‘What a bright sun!’ I thought while I was walking through the path that went to the nearest village. It wouldn’t take too much time to get there, but even then I needed to be careful.

The main reason for me to come to this next village, which is called Genpei is simply to take a little rest from the travel. From time to time I’d stop by at some rest places, most of the time it’ll be to take shelter from imminent rains though. Wonder if someday I’ll go to any Mother City.

Damn, it’s that thing again. Can’t it just shut its mouth? Wait, it doesn’t have mouth.

The truth is that, as I said before I could relate with curses. The curses existed as people in their earlier lives that died in the worst ways possible. If you think you can think of a sad way to die, you’ll probably be surprised at the way these people died, it doesn’t only have to be cruel to the person itself but sometimes it also includes other people. Nobody remembers how they died though, not even the curses themselves.

The problem is, people can’t relate to curses as I said. They can’t understand their desires, nor can they talk with them. They don’t even know curses can think, but I can, and it’s kind of annoying, especially because the new curse that I received in my stomach is quite talkative.

I don’t really understand how I can understand what they’re saying. Is it possible that I’m not understanding what they’re saying, but instead I understand their intentions?

“No, I don’t plan to return to the village so you can have another chance to pardon yourself to the old man, he won’t even be able to understand you” I answered the curse.

‘I just can’t thank enough my luck. It’s because of it that I’m able to keep eating like always’ I enjoyed the very thought of it, but that made me hungry.

The fruits in my bag were exquisite as the people said, they had been bought just about six hours ago and even still they tasted like if they were just extracted from the farm.

“An apple? Banana? I have a wooden drinking cup, I could make a lemonade! If I find any river I could make use of my hunting knife and use it to make a fruit salad” My imagination was making my hunger grow by the time. “Uh? Do you want to eat? I can’t give you this, you don’t even exist physically” I answered to the request of my stomach curse, at this rate I’ll need to give it a name.

The curses in my left arm, my back and my right shoulder weren’t even making any ruckus like this one was, it sure looked like my stomach curse died very recently, it doesn’t even know how to act before people. I wonder how it died. If he or she has this personality right now, how was he in his earlier life?

This thought disappeared from my mind when I found a river with water streaming. The water was sparkling which meant that I could probably find fishes too, and at the same time telling me it was clean, I could probably wash myself in it or use it for drinking.

“But, do I really need to clean myself?” I said as I started sniffing at myself. Even though I wanted to actually go inside, I didn’t really need it and I couldn’t manage to waste any more time now. “I curse the creator of time right now”

I sat on the side of the river and from the bag I took out a mini-table that I used for cutting food. I deposited my naginata on my side so I wouldn’t lose her.

I started by washing my hunting knife that I had in my belt. After that, I started cutting the fruits into little pieces, then I put the content on a wooden bowl and I washed the fruits.

And finally, the food was prepared.

“No, you can’t eat this. Gah, it doesn’t matter now. Look at how I eat all of it and you don’t even get to taste it!” I presumed to the curse on my stomach. “You’re hurting inside because of this, aren’t you!? Do you feel it!? Hah!” I started wondering if I was too rude by this moment.

A growl started roaring from my stomach, it made sense, even though I was eating the curse wasn’t really that happy.

“Mhmr Rhm? Does it really matter that much if you can’t affect me?” The curse told me it did, and that it wanted to kill me from starvation. “Well, you’re going in a wrong way, stomach. You know I can just go and penetrate you with my naginata?” I said, menacingly. “Huh? No, not at all, it won’t hurt me because it’s an enchanted naginata, but it will hurt you!” After this, the curse stopped emanating any intentions so I couldn’t hear anything more from it.

Victory! Is what I wanted to say, but it was too sudden that I started feeling bad about the curse, poor of him or her.

After finishing half of the bowl, I got up from the place I was sitting before and wanted to take a quick peek at the surrounding area. I needed to be extra careful, I dropped my guard too much, just as I thought that. Very suddenly.

“Heh? *swish* Gah!?” An arrow appeared in my left arm. “Kyah! What the…? Who’s there!?” I shouted, but didn’t receive any response. Of course, bandits and thieves wouldn’t answer, hah. “Huh? I” My sight started growing numb. My eyes started feeling heavy and my body dropped all of its strength, making me fall to the floor with my right shoulder.

***

I woke up, didn’t really have any idea of how much time had passed but it was night. Night, that means only a few hours because my stomach isn’t growling, therefore it hasn’t even been one day.

