I Spy

Chapter 11: The Long Night Part 1

Date: September 27, 2024
Time: 8:30 PM
Location: 5 Miles South of Tokyo
Weather: Partly Cloudy

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As the moon partially shines on a patch of ground in the middle of a forest located a few miles out from Tokyo.

The area is completely silent and peaceful as fireflies buzz around the area and crickets chirp, then footsteps are heard as a person is approaching the area.

As she gets there, she realizes she is the first one there, "I'm the first one here?" She thinks, she then stops in her tracks and takes in time to breathe in the fresh air and observe her surroundings, "It's so peaceful..." she thinks as she slowly curves her lips into a smile.

"Coming through!" A voice says from a random direction in the forest, she hears the voice and begins to look where it came from, she looks in the direction of a man who is running towards her, "Inosuke," she thought. "Wahhh!" Inosuke says as he jumps up and slides on the ground, he then gets up and looks at the woman, "Manao! How did you get here before me?" Inosuke said, Kanao just shrugged, and Inosuke just ignored it. "Where are the others?" Kanao says, "Should be here any second now, they were just following me a while ago..." Inosuke says while looking around.

"Inosuke get back here!" A man behind the two people says to them, they then turn around to see Zenitsu along with two other people. "Monitsu, Penya, and Menuko! Where were you? I thought you were right behind me?" Inosuke said. The three people looked pretty beat up and dirty after having to navigate a forest that they are completely unfamiliar with, "You were our guide Inosuke, you know how to navigate these forests, so don't just run ahead." Genya said while stretching his back. "Well, you should have followed me faster, slowpoke!" Inosuke said which ticked Genya off, but he decided to ignore it (for now...) since he wasn't in the mood to fight an idiot. "Slayers, do you all report?" A voice said into all of their earpieces, they all nodded and said yes. "Good, because the convoy is about to reach you guys in about five minutes from now, so I was just giving you a heads up," Aoi said into their earpieces. "Hey Aoi, what's the route of the convoy?" Kanao asked, "For starters, it's not going to be a straight path since that's what we suspect the man would think, the route is going to be filled with curves, turns, and twists. The time it would take you guys to complete the route would be about 2 hours and 30 minutes." Aoi said into Kanao's earpiece, Kanao sighed, "Well, I guess tonight's going to be a long one..." she said, "Yep." Aoi replied. As the conversation between the two women was happening the other four of the group were talking about normal things as if they treated this mission as a normal walk in the park.

All of a sudden a twig was heard snapping in half as the group looked to see a convoy of 10 or 11 men come out from the woods, all wearing dark clothing. "Your our escort right?" One of them said the others nodded, "Tch, they sent kids to escort us?" One of the other men said. "Watch your tone, we may not look like it to you, but we can pack a punch," Genya said while giving the man a murderous glare, the man jumped back in fear but soon returned back to normal.

"Anyways, where is the package?" Nezuko said as she walked up to the convoy, "Right here." One of them said, some men then stepped forward, revealing a large box concealed in a clear case. Nezuko gave knocked on the case to check its durability, "Nice and strong," she said, "Are your men armed?" Kanao asked the leader, "Ever since the last convoy was attacked, our boss has been arming us with better equipment, we all have firearms now, but since our budget is low, we only have pistols, but one of us has a submachine gun," the man said as he pointed to another man in his convoy holding an MP5. Kanao nodded and returned back to her group.

"So you know where we are going right?" Nezuko said to the leader as she walked up to him, "This is different from our other routes, but we can manage, we already know where to go, so all you guys got to do is protect us while we guide us through this forest." He said as he started walking towards Nezuko's group along with Nezuko. "Come on, lead the way," Nezuko says as her group and the convoy they were escorting start to walk out of the area, led by the leader of the convoy and Nezuko.

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As Emiko stands in a part of a forest located a few miles from Tokyo, she takes in the scenery of the view and smiles. She is lost in thought as she is interrupted by footsteps walking toward her, she snaps out of her mind and looks behind her to see 8 men all wearing black clothing.

"So you're the group that Master called me to escort?" She said, "Yep," a man said while walking up to her. Meanwhile, the other men behind him are talking about how they sent only one slayer to escort them. "How come they only sent one slayer?" One man whispered to another, "I don't know, but at least let's hope she's strong," the other man whispered back. "Oh I am strong," Emiko said to the men while giving them a dangerous glare, they both shook a little out of fear and quickly stopped talking. "Idiots..." another man thought while looking at the two men who were shaking in fear, "If you guys were present for the briefing, you would have known that we were only supposed to get one slayer escort because we are not the main focus," he said to the two men. "Either way, we have other slayers on standby in case anything goes wrong," he added.

"So, where is our delivery?" Emiko said to the leader of the convoy, "Right behind me," the man said as Emiko looked past him and sees the package. "Very good," she said with a cheerful tone.

