The boy waved a goodbye as well towards the officer, thankful for everything the other had done for him.
Following Dushi, he was finally able to admire the scenery. It felt like he was high up in the mountains, in a place untouched by man, ruled only by nature itself
"My lord, if im allowed." he suddenly spoke up, speeding up his pace to catch up with the judge. "May i ask why is the afterworld covered in mist, when it has such beautiful landscapes?"
The Crimson Lantern Festival | Chinese and Japanese Influenced Roleplay | Closed
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”Truth is, its beauty can kill. You see, many of the places here without a court or an officer’s household are homes to dreadful spirits and demons who are wanting to devour any lost souls who wander close to them. The mist is a defense mechanism so that the souls who are waiting for their fates to be decided don’t wander randomly into places where they can be sent straight to hell” the judge explained before turning back to Ryuusei.
”But if you are with an officer or a judge, the revengeful souls and demons in those certain places won’t attack for their own safety”
"Ah, i see." he commented. It made sense now for the mist to be there. But the mention of demons and spirits reminded him of why he was in the afterlife.
"May i also ask, the first judge mentioned that our future job is to help humans. Does that mean we're going to face some of the things that roam in here? Or are the spirits in the human realm different than the ones here?"
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”To your surprise, both actually. Since your job from now will be similar to that of our officers so if you want to know more about all that asking Oscar, Tanaka, or Ayumi, might be ideal” the eighth judge answered and recommended as they arrived at the mansion and knocked on the doors of the mansion.
"Ah.."
So their future job really wasn't gonna be easy, he thought. The memory of that demon that nearly ate Kaito came back, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up - looks like they had tons more to learn before they could face those things on their own.
He didn't ask any more questions as the judge knocked at the door
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The hair that blocked the eighth judge’s sight was taken away and kept behind his the judge’s ears as he ran his finger through the strands.
The door soon opened as the eighth judge was met with quite a familiar face.
”Well why the hell are you here?” the eighth judge asked the figure who answered the door.
”The same reason why you are here” the sixth judge answered, fully displayed in his white uniform.
”Also, good morning Ryuusei” the sixth judge leaned a bit closer to face Ryuusei with a small tired smile.
The boy watched the two men interact, not daring to disturb them. Yet, he gave a small smile back when the sixth judge leaned in closer.
"Good morning, my lord." he answered, not averting his gaze.
((srry for the short answer, theres a lot of noise near me, i cant focus ;-;))
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”Come inside, why do we have to talk like this anyways?” the sixth judge invited them inside the mansion that wasn’t even his.
The eighth judge rolled his eyes as he walked inside.
”Is breakfast ready…?” the eighth judge asked.
”Tanaka’s preparing everything in the kitchen, waiting won’t kill you” the sixth judge answered and teased to which the eighth’s response was—
”Yeah, but hunger will…”
Ryuusei nearly chuckled at the word exchange, finding the relationship between the two very intersting
He walked inside, following the other two as quiet as usual, letting them do most of the talk. He didnt mind waiting at all - in fact, waiting was better than not knowing if the food was gonna happen or not
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As they arrived in the dining room, Koki was on one of the chairs. The female and male officers were in the kitchen together as given by the noises coming from that room.
”Oh yeah—“ the sixth judge turned to Ryuusei ”—your friend’s not in such a great shape”
"Kaito?" he asked, turning towards the judge. "Was he unable to stand the final test? What happened?"
He wouldn't be too quick to call Kaito his friend just yet - they've known each other for literally a day. But the other had been very nice and pretty much in the same situation as he was right now; they were supposed to work together in the future, so it was for the best to be on the look out for him
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”No, he passed the test and did quite well actually… but…” the sixth judge sighed and looked down.
”It was my fault for not looking after him… on the way back to my court, we ran into a scythe demon and he got a cut along his chest. I’m having my officers take care of him but things aren’t looking so great. He’s in a safe position, I’m just afraid that he won’t be able to heal fast enough for today’s evening training…” the judge explained with a sad and kind of guilty tone.
The eighth judge noticed this and patted the sixth’s back a bit before he also turned to Ryuusei.
”Oh yeah, I’ll tell you about today’s evening training once we’re back at the court” Dushi said.
"Oh.. How much time does he need though?"
He was a little worried now, hearing about the demon encounter and the aftermath. Knowing Kaito's life was not in danger was a good thing, but it was also quite worrysome.
Hearing the eighth judge's voice made him turn towards the man, paying attention to his words, before nodding in agreement
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Koki tilted her head. "Kaito. Is he alright?" She asked quietly, fiddling with the sleeves of her dress. I need to find out where the library is. I need to read up on what the fuck I am.
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”Well… I’m also unsure, but hopefully he—“ as the sixth judge was about to finish his sentence, a bandaged and wounded Kaito came rushing through the door with a tired smile.
