Nagare: “Koutarou-san, are you the strongest swordsman in the world?”

Yama: “By far not, Nagare-kun. Not as long as my master has anything to say about it”

Nagare: “Just how powerful is your master?”

Yama: “I never won a single match against him. Not even once. Even if all Guardians were to fight him at once, I am confident; my master would easily beat us all.”

Nagare: “Your master must be dragon level swordsman”

Yama: “I doubt that. The one dragon that was in our generation was crippled and is now not a very impressive sight to behold. I don’t know how strong he was before he was crippled, I only met him after it already happened, but I am confident he was not stronger than my master”

Shoyo: “You talk so much about your master, aren’t you embarrassed?”

Yama: “Not even a little”

Shoyo: ‘Well, I am, you idiot disciple!’

Having someone that admired him that much was very painful and embarrassing. Shoyo was just glad that Yama did not recognize him. By now, Shoyo was beet red from hearing all the stories of Yama’s master.

Even after so many years, it was obvious his disciple still looked up to his master. Still, Shoyo was a little disappointed after seeing just how weak Nagare was in comparison to Yama.

Shoyo: “Does Naito’s blood truly flow through his veins? He looks like him, but their abilities couldn’t be further apart!”

Kai: “Who is Naito?”

Shoyo: “A man I once believed could kill a certain monster, one of the Legendary Seven. But alas, he showed mercy to that monster, and in his moment of weakness, he was struck down.”

Kai: “Were you two close?”

Shoyo: “As far as I am concerned, he was the one who came closest”

To finishing the job, that is.

Shoyo: “What about you? How does that arm of yours even work?”

Kai flexed his wooden right arm.

Kai: “Oh this? It is made of special chi-sensitive bamboo and a lot mechanical parts I don’t really understand. I only get that when I flow my chi through it, it works like the real thing, though I can’t really feel anything with it”

Shoyo: ‘Not understanding how it functions, huh. Is this one a blockhead as well?’

Shoyo: “So, who made that arm for you?”

Kai: “My master’s swordsmith”

Shoyo: “Masahiro’s, huh, figures”

Kai: “I am surprised you can say his name so casually, despite him being your senior”

Shoyo: “Trust me, he is not”

In fact, Shoyo was senior to everyone in the Order of Demon Hunters, by a few centuries, at least.

Shoyo: “If it is not too sensitive a topic, how did you end up acquiring that arm?”

Kai: “You just cut to the chase, don’t you?”

Shoyo: “The longer you live, the blunter you end up becoming”

Kai: “You are not that old yet”

Shoyo: “I am older than you”

Kai: “Not by that much”

Shoyo: ‘If you only knew…’

Kai: “Fine, I will tell you”

Kai: “My master originally had many disciples under him, orphans left after demon and monster attacks, and I was one of them”

Kai: “Alongside me, there was another disciple; his name was Leo, Leo Karus. He was the strongest disciple among all of us”

Kai: “One day, he left to hunt down a demon. He disappeared for an entire month, not a single soul knew where he was”

Kai: “Then, under the cover of night, he arrived back at the doorsteps of our order. But when he arrived, there was a change within him. His eyes were slitted like that of a cat, his body covered in spikes, with a tail extending from his backside, and his mouth was full of fangs.”

Kai: “He came back from his quest as the very thing he swore to hunt down, a demon”

Kai: “At first we did not know what to think, not until he raised his sword and killed his first victim and started to eat him before our eyes”

Kai: “We tried in vain to fight him, but he was far stronger than his human self. When I tried to confront him, I paid a heavy price. Others fell by his blade.”

Kai: “Had it not been for my master, I would have met my end on that day, as well”

Kai: “Since then, it has been my life’s goal to find Leo and kill him. Who know how many humans he has killed and eaten? As his fellow disciple, it is my duty to put an end to his carnage”

Shoyo: “A noble goal”

Everyone had one, even if it was a secret one.

Kai: “What is yours?”

Shoyo: “A goal, huh…”

Shoyo: ‘To find an honorable end’

Nagare: “Koutarou-san, is something wrong?”

Yama smelled the tracks left on the ground.

Yama: “Brace yourselves, we are about to enter the territory of trolls.”