Ieyasu and Sayo walked towards the massive gates of the Capital. In the distance, they could already see the palace in all of its glory. Even if it seemed far away, the pair could see that the palace could have touched the clouds. Now that they were nearer to the gates of the Capital, it didn't seem like it was an exaggeration.
"DAMN! I did not expect the Capital to look like this. It exceeded my expectations of what it actually looked like." exclaimed an excited Ieyasu.
"I thought you said that the streets were paved in gold?"
"Well, I didn't get the part about the houses wrong, did I?"
"So what now? Do we wait for Tatsumi or do we head straight to the recruitment office?" Sayo said, trying to change the topic before they start a pointless argument which would be a waste of time.
"I think we should wait. Who knows when he is going to arrive. He might even need our help." Ieyasu said.
"I guess you're right."
"Well, let's go get something to eat then." Ieyasu exclaimed as he lead the way to a nearby restaurant.
...
Darkness surrounded me. As far as I could see, there was nothing in sight.
"Where am I?"
There was no response, which is expected.
The landscape slowly changed. Colors started to pour into my mind, dispelling the darkness which once clouded my vision. I found myself staring at someone who was crying. He was on his knees crying into his hands. In front of him lay two corpses. A shroud was placed over them, which made recognizing them harder for me. Based on their body structure, I could tell that one was a guy while the other was a girl.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The boy just kept crying like as if he didn't hear me.
"Look, it's no use crying anymore. They are dead. The least you can do for them is to get over their death. I'm sure they don't want you to cry over them forever, right?"
There was still no response from the boy.
I eventually ran out of patience. Walking over to the boy, I lifted him up by his collar. Just as I was about to give him a scolding, I stopped. Words can no longer come out of my mouth. I was staring at a child with brown hair and green eyes.
In front of me, grabbed by the collar, was…..me. A younger version of myself. His hands were covered in blood, and since he was crying into his hands, there was now blood on his face.
Everything turned black and the nothingness from before took over before I was able to comprehend what was going on.
…
"Ieyasu, are you sure this is a good idea?" questioned a black haired girl.
"Why would you say that?"
Sayo and Ieyasu continued staying in their current position. They are now camping in front of the Capital's gates, waiting for Tatsumi.
"Besides, our goal is the Capital so Tatsumi would eventually head this way. To come into the Capital, you would have to pass through these gates. Whenever he arrives, we would know." Ieyasu said, crushing any argument that Sayo was gonna come up with.
"Ummmm, do you guys need somewhere to stay?" someone asked. Two pair of eyes darted to the source of the sound. Their eyes land on a blonde girl. Her hair ends at her shoulders and she had blue eyes. She wore a long sleeve white shirt with a blue bow tied at the collar under a blue dress. One look at her best outfit would allow you to know that she is one of those wealthy nobles. Behind her, stood a carriage with two guards stationed at it's door.
"Yeah, we would love to take up your offer. However, we have to stay here. We are waiting for our friend who was separated on our journey. " Ieyasu said to the girl.
"That's okay. I'll just get someone I know to watch over the gates. Say, how does he look like?" the blonde girl questioned.
"Around my height, has brown hair with green eyes." Ieyasu exclaimed, happy that someone is willing to be able to help them.
"So in the meantime, why not come over to my place. My men would bring your friend to you the moment he sees him." the yellow haired girl said.
"Sure, but we are unable to pay for rent so I thin- " Sayo said, trying to decline her offer but was interrupted.
"That's okay. I didn't want anything in return when I when I offered you a place to stay."
"If that's the case, then we would gladly accept your offer." Ieyasu replied to her, earning a glare from Sayo when the yellow haired girl turned her back to them.
Ieyasu and Sayo stood up to follow.
"What are you doing, we can't just go to someone's place just because she seems nice. " Sayo whispered to the brown haired boy.
"Why are you so paranoid. She is just a kind soul offering a place to stay."
"I hope so. Though something about that girl gives me bad feelings and it's making me on the edge. I don't know how to explain it, call it intuition. Just be careful when we are at her place."
"Yeah, okay. I'll do that." Ieyasu said as they proceed to the carriage.
...
From the distance, a pair of blue eyes followed them as the pair walked towards the carriage.
They have fallen for such an obvious trap. They must have had an easy life. Whatever. They mentioned a friend who was with them. Brown hair, green eyes. Maybe I should wait for him before making such a daring move. With their friend's unknowing help, I may be able to pull it off. Such a good opportunity presented itself. I must seize it before it never comes again.
