Late in the morning, a light drizzle descends upon the great forest of Kokoro Island. The mortals of Kurenai Village, arranged in four files, have made themselves into three groups, walking past the lush and shriveled landscape that holds a variety of trees —some with blue, grey, and white leaves.
Shinji has the most people under him, thanks to his witty thinking, and charismatic persona. Athough numerous thoughts are telling him that they want to use him, as someone to take the blame when the time comes, he decides to let it be, since he has uses for henchmen.
On the other hand, Tsukino has a few boys following her. Attracted to her beauty, some of them are dreaming; thinking of their future together. Little to their imagination, do they know Tsukino is here on a 'special condition'.
At the back of the mortals: the last group consisting of Lucien and Ten. The youngest has a sack full of loot hunched on his back, as his pink eyes gaze down the cliff, wishing if there was a river instead of green grass.
—From my understanding, I think life is a river, but unlike other rivers, it moves uphill. It's this way, why it's full of the unexpected. Moreover, this is how life progresses, together with those who are living life.
—If your life isn't progressing to anything better, you're not living, but you're just existing —and that's the most of us.
Ten releases a deep breath, hurt by his own thought. In his life, he has zero accomplishments, no dreams, no friends, and worse be it a lover.
Whenever he tries to engage in a conversation with someone, he always feels like he is only there to listen, not be heard. Although it somewhat pains him, he now thinks solitude is the best path for him, since he won't be destructed by petty relationships with no value.
—Since life is moving, life will tell.
Ten steps away from the edge of the cliff, grievously staring at the hill ahead of them —their destination. Lush and lonesome, its peek stretched flat like a rice field, bringing it closer to the surface.
—There is a stage 3 profound beast there; we're not allowed to go to the camp unless we kill it.
Rather than being chicken-hearted, Ten is curious of what it looks like. From what he heard, stage 3 profound beasts have something called a profound blast, and their physical capabilities are a hundred, if not a thousand, leagues away from those of stage 2 beast.
That being said, Ten knows better not to trust rumors... maybe, because he has an over-reactive imagination.
Shaking his head slightly, Ten clears away all the weird images drawing in his mind. Afterward, he looks at the figure next to him —Lucien: calm and cold, carrying the giant hammer on his back.
Tento's eyes stretches over to stare at the strange characters being half hidden by his samue's arm.
—His birthmark has returned to silver.
Finding the follow-up thoughts meaningless to him, Ten looks at the clouds, striking a conversation.
"Is it me, or there is a red object following us in the sky."
"That's a Madoshi."
"Oh..."
Ten raises his brows at Lucien's near apathetic reply. Although dubious, he decides to accept it —anything can happen.
"What would a Madoshi want from following us? Usually it should be the Bushi."
»»»Madoshi Tama-Artists are a class above Bushi. Not only can they use Bushi class Tama, they can perform miraculous abilities —mostly elemental— outside their bodies, affecting the surrounding space; 90% of them are women«««
Lucien didn't reply, and Ten sighs.
—He doesn't look like the person to talk to strangers, should I consider myself lucky that he replied.
'Eh, whatever.'
Tento shrugs his shoulders, moving on. Kicking a few stones down the cliff out of boredom, Ten looks at Lucien again, his brows contracting.
"Thinking about it: that puma should've ran away, but it decided to chase after you, why?"
"Sometimes beast can be possessed by those who want to kill you."
Ten flinches, his steps halting for a second.
"Who would be stupid enough to possess a brainless creature?"
"That's more the reason to possess it. Without a mind, it's easy to control."
"I see."
Ten nods, understanding. However, in the next second, his brows twitch. Frowning, he looks at the ground with a gloom shadow covering his face.
—My brother once said they are things that want to kill him. Considering what Silver Hammer-san said, they might be figures out there who want to kill people with that birthmark of theirs... Maybe, I'm being paranoid.
***
As the drizzle stops, Shinji decides to compose a song for everyone to sing along to. It talks about the importance of one's youth, and the joy of living it once.
