A beautiful woman walked the hallway of the royal palace with grace. She was wearing a dark red dress that was a combination of kimono and robe—similar to ancient Japanese royal dress, but it had more seams and the beautiful embroidery, the theme of rose, embedded on the fabric could very well make this dress a national treasure decades after.Not only that, on her forehead, there’s a beautiful tiara carved from gold with a tear shaped jewel in the middle. That was her crown. The sign that she’s someone important.Surely, ordinary women wouldn’t have the privilege to wear these kinds of robes, they could only dream of even touching it. Yes, she is not an ordinary woman. She is the current ruler of Fire Kingdom, Her Majesty, the Queen.Her hands, covered by the beautiful layers of her gown sleeves, were clasped neatly in front of her stomach. Her eyes, dark as a starless night, fazed calmly in front of her as she strode forward with grace.A man in dark red outfit, close to maroon, wal
Haku swept the floor silently as the noisiness of the parlor surrounded him. It was a busy day as usual, but the lunch hour had passed and so did the rush. It was already in the afternoon now, almost dusk, and there were only a few tables occupied.He was preparing himself for the dinner rush that would start in about two hours. But for some reason, he wasn’t feeling that spirited.He stopped sweeping for a while and looked towards the counter. There was no one minding it because he was sweeping the floor near the entrance. His grandmother was in the back, also preparing for dinner rush. But… He was looking more to the back room doorway, and his mind was occupied by the brothers who were currently in the back room.The two had entered the parlor with low spirit. They didn’t smile that bright when Haku greeted them at the entrance, and that was enough sign to know something was wrong. He didn’t know what it is though, and he didn’t know if he should ask.The boy earned a pat on the hea
Arata skipped his steps passed the southern neighbourhood. He was tasked to deliver the suspended letters from Higurashi. Higurashi might only be a village, but it was also a transit place. Many people from the Northeast sometimes send their letters to the post office in Higurashi because of its closer distance to the capital. Which was why there were… Abundant of it.The spiky haired young man stopped in front of a crossing. The road was a bit busier than the middle of the day because there were many people coming home, or departing for their work. It is almost like early in the morning, but it is busier because there were more shifts in the day rather than at night. Humans aren’t nocturnal creatures after all, most activities happen in the day.As the dark orange hue smeared in the sky behind him, Arata waited until the sign appeared for them to cross. In almost every road in Shouha, there was this lamp post with three small and round signs with different colors: Red, Yellow, and Pu
“Dear lord… It feels like I haven’t seen you in years and now you’ve grown up.” Arata said as he leaned to the wall of the other building in the alley. His small plate of snacks that he had not eaten, was put on the stairs, in the small space beside Darrion, with additional snacks that were meant for the three of them—courtesy of Haku.“If you think that dealing over the guilt of not being able to get someone his justice because the person had tried to save me is a part of growing up, then yes. I’ve grown up.” Jai said as he leaned to the parlor’s wall, right in front of Arata. Shoru occupied the top of his head. He brought her with him because he didn’t want her to disturb Grandma Hanabi and Haku.Arata winced. “Yikes. You’re gloomier than I thought.”Jai only shrugged. “So what brings you here tonight? Sorry for not being present at the post office today. Darrion and I were… Recuperating.”Shoru whined and moved a bit on top of his head. Darrion had deactivated her wind barrier for
Grandma Hanabi entered the kitchen again after she gave Haku the new batch of food. She heard sounds from the back room and decided to have a peek. She lowered the heat of the stove and tip-toed to the back room’s doorway. She saw Jai and Darrion sitting around the table and enjoying the snacks and the grated ice that Haku had re-frozen. But the other guy, the windlet with messy spiky hair but charming smile, was nowhere to be seen.“Ara, where’s your friend?” Grandma Hanabi approached them.“Oh, he left.” Darrion said.Grandma Hanabi looked disappointed. She pouted slightly with both of her hands on her hips. “He didn’t even finish the snacks. How rude.”“Ah, he wants me to relay his apology and promise to come next time.” Jai immediately said.Grandma Hanabi huffed. “He better be. And I’ll make sure to fall in love with our food!” The old lady clapped her hands with confident smile.Her reactions sent smiles on Jai and Darrion’s faces.“What will you two have? Donkatsu? Or eggs?” As
A while ago, in another place.The sound of a rather heavy flap echoed in the garden of the royal palace. The garden was faintly lit in the night since it was mostly lit by the moonlight. Also because Her Majesty, the queen, didn’t plan on spending her evening in this park. If the queen wanted to spend time here, some more lights would be added. But as usual, it was kept by the park lamps, which are small structures resembling the top floor of a pagoda with a single light ball under each of its roof, to help the patrolling guards to navigate the area better.Like this soldier who was wearing full plate armor made of iron. He walked in the paved hallway of the garden. The soldier took a turn to the right, where there’s this small little forest. There were some trees and plants, also some flowers. There were only several lamps in this little forest, mostly in the pathway, but they are far from each other. The late King didn’t want it to be very well lit since he wanted it to feel like a
The fact that the ‘pawn’ of the stabbing died unexpectedly (surely he’s killed, there’s no other way around it), had crushed Jai’s hope in obtaining a lead. He was the targeted person, not Claude, and he had thought to get to the bottom of this when the case was brought up after he came back to Shouha.Working on this case is not only to satiate his curiosity, but also the justice for Claude since he took the strike in Jai’s place. Even though it wasn’t a very complex poison and still treatable, the kind hunter almost loses his life, which made it a bit hard for Jai to let the case go just like that. But he knew he had to tell Claude, he was just not ready to share the bad news since he thought that he needed to give another solution to deal with the situation.Darrion had told him to tell Claude however it is, just come clean, but Jai didn’t listen to him the first time.“But it’s the truth. What else can we do? It’s not our fault the man got killed.” Darrion replied.“No, it’s not o
When they went to the hospital, Doctor Inoha and Doctor Nekoba were already there in front of Claude’s door. They seemed to be discussing something on a chart Doctor Inoha was holding.“I think that Doctor Sadame, we can give him 45mg of Haruki extract that is exposed to night air for a month. That will press the X factor to a minimum, but since Haruki extract is mild, like water would, it’s better to put it last… Don’t you think so?” Doctor Inoha asked.Doctor Nekoba nodded her head. “Yes… And probably, to gather the rest of the toxins which I think has been reduced significantly from the last medication, how about Grilled Black Snake pill, twice a day for day and night consumption?”“But he’s not suffering any diarrhea and it’s too thick for his current condition. I don’t think it’s necessary even if there’s no side effect.” Doctor Inoha noted.Doctor Nekoba smiled. “It’s not necessarily only for diarrhea, but for toxins in the stomach too. But maybe you’re right, it is too thick. I