Chapter 51

Friday, January 27, 2023.

"Huff... Huff... Huff..."

I've lost track of time, all I can see is that the sun is slowly starting to dip. I run through the streets of Fuyuki, accompanied by All Might on an electric scooter. I don't know how long I've been running, but I can't feel my legs, I feel like I'm sucking razor blades instead of air, and my body is so hot that my sweat is evaporating.

"Boy..."

I hear a voice behind me calling, but I can't stop, not now...

"Boy!"

I have to keep moving, otherwise I'll never be able to pick up Kiritsugu's flame...

"Young Senji!" All Might's voice brings me back to myself.

I stop awkwardly, having almost fallen. Turning towards him, I can see that something is wrong.

"That's it, you're finally listening to me." He sighs. "Do you know how long you've been running?" I shake my head negatively. "I thought so... In any case, you've been running for far too long. Look at you, shaking like a leaf and looking like you can barely stand!" Indeed, when I look at my hands, I see a lively trembling, which I can't seem to calm down. "This state, my boy, is what we call overwork! And it's your worst enemy; if you overdo it, it will produce very bad results!"
"I know all that."

"Oh?"

"But I can't afford to train carefully. I notice it every day, I need to train ten times more than the others." I touch my belly. "I want to become as strong as you... No, stronger than you, if I'm your heir then I must aim much higher and surpass you." I look All Might straight in the eyes.

All Might remains silent, as if contemplating what I've just said, then transforms into his heroic form.

"Shameless boy! You really are the obsessed type! But you know what? I have to admit, I don't mind!" He said, helping me to sit down on a bench. "But all the same, training in such a way can be a real danger to your health! But I understand what motivates you now! Don't worry, the old man in me will keep a close eye on you to avoid the worst!"

"You're not an old man, All Might..." I say in a trembling voice.

Saturday, January 28, 2023.

"Did he come by this morning?" I open my mailbox. "Ah yes, so... Advertising... of course. Oh, Fuji-nee's magazine, she'll be happy."

*Beep*

"Hm? a message this early?" I turn on my phone to see a message from Gina. 'Hi Sweetie! I could use your services on a mission, meet me at the usual restaurant, okay? See you then!'

"Huh... Plus I feel like I don't really have a choice..." I scratch my head. "Well, better not keep her waiting."

"Welcome!" As I enter the American restaurant, I'm greeted by the waitress, who due to our height difference and the fact that she bend down slightly to speak to me, flashes her cleavage directly in my face.

"Um... hello, is Gina there?" I ask, looking away.

"Yes, she's sitting over there, waiting for you!" She points to Gina's familiar hair sticking out of the armchairs, then she go away behind the counter.

(She didn't even give me time to thank her...)

I walk into the restaurant to see Sophie sitting at the counter with an orange juice and a notebook in her hands. She in turn notices me when I get close enough.

"Hello Senji-senpai!"

"Good morning Sophie-san, what are you up to so early in the morning?" I ask.

"Well..." She looks at Gina, who is focused on her tablet. "Get closer..." She whispers. "I came here early to see Sword, I'm going to convince him to unravel the mystery of Eldorado together. Look, I've filled out this whole notebook with clues and other Eldorado-related stuff. With this, there's no way he won't take me seriously."

"I see, with all this, there will surely be clues to your brother's disappearance." I nod.

"That's right. But then, why are you here Senji-senpai? *Gasp* Don't tell me you're here to see Sword too?"

"Um... Not really no..."

"He came to see me." We turn to see Gina drinking her cup of coffee and looking at me. "Hello Senji, thanks for coming."

"Hello Gina-san, no problem."

"Oh you know each other?" Sophie asks, surprised.

"Yes, very well indeed, I need to speak with him for a few moments, do you mind if I take your boyfriend? You can meet him afterwards."

"Boyfriend?!" Sophie turns red. "No, there's nothing like that between us!"

"No need to get into her game, she's just doing it to tease us." I reply simply, approaching Gina.

Sophie doesn't answer me, just pout, turning back to her notebook and orange juice. Gina insists that I sit next to her, so I comply.

"I missed you a lot Senji!" She said, kissing my cheek.

