Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 157: Night of Wind and Tide (7)

Dragon Raja 3

“Clean up the scene before the Coast Guard arrives. Don’t leave behind any eyes or tails for them to find.” Su Enxi made a call, saying just that one sentence before walking to the hot spring pool to scoop up water to wash the blood off her face.

The tsunami had ended. The white waves were retreating layer by layer, leaving behind fine white foam in the cracks between the black rocks. The temple bell rang once more from the mountaintop, celebrating Atami’s survival. In truth, the scale and destructive power of the tsunami were not too great, and the breakwater had helped minimize any casualties. The tourists who had taken refuge in the city were likely enjoying sake and talking excitedly about their thrilling experience, unaware that the gates of hell had almost opened in Atami.

The sound of “meow, meow” came from the petal-strewn path, and the fat cats who had been sleeping on the hearth were awakened, coming out of the house to see what the commotion was about. Cats, being predators, should have been very sensitive to the smell of blood, but these two seemed completely indifferent to the blood-soaked air, sniffing curiously around Su Enxi instead.

“It’s been many years, and they still remember you,” Kimura said.

“It’d be strange if they remembered me,” Su Enxi said, tilting her head to look at the cats.

The fat cats also tilted their heads to look at Su Enxi, with a “I’m looking at an idiot” expression. Kimura wasn’t sure what to make of the situation—he just thought the driver who had brought the cats was right: the owner was crazy, and so were the cats.

“Ieyasu?” Su Enxi pointed to the elder sister cat, then to the younger brother cat. “Nobunaga?”

“They’re not named Ieyasu and Nobunaga,” Kimura said, quite surprised. “Did you forget their names?”

Su Enxi had bought the Kuroishi Residence as a home for the cats, which showed how much she loved this pair of silly cats. Yet ten years later, she couldn’t even remember their names. It didn’t seem like her, the meticulous and calculating person she was, to forget such a detail.

“It’s not that I forgot—I never remembered in the first place,” Su Enxi smiled. “These two silly things weren’t raised by me; they belong to my boss. This villa wasn’t something I wanted to buy either—it was that madman who took a liking to it on eBay.”

The ground shook again, and both Su Enxi and Kimura were startled. The tsunami had just ended, and now there was an earthquake? Could there be a second wave? Su Enxi turned to look at Sagami Bay—the sea was calm. But to the northwest of Atami, a glowing column of dust suddenly rose into the black night sky, its edges flickering like scales of fire.

“That’s in the direction of Mount Fuji. It seems the earthquake has caused it to erupt,” Kimura explained. “That volcano hasn’t erupted in three hundred years.”

“A volcano in the trench erupts, then the one on land follows. Is this country sitting on a chimney?” Su Enxi looked out into the night sky.

Along with the glowing dust column, scattered streams of fire shot into the sky. The clouds were pitch black, but their edges glowed with a burning hue, as if the sky was filled with smoldering embers ready to fall to the earth at any moment.

“People say Japan’s foundation is unstable, and it’ll sink into the Pacific sooner or later,” Kimura said.

“I just hope it holds out until I can fly away,” Su Enxi laughed.

Series Navigation

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