Chapter 20 - The House Always Wins

Exe and I cooked lunch for my mother.

"Where are your rabbits?"

Exe chopped a carrot.

"They haven't returned yet."

I lowered the flame on the stove.

"I'm not talking about the princesses."

Exe put the knife down on the kitchen counter.

"There are no other demon rabbits here."

I added the carrots into the pot, then placed it on top of the stove.

"It's okay to depend on me, Exe."

His eyes glowed gold.

Exe tried to call the nearest demon rabbit.

"No good."

He looked at me as his eyes changed back to normal.

"I'm not as strong when we're away from home."

Our mom walked into the kitchen.

"Everything is going to be fine, Exe."

She sat down in a chair by the table.

"When the time comes, I know you will show your worth, my son."

Exe walked toward the table, leaving me to finish cooking.

"Hello?"

I turned my head toward him as he sat in the chair next to Mom.

"Oh, alright. I guess I'll just finish."

Sneaky walked into the kitchen, smelling the air.

"Oh, home cooking?"

I turned around as I continued to add spices to the pot of food.

"It's almost done. Have a seat."

Sneaky and Frank sat in the chairs across the table from Exe and our mother.

"So let me explain who Nick is."

Exe leaned forward.

"He is a young beast tamer who became a rank SS adventurer."

Sneaky took out an Aetherplum roll.

He placed it between his lips, then lit it with a lighter.

"At the age of thirteen."

Sneaky took a drag from the roll.

He spoke with smoke rolling out of his mouth.

"Nick handles rats and other powerful beasts from the human forest."

I prepared five plates of chicken and rice mixed with vegetables.

"So I'm guessing this Nick is going to pay us a visit?"

I carried two plates over to my mother and Exe.

"How do we defeat him?"

Sneaky tapped his Aetherplum roll against an ashtray.

"He won't be able to find the house, but he will be able to track our steps leading to this area."

I served Sneaky and Frank, placing a steaming plate in front of each of them.

"So he will be around?"

Sneaky nodded as he put his Aetherplum roll in the ashtray.

"This time, though, we will be ready."

Frank was about to eat with his fork in hand.

"Ever since we left the Purple District, he's been shadowing us like a ghost."

Sneaky wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"He killed a few of my friends back in the day."

He took a sip of his drink, then placed it back on the table.

"So here's the plan. We are going to split up into two groups."

I put my fork down, then wiped my mouth.

"What do you mean we?"

Sneaky looked at me with a solemn expression.

"You want to go after your older brother, right?"

I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms.

"Do you think we can't handle Nick on our own?"

Sneaky and Frank looked at each other, then both turned their stare toward me.

"Can you deal with him?"

I grabbed my fork, then stabbed the cooked chicken on my plate.

"I haven't even met the boy."

Sneaky put his elbow on the table, then pointed at Exe and me.

"You both will handle Nick."

He turned toward the front door of the house.

"Along with those little friends of yours."

Tenka, Ren, and Fubuki came running through the cracks of the house.

They ran under the table, then hopped into Exe's jumper.

"Welcome back, girls."

Tenka popped her head out of Exe's jumper, then whispered into his ear as if she was gossiping.

"They said rats are heading toward the slums."

Exe got up, then went into the living room.

My mom called out to him as Exe left the kitchen.

"What's wrong, honey?"

My mother stood up and followed Exe to the living room.

Sneaky finished eating, then stood up holding his plate in one hand and his cup in the other.

"Frank and I are going to get ready for tonight."

Aries hopped into the kitchen, then hooked my hand with one of his ears.

"Yeah, I'm going to check on Exe."

I continued eating with the fork in my other hand.

"If I'm going to be part of this plan, I'm not doing it on an empty stomach."

I chowed down on chicken wings and mixed vegetables.

In the living room, my mother and Exe were having a heart-to-heart conversation.

"What's wrong, Exe?"

Exe slouched on the sofa with his hands inside his jumper.

"Are you okay with us going against the Neutral laws?"

My mom grabbed Exe's hand while her other hand rested on his cheek.

"You forgot the number one rule about these laws."

My mother's eyes flared hot pink as she stared into Exe's eyes.

"Since the Hero Shoichi raised his Holy Sword against our king…"

She let go of Exe's hand, then his cheek.

"It has given us the right to fight back."

Exe felt a sense of relief.

"So I don't need to worry about getting into legal trouble?"

Her mouth twisted into an evil smirk.

"If anyone stands in our way, you are allowed to raise your scythe against humankind."

Aries and I entered the living room.

We locked eyes with Exe, and I showed him a warm smile.

"Feeling better?"

Ren, Tenka, and Fubuki came from the kitchen, then jumped into Exe's jumper.

