Chapter 247
I remembered seeing this boy in Tom’s consciousness. At that time, this kid looked like he was afraid of me. This time, though he still looked wary but there was hint of curiosity in his eyes. However, as soon as I smiled at him, he jumped backwards with widened eyes full with terror. Disbelief was clear in his eyes as if I was about to ask him to sell himself away. It seemed that whoever made him traumatized was used to smile before it tortured him.
Poor lil boy.
“No need to be so jumpy.” I retracted the smile on my face as I pinched the space between my eyes. “What’s your name again?”
“Putra. Putra Semesta.” He answered in a low tone.
“Right. Putra, who are you exactly? How are you related to Tom?” I asked in a serious tone. The last time I asked him about it, he didn’t give me a proper answer since he was too busy calming himself from his trauma. Since I happened to have some free time at hand, I thought that I should ask him about it. An existence like him was truly strange yet holding a mysterious power, I bet.
My eyes watched the red lines in his body. I remembered clearly that it actually moved, like a river of hot lava. Sure thing, when I focused my eyes, I noticed the small movement from the lines.
“Tom is my Guardian.” He answered softly.
“Guardian?” Why did you need a Guardian? Only a strong existence would need a Guardian to keep it in check.
.....
He looked into my eyes and repeated his answer with a resolute look in his eyes. “I am the spirit of Death Volcano and Tom is my Guardian.”
Death Volcano! My eyes widened as soon as I heard what he said. I had been looking for Death Volcano ever since that meeting and it had always been before my eyes all along? I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry at this ridiculous fate.
Holding my forehead in my right hand, I took a deep breath after a series of maniac giggles escaped from my mouth.
I badly wanted to vent but obviously I couldn’t do that to the poor boy in front of me.
Take a deep breath, Jane! Take a deep breath!
Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
Huff... That was better. After controlling the turmoil inside, I re-opened my eyes and met with the freaking out gaze belonged to the boy.
Ah, indeed. I must have scared him with my behavior, I thought.
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you. I may look crazy but I promise I don’t hit just anyone.” I comforted him as soft as I could.
It worked! Even though the distrust was still there in his eyes, at least he wasn’t trembling so bad anymore.
“Come here and sit.” I patted the place in front of me. There was a protruding root of a nearby tree there, thick enough for him to sit on.
He didn’t say anything but he did what I told him to do. His obedience made me smile. As expected, an obedient child was the best. A cute and obedient child.
“Do you know what is happening here now?” I asked him. This whole time, we had been ignoring the wails and screeches of the demons around us. It was a bit noisy but we managed to talk without shouting at each other.
Putra tilted his head, pondering over his answer for a full five seconds. “Massive invasion from the devil’s world? Is it ‘that’ time?”
“Yes, if you mean the time where the borderline between two worlds is weakened to the extreme.” I nodded my head. “Do you still remember what the First Master asked you to do long time ago?”
“How could I forget?!” He answered almost instantly. He had furious look on his face but instead of looking menacing, he looked cute.
“That woman forced me to visit those stupid brats even when I said I couldn’t do it! She even threatened me that she would spank my bottom if I couldn’t do THAT simple thing! Did she think it was so easy to expand my consciousness to the whole world?! That vicious woman! So shameless! Rude! Evil! She made me lay on the ground for a whole week and even forbade me to relieve myself privately! And every time I wanted to stand up, she would spank my bottom! You don’t even know how humiliating it was to me! What’s more infuriating was my Guardian indulged her in every action she did! Whose guardian was he, actually?! That woman was simply a witch! A witch!”
Putra looked so aggrieved and there was anger imminent in his eyes. His chest heaved as he finished his long complain. The red lines on his body grew even brighter and if my eyes didn’t deceive me, there were sparks of fire coming from his body. If it could provoke him this much, it must be tough for him to experience something like that. But, what caught my attention was not his misery, but a couple of words.
That woman? Was he talking about the First Master? Wasn’t the First Master a man?
Did I just hear a big secret? Something so deeply hidden that even the Elders in the army knew nothing about, but it was revealed just like that?
I was just asking him what he had done to stop the invasion, but who would have known that I would get a precious piece of information instead?
But, why didn’t anybody know about the real gender of the First Master back then? It was either the First Master was a master of disguise or... they deliberately concealed it from the world.
Hmm, it arouse my curiosity. Should I do some investigation? But, if they deliberately concealed it, they might not want to talk about it.
However, whether they did it or not, they ought to show even just slightest change in their expression.
It seemed like I needed to talk to those old geezers, after all.
“Jane?” Putra’s voice brought me back to my senses. Seeing how he had lost his initial anger and had confused and worried expression on his face made me realize how long I had wasted to think about the new information.
“Ah, sorry. I got distracted.” I smiled at him. “Can you do it again? I mean, locating those portals.”
“You want me to visit those brats again?” His eyes widened in unwillingness. He even took two steps backwards in a haste as though I would catch him to do what I ordered him.