As she was talking with the leader about the delivery she heard a voice come into her earpiece, "Emiko, are you there?" Aoi said, Emiko touched her earpiece, "Read you loud and clear Aoi-chan!" She said, "Emiko, remember to only use codenames for this mission since we don't want any others especially that man to find out who we are," Aoi said with a serious tone, "Oops, sorry Blue Bird," Emiko said, "Better," Aoi said back.

"Anyways, are you in place, because the others have just begun their route to the drop-off area," Aoi said, "Yep, I and the convoy are ready to embark on our hike," Emiko said with a joking tone, "Ok, do you know your route?" Aoi says through the earpiece, "I don't, but I think the convoy should have the route mapped down," Emiko replies, "Good, I'll leave you for now slayer, good luck with your mission and stay safe, and remember, if you need reinforcements or help, you can just ask me with your earpiece, or ask the crow is transmission to me is not an option." Aoi says, "Thanks for the advice, but I'm not so sure that I will need support soon. Bye for now Blue Bird." Emiko says as disconnects the call and waves her hand at the convoy, signaling to begin their trek.

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"So boss, what's the plan for today?" A demon asks while surrounded by other demons. "Glad you asked," a certain demon said from the group, the others then listen to what he had to say. "Since the main convoy we are trying to ambush is being escorted by a few slayers, I want you three to ambush them," the person said as he pointed to three demons standing next to him, "Once you three secure the package, bring it to our meet-up location, from there we will try to draw his attention and once he arrives, we'll capture him and take him to our lord." He says.

"But, boss what about us?" The other two demons said, "You two will be tasked with ambushing the other convoy so we can pack some extra leverage," the leader of the demon group says. "Since the package is smaller compared to the other convoy, I concluded that there will be at least one if not, no slayers guarding the convoy," the leader said. "What about you boss?" One of the demons questioned. "I'll be watching you all and monitoring the situation, and remember if one of you doesn't follow my commands perfectly, you are all getting punished." The demon said, which caused the others to shake. "Will you be fighting too, boss?" One of the demons questioned, "If the situation says that you can't do your jobs correctly, then I'll be the one to intervene, but let it be known, that even if I saved you, I will still torture you no matter what." The leader says with a murderous tone. This caused the other demons around him to shiver even more due to the fear they have for him.

"What happens if we succeed boss?" Another demon said, "If we succeed in this mission, our lord might give me some of his blood, which could make me powerful enough to make it onto the twelve kizuki." The leader replied. "And what happens if we fail...?" Another demon measly asked, and this caused the leader to look at him with complete murderous intent, the leader then charged forward and ripped his arm off.

The demon who was attacked managed to regenerate his arm, but he turned around to look at his boss who was looking at him with dreadful eyes. He then started to speak, "Don't ever say that again..." He said as he dropped the demon's severed arm on the ground which started to disintegrate. "If we fail this mission, then unspeakable consequences will happen to all of you," he says with an evil and threatening tone, "Understood?" He said as he turned around, facing the demons, "Y-yes, boss," they all said while in complete fear of him.

"Good, now go before I make you leave," he said as the demons nodded ferociously and left the area.

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Tanjiro sits on a building in downtown Tokyo, he has an air pod plugged into one of his ears and is currently listening to some tunes as he waits for his friend to get back from his "bathroom" break.

"You back yet?" He says into his earpiece as he hears distant rustling coming from his earpiece, "Yeah, I also got a snack if you don't mind along with some coffee cause I feel like we are going to be here all night," Minato says as he opens a bag of chips, "Also, just in case I put some other assets on standby along with our carrier drones, such as attack drones, and supply drones." He says as he begins to eat the chips. "Ok... But I don't think that you need to waste company materials on me," Tanjiro said, "*Mff* Yeah, but it's just in case, you never know, didn't your dad teach you that when you were little?" Minato said while eating potato chips, "Yeah, I guess your right, but what if an agent operating in another area needs those drones?" Tanjiro said while looking a little gloomy, "Don't knock yourself out bud, their contractors will handle them efficiently, and we got several assets already put on standby for them, you are the only special one because of your effectiveness." Minato replied.

"Thanks, and also, did you get more data on what these convoys are?" Tanjiro asked, "Yep, I managed to check the satellites and find both convoy's escorts and their routes," Minato said, "Did you find out how many "slayers" are escorting them?" Tanjiro asks, "Convoy A which is the bigger convoy is being escorted by 5 "slayers," and Convoy B is being escorted by only 1," Minato says, "What about their routes?" Tanjiro then asked, "I used our system to predict their routes due to their walking pattern, I'll give you a live update on what changes in their routes while you deal with the convoys." Minato replied.

