"Kosha. Taishu. I'm glad I met you today. I never would have thought I'd learn so much of the sword if that hadn't had been the case," Ryuma said.
"Likewise. Even an old dog like me learned something from a spirit user none-the-less," Taishu said.
Kosha stayed quiet and began staring at the floor.
"Now that that's out of the way. Kosha. Do you understand why you lost to this boy?" Taishu asked.
Kosha slightly nodded his head forward. "It's because I neglected training the speed of my sword. I relied too much on my talent," Kosha said.
Taishu shook his head. "That's not it. I thought so too when I saw it, but that kid's blade wasn't the only thing that beat you,"
Kosha got off the wall he was leaning on and slightly stomped his feet. "Master! Is there something else I'm missing?"
Even Ryuma was curious as to what he had that had beaten Kosha. He was sure if that wild dance move hadn't have happened, he'd be the one that needed saving.
"It's something all fighters need regardless of weaponry, skill, innate talent, or abilities. That boy possesses the ability to assess the situation in real time and react accordingly,"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You've been trying to get me to focus on my swing practices for a while now. Erin had to be the perfect opponent to get me to realize that," Kosha rubbed his head and headed for the exit.
He slammed the door on his way out.
"I have a feeling that guy doesn't like me," Ryuma said.
"Kosha? I wouldn't worry about him. Not only did you beat him, but you also beat him in a way that shattered his favorite type of sword play. I think you might have changed the way he sees the blade. For as long as I've known him, that kid loves to tempt fate with counters. I wanted him to see that someday he'd run into a fighter too fast for that and I won't always be there to help him,"
"Oh… guess I'll give him some space then," Ryuma started thinking. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. "Taishu. When we first met, you mentioned me being the priest killer. What was that all about?"
"Oh that? Never mind that. I just wanted to give Kosha a reason to take you seriously," Taishu gave a sly nervous smile.
"Yeah, I get that. I've just heard a rumor about him not too long ago. What, or who exactly is the priest killer?" Ryuma looked off into the distance.
"That's what we're trying to figure out, but it's exactly as it's said. A person specifically targeting priest, most notably the woman,"
"A person that targets priest… You think it might be a grudge or something?"
"Dunno. It could be but I highly doubt any hatred has anything to do with it. His victims are too specific, and his methods have zero flaws. The only way most even know of his existence is because of the disappearance of the female priest. Once they start going missing in a general area, we know he's there,"
"Let me guess. A few female priests have been reported to have gone missing in Lue,"
"Exactly. This is one of the reasons why we're here,"
"I got to say, you guys are the first down here I've seen who views the priest as neutral as you do. Everybody I've ran into tends to hate them," Ryuma said.
"Oh don't get me wrong. We don't favor the priest either. They hold a monopoly on Soul Force, and they abuse their power with it. You'd be hard press to find anybody down here who likes them. Still… not all of them are actually bad. Some of them are even good and this guy doesn't discriminate,"
"Is there any variance in his victims? He's never deviated?" For some reason, Ryuma felt a squeeze in his heart.
"Well, there has been a few times he's captured male priest. Honestly, I think those have been crimes of opportunities rather than them being targeted,"
His heart eased at hearing that. Part of him was worried that he sent Maruna back home by herself when there's a killer on the loose. Though the fairies she sees around her protect her, the girl manages to do fine even with the threat of apparitions. He still believed in human hands he could see more than those fairies she talks about.
"I just don't get how one human could strike so much fear into an organization of priest. How could they even do that much damage? I can't imagine a killer having trained himself to the level you and Kosha displayed," Ryuma said. No matter how he looked at the situation, it seemed odd.
"And that's the weakness of you priest. Most of you can't fathom what surface dwellers like us can do once we put our minds to it. What you guys fail to understand is that you're not gods. There are times when ya'll are vulnerable, and there are more times where your guards are dropped. If these priests are disappearing and only turning up dead, then there's reason to believe that they were caught unaware. It's astonishing to me that he hasn't messed up yet so he's meticulous with his methods,"
"What about leads other than him just being in Lue? Even if you know the general area, he's in. It's not like you can find him unless caught in the act, right?" Ryuma asked.
"Yes, that's the problem we face now. Every account with the missing females had a lot of them last seen with a handsome man with jet black hair,"
Ryuma felt like he could choke on his own blood. There may as well be giant arrows in the sky pointing at his location with how vaguely accurate that description was.
"Do I need to start punching myself in the face to clear my innocence," Ryuma asked.
"Not with me you don't. I saw the way you pushed that girl to the opposite side of us when you were passing. If you were him, you wouldn't have done that," Taishu said.
"Didn't figure a small gesture like that would clear me. Speaking of which, I got to check and see if Maruna's all right," Ryuma got up out the bed. Fairies or not, she had to be safe.
He walked over toward the same door Kosha left out not too long ago. A thought then occurred to him. "I got to ask. How are we sure that he has no surface dweller victims? Are you sure they've all been priest?"
Taishu let the question hang before answering. "Truth is we don't. These reports come from the Skylands. They wouldn't care about the death of surface dwellers like us… Still, I think we would've noticed something if he'd been targeting us too,"
"I see… and how do you plan on capturing this priest killer?" Ryuma asked. Taishu didn't answer that one. He just looked away, unable to look him in the eye. "Nevermind. Forget I asked,"
It was no place for him to judge. Ryuma had a vague idea how they were going to get him, but to do that required more victims to be caught. By the killer himself.
Either way, if his victims were only priest, then for now, he'll leave it up to Taishu to solve it. The man was better than him at this, so he'll drop it for now. He didn't have the luxury to go chasing a side quest. So long as he knew that Maruna and Saya wasn't in danger to the priest killer, he could be more lax.
Still. One could never be too sure. Just because the Skylands didn't report surface victims, didn't mean there actually were none. This was they Skylands they were talking about.
He immediately rushed out of the inn they were staying in and ran in the direction of Saya's house.
Having left, he staked out on top of the building across. He didn't want to have a second departure and it was about time Saya should be getting home. Based on her reaction or inaction, he'd know Maruna was safe. She just had to be she does this all the time.
He clenched his heart and was starting to become anxious. Fuck it to abstention, shouldn't the important thing be that she's confirmed safe. If something did happen to her, then he'd be wasting time not doing anything.
Just as he was about to go down there, a peculiar thing happened. That red little gnoll appeared out of nowhere right in front of him. It began fading in and out of existence.
"Wait a minute. I know you. You're one of Maruna's fairies," Ryuma's mouth was agape. He didn't think he could see any of these things outside of the cave. This one opened itself up to him. "Can you understand me?"
The fairy smiled and nodded his head.
"Great! That saves me time. I want to know if Maruna made it home safe or not," Ryuma asked.
The fairy blinked a few times, then it happily nodded its head. His heart eased itself and he felt like he had just dropped a great burden. "Thanks for your help. I appreciate it. Just don't tell her I was here,"
Though it pondered over why he'd want to hide it, it complied with his request anyway.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, a familiar face popped right in front of him. "Kosha. What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Was you talking to somebody just now?"
"Ughh… myself! I talk to myself when I think," Now he suddenly knew how Maruna felt. "Is there something you needed?"
"Yes actually. I want to travel with you,"