I woke up around the same time as the others. We then all made our way to the tree. When I neared the Yoshiga tree, I saw the old man. Imoto noticed us and called out, “Roen, Devanna! Mission time, talk to Suki.”

Imoto then got up and nodded towards me. He started walking off away from the tree and I followed. Eventually we reached the edge of the area under the Yoshiga tree’s canopy. Imoto spun around and said, “Your training starts today. First off stretching. Copy me.”

He then started demonstrating the stretches we were doing. The first stretch was touching the toes. Imoto counted to 60 and then moved to the next stretch. This time stretching the shoulder. Again he counted to 60 for each shoulder. This continued for a while, but I soon noticed that these stretches were quickly becoming way more difficult. We had to raise one of our legs to the side of us into the air and while maintaining balance on one leg, touch the toes of the leg raised into the air. Imoto didn’t allow slacking either. Whenever my leg would bend, he would walk over, straighten it out, then restart the count. We eventually moved onto a different exercise where we had to squat down on one leg, rest the other leg on our knee, and ‘sit’ on the air for 60 seconds. Imoto ensured my back was straight, my leg was at a right angle, and that my hands remained stationary clasped in front of me. Moving to the end of the stretching was a strangely fun, but annoying exercise. Imoto grabbed his left foot with his right hand then quickly hopped and brought his right leg out of the loop he had created. While not difficult once I got the hang of it, jumping out and back into the loop only counted as one. After doing 60 of those for each leg, Imoto wanted to go for a jog.

We jogged at a fast pace, but Imoto did not allow us to stop or slow down. He set the pace by jogging behind me and called out what direction I was supposed to go. We had to maintain pace up and down hills. At one point we had to cross a stream by jumping over wet rocks. The entire time Imoto kept the pace even if that meant running into me from behind and pushing me forward. I do not know the exact time or distance, but we must have run for at least an hour’s time.

By the time we finished I felt like the air wasn’t reaching my lungs despite my deep breathing. My body was covered in sweat and my muscles felt stiff as I moved without the usual energy that a contracting muscle possesses. I looked over at Imoto and realized he ran the entire way looking none the worse for wear with steady breathing. Taking a deeper look, Imoto seemed like he hadn’t moved from his rocking chair. Imoto then pointed towards some bushes. For a moment I was confused, then I threw up. After heaving for a minute, Imoto forced me to walk back to the Yoshiga tree.

Once we reached the gazebo, he sat back into his rocking chair. Smoking a pipe that he got from underneath the chair, Imoto leaned back into his chair and said, “Ye, that hit the spot. Brought flexibility to these old bones and got the blood going. Life energy always readily responds to the physical body’s needs. Remember that tomorrow.”

I was too tired to really respond, so with a wave I dragged myself back to camp. I bathed using water from the stream and washed my clothes while I was at it. After that was all said and done, I foraged around for something for lunch. I got some vegetables and cooked them with fish I caught just like yesterday. After lunch, I thought about what happened this morning and more specifically what Imoto said. He mentioned that chakra responded to the physical body. I guess the physical training was needed. I thought about this for a bit, but my thoughts were getting muddled and eventually I passed out.

After the quick nap, I woke up to Dee tapping on my tent. I slowly got up. Once I was out, Dee hurriedly said, “This is a bit sudden, but me and Roen have a mission to protect a merchant’s caravan and I wanted to say goodbye. I would have told you earlier but didn’t want to wake you. It will be only a week or two, so watch our stuff while we’re away. See you Kell.” Dee grabbed a traveling pack and waved goodbye.

I waved back and realized how tired and hungry I was. I went out for dinner and got lucky with a big fish. Despite the sun still being up, I fell right back to sleep after eating.

The next morning, I went back to the Yoshiga tree to meet Imoto. The workout was the same as yesterday’s. Much like yesterday I was dead after the exercise and went back to camp to eat, think about chakra, then sleep. This went on for 4 days with the pace we were running at increasing every day. The only change from the schedule was when a Gatyri came to get a mission.

As I was walking up the hill, I saw him walk up to the gazebo. He was wearing a white paper mask that only had two eyeholes. He was completely covered in black silk like fabric that concealed his entire body below the neck. His outfit had no discernible gloves or shoes instead it looked like his shirt covered his hands like gloves and his feet were covered by his pants like socks. The only feature I could see was his curly red hair.

