After two days of traveling, we finally arrived at the village of Guyot where Babu's master lived. The village was small and peaceful with only a few scattered houses around. However, upon our arrival, we noticed that the village was eerily quiet and there was no one in sight.

Babu started to investigate the village to see what was going on, but he couldn't find any signs of life. We decided to split up and search for anyone who might be around, but after a while, we still couldn't find anyone. It was as if the village had been evacuated because of some incident.

As we regrouped, we realized that Lezlie was missing. Hiroshi hadn't seen her either, so we began to worry. Suddenly, we heard Lezlie screaming from a little further down the village. We rushed towards the sound and discovered that she had been taken captive by two young people, who had put a sword to her throat.

They demanded to know who we were and what we were doing in their village. We knew that we had to answer their questions if we wanted to save Lezlie's life.

It was a difficult situation and I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. I had plans, but then Babu appeared and said, “Hey, calm down. It’s me, Babu. I’m back.”

The young men were surprised to see him. They put down their weapons and ran towards him, shouting his name. “Babu!” They hopped around him, expressing how much they missed him.

Babu laughed and said, “You guys have grown up a lot.”

“It’s been so long since we last saw you,” they replied. “We’re so happy you’re back.”

“Okay, let’s save this conversation for later,” Babu said. “I want to know what happened here. Where is everyone? Where is Master Yix?”

“Some people attacked our village,” they explained. “It was horrifying, but thankfully no one was hurt. After the incident, everyone had to move.”

“When did this happen? Does Master Yix know about it?” Babu asked.

“Yes, he does. He’s at his home. You might want to talk to him personally.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him,” Babu said. “But you guys be more careful next time. It’s not right to take hostages like this. At least that's what our master taught us.”

After they left and apologized, Babu and I walked to Master Yix’s house. It was an old-fashioned Japanese house that was dimly lit, dusty, and warm with minimal furnishings.

In the bedroom sat a quiet old man on the bed, staring out the window. Babu approached him slowly and said, “Master, I’m back.”

The man was surprised and slowly said,

“Babu, is it really you?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“It’s been quite a while, I know. But I help people in need, as you taught me." Babu said in a hushed tone.

Babu's master was happy to see Babu alive again, so he ignored his words and spoke to him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, come here and give me a hug,” he replied. It was as if Babu's master was looking at Babu as if he were his son.

Babu smiled and approached him, embracing him in a hug. He also seemed to miss his master a lot.

“I’m happy to see you, Babu. I thought you would never come back.” said the master.

“I’m happy to see you too, Master. I wish I could have come back earlier.”

“No one could have seen this coming. We live according to our destiny, Babu. So don’t worry, be happy to be alive..”

“I’m happy that I came back here, but I wasn’t expecting to see my village like this. What happened?”

“These are important topics to discuss. Let’s eat something before we talk about them. And it looks like you’ve lost weight. But don’t worry, you and your friends are in luck because there’s ramen for dinner tonight!”

We all sat down at the table and began eating. Master Yix approached with his cane and sat down to eat. The food was very good. There was no one around, but the master was very welcoming. After dinner, we resumed our conversation.

“It all happened a year after you left. The First Epic came to our village.”

“Why?” Babu asked.

“For a proposition. He wanted me to work for him and become an elite soldier, He knew that I had lost the powers of my lineage a long time ago, but he asked me to do it anyway. But I refused without hesitation. He began to destroy the village. I got him out of here so no one would get hurt. I carried our battle into the woods. We fought for hours; he was incredibly fast and strong. He shook the entire forest with one hand. I kept fighting until the people here had fled. But without my powers, it was impossible to win the war. He didn’t kill me when our fight was over, but he broke both my legs to make me suffer and left a large wound on my chest. My legs still haven’t fully healed. And after that day, I never fought again.”

“How many people have we lost?”

“Fortunately, I saved all of them,” Master said.

“If everyone escaped, why are you living by yourself, Master Yix?”

“I don't talk about it much, but I want to make up for a mistake I made. Besides, this is the only place I call home. No one here will be harmed because of me.”

“I understand you very well, Master Yix, but you have taught many things to our people. You taught me and many others how to fight, heal, and many other things. It’s not right to leave us alone like this. Don't do this to yourself.”

Master Yix smiled.

“I’ve spoken as much as I should, and now I’d like to hear about some of your adventures.”

“When I wasn’t here, I went down to the mines with Miner Lineage to help them, but we were attacked by the Shadow Bloodline. We stayed there for two years. Everyone was sure we were going to die, but a group of people came out of nowhere and said they were going to save me and the entire Miner Bloodline. I didn't believe it at first, but now I'm here, talking to you. Those are the people I brought, Ryuu and his friends. I owe them a debt, Master, and I have to go again to repay it. I will fulfill my promise and continue to help people as you taught us.”

“I understand. Even if I don’t know everything that has happened, a life debt is something that cannot be repaid. So I won’t stop you. And I also thank you for getting Babu out of this. It's good that people are still helping each other. For me, this is a very meaningful thing. If you need anything, you can ask me.”

“Before you leave, please take a few supplies from the supply depot. There are enough supplies for us. And besides, if you don’t have a place to stay, you can stay here tonight. It’s almost nightfall, and you can continue your journey tomorrow. Am I wrong?”

We listened to Babu’s master and decided to stay one night to rest and recover from our fatigue. His master was very kind to us. He gave us a place to sleep and some clothes. For the first time in a long time, I was in such a warm and comfortable bed. It seemed Babu had also made up his mind.