Early in the morning, Midra Seiryo came to Village Leader Kamiya's room.
"You called for me, leader. What's up?" Midra said with a yawn, in a nonchalant manner.
"You should speak more respectfully, Lady Midra," said Kamiya, glaring at her. "What am I dealing with here?" he thought to himself.
"You woke me up at the crack of dawn and brought me here, this is as respectful as I can be. You could have at least prepared breakfast," said Midra, sitting down in the chair in front of Kamiya's desk and stretching.
"We need to talk about your brother, Kenshin Seiryo," Kamiya said seriously. Midra, noticing this tone, suddenly became serious. "What's the problem? Did he stir up trouble again?"
"Did you know he's immortal? How is this possible?" Kamiya asked."Immortal?" Midra's eyes widened in surprise. "No, it's been a long time since I've seen him, but I'm sure he didn't have such an ability. Maybe he's done something since then. But in all my travels, I've seen plenty of people who wanted to be immortal, but no one even came close to achieving it." Midra began to explain in detail with her usual excitement.
"Let's not stray from the topic," said Kamiya. "So you're saying he didn't have such an ability. Hmm, do you think there's something he could have obtained to gain this? A secret technique or anything?" Kamiya's mind was very confused. Maybe his durability and healing power were high, that's why Akane thought he was immortal, he thought.
"Actually, there might be," said Midra. "But you know, since I distanced myself from the family, I don't know about these things. However, there was some talk about 'cursed energy' or something, maybe it could be related to that," she added.
After thinking for a while, Kamiya said, "Someone from the Ryuko family might know something about this, can you find Yahiro for me?"
Midra remained silent for a while, looking at Kamiya, then said "Pff, fine," and left. After a while, she returned with Yahiro.
"I heard you wanted information about cursed energy, Leader Kamiya," said Yahiro as soon as he entered the room.
Kamiya nodded. "Is there a cursed energy that could make someone immortal?" he asked.
"Ah, this is a very broad topic, Kamiya, but to summarize," said Yahiro. "Cursed energy can originate from certain objects or divine items. For instance, let's assume someone is immortal. If the thing making them immortal is cursed energy, it means either they possess an item or they've obtained a power that can manipulate their own energy. But I'm sure there are different ways to be immortal. After all, extremely rapid healing of wounds could be considered a form of immortality, like being completely invulnerable to damage." Yahiro replied.
"What about your cursed eyes? How do they work?" Kamiya listened with curiosity.
"Actually, this is our natural energy, our ancestors come from the Ryo clan, just like the Seiryo family," said Yahiro. "To surpass the main family, some people in our family conducted experiments and got involved in forbidden practices. In subsequent generations, the balanced energy within us transformed more into a dark energy. Still, we can't say we're completely cursed. Just as there are creatures with pure energy, there can also be creatures with what we might call dark or cursed energy. So, you see, this subject is deeper than it appears. If there's someone you think is immortal, if I could see them, I could roughly guess what kind of thing they're using," he added.
"Thinking about it, we're distant cousins, Yahiro," Midra suddenly chimed in while quietly listening in the background.
"Yes, when you think about it, that's true. But our hair is usually red, so I don't understand why yours is blue," Yahiro asked, looking over his shoulder at Midra.
Midra put her hand behind her head, grinning foolishly, her short hair barely touching her shoulders. "It's because I dyed it. You know, since I travel far and wide, it could be troublesome to announce that I carry the blood of the Ryo clan in some random place. After all, there are many people out there who hate our lineage."
This made a lot of sense to Yahiro. He nodded and turned back around. "In this way, another possi—"
Suddenly the door opened, cutting Yahiro off mid-sentence. Kinjo and Akane had arrived. Akane, in her injured state, was using Kinjo for support. They entered and Akane sat down on the chair in front of Kamiya's desk.
"Akane and Kinjo, what are you doing? Akane, you should have been resting, what business do you have here?" said Kamiya, his voice sounding a bit angry.
