Reborn Financier-Chapter 18: A Cute Demon (I)

Good God! Why in the world didn’t I tell him about the custom?!

Sofia rebuked herself quietly over dinner. Her grip on the daintily poised utensils relaxed incrementally, her expression a mask of displeasure. The atmosphere was thick with tension now and the formerly raucous dinner now felt excruciatingly subdued.

Kaidën had been watching his mother, though. He cocked his head to the side in curiosity, observing the way in which her eyebrows furrowed.

"Mom," he said waking her up from daydreams. "What is the tradition?"

Sofia flinched before calming down and taking a deep breath and reassuring him with a faint smile.

"Ah... The tradition," she murmured, clearing her throat.

She placed her utensils down and leaned forward slightly.

Kaidën, you see that your father doesn’t possess mana but can perceive it, yes?

"Yes, Ma," Kaidën replied smartly, his quick mind already supplying the missing details.

Sofia nodded. "Most people who don’t possess mana don’t even have a sense of it in anyway, But thanks to an ancient technique passed down through your father’s bloodline—dating back to King Austin’s rule over a century ago—his family discovered a secret medical method. It was originally designed to enhance vision, but over generations, it evolved... until eventually, it allowed people to see mana itself."

Kaidën’s eyes widened slightly.

"This technique will help you control mana efficiently, even though your natural capacity is lower than others," Sofia explained. "It’s a crucial advantage."

She moved nearer to me, looking somber.

The ceremony always happens in less than one month after a Valtorin heir turns nine years old. That makes yours in less than a month from now. You will have to get ready, though. The ceremony will not be kind to you.

There was a long silence before Kaidën nodded firmly.

"Yes, well," he said firmly enough. "I will." As the Heir of House Valtorin, I would not fail.

Sofia’s stern expression softened and her mouth broke into a bright smile.

"Good," she spoke softly. "Now have your dinner before it turns cold.

****

Dinner ended and the castle gradually became silent as the night hours ticked by.

The corridors were empty, the maids in slumber with only security guards left on duty.

Nevertheless, they were there to be seen rather than to be protective.

Everyone in the castle was asleep.

With the one exception.

Kaidën sat cross-legged on his bed with his thoughts preoccupied. His little finger drummed against his knee absentmindedly as he remembered what he had learned from his mother regarding the tradition.

"A method to allow humans to perceive mana... Will it actually assist me with my low mana capacity?"

He didn’t question its efficiency. What he wondered about was the process in detail.

Would it hurt?

Would that change me?

As he pondered, a faint sound reached his ears.

A noise so weak, so minute, that even a normal person would not have heard it.

Kaidën was not typical.

His narrowed and glanced along the hallway outside his room.

Soft footsteps.

Slow. Measured. Unfamiliar.

Kaidën’s lips curled into a small smile.

An intruder.

He listened intently because the sound grew louder with every step.

As had been told to him, the intruder was proceeding towards the study—a room two doors away from where Kaidën had his quarters.

Kaidën lazily stretched his arms and sprang from bed.

"It’s been a while I had fun," he complained with a smile.

His innocent-looking, childlike face flushed with enthusiasm

"A toy comes to me in person... Who am I to resist?"

****

The masked man moved with precision, his steps light and calculated.

Wearing black clothing, he blended with the shadows seamlessly, his actions telling volumes about years worth of stealth training.

His motive?

A set of confidential documents hidden within the study.

But as he neared the door—

Who are you, sir?

The voice startled the intruder and it froze.

Slowly he turned his head and beheld—

A youngster.

A wiry, thin, angelic-faced boy in bare feet in the grimy covered corridor.

Kaidën’s shining, bright eyes blinked up at him, his face one of utter curiosity.

"Why have you come to my place so late?" the boy inquired in a naive manner. "I’m going to call mom."

The masked man smiled through his cloth mask

A harmless brat.

He took a deep breath and spoke in a soothing voice

"Listen up, kid," he told me. "I’m here to ghost-hunt a ghost. We have a evil spirit in the castle."

Bowing a little, he attempted a friendly look.

You don’t want the ghost to haunt you, do you?

Kaidën’s mouth jerk

Mmm? He wants to play a game?

"A... a spirit?" Kaidën gasped in a shaken whisper with his voice trembling a little bit.

His small hands clutched his chest and he took a portentous step backward

The masked man panicked briefly.

"Shh! Keep quiet! You’ll frighten the ghost away!"

Kaidën blinked and dutifully nodded.

"Okay..." he whispered. "I think I know where the ghost is."

Pointing toward the study.

The masked man smiled, "This stupid kid made me work less" he said

"Good," he thought to himself. "I’ll just take him along to get in, retrieve the files and knock him out or kill him."

He walked in boldly into the study.

As soon as he stepped in—

Slam

The door shut automatically.

And then, there was a sudden darkness every, it may seem that every thing that possess light just suddenly disappeared.

The masked man stiffened when the lights suddenly went out.

He felt a chill run down his spine."Did it actually... a ghost?" He said as he searched himself for a light source

"Hahahahahahahaha!!!!"

The sound of the laughter was soft at first, then louder and manic.

The masked man’s pulse accelerated as he stood in the pitch darkness

As Kaidën stood in the darkness with him.

Yet, something was... off.

His expression was different.

It was no longer the childish, weak looking kid that he was some times back.

His grin too wide with his bright eyes glinting with unadulterated amusement.

There was a sinister dark atmosphere about his wiry frame.

"Y-You. what in hell you doing here?"

Before the man could do anything.

SPLURT

An agonizing pain pierced his arms, His vision blurred.

Before he could even get used to the pain of losing one limb.

THUD

Both his arms dropped to the ground a second later.

The pain registered.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

A shriek of agony was torn from his mouth as his severed limbs spouted blood everywhere.

The agony was unbearable. His body jerked violently and he dropped to his knees.

Through the cloud of pain, he saw Kaidën leaning over him, smiling.

"You’re so lucky tonight," Kaidën whispered fondly. "I had gotten bored long ago. But now..."

His soft guffaw echoed in the shadowy room.

Let us play together

The masked man groaned with his body trembling.

"Don’t worry about the screaming or the blood..." Kaidën continued, his voice dripping with delight.

His eyes glowed as the shadows around them shifted unnaturally.

His eyes sparkled with the uneven change in the shadow around them.

"Since we’re in my Shadow Space now... And here I’m in charge."

His laughter sent shivers through the room.

"It’s going to be a long night."

To be continued...