Falling behind Shizu, Azi stepped on behind her and they made their way to the outskirts of the village, the time it was taking them was longer than Shizu had expected. It was the early morning and a few shops had set up for the day, as they say the early bird gets the worm, and a village like Shisayama thrived on commerce.

While not having a port it did have lots of flat space. The ground was level, and there wasn’t much roll in the earth around him, prime reestate for setting up a community. Azi could see how prosperous the place was. It was still not as impressive as the tall high rises and buildings in that one odd memory of his.

Still, the village of Shisayama had a number of shops, specializing in both Kujyurian and Yamaton cultures. Shizu glanced along with a hint of self pride.

As she did, she had to deal with a troublesome window shopper.

“Oh, so this fabric is made from plants? It’s so soft.” Running his hand across the proffered linens offered from a shopkeeper, Azi’s eyes were lost to the pretty sights. The bespectacled man’s glasses glinted, seeing that he’d made a potential score.

“Yes, it takes some time but it's worth it.” He said, enthusiastically.

“Really? How long does it take? Surely it doesn’t take much for this amount.”

“Hmmm? I haven’t made it myself, this one in particular is made in Kujyuri’s capital. From my estimations of how long it took me to obtain this small piece, about?” The shopkeeper pushed his glasses up, mockingly making it seem like it took time for him to recall the number.

Shizu knew for a fact that the man was stalling, trying to get Azi to buy in. And so the man did.

“The process takes about a month.”

“That long? Isn’t that pretty slow?”

“Indeed, but you have to understand. It's worth it to create this flexible, comfortable, and lively colored cloth.”

Taking out another piece of linen, this one brown and red, the shopkeeper handed it to Azi.

“You can feel the difference, this brown one is made from the leather of an animal. It’s dried out so it's rough on the skin. Usually, customers buy both kinds to sew them together?”

“Together? Seems like a lot of work. Why is that?”

Azi was sure that the man was trying to sell him more product that he bargained for, he wasn’t daft, he knew a sales pitch a mile away. Though Shizu thought otherwise, he could feel her eyes patiently rushing him.

Picking up on Azi’s suspicion and tinge of bewildered agitation from Shizu, the shopkeeper waved a dismissive hand to try to distract him, faking as if he was realizing a revelation.

“Eh! Oh? A kid like you must not know. Here, let me explain. Clothes are usually sewn with these two kinds of linens together. While the leather one is more durable, it's rough and can chafe the skin. The plant cloth is more comfortable but you need a lot of it to make a durable and long lasting piece of clothes.”

“I see.” It clicked for Azi. “So you sew the plant cloth on top of the leather, you can make a comfortable inside but a tough outside.”

“You catch on quick kid, so what do you say? I can cut you a discount.”

The shopkeeper's hand lunged for Azi’s and he clasped his hand lightly, just enough so that the boy wouldn’t be too taken aback. Expecting this, Azi confidently went to search his pockets and then realized.

Oh, that’s right. I don’t have any money.

This was an embarrassing moment. Recovering him calm, Azi made himself look like he was debating the price, a hand on his chin to buy time so he could come up with a line of speaking to help lessen his blunder and to cut off the exchange. Before he could, a tug from behind pulled him away.

“Come on!” Shizu said, sounding irritated. “Enough with this window shopping already! We have to go.”

“Oh, I.. okay. Thank you sir. I’ll come back and..” Interrupted again as he said his farewell, Azi flinched in pain as another violent tug had him catching his breath.

“Ouch! Hey! Can‘t you be gentler?”

Pushing him in front of her, Shizu gave him the eye.

“I don’t know what you were trying to accomplish there. You had no money to buy anything, so why were you making it look like you wanted to purchase anything.”

“Well..” Azi scratched his cheek. “I only wanted to look at it first and try to understand the cost of items here. I actually haven't seen these things before.”

He caught himself a moment, realizing both his thoughts and words were awkward. Did he really not know what cloth was?

Yeah, this is a first for me, but why? I must have seen cloth before. I was wearing clothes, so why do I get the feeling it's weird. Strange…

“Cloth?” Shizu questioned mockingly. “You haven’t seen cloths and linens before? Do you live under a rock or something?”

“No, I just haven’t familiarized myself with the goods here. I don’t have a clue what’s normal and not, so I thought I could get a feel of the place if I window shopped.”

