Mutagen

It was lucky that the restaurant had not been abandoned for long. Compared to some of the previous locations they visited, the things to clean here were much lesser.

Still, while they cleaned up the place for about half a day, they barely cleaned half of the restaurant. Post-apocalypse dust sure sticks well to surfaces. Even so, they managed to clean the kitchen and the rooms to sleep in. The restaurant part of the first floor was also cleaned enough to be used as the living room.

Mako, who stayed behind to assist Mark\'s group, diligently helped with the chores. It would definitely feel strange if the people of the Reclaimed City knew that one of the strongest fighters of the Black Lotus was cleaning someone else\'s house.

Of course, Mako took the opportunity to ask Mark a few questions. She had no ulterior motives and was just curious. Thus, Mark did not mind answering some simple questions while avoiding a few he did not want to disclose. She also had the urge to ask Mark about the progress of her artifact. However, she was sensible enough to know that asking about it would not really speed up the process. Thus, she refrained from asking.

Mark could feel her thoughts. He could not help but appreciate that Mako was both sincere and sensible.

But Mako could not help but feel stupefied by the fact that Mei and Mark had [Spatial Storage Artifacts] with them. Just like with Ren and Tadashi, Mark did not bother hiding it from Mako either. In fact, it was not wrong to say that Mark trusted Mako more than the other two. In the first place, they did not really intend to hide the rings. It was just too troublesome if many people knew. If the trouble of hiding it exceeded the trouble of exposing the rings, they would not hesitate to use it in public.

Although Mako had seen a few items that Mark\'s group had, she could not help but feel amazed. The group before her sure was mysterious. It was fortunate they were not hostile to Ren or the Reclaimed City. At least, that was what Mako had observed so far. Who would know what things Mark\'s group had in hand once hostilities arose? Mako would not dare imagine.

The day continued, busier than the past few days.

It was the same for the neighbors. Well... They were not supposed to care much about the new people who moved into the abandoned restaurant. After all, life in the apocalypse was already hard for them to poke their noses in other people\'s business. However, the sounds of a vacuum cleaner coming from the restaurant could not help but get their attention. At first, they ignored it. Vacuum cleaners were pretty much common in Japanese households, after all. But then, they realized. Electricity in the Reclaimed City was limitedly distributed, and the abandoned restaurant should not have electricity.

Then what were the neighbors hearing? Were they hallucinating? Some of them thought they were going crazy.

Life must be too hard if they questioned their own sanity first before thinking that it was their new neighbors who were strange.

***

Night time came, and Mark\'s group finally had a nice dinner after a while. Unfortunately, Mako left before sunset when Ren\'s group passed by once again to check on Mark and the girls.

After cleaning a part of the first floor, which was the former restaurant dining area, they also used it as the chairs and tables were already ready to use.

But then, a pair of foxes appeared inside, just by the entrance of the restaurant. The two foxes had contrasting colors. One was black, and the other was white. A white fox was not that strange, but a black fox was definitely unusual. Furthermore, the two both had multiple tails.

With Mark\'s group having dinner just in the further section of the same room, they all saw when the two foxes appeared as if they jumped out of the shadow on the ground.

And then, the awkward staredown commenced.

As it seemed, the two foxes did not expect Mark\'s group to be there. It was not their fault, though. To avoid having too many prying eyes, Mark covered the windows on the lower floor of the building. Furthermore, since they mostly talk about things and topics that strangers should not hear when eating, a wind barrier to contain sound was erected to surround them as per usual.

Thus, the two unsuspecting visitors faced this awkward situation.

The two foxes stared at Mark\'s group. As if wanting to add to the awkward atmosphere, Mark\'s group was not even doing anything threatening to the intruders and went back to eating.

"Want to join?"

And Mark even told the two foxes to join them for dinner, pushing the awkwardness even further.

Unable to hold it in, the white fox glowed.

Mark\'s group could only squint at the bright light that only lasted an instant.

"You all are expecting us to come?"

The white fox, no, the white fox lady shrugged in helplessness.

A woman with the same white hair, fox ears, and multiple tails replaced the white fox. She could only stare at Mark, who was just as mysterious as the last time she saw him.

Following the white fox, the black fox also glowed, turning into another woman with similar unusual features to the first one, albeit having black hair, ears, and tails but a little bit younger-looking.

"Yukine-sama, is he really the same person you encountered in the Philippines?"

The black [Kitsune] asked the white [Kitsune].

"There is no doubt," Yukine replied. "He is the owner of the newly born [Pure Spirit Tree] in the Philippines."

The white [Kitsune] was Yukine. She was the leader of the intelligence group, [Yuki Kitsune], directly under the Empress, the leader of the Japanese Brance of [Auraboros]. The very same fox woman that Mark\'s group had met after the fight with the invaders from the Chinese Branch.