I was a bit down the hill, so I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he was animatedly talking to Imoto. After some time the man smoothly handed Imoto a bag. He then walked off into the forest. Before I could ask, Imoto explained it as an old associate paying past debts. It was an odd occurrence and made me wonder about Imoto’s past. He obviously was an old Gatyri, so he probably fought in the past wars.

I had made little progress with controlling my chakra, but I felt like I was making progress in my physical training. I was able to jog without constantly slowing and the stretches were usually completed without any hiccups.

Soon a week had passed and I walked to the tree like usual. I had stopped trying to use my chakra as when I asked Imoto about it, he simply said I was not ready yet. So at this point I believe the exercise was just laying the foundation. Being physically fit was a necessity in this type of work and chakra was linked to the body, so I had to improve my body before anything else.

As we got started today, Imoto counted to 90 for each stretch and exercise. He also added a few new ones to the mix. More exercises focused on balance and strength such as handstands, pushup, and sit ups. After an hour of stretching and warm ups, the dreaded jog was underway. Today the pace felt more like a measured sprint than a jog. The run itself passed through more hilly terrain and lasted nearly two hours. Towards the end of the run I felt dead with lead legs. I tried to push my legs forward and found my mind willing, but my body was too tired and weak. Imoto had to constantly push me forward. As I kept slowing down and struggling, Imoto prodded me forward physically and with helpful comments like “Guess we got another dud!” and “Back in the war trainees half your age half ran exercises twice as hard.”

I concentrated in trying to add force to my steps. I tried to keep my breathing steady, but at this point I just wanted my muscles to feel less tired. Eventually I was willing to just persevere through Imoto’s constant pushing from behind. As we were crossing the stream with the wet rocks, I had to make a particularly long jump. I pushed with both legs and was able to get my left leg onto the rock, but I was too tired and my legs simply didn’t have the strength to take all my weight and momentum. I tipped and slipped forward and didn’t have the strength to leap to the next rock in order to prevent my descent into the stream. Although I didn’t have the strength, my brain acting on the natural instinct to avoid falling face first still tried to get me to the next rock. Before I could fall into the stream, I felt a refreshing pulse move through me. It was like drinking cold water on a hot day or a breeze blowing away the sweat and heat. I could feel my body winning in its struggle to push me off the rock. I could feel the flow of the refreshing pulse and most importantly the effect. My body felt just a little less tired wherever this pulse, which I assumed was chakra, moved past. While my legs still felt weak, I could feel my chakra kept me from collapsing. Every step I took was just as difficult, but also with every step my chakra flowed and allowed me to continue while on just the cusp of collapse. With every step I got more familiar with letting my chakra flow into my body.

Eventually I got across the stream. Imoto stopped me with a clap on the shoulder and with a sarcastic tone said, “Well aren’t you a natural.”

Imoto pulled more forward and said, “Come on, come on, we can walk the rest of the way. You're alive, but I don’t recommend using any more chakra.”

I was too tired to respond, but my questioning glance got across.

Imoto continued, “You're lucky. Just the right age at around thirteen. That’s the best time to learn chakra control, and growth in your energy.” After a second of contemplation on his face Imoto added, “You may not know this, but chakra requires you have more food than normal. Not to mention the natural demand for a growing lad like yourself. I recommend you eat five times a day if possible.”

I tried to absorb everything he said. I appreciated the training and the advice. Despite my tiredness, I tried to offer a proper thanks for the help. Imoto accepted by grunting then he practically dragged my tired body to camp. Once at camp I did the usual except I decided to catch and eat a little more fish than normal.

As I wound down and relaxed, I thought about my first time using chakra. Even now after using it, I could not ‘feel’ my chakra, but I felt more aware of it for lack of a better word. Describing it was weird and I felt blood was an okay analogy. You only ever feel the blood in your body when you feel your pulse, have some strenuous exercise, or your bleeding. chakra was similar but the circumstances you felt it were slightly different. I could feel my chakra at some level all the time. But most of the time it was a background sense. The time I could feel my chakra the most was when it was ‘flowing’. It was weird having an entirely new kind of sixth sense. In the future I would probably get used to it. For now I needed some rest.

I woke up and decided that I should get a bigger breakfast. I foraged some fruit and ate that for breakfast. I would then exercise with Imoto. Afterwards I would have lunch and spend time playing around with my chakra in small amounts. I would snack on whatever nuts, berries, and other small stuff I could find until dinner. Dinner was mostly fish and whatever I picked up during my foraging.

