Bowa Boa could be seen closing the shop, letting out a sigh before walking out of the store.
"There's still things I'd like to discuss with Konori, but for the time being, maybe it's not so bad for the twins to protect the kids. They seem to have gotten along with them quite well. That's a relief." She says to herself
"Excuse me…" A man says from behind
"Oh hey!" Bowa responds, turning to look at the man, seeing that it's the same man from the shop that had supposedly been killed by the mysterious hooded man, from the night before.
"Have you seen Jack? He dropped his money pouch and it seems he didn't notice. I'd like to return it back to him if you know where he is." The man says.
"Oh..Jack hasn't passed by here at all. So there's no telling where he could be at this moment. You can leave the pouch here with me until he comes back." Bowa would insist, opening her palm, expecting to be handed the pouch.
"I wonder about that…I'd much rather return it to Konori. I think it would be better and in more protective hands." The man says.
"Suite yourself. You're going to make this take much longer than it should be. However, if you plan on taking this pouch to Konori, I'll be going with you. I don't trust you being unattended with Jack's pouch in your possession." Bowa says with authority.
"Alright. We should get going then." The man says as Bowa begins to lead him to the Founders Mansion, the place Konori and his military reside in.
"So what's your name?" Bowa asks.
"My name? My name is Butcher." He says in response.
"Any reason you didn't want to give me the pouch, Butcher? You work fifty feet away from me. You should know by now that I was Jack and Kuros' guardian previously when Konori was in their absence." Bowa says, being a bit skeptical about the validity of Butcher's claims.
"Something feels off about this guy. I just can't put my finger on it." Bowa says to herself.
"I wouldn't know or assume anything about that. I don't really care if you're a guardian or not. My customers are my main concern. In other words, I don't care to pay attention to you." Butcher responds
"What's with the animosity?" Bowa questions
"You're making this bigger than it should be. Just hurry the hell up and take me to Konori." Butcher says, insistent as ever.
"All of this because of your lack of trust…okay." Bowa reluctantly responds, still skeptical about Butcher's validity.
As they reached the Founders Mansion, two guards would approach. Both wear silver armor on their shoulders, with silver knee plates. Both guards would also wear a black pair of pants with a white colored belt, that carried a medal of a black bird in the middle.
They would wear black vests that would cover their blue shirts underneath.
"Alright…you're on your own now. I did what you asked me to do. I'll see you at the shop." Bowa says and she turns and leaves the area, leaving Butcher to handle the rest.
"Can we help you?" One of the guards would ask. His voice is deep but soft.
"This Konori's son's pouch that he keeps his money in. I found it on the ground and I'd like to give it to Konori." Butcher says with a smile.
"Don't try anything funny. We'll put you down quickly if you do so." The same guard says.
As they walk into the mansion where Konori temporarily resides, Butcher could be seen behind the guards, giving a sly smirk.
"Perfect. This is absolutely perfect. After getting that Bowa Boa tramp away from me, I could finally exercise my mission. So…let's see…" Butcher says to himself.
As they reach Konori's room, the guards would knock on the door before announcing their presence, only for Konori to brush them away.
"Give it a minute will you? This is important." Konori says in response to his presence being called.
"It's for your son. He lost his pouch…I came to return it to you until he comes back." Butcher says with a smile.
As he waits for a response, none would be given but rather, Konori opening the door to walk towards Butcher and grabbing the pouch and turning away from him.
"Any reason why you chose to walk all the way here, knowing your shift isn't over? Your customers must be agitated." Konori would say.
"Hey, I'm just being a responsible adult and bringing your son's pouch back into safe hands. Besides, I closed shop early, since I'm the owner of the place. Even if I didn't, Bowa insisted she could work there for the time being, until I get back." Butcher responds, insisting there was no malice intent.
"Thank you for that…however…"
Konori says, seemingly teleporting behind Butcher and looking back at him from behind himself with a serious look, before he continues…
"You're not a good liar." He says
"What?" Butcher questions.
"We have you on surveillance, saying otherwise. Bowa never said that. You never talked about or made any agreement on that…funny enough, you haven't even closed shop. Is there something you're keeping from me…Butcher?" Konori asks with a more authoritative tone.
As Butcher is asked this, a devious smirk would surface on Butcher's face before his entire body explodes, in an explosion that blinds everyone around them. The room is filled with toxic dust particles that skew everyone's vision, including Konori's.
"AHH DAMMIT!" Konori says, covering his eyes in pain.
This small portion of the area would be destroyed, covered in remains of the rubble and debris. As this goes on, one soldier could be seen getting up from the rubble. Konori is seen staring back at the soldier as he begins to speak…
"It seems that he's escaped. But I don't know where to…" The soldier says.
Konori would turn and look in the other direction. As he does this, both Ren and Gendo would be seen in the air, landing on their feet right in front of Konori, both prepared for combat.
"Quite the light show! Though, I didn't expect one to be held so early. So…who's the perpetrator?" Ren would ask, getting straight to the point.