“Yeah right.” Shizu said doubtfully. “You’ve been eyeing every shop like a child looking at toys.”

“I-I guess I am.” Azi chuckled. He couldn’t deny his fascination, perhaps he was getting out of hand.

That came across as odd to Shizu, to her, the kid didn’t mean to be so nosey. She had been noticing how odd his behavior was the past hour. Every time they passed by a stall selling anything, Azi would immediately be transfixed in awe. He would get this grin or odd light of fixation in his eyes.

He looks like a kid going shopping for the first time. It's fitting for a kid like him, but how sheltered was he?

“Anyway, are you finished with your foolishness?” Getting her mind off her thoughts, Shizu flicked her long red and brown locks aside. “We have places to go. So come on.”

Without further prompting, she turned away from him and walked off briskly.

“I suppose I am.” Azi replied, jogging behind to catch up. “But shouldn’t you let me look around? Ozen did say you’d give me a tour of the village. Why the rush?”

“Because getting you settled in a place to sleep tonight makes more sense than shopping. Or do you plan to sleep out on a porch again?”

“Oh..” Taken aback, Azi took a direct hit of sarcastic logic to the face from Shizu. It was unpleasant, though it shook him back to reality. “I get your point. I’ll try to focus and-”

A sudden smell caught Azi’s attention. Just as he was getting himself on track, his legs gravitated towards that savory smell.

“Hah, not again.” From the sight in the corner of her eye, Shizu groaned and made her way to wrangle back the wandering dullard. She went over and stood next to him, letting the fool have his couple minutes of fun.

He, with a few other village children, were watching as another shopkeeper, this one working at an open fire grill built into a wooden cart. The cook specialized in meat skewers by the smell in the air, and it did well in bringing in customers.

Also, the flames of the hot grill made many of the children’s eyes sparkled in dazzling surprise.

They oh’ed and Ah'd in naive delight.

Unlike them, Shizu found Azi more fixated on the shopkeeper's butchering skills with a knife. The man worked the implement’s tip into a freshly prepared slab of meat. With a swoosh, he separated meat from bone and organ from organ.

His rapid and fluid motions were what Shizu could say were from a talented man of his craft.

“Wow!” Azi muttered. “I wonder what that blade is made of, it's quite sharp. Tempered steel maybe, or it's a combination of tin and copper? Bronze? Hmmm, I did see a few pieces earlier, but the color of the metal is off, is it rust?”

His sophisticated mumblings didn’t escape Shizu’s notice. While she didn’t know his age she estimated him to be about 15, maybe younger, so it was unlike a boy his age to speak in such logical mannerisms.

She suspected he was educated, yet his unhealthy fascination with his surroundings told her otherwise.

“Alright, time is up. Let’s go, Azi.”

“Wait.” Stopping Shizu, Azi tugged her hand to stay as he begged. “A bit longer, I wanna watch how he cooks it.”

“Oh for the love of.. If I keep letting you do whatever you want, you’ll be sleeping on the street.” Shizu complained. “You can come back later, it’s not like they’ll-”

Interrupted by the sound of sizzling meat, it caught their attention. Shizu reflexively turned her head back to the shopkeeper's stall.

Her nose caught a whiff of what was cooking. She could taste the tickling flavor of the smokey fried meat on her tongue and it only got more surreal when the shopkeeper dunked the half grilled skewers into a sauce, he then put them on the grill again.

The wafting scent of the honey glaze’s sweet aroma, her favorite kind, rode the breeze. It made a rolling grumble echo in her stomach. Embarrassed by the idea that someone might have heard that uncouth sound she made, Shizu looked around.

No one seemed to notice, not until she felt the hand that gripped her own tighten. She looked down and Azi was there, grinning at her. He put a hand up to his mouth, and whispered as if trying to keep a secret between them.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay and watch? Your stomach agrees.”

“You!.. Ugh.. You idiot.” Pushing her silent displeasure down, Shizu’s cheeks reddened in bewilderment as Azi chuckled.

*Grumble Grumble*

He went still as another stomach grumbled. This time it was his. Realizing he had not eaten for possibly half a day, it made sense he would be hungry, though to this extent was shocking.

The sound his own unruly stomach made was so loud in fact that not only Shizu had heard it, the nearby children did as well. One child pointed a finger and laughed at his expense, bantering about with one another as others joined in.

