Chapter 287: Irreverence (1/2)

”Takuma! Are you all right, man?” Yoichi asked, staring at his enemy and waiting for an answer from his seemingly injured comrade.

Takuma touched his neck and brushed his fingers over the deep mark caused by Taisuke's bowstring. ”Yeah, I'm fine. He attacked me from behind and I was about to lose consciousness,” he replied. From the resentment in his voice, he wanted Yoichi to believe that he had the situation under control before that accident.

”Be careful, Yoichi. This guy can disappear thanks to his ghost-type demon skill!” he added, giving him helpful hints.

”I see you've woken up, sleepyhead,” Taisuke chuckled, taking a step towards Yoichi. With one hand, he cleaned his armor of dirt and ash. ”I didn't think you'd...”

”Who the fuck gave you permission to speak?” Yoichi interrupted, growling like a ferocious beast. His eyebrows were curved over his blue eyes. They expressed pure rage.

He looked like one of the Demon Hunters we'd seen earlier along the way. Why had he turned on Takuma? What had happened? He thought.

Although Yoichi had an innate tendency to trust those who were kind to him, for a moment he hesitated to look his friend in the eye.

How could he be sure that that wasn't a trap to rob him? If Takuma and that mysterious man had agreed from the beginning?

After all, only Takuma could have guessed that the cargo Ichiro was carrying inside the saddlebags contained valuables.

”Who are you and what do you want with my friend?” the young tamer continued, not even giving Taisuke time to respond to his previous provocation.

”Hmm...” Taisuke murmured. His eyes were fixed on Kenji. ”That's no ordinary Nekage. Those black horns are abnormal and the tail is longer than average. I've tamed dozens of Nekages in the Mukade region and none of them looked like that.... thing,” the Demon Hunter added.

As Takuma tried to recover from his daze, Yoichi preferred not to respond to that tricky sentence.

”I'm not interested in your useless words. I can spot a Demon Hunter when I see one,” the blond-haired tamer spoke. ”Even though you disturbed my sleep, I feel good. Go down the hill and get back the way you came without ever looking back. I won't do you any harm.”

Yoichi's arms were entirely covered in black scales, and his flaming veins burned beneath them. Their light joined that of the moon that watched over the Valley of the Northern Waters from above.

”Heheh. Who would have thought? Two such nice kids in the middle of nowhere,” after answering, Taisuke took a step towards Yoichi. ”If you hadn't gotten in my way while I was about to kill your friend, I might have even decided to rob you and let you live. Now I can't. You're aware of my identity and you could turn me in to the Imperial guards, giving me a lot of grief. You'll die for this, blondie.”

Taisuke's words were as raw and forceful as a death sentence. Kenji began to growl, sensing that the evil-looking man had no intention of backing down.

Yoichi continued to watch his opponent from head to toe, studying his movements. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at Takuma, noticing that on the ground near his hands were two wooden sticks.