46 Chapter 45. His Son and His Disciple
After walking a few meters, I could see Emma, Theo and some demon hunters not far away from me. Her hand was holding my cap that fell when I fought with the Imp army earlier.
"Damian, are you alright?" she asked as she approached me.
"I'm fine," I replied simply. I glanced at the demon hunters behind her and returned my gaze to Emma.
"Can I have my cap back?"
"Ah, of course," she said, returning my cap to me.
I took it and immediately wore it.
"Thank you."
Theo approached me with a displeased face.
"Tell me, where are the demons?"
"I don't know," I answered simply. I'd better say I don't know than they tried to get information from me. Actually, I kinda regret my request to contact the demon hunter association earlier, but even if I didn't ask her I was sure Emma would do the same thing.
Theo gave me a slight condescending chuckle then he grabbed my t-shirt's neckline and pulled it towards him, his sour face right in front of me and his eyes staring at me sharply.
"Bullshit! It's clear that the number in Emma's demon compass is very high, there's no way you didn't find a single demon!"
"I have tried to find their location, but there was a big explosion. I passed out and I don't remember anything after that," I reasoned. Even though I didn't resist, my hands were clenched in fury. This person's arrogance has crossed the line.
Emma released Theo's hand from me.
"Theo! You shouldn't be angry at him, he's not a demon hunter! He has no obligation to fight demons, after all, isn't the most important thing is his safety?"
Theo's eyes still looked at me in displeasure.
"He just made us lose our chance to avenge Mr Renart! Of course, I'm angry!" His anger and disappointment were heard clearly in his voice.
Upon hearing my father's name, I just opened my mouth to ask what his relationship was with my father, but I immediately pressed my lips and swallowed my words since my question was too suspicious.
"Putting hope in a coward is really disappointing!" he sneered. Then he walked past me, followed by other demon hunters. While I remained in my position, my fist grew tighter as I tried to hold my anger.
"Theo, where are you going?" asked Emma.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I'll look for that demons until I get them!" he replied as he continued to walk away
Emma turned her gaze to me.
"I hope you can forgive him. He is not a bad guy, it's just ... Since Mr Renart's death, he changed."
"What's his relationship with Mr Renart?" I said as I could no longer hold my curiosity.
"Theo is just like me, he is Mr Renart's disciple."
Emma looked down for a moment before returning her gaze to me.
"Theo ... He is different from the others. The elves are blessed with talents that allow us to learn magic easily, but Theo... did not have it. They considered him a failed elf, even his parents also thought the same thing. At that time, there was no one in the association who wanted to teach him. But Mr Renart accepted and taught him patiently. That is why he is very close to Mr Renart and regards him as his own father. Therefore Mr Renart's death is a hard blow to him."
A breath out of my mouth as my anger started to subside. I can understand Theo's feelings, losing someone who accepts him when the others reject and label him as a failure is not easy. Because for some people, acceptance is not something that can be obtained easily. Just like me ... If there is someone who can accept my true identity as a demon, of course, I will regard that person as someone who is very important for me.
Theo's anger reminded me of Celia who blamed me for our father's death, even though she finally admitted that she also did it because she wanted to distance herself from me but the memories when she blamed me in the hospital still kept ringing in my head.
But however Theo's arrogant attitude cannot be justified, he shouldn't spit out his anger at people who don't know anything about it.
"He swears that one day he will take revenge on the demons who killed his mentor." She looked right and left, making sure there was no one around us and bringing her face closer to me.
"Even now he is still secretly finding out who Mr Renart's children are even though the association has forbidden him. He said he wanted to protect Mr Renart's children just like Mr Renart protected him," she whispered.
My eyes widened after hearing her words. Theo wants to protect me and Celia? Hahaha --- very funny, considering his arrogant attitude towards me before. And of course, that's seriously a big no for me. I don't want to take the risk, since I don't know he would really protect me or instead would expose my identity as a demon to others.
Emma gasped as soon as she noticed the back of my t-shirt. She turned my body to check it.
"What happened to you?" her eyes examined my back, making sure there were no wounds on it. But I'm sure she won't find it because I've healed myself with dark healing.
"I'm fine. My clothes were torn by the explosion, but I wasn't hurt," I explained.
"How about we go to the clinic? At least we have to make sure you're okay."
"How about accompanying me for dinner?" I said quickly, trying to change our conversation.
"Dinner?" she said in confusion.
"I haven't had time to eat and after all that happened I'm really hungry now," I added.
She frowned, while her expression was still the same.
"Come on, I'm really hungry and I can't go into the convenience store with these clothes," I tried to convince her.
She sighed in submission.
"Okay."
-----
11.34 PM
I sat in the outdoor seating area in front of a 24-hour convenience store near the station, waiting for Emma to come out of the store. I have also transferred my food costs to her virtual account number before. To cover my ripped t-shirt and my dusty body, I chose a seat near the wall so it wouldn't stand out too much. Even though I still have other clothes in the locker, I deliberately didn't take them because I actually did this to avoid Emma taking me to the clinic.
The automatic door near me opened, Emma came out of there, carrying my food in a plastic bag, a katsu bowl and a bottle of mineral water. Then she placed it on my table.
"Thank you," I said as I opened the bowl's lid. The hot steam and the smell of food came right out of there.
She placed a warm drink on the table and took a seat in front of me, while I took a plastic spoon next to my bowl and began to scoop the food into my mouth.
Her eyes looked at me, occasionally she sipped her drink. A few moments later a smile developed on her face.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked in confusion.
"Nothing. I thought it was just your excuse when you said you were hungry but apparently you didn't lie."
My eyes glanced at my food which was only a half left, within less than a minute. Well, even though it's just my excuse, I'm not lying either because I'm really hungry.
"Forgive my impoliteness."
She giggled.
"It's okay."
After hearing her answer, I returned to eating at a slower pace, at least I didn't want to be laughed at, twice.
She remained silent and watched me until I finished my meal.
I just finished my drink and closed my mineral water bottle, when she spoke again.
"Are you sure you didn't want to join us?" she asked.
That question again.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I will not change my decision about this," I answered firmly.
"Fine." She looked away but I caught her disappointment on her face.
"Are you disappointed?" I asked straight to the point.
"To be honest, yes. You have the ability to fight demons, but you don't want to use it to help others," she said bluntly.
"But I respect your decision ..." she added.
"Thank you," I replied simply. Even though she might think I'm a coward, I also can't explain anything to her.
She returned her gaze to me and forced herself to smile.
"You don't need to accompany me tomorrow."
"Why?"
"Actually ... Taking another person to participate in demon hunting is a violation," she replied.
From her words, I immediately grasped her situation, because Theo and the other demon hunters would have known that I was patrolling with her today.
"Are they gonna punish you?"
"Theo and the others have agreed to say nothing about you as long as I don't repeat it."
I heaved a sigh of relief.
"I understand." At least thanks to today's incident I know how the demon hunter moves and how they can detect demons. Of course, even though I wasn't allowed to patrol with Emma, I could patrol myself and protect her silently. Besides I'm not a demon hunter so I don't need to follow their rules.
* Ding *
Emma's cellphone sound interrupted our conversation. She pulled out her cellphone and checked briefly before returning it.
"I have to report to the headquarters with Theo."
"Did they find something?" I asked curiously.
She shook her head side to side.
"That's why the headquarters called to ask what happened."
"Okay."