The next morning Ryu was suddenly awoken by a dark presence and a suffocating bloodlust in the air. He quickly got out of his bed before gathering his equipment and putting his shoes on. He quietly maneuvered his way in the dark to avoid alerting the demons he felt nearby from his Detect spell. They must have been right outside the house from how strong their murderous intent was filling the room. He slowly slid the entrance to his chambers open and discovered Jinsoku peaking around the corner of the hallway toward the front door. He beckoned for him to come closer. Ryu swiftly went over to him before crouching next to him as he awaited his orders. His teacher started to speak in a very soft voice to the extent that he was barely audible as he said, "They both have moved past here, so it is time to get to work kid. Slide past me and ambush them from behind." Ryu nodded as he swiftly grabbed the knob to the entrance. He silently cracked the door open as he did his best to ensure the demoniods were not facing him before fully exiting. Since he could not see them, he stepped outside to discover them stopped about fifteen feet away smelling the air. He gradually unsheathed his dagger as he slowly started to walk toward them.
The wind suddenly blew downhill from him just as he was about to strike. They instantly recognized the smell of a human close to them as they snapped around to face him. Realizing he had been discovered by the pair, he decided to attack before they could gather themselves to fight back. He quickly casted Gust forcefully launching the one on his right into the air backwards. The darkling on his left managed to raise a barrier of black magic just as he turned his hand toward him. He utilized an Illumination spell called Light Bomb while closing his eyes as a small ball of white radiance hit the barrier. It exploded into a brilliant ivory flash that filled the air like a beacon in the night before fading away. The creature raised its arms instinctively to cover its face from being blinded as it staggered back disoriented from the strike. With the opportunity to kill the demon available, he did not hesitate as he imbued his dagger with the ice magic spell Frost. As he opened his eyes, his dagger pierced its heart just as the other one came crashing down to the ground in a heap.
As he stepped back withdrawing his weapon from its chest, the remaining darkling got back to its feet about thirty feet away. The one standing in front of him started to completely freeze over before cracking and shattering into a bunch of pieces. The remaining cursed human was facing him as it blasted a huge black fireball toward him. He swiftly casted a grand Barrier to completely block the attack in an attempt to prevent any of the flames from catching the houses around him on fire. As the spell dissipated into a cloud of smoke, he transformed his dagger into a bow. He swiftly conjured and notched three elemental arrows into place. As he exhaled, he released the string simultaneously firing a bolt of lightening, fire, and water at the demonoid forcing it to go on the defensive as it casted a dual layer Barrier of black translucent magic. While he had shot them all together, he had manipulated them on release altering the speeds of each one. The electric would hit first followed by the flame with the water finishing the sequence. The first one struck the barrier with a yellowy flash shattering the initial shield. The next one slammed into its protection with an explosion bathing the creature in a magnificent orange glow as it stumbled backwards. Before it could try to evade, the liquid arrow cut through the air punching a deadly blow through its chest as water exploded into the air and sprinkled back down to the earth.
He fell to the ground and laid down slightly tired from the battle that had just unfolded as the sun started to creep over the horizon staining the sky reddish orange. As Jinsoku approached him from behind, he had a shocked tone as he said, "You got your MP high enough to cast grand spells now! You somehow never fail to fascinate me kid." Ryu groaned from the soreness his body felt from casting the high level magic as he sat up and said, "I only have enough magic to cast one grand spell roughly every ten minutes, but it really takes a toll on my body each time. It is also extremely draining because it pushes me under a thousand MP." The villagers started to emerge from their homes and were beginning to surround the two of them. Before his teacher could reply to him, the town's leader shoved his way through the crowd to the front. He was borderline yelling in astonishment as he said, "That was incredible! Thank you for all your effort to minimize damage to our town while putting on that jaw dropping display with your abilities." Ryu blushed in embarrassment as he rubbed his neck and glanced away from the compliment. Jinsoku had the opposite reaction as he smacked his forehead while righteously saying under his breath, "I will need to make sure to give him a good beating in practice when we get back to deflate his ego some before it gets him killed." Ryu was close enough to hear the whispered words as he stared coldly at his master.
