The Caretaker of Tenants From Another World - Chapter 113

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Chapter 113

"And you're the caretaker with the demon in your dormitory, Akira. I saw that interview on television. Couldn't believe my eyes. A demon on Earth? I'm disgusted just being across from her," Jeriah said spitefully.

Goosebumps formed all over my skin. I'd felt a hate similar to this from Cresta, but this guy was oozing with more. Like it was sadistic and wrathful, much less room for forgiveness.

"I get it. Demons are the reason Weyera is all sorts of messed up, but killing one isn't going to bring it back. Ange isn't like other demons either. She's kind, caring, and has a lot of love to go around. You saw just now that she put herself in front of other people, didn't you?" I asked.

"Akira, you have to leave," Ange pleaded. "I can tell if he wants to get to me, he wouldn't mind getting through you."

I shook my head.

"Not happening. My mom really wants to meet you, and… look… in my culture, introducing a significant other to parents is kind of a big step in our relationship…"

The succubus blushed, then her demeanor flashed with panic.

I followed Ange's gaze to the end of the aisle, where an exacto was flying down towards us. My feet wouldn't move. My hands, however, snatched the stack of balsa boards from the cart in time to block the knife. The force broke several pieces of wood and was barely enough to stop the projectile.

"Fucking flimsy ass balsa wood," I muttered.

Ange pulled herself up, using my shoulder. With her fangs bared, she extended a hand bristling with magic at Jeriah.

"Don't you dare think to hurt him—"

"No!" I snatched her wrist, causing whatever spell she was channeling to fizzle out. "You can't use magic, otherwise the professor will find out! That goes double for you, too, Rakka!"

"B-Baa…" Rakka bleated with uncertainty.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Let you get hurt?" Ange cried.

"Forget about me for a sec and think about Tamara! How would she feel if you two were taken away from her?"

There were a couple of teenagers behind Jeriah, whether he knew or not, with their phones out to film what was going on. If they were seen casting magic, then their lives here was as good as done.

"Refusing to use magic? That makes it easier for me to exterminate the demon." Jeriah flourished his hands and commanded more than sharp objects to life.

I chucked the balsa board at him. When he flinched to dodge, the items lifted into the air wobbled unsteadily. I seized the chance and grabbed Ange to take off running. We dove around the corner as crafting supplies crashed into the back wall.

People were screaming all over the place. Telekinetically-controlled household objects raised to the ceiling like a swarm of hornets and chased after us. They crashed around us with enough force to shatter into pieces.

This guy was really aiming to kill.

Ange and I wheeled out of the aisles into the stretch of empty space leading to the registers, where everyone scrambled to hide behind counters or take their chance escaping out the entrance. Many were crouching on the ground with hands shielding their heads, too petrified with fear to even move.

Something hard hit the back of my legs, sending us both crashing to the ground.

"First, it's one demon. Then two tomorrow, then five next month, and ten next year until there's enough of them to start another war. That's not a risk I'm willing to take!" Jeriah levitated on a platform of random objects smashed together.

Flying behind him was a turbulent storm of mass posed to be our coffin. I tightened my grip on Ange's hand, and she responded by pressing the other to my cheek.

"Go," Ange commanded me.

My knee jerk reaction was to say no, but my body began to move beyond my control. I let go of her hand and started walking to the exit.

"Ange, no!" I shouted.

Three steps in, I somehow regained control of myself. When I spun around, Tamara was standing over Ange to protect her from the mass of objects.

"Tamara! Dear, you must leave!" Ange exclaimed.

"Not without you!" Tamara yelled, facing the swarm unflinchingly.

"Tch." Jeriah grimaced. "Using children to protect yourself. Par for the course to a demon—"

"I'm not being controlled. I'm doing this on my own free will because I love Ange!" she fired back.

"You— what?"

My phone started buzzing at a time like this. I pulled it out to find a single text from Professor Markel.

It said, 'Duck'.

I made a run for Tamara, throwing my arms over her, Ange, and Rakka.

Bolts of magic fired into the store, shattering the windows and exploding into the orbiting mass that Jeriah now used to shield himself. What was blown to bits and pieces showered over us.