"Hum likewise, it's been a while since I've seen you."

"I was doing a little investigating, which brings us to our meeting today, but before I tell you about it, we're waiting for someone else."

"Sword I guess." I ask, feeling Sophie's intense gaze.

*Ding Ding*

"Hm?" Sophie and I turn toward the entrance.

"Welcome!" Greets the waitress.

"*Yawn* Thanks for the view..." Sword said tiredly, bending down to curtsy to the waitress's bosom. "Same stuff as usual."

"Wow, what a sense of timing." giggles Gina to me.

"Yeah..."

"Swo..." Sophie tries to call out but is interrupted directly by Gina, who stands up.

"Hello Sword. Sorry to drop by unannounced, we need you." She explains, stroking my head. "Will you... marry me?" She asks with a smile.

"What?" I'm taken aback.

But Sword doesn't react; he seems to be wary, looking at her strangely.

"What are you telling me?" He finally asks after a long second of silence.

"Would you take a look at this?" Gina waved the tablet in her hand before placing it on the table.

"*Sigh* All right, I hope it's worth it." He executes and sits across from us, taking the tablet. "Huh? A ring that controls horrors?" Sword asks.

"It's just a rumor." Gina begins to explain, between sips of coffee. "Lady Viola was an actress in her youth. She wasn't very successful. But overnight, her rivals all fell victim to scandal or injury." She points to the photo of the beautiful young woman on the shelf, tanned skin, brown eyes and long hair, a purple necklace and a green dress, leaving her shoulders open.

Sword watches intently as he eats large chunks of steak, while I watch from the side with a hot chocolate offered by Gina when she learned I hadn't had breakfast before arriving here.

"She took the opportunity to become famous and marry a businessman." Gina continues her explanation. "Her husband died of illness a few years later and she became a consultant."

"Hmmm..." Sword nods, taking several fries before devouring them.

"She helps wealthy people educate their children, in exchange for large sums of money and fame." Gina changes the page on her tablet to show Viola less beautiful than before, on the verge of obesity. "A real success story."

"And you think it's because of a Horror?" Sword asks.

"That's a lot of coincidence all the same." I think aloud.

"Hm, yes Senji, but it's not just coincidence, she says she has a ring that controls demons. The demons whisper things to her and give her luck." Says Gina.

"Who's stupid enough to tell everyone this kind of thing?" Ddraig scoffs.

"It's true that she's not very private..." I say rudely.

"Hmmm..." Sword nods, cutting up a piece of meat.

Suddenly, Sophie approaches and bangs on the table to make herself noticed.

"Does a ring like that exist?" She asks.

"Where did you come from?" Sword asks, surprised to see her there.

"She was on the counter." I point to the glass of orange juice on the counter.

"Oh, I didn't notice..." Sword murmurs, following where I'm pointing with his eyes. "Drink your juice and go home." He immediately pulls himself together and resumes cutting his steak.

"I refuse!" She stamps on the table again. "I won't let you go until I know more about Eldorado!"

"Fufufu..." Gina stands up. "That's what we're going to investigate." She winks at Sophie, as Sword looks on with very little reassurance.

It's early evening, and after getting ready, we take a limousine through Fuyuki to Lady Viola's mansion. Gina is wearing a gorgeous dark-blue dress, opening her cleavage in a low V, almost to her navel and leaving her back open. Sophie wears a pink dress, with a bow at the collar and in her hair, which is styled back. Sword and I are wearing classic suits with a bow tie., but with his massive body, the buttons on Sword's suit barely hang, while mine fit so well that I wonder how Gina knows my exact measurements.
As we step out of the limousine, Gina wraps her arm around mine, smiles at me and starts up the steps to the mansion. Sword follows close behind, but it's Sophie who stands speechless at the foot of the stairs, staring up at the enormous size of the building.

I notice it and turn around, which slows us down, and Gina in turn notices it.

"Darling, please accompany our lovely daughter." Gina asks Sword.

"Oh!" Sword turns to see Sophie below. "Oh." He walks back down the steps and holds out his hand. "Come on."

"Huh?" Sophie seems somewhat surprised by Sword's acting. "Okay..." She nods, accepting Sword's hand.

