Chapter 10: A Talk
"Oh? You guys planning on going out too?"
Alex turned towards the three girls, Suzuno, Yuuna, and Sagiri. Alex, Emi, and Alice are already outside the hotel when they met the three just walking out.
"Indeed." Sagiri nodded, "We invited the others but they don't want to come along, or has some other things to do. Hisui and Hanzo are given, Ashiya and Albert decided to explore the hotel, Rika followed them, Yaya already went out to play with Kyoto's Cat Gods, and Nonko just stayed at the room to drink."
"Is that so?" Alex shrugs, "So, want to come with?"
Sagiri smiled and nodded, "Sure,"
With that, everyone of them began to walk, except Alice, as she was being carried by Emi.
"Where should we first go to? I haven't been to Kyoto so I don't know the good spots to sightsee." Alex asked.
It was Suzuno who answered, she was enthusiastic about this and a smile wouldn't leave her face, "We're heading to Gion District of course! There are two places I wanted to visit in particular, and they are one of the most famous place to visit! The Kennin-ji Temple and the Yasaka Shrine!"
"Fumu," Sagiri nodded, "Though I, myself, have not been into Kyoto before, but I often heard from some fellow Chuuma Ninjas those place are really a good tourist spot."
"Y-Yeah! I often read the books of the landlady about the places she traveled, and she mentioned those in the books! I'm really excited about going there!" Yuuna exclaimed excitedly.
For someone like her who was bound in the Inn, reading the books about the places that the landlady has traveled is her hobby. And she often daydream about going to those places.
Now, she finally got the chance.
Emi pondered for a moment before saying, "I actually researched a lot about Kyoto on the way here, and I remember that Kennin-ji temple is famous for its Zen Gardens."
"Indeed," Suzuno nodded, "You also need to pay an entrance fee of 500 yen, and its only open from 10am to 4pm."
Alex kind of feel left out at this conversation. He really knew next to nothing about Kyoto, and also Yasaka shrine? Does Japan really have a shrine with a name like that?
Or is it perhaps the Yasaka from DxD? He remembered that Yasaka is a Nine-Tailed Fox, the Tenko Family of Yuragi is also a family of foxes.
He just hoped not, Yuragi is more complicated than he imagined, he didn't know much about Hataraku, and he also didn't know much about Bleach.
Adding DxD into this world would surely caused him headache.
Though, he suddenly thought of something, 'What if DxD is mixed here and Great Red or Ophis are a Sephira? Man, that would be a plot twist.'
Though he doubt that the DxD world is mixed because he haven't found anyone with a Sacred Gear yet, and no signs of Stray Devils, or Fallen Angels either.
Well, except for his NEET of a general.
"Ello!"
Alex was snap out of his thoughts when he heard his daughter. Looking around, Alex noticed that he was now alone.
With the women accompanying him are up in front of him, talking to a woman wearing a kimono while holding a red bamboo(?) umbrella.
'A hostess?' Alex can see several of them, wearing colorful kimonos and an umbrella.
Alice seems to like the girl wearing a kimono as she keep talking to her with a smile as Emi was just looking at her in amusement.
Sagiri, Yuuna, and Suzuno were also talking to the woman. And Alex even wonder if Sagiri still remembered her reason(excuse) for coming with them.
After chatting for awhile, Emi and the others finally decided to leave. And it seems they forgotten about him.
"Papaaaa! Huurrryyyy!"
Well, its good to know that his daughter still remembered him. With a smile, he jogged towards them and just stop when he was beside Emi, and just walked with her.
The group continue their walk while looking around. Its their first time here after all, so they couldn't help it.
Suddenly, Alex noticed Sagiri signalling him something as she slowed her steps. Alex slowed down also, and walked beside her.
"What is it?" He asked in a voice only they could hear.
"I have heard people talking about encountering a Kuchisake-onna, about six people died and three are in critical condition." She said, also with a low voice.
As a ninja, it is normal for her to multitask. While she was enjoying the view, she was also listening to the talks of people around them.
Alex would've noticed it too, but he was too fascinated at the sights and with half of his brain thinking about what he could do with the Hogyoku, that he failed to hear anything.
"Kuchisake-onna?" Alex frowned, the name is familiar for some reason. After thinking for a bit, he remembered that there are demons like that in the Demon World, "Is that the woman whose mouth was slit from ear to ear?"
Sagiri nodded, "They are a malevolent spirit of the dead women who suffered from torture or has been mutilated before they die. They appear in front of a lone people walking at night, wearing a mask that covers the lower half of her face while holding a scissor—"
"—they will then ask their victims if they are beautiful. If answered no, they will kill them, if the answer is yes, they will lower their mask and show the slit on the side of their mouth and will ask again if they are beautiful. If the answer is no, then kill, if the answer is still yes, they will then cut the side of the mouth of their victims, similar to theirs." Alex finished.
Sagiri nodded, "They usually don't appear that often as they are weak, just stronger than a normal humans, so they are quite easy to kill. But possibly due to this war, only a few care to hunt them down so they probably decided to be a bit more aggressive."
Alex just hummed. He got to admit, he was actually quite excited to meet one of them. They are very beautiful after all, not to mention busty as well.
Though, the Kuchisake-onna of the Demon World wore a veil and not a mask, all of them were also wearing a robe, with different colors that determine their strengths.
Alex would probably put them on the top five of the most beautiful female demons in The Demon World. Not only that, the more people they kill, the more beautiful they become.
(Here)
"Alexander-san! Sagiri-san! Hurry up!" Yuuna called out at the two as they are walking at quite far behind.
"I'll probably go on a patrol tonight, just to make sure." Sagiri nodded at Yuuna before saying those words to Alex.
