The sound of a wolf, sprinting through the thick snow echoed in the cloudy mist spread through the frigid air.
Its fading breath could be seen with every puff of freezing air that it exhaled out of its mouth, and the blood that ran down its face, from the area of its head where its left eye once was, gave notice of its grave fate.
"…"
"This reminds me of something," Bōshi murmured, as he appeared out of seemingly nowhere as thorns and branches reached out from the depths of the earth and pierced the wolf's body multiple times.
He laughed before he murmured again,
"My dearest eldest brother. Wounded so severely due to being 'abandoned'. What a mess!"
"Well, I guess Seiji's planning to do something about that, so that's none of my concern."
He continued to walk on, dragging the wolf's corpse along with him.
…
There's… also been another thing on my mind.
Rei, that wiseass.
He's somehow discovered something he's not supposed to, and I've noticed it too.
Something that he wants to find, something incredibly important, that even Seiji herself cannot truly visualize, even with her ability to foresee portions of future events. How troubling.
…I am quite worried, though.
Worried, that I'll have to kill one of my brothers sooner than expected, of course.
Well, I'd have to do that eventually anyway, but Rei, who I consider someone useful, isn't supposed to be the one I should kill.
If anything, it should be that animalistic brute…
But, since the one who seems to be the biggest potential threat takes priority, I guess I have no choice.
Bōshi reached the campfire, which was encircled by nearly everybody else, except for Kyōji and Rei, who had gone off on their own.
"Wolf meat!" Hinote cheered, "Let's eat, because I'm starving to bits!"
The group had left Kōmon-shi a while ago, and to venture into an ultimately new land.
The Eternal Nation. A country governed by the "Sage of Resurrection Path" and the illusive Nether Spirits, this unknown "sage" being most commonly referred to as, the Masterful Elixir Lord.
He had ascended beyond just "eternal life" and had crafted various elixirs through his profound understanding of the Ten Truths to ascend fully towards the world's web of secrets. In a way, he was like a magician. But, those types of people now usually refer to themselves as "Sages."
"Wow!" Hinote exclaimed, still fawning over the glorious city as he ate the barely-cooked meat, "I still can't believe that Kōmon-shi, despite our short stay there, was so beautiful and entrancing to see!"
"It's also kinda hard to believe that this isn't the epitome of the outside world…"
"I agree with what you said before, but of course it isn't," Nuru intercepted, "This country, Yamaguni, as Lilac called it, is quite small in comparison to other countries."
"And, Young… whatever the Eternal Nation is called, I'm sure it is quite deserving of the great notion of being the Life Nurturer's kingdom on this earth."
"It's Yông Guó, Nuru," Lilac replied, "And also, you're quite right."
"It's said to be a place where nature is heavily intertwined with. Flowers bloom wherever you step, and lotus flowers can be seen everywhere, to symbolise the Life Nurturer and their eternal rebirth in the realms beyond that of which we can see."
"Anyone can see that it is truly beautiful."
Seiji spoke, for the first time in a while, saying,
"…Yes. It's beautiful. Yet, it frightens me."
"What?" Bōshi muttered, "What frightens you?"
"Everyone under the sun knows that the Elden Gods wouldn't let themselves have that much control over the realm of humans. Since this cruel world, made under their design, was forged by their hands, it was made clear from the start that they hold no compassion for us. But, for some reason, that deity that is concerned with only the proliferation and continuation of 'life' is getting involved."
"What does that mean?" Bōshi asked, a slightly unreadable, but overall apprehensive expression on his face.
"You all already know that things are starting to bloom again. The Elden Age began only a few thousand years ago, and today marks the eighth-thousandth year since it commenced. It was always around this time that the waters were stirred, and tensions arose."
"But, I'm afraid, very afraid. I've never felt any type of fear ever before, but I am anxious that things will get much more fiercer than ever before. That, perhaps the Gods will…"
Seiji inhaled and then exhaled.
"…I may be exaggerating far too much. I cannot see as much of the 'partial future' as I could before, and it is all a blur, but, I can tell that there will be wars. However, the chance that they could ignite and sprout into catastrophe which is what I am fearful of is slim."
"…Huh… I guess this is also intertwined with our fates, huh?" Nuru asked, who was cosying himself up near the campfire the most before he heard a brief amount of what was spoken, "You all seem quite a bit special, in your ways, and, while I've only been with you all for a short while, particularly a lot of things have happened, which I'm still stuck on."
"But, I don't think it's time for me, or Lilac, to back off, right?"
"Of course," Lilac replied, "Seiji also indicated before that we wouldn't be able to leave even if we wanted to."
"…Right," Nuru said, shuddering, before muttering under his breath, "Maybe… I should've turned the other way when we encountered Seiji strolling in the forest that one afternoon."
Suddenly, the sounds of two men, walking in the harsh, snowy conditions made themselves known to the group. It was Kyōji and Rei, who had come back with a few more wolf corpses, all of them burnt to a crisp and ready to be eaten.
But, they also carried someone else. A fellow who seemed to be a homeless beggar, wearing rags that were patched up by improper sewing.
"Who's that?" Hinote asked.
"Hah… this guy says he belongs to Kōmon-shi's Beggar Gang, but he's been following us the entire time! How are we supposed to believe him?!" Kyōji said, taking a rest by the campfire after planting the unconscious beggar, face-first, onto the snow.
But, it turns out that, this beggar was not truly unconscious, as he woke up just moments later.
"GAH!" He exclaimed, almost as if he woke up from a bad dream.
"You! You're the guy who tried to kill me!"
"And, you're the beggar who tried to stalk us!" Kyōji said, "What's the difference?"
"Wha? I wasn't stalking you guys! I stalking the guys who were stalking you! The ones who were under the Dancing Whip Troupe. They're evil, I tell you!"
The beggar then glanced at the individuals who stood around him, and whispered, "…Ah, but you guys look far more menacing…"
"What do you mean, guys stalking us? How could we have not noticed it?" Kyōji asked, picking the beggar up by the chest.
"Because they used some Antiques to keep themselves out of your sight!"
"Antiques? Like Divine Items?" Rei asked, to which the beggar replied,
"Divine Items? What's that?"
"Antiques are just old relics imbued with a little bit of mystifying power. They're miles worse than true Divine Items." Lilac replied.
"Ah… so it's most likely that the guys who were spying on us are thieves, or criminals thinking they can make a quick dime off of us… though, I could be wrong." Rei noted.
"Hm… I'm not sure…" The beggar answered back, "The Dancing Whip Troupe is an infamous trafficking ring that still hasn't managed to get caught, due to their constant use of the Antiques they have come across."
"They are far too cautious in what they do, so that makes this all the more suspicious. But, I guess you can just take this as the ramblings of an old man who has far too much to share."
"Toodle-doo!"
The beggar quickly ran off, while Bōshi shook his head, saying, "What an eccentric old man."
"But, I guess we should also get on our feet again if that's the case. The constant feeling of eyes on our backs is what caused us to not even spend more than a single night in Kōmon-shi, after all."