Torakichi sighed as the dozen or so villagers knelt at his knees.

“I am sorry, but I cannot stay. I trust that you will find strength and courage in yourselves. After all, it was you who cornered Tetsujin.” He said only for the villagers to beg even louder than before.

Torakichi then lightly scoffed before walking past all of them and heading towards the villages southern exit.

“Umm… Mr. Kanemoto.” Hanabira called.

“Yes?”

“Would you have stayed if you weren’t taking Hibana and I to the Shinsei Mountains?”

“No.” Torakichi said bluntly.

“Wait!”

A familiar voice cried.

Torakichi sighed again before turning to find Hareta running towards him with a medium sized bag in hand.

“Please! Take this. As thanks.”

Torakichi accepted the bag to find that it was half full of rice.

“Mmm… thank you.” Torakichi said to the bowing Hareta before continuing his walk southward.

He, Hanabira and Amai walked out into the dry planes of northern Kuroppoi where not a green tree could be seen for kilometres on end.

The sun scorched the land even though winter was fast approaching and there were no visible water sources in sight.

.

..

Torakichi and company walked for what felt like hours and Torakichi could hear Hanabira and Amai gasping for air, but he continued walking regardless.

He then spotted a man sitting on a large rock by the side of the path.

The man wore dark and yet surprisingly formal clothes and hid his eyes beneath a straw hat, but what caught Torakichi’s attention was the two weapons by the man’s waist.

A katana and Tantō sheathed within dark wooden scabbards.

“Mmm.” The man droned as Torakichi stopped just in front of him.

The two then looked at each other for a moment.

“What brings you down here, warrior of the north?” The man asked with narrowed, wrinkly eyes. His voice light and raspy.

His arms remained firmly placed on his legs as he seemingly rested.

“I carry with me no ill will. There is a place we must go here in Kuroppoi. We plan to leave as soon as our business is concluded.” Torakichi said.

“Oh? Then, by all means, continue. But a word of warning: there is a cursed forest at the base of the mountains. It’s taken the lives of many a careless wanderer. Avoid it as best as you can.” The man said.

“Thank you.” Torakichi said before leading Hanabira and Amai further down the dirt paved path.

“How did that man know that we were from Ippai?” Hanabira whispered.

“I forgot to wrap my weapons. Ah well. I’ll have to do it when next we rest.”

The trio then continued their southern march.

Minutes slowly turned into hours as they walked and even though Hanabira and Amai were exhausted, they remained silent.

A drop of rain then fell on Torakichi's nose as the sun slowly sunk into the horizon.

Fortunately, a village could be seen in the distance.

“Come.” Torakichi said before jogging towards the village with Hanabira and Amai in tow.

They eventually arrived at the village and found cover under a empty stable just as the rain began to pour in earnest.

Torakichi took deep and steady breaths as he surveyed the village.

It was fairly populated and even had a fence surrounding its perimeter, but Torakichi’s eyes were drawn towards two soldiers in the distance.

They ran towards the stable, seemingly in search of cover from the rain as well.

“Whew! Where did this rain come from?” One of the soldiers asked. His skin was beyond wrinkly and his hair was grey. His armour was made from worn scraps of leather and in his hands was a shoddy spear which looked only marginally better than the one held by his companion who was equally wrinkly.

“I wonder.” The other soldier said with a deep sigh before noticing Torakichi and company.

“Eh? What’s this?” The second asked.

“Oh? A samurai and a northerner to boot.” The first said as he raised his spear.

“Get on your knees if you don’t want to do a very painful death.”

Torakichi slowly placed his hand over his katana, but just as he did-

“Ah! Don’t even think about it!” The first said with eyes that quaked with anger.

Torakichi raised his hand slowly away from his katana.

“Good. Now, kneel.” The first soldier said.

“Why don’t we just kill them right now?” The second asked.

“No. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel the pain and humiliation our people have had to endure for all this time.” The first said through gnashed teeth.

Torakichi quickly glanced at Hanabira and Amai who stood frozen with fear.

“Hurry!” The first soldier yelled before shoving Torakichi with his hand, only for Torakichi to take that hand and use it to twist the soldier’s arm behind his back.

The second soldier's eyes widened as he watched Torakichi slowly unsheathe his katana.

The soldier then turned to Hanabira, but before he could move towards her, Torakichi pushed the first soldier into the second, making them fall onto each other. He then walked over to their heads and pointed his katana’s tip at their necks.

“I do not want to kill you.” Torakichi said.

“Spare me your mercy. What’s the point of living if we’re just going to suffer? But I suppose that’s exactly what you people wanted.” The first said as he glared at Torakichi, who simply sigh.

“What’s going on here? I thought you said that you didn’t want any trouble.”

A familiar voice said.

Torakichi turned his head slightly to find a certain, straw hat wearing man.

“I don’t. Same can’t be said for these two. They took one look at me and decided that I was their target.” Torakichi said.

“I can see how that could happen. So what are you going to do now?” The man asked as he stood by Torakichi’s side. His clothes drenched in rainwater.

Torakichi sighed before sheathing his katana.

“I honestly don’t know. If they attack me again, I’ll have to kill them. But if they walk away, we’ll all live to see tomorrow.” Torakichi said only for one of the soldiers to scoff in response.

“Well? The samurai has offered to spare your lives. What will you do with this chance?” The straw hat man asked.

