The forest Oni meets Makoto.
We lost.
Completely, it was an utter annihilation.
It was not numbers that beat us, but only one guy.
We didn't have a tough battle with him or anything, it was more like… nothing worked against him.
We met two people who wanted our rare plants.
It was a man with a mask and a woman in black.
They confessed that they needed the plant to make some medicine, but many Hyumans have said the same thing and had evil intentions. They had confused my partner Eris with their lies several times.
Naturally we decided to capture the two, but three other hyumans came at us seeing the colony of ambrosia.
These weak people have been able to enter the village because lately the barrier we have placed around has weakened for unknown reasons.
The ambrosia they speak of is the red ginseng, but this is a precious resource and we cannot give it to them.
Many people have been illegally collecting these from us, and we will get back them back, but first let's stop these fools.
Those were my thoughts as we started to engage in battle.
But man… was I wrong, neither my attacks or Eris' magic was working on the masked man.
We got blocked by something or other every single time.
I have no idea what magic or thing he is using to stop our attacks, but I was scared out of my wits seeing that kind of defense.
My special attack shot arrow or Eris' magic interwoven was completely ineffective.
We were completely sealed and shut out.
I wonder if they had a fallout or something because the masked man also attacked the three people as well.
The warriors of our village sometimes get overconfident, or are unlucky, and lose to the adventurers.
If that happens, we invite the people to our village and let them meet our leader, the forest Oni Head, who is our teacher as well.
But me and Eris have never had to experience this type of feeling.
This was humiliating.
I never imagined how painful it is to lose and have to guide the winners to the village.
The masked man Raidou tied us up with rope and restricted our movements.
We were tied up from our chest to our waist. The women with the man Raidou, called Mio, also followed us to the village.
Eris talked with Raidou frequently in an attempt to get information but we got really exhausted from just hearing him talk.
At sometime Eris gets pulled into his pace and gives away our information. Eris!!!
However, I trust Eris, as sometimes Eris has these moments of intuition that always seem to help.
…This was not one of those times, because we got so tired from talking and walking.
Fortunately we did not encounter any demons and arrived at the village safely.
There was a look of disdain from the people of our village towards us.
We had no choice, OK?
We would have died against this freak.
I understand why they are looking at us like that though, as we are now asking our head to deal with our problem.
Damn it! It is so humiliating.
After guiding Raidou and Mio to our head, we looked at each other and both sighed.
"…Akua, do you feel like if we fought against him once more we would win?" (Eris)
"Nope, it would be exactly the same. I don't even know why we lost, so… to even start making a plan is impossible. I really do not want to go and report it to teacher." (Akua)
"LSIA." (Eris)
"LSIA?… No, Eris we will not leave or skip. If it is master, then when he finds us after we skip we will have even more hell." (Akua)
"Fine, …By the way LSIA means "Let's skip it all", I am surprised you were able to figure it out Akua." (Eris)
"Duh! We've been friends forever, I know exactly what you were thinking, but, I wonder what kind of punishment he will give us… come on, let's go report." (Akua)
"I really don't want any kind of training that is life-threatening." (Eris)
"Haa…well, it is not like I don't understand your feelings, but avoiding it is impossible." (Akua)
"That's true, hmmm. Yes, Eris has a new plan, isn't Raidou, who is a freak, the reason why we lost?" (Eris)
"Well… yes." (Akua)
"So don't you think that if we took him directly to teacher, and showed how much of a freak he is, that we would get a lighter punishment or even… scot free?" (Eris)
"Take Raidou to teacher… Well he would be happy if we don't waste any more resources on useless banquets for strangers." (Akua)
"Right? There is also a chance that teacher may not be able to handle Raidou, so he would have to do the metamorphosis thing." (Eris)
"… Well since we're already at rock bottom, we've got nothing to lose." (Akua)
"Yeah, I knew you would agree. Akua is the best friend any person could have." (Eris)
"OK, first let's waste time for a little while because I want to change these clothes." (Akua)
"OK, Buddy." (Eris)
Me and Eris decided to make teacher Mondo meet Raidou directly to have an excu… reason for losing the fight.
I know a defeat is a defeat.
That part will not disappear, along with humiliation of course.