Grown ups, likely their parents, scolded them for their impolite behavior, setting them straight the best they could as they held in stifled snickers.

“Are you sure your stomach doesn’t agree more?” Shizu countered and Azi bit his lip at that.

“Oh, shut it.” He mumbled.

Looking all flustered and frustrated, he turned his back to her, Shizu couldn’t help but laugh. She gave him a tap on the back, a show of playful teasing and payback.

“Ow! Did you have to hit so hard?”

“Oh suck it up.”

Buying a few skewers, Shizu shared a couple with Azi and they moved on.

“Hmmmmm..” A distasteful scowl found itself on Shizu’s brow. The skewer she bought for herself smelt sweet, and she expected it to be sweet as well. Glazed, the meat looked as if it were seasoned with a thick honey, yet when she bit into it, only the gamey taste remained when she swallowed.

“Eww. I think this is innards.” She mumbled in dissatisfaction. “I can barely taste the sugar, what a waste.”

“Something wrong?” Azi asked, chewing at his own skewer, which seemed more tasteful than hers. The smell of it made her drool and Azi noticed the difference in cuts of meat they had. Shizu was having what he suspected looked like liver and he was having belly meat with how much fat he could taste from the first skewer.

He looked to her own skewer and then to her eyes that looked to his.

“You want it, we can trade? But, I did bite into it.”

“No, no, I’m fine.” She took another flustered bite of her own food and grimaced at its pungent flavor. She never really liked liver, more regular cuts of meat were more her taste but this one had more honey glaze on it.

She sighed and in a moment of her sombrous lull, Azi plucked the liver skewer from her hand.

Just as she was about to complain, Shizu watched as he bit into the disgustingly flavored choice of grilled innards and then handed her his own. Giving two to replace her one.

“Uck, hmmmm.. This is kind of strong.” Azi didn’t find the gamey taste welcoming either. “But I kind of like it though, reminds me of.. What was it?”

“Uhh? Azi? You did you just..?”

“Did I what?” He asked.

“No nothing, nevermind.”

“Ummm, okay?”

Azi ignored how befuddled Shizu looked, instead losing himself in thought as they silently walked. Shizu was completely silent, or more like too startled to speak, she had been a bit self conscious when she saw him eat her skewer.

What he had done was an indirect kiss, and Shizu felt.. heated when he did. Not the kind of angry heated, more the flustered and surprised kind of heat.

As kind as his forceful offer was, she was consciously trying to handle her blush as she watched him take another bite of her previous skewer.

My lips were on that, and now he’s, he’s.. She shook her head, driving the dirty thought away. He’s only a kid, Shizu. Get it together. It’s like that time with Yashimu, when we shared food. Wait? Did we?

If memory served her right, she recalled how she, on numerous occasions, refused any intimacy with men. Not even letting them touch her food unless she watched them make it. While self conscious of that, it was more so out of safety since she’d usually share her own food with her little Sister.

The frail girl needed to eat more, and Shizu tried to make sure of that.

Taking a bite of her own food, Shizu mulled over the past and deliberated why it was so strange to interact with Azi. Instead of offering any thanks to him for the now tolerable food he exchanged with her, since she was the one who bought them, Shizu was unwilling to give the freeloader the benefit of her graciousness out of spite.

She relished the taste, letting herself fall away from her previous train of thoughts.

Ahhh! Much better, Now this, this is sweet. Juice and sweet, savory and a hint of sugar goodness from the honey. I have to get the recipe for Rulu one day, she’ll be able to make this for me forever when I get back to the capital.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

After close to another hour of walking, they finally arrived at their destination. Set in the distance was a building down the dirt worn path. Supposedly from Shizu’s explanation, it was a smithy on the edge of the southern portion of the village.

Owned by a person named Kajima, Azi gave it a once over as he approached. It was a large house made almost entirely out of wood, it had an attached section that was made solely of stone.

It looked somewhat worn down but was standing nonetheless, yet the foreboding slashes and gashes against the stoned walled section on the sides of the house were worrying. Unaffected, Shizu made her way over to the side that had a large chimney protruding from the roof.

Azi heard a dull clanging of metal ringing out in a rhythmic pattern.

Falling in step behind Shizu, as they got closer, he could deduce that the stone walled section of the house was the workshop or forge of sorts. It became clear that he was right by the evident difference in temperature.