"Can one of you go get Sneaky and Frank from upstairs?"

Ren hopped out of Exe's jumper, then hurried upstairs.

I crossed my arms and looked around the room.

"Alright. If Nick is coming for us, then we don't sit around and wait like prey."

I glanced at Exe, then toward the stairs.

"We make a plan before he gets close enough to make one for us."

I brought Aries over to the sofa like he was a giant teddy bear.

"I wonder how Father is doing."

I sat on the sofa with Aries in my lap while he hooked my mother's hand with his long ears.

"Since it's getting late, let's talk over the plan tonight."

As we talked about the plan moving forward, the first hurdle we needed to overcome was Beast Tamer Nick.

Upstairs, the locked room that belonged to Soren and Jane was now opened and occupied by Sneaky and Frank.

Purple smoke came out from the room.

Frank's voice echoed out while Ren watched them through the doorway.

"Soren already taught me how to use this."

Sneaky answered with a nervously amused tone.

"That's not the point, Frank. If you fire this thing, the kingdom will come for you."

Frank walked out of the room holding Soren's rifle.

Black and purple.

But it didn't look like any regular sniper.

This thing looked dense.

Mean.

Like it was built to fire one shot that actually mattered.

"Uncle Marc is still locked up because he fired this thing."

Sneaky came out of the room, then closed Soren and Jane's bedroom door.

"If you are going to fire that thing, just know you ain't going down alone."

Sneaky spotted Ren and kneeled down to take a closer look at her.

"Hey, cutie."

Her ears flickered as she stared at the scary rifle.

She squeaked twice at it, then turned around and hopped back downstairs to Exe.

"Seems like she is going to rat us out."

Frank sighed, then placed the rifle on his back.

Sneaky and Frank walked downstairs with grim expressions on their faces.

The sun had fully passed, and the moon had taken its place.

Deep inside the Human Kingdom, within the third-best guild in the kingdom, Demon King Ash and his Hell soldiers were torturing the ranked eighth guild in the Human Kingdom.

Black Hollow Guild.

"Stop! I don't know where your son is!"

Demon King Ash ordered Dante to bring in the guild master's main party.

"You think I didn't see you at my house?"

Demon King Ash grabbed him by the face and squeezed so hard that his nails pierced the man's skin.

"I came here based on information from the tenth and ninth-best guilds in the Human Kingdom."

Dante brought in three party members belonging to the guild master.

One female.

One male.

And the other was a young girl.

"Here they are, Sire."

Dante chuckled as he saw the woman he brought in screaming from fear.

"Just tell him where Drago is, Guild Master Rick!"

Rick tried to shake himself free from Demon King Ash's grip.

"They never told me!"

He pleaded as he tried to pull Demon King Ash's fingers off his face.

"It hurts! Please stop!"

"Humans sure are pathetic."

Demon King Ash tossed Rick by the face toward his party members.

"I don't know why you are all acting like you haven't been part of this."

Demon King Ash walked in a wide circle around the guild master and his party members.

"I remember everything. Even your face, Gwendolyn."

Gwendolyn yelped in fear.

"I… I have—"

Demon King Ash stopped in front of her, staring at her as if he could see her soul.

"You have children?"

He kneeled down and grabbed her hair, forcing her to face him.

"Don't worry. I'm not that cruel to children, unlike you humans."

He pushed her head away as he let go of her hair.

"They will all be under the protection of the Neutral Law."

They all looked at him as if he had already prepared what to do with the children.

Gwendolyn mumbled through trembling words.

"What do you mean by that?"

He sat down in the guild master's chair and kept his stare on them.

"Why do you think I worked so hard to help fix these laws with the leaders of the Neutral Grounds?"

He smirked at them as they sat in the middle of the guild master's office.

"They will all be placed into adoption within the Neutral Grounds system as a sign of kindness to the future generation of this world."

"And all of you, including your guild…"

He leaned forward in his seat.

"…will pay for your transgression of raising your swords against me."

Gwendolyn pleaded as she tried to stand up.

Dante pushed her shoulder down with one hand, then stared at her.

"Woman, you have no say in any of this right now."

Dante kneeled down toward her face as his hand stayed on her shoulder.

"Since you all don't know exactly where our Demon Prince Drago is…"

He let go of her shoulder, then rose to his feet.

He walked over to Demon King Ash's side.

"We will be asking you where the other top guilds are."

Rick lifted his head and spoke.

"Anything but that, please!"

Demon King Ash tossed his dagger into Gwendolyn's chest.

"I don't think you have any room to make demands here, Rick."

Gwendolyn's body quickly turned into skin and bones.

The dagger opened its mouth inside her chest, then devoured her soul and the blessing she received from the goddess.

"I'm in a hurry."