Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Estyshana’s POV
   The rest of the day started off normally. As soon as Esty and Chifuyu got back from home, Mama Kana announces that all of them are going to have a buffet dinner at a nearby hotel.

   “What’s the occasion, mother?” Chifuyu asks her mother.

   Uncle Shun was the one who replied.

   “I received a coupon that gives out 30% discount from the manager there.” he says.

   “Why did he do such a thing? Did he owe you money, Uncle Shun?” Esty asks.

   Uncle Shun laughs at that.

   “It’s nothing like that, Esty. We’re good business partners who had been cooperating for almost a decade now. Every once in a while, he would give me gifts like this as a token of friendship.”

   “Is this something like an under-the-table dealing?”

   “...Um, no. There’s nothing illegal with this.”

   Wow. She has so much to learn.

   “It’s been a while since we’ve eaten at a buffet, especially at that hotel.” Mama Kana says excitedly.

   “Mother loves to eat their roast beef, right?” Chifuyu remembers.

   “That’s right. No matter how hard I try, I could never replicate their recipe. I'm just glad that I can eat as much as I want.”

   “I’m not trying to rain on the parade, but is it really okay to go outside without any real need to?” Esty asks. “I mean, there’s all that monsters and youkais and whatnot.”

   “I was worried about that too, but Chinatsu assured me that it’s going to be fine.” Mama Kana replies.

   “Well, as long as she knows what she’s saying.”

   This “buffet” thing is indeed new for Esty. The only thing she knows about it is that you’re allowed to eat as many food as you can once you paid a certain amount of money.

   They’re not going there immediately since Chinatsu isn’t back yet.

   “Does Chinatsu even know we’re heading there? I mean, she’s still working, right?” Esty asks.

   “No need to worry. I’ve already sent her a text. She texted back that she promised to come back on time.” Mama Kana replies.

   While waiting for her to come back, Chifuyu is helping Esty to choose supposedly suitable clothes while they’re at the hotel.

   “Why do we even need to dress better just to eat there? Won’t any clothes do?” Esty complains.

   “No Esty, it won’t. We need to dress up for the occasion, you know?”

   In the end, Chifuyu chooses a white frilly one-piece dress and a pair of black leggings for Esty. Esty didn’t even know she had these things in her closet, but there they were.

   “Do you want me to help do your hair?” Chifuyu asks while she’s choosing her own clothes.

   “No thanks. My hair is fine the way it is-”

   A pause.

   “...On second thought, can you borrow me a scrunchy?”

   “Sure.”

   Chifuyu got her a black one.

   “Thanks.”

   “No problem. Why the sudden change of mind, though?”

   “I just felt like it.”

   Yup. This is just a sudden whim. It’s definitely not because a certain human mentioned that he likes to see a human female who ties her hair into something akin to a horse’s tail. After she was done, she tried really hard to stop herself from taking a “selfie” and send it to that annoying someone.

   “Which one looks nicer on me, Esty?” Chifuyu asks while holding up two dresses, one blue and the other light pink.

   “It doesn’t really matter, but I guess the pink one.”

   “Okay, then. The pink one it is.”

   Chinatsu came back not long after everyone else has done changing.

   “Sorry for being late, everyone.” she apologizes.

   “No need to rush, dear. It’s not really dinner time yet anyway. Just take your time and get changed.” Mama Kana tells her.

   “Right away. Just give me five minutes.”

   Precisely five minutes later, Chinatsu came back from her room while dressed in a blue spaghetti-strap shirt, black long pants and black stole.

   “So, how are we going to that hotel?” Esty asks.

   “It’s a bit far from our house, so I’ll be driving.” Uncle Shun replies.

   “Oh, oh! I want to sit next to you, Uncle Shun!” Esty immediately says.

   In the Wakaba household, the privilege of the one who sits at the front of the vehicle known as car is that he or she gets to play any song favored by that person.

   “Think again. Not this time.” Chinatsu refuses.

   “That’s mean, Chinatsu! Why not?”

   “The song you chose last time was way too loud. My ears were ringing for an entire hour. Besides, someone else should sit right next to father this time to choose their favorite song.”

   “Let’s play rock-scissors-paper for it.” Esty suggests.

   “Sounds good.” Chinatsu agrees. “One round or three?”

   “Just one. I don’t want to waste too much time on this.”

   “Fair enough. Just don’t start crying once you lose.”

   “Lose? Me? Hah!”

   “I’ll sit out on this. I don’t really care where I sit.” Chifuyu says.

   “Same here.” Mama Kana says as well.

   “My seat is the same as usual, so no point in me joining.” Uncle Shun says.