He suddenly surprised him when he reached down to help him to his feet. Ryu was grinning as he grabbed his arm and got up instantly forgiving him for his words a few seconds ago. As he got lost in his thoughts on why his teacher was being so kind to him, the representative of the town started saying, "We are planning to hold a celebration tonight for your heroics. We would be honored if you two could remain another night." Jinsoku was short with his response as he said, "We will not be staying and instead will be departing immediately." He started to walk away toward the southwest on the road back to Unemi. Ryu quickly bowed and apologized for his masters rudeness as he said, "We have urgent information that must be relayed to the guild back in the city. I am sorry we are unable to celebrate with you guys, but we are extremely grateful for your kindness." He quickly took off after Jinsoku who had almost disappeared from sight down the road. As he caught up to him, the sun was well into the sky. He decided to start practicing his magic as they walked since he knew it would be several hours before they would see the stone walls of home.
The darkness of the night was starting to creep over the horizon as the two made their way through the city gates. The guards kindly greeted them while welcoming them back as they made their way through the entrance. While they were both hungry from the journey, neither of them wanted to delay the information of what had occurred in the village of Nogyo to the guild leader. They swiftly made their way down the street toward the center plaza were foot traffic was starting to dissipate as the moon began its ascension into the sky. As they entered the guild hall, Jinsoku finally broke the silence between the two of them as he said, "You stay down here and collect the rewards for the quest we completed. Join me upstairs when you are done." Ryu nodded as his teacher passed him the paperwork before heading up the staircase. As he turned toward the reception desk, he realized that only Yasei appeared to be working today. She smiled at him as he approached before greeting him in a warm tone as she said, "Welcome back Ryu. Chisai told me you took your first few missions the other day. Were you able to get them completed?" He had a proud expression on his face as he said, "I was able to handle each situation without any assistance from Jinsoku. I was a little nervous, but I made quick work of each one."
His stomach suddenly rumbled loudly just as he finished speaking. She covered her mouth with her hand as she chuckled while he looked away in embarrassment. He frustratingly grumbled under his breath blaming his master for his shame because he had refused to allow them to stop to eat on their way back. He quickly tried to get the conversation back on track as he put the papers down on the counter, so she could start processing them. She grabbed the parchments and stamped them as completed before filing them away. She looked back up at him while saying, "Everything appears to be in order, so I believe it is time for your reward." She put thirty gold coins down on the counter as he stared speechless at the table. She shook her head as she watched him continue to stand and gawk at the money with his mouth wide open in shock. She finally went, "Uhm" before saying, "Since it appears you were unaware of our rates, this guild awards five gold coins for completion of rank B quests and ten gold coins for each rank A quest." He realized he was being weird as he collected himself and remembered he needed to get upstairs to join the conversation with Jinsoku and Souatari. He bowed and thanked her before sliding the money off the counter into his bag before making his way up to the guild leaders office.
As he went to pull the door open to enter the room, he was completely blindsided by Jinsoku shoving it open on the other side smashing it right into his face. He crumpled to the ground as he yelled out in pain, "Ah!" His teacher stepped out of the office with a surprised expression as he said something no one had ever heard him say, "I am sorry kid. You alright?" Ryu sat up against the wall holding his nose which was now bleeding pretty heavily as Yasei ran up the stairs to see what had happened. Souatari even walked over to take a peek at the damage from the hit on him and winced in sympathy for him. She pulled out a handkerchief and assisted Ryu with pressing it against his nose and tilting his head back. He angrily attempted to question his master in a nasally tone as he said, "Why would you open the door so hard!" Jinsoku rubbed the back of his head slightly ashamed for injuring his student as he said, "Souatari was annoying me with all of his pestering comments, so I was leaving. I didn't realize I pushed it open with so much force." Ryu started to cast heal on himself till he stopped the bleeding while Yasei decided she would focus on cleaning up the mess now.
