Tamura continued his story, "Hoshiko took care of me, despite it being clear that they weren't as prosperous. She would always leave for the day and return at night for my care. When I was alone, I spent my time reading distinct books and thinking about my past. At night, she always brought in fresh food and cooked me intriguing dishes I never tasted before. Each one was flavorful in its own way and whenever I praised each dish it would bring immense happiness to her face. She clearly desired to exchange more words with me but I always made the same excuse and went to sleep. I didn't want her to develop an affection with me because I couldn't stay there forever despite how much I felt at home."

"Sounds like a really kind girl," Kieri commented.

"Wish I could find someone like that," mouthed Subaru.

"Four days passed and my condition was getting a lot better," Tamura recalled.

"May I come in?" Hoshiko knocked.

"You don't have to ask, it's your house after all," replied Tamura.

Hoshiko opened the door to the bedroom and entered with another luscious dish. This time it was a mix of noodles and vegetables glazed with some shiny sauce.

"That looks great, what is it?" asked Tamura as he salivated after admiring the dish.

"It's a stir fried noodle dish called Lo mein," answered Hoshiko.

"That sounds familiar," Tamura wondered.

"You've had this dish before?" inquired Hoshiko.

"Maybe I have, it's just my mother loved cooking like you so I got to try a slew of different dishes already," stated Tamura.

"Your mother? What happened to her?" asked Hoshiko as he set the dish aside on a nearby table.

"She well.. (I guess there's no harm in telling her.) She died of an illness when I was still a child," Tamura disclosed.

"I am sorry to hear that, may I ask what she was like?" queried Hoshiko.

"She was the most caring and kind person ever. Always thought us to be amiable and she never scolded us once. Not only that, she was a strong and independent woman. Being a widow didn't stop her one bit from raising me and my brother to the fullest while also balancing her work as a wet mother," described Tamura.

"A wet mother? Was she part of an orphanage?" questioned Hoshiko.

"Yes, she originally worked as a maid but during a visit to the orphanage, she later joined, with her mistress she saw the two of us, still very young, with nowhere to go. The orphanage was brimmed and unless someone adopted us there was no way they could afford keeping us any longer," imparted Tamura.

"Sorry to interrupt but what happened to your original parents?" interjected Hoshiko.

"I don't know much besides that we were found and saved from a village beyond the river. My memories from then are vague but my guess is that the demons must have attacked our village and a troop of warriors found us, slayed those demons and took us with them," recalled Tamura.

"That's heartbreaking. It must've been hard," concerned Hoshiko.

"My mother never made us think that way. After she saw us both naked, traumatised and covered with blood she rushed to gain more information about us. As soon as she learned that we were being readied to be released to the streets, she decided to beg her mistress to at least give us both a job so that we could have some shelter in the servant quarters. That rich hag blatantly refused and even harshly scolded her in front of everyone. That's when she decided to quit her job and take us in her small worn out house in the docile forests. To make sure our bellies were full, she took a new job as a wet mother in the same orphanage." Tamura's one eye leaked as he finished.

"She sounds like the best mother one could ask for," commented Hoshiko.

"Yeah, it's sad she had to die after we hardly spent a decade with her." Tamura's tears rushed out of his eye but to hide them he quickly wiped them with his blanket and promptly asked a question, "What about your mother? How is she?"

"My mother died as I was born, her uterus ruptured and the bleeding couldn't be stopped on time. She died because of me," lamented Hoshiko.

"That's not true, I am sure bearing you must've brought her tremendous contentment," spoke Tamura in hope of lifting her spirits.

"You think so? But I haven't done anything in life she would be proud of," disheartened Hoshiko.

"I don't know much about you but I do know that you are kind enough to take care of helpless scum like me. Even though it wasn't your obligation, you went out of your way for me. You remind me of my mother and that's saying a lot," Tamura grabbed Hoshiko's hand and solemnly spoke.

A moment later he realised what he was doing and pulled his hand back as both of them blushed.

"I'm…. Curious. What… What happened to your eye?" stuttered Hoshiko.