At that time, Yukine proposed an alliance with Mark with the goal of trading resources from the [Spirit Dimension] through his [Pure Spirit Tree]. However, Mark refused without a second thought.

With the world changing and the resources of the Spirit Dimension now available on Earth, the alliance became unnecessary whether Mark accepted it or not.

Still, Mark had shown complete hostility to the organization. And his sudden appearance here in the Reclaimed City was nothing but bad news for the Japanese Branch.

But now, Yukine was rather confused. There was no need to mention hostility. She could not feel much from Mark at all.

Did his hostility subside over time? Or was it that he did not see the organization as something worth his time?

Yukine could not understand. However, there was something that she knew.

The spectacles and commotion that Mark\'s group had caused in these past few days were to tell the Japanese Branch that he had arrived in this country.

It was now clear that Mark was waiting for the [Auraboros] to be the ones to establish contact first.

And this was a good thing.

If one\'s goal was a slaughter, there was no need for the announcement of their arrival.

Mark\'s actions had shown that there was a chance for negotiation or, at the least, communication.

Considering Mark\'s initial hostilities with the organization, Yukine decided to go straight to the point.

"What is your reason for luring us to meet you?"

Yukine voiced out.

But instead of answering the question, Mark replied with his own question.

"Do you still call yourselves a branch of [Auraboros]?"

That question gave Yukine the chills.

Back when they first met, Mark gave the threat that he would destroy the [Auraboros]. And if the Japanese Branch was still under the organization at that time, he would not mind destroying it along with the entire organization.

Normally, one would think that it was nothing but a delusion. But Yukine knew that Mark was nothing normal. A Pureblood Demon of an unknown origin could be anything but normal.

But unexpectedly, Yukine replied with eyes looking straight at Mark.

"The name [Auraboros] is now nothing but leverage to our branch."

"Yukine-sama!"

The black [Kitsune] was surprised after Yukine shared such crucial information.

"It\'s fine, Kuroe," Yukine glanced at her companion. "There is no point in hiding it. If anything, it\'s better to avoid conflict. Unnecessary conflict is the last thing the Empress would want in our current situation."

Yukine turned back to Mark, who was seemingly waiting for further information.

"I wonder how you managed to get here? The entirety of Japan was currently surrounded by spatial distortions. It is basically cut off from the rest of the world."

Mark understood the meaning behind Yukine\'s words.

Japan was cut off from the rest of the world due to the spatial distortions that appeared after the [Fusion of Dimensions]. It basically meant that the Japanese Branch of [Auraboros] could not be part of anything larger whether they wanted it or not. And, right now, they were only using the organization\'s name due to its notoriety.

Ignoring the question, Mark spoke.

"Being cut off doesn\'t mean anything. I\'m pretty sure you understand the meaning of my question, right?"

\'Are you my enemy or not?\'

Yukine clearly understood Mark\'s question.

Kuroe, behind Yukine, finally realized Mark\'s hostility. She was about to reach the dagger on her waist, but a shake of Yukine\'s head stopped her.

And then, Yukine replied to Mark\'s question.

"I can only apologize then," Yukine bowed her head at Mark to Kuroe\'s shock. "The Empress had yet to convey anything about that notion. We have been facing difficulties at this moment. Either way, whether it is you, or the Demons in the north, we can\'t avoid bloodshed if we are unable to act properly."

"Is it possible to answer that question another time?"

Yukine added.

"What a sly move."

Mark stared at the bowing white [Kitsune]. She was basically asking Mark to wait until they resolved their current situation. Only then that their Empress would be able to focus on that part.

But at that time, if the Empress chose to stick to the side of the organization, she could have all the preparation she could make to fight against Mark.

"You really think that I will wait that long?"

Mark added.

"Twelve days," Yukine spoke. "The Empress will visit the Reclaimed City in the next full moon to discuss an alliance with the Priestess. At that time, you can receive an answer from her directly. Since the location would be here, there would be no danger of any schemes from us."

Yukine was getting a bit desperate. She did not want to fight Mark at all due to the dangers he could bring. Thus, she could only rely on this piece of information.

Mark gave Yukine a short silence before shrugging.

"Twelve days. Nothing more, nothing less."

Those words made Yukine feel relieved... until Mark opened his mouth once again.

"Then, the next one. What happened with Shin?"

Yukine could only show a bitter smile.

One of Mark\'s previous demands was to hand Shin to him. It was no surprise. Shin and his group did meddle in Mark\'s business, after all. And if not for them, Mark\'s hostility to the Japanese Branch would have been less.

And now, what could Yukine say to answer that question?