His breakfast the next morning was a bit of unsalted, unsavory stew using the last of the rabbit bits from last night. Tatsumi rounded it up with some edible berries he'd managed to find early that morning. Even for an assassin on the run like him that was hardly good fair to eat. He was used to such privations, and as long as he wasn't completely starving it was adequate fare. But that didn't mean he'd like it.
Tatsumi would have preferred finding some sort of larger prey animal to eat, even if he didn't have the tools or the place to make use of it all. Some large chunk of roasted meat to bite on would be good. Or maybe some hot bread, no matter how hard or mealy it was, washed down with a good draught of ale, or even just a flute of wine. Food he had taken for granted were now as wistful dreams to make him ache for their sudden absence.
No, he shook his head, banishing the thoughts of such luxuries from his mind. He didn't need to distract himself by thinking on what-might-bes or what-ifs. He was here now; he was still in an unknown situation, and he needed to solve it to some satisfaction—with the ultimate goal of going back to someplace familiar and send word to his comrades in Night Raid.
To that end, he needed to go out and start moving. He couldn't stay still in one place for very long. This forest seemed very big, and he could be spending days lost in its depths. Assuming the worst, he made ready to mark this place as a temporary "base" to return to, for its proximity to both water and some food to eat. Until he could find another base with a better situation, he would need to lay tracks to mark his way back to it, for there was no telling if he even could find another suitable location.
In lieu of leaving behind precious fabric or anything from his person, his alternative was to mark trees and boulders with the edge of Incursio. With this solution in hand, and with the desire to find either an exit or at least a better base, Tatsumi started walking.
He kept track of the time by the way the sun moved above, but sometimes it was hard to know if an hour had passed when he walked through a particularly thick copse. He found more rabbits and other small creatures like birds in his path, along with strange new fruits hanging from trees or shrubs, but these were not enough for him to decide moving his base. At the very least, if he absolutely had to subsist for a longer time here, there was enough food to go around.
He found the bigger prey he'd wante towards midday. He wondered if that damned teigu had placed him in such a bad location deliberately. It was a deer, which ran away from his approach. But he could easily catch it if he put his mind to it, so he let it go, for now. Just knowing there was deer very close was good enough. Tatsumi also found another spring, another branch entirely, which then converged with the spring he'd been following into one larger stream that then flowed down somewhere. He took a sip of the water and rested for a while.
His next goal was to find a suitable base nearby because of the presence of larger game, and this larger source of fresh water.
He found predators now as well, spotting a fox and two sleeping owls during his search. He could still eat them, of course, but his first thought was to take some deer by the end of the day and make a good roast or stew. But to do that he had to find a better base.
Some more hours passed. He had successfully tracked several deer, even determining them to be parts of different herds. That answered his question of supply for the time being, yet again a concern considering his possible stay in this damned forest.
It was in the process of investigating a small cave-like depression in the earth, as he pondered the wisdom of claiming it for himself, that he heard something like a boom in the distance. He paused, wondering why his ears had focused on that particular sound. Then the sound repeated: thoom, thoom, thoom, thoom, again and again, forming a rhythm as they happened one after another.
He strained his ears, frowning. No animal or Danger Beast would be making those kinds of deliberate noises. There was an artificial rhythm to it. That tentatively meant there were people close by, but he would need to make sure. To Tatsumi's mind they sounded like war drums, and back home they never meant anything good.
He slowly made his way towards the source of those sounds, making sure he could use Incursio quickly if it came to it. He had half a mind to wear it already, but wavered for the concern of finding an Imperial patrol. He was certain he could take on a squad of those bastards, but Bulat would agree it was better to be safe than sorry.
Tatsumi sneaked along the forest floor, taking care not to step on nor pass through anything dangerous. If that really was an Imperial camp, there were surely scouts somewhere keeping watch, and those rats always found some way to alert their comrades if Night Raid didn't silence them right from the start.
Just when he thought he'd gotten pretty close, he felt the wind start to shift. And with it came such an absurdly horrible smell that made Tatsumi literally freeze in his tracks. The foulness of it got right into him, and it felt like his nose was literally burning.
"Fuck that's awful!" he swore.
He felt movement close by, and watched a strange creature stumble its way through the undergrowth, making soft grunting sounds like a pig and giving off such a foul stink that made Tatsumi bare his teeth. It was carrying some sort of long wooden stick, with the end filed to a point, probably some sort of spear.
"What the hell is that?" he thought to himself. It was short and humanoid, with leaf-colored skin and wearing some sort of fur-like clothing. It did not seem like a type of danger beast, but it did not look human either. So was it some sort of weird experiment by the Empire? Or something else? For now, he just sat there observing as the thing grunted and looked around, beady-looking eyes staring out into the forest; its mouth bared showing tiny, but sharp-looking teeth, like a dog's.
The thing… the creature, whatever it was, had not seemed to notice Tatsumi hiding, so that was a plus. That meant the creature had little battle sense, almost like a normal person's. It wouldn't find him, unless Tatsumi stupidly gave himself away.
For a while the creature just stood there, making him wonder if it was some sort of mindless thing. Then it made a snorting sound and turned right around, walking back the way it came. It then occurred to him that the sound that had actually drawn his attention in the first place was still continuing, and that it was coming in the direction of where the green beast was moving.
Tatsumi stealthily followed along behind the thing, crawling through the bush and making not a sound like a predator stalking its prey. The creature continued to be oblivious to his presence, which made things easy.
Eventually, it came to some sort of structure, which Tatsumi realized to be some form of crude barricade. The drumming sound was also a whole lot louder, and was accompanied by a host of other noises, sounding like swords being sharpened and other ringing noises that set Tatsumi's teeth on edge.
Seeing there was no point in following his little quarry, Tatsumi moved along to survey what he'd found. He could easily guess it was some sort of camp that these creatures had made. If they had indeed done so, then these were not simply danger beasts who had no notion of such things.
He found a good vantage point, near an elevated rise hidden by a tree, and narrowed his eyes to observe the hubbub below. The camp seemed small, with many of those crude barricades surrounding a small central area. The center of that area was empty save for a burning bonfire, which sent black smoke upward in a long column. Around it, creatures looking like his quarry were dancing. It seemed they were making that noisome racket, as he easily spied one of them banging on some sort of drum, and making that noise he'd heard. The others were holding other things in their hands, and were also making such a clattering din, which seemed to be following some bizarre pattern Tatsumi couldn't get.
