Kaiju No Hanauta｜怪獣の花唄

Sandalwood

It was a fine morning where you woke up with a cloudy day with light rain drizzling outside your window.

You liked the smell of rain. It usually brings a certain musk from the dry ground and lightly scented with flowers, and you'll spent a good amount of time at the veranda watching the rain drop and enjoying the scenery and scent.

Perks of living at the hilltop.

Because the moment you step out of the veranda, you're greeted by a field of flowers. You welcomed the light sweet fragrant scent that invaded your nose.

Then again, you smelled something else.

Something familiar. Probably 3 miles away. It smells like... alcohol and tobacco. Mixed with... iron and rust?

Interesting. A forager?

Cannot be, the current area are off limits for foraging. It has to be something else then.

Taking another whiff, there are a tinge of... wood? Some red wood. Too hard to pinpoint as the rain covered majority of the scents.

After a while you huffed a breath, perhaps there are visitors.

"It would be courteous to prepare tea."

---xxx---

"Master, are you really sure this is the right place? We've been hiking for the past hour!" Denji panted and wiped his brow, the treacherous steps up the hike are definitely not his thing. It seems endless and no matter how many turns they took; the pathway looks the same.

And the rain, it's soaked his shoe and making everything uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable.

"Keep walking. We'll be there soon." The old man ignored how his soaked suit is sticking to his body and continues to walk up the steps.

--xx--

"What pleasure do I owe for two Devil Hunters to be here?" You asked as you fill their cups with warm tea. The boy seems eager as he's shivering and covering himself as much as he can under the Kotatsu. You did provide them towel and offered to dry their clothes while they could cover themselves with the blankets.

Old man Kishibe seems reluctant but accept it, nevertheless. On the other hand, Denji eagerly accepts all of it.

"I guess you can tell we are here the moment we step foot on the foot of the hill?" Old man Kishibe asked not touching his tea. One would take it as the person is not thirsty and not wanting to drink, but you felt it could mean more than that since this is a seasoned Devil Hunter in front of you.

Perhaps he's cautious.

You nodded. "I can. There are rarely any visitors on these areas, those who venture near enough for me to smell them are surely intentional visitors." You put on a practiced smile. "There are only a few handfuls of people knows the exact path to get here. And now that you are here, I can recognize this visit is not a regular devil's house visitation."

"Wait, you're a devil?" The boy asked, dumbfounded.

You simply smiled at him before looking back at the old man. "For you both to come here all the way from Tokyo, it must be something important." You shifted your eyes onto the box they carried with them, "Or something catastrophic happened."

Kishibe maintained his neutral face. "I assume that you know who sent us then."

You feign pondering, "I might have a clue or two, but it's not important for now. I'm more interested about the box." You rested your head on your palm and points at the box. "Mind telling me what's inside?"