Kanashi reclined at the train station's bench, his back aching from the lack of lumbar support. To his side was his backpack nearly bursting from all the things zipped into it. While he’d already had a decent amount of clothes from shopping with Kenken, Akatora went out of his way to purchase another car full for Kanashi to choose from.

Though most of them didn’t particularly fit Kanashis style he managed to find a few pairs he liked and stuffed them into his bag. Along with the new outfits Akatora also gave Kanashi roughly $800 in cash which he safely tucked into the bottom zipper.

Normally I wouldn't have taken the full $800, maybe only one or two but after the whole Cymba disaster I feel like I’m owed at least this much. Not only in trauma but also the fact I lost over triple this amount when the ship sunk. But It sounds like that wasn’t Akatoras doing and rather another boss's and Satoshi wasn't really a part of the Yakuza either since he tricked them. In that case he’s the one who owes me and not the Toumeikan. No, wait, that's blatant negligence on their part so they both owe me at least $5000 in damages!

“Well jokes aside, I really am tired Of Traveling. I just wanna stay in one place for more than a day or two.” Kanashi sighed to himself.

“Train 97 is now boarding.” Called the intercom.

Kanashi looked down at his own ticket which belonged to train 98. “Well, it’s been about 5 minutes between each train so hopefully I can board sometime soon…” He thought aloud. There wasn’t much going on inside the train station, for it being inside of Tousen it was actually very quiet, perhaps because of the various graffiti, litter and other nasty things people stayed away from it. But that was actually a good thing for Kanashi, the less attention he garnered the better his chance of survival was. Unfortunately he was a walking anomaly through and through. His sharp and sanpaku blue eyes were bloodshot with bags under them from years of mild insomnia, his cheek was adorned with a nasty scar and his right arm was pitch black in comparison to the rest of his body's pale skin tone. Not only that but he now had a large tattoo on his bicep which his shirts sleeve failed to conceal. Akatora said I could suppress it but I think he overestimated how good I am at suppressing myself… He thought with a frown.

“Train 98 will arrive in three minutes, please have your personal belongings ready for departure.”

“That’s my cue huh?” Kanashi hummed standing up and grabbing his bag, it was noticeably heavier than it’d been before, in fact it was so heavy it reminded Kanashi of his school days when he’d pack his bag so full of books it was nearly impossible to carry. Of course those books weren’t given to him by his teachers. No, they were comic books, light novels and even history books from his dads library.

When he’d first entered middle school the shift from a few friends to absolutely no friends really shook him down to his core, so much so that he’d willingly go into lunch detention just to not be alone during break. And though he couldn’t talk to anyone and only read his books he felt the slight comfort of being around other people.

Ugh, let’s not think about that. Kanashi grimaced, shaking his head. While he was truly an introvert who enjoyed being alone there’s a large difference between being alone and feeling alone. A difference not many understand. Thankfully for the time being he was acting alone not feeling alone so things were going good.

Well now that I think about it, as long as I don’t have outside influences I’m pretty good at being alone now aren’t I? I guess I’m used to it from how long I’ve been shut in. I mean my first semester of high school I didn’t even attend after the first week. I just stopped going and hung out at home for those four months.

As Kanashi continued to reminisce, the train pulled into the station and opened its doors. The handful of people who left the train quickly ran out of the car and up the stairs to the streets above without so much as greeting.

“Is it really that scary out here?” Kanashi wondered aloud. I’ve either grown strong enough that I’m not scared of what I should be or I’m just as socially clueless as I’ve always been…probably the latter… He frowned climbing into the train car as the door closed behind him.

Compared to the previous Kisaragi station train, this was far more typical of Edolands architecture.

There were two rows of seats each facing the center aisle which held a small walkway where people could stand if all the seats were full. Thankfully the car was barely full and there was enough space for Kanashi to lay down without being even close to touching another person. In fact, somebody twice as long as Kanashi could lay down and still be far from another passenger. Though not being one to show off, Kanashi took an open seat far from anyone else and hugged his backpack as the train began to move.

I wonder if train seat culture is the same as urinal culture? Like how if there’s three urinals and two men they’ll always leave a space between themselves. Even if there’s a long line of people waiting to use the urinal, no sane person would ever use that middle urinal; they'd wait until one of the two sides were open. It’s just a thing all men understand and accept. But are train seats the same way? Like you obviously don’t want to sit right next to a person but what if you leave enough of a gap for say two other people to sit down between you. Is that okay or not? Hmmmm, I guess I haven’t ridden enough trains to know… I can't even remember the last time I rode one in Azhar...

The train continued to chug along the underground railway hitting bumps along the road as it traveled, Kanashis eyes began to close but he forced them open not wanting to have a repeat of his last train ride.