Beside that central area were more of the things, huddled beside some sort of large tent. Really, it just looked like a large skin of some creature dried and cured and propped on top of a rickety stick. Still, no matter how crude it was, it was loads better than Tatsumi's situation.
Lastly, there was some sort of pile of unrecognizables on the other side of the bonfire. Try as he might, he could not recognize what was on there from this far of a distance. If he wanted to know more, he'd have to move closer to get a look. But at this point, Tatsumi was more than content to stay back.
While these creatures seemed crude, they also represented a different sort of "life" in this forest that was not just wild animals. These acted like people—strange people perhaps—gathered in a camp and making merry in their own strange way. And since they were not Imperials, Tatsumi really had no quarrel with them.
On the other hand, could he go down there and treat with them? Instinct told him that he could not, that their ugly appearances were all that was to them. And really, it was very likely they would not understand one another. But Tatsumi had been taught to be kind when the opportunity presented itself, and so he did consider the possibility that these creatures, as strange as they were, could be talked to; and furthermore could help him with his dilemma.
But they stink real bad though, he thought. Hygiene was not something these creatures seemed to be aware of, nor less practice. That did not immediately preclude them from being considered, but it made it harder to justify talking to them, let alone approaching one.
Tatsumi silently weighed the pros and cons in his mind for a time. All the while, the creatures below continued to go along their own days without a care, unaware of his presence.
And then he caught wind of something that made the hair on the back of his neck rise.
There came the smell of burning flesh.
Human flesh.
A scent he could not forget.
"Damn it."
The creatures must have only started to do it, as the smell hadn't reached him until this very moment. He could hardly see exactly what it was that was burning, but it smelled just the same as human flesh. Tatsumi fought the urge to gag as he started to move.
He had wanted to leave these creatures be, to allow them to live their peculiar lives in peace. But the presence of burning human flesh meant nothing good. And now there were dark seeds growing in his mind: black thoughts and implications that did nothing to lighten his mood.
But just in case, he moved closer, to give these creatures one last chance. Though the smell gave him bad memories, it might just be a coincidence. It might not be human flesh.
Then he reached the very outskirts of the camp, his face practically pressed against one of their crude barricades. The smell was stronger here, and Tatsumi was strongly tempted to wear Incursio then and there.
But he had to be sure.
The piles turned out to be a whole bunch of rubbish. It was then that Tatsumi realized that these piles of refuse "hid" the tainted scent, but that was no real comfort. There were some bits of junk, like weapons and pieces of wood just carelessly tossed to one place. But there was also the notable stink of manure and other unpleasant things, like pieces of bones and unknown meat.
He looked past it to the bonfire, where the smell had come from.
And there, burning slowly on a stick propped up against the bonfire, was a severe hand, its flesh very clearly human.
Tatsumi closed his eyes, as if he could just shut off the horrible sight. Whatever these creatures intended with the severed hand: whether to eat it, as some sort of ritual, or any other damned reason, they still did something he could not abide.
The rage came over him, the same cold one that gripped his heart when he saw his friends dead at the hands of the depraved. Though these creatures did not seem malicious, that did not excuse what they had done—and what they could still do. If they lived to eat humans, then he would not hesitate to put them down.
That was perhaps the first time he had used Incursio's new ability to hide him from view. As a heavily-armed phantom, he moved through the camp, slaughtering the creatures without mercy. They never saw him coming, which meant that Tatsumi ran over them unopposed, the assassin's instinct driving him to slay them quickly and efficiently. He severed their necks, crushed their skulls, stabbed their hearts—all without letting a single one of their blood splash against his armor. Such was Night Raid's way, as long as no strong enemies were there to oppose them.
At the end of it all, he looked down and saw that all the creatures were dead. The noisome clamor had been ceased, giving way to the silence of nature closing in around the camp. He looked around, beholding the massacre with dead eyes, his gaze intent not on self-recrimination, but of cold calculation.
When he had determined that none had been spared, he quickly set to examining the camp. Unfortunately, the creatures had not carried anything on them that would indicate a clue as to his whereabouts, such as a map or anything similar. The only good clue he got was the severed hand, tragically enough, which served to tell him that there were humans close by, for the creatures could not have carried such a thing over long distances without it rotting.
Tatsumi rescued the hand, about the only thing left here that was recognizably human. Muttering soft prayers, he buried it beneath a tree, hoping that the poor unfortunate's spirit would find peace in the afterlife. He tried not to think about where the rest of them had gone. He raised a mound of dirt to extinguish the fire, and left the creatures where they lay, along with their camp. Their lot now to feed the forest, perhaps as penance, though he would never know if they ever felt such. Regardless, he wouldn't waste his breath on a prayer for them.
When he'd put some distance between himself and the accursed camp, he allowed himself to pause for a bit outside of Incursio. He stared up at the sky, wondering why fate had chosen him for its bitch. First Esdeth, then that guy, then these creatures. A lot had happened in just the span of a day, and it wasn't even over yet. Finally, he shook his head, resolving to continue his current goal. He started walking away from that gruesome scene of death, his path now clear.
And were he to find more of these "monsters" in this forest, then he knew what he had to do.
His grim mood lasted for quite some time, making the whole forest around him seem dim and frightful. Tatsumi didn't even blink when he encountered a bear drinking from the stream, but did turn aside to avoid having to fight it. He was in no mood for the careless slaughter of animals just yet. And he still needed to find a second base for himself.
The stream he was following wended its way through a particularly hilly part of the forest, as it forced Tatsumi to walk up and down many slopes. He encountered many animals on his way, reassuring him that he would never want for food and water. But the sun was still high up in the sky, and he wanted nothing more than to find a way out of this forest.
"How big is this place?" Feeling fed up, Tatsumi scaled the nearest tree trunk like a monkey to get a better vantage point atop the branches. His head peeked out from the very top, and all he could see there was green, green, green filling the horizon as far as his eye could see. The sky was a cloudy blue up above, and the heat blazing down on his head was reminding him how hot a midday sun could be.
Off in the distance he could see the peaks of a mountain range; it was farther now than when he'd checked the canopy yesterday. That meant he was walking away from it, which was really what he wanted. One typically did not find a city in a place like that, only certain terrorist groups wanted for crimes against the Empire, or a training ground like Mt. Fake. And while Tatsumi did hope that he had been transported just back home, that was clearly not the same mountain—and he had not yet seen a single Danger Beast in this forest.
