Despite not being able to think of anything other than what was not edible, Yoichi continued to stare at that strange demon. He didn’t know why yet, but it reminded him of something.

When the trunk-demon’s vines moved on the floor, they crawled slightly on the helmet-haired boy’s foot. He took his back off the wall, continuing to listen silently to the speech of his colleagues. ​​

The slow movement of that kind of short liana unlocked a memory in Yoichi’s mind. Riding a few feet from those warriors, Ichiro slowed down the pace.

That… that looks like the same liana that stuck my ankles in that alley! That guy… his face… I have no doubts! He’s the piece of shit that raped Sui! Yoichi thought, wringing his hands.

The gaze of that young boy, his own age, crossed Yoichi’s. For a fraction of a second, the air filled with pure tension. An invisible electric current thundered between the two of them, terrorizing the Emperor’s Heralds warrior.

Yoichi slowly passed right next to him on horseback. The helmet-haired boy, trying to turn to his companions and look away from his observer, showed his side, not covered in armour.

White bandaging covered his hips and part of his ribs. They were tight at the exact points where Yoichi had hit him, slamming him against the alley wall.

The trunk-demon put both of his vines on the ground, turning what looked like its ‘face’ in the same direction as its master. It was impossible to distinguish a defined face and body in that strange demon. Its body looked like a wooden cylinder. It had no eyes or ears, only a large smiling mouth that went from one side of the cylinder to the other.

Large square teeth came slightly out of that mouth, while a sticky, greenish substance was attached to the sides of the oral cavity.

Both the criminal and his demon looked creepy and weird. “Bunjiro!” one of the two girls next to him suddenly called, distracting him from Yoichi. “Are you deaf? I asked you the same question three times!”

That weird guy turned to his colleague, continuing to look at Yoichi out of the corner of his eye. The young tamer stopped in the middle of the road, remaining on Ichiro’s back.

After whispering something incomprehensible to his comrades, the undercover criminal quickly moved away from his position. He delved among some huge wooden crates full of supplies, trying to disappear into the crowd.

Knowing that the hapless villain had recognized his identity, Yoichi spurred Ichiro with his heels, gently hitting the side of its belly. Without hesitation, the Inoshuma, as if it understood its knight’s intentions, followed Bunjiro’s trail.

Does the villain who raped the Emperor’s daughter belong to the Emperor’s Heralds? None of this makes sense! How could they not notice? Yoichi carefully pondered. After a few seconds of reasoning, he concluded: as she had told him when he saved her, Sui had no intention of revealing to her mother or father what had happened that night.

Tentochu’s most important young woman had been raped by one of the warriors who was supposed to protect her, and no one knew. That helmet-haired, bizarre boy would continue to wander the streets of the capital undisturbed.

There’s no doubt about it, it’s him. He took off as soon as he recognized my eyes. You escaped the first time, you piece of shit… but this time… this time I know your name, Bunjiro. You’re screwed! Yoichi continued to reason, thinking about the most effective way to denounce that crime against the imperial family.

The images of the princess lying on the ground in ripped clothes showed up in his mind: the memory of what that powerless girl had been forced to endure was bothering him since then.

“Excuse me! Sorry, let me through, please!” he boomed, trying to make room among the people crowding the streets of the Tamer District. Ichiro’s large bulk helped him thrive amid people as his eyes continued to trace the target.

Bunjiro, realizing that Yoichi could easily reach him with a dash on horseback, used his demon to disperse his traces: the trunk-demon, advancing quickly on the vines he used both as arms and legs, waved them sideways.

The large wooden crates containing newly forged armature parts, probably intended for some guild that had required their production, were pushed by the supernatural strength of those thick green lianas. The same lianas who managed to trap Yoichi’s ankles in that cursed alley, despite Kenji’s enhancement.

*boom*baam*crash* – Metal objects and other more fragile goods crashed noisily to the floor, attracting the attention of everyone present. A big, sweaty man, who looked like a blacksmith, approached Yoichi along with his helpers.

The blacksmith began to complain about what had just happened. He turned backwards and loudly called the neighbourhood guards. Bunjiro gained time and space, generating momentary confusion and quickly fleeing away.

Beyond the wooden crates, a high wall of white brick stood upwards. Its shadow covered the street around the corner where Bunjiro’s colleagues were still chatting.

Yoichi quickly dismounted off Ichiro, implicitly ordering it to stand still and wait for him. The young tamer wriggled among the crates, in a hidden area of the neighbourhood, away from prying eyes.

Continuing to drop objects in his path, Bjakugo kept on running towards the wall. “Hey, you! Stop! I know who you are! I know what you did, I remember your face!” Yoichi shouted frantically. “If you are a real man, stop and face me! I challenge you to a duel, Bunjiro!”

After that sentence, the fugitive villain reached the building, climbed a short staircase and entered a door. Violently, he slammed the door behind him, turning the key into the lock.

Yoichi slowed his run until he stopped. He put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “To be still hurt, he ran fast as lightning. He managed to escape once more,” he thought aloud. His gaze framed the door and then went up to the roof of the massive building.

That wall and door belonged to Emperor’s Heralds headquarters.