1.5

A world of simpletons

It was already night when Hiro stepped onto the stone walkway of the small town. Single story houses lined up neatly, all made of wood. Outside of them, including Owain’s house, there were metal pipes twisting around like an overly long and cubic snake. Every single building had some sort of decorations outside, personalised by its owner. Because of that, it was strangely cosy walking in this street, minus the pipes.

Even though the sun had already gone down, there were still people all over. Like Owain, they were all so interested to see the stranger. In just a blink of an eye, Hiro found himself surrounded by a hoard of people.

While he was not used to be the centre of attention, much less surrounded by foreigners, this wasn’t too bad. Everyone just had this childlike enthusiasm, all of them seemed so… innocent. Their clear blue eyes glimmered with excitement. The young man couldn’t help but feel at ease.

Momo-chan: [Oh wow, everyone is like that Owain]

Hiro: {He is still the most enthusiastic of them all though}

Momo-chan: [True that]

Hiro: {Before Caron seems to be the straight one but now looking at these people, she maybe the outliner here}

Momo-chan: [Or maybe she already expended all of her enjoyment examine us already]

Hiro: {…What’s wrong with you?}

Momo-chan: [Sorry]

Hiro didn’t really remember going through puberty like that. Or maybe he was…

Behind him, everyone cleared up to make way for someone. The young man turned around to see who it was. At that moment, time seemed to stop as both his and the voice were lost for words.

It was a woman with flowing black hair. She donned a white sleeveless shirt which showed of such white and slender arms. Below was a long dress flowing slightly in the wind. Even with the cracked white mask, her graceful movements imposed a strange serene beauty that was simply… captivating.

It was Suiren! Now, seeing her like this, Hiro and Momo-chan couldn’t help but exclaim.

Momo-chan: [She is so young!] Hiro: {She is so young!}

The plain indigo komon and drab hairstyle could be certainly deceptive. The woman looked like she only in her twenties. That, or she was holding a secret that would make every beauty expert green with envy. Hiro highly doubted it is the latter.

Looking at her like this, it was understandable that one wouldn’t notice the deadly weapon in her hand. One that she could skilfully use to deadly effect.

Even the rowdy crowd turned silent at the much more attractive stranger.

{Whoever he is, her husband must be a lucky one} Hiro unconsciously commented, trying to remind himself of that fact.

Momo-chan: [Ah, that… indeed]

There was something in Momo-chan’s voice that Hiro should have picked up. The young man was too mesmerised for that, however. Suiren walked up and resumed her position dutifully, three steps behind.

The silence was broken when someone came up to Owain to say something. He was inviting them to his place, a tavern one could call. And so that became their next destination. The crowd also dispersed to once again resume their daily duty like clockwork. Even with the recent communication blackout, there were still quotas to be reached!

The party reached the tavern to find several locals clumping outside, peering in through the front door. The owner shooed them away and told Owain something. Judging from how much the young man face lit up, Hiro felt like there is another stranger in there.

His hunch was correct, sitting in there silently by the counter was a familiar face, or more like familiar figure to be more precise.

It was the knight who was at the tree with Hiro when he first woke up. Now, the man long sword was flung over his back but that was not all. By his hip was an axe and leaning at the chair a round wooden shield. The young man recognised them to be the equipment of the person in red. The one with white mask and halo alongside Suiren.

The knight immediately sprung up from his seat. Clutching his sword, hilt next to his hip, the man was ready for combat. So was Suiren who gripped her naginata tightly, gently pushing Hiro to the side.

Momo-chan: [This is ba…]

The young man immediately jumped in between them, arms outstretch. The tip of the knight blade barely touched the young man chest. “Stand down” He told Suiren who obeyed quietly. She still hadn’t lessened her grip, however, simply switching to a more defensive stance. Hiro pointed at the crack in her mask.

“Look” He said “It’s broken, she isn’t going to attack you or me”

Even though the knight couldn’t understand what the young man was saying, the intention still came through. He lowered his blade but still kept it out of the wooden scabbard.

An uneasy peace indeed, the party sits down next to counter. Hiro made sure to stay between Suiren and the knight. The tavern owner brought out some mug that reeked of alcohol. The young man couldn’t drink them though. His host understood and brought out some juice instead. Before Hiro could try to say that he couldn’t handle liquor.

Hiro: {Woah, he is certainly perceptive}

The young man commented but his disembodied companion remained quiet.

