“Silas, did you find anything unusual?”
Kūkaku patted his shoulder from beside him, looking rather deflated.
Only then did Silas come back to himself.
The faint light on the trunk had faded out entirely, and there was nothing else out of the ordinary.
He truly hadn’t expected a haul like that.
Glancing around, Silas suddenly noticed there were still fragments nearby.
A white Kidō fragment.
“I didn’t find anything either. It might have just come about by chance.”
Silas settled his churning emotions and answered Kūkaku calmly.
Why were there Kidō fragments here as well?
Fragments could linger for a few days, thinning out over time as their color paled.
This one’s color was vivid and its glow was solid.
It had clearly appeared not long ago.
A bad feeling rose in Silas.
The valley looked peaceful.
Even with his Kidō at Lv3, Silas couldn’t pick out anything wrong.
The fragment wasn’t far off.
Bracing himself, Silas took two steps forward and touched it.
[Obtained Intermediate Kidō Insight x1, Kidō EXP +200]
At the same moment, the knowledge and understanding for casting this Kidō surfaced in his mind.
Bakudō #26, Kyokkō.
A concealment-type Bakudō that manipulated spiritual power to bend light and hide a person’s form.
Silas’s heart sank.
Hōgyoku fragments, and Bakudō Kyokkō.
Looking out at the empty scenery in front of him, Silas felt the pressure surge.
He pushed the turmoil down and let out a soft sigh.
“Since there’s nothing to find, let’s head back. Maybe it was just a natural phenomenon.”
“Hmm? We’re leaving already?”
Kūkaku looked at him, mildly puzzled.
Going by the interest he had shown earlier, he didn’t seem like a man who would want to turn back this soon.
Silas took the lead in turning around and called for the two of them to go.
Kūkaku thought his reaction was a little strange, but she didn’t dwell on it and called the middle-aged man along.
Just after they left the valley.
The air in the valley bent slightly, and two figures slowly surfaced.
Brown hair, black-rimmed glasses, a gentle smile on a mild face.
Aizen Sōsuke let the concealment of Kyokkō fall away, a hint of thought crossing his eyes.
“Kaname. Do you think he noticed us?”
“Unlikely… Do you need me to kill them?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Aizen Sōsuke stood before those few trees and reached out to touch the surface of a trunk.
A faint spiritual glow spilled from his fingertips as he read the residual spirit particle structure inside the wood.
“It is the power of the Hōgyoku, indeed. The Hōgyoku reshaped the spirit particle structure of these trees, letting them break the bounds of their own species and nurture spiritual pressure…”
“A pity. This is only a failed prototype. The spiritual power content is far too low to mean anything.”
He murmured it to himself, understanding flickering in his eyes behind the lenses.
“Hmph. So Urahara Kisuke put the Hōgyoku to work on an experiment this dull.”
Tōsen Kaname gave a cold snort, his tone thick with disapproval.
Every action and word of those three was rebuilt in his mind.
Interesting.
“Kaname. Look into that boy’s background for me. Start… with the Shin’ō Academy.”
“…Yes.”
Once he had gathered everything, Aizen snapped his fingers lightly.
“Hadō #12, Fushibi.”
Ribbons of dark red flame spiritual energy formed out of nothing and swallowed the trees in an instant.
The flames burned without a sound, and in the fierce heat the trees carbonized and crumbled away, leaving a patch of ash.
Then the fire spread, and became a sea of flame.
Unlike Urahara Kisuke and his playful streak, he was exceedingly careful with anything that touched the Hōgyoku.
With that done, Aizen read the surroundings one more time.
Once he had confirmed every trace was wiped away, the two figures slowly vanished, as though they had never stood there.
A long while later, Silas and the others had walked clear of the mountain forest and returned to the busier part of West District Two.
Silas hadn’t let his pace slacken once.
Only now did he let out a small breath.
“Silas, why are you walking so fast? The old man can hardly keep up.”
Kūkaku caught up in a few strides and looked back at the somewhat winded middle-aged man.
When she turned back to Silas, there was more weight in her eyes.
“Did you find something?”
“Sorry.”
Only then did Silas realize how hard he had been pushing.
He slowed down, and the relief of having walked away from disaster washed through him.