"Breach! Phalanx on the VIP!" someone shouted from behind.

An earthquake of heavy boots stampeded into the store. We were surrounded in an instant by the same special task force that had once come for Ange and Val when they broke the conditions for their stay.

A circle of riot shields clicked together and emitted a magical barrier over us. Two dozen operatives outside of it had Jeriah in their crosshairs, holding guns embedded with a glowing crystal instead of magazines.

"Jeriah, it's over. Put everything down and come quietly," Professor Markel ordered as he slowly walked into the store.

"Am I the only one that's sane here? You've all been mind-controlled by the succubus. Fine!" Jeriah cocooned himself with everything his magic could take.

Then the entire store shook violently. Pipes and vents bursted from above. The ceiling began to cave in.

"Open fire!"

All at once, the operatives unleashed a hail of gunfire that chipped away at Jeriah's protective layer until—

One blast found its way through an opening. Everything returned to its inanimate state and fell to the ground in a pile, and Jeriah came down soon after. The shields also came down and were replaced by Professor Markel, whose calm demeanor morphed into panic as my vision blurred.

Someone frantically called my name until I passed out.

An unpleasant, rhythmic beeping played incessantly next to my left ear. My whole body felt rigid. It was like I knew I was in pain, but my body was too groggy to experience anything other than a dullness. Like I'd be content just not moving at all yet somehow restless at the same time.

"Where am I… what happened?" I asked even though I wasn't sure if anyone could hear me.

"Vandice Medical Center," a woman's voice answered me from the foot of the bed, but I was too drugged up to be surprised. "You took a scissor to the back of your right thigh and a box cutter slashed your upper trapezius."

The machine beeped faster as my memories came rushing back.

"Ange? What about Tamara and Rakka?"

"All three of them are fine. They are in much better shape thanks to you. In fact, you already have visitors that are eager to learn you are awake," the doctor said, opening the door to my whole dorm pouring into the room.

Even Ange, Tamara, and Rakka were with them. Ange had stitches on the webbing of her wings where she was cut up, but she was otherwise fine.

Everyone entered with tears in their eyes and wanted to dogpile on me, but thank god for the doctor and Irapesha stopping them.

"Akira, I thought you were going to die!" Cresta exclaimed.

"Come on, I'm not that fragile." I chuckled.

"Hey, hey! Those stitches you got, the doc used me as a suture needle and didn't even know!" Ivory cackled to mine and the doctor's horror.

"Oh, god… Then I hope you were sanitized before stitching me up," I groaned.

They backed away to let Ange through to come up to my bed. She placed a hand on my cheek like before, then slapped me. Everyone flinched. Thankfully, whatever pain meds they pumped me full was doing work.

"Yeah, I deserve that," I said, rubbing the side of my cheek.

"You have to stop putting yourself in danger. I'm not sure how much more my heart can take it." Ange sighed.

Our reunion was interrupted by Professor Markel entering.

"I would like everyone except for Cresta, Irapesha, Ange, and Akira to leave the room," Professor Markel said.

When my tenants hesitated, I offered to assure them. Ines and the doctor corralled the younger tenants to leave with them, and the professor waited until they were out of the room to bring out a palm-sized circular disc which he placed an opalescent crystal on.

"Jeriah is alive and hooked up to every machine possible to keep him alive while we fly in another healer. Irapesha informed me about the Royal Black Guards, and it seems it is both yours and my first time hearing about this. So, we're going to have someone give us the full explanation," Professor Markel said, barely keeping a lid on his anger.

Wait. It was that much of a secret that even the professor didn't even know?

Irapesha read my face and nodded. "Only a handful of people knew about the existence of the Royal Black Guards. They were active before I was captured. So it was odd to find them missing when I returned to the castle. High-King Tarcosa will know more than I."

The jewel levitated, humming as it spun in place until an opaque column of light burst forth. That light then took the form of High-King Tarcosa as though he were standing right next to us. His expression was anything but jovial this time.

"Tarcosa!" Cresta exclaimed.

"Greetings, everyone. I'm sure you must be worried about Val and Isla. They arrived safely to my castle, and the operation is going well. You may rest easy, knowing Isla is in good hands," High-King Tarcosa said.

