The dust settled by the time the sun touched the horizon line, sending streaks of orange and violet hues across the sky. He couldn’t have asked for a more deserving sight after such a long, arduous journey. They all had prepared for this moment. For the day they make it out of the rags of the slums, and into the riches of the Capital.

“...Hey Katsuro, is it really over?” Drowze found himself blurting out.

“See for yourself, bossman.” His trusted local splayed his arms out at the scene in front of them. It was truly a sight to behold. His men cheered and celebrated just as passionately as they did completing their very first baseball game.

“We did it!”

“Yeaaaaaaah!”

“We scored big time!”

“This kid’s stacked!”

“Who the hell carries this much ore on them?”

“Who cares? We’re rich!”

“The capital ain’t got shit on us!”

“Freeloading off of that senile samurai was the best idea ever!”

“Keh keh keh keh!”

Watching his lackey rummage through layers of emerald ore in Lukas’s satchel, Drowze dodged the spit from one of their cackles.

Another bizarre laughter.

He picked up and examined one of the ores in the satchel, and stifled a chuckle. It was much bigger than any of the ores he had ever received from the boy. “...I can finally put those slums behind me.”

“—Urgh… All that’s for the old man…”

Sitting helplessly by the walls, Lukas’s arms were tied behind his back and his ankles bounded by rope. He had struggled against the binds for quite a while, making strained faces and groaning all the octaves vocal chords can reach, but eventually even his energy had run out as he gave in. After Lukas muttered those words, Drowze shot him a scoff.

“Good, Leaving wealth in the hands of the rich is a recipe for disaster in this late-stage economy.”

Obtaining the emblem was much easier than he had imagined. Pickpocketing during their transaction was as easy as dealing with Lukas with his posse. ‘Silence the kid without killing’—That was Drowze’s strict directive, but in practice, it took an outstretched leg out of Lukas’s line of sight to trip him over. In turn, Sall.AR lost its footing in the air, if that was even possible, and both were subsequently subdued.

Not so powerful without your little toy.

Even those eccentric movements that allowed him and his bot to dodge barrages of rocks weren’t enough to handle a horde of enemies. After getting a hold of, one of the lackeys drilled Sall.AR into a small crevasse in the cliff walls that happened to restrict the bot’s movements.

“Ki…”

The sight of both his final obstacles powerless filled him with a sense of relief similar to that of his first edge against his competitors. Simply put: powerful.

“Which’ll mean we’re officially done with this place?” Katsuro asked.

“Yeah. Ise Province is no longer needed. All that’s left is the Capital. So long as this emblem really is what they say it is.”

Upon directing their next goal, the lackeys began murmuring to themselves until Katsuro cleared his throat.

“...Right, we’re all wondering the exact thought. Can that emblem alone really take us to Reine?”

It would be natural to have their doubts. After all, these were special artifacts that are bestowed to people deserving of the Capital’s riches. ‘Those are given to those already residing in Reine who are to leave outside its walls. Should they wish to return, the emblem acts as a bridge between the inside and out.’ Said one of the villagers here. However, it wasn’t as if they had proof that one emblem could allow any individual to board a ship to Reine, let alone dozens. All Drowze had were pieced-together rumors amongst the villagers in the countryside he had initiated trades with.

“If it’s to be believed, the passenger cruise that’s reserved for the Capital arrives at the port every six months. And it just so happens that its next arrival is tonight. I’ve little doubt they’ll gladly take us all.”

“There proof that they’ll let all of us in?” A lackey asked, puzzled.

“I'm afraid you guys will just have to take my word for it.”

It wasn’t a convincing argument, if it even was an argument in the first place. The men grew silent for a while, but not before one eventually shrugged.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Yeah, same.”

“Me too.”

Drowze cracked a wry smile. Perhaps inspired by his rhetoric a long while back, they didn’t question any further. He could only thank his refined persuasion and people skills, alongside Katsuro’s word, that he was able to win over this posse in the first place.

“I must say… It’s almost encouraging seeing you guys put so much faith in me.”

