The Animagus: From Hunter to Monster

Chapter 4 Unexpectedly invited

"I'm still waiting for you, Buji!" Emra's voice called from the staircase.

'Thank you, Jesus.' He was relieved.

His legs moved, slowly at first, then hastily towards the direction where the voice had called. Emra stood there, her hands crossed across each other immediately below her breasts.

'This girl is a miracle. She should have answered that name.'

He sighed in relief and hurried toward the stairs, not daring to glance back at the crowd. Emra stood at the top, her arms crossed.

"What was taking your time? Are you always this slow?" Emra teased.

Buji shrugged and began climbing the stairs beside her. Though he still felt the weight of the stares behind him, but it no longer mattered. He had escaped their direct scrutiny, thanks to Emra's early intervention.

The Zin family, his foster family, was unimaginably wealthy. The household was made up of ten people—including him, for now. But whether he truly belonged here or not? Only time would tell.

***

(In Buji's room)

Buji and Emra sat on the tiled floor of his room, facing each other. Buji had a peculiar habit of avoiding furniture, even when chairs and couches surrounded him. Today, Emra had decided to join him, abandoning her usual protests about his strange preferences.

"I joined the cook in making the appetizers. What do you think?" Emra asked Buji, breaking the silence in the room.

"Hmm," Buji murmured, barely lifting his gaze from his food.

"I couldn't stay to help prepare dinner, though. I was famished," Emra continued, regardless of whether Buji had even grabbed her first statement.

Buji remained silent, shoveling chunks of food into his mouth. His mind was elsewhere, distracted by thoughts. Suddenly, he broke the silence.

"Oh, yes. I forgot about the guards while walking here."

"The guards? Did anything happen?" Emra asked, her tone spiked with curiosity.

"No, nothing happened," Buji replied, quickly swallowing his food.

Realizing his abruptness, he softened his tone. "Just... I've been thinking."

"About what?"

Buji hesitated. He was not thinking about anything, but she would sure not believe it. Or was he actually thinking? About what really?

"The thing is..."

'Risky and opportunity. He only thought about opportunity moments ago.'

While in thought, he stood up from where he sat and joined Emra on the bed. For someone like Emra, joining the so-called group of hunters surely was an opportunity with risks. If he had known what risks were involved, it would be easy for him to choose whether he would like to get involved too. Honestly, because in the logical sense, decisions are made depending on merits or demerits one can get after, AFTER.

On the same note, if he was able to weigh the risks as well as the opportunities being a hunter holds, it would be a pretty kudos to whatever decision he was going to make. But, he needed to know more, notwithstanding.

Wait, he was forgetting another thing. Emra's choice of word determinants, "might" and "can". The former entails that it actually breeds opportunities, but upon uncertainty, while the latter makes it a given that one was meant to meet risks.

At this thought, Buji joined her on the bed, his curiosity piqued. "So why did you decide to do it?"

Emra paused, staring at the wall as though searching for the right words. "It's part of my family's legacy. My father is one of the higher-ups in the association."

"Hunter, association, how?"

Ignoring this question, she continued with why she had joined the association.

"You might be oblivious to the fact, but the era when civilians were in charge was long gone. We are currently living as servants of ourselves, just placing few people to act as our leaders."

'Okay. She just vomited information and was flowing too, but he understood nothing.' Shifting the thought aside, he continued listening.

"There was a reason for it being like that. Let's call it evolution, some are complete evolution while few are incomplete."

'Here she comes again, evolution. Like, what's linking there? No sense, at all.'

"It's actually a long story to be told—history. A consequence of an uncertainty that had happened centuries ago. My dad was not even a living thing then, we are just keeping a kind of legacy."

'Just cut it short already. You still haven't answered why you joined the association.'

"One of the things that are done to keep this legacy is breeding young ones like us who have been found to possess an ability or more. Preferably, those with inborn potentials."

Emra said and turned to Buji's direction. Immediately, Buji who was gradually losing interest became agile, just to prove that he was listening. Satisfied, Emra shifted her gaze back to the wall.

"I joined the hunter's association not because I wanted to, but because I am one of those who had the sort of potential they were looking for. Plus, the fact that my father is one of the higher-ups."

'She finally gave the answer I was looking for.'

"Pheew."

"What?" Emra asked.

"Nothing. Was only tired for a bit."

"Okay. In that case, I was indirectly offering you an invitation to join..." Emra turned to look at Buji who was already lying down, with his hands at an angle 180 degrees above his head.