“Are you sure you want to tame an Inoshuma just to look good? It seems to me that you are trying in every way to risk your life”, Enatsu commented in a low voice, looking at the horse demon leader out of the corner of his eye.

Yoichi hesitated a second more than usual before answering that question. Although Enatsu had always been loyal and friendly, he did not know whether the secret of the blood writing would remain safe with him. ​​

So far, he has shown that he is always on my side, relying on every decision. When I was in that alley, he ran to my aid despite being a chicken. Maybe he deserves to know. The young tamer thought, looking for an adequate answer to that question.

“Let’s say yes. If I can capture that Inoshuma, I’ll tell you the whole truth, Enatsu,” he answered with confidence. In his gaze, the fear of having said too much.

“I knew it! I knew you were hiding something from me! I bet it has something to do with what happened to you this morning,” the merchant replied. Moving without looking around, Enatsu stepped on a thin twig, breaking it and causing a slight noise.

*crack* – The faint noise, partially masked by the sounds of the dense forest surrounding the two adventurers, was perceived by the Inoshumas pack.

In particular, females and smaller specimens raised their necks and ears. They looked towards the position of the two travellers, moving their pointed horse ears and trying to pick up other sounds.

The next moment, the scarred Inoshuma moved away from the lakeshore. With a pride worthy of the most real of steeds, the horse-demon passed the weaker members of the herd and stopped a few meters from Yoichi and Enatsu.

The two friends remained in total silence, covering their mouths with their hands. Yoichi noted that the deep scars from the demon’s neck extended along with his ochre-coloured coat. Many of them seemed to have been caused by something sharp, perhaps blades, perhaps claws of other monsters.

That Inoshuma was different from its companions, but not only in size: its gaze was like an old soul, similar to that of a human who had fought and won a thousand battles, protecting his loved ones and defeating enemies stronger than him.

For a moment, Yoichi focused on the specimens behind the pack leader. The little ones and the females remained motionless to observe their leader as if waiting for commands.

The other pack master remained standing near the body of water. It was evident that it was only worrying about its herd, too far from the noise source to be in real danger.

“I’ll attack first. I’m sure this beast won’t run away and try to strike back. You will focus on one of the weakest horses,” Yoichi commanded, whispering orders in Enatsu’s ear. “Don’t worry about you and Sora… the important thing is that you block one of them and don’t let it rush off,” he continued.

“Forget about it! The bestiary described them as docile and coward demons, but looking closely, it doesn’t seem to me!” Enatsu quaked. A moment after his response, Yoichi and Kenji snapped forward, overcoming a thick bush and running in the direction of the clearing.

This time, the merchant did not even try to intervene. Within himself, he knew that Yoichi’s stubbornness knew no bounds and that nothing and no one could stand between him and his goal.

However, the chance of encountering that pack of Inoshumas was an opportunity to prove to himself that he could become a real tamer, following his secret wish.

Enatsu took a step forward, positioning himself on the edge of dense vegetation. With his eyes, he carefully traced Yoichi’s movements, waiting for the right moment to come out into the open.

Running on its four feline paws, Kenji surpassed its tamer. Its red predatory eyes spotted the target.

As soon as the Inoshuma’s pack saw a human being running with a Nekage in their direction, a wave of panic broke out in the air.

“Hiii! Hiii!” – wild boar-horse nitrite echoed in the clearing, scaring off birds and insects hidden in vegetation. In a general panic, almost all specimens of the herd, male and female, began to run in the opposite direction to Yoichi’s.

Even the other pack master, regardless of the danger until a few minutes before, began to nitrite, drawing the attention of its subordinates. Within seconds, even the smallest herd vanished, grinding the ground under their sturdy hooves.

The prediction announced by Enatsu, who believed the Inoshumas to be afraid of humans, had been confirmed for all the specimens present. All but one of them: the demon covered in scars.

*rrrf*rrrf* – Its wide boar nostrils vented the warm, rabid air accumulated in his big lungs. Its angry gaze turned to Yoichi, focusing on him as if the rest of the forest had suddenly disappeared.

It raised one of its heavy hooves made of hard bone material. With a circular movement of the leg, the bulky yellowish-coated demon lifted a large plot of ground, preparing for the charge.

“Grrr… screek! Screek!” Kenji growled as if to answer the verse of the Inoshuma. The four fangs that sprang from the horse demon’s lower jaw were chipped and damaged.

Trying to imagine how that demon would try to attack them, Yoichi pulled the dagger out of his belt. His hand squeezed the hilt, holding the weapon hidden behind his back.

Under the frightened gaze of Enatsu, who in the general bustle had not dared to come out into the open, Yoichi and the Inoshumas pack leader looked each other in the eye for a few seconds. Around them, even the forest was in religious silence.

“Let me tame you, Inoshuma. If you join my team, you will no longer be forced to fight alone,” Yoichi affirmed aloud. The young tamer knew that the demon could not understand his language, but those words spontaneously came out of his mouth before the fight began.

For Yoichi, that moment was particularly sacred. With that phrase, he was proving to his opponent that he had a pure heart, ready to take good care of it.