All those chilly nights in the slums, frequent fevers, and inconsistent food supply—it all honestly took a physical and mental toll on the former CEO, but it was thanks to these nutjobs that he tolerated the misery. Then it first came in the form of ample lodging in one of the slum’s more affluent areas. The next, a shipment of beer and sake that had gotten them wasted that night. Their level of comfort slowly increased thanks to a certain boy who supplied them a steady stream of emerald ore. Really, it only proved just how well off Reine was compared to Alkai’s outskirts that they’d ship such luxuries.

Whatever the state his former company was in now, whether SAL was granted a new chief executive officer and survived or fully crumbled into the ground, he couldn’t care less. The story that a CEO ran away with half his company’s fortunes could spread across Chordia for all he cared. Those persistent days of biding his time had finally paid off. In his hand was his ace in the hole, the ticket that will lead to freedom. From that point on, Drowze would live out the rest of his life to the fullest.

“I say we pack up our bags now and head for the port—”

“Sall.AR. Activate Mining Mode..!”

“Huh?”

A shout from the boy. Out of the corner of his eye by the cliff walls, Sall.AR took on cycling shades of orange, and immediately following were return commands that cracked his certainty.

“Accessing SALLAR records. Complete. Transferring protocols. Success.”

“What?!”

Another mode was in the realm of possibility, yet he hadn’t thought to consider it. To his dismay, the bot stretched out its free right arm and—manifested a pickaxe within its three fingers, the same magic trick that it had formed a wooden sword with. Before Drowze or his lackeys could get ahold of the bot, Sall.AR struck at the rock above its fuselage. A clean break later, slabs of rock tumbled to the ground and Sall.AR whizzed upwards away from the reach of any of his lackey’s weaponry. It gave one look at Lukas before nodding and zooming over the cliff walls.

“...It escaped.” Drowze glared at the boy. “You’re gonna answer me where you sent that bot, kid.”

“Find out in a minute.” Lukas said, smirking.

“You little…” Drowze stormed up and grabbed him by the collar, holding the emerald ore in his other hand right by Lukas’s mouth. “If you don’t tell me, then you can taste the rocks that your Samurai likes so much.” The boy single handedly allowed Drowze and the men to rectify their lifestyles, but now that Drowze acquired his emblem, he outgrew his usefulness.

“Heh. Better than any of the crappy food you guys must’ve eaten at the slums.”

“Little shit—!”

A shove to the wall. Lukas grunted and coughed as the impact lodged dirt from the cliff and coated his head in dust.

“Beat me all you want. It’s not like that’s gonna win you guys any cash.” He spat out a pebble. “Should’ve known a guy like you ain’t some ambassador from Chordia. I would’ve heard about it all over the news. Hell, you didn’t even bat an eye when I mentioned I’m from there.”

If this had been Chordia, Drowze would have immediately been apprehended for battery, and soon enough, for fraud and theft. Perhaps his image as a CEO prevented him from driving the ore into the kid’s mouth. “Be that as it may, this damn world needs one. If no one wants to take the helm, then I’ll gladly do it myself.”

That glare of the boy. It was as if he couldn’t be less worried that his precious emblem was about to be used for Drowze’s own gain. Wherever he sent that bot, it allowed him to spew remarks that would otherwise have gotten him killed, and it was that very reasoning that made Drowze realize too late. “No…” If he called for that Samurai…

“Hey, what happened to that walking mountain of confidence?” Lukas smirked.

A light breeze swayed. His bad hunch turned into chills, creeping up his spine.

This is exactly the sort of signal when disaster tends to strike.

“No matter! Everyone get your shit together!” Drowze shouted. The ship wouldn’t depart for a few hours, but it likely was already docked at the port. If he could just get there in time and wait it out, it’ll be his win. “We’ll head for the harbor now—!”

“B—Boss! Bad news!” A sudden shout from the entrance of the valley. A panicked lackey came scrambling in, beads of sweat covering his forehead. “It—It’s a Reaper!”

“What?” Drowze raised an eyebrow. He relinquished his grip on Lukas, the boy sliding back on the ground. “What are you going on about? The hell do you mean Reap—” Before he could finish, the lackey let out a shriek and fell face down.