What Jinsoku had said earlier had just registered with Souatari as he peered at him while asking in a puzzled tone, "Did you apologize to Ryu when you initially saw him?" Jinsoku was blushing slightly while attempting to deny the allegation as he said, "You were hearing things old man." Ryu waved his finger at him on the ground while saying, "You can't take it back now teach. You told me you were sorry when you came out of the office." Souatari had an unusual look on his face as he was uncertain if he should laugh at seeing a chip in the tough exterior Jinsoku always had or if he should praise him for finally starting to embrace his softer side. His master could tell the gears were turning in the guild leaders mind, so he decided to bring back his normal prickly attitude as he frustratingly said, "It does not matter what I said. Get up kid. We need to get a bite to eat and get some sleep. While we were gone, the guild learned where the demons hideout was located." Ryu quickly got back to his feet excited at the news as his teacher stomped away mummering to himself clearly bothered by being teased. Ryu decided to ask the guild leader, "Do we know if the people being taken are safe?" Souatari turned him toward the staircase while waving for him to leave. He had a warm smile on his face as he said, "I do not know kid. I have not had a chance to speak to the adventurer that discovered their location. Come back in the morning, and we will learn together."
Ryu nodded before swiftly taking off as he tried to catch up to Jinsoku who had already made his way to the exit. As the two of them made their way across the city to the inn, Ryu was still giddy from the news. He burst through the doors of the hotel glad to be back as Kasai jumped onto him. As she squeezed him tightly, she excitedly asked, "How was your first quests Ryu? Are you okay? Was Jinsoku mean to you?" He attempted to push her back a little so he could speak while his teacher threw his hands up in the air behind them while dejectedly saying, "You never greet me like that Kasai." She looked at him with puppy dog eyes as she flirtatiously said, "I didn't know you liked me enough to want my hugs. I can start greeting you with one from now on if you want." Ryu had finally separated himself from her clutches as he glanced over at his master. His face was beet red. He was completely flustered by what she had just said to him. Ryu started laughing before interjecting in their little saucy convoy as he said, "The quests were a breeze Kasai. Besides Jinsoku belting me in the face with the door at the guild just now he was relatively pleasant on our trip."
She playfully karate chopped his teachers head. She had her other hand on her hip while leaning slightly forward with her cheeks puffed as she said, "I've told you before to be gentler when entering and exiting rooms Jinsoku. I knew it was only a matter of time before you hurt someone." He stood unmoving and still dazed from her previous comment as if he had shut down. She giggled at the sight of him as she turned back toward the kitchen while saying, "Let me go get you two some food. Please take a seat." Ryu happily obliged as he plopped down at the closest table while Jinsoku was still working on recovering himself by the entrance. After several minutes, he finally had regained his composure and sat down with Ryu just as Kasai was coming back out. She placed their plates down in front of them, and the food smelled absolutely delicious. Their meal today was a beautifully cooked chicken parmesan that had the two of them salivating at the mouth as they bowed thanking her for the food. As they picked up their silverware to dig in, she surprised Jinsoku by suddenly wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning down giving him a hug before hurriedly heading to the kitchen. Ryu could have sworn he saw smoke coming out of his teachers ears, but he was to hungry to tease him about it.
The two quickly devoured their dinner before sitting back to relax for a moment.. Jinsoku was still blushing slightly from Kasai's hug. Ryu shook his head enjoying how pathetic his master appeared as he got to his feet to head to bed. As he made his way upstairs, he said, "It is good to be back even if our stay will be short. Let's head over to the guild right after breakfast in the morning." Jinsoku nodded still frazzled from the events of the night. As soon as Ryu's head hit his pillow, he was out like a light exhausted from his travels today. The next morning his teacher woke him up by knocking on his door several times. As he climbed out of bed to answer, he glanced outside were it was still pitch black with no sign of the sun yet. He grumpily opened the door while saying, "What is it Jinsoku?" His master had a big smile on his face as he said, "You not up yet kid? Early bird gets the worm. I thought you knew that." Ryu rubbed his eyes in frustration as his teacher continued, "I owe you a training session remember? Get ready and meet me downstairs." Ryu grunted an acknowledgement before closing the door. He slowly got dressed causing a few minutes to pass by before he ascended from the staircase. Jinsoku was visibly impatient as he said, "Finally! You will regret making me wait so long here in a little bit." He turned and exited to the street as Ryu sighed before following him out. He was still trying to shake off his sluggishness before they got to the clearing.