However, we can escape punishment if Master sees how much of a freak Raidou is and then we will not look as incompetent to him.
I know that Raidou will immediately be assessed highly by our teacher.
I also know that no one in our village, other than teacher, is able to defeat Raidou.
I return home and change my clothes in hopes that Eris' plan succeeds.
********
Well….
The plan was a success, in some aspects.
Master did not wait for us to come to him, he came to us and immediately grabbed Raidou's hands.
We stiffened, as we were going to see the Master's special technique.
However, there was no change to Raidou.
Mio, on the other hand, was very angry and quickly kicked Master out of the room. She kicked him so hard that a hole in the wall was made, and he left just as fast as he had entered.
Well to sum it up, our master also lost to Raidou and Mio.
I did not take Raidou to our master but I am sure that Master does realize how strong Raidou and Mio are.
So…ummm… Well.
We succeed in getting out of the punishment.
However, our master lost in a second against them, and it happened so quickly none of us could've reacted.
Eris and I let out a weird shriek when it happened.
Mio toppled Master in a second.
No, maybe it was an order from Raidou?
Our master did grab his hands so he could've signaled in some other way.
And also, the fact that master can't win against them from the front was shocking.
…That last part maybe a bit of a stretch, to be honest.
But the tree punishment magic did not work on Raidou. This magic is the essence of the Forest Oni.
Who the hell is Raidou.
I get the same feeling as I get from Eris.
Yes, that feeling.
I cannot feel fear or anxiety, only friendliness.
This is the village of forest Oni.
One step away from the end of the world.
We live without mercy because if we give mercy in such a place, we die.
We live without mistakes, but if someone does make a mistake, than what only awaits them is death.
When we feel an uncomfortable feeling from anyone, we take action, but I get none of that from Raidou, no fear, impatience, hostility, or even tension.
It is more as if I am at home.
It was the same when I was fighting him.
A mighty dragon, long ago, created the barrier surrounding our village, but like everything, time has withered the barrier away, and hyumans have been able to enter, and we've fought them a lot more than before.
But I have never met a presence like Raidou.
…Is he a guest who the barrier itself has invited.
Eris has her intuition, which allows us to get out of tough situations a lot, but most of them are useless.
Somehow, from Raidou, I get the feeling of someone who will be an acquaintance for a long time.
If you ask me why, it could only be intuition.
I trust Eris's intuition a lot, so I have to trust my own right?
How stupid I am.
There is no way Raidou will live any longer than this.
…Hope you enjoy the last moments of your life Raidou, I will truly miss you.
We have a special treasure that all you Hyumans like.
I did not give any reason as to why I wanted him gone, just that I trusted my ancestors a lot and thought it was only right for him to die.
"Oh, Akua, I found Master." (Eris)
"…Is he smoking while still upside down?" (Akua)
We ran to Master and saw him upside down, smoking.
We were glad he was safe.
He looked alright, without any injuries.
"I wonder if it feels good, looking up at the sky after losing a battle. Master is silent as well. I wonder why he did not become a tree, did it now work?" (Eris)
"There is no way that's possible, Master always said that that technique is quite hard, and that sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't." (Akua)
"I truly hope so. Wait I am getting another revelation. What? I am going to spend the rest of my life with the Raidou gang? What? Really? Man, how am I going live now?" (Eris)
"…Eris is becoming more like the usual Eris, I see. Eris, you do know that your revelation doesn't tell you the entire story, right? It is a 50% thing, and I am sure that this one is the 50% that is wrong." (Akua)
I am declaring it right now.
It is a fact that Eris' intuitions and revelations for the past few months have been on point.
We've both gotten that feeling that we are going to spend a long time with Raidou.
Now, I am getting worried.
"I'm sorry if I was being rude, Eris." (Akua)
"I was just trying to praise you." (Akua)
"Poo! Regardless of whether my Revelation is right or not, we have to prepare for today's banquet, right? We have to get the green liquor." (Eris)
"…Well isn't that good for you." (Akua)
I wonder will it be alright?
If I do spend a long time with Raidou from now on.
That means I will also be with Eris.
I will have to look after him for a long time.
I cannot handle that by myself.
While thinking this, we rushed to our master's side.