And then, moments later, he spotted movement in the far distance. He froze, thinking he had been imagining things. Then he squinted, and saw that his eyes had not been deceiving him. There had been movement in that direction—a wisp of smoke so thin it could have been easily missed had Tatsumi's eyes been less alert. Smoke meant a fire, which meant someone had started it. His mouth set in a grim line upon being reminded that those monsters had set a fire in their camp too.
But a clue was a clue, and getting a clear destination in mind was better than aimlessly walking around. If it was more of the creatures, then he would be looking at two assassinations today.
Tatsumi started jogging briskly in that direction, moving as if he'd been set after a target that was about to flee. He jumped and glided when he could, using branches to launch himself forward long distances. He was so deadset on reaching the source of that smoke today that his concerns of finding a second base were left on the wayside.
Bit by bit, he could sense the forest receding. The trees seemed less numerous here, and the sun's rays were able to pierce through the branches with little difficulty. These rays eventually illuminated an obvious trail for him—something unnatural and therefore man-made. It was the same sort that the hunters of his home village used to map the known paths into the forest. Just to check, he stopped near it, and examined the path. There were faint, old impressions of bootprints, which meant that it hadn't been used in a while.
Still, seeing that was just the thing to reassure Tatsumi on one point. There were humans close to this place, who had made this path and had trod on it some time ago.
It was then just a matter of following that small path back out of the forest, until he reached the very edge of it. After a while, Tatsumi saw the telltale remnants of trees being felled, of denuded trunks cut by human artifice and not just knocked over by a large animal. Here and there were scattered bits of chopped wood, ostensibly to be used for a fire. He was close!
Now to see if fate did not betray him, that he would encounter those monsters again. He crested a hill, and saw it in the distance.
It was a small village. Not only that, it was a familiar-looking one. There were no walls, just a collection of houses gathered around a central road. Several wooden fences were set up around some of the houses. He spied a cow or something similar tied to one of these. One of the houses was sending off the smoke he had seen, perhaps a blacksmith or some similar place doing work. Tatsumi allowed himself to relax, even for just a bit. He didn't know how far he was yet from his ultimate goal, but this was certainly a big start.
And then, as if to answer his doubts, he saw someone in the distance. It was a woman! There was a woman there, dressed in villager's clothes, her hair blonde. He blinked, wondering if this was a noblewoman of some sort, then recalled that nobles usually didn't live in this type of place. The houses he saw would have to be a whole lot bigger or more garish, not those humble houses of wood he saw there in the distance.
Tatsumi watched the woman move along. She was carrying some sort of basket in hand. She moved close to a fence and bent down, looking at something he couldn't see. Then she rose, moved a step to the side, then bent down again. It took him a while to realize she was probably picking things from a garden of sorts.
Tatsumi's mood was now a whole lot lighter than before, hovering on tentatively cautious. Just because he was now close to people did not mean that these people would be good. But it was at least familiar territory. If there were evil here, then he had the solution to that. On the other hand, if these were just simple folks, then they would be able to help get him to where he wanted to be.
Now how to approach them? Tatsumi thought to himself. He didn't know how strange they would find a man who walked straight out of a forest—but it was also likely that they wouldn't even blink at it. He'd lived in enough of those frontier villages to know how these types of people lived harsh lives, and wouldn't bat an eyelid at a Danger Beast's howl.
He looked around, and saw that beyond the village was a wide plain. A person could be seen approaching from a mile away. If he wanted to present himself as a traveler, he'd have to go the long way to come from that direction.
"Nothing to it then," he thought to himself. He sheathed Incursio, bent over to wipe some soil and dust on his face and on his clothes. The girls would have turned their nose up at his threadbare, filthy-looking appearance, but this was nice for pretending to be a traveler who got lost in the woods.
When Tatsumi thought he'd done everything, he took a deep breath, then started walking down the path from the forest towards the village. The blonde-haired woman was still in view, working. It didn't take a while for her to spot him, her eyes widening to see him walking down the road leading from the forest.
The woman's first act was to turn back to the village, running to it. Some minutes passed as Tatsumi got ever closer to the village, and then several men rushed out, each carrying some sort of weapon in hand.
So far, so good, Tatsumi thought. That was a reaction he expected from villagers who had just seen an unknown, armed man walking towards them. The trio of men made a poor show of being guards for this place. If Tatsumi had been some sort of bad guy, he was sure he could have overpowered them immediately.
But he was not, and that was why he raised his hands, as soon as he got close enough to see their faces up close.
"Who goes there!" shouted one of the men, brandishing the long pole in his hand. Beside him was a man who was carrying a hammer and tongs, and on his other side was a man holding a bow with an arrow already nocked and ready to fire.
He was at least pleased to see that he understood them. So he shouted back, "Peace, peace, I'm just a traveler!" he said. "I mean you no harm!"
The men still looked unsure, though some of the tension eased from their bodes. "What's your name, sonny?" one of them asked.
"Tatsumi," he said. He wanted to give them a fake name, but he was terrible at the whole false identity thing. At the very least, if there were spies in this village, he hoped that the mention of a man fitting his description and claiming his name would alert Najenda's connections somewhere along the line. Still a bit risky, as it would also alert the Empire—or worse, Esdeth—but there was nothing for him but to do it.
"Traveler? You come from the forest of Tob?" another of the men asked, with brow raised.
He gasped for emphasis and gestured back towards the forest. "Yeah, I think I lost my way. I was supposed to go to the… the capital with my friends, but for certain reasons we got separated. And I got lost in this forest of, of Tob."
"You some sort of adventurer then?" asked the man with the pole.
"Well… you could say that," Tatsumi said. He didn't know if "adventurer" was a term for someone's job, but he and his friends did do some adventures once in a while for money or favors. "I can do a lot of jobs, I guess."
The man lowered his weapon. "Well, apologies for the greeting, Tatsumi. You done scared my daughter with you appearing from the forest out of nowhere. Nothing usually comes out of there but goblins or wolves or other unpleasant things."
"I'm surprised he managed to survive," observed another man.
He quirked a smile. "I managed. Somehow."
"That weapon there real then? Not for show?" they asked.
"Ah, yes, but you have my sworn word that I shan't use it for bad ends," Tatsumi said, crossing his hands before him. "And frankly I'm sick from all the… traveling—adventuring I did. I had to use the sword a lot… So when I saw your village, I was thankful to be able to reach shelter of sorts. I'm famished, and tired, and, and thirsty."
