Present Time
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A kitchen knife flies, cutting the air at the side of my face and stealing a strand of my hair. The sound of it hitting the wall makes everyone in the bar stop drinking and focus their attention on me.
"We don't allow your type here, Zero." The grumpy old, bald man scratches his long white beard as he states it in a serious tone. "I don't want you attracting problems here."
Fucking hell, when I start thinking that the bounty will disappear, everyone seems to remember it. Now I have to move out of this city, just like the other cities, villages, etc.
Now, looking at where the barkeep's axe hit, I see my face on a bounty. twenty silver coins, am I worthy only twenty silver? Ouch.
"What if I don't leave, huh?" My question comes with a click of the dagger resting on my waist.
The barkeep furrows his brows and points his fingers, and following with my eye to where he's pointing, I see some guards walking down the street. Now that makes sense, more guards have been patrolling the streets lately, which is one more reason why I need to leave this place tonight.
I just wanted to fill my stomach before doing so, but I guess I'll have to eat berries on my way through the forest.
"Got it," I slide one silver coin across the bar and rise from my chair. "Thanks for the warning."
The old man grabs my coin and throws it back at me. With my sharp reflexes, I'm able to catch it before it hits the back of my head. Sheesh, at least I tried to leave the tip.
Leaving the bar, I meet the rooting smell of piss and vomit on the main rocky streets, and looking from side to side, I see that the guards are being persuaded by some prostitutes to enter their brothel, and it works obviously.
Good for me. I use that opportunity to quicken my pace to the one place I need to go before leaving this shithole. The sole reason I came here in the first place was to rescue a certain someone who grabbed my attention.
Edo's first prison project, a place where they plan to keep the captured bounties. And what better way to promote the project than with the biggest bounty from recent years: Aoha the Fire Spirit?
A smart move, if you ask me, but not so smart to make it public knowledge, oh no. At the same moment I learned what she was and could do, I was already eager to get her to my side; after all, I have a habit of betting on losing dogs.
My plan is simple: get Aoha out of prison, earn her eternal gratitude, maybe make out, and with that, I'll have the ally I need to reach my goals.
The map of the place wasn't cheap; I had to kill some very bad people to get enough money to get my hands on it. And I have to tell you, it was worth every sweet gold coin.
With my feet dangling from the tree branch I'm sitting on, I watch some lousy drunk guards chug down a bottle of sake at the entrance door. But the front entrance is not my planned route.
Instead, the path atop the wall is better, as it grants me easy access to the cell my prize is in.
Climbing down the tree, I arch my back and rush to the tall rock walls surrounding the prison. Reaching it, I put my plan in motion.
All I need is something to jump from, and looking around, it's obvious that no wooden box is near; they aren't THAT stupid, at least.
But the stone wall has enough space that I can put something in between to give me enough footing to jump. My knife will have to do the job as my arrows will break easily.
I lodge the knife between the stones and test the resistance. The blade barely holds my weight without threatening to break, but it looks like I can manage one impulse at best. I'll bet on my odds.
Taking some steps back, I get enough distance to give me a head start, and without waiting any longer, I start running. As my body reaches the wall, I use my right leg to step on the knife and push myself as high as I can.
**Clank**
The knife breaks, but I'm able to grab the wall's roof tile and pull myself up. Looking at the guards, it seems that they didn't notice the sound, and at that, I let out a low laugh.
Sadly, I had to waste that knife, but it wasn't mine to begin with, so it's fine. It's not like the owner is alive to come to complain.
I push the thoughts away and focus back on the task at hand—walking the roof tiles and getting to where the cell is.
Looking from above, I see the clean execution grounds they've built. I'm sure they want to execute her publicly, and maybe they'll even make people pay to watch. People here are mostly pricks.
Most women are arrogant and live off selling their hands to rich guards or royalty, while men live only for prostitutes and drinks.
But past the execution grounds, I see what looks like cells—big rooms where they plan to put everyone together as they wait for their deaths. If it were me, I would kill myself before they got the chance to arrest me, but not because I'm proud or anything.
I just hate the emperor so much that if I have to die in the hands of his boys, I'm better off doing the job myself.
Without noticing, I reach the right building, and with a swift jump, I land on top of the engawa. I'm surprised the emperor was smart enough to build a house atop their torturing cells. It's not like we don't know they like to play with the inmates before killing them.
The building lights are off, and the smell of tea and booze hangs in the air, impregnated on the walls. My hands stop on the sliding door, and I pull it just enough so that I can peep inside.
The place looks empty, and the room this door leads to doesn't seem to have the stairs I'm looking for. Just great; now I'll have to play detective to find where it is.
Going inside, I carefully close the door behind me and am instantly met with the deafening silence inside, making me able to hear my organs shift inside of me and my blood pump.