The air warmed and the billowing puff of black smoke from the chimney gave it away. Pulling on the door’s handle, Shizu opened the door. She shouted in a loud voice.

"Hey! Uncle Kajima! Are you here?!"

The metallic cleaning noise stopped and Azi heard a grunt come from inside. The sight of an enormous man caught his eye but was then drawn to the many items hung on the wall.

Shizu sighed at his usual sudden curiosity, it seemed like Azi regular behavior at this point. Ignoring him, she opened her mouth to speak but a word didn’t leave her lips. Just in time, she saw as the occupant inside threw a hammer towards them.

“Get down!” Throwing herself out of the way, she panickedly dragged Azi to the side of the door.

It would have struck her dead in the face and she would’ve been in trouble if Azi got injured. As much as she didn’t like his uncouth personality and weird airs, she’d at least keep her word with Ozen about taking responsibility for him.

Luck was on Shizu's side, not a scratch nor a bruise, they were both fine. Though, she recoiled in horror at the heard thunk the hammer made behind her. She glanced over and startled at the sight of the impacted hammer in the ground.

Now, she could only see that a handle was sticking out of the white snowy dirt.

"Oi Kajima. What was that for?!" Shizu cried out. “Were you trying to kill me!”

Walking up to the entrance of the workshop, Kajima turned a scolding look to her.

"Little Shizu, for the last time! Never bother me when you hear me working! Knock first! How many times have I told you this? Can’t you just be patient!"

Paling, Shizu remembered that warning. Looking away to avoid Kajima’s towering aura, she was met with Azi’s deadpan eyes.

He formed a discernible smirk on his face which was followed by a noticeable tick mark appearing on her forehead in a natural response. Her pale expression turned to one of red anger and righteous indignation.

"You!!! YOU!...." She was about to get up and kick him in the face, but Kajima stepped in first. Looking down on them, he brought attention to how his little niece was holding a boy, and quite intimately at that.

"Who is this Shizu? You found yourself a little guy friend?” Rounding on the kid, Kajima pulled him up along with Shizu. “I must say, you're quite small for how mature you carry yourself.”

“Thanks?” Azi wasn’t sure how to take that complement, if it even was one. “I’m not sure if I’ll grow any taller, but I hope I do.” He joked, hoping it would stick.

“Heh.” Luckily, Kajima found his statement funny, thinking. Yeah, the kid would grow out to fit into that demeanor he has.

“Shizu, you found a funny one, is this one finally the one, the man you’ll finally marry? Overall, he looks good, a bit scrawny and short but he has got a good physique. Not much muscle but the potential is there. Heh, to be young again, I envy you two.”

Turning an even deeper shade of red, Shizu scoffed and aptly corrected her uncle.

"Uncle! Stop! This kid is probably not even old enough to marry yet. And I’d Never! NEVER! Not in a thousand years, marry this abhorrent child! I have better taste in men than him, Uncle! And what’s this about me finally finding a man? I am only 21, I still have time to get married.”

"Oh?” Kajima paused, sizing Azi up again. He found an incongruity within the boy. He estimated that Azi was past the age of 16, the boy was conscientious of his surroundings, a trait Kajima found in those who were all grown up.

Azi's stature was young, yet how he carried himself was not like the other village children. His back was too straight and he had a focused glint to his eyes.

Is he really a kid? I can’t tell. Ah, I’ll get to that later. He thought.

"My mistake Shizu, but you are a bit behind.” Kajima laughed. “At your age, you should be settling down with a husband.”

“Not you too Uncle! I know already! Jeez, get off my back about this!”

“Okay Okay, I know it’s a sensitive topic, so let’s move on. Hey, kid.”

“Why does everyone keep calling me kid?” Azi mumbled and then realized it was his age. Oh yeah, I am that old, so that’s why I’m getting ticked off when they call me kid.

“Hey! You listening?”

Brought back from his inattention, Azi stumbly addressed the towering man, he had to look up. The guy was more than a couple head taller than Azi, maybe reaching over 2 meters in height.

“Uh? Yeah, Kajima, was it?”

“You are correct, so about yourself, how old are you?"

“Huh? Don’t you want to know my name first?”

“I do, but I get the feeling your age is of a bigger surprise, plus, I wanna know if you’ll take Shizu as your wife.”

“UNCLE!” Shizu rounded on her untactful uncle, looking ready to punch him in the gut to get him to shut up. It oddly looked amicable to Azi, an odd observation in his opinion.