The week continued in the same manner with the training getting progressively harder and requiring more and more usage of chakra. By this time I had learned a good deal about my chakra. The first and startling realization was that when my chakra flowed through my body, everything was enhanced. I could see farther, smell more, hear the most minute of sounds. Even my reaction time seemed faster, my thoughts clearer, more focused. It was exhilarating but also subtle. At first it was hard to notice the difference since everything changed in proportion. Being twice as fast required I be able to react twice as fast so the change was hard to truly appreciate without an outside reference. As I zoomed by trees or jumped entire streams in a single bound, I was able to get a sense of my newfound capabilities.

I also learned more about manipulating my chakra. There were two main ways to go about it. First was to create a need and have the chakra fill it. This was like raising or lowering your heart rate by exercising or resting. The second way was to sort of invoke the response you wanted from chakra. This was similar to raising your heart rate by thinking of a dangerous situation or lowering it by meditating. The second allowed me to access my chakra anytime, but then I had to manually control how much chakra flowed, for how long, and how fast. Compared to the first way, which fulfilled a need then stopped, this method required more control and restraint, but made using chakra when I needed much easier. As I got used to the feel of my flowing chakra, this method became easier. With a good deal of concentration I would recall the flow of my chakra and as long as I maintained concentration the flow would continue. Imoto even grunted in acknowledgement when I mentioned how I used chakra, so there's that.

Now during our exercise I could control my chakra to keep pace with Imoto. I simply focused and got into the mental space required. As time went on I was better able to feel the pressure of my chakra. This better sense allowed me to slowly let what I needed flow through me. My once refreshing pulse was now an invigorating stream. Yet I still had a long way to go. My control over how much chakra I used was limited and of course I had little chakra to work with at all. More practice is needed. More practice is always needed really.

As I got ready for training, I was met with surprise. Instead of morning training, Imoto told me, “Got a mission suited for you kid.”

I then went up to Suki for my first mission. Suki slid a paper towards me. She asked me to read it aloud, probably to make sure I could actually read. The paper said that Matsugi of the Matsunoki house had their goods stolen by 'bandits' they believe to have been undercover members of a rival Rolton house. They expect the stolen materials to be delivered by the end of the March for a payment of 15 dollars.

After I finished reading, she nodded and reached into a drawer of her desk. Suki took out a jar. The glass jar was filled with pine needles. Suki put the jar in a nice little padded satchel and handed it to me. After I put the satchel in my backpack along with my supplies, Suki took the mission poster from me, read it twice over, and looked at Imoto.

With a resigned sigh she said, “Being a Gatyri is a pretty difficult thing. I want you to take this mission and every mission you ever receive with a serious professionalism. That means you assume enemies are always a possibility, that you respect clients no matter what, and that you recognize the importance completing a mission has. This may be a simple delivery with the most dangerous part already handled, but we need to show that this program can work. A house has actually trusted us to manage this. Normally I would hand this off to Imoto, but due to his insistence I'm trusting you. Don't let me down."

Alright time to step up to the full responsibility. Taking a deep breath, I respond with a firm, “Yes, I understand.”

“Please take the mission poster. At your destination give the mission poster to the person who originally posted it, in this case Matsugi of the Matsunoki. Now these posters contain a seal that only activates for those who originally posted it with us. Before you deliver or even let someone see the materials you carry, show them this poster. If and only if, the box at the bottom of the poster turns green have you found the correct person. Understood?”

“Understood.”

After I took the mission poster, Suki took out a map and explained, “The Matsunoki compound can be found along the first river in the direction of southeast. Travel upstream along the river for nearly 100 kilometers and soon the compound will become visible. The deadline of the mission is the sundown of the third month which is today,” and after a brief pause Suki continued, “Good luck and bring that satchel I gave you back."

A bit worried about the deadline I said, "That is short notice. Maybe-"

Interrupting me, Imoto blew a ring of smoke towards my face and with a giant grin said, "Sorry, the bandits were too slow for your liking. Next time I'll remind them to speedily cooperate. Now I suggest you stop standing and start hurrying."

I am starting to believe Imoto is a giant asshole. 100 kilometers in one day. Why would he make me do this? How long has the mission been available? Just why?