With my eye, I scan around the room. There is a tea kettle on top of a table in the center of the room, probably where the guard's chief likes to spend his time.
Not only that but with my sharp eye, I'm able to notice the difference in coloration on the floor mat. There are only some droplets of a dark liquid tainting the floor, and it follows in a specific direction. I love how these idiots love to make my job easier.
Following the trail, after some sliding doors, I'm able to finally find the stairs I was looking for, as well as the first hint of light coming from below the stairs.
I was thinking of taking my time searching the place for money, but the sound of painful moans makes my greed disappear and my body move faster in the direction of the source.
The sigh I'm met with is one that instantly makes me angry. The girl, Aoha, is chained to the wall as a man uses his sword to cut her clothes to pieces, but the tip of his blade cuts her delicate skin in the process.
From her muzzled mouth escape the same painful sounds from before, as well as a single tear from her left eye. The man, who must be in his late thirties, lets out a disgusting laugh as he caresses the exposed part of her skin with his blade.
"I'm very honored that the emperor allowed me to steal your first before you die," The man licks his dry lips as he salivates. "But even if you were dead, I would use you; of that, I assure you, girl."
The girl looks at the man, disgusted; her eyes burn like a fire only heard in children's tales. The same fire I came here for—that pure rage that not even death can satiate—the same rage that makes many men and women able to do the impossible for revenge.
Of course, the guard isn't amused by her look and quickly raises his sword to mark her skin once again. But before the girl can close her eyes, I appear from the shadows that the single candle illuminating the room doesn't dare to lick.
Before the man can swing his sword, I grab an arrow from my quiver and rush to his side. His eyes fall on me, but he's not fast enough to react, and as his face contorts in fear at the revelation, mine opens in an arrogant smile.
I proceed to stab the man with the arrow multiple times, starting with his neck and going lower to his leg, only stopping as the arrowhead breaks inside his thigh.
The guard falls to the floor and starts to choke on the blood building on the wound in his neck. I kick the guard's sword away and crouch down, sticking my hand on his trousers and quickly finding the keys to the girl's chains.
"Before I free you, I need you to promise not to kill me when those chains drop," I say to the girl, looking carefully at her face to see her answer.
And she doesn't waste any time nodding her head, and barely hiding my smile, I free the girl from the chains before taking the muzzle out of her face.
"I have to say, I was not expecting you to comply so easily," I comment as Aoha rubs her wrists and starts lowly growling. "But we have to go now if we don't want any guards to come check on-"
As I try to finish my words, Aoha walks to the guard and plants her feet on top of the man's balls before stepping once on them. The guard passes out before his body can fully process the pain. Lucky bastard.
The girl's focus after that seems to finally allow her to fully recognize my existence. "Where to?"
"Out of here, we can camp in the forest north of the gates."
Moving to the stairs, I stop as my eye notice Aoha going to a door near the cells. She enters the room, and I wait for almost a minute before she comes back out of it, now fully dressed in a uniform of sorts.
Red long robes paired with some black and gold armor shoulder pads, she too arranges her hair into a tightly pulled bun with two long strands of her hair adorning the sides of her face.
I'm finally able to see the light amber that I heard some guards speak of; she's beautiful indeed.
"Why are you staring?" Aoha seems to catch me staring at her.
"Nothing; I was just lost planning on how to get the hell out of here."
After my words are met with suspicion of her, I begin to climb the stairs, and so it becomes obvious that she doesn't trust me by how she keeps her distance and guard up.
We go past the rooms and finally can see the moonlight outside. I look around and quickly grab a box before pushing it to the side of the building so we can climb and jump the wall.
Without looking back, I climb the roof and jump to the tiles of the wall, but soon find that the lack of climbing sounds strange.
Aoha, who should be following me, strides forward without care, walking to the middle of the prison camp towards the entrance where the guards are currently drinking and guarding the place.
If I recall correctly, there are at least ten guards near the entrance, and that's not counting the ones patrolling the surroundings. What in the hell is she planning to do?
No matter, cause if I don't want her to die, I best help her if she decides to do something stupid. Grabbing the bow resting on my back, I hold between my lips an arrow and start to walk along the wall to keep my vision of her.
"Hey." One guard, clearly intoxicated, walks drunkenly toward Aoha. "Aren't you a little familiar?"
At the guard's question, Aoha grabs the man's face and, without hesitation, burns his head until his skin is dripping on the dirt below. The screams of the dying guard are loud and end quickly, but it's enough to make the others notice what's happening.
One of them unsheathes his sword and screams. "THE SPIRIT HAS ESCAPED; DON'T LET HER GET CLOSE TO YOU."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The other guards start to sober up at the sudden adrenaline rush, and the brave ones start to rush her. Without hesitation, Aoha starts to burn the approaching men as if they were nothing, cooking them alive so strongly that their eyes pop out of their skulls. But one manages to dodge her fire by ducking.