"His name is Butcher. He works at a clothing shop not far from Bowa Boa's sushi. I doubt he went back there. Let the village know of him. We need him detained and imprisoned for such crimes, along with the premeditation behind it." Konori says.
Gendo steps up and places his hand on Konori's shoulder.
"I'll act as a guard from this moment on. I don't need people sneaking into the capital to try to assassinate you with your guard down." Gendo implies, trying to provide more security to the battle hardened Konori.
"No can do. This guy seems to have a lot of tricks up his sleeves. I'm afraid if he's as tactical as I'd like to think, getting rid of him will take some time. Like a game of chess." Konori would respond.
"Hey I doubt he would have that level of intellect, based on what he's just done." Gendo would say, trying to convince Konori otherwise.
"You're right. Chances are, he's not entirely smart. One thing's for certain, I hate when criminals roam freely in my village. So make sure the village knows of him and finds him." Konori says, annoyed by Butcher's easy escape from him.
But as annoyance would sweep over him, he would then get curious of one of the two guards that first brought Butcher in.
"Wait where's the other guard?" Konori asks
"Dammit! He must've been killed in the explosion! That bastard…I'll search the village for this man. I'll make sure I find him…" the guard says.
"Let me know if you get any updates." Konori says.
The guard would turn around, facing away from Konori and Gendo, devilishly smirking away before giving his own response.
"I will…"
As he walks away, he would then think to himself and reveal something not even the ruler of Tensen would know about.
"Heh it seems this body was a good fit. It looks like I've completely fooled these idiots into believing I actually escaped after exploding that poor bastard's body. How splendid." He says, revealing it to be no other than Butcher himself, stealing the body of one of the guardsmen.
Meanwhile, Jack could be seen running in one direction, for it to be revealed to be in the direction of the founder's mansion. Kisuka, and Yakuto could be seen both running in between Jack. Kuro could be seen floating above Yakuto's shoulder in an orange bubble made from Yakuto's essence, protecting him from danger.
"I hope dads okay…" Jack says with worry in his tone.
"Hey keep your head up, kid. Your fathers not some punk who will go down easily. Trust me, he once beat both of us at the same time. So cut him some slack, will ya?" Kisuka reveals.
"Once! It only happened once okay? And we were both semi-exhausted by the time he challenged us. Besides, I truly can't say who would win if he were to fight us as we are now." Yakuto says, annoyed that Kisuka would give up this information so easily and openly.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself now, little brother. I wouldn't know the outcome either, but it would be a fun fight nonetheless!" Kisuka says in response.
"Really?! At the same time?! I thought I was at the same level as him…" Jack says in response.
"HAHAHAHA! Humor me more kiddo. You've got to train for that. You've only learned the basics." Yakuto goads.
"We're closing in on the capital. Get ready." Kisuka says, leading the team of four.
"Already on it." Yakuto responds, grabbing a hold of his dual swords and dashing ahead of Kisuka and Jack.
"Of course he leaves us behind…hold on to something!" Kisuka says as a blue electric flow of essence begins to flow on and around his body.
Jack grabs ahold of Kisuka's hand before Kisuka accelerates at a much higher speed, completely dusting the area they were just in.
"WOOOOOAAAAHHHHH" Jack yells as he continued to be carried away at a very accelerated speed.
Jack, Kuro, Kisuka, and Yakuto would eventually reach the entrance to the capital. In doing so, they would see that a significant portion of the Founders Mansion would be blown off, exposing some of the inside of the building.
Jack would grit his teeth as he looks on at this mansion
"Why do people do things like this?!" Jack would say subconsciously.
"Who's the bastard behind all of this?" Kisuka thinks to himself as he stares at the building.
"Are we going or what? We can't stand here forever ya know." Yakuto says, looking back at both Jack and Kisuka.
As he says this, their attention would shift over to the same guardsman that was taken over by Butcher, walking towards them with a stoic look.
"We have the situation under control." The false guardsman would say.
"Under control? A part of the building is exposed!" Yakuto responds.
"He's right. You shouldn't worry much. Just do what you're assigned to do for now. We've already deployed soldiers throughout the village to warn everyone of this man." Ren would say in response as Gendo and Konori could also be seen walking towards him and the others.
"Dad!" Jack and Kuro both say, with Jack running over to Konori and Kuro floating towards him.
"Heh, hey you two! I'm surprised to see you two this early. Sorry about the explosion. A guy by the name of 'Butcher' tried to use a weak attack to hurt me. But he got away because he temporarily blinded me." Konori would say, smiling at his sons, regardless of the current circumstances.
"Well at least we know everyone's safe." Kisuka mutters.
Quick footsteps could be heard from behind Kisuka and Yakuto. As they begin to turn around, they would see Bowa Boa running in their direction with a large cleaver in one hand, before coming to a stop.
"Hey! Is everyone okay? I knew the kids would be here if something like this would have happened." Bowa says.