"Be careful."
"Un."
With that, they rejoined the group and continue their sightseeing. They first visited Kennin-ji temple and observed the gardens, and they got to admit it was beautiful.
After strolling around the temple, they decided to go to Yasaka shrine. There are a lot of people there, but the group still enjoyed their time.
Alex sighed in relief when he found out that the name was just a coincidence.
They then eat something on the stalls before deciding to go back to the hotel when the sun began to set.
They then returned to their respective rooms to rest. Alex immediately hopped to the bed and rolled around, "ahh~ High thread count, how I've missed you, I should change my bed in my mansion. Remind me when we return Emi."
"Who do you think I am? Ordering me like that," she scoffed, but still decided to remind Alex when they return. Its just a few words after all, she won't lose a thing.
Alex just ignore her as he knew she will remind him, she was just clinging to her pride as a hero who wouldn't help a demon. 'Hmm, this feeling, 750? I should make mine a thousand.'
"Mama~"
Emi looked at Alice who looked sleepy with her eyes getting droopy, and her head wobbling.
She smiled, "Let's tuck you in for bed."
"Un...sleep together, with mama, and papa.."
Emi paused before looking at Alex who was staring at her and sighed as she smiled at Alice, "Yes, now sleep, I'll tell you a story."
"Okeh~"
Alex just smiled as he stood up from the bed as he locked eyes with Emi for a few seconds before walking towards the balcony and conjured a chair as he watched the setting sun.
He took out a glass of wine and took a sip before closing his eyes.
After a few minutes, he felt someone standing beside him and he opened his eyes, only to see Emi standing there, staring at the horizon with her arms crossed.
"How's Alice?" He asked, before taking a sip of his wine.
"Asleep." She answered as he nodded. Emi turned towards Alex with a serious look as he just raised an eyebrow, "Tell me, why?"
Alex sighed, ".....'Why?' What?"
She took a deep breath before answering, "Why are you being so kind? During these weeks we spent together with everyone in the Inn, I have been observing. I thought that all of those acts of kindness are just that, acts. But...."
She closed her eyes and thought of the time she was together with him, mostly her giving Alex an annoyed look, and with Alex just giving her an amused smirk.
She then thought of the poeple of the Yuragi, the times she spent with them. Going to groceries with Rika, Chitose and Yuuna, stopping Yaya from swimming on the river in Alex's mansion to catch some fish, reading the manga made by Nonko, and many more.
However, she shook her head to rid of those thoughts as she stared at Alex in the eye, with Alex also staring straight to her own.
"If you are so capable of this kindness, then why? You pushed Humanity to the brink of extinction, conquered the continents we lived and only left us a small space to live."
Alex saw her clenching her fist while biting her lip as he sighed. He guessed that it should be alright to tell her some things.
Taking a sip from his wine, he spoke, "Have you heard of the saying "desperate times calls for desperate measure"?...."
Emi unclenched her fist as she stared at Alex.
Alex stood up, the sky was now dark as the sun already set. He looked up at the night sky before taking a sip of his wine before twirling it, "Tell me Emi, what would the leaders of your world do, once they discovered that in the next ten years, their resources will dry up and the people will start dying until they went extinct."
Emi furrowed her brows, "...what..will they do...?" She doesn't know, Rika has showed her just how complicated humans are. They can be a saint, and in the next moment they'll turn into a demon.
So she doesn't know what to answer him.
Alex hummed as he looked at Emi at the corner of his eyes, "There are three things they can do. First is a peaceful method, just find some solutions and help each other. Second is war, take those resources of other nations for themselves, and third...."
Alex took a deep breath, "...the third is by invading another world, where resources are rich. But as expected, the third option can only be done if the world is unified."
Emi's eyes widened, "...don't tell me you—"
Alex just gave a smile, before looking at the sky, "You know, your mother has told me interesting things, human nations, kingdoms, empires, human society as a whole. I was fascinated by it, and then I also began to desire to unite my own kind like the humans did in the past. Unknown number of years later, I became a leader of a Demon Faction and started to conquer the demon world, eventually hailing me as the Great Demon King. I brought peace to the wartorn Demon World...."
Emi just stared at him, "...and?" She wanted to know what happened, even though she already has some theories.
Alex sighed, "Demons fed on the Demonic force, which came from intense negative emotions. These negative emotions came from the everlasting conflicts inside the Demon World, which caused the world to be filled with said Demonic Force. Because I turned the Demon World into a peaceful place, I cut the source of demonic energy from my world, thus facing the problem of starvation for the entire demon race."
Emi stilled, as expected, what she thought was correct. If that's the case then...
"The only method I thought of, was to conquer to Ente Isla. I wanted to make a situation in which the humans would hold grudges and several other negative emotions towards the demon race, thus producing enough demonic energy to sustain the Demon World population."
Emi stared at Alex with wide eyes, her face showing variety of emotions, confusion, guilt, hate, pity, and several others.
Seeing that, Alex couldn't help but sigh, "Do not pity me. Clear your head and heart. Perspective can be easily lost as it can be found."
"Huh?"
"You are not in the wrong to protect your kind, and I also do not think that I am in the wrong for wanting my kind to survive. Its just a matter of perspective."
Emi remained silent just staring at him. He sighed and walked inside the room, "I do not regret my actions, even if I were to go back in time, as a king, I would do it over and over again. It is a decision I made, regretting it would feel like I just spit on the corpses of my fallen kind who followed me."
Emi just stared at his back, what she was thinking. Only she knew.
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AN: It might feel a bit forced or rushed, but I thought that this is the right moment for this kind of talk.