ginkgo - xiao x yn

Part 2: Confusion

Xiao pov---------------------

"Another day, another slay."

I've heard a mortal use that phrase before, while I was at Wangshu Inn. I certainly didn't know the meaning, but I can guess. The message it was trying to convey was quite simple. Another day passes by, and more monsters are slain. It didn't take a genius to figure it out.

What I couldn't understand was why the mortal was using it. It wasn't like they are the ones fighting demons. Must be one of their silly mortal traditions.

I slightly leaned against my spear, inhaling and exhaling quickly. I wasn't tired at all, that Hilichurl camp was relatively small in comparison to the ones I've seen. Rather, my karmic debt was acting upon me. 

It hurt, yes, although hurt is more of an understatement. I don't want to give the pain a label, so I won't be describing it. However, I didn't really care at this point. It's pretty much a daily routine, nothing worth concerning over. I just need a moment for the pain to ebb away before I can go back to Wangshu Inn for a nice plate of almond- 

Crack.

There was a noise. It wasn't exactly a crack, but that was the closest representation. It was more like echolocation than an actual noise, but I heard it. More demons? I though I took care of all of them?

I wasted no time, no time at all. Pushing out my pain, my mask was swiftly equipped and I was standing right in front of the thing, spear pointing at it. However, strangely, it did seem to take me longer to teleport and react then I would have liked. That stirred up a bit of confusion and frustration. 

To my confusion, it was just a mortal. Why was she here? How long had she been watching me? What did she want? How did she get all the way here, by herself? 

"What do you want?"

I asked her the question in hopes of a clear response. I was in no mood for riddles. Why was she, a mortal, watching me suspiciously? Was she hiding behind the boulder and just waiting for me to finish vanquishing demons? I had the thought that she might be a demon in disguise, as no other mortals have met me all the way out there, and I didn't detect her coming. Either she was a demon waiting for my karma to kick in to strike, or she is some weirdly skilled human. I raised my spear higher, in hopes of knocking a word or two out of her mouth. 

I seemed to have alarmed her, as all she did was stand there gawking and staring me in the eyes. I could detect that she was no threat at all, just a random, weak mortal girl. I sighed. "Foolish human. You have no respect for the Adepti." 

I took half a second to scan her over, making sure there was truly no threat at all. This one was definitely a little differently from the others, seeing as she had a vision tied in her hair. Cryo, to be precise. She wielded a sword, but I could tell it was only one of those fragile, simple ones that you could get from a blacksmith wherever. 

I had this strange feeling of curiosity. Usually, I had no intentions of getting involved in mortal affairs, and stayed out of their way. But this mortal was different. I wanted to know how the girl managed to watch me for so long without alerting my sharp senses. I also wanted to know what she was doing all the way up here, but using my inferencing skills, she was probably herb collecting. 

I lowered my spear, my face still in a serious expression. Whatever. I should probably spend my time elsewhere than meddle with human activities. Staying here for too long will allow my karma to affect her as well, so it was best to leave. The girl, oddly enough, was still kind of just... staring. Was she this fascinated by me? 

"Know your place. Goodbye." I turned to leave, seeing how it wasn't worth wasting my time here. 

"Wait!" The girl shouted back at me. She reached out an arm, reaching towards me, as if telling me not to go. For a moment, I forgot what I was doing. I paused, and turned around to look at her, expecting her to say something afterwards. She didn't, however, and just kind of looked surprised, as if she didn't expect me to listen.