Volume 2 - CH 457

10-43. A Tale from the Past 5 – The Flaming Bird

The night in the oni’s village was quiet.

The only sound was the faint rustling of leaves from outside.

But tonight, there was a commotion.

“Hey!! Everyone, it’s a fire!! Wake up, wake up!!”

An oni ran through the Oni’s village, shouting at the top of his lungs.

In the direction he pointed, houses were indeed ablaze, and those who had noticed it early were trying to put out the fire.

The houses were close together, making the fire spread easily.

Since the Onis didn’t know how to control the fire by demolishing the houses, they scooped water and scattered it everywhere.

They managed to keep the damage contained, but the fire was still growing in intensity.

The flames were not dying down at all.

There was a fear that if it continued like this, the fire would spread to other buildings.

The awakened Onis started a bucket relay to carry water.

But there weren’t enough buckets.

While they searched for more, the flames grew stronger.

Then, a large amount of water floated in the air and enveloped the houses.

It seemed to control the water pressure to avoid breaking the structure, and slowly extinguished the fire.

The flames subsided with a loud sound.

Around them, relieved voices and words of gratitude were exchanged.

“We made it in time…”

“Thank you, Hiwa-sama! You saved us!”

“Good. Any injuries?”

“We noticed it early, so no injuries. However…”

“We don’t know the cause, huh?”

In response to Hiwa’s words, the Oni nodded slightly.

This was the armory, and fire would never break out in such a place.

There were guards at night, and it was tightly locked, so it was unlikely that anyone had entered, and it didn’t seem intentional either.

Though it was fortunate that nothing vital to their daily life burned, not knowing the cause posed a problem.

They decided to ask the Oni who was on guard duty immediately.

“Did anything strange happen?”

“N-no, nothing… Suddenly, I smelled something burning, and when I turned around, the roof was on fire. While I hurried to open the lock to put out the fire, it spread quickly…”

“I see… In any case, it’s good that everyone is safe.”

It was good that no one was injured.

Feeling relieved about that, Hiwa still wanted to find out the cause.

If they didn’t find the cause, the same thing might happen again in the future.

It was unlikely that the Onis themselves deliberately started the fire… So, could it be an attack from an external source?

The possibility of fire arrows crossed his mind.

So, Hiwa released Mist Manipulation.

After confirming the Onis is around, those on guard duty, and the figures of Dacia and Hinata heading towards him, they spotted a bird flying high in the sky.

Looking up and opening his eyes, he saw a bird burning bright red in the sky.

Glaring at it, the bird seemed frightened and extinguished the flames before flying into the forest.

“…I see.”

“Hiwa-sama!”

“Are you okay!?”

“Yeah, I put out the fire… Sorry, I’ll be out for a bit. Hinata, stay here. Dacia, come with me.”

“Are you sure you want to go with me?”

“I need someone who can fly.”

“What kind of reason is that…”

While wondering about the strange reason, Dacia followed Hiwa, who ran out of the village.

Surprisingly, Hiwa was fast on foot, but that wasn’t a problem for Dacia, who could fly.

They headed into the forest.

It was very dark there, as moonlight couldn’t reach through the dense trees.

But Hiwa ran through without hesitation.

After they got a bit away from the Oni’s village in the forest, Hiwa stopped and called out.

“Come out.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“The culprit.”

“Huh?”

“The one who caused the fire.”

Hearing that, Dacia finally began to be cautious.

She tightened her grip on her dice and took a stance, but she couldn’t see any signs of an enemy.

They stayed like that for a while, but no one showed up.

“…Hiwa?”

“Look up.”

Flap- flap-.

A bird about the size of an eagle, wrapped in flames, landed in front of them.

At first, Dacia was taken aback by the appearance of a monster, but she noticed something strange when the bird landed on the ground.

The ground was burning.

It gradually turned to ash and eventually melted away.

As Dacia was astonished by this fiery phenomenon, the bird stuck its beak into the ground and started screeching.

“Schreee! Schreeeeee!!” (idk onomatopoeia for this one)

“…”

“Err? W-what the heck is it doing?”

“It’s an apology.”

“Huh!? Can you understand its words!?”

“Hmm? Can’t you hear it?”

It definitely didn’t sound like words to Dacia.

Hiwa was a monster, so maybe he could understand the words of other monsters, she thought, and decided to leave it to Hiwa for now.

The flaming bird seemed to be profusely apologizing to Hiwa.

<My apology!! I just wanted to take a break and landed on a nice roof, but then I accidentally set it on fire!!>

“Why can’t you speak?”

<Oh, that’s because we’re from the same country. Well, I used to be a human from Japan(Nihon).>

“Japan?”

<Huh?… Ah, yeah… maybe you will understand if I say [Hinomoto]  (Land of Rising Sun)?>

“That I understand.”

<Hey, you must be from a really old era! When did you come here!?>

He was saying something strange.

What seemed unnatural about it?

Nevertheless, the flaming bird seemed satisfied with something, and it relaxed.

Then, the flames surged, and the bird disappeared from view.

In an instant, the flames vanished, and a person appeared.

A good-looking young man with red hair tied up at the back.

His slightly lifted eyes gave the impression of a strong-willed person.

Though he had a stern face, his appearance was handsome.

His clothes were shabby, like those worn by a slave.

“Yo!”

“…”

“…Hiwa, can I cut him?”

“Aw come on now!? I matched your language!”

“Who gave you the order?”

“The hell you are sayi-, huh…?”

“Why are you dressed like that?”

“Huh? Oh, this? I’m a monster, so I can’t go where humans are. I borrowed the clothes of a slave who was killed by monsters.”

Saying that, the bird-turned-person spread out his shabby clothes as if showing them off.

He had no choice but to do this to get the clothes.

Well, it couldn’t be helped.

Then, the person who had been a bird grabbed Hiwa’s hand and leaned closer to his face.

“!? Hey, you and I are from the same country, right!? Help me out a bit!!”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“’We’ are really struggling to get by…!! ‘We’ want to live where you are! You seem quite influential, right!? Please vouch for ‘us’ and let me be your allies! Come on, please!!”

“You’re the one who caused the fire in the houses, right…?”

“I’ll apologize and make up for it with all my might!”

With such a plea, it was hard to refuse.

Looking briefly at Dacia, he found her shrugging her shoulders and spreading her hands.

It seemed she didn’t want to be involved with the stranger.

However, if they left this situation unattended, they might face another house fire, and that scared him.

Thinking it would be wise to keep things within his reach, Hiwa decided to peel back a bit.

“Fine… I got it. Come back tomorrow morning… doing things at night is too much hassle.”

“Th-thank you! Ah, I’m Amaka! I’ll bring two more with me tomorrow, so please help us out!”

“”Two more?””

Before Dacia could call him to listen to the details, Amaka ran off.

Her outstretched hand to stop him remained in the air.

“…You know what, Hiwa? I’m getting outta here.”

“Hey.”