I can't waste time on this. Be serious and focus. How much time do I have left for today? I looked up and saw the sun. It appeared that it was almost three hours before midday. While looking up, I also oriented myself so I faced southeast which luckily was in the direction of my camp. With a wave and a quick goodbye I set off at a nice jog. After quickly grabbing my backpack and supplies from my tent, I set off.

As I left the clearing and entered the forest, I thought about how to manage this. I need an hour or two hour break and I need to be there before sundown at around 7pm. 3 hours until noon, quick hour break, and 5 hour run to the finish with an hour to spare. 100 in 8 hours for today. Oh, that is 12 and a half kilometers per hour for 8 hours. That is gonna be tough. I’ve never used chakra constantly for more than 3 hours straight and doubt I can run at that pace for 5 hours without dropping dead. I should be early to be safe, so if I carefully control my chakra flow maybe.

There is a fine line here. I will need to manually control my chakra flow so that I'm faster allowing me to maintain this pace. But too much and I might run out of chakra which usually leads to me being hungry and passing out. So I will need to manage my chakra carefully and pick up any slack with sheer willpower.

After a few minutes, I reached the river and concentrated to enact my crazy plan. First I needed to set my 12.5 kilometer pace. I grabbed a stick which was roughly longer than a meter and used it to measure 50 meters. Some quick math and rounding 12.5 to a flat 12 kilometers allowed me to calculate the pace at 50 meters was nearly 15 seconds for every 50 meters. I then practiced running that 50 meters at the needed pace of roughly 14 seconds, since I had rounded down earlier.

Once I felt comfortable with the pace, I got ready. It took a moment to gather the focus, but soon I felt the flow of chakra and I mentally clamped down. My chakra subsided to a small invigorating flow, and I took off. At first it felt weird to limit my chakra so much compared to the amount needed to keep up with Imoto during our runs. But it slowly got easier. As I ran I had to watch my footing, move out of any bushes and trees, and I keep a lookout for enemies like Suki told me. The weird strain from the focus on my chakra never left, but kinda subsided to the back of my mind as I travelled alongside the river.

I settled into the routine. And like it usually did when running, my mind cleared and I focused on the simple tasks in front of me. I ran, minded for enemies, controlled my chakra, and made sure the package was safe in my backpack and in good condition. The first couple hours were okay, but soon enough I started feeling the burn. Originally my small stream of chakra allowed me to move faster with ease, but over time my body got tired and more and more of my chakra was spent supplying my body energy instead of increasing my speed. But the mission required me to maintain this brutal pace, so I had to push harder which only made it worse as even more chakra went to my tired body. This uneasy balance lasted for an hour as it got progressively worse.

Eventually the precarious balance ended because I ran low on chakra. My flow of chakra felt like a trickle and deciding to err on the side of caution I stopped using any chakra. That caused it to hit me all at once. The fatigue was clouding not just my body, but also my mind. All of a sudden I was more tired than I thought possible and it was terrible.

My mental focus was quickly deteriorating. I noticed how my body was lopsided due to the uneven weight within my backpack. Speaking of which, this stupid bag keeps bouncing whenever I walk. I felt a weird killer headache coming on and I had to start breathing manually. I swear I was seeing shadows move in every bush and tree around me. All of a sudden the sun felt oppressive and I don’t think I can continue.

I took a break and started walking not really paying attention to where. Once I settled down, I took off my backpack and gulped down some of the water I had in my backpack. I had some food, but decided I should just have a small snack. I needed to keep running and eating a full meal would slow me down or make me vomit. After my short rest and very light snack washed down with water, I put my backpack on and got right back to the running.

It was a good bit after midday which meant I was running late. That meant my pace needed to increase. I knew I needed to use my chakra more efficiently if I was going to make it. My legs felt terrible while my arms simply felt tired. I made the decision to coerce most of my chakra to flow only to my legs. Initially I made the mistake of sending the same trickle of chakra I was using before. That small trickle that fed my entire body felt like an energizing jolt when it hit my legs. Once I clamped down once again on the flow of chakra, I was able to run for a good two hours before needing another break. I had a 5 minute walking break where I had a light snack washed down with water. Then I got right back to it.