As they made their way onto the field, Ryu started to head over to where the wooden weapons were stored when Jinsoku suddenly said, "Not today kid. Now that you have gotten some real combat experience, your training has been upgraded to live sparring. Draw your blade and prepare yourself." He froze in his spot unable to comprehend what Jinsoku had just told him. His teacher whistled from across the clearing while saying, "Ready yourself or you are going to die!" He quickly snapped out of his daze as he fumbled for his weapon before assuming a defensive stance. Jinsoku suddenly lunged forward rapidly closing the distance between the two of them as Ryu's instincts kicked in. He quickly casted a powerful Speed Buff before conjuring an Earth Wall as a barrier between them. He swiftly moved to the right as his teacher shattered the embankment sending dirt flying into the air. Before Ryu could act, Jinsoku fired several Ice Shards at him hoping to catch him off guard. He summoned a weak Barrier that effectively blocked the attack while creating two clones to support him. His teacher swiftly leapt into the air toward him while swinging his dual blades downward at him. Ryu planted his feet as he morphed his dagger into a katana while his two copies quickly dispersed into the tree line on the left and right.
The two short swords struck his blade as a metallic ring echoed throughout the clearing from the impact. Ryu slide his teacher to the left while simultaneously using his right leg to kick him in the side. The hit landed knocking him back a few feet, but Ryu was unable to generate enough punch to physically hurt him at all. Jinsoku had a malicious smile on his face as he said, "Not bad at all." Suddenly a massive Fireball appeared from the tree line to his left forcing him to create a Barrier to absorb the attack. As he tried to evade the spell, Ryu quickly launched a trio of elemental arrows at him. Since he was unable to move to his right or left, he leapt several feet into the air. He avoid the flames just as it shattered his shield while the lightning bolt changed directions as it pierced through the wind flying toward him. He cut the magic with his sword dispersing it while landing back on his feet just as the fire projectile rapidly descended from the sky above him. He had to stay on the defensive as he summoned a wall of earth to cover him from the second strike. Just as it struck and shattered the compacted dirt, the water arrow sliced through the cloud in front of him. He swiftly used ice magic to encapsulate and freeze the bolt before releasing his spell effectively shattering it into a bunch of pieces.
Ryu had used the chaos of his attacks to disappear into his teachers blind spot as he jumped into the air. Jinsoku was aware of his students presence though as he lowered his frame and assumed a defensive stance. Right before their blades made contact, Ryu used wind magic to push himself to the left to reveal a Light Bomb that had previously been shielded by his body from Jinsoku's vision. It exploded before his teacher could react blinding him as Ryu landed on his feet. He swung his katana toward Jinsoku's neck to checkmate him and win the battle. Before he could comprehend what had happened, his arm was twisted behind his back, his face smashed into the grass, and his sword was sent clattering to the earth several feet away. His teacher lifted his foot off of his back while letting go of him before stepping away. He was rubbing his eyes and blinking several times still visibly bothered from the sudden illumination a few seconds ago. Ryu rolled over still stunned from his defeat as he stared into the sky. The fiery reddish orange glow of the sun was starting to splash across the darkness. A few minutes passed by before Jinsoku broke the silence to as he asked, "Do you know why you lost kid?" Ryu got up off the ground and dusted himself off before walking over to where his sword laid in the underbrush.