   “I guess it’s only the two of us then, Chinatsu.”

   “Yup. Bring it!”

   After the usual chant, Esty brought out a paper, while Chinatsu brought out a rock.

   “HELL YEAH~!!!” Esty exclaims while punching the air repeatedly.

   Chinatsu is so upset that she lost she didn’t even say anything.

   “Congratulations, Esty. However, please go easy on the slong selection.” Mama Kana pleads.

   “Okay, I promise.” Esty promises grudgingly.

   Now that the winner has been decided, everyone got into the vehicle that’s owned by Uncle Shun. This is the same vehicle which brought Esty to this house on the first day she was here. Now that Esty is here, the mother and daughters have to be cramped at the backseat. Esty, on the other hand, is sitting at the shotgun seat which she deserves. Uncles Shun starts the engine, and their journey to the hotel begins. The sky has already gone dark when they leave, but it doesn’t really matter as there are streetlights all over the place.

   Not long after she got inside, she’s already messing with the music player. She doesn’t really know how it works, but supposedly this music player can store thousands of songs inside it. She’s totally new to this, which is why it took her ages to transfer her favorite songs from her phone to this music player, and that’s after being taught by Chifuyu.

   “Hmm, which one should I listen to?” Esty mutters.

   “Nothing too loud, okay Esty-chan?” Mama Kana asks in order to make sure.

   “Don’t worry Mama Kana, I’ll make sure to choose the softest one.”

   “That’s not very reassuring, you know.” Chinatsu points out. “Last I checked, most, if not all of your songs are death metal ones.”

   “Look, I’ve downloaded some relaxing ones too, okay?”

   “You, listening to relaxing songs? You’re not serious.”

   “Just shut up and listen to it.”

   As promised, the music player starts playing the instrumental of a relaxing music.

   “See? What did I tell you?” Esty asks.

   “Oh, I know this one. It’s from Demon Hunter 5.” Chinatsu mutters.

   Esty beams.

   “I knew you would recognize it. So how’s this one, Mama Kana?”

   “It’s very nice, dear.” Mama Kana says to her.

   “I’m glad to hear that.”

   “I still have a hard time believing that you like this kind of music, favorite game or no.” Chinatsu tells Esty.

   “At least it’s still believable, unlike the likelihood of your chest growing even 1mm.”

   “Why, you-”

   “Girls, can we listen to this peaceful music in, well, peace?” Mama Kana pleads.

   “Sorry, Mama Kana.”

   “Sorry, mother.”

   Disasters struck two minutes later. All the streetlights around them, even the ones from the vehicle, have all lost their light without a single warning. Uncle Shun stops the vehicle at once.

   “What in the world…” he mutters.

   And then, Esty felt something in her bones. Chinatsu is the one who’s quicker to respond.

   “Please keep driving, father.” she requests.

   “...Understood.”

   Uncle Shun continues to drive without asking a single question.

   “Go left at the next junction. And then a right after the second junction.” Chinatsu continues to instruct calmly.

   “Where exactly are we going, Chinatsu?” Mama Kana asks while being really worried.

   “There’s an indoor car park nearby that we can take refuge in. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.” the eldest daughter of the Wakaba house explains.

   “I see, that makes sense.”

   They eventually reach a street where there are lots of humans and vehicles here and there. And then they appeared. Ghosts and spirits clad in weird armor or clothes and carrying weird-looking sword Esty remembers the name as katana. The same ones Esty has fought before at shrines all over Japan.

   Esty hears Chifuyu, Mama Kana and Uncle Shun squeak in fear.

   “Keep driving, father. Remember to watch out for other cars and pedestrians.” Chinatsu tells her father.

   “And the ghosts too, if that’s what they are.” Chifuyu pleads.

   “G-Got it…”

   So far, the ghosts are only standing there with their weapons drawn. They’re not chasing after the living and allow the humans to run away in fear. A vehicle or two occasionally were about to run over those ghosts, only to slip through them. And still those ghosts did nothing.

   “Why do you think they aren’t doing anything?” Chifuyu asks.

   “They’re probably waiting for Silver Wolf.” Esty predicts.

   “Aren’t you way being way too calm there, Esty?”

   Oh, Devil.

   “I-I’m scared too, you know? I totally am.” Esty assures while pretending to stutter.

   Through the back mirror, Esty could see that Chinatsu is narrowing her eyes and staring at Esty suspiciously. Thankfully, Chinatsu has a more pressing matter to take care of.

   “There, it’s just up ahead.” she instructs her father once more. “Can you see the spot underneath the signboard of a sports drink? That’s the entrance.”