That reminds me, [Itachi] is originally from Edoland, right? I don’t think anywhere else someone would create a Katana and carve [痛千] into it unless they were a giga nerd like me. So I wonder if the original owners' family or maybe even their Clan lives here? You’d need to be pretty well known to have an Anima made for you right? Julius never explained to me exactly how Animas are made just that their peoples soul turned into a weapon so this is like their ancestors consciousness in my hand right here… would they want me to return it to them if they knew I had it? I mean probably, but would Itachi let me hand it over? When I thought about selling it, it let me know it didn’t approve but that’s me selling it to a stranger. Maybe giving it or selling it to its descendants would be fine? But I doubt that situation will happen, if it did I might be in real trouble… though now that I think about it what am I gonna say to Julius and the others about the current situation? No amount of crying, begging or pleading will get me anywhere so I need to have a logical and honest answer for their questions prepared… actually on second thought I’ll leave that for when the time comes. As Kanashi finished that thought with a sigh the train came to a halt and the doors opened.

“?”

Kanashi flipped open his phone and checked the time to see that only 40 minutes had passed, meaning he was still far from Sumori.

Must be a stop along the way… He frowned.

“Master!”

That sudden high pitched shriek made Kanashis skin crawl, a cringe inducing chill running down his back. As he looked up he saw someone running towards him. A familiar face who belonged to a man Kanashi had hoped to not re encounter on this journey.

“It’s me Shouten Yuya, do you remember me?” The man asked, diving into the seat next to Kanashi.

“Yeah… I do.” Kanashi sighed, rubbing the space between his brow.

# # #

“And then I went to the office and-”

“I get it already!” Kanashi barked, cutting Yuya's sentence short. They’d been on the train for three hours already and Yuya had not stopped speaking once.

Looking back on my school days I know I was annoying but at least I wasn't this bad right? Kanashi thought as he ruffled his hair.

“Well then master, what're you heading to Sumori for?”

“Call me Kanashi, and I’m looking for somebody in Sumori.”

“Really? Well then let me help you! Since my hometown is there I know my way around.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“It is?” Kanashi asked with a raised brow and smile.

“Yes! I’m actually returning to visit my family and tell them the good news!”

“Goods new huh…” Kanashi repeated, He did mention something along those lines in his rant right? Honestly I kinda just tuned him out and thought about other things while nodding my head but if he really is from Sumori maybe he can help me.

“Do you know where the Shimona waterfall basin is?”

“Yes I do! It’s about a thirty minute walk from my home town if you cut through Renshou Valley.”

“Really!? Can you take me to the basin then?”

“...”

Yuya didn’t respond and turned his gaze aside.

“Ah, You don’t have to if you don’t want to. It'd just be helpful.” Kanashi said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Sorry, it’s just that Renshou valley is supposed to be… really dangerous.”

“Are landslides common?” Kanashi asked, tilting his head.

“No, it’s said to be infested with Kamaitachi.”

“Kamaitachi?”

“Yeah, I know it’s kinda silly to be afraid of Yokai in this day and age but… I just can’t help but feel nervous at just the thought of going through it.

If it’s so dangerous then why’d you act like I could just pass through it in the first place? What are you, a fork in the road NPC or something? Kanashi frowned. But from what Jin told me things like Yokai are real so these Kamaitachi might be an actual threat…

“Can you tell me about Kamaitachi? I kinda know them from some books I’ve read but I’m not sure about their lore in Sumoris culture.”

“Sure! If I can help you that way I’d be more than happy to.”

Alright alright get to explaining it already. Thought, Kanashi.

“Kamaitachi are weasels with claws made of sickles, they use the sickles to cut the air and send razor sharp winds at you! If there’s only one you might be able to get away but in somewhere like Renshou where they’re in the hundreds you’d be sliced to bits before you could try to escape and Renshou valley is said to have thousand of them!”

Razor sharp winds? Sounds like the Wolf Fang Style but I doubt some weasels are able to use it, they’re probably utilizing wind magic somehow. The question is if they’re real creatures that have the ability to use magic or imaginary creatures started from some myth. Like if a crazy swordsman went around killing people in a weasel filled valley that also happened to be windy leading to the Kamaitachi legend. If they're real animals I should be able to pass through without much harm as long as I do it nice and easy. But if they’re imaginary creatures formed from the myth then it’s a whole different ball game. Since the myth they're based on paints them as blood thirsty murders that’s exactly what they’d be.

“Is there any other way to get to the basin?”

“You can go around the mountain but it’d be a day's journey.”

Akatora said I’d be able to get there by foot in an hour, meaning he expected me to travel to Yuyas village and then go through Renshou valley… so he must have thought I’d be capable of breaking through the Kamaitachi or at least get around them somehow… either that or he simply didn’t know about them and found the route on a map. “Either way you’re a lifesaver. Yuya.” Kanashi smiled. “Thank you.”

“Ah, for my master to bow his head before me! What an honor-”

“Please stop, we’re being stared at.” Kanashi frowned, nudging his head at the passengers watching the odd conversation.

“Oh, of course my apologies…”

# # #

Nordon let out a sigh as he crouched down in the alley way. He’d placed exactly 373 [Waypoints] so far all along the upper half of Chusima, the main island of Edoland.