Behind, an unarmed girl walked silently towards Drowze and his posse carrying a gaze of pure-white malice.

“Oh…? The chic’s back.”

It was the same girl that had interrupted their transaction earlier. The bot, likely having lost all its strength, spent it all to disclose their location as it wasn’t present with her. That also meant the bot had only alerted her and her alone by the fact that the Samurai didn’t come, and ‘Aoi’ had limited range, or so they say. How foolish of him for being so worked up. He feared that the Samurai would rescue them, but it seemed they had more time at their disposal.

And yet… A bead of sweat trickled down Drowze’s face. That glare and the fact that she had knocked one of the lackeys out cold troubled him. His legs felt like they were about to collapse at any moment just by returning her gaze.

Is this… bloodlust?

He clenched his fist.

No. It was still exactly as planned.

Subduing her just as they did with the boy will be no different.

She posed no threat.

“M—Mira… The old man wasn’t with you…?”

She stopped her pace and looked towards Lukas who grimaced at the sight of her.

“Let go of Lukas.” A voice far from supple and steeped in enmity sprung out.

“Oho.” Drowze snickered. “That won’t do. If he waddles off now, he’ll come clean and the Samurai will have our heads. So not until we make use of this ore, okay?”

“H—Hey I won’t.” Lukas leaned forward inadvertently. “I didn’t exactly intend on beating you up, but I did only because you stole my damn emblem.”

“Didn’t you just send your robot friend to get him?”

“Yeah. To have Sall.AR do the talking instead and have old man Kazeru put you guys to rest, but...” The boy averted his eyes.

“Then you keep on sitting there.” Drowze gestured Lukas off. “Too bad that glimmer of hope failed to come into fruition.”

“—Is this something an ambassador who wants to ease tensions do?” Mira cut in. “Steal from kids? That’s not something someone important should do.”

Looking back towards the girl, her deathly expression remained unchanged. “...Hm.” Her gaze was terrifying, but it lacked the intense terror he felt on that night. For some peasant girl to argue about political ethics was like speaking to a toddler about mathematics: a waste of time.

“You should at least put two and two together and realize that I can’t perform my ambassador duties without taking a visit to the Capital.”

Mira raised an eyebrow. “The Capital? Oh right. You were supposed to be an ambassador, but the way you and your buddies look right now—” She narrowed her eyes. “—are like some members of a crime syndicate.”

To his side, Katsuro, who had been mindlessly listening in until now, opened his mouth to speak. “His Imperial Majesty needs a wake-up call on what’s going on outside. If we become an underground mafia, then so be it.”

“The Daimyo will be the one to have your heads. Plus, did you guys really trick yourselves into doing shady business for this con artist?”

“Tricked?” Katsuro shrugged and grinned. “Saying that it's our own volition probably won’t persuade you, but it is the truth.”

“You guys are… disillusioned.”

How persistent.

“...Bossman, think we should take care of her now?”

“Not yet.” Drowze couldn’t afford to spend any more time dawdling, but somehow, he felt the urge to speak his mind to this villager. “Mira, was it? Maybe not in the same vicinity, but you do hail from the same underprivileged part of Alkai. You’re one of the locals here, just like my friend here.” Drowze patted Katsuro on the shoulder. “Only after learning of a better, wealthier life did he begin proactively investing in the future. Surely you can also find value in our cause?”

“—You don’t need wealth in order to live a happy life.”

It was a response that summarized the common thought of the people here. A classic answer, to which he has a comment on.

“Well then. Stay ignorant. But some bumpkin from the countryside won’t possibly have a prayer of understanding the gap in this world. If you want to go beyond the life of tilling fields, you will be met with the harsh reality that is the cutthroat world.”

“Then do something about it. Change the system if you hate it.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Yes… That’s why… Because even a business worth its salt will eventually run its course. Whether it’ll fade into obscurity or become an overgrown monster of a corporation, swallowing others, acquisition after acquisition. It’s painfully obvious we have a monster in our hands. If we can tame it, mold it, then the uncrossable wealth gap will become a thing of the past, and we’ll create a world where everyone can live lavishly—

“Are you sure you’re not using ‘inequality’ to justify your greed for what you lost? Because it seems to me you’re not making amends to the world, but for the wealth you threw away.”

