The group travelled deep into the forest, and finally reached the Haiten village. It was already dark, and only candles lit the village, the group parked their transportations and proceeded to the village temple, where the elder stays. On their way there, many of the villagers were staring at them as they passed by, giving a hostile look.
"What's with the people?" asked Noah.
"It's rare that we have visitors who come inside the village, you'll get used to it." Said Norami.
"We're just here for the demon man, nothing less, once we kill it, we're gone." Said Azaria.
"Noted there.."
When they arrived at the main entrance of the temple, the front door guards approached them.
"Hold it right there!" said the guard. "What is the meaning of this? Why do we have strangers here?"
"We have to discuss it with the elder, let us pass…" said Jenova.
"No one's getting past us…" said the guard as he and his fellow men drew their weapons.
All of the guards were armed with pole arms and pointed it at the guys of the group. But Yakushi, Noah, Azaria and Darren drew out their weapons too, despite being outnumbered, both the guys and guards were in a dead lock.
"Hey! Stop it! We're not here to fight!" shouted Samantha.
"What is going on here?" said the voice of an old man.
The elder was standing on the entrance, the guards then lowered their weapons and took a bow towards him. The girls also did the same thing, Azaria, Noah and Darren as well, but Yakushi still remained standing, looking straight into the eyes of the elder. The elder also looked right back to Yakushi, Cai tried telling Yakushi to kneel, pulling his leg, but he didn't budge. The elder then gave a smirk and said,
"Come inside, you all must be tired."
The guards then rose and returned to their posts while the others proceeded inside. Inside the temple, wasn't even like a temple anymore, it was a throne room. The elder then took his seat on the throne chair while the group just stands in front of him. Suddenly, from behind the elder's chair, a man wearing a ripped black cloak, a huge scar on his face, ranging from his forehead to his lips.
"Greetings strangers…" said the man in a sly manner. "I am… the elder's advisor, before we …. Begin, I must ask that your weapons be, away from you inside this great temple…"
"Great… we've got ourselves a dragger…" thought Yakushi.
"Guards… please take their weapons. Don't worry, they will be returned when you leave the temple."
Everyone surrendered their weapons, but Yakushi only surrendered his blades, he pretended he had nothing else, but his dual pistols are still holstered inside his coat.
"Let's get started shall we?" said the advisor. "my name is Kurt Salazar, the ….. advisor to the elder."
"Get to the point…" said Yakushi.
"Show respect!" shouted a guard.
"Tch… whatever…" said Yakushi, rolling his eyes.
"Straight to the point it is! What are you outsiders doing here? Or rather, WHY, did you bring them here?" shouted the advisor as he turned to the girls.
"With all due respect sir, we've been facing our current crisis for almost a month and we haven't been able to do anything about it on our own." Said Norami.
"So your solution is running away from the village? Breaking the rules and seeking outside and corrupted help?"
"Watch it there.." added Yakushi.
"Is that a threat?" said advisor Salazar, as he approaches Yakushi. "You actually dare…"
"Oh I dare…"
"Enough of this!" said the elder. "Cai Bi Bao, who are these people? They can help us?"
"Yes sir, we believe we may need their help…" replied Cai.
"And yet you four are some of the most skilled warriors here! We don't need outside help!"
"Trust me sir! We do!" added Samantha.
"Really… Aren't they mercenaries?"
"Yes…"
"Well, do you have the coin to pay the contract fee then?" asked advisor Salazar.
The girls then looked at each other, so far they only claimed to Darren that they could pay after the contract is over. They never really had the money to pay, Yakushi could tell just by looking at how they reacted.
"So you didn't…"
"They already gave us a full payment in advanced, just so that we could finish this earlier." Interrupted Yakushi.
"What the?" thought the girls.
They were surprised, Yakushi covered for them, but Darren was lost, wondering if they really got paid or will be paid.
"And how much exactly?" asked advisor Salazar.
"That's none of your concern.." said Yakushi.
The guards obviously didn't like how Yakushi was talking, and they were holding on to their weapons as if they were going to strike.
"Well, either way, we've sent many great warriors to kill this… demon! But none have returned! Your tricks, will do no good….. NO GOOD!"
"Zip it!" said Yakushi as he stuck his pistol on advisor Salazar "Or I'll pierce that big nose.."
"What the? Guards! I thought I told you to take their weapons?"
Yakushi then pulled out his other pistol and pointed it to the nearest guard. The guards on standby pointed their weapons at Yakushi and the others.
"That's enough!" shouted the elder. "All of you! Lower your weapons!"
The guards followed the elder's instructions and lowered their weapons, Yakushi gave a smirk then withdrew his pistols.
"If you can deal with our current crisis, then fine, let's see what you can do…. Maybe it's time to bend a rule or two, we'd also like to see how the outside people perform in battle…. Cai, Samantha, Norami and Jenova…..."
"Yes elder?" the girls replied.
"Since you four were the ones who brought him here, you will be the ones to assist him, despite being the contractors, they're your responsibility now."
"Understood…."
"You all must be tired, maybe Jenova you have a place for our guests to stay?"
"Yes, of course." Said Jenova.
"Well then, off you go…"
The group then took back their weapons and exited the temple, the guards still aggressive towards Yakushi, giving him the killer look.
"I'm sorry about earlier, we're not accustomed to having visitors.." said Norami.
"Don't be, we weren't used to visiting anyway." Said Darren.
"Come on, my house isn't far from here!" said Jenova, running ahead.
"Hey! Wait up!" shouted Cai.
The Haiten village was quite a nice place, but Yakushi had suspicions when he saw the elder's advisor, Salazar.
"I have a bad feeling about this." He thought. "Better be on guard then…."