With smoke rising from his burnt back, he uses the misfire of hers as an opportunity to attack. His sword gets really close to her chest, but with a carefully aimed shot, I'm able to hit the man's shoulder.
The arrow hits in the place I was aiming for, cutting his muscles and making him lose his strength to grip the sword. Aoha, doesn't waste the opportunity and give this man the same fate as the others.
Her eyes wander around and meet mine; she shifts her gaze to my bow and back at my face before looking away again. The other guards, not wanting to have the same fate as their friends, start to run away to the city.
With that, Aoha turns her hand towards the prison, and closing her eyes, I watch as her dark brown hair lightens up, becoming fire itself. From her open palm, she unleashes an uncontrollable gush of blue flames that quickly engulfs all it can.
The cells, the house, and the execution grounds. Everything is consumed by the insatiable flames. We both stop to watch the surreal scene unfolding in front of us—a perfect mixture of danger and life.
But time is of the essence, and we are reminded of that as the sound of a group of guards starts to approach the prison. Aoha looks in my direction and nods her head, and after climbing down the wall, we stand side by side outside of that burning hell.
She looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to guide her towards a safe place. After pointing with my head, we both start running towards the outside of Edo, taking the longer route so we don't have to deal with the city gates.
We run like rabbits, running from our predators, entering the forest to hide until the night ends. Of course, I knew we would need to hide, but I didn't plan so much ahead.
I wanted for us to run away without the guards noticing, so we would at least be able to have a good night of rest before running to another part of Edo, maybe to Yoshiwara, the red-light district.
But for now, it's best to focus on tonight, and because of my earlier search across the forest, I found an abandoned cabin that should serve perfectly to keep us from the cold.
Gesturing for Aoha to follow me, we reach the cabin in no time. The girl beside me eyes me with suspicion, and I react with a smile.
"Relax; if I wanted to do anything to you, I would have done it when you were chained."
My words serve little to ease the girl's frown, but she at least stops eyeing me dangerously. Walking to the door of the cabin, I see the same stone walls surrounding it, as well as the heavy wooden doors that I left unlocked for us.
Pushing the door open, we are met with a stone garden as well as a fishless pond. Even if it's not the first time I've seen this house, it still surprises me that someone would leave it to rot.
The roof tiles are filled with autumn leaves and moss, the two stone lanterns outside the house look functional, and the cabin itself is in a great state.
Of course, the place is small, having only one room of space, but the bathhouse across the pond is the only thing I care about. Sleeping on hard tatami mats is doable, but not being able to take a bath is a no-go.
"I'll light up the lanterns and prepare some water," I say while grabbing two candles from my kimono. "For now, you can rest inside the house."
Even as I smile at Aoha, she doesn't speak or change her cold expression. Not that I care much, as I enjoy seeing those cold and yet burning eyes. But at least she does what I said, going inside the house and closing the door.
I focus back on what I'm doing, walking down the garden and lighting up the two stone lanterns with the candles; it at least serves to help me relax a little. It's strange to have this sense of normality. For how much time have I forgotten?
I helped a spirit girl escape from prison, probably infuriating the emperor, and there will be lots of guards looking for us in the forest later, and still, I'm able to feel normal. Maybe I lost my mind for sure this time.
Walking to the small bathhouse, I circle it until I'm able to find some dry wood and a big pot to heat the water. I fill the pot with the pond's water and use the wood to light a fire, placing the filled pot on top of the wood using a metal support so it heats.
Without much to do, I sit by the fire and wait, focusing on the gentle sound of the wood clicking and the wisp of wind.
Once the water has heated enough, I grab both of the pot's handles at the side and get it to the bathhouse, filling the wood tub to the brim. Breathing the smoke from the hot water, I feel the cold dissipate from my body; I didn't even realize I was cold.
After checking the water and seeing that it's at a usable temperature, I walk back to the house, leaving the pot outside with some more water to boil. As I put my hand to open the door, Aoha opens first and stares at me, waiting for me to talk.
"The bath's ready," I state, and for a second, her eyes seem to relax before going back to sharp coldness. "It's best if you clean your wounds so you don't get an infection."
Aoha nods her head and walks past me, towards the bathhouse, and of course, I won't lose this golden opportunity.
Opening the bathhouse's door, I enter it without a second thought, claiming the same suspicious gaze from my friend.
"Calm down; I'm just here to help clean your wounds," I say that, but in reality, I want to know what it's like to bathe with another person. I always heard it's something couples do but never understood why. I thought it was because it's more practical this way.
But some people told me that there's a whole bunch of other things behind it, and I want very much to understand. I walk to the side of the bathtub where Aoha is and grab the small chair behind it, placing it in the middle of the room alongside the water I boiled with some medicinal herbs I had in my kimono.
