The next day, I met up with Hana in the garden at Onna Castle after going flower shopping with Averyl for an hour. Indeed, Hana had been visibly cheerier for the rest of our training session, but it hadn’t had the effect I’d hoped it would.

According to Hana, the best way to manipulate poison was to understand poison thoroughly. That meant physically raising my poison tolerance through food and drink, reading the most mind-numbingly boring studies about herbal alchemy, and crafting my own poisons from foraged flowers and herbs. I was at a point now where I could eat a poisoned slice of bread and accurately describe what it’d been laced with, but I was not at the point where I could wield that poison like a weapon – unless I crafted some and laced my weapons before a battle.

Despite my many protests, Hana swore up and down that it was the most effective way to learn. It’d been how she learned, and it was how Futakuchi-Onna was taught by her mother – and both women were phenomenally skilled with Poison Manipulation, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and bear it.

By the end of this last training session, all I came away with was an upset stomach, stiffer-than-normal arms, and the knowledge that wolfsbane was poisonous enough to kill a man. As always, it hadn’t applied to my combat. As always, Hana swore that this frustration was “pivotal to understanding Poison Manipulation”, but I still didn’t see what she saw. As annoying as Yugo could be, he at least wasn’t this hyperbolic when it came to training. His lessons were always straightforward and taught in such a way that you could see results within an hour! It’d been weeks since I’d tried to learn Poison Manipulation from Hana and all I could do was coat Water-Attuned Aura purple!

After an uneventful sparring match, I made my way back to the Tiger Lily where Hana agreed to meet me in a few hours. While I would’ve preferred to train in my free time, Averyl insisted on spending this time with her before leaving for our mission, for similar reasons to Archie’s whole ‘happy memory’ thing. Averyl’s logic was far simpler: it was to thank Hana for all she’d done for me. Though it still felt useless, she didn’t need to train with me, and putting that all aside we’d fought alongside one another against Futakuchi-Onna. Averyl had a point, it’d be wrong of me not to treat her as a good gesture.

We spent the afternoon the same way we had when we met up after defeating Futakuchi-Onna; we stopped at the teahouse – where I’d become something of a regular –, we went clothes shopping for a bit, and strolled along the outer wall and talked about nothing particularly important for a while. Our conversation very quickly turned to poison-related topics, though, after I’d noticed that all the flowers planted along the gravel pathway surrounding the city’s outer wall were all poisonous. Hana seemed proud of that, saying it was an intentional decision and that locals know not to pick them.

The two of us followed the pathway to the entrance closest to the Tiger Lily, walking around the hotel’s perimeter and taking a seat in the small garden where we’d once fought. Our conversation had begun to veer in the direction of my return to Saikou, but we both stopped when we heard a familiar voice speaking from the tall, wood-paneled wall that separated the garden from the plains beyond the Tiger Lily. It was Somnia, and based on the conversation she was having, she was speaking with Yugo.

“I want to know that I’m actually capable of making a difference in Minashire and that I’m not as naive as I feel I am.” Somnia had been saying.

“Where’s this coming from?” Yugo asked. “You aren’t normally this doubtful.”

“It’s been there for a while, I think. I always talk about wanting to be the leader of the Galerose Family and being this role model figure, but I fight like a madwoman, I’m impatient, and I’m terrible at public speaking! There’s so much wrong with me that the idea of being the one people look to just feels stupid sometimes. Even yesterday, I tried so hard to fight ‘gracefully’ as you said, but when the fighting ended all the people started cheering for Rui! I’m not normally an envious person, but he fought like I did against Masamura. Plus, I’ve done more for these people over the past few weeks than he has! Why didn’t they notice me?”

I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Somnia was right that the people did seem to focus on me, but that wasn’t because they valued me more than her or anything, it was because of how much time I’d spent around Hana! The people had this misunderstanding that the two of us were dating, and the local tabloids ran with it – calling us “the new age Futakuchi-Onna and Okukinushi”. Whenever I was around town on my own, all I heard were comments about the Galerose Family being what the city needed and comments about Hana and the Honor Guard’s potential. More than that, on days when I’d go out after Somnia came back from working with her Family, the townspeople would all be singing her praises! Just because I got the attention once didn’t mean they valued me over her.

“IT HURTS TO WATCH A VALUED ALLY CRUMBLE OF THE WEIGHT OF COMPARISON.”

That’s surprisingly thoughtful coming from you.

“I AM NOT HEARTLESS. SHE, A MERE HUMAN, COMPARES HERSELF TO A SLUMBERING GOD – A FUTILE ACT. JUST AS I WEEP FOR SISYPHUS, I WEEP FOR SOMNIA GALEROSE.”

…Nevermind.

“The people do notice you, Somnia. They noticed how hard you fought to free them from Futakuchi-Onna, and they currently notice the effort you put into helping them rebuild and strengthen their city.”

“How can you be sure about that?”

“Remember when I was talking about that project I was working on? Well, I figured you all could use a bit of encouragement; physical proof of the effect your work has had on the people in Saikou. I’ve been working on it with help from Hana. You’ll have to forgive the juvenile appearance, but it’s the best I could come up with.”

