Chapter 378: A Beast Straying into the Human World |
"Clatter..."
The sound of dense, furious raindrops battering houses and slamming against the pavement echoed through every corner of the city.
Hoshino Rin shoved the front door open, panting softly as she peered inside. Unfortunately, the ridiculous scenario she had secretly hoped for—that the person everyone was frantically searching for would simply be sitting at home as if nothing had happened—did not come true.
Hoshino Gen's disappearance was an absolute catastrophe. It was not merely a crisis for Hoshino Rin, the Hoshino Family, and the Isabelle family; it was a matter of extreme urgency for the entire nation.
Half an hour after Hoshino Gen disappeared into thin air right before their eyes, Hoshino Rin had called her mother for help. By now, the nationwide manhunt to track him down involved far more than just the few families with direct ties to him.
Every available investigative resource in Japanese society had been mobilized, including military satellites. After all, the nation's highest-ranking officials could not simply sit back and watch an unpredictable, walking nuclear bomb vanish from their radar!
It was like discovering a venomous snake had slithered into your home. You might not be able to get rid of it, but you could at least keep an eye on it and ensure it stayed within a confined space. If you woke up one day and found that the venomous snake was completely missing, however, it would be impossible for anyone to remain calm!
Regrettably, at least for the moment, their efforts had yielded absolutely nothing.
Despite being terrified and pushed to the absolute brink of panic by her brother's disappearance, Hoshino Rin forced herself to stay calm. She had to, because there was a little girl who was even more frightened and distraught than she was, and who desperately needed her comfort.
It seemed the shock of her Soul Contract with Hoshino Gen being unilaterally severed was simply too devastating of a blow for her to handle.
Hoshino Rin knelt down and pulled her into a tight embrace, gently rubbing her back. Yet, with her own mind an absolute mess, she couldn't string together a single coherent word of comfort.
......
"Do you not want to talk about it?" the elderly woman asked, her gaze warm and kindly as she looked across the table at Ye Xingyuan.
Her innate kindness made her more than willing to help this miserable-looking teenager who seemed to have neither a home nor a family.
However, her goodwill was met with absolute silence.
The grandmother sighed in helplessness, though her tone remained gentle. "That is quite alright. Perhaps you should take a warm shower and change into some clean clothes first, then get something to eat."
......
"Chisaki-chan, please show our guest to the bathroom. While you are at it, find a suitable set of your father's old clothes for him."
"Yeeees," Takanashi Chisaki agreed, dragging out the syllable.
The water cascading from the showerhead felt entirely different from the rain outside.
Compared to the piercing, freezing downpour of the storm, this cascading water was wonderfully warm and soothing.
Staring up at the bathroom ceiling, Ye Xingyuan found that as time trickled by, the fractured memories in his head were gradually coming into focus. He realized that he was not the type of person to easily accept the kindness of strangers.
In his past experiences, with the sole exception of his Master, every single person who had ever offered him help or shown him kindness had harbored ulterior motives.
......
After finishing his shower, Ye Xingyuan didn't bother changing into the borrowed clothes, which looked far too large and baggy for his frame. Instead, he slipped back into his original, sopping-wet garments. Within seconds of pulling them on, faint wisps of steam began to rise from his body, and his clothes miraculously became completely dry.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Ye Xingyuan heard the unmistakable commotion of the kitchen—the fierce sizzle of hot oil searing meat. However, beneath the noise of the cooking, he also picked up the low murmur of voices.
"Why did you bring that guy home, Grandmother? We should have just called the police and let them deal with him," came Takanashi Chisaki's indifferent voice.
"When we encounter someone going through a difficult time, it is our duty to offer whatever help we can," the grandmother replied, her tone brimming with gentle patience.
"That is the police's responsibility, though," Takanashi Chisaki grumbled.
"Hohoho, a child with no home and no family—and one who seems a fair bit older than you, at that. What could the police possibly do for him if we handed him over?" the grandmother asked softly.
"Well, we can't just let him stay in our house forever. We're going to have to contact the police eventually."
"Hohoho, perhaps. But until then, the very least we can do is stop that poor boy from standing numbly in the freezing rain. He would catch his death out there."
Takanashi Chisaki said nothing more.
......
Leaning quietly against the wall as he listened to their exchange, Ye Xingyuan silently drifted across the living room and stepped into the foyer. Slipping his shoes back on, he left the house without a sound.
The soft click of the front door latching shut caught Takanashi Chisaki's attention from the kitchen.
She poked her head out to investigate, only to discover the bathroom door swinging open. To her surprise, the neat stack of her father's old clothes rested on the counter, completely untouched.
The strange boy was already nowhere to be seen.
......
......
Holding up a clear plastic umbrella, Ye Xingyuan wandered aimlessly through the streets of this "unfamiliar" city.
It was nighttime, and the heavy rain meant there were hardly any pedestrians out on the sidewalks. The few who were out carried umbrellas, isolating themselves from the rest of the world as they hurriedly brushed past one stranger after another.
In truth, Ye Xingyuan's stomach was rumbling with hunger. Perhaps he really should have stayed at that house for dinner before leaving... But it couldn't be helped. The moment they mentioned the police, his hand was forced. He knew he was in Japan, and he knew perfectly well that Japan was America's lapdog. Allowing the Japanese authorities to find him was practically the same as turning himself over to the Americans.
He was still an active target, after all...
But how was he supposed to find food in a metropolis like this?
Buying a meal was undoubtedly the easiest and most convenient option, but he had absolutely no money. He had searched every pocket on his person, and every single one was completely empty.
If he didn't have what he needed, his only option was to take it from someone else. Obtaining money from others generally boiled down to three methods: robbing, stealing, or trading.
Robbery was far too risky and would easily cause a public disturbance. Even if he killed his target and wiped out every trace of their existence, the sudden void they left in society would eventually be noticed. Trading, on the other hand, meant offering his labor—working for wages—since he possessed nothing else of value. But ignoring the glaring issue of his lack of a legal identity, the sheer time it would take to earn a meal was simply unacceptable to him right now.
So... that left stealing?
Closing his umbrella, he ducked into a large building that appeared to be a shopping mall. Pulling off a theft in a crowded place like this always guaranteed a higher success rate—not that he had ever failed a job before, anyway.
Lowering his head, he melded into the crowd, looking exactly like a wild beast that had strayed into human society.