"Everyone's okay Bowa. That's why, you can always count on us!" Kisuka responds with a smile, giving her a thumbs up.
"You did nothing." Gendo replies.
"Oh come on! You always undermine the things I do!" Kisuka pouts.
"Hey, Gendo…you look a little different from the last time I've seen you. Your hair looked better. Now it's just…now it's just..." Bowa says.
"Don't mention it." Gendo says, chuckling and scratching his short lucious black hair with blonde ends.
"You're late to the party, Bowa. As always…don't you have somewhere you need to be?" Ren asks, belittling the cook.
"I closed the shop entirely because of that trouble maker, you and the rest have been dealing with." Bowa responds
"That guy…if he could trick Konori like that…what could his next move be? What the hell did he do all of this for?" Gendo would begin questioning within his own mind.
Gendo would turn to Konori before giving him a serious look. Konori would reciprocate with a nod. Gendo nods before abruptly leaving the area, looking as if he vanished in thin air.
"Huh? Where's he going?" Jack questions.
"He's going to go find that guy, his name is Butcher…or so he says…" Bowa says as she stares at Jack.
"We've already established that, Bowa…" Ren would mutter in a condescending manner.
"Hey!" Yakuto's voice could be heard saying.
"Huh?" Bowa responds as she turns to her side, to see Yakuto walking up to her and placing his hand onto her shoulder, looking down at her with a soft smile.
"O-oh…Yakuto hey! What gives?" Bowa would then ask.
"Your cake pop you gave me…it was really good. It made me feel…better."
Yakuto would say, almost in a complete change of character.
"I have to get away from these idiots." Butcher would say to himself, still hiding his identity as one of the guardsmen.
"You see? I told you it wouldn't be bad! Before you even ask what I put in it…because I did put something in it! You will never guess!" Bowa says, trying to contain her level of excitement.
Kisuka, Yakuto, Konori, Ren, and even the guards would all simultaneously make awkward and nervous faces.
"Now I REALLY need to get away from these idiots!" Butcher would say subconsciously.
"You have a secret ingredient for those cake pops?! Tell me! I wanna know!" Jack would say with excitement, not understanding why all the adults became so nonverbal.
"It's supposed to be a secret, Jack I can't tell you." Bowa chuckles.
"But perhaps I will. It's simple really…I imbued them with my essence! So not only does it taste good, it gives you energy and nourishes your vitals, making you stronger!" Bowa happily answers.
As she lets out her answer, the rest of the adults would all have a look of relief on their faces, all for the exception of Ren.
"So you mean to tell me that SHE'S the ingredient? He just grew stronger from eating AKITA BOWA??" Ren would question in her own mind, completely shocked at this revelation.
"Really? When did you learn that?" Konori would ask.
"Just now! I did it by combining Kenshu, with my experience with essence control. I focused my essence into the dough and condensed it so that it wouldn't explode in my face!" Bowa reveals, with nothing short of a confident smile on her face.
"Splendid! I always knew Kenshu could be used with weapons and your physical attributes. But food? I never knew it could work with that too. That's a groundbreaking discovery, Bowa Boa!" Konori would praise, looking back at Bowa while he rubs his chin.
"As much as I wouldn't like to, I have to give credit where it's due. I have the highest control over essence next to Konori." Ren would say.
"Ehem…I'm still here Ren" Kisuka responds, with a cocky grin.
"Those with real military experience and authority should be the only ones talking, shouldn't they?" Ren would cockily ask, once again with a condescending tone and smile.
"For someone's whose status is as high as yours, it's a bit of a surprise to see how much you don't shut up." Yakuto would reply, placing his hand on the shoulders of his older brother, and Bowa Boa.
Ren's face would turn from sly, to furious as she hears Yakuto's words being directed towards her.
"What was that?" Ren asks with a more serious tone.
Bowa would let out a soft chuckle before turning away from Ren
"It's been good talking to you, Ren. We'll see you next time." Yakuto responds, with his back facing her.
Walking away, Yakuto would keep one hand in his pocket, with the other one raised beside him as his reddish orange spiky hair blows in the wind.
"Yeah, it's best we get going now. Wouldn't like to keep Leina waiting now, would we?" Kisuka asks the young Jack.
"Ohh you know of her too? Jack must've told you two, everything he's told me. Geez, I thought it would've taken a bit longer than that." Bowa says as she scratches her hair.
"What can I say? He's grown a liking to us pretty quickly! Glad to see he could trust us so confidently!" Kisuka responds.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Konori." The false guardsman says as he walks off and into the Founders Mansion.
"We're going to Leinas' house so I can train." Jack says to Bowa Boa.
"To train? That's my son! Go get 'em Jack! I'll be here whenever you get back. Boa! Feel free to go with them." Konori would say, with a proud smile.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I came with. Let's just hope I don't cause any issues." Says Bowa, chuckling nervously as she's seen continuing to walk with Jack and the others.
"Good luck my sons." Konori says as he watches the group leave.
Jack and Kuro could be seen waving at their father, with the father waving back in response.