We enter the mansion, where we see lots of family, a banquet filled with cakes and other sweets. The interior is decorated with a huge chandelier, a red carpet adorned with gilded designs and numerous paintings hanging on the sandy-white walls.

I can see out of the corner of my eyes that Sophie isn't very comfortable, looking around.

"Meow!" A cat passes between our legs, chasing a blue ball.

"Ahh!" Sophie gasped in fright.

"Heavens, my apologies." Said a woman as she approached us. "Welcome to my mansion. I'm Viola, the lady of the house." Hard to go wrong, with such a recognizable look.

"We're the Browns, we consulted you recently." Gina introduces us as a family. "This is my husband and my children Emily and Yvan."

"Good evening." Sword gives a slight bow of the head.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Brown, Emily, Yvan." She said, petting her cat.

(So that's her, Lady Viola. Ddraig, do you feel anything?)

"Yes, it stinks in this house." He says to me with a hint of disgust.

(Well, at least that settles it.)

"You'll explain everything in detail later. I hope I can help your family." She tells us.

"Thank you! My husband makes me do everything at home..." Explains Gina, acting up, and noticing that Sword says nothing, elbows him discreetly.

"I can't help it, I don't have the time."

"He always says that! And my children never obey me..."

"Not even true! I don't need advice." Sophie turns her head, pretending to sulk.

"We're doing just fine without you." I add, pretending. "We do what we want."

"Perfectly!" Sophie plays the capricious child really well.

"Children." Viola calls out to us, placing her plump hands on our cheeks. "I just want to get along with you. What do you say we go eat, first?" Her face is far too close to ours. "There are plenty of other young kids your age."

Then, separating us from Gina and Sword, Viola takes us to where the children are gathered, then moves on to other people, leaving us alone. Sophie clings to me, not at all reassured. We sit down on a sofa, a plate of cake in our hands. I look around to see Sword a little further on, having joined a group of men talking business and other things my teenage brain doesn't understand. But I notice that Sword is just as lost as I am, staring and nodding in bewilderment.

(You've got to be kidding me. He could at least pretend to understand.)

I refocus on my chocolate cake, cut a piece with a fork then eat it, after a few seconds of chewing, I realize what an incredible taste this cake has.

(So that's what luxury tastes like, better not to get too attached to it... But I wouldn't mind another slice.)

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a cat jumps onto my lap and settles comfortably, purring away. I give in to temptation and pet him, purring even louder.

Then I notice that there are lots of cats scattered around the room. Next to me, as Sophie devours the same cake as mine, she listens in on a conversation, so I listen in too, intrigued.

"I wonder if coming here will reframe my idiot son." Says a woman in a purple dress.

"I hope so, because it costs an arm and a leg to get help!" Says another in a pink dress.

"I hear the Spencers' daughter became a kitten after her stay." Explains another, in a beige dress.

"I wonder how Lady Viola did it." Asks a blonde in a green dress.

"We don't care, we're just paying her to sort it out!" Scoffs the woman in the beige outfit making the three others around her laugh.

Overhearing this conversation, Sophie seems taken aback.

"Good evening Emily, Yvan." Viola approaches us, a cat in her arms. "Are you having fun?"

"Not really..." Sophie replies shyly.

"You have a lot of cats." I say, petting the cat on my lap, purring loudly.

"They're my only children. Besides, I can see that one of them likes you a lot." Then she sits down between us, making the sofa creak. "That's why I like to welcome children like the two of you."

Sophie, extremely embarrassed by Viola's proximity, suddenly eats her cake. Then she starts telling us things that I ignore, concentrating on the counter, watching Gina pour herself another glass of champagne, joined by an exhausted Sword.

"I can't take it any more." He says.

"You're doing great." Reassures Gina.

Sword sighed before draining his glass.

"What are you thinking?" Sword asks, turning his gaze towards us. "You're bringing a kid into this."

"This isn't the first time he's been involved in our business, is it? Besides, he's one of Kuoh's students, he's trained to deal with this kind of situation, Senji is perfectly suited to take part in our missions, and it'll give him some experience." Explains Gina.

"I know all about Senji, I'm not worried about him, he's capable of looking after himself. But I'm talking about Sophie."