The tension on my shoulders vanished. That put to rest one of my worries.

"I heard what happened from the professor. Let me first extend my sincerest apologies. I'm sure you all have many questions, but I should begin by confirming the one that's on your mind. Jeriah Everard was once part of the Royal Black Guards."

"Irapesha told us a little bit about it. Since you were the guy who created them, maybe you can fill in the blanks?" I asked.

"Of course." Tarcosa nodded, and on the last head bob, he cast his eyes to the ground as though to avoid our gazes. "The Royal Black Guards were no simple guards. They were anything but, and their duties were anything but white or gray. It was unquestionably black. Consisting of five members who were incredibly gifted in unique forms of magical prowess, I tasked them to be— for a lack of a better designation— brutal and heartless torturers."

"Torturers of high-ranking demons," Irapesha calmly added as if to provide some semblance of justifying their grim service.

"And… what was the point of torturing high-ranking demons?" I hesitated to ask.

"To gain strategic and tactical information, regarding movement of demon forces, plans no matter how well or ill-plotted from the demon masters, and our greatest hope, the whereabouts of their ruler. However, in doing so, they became demons of their own," the high-king said.

"I have never heard of such things. Not even within my own kin," Ange chimed in, perturbed by the revelations.

"No," he continued, "because they were my greatest kept secrets that I wished to bury, because all five of them eventually stopped torturing for the sake of the empire. They tortured for the sake of torture. I turned them into monsters to the point where they could not adjust to regular life anymore when I disbanded the Royal Black Guards."

"That sounds like key information you should have disclosed to me…" Professor Markel mumbled through a clenched jaw.

"I knew their troubled minds would disqualify them from ever coming to Earth, but I wanted to do right by them. So… I forged some of their documents and omitted their involvement as Royal Black Guards."

"Fuck that!" I blurted out.

Everyone in the room stared at me, appalled. I didn't want to stop there.

"You could have told us sooner, and maybe we could have done something. But you didn't. There are five insane netherfolks hungry for demon blood that want Ange dead. One of them crossed a fucking country to kill her, and now he's on life support. These are real lives, and they aren't your playthings!"

"I'm sorry, Akira. We were at war—"

"And now you've brought that war to Earth— to my dorm— when we should be at peace," I reminded him harshly.

The entire room fell silent.

"That's right…" Professor Markel was the first to come alive. He dialed into his phone at the speed of light.

"Professor?" I, and the rest of us, turned to him.

"There are four more netherfolks who were former Royal Black Guards, and I— Hello? Yes, this is Professor Markel, who the hell else would call on my number? Something came up, and it's urgent. I need you to pull up the statuses of…" The professor trailed off, then whirled around to face Tarcosa. "Names. I need the names of those four."

"If I give you those names, promise me that you won't hurt them like Jeriah," Tarcosa pleaded, but not to the professor.

To me.

"You sure you should be asking me? I'm pissed off at you, and you should know I value my tenants above everyone else!" I exclaimed.

"It is your empathy. That is your strength. I may not deserve it, but if I have your word, I will rest easy knowing you would have tried your best to help them. Grant me this selfish request." The high-king bowed.

I chewed on my lower lip.

At the end of the day, Tarcosa wanted to give the Royal Black Guards a better life.

When I locked eyes with Ange, the fear on her face softened. She smiled as if knowing exactly how I was going to answer.

"Whatever happens, count on me to help you!" Cresta patted me on the back and sent a sharp pain running up my spine.

"They are deeply hurt, suffering from their ghosts like I once did. But I owe Angeline for helping me overcome my nightmares. I would like to help them," Irapesha said.

Sighing, I answered, "You have my word, Tarcosa."

He followed up with a sigh of his own.

"The other four are Mercutia Retch, Thane Boldyn, Saralash Va'tish, and the captain of the Royal Black Guards, Clarissa Raynard."

Professor Markel immediately repeated the names into the phone. That one minute was the longest wait of our lives. I hoped with all my heart that they were doing well in their dorms, living their best life and finding a new purpose.

However, the professor's face went pale.

"Clarissa is the only netherfolk accounted for. Mercutia, Thane, and Saralash have all gone missing last night," he said.