Chapter 3
Yuji had been traveling with Haibara and Nanami for the last 6 months. So far it has been pretty nice. The first month or two was pretty rough, Yuji had felt the effects of his loss drag him down. A bone deep sorrow and anger that felt all encompassing.
In that time Nanami had been a godsend, him and Haibara had been patient with Yuji when he snapped and yelled or cried. Haibara always made him food and Nanami forced him to take breaks from training.
The training had been going amazing, Nanami was an incredible fighter and taught Yuji how to fight with a claymore, broadsword, but eventually settled on metal gauntlets after discovering Yuji's superhuman strength when Yuji had dragged the entire cart back onto the road after a flash flood had nearly carried it away with Haibara inside.
He'd had no luck searching for the woman with the scar but Yuji wasn't one to be disheartened, he'd search for Ryomen's body for as long as it takes.
Speaking of which, their next stop is super promising. After passing through backwoods towns they'd finally crossed the Great Crest Mountain Ridge and made it into the valley that housed the Gojo Kingdom.
The city housing the royal castle was by far the biggest kingdom in the entire continent. If anywhere had a good chance of housing info on what Yuji was searching for it would be there.
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Megumi Fushiguro glanced over his shoulder and stared down his door he'd just finished covering in lock runes. Straining his ears in search of any footsteps to indicate someone coming to bother him.
After staring a moment longer to compose himself Megumi pushes himself the rest of the way out of his window and leaps.
For a second he is floating in the air before the weight of his pack drags him down. Reaching out activates his newest creation. He'd tested it a millions times before even trying this but he can't help but pray that it works.
The center of the gauntlet lights up as it should and WHAM. The magnet in the glove pulls him directly into the nails he placed on the wall the night before. He hits his chin on the wall but shrugs it off, still riding the high of excitement he gets whenever an invention works.
Using the nails like makeshift monkey bars Megumi climbs the rest of the way down the blind spot on the castle Megumi chose so he wouldn't be spotted leaving.
When he reaches the ground he allows himself a moment to breathe before kicking into action. He takes off the gloves and stashes them in his bag and retrieves a cloak. Throwing it over his head and adjusting his pack Megumi dashes off.
Peeking around a wall, Megumi observes the watch tower. The guard switch should happen in 3…2…1… Now! The guard on point walks down towards the exit of the tower. Megumi needs to get through there in exactly 42 seconds.
Breaking out into a sprint, Megumi makes a mad dash to the wall and pulls out one of the scrolls he "borrowed" from Mimiko. Murmuring the words to activate it Megumi squats down and jumps as high as he can. His breath is caught in his throat as the magic propels him higher than is humanly possible.
Regaining his composure, Megumi reaches into his bag and removes a rag midair. Stretching out his foot Megumi attempts to land as silently as possible but ultimately ends up making a loud thunk. The newly appointed guard spins around but before he can spot Megumi he lurches forward and places the rag around his mouth and nose.
After a minute the man collapses. Megumi carefully moves him to look like he's simply fallen asleep on the job. With the effects of the scroll still active and drugged on adrenaline Megumi runs forward and leaps off the wall.
Leaping almost thirty feet from the wall, Megumi lands on a tree branch which breaks under his weight, sending him tumbling towards the forest floor and falling on several branches on the way down.
Landing on the ground with a thud Megumi winces and mentally gripes about the bruises he can feel forming from this.
Standing back up Megumi steels himself and sets off at a quick pace. He needs to get out of the city before Gojo or Geto notices he's gone or else he'll fail before even getting started.
All he needs now is to find a merchant or traveler's cart to slip onto and not be found so he can leave the barrier.
You see the reason why the Gojo kingdom had survived attacks and full war from the Zenin Kingdom for the last three decades and still prosper is because of the barrier. During the first attack thirty years ago the Zenin's sent the entirety of their army to attack at once in a surprise attack.
They completely wiped out the Gojo clan army and killed all of the nobles except one. Current king Saturo Gojo, back then he was still being groomed to be king but when Zenins broke the walls he'd used the family grimoire and fought off the invaders almost single handedly.