I turned to Hana and whispered. “What is he talking about?”

“It’s a collection of thank you’s and notes from the people about you all. It took a while to put together. He said you’d all really like it.” She smiled. “I hope you do. I’m not sure Saikou would be standing without you all. Without you.” Hana’s lips quivered as she leaned closer and pulled me into a hug. Her entire body trembled as she silently cried into my chest. “I’m only where I am right now because you weren’t afraid to talk some sense into me. I’m happy that the Will of God brought us together. I’m gonna miss you, Rui, but when you come back to Saikou we’ll be stronger than you’ve ever seen us. We won’t look like a tourist trap anymore, and we’ll be bigger than a city block in Miyafokuu. And you can stay in the Castle next time, not just in a Hotel. Promise.”

I accepted her hug. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ll… miss you too,” I admitted, refusing to meet her gaze. “And I’m looking forward to resuming our lessons. If I’m staying in Onna Castle, we can practice a lot more.”

Hana pulled back and chuckled. “You won’t need Poison Manipulation lessons by then, but I’d be more than happy to spar with you… if you aren’t way past me.”

Over the wall, I overheard Somnia’s silent sobs as Hana and I whispered about the future. That all stopped when above us, the Minashire Monitor popped into existence and sprayed us both with water. Not Water-Attuned Aura, but actual liquid water. Rather than startled, Hana looked completely fascinated.

“Are you the Minashire Monitor?!” Hana shouted. “My Grandmother was obsessed with finding you! She was a huge fan, though she’d never call herself one. I would appreciate greatly if you could visit Onna–”

The Minashire Monitor splashed us both with water once again. Despite not being able to talk, it felt as though I could feel its emotions like some sort of telepathic signal. It didn’t like that we were eavesdropping, and it wanted us to reveal ourselves. And if we didn’t we’d get splashed again. Before either of us could come clean, though, the top half of Yugo’s head suddenly appeared ominously above the garden wall. He peered at us with narrow eyes like a peeping tom, teleported in front of us, then teleported us just outside the garden wall where Somnia was bawling in front of a three-paneled, meter-tall cardboard cutout.

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On the top were the words “THANK YOU, SEEKERS!” written in black marker. The rest of the board had been filled with candid shots of the four of us during our Futakuchi-Onna mission as well as shots of us helping out around town. Some pictures were snapshots from social media, where apparently Archie had been going viral. Most notably, and likely the reason for Somnia’s current state, were the notes written by locals describing how they felt before and after they defeated Futakuchi-Onna. There was a commonality in most of the letters in that Somnia’s arrival had filled them all with hope since she was already a fairly recognizable Galerose to those in the know about those kinds of things.

“I’m sorry!” Somnia said through tears. “I was hurt and–”

I shook my head“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

I knelt beside her and placed an arm around her at Yugo’s behest. She leaned into me as we both looked over Yugo’s self-admittedly juvenile presentation. I’d ignored the right side, labeled ‘PICS” and had been focused on the left side labeled “LETTERS”. There had been a decent amount directed at me, considering I’d been the one to help defeat Futakuchi-Onna. They were all the size of index cards, though each of them shared the common theme of me being the one who made good on the hope that Somnia filled them with. It wasn’t enough to make me weep like Somnia, but I’d been surprised by how warm those messages made me feel. My whole life I’d been christened a “God of Destruction”. For these people to see me as the complete opposite while using Fallen Star – the Curse created to sew chaos and destruction – validated me as few other things could. Perhaps that was why I was a bit more open than normal.

“Every single one of you has made me a better person. Averyl told me that joining the Seekers would be good for me as a person, and it makes me happy to see how correct she was. Thank you for helping me ‘come out of my shell’ as she put it. You all are more valuable to me than you know.”

Somnia didn’t say anything, instead choosing to hold onto me a bit tighter. Yugo, meanwhile, looked uncharacteristically tender as he began to say something, only to be interrupted once again by the Minashire Monitor. Just like before, she popped into existence and swam through the air behind Somnia and me to spray water on Archie and Lochness, who’d been crouched behind a corner. Archie was dressed in a black, striped tracksuit while Lochness stood beside him in her bipedal form no larger than a Hellhound with a black headband around her small, green head.

Archie put his hands up. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I was going on a jog with my favorite lady and you two were here! I didn’t wanna interrupt, but then Rui started talking about us and I was trying to think of the right way to enter the conversation! Sorry.”

After we all acknowledged the mistake, he made his way to Yugo’s cardboard display and took it in for a long while. He smiled, pride clear on both his and Lochness’ faces. Archie didn’t say anything about it, though. Instead, he knelt beside Somnia opposite me, also placing an arm around her shoulder as Lochness shifted to her serpentine form and nestled herself in Somnia’s lap.

“Think of this as one stepping stone to ‘pillar’ status.”

She snorted. “It’s gonna take a lot more if they’re all this thin.”

He laughed. “That’s the–”

Boom!

Without warning, loud explosions went off around the village with enough force to break nearby windows. Somnia, Archie, and I rose to our feet as our phones lit up with notifications from the Silent Hand. In the distance, we could hear shouts from the Galerose Family leading people away from danger as others mobilized against this sudden threat.

