Upon returning to the house on Mt. Ouginosen, I was greeted by the sight of Retsu sitting on a chair, feeding Eri. She looked up briefly before turning her attention back to Eri, speaking calmly. "Where's the water and wood?"
I sighed and sat down on the chair next to her, slumping slightly. "Some minor problems came up. I'll head back out later and go down the mountain for supplies."
She hummed, shaking her head. "No need. I already went down with Eri." She glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. "How old is Eri?"
I shrugged. "Don't know. I just knew she was younger than ten before coming here. Why?"
She looked down at Eri, giving her another spoonful of baby food. "The mothers I talked to said she looks around a year old. She must've been about seven when she regressed, then."
I hummed, tapping my fingers on the table. Eri looked up briefly before returning her attention to the food. "So, I'm technically twelve, then?"
Retsu finished feeding Eri and muttered a spell. A green box shimmered into existence around me. I tilted my head, realizing what she was doing. When she finished her spell, she explained. "Your body's age doesn't match that of a twelve year old or an eighteen year old."
I raised an eyebrow as she continued. "Remember I told you that whatever you did to your body had been reverted?" I nodded, and she turned back to Eri, gently cleaning her face. "It seems that whatever it was, it tried to resist the reversal but only managed to keep you older than you should have been."
I sighed, leaning back in the chair as I looked at Retsu and Eri. "So, what age does my body match now?"
"Somewhere around fifteen or early sixteen. This could be a good thing for you." she replied.
I hummed in curiosity. "Meaning?"
"It could mean you can follow the path you took before and regain your strength quickly. Or you could forge a new path, gaining strength more slowly but potentially even greater."
I nodded thoughtfully, getting up and heading toward the kitchen. "I take it you haven't cooked anything yet?"
A faint "no" floated over from the other room, and I started preparing food for us.
~Scene Change~
Almost two seasons had passed since I met the old kappa, who eventually shared its name, Kip Kap. Winter had receded from Mt. Ouginosen, giving way to spring, which brought blossoming trees and flowers. Retsu and I decided to take Eri to all the festivals in Tottori, even if she was too young to remember them.
Aside from spending time with Eri and navigating whatever it was developing between Retsu and me, I dedicated most of my time to training, either with Kip Kap or on my own. Kip Kap taught me how to maintain a balanced state of mind, discern right from wrong, and perfect both my Shundō and a new Iaido technique. Some of the lessons felt like nonsense, but I pretended to take it all seriously.
My personal training, however, had two different focuses. The first was hunting Stray Devils with Honjo Masamune, the second was keeping them alive long enough to enact the next phase of my plan. The hunting itself was simple, since most Strays had weak durability, I just needed to smack them hard enough with Honjo Masamune. But keeping them alive? That was the tricky part. Strays either tried to run off or attacked me again before I could set my plan in motion.
And what was my plan, exactly? To bathe in the blood of evil. I wasn't a scientist or a mathematician, and I knew there were potential risks to immersing myself in devil blood. But deep down, I was certain it would work, and that certainty was enough.
My process was simple, knock out the Strays, drag them to a pit I'd dug in a nearby cave at the start of spring, tie them up, and leave them there. The initial attempts failed miserably, they escaped too easily. So, I asked Retsu to teach me barrier Kido, which took a month to learn. Thankfully, she never questioned my reasons.
After that, I followed a refined version of my plan. I knocked the Strays out, transported them to the cave pit, and trapped them there within a barrier sustained by my Reiatsu. At first, there were a few hiccups, but they turned out to be beneficial. The Strays often killed each other, leaving the strongest survivor behind, or they grouped up, strategizing ways to bring me or other Stray's down. It was almost sweet that they thought of me so much.
~Scene Change~
I was humming a tune while dragging two stray devils who took the form of children. "P-please, let us go!" one of them whimpered, tears and snot running down its face. I ignored its pleas and kept moving through the forest, my tune undisturbed. Suddenly though, I felt a familiar presence closing in. Before I could take another step, a green figure blurred into view a few feet in front of me.
"Kip~ Brat, what are you doing?" Kip Kap asked, its expression shifting to one of disgust. I stopped humming and tilted my head. "Enacting justice." I replied. Kip Kap's eyes widened briefly before it scowled and stepped closer, placing a hand on my arm as it spoke softly. "Kip~ Not all stray devils are evil, brat. So you can let them go, okay?"
I looked down at the kappa, then at the stray devils, and nodded, pretending to relent. Kip Kap's scowl softened into a slight smile. But as I released the devils ankles, I broke them with a sharp twist to prevent any chance of escape. Before Kip Kap could react, I drove a lance-like hand into its chest.
"K-Kip…" it stammered, but I quickly gripped its head with my other hand, slamming it to the ground and knocking it out. Slinging the unconscious kappa over my shoulder, I grabbed the devils ankles again, ignoring their growing protests, and continued toward the cave. 'This should be the last one I need.' I thought as the cave entrance loomed into view.
Inside, demonic cries and wails echoed from the barrier before me, a massive pit, sixty five feet deep, a hundred foot wide and long, carved into the cavern. It had taken considerable effort to dig and reshape the cave, but now it held the fruits of my work. Forty seven stray devils of all shapes and sizes gathered from Tottori, Hiroshima, Shimane, and Okayama. 'There used to be more.' I noted idly, observing the restless, shifting mass below. 'Looks like the stronger ones ate the weaker, again.'
As I stepped through the barrier, the strays attention shifted toward me, their eyes gleaming with hunger, anticipation and happiness. I tossed the two devils into the pit, ignoring their clawing desperation as they were swarmed immediately, devoured alive by the ravenous horde. 'How brutal.' I mused with mild curiosity.
Clearing my throat, I flared my Reiatsu, drawing everyone's focus back to me. "Hello, everyone~ I have wonderful news. See this kappa here?" I held up the now-stirring Kip Kap by the leg, dangling it over the pit. "We'll give it ten seconds to organize itself before you can play with it, okay?~"
With that, I tossed Kip Kap into the center of the pit and stepped out of the barrier.