I got up and started feeling a slight pain coming from my shoulder. Of course, falling right onto it could probably break it, after all, it received the whole impact. It’s not much but I’m sure I won’t be able to use it for a few hours at the very least.

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Supporting my shoulder with my left hand I started looking around. There wasn’t any animal so I didn’t have to escape.

Those had to be bandits without any doubt. Thieves would probably just go and kill me or only steal high priced things, but these ones stole everything.

Suddenly, I realized that my left arm started to wake up as it had been sleeping all this time. With that action I also realized that it had an arrow penetrating the flesh and it was hurting quite a lot.

“Ugh! Gah!” I had to endure the pain for a few seconds before it finally went away. The pain came of course from the arrow, it probably had a poison that made me fall asleep. I didn’t have to worry about it anymore as it seems the poison was already exterminated by my body, but I couldn’t just go and take the arrow out because the bleeding would start. “A bandage? Wait, yeah, right, they stole everything. For the love of God! What kind of people they are to even steal bandages!” I took a fast glance to the wooden bowl that before had the fruits. “They even ate everything!”

But the most important thing that was stolen.

“It can’t be, wait. Where was it? Did I hide it? No, it wasn’t hidden. That means” They stole my weapon too, my enchanted naginata that worked specifically for breaking curses and defeat enemies and animals. “How do they even dare!” I cursed at nothing and then fell with my butt on the grass. I couldn’t use my right shoulder and my left arm had an arrow that couldn’t be extracted. I was utterly destroyed. I don’t even have the most important part of my equipment, my naginata, my precious, and I can’t even eat.

‘If I didn’t drop my guard at that moment! I should have continued my way to the village. That’s right, the Genpei Village! I don’t think I’ll be able to recover my naginata, but at least I’ll be able to recover myself’ I thought.

I got up from the grass while trying not to move my arms too much. The Genpei Village was really close, even more, I was attacked just as I was getting there.

Someone would consider this as a really unfortunate situation, to be so close to a village and still get robbed.

I learned something very important, you can’t drop your guard in these kind of places, not to the animals and beasts nor to the terrible humans that dwell in it.

After thinking about a few things, I decided to go to the Genpei Village as soon as possible. I could probably try and hunt a fish from the river but that’d make me struggle.

***

‘Damn, it’s already been fifty minutes, I’m sure I got lost somehow’ I thought. While I was eating before I knew the direction in which I needed to go, but when I was robbed I ended up forgetting everything.

I fell to rest on a nearby tree. A tree that had a really good wood that I could probably use to make a bow to hunt, but in the night it’s not good to stay too much time in a place. Making a bow would take a lot of time in the state in which I am right now. That said, my right shoulder was starting to recover.

“I imagine in about two hours I’ll be able to move it like always. It’d be much faster if I could just support it with some kind of rope” I told myself.

The intentions of the curses started resonating in my head.

My left arm was shaking because of the pain. My right shoulder didn’t even flinch. Could it be because of its earlier life? And of course, my stomach is saying things that don’t make any sense, well, except for one.

“I can’t make any traps, didn’t learn much about them. Even if I made a bow I wouldn’t have any arrows. Huh? I can’t do that neither” I started answering every proposition the curse told me. If anyone saw me now, he’d probably think I was crazy because it seemed like I was talking to myself. “Stop whining, I can’t take the arrow because you’ll start bleeding. Do you want to disappear from my body and go somewhere else where you won’t be able to rest? I think you’re good as you are now, aren’t you?”

In the West, I learned skills from use of weapons and bows, how to maintain them, repair them, and basic knowledge about survival, but I never thought I would be struggling like this so I never stopped to learn about making traps.

I thought I would be protecting the city walls instead of hunting animals. Who’d have guessed that wasn’t a good decision after all? Of course, when I was learning I didn’t actually think about coming to the East, not at that time at least.

“I should have made much more of my childhood back then!” I said.

I got up from the tree and started making my way to the city again, feeling lost, but as I started walking I saw something.

“Could it be?” It was night but that was the very reason why I could see it so clearly. There were lights, a light in the darkness.

“They’re torches! It’s the village!” I shouted, couldn’t care less about someone or something hearing me.

I supported my right shoulder on a nearby tree and then felt that my breathing was really heavy. The sight of the village was precious to me, nothing too special but it was my salvation.

I started walking towards Genpei, I still felt pain in my arms but I just couldn’t care less. I’m going to get treated, and eat! What could be greater than this!?

“Ah, it doesn’t matter anymore. Come on, let’s go” I ordered myself.