When I started running again, I lasted barely an hour. After which I felt a weird tingle run through my body. I felt my tired body draw for some chakra and before I could even deny the request, I felt my chakra for a split second. I felt hollow for a moment and then realized that I was nearly out of chakra. Knowing I was close to chakra exhaustion made the oncoming pain even worse. First was the ravenous hunger I suddenly had. Then my bones were cold despite how much I was sweating. The headache I currently had got even worse. My heart felt like it was pumping tar instead of blood and my heartbeat felt erratic. I was seriously considering just taking a break and delivering the package in the middle of the night even if I had to trudge through the forest in the dark.

But I persevered. With every step it got a little bit easier. My momentum carried me forward on lead legs. I ran raw with no chakra to help, only sheer willpower. My mind was in a haze of putting one foot after another and I'm not sure how long I was running like this.

Fortunately before the sun started to set, I caught a glimpse of buildings in the distance before I could quit. The next few minutes of running were made all the more difficult due to the fact I could see my goal. Without my chakra to help, I barely managed to jog/stumble to the gates of the compound before sundown.

As I got closer to the compound, I noticed a nearby area for boats and realized I was walking on a dirt road. Despite there being no walls, two people I assume were guards met me before I reached the compound proper.

They both wore white short sleeve shirts with some sort of symbol over their heart along with some white pants and boots. They both had brown hair and eyes, but the one on the left had a beard and mustache.

The bearded man in a gruff tone asked me, “What is your business?”

Trying to get my head straight after my 8 hour run I slowly responded, “I am here on a mission from the Yoshiga program to deliver materials to Matsugi of the Matsunoki clan.”

After they stared at me for a while, I took out the mission scroll from my backpack and showed it to them. They looked to each other for a while and then the bearded one nodded to his compatriot. The other guard ran off, and me and the bearded guard stood around for a moment. Soon enough the guard came back and all three of us went inside the compound. This place was like a large village with plenty of people moving too and fro every which way even this late in the day. We eventually reached a well built two story stone house. Which was interesting because the stone contrasted with the wooden houses surrounding it.

The guards knocked on the door and a short woman in a white kimono with the same red symbol over the chest as the guards opened the door. She had her dark black hair tied up in a bun and hazel eyes looked between the guards. She greeted us with a vibrant ‘welcome’ and let us in. The guards remained standing, but I was dead on my feet and followed the woman to a table. Trying to maintain some decorum I slowly folded my legs under me and sat at the table while trying to look like I wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep.

The woman spoke to what looked like a maid and turned to me with a smile. She sat across from me and said, “Welcome to the Matsunoki compound within the Territory of Ouro. My name is Matsunoki Yuni and your name?”

Attempting to return her politeness, I responded, “Gatyri Kell at your service.”

“Well I am glad you are here. My husband has been quite anxious about the delivery for some time. I am sure he would like to speak with you over some tea.”

I realized she said that last part with the inflection of a question and I answered, “Yes, a conversation over tea would be great.”

She then motioned to another maid with her left arm. As her sleeve moved back, I was able to see that she was missing her left hand. Soon the maid came, poured us some tea, and promptly left. As I took my first sip of the nice green tea, I thought about how rich these people were to have two maids.

Yuni soon said, “Oh, you must have really enjoyed the tea.”

Looking at my cup, I realized I had completely drained the cup made from fine china before I even put it down once. I knew I was thirsty from my run and that tea stood no chance. Feeling a bit awkward, I responded, “It was very good tea.”

“Well, yes it is quite good. I always put honey and sugar in all my tea when I can.”

“An idea I very much agree with.”

Soon enough I heard some footsteps and a man who could only be Matsugi entered. He was the male version of Yuni except wearing a shirt and pants and he also had both his hands. He even had his hair tied up in the same sort of bun.

Without a word he sat down next to his Yuni and started what I realized was an interrogation.

He spoke in a smooth surprisingly high pitched voice and asked, “Are you the Gatyri from the Yoshiga?”

I nodded and answered, “Yes, Gatyri Kell at your service.”

“Let me see the materials.”

After thinking for a moment, I decided to follow Suki’s instruction and instead handed him the mission scroll first.

He nodded, activated the seal and handed the scroll back to me, then looked at me expectantly.

The box at the bottom was green, so I decided to give him the jar. He practically snatched it out of my hands then he stood up. Before he could walk out, he stopped and after some hesitation motioned for both me and Yuni to follow. We went to the back of the building into a dark room with no windows.

Matsugi then walked over in the dark and after I heard a quick ‘click’, a bright white light filled the room. The source was from a metal box that sat on a table.

