"You may leave now," the monk said, bowing deeply as Yorimitsu and his team filed out of the school's threshold.
"Mmm… so they are setting out once more," Bushido remarked, sitting opposite Yasamusa inside the quiet room.
"Yes. And if he successfully completes this assignment as well, his reputation within the academy will rise exponentially," Yasamusa replied smoothly. "Once that foundation is secure, we can finally move forward with the next phase of the plan."
"Hmph. You don't say," Bushido muttered, lifting his cup and taking a large, slow gulp of sake. "But what about the Minakaze clan? You promised their allegiance to him, didn't you? They may be smaller in scale than your own family, but their power is certainly no less formidable."
"Yes, I am well aware."
"It won't be an easy endeavour."
"Yes, I know."
"Tch. Whatever. Do as you please," Bushido responded, sliding open the screen door as he stood up. "I am leaving now. Just ensure you remain careful."
Stepping out onto the wooden veranda, Bushido vanished into the shifting shadows in the blink of an eye.
…
"Thank goodness that this time we aren't being deployed somewhere incredibly far away..." Gabimaru spoke idly, walking with both of his hands locked behind his head. He shifted his gaze slightly toward the boy trailing beside him.
"Yeah, the Rokuhara district is significantly closer," Watanabe replied, adjusting his stance. "Seeing how it's technically nestled just along the inner perimeter of Heian-Kyō, it will only take us about a week to arrive if we maintain this steady pace."
"Speaking of which, how exactly are you holding up back there, Watanabe?" Gabimaru asked, a teasing smirk tugging at his lips as his eyes locked onto his teammate.
Watanabe was trudging several paces behind, his entire frame completely buried under the weight of three massive, overstuffed travel bags strapped across his torso.
"Oh, shut the hell up," Watanabe growled, his face flushed from the exertion. "The absolute least you could do is grab one of these and help me out!"
"Hey, now," Gabimaru turned his head back toward the road, humming a lazy tune. "How do you honestly expect me to keep a proper rearguard lookout for enemy and Yōkai if my hands are full carrying all of that?"
'Tch… the academy completely banned servants from accompanying squads on external deployments just because the last group got slaughtered,' Watanabe grumbled internally, adjusting his stance. 'And now we're forced to haul all this heavy gear ourselves.'
Just then, Shion halted in her tracks. She turned around, strode directly toward Watanabe, and placed her palms against the stack of heavy luggage. In a sudden, fluid bubbling of her Reiryoku, the massive bags completely melted away, vanishing into thin air.
"Ha?!" Watanabe blinked, staring at his empty, lightweight arms in sheer disbelief.
Shion offered him a small, rare smile before casually turning on her heel and walking away.
"Wait a minute! If you could do that the whole time, why didn't you help me earlier?!" Watanabe roared, waving his arms dramatically. "It's almost sunset! I've been breaking my back carrying those since morning!"
'Yeah… why didn't she help him right from the start?' Yorimitsu wondered, watching the interaction with an amused expression. As his gaze met Shion's, he caught the faint, mischievous curve of her lips; she looked as if she were desperately trying to suppress a giggle.
"Tch… so she has a childish streak to her as well," Yorimitsu murmured to himself, a slight smirk crossing his face as he walked ahead. "Let's increase our pace and find a place to shelter for the night."
The moment those words left Yorimitsu's mouth, an abrupt, icy tension gripped the entire squad. The visceral, bloody memories of their last nighttime ambush flashed vividly through their minds. Nobody wanted to be caught out in the open after dark again.
Without uttering a single syllable of protest, Watanabe, who had been sluggishly trailing at the rear all day, instantly accelerated, walking swiftly to keep up with the front of the line.
Within a few moments, the narrow dirt trail opened up, and the squad found themselves standing at the entrance of a small, rustic village.
"Where on earth are all the people…?" Watanabe asked, his voice dropping to a low whisper as his eyes scanned the desolate paths. The houses were tightly locked, and there wasn't a single soul in sight.
"They're probably all barricaded indoors by now," Gabimaru responded, his posture shifting into a defensive, combat-ready stance.
"Huh? Why?"
"Haven't you heard the rumours passing through the capital?" Gabimaru spoke, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the darkened windows of the huts. "More and more Yōkai have been materialising out of nowhere lately. They say even normal, commoners are spontaneously corrupting and transforming into monsters. It's absolute madness out here."
'So things have already degenerated to this extent, huh? Ever since their so-called "Deity Gate" was established, the ambient Reiryoku across the lands has become incredibly dense. That must have been the ultimate catalyst for all this madness,' Yorimitsu thought grimly, his mind connecting the pieces of the timeline.
'"Find the Divine Bodies." That was the command that Osaimaru guy gave me before... But I don't even know where to begin. I have a solid clue regarding the location of one of them, but as for the rest... tch.' Yorimitsu let out a silent, frustrated sigh.
"Look, there's an Inakaya over there," Watanabe pointed out, breaking Yorimitsu from his thoughts. He gestured toward a moderate, rustic inn down the street, its ridged wooden doors completely closed up.
"Ah, finally. Let's head over," Gabimaru muttered as the entire group shifted their direction toward the building.
Thud! Thud!
"Hey! Anyone in there? Let us in!" Gabimaru called out, pounding his fist against the heavy wood. He paused, waiting for a response that didn't come. "Maybe they're already closed for the night. Look at the plaque, Taisho."
Yorimitsu shifted his gaze to a weather-worn wooden sign hanging right beside the entrance. "No, according to the markers, they shouldn't be closed yet. Call out again, Gabimaru," Yorimitsu commanded, his hand subtly resting near the hilt of his weapon.
"Moshi.. Moshi! Open up!" Gabimaru roared once more, shaking the door frame. A few more agonising moments ticked by in absolute silence.
"Ah… well, let's leave and try looking for another place. They must have shut down early after all," Yorimitsu spoke aloud, intentionally raising his voice as he began to turn his back to the building.
Creak...
Suddenly, the heavy wooden door groaned open.
"H-H-Heellllo there… please, come in," a raspy, trembling voice strained from the darkness of the doorway.
Standing in the threshold was an elderly woman. She was remarkably short, her skin deeply wrinkled like old parchment, and her back was severely hunched.
"I am… so sorry it took so long for me to answer…" she muttered, her eyes glassy as she slowly shuffled to the side, clearing a path for the group to step inside the dimly lit establishment.