“I’m kidding Shizu.” Kajima then patted his leather apron, letting out a small chuckle. “But you’re wondering as well right? His age, you know his name but nothing else I bet.”

“I suppose you’re right, I didn’t ask him before since I was too.. Well, never mind that. Are you getting the same feeling as I am?”

“Yeah, this kid’s an oddball. It's the eyes.”

“Oddball?!” Almost taking offense, Azi reluctantly settled down. He was here as a guest, so he’d act like one.

"Phew! Well, if you must know my age, the last number I remember is..” He paused, taking time to recall his true age with better clarity. ”Two, no twenty, I think? No wait, Yeah! I’m sure. Yeah, that’s it. 27. I’m 27."

A short pause crossed everyone else’s eyes. Azi heard the clear cut caws of a passing bird, and that seemed to wake the town up.

"27!?" Shizu and Kajima jumped in surprise, their furry ears flicking and tails going rigid.

"Yup." Azi said plainly. “What? Do you not believe me?”

"Of Course! You have to be kidding, there is no way you are that old. You look like a kid." Shizu said, waving a pointed finger at him.

"Says the one acting like one.” Retorted Azi. “But I find that fitting. I'm the older one, so of course I’d act more mature than you. It’s funny, don’t you think? What do you think Kajima?”

“I don’t know what to think. How can you be sure you’re 27? I don’t mean to be rude, but you look no older than 16.”

Azi found that familiar, being called young even though he knew for certain he was older.

“I remember getting told that a lot. Hmm? I guess that’s what’s been bugging me. I don’t really have any way to prove it, so you’ll have to take my word, I guess?”

“Not like that’s any good.” Said Kajima.

“No kidding.” Shizu added. “But.. It makes sense. Azi, do you remember anything, like your birthday or related dates?”

“No, it's odd, but 27 sticks out every time I think about age. It’s.. been bugging me that everyone treats me like a kid.”

“Of course they would.” She mumbled. “It’s strange, how can you look like that but be that old? Is that why I see you differently, or was it because you’ve always been an annoying guy?”

“Shizu?”

Ignoring Azi, Shizu kept silent and pouted, refusing to make eye contact with him until she had calmed down.

“I need a minute.” She said. In her silence she walked away from him and Azi felt an odd ostracization.

Left looking at Shizu's back, Azi and Kajima gave her a wry smile and a slight chuckle escaped them. It was hilarious to see her so flustered, those red cheeks, the wagging tail, and irritation as she bit her finger.

Noticing each other's small laugh, they both coughed to get on track.

"Well nice to meet you, name's Azi Montagne and yes I am 27. I got saved by Ozen from the dangers of the mountain and I was told I would be left in good hands. He was referring to you and about some favor?"

"Oh, so he’s using that.” Kajima sighed. “Well good to meet you Azi. You already know but my name is Kajima. I have known Ozen since we were just soldiers in the Yamaton Army. Considering how Shizu is with you and your statement of how Ozen said he would leave you in good hands, you’re correct. Seems it's time for me to repay my debt to the ‘King of Kujyuri’."

Kajima played a hint of sarcasm with his words, he didn’t seem to be taking a jab at Ozen, more like he was playfully joking and reminiscing an inside joke between them.

"What debt?” Azi asked.

“It’s a long story, I’m not sure if you wanna hear it. It’s boring and a little sad.”

“I have time, and I’m grown up enough to not cry.”

“We’ll see, and you’re right, you’ll be boarding with me for a while, so we’ll be seeing each other a lot. Plus, my work’s slow today.” Kajima motioned Azi to come into the workshop to continue their conversation inside. “Get inside, we'll talk as we wait for Shizu to get herself together.”

Azi nodded and walked in. Kajima then began to explain his relationship with Ozen as he closed the door behind him.

"During the previous war, I asked Ozen to take care of my family as I went on campaign to fight in one of the empire’s campaigns of expansions.”

Taking off his gloves, Kajima dunked his hands in a bucket of water.

He continued. “With how he was King of Kujyuri and I was a simple peasant at the time, between the two of us, I was the one conscripted back into the army to fight in the war. While Ozen did act as a general, he rarely got to enjoy his favorite pastime of fighting and brawling like in his youth.”

Drying his hand with a cloth, Kajima moved over to hang up the tools from his belt.