"Hum." The men rubbed their chins. "If you want any of those things, you got to pay, stranger Tatsumi."
He grimaced. He hadn't exactly brought along much of his effects when Esdeth had ambushed him. His savings of gold and other stuff were still back at the hideout. With a sinking feeling, he watched the men's expressions change when they sensed the awkwardness coming off him. It was like the stink of someone who'd been rolling around the pigpen for days. You just smelled it; and being penniless was one of those things.
"I can work," he offered. "Grew up in a village myself. I can haul stuff, go out to chop wood. Can hunt, too. My sword's not for show. I just want to rest up for a few days at your village sirs, until I get my bearings."
Perhaps understanding that he wasn't some wild animal about to bite them, the men finally lowered their weapons. One of them scratched the backs of their heads. "Well, you got to go talk to the elder first, of course. He'll know what to do with you, and if it's work you're wanting for a while, I'm sure he can point you on your way. I will say, though, I could personally appreciate some help hauling some things. My daughter Enri's a strong enough lass, but she's only got the one pair of hands."
"Certainly sir," he said, bowing. "I shall endeavor to prove myself worthy of any aid you can offer."
The men chuckled. "You talk big words, stranger Tatsumi. Come one then, let's get you to the elder and we can straighten things out."
"I'm uh… thanks so very much! I'm very grateful!"
Tatsumi would be forever grateful to the village of Carne—as the village's name would turn out to be, for being so kind in taking in a stranger like him. Word quickly spread of his appearance there, but outside of a few curious looks, none were openly hostile to him.
The village elder was also very accommodating, telling him that though rare, adventurers "like him" came to the village often enough that they wouldn't blink if strangers just showed up out of nowhere. The man then allowed Tatsumi to work for food and board as he wished, and pointed him to the Emmot family, which was headed by the man who had told him he had work available.
Tatsumi was only too glad to do it, and also met the man's family along the way. There was the man's wife, then his two daughters: the elder one Enri and the younger Nemu. The women were beautiful, which made him a little bit suspicious—as typically such beauties were relegated to noblewomen.
In fact, that was the first strange thing he noticed about the villagers. The men were rugged and handsome, and the women were beautiful, and could have passed for courtesans if not actual ladies back home. Could such a people have actually existed? If this wasn't a facade, then how pretty were the actual nobles?
Tatsumi pushed such difficult thoughts to the side as he worked to establish himself as a man to trust. He knew that he was still a stranger in these parts, and while the village elder had given his leave, people would still be cautious about him or his intentions. The feeling was certainly mutual, as he knew from bitter experience how fair features could hide monstrous intentions.
But he did his work, and was gratified to be given the food he was promised. The work wasn't even that hard, just moving crates around and bringing water from the well to the blacksmith. When the day ended, the Emmots did not give him a room at the barn, but inside their very house, on a spot next to the front door. Though he kept Incursio close, Tatsumi did allow himself to rest, sleeping under a roof for once since he'd been transported to this forest.
When the next day arrived and neither family nor village had done anything to him, he was glad for these people's decency. A far cry from most Imperial towns—to say nothing of those creatures he'd slaughtered on the way here.
"Ah, those. Gave those goblins a right thrashing," said Mr. Emmot, once he'd told him of the fact. He didn't hide having encountered these "goblins", because he did want to ask if the poor soul who'd been eaten down to the hand was a villager. Mr. Emmot frowned. "It's actually lucky you came along to kill them, Tatsumi. If there were goblins this close, there's no telling when they'd think to strike here. And we're not that ready to repel goblins. Might have ended up like that person whose hand you saved. Thank the gods."
Mention of these "goblins" made Tatsumi raise a brow. He'd never heard of "goblins" before, so they must be some unknown sort of creature. Because of that, he went back to visit the village elder after his morning work was done. He needed to get his bearings.
"A map? Why, have you lost yours?" the elder asked, with brow raised.
"Uh… well that is to say…" Tatsumi stammered.
"I jest, my boy," the elder said, with a laugh. "I just thought that you adventurer types carried maps everywhere you went."
"Well, I used to… but…" Tatsumi shrugged, with a sheepish smile, allowing the elder to come to his own conclusion without giving himself away.
"Not to worry. I've got a map right here. It's about several years old, mind, we've not had the money to pool together to buy a new one off a merchant… But as it seems that Baharuth ain't taken any territories according to the latest merchant, we're pretty sure we won't be needing a map just yet…" The man bustled inside his desk, searching through the drawers. "… Ah, there it is." He pulled out a rolled-up scroll, which he then spread over the table's top. "Here you are, lad, the map of the Re-Estize Kingdom."
The what? Tatsumi wanted to ask, but his words were consumed by surprise as he looked down at the map, only to find that he didn't recognize the land at all. He didn't recognize the names, nor did any of the geography fit with those maps Najenda had brought with her during briefings.
Where the hell did that guy throw me?
"Thanks, sir," Tatsumi murmured, his eyes traveling over the map. "It seems," he said, slowly, after a long pause. "That I've been brought off course a lot. But I do know this is the Kingdom, yes?" He indicated the entirety of the map, trying not to reveal his ceaselessness.
The man looked confused, then nodded. "Yes, as I said. Ahem. The Re-Estize Kingdom, of which we serve—His Majesty Ramposa's loyal subjects. Well, 'loyal', might be doing it a bit too far, but the point stands."
"Right, right, so you're… here?" Tatsumi said, pointing at a spot on the map close to what he saw to be a big forest.
"No, we're a little ways here," the elder corrected, pointing to a spot a few inches to the right. "And south of here is the Great Forest of Tob, where you ended up. That must mean you got lost somewhere… close?"
Tatsumi swallowed. "Right. Yes. It's a place down south, not covered by the map." He saw no sign of the mountain range he had seen in the distance. If that was the case, those mountains may be part of another country entirely, which mean that if he made a rough estimate and applied the scale to this map, then there was only one conclusion.
This Kingdom was damned huge.
The elder stroked his bearded chin thoughtfully. "You've come a long way then."
Tatsumi ignored that, and pointed out one prominent symbol of the map. "And this is the Capital I take it?"
"Yes, that's the capital city. Quite a long ways away, if you travel through the road out of here. You typically pass a lot of towns and villages like ours along the way. And some cities, as well, like this." The elder pointed to another prominent, though smaller symbol, which was labeled, "E-Rantel".
"That's the closest city then?" Tatsumi said aloud, almost to himself.