Hiro: {Are you alright there, Momo-chan}

Momo-chan: [Al…right, alright, ALRIGHT? You just straight in front of a sword, that guy could just take one small step and we would be skewered!}

Hiro: {Oh yeah!}

Momo-chan: [Don’t ‘oh yeah’ me, what were you thinking!]

Hiro: {Nothing really}

Momo-chan: [I guess that was why you could do that] He let out a sigh [And here I thought I would be the reckless one between us]

Hiro: {Yeh… I thought so too…}

He sipped his drink in silence. Next to him was Owain, who was chatting merrily with the tavern owner. Next to him was Suiren who is just sitting there.

“Hey” He turned to her “Do you want me to call you by something?”

She remained quiet, unmoving.

“How about Suiren?”

Hiro said, didn’t really expect any sort of response. The young man could then see the masked woman nodded very slightly. Was that real or just his imagination, he didn’t really know.

___

Once again, his hunch proved to be correct. This assignment was truly a tough one.

The situation just took an unfavourable turn for the Legionnaire. It took him quite a while to track down his prey only to have them slipped out of his hand at the last moment like that. He could take down #2 easily, the man in armour, not so much. But now that those two have made contact, charging in would be too risky.

The Legionnaire never took unwarranted risk, even before coming to this world. He couldn’t remember much; the mask had wiped most of his memory clean. Only the battles remained.

He could remember once fighting under the banner of Rome as a centurion. Was it a country? Was that a rank? The man couldn’t remember. He could only feel his pride to serve under that name. It must have been quite a powerful group then.

Ah, he could have killed them right there, under that tree. And yet, something happened. The Legionnaire could feel a shockwave then everything was black. When he came to #1 was dead and #2 was nowhere to be found. Afterward, he could feel emotions swelled up within him. All from a time long passed.

Joy, pride, trust, grief, amazement, boredom, acceptance, surprise, contempt, rage, disgust, remorse, admiration and many more including… love.

All of them came back at once along with undesirable memories. A family, was it his? The Legionnaire couldn’t tell but one thing he knew for sure. He was now a corrupted unit. Central hadn’t realised that, however, and he would keep it that way.

All these ‘new’ emotions, memories, he wanted to keep them all.

Meanwhile, #2 was even more corrupted, so much so that she switched side. But that didn’t seem to give the woman back any of her consciousness. Unlike the captains who were allowed to remember their previous battles and retain a degree of emotion, their aides were completely wiped. They were not allowed to think, to feel, to communicate in any way. Their orders were given out telepathically by their captain.

Despite being given the lower rank among his two aides; the Legionnaire still considered #2 a formidable fighter. Her potential was greatly hampered by her attire which wasn’t suitable for battle. But they were only allowed the gear they wore coming here. And without the mind to change, #2 kept on donning her improper clothing.

With the new dress, she will undoubtedly be a force to be reckon with, even for him.

Then there was the armoured man. Despite being the better aide, #1 was taken out with one thrust to the throat. That person managed that without being touched once. While the Legionnaire was unconscious then, he could see that the man armour was unharmed. With his enhanced strength, a hit from #1 would surely make more than a dent.

Once again, the captain contemplated whether to intercept the group or not. In the end, he decided not to. They were surrounded by civilians and they may try to help. While the killing of such people was allowed, it was greatly discouraged.

Besides, he may sustained injuries from such an encounter. Out there somewhere, the beast was in hiding. Yes, in this wood was a monster, waiting to prowl on its prey. It was also the Legionnaire job to slay the foul beast. He would rather fight the thing in top condition.

The man would wait until his new aides arrive. Then, he would strike. #1 and #2 would confront their old comrade while he took care of the armour man by himself. That arrangement would be optimal. There was no need to worry about the other man. From the look of it, he wasn’t much of a threat. After completing that mission, the three would then track down and kill the abomination.

That was the plan anyway which was soon thrown out of the window.

The Legionnaire could hear a horrifying yet painful roar. It was the monster, after stumbling through the forest, it finally found the small town. From his hiding spot, the captain could hear screaming as the abomination descended upon the innocence.

Picking up his scutum shield and gladius, the Legionnaire was ready for battle. The man paused, however, as he saw three figures facing the beast. Two brave and one empty souls were there to confront the thing, an affront to nature.

Hm, maybe he would sit back for now. The Legionnaire had this hunch.