At the end of the night he had burned himself out. Him and all of his royal guards were completely exhausted and their defeat was imminent when a girl called Riko stepped in.
She was a reincarnation of an old god called Tegen, the old Gojo royalty had kept her locked away in chains but she'd escaped during the battle. Using her magic she finished what Gojo started and pushed out the remaining Zenins and created a powerful barrier encompassing the kingdom.
By the end of the night Gojo declared himself king and appointed Riko as a royal adviser and asked her to maintain the barrier.
Riko still works in the palace now. Creating the barrier used up all natural magic she had so she now has to work hard to maintain it, using seals and runes.
After a little while Gojo had Riko cut a hole in the barrier by the gate to allow resources to enter the city and the entire kingdom grew around that idea.
All this to say Megumi needs to leave through the front door without being recognized which is a very real challenge for him.
Keeping his hood pulled up high over his head, Megumi walks through town sticking to main roads to blend with the crowd. Weaving in and out of merchants and pedestrians and dodging a couple pick pockets.
Megumi breaks out the sea of the people by the gates of the city to get a look at the area. Lots of carts full of large amounts of food and drink head into the city but none that Megumi could hitch a ride on.
Then he spots perhaps a god send, a large roofed wagon being pulled by horses is set up across the street and is loading on some barrels of god knows what. A cute pink haired boy lifts them into the open wagon with a large smile on his face.
Megumi slips into the shadows and makes his way over to the stack of barrels. Grabbing one of the top he lets out a huff of air at how heavy it is. Damn, how strong is that dude, he lifts it like it's nothing. Opening it to reveal a large amount of spice filling it to the brim.
Quickly pushing the barrel up to a sewer Megumi dumps out the entirety of it and pushes it back into its place behind the other barrels the pink haired boy moves. Taking off the lid Megumi hops inside and pulls the top over his head and settles into the darkness.
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Yui hums a tune to himself as he carries the barrels of spice to the cart. Nanami says Yuji is too polite and lets himself get haggled a lot so he's been demoted to moving barrels, not that it bothers him, these barrels are light as feathers. It's hardly any work. The last one he picks up feels a bit heavier than the others but Yuji shrugs it off.
Having finished loading Yuji dusts off his hands and runs up to the front of the cart
"Yo! Nanamin, I finished loading the barrels, do you need anything else before I head off to ask around?" Yuji asks
"No, thank you for your help Yuji. Try to be back by sundown for dinner." Nanami responds
"Kay' thanks! See you later." Yuji waves over his shoulder as he dashes off into the crowd.
Weaving through the busy roads, Yuji maneuvers himself towards a crowd of people. Ducking under arms and pushing a few people and muttering more than a few apologies Yuji reaches the front of the crowd.
In the center stood a tall man with black hair cascading down his back, he wore a set of leather armor and had a large sword attached to his belt.
"Attention all. I would like to ask for all of your assistance" He pulls a poster from his armor depicting a teenager with spiky black hair (like a sea urchin) and a large frown on his face "Please if you see this boy report to any member of the guard, if possible apprehend him unharmed and you will receive a considerable sum of money from King Gojo."
Well dang, Yuji thinks. This kid must have done something dramatic to get a public bounty placed on him. Doesn't seem like this is good for Yuji's problem of finding his brother though so he wanders off.
He runs about all day asking merchants and pedestrians and guards alike for any knowledge about his brother's body or the scar face woman but ends up with nothing for it.
Dejectedly walking back to the cart he sees Nanami and Haibara eating their dinner on the bench by the horses.
"Hey Yuji, welcome back, we got you some food!" Haibara holds out plate with a steak and some fries on it
"Thanks Haibara. I'm pretty tired, is it cool if I eat in the cart?" Yuji asks
"Yeah, I know how it is, we're gonna be in town for another day so rest up." Haibara finishes his statement with his classic smile
Bidding him and Nanami goodnight Yuji hops into the cart and climbs up the ladder to his little loft bed Nanami and Haibara added in once Yuji started traveling with them only to be stopped by the sight of a boy with spiky black hair (like a sea urchin)i n his bed staring at him like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar.
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