"I should have expected this." Ken thinks to himself as he waves his dangling legs back and forth on the entirely too tall sofa. In front of him stands the village head, the expression on his wrinkled old face being a bit too serious for Ken’s liking.

'Haah… and I can't go back to the mansion since she ordered me not to return until nighttime. Looking at all the materials she was listing off… she was obviously preparing to do something big so I'm not too eager to put my head on the line here'

"Kenki, I don't think that you understand the severity of your actions, you must take this more seriously."

Ken stops waving his legs as he does his absolute best not to give an exasperated sigh.

"I already told you all that I can, I was allowed to leave the mansion and then ordered not to come back until night time. If you're so sure that I'm lying, why don't you go ask her yourself and see where that gets you." Ken snorts in dissatisfaction. Fed up to bursting with Turan’s repeated and incessant questioning.

The village head simply stares Ken in the eyes for a few seconds before slowly covering his own face with both hands.

'Heh'

'I am aware how suspicious I appear to be from his perspective, but it's the truth.' Ken shifts his position. Choosing to lay down on the sofa he places his arms behind his head. It gives him the look of an unapologetic delinquent.

'No choice but to wait it out. I'll go back when the last light is gone and ask Dongmei to clear things up. Everything goes well and I'll be with my family tomorrow morning.'

Ken's attention hones in on the sound of a door being slammed open, swiftly followed by a voice he recognises.

"Turan! I heard that something happened!"

Turan, the village head, jolts from his seat. Somehow not having heard the initial slamming of the door he definitely hears the loud, overwhelming voice of Kenki's older brother.

With a sigh, the village head answers. "Yes, yes. We’re over here in the main room son, no need to shout."

The steps are heavy as they approach. Each one sends small waves through the residence as if a miniature earthquake is passing through. Even a man who is deaf would be able to feel the waves vibrating on the surface of his skin.

Despite being young Daiki had inherited most of Isamu's genes. He's a hulking mass of a teenager, his muscles only reinforced by the great amounts of farm work he must do daily, rivaling those of his old man.

It isn't long until the familiar face shows itself. Daiki freezes at the entrance to the room as he lays his eyes on Kenki, his pupils dilating.

Leisurely laying there with his hands behind his head, Ken regrets every decision he'd made in his life up until this point in time.

'I really, really hate this...'

"Ken!" Daiki shouts at the top of his lungs as he rushes forwards. The well built young man lifts the boy up with unsurprising ease and gives him a big hug, laughing all the while.

"Hey! Cut it out man! I just got back from that woman and this is how you act? What if I was injured or something huh!? Didn't think about that did you?" Ken does his best to push Daiki's face away from his own but finds his strength wanting.

"Hah hah hah! I can see that you still hate hugs with a passion, you brat." Daiki places his brother back down on the sofa but not before aggressively ruffling his hair. He takes up a more serious tone upon noticing the way Village Head Turan carries himself, the scene not having put a crack on his solemn expression.

"So…" Dragging over a chair he takes a seat. "...what happened?"

Turan maintains a silence for a couple more seconds before finally shifting his piercing gaze away from the young boy.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out myself." The elder gives an exasperated sigh. "If his words are true then our new village guardian has given him the ability to come and go from her mansion as he pleases. Something I find more than difficult to believe considering how most cultivators behave. And to top it off her doors are closed, all the men I send to corroborate his story are just met with deafening silence at the front door."

"Hey!" Ken speaks out in outrage "You never said that you sent people. Why didn't you tell me!"

'Because I wanted to see if you'd change your story midway through.' Turan glances at Kenki for a split second before shaking his head.

"With all due respect, village head, I've known my brother for my entire life. And he would not lie about something as important as this."

"I understand that young man, but please understand that your brother has spent several days with that cultivator. Desperation can drive one to do many uncharacteristic things."

"I haven't been tortured or anything you know." Ken is quick to bite back, barely waiting for his brother to finish speaking. ‘I think’

Turan holds his hand up upon realizing that the two brothers in front of him are about to continue protesting, the gesture does a nice job at halting them.

"Now now, let's not talk over each other. Kenki, I understand that you must be quite frustrated that I've held you up here, but this does after all concern the safety of this entire village, and in turn the safety and lives of your parents. You can understand where my fear comes from, can't you? It would be far from the first time a cultivator has massacred the people under him just because of a perceived slight."

