The courtyard was fairly quiet and empty, making one feel unsettled.
Airi stepped inside the entrance, an ominous feeling enveloping her heart. She could feel a slight buzzing in her arms, making them tremble slightly.
“Poor girl, poor girl...”
Airi turned her head to look back at the gate where two spirits were whispering and giggling together. There was a barrier around the family home so no spirits nor demons could ever hope to trespass. But even with the barrier in place, it still could not stop the spirits from lingering in the vicinity.
“Hehehe, she didn’t even notice a thing! Hehehe...”
She frowned.
“Madam?” The young maidservant by her side respectfully called out to her.
Airi ignored the two spirits and turned to look at the girl, “Let us go inside.”
The girl nodded in agreement. With careful and meticulous care, the girl supported the madam into the house.
It was unusually quiet.
Airi strained her ears. Usually, the sound of light footsteps could be heard. Including Fuyuki who was the eldest, Airi had four other children; all rambunctious and energetic boys who could not sit still even just for a brief moment.
The house would be filled with the noise from their rowdy fights, but today, all was peaceful.
“Something is not right,” Airi remarked, her eyebrows drawn together.
The other girl raised her head in surprise. She looked around cautiously, as if searching for answers. “It is as you say, madam.” The girl agreed. While most of the servants went out to help with the fire situation, that did not mean that the house was left empty. Out of the ten-odd number of servants in the household, three remained: two nannies and the gardener.
However... it felt as if nobody was home.
Airi’s nose twitched.
She froze.
Her eyes widened in panic. She had smelled a familiar scent, and it did nothing but send chills down her back.
It was the scent of blood.
She was very familiar with its smell. Her husband was a warrior, after all. Every time he came back from the battlefield, this scent would follow.
Airi’s hands tightened into fists as she sprang on her feet. Her blood ran cold and her face was pale.
“Madam?!” The maidservant cried. She was so surprised by the sudden movements of the madam that she was two beats slower in chasing after the lady.
“Fuyuki?!” Airi stormed into the room that she had left from earlier.
It was empty.
Incomplete paper fans laid on the floor haphazardly, as if a tussle had occurred in the room. The other sliding door facing the interior of the house was wide open. It was clear that whoever broke into their house had also taken her daughter with them.
Airi quickly followed the trail of wreckage, even forgetting to take off her shoes.
“Madam! Please wait for me! Don’t go alone!” The maidservant cried from behind her.
“Misa, go and find the boys! Hurry!” Airi had no time to waste. She must secure her children.
Airi pulled out two talisman papers from her bosom.
She muttered the necessary incantations in one breath then threw both papers forward. Instead of falling to the ground, one of them burned, and Kureha the familiar materialised. The other one flew away like a bird, looking as if a life had been breathed into it.
“Kureha, how many presence can you sense?!” Airi asked hurriedly. Her short and frail legs could not carry her for long, and her dwindling stamina began to impede her speed. Without a word, Kureha pulled the girl on top of him. With his help, she could easily travel the distance.
‘Airi, I sensed eight presences from the left, five of which contain malicious intent. There’s also three on the right. Which way should we go first?’
“To the eight. Eight means there’s three innocent people still alive. My children, we have to save them!”
‘As you wish, Airi.’
The horse neighed, then increased his speed. In the blink of an eye, the two had already broken into the room with eight people.
The sliding doors were sent flying, hitting the men hiding inside and startling them.
“Shit, the broad is back!”
Airi got off from the Kureha’s back, her face serious. She had not recognised the voice. A thick scent of blood invaded her nostrils.
The sliding doors were thrown aside.
She could finally see what was going on.
Airi felt as if her stomach had dropped, and her heart stopped for the briefest moment. Time seemed to pass by impossibly slowly. It felt as if the moment was stretched into an eternity.
“—YOOoOoOOOUuUUuUuuuUu!!!”
Airi let out a shrill scream, enraged. “HOW DARE YOUUUUUUU—!”
