[Random POV]
It was finally Saturday, and I was visiting Sekigahara for some entertainment. I usually went a few times during the week to watch, but I would join in every Saturday.
Normally, I sit behind a desk all day, so having a chance to cut loose like this was something I was all too willing to take. Today, however, the usual gossip was different.
Apparently, a group of low-class fighters participated in a raid, somehow managing victory.
Even more shocking was that three of them were kids.
Frosty, Metal Girl, and Shrine Maiden were all newcomers. He'd heard some talk about them in the last month. They'd been participating every day, with not a single loss.
From what he heard, they were antisocial, rarely talking to anyone outside the arena. They enter, join whatever fights they want to for the day, and leave after collecting their money.
Though nothing special since they were still only in low-class, at the rate they were progressing, they would reach the high-class arena before the end of the year. That was, of course, provided they were high-class fighters themselves.
Some of the rumors that were spreading were interesting.
People were speculating anything and everything they could. The origins of such mysterious kids, how strong they truly were, and which faction they would join if they weren't already in one, all of it was in question, and everyone was excited.
Though I usually stayed out of drama where I could, even I was curious.
I even heard rumors that they were midgets disguising themselves as kids trying to get people to recruit them.
It wasn't the first time someone tried a crazy scam like that, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
The crazy part was that even my boss thought about recruiting them, too.
If they were already so strong at such a young age, they'd be extremely valuable once they were adults.
If I had to guess about their talent, everything seemed to point to being above average.
The speed of the fights, the spells they used, their movements, everything. It all suggested that they were well-trained, raising the question of who trained them.
After reaching the counter, I signed up for a match before heading to the waiting room.
I needed to step up my game. I didn't want to look like a worse fighter than some kids.
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[Suou Himejima POV]
After calling a meeting of the elders, everyone had finally arrived. To my right sat Suzaku, the next head of the clan.
Over a month ago, I received word that three of our clan members had died while hunting the stain that is Shuri's daughter.
After sending some clan members to investigate, they eventually found the three bodies, all of which had died in the forest.
The way they were killed implied that she had help, but I couldn't think of why anyone would help her. Though there were traces of demonic energy in the area, none were on the bodies.
The devils were likely there to add her into their peerage, though that begged the question of who arrived before the devils.
I planned on bringing up the topic near the end of the meeting. I couldn't bring it up sooner, or some elders would be too distracted to focus on anything else.
I cleared my throat, silencing the chatter from the others in the room.
"Does anyone have anything they'd like to bring to the council's attention before we start?"
Everyone was silent, allowing for the meeting to begin.
It lasted hours, ranging from minor disputes between branches to nearly full-blown war with the yokai over a few clan members refusing to pay for food at a restaurant.
Those fools buy food from a yokai but only have a problem once they pay their tab. I'll have to get someone to discipline them before they embarrass the clan.
It was annoying to deal with Yasaka, but it was better than war.
While we would survive thanks to intervention from the gods, it would drastically weaken our standing among the principle clans, not to mention we would still take heavy casualties.
Even if we tried to rally the other clans, few would likely support us.
Unlike myself, the other clan heads are far younger, and their clans have become much more progressive than ours in recent years.
Though they still dislike yokai, the younger generation has advocated for a more peaceful coexistence.
Heh, as if.
I won't have my clan associate with those child-eating monsters.
Unfortunately, Suzaku doesn't feel the same, even caring for her waste of a cousin. Sadly, she was the one to inherit the Vermillion Bird and is, by default, the next clan head.
Eventually, the final topic that we needed to discuss came up.
"Lastly, there is the issue of Shuri's child and the disappearance of some of our clan members. Kazumi, would you mind sharing what you learned?"
"Yes, clan head," Kazumi said as he stood up. "I followed the traces of Koichi, Sadao, and Takumi to Nabari.
I went over to see if they left any hints as to where they went, finding their corpses. After further investigation, the three of them died, but none to the fallen child.
Takumi's body was burned and beheaded, and upon closer inspection, the attack was Koichi's. I believe it was either friendly fire, or one of the killers had a spell or artifact to control his attack; then they killed him before he could recover.
Sadao was electrocuted, but the energy signature was different from what I would expect from the fallen, leading me to believe someone else killed him.
Lastly, Koichi was stabbed to death. I assume he was the last one alive since the others wouldn't have let an opponent get that close to him.