“I need to mobilize the Honor Guard. Will you all be fighting with us?” Hana called.

“Of course,” Yugo answered. “We’ll catch up to you in a second.”

With that, Hana nodded to us all and dashed off into the distance with blinding speed. When she left, Yugo summoned The Historian to scope the city out while the rest of us looked over Shuten Douji’s messages about the current situation.

“It’s Wild Men again,” Yugo sighed as we read Shuten Douji’s messages saying the same thing.

Somnia wiped her eyes, her usual determination finally returning. “Let’s get to it, then. No need to waste time.”

***

It didn’t take long for us to find the Wild Men. They’d been combing through the street outside of the Tiger Lily, walking in two single-file lines through the otherwise empty brick roads. Despite the lack of townspeople outside, there were too many people watching the streets from windows, behind store glass, and from crowded rooftops. Every single building was being guarded by groups of three Honor Guards and a single Galerose. Nobody attacked the Wild Men, who also didn’t attack any of the Galeroses or Honor Guards – though their aggressive faces and loud snarls indicated that they clearly wanted to. When we’d left the Tiger Lily, I’d been confused why the scene hadn’t devolved into chaos, but once we’d gotten to the front of the Wild Men procession at The Historian’s behest, it’d been clear what was happening here.

At the front of the Wild Men’s party stood Hana in black and gold robes with her conical Shogun’s hat, attended by Manzo Masamura dressed in shinier-than-normal Honor Guard armor as well as Averyl Galerose dressed in her standard Galerose outfit. Across from them stood a man no taller than Yugo with black lipstick, a pale face, and a red eye with a yellow pupil that sat above his two normally-colored black eyes. The man was barely clothed, wearing only a disheveled white sash over his black, sinuous body. His name was Zakaria Robertson, and the only reason I knew that was because the Wild Men bowing around him in a circle shouted it over and over like some sort of incantation. I focused on him a little more before he finally began to speak.

NAME: ZAKARIA ROBERTSON

APPROXIMATE LEVEL: 387

CLASSIFICATION: HYBRID

“S-silence!” Zakaria shouted in a voice that reminded me of those TV preachers Mrs. Perrow used to watch. He turned to Hana, who looked down on him in a way that made her nearly indistinguishable from her Grandmother. “W-woman… I… my name…! You have heard it, no?!”

“My name is Shogun Hana, and you will address me thusly.”

Futakuchi-Onna would be proud…

“It… doesn’t matter! All are beneath me – the God of the W-Wild Men! You will pass unto me the cr…own on your head, or your city will… burn!”

Following his words, the Wild Men cheered in unison despite Zakaria’s horrible delivery. Upon closer inspection, the man looked a mess. His white hair was wet and disheveled, he was sweating like he’d run here from wherever he’d come from, and he constantly trembled and looked over his shoulder and into the surrounding alleyways like he was expecting someone to ambush him – something that was about to happen, but still, an odd look coming from the “God of the Wild Men”. Hana must’ve felt the same way if her somewhat amused expression was anything to go by.

“Oh? Will I now?”

“Such is the Will of God!” Zakaria said, speaking with more confidence than he had up to this point. “I have spoken with the God himself, and he has told me that it is my responsibility to obtain this land and all other lands in this world! Us Wild Men are a proud species with boundless potential, and it is my responsibility as their leader to provide them with the land that is their birthright!” Green aura suddenly surrounded Zakaria as he summoned a wooden spear between his hands. “Now, false leader, I demand your–”

Hana didn’t let him finish. She blasted Zakaria with that black and purple aura-wave that’d nearly killed the two of us just a few weeks ago. It had a similar effect on Zakaria and the Wild Men, sending the Wild Man to his knees while his goblin-like underlings dropped like flies as the blast tore through them like a bowling ball. Naturally, that wasn’t the end of this battle though. More Wild Men poured out from seemingly nowhere and started attacking any and everyone they saw; Honor Guards, Galeroses, Silent Hand members disguised as citizens and Tiger Lily staff, and us.

Just like before, they were easy to defeat, but I’d suddenly gained a new appreciation for those two Oni who’d been annoyed by them. The Wild Men were endless, and they piled up fast. It hadn’t taken long before the streets devolved into complete chaos, but Shuten Douji made his way to us through the sudden conflict. He didn’t say a word to us, though he gave us an intense look we rarely saw out of him. Yugo didn’t say a word either, focused on fighting as he was, though he nodded at Shuten Douji who returned the gesture before turning back to the crowd he’d been surrounded by.

“Looks like we have our next mission,” Yugo said as he punted a Wild Man into the distance. “These guys are weak, but they overwhelm you quickly. Stick together and try to lead them as far from the city as you can. I’ll help Hana take this guy out,” Yugo gritted his teeth. “But it'll be tricky. When they’re as evolved as Zakaria, they’re borderline unkillable. The best we can do is make him suffer.” He shook his head. “We’ll worry about that later. Take care of the little guys for now, alright?”

“Got it!” We shouted in unison.

Yugo nodded. “Good. Meet us back here when your fight is finished. We need to leave the city tonight.”