"Oh this, well. (I can't tell her the truth. It might make her despise me.) This might have happened during that attack by the demons. As far as I am aware, I was always like this! But don't worry I can see properly with one eye," Tamura stammered before fully quieting down and glaring at Hoshiko's glistening eyes.

"Tell me is there someone alive who you care for the most with all your heart?" Hoshiko asked while blushing heavily.

Tamura snapped out of this awkwardness and asked, "You mean someone I love? Why do you want to know that?"

"No particular reason, just plain curiosity!" Hoshiko abruptly replied.

"There is someone," Tamura mumbled.

"Who?" Hoshiko's heart began beating loudly as she gulped in her saliva.

"My brother, I know he is still alive and there is no one else who I love as much as him," disclosed Tamura.

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"What? Don't scare me like that." Hoshiko clenched her chest.

"What has gotten into you all of a sudden?" Puzzled Tamura.

"Nothing at all! Oh would you look at that! It's getting late, just eat up and go to sleep!" While being totally flustered, Hoshiko pointed towards the one window in the room before she hastily left the room.

"Was it something I said?" Perplexed Tamura.

"A week passed and my bandages were ready for removal. My wounds underneath had healed satisfactorily as the scars left behind weren't as revolting. I felt quite energetic as I jumped out of the bed and began discarding my bandages. Once done, I walked out of the room and saw the old man who saved my life sitting on his rocking chair with a bottle of beer in his hand. It was early in the morning and Hoshiko was off to her work."

"Thank you for saving my life and feeding me such delicious food. I am forever in the debt of the two of you." Tamura bowed.

"If that's the case then I have a job for you," said the old man.

"What job? You aren't planning on hiring me are you?" reacted Tamura.

"Something wrong with that?"

"I don't want to cause you two anymore trouble. You can't trust me, I must leave as quickly as possible," insisted Tamura.

"How about a deal then? If you can manage to help me slay a certain ferocious beast, we will be even and you will be free to go," the old man proposed.

"What if I fail?"

"You will forever be bound by my job and also perform all the labour of the house! Deal?" the old man casually replied.

"(I am sure the hunt won't be that difficult. All those years of warrior training will assist me.) Alright fine gramps, we have a deal!" Tamura concurred.

"You seem zestful enough for us to leave now." The old man placed his beer down and got up.

"Wait, what about Hoshiko?" Tamura mentioned.

"What about her?" the old man questioned.

"I was thinking maybe we should ask her if she's alright with this deal," responded Tamura.

"Do you want to leave or not? You already know how she would feel," the old man emphasized.

"(I do? That's right...) Nevermind, let's go," Tamura retaliated.

"Wear that torso piece and follow me."

The old man walked outside after picking up a quiver full of iron arrows and a hunting bow. He was already wearing his hunting gear consisting of leather armor, tracking tools and a few knives. Tamura grabbed the leather torso piece and placed it on before joining the old man outside.

Hoshiko, who eavesdropped on the entire conversation from the living room's window, was standing outside hugging the side of the house.

"I hope you get him to stay, father," she mouthed.

"So, where are we going?" asked Tamura.

"Heiwa village. Usually peace is maintained there as the various beasts of the forest are always being repelled by it's skilled hunters. But ever since a new indefatigable fiend migrated near the village, even the most experienced hunters are having difficulties restoring the safety of the land," the old man explained.

"And you want me to help you slay that?" cautioned Tamura.

"Don't worry, you have handled demons before. So this won't be that much difficult," the old man reassured.

"What are you implying?" inquired Tamura.

"You don't have to hide it from me, this knife has told me everything," the old man pulled out a familiar knife from his toolkit and handed it over to Tamura.

"This is…."

"A standard issue warrior knife. Don't underestimate the knowledge of An old hunter," the old man joked.

"You got me there but despite that I am very hesitant in taking lives," conversed Tamura.

"I can deliver the finishing blow if you want, after you immobilise it," the old man suggested.

"Whatever you say, gramps," responded Tamura.