Meanwhile, Tsukino, near the end, furrows her brows, muttering at heartbeat sound: "Idiots. Can't they be silent, and focus at the situation at hand."
In that second, one of her slaves —she can't say followers— who addresses himself as Sugar-Sugar, yells at Shinji:
"You stupid scholar, turn it down! Your chimpanzee growls are hurting my lady's ears!" —he is good-looking, but yelling makes him appear like an ugly goblin.
Turning toward Tsukino's direction, he smiles, protruding out his dark dimples:
"Don't worry, my princess. I, the most loyal man in history, will make you feel comfortable."
The gray-eyed-girl didn't say a thing, watching three of her 121 slaves rush toward Shinji's direction. She sighs, 'men,' feeling the need to laugh.
On the other hand, the three Tsuki Slaves sweat at the sight of over 600 men supporting Shinji —most are dead weights. The Slaves instantly shift their focus to the weakest group —they have to do something.
Taking the lead, Sugar-Sugar grins at the sight of the red-haired young man walking on the dry grass, near the edge of the cliff.
As his yellow eyes grow a dark glint, he closes in, "I'm glad to see you again. After you did the roof of my house, I didn't pay you back, since you were gone after. Here, is a little advice as payment:
The weapon you're using is great... but it's nothing to a swordsman like me, who has received training from my father to ready myself for the regiment."
»»»Yet, such a fool was acting dead.
"Even if you carry that hammer, you'll regret not have picked the sword. As the samurai say, 'Everything ends and starts with a sword: one sword swing can cause a war, yet stop it."
Tsukino feels embarrassed by her slave, and she looks at the ground, hiding her blush of shame.
Not minding, Sugar-Sugar touches Lucy's shoulder with a big grin, saying, "Since you do good things for free, to cover for your mother's sins, why don't you be my lady's horse. A princess like her shouldn't be walking on her two feet."
"Your breath stinks..."
Before Sugar-Sugar can retaliate to the cold voice, Lucy's hand is on his human waste —head. Raising his body, Lucien throws him down the cliff.
Salt-Salt and Chili-Chili, the other two Tsuki Slaves who ganged up on Ten, rush over to their princess for protection...
No one takes notice of them: all eyes are on Lucien.
Everyone is doing their best to hide their thoughts, not daring to look back. In the past, to those who know Lucy: he was a kind being, who did odd jobs for free, and would take a slap or insult without doing a thing. However, this new side, is making him the boogeyman, who might come to them in their sleep for talking the wrong things.
Meanwhile, Shinji continues to sing. He knows one has to die, when they mess with the wrong person. As the Main Character, one would expect him to hate Lucy, but he likes this version of him more than the one of the past.
Reaching the foot of the mountain, Shinji decides to approach the side character of his story, before doing anything.
Cupping his fist, he slightly bows in front of Lucy.
"Lucien-san, do you have a plan to handle this? Rumors say your 'beautiful' mother, our 'Sweet' Akane-chan is from one of the major clans in the village."
The crowd exchange stunned gazes at how Shinji is using 'beautiful' and 'sweet' to describe a human eater.
Lucien, meanwhile, furrows his brows, looking at the mountain. Undoubtedly, the beast they are being tasked to kill is similar to something he, Shinji and his other friend met in the past thanks to Akane.
Thinking for a few seconds, he attempts to give a suggest; but, Tsukino raises an objection, her face disgusted.
"Are you seriously asking him for help? He'll only make a plan that benefits himself!"
A few others support her idea, muttering about Lucy's ruthlessness. However, Shinji laughs it off with a few veins popping up on his face.
He casts a disdainful gaze at Tsukino.
"Those who have a plan, say it! If you don't, shut up and prepare to be used as sacrifices for your own foolishness!"
Walking over to him, Tsukino rebukes:
"You can't threaten us, when you, yourself, are like us! Unlike certain boys, we have people we love; we're willing to do anything to see them again!"
Shinji mirrors her move, snickering:
"Tell those people