New law of Beast Taming

Flames rose high in the sky. The servants tried to save themselves by running around like headless chicken.

Amane watched the chaos erupt around her domain for some time before she decided to take charge of the situation.

"Everyone, calm down. Head toward the right wing of the house which is the fire-proof section. Also, open the enclosures to let our beasts out before they get caught up in fire. I will go and see the condition of the fire-gripped wing."

Amane's loud voice cut through the panicking people. Finally, some semblance of order seemed to form among the people and they quickly did as Amane ordered to.

"Do you want me to put out the fire? I can use my magic to call upon huge amounts of water to…"

"We should not be so reckless. I doubt that this is a natural fire. The worst-case scenario - water will agitate it even more."

Amane did not know why, but she had a feeling that this was not an ordinary fire. Someone had deliberately set this fire up as a distraction.

"Charlie, I want you to help me create a barrier to trap the fire. We are going to stop it from spreading and it will slowly wither out with the lack of oxygen."

No matter what kind of fire had been used to ignite these flames, the lack of oxygen would prove to be the end of this fire. But they needed to trap the fire first. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"You want me to create a barrier? Consider it done."

Charlie walked out into the open and raised her hand above her head. Her skin shined a golden hue before Amane felt the traces of power in her surroundings. The barrier she had asked Charlie to create snapped into place.

But that did not feel like it was enough by itself. So, Amane quickly reinforced the barrier with her aura so that it would not break.

Charlie gave Amane a betrayed look for interfering with her barrier. But Amane refused to feel guilty about helping.

"I do believe in your skills, Charlie. But we cannot rule out the possibility of something happening to one of us and the barrier no longer holding up."

"Hah, what could happen to one of us? We are too powerful to fall for anyone's cheap tricks."

Charlie sounded betrayed at Amane's actions. But that only lasted for a minute before she was back to her usual self.

"T-The fire! Did you take care of it, Yoko?"

Sakura ran out toward the garden as well. Amane had expected her to run away with the servants. But that turned out not to be the case.

"We have the fire under control for now. But we need to find out the one who set the fire. We should also look at Eclipse and our beast shelter."

Amane quickly reordered her priorities. The first things they needed to check up on were the beasts and the people they had restrained.

...…

The trio quickly made their way toward the beast shelter in the Tsurugi estate. It was a huge place and the fire had almost gotten to it before Amane had stopped it.

Eclipse stood outside the door with all the beasts the Tsurugi household currency held. And along with them were the servants who seemed to be hurdling over each other.

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Many of the servants tried to run away from the gathering but Moony's glare held them in place.

"I see that you managed to handle this situation, Eclipse. You did well."

Amane ruffled Eclipse's hair for a job well done. Moony noticed Amane and flew over to her side as well.

As soon as Moony had stepped away, one of the maids tried to escape. But Moony growled at the maid which made her stand still.

"M-Miss Yoko, why are we being kept here? Is this some kind of punishment? We will improve our work if you tell us what we did wrong."

One of the maids tried to negotiate with Amane. Her innocent-looking eyes stared right at Amane and a small blush decorated her face.

This seemed to be another one who had a crush on Amane. There was no end to these maids who liked her.

"You all did nothing wrong. It's the circumstances that are forcing me to keep you all here. I will not be able to answer any more questions for now so go back to the enclosure you were being kept at."

The servants looked surprised and uncomfortable being in the enclosure. They also flinched anytime a beast came too close to them.

They could not understand why Lady Yoko was doing this to them. They had been nothing but loyal to her all the time.

"Everyone, there was a small fire in the Tsurugi estate and we need to check it out. It would be better for you all to remain here since this place is fire-proof. It will also help make catching the culprit easier for us. So kindly cooperate."

Amane had forgotten that Sakura had been here as well. Sakura was used to dealing with these people for a long time. So, she knew how to handle them as well.

As soon as Sakura gave an excuse, the servants looked back at Amane with a look of understanding on their faces.

"Oh, so that's the case? You almost scared us all by making us think we did something wrong. In that case, please take as long as you want to catch the culprit."

"Yeah, catch him and bring him in front of us. We want to see the one who tried to harm the Tsurugi estate as well."

Everyone seemed angry at the fire that broke out in the estate. Amane promised the maids that she would investigate it and quickly took her leave.

She felt the same presence from before looking at her. Amane felt sure that the owner of this presence was the one who set this mansion on fire. But there were too many people around Amane to narrow this feeling down.

"Yoko, what's wrong? You tensed up and began to look around suddenly. Do you feel some kind of presence here?"

Charlie was focusing on Amane so she noticed when Amane began to look around like this. Worry crept up in Charlie's voice as she took a quick look around but did not find anyone.

"Tsk, it's noting. I thought I felt a familiar presence looking at us but maybe it was all in my head. There is no one here at the current moment."

For good measures, Amane tried to focus on the present but it was gone once more. That person seemed to not be looking at Amane anymore.

"Yoko, I will take care of these maids and their needs for now. You should go and chase after the person who set the fire."

Amane was beyond surprised when Sakura suggested this. She had not expected Sakura to say these lines.

She was not the only one surprised. Even Charlie looked shocked at the sudden character development Sakura showed.

"Sakura, are you sure you want us to leave you here? You can come with us and investigate the fire as well."

Amane offered Sakura what she thought Sakura would want. She could see the want in Sakura's eyes. The younger did want to come with her and help her out.

But despite what she wanted; Sakura decided to stand this time.

"I am sure that this is what I want to do. So go and investigate the fire."

The other two nodded and quickly left toward the fire building. Sakura watched them go with her heart aching to follow. She wanted to go after them but held herself back.

And there was only one reason for Sakura to do that - to catch the culprit.

You see, Sakura was not strong and she was not a genius as well. But she still wanted to attract Yoko's attention.

And what better way to do that than to catch the culprit who caused this fire herself? Sakura was sure that she could do this.

Once Sakura proved herself, she would be able to stand proudly in front of Amane and be on the same grounds as the divine leader.

One of the maids noticed Sakura's hesitation and her frustration after making this decision. She understood where Sakura was coming from. And that gave her an idea.

The maid was not an ordinary maid, but one of the Hive's spies send into the Tsurugi household.

So far, she had not been able to gain any strong foothold in this place. But that would change if Sakura Tsurugi favored her and took her under the wing.

The maid could only assume that her partner, the one who snuck into the household with her and caused a fire, would be caught soon. So, the maid might as well use his sacrifice for her good.

This way, they could further their plot by a lot.