Chapter 2

"Gorou! Hey there!" The general turned around at the high-pitched voice calling out to him. Before he even saw them, his tail started wagging and his ears shot up.

"Paimon? Traveller?!" He exclaimed happily as he saw the two of them walking over to him. "What are you guys doing here on Watatsumi Island?!" He bounced up and ran straight to meet them.

"We had just taken care of some commissions in the area and wanted to visit you! We haven't seen you in a while! How are you doing?" Paimon asked with a big smile on her face.

"Oh you guys shouldn't have! You are very busy with your tasks, right? But I'm glad to see you! Can I bring you anything? Have you eaten anything today yet?"

The Traveller couldn't help but let a knowing smirk pull at his lips - of course Paimon would never say no to food, though he realized he wouldn't mind something to eat either.

Gorou led the two of them to a central barrack. It was empty save for the 3 of them, though that was usual in these late lunch hours, but Gorou was happy about it. It was always great to catch up with the Traveller, and sometimes the Traveller shared stories that was best kept between just the two of them... and if Gorou allowed himself to be honest, he also liked sharing his own secrets with the Traveller. Even though Gorou was well-known for being able to give advice, he often found himself gaining more wisdom from talking with the Traveller.

As they were digging in, the Traveller asked an unexpected question. "What's wrong, Gorou? Did you not sleep well last night?"

Gorou's ears perked and he felt a tinge of embarrassment - was it that obvious? He thought he hid it well, but there was no fooling the Traveller. Gorou sighed defeatedly, knowing he can't (and doesn't want to) lie to the Traveller. Who knows, maybe he could get some help about last night...

"Ahh... about that... yeah, last night, I had an unusually bad nightmare. It's not like it's the first time I have a bad dream - I often dream about wrongly planned ambushes, accidentally letting the enemy gain the upper hand, or just other weird things... but last night was different, and it's got me a little upset. But I try to not let it get to me!" Gorou finished with a positive note, but Traveller seemed concerned, still. Silence lingered, and Gorou fidgeted in his seat. This was the clue to continue speaking, but he had a hard time finding the right words to start with.

"Last night... I, uhh..." Gorou looked around for words, swallowing hard. "The thing is... last night's dream was... scary... very scary..." His ears flopped and his shoulders dropped. He tried to not think of this dream but he had to look his demons in the eye sooner or later. "I dreamed about... our soldiers... I... if for any reason, they betrayed me one day... I don't know what I'd do." Gorou kept his eyes on his hands in his lap. He could hear that even Paimon stopped gobbling down the food, sensing the seriousness in his tone.

"I mean, yes, Sangonomiya-sama has already written a few pieces of advice if that situation were ever to arise. I know them each, word by word, but... if it came down to it, could I ever hurt my comrades? I feel like, I'd sooner break myself than cause them harm. I trust them... I really do! With my life... but last night, that dream I saw... it was so real... it felt real... I'm..."

Gorou trailed off. No words were able to describe the whirlpool of feelings that nightmare had brought forth. Traveller rested a comforting hand on Gorou's, the warmth spreading through Gorou. Traveller's presence really calmed him down, but that tiny alarm of anxiety was still there in the back of Gorou's head. He knew he needed to work harder to get over this fear.

"What if you talked about this with your soldiers?" Paimon asked warily. Gorou's ears shot up in shock.

"What!? No way! There's absolutely no way I would burden my soldiers with this. They have never done anything wrong to me. They don't deserve to carry this weight. No, I need to solve this myself."

"Whoa, sorry!" Paimon apologized hurriedly. "Whew, the responsibilities of a general are heavier than I thought! Uhh..." Paimon tried to keep thinking of ways to help Gorou, but it was clear that there was not much left in her tiny head.

"Do you have an idea what caused the nightmare?" Traveller asked softly. Gorou looked at him, hoping to get more clues about the question. "Usually, our dreams have a source - an experience, a memory, a thought. Afterwards, it's just our brain putting that into a different format. Maybe something happened that subconsciously eats away at you?"

Gorou felt a bit of unease creep up inside him. Did he really have some reason to distrust his soldiers?

"I... I don't think there's anything. I trust my men. They trust me. Nothing happened on the day when this dream came to torture me... at least... I think." Gorou's voice faded away as he tried his best to think of suppressed memories and thoughts. There was a short silence of sympathy and concern.

"A-anyways! It's not that important! I'm sure it was a one-time thing, h-haha! Today I will drink some relaxing tea before going to bed, and I'm sure everything will be alright once again! Thanks, Traveller, for your help! Let me take your dishes." Gorou hopped to take the dirty dishes and hurried to the washing area with them, before Traveller or Paimon could say anything.

Soon after, the two of them bade farewell, and Gorou was once again alone with his thoughts. To shake off the worries, he went to do more physical training, long into the night.