“After the war, I owed him a favor since he helped my family survive the 2 years I was away for. Those were some 2 brutal winters.."

"I see." Said Azi. “Are they around? I’d love to meet them?"

Kajima's face morphed into an expression of sadness as he began reminiscing about the past. "They have passed on." He said softly.

“Oh.” A shock ran through Azi, he had stepped on a landmine and Kajima was right, the story was sad.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Azi did a slight bow to show his sincerity. In response, Kajima brushed off his brief reminiscence of his family, and offered him to take a seat. Kajima grabbed a stool for himself and sat across a table from him

They then began getting to know each other. Azi shared his story of how he came to be here but it wasn’t very helpful with how many holes and few explanations he could offer due to his memory loss.

“So you’ve gone through a traumatic event, have you?” Kajima stated, heavy hearted and compassionate to another lonely soul. “No family, no friends, you don’t remember anything?”

“I recall pieces.” Azi said. “But not whole pictures. It’s there. It’s only put together all wrong, or parts are missing. Like a page ripped from a book, or in my case, over half the book is ripped out.”

“That’s terrible, what do you think happened to you?”

“Maybe I hit my head, got robbed, or I.. I..”

Memories of pain from the time in that dream-like dark void flashed in front of him, shunting anxiety and stress like a heavy rain. The headache came back, he shook himself.

“Did you remember something Azi?” Concerned, Kajima poured and handed him a cup of water. Taking a few gulps to calm down, Azi continued.

“No, a headache. I’ve been getting a lot recently. Must be a head injury, I was on my face when I woke up.”

“Ah, I know what you mean. I’ve taken a few hits to the head during the war, it can do plenty of ugly stuff to your life.”

Kajima shared that after the war, he returned to his family injured. Similarly, a head injury left him bedridden, succumbing to nightmares, fevers, and constant agony from headaches. In all, he recovered in time and returned to putting all his effort into blacksmithing to hopefully get away from war.

“Wait.” Azi said. “If you were a soldier, what made you change over to being a blacksmith?”

“Oh, well that is my favorite story to tell.”

“Go ahead.” Azi offered. “I’m all ears.”

It was then that Kajima shared about what he loved to do the most. His whole spiel went on for a while. He thought Azi would fall asleep like his drinking buddies did, but the kid seemed to rapt in attention.

“So you made all of these?” Azi admired the hung up weapons on the stone wall of the workshop. Not only were there weapons, but an assortment of tools that were definitely handmade.

All of them were unique, having a touch of similarity between each piece.

“Yes.” Kajima said proudly. “Most of these are my own tools to help me in my own craft, but I make all kinds of tools.”

“Really? Why? I thought blacksmiths usually only make weapons, why are you making these little things?” Azi pointed to a small scythe hung on the wall. It was a basic farming tool, yet the amount of attention to the leather grip and the shine of the scythe’s blade were noticeable.

“I make them to ensure the villagers have a reliable tool they can always fall back on. It’s more honest work than being a soldier.”

To Kajima, he began to create tools meant to ensure the livelihoods of others in their daily life. As strong as he was big, he learned from his time at war that he could not ensure the lives of all the people he cared about with only his singular self.

To him, a blade cuts down the enemy, unfortunately taking life, while done in protection and in service to a large majority, he can only wield a single implement and does only so much.

So, he endeavored to give his friends, his neighbors, reliable tools of their trade. Indirectly, he was protecting those he cared about in less bloody ways. Not only that, he got a kick out of how people reacted to his fine workmanship.

“Here, take a look at this one.”

Kajima handed Azi an ornate knife. The hilt looked as if it was made of gold and silver, and the sheath had a intricate design of a swirling whirlpool on it. Then he noticed a protrusion near where the sheath and the hilt of the blade met.

Pressing the protrusion, Azi watched in awe as the sheath opened up width wise.

“Oh, so there’s a small spring built in here. It pushes the smaller mechanism and then opens the cover into a leaf-like shape. Talk about complexity.”

“How did you figure that out?”

“I don’t know, it seemed logical and the protrusion was right there.”

“Yes I know, but everyone misses that detail.”

“Ha, well I must have a good eye.”

“Hmph! Perhaps you are older than you look. Here, try this one.”

Kajima had Azi take a look at other pieces of work he made or had worked on. With every passing minute they discussed each tool and their intricacy, more and more, Kajima began to realize how intelligent this boy was.