“...” Drowze withstood the reflex to click his tongue in exasperation. Upon hearing that, he knew that there was more to this girl than meets the eye. Now that he had a better look at her, he didn’t recognize her from the village’s inhabitants, yet it was apparent she was Alkain and wore their same wardrobe: a mere kimono and hakama. Was she sheltered from the tedious farm work of the country-side? Was she rather studying… and training?

Don’t tell me you live with that senile Samurai.

“...Tell you what, Mira. If, instead of splitting hairs, you and this kid zip your lips and wait like courteous folks until we leave, you’ll walk away unharmed. And we’ll share the spoils of victory to Ise Province.”

It was a chance encounter that threw a wrench in his plans. A blunder that would cost this operation? No, his coolheaded judgment never once faltered. Not before, and not now.

・

Compared to him… I haven’t put much thought into my future.

Mira took a deep breath and let it out. Sall.AR had come crashing into her while in pursuit of Lukas’s and Drowze’s trail, sputtering and panicking. Not even a moment later, the bot’s illuminating orange eyes faded black as he lost all his energy reserves and shut down completely, his cylindrical arms limp. Noticing all of the scuff marks and the fact that Sall.AR was in Ki Mode, she instantly understood the situation.

The two had fought, and Lukas was in danger.

Mira carefully placed Sall.AR in a nondescript bush of tallgrass with the intent to keep him out of harm’s way. His nicked fuselage was more than enough of a distress signal. That was why it was foolhardy to allow herself to be led into the center of attention of some dangerous little posse. Never in her career had she faced an enemy, no less dozens of them, that knew her exact location or prepared to fight her. The conditions of battle were flipped on their head, though it wasn’t as if she could sweat the details. She needed to eliminate this cynical strawman.

And as soon as this objective was made clear in her mind, her green eyes focused sharply.

“How about no?”

“Then settle in the dirt.”

On cue, the lackeys flaunted the many weapons at their disposal: carving knives, scissors, shaving razors, drills, and more—each slowly approached her in unison with a gleeful look that could only be described as blinded promise. Just before Mira could take a step forward, several cries and collapsing sounds at the back of the group caused everyone to shift their attention to the stomping giant.

“—I’ll handle this, boss.” The burliest lackey of the group pushed his way to the front and confronted her, scraping a nicked felling axe on the ground. The veins in his muscles popped with a grunt as he lifted it off and over his shoulder. “You won’t get a free pass out of us just cuz you used to be a bystander. You involved yourself. Now face the consequences.”

“Y—You can’t be serious! She’s innocent!” Lukas cried out.

Gripping the handle with both hands, the lackey brought the axe’s head high in the air and lunged forward.

“Stop!”

“Uuuooooooh!”

In the span of a split second, she let out a sigh. Sloppy, reckless, confident, muscle-driven. The brute couldn’t have put up more of a threat than he tried.

—At the spot Mira stood, she disappeared completely.

“H—Huh?! Where did she—”

And then the burley lackey fell, the axe in midair until the weapon too disappeared.

“Wha…” Lukas blinked twice.

One by one, the men dropped like flies. Some frothed at the mouth, others drooled, but all lost consciousness within seconds of each other. The subsequent symphony of metal clanging onto the ground harmonized like bells in the wind.

“Gwak!”

“Auugh!”

“Whaugh!”

“B—Boss, aghhh!”

“Wh—What the hell?!” Seeing his own men dwindling, Drowze backed instinctively. “J—Just who is this chic?!”

“Isao, Kiyoshi, Sadao, Shou—!” Katsuro shouted. “Tch! All hands, battle formations!”

But it was no use. No matter where or how fast they swung their bats, knives, or machetes, every lackey ended up falling to the ground before landing their mark. Mira forcefully drove her blade to vital points just precisely enough to not kill them, but to knock them out. Her gaze didn’t waver even as the identical pins and needles from that katana barraged the arm she held the axe in.