Kenki reluctantly nods.

"Well, now that your brother is finally here we can get to the meat of the issue. Why don't you retell us everything that happened to you these last few days, sparing no detail."

There are a few seconds of silence before Daiki decides to speak up.

"Shouldn't mother and father be present for this?"

"Normally yes, but I also happen to be well aware of your parent's… temperaments. They tend to get quite emotional, especially Linua. I'm afraid that if they were here this conversation would quickly turn into a shouting match."

"…"

"Do not worry. I just need you to listen carefully to the words of your little brother and tell me if he is lying at any point during his story. “

The two brothers exchange a glance, Ken's assured smile giving Daiki a great boost in confidence. He knows that smile well, it is one he gives when he has absolute and complete confidence in himself, for example when he had said that he is the best artist in the village. A statement of great arrogance for someone that young. And yet nobody would have dared call himself greater than him after witnessing 'Night of Quiet Skies'. Another example would have been when he'd claimed he could climb the plum trees to harvest them, or when he claimed he could do a backflip… or a whole bunch of other childish matters.

It is a rare smile of confidence that Kenki is most likely unaware of… still, it wouldn't do to put his guard down when the elder has placed his trust in him. He hardly believes his brother is able to lie but as the village head mentioned - many lives are at risk.

"Well…" Kenki begins after making himself comfortable on the sofa. "I will begin from the start I guess? After you left me at her front door?"

Turan simply nods at the boy.

"Right. After you left me there I took the kneeling position you taught me to take……."

Ken ends up retelling the story in full, glossing over some of the details and blatantly lying at one point, but the overall story is truthful to what actually happened. What he obscures is the severity of the pain he'd been feeling from the glowing arrows and some of the cultivator's behavior which had for some unknowable reason taken a drastic turn for the better. Turan and Daiki are none the wiser to his manipulations.

"And then after she told me not to disturb her I came here."

"Hmm" the elder strokes his beard, his grave demeanor having completely flipped midway through Ken’s retelling. His smile is positively radiant and his pose is finally a relaxed one.

"Tell me boy, did you at any point in time have a persistent and painful stomach ache?"

"I guess?" Ken responds, remembering his first day in the mansion. "On the first day. Just after I had eaten the food she gave me. It lasted until the last light."

"I see, I see." The elder's smile grows even larger as he continues to stroke his beard. "Well…" he suddenly stands up, the energy he exudes not befitting of a man his age "...don't let me hold you up then! You came here to see your parents didn't you?" He claps his hands when he sees the boy nod. "Fantastic! Don't forget our Guardian's orders to you. No food and no exercise, make sure that you don't walk around in the sun too much."

====================================

"I can walk with my own two legs, you know." Kenki complains from his spot on Daiki's back.

"Well, a piggyback ride has never hurt anyone, and by your own admission you are at risk of crippling yourself."

"Yes, if I physically strain myself." He speaks through grit teeth.

"We're almost there anyways, what's wrong with letting your brother carry you the rest of the way there."

"Bah!" Not missing a beat, Ken is sure to make his dissatisfaction known.

An awkward silence descends, the only sound present being footsteps, the rustling of cloth and the chirping of the birds. This far out from the village center there aren't any villagers to ask tiring questions about Ken's sudden reappearance so the young boy takes his time to relax.

"Big bro, don't you think that the village head was acting weird?"

"Weird in what way?"

"He was all serious and grumpy the whole morning. And then all of a sudden bam…” He thrusts a fist to the sky to add extra emotion. ”...happy village head. You probably didn't notice it since you didn't have to deal with him for a whole hour."

"I don't believe it to be a bad thing, he let you go in the end didn't he?"

"Yeah…"

The rest of their little walk doesn't take long. Daiki deems it necessary to carry his brother all the way to the front door of their home before finally letting him down.

"Getting cold feet?" He comments after noticing the look of trepidation on his brother's face.

"I don't like it when everyone around me is overly emotional."

"Hah!" Daiki simply laughs and grabs him by the hand, dragging him inside. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately for Kenki, both of their parents were still in the main room where the family usually has its meals

"Look who I found." Daiki ruffles Ken's hair as they enter the room. There is a deafening silence followed as they enter and it doesn't take much for Kenki to notice the signs. Be it the goosebumps or the open mouth.

'I really hate this...'