Keeper (Erityian Tribes Novella, #5)

05 : Restless

I couldn't sleep.

After visiting the blood chamber, the voices I heard kept echoing inside my head. In addition, I could still feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I thought I could already control these ferocious tendencies when I lived outside this world but coming back here awakened them.

I was itching to fight someone.

By nightfall, everything in the island was already engulfed in darkness. Suspicious shadows roamed around as the sound of metal hitting the ground filled the air. The Executioners were moving and I could feel the tension rising inside the island.

"Curious, aren't you?"

Hearing that voice made me shudder. My hands instinctively reached my sword and swung it at the presence behind me. Blood splattered on my face and on the floor, stunned to see Kiyoko's smiling face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I pulled back my sword.

She wiped the blood off his lacerated wound, as if it was just a shallow cut. I remembered her saying she wasn't fond of physical fights since her body couldn't keep up, but it looked like she had already unconsciously adapted their nature.

"I figure you'd be restless by now," she replied. "And I don't really have any friends here. I mean, they are all so . . . extreme in a sense."

That made me chuckle since that was quite true. Being eccentric and radical is the 'normal' here.

"So . . . what's happening?"

"After what happened to Senshins and Custos, a lot of criminals will be transferred here," she explained. "They are preparing for that."

"I see. So aside from Nox, Shinigamis will also be escorted here."

"Yeah." A hint of sadness flashed across her face. "And you know furious they are at them."

Vince's face zoomed inside my head and how the rest of the Jikko clan acted when they received the news of his death.

"Because of what happened, they even harbor resentment to Hideyoshi and the administration," she continued. "Ise completely cut the communication between them because trusting them cost him his grandson's life."

My heart almost sank upon hearing Ise's name. I grew up with Vince and Ise was particularly strict on him. He would always say that he should never lose a fight because that's a disgrace as a Jikko, especially for the future head of the clan. He was harsh and cold to him but his decisions subsequent to Vince's death were those of a grandfather . . . of a family member.

"However, since Ise didn't know that Vince has a child, he wanted Dad to be the successor because he trusts his strength."

"So he's from that school?"

She smiled. "Yup. Apparently, he sneaked out of this island when he was a teenager because if he stayed, he'd be named as the chief of the village."

"What do you mean?"

"According to Aristus, Vince was still too young when his father died. Ise wanted to focus on training him so he wanted to have a capable man to lead the village temporarily. Dad, knowing his fate, left Shima to avoid that kind of responsibility."

"Oh. So that's how he ended up in that school?"

"Yup. He was found by Hideyoshi and became his right-hand man."

Although some of my memories were hazy, I remembered Ise getting furious when a letter suddenly arrived from the outside. After that, he said Vince would be sent to an institution for a mission. That letter must be from Kyo.