Page 94 of A Soul to Touch

“Developed?”

Faunus paused in the middle of taking a step.

“You don’t know?”She lifted both her hands to shrug with them when he looked at her.“I see. Duskwalkers gain more humanity by the number of humans we have eaten. Although I was born after him, I have consumed more humans. He stopped hunting for them when he decided he wanted a bride. He is quite sorrowful. He is also very territorial about his home. Magnar, the antler-horned one, is welcoming, but I believe that is due to ignorance, lack of humanity, and not having been faced with much adversity.”

Mayumi wanted to continue to learn about him and all these siblings he had, but there was a question that was nagging at the back of her mind.

“The wolf skull one, Oferus, or whatever you said his name was.”

“Orpheus,”he corrected.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Did he kill that last human he took? The western sector laid down a plan to capture him the last time he went to obtain a sacrifice. Is she dead, that woman? I heard he slaughtered all the Demonslayers who went after him. A few watched it happen from afar.”

“Reia? Yes, she is alive.”

Mayumi hadn’t known her name before this.

“No way!” Mayumi squealed while jumping forward, patting him on the back with light, excited taps. “It’s been almost eleven months since then! Are the others still alive?”

“No. They are dead. She is the only one who has survived, and she will for a long while. He will never seek a new bride, so once his protection circle fades, the human villages will have to protect themselves.”

“I see...”

Not really... She didn’t quite understand everything, but she couldn’t contain her relief to know the woman was still alive.

There was also something about the way he spoke. She didn’t know why, but she felt as though Faunus wasn’t revealing the whole truth. It was as though he was hiding something.

“Okay. So... two babies, the twins, fox boy, you, then wolf boy.” She counted them all on her fingers. “You said there were eight of you that are siblings? Who is the last one?”

She’d ask about the ninth one and where it came from later since they seemed to be close to her home.

“Merikh,”Faunus growled, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.“He is the bull-horned, bear-skulled Duskwalker.”

“I thought he was dead,” Mayumi gasped. “The guild killed him over a hundred years ago!”

Faunus tsked.“No. Not dead. He lives and has far more humanity even than I. It is what makes him so dangerous.”

“You don’t like him?”

“He ismean, Mayumi. And if you see him, you will not live long.”The vibration she could feel in his torso was the reverberation of his growl.“He has no interest in other Duskwalkers and is rather hateful towards humans. He would rather be with the intelligent Demons.”

“Where is he now then?”

She would say it was to avoid him, but she was always up for a challenge.

“I’m not sure. He left the Veil many years ago in search of something and has not since returned. His cave is empty, but his magic circle still remains. Perhaps he replaces it and leaves again.”

The trees began to open up, showing the clearing and her home backing it. The sun was starting to set, but they had returned much sooner than she would have doing this on her own.

Faunus didn’t approach, instead pausing at the rim of the clearing.

“Actually, this reminds me.”He lifted one hand while turning his head to face her, balancing on three limbs in order to give her assistance down.“I wish to lay my protective circle down around your home. I am hoping it remains for the ten years it is supposed to.”

Mayumi kicked her leg over the arch of his spine and slid herself down without his help, much like how she would get down from a horse.

“Will it stop the Demons from being able to approach?”

“Yes, that is the point.”

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