Raiden laughed hysterically, as if he were stepping into a villain arc. "So you want to know about me, huh?"
Shiro, unimpressed and slightly taken aback, raised an eyebrow. After all, he was the one who had sounded villainous just moments ago when questioning Raiden. "Yeah?"
Raiden laughed again before pulling out a chair and sitting in front of Shiro, legs crossed, body leaned back in an overly relaxed pose. Clearing his throat dramatically, he began, "The name's Raiden. Takahashi Raiden," he declared, deliberately lowering his voice to an uncharacteristically deep tone.
Shiro, despite himself, leaned forward with genuine curiosity, perched on the edge of his seat. Whatever Raiden was about to say, it had already built a suspenseful atmosphere. Time seemed to freeze in the room.
"I'm a tamer," Raiden said with pride, his voice brimming with self-importance. "And I work for Armin, who happens to be my best friend in all of Qi Village." He paused for effect, puffing out his chest. "And I tamed earthworms. No one else in Qi Village could do that."
"You tamed what?" Shiro blinked in disbelief, as if his ears had betrayed him. Earthworms? Of all things, he had anticipated some epic lore—maybe a ferocious beast, a dark secret. This revelation felt like a cruel joke.
"Earthworms," Raiden repeated, nodding as if this was the most obvious and impressive thing in the world. "How else do you think Armin gets a massive harvest every season?" He puffed out his chest even more, clearly proud of his "lifetime achievement."
Shiro's expression twisted into one of utter confusion. "Are you... like... being sarcastic? Or is 'earthworm' some kind of code for a beast I don't know about?" He was grasping at straws, trying to salvage his earlier belief that Raiden might have hidden talents worth respecting.
"Nope. Earthworms. Actual worms that dig into the earth and help crops grow. You know, those?" Raiden explained, gesturing with his hands as if describing a revolutionary concept.
"Yeah... those tiny worms. Literal worms," Shiro replied, pinching his fingers together to emphasize their size.
Raiden shook his head and reached out, encircling Shiro's wrist with both hands. "This big. Evolved earthworms. They do as they're told," he said solemnly, nodding as if delivering a profound truth.
Shiro stared at him, dumbfounded, his mind caught between disbelief and reluctant admiration. "So, what you're saying is... you tame earthworms to help your friend with agriculture?"
"Exactly," Raiden said proudly, leaning back in his chair with a grin that could light up the whole room.
Raiden suddenly lowered his voice, his expression turning unusually serious as he leaned closer to Shiro. "This is a grave secret, even Armin doesn't know," he murmured. "Don't tell him about this, or he'll overwork me. That's why I drink."
"You drink to avoid work?" Shiro's disbelief grew deeper, his earlier impression of Raiden as a potentially powerful tamer now crumbling. Was this guy really just a low-level tamer with hobo tendencies, rather than some strong figure pretending to be weak?
Raiden smirked, leaning even closer, his voice laced with a hint of eagerness. "Do you want to know how I tame them to evolve?"
Shiro blinked, confused but intrigued. Despite knowing it might be a waste of time, a flicker of hope urged him to listen further. He gave Raiden a hesitant nod.
Raiden straightened up, gesturing with his hands as he began to explain. "First, I find normal earthworms—tiny ones buried deep in the ground. The mountain soil on the surface is too cold for them, so it's a surprise we even have earthworms there."
"And then I—" Raiden was abruptly interrupted as Shiro grabbed his arm and dragged him outside to the garden.
"Why don't you just demonstrate it?" Shiro gestured toward the muddy soil in the garden, scattered with scarce velvet flowers glowing faintly crimson. "Plenty of earthworms here. Go on," he prompted.
Raiden removed his shoes and stepped into the soil, pressing his feet firmly into the ground with every step, as if he were feeling the worms beneath him. He walked back and forth before stopping to knead the soil with his feet. Turning his head toward Shiro, he said, "I'd like some lemonade. Or lemons, at least."
Shiro frowned. "Why? Are you thirsty?"
Raiden paused as if considering, then replied, "Oh, maybe. But I need the lemonade to scare the earthworms—it kills them."
Shiro nearly rolled his eyes but waved over a servant to prepare lemonade. "What exactly are you doing? This is... bizarre."
"Also, grab the rum from my bag," Raiden interrupted, his tone casual. Shiro begrudgingly complied, wondering if Raiden was simply pulling a long, unfunny prank.
When the lemonade arrived, its surface glistening under the sunlight, Raiden poured it into the soil and continued kneading.
"Wait—didn't you say it kills them?!" Shiro exclaimed, his eyes wide, then narrowed as he tried to suppress his suspicion that this was all a joke.
"There are no worms where I'm standing," Raiden replied calmly. "It's to scare the ones ahead of me."
As Raiden pressed his feet into the now-wet soil, Shiro noticed a few worms writhing up from the earth, only to be crushed under Raiden's heels.
"Sure, no worms," Shiro muttered sarcastically.
Raiden took a swig of rum and started making odd noises, slurping and blabbering incoherently.
"The fuc—?" Shiro shook his head, now fully convinced Raiden was either trolling or far too drunk.
"Drinking liquor suppresses Qi levels and raises body temperature, which attracts the worms," Raiden explained, his tone suddenly serious. "They don't approach creatures with Qi levels higher than theirs, so I'm lowering mine to match them."
Shiro nodded slowly, skepticism lingering in his mind. Despite how ridiculous it sounded, the sight of worms emerging from the soil and moving toward Raiden gave him pause.
"They're here, aren't they?" Raiden snickered, turning toward the worms. "Now I'm going to channel my energy to them so they can evolve into larger, more efficient worms that follow commands." He closed his eyes, concentrating deeply.
To Shiro's astonishment, the worms began to levitate slightly above the ground. "It only works if they accept the energy transfer," Raiden muttered. "Fear appeal helps with that," he added, gesturing toward the lemonade.
Shiro's eyes widened as he watched the worms grow larger within seconds, then burrow back into the soil on Raiden's command.
"You actually did it, you stupid human," Shiro said, clapping Raiden firmly on the back. While this was nowhere near the extraordinary feats of taming Shiro had witnessed in his life, it left him oddly satisfied. Perhaps it was because Raiden's demonstration, as bizarre as it was, hinted at untapped potential.
"Now," Shiro said, a sly grin spreading across his face. "Can you do a dragon?"