Yuni saw my expression and said, “While quite expensive, this little device called an arc lamp can produce light at any time. A necessity for the medical services our clan provides.”

I was fascinated since this was the only such device I've seen in my life. Such a bright light at night would be extremely useful. It was definitely better than any light by fire. Matsugi used the lamp to carefully inspect the pine needles.

Well that is interesting. This clan specialized in medicine and apparently had the money to spend on such wondrous devices. Which made me wonder. I was being paid 15 dollars and considering a single dollar is enough for a few decent meals. Maybe being a Gatyri in this Yoshiga program wasn't so bad. It is way more than I expected honestly, and it is enough to survive and save a good amount. With this being the lowest mission I can only assume I will have some good paydays in the future.

Matsugi interrupted my musing by stating, “I was a bit surprised by your arrival. The mission was a short notice, and I already had plans to receive the materials through other means. But here you are, a day early if looking a little haggard.”

Imoto, that lying son of a bitch. Trying to maintain my professionalism I responded, “I am urged to take every assignment seriously and that means being early, if a bit haggard.”

As Matsugui inspected the pine needles under the light with a magnifying glass, he asked, “Not to sound condescending, but a young man like you managed to retrieve the materials and deliver them so soon?”

“No, I was tasked only with delivery.”

Matsugi responded with a contemplative ‘hm’ while Yuni looked relieved I think. Yuni was easy to read as she seemed to go from worry, to wonder, to relief. After looking me up and down Yuni led me out the room with her right hand.

She turned to me and said, “You must have had a long journey. If you wish for a place to rest, I would be happy to provide.”

Oh thank goodness. I was so tired and out of it that I tunneled on finishing the mission. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that it was night time. Happy I didn’t need to sleep in the unknown forest I responded, “That would be much appreciated. I will gladly accept your offer.”

“Great! Let me show you the shower!”

She led me to the end of this hallway that reached the back of the house and we went up the stairs. Upstairs there was a central hallway that had 4 four rooms on each side. The bathroom was the first room on the right. Inside was a toilet tucked into the left corner and in front of me was a large square ceramic tub. There were metal pipes attached all along the walls.

Yuni turned to me excitedly, “This room has access to water. This is a toilet that flushes with water, how neat is that. Connected to the tub's faucet is a specially designed system which can pour out water. The tub faucet can even pour out hot water. My husband won’t admit it, but this room was definitely worth every penny.”

Yuni then gave me a rundown of how everything worked. The toilet had a button on the top that caused it to flush. The water that flowed into the tub was controlled by a knob on the left and the hot water was turned on with a switch to the right of the knob. She then had a maid bring me some soap, a rag, and towel. After a hot bath, which was honestly worth the journey, I was led to a room by a maid.

I set my stuff down and sat on the very comfy futon. In that moment, I truly relished the feeling of wealth. I then passed out as soon as my head hit the very expensive pillow.

I woke up and prepared to return and finish the mission. As I was getting ready, a maid led me to breakfast. I was thankful for the free and kindly offered meal. After a very nice breakfast, I was led out of the compound by the same guards from yesterday and made my way back.

I was too tired to run back, so decided to make it a two day trip ahead of time. As I moved through the forest, I looked for food to forage and places to camp. Despite my tired legs, I made good progress that first day. I covered maybe half the original distance and slept in a small clearing. I reached the Yoshiga tree at night on the second day, but only Imoto was at the tree at the time.

I went to turn the scroll in to him, but he just told me to come tomorrow for Suki. That made me wonder what Imoto’s job here officially entailed. I’ve only seen Suki handle anything mission related. And while he was a Gatyri, I don’t know how skilled he was or what the old man could truly do. He handled missions every now and then though, and he also acted as a teacher. But despite all the work he probably does around here as the only other true member, all I have seen him do is sit and smoke. And I was starting to believe it wasn't tobacco in his pipe.

I reached camp and found everything where I left it. My tent and other items were fine which was good. I noticed that Dee and Roen were back. They seemed to already be asleep in their tents though.

The next day I found Suki sitting at her desk as usual and handed her the poster and the bag she gave me. She looked it over, and after a quick ‘good job’, handed me a total of 4 dollars.

