Kid was speechless for a moment, silently reminding himself that humans and monsters just don't see the world the same way. If he wanted to get along, he'd have to... broaden his perspective.
Take the Tengu, for instance. It probably hung out in temples a lot, overheard some monks muttering about "Funerals," and just ran with it using its own understanding...
Wait, no—Kid realized his train of thought had completely derailed.
—Anyway, Yokai-san didn't really have any reason to lie to him.
If what the Tengu said was true, then when the old monk mentioned "a similar incident," he was probably talking about that time three years ago when his apprentice was found hanging from the eaves.
The old monk should've been heartbroken over his disciple's death, yet he actually hoped it would happen again...
Kid fell into deep thought. Under that premise, the idea of the old monk being scared to death by the Tengu actually started to sound kind of... reasonable.
To be fair, even though the creature had giant, inhuman wings sprouting from its back, its face wasn't exactly terrifying. If it stood around at the entrance of a busy shopping street, some fearless little girl might even run up and try to bury herself in its feathers.
Hard to believe this thing could scare someone to death…
…Unless that person had some serious ghosts in their heart.
Now, Kid wasn't a proper detective, but he wasn't exactly clueless either.
Given this nudge and thinking back on the two "Tengu murder cases" he'd read about, he realized something: the first one could've easily been staged by a human.
That would explain the glaring difference in the details between the two incidents—
The first was orchestrated by the old monk.
The second? That was the Tengu, who'd unknowingly hoisted the old monk's corpse onto the rafters.
With that, Kid hazarded a guess:
"That young monk who died earlier..."
But the Tengu didn't seem interested. It flapped its wings lazily and muttered, "I dunno."
Kid nodded slowly. Ah. Understood.
—The truth was probably this: three years ago, the old monk killed his apprentice for reasons. Then he exploited the local "Tengu legend" to dress up the crime scene and pin the murder on the yokai.
Later, the real Tengu might've heard rumors about hauntings at the mountain temple and dropped by out of curiosity. Or maybe it was just lured in by the incense... either way, it showed up, and accidentally scared the guilty monk to death.
Afterward, maybe as a gesture of thanks for the incense, it hung the old monk's body from the eaves—granting his last wish for "one more wave of popularity" before the end.
Very reasonable. Extremely reasonable.
...So maybe this Tengu wasn't the bloodthirsty menace he and old man Terai had suspected.
As Kid pondered this, the Tengu reached its hand toward him again.
This time, it didn't even bother to speak. The meaning was clear:
Hand over tonight's haul.
Kid froze, not exactly thrilled at the idea.
The Tengu didn't eat people, sure. But it absolutely devoured gems, to visible effect.
Kid usually returned the things he stole afterward, but lately, people had started doubting him. Any gem that had been nibbled by the Tengu visibly lost its shine—looked cheap, like a fake.
Seeing Kid hesitate, Jiang Xia decided it was time to stoke the fire.
He wanted Kid to go from "cleared up the Tengu's murder misunderstanding" to "voluntarily writing glowing testimonials" in the future.
The Tengu, looking above such crude things as robbery, turned its head from the gem and muttered loftily to itself, "Guess I'll have to snatch a human instead."
And with that, it discreetly summoned its clay puppet, crafting a pair of huge, gleaming fangs that looked very not ceremonial. When it parted its lips slightly, the cold moonlight gleamed along the edges like tiny blades.
Kid, alarmed, noticed Tengu's gaze shift from the gem… to his neck.
Kid: "!!!"
He looked around. Not a soul in a hundred-meter radius but him.
Even if he managed to escape, the residential neighborhood was less than a kilometer away. What about those innocent citizens...?
Kid inhaled sharply. With the speed of a magician mid-performance, he pulled the gem from his cloak and handed it solemnly to the Tengu.
...No, he wouldn't try to palm off a fake. It'd see through that instantly.
Come to think of it, it made sense—monsters probably perceived real and fake gems the way humans saw real and plastic food displays. They might look similar, but they definitely smelled different.
In a weird way, that reassured Kid. It meant that last time the Tengu snatched away his Dark Star, it wasn't because his sleight-of-hand had gone rusty—
The thing just kicked the door in and took it.
The Tengu gave Kid a quick glance, then reluctantly accepted the gem. Inside, it sensed a fresh energy core.
Jiang Xia, meanwhile, was quite pleased—
After this heartwarming exchange, next time they cornered Kid, they might not even need to burn much murderous puppet-energy. The guy's tools and magic tricks were kind of a pain to deal with.
Kid didn't leave right away after handing over the gem.
He remembered the Tengu's habit of casually tossing used-up gems aside. When that happened, he could just... pick them back up and return them. Sure, they'd be dulled, but better a cloudy ruby than no ruby.
For now, he watched the Tengu accept the gem. Its expression softened as it retracted those ridiculous fangs. Kid exhaled in relief... but also felt a little bitter.
—Even that shady old monk, who framed it for murder, got his body respectfully displayed post-mortem.
But Kid, who'd been feeding it gems all this time, just kept getting mugged.
Tidying up his rumpled cloak, Kid asked politely, "You've eaten so much off me—when are you planning to pay me back?"
The Tengu paused and gave him a look that said humans are so greedy.
"Didn't I just save you?"
Kid: "..."
...Wait. He thought it just saw him standing on a rooftop holding a gem and swooped in like a starving raccoon.
He hadn't realized it knew there were Organization men watching him and had pulled him away on purpose.
Kid's feelings were mixed.
Sure, it robbed people, scared the pants off innocents, and accidentally claimed a human life—but... this Tengu might actually be a decent monster?
Speaking of which—
"Since you need gems and rare collectibles," Kid asked, "why don't you hit up a museum or jewelry store late at night? Why target me?"
The Tengu looked at him like he was asking the dumbest question in the universe.
"I never steal."
"..." Kid glanced down at the gem it was now holding. The one he had stolen.
"You say that, but this—"
The Tengu cut in: "You stole it."
Kid: "..."
He had no comeback.
There really was a massive generational gap between people and monsters.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 35/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*