As he picked it up, he morphed it back into a dagger before answering, "I have no clue. I thought I had the fight won." Jinsoku shook his head as he said, "You have improved so much to the point you have exceeded my expectations if I am honest with you Ryu. You are at the point now where you only need to continue to develop and gain experience, so I want you to remember what I am about to tell you because it is my final lesson." Ryu had been staring at his dagger while listening to his teacher. He finally sheathed his blade as he looked up and nodded at him. He attentively waited for his masters words of wisdom as the sunlight started to shine on the clearing. A gentle cool breeze started to blow as Jinsoku continued, "You can never let your guard down. As soon as you disengage all of your senses before victory has been assured, you provide your opponents with a window to reverse the results. I know you will only continue to fight stronger opponents, so you must never break concentration in battle. Do you understand?" Ryu nodded before bowing in appreciation as he thanked Jinsoku for his training. His teacher threw his arm over his shoulder just as he was standing straight again. He had a grin on his face as they started walking. He was playfully confident as he said, "Even with all that talent and my words of wisdom, you might as well dash any ideas of ever beating me though kid." He started laughing as Ryu quipped back, "One day I will pass you master. After all I am still young, so I won't be showed up by an old man forever."
Jinsoku patted him on the back several times while still laughing before saying, "Those are some tough words for someone who just had their face shoved in the dirt." As they made their way back to the city, people were beginning to emerge to greet the morning. By the time they made it back within the walls, the streets were crowded and buzzing with conversations everywhere. They managed to push their way through the crowd till they made it to the fountain in the center of Unemi. Luckily, the number of people became more sparse as they made their way toward the guild. All the shops at the entrance of town drew the most business in the city. As the two of them entered the guild, Ryu noticed that Megami was at the front desk. Jinsoku suddenly waved in her direction while saying, "Hey Witch, is the geezer here for our meeting?" Megami turned around angrily pushing her glasses up because they had slid down her face while she had been working on her paperwork at the counter with Chisai. She frustratingly said, "I am a sorcerer, and you know it Jinsoku. Why are you always such a bully?" Ryu was bewildered that the two of them knew each other since he had literally never seen them remotely act like it at the inn. While he worked on collecting himself, his teacher responded, "Tsk, a sorcerer and witch are the same thing. There is no need to get so defensive." She annoyingly "Hmphed" while crossing her arms. One of her curls fell onto her face resting against her glasses as she continued to argue with Jinsoku. Ryu had put aside his confusion for the moment because he was currently being overwhelmed by her beauty. To him, she looked so irresistibly cute, and he failed to realize he was staring intently at her.
She threw her hair over her shoulder indicating she was done with his masters attitude as she turned to him. She suddenly grabbed him by his arm and started to pull him toward the staircase while saying, "Come on Ryu, we can head up to Mr. Souatari's office. I am tired of dealing with this jerk." Hi face turned bright red as a million thoughts raced through his mind as he attempted to calm himself down. As they entered the guild leaders chambers, Souatari stood up with a big smile on his face while saying, "Ryu! Megami! I am glad to see my two promising rookies together." She was confused till she realized it looked like she was holding his hand. She quickly let go of his arm while turning away and blushing in embarrassment. Jinsoku had heard the comment while following them into the room and started to laugh hysterically. As he wiped away a tear, he started to clarify for them as he said, "They are not together gramps. Where are your glasses at? I do appreciate you getting that reaction out of her though. That was pure comedy gold." Before Souatari could tear into him for calling him old, Ryu suddenly asked, "You said two promising rookies. Megami, you are an adventurer?" She composed herself before turning back toward them and saying, "I was the top dog around here till Jinsoku started staying in the city a little over a year ago."