There was a moment of confusion as I stared at my payment and the 15 dollars listed on the sheet. Suki held a forlorn expression then explained, "All missions have 20% deducted as a tax to support the Yoshiga program itself, which subtracted 3 dollars. And since this mission had two components and two people worked on it, the leftover 12 dollars were split. Since gaining the materials from the 'bandits' was the more dangerous and important aspect of the mission, 8 dollars were given to the one to complete that aspect of the mission. The remaining 4 dollars are all yours. It is quite generous compensation for the work you did."

I didn't mind the payment. I was just confused about the discrepancy. In all honestly 4 dollars was more than expected for what amounted as a simple delivery. I thanked Suki and decided to go back to camp.

As I went back to camp, I thought about what I should do next. While walking I eyed the bills in my hand. The 4 dollars was split into single bills, which had the usual bronze color and giant 1 on every corner. I noticed that these bills were new. They still had the standard five figures of the ouroborus, monkey, crocodile, spider, and tiger on one side and the Trail depiction on the other. But the date it was printed was the beginning of this year and the bronze paper material still had some crispness to it.

Now what should I do with this money? I have been eating a great deal and buying some food supplies to supplement my diet would be good. New clothes would also be good alternative use. I have nearly grown out of all my older clothes. I also need an outfit that can take more wear and tear than my thin linen clothing. Maybe some leather like Dee.

While not sure on exactly what, I knew I would probably buy something today. The Trail was only half an hour’s walk away, so this could be a quick trip. As I reached the camp, I saw Roen was up and practicing with his swords. He was not doing simple katas or practicing strikes. No, he was whirling about at full speed moving both blades in a hypnotic pattern. He was quickly alternating attacks at the air between his left and right blades. Making it all the more impressive was the size of the blades themselves. Initially I thought he carried four swords with him, but it seemed that he actually used double bladed swords. Two of the swords seemed joined at the hilt with each sword having one side that was a single-edged curving blade and the other side was a sharply-pointed double-edged blade. One side for slashing and the other side for stabbing presumably. He was building some serious momentum and speed. Every slash led into a stab that led into another slash and he became a spinning, twirling blur.

In contrast to Roen’s intense training, Dee was just relaxing on a rock and reading a book. Since we all kinda live together and Roen should not be interrupted, I decided to ask Dee if she wanted to visit the Trail and buy anything.

Dee closed her book and said, “That is a good idea. Let me tell Roen.”

Roen nodded in agreement with the idea and in a smooth motion for each hand he snapped his swords in half causing them to return into their more compact 4 sword form. After that we soon left the camp for the Trail.

As we were walking through the forest, Dee asked me, “Suki told us you were on a short mission. What was it?”

I answered, “Just a short delivery of materials to a nearby house compound. Everything went fine and the people were surprisingly nice. How was the caravan escort?”

“It seems it was similar to yours. Merchants needed to deliver some supplies and collect some ore from a nearby mine. They believed the forest leading to the mine was infested with bandits. They were right of course. I spotted bandits hiding in the forest. While they didn’t bother to attack us, it was close enough that in all honesty we should have taken care of them.”

Roen said, “Our mission was to protect the merchants. We also had no proof that those men were bandits. All we know is that they were in the forest.”

Dee seemed annoyed as she asked, “But do you believe they were bandits? Yes or no?”

Roen answered, “Yes.”

“So, hypothetically if our belief that they were bandits proved true, left alone those bandits could in the future attack merchants that we would not be there to protect? In such a case we should have taken care of them or arrested them for the safety of the area?”

“No. We can not act on suspicion alone.”

“But if we did find these bandits doing bandity things, it would be fair to then arrest them?”

“Yes.”

“Waiting until they commit a crime is dangerous. Would it not be safer to prevent such crimes before they can happen?”

“Yes, it would be safer.”

“So why did we not take care of those bandits?”

Before Roen could add another short response which would lead to this argument devolving, I decided to mollify the situation by saying, “I think Roen’s point is that ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ is not just a phrase. It is a belief that should be above suspicions. Whether or not they actually were bandits is less important than maintaining such a belief. Am I getting that right, Roen?”

He nodded for a moment and responded, “Yes, proof before action is a must.”

I looked to Dee to see her reaction. She seemed surprisingly calm. Her face was neutral and with the eyepatch covering half her face it was hard to gleam much. She may have been angry or in agreement and I couldn’t really tell. Dee simply nodded up and down and we moved on from the topic of reasonable suspicion.