Pressing the ring on his finger against the alley wall and infusing it with mana a new [waypoint] was created, the 374th. Using these [Waypoints] Jin would teleport the Venator Society into Edoland for the liberation effort.

# # #

At face value Jinen’s blessing of [Teleportation] was actually quite useless, for two main reasons. The first being that the act of teleportation itself requires a medium to activate. Jin can’t simply teleport across the world because he wills it, he needs a medium to do so. Something to act as a bridge to his destination. The [Waypoints] which Nordon placed across Edoland were the Medium for the blessing. Or more accurately an [Atlas Circle] or [Atlas].

Much like how a computer uses code to direct a program an [Atlas] uses runes to direct a spell. However this brings us to the second reason that [Teleportation] can be viewed as useless. That being the amount of mana consumed by its activation. Through a masterful understanding of magic Jin was able to heavily curve the mana consumption rate of his [Teleportation] blessing, he stacked thousands of runes in hundreds of layers in his [Waypoints] [Atlas] to create the most mana efficient spell possible, with the final product letting him travel as far away as he wanted as many times he wanted without any concern for his mana pool.

However just because HE could utilize it so efficiently it didn’t mean anyone else could do the same. A single teleportation across the world consumed the same amount of mana as a hundred Kanashis combined. Because of this not even someone akin to Randolph could use the [Way Points] a fraction as efficiently as Jin could.

# # #

Meaning the only way this liberation will work is if I place thousands of way points across the country. Nordon sighed as he stretched his back. Though I wish Sarumalder-San was here, I would have had him do all this reaching up high and bending over down low.

Perhaps it was due to years of sitting behind an office desk that his back was sore, maybe it was just his age showing. Either way it was important to understand that even though Nordon was not as physically gifted as Julius or magically inclined as Jin he’s still by far the largest threat to the Toumeikan in all of Edoland. A man capable of arresting even a Hachibuto if the circumstances were favorable.

Being such it’s understandable that the Toumeikan would consider him their number one target. The man who they’d want to have taken out the most. However recently he’d yet to have an attempt on his life, at least not that he knew of that is. Though even if he was to be attacked he’d be more than capable of protecting himself and those around him.

Sarumalder-san on the other hand… If the Toumeikan decided to put a target on his head I’m not sure if he’d be able to escape them. Especially if they sent a member of their Joshin. At that point it’d be more down to luck rather than skill or strength… even if you’re a hard genius at something, a few months will never trump years of hard work…

As Nordon thought this he placed his hand over his left arm feeling the bumpy texture of an old scar. The scar which he received from the same incident that had him promoted to captain of the Venator Societies Edoland branch.

With a sigh he strained himself out and exited the alleyway returning to the bustling side walk outside. Normally he’d travel by car but with this kind of work it was more efficient to move on foot. If he had to stop every time he saw a favorable location it would not only be inconvenient but also draw in a lot of unwanted attention.

Well I should place another dozen in this city before moving further south… He thought, checking his phone. The time read July 25th 03:00 meaning it was severely past his usual bedtime. There are the hours I tend to avoid being awake, it’s when the most troublesome people are active…

As he thought this a man bumped into him rather harshly nearly shoving him backwards full foot.

“Watch where you’re going punk!” The man barked, giving Nordon a nasty glare before turning around to walk away.

“Please wait a moment.” Nordon said, grabbing the man by his Trapezius.

“Get your damn hands off me you-!” The man tried to pull away from Nordons grip but found it impossible, it was as if he was paralyzed from the neck down, his body refusing to work. What the hell kind of magic bull shit is this!? The man panicked trying to fight his body to move.

“My wallet, please return it.” Nordon said in a monotone voice.

“Wallet? What the hell are you talking about!?” The man argued.

The people passing by began to slow down and watch the confrontation with a silent excitement.

“Your jacket has a hidden zipper on the inner left of it, inside of that zipper you have three wallets on which is a black leather plånbok brand wallet that belongs to me. I’m not responsible for petty crimes like this so if you return it I’ll turn a blind eye.” Nordon said.

The thief grit his teeth as a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek. “Tch, fine man I don't need the damn thing!” He growled as Nordon let go of him. He quickly pulled the wallet out of his coat and threw it to Nordon who caught it.

“Happy now!?” He asked before turning around and quickly walking away, vanishing into the horde of people walking down the street.

The bystanders who watched the incident occur let out a disappointed sigh before resuming their travels. All the while Nordon silently started into the undulating horde or people traveling in every direction.

This country… sometimes I don't even recognize it. When I first began this career most of my tasks were exorcisms or Yokai relocation. But now it’s almost entirely composed of rogue magic users and Yakuza. I wonder if this liberation will actually change anything. Is it the Orochi Kingdom and Toumeikan who are changing people for the worse or is it simply the path which humans are evolving down? In a society where you use another person's suffering to your benefit is it really surprising that things have come to such a low point? Shaking his head Nordon turned back down the path he was headed and before long he too faded into the crowd of people.