”Good morning everyone” he managed to speak out loud. He was in a white yukata which was stained with small pools of blood, making him look like a patient.
The sixth and eighth judge looked at him with opened mouths.
Ryuusei also whipped his head around when the other entered, looking at him wide eyed, having not expected him to show up after they'd just talked about his state.
"Kaito!" he stammered out, unable to find other words.
Shouldn't he be in bed or something? Those small blood stains on his yukata from his injuries sure looked like he shouldn't be up and running around.
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”Don’t worry I’m here because of one single reason…” Kaito stated as he looked straight into the sixth judge’s eyes.
”I think you can help me with this?” the man in the bloodstained yukata gestured to the cut across his chest.
The sixth judge was a bit confused but finally remembered what he had told Kaito. The judge nodded as he summoned his feather fan and wafted once at Kaito.
”You didn’t have to follow my every word you know” the sixth judge stated as the now healed Kaito smiled back.
”Well I don’t wanna die alone on the bed you know?”
Seeing the other get healed in an instant by the sixth judge made Ryuusei swallow whatever words he had to say. Apparently there was no need to worry about him after all.
Still, that made him wonder - if it was that easy to heal Kaito, why didn't they do it in the first place? There was no way the judge had forgotten about his own power, right? But alas, that didnt matter anymore
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The sixth judge turned to Ryuusei, knowing well that there was probably one question on his mind when he healed his apprentice.
”My weapon’s magic only works when the patient is in a conscious and mentally stable state” he answered the question he thought might have been asked.
”If not performed correctly, my weapon’s signature could have weird side effects”
Upon receiving an explanation, the boy let out a soft "Ah" and nodded his head.
Now that Kaito's situation had been fixed, Ryuusei redirected his attention towards the dining table.
He really looked forward to a good breakfast, so with the worries gone, his stomach began poking him again, wanting something to eat
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The male officer had set down severals bowls of rice, bowls of warm soup, cups of hot green tea, pickled radishes, sweetened eggs (tamagoyaki), fried tofu, roasted pieces of pork.
The last, and main part of the meal came to the table soon after. Fillets of grilled salmon were set down; one per seat.
”Alright, please everyone, enjoy your meal” the warm Tanaka invited everyone to the table as he went back into the kitchen.
Ryuusei was more than glad to sit down at the table, waiting patiently until everyone else had taken their seat and thanked for the food, before reaching out for a bowl of soup. All the food here was amazing, so tasty it made his mouth water just by thinking of it.
The soup itself felt like it was sent from heaven, that's how good it was. He made a mental note to thank Tanaka for all the amazing food
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Kaito’s eyes came lighting up when he tasted the roasted pork. It might have been delicious, yes, but he was blown away by how soft and tender the meat was.
So Tanaka’s amazing in the kitchen… good to know… he thought as he continued with his meal.
Somehow, Kaito finished his meal first and way before anyone else.
”Whoops…” he said softly as Tanaka who came to refill the drinks let out a soft chuckle.
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Koki almost devoured her food, licking her lips happily. "This is soo good!" She exclaimed as soon as she finished, taking a sip from her water glass. Her family may make good food, but this was awesome! It was different from what she usually ate, which was probably part of the appeal.
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The male officer laughed a little when he saw Kaito’s and Koki’s expressions and reactions to his food.
He walked over to Koki after he had refilled the eighth judge’s cup of tea.
”Would you want more tea as well?” he asked with a warm smile and an equally warm tone.
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"No, thank you, sir! My cup is still full." Koki declined, smiling widely in response to the smile sent her way. "If you have the time sir, could you teach me how to cook like this? I really only know Italian recipes and how to make grilled cheese."
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”Well of course, I’d be more than willing to” the male officer agreed before he walked over to Kaito who had requested more tea.
Soon after, a knock came from the doors of the mansion.
The male officer turned to the female officer, both with confused looks.
”Who could that be?” the female asked as the male shook his head.
”Can you go answer the door for me?” the male requested as the female nodded and walked over, not yet opening the door.
From the looks of it, the officers weren’t expecting anyone else here at this time.
Ryuusei was almost done with his rice bowl when he heard the knock.
He raised his head to look in the direction of the officers, who were already on their way to the door, a few grains of rice stuck to the corner of his mouth. Noticing the subtle tension in the air, he exchanged looks with the others, his eyes holding an unspoken question. When he received a negative nod from the others, he returned to his bowl, quickly noming what was left.
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As Ayumi opened the door, a cold and chilly gust of strong wind came blowing into the mansion. It wasn’t of the mist, it was of the guest who came returned ahead of the schedule.
”Lord Taishan!” the female officer gasped out and she bowed greeting the woman. At that moment, nothing was worth mentioning of the woman just yet as she had a long blue cloak covering her body and face.
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(That's the seventh judge, right?)