“I can’t say for certain, but I had a vague sense someone else was there. Kūkaku, sir, don’t go back to that place again.”
Silas hadn’t expected a simple outing to brush up against something like the Hōgyoku.
Whether it was Urahara Kisuke or Aizen, neither was a man he could handle as he stood now.
The former he might have survived, but the latter…
he could only hope his performance back there hadn’t shown too many cracks.
Seeing the gravity on Silas’s face, the middle-aged man scratched his head.
He didn’t understand, but he took the advice all the same.
The mountain trip was over.
The middle-aged man said his farewells to Silas and Kūkaku, and the group parted ways.
Once she had seen the man off, Kūkaku rubbed her stomach.
“All that walking has made me hungry.”
Silas looked at the sky.
It was near noon, sure enough, and the haze weighing on him gradually lifted.
Seeing how worn out Kūkaku looked, he clapped his hands together.
“Come on. Ichiraku Ramen, my treat. Call it compensation for the meal you missed yesterday.”
“Really?”
Kūkaku’s eyes lit up.
“Follow me.”
Silas led her through several streets with practiced ease until they stood in front of a shop, the curtain over its door reading Ichiraku Ramen.
It was the middle of the lunch rush, and several tables inside were already taken.
“Here?” Kūkaku was a little surprised.
“The place doesn’t look very big.”
“Give it a try. It won’t disappoint you.”
Silas smiled.
“Welcome! Oh, Vane-san, what brings you in today?”
“I’ve brought a friend. Two bowls of the signature tonkotsu, large, with everything on them.”
Silas ordered like a regular.
“Right away!”
The two of them found a table by the window and sat down.
Kūkaku took in the shop with curiosity, then looked at how easily Silas dealt with the owner, and couldn’t hold the question back.
“Do you come here a lot?”
“I suppose I do.”
Silas chuckled and didn’t explain further.
It was his own property, after all.
In the five years since he transmigrated to the Soul Society, Silas hadn’t been idle out in the Rukongai either, on top of getting into the Shin’ō Academy.
Leaning on his ability to pick up attributes, he had made a name for himself in the Rukongai and put together a little wealth along the way.
So, using the time he spent surveying the Rukongai, he had put money into a shop.
He supplied the starting capital and some management advice, while the head chef handled running the place and the day-to-day work.
Silas took the lion’s share of the profits.
In just two years the shop had made quite a name for itself in West Rukongai, and had even opened branches.
Before long, two steaming bowls of ramen arrived.
The rich smell of bone broth drifted up.
The bowls were loaded with chashu, tender cartilage, soft-boiled eggs, seaweed, and green onion, and they looked wonderful.
Kūkaku’s eyes lit up, and she snatched up her chopsticks without waiting.
“Itadakimasu!”
She lifted a mouthful of noodles into her mouth, and her eyes went wide on the spot.
“It’s delicious!”
The broth was rich and savory, the noodles firm and smooth, the chashu salty and fragrant, and the soft-boiled egg melted in her mouth.
Kūkaku ate until her mouth was slick with oil, image thrown to the wind.
Silas smiled as he watched her feast, though his mind was back on what had happened in the valley.
His performance had been natural enough.
He was just an ordinary man with an interest in unusual plants.
Getting out of there as smoothly as they had was a real relief.
The Soul Society was still far too dangerous.
“Silas, what are you thinking about? Your noodles are going to go soggy.” Kūkaku’s voice cut into his thoughts.
Silas came back to himself and found her staring at him, a bit of broth still at the corner of her mouth.
“Nothing. Just thinking about earlier.” Silas produced a tissue without missing a beat and held it out.
“Corner of your mouth.”
“Oh… Oh!”
Kūkaku took it and wiped her mouth, her cheeks going faintly red.
She looked at him, her eyes unsettled.
This boy in front of her was nothing like those wild brats out in the Rukongai.
He was plainly a Shin’ō Academy student, yet he carried none of the born arrogance of those Shinigami in the Seireitei.
He was generous without making a show of it.
He was good-looking without putting on airs about it.
And…
the way he had handed her that tissue just now had been very gentle.
Looking into Silas’s slightly lazy eyes.
Kūkaku felt her heart beat a little faster.