Chapter 980: Kaijin and Kiddo hours
*Bing-Bong*
We interrupt this chapter to inform the readers that the following chapter is going to be… painfully awkward and a little disturbing.
If you’re wondering how awkward, keep in mind that about half of the people present in this chapter are children.
Children that are being actively raised by spirits who believe in freedom of knowledge, regardless of content and source.
And have developed even less of a filter, so you can imagine how disturbing this gets.
We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter, thank you.
*Bing-Bong*
________________________________________
“Is Kaijin Uncle still sorting through the inventories with Teacher Logos and Teacher Pathos?,” Janice asked while embroidering an eye pattern on to a blanket of golden wool.
“Kaijin Uncle?”
“Kaijin Uncle said he found it weird for us to call him, ‘Lord’ or ‘Dad’. So Teacher Logos and Pathos said that we should just call him, uncle,” Jasper elaborated as he continued drawing in crayon.
“Well that’s adorable.”
As Zhen Liu was busying doing some book-keeping with Logos and Pathos, the kaijin were tasked with keeping an eye on Jasper and Janice.
Well, most of the kaijin.
Spring Brawler, Hurricroak and Nepherage were watching the children and making sure that they were okay, while Screamira, Frosttusk and Razorstella were doing other things.
Screamira was still maintaining her cover as a maid for the Zhen Clan, Frosttusk had decided that he should get to know the “other side” of the kaijin and went to Roaring Tide to get to know Kit and Rodenia better, while Razorstella wandered Stone Claw City all by her lonesome.
As for why Spring Brawler, Hurricroak and Nepherage were hanging around the library, it was merely a matter of preference and duty.
Nepherage: [As you command milord, I will make sure that the children are safe. Come hell or high water…or is it low water because we’re inside of a lake?]
Hurricroak: [D’awww, look at the little tykes! You think if I raise them right, that one of them could be the Mozart of this world?]
Spring Brawler: [Ring Master, I make no promises on them being unharmed while I go about my reading…waitamimure, why did I suddenly feel a thump in my chest?]
Regardless of their personal reasons though, the kaijin were doing a fairly good job at babysitting.
Then again, it probably helped that they were tasked with keeping an eye on the kids after they had their snack time.
Anyways the kaijin and the kids were sitting at a long table as the latter crafted away. Nepherage and Hurricroak had opted to sit on opposite sides of the children, while Spring Brawler sat opposite to them with a book open in front of him.
Now, it would be safe to assume that the kaijin and the children would simply be quiet around one another until their respective caretaker/master came around to pick them up.
However, Japser and Janice were, more or less, being raised by Logos and Pathos. As such, the two of them had become…precocious.
Or to put it another way, they were the type of kids to ask questions that most people would consider impolite to ask…unless you were a child who could get away with it.
“So…both of you were created by Kaijin Uncle, right?,” Janice asked in an innocent tone of voice.
“Yes,” Nepherage answered first. “I was born from the desire of someone needing a hero to save the day.”
“Not as impressive, but I was born from the devotion of an old musician who wanted revenge for his lost love,” Hurricroak answered with a semi-smug expression on her face. “Ain’t that just romantic?”
“Save the romance for the books, please,” Spring Brawler commented while, ironically, reading a book about a girl being transported to another world and catching the eye of the entire royal court in a romantic sense.
“Oh, bite me circus man,” Hurricroak lightly retorted while sticking out her tongue at the proto-kaijin.
Unhindered by the interaction, Japser asked a follow-up question…that sounded oddly loaded.
“Is there any reason why both of you are girls?”
“Why wouldn’t we be girls?,” Nepherage retorted. “You think that we shouldn’t be?”
“Logos and Pathos said that regardless of where a desire is sourced or materials used, most kaijin’s forms are consciously designed by their creator,” Jasper answered. “So why did Kaijin Uncle make you both girls?”