While not at the leave of a cunning state man or noble, he had the makings of a scholar.

Or was he a scholar in the past?

Kajima had many questions about him, but he knew for sure that Ozen might have found what he needed, more talent.

***[Meanwhile, Outside Kajima’s House]***

Sitting down, her back to the stone side of Kajima’s workshop, Shizu was contemplating or.. calming down as she processed her overwhelmed thoughts and emotions. This ended up with her talking softly to herself.

"How can he look that young but be that old? I thought he was just an orphan or lost kid my father found in the forest, but how in God's name is he 27 years old. He must be lying, yeah! He’s lying."

That hypothesis died early when she reviewed what she knew. She had no basis for calling him a liar, there was really nothing threatening about him. He was more like a wonder lust child.

"He doesn’t really know anything, only the simple stuff. But now that I think about it, he seems so naive with his surroundings and laxed. I don’t sense he was lying. He has no reason to lie, and I find it hard to believe that he forgot his own age.”

A deep sigh followed her words, realization striking her on how she treated him.

“I screwed up.."

With her hand, she facepalmed as she relived the moment that she struck Azi, who by age, was her senior in life experience if what he said was true. She was frustrated by how undignified she was in front of him.

As a noble, she needed to act refined with people older than her as a sign of respect. While some were undeserving per her prerogative, she at least gave mild courtesy to a stranger, so she understood her short temper needed some work.

While it was different with Kajima, Ozen, and Yashimu, this was due to how they were her family.

Remembering her actions, she felt like crawling up into a ball to hide away her embarrassment. Her initial view towards Azi was that he was an uncivilized boy. Now? She found out he was older than her and was unexpectedly intelligent.

What was bothering her more was that she estimated that he probably had a horrible impression of her by now.

This was a blemish on her image of herself. If only she had kept herself in line more, like she thought a noble should. Yet, she felt uncomfortable giving that kind of dutiful respect to a person who looked like a child, and a cheeky one at that.

To her, she was always right and would get her way. Though not always, not in the particular situation of her.. “love” ..life.

For the last 6 years Shizu had been trying to get married. After 4 attempts, which resulted in the incapacitation of 4 potential suitors, she was feeling depressed deep down these days. In her eyes, there were no good men that could be her equal.

It was a flaw of her’s she was trying to live with. All 4 potential suitors failed her first test of standards which was to survive one of her strikes without fainting and be able to land a follow up strike in retaliation.

Brutal, she knew, but she wanted a strong husband, not some pansy.

But 6 years passed without success. Giving up seemed like the right choice by now.

Wait a minute! Go back. When I hit him, I was sure I killed him, But he got up. HE! Got up! Surprised to remember that he somewhat passed her first test, Shizu reviewed the memory of their first interaction.

Not only did he not faint from her punch but followed it up by confronting her, never had a peasant dared glare at her or talk to her in such boorish ways. While Azi's words were not a physical strike, his words left an impression. She was usually idolized for being Ozen's oldest daughter and for her looks.

She was curvy in all the right places, had a well-developed chest, was incredibly skilled in warfare and single combat, and her looks were envied by the more mature women in the nation’s capital. So, when she was called a psycho by him, she was taken aback by how anyone would use such a word to describe her.

The boy had guts.

Her cheeks became bright red with embarrassment and she hugged her knees against her chest to hide herself away. She silently screamed in her mind.

No way, no way. He’s an idiot, a jerk, a freaking stranger. Why? Why am I thinking about him so much? Ugh, he’s so irritating.

She brooded for a few minutes, trying to divert her mind away from this topic and instead thought of ways to regain the dignity she had lost, or more importantly, a way to get one over on the source of her discomfort as payback.

You wait and see, I’m going to prove you’re nothing but a kid playing adult. Hehe, hehehehe.

Her thoughts went sinister and mischievous, meanwhile inside the workshop, Azi suddenly felt a chill.

“Achoo! Ah, Kajima, do you have any hot water? Wherever I’m from, I’m not used to the cold.”

“Then we better get you a coat in the future, the winter’s here in Kujyuri are long and we get a lot of snowfall throughout the year.”

“Great~.” Azi rolled his eyes, not really looking forward to living here.

Kajima gave him a compassionate smile.

“You’ll be fine kid, not like the weather’s going to cause you trouble as long as you bundle up. It’s people that I’m more worried about.”