New law of Beast Taming

"Yoko, is something going on in this house? Can I help you with anything?"

Sakura looked worried for Amane's sake. It was a useless worry but Yoko did not stop Sakura from expressing her emotions. It was good for Sakura to express her desires.

"Something is going on in this horse every day. Anyway, you need not worry about it Sakura. You can sit back and relax this time. I do not want you anywhere near this case."

Sakura's fist was clenched tightly and her nails dug into her palm. She felt frustrated once she heard Yoko's words.

She wanted to help Yoko out as well but even she knew that she lacked the physical strength needed to help Yoko out. It was a sore spot that had never hurt before today.

"I know you don't want my help Yoko, but I still wish to do something. Please, allow me to do at least something."

Sakura did not want to sit ideal in her room. This was a good time to gain Yoko's recognition. But Yoko seemed determined to keep Sakura out of the situation.

"Listen Sakura, it is not *you* specifically I want out of the situation, but everyone who cannot take care of themselves. There is a Jorōgumo involved and things might get messy if we are not careful."

"..."

There was a surprised noise that left Sakura's lips once she heard Yoko talk. Jorōgumo was a topic that did not come up often even when people studied beasts.

It was a beast that had been eradicated thousands of years ago and had no chance of a resurgence.

"Are you sure you are not mistaken? A Jorōgumo? Really? But those things are…"

"Supposed to be eradicated. I know what you want to say but this is the unfortunate truth of our situation."

As soon as Sakura heard this, she calmed down and her jealousy calmed down as well. Now she understood why Yoko would not allow her to participate in this situation

"A Jorōgumo? Seems interesting. Let me join you as well."

A pair of arms snuck around Yoko's middle and pulled her back. Surprise flashed across Yoko's face for a few seconds before she masked it up. But Sakura's sharp eyes did not miss that flash of color and emotion.

Sakura looked behind Yoko, and only to see a familiar face leaning over her cousin's shoulder.

Charlie Suzuki's hair and clothes looked like a mess. Her make-up was also not perfect and she seemed to be having a difficult time keeping herself awake. But she offered her held nonetheless.

"I would rather have you go to sleep, Charlie. I can feel how tired your body is when you cling to me like this."

Yoko ordered and elbowed Charlie Suzuki to get her body off her shoulder. But the more Amane tried to get rid of Charlie Suzuki, the tighter the grip on her body became.

"Nope, I am not letting go of you. Besides, I heard your conversation. A Jorōgumo appearing right now is a big deal. As the leader of the divine guild, it is my responsibility to see this situation through. Won't you both agree?"

Sakura wanted to argue that this was the Tsurugi family's internal matter so Charlie Suzuki was not welcome to butt in. but Sakura could not do that once she considered the situation.

The divine leader had the authority to overlook situations that could get messy for normal people. And a Jorōgumo was exactly that thing.

"No, I would rather not have you in the same room as a Jorōgumo as well Charlie Suzuki."

Yoko declined Charlie's offer. But that did not seem to have made a difference to Charlie Suzuki.

"I know. But I am telling you that I will follow you anyway. You won't be able to stop me. As for you, kid. You should go back to your room now. There is nothing you can do at your current power level."

Sakura had not expected that jab to hurt her. She had been ready to take anything anyone said to her and have a comeback.

But even she knew that she lacked strength and she was a hindrance for Yoko in such situations.

'Would Yoko have allowed me to help her out if I had enough strength? If I was powerful and dominant like Charlie Suzuki, if I had more to offer to Yoko other than my brain, would she have relied on me more?'

The answer to that question was likely no. Yoko was not someone who depended on others in the first place.

But this interaction with Yoko and Charlie Suzuki made Sakura wish for power. She wanted enough power to bind Yoko to her side and not let anyone take her away.

'I want power. I want to hold Yoko hostage so that only I can see her. She should be mine and…'

Sakura felt dizzy suddenly. The sudden rush of emotions was difficult for her to handle.

"Sakura, be careful. I told you that you should go back and rest. I will look at the situation tonight and come up with a solution in the meantime. You go and rest."

Sakura would have nodded and headed out silently. But Charlie Suzuki had to make this situation difficult for her by warping her arms around Yoko's middle again.

Looking at the pictures in front of her made Sakura's blood boil and she wanted to tear the divine leader's arm apart for daring to touch her dear cousin.

"I-I think I will go back to my room now. I have a headache suddenly."

"Alright. Then, take care of yourself Sakura."

Sakura tried to shake the useless thoughts out of her head, but it was of no use. The picture of Yoko being warped in Charlie Suzuki's arms refused to leave her mind. Sakura was sure now.

She needed more power to establish her dominance. She wanted to trap Yoko in her embrace and own her.

...

As soon as Sakura was gone, Amane turned around and pinched Charlie's arm. That caused Charlie to flinch and let go of Amane.

"Are you one playing around? How long have you been up for? And why did you follow me out here?"

Amane had a feeling that Charlie's waking up was not coincidental. Amane knew Charlie well in the past. And Charlie was not someone who woke up easily once she managed to fall asleep.

It was likely that someone or something had woken Charlie up.

"Ah, you caught me. One of your maids dropped something on the floor which woke me up. I followed that amid and she seemed to be in some kind of trance. She did not even hear me when I called out to her."

That…somehow made sense to Amane. No matter how deep of a sleep Charlie was in, ancient times had trained everyone to wake up as soon as they heard signs of things breaking.

That was a defense mechanism built into the people of that time. Even Amane was the same.

"I see. So where did that make you were following headed to? Did you mark her down to follow her later?"

Charlie's offended look said it all - Amane should not doubt her.

"Of course, I put a tracker on that maid. She was acting too suspicious not to follow. Come with me and I will lead you to where that maid disappeared to."

Amane followed Charlie, only to end up walking into a familiar hallway. It was the one leading down to the Jorōgumo room.

"Hmm, so it was the Jorōgumo who caused this problem after all. The maid you saw seemed to be under its control as well."

Amane opened the door of the Jorōgumo room, only to find a few dozen people in there. More seemed to be arriving slowly as well.

"There are a lot more people here than I anticipated. What are we going to do with them all? Should we kill them? It would be the most effective way to lower the casualties."

Once a Jorōgumo marked its prey, no one could escape it. Either the Jorōgumo would have to die, or the hosts.

But even if the Jorōgumo was to be killed in its current body, the bodies it controlled could be used as a new nesting and breeding ground. That was why all the infected people in the past were killed off.

"We don't seem to have another choice but to detain all these people for now. We will decide what to do with them later." Stay connected via empire

Amane did not have a solution to break Jorōgumo's control but she did not want to kill people off as well.

Mostly, she needed the infected to conduct experiments and see how far she could exercise her control. This was something she had not gotten to try out in the past since she had still been on the run back then.

"Alright, if that's what you want then that's what we will do. So, how do we deal with this situation right now?