KANA
Today marked the fifth night of our travel, and at the same time, the second night since Tanshiro joined us. Luckily, we encountered nothing along the way. Tanshiro's fear of meeting his pursuers seemed to just disappear when everything went smoothly. He was starting to loosen up and relax, unlike the past two days, when he was so paranoid and anxious about every little noise that he heard. Fear that it might be the bandits who were chasing him.
Little by little, he regained his courage and confidence, so that he no longer had to ask me and Shino to accompany him whenever he wanted to do something. And I could say that because earlier this day, he went to gather some firewood all by himself, and came back without a hint of fear on his face. He began to smile a lot, too. A positive change in his character after the traumatic experience he had.
However, for some reason, there was a part of me that always stopped me from trusting Tanshiro fully. And this bugged me since we had him in our journey. I wanted to figure out the reason behind this feeling, but every time I looked at him, I couldn't pinpoint what made him less trustworthy.
I didn't know if Shino and Mister Kenshi felt the same way as well, but if they did, then there must be something about Tanshiro that we wouldn't expect to know. Whatever it is. Only time would be able to tell.
Shino, Tanshiro, and I were already resting, while Mister Kenshi was on lookout again. He did fulfill his promise to rest yesterday, and we really hoped that he would again this night, but Mister Kenshi was so persistent that we just had to comply. Shino was already fast asleep, and I bet Tanshiro as well. I should be sleeping right now before the big day tomorrow, but I couldn't help but think about Mister Daku and Shiro back home.
"Can't sleep?" a whisper asked. There was no other person with us who could make such a voice except for Shino, who I thought was already sleeping.
"Just thinking about Mister Daku and Shiro. I really thought you were sleeping already," I replied.
"Can't sleep either. This only happens when there is an expected fight the next day," Shino explained. Now that she mentioned it, it made me think about it as well. According to Tanshiro, the village is only half a day away from here. If I was not mistaken, tomorrow would be my first fight without Mister Daku. "Tell me, Kana. How did you meet Daku and Kenshi?"
I smiled before telling her the story. Though it was hard for me to tell what happened to my village and my mother, I managed to get through it. Of course, I left out the part where I awakened early, just as Mister Daku told me. Remembering those times together made me realize that three of us went through a lot even though in a short span of time.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your mother," Shino apologized.
"It's fine. In fact, remembering her reminds me of my goal: getting rid of the Dark Order for good," I said.
"Don't worry. You're not alone in that fight. Everyone wants to wipe off the Dark Order," Shino reassured. "Speaking of the Dark Order, I heard that they're still looking for the other pieces of the artifact. Do you think Aste City is also hiding one?"
"I don't know. If Hirako hadn't removed the artifact that was embedded inside Mister Kenshi, we would be able to detect if there is an artifact hiding in Aste City. But that's selfish for Mister Kenshi."
"Why is that?"
I just realized that Shino didn't know about Mister Kenshi's curse, so I told her about it. I told her how we came to a conclusion that an artifact was inside him.
"That was scary. I can't fathom how Kenshi managed to live with such a curse," Shino commented. I had the same thought as well. Before Mister Kenshi met Mister Daku, he must have trained hard to fight without getting hurt. Fighting something was one thing, but fighting while trying not to get a single strike hit you was a completely different story. "Thank goodness he found Daku. Now I understand why he was acting this desperately to help Daku. He wants to return the favor Daku gave him."
"I think so too," I agreed.
***
In just a few meters ahead, we would reach the edge of Tanshiro's village. With this proximity, everyone was on high alert for potential enemy encounters roaming and patrolling the vicinity. Mister Kenshi led the group with Tanshiro behind him. While Shino and I tailed behind them both.
We stopped just outside the village's clearing, where we could see a few wandering bandits. Mister Kenshi intensively examined the place before he faced us.
"Remember the plan," he reminded, and we all nodded in agreement. "Tanshiro, which one of the houses are the villagers being kept?"
Tanshiro stretched out his hand and pointed his finger to one of the house. I followed the trajectory of his finger and my eyes landed on a house located at the very center of the village.
"Okay, you wait here with Kana. We'll come back if the bandits are already taken care of," Mister Kenshi instructed that Tanshiro and I agreed in unison. As much as I wanted to be a part of the fight, Mister Kenshi believed that now was not the time to let these two know about my case as an early awakened.
"Be careful, Mister Kenshi and Shino," I wished.
Tanshiro offered his prayer as well. "Please come back safely."
Shino and Mister Kenshi nodded before leaving us both to commence the plan. Tha plan was for Mister Kenshi and Shino enter the village without getting caught and locate the villagers. Shino would then conjure a barrier to protect the villagers while Mister Kenshi deal with the bandits. With his curse no longer in the picture, getting hurt was the least of his concern anymore. When the village was finally safe, they would come back to get us and bring Tanshiro back to his parents.
When we could no longer see them, Tanshiro and I looked for a place to hide and wait for the return of the two. But the moment I turned myself to face the opposite direction of the village, an unexpected and uninvited creature appeared just a few meters from our location. And it looked like I was not the only one who noticed the creature because when I slowly looked at Tanshiro, his eyes were already gaping in pure fear and shock.
Luckily, the creature, which was actually a corrupted one, was not looking at our direction, meaning it had not noticed us yet. I took this an opportunity to conceal ourselves, and it seemed like luck was on our side to find a thick and large bush beside us, enough to hide us both away from the watchful eyes of the corrupted being.
After carefully and quietly hiding ourselves, the next thing that came into mind was Mister Kenshi and Shino. They had to be warned of the incoming threat from the creature.
"This is not happening," Tanshiro suddenly said with his face still showing immeasurable fear. He was shaking and beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead. He just stared at the soil as if he was in a trance, and his breathing was irregular. A typical reaction of a child who saw a monster for the first time.
"Tanshiro, calm down. If you make another noise, that creature will find us!" I warned him, but with his state, I didn't think he was listening, so I held both of his shoulder and shook his body, hoping it would release him from the shock he was in.
Finally, he looked at me, but this time, his fear was intensified as if my gesture failed to do its job. "This should not be happening, Kana."