Ryu could tell by her conceited grin that she was very proud of her own comment. Souatari decided it was time for him to take the conversation over otherwise they were not going to get anywhere. He loudly coughed before saying, "Megami is actually why we are all gathered here today. She was able to find the location of the demons hideout in the area. You three are forming a party to go eradicate the evil spawn corrupting these lands." Her ego was clearly inflated from the praise. It was very obvious she was proud of figuring it out before Jinsoku. A brief silence fell upon the room before Souatari continued, "Please enlighten us of what you learned Megami." She quickly grabbed the map of the region off of the wall and placed it down on the table. They all gathered around as she started to show them where she had discovered their lair. She pointed to a location far to the east of the map slightly south of Unemi. It appeared the hideout was near a mountain range separating the kingdom of Ryze with the Kingdom of Akai Suna. She started to show them the path while saying, "It was extremely difficult to track their movements, but I was able to get guidance from the trees. With the spirits assisting me and a little luck, I was able to find the trail that they normally covered up so thoroughly."
Ryu chuckled slightly because he thought she was joking, and it was complete luck she stumbled upon it. Souatari had an irritable look on his face as he angrily asked him, "What is so funny about this situation?!" He quickly bowed and started to apologize, "I am sorry guild leader. I thought she was kidding, and it was just dumb luck she stumbled upon the route." It suddenly clicked for Jinsoku why Ryu had gotten confused as he said, "Oh, I see kid. It was a mistake, Father Time. Did you forget he is not from here? Clairvoyance Magic and Spirit Magic are skills that exist here. We have not worked on them because I think they are no better than parlor tricks." Megami was clearly bothered by the comment as she frustratingly chimed in, "That is rude Jinsoku. All magic is important, and I have worked hard to learn them. You are just jealous I am better than you at something." Souatari slammed his hand down on the table with so much force the legs buckled but managed not to snap in two. He pointed toward the door while saying, "Get out of my office all of you! I have had enough of you two bickering and your old man quips Jinsoku. All of you be ready to go as soon as the sun peaks its head in the morning. The journey will be eight hours by itself. All of you are Dismissed!" They all swiftly shuffled out of the room as he slammed the door behind them.
As they made their way out to the street, Ryu decided to ask Megami, "Are you going back to the inn?" She nodded, so he quickly implored her to walk back with them as he continued, "Do you want to head there with us? I am very intrigued by these magical skills you have." Megami pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear as she said, "Since we are both going to the same place, I do not mind." Jinsoku let out an audible "Ugh" as he picked up his pace leaving them trailing behind. After several seconds of awkward silence, Ryu finally spoke up as he said, "So do you know all the different types of magics in existence? Do you have affinities for all of them?" She smiled at him while gently slapping his arm before saying, "I am not that knowledgeably impressive Ryu. It would be incredible though if I had an affinity in every magical skill, but I unfortunately, only have a few. I do try my best to train all of them none the less though." He grinned slightly ashamed that he was still hiding that he had an affinity for everything. He rubbed the back of his head as he awkwardly said, "It would be crazy for someone to be gifted with all abilities wouldn't it. How many did you get an affinity for?" She held up her hand with four fingers extended while saying, "Besides the two you heard earlier, I was also blessed with Buff Magic and Light Magic. Do you have any affinities yourself?"
He paused as he thought about how he should answer her question. The guild leader had not informed her of his situation, so it was probably smart to just say he had a few abilities. She was patiently waiting and staring at him. He finally had noticed her beautiful gaze and quickly looked away blushing as he said, "I have Wind, Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, and Mirror. I got lucky to be blessed with a pretty good amount." She grabbed her chin as if she was a detective as she started nodding before saying, "Now it makes sense why Jinsoku has taken you under his wing. You have the base number of skills to potentially be a hero one day." He shook his head at the idea as he tried to downplay her praise as he said, "Anybody can be a hero Megami. You just need courage for that." She waved her finger at him not allowing him to dismiss the prospect while elaborating since she had forgotten that he was new to the kingdom, "Not the literal meaning of the word Ryu. In this land, there are twelve commanders of the Empire's special guard that serve to protect our world from the demons. There is two per kingdom, and they have an entire army unit under their control. Us citizens call those people heroes because you have to be the strongest in the land to reach their status, and they have to achieve many feats of bravery as well."