"Come, I'll wash your wounds." I pat the chair and wait for the girl to do so, and after some seconds of her staring me down, she decides to comply.
It's cute how she hides her naked body with her slender arms, something I can't relate to. I don't feel embarrassed about being naked in front of her. Not because I'm a perv, but for other reasons—reasons that I prefer not to think about now.
Aoha sits her heart-shaped butt on the chair and leans forward away from me, giving me only access to her scarred back. Her dangerous eyes keep watch on my every action as a promise to kill me if I start to do something weird.
"They treated you very poorly in there," I state, as most of the scars on her body look new, all but the burn spots on her hips and at the side of her boobs. "The water will help most of them disappear and will make the new cuts heal too."
Grabbing a handful of the herb water in my palm, I gently place it on her shoulders and let the river flow across all her curves, even daring to brush my fingertips against some of them to help the water clean them.
"When morning comes, you and I will go towards Yoshiwara-" At my words, the spirit woman tightly grabs my hand and spins me. My world gets upside down before I finally find ground hitting my back painfully on the floor.
"You plan on selling me." The woman doesn't bother to hide her body anymore, choosing instead to straddle my lap and force the back of my head to the cold floor.
"I don't you idiot," I grunt painfully, and the girl lets go of my head but still keeps me pressed down with her body. "My sisters live in a house there; we can rest and plan on what to do."
As the girl stops to consider my words, I make my move, grabbing her waist and pulling my head up so we are face-to-face. She reacts cutely, blushing for a second before hardening her expression again.
"Look, I freed you, and all I ask in return is that you accompany me. I need help killing some bad people, and you are a hell lot stronger than me.
"When the deal is over, I'll let you go, or if you decide to kill me, that will be fine too."
...
The silence stretches awkwardly as she seems to think about my words, and I use that time to explore this strange, pleasant feeling of her body warmth against mine.
Of course, I too, in my curiosity, try touching her burn marks to feel their texture, but her growl serves as a warning that I'm pushing my luck too far.
"I do owe you for saving me, one-eyed samurai." Aoha slaps my hands away from her waist and rises to her feet. "But don't expect me to be your friend."
"Deal."
I, as well, rise to my feet and rub the back of my head to stop the pain.
Without exchanging more words, she leaves the bathhouse, but as she nears the door, I catch her eyeing the many scars adorning my body. I do hope this isn't disgusting for her, and I would hate it if she started to have pity for me.
The door to the bathhouse closes, and I'm left alone to think.
Inside the small room of the house, I lay down on the hard tatami mat floor, half-naked. My clothes are outside to dry; I even offered to wash Aoha's, but she didn't trust her garments to me.
Speaking of Aoha, she is sitting on the far end of the room, resting her back against the hard wall as her eyes seem to try to burn holes in my back. It's not like she couldn't do it if she wanted; after all, the fire in her eyes is not metaphorical.
Cold wisps of wind find their way inside the room, even though the only door is closed. The spirit girl closes her eyes and presses the palm of her hand on the center of her chest, whispering words I'm not able to understand.
But as she finishes those mutterings of hers, a single flame resembling a firefly escapes from between her fingers, dancing in the air around her and producing heat. Aoha extends her fingers and starts to play with the small fire, guiding it in the air like a small companion.
It's almost like she forgot about my existence. Well, I guess she wouldn't mind if I approached a little, right? Testing the waters first, I move slowly, like a snake in tall grass, keeping my sharp eye on hers so I can see when to stop.
Surprisingly, she doesn't seem to notice me even as I sit up in front of her, or maybe she does and just doesn't care. Either way, there's a strange pull I feel toward that small flame. Magic has always impressed me easily, and it makes sense for a person like me.
One of the last humans to be born without the capabilities to wield it, a 'cursed child', or as they call it nowadays: Zeros. Some humans, a.k.a. the rich, can wield powerful types of magic, use old spells, and are extremely dangerous.
The others can only do simple tricks, like lighting a small fire in their hands or producing water with healing aspects.
Rarely can someone who isn't rich get to a level like wielding lighting as a weapon or burning whole nations, and those who are caught doing it are captured and sent to somewhere that only the emperor and his close friends know of.
"It's pretty," I state, hugging my knees and watching as the spirit girl retracts her hands from the small flame and looks at me with a frown.
"Sorry, I just got closer to steal a little of the heat." Raising my hands to show her I have no other intentions, I decide to lie on the floor.
The girl clicks her tongue and looks away. "Do whatever you want."
"Yes, ma'am."
Locking my eye to the ceiling, I allow my exhaustion to grab my mind and pull my consciousness away, finally letting my body sleep as the small flame's heat licks my form, providing the small amount of comfort I hoped against the cold.
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