Kinjo was about to speak when Akane stopped him with her hand. After swallowing, she said, "I need to explain what happened. I fought Kenshin Seiryo personally, and he's extremely powerful. He'll likely come here soon because they've mobilized with the Xigua clan. I don't think they'll stop."
"I believe we can hold them off with the team you brought with you, at least for a long time," said Kamiya.
"If it comes down to endurance, we'll lose, Leader Kamiya. If I had inflicted the wounds I gave Kenshin on someone else, they would have been dead long ago," said Akane and went on to describe the details of the Koga battle.
"I also have a request for you," Akane added. "Please don't harm Naru Toki. He switched to their side to save me, but I'm sure he'll come back to our side if we win the war."
"I can't promise that, Akane," said Kamiya. "I have a history with him. If he fights against us, I'll have to confront him. I've put aside my own interests and desires, maybe I can forgive. But if he attacks the village, I don't think I'll hold back my fists or my sword."
Kinjo, after thinking for a moment, realized he hadn't seen Kamiya's sword in a long time. "Kamiya, where's your sword?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, that?" Kamiya replied. "If you're asking about my Akai sword, Yasue was carrying it. It was on him when he fell off the cliff. Since I couldn't find his body, my sword disappeared too."
"I wish you had told me this earlier," said Kinjo. "I can have another sword forged for you. The agents I sent to the city returned with very good developments. I can have a weapon made that could multiply your power. In fact, I'll go right now, the sooner the better." Before he even finished his sentence, he rushed out of the room.
Kinjo went to the blacksmith in the village center. "Master, do you still have that object I brought you for examination earlier?" he asked.
"Of course, sir. Do you need it for something?" the blacksmith replied.
"I want you to make a sword with it. Take as many men as you need, whatever you need. This sword is for the first leader," said Kinjo. "If you know Akai, make a sword similar to it. Let it be a single-edged sword."
The blacksmith excitedly said, "I'll get right on it. Normally, making such a sword would take months, but I have suitable molds I've been working on. It's nearly finished, you're lucky I can have it done in a few days." He was a bit old and short in stature. He was covered in sweat, his muscles had become very prominent from forging iron, and his muscles tensed whenever he moved his arm.
Meanwhile, Akane tried hard to convince Kamiya about Naru, but to no avail. Now she had no choice but to heal quickly and try to protect both sides during the war.
Kenshin and Asahi were preparing to set out. Asahi called Kenshin to a spot away from their men for a private conversation.
"What do you want, Asahi? We only have a couple of days' journey left, be patient a little longer," Kenshin snapped.
"I just wanted to talk in private. Besides, the view from here is amazing," said Asahi. He looked into the distance; this place resembled the edge of a cliff. They could see their surroundings clearly. The two hundred soldiers below looked like ants.
"Fine, what is it?" Kenshin asked. Suddenly, they both assumed fighting stances and turned around. There were three people wearing masks with yellow stripes and motifs facing them.
The one in the middle spoke in a whisper: "Navigator, stay back, don't interfere unless necessary. In case of emergency, you'll return to report. Clay, you and I will fight. Our goal isn't to win, but to understand their abilities and escape."
"Understood, Knight," said Clay. His messy brown hair fell in front of his mask. He firmly grasped the two daggers from his belt in his right and left hands. His stance suggested he might attack with his fists, but he was holding the daggers.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Kenshin roared. "I have things to do. I'm giving you a chance to run away, or else you'll leave here as corpses," he added.
"So you're Kenshin Seiryo. I'm Knight. Remember this, it's the nickname of the person who will take your life," Dokuro said with a laugh. He held himself back from saying his real name, because he had fought and defeated Kenshin before. However, he was overconfident, not considering that things could change.
"Knight, huh? I'm not going to bother remembering that nickname. But if you manage to hit me once, I'll remember you. Other than that, you won't leave an impression on me," said Kenshin, giving quite condescending looks.
Suddenly, everyone sprang into action.