4. Questions

"Help him-"

"Kanmuri, NO!"

"HOLD ON!"

"Someone, heal him!"

"Put pressure on the wound! We can't let him bleed to death-"

"Kanmuri? Kanmuri, speak to me! Kanmuri-"

Kanmuri's eyes snapped open, and he immediately tried to sit up, but a strong pair of hands pushed him down.

"Kanmuri! Just-just stay down!" Shachioko told him. "You lost a lot of blood; I think you were attacked...What happened to you?"

"Demon..." Kanmuri croaked out at first, before he let his thoughts of when he was previously conscious, right before he was attacked collect. "A demon attacked me. He looked really hungry, and...he said 'sorry' before he drank my blood."

"Did he have long, blond hair and look really pale?" Kawachi asked. All Kanmuri did was nod before breathing deeply. Kawachi turned to the others. "Sylvan must have attacked him..."

"Then that means Sylvan is a demon, then." Kai spoke, pausing for a moment. "Does that mean he was acting as if he was weak when he approached Monica and I the previous night?"

"I'm not so sure about that." Tsukino responded. "I remember hearing that a demon can get very weak if he has not consumed blood for a long time...Perhaps he could have been trying to gain your trust so he could strike when you weren't paying attention."

Tsukino had a point there, Kai noted to himself. That could have been the case when Sylvan had approached him and Monica the previous night. It made sense; Sylvan was a demon, and he did seem to be hungering for something other than regular human food. On the other hand, though, he felt as if there was something that just didn't click together so easily.

Why did Tsukino seem to agree so eagerly about Sylvan being a demon? Perhaps she had encountered him in the past and the two didn't have good relations as a result of that? He wasn't sure. Something was definitely going on here that he and Monica had no idea about at the least.

The group found a town by nightfall, and they found a place to sleep at the inn (the townspeople seemed awfully happy to have customers, as they mentioned they hadn't had many visitors lately). Kanmuri's injuries were healed after buying some elixir (and some extra potions, just in case). As the seven ate their supper, they overheard a couple of the people talking with one another.

"Another visitor arrived! He said that he had gotten attacked by some creature in the midst of his travels and ended up losing most of his things as a result."

"Yeah, the poor guy looked pretty worried about that. Looked a bit thin, too; I bet he hasn't eaten much lately."

"There was blood on his clothing, too! I think it's probably from the creature he had to fight, I bet. I offered to let me wash it for him but he declined, saying that he would do it himself and shouldn't rely on others to do anything for him."

"He seems to be a nice bloke; being considerate enough to try to take care of himself, even though he's in such a weak state. He seemed to be getting along well with some of the children, particularly Mizuno."

"Mizuno? You mean by the sorceress-in-training Mizuno?"

"Yeah, her! The two appeared to be having quite the conversation! He kept talking even though his voice was hoarse; he must have really gotten along with her well. ...Hey, by the way, what's his name? I think it started with an S..."

"Sylvan, if I'm correct. Something like that."

Kai froze at the mention of Sylvan's name. "He must have gotten here a little while after we got here. We've got to be careful." He spoke to the others in a low voice. "Either he's still tracking us or trying to find new prey."

Monica nodded in agreement, before they continued listening.

"Hey, isn't he going to attend the masquerade tonight? He said he heard about it from people from the other village not too far from here."

"Speaking of that other village, I heard it got burnt down! Some say an arsonist did it!"

"That's highly unfortunate..."

"Wait, that handsome traveler is going to be at the masquerade tonight? That's fantastic!"

"Ooh, maybe we'll get to dance with him!"

"Yeah!"

"I have a feeling we should probably attend this masquerade." Kanmuri spoke up. "Something doesn't seem right. Why would he attend a masquerade?"

"Shouldn't we avoid it if he's a demon?" Kawachi asked. "Otherwise he'll probably identify us, hunt us down and kill us all!"

"I'm thinking he might be plotting to massacre everybody at the ball." Kanmuri responded sharply. "We can't let that many people die just because he's hungry and in need of blood!"

"Says the 'genius' who nearly got himself killed by said demon." Shachioko muttered quietly.

"Shut up, Shachioko. I didn't know he was a demon until he attacked!"

"Settle down, will you?" Monica sighed. "Some boys..." She muttered under her breath. Everyone paused, unsure of what to say until Azuma spoke up.

"What if Sylvan does recognize us?"

Kawachi sighed. "Then we're doomed."

"No, not completely. If we can get him to surrender peacefully, even if he does recognize us (which is a high probability), he probably won't kill everybody." Kanmuri responded. "I mean, it's the seven of us against him. Even if he is a demon, I highly doubt he can take on all of us at the same time."

"I guess that's it, then." Kai spoke, standing up and departing to the staircase to get to his room.

"Where are you going?" Monica asked, confused.

"I'm going to get ready for the masquerade. If Kanmuri's hunches are correct, we have to stop him before it's too late. This also means we have to get to the masquerade as soon as possible."