"What's the problem?" Gina asks. "I think it's cute that she's looking for her brother and Senji's keeping an eye on her. Besides, you could lose her easily if you wanted to. If the two of them are really going to be part of our world, they need to know what it looks like. As well as our work." She explains, taking a sip of champagne.

"It stinks." Zaruba calls out. "It's here."

"Is that Lady Viola?" Sword asks.

"The smell is coming from around here... But I don't know exactly where." says Zaruba.

"We'll have to check it ourselves..." Sword sighs. "You brought them here, so you take care of it."

"Yes chief!" Gina assures him with a smile.

On our side, Viola keeps stroking Sophie's hair, and she's doing her best to stay calm, but I can see that all she wants to do is run away.

(This woman has no concept of privacy... Luckily she's got Sophie's attention, but for how long, I've got to get out of here...)

"Hmm, the Makai Knight's ring didn't notice it but there's definitely something strange about that woman."

(You think she's a monster?)

"It's hard to say, but what's certain is that she carries the scent of these inferior creatures on her, that's for sure, although she tries to hide it, but I can feel it."

(The rings...)

"Quite possible."

"You're very shy, Emily." Viola finally notices Sophie's embarrassment.

"Excuse me..." Sword steps towards us, calling out. "Emily, Yvan, your mother's calling."

"..." Sophie and I look at each other. "Okay, here we go." I get up and take Sophie's hand, heading us toward Gina.

As we pass, we meet Sword's serious gaze.

I turn one last time to see Lady Viola flirting with Sword, touching him and sliding her fingers over him.

(Poor guy, maybe it's karma at work.)

Gina and Sophie and I sneak out of the room and start exploring the mansion, passing through long, wide corridors.

"I'm a little tired." Says Sophie, walking beside us.

"It's only just begun." Gina reminds her.

"I know, but..." She clasps her hands behind her head. "I never imagined rich people like this. They care more about appearances and money than they do about their children."

"They're not all like that." Gina retorts. "But the ones here solve all their problems with money."

"It's still their kids." Sophie says, annoyed.

"Some people just don't get it." I say, clenching my fists.

"Yes, I feel sorry for them." Gina looks at me with compassion.

We're coming down the stairs when Gina grabs Sophie, preventing her from speaking, and takes cover. I crouch down directly, following her example.

It's a servant on the floor below. When he's finally out of sight, we continue on our way, arriving at two possible paths.

"Hmmm, which corridor to take?" Gina wonders.

"To the right." I answer with great certainty, which surprises Gina.

"Curious, how do you know?" She asks.

"Well..."

"I'm the one who told him." The green orb of Boosted Gear appears on the back of my hand, out comes Ddraig's voice. "I can smell their foul odors."

"The red dragon emperor Ddraig himself, I see." Gina is all the more surprised.

"Why is your hand talking Senji-senpai?" Sophie asks.

"Have you heard of the Welsh dragon, one of the most powerful dragons of all time? Well, it's him, Ddraig, he's locked up in what's called a Longinus, one of the most powerful artifacts existing in this world." Gina explains.

"I see, so you're super strong!" Sophie is amazed.

"Not really no, I've still got a long way to go before I'm considered super strong."

"Anyway, can you do us the honor of being our guide?" Gina asks Ddraig.

"Partner?" Ddraig asks my permission.

"If you don't see a problem that's fine with me."

"Very well, then to the right."

Without waiting, we took the direction indicated by Ddraig.

"By the way, that reminds me, Gina, why are you doing this job?" Sophie asks, running up behind us. "You're tracking these monsters, it's dangerous, aren't you scared?"

"Of course I do." Gina replies.

"Then why?"

"Maybe for the paycheck." Gina replied, smiling with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"The door straight ahead, it stinks." Ddraig interrupts them.

We stop just ahead, scanning the horizon for anyone approaching. Meanwhile, Gina brings her hands to the lock and causes a bright pink seal to appear, unlocking the door. Opening it, we see that it's a large room, with two large sofas in the middle, a coffee table in between and a rug underneath. There are cabinets on the walls and a huge chandelier. Another door, leading to the same kind of overdecorated room. Then, following Ddraig's mumbling in my head, I open a door into a bedroom.
"We've reached the rooms where the kids are staying, it looks like." Says Gina, joining me with Sophie.