   “All right-”

   A loud roar is heard on the left side. Esty looks at the direction and sees a bald ghost much taller and bulkier than the others. He’s naked on the top half, and he’s only wearing a loincloth to (fortunately) hide his crotch. On his hand is a sinister-looking glaive.

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   “BRING OUT SILVER WOLF! OTHERWISE, I’LL SLAUGHTER EVERYONE HERE!” the ghost demands at the top of his lungs.

   Great. There has to be one that’s gone complete bonkers. Just when they were about to reach their destination.

   “Stop the car, father.” Chinatsu says all of a sudden.

   “What? Why?”

   “It would be bad if he has his eyes on all of you. I’ll go distract him while the rest of you hide inside the car park.”

   “But-”

   “We don’t have time for this, father.”

   Uncle Shun stops the car reluctantly.

   “Listen carefully, all of you. No matter what you end up hearing, don’t come out until it’s absolutely safe. If it’s necessary, wait until the next morning. Hopefully, these ghosts will disappear when it’s daybreak.” Chinatsu tells everyone else in the car.

   “You can’t be serious, onee-chan!” Chifuyu tells her with tears in her eyes.

   “Have you forgotten about my job, Chifuyu? This is what I’m supposed to do when there’s danger.”

   “Please think it over, onee-chan! You don’t have to do this!” Chifuyu begs frantically.

   “Exactly! What’s the point of the rest of us surviving if you didn’t make it?” Mama Kana agrees while also on the verge of tears.

   Chinatsu smiles sadly.

   “I can’t help it. Again, this is part of my job.”

   Esty was wondering why Uncle Shun isn’t saying anything. She looks at him and notices that his both his hands are trembling. He’s probably weighting his decision over stopping his eldest daughter to jump into danger with following her wish to keep the rest of them safe.

   Further arguments are cut off as the ghost notices the car they’re in. His eyes widen in murderous glee.

   “WELL WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? A FAMILY OF FIVE! PERHAPE I SHALL START WITH ALL OF YOU TO ENCOURAGE SILVER WOLF TO ARRIVE HERE FASTER!” he chortles.

   “I guess we’re out of time.” Chinatsu mumbles. “ Remember about what I said, father.”

   Uncle Shun tries his best from not to choke himself.

   “G-Got it…”

   She was sitting on the left side of the backseat, which makes it easy for her to leave the car. After she got out, she slowly raises up her hand.

   “You may not believe me, but I’m a close associate with Silver Wolf. If you want to fight him so badly, I’ll call him here right now.” she tells the ghost calmly.

   “Do you now? Very well, then. Summon him here, and all of you are spared.”

   “Right away.”

   Esty couldn’t help but notice that the murderous glee in the ghost’s eyes have never diminished while they were talking. She quickly opens the door and gets out.

   “What are you doing, Esty?” Chifuyu asks.

   Esty didn’t have time to answer as the ghost charges towards Chinatsu, his glaive ready to slice her into halves. Thankfully, Esty is faster, and she manages to block the blade of the glaive with both her hands. As she does that, she feels some of her life force being drained by the weapon. For more than one reason, she better make this quick.

   “...Esty?”

   Even without turning around, Esty could imagine Chinatsu with a dumbfounded look.

   “Just get inside the car, Chinatsu. I got this.” she tells her.

   “But-”

   “It’s fine. Silver Wolf is not the only one who can fight.” Esty assures her.

   The ghost is surprised with Esty’s intervention as well.

   “What’s this? A little girl who thinks she can defeat me?” he asks.

   “I don’t think I can. I will defeat you, so you better run away since I’m feeling merciful for once.” Esty tells him.

   The ghost was about to say something when he stops and looks at Esty more closely. He then laughs out loud. Esty narrows her eyes.

   “What’s so funny?” she asks.

   “I don’t believe this! A demon is actually siding with the humans! A demon, of all things! I guess the world is huge, after all!”

   …Well, looks like the cat’s out of the bag. Well, this was bound to happen one day.

   “Esty, what is he talking about?” she hears Chinatsu asking behind her.

   “He’s right. I’m not a human.” Esty admits.

   “...What?”

   Meanwhile, the ghost is still chortling. It’s bad enough that he revealed her true identity in front of the sole group of humans she actually care about. The fact that he’s still laughing really gets on Esty’s nerves. And the glaive is still sucking out her life force.

   “That’s it. You’re going down for the second time!” she growls.

   “I’d like to see you-”

   He couldn’t finish his sentence as Esty casts Hell’s Gate at him. She was expecting him to burn, but no, the glaive is somehow absorbing the black flame.

