All the things we encountered ran down the hill toward the village. Could my theory about a dead demon attracting other creatures be true? But why? To absorb its power somehow? It doesn't matter, I can't go in that direction, I'd be gambling with my own life and Haruto's.
He turned and walked the other way, to the opposite side of the mountain where the village he once protected was. After walking downhill for some time, he found a small cave that would be good to rest in.
He set Haruto down and unraveled the tent. He took off his bow and placed it next to Haruto. Then he left to gather pine needles to make a makeshift bed.
When he came back, Haruto was still sleeping. He set down the pine needles and left to gather more. After gathering enough, he laid the tent over them, making a sort of bed. It was still dark outside, so Reiji placed Haruto on the makeshift bed and lay down next to him. He placed his bow and katana so that if someone tried to steal them, he'd wake up.
Reiji was woken up by Haruto, who had gotten proper rest, unlike him. They packed up and kept walking. They walked and camped for days. They didn't eat much, but enough to survive thanks to Reiji's hunting. Haruto loved to both annoy and learn from Reiji. They formed a sibling-like dynamic.
They walked and walked until they stopped at the edge of a tall cliff. It was a nice clearing to rest for a while. Then Reiji saw a road below them. It wasn't under a thick layer of snow, meaning it had to be used often. Which also meant that it led somewhere important.
"We'll rest up here and then go to that road. We'll follow it and see where it leads us."
Haruto was too busy watching a Vireth. It was a small creature that was rare to see during the day. It usually hid in dense trees and was active at night. This was Haruto's first time seeing one.
It has an extremely thin, small and elongated body with unnaturally long limbs. All of them were all the same length and ended with clawed fingers. Its head is large compared to its body. Its shape is insect-like, with glowing orange eyes that almost seemed to shine. There's no visible mouth or nose. Its whole body was black in color.
Reiji saw this and sighed. They ended up resting there only a short while before going down. There was no direct path toward the road, so they walked and walked until the path they followed slowly widened and eventually connected with the road.
Reiji saw this and sighed. They ended up resting there for a short while before going back down. There was no direct path toward the road, so they walked and walked until the path they were taking slowly started to get wider until it eventually connected with the road.
"Right or left?"
"Left!"
Acting on Haruto's decision, Reiji turned left and followed the road. There were some patches of ice, and it was covered in snow, but the layer was much thinner here. The road went uphill for some time before getting very wavy on its way downhill.
They both heard something in the distance in front of them—like a carriage, horses and armor clanking. Eventually, they saw a carriage surrounded by soldiers.
The frame was built of strong timber reinforced with iron fittings. The wheels were large, spoked wooden wheels with iron rims. Its body was a box-like compartment, enclosed with curtains. The soldiers had armor protecting their chest, arms, and legs, and they wore helmets. Everything else was protected by chainmail.
"Make way!"
One of the soldiers yelled. Reiji quickly put Haruto down and took off his bow. He carefully placed it on the side of the road. "You might not want to look at this." After saying that, Reiji walked right in front of the carriage's path.
"Make way!" "Listen, I just need a little money, and I'll disappear."
"MAKE WAY!"
"Alright, I'll make way." He unsheathed his katana. "A way through you."
Reiji ran at the guards. There were about twenty of them. He parried the attack of the first one and headbutted him through the helmet. He turned to his right and parried another attack. Noticing he was almost fully surrounded, he turned to his right and lunged forward.
He lunged through a small gap between the soldiers that was about to be closed. He was freed from their ambush and turned 180 degrees to face them again.
The remaining nineteen rushed forward. The foremost soldier got parried and then kicked with a force that put a dent into his chest plate. Reiji avoided an attack from his right by stepping back. The soldier on his left rushed at him. Reiji dropped into a split, dogging the sword, and then roundhouse-kicked him from a crouching position.
He held back, but still broke all the bones on the guard's left side and sent him flying. To Reiji's surprise, the other soldiers still continued fighting.
Haruto had his back turned to the commotion, watching the beautiful mountains and clouds. He was suddenly grabbed by someone. Before he could scream he was sitting atop a pair of shoulders, Reiji's shoulders.
Reiji not only wiped out twenty soldiers, he also stole a couple silver coins, a pouch, two loaves of bread, and a salted chunk of meat. He put the rolled-up tent and the quiver inside the pouch. Then he grabbed Haruto and handed him the bow to sling diagonally across his back.
Reiji carried the katana and pouch on his back, and Haruto had the bow—which was far too big for him, but it didn't fall off because it rested against his shoulder and leg.
Twenty copper coins equal one silver coin, and twenty silver coins equal one gold coin. One loaf of bread costs seven copper coins.
They continued walking down the road, which was now going downhill.
"YOU FIEND, YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"
The lord screamed out from within his carriage, which was now surrounded by unconscious and some mortally wounded soldiers.
"Shouldn't we help him? There are bad people out here."
Reiji stopped , sighed, and walked back toward the carriage. The lord cowered in the corner farthest from him.
"Get away from me, you lunatic!"
"How do you treat your slaves?" "What?"
Reiji repeated the question. Depending on the lord's answer, he would either protect the lord or leave him.
"'Slaves' is a fitting word! Those animals have no education and deserve none. Their only reason for existence is to serve me!"
"If you ask me, even the poorest slave is worth more than your entire bloodline, including you."
Reiji turned and walked away. "No, wait! I take it all back! I'll employ you as my personal knight. You're clearly better than these worthless nobodies!"
"No." As he walked away, the lord kept shouting nonsense. "If you had been a good lord, this wouldn't have happened to you."
Slowly, Reiji disappeared from the lord's sight. "Why didn't we help him?"
"He treats good people like they mean nothing and lives a life better than most by doing that. Remember, Haruto—if you sin and don't ask for forgiveness, God will make you realize your errors in very harsh ways."
"Got it!" Reij walked down the road until it grew dark. They found a spot in the forest to sleep in. It was a nice, flat area obscured by trees and bushes. After gathering pine needles and covering them with the tent, they went to sleep.
They woke up and packed up. As they were walking down the road, they heard metal clanking. More soldiers that probably came for the lord after news was received that he didn't make it to his destination.
They quickly hid and climbed up to a vantage point. Reiji Kurozuma counted up to fifty soldiers and one riding on a horse. Reiji and Haruto decided to wait to see if they would return.
They explored the mountain and just took it easy for the day. As night fell, just as Reiji was going to set up their sleeping spot, they heard it again—metal clanking. Soon, they saw tiny torcheflames approaching.
When they got close enough, he saw that they were carrying what was in that lord's carriage—but the lord was nowhere to be seen. "Poor bastard." Then a thought struck him. Could he pull a fast one and steal some more coins?
"Stay here." "Alright." Replied Haruto Hishino.
Reiji ran down and hid in the forest near the road. He waited until the perfect moment, then sprinted forward and snatched the small chest filled with gold right out of the hands of the soldier who was riding the horse. He then tumbled down the steep drop off on the other side of the road.
Reiji managed to not die as he came to a stop in the forest below the road, but he lost the chest. He heard the shouting of the soldiers above. "What was that?!" "Damn it!" "We are going down this drop off and finding that chest if it is the last thing we do!" The captain yelled.
Reiji then heard slow steps crunching through the snow. Reiji had the feeling that it was something big.
The moon, as if playing a cruel joke, lit up his surroundings to reveal the gaping jaws of a monster, filled with teeth that poked out of its gums in every possible direction. They were made for only one thing, killing.