Inside, there are two beds, a large carpet decorating the floor, two desks and cupboards, far less refined than any of the previous rooms.

"There's no one there." Sophie remarks.

Gina runs her gloved hand over everything, looking for something. Sophie observes the book-filled closets.

"Gina, Senji-senpai! This place is shady!" She calls out to us.

As we approach, we can see that one group of books is slightly less deeply inserted than the others.

"You've got quite an eye." I say.

"I used to do the same thing. So my brother wouldn't find my letter to Santa." Sophie grabs the said books and removes them, to show a diary.

"It's the diary of a child who came here." Said Gina, leafing through the diary.

She looks surprised as she turns the pages, then hands it to Sophie.

"The rumors are true." Sophie takes it and starts reading. "Lady Viola controls a veritable demon. Those targeted by the demon become puppets, as if their souls had been stolen. I don't want to go through the same thing. Something horrible has happened. Will tried to flee, but the demon got him. I can't forget that scene. Please, somebody help me. I'm going to end up devoured, too..."

Sophie stops and turns to us in horror. Gina nods before continuing our search.

"The children who came here were indeed attacked by monsters. But the families would protest if the children didn't come back." Sophie says outraged.

"Not necessarily." I reply.

"Makes you wonder who the real demons are." Gina adds.

Sophie lowers her head, as if defeated.

"Besides, I have a question." I call out to Gina.

"I'm listening, sweetheart."

"Sword mentioned Horrors, is that a term for demons in general or is that the term used in your profession?"

"Fufufu, he didn't explain anything to you. There are three types of demon in this world. The first, which is the most common, has no particular name. They are creatures that feed on the fears of humanity. They are born in one of the deepest levels of the Underworld, with a name that corresponds to a concept. They are the incarnation of the fear of the name they represent. The second are the Horrors, creatures from another dimension. When a human accumulates enough negative energy, a Horror can emerge from its dimension to possess its body. And the third are the devils. In general we don't have too many problems, as we help each other out thanks to their contracts."

"How terrifying..." Sophie sighs. "But then why do some devils act like the one Senji-senpai and Sword faced?"

"He must have been in the service of a devil who despised him. Most devils put up a good show with Humans, which is normal because for most of them it's their livelihood. But devils are too proud and carry too much tainted honour. This leads some servants to rebel and flee. But the wandering devil we faced was more of a wild beast than anything else, probably a devil who thought he could control it..." I explain to Sophie.

"That's crazy..." Sophie murmurs.

"We've come to a dead end, sweetheart, are you sure you've followed Ddraig's directions correctly?"

I walk over to the wall and put my hand on it. Then I switch on my magic circuits and analyse the wall, but something is strange.

"An illusion." I nod to Gina.

"Of course." She pulls out a piece of paper with some strange writing on it, burns it and then a seal appears, making the wall disappear, giving way to a staircase spiralling downwards. "Many of the people who consulted Lady Viola have disappeared from the public sphere or simply vanished. We live in a fierce world, so that's not strange in itself." Explains Gina, as we carefully make our way downstairs.

Sophie said nothing, probably overwhelmed by all the information she had just discovered.

"Some parents have complained that their children don't come home. Well, some of them." Adds Gina.

"But in the end, all those children..." Sophie doesn't have time to finish her sentence when we arrive at a door.

Gina opens it to see a large cellar, with a huge circle on the floor in the centre, with candles surrounding it.

"What's that?" Sophie asks.

"A classic satanic altar." I reply. "Lady Viola wanted to make a pact with a demon, specifically a Horrors, right?"

"No doubt about it, the smell is unbearable here."

"So it's really possible?" Sophie couldn't believe it.

"Nibelungen, Solomon, Prometheus... A ring is the most popular object in which to store magic." Explains Gina, inspecting the altar. "There have been rumours of rings controlling powerful Demons for centuries. If such a ring existed, I'm sure the elites would snap it up."

"Gina!" Sophie is too uncomfortable to appreciate Gina's humour.