“Well… Looks like that baseball game in Reine will just have to be put on hold.”

“Don’t say that. We still—”

“If anything else, you, Mr. CEO, deserve to reach the Capital.” Katsuro stepped up and brandished his own bat.

“Calling me that now…”

Having heard nothing but noise from their conversation, Mira eyed the man who held his bat perpendicular to the ground. His stance was flawless. Feet firmly planted, elbows out and away from the body, eyes narrowed in concentration. They swung—the clash of the axe and the bat vibrated the air, and a second later Mira blinked at the sudden resistance in her arms. Her blade had been stopped.

However.

A drive to Katsuro’s chin sent spit in the air. Mira’s knee collided with the vulnerable area, causing him to reel back and allowing her to deliver a final blow to his neck.

The local fell.

“Katsuro…”

The last remaining members of the posse took on a tumultuous contortion of their faces as they screamed at the top of their lungs and charged in. With nothing to lose, each one let loose on Mira—and yet it was all the same. Soon enough, she began to lose grip on reality herself. The blinding flow that granted Mira’s speed and control tunneled her vision—Drowze’s men being nothing more than the obstacles before the light ahead.

In the span of a minute, the last of his lackeys had lost consciousness and the only remaining person standing was Mira, axe in hand.

“Khh…!”

The melee skirmish stopped abruptly right before dispatching the last obstacle. Mira’s extreme concentration was cut short by the jolt of the axe’s pricks spreading past her shoulder. Gripping the handle, she managed a smile. Whatever Kazeru had done to her, he truly intended on forbidding her from handling any sort of weapon. Despite the pain, she was somewhat thankful of this impediment for preventing her from succumbing to her own mind.

Lukas turned his head to where she stood with a mixture of horror, shock, and amazement. He was silent, perhaps utterly shocked to see a side of Mira that made him rethink his image of her. Meanwhile, Drowze’s pale face conveyed his shattered psyche.

“Here I thought we were in the home stretch…” He muttered. “Monsters are said to live in the same skin as us. I thought that meant the bastards at the top, but I’d never expect to meet one myself here.” He practically spat his words, glaring at her with a combination of irritation and fear. “Are you really… another Samurai?”

Drowze faced Mira with an incredulous stance and from his back pocket, he pulled out a weapon of his own which immediately caused Mira’s breath to stop in her throat—a ranged weapon—a foreign model pistol. With a clip loaded and the hammer cocked, he aimed straight for her head.

Seeing the slight waver in her eyes, Drowze grinned. “Not too confident now, eh? A single pull of this trigger will spill out your brains to kingdom come.”

Under normal circumstances, no human being can outspeed a bullet traveling twice the speed of sound. This held equally true for the assassins in the division, denizens of the shadows that focused on speed and precise movements. Mira couldn’t disarm him from their distance and if she were to try and out-maneuver his aim, she’d be caught in the crossfire no matter what. In short, there was no dodging it. A droplet of sweat formed on her face as a barrage of thoughts rained on her.

What would Kazeru do if he was here instead of her? What if Sall.AR had expended its energy to get his help instead? Surely the former Samurai would have easily dodged the bullet. If only she knew how they, the Samurai, perform the feats in their stories… If only she knew more… If only she was a Samurai herself…

I’m tired of being in the unknown.

“Do it.” She spoke with utter confidence as she stared down the barrel of the pistol.

“Oh?”

For the briefest of moments, Mira suppressed all her conflicts, her inner monologue, her self-doubt—all for the sake of this last move. Burying everything at the bottom of her mind, she leaned forward. Mira dug her foot into the ground—and kicked a mass of gravel upwards. A cloud of dirt darkened the field, leaden soot filling her vision.

“Ghh…! Then eat it!”

Time grounded to a near halt. In that momentary lull, a deafening pang rang out, then came the sudden flash of pain that did nothing but show her where to strike. When the muzzle’s flash flooded the terrain, Mira took to the air. She spun, and landed right behind Drowze.

It was checkmate.

She swung—and stopped short of his neck.

Likely feeling the cold press of metal by his neck, Drowze gulped and pressed his lips tight as if controlling his nerves not to shriek.