"Relatively speaking, yes," said the elder. "If you wanted to find better accommodations, get your bearings back or report to the Guild, that should be your next destination. Not that I would decide your destination for you, lad."
For a good long moment, Tatsumi just stared at the map, unsure of what to say. Many thoughts swirled in his mind.
"Tell me, sir," he said slowly. "Have you heard of the Empire?"
"Do you mean the Baharuth Empire?" the elder said, with raised brow. "Don't know much about them, but they're bitter enemies of the Kingdom, as far as I know. Never clapped eyes on a man from Arwintar myself, but I've met plenty of men who did. Nothing much to say, except that they're people just the same as us, only serving a different man. And obviously there's the annual war to remind us they're still out there, led by their young Emperor."
Tatsumi tried not to frown too much, when the elder pointed out where the Baharuth Empire was, north and east of the area of this Re-Estize Kingdom. But he knew that whatever this Empire was, it was not the "Empire" he and Night Raid had been fighting against. While the map was incomplete, he was pretty sure the lands south and west of the Empire he knew did not have such a Kingdom, and he had lived there for pretty much his whole life. He would have heard of a "Re-Estize", never mind a "Baharuth".
Once again, he cursed that man with the teigu, who had dragged him here of all places. He now knew, with a sinking feeling, that he was very far from home. At the very minimum he needed to cross several nations, and that with him banking on the possibility that next to Baharuth would be a place more familiar to him. It was equally possible that the Empire he knew lay south, beyond the forest and the mountains he'd glimpsed. Or west, or east—he had no way to know.
He refrained from asking anymore questions of the elder, lest he turn suspicious. He would need to get to this E-Rantel first, where he could find a map. He needed a bigger map, one that encompassed not just this Kingdom, but its neighbors. It was his one hope that if he got a bigger picture, he would get a better sense of which direction he needed to go to return home. And he could also ask around, if anyone knew at least a sliver of rumor about the Empire he knew and not this Empire here.
And so with that thought, he thanked the elder for his time and went back to the work he had agreed to do. Though he was grateful to these people, he would have to leave them before long. For the moment, he would need to get some sort of income. And he knew where he'd get it: this so-called Adventurer's Guild that he'd heard villagers mention.
Apparently, around these parts, adventurers were strong people like him, who were not quite soldiers serving under some lord. They were not quite mercenaries, though mercenaries seemed to be a fact in these lands as well. Adventurers were as skilled as soldiers, and usually tackled such duties as would usually fall to hunters back where Tatsumi was from. But aside from monster-hunting, which Tatsumi was familiar with, these adventurers also did all sorts of odd jobs. On the whole, he got the impression that adventurers were paid well to do jobs that normal folk didn't want or couldn't do—jobs that were too small for sending one's army but was too much for villagers like these.
At a minimum, if Tatsumi needed the coin, he would need to follow that path, even on a temporary basis. Unless he wanted to sign up for a mercenary group and be bound to it, becoming an independent problem-solver was his only way to earn, much like what he was doing in this village now.
Later that afternoon, Tatsumi volunteered to bring back some game to fill the village's larders. This time, the chief did not hesitate to agree to rewarding him for it; which he did when Tatsumi returned that evening with two deer and several rabbits. It was frankly easy work, but it made the villagers smile, and he got some coin out of it, which was all to the good. And Mrs. Emmot cooked them delicious dinner from their share, which filled his soul just as much as it did his belly.
Before he went to sleep in the Emmot's house, he examined one of the small coins that he'd been given. He did not recognize the symbols on the coinage at all, nor less the face of the King whose features were imprinted on it.
Early the next morning, he approached Mr. Emmot just as the latter had been about to start on his day, telling him that he was going to have to leave the village later, perhaps after midday. The man nodded in understanding.
"You've been a good help for us, lad," the man said. "Even if it was brief. If I hadn't seen that sword on your back, I'd have sicced Enri on you, make no mistake on that."
"W-well, I…" he stammered, his ears reddening.
The man laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "I kid, I kid." In a more serious voice, he added, "I'm never gonna be giving my girl away, you can count on that."
"R-right."
Mr. Emmot looked him up and down. "Like I said, you've got the look of a soldier on you. I always knew it wasn't some down-on-his-luck vagabond we allowed to enter the village. You're a born and bred warrior, lad, there's no mistaking it. You were never likely to just settle down in a poor old village like this."
Tatsumi stammered his thanks. He didn't know what to say to the man's observations. Some of it was on point. But he did object to the fact that he wouldn't have wanted to settle down here. If he hadn't had his pressing mission, he would really have seriously considered settling down in a quiet, peaceful place like this. It seemed to be a land untouched by the Empire, the Empire he knew at least.
But such was not to be his fate, not until his vengeance was sated, and his ultimate mission complete.
He very likely would have missed the sounds of screaming if he had ventured a bit farther.
Tatsumi had ventured into the forest, in order to bag even more game to bring back to the village. It was his way of a farewell present, to thank the villagers for their kindness and hospitality, and also gratitude for allowing him to take on some supplies for the road to the next city. He had little coin to spend, so he was literally asking them for flint and tinder, for various camping supplies and even some dried jerky to bring with him. It was just good manners to reciprocate beforehand. He'd also gather some firewood for himself, knowing what he did now about the terrain leading up to this E-Rantel. There would be fewer chances to find good wood along the way, ironically enough, so he would be needing some for any nights spent camping outdoors.
If he had stepped any further into the forest in search of his prize, he might have come back too late. As it was, the moment he heard the screams, he dropped the stack of wood he'd been hauling up and started running back towards Carne Village.
The telltale sound of fighting, struggling, and screams from both men and women reached his ear as he pounded his way like a madman out of the forest. Immediately he spotted a figure stabbing a sword into a man. He recognized the man—it was one of the three who had first greeted him some days past.
Tatsumi saw red. He didn't know when he'd activated Incursio, only that suddenly he was moving faster; and before he knew it, he'd stabbed into the attacker's heart. He barely had the time to process the dead villager's bloody corpse on the ground before he kept moving, his armored form flickering as he sought more of these attackers.
He found two menacing the Emmots. This clueless duo were even jeering as they stood over a bleeding Mr. Emmot, who had been standing in front of the door to his house. Tatsumi coolly put a stop to their grandstanding, by hauling them up by the scruff of their hoods and slamming them headfirst to the ground.
