Blissful [Shinazugawa Sanemi]

Chapter 17

"Shiori!"

Sanemi turned his head when someone called for his companion. A group of demon hunters ran up to them. Their faces lit up when they saw Shiori.

"Shiori, it's been a while! I haven't seen you since our final selection!"

"What are you doing here? Did you get the mission too?"

Shiori told Sanemi that they were from the same final selection. She then proceeded to tell them that she was searching for her little sister. The sky was getting darker but she still hasn't seen her.

"You mean Sayu-chan?" One of them asked.

"Oh!" A boy exclaimed.

"Actually, when I was taking our injured friends to the butterfly estate, I saw a little girl who looks exactly like you." He informed.

"Where did you see her?" Shiori asked, finally getting her hopes up.

"It's near the cave!" The boy gasped.

"What cave?"

"The kasugaigarasu told us about a suspicious cave appearing out of nowhere inside the forest. The hunters that went there to investigate always end up either dying or in critical condition." The girl explained.

"What the hell is she doing there?!" Sanemi asked in disbelief.

"That girl!" Shiori clicked her tongue.

"Thank you for telling me." She bowed at them. She then asked for directions from them. After they told her, she and Sanemi made a run toward the place.

"It's night already..." She mumbled, looking at the dark sky while running.

"We have to find her quickly." Sanemi said.

"... Don't worry, she'll be fine." He reassured her when he saw how worried her face looked. Shiori gave him a nod and both of them ran toward the forest.

As they were running deeper into the forest, they could see the bodies of demon hunters scattered on the grounds.

"The fuck happened here?" Sanemi muttered. He crouched beside one of the unconscious hunter, inspecting their wounds. Their skin was tainted purple, and there were various cuts all around their bodies.

"So many casualties..." Shiori muttered, her stomach churning in worry for both the fallen hunters and her sister.

"These many injured hunter but no direct mission to the pillars. It shouldn't be a work of the twelve moon demons." Sanemi said.

"Where are the kakushis?" Sanemi asked his crow.

"They're on their way here." His crow briefly informed and Shiori can't help but envy Sanemi's crow.

"Let's go. We should end this before there more victims." With that, Sanemi continued further into the forest, Shiori following closely behind.

Their noses picked up a strange scent, the smell of mothballs, to be exact. As they went deeper into the forest, the smell got sharper, making their noses go numb.

"Watch out!"

Sanemi ducked in time as Shiori swung her light blue coloured blade above his head. Shiori cut a bat that was flying toward them into two and it started to crumble. Needless to say, the bat was demonified.

"This is one troublesome demon." Sanemi murmured.

"The wind pillar!"

The group of hunters let out a breath of relief when they saw Sanemi. They were carrying some injured hunters on their backs.