"How can you help me? And what is it do you think I need help with, madam? Asked Kiyoshi as he stares down at the old lady with curiosity.
"Aren't you the one they sent to investigate why the mysterious warrior is attacking the town, child? Asked the old lady in response to Kiyoshi's questions with a smile on her wrinkled face.
"Yes, but how do you know about me being here?" Kiyoshi asked as he wondered what was the old lady's motive for speaking to him.
"I will answer all your questions, child, but first we must go somewhere else." Remarks the elder lady as she grabs onto Kiyoshi's hand, pulling him forward.
"Where are we going? Where are you taking me?" Asked Kiyoshi as he was being dragged along by the old woman to God knows where.
"First away from here, child. The police will be here soon. And having a stranger not from here branding a sword will look very suspicious don't you think young samurai.? Asked the old lady as they begin hearing footsteps coming.
"It's the police. Come on, child, we must hurry." Instructed the old lady as both she and Kiyoshi scurry away to the nearby forest. The pair continued through the forest, with Kiyoshi following behind the old lady, unsure of their destination.
"Where are we going, lady? I may add that we have been walking for a while now out of the town, and I am still no closer to solving this mess." Remarked Kiyoshi, enraged by the elderly lady's lack of information that she claimed to have.
"Patience child, where we are going will answer all your questions. I promise you, it's just a little farther right behind these bushes." The old lady responded as they arrived in front of a burn down home.
"We have arrived, my child. Here I can answer all your questions." Remarked the old lady as she sat on an old, halfway burnt rocking chair next to the house, rubbing her knees.
"Why are we here at this old burn-down place? Why did you bring me here of all places?" Asked Kiyoshi was patience was growing weak as time was wasting as the old lady continued rubbing her legs with a smile on her face.
"Do you know of the battle of Oblidat, child? I'm sure it was over thirty years ago before you were born. But do you know of it still? Asked The old lady as the smile was slowly lost on her face as her tone became more serious.
"I heard about it from my master, but I don't have much knowledge about the battle. But what does that have to do with the entity and this burnt-down old house?" Kiyoshi responded in confusion to the old lady's question.
"Have a seat child and listen to what am about to tell you. This is the story of the battle of Oblidat and also the story of how the what you call the entity was born." Remarked the old woman as she continues to stare at Kiyoshi before telling the story.
"More than thirty years ago, the war between four of the five major nations was at its highest. Death and destruction was everywhere and nowhere and no one was safe, not even our little town of Uragiri was safe. Our town was not as it is now. It was small and poorly developed, with very few people inhabiting the town, unlike today. But even though our town was small, it was a perfect spot to bring in supplies and weapons due to the port and easy access for land and sea vessel to move about.
Thus, our little town was a must-have for the four nations of Xeng, Tuckson, Zion, and Vahishiana as their war raged on. Vahishiana soon lost ground over the other nations in this area and left. Xeng used diplomacy to persuade us to join them, whilst Tuckson and Zion used brute strength to force us into submission. We quickly join Xeng who ran the nation Tuckson out of town with its overwhelming power and strength. Which just left the great and powerful nation of Zion.
But even Xeng at the time was no match to push back Zion, thus we were required to send our men into battle to support their soldiers in order to remove Zion from the area and free us from the onslaught of war.
So the strongest of our men went into battle with Xeng to repel Zion off. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. The war raged on and after five years of chaos, death, and destruction, we finally were able to run Zion out of here, but at a heavy cost.
Since most of our men sent into battle were fishermen and farmers, they had no experience on the battlefield. They all die except one a man named Kenshin. He only returned home, leaving the rest our us without our husbands and sons."
Saying this, the old woman took deep breaths, trying to hold back her tears before continuing with her story.
"He returned not with a hero's welcome, but he was welcomed back with accursed eyes fell upon him." The old lady remarked before being interrupted by Kiyoshi, who asked why someone who defended the town would be treated in such a manner.
The old woman paused while looking at the old home and continued her story.
"At first, it was mainly envy and jealousy that consumed the people of the town. Here it was that everyone else lost their loved ones, and he alone survived to reunite with his family. Then it soon grew to hatred and raged and the people of Uragiri were so enraged with Kenshin and his family that he moved them out of the town and into this house that stands before us now.
Even with him and his family outside of the town's view, the emotions the townspeople had for them grew worse and worse until only distrust and suspicions were all that were left. Soon everyone in town believed that Kenshin was a traitor and conspired with Zion to save his own skin for the price of his fellow townsmen.
I myself for a time believed it even though there was no evidence to support our claims. The people of Uragiri march towards Kenshin's home and ambushed them.
I wasn't there myself that day, but I could see the smoke and flames from where I was. The townspeople attacked slaughtering Kenshin, his wife, and their three young children without mercy and thought about what they were actually doing.
After killing Kenshin and his family, the people of Uragiri burnt the house down with them inside. Thus removing the awful crime that had been committed and any memory of Kenshin and his bloodline from the town's history book.
Three years later, the first sightings and incidents of the mysterious entity accrued with the gruesome slaughtering of sixty people who were there the day Kenshin and his family were killed. After people trying to leave the town were killed. Soon after that, boats and other vessels carrying cargo were destroyed, preventing supplies from coming into the town.
Thus, the legend of the fallen warrior was born and with most of us who lived to see that day had mostly died out, no one will ever know the dark truth behind this town."
With her story completed, the old woman broke down in tears as the memories of those darker times came back. The sorrowful tears flowing down her face made a small pond in between her feet.
Kiyoshi walks over to her, whipping tears from her face. "It is ok...uh I didn't get your name madam." Remarked Kiyoshi as continued whipping the tears from her eyes.
"My name is Hama, Hama Minetto and thank you man for hearing me out. I needed to get this off my chest. It was a curse holding me down. After losing my husband and my son in that war all those years ago. I blamed myself for not stepping in and trying to stop them from killing Kenshin and his family.
My, I was so full of envy and hatred after losing the two most important men in my life. My heart just couldn't go on and I allowed them to kill Kenshin. So every month I come here and pray and ask Kenshin for forgiveness for not doing anything on that day. I wish one day his soul would rest from this nightmare." Remarked Hama as she forced a smile on her face.
"It's not your fault and even if you did that, they might have killed you too, Miss Hama. So it is not your fault. Replied Kiyoshi as he stand in front of what used to be the front door of Kenshin's old home.
"So you believe Kenshin is the mysterious entity attacking Uragiri?" Asked Kiyosi
"Yes I do child, there is no logical way it is not him. Everything lines up to it being him." Hama responded as she rubbed her knees again.
"If that is the case, I have to investigate this home and hopefully put an end to this accursed madness once and for all." Replied Kiyoshi as he enter the mysterious house to uncover the truth.