At this question, Spring Brawler couldn’t help but to shift his focus from his book to the kaijin. After all, as a proto-kaijin, they were technically beholden to the form they developed sentience in.
“Ah…that’s what you mean,” Nepherage nodded in understanding. “Well, I was made with the concept of a [Valkyrie] and an [Oni] in mind. Hence the horns and feathers.”
To make this point abundantly clear, Nepherage gestured to the aforementioned features.
“In my case,” Hurricroak added. “I think I was more or less modelled after that aformentioned musician’s lost love. That and there was a stitched together corpse that had to be repurposed…”
“What was that last bit?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh…,” Janice nodded in that way children do when they think they realized something important. “Does that mean neither you have any romantic feelings for Kaijin Uncle and he didn’t plan for you to become his brides?”
“What the what?,” Spring Brawler asked in disbelief.
“Excuse me?,” Hurricroak said in equal shock.
“No,” Nepherage refused with a questioning look on her face. “Why would you think that?”
“Because some of the kids we used to play with back at the orphanage said that they were going to be raised to be the brides and grooms to important people,” Janice answered as if it was the most natural answer in the world.
“Wait, I thought they said they were made to be the future brides and grooms of important people,” Jasper corrected, again, in a tone of voice that made it sound as if this was the most natural answer in the world.
Spring Brawler, Hurricroak and Nepherage all stared at each other in verbal silence, but conversing via their telepathic link, before addressing the children’s incredibly questionable statements.
…
[Hurricroak…you were in Jasper’s head once upon a time…did you know anything about this?,] Nepherage asked.
[Well, I did notice that when I was in his head that there was this weird part in his mind I couldn’t really access. I figured it was just due to his brain getting jumbled. Didn’t think it was…ya know. Although, I guess I should’ve found it weird that Jasper didn’t remember the name elof the orphanage that had him and Janice…then again, maybe that should’ve been my cue…]
[Fair enough.]
[So what do we do about it?,] Spring Brawler asked. [I don’t think Jasper and Janice would be open to us bouncing in their heads again just to find a human trafficking front in the presumed middle of nowhere.]
[Presumed?]
[Some of the countries here and on the other continents facilitate slave trading. Wouldn’t be too weird for those places to host such facilities. Hell, some of them might be under protection from big sects.]
[Ah.]
[Alright, talking like this won’t get us anywhere,] Hurricroak pointed out. [So…I’m just gonna try and approach this with delicacy.]
…
Something like this had to be approach with delicacy, otherwise the child being asked these questions will believe they did something wrong and may not be willing to share such things in the future.
Hence why Hurricroak took the lead, since out of all the kaijin present, she was the best when it came handling kids.
With a disarming smile and tone of voice, Hurricroak began her gentle interrogation.
“Jasper. Janice…do you two by any chance…remember what your orphanage was called? Or rather, anything notable about it?”
“Uhh…not really?,” Janice answered first. “I think the name had to do with a flower? It wasn’t a pretty flower though.”
“I don’t really remember the name either,” Jasper freely admitted. “But in terms of notable things…do you mean like the type of people or geographical features?”
“Both work.”
“Well…whenever anybody showed up to adopt us, they would always be wearing masks and robes. The caretakers said that those outfits were ceremonial adoption robes. That all would-be parents and caretakers wore when adopting kids.”
“That’s…interesting,” Hurricroak said while thinking that was an absolutely horrifying thing to take notice of. “Were the masks noticeable too, or…”
“No. They were plain. Made of wood.”
“Makes sense.”
“But in terms of geography…I know it was on the coastline…I think.”
“You think? What makes you think it was on the coastline?”.”
“The air was always a little salty,” Jasper answered. “Kind of like how Pearl Tusk had salty air.”
“Ah.”
At this point, Hurricroak, Nepherage and Spring Brawler were fairly certain they weren’t going to get any other pertinent information…until they collectively remembered one little detail.
…
[Wait a minute…didn’t we just actively to piss off the organization that held these kids?]
[Oh yeah…]