"Ok, thanks, what about their weapons?" Tanjiro said, "The men in black are carrying simple firearms in their holsters while one of them is carrying a submachine gun for Convoy A, their escorts are armed with those blades that we've been trying to research a few days ago, and what do you know? You're right, the hue and tint on their blades look a bit too "natural" as you say." Minato states, "That's what interests me. Why are their blade colors like that? And what did they do to make it become like that." Tanjiro said, "Well... You could just take their blades from them, or at least break them in half as you did with those other two a week or two ago, and take one of the halves back to be researched," Minato said, "Sounds like a good idea, I'll try, but also Minato, I think these color-changing blades serve a special purpose that other blades can't do," Tanjiro said, "What makes you think so?" Minato asked, "On Wednesday, while I was sitting on that rooftop while talking with you, I picked up a scent behind me," Tanjiro stated, "So someone was stalking you?" Minato asked, "Correct, but the scent did not produce that of an ordinary human, I could tell the difference between a human and something else due to my nose and the number of years I worked for our organization," Tanjiro replied, "So what did it smell like and what do you think it is?" Minato asked, "The physical scent smelt of blood and rotting flesh, it smelt like that thing just killed or mauled somebody. But the emotions I could smell from that thing was pure evil." Tanjiro said, "If so, then this may be a bit troubling to our mission because we need to find out which side to play on correctly, if one group has bad intentions, then we play the other side, but if both groups have bad intentions, then we need to play our side." Minato asked, "If we want to ally with another group Tanjiro, then you have to find out their intentions, it's part of what we learned when dealing with these situations, if you can't find their intentions, then both groups are considered hostile. I'm sorry Tanjiro, but our organization takes the safety of humanity very seriously." Minato replied, "I know that Minato, I'll try to find both of their intentions before trusting any of them, but I'll only do that after we finally found out what the heck the ore is used for." Tanjiro stated.

"Good, stay neutral, we don't know what these guys are up to since we don't know anything about them." Minato stated, "But also Minato, I want you to take notes of what I said earlier since I have a feeling that we may have run into a new "anomaly," because what I smelled was not human in any way, rather something completely evil and armed with malicious intent." Tanjiro said, "Will do pal," Minato stated back. "But for now, I think I am going to go easy for the "slayers," for now because I don't think they are all evil," Tanjiro says, "Whatever man, as long as you don't make it clear that you are playing sides, The Board won't have an issue with it, and besides, if you are assuming that these "slayers," aren't evil, then I better get used to them because of your magical ability to assume things, then it comes true," Minato says. Tanjiro just chuckles at the comment, "Oh come on, not everything I assume is true, remember the chicken incident?" Tanjiro asks, "Please don't remind me about that hell hole, I still have the scars from that battle," Minato says as he looks under his shirt. "Where I assumed that a seemingly innocent chicken had no ill intentions, then managed to take out some of our top agents, eh?" Tanjiro said in a teasing tone, "Stop..." Minato replied, "Where you had to battle the chicken alone since everyone except me was out of commission, and you crushed one of the chicken's eggs, eh?" Tanjiro added, "Stop!" Minato replied, "That dam chicken has already been dealt with ok? And it's going to be a long time before we have to deal with him again," Minato says. "Ok, ok I'll stop, but to be honest, seeing you freak out over a chicken was probably the funniest thing I have witnessed in my life so far," Tanjiro said laughing as he recalled the memory that happened years ago when Minato had to fight a chicken.

"Cut me some slack man, that chicken could have taken down an entire army if armed with a basic combat knife or something," Minato said, Tanjiro stopped laughing at that point, but was still humored, "Bro, you almost got folded by a goddam chicken! It would've been fine if it was a dog or something since we both dealt with a lot of things dog-related, but it was a chicken that you got afraid by," Tanjiro says, "And the worst thing is that you developed a case Ornithophobia against certain birds because when I saw you with a bird, you ran the other direction," Tanjiro says as he starts laughing again. Minato at this point is embarrassed and pretty angry at this point, "Haha very funny, yes I may have gotten folded by a chicken, but at least I didn't get beat up by a-" Minato says as he is interrupted, "Don't you dare finish that dam sentence," Tanjiro said in a bit of a threatening tone. Minato shuts up for good since he knew that Tanjiro didn't like it when people talk about the "incident," that happened a long time ago.

"Ok, anyways Minato, is Convoy B armed with firearms too? you forgot to tell me about that." Tanjiro says, "Yes, both convoys are armed with firearms, but just one person from Convoy A has a submachine gun, also Convoy B's escort also has a color-changing blade, so if you want to get that, you can." Minato replies. "Ok good... and where is the closest convoy according to my current location?" Tanjiro says, "The closest convoy is Convoy B, just a few miles North from your position, but I recommend that you-" Minato says as he is interrupted by Tanjiro, "Nope, I'm going for Convoy B and that's final." Tanjiro says as he gets up and starts running towards Convoy B, "Ok... You do you, I'll just sit back and watch the fireworks..." Minato says.

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And now it's time for another entry of "The Slayer's Creed," brought to you by Emiko!

Emiko: Hi! So anyways, we slayers value our Ninchirin Swords since it's the only thing that can kill demons, if our swords ever break, we have to wait a week or two in order to get a replacement, but in the meantime, while we wait, we either train or relax since we can't go on any missions until we get our new swords. But, if we really have to go on a mission while our new swords are still being made, then we are equipped with another Ninchirin Sword which is not ours.

Emiko: Minding that, I can't wait to join you all in the next chapter, "The Long Night Part 2," where we finally see everybody's plan go into motion.