   The ghost laughs again.

   “Fool, this glaive of mine can absorb even the strongest of magic!” he shouts.

   “Is that so? Thank you for being so stupid and telling me.”

   She casually plucks the glaive from his hand. It was so quick he couldn’t even react. And then, a second Hell’s Gate, this time without incantation. With her state of mind right now, casting a Level 9 Fire Spell is tantamount to committing suicide. And yet, she doesn’t really care a this point.

   Turns out that ghosts don’t really burn well. He vanished without a single trace, not even a last cry of pain. Boring.

   Even with him gone, Esty didn’t feel victorious at all. For one thing, there are still all the ghosts. They would have to be left to the Hero or the onmyojis-

   “There they are!”

   Oh look, onmyojis. What perfect timing. And now-

   She turns around while still looking at the ground. She then bows deeply at the Wakaba family without looking at their expression. She’s too scared to.

   “Thank you so much for taking care of me all this while.” she says to them with a hollow tone.

   The moment she’s done talking, she opens up a portal and goes through it. She ended up at a park. She doesn’t know which one. She guess it doesn’t really matter.

   Well, this is it. She should have played more of Demon Hunter 6 when she had the chance. And she didn’t had a chance to eat Mama Kana’s apple pie one last time. What to do now what to-

   She lets out a huge sob while she’s withholding her tears. Without thinking, her right hand moves to take out her phone. She typed “Help me.” and sent it to the Hero.

   She buries her face with her hands and squats down. She refuses to cry, but this is a habit she has to replace crying. Oh Devil, she forgot to type her location when she sent the message-

   Something crashes right next to her. She opens up her fingers to see. It’s the Hero, clad in his usual armor. It disappears as he walks over to her.

   “What happened? Are you hurt?” he asks while looking really worried.

   “The Wakabas found out that I’m a demon.” she tells him with a monotone.

   “...I see. It finally happened, huh?”

   He reaches out his hand to her. She takes it wordlessly. With his help, she got off the ground and stood up.

   “What are you going to do now?” he asks.

   “I don’t know. I guess I’ll be homeless from now on.” she admits honestly.

   “You’re not going back there?”

   “Go back? After I lied to them? I don’t have any right to.”

   Her phone has been vibrating all this while, but she’s just letting it continue to vibrate.

   “It’s probably them. Shouldn’t you answer it?”

   She shakes her head stubbornly.

   “No. I’m going to distance myself from them.”

   “You don’t even know whether they’re upset with you.”

   “Why wouldn’t they?”

   “Why would they?”

   “Um, weren’t you listening? I. Lied. To. Them.”

   “Think back all those times you spent with them. Do you think they’re the kind of people who would be mad at you just because you hid something from them?”

   “...No.” she whispers.

   “And there you have it. Look, if you’re bothered by the fact that you lied to them so much, just tell them the truth then. And then you take whatever they throw at you head-on.”

   “But, there’s no way I can do that. I hate to admit this to you of all people, but I’m-ouch!”

   She got interrupted as he smacks the top of her head with a hand chop.

   “Shut up and just go.” he orders.

   “...Okay.”

   She takes out her phone. Chinatsu’s name shows on the screen. She takes a deep breath and answers the call.

   “Where are you, Esty? We-”

   “Where are all of you? Are you still at the street just now?” Esty interrupts.

   “No, we’re almost at our house.”

   “Okay. Wait there. I’ll be heading there too. And I’ll tell you everything.”

   “...Got it.”

   Esty disconnects the call and lets out a sigh. She looks at the Hero.

   “Thanks. I guess I owe you another one.”

   “It’s fine. There’s no such thing as owing between the two of us-”

   He pauses. His eyes are fixated on Esty’s ponytail.

   “Well, if you really want to repay me, just stand still for a moment.”

   “Um, sure.”

   He takes out his phone and aims the camera at her. He then presses the screen with his thumb vigorously.

   “...What are you doing?” she asks.

   “Taking pictures of you.”

   She moves forward with an intention of snatching the phone away.

   “Stop that! Who gave you permission to do that?” she cries.

   “Shut it! I told you that I like girls in ponytail, right? And here you are with a ponytail! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

   She feels her face burning.

   “N-No, I’m not!”

   He was absolutely right. She wasn’t counting on actually meeting him tonight, though.

   In the end, she let him keep a single picture of her in his phone. Satisfied, he puts his phone away.

   “Well, go on. Just call me if things went bad.” he tells her.

   “Yeah. Thank you.”

   With an anxious feeling, she opens up a portal.

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