“But… how—”

“Do not speak.”

A command declared by Mira. He turned his head an inch before the axe dug deeper.

“Do not move. If you don’t want your life to be snuffed out—if you want the chance to see tomorrow again, then drop the gun, give me the emblem, and—” She pressed the axe further, causing trickles of blood to seep out of his neck. “—Never show your filthy faces in front of us ever again.”

With the drop of the pistol, Drowze reached into his shirt pocket then held the emblem over his shoulder with shaking hands. After Mira swiped the trinket, he sluggishly limped away as if losing the strength in his knees to stand, increasing his pace until it was a full blown jog.

“O—Oi, guys, get up!”

His men, still sleeping peacefully on the cold hard rocks, suddenly jolted awake at the voice of their boss. One by one, his lackeys began rising from the ground, rubbing the spots Mira had struck and groaning.

“Urrgh… What day is it…?”

“That bed was more rough than I thought…”

“Keh… Hek…”

“Bossman… What happened—”

“The battle is lost.”

Katsuro, who had just woken, coughed up a storm when Drowze announced their defeat. “The plan? What happened to the plan?”

“It was a fool’s errand from the get go, but that doesn’t mean we give up here. We’ll achieve wealth using other means!”

“Wha…?!”

Not giving him any more time to understand the situation, he rounded up all his lackeys in the valley, and without a moment’s delay, Drowze and his posse scurried off. The line of men running for the hills was somewhat comical if not for the fact that they carried an arsenal threatening weaponry. But before Drowze himself could escape out of view, he stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder.

“D—Do you really want to be stuck here, unchanging, unsatisfied with the way you are?!”

・

“Hah…” Letting out the breath she held, Mira tossed the axe aside which clanged on the rocks, not even realizing the burning sensation ceased as a result. Blood trickled down to the ground from her fingers. Drowze’s shot had pierced Mira’s right shoulder. Despite the emerald bullet packing quite the punch, handling the pins and needles of the axe was much worse in terms of pain, but the same couldn’t be said for the bleeding. It was nothing short of a miracle that she got out of that scuffle with only a gunshot wound.

“M—Mira…? You are… still Mira, right?”

“...Ah!” Darting her eyes, Lukas stared at her with combined emotions of worry, awe, excitement, and fear.

That hasn’t happened in a long time. That level of animosity.

She rubbed the back of her head as she made her way over. “Uh… Haha! Sorry, guess my emotions can get the better of me, haha…”

“Thank you.”

“Hm?”

Mira looked down to see streams of tears from Lukas’s eyes.

"Thank you… I’m so, so sorry for dragging you into this.”

“That’s fine.”

“It’s not. If I had been better at the Niten Ichi-ryū, you wouldn’t have taken a bullet for me—hell, I would’ve gotten that emblem back without any of us getting hurt…” His body stiffened as he leaned forward. “The only thing I wanted was to be with Sall.AR for just a little longer… Goddammit... I miss my mom, my dad… I wish they were still here…”

Mira averted her eyes from Lukas when images of Emerald and Chantou flickered in her mind. Kneeling down to cut the rope tying his hands and ankles, she patted his shoulder in understanding.

“...But we still have a home to return to. Sall.AR’s still waiting for us to turn him back on, and Kazeru’s definitely waiting for us at the table to eat his udon.” She drifted her gaze up. The sun, now hovering below the horizon line, painted the sky in an awe-inspiring sea of violet. It was then that Mira could see the first shimmering stars in the sky, meaning the future was still certain. “They’re still here, happy that you’re still here.”

“...Haha. The old man’s gonna dump all that udon into the garden when he sees us.” Wiping his eyes, Lukas looked upwards and fell silent. He let out a sigh and allowed his body to collapse to the rocky ground, arms spread out as if all exhaustion took over. “Why did the sky have to be so damn pretty, now of all times?”

In the midst of the sky’s starlit sea, Mira was suddenly reminded of Drowze’s last remark directed towards her. Realizing the weight of those words, how she felt during a month in Ise Province with little to no thrill, a burning impatience gnawed at her heart.