He stopped as he pointed at Jinsoku while saying in a shocked tone, "You mean they allowed him to be in charge of an army!?" She nodded as he started walking again shaking his head still unable to believe his teacher had held that much authority over others. When he looked back up from the ground, he realized they had arrived at the inn. Jinsoku held the door open for them as he waited for them to go inside. Megami nodded in appreciation as she walked through the entrance while saying, "Thank you." Just as Ryu attempted to follow her, his teacher suddenly grabbed him by the back of his collar while leaning forward. He had his face right next to Ryu's ear as he coldly asked, "If I heard you correctly back there, you think it is unfathomable that I am a good leader and mentor. Is that how you really feel?" Ryu gulped and started to break into a cold sweat as he shakily said, "Noooo. I would never say something like that."
Jinsoku proceeded to lean back and stare at him for several seconds before finally cracking a smile. He gave his student a strong smack on the back that knocked him through the doorway while saying, "I must have been hearing things then because you wouldn't be foolish enough to insult me." Ryu let out an awkward laugh as he tried to relax. He was glad to have dodged Jinsoku's wrath. Megami had already taken a seat and was talking with Kasai when Ryu came up. Kasai used the pause in their conversation to greet him as he sat down. As Jinsoku walked over, Megami quickly turned on the puppy dog eyes while pointing at his teacher and saying, "Kasai. Before you go get the drinks, I just thought you should now Jinsoku was really mean to me earlier." Ryu could tell from his eyes that he was shooting her daggers as Kasai let out a gasp and turned toward his master. She had her hands on her hips and was clearly angry as she asked, "What did you do Jinsoku?" Before he could respond, Megami interjected and twisted the metaphorical dagger in his back further as she said, "He called me a witch Kasai. Am I that ugly?" She started crying some crocodile tears as she finished.
Kasai pointed upstairs as she attempted to not yell at Jinsoku while saying, "Go to your room mister. I will be up there shortly to lecture you on how to properly speak to a woman after I serve these two." He tried to speak while making multiple gestures toward the table, himself, and her, but he ultimately failed to muster anything as he turned to head upstairs. She turned around and went back to the kitchen just as Ryu started laughing. He could not believe his master was being punished like a child. As Jinsoku passed by him, he swiftly kicked his chair out from under him before bolting to his room. Megami giggled as Ryu gingerly got to his feet while rubbing his backside before picking his seat up off of the ground. The two of them awkwardly sat there for several minutes without speaking. Neither of them knew what to talk about as an uncomfortable silence fell upon the table. Just as Ryu turned to her to say something, Kasai interrupted placing their meals down while saying, "You guys are so adorable together." Ryu and Megami locked eyes and quickly glanced away as they both blushed and said in unison, "We are not a couple Kasai." They both started digging into their food to avoid any further embarrassment. Kasai rolled her eyes and laughed before walking away.
As they finished eating, Ryu decided to ask Megami, "Do you have a room here at the inn?" She shook her head no as she put her fork down while wiping her mouth with a napkin before saying, "My family has a house a little further down the road past here." He decided to ask a harmless follow up question as he said, "Can I walk you back home?" She did not respond immediately as she thought about her siblings or parents seeing her come home late with a handsome man. She started to blush at how scandalous that would be for her and how her mom would want to know everything. Ryu nervously laughed unsure of what to do since she still had not replied, so he continued by adding, "It is no big deal if you want to go alone since it is so close." She suddenly stood up and grabbed her scythe before making a break for the door. As she sprinted out of the inn, he heard her voice trailing off as she said, "I will be fine by myself. Have a good night Ryu! I will see you in…" He watched her the whole way completely puzzled on why she was acting weird, but he smiled nonetheless as he got up. He made his way upstairs to his room where he could hear Kasai chewing Jinsoku out for earlier. He smirked to himself at the sound of the verbal thrashing as he entered his chambers.
He quickly got undressed till he was in a t-shirt and boxers before flopping down on his bed. As he started to drift off, all he could think about was their impending journey. He blushed as he thought about spending more time with Megami and showing off in front of her. His dreams were filled with happiness as he slept peacefully through the night completely unaware that tomorrow his life would change forever.