Her eyes were red, looking as if she could spit fire. “BURN, WITH THE HAUNTING FLAMES OF WAR!” She swung her arms savagely, bending her back at a difficult angle as she gathered the spiritual energy around her. “LET THEM TASTE THE DESPAIR AND THE ANGER OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SACRIFICED!”
Hearing Airi’s order, Kureha dashed forward, throwing his head back as he neighed. A layer of flames engulfed him, and he miraculously morphed into a creature with the body of a man and the bottom half of a horse.
It was his second form: the centaur.
A spear materialised in his human hands.
Kureha swung it thrice, and for every swing, his targets began to burn from his spiritual flames.
The burning intruders screamed painfully, begging for mercy.
“Leave that last one alive.” Airi raised her dainty arm and pointed to a figure at the very back, one hand holding a sword while the other was grabbing his victim’s head. Her voice sounded eerily calm, and with her eyes half-lidded, no one could tell what she was feeling inside.
“Mother!” The victim raised his tiny head, tears streaming down his face like waterfalls. “Mother~!” His face showed both relief and fear. He reached out to her with his feeble arms, sobbing.
“Y-you! Don’t you dare come closer! Or else—“ the intruder pointed the tip of his sword to the young boy’s neck. Its sharp edge nicked the boy’s delicate skin, and a small wound was made.
The boy cried harder, but did not dare to struggle anymore as he was afraid of the sword.
Airi paused her steps and tilted her head, “You dare.” Her eyes were wide, but it was neither out of surprise nor fear. Instead, an almost savage and crazed look replaced her normally gentle expression.
Then, another one of his accomplices fell to Kureha’s flames.
“Hiiiii—!” The intruder screamed. In his scared state, his hands accidentally jerked. His sword impaled through the young boy’s throat as if it was cutting through tofu.
“Masaru—!” Airi instinctively moved towards the boy. “No! Nonononononononononono!” Fresh tears flowed from her eyes. She held the little boy close to her chest.
“No! I’m sorry! Masaru, mother is very sorry! No, don’t leave me! AaaaaaAAAAaaaAAAAAAAHHHH!”
Airi watched as the light faded from her son’s eyes. The boy struggled to speak even to his last breath, but the wound that blocked his throat caused him both immense pain and the inability to speak. In the end, he left without leaving any last words.
Airi cried as she clung to her youngest son’s lifeless body.
He was only three years old that year.
He was so, so young.
Why?
Airi thought, she was still not satisfied with the time she spent with her cute children, so why? Why did the heavens have to take them so quickly?
Airi raised her empty eyes around the blood-splattered room, scanning it for any signs of the living.
“M-madam...” A hoarse voice could be heard among the pile of corpses.
“...” Airi expressionlessly stared at the figure who was struggling to get up.
It was one of the children’s nannies.
The middle-aged woman shakily sat up, tears and blood running down her face. “T-the young masters... I’m sorry, madam.” The woman buried her face into her hands, sobbing painfully. “Those men toyed with the young masters and killed them in cold blood! I couldn’t do anything... I couldn’t save anyone...”
Close to the surviving woman, the corpses of her eldest and third son laid in a puddle of blood, the elder hugging the younger as if protecting his brother. Several visibly vicious gashes could be seen on their cold bodies.
“...!” Airi’s sorrow intensified. Her heart felt as if it was being ripped apart into a thousand pieces. She opened her mouth, letting out a small sound filled with bitterness and anguish.
“Toshi, Chikatsu...”
“No...” Airi’s gaze drifted to another small body. She had not been able to notice him due to the boy’s small size. The small body was headless. A tiny, severed head hidden by his long hair lied just a few feet away from the body.
“Aaah...”
Airi gently placed down Masaru, and crawled over to the other body.
“Not even in one piece...” Airi picked up the child’s severed head, cradling it in her arms. Her tears made the tuft of hair wet, but it was barely noticeable due to the large amount of blood that had drenched everything.
“My poor, poor Yoritaka...”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“Kureha.” She called out her familiar with a low, dreadful voice, thick with killing intent, “Find the last of them... and give them hell.”
‘Yes.’
Airi stayed inside the blood-soaked room for a very long time, only coming out when someone had dragged her out.
