Jack: "You seen it, right?"
Ichiro: "Yeah"
They say, quickly rushing to the building,
Jack flies to the top, carrying Ichiro, seeing no traces of the shadowy figure,
Ichiro: "What was that?"
Jack: "If I could guess, the baron those two told us about"
…
Night has fallen over the city, the damage is high, and the city is in shamble.
The group had gathered at the staircase of the big city hall, sitting there and sorrowing all on their own,
Henry: "What even happened, I-I mean, we had them, we should have noticed that something is wrong"
Emilia: "And if it's true what Jack and Ichiro are saying then the enemy was right there and could have also killed us with no effort"
They all get quiet, still processing everything that happened today,
Ichiro: "I have to go into the city hall, I have to clear things up"
Ichiro gets up and walks into the hall,
Jack: "And us? We don't have a ship to sleep in anymore"
Emilia: "I still have some money, should be enough to get us two rooms"
They all nod and follow Emilia.
…
Ms. Mitsunaga: "Ichiro, where were you"
Ichiro: "Sorry I-I was outside"
He replies with a saddened face,
Ms. Mitsunaga: "So you had something to do with that chaos?"
Ichiro nods saddened, shocking ms. Mitsunaga, she then takes Ichiro and hugs her,
Ms. Mitsunaga: "You have to explain me exactly what happened"
…
Emilia lies in her bed, looking at the ceiling, thinking,
Emilia: "Even though I have seen worse, it's still shocking that only them died, why did he not kill us? Something just feels off"
Henry, Jack and Lenny share a room together, Henry sits on his bed, doing nothing
while Jack lies on the bed, throwing an apple into the air and catching it, Lenny presses his head on the pillow, trying to sleep.
Henry: "So you fought against your own shadow?"
Jack: "Yeah"
Henry: "I fought a giant skeleton"
Lenny raises his head, looking at Henry tired,
Lenny: "A giant skeleton? Cool"
Henry: "Yeah, right?"
Lenny: "I was no help today, I'm weak"
Lenny gets frustrated, just thinking how much of a burden he was for Jack makes him sad,
Henry: "Why don't you just train? Ichiro is only a year older than you, but he trained a lot to get this strong"
Lenny is left shocked, he thought that Ichiro is at least three years older than him because of his strength, but now that he thinks about it, he notices that Ichiro is pretty small and has a young face, even with his serious expression that kind of let's him look a bit older than he actually is,
Lenny: "Right, why did I not think of it? Training, I'm so stupid"
…
Ms. Mitsunaga: "So that's what happened, promise me one thing, don't tell my mother what happened under my supervision-…"
???: "Something I shoudn't know?"
An older but beautiful woman, with a blue and red traditional dress and traditionaly tied back hair with a lot of jewelry walks up to them,
Ichiro instantly bows,
Ichiro:" Mrs. Mitsunaga, good to see you"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Oh please, Ichiro, the son of my little brother should not be bowing in front of me, after all, you have a history of being a rebel"
She says, laughing about Ichiro's effort, making him laugh nervously,
Ms. Mitsunaga: "M-Mom, y-you are already here? How was the family meeting in Akehiro capital?"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You know, at first it was boring, but my little brothers just couldn't behave so the elders moved the meeting to next month"
Ichiro laughs, while Ms. Mitsunaga gets ashamed,
Mrs. Mitsunaga laughs, wiping of the tears from her eyes,
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You would never guess how often my little brothers step out of line when they are together, but I can see that the city also got in some kind of mess"
Ichiro: "I-Im sorry aunti, it is kind of my fault too"
…
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I see so that's what happened, and your friends?"
Ichiro: "They are fine, but also not in the best state"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Let me see what I can do"
Ichiro: "Thanks aunty"
Ms. Mitsunaga: "Tomorrow is my big sister's wedding, this means your social work
ends today, you could arrive at Akehiro capital by tomorrow"
Ichiro doesn't seem too happy about that information,
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "What's the matter?"
Ichiro: "I-I don't want to go home aunti, I actually enjoyed my time here"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I heard what happened in Akehiro and I mean what really had happened, not the cover-up they told the citizens"
Ichiro is left shocked, looking at Mrs. Mitsunaga,
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "I can understand how you feel, after all when my husband died, I was offered to take over the role as the head of the Mitsunaga clan, at first I did not want it, but now I embrace it with pride"
Ichiro: "Still, I want to do other things, there is so much more"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Your friends, right? They are going on an adventure?"
Ichiro: "Yeah…"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "And you didn't follow them?"
Ichiro: "No…I didn't"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "You should, at your age your father also left for his adventure and look at him now, he is the head of the Takeda clan"
Ichiro: "He went on an adventure?"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Of course, all young boys want to go to an adventure and your father done exactly that, leaving together with his twin brother"
Ichiro: "Wow I didn't know that, I want to go too"
Mrs. Mitsunaga smiles,
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "Let's do it traditionally then, the Takeda style: Ichiro Takeda, son of Takeshi Takeda, you are from here on permitted to leave your social-work and go on your adventure"
Ichiro smiles, feeling all the burden of his body leave, hugging Mrs. Mitsunaga,
Ichiro: "Thank you aunty"
Ichiro takes his broom, instantly leaving the city hall,
Ms. Mitsunaga: "Mom, was this really the right idea? What will uncle say about this decision"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "He will understand Ichiro's decision, after all Ichiro is exactly like he was when he was younger, that's also the reason he didn't get angry at him for what he did in Akehiro capital"
Ms. Mitsunaga: "I only know the cover up story they made, it must have been really bad, what he did"
Mrs. Mitsunaga: "If it weren't for his status as Takeshi Takeda's son, he would have been executed immediately…"