…
I continued to drift within that world of nothingness.
Then, I heard voices.
It was just a normal conversation that people would talk about to each other. Nothing inside within their words caught my attention.
Without warning, I was pulled by something. The world of nothingness slowly faded away and I opened my eyes. My eyes darted around to my surroundings, hoping to know where I am. It looks like I was inside of a small wooden house of some sort. It was filled with boxes. Surveying my surrounding with greater scrutiny, I found myself inside a caravan. Boxes are stacked up and placed at the side of the caravan. There was a opening at the front and back of the caravan, and I can see two people seated at the front of the caravan.
It wasn't long before their casual conversation turned into shouts
"EARTH DRAGON? WHAT'S A DANGER BEAST LIKE THAT DOING HERE?"
"IT DOESN'T MATTER NOW! JUST TRY TO SURVIVE AT THE VERY LEAST!"
Knowing that someone is in danger, I pushed myself off of the floor which I was lying on and grabbing my blade, I rushed out of the caravan through the front. I ran past the middle of the two people I saw seated at the front of the caravan.
Earth Dragon. A dragonkind who excels in tunnelling. It looked more like an oversized insect thank a lizard. It also has very exceptional defense, such as its skin. However, all living things has a common weakness. Since our mentor did teach us the anatomy of various Danger Beast, I was able to locate where each important organ are within its body. Unsheathing my sword, i continued running towards the creature. The Earth Dragon slammed its talons down on me. Well, it would have, if I didn't jump out of the way at the last moment. Picking myself up, I jumped onto its hand and continued running upwards. The Danger Beast, now angered, attempted to shake me off. It swing its hand, hoping that I would fall off its hand. However, I have already reached where I wanted to. Jumping off its hand, I moved the blade hand into reverse grip. Falling towards its head, i readied myself and once I deemed it close enough, I stabbed it in between the eyes, straight into the brain. I pulled out the blade and jumped off the creature's head. It didn't move for a few seconds, before it fell to the side. I walked towards it and proceed to slice off its head. The brain, the organ of every living things that functions as the coordinating centre of our senses and intellect and movement. Should a creature have its brain destroyed, it will eventually die no matter what kind of body it has. The Earth Dragon happens to have its brain located within its head. Wiping the blood off of my blade before I sheath the blade. Having blood on the blade left uncleaned will cause it to rust even faster than normal.
I look towards the two people who were still seated at the front of the caravan. Judging from the situation where he woke up inside their caravan, I assumed that they were the ones who picked me up when I fainted.
"Wow! Thats some amazing skill you got there, young lad! "
"Yeah, who taught you those moves?"
"I merely trained for a few years with some guidance from my mentor. Nothing special."
"Thanks for saving our lives! We can't thank you enough!" one of the merchant said to him.
"There is no need to thank me. I should be the ones thanking you. Had you not pick me up when I passed out, I could have been killed. Thank you." I bowed, expressing my gratitude.
"Hey, just a question. Are you heading to the Capital? " one of them asked me.
"Yes, how did you know? "Tatsumi asked, curious as to how they know his objective.
The two merchants turned to each other, a sad look in their faces.
"This route is common for travellers or merchants going to the Capital. There were reports of bandits who would ambush anyone who pass those areas, but it mostly happen at random. Though, the people in the Capital are worse than them."
Intrigued by his words, I decided to ask them to elaborate.
They explained that the Capital is not what it seems. Corruption runs rampant and innocent people are always the victims of the evil ambitions of the nobles. All sort of wrongdoings are present within the walls of the Capital and the source of all this, is the Minister. Although there is a king seated on the throne, he is still a child and is manipulated by the Emperor within the shadows. He has lied to the child Emperor about many things. Since the child Emperor is still naive, the Minister can always get away with all of his crimes by simply convincing the Emperor otherwise, luring him away from the truth.
I was skeptical of this piece of information laid before me. Since I have yet to seen what the Capital for what it is, I decided to take every advice and information that came from the mouth of others with a pinch of salt. Thanking the merchants for their help and advice, I gathered my belongs and walked off towards the Capital.
After an hour of walking non-stop, I arrived at the gates of the Capital. Guards were stationed at both sides of the massive gates, stopping travellers for questioning before letting them in. Keeping the words of my mentor and the information the merchants gave close to my heart, I began to walk forwards, towards a future where anything can happen.