After that, the killers took the fallen, though I have no idea where they are now."
After he finished speaking, Kazumi sat back down in his seat before the other elders entered a frenzy.
Using fire magic, I created a small explosion, grabbing the attention of the others.
"Silence! Thank you, Kazumi, for your work."
"It was my honor clan head."
"Now, does anyone have anything productive to add to this topic, or should I end the meeting here?"
Everything was silent before someone raised their hand.
"Yuudai?"
"Clan head, I recently visited Sekigahara at the behest of Hachiro-sensei for more training. When I arrived, I heard rumors of three children participating daily and had yet to lose.
I asked the managers to show me their information since I thought about fighting them, but I chose a more experienced opponent. Recalling their information, I believe they are the individuals we seek."
"Explain," I said, sternly.
"The first one is the fallen child. They go by Shrine Maiden and are known for their lightning abilities.
I believe the second one, named Metal Girl, was the one who killed Takumi and Koichi. They wield a naginata and can reflect attacks, which is believed to be from the sacred gear Mirror Alice.
The last one is a boy who strangely calls himself Frosty. Like the fallen girl, he used lightning magic and was likely the one responsible for Sadao's death."
The meeting immediately burst into screams about what the elders wanted to do to them. Some were calling for execution; others were requesting torture and then death.
As much as I agreed with some of them, I needed to be practical.
Right now, we couldn't afford to go after them.
I, or the few others who were ultimate-class, couldn't go. It was a bad look, sending one of us to deal with three kids, not to mention the others thought it was beneath them.
We couldn't send any mid-class after them either. Sadao, Takumi, and Koichi were all middle-class but still lost. Sending anyone mid-class or lower might just be signing their death warrant.
That only left our high-class, and there were few I could send right now. Most were out on their missions or busy with work. Of those that remained, most were too young or inexperienced for me to consider. Failure in a mission like this would likely mean death, which meant I needed to send someone I was confident could complete it.
*Sigh* I'm getting too old for this, but I can't retire yet. Maybe in a few years.
-----
[Azazel POV]
I was working on a new prototype for my artificial sacred gears in my lab. I was so close to finishing them. Just a few years and my centuries of research would be complete, not that I'd stop refining them.
As I was busy connecting two pieces, Penemue walked in.
"Hey Penemue, what's up!"
"Azazel, you should be more professional, given your position."
"Oh come on! You know how responsible I can be."
"I'll believe it when I stop hearing about your visits to those clubs. Now, I have some information that I think you'll wish to see."
"Yeah, yeah, just leave it on my desk. I'll get to it soon."
Looking over at my desk, Penemue saw it was already covered in stacks of papers I'd promised to get to.
Sighing and wondering why she thought anything different might happen, Penemue put most of the papers down before walking over and handing me some.
"Normally, I wouldn't care since you'd probably get this stuff done eventually, but this is important."
Taking the papers from her hands, I read them before sighing in relief.
"Haha! Thank, dad. I don't know how I'd explain it to Baraqiel if this were worse."
"What about the children? Should we send someone to recruit them?"
I thought about it a bit but shook my head. "Nah, just monitor them for now. You know how the lower ranks get when dealing with humans, and sending anyone stronger might send the wrong message. Besides, I think it'd be better if Baraqiel is the one to approach them first."
"Alright then."
As I turned around to continue working on my experiments, I felt a strong grip on my ear.
"Ah, wait, Penemue, come on!"
"No excuses, Azazel. Some of these papers have been waiting for days."
Dropping me at my desk, she glared until I started working before she walked to the door.
"I have other business to attend to. I'll be back in an hour, and I'd better see that work done."
"But this will take more-"
"Was that an excuse I heard?"
"No, ma'am."
"Thought so."
As she exited the room, I questioned my decisions from when I first became the leader of the Grigori. Feeling a shiver up my spine, I put those thoughts aside and immediately got to work, not wanting to face Penemue's wrath later.
Women are so terrifying sometimes.
__________
Author's Note:
This is going to be the last Saturday chapter for a while. I originally wanted to do one chapter a week and post extras on Saturday, but recently, I've felt more obligated to post on Saturday, so I plan to take a step back. Instead of getting a week to work on the chapters like I originally intended, I've only had three to four days, which I feel might be lowering the quality.
I'll update each Wednesday, but I want to take some time to prepare a stockpile of chapters. This extra time should also allow me to increase the quality and length of the chapters.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!