New law of Beast Taming

"So, how are the preparations going? Did you have good news for me?"

Amane quickly made her way to the agreed location. The government officials who had gathered there were dressed from top to bottom in protective suits.

If possible, they did not want to come here at all. But that would tarnish their public image so they had to compromise and come here with as much protection as they could.

Currently, these heavy suits they wore were what would protect them from the bud bugs. Or that was what they were hoping for.

Amane knew that it was a foolish dream on their part since the bud bugs were too small to be stopped by these protective suits they wore. And the bugs had a strong enough metabolism to chew through these suits.

’Of course, I am not going to tell all this to these officials. It would make them panic for no reason.’

*cough*

"Yoko Tsurugi, you sure are a daring woman. I was told that you went to look around the infected area yourself. But where is your protective suit?"

The official who had volunteered to overlook this operation quickly stepped forward to shake Amane’s hand. He was extremely eager to meet her and overly enthusiastic as well.

"Hmm? Protective suit? What are you talking about? These things cannot protect you against an infectious beast that is causing this budding. And this protective suit would only give them room to fester."

Amane had not meant to say all this aloud, but she ended up saying this anyway. She watched as the color faded away from the officials’ faces and they looked far paler and quieter than before.

Their desire to take off their protective suits was evident as well but they chose to believe in their science than in Amane.

Which was fair, but also extremely foolish on their part.

"Sir, we are finished with all the preparations. Tell us when we need to begin."

Unlike the officials, the workers only had basic clothes covering their bodies because they needed to work. And many of the workers chosen to participate to resolve this situation were wind users.

"Well, the stage is yours, Yoko Tsurugi. Hurry up and take care of the situation."

The official handed everything over to Amane. They quickly ran away so that they would not have to bear any responsibility for what was about to happen.

Amane watched them run away with an amused look on her face before she turned toward the city. She was currently standing at the tallest building near the slums and she flickered her wrist.

The fire started to burn the Veria grass and the smoke escaped into the city.

"Now, use your powers to direct the smoke toward the forest. I will take care of things from there."

Amane assured the officials and the workers. They obeyed her orders but Amane quickly noticed that something was wrong.

All the smoke in the city was not going in the forest’s direction. A significant amount of it was being diverted to the other side.

And this was not a natural phenomenon.

The second Amane mixed her magic into the gathering, she could feel the forceful push of air that separated the second cloud. She was also able to pinpoint the people who were causing such trouble.

Amane quietly walked around to not cause any suspicion among the people until she crossed the three culprits two times before she decided to make a move.

She moved swiftly and knocked the first rule-breaker out and used her chains to bind the second and the third one. It broke their concentration and the smoke began to move in the correct direction.

"W-What do you think you are doing to us? Let us go right now."

"Yeah! We were just doing what we could to help you. Why did you have to tie us up like this?"

The people complained as they were held together. They knew that they had been caught in the act of sabotaging this mission but they could not figure out how that happened. As far as they knew, they had been extremely careful.

"No matter how careful you are, you are all rats in the end. It was obvious that you would get caught the moment you thought of berating my trust."

Amane assured the three as she patted the person she had knocked out. Well, Amane’s foot patted the person’s stomach before Amane walked over to the side of the tall building and looked down.

Most of the smoke had run out of the city and into the forest by now.

"Get ready with the second smoke. We will let it stay in the slum for two days. It should be enough time to drag all the bud bugs out."

Amane assured as she lit up the special Veria grass. This one had been mixed in with other herbs and now gave off a red smoke. It took about 20 minutes for the red smoke to spread across the town as well. And that was when Amane took a few steps back.

"Lady Tsurugi, what should we do now? These were all the instructions we were given regarding this."

One of the workers asked once his job was finished. Everyone was confused about their next move but they did not have enough time to think about it because huge trees began to sprout all around one after the other.

People who were at the final stages of the bud bug infections were beginning to turn now. Those who could be saved would be determined at this level.

"Now? We all should run away as far as possible. I doubt any building in a 500-meter radius would survive such an onslaught of bloom."

Amane warned before she opened the door. Everyone panicked and quickly began to fly out of the radius. Amane picked up the person she had knocked unconscious and held the chain of the other two in her hand.

"Now you people, I have some beef with. Let’s have a close discussion, shall we? If you lie to me, then I will know and I will leave you to die here."

Amane threatened the three… two people in front of her. She looked over at them and they looked conflicted.

Then, they looked at Amane with a look filled with dread and desperation.

"We are so sorry. We did not mean to sabotage this mission. We were forced to do so in the first place."

"Yeah, we were threatened and our boss gave us an ultimatum. Believe me when I say that we had no other choice in this matter."

Amane heard the two people in front of her plead. Their cries sounded genuine but Amane felt as if these people were trying to fool her somehow. These people seemed like seasoned actors who were trying to make Amane believe them.

’Hmm, interesting. I must admit that these people are good. Unfortunately, they have met their match in me. But I will enjoy their acting if they want me to.’

"I see. So, you both say that you had no choice but to follow your master’s words if you wanted to live. It is, indeed, a difficult situation to be in and I sympathize with you. It would not have been easy for you to live until now."

Amane pretended like she understood these people’s plight and decided to use them. She let their chains fall and watched as greed filled their expressions.

"T-Thank you. I promise that we will not let your trust in us fade. We will bring back good news for you."

Amane let these people go. But she also tagged them so that she could keep an eye on them.

As expected, they did not get to go far before their life ended by mysterious means. That was what Amane expected from the people who tried to run away from her.

It was a good thing that she had kept one of them with her for questioning later.

"Well, you are coming back with me. I don’t know if you should consider yourself lucky for being alive, or curse your fate for being left with me."

The unconscious man did not say anything to Amane and she quietly brought him back home. She threw him to the servants and ordered them to keep this man captive.

Amane had only walked around for a little while in her garden when she felt a pair of arms close around her middle.

"Yo~Ko~have you been ignoring me these past few days? Ah, I feel so betrayed. You used me for my ability and then threw me away. How is this fair to me?"

Charlie’s arms tightened around Amane’s middle and she pulled Amane’s back to her chest.

At first, Amane felt as if Charlie was just playing around but it because evident that it was not the case. Charlie’s body was shaking and her breath was labored. It seemed as if she was having trouble focusing and her eyes kept on crossing.

"Oh dear, you seem like you are in trouble. Here, let me help you back to the room."

Amane pulled her arms around Charlie’s middle and pulled her body closer. She did not let it show, but Charlie was pushing most of her weight on Amane’s body right now.

It seemed like Charlie was having an adverse reaction to something and Amane knew from experience that it was the pollen in the air.