The old man led Tamura to a small yet lively village filled with gentle-faced people. There were a few shops and quite a few wooden houses lined up quite aesthetically with a bunch of open space to walk on between. The two stopped in front of a notice board just outside the entrance of the village. The old man picked out a piece of paper with a contract on it.

Tamura peeked in the information on the contract.

"Slay and bring the trophy of the alpha beast to the collector, he is willing to pay a hefty bounty for it."

His words were lost when he saw the sketch of the target creature as the old man spoke, "That's right, it's the same one."

"So the Alpha Kemono is the one giving this village's hunters trouble huh?" Tamura stopped for a split second as he saw the old man writing his name on the bottom of the contract beneath an abundance of others.

"Wait, you are really serious about this? Look at the amount of hunters that failed!"

"The cross symbols do mean they failed but this other symbol representing tri celtic knots shows how many had lost their lives at the fangs of this beast," the old man stated.

"Almost ninety percent of the hunters bit the dust? And it's my fault too! If only I had finished that bastard when I had the chance," growled Tamura.

"You're damn right it is! Now quit talking and tell me your full name," the old man yelled.

"It's just Tamura, my father died when I was very young so I don't remember my surname and you're Fujikawa Katashi?" Tamura read the name of the old man as he wrote it.

"Now this officially means we have accepted this contract and there's no going back," Katashi announced.

"Hey gramps, let me handle this one by myself. It's because of me it's still roaming around terrorising people so let me take the responsibility," Tamura said, solemnly.

"Will you be able to land the killing blow?" Katashi Inquired.

"I.. I mean..," Tamura stuttered.

"Will you!? Yes or no!?" Katashi raised his voice.

"No," Tamura concluded.

"That settles that, let's go." Katashi reattached the contract on the board and began walking west towards the forest of Fukai Kiri.

"Damn it, in just a week he got me all figured out," cursed Tamura as he followed the old man.

The duo of a former warrior and a self proclaimed professional hunter entered the forest of heavy mist. During daytime, the forest's mist was much less of a hassle as the rays of sunlight pierced through it and revealed much more of the surroundings than in the night. That however didn't mean things will be drastically easy for the two.

"You made me aware of some of your most incredible achievements on the way here. I hope they all weren't far-fetched," conversed Tamura.

"Of course they aren't! I was the best hunter back in my day!" boasted Katashi.

"Something tells me you're bluffing," Tamura doubted.

"It's just that you're too much of an idiot to understand my feats! Have you forgotten my aim back then when I saved your ass?" Katashi laughed.

"I guess I have to take your word for it, I am honored to share my first proper hunt with an expert," Tamura acknowledged.

"It's no big deal! Let us focus now," advised Katashi.

"Look there, corpses!" Tamura got alerted once he saw the bodies of three mildly equipped hunters.

"These are of the hunting party that left yesterday! All of them were still young. Damn those sons of bitches! May Cora protect their souls on their way towards peace," the old man prayed.

"The sight of fresh corpses with dismembered body parts and spilled open guts reminded me of the incident at the warrior's camp. I wanted to throw up but my body was frozen at the spot in shock. I constantly heard shouting from a deep voice but it didn't improve my condition one bit. It was only until the old man threw a left hook at me that made me come back to my senses," narrated Tamura.

"Snap out of it boy!" The old man's punch was no joke as it pushed Tamura back.

"I am back but there must've been some other way to do that!" complained Tamura as he got back up.

"Quit your yapping! These bodies are still relatively fresh, the wolves might come back here to grab their food. Now, should we set a trap here or wait for them to lead us to their lair?" Katashi asked.

"You are the expert here, why ask me?"

"Can't hurt to take the suggestion of an ally!" deflected Katashi.

"Look out!"

"I yelled as soon as I saw the same alpha wolf suddenly leaping from the branch of a nearby tall tree. But it was too late, the beast bit the old man in his torso and locked its jaws in place before dragging him into the murky fog nearby."

"Shit! How do I track him now? Should I call the other hunters back at the village? No, I don't have the time! If I Don't hurry, that old man is done for!" Despite his bewildered mind, Tamura decided to make haste towards the same cloud of mist while keeping his knife at the ready.

End of chapter nineteen.