“Why are you so casually standing by his side? Surely you know what his people did to us.” The first said as he slowly stood.

“Ah. If you’re referring to the previous war then I know all too well. However, I can assure you that killing these people won’t change any of what happened.”

The two soldiers looked at each other before scoffing simultaneously.

“Fine. Defend this high born dog.” The first soldier said before leading his companion into the rain as they walked away.

Torakichi turned to the straw hat man before nodding slightly.

“Thank you, again.”

“Oh? No thanks needed. Although, I wouldn’t mind sharing a word or two with you about a few things, if you don’t mind.” The man said.

“Sure. My name is Torakichi Kanemoto, by the way.”

“Pleasure to meet you once again Mr. Kanemoto. My name is Keii Umihara.”

“Umihara?” Torakichi asked.

“Yes. Are you familiar with the name?”

“Yes. We passed a village not too long ago and the leader there had a similar name.” Torakichi said.

“Mmm… perhaps he and I are related. Although I wouldn’t know. I was born a few years after the second unification. A lot of things changed even back then and a lot of people fled from the eyes of the great general. I’d like to continue this chat, but shouldn’t we move further into the stable?” Keii asked.

“Shouldn’t we ask for permission first?”

“Meh, it’ll be fine. Come on.” Keii said before leading Torakichi and company further into the empty stable and much to everyone’s surprise, not a trace of manure of other kinds of dirt could be seen.

It was just a dry and empty stable.

Torakichi and everyone else got seated in one of the stables corners and Keii removed his hat, revealing a head of grizzled hair which Torakichi found odd because Keii didn’t look particularly old.

Torakichi opened his mouth to speak, but just as he did, Hanabira’s stomach growled.

“Gather some kindling and start a fire.” Torakichi instructed with a faint smile.

“Alright.” Hanabira said with a lowered head.

“As I was saying, I was born right after the unification, so I don’t really know exactly where I was born. What about you? Don’t worry, I hold little to no hatred towards Ippai and its people so feel free to speak your mind.” Keii said.

“I was born in Kama-“

“The village of Kama? Birthplace and crucible of Chūshin’s finest warriors? The very place the Great General Kasai Netsu called home?” Keii asked with widened eyes.

“Yes and please stop interrupting me.”

“Sorry.”

“Yes- Wait a moment! You spoke of General Netsu in past tense. Isn’t he still alive?” Torakichi asked and for the first time since she’d met him, Hanabira saw concern in his eyes.

“Ah… it’s a little more complicated than that for you see, I heard he was turned to stone.” Keii said.

Silence befell the stable as Torakichi digested what he'd just heard.

Hanabira placed a clay pot over the fire she’d started as Torakichi stared at Keii.

“My goodness. Is that why general Ishi Hōfuna suddenly launched an attacked on Ippai?” Torakichi asked.

“Yes, for the most part.” Keii said with an expression that resembled remorse.

“I see.” Torakichi said with a deep sigh.

“May I ask a rather personal question, Mr. Kanemoto?” Keii asked.

“It depends. Ask away, but there are some things I won’t be able to answer.”

“I understand. As a samurai, what would you do if your master’s ambition led them to blindly take an action that not only put their life at risk, but the lives of countless others?” Keii asked.

“Mmm… it really depends. If my master’s ambitions served a greater purpose and the sacrifice of their life and the lives of others was unavoidable, I’d serve them regardless. However, if the loss of life was pointless and avoidable, then I’d… mmm… I don’t actually know. To stand before one’s master as an obstacle is unthinkable, so I wouldn’t do that.” Torakichi said as he scratched his beard.

The smell of rice filled the air as Torakichi pondered.

“Would you leave your master’s side?” Keii asked.

“and become a ronin?”

“Yes.”

“I honestly don’t know. Becoming a ronin would stop me from becoming a hindrance, but then I’d probably forever bear a deep sense of shame and guilt. Especially if something happened to my master while I wasn’t there.” Torakichi said.

“I see.” Keii said while staring at nothing in particular.

“Why did you ask such a complicated question?”

“Oh, no reason.” Keii said with a chuckle.

“I’m actually running an errand for my master. Remember that forest that I told you about?”

“Yes.”

“It’s called the Forest of Whispers and it is said to be cursed. In accordance with my masters wishes, I am to investigate the forest and eliminate the threat it poses to the people who want to travel south.” Keii said.

“Interesting. Perhaps you and I can join forces. After all, we too have business to the south.” Torakichi suggested.

“Oh? That sounds like a wonderful idea!” Keii said unreasonably loudly, although some of the noise was lost in the sound of falling rain.

“Calm down. You said that the forest was cursed. If that is indeed the case, then there’s not much we can do. After all, our blades aren’t blessed with any sort of divine blessing. Well, mine aren’t.”

“Oh, mine are. Err… I’m not sure how to put this…” Keii said as he touched his smooth chin in thought.

“Are you familiar with Ne?” He eventually asked as Hanabira served everyone some rice.

“I’ve heard many things about it. Some say it’s like a divine essence while which can cure various illnesses and even restore a person’s youth.” Torakichi said as he ate.

“That is somewhat correct. It is the fundamental-“

Keii stopped as the ground shook and the air was filled with the neighs of horses.

“Old man! Your death has swiftly arrived in the form of I, Keitaku Shinri!”