"I see, so that's really it." Said Gina, frowning.

"Sophie, Senji." Gina approaches us, placing her hands on our shoulders. "This is our job. If you want to accompany the Makai Knights or become a hero or shinobi you'll often face situations like this. Are you ready for that?"

I can see fear and hesitation in Sophie's eyes, which is completely understandable, she's just dived in head first not so long ago. But not me, I've been prepared for this for a while now. Suddenly, I feel a presence, and seeing Gina frowning, I deduce that my deduction is correct. I turn around, pull out my Boosted Gear [BOOST] and get into a defensive position. Gina doing the same beside me.

They're cats, most of them have followed us here, they all have glowing red eyes.

(That's strange, why do I only feel one presence?)

"You're awfully annoying customers, coming all the way out here." Lady Viola appeared in her dressing gown.

"So it is true!" Sophie was surprised. "She really does control the Horrors with her ring!"

"I see," Viola's face hardened, "you're not just customers."

"Yes, I am a Makai priestess come to eliminate you." Gina introduces herself.

"Fool, I don't know who you think you are, but do you think you can beat me and the demons under me?" The cats gather around Viola. "They're all starving. "Suddenly the cats take on liquid form, creating a puddle at her feet. "Attack!"

Countless eyes appear in the puddle, which expands and grows to rush towards us. [BOOST] I extend my left arm, working all my magical circuits, and in bluish lightning surrounding me, the Rho Aias shield appears, protecting us from the impact. Gina takes out a vial filled with purple and green liquid, throws it over my shield, then takes her hairpin and throws it towards the vial, which bursts, creating an explosion of purple light, destroying the Horrors attacking us, making Lady Viola fall backwards.

"I suspected it was fake." Seeing Gina advancing towards Viola, I make the shield disappear and project a sword, ready to pounce. "A ring that can control Horrors..." She picks up a fallen ring, inspecting it. "...wouldn't be so fragile. You don't control any Horror. You are the Horror."

Viola stands up, strange purple stains all over her body, she tries to hide her face with her hands.

"You tried to control it with your fake ring, but the Horrors you summoned devoured you." Gina explains.

"No... No, No! No! No!" Viola is in full denial, shaking like a leaf. "No!"

She rises, then transforms into a mass of dark green flesh, a huge toothy mouth in the center of her body, with two fetal-like forms with a pair of arms and a large mouth with pointed teeth attached to her body by an umbilical cord.

Gina pulls out a rapier strapped to her leg and dodges the attacks of the two little monsters, piercing one in mid-air before kicking the other to cut the cord.

"Senji-senpai!" I turn to see a portal near Sophie, with a humanoid head emerging from it.

I run towards her, grab her and continue on my way until I stop a few metres away. The monster that emerges resembles a human, reaching almost three meters in height, with long arms almost touching the ground and a mouth that's much too big, giving me goosebumps when I see its smile.

"Sophie, don't move and stay well back behind me." Listening to me, she complied and moved into the shadows.

[BOOST] I charge towards him, trying to land the first blow, but he's quicker, raises his arm and strikes horizontally. I have no choice but to block the attack with the flat of my sword, but its force is monstrous and sends me slamming into the wall. He grabs my foot but I react immediately, planting my sword in his arm. Now unable to move, [BOOST] I throw out my left arm to strike him in the face, the impact sending him backwards, freeing him from my blade.

"Rooooahh!" He screams, his face crushed, teeth missing.

He opens his mouth wide, his jaw dropping far too low to be natural. When it's his turn to run at me, I project six swords over my head and send them flying. The Horror doesn't even try to dodge as he continues on his way, two of them digging into his body, the rest either missing or nicking him here and there. He performs a vertical attack that destroys the concrete, which I dodge with ease, before taking a sword stuck in his body to cut his arm into the ground.

He grabs the sword with his other hand and forces me to let go, sending it waltzing further into the room, then retries a horizontal attack, I crouch and lower my head, letting go of the arm that sinks into the wall. [BOOST] I grab the second sword I've got stuck, cut the shorter side to get it out before hitting his mouth, but he closes his jaw on impact, stopping the sword and breaking it. I kick him backwards, but he remains stuck, his hand in the wall.
(So this is the basic form of a Horror? real body horror... a lot of brute strength, but very little resistance, at first I thought it was clever and that he'd noticed that a horizontal attack would work better, but it just seems to be pure instinct, almost animal-like.)

At last he pulls his hand away from the wall, takes a piece and throws it at me. [BOOST] I surround my left arm with a layer of luminous white energy, let the block come towards me and just deflect it to the right, to avoid Sophie getting hurt. [BLOOD POINTER] Then I charge my arm, becoming more and more sparkling, so much energy condensed that it turns into a kind of luminous steam.

I throw out my arm, sending all the energy I've built up straight at the Horror, exploding on contact in a flash. The monster drops dead, face and upper body pulverised.

My head starts to spin and I lean against the wall, wiping the blood from my nose.

(Damn, I'll never get used to that...)

"So there was a second Horror to tame the victims?" Gina is surprised.

Suddenly, a sword pierces what is left of Lady Viola's face from behind. Dying instantly, she disintegrates to make way for Sword in his golden armour, who disappears immediately afterwards.

Sophie helps me move towards them, until Gina helps me too.

"Sword! You're late." Gina is very angry.

"I've had a tough time of it too, in more ways than one." Now that he's said it, all that's left on top is the white shirt, half-closed. "That crazy woman tried to hit on me... Anyway, you two didn't really need my help."

"Indeed, I had almost finished sorting that out."

"I'm sure you do."

"But there was a second Horror, and Senji had to do it! He's only supposed to be helping us, not fighting at the front, look at him, he's all pale." Gina touches my face with concern.

"Everything's fine, just a bout of sluggishness, we should worry about her more." I turn to Sophie, Gina and Sword do the same.

She looks pensively at the altar, probably still in shock from the altercation.

Sunday January 29, 2023.

Gina called me to have breakfast with her and Sword in the restaurant. She drank her coffee and he devoured his enormous steak, I ended up with chocolate pancakes, courtesy of Gina.

"How are you feeling Senji?" Gina asks me.

"Everything's fine, a good night's sleep and back on my feet again."

"Well said." Sword nods, cutting into his steak.

"You're using a very dangerous power in addition to Boosted Gear, you shouldn't push your body to such extremes." Gina scolds me.

"..." I don't answer, because I know she's right, but at the moment I have no other way.

" Well." Seeing my hesitation, sword changes the subject. "In the end, you didn't find any treasure this time either." He says to Gina.

"It's because it's hard to find that a treasure has value."

"And when you find it, you'll sell it to some weirdo at an exorbitant price." I frown at Sword's words.

"Don't say it like that or Senji will misunderstand. Anyway, I'm doing this even if I don't have any treasure to sell."

"Let it go, Sword." Said Zaruba. "You're no match for her."

Before answering, Sword and Gina turn to someone approaching us. It's Sophie, a determined look staring back at us.

"Sophie..." Sword sighed.

"Have you made up your mind?" Gina asks.

"Yes." She replies confidently.

"What are you talking about?" I ask confused.

"Yeah, what's that about now?" Asks sword, just as confused as I am.

"Beware, when women unite, men are no match". Zaruba scoffs.

"You're going to help me today!" Sophie announces, tapping the table.

"Eh?" Sword sweats.

"Let's find out more about Eldorado together!"

"Hey, Sophie..."

"Tell me everything you know." Sophie has a big, menacing smile on her face. "And why are you investigating this in the first place?"

"Have you finished Senji?" Gina asks as she puts her cup down.

"Yes." I reply, finishing my last slice of pancake.

"Well then let's go." She said as she stood up.

I gulp down my glass of apple juice and follow her, stopping Sophie to watch us go.

"Hey, Gina, Senji! Don't go away!" Sword calls out.

"Sword!" Sophie calls out to him. "Stay here and answer me!"

"But stop... that's enough you. Gina, Senji, come back!"

"You're going to help me!"

"Fufufu." Gina is amused by the situation. "Let's leave them to each other, they've got a lot to talk about." She says to me with a wink.

"Sword!"

"Don't leave me! Senji save me!"

We leave the restaurant and hear them yelling at each other from outside.

Vol. 9 End.