasy looks they gave me, but I didn't care. Why?.
Because the Boss of these Lands had to protect me. Easy.
Still, why does this girl's soul look like that? It's like it's chained down. But it's not my business.
...
....
...
"Are you hungry?" I don't know what to say to this ice cube.
But she didn't answer and looked at a nearby tree. She walked towards it and saw that a baby bird had fallen from its nest.
"Do you want me to raise you?" I asked her. If I wasn't scared for my life I would have brought it to the blue bird if she could teach me how to cook him. She must be an expert by now.
"Hmmm" she nodded.
It was a bit embarrassing. I can't raise her, she is too heavy.
I'm not the strongest kid around, but these 2 weeks I have been walking a lot so my stamina and strength have gone up quite a bit, but I still can't raise her.
"I will raise you" she said with a deadpan voice.
"Wai-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I found myself thrown into the air.
Thankfully the blue bird caught me. From now on I will not send more chicken recipes to your home, I promise.
I was released into the ground again, and all the adepti came closer, interested in what happened.
"Dammit, how is that girl so strong?. She could kill 2 stones with one bird". I definitely don't want to be on the receiving end of her punch.
'Ahahaha, you look pathetic. You couldn't even raise a single girl and then you were thrown. If you could see your own face' Guizhong was laughing. I will remember this
""Hey"" the 2 present birds were offended.
"Hey, my ass. Look at what she did with only her arm. She might be stronger than you 2" I replied. I have been formal and well-behaved until now, but my patience was waning rapidly and my usual language was coming out.
"Sorry" the quiet girl apologized with her usual face.
"No problem, I was just surprised. Does that have something to do with the condition your soul is in? I can't imagine how a human can be so strong" I said trying to tranquillize myself.
"You can see that?" asked the blue bird.
"Birdie, I sealed thousands of murderous and raging gods. If I couldn't see that, I wouldn't be here".
"Do you know a better way to restrain her soul?" the bird asked, ignoring the nickname.
"Probably". At this point, I can do whatever I want with a soul if I have the means. "Give me a rope and you have her soul bounded with a Gordian Knot"
"Can you do it?" the bird asked hopefully.
"Of course I can. Of course I won't" I replied.
"Why?. She needs that help" the bird looked offended at my negative.
"Why should I? From what I see her soul is very fiery, and she probably had a great temper before whatever you did to her. I know you are probably trying to help her, but I refuse to believe shackling her soul is the correct way".
"What do you know?" the bird said with disdain. Do you want to play like that?. Alright, this one doesn't care.
"More than you. Do you know how hard is watching a beautiful soul like hers being shackled? She is supposed to be a lively girl, look at her right now, she doesn't show a bit of emotion. She was probably throwing a temper tantrum and with her strength she was laying everything to waste, but to chain her soul so she doesn't rage is too extreme".
"Shut up! You don-"
"You should take her to a deserted place and let her destroy everything. You are a bird, I'm sure there are a lot of places you could take her. When she is tired, give her food and let her sleep. She wakes up, she rages, you feed her, and she goes to sleep. She will get tired at some point. You are sealing her because of how strong she is, if she was as weak as me you wouldn't care". I don't like how haughty this blue bird is. I have been seeing tied souls for two weeks, and now seeing a bright soul like this girl's being chained makes me feel angry.
"....." the blue bird fell silent. This child had a point, maybe she should try some other things before resorting to this. That is what I could infer from her soul. How was able to know that? I will leave that for tomorrow's Kenshin.
Then I felt someone grabbing my shoulder. I turned around only to see the quiet girl looking at me with a maniac smile, and her hair was quickly darkening.
"Indeed you fool bird. Listen to what this kid is saying, he has a point" she grinned.
"Oh no" was all the bird could think.
"Oh yes. Do you know how bad it feels to be sealed like that? When I see a pond, I no longer feel like I want to swim, when I see a flower I no longer wonder how it smells. It's quite terrifying to change like that you know?" she continued with her smile growing even more, and her eyes were shining fiercely.
"Umm, before you go berserk, can you release me?" I asked timidly. I was worried that her fingers would touch each other through my shoulder.
"I need to thank you, boy, you are the only one who understands me".
"Whatever, just release me. You have beef with that bird, right? Go fight her" I want to go away.
"No, I don't think I will. If I release you I will turn into that boring girl. I will have to keep you near, maybe on a leash so you don't escape?" she said with a grin.
I had been weakening her seals, to prove my point that she could be reasoned with, but I was wrong. The great Kenshin is not afraid to recognize his mistakes, and this one has been a big fail.
"Sorry" was all I said before strengthening her seals again, making her hair turn white again and her bloodthirsty smile turned into her usual calm face.
"Blue bird, hereby I recognize my mistakes. You were right and I was wrong, so please take mercy on me. You lack seals, give them to me, and I will make sure that abomination doesn't see the light again" I offered to help her.
The blue bird looked stunned by what happened but gave me a few strips of cloth I had no interest in. I 'dived' into the girl's soul just like I did with the Remnants and started tying them.
"What are you doing!. Set me free!" she was screaming.
"No way, you want to put me on a dog leash. Screw you" Seeing that she was definitely getting sealed, she looked at me with a dark face.
"The next time I wake up I will make you submit, and I will treat you like the coward dog you are" she promised.
"Whatever you say, girl, good luck". I had no interest in her threats.
I 'left' her soul with a relieved sigh.
Problem solved. I saw everyone look at me with a weird look.
"What? Anyway, we did something big today and I'm tired. I will go to bed" I said and started walking.
"I will leave too" said the deer, but before he could leave the blue bird shouted.
"Please wait, I have a problem that I need help with". Hearing that I started walking even faster. I knew what that was about.
"Spear boy, help me please" and he complied. I guess he felt grateful, so much that he ignored the nickname.
I was left in the Wangshu Inn, but I quickly ran away. An angry blue bird will be here soon, I don't want to be here by then.
'When I can move, I will make sure to send you tied to Cloud Retainer and let that girl catch you' said happily Guizhong.
'When I find one, I will send the stinkiest of dungs into your seal'
'You wouldn't!'
'I would, and you can't let it out so you will have to live with it for as long as I want'
.....
'I'm sorry'
'Thought so'
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A few minutes later in the Wangshu Inn.
"WHERE IS THAT LITTLE DEVIL!?"
Indeed, an angry blue bird came for justice, a calm Shenhe on top of her.