The screaming from the Emmots intensified when they saw his appearance. Then he said, "Mr. Emmot, get inside the house now! Enri, help him in, and bar the door!"
"… Tatsumi…?" Mr. Emmot mouthed.
He didn't have the time to answer the man's questions as he shot away, searching for more of the attackers. Every moment he spent not moving was another precious second that he could have used saving a villager's life from these fuckers' blades.
The next few moments were a blur for him. He dashed from one corner of the village to the other, hunting down those who were baring a blade on the helpless villagers. Sometimes he was too late and could only exact vengeance, at other times he was there to parry a deathblow, with Incursio exacting its due retribution.
He saved many. He failed the rest.
All was in balance, but on the whole, he knew—
Failure.
He was powerless.
When it was all over, he was flat on the ground, gasping. The weight of all that had occurred came crashing down on his shoulders, leaving him slumped and dazed as if he had fought a battle, when he had only been massacring these invaders.
Too late, he realized, with Mine's voice shouting in his mind, that he had killed them all.
He should have left one alive, at least, to question.
He struggled to his feet, Incursio rippling away from his body as he took in the result of this event. At his feet lay the battered remnants of his last kill, which he ignored. He went to the villager whom the man had killed, and checked to see if he could still be saved. The cold, unfeeling flesh made him grimace as if he'd ducked into icy water. He cursed, and rose to his feet. He did not really know this one, but he had seen their face. Had seen it glow with joy, with approval, when he'd brought back his hunt yesterday for all to see.
Now a certain number of those faces would never be happy again. The bitter realization almost froze him on the spot, until he heard the world around him once more.
There were cries, shouts, wails—no sounds of battle, and yet there were people still hurt or needing aid. That shook him from his stupor, and he turned. Incursio wrapped around his frame once more, lending aid to his efforts as he gathered the villagers around to assess them.
A lot of them were scared of his appearance, thinking him another attacker. But when he told them he was Tatsumi, they at least consented to let him carry an injured one to the chief's house. The chief was supposed to be a herbalist, who could care for the injured. It was really fortunate that Tatsumi had been able to stop the duo who had been trying to break into his house. If he'd been dead, there would have been no aid for these injured villagers at all.
And as for the rest, whose friends or families were beyond saving; these ones he collected respectfully, to place on a separate spot, to prepare for the mourning and the rites.
Mr. Emmot and his family were one of the lucky ones who had been spared, and it was they who set about to assist the chief with his work. Seeing the bloodied Mr. Emmot wave away the elder's ministrations stubbornly, with his wife and daughters helping tend to the others, led Tatsumi to the spine-chilling realization that it was only because their house, which faced the forest directly, had been easier for him to reach. He noted that a lot of those whom he had failed to save came from the side of town farther from the forest.
"Tatsumi, we are damn lucky you were here," said one of the villagers, who'd been saved. The others murmured their agreement.
He swallowed, trying not to let his feelings get to him. "But I… If only I hadn't… I…" If he'd only just put away his mission for one more day. If he'd just waited to leave until the next day. If only he'd done this. If only he'd done that. If only.
He felt someone pat his back. It was Enri. "Me and my family will always be grateful to you, Tatsumi. I know you would have wanted to save them all. But it's never a bad thing to have saved even one, I think."
"The girl's right," said a tear-filled woman, whose husband had been killed. "And you gutted the bastards in turn, so don't you worry about us, lad."
"You did what you could."
"You saved us, my boy."
"Thank you, Tatsumi," cried Nemu.
But could he have done better, Tatsumi thought darkly, as he helped the others work. He could have done better for these people.
When the initial round of healing was done and the injured had been carted off to lie down back in their houses, Tatsumi and those who were still standing went off to collect the corpses of these bastards. In this, he was joined in a vengeful mood by those who had lost loved ones, some even spitting in the corpse's faces as they dragged them to a pile.
Some stooped to examine these bodies, as if they could discern their origins.
"What do you make of it?" one asked.
"Well-equipped, I'd say," another would reply, after all the bastards' bloody swords had been gathered. They would be cleaned then melted down for steel, or otherwise claimed by one family or other. It was only fair. Near all of these people's gear would be stripped off to be sold or reused in some way or another.
Tatsumi did his own examination of the invaders. As the villagers observed, these people were reasonably well-armed. Judging from their hardbitten features, and the various scars unearthed on their bodies, they were also no strangers to fighting with blades, leading him to conclude that these were veterans at the least. He wondered if that spoke to his skill or their lack of it. If he had not used Incursio, could he just have dueled them?
The armor they wore was also telling of their origins. These weren't a band of cutthroats or robbers, who had chanced upon a defenseless hamlet to suck it all dry. They wore well-made lamellar, uniform in shape and appearance, with nary a thing to differentiate one from another. This meant the armor had been commissioned for a group, typically done when the recipients formed part of an army.
So the question now was: which army did this band belong to, and why had they chosen to attack Carne Village? The men did not have the haggard look of desperate men, like Tatsumi, who needed food or water and didn't care to kill to get it. These were healthy, well-provisioned men who, in his estimation, had been given a task and had executed it to their best ability.
"Bandits, you think?" muttered one of the men, who had obviously not been privy to Tatsumi's private thoughts.
"Well-dressed bandits, if I have anything to say about it," another man replied.
"We hadn't heard anything about bandit attacks from the other places," another remarked. "This came… completely out of the blue."
"Tatsumi, what do you think?" All eyes went to the village's savior. He saw the respect on each man's eyes, but all it did was make him want to shout at them, to tell them all he was a fraud.
"Well, I do wonder if this is… normal for you," Tatsumi replied. "Do bandits really come to terrorize villages like this?"
"Well, not usually," Mr. Emmot said, rubbing his chin. "We've heard it happen to other folks, so we know it happens. But it's a rare thing to happen like this. Most times, folk get the advance warning, and we all skedaddle over to the nearest city and bunker down for a good while."
"And the chief goes and tells the lord."
Mr. Emmot nodded to the man who'd spoken. "And if the lord's good, which in this case, he is, he'll forgive us our tithe for the month. And if it happens again, well—"
"—In that case I would need to have a personal audience with the lord," said the chief, who'd just arrived to hear the tail-end of their conversation. "To tell him that bandits are terrorizing his people."
"So he'll send out the army and root out these scum, and then we'd have peace."
"That is the hope," the chief said, looking down with furrowed eyes at the pile of fallen dead. "Unfortunately, I don't think we're dealing with bandits here. What say you, Tatsumi?"
".. I'd have to agree," he said slowly. He pointed down. "These bastards are way too well-equipped just for it to be a group of raiders."
The chief nodded at that. "Aye, that was my conclusion as well. These are military men, surely. But that doesn't really answer our question. Which master do these serve? What reason had they to attack our small village?"
"Could be it's an enemy of the lord," a man ventured. "Some rival of his, sent the men down to menace his commoners."
"Could be," the chief said in resigned agreement.
"That's vile!" Tatsumi exclaimed. "Why would people do that?"
"Well, you get all sorts of people all over, Tatsumi," the chief said. "And that counts for anyone, noble or no. But of course, I'd not lay blame on anyone just yet. They're a puzzle for the lord to work out, not for ourselves."
"Puzzle or not, they killed my wife, elder!" cried a man with tears in his eyes. "They've got to answer for this, whoever they are!"
The chief shrugged, looking like he could offer no words to answer the man. Tatsumi seethed silently.
Somehow, it felt like he was still at home. Powerful men sending other people to ruin innocent folk's lives. It smacked of the Empire, even though the Empire wasn't really here. It made him laugh to contemplate: was he really blown far away, or no?
And what should he, Tatsumi of Night Raid, do about it?
Eventually, the argument made it clear to all that everyone was tired of discussing the matter. After making some arrangements to burn the bodies later that night, everyone dispersed, to look after their wounded or their dead.
Everyone except the chief, who called out, "Tatsumi, a word if I could."
"Yes, sir?"
"First of all, on behalf of Carne Village I would like to thank you for what you did to save us from these men," the elder said. He glanced at Incursio sheathed behind him. "It would have been a far worse situation if you hadn't come when you did. I, personally, shall be eternally grateful to you for what you did. In fact, Carne Village will always be open to you, no matter what. It is my personal guarantee, and I know others will share my sentiments."
"That's…" he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Well… thank you, sir."
The man smiled. "And if you were not a man destined for things greater than this small village of ours I would have insisted on keeping you here. We would certainly appreciate having a strong sword-arm protecting us, far better than the lord's armies at any rate." When Tatsumi made to speak, he raised his hand. "I know what you're going to say, lad. And I'm grateful for it. You've a kind heart on you, one encased in harsh steel, it looks like. You and I both know you're not meant to serve out your entire life here. So let's leave it at that, shall we?"
"… As you say, sir."
"Now be that as it may, I find myself admitting that… we do still need your sword hand, Tatsumi," said the elder. It was the latter's turn to look awkward and put upon. "Now I realize it may not be ideal to you, and that it's a hard burden, but would you accept guarding Carne Village for just a bit longer? A few days, perhaps, to see if any others would be coming to avenge their comrades—or whatever nefarious schemes are afoot. I—we'll make it worth your while. It might not be an official adventurer's guild quest, but we would be glad to offer anything that we could to pay for your help. Certainly beats having to send someone to E-Rantel to make up a guild request. Oh, but don't worry if you refuse, in that case we'd also pay you to send—"
"Sir, that's enough," Tatsumi said, interrupting the man's spiel. "By that I mean, um… I accept. I'll stay for a while longer."
The man's face looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected that answer. Then he surprised Tatsumi in turn by taking his hand and shaking it. There were tears on the old man's eyes.
"Thank you, lad. Thank you very much. We owe you a debt we could never hope to repay."
"Don't worry about it sir," Tatsumi said, feeling embarrassed. "I'm glad to be able to help."
After the agreement, Tatsumi helped the villagers with the matter of preparing their dead for burial. He was told that having this amount of dead was unprecedented, and that usually they would take a dead villager up to E-Rantel for burial.
"But we've only got the one wagon, and it'll already be full up with transporting the poor souls. No one else can come with," the elder explained. Some of the families had horses, so they could ride along with the wagon, but the rest would be forced to stay behind.
"I'll ride with my darling if need be!" declared a woman.
"And I as well!"
"That's all well and good if you want to stay with the stink, but you'll overwhelm the wagon, and then where will we be?" the elder remarked shrewdly.
Unfortunately, Tatsumi didn't really have a solution to offer himself, as neither he nor Incursio had the means. He couldn't even offer advice, and his only contribution was volunteering to chop and haul the wood when someone proposed to build another wagon or two. (It was unfeasible, as the time it would take to build it would let the rot and stink of the gathered bodies fester even more, risking bad things all around, as the wiser villagers said.)
Tentatively, the date for transportation was set for tomorrow; though Tatsumi was not involved with the planning, as he was going to guard the injured in the village.
After that was squared away, the village's attention returned to the invaders' bodies. It was a unanimous decision to have the bodies burned in a pyre immediately. While it was "more than the wretches deserved", according to the villagers, it would stave off the "bad things" the other villagers hinted at with regard to letting corpses fester. Though Tatsumi didn't give himself away, he did wonder what they meant, other than the fact that decomposing bodies were prone to spread disease.
It was then that someone came running in, barging into the meeting with a shout. It was one of the young men who'd been tasked with watching the road, to make sure no one with ill intentions approached.
"Riders!" the man said breathlessly. "Approaching in the distance!"
Immediately the whole place devolved into a panic. For the next few moments people were going this way or that, pushing their way past everyone else, heedless of whoever was in their way. Even Tatsumi was not exempt from it, as he was struck dumb by the news.
Then he raised his voice and said, "Everyone! Please, listen to me!" And to his surprise, they did. They stopped and looked at him expectantly. It was strange, to be under the scrutiny of so many pairs of eyes. But something in him mastered his apprehension, and he continued to say, "You all need to go back to your houses and barricade yourselves inside! Quickly! If at all possible, you should go as a group!"
"He's right!" The elder said hastily. "Everyone, group together and do just as Tatsumi said. Each house has to have at least several fighting men to hold off the enemy! I'm sure you men understand!"
The older men, including Mr. Emmot nodded grimly. They knew well what was at stake: their family's safety. They also knew that they could not realistically do what Tatsumi did. At best, if Tatsumi failed, then they would only delay the inevitable. But these people of Carne were brave, and were willing to do what was necessary to defend what was theirs—to their dying breaths.
He wouldn't let them down.
As the villagers went inside in groups, dragging over furniture to block off windows and doors, Tatsumi went in the direction of the riders to face them directly. He didn't know how good he would be, even with Incursio, but he would try.
He hoped there wouldn't be an army coming in. Much as Incursio was powerful, he was only one man, and he was unsure of success should they bring in the full weight of numbers on their side.
He drew Incursio and lurked near one of the outer fences in preparation. He would observe these newcomers, and gauge their numbers. If they were few enough, he would do his work as normal. But if they were many, he would try to distract them and lead them on a chase away from the village. Hopefully they would follow, and that would spare the villagers, because he sure wouldn't be able to stop them all.
Tatsumi then saw the riders coming, heralded by the clouds of dust that signaled their approach. They were actually cutting straight across the plains off the side of the road coming into the village. They were rather obvious about it, which meant many things—one of which was that they didn't fear an ambush. Then again, if one was powerful enough, an ambush would be nothing.
When they got close enough, Tatsumi was able to identify their leader of sorts. It was perhaps his instinct as an assassin to single out someone who looked like they stood above the rest of his fellows—instinct told him it was either something they wore, or just a general aura about them.
Before he could start estimating their number, the riders suddenly stopped. The man in charge had raised his hand. For a while they just stared at the village from a distance, allowing Tatsumi to observe them quietly. These people wore plate armor of some sort, different from what the invaders had been wearing. That really didn't mean anything—they could just have been scouts for these people. But Tatsumi had the impression that these men were proper fighters, soldiers kitted out in full battlegear—prepared to wage war.
For several long moments, the riders did nothing. Tatsumi watched them converse with each other. Then the leader moved up. He braced, waiting to see if he should actually land a strike. These riders were few in number, and though they were garbed differently, Tatsumi was willing to risk attacking.
Then the man shouted, "Hail the villagers of Carne! I am the Warrior-Captain, Gazef, honored servant of King Ramposa!"
"What do you want!" Tatsumi yelled back. The leader blinked, looking confused at his shouted reply. They all seemed to know where his voice was coming from, as they were glancing his way. "State your intentions!"
"I am here on orders of the King! Are you one of the villagers here? Please, take me to your village chief! I have to speak to him!"
Tatsumi frowned. The man didn't seem to be a deceptive sort, but if he were part of the same group as those invaders he wouldn't have needed to stop and announce himself. He hadn't even said anything bad.
He emerged from hiding, and made sure to let everyone know he was there. With Incursio bared in his hand, he walked slowly to stand before the village, facing the one named Gazef directly. The other riders cursed, some even drawing their weapons. Gazef, meanwhile, just watched Tatsumi's movements with narrowed eyes, his hand on the pommel of his sword.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Tatsumi asked the man.
"I have my badge which signifies my royal remit," Gazef said, his eyes never breaking contact with Tatsumi's. "And there is also my word. But if you wish, you may escort me and only me to your chief, while I order my soldiers to stay back. Would that be alright with you?"
For a long time, Tatsumi just stared. Then he nodded. "No funny business."
The man dismounted, and walked over to Tatsumi. He watched Gazef approach with a certain wariness. He knew he could immediately don Incursio if the man made any sudden moves. But his instincts could also tell that if he were to fight the man it would not be just a quick slaughter. There was something about him that made him dangerous—though Tatsumi didn't really know why.
They stood before each other, now practically a sword's length away. Gazef nodded to him. "I would have said that it is good for a remote village to have someone like you, but now that I have a look at you… hmmm… You're an adventurer, aren't you? You're not the sort one finds living in a village like this. Not usually, I mean."
"You wanted to speak to the chief right? Come one then." He shadowed the man from behind, ready to act if he did anything. The chief came out of the house, having witnessed everything.
"Gazef Stronoff!" the chief exclaimed, some moments later, after introductions had been made. "The Warrior-Captain, and our King's Royal Champion! It is an honor to meet you, my lord!"
Gazef chuckled. "No, don't call me my lord. I'm just his Majesty's soldier." He glanced at Tatsumi. "And he is…?"
"Ah, that is Tatsumi. He's a wanderer, came into this village a few days back. He helped us out for a bit, in exchange for his stay."
"A wanderer eh?" Gazef wondered shrewdly. "A bit young, but not unusual."
"Lest you get any ideas, he's not a shady character," the chief said. "He even killed a bunch of those people who came to slaughter us."
"People?" Gazef said, his eyes widening. "So there were bandits who came in?"
"Yep!" The chief pointed at Tatsumi. "And he killed them all. Helped most of us out, and without him we wouldn't have survived. So begging pardons, sir, but don't go casting suspicion on our boy."
"I… had no intention…" Gazef said, his voice distracted. "But you said you were attacked?" He looked around, suddenly alert, in turn making Tatsumi on guard.
"What's the matter, sir?"
"This is why I'm here," Gazef said. "I was tasked by my liege to investigate claims of rogue knights pillaging villages out here in this area. And if possible, eliminate them. So far, we've been too late to save one village east of here."
"Gleyn? Oh, those poor people," the chief said.
"We chased the stragglers west as far as we could, but lost them in the foothills. We then decided to go to Carne, knowing this was the only other village in the vicinity. I then sent word to E-Rantel for reinforcements."
"Who are these people sir?" the elder asked. "I should like to know who these bastards are who killed much of my own villagers. We're still in shock, truth be told."
"I don't know," Gazef said. "Could be a rogue noble, playing tricks. Or something else. I wasn't…"
Then there came a stampede of hooves. Tatsumi bared his sword towards the intruder, and then saw that it was only one of the men under Gazef.
"Bad news, captain!" the man on the horse said. "The outriders just came back! Those bastards are here—and there's plenty of them! They got us dead to rights!"
Suddenly, Tatsumi felt a distinct burst of bloodlust coming from one direction. He turned, as Gazef started issuing orders behind him, narrowing his eyes at something in the distance. It was such a strong feeling, as if he was facing an actual Danger Beast.
"Someone's here alright," he said, turning his head. "Chief, you may wanna go inside."
"Tatsumi, was it?" Gazef said. "What are you going to do?"
"Defend this village, like I promised."
For the first time since their meeting, Gazef smiled. "You are a noble soul. If you wish, we should join our swords together. We'll dispense justice—mine in the name of the King's, and yours for the villagers here."
"Alright then, let's do this together. We'll make sure these bastards don't claim another single life from this village!"
Chapter commissioned by The Silver Dragon Emperor, thank you. A reminder that the story is commissioned.
If you'd like a story commissioned, feel free to contact me here, or on archiveofourown under "RHoldhous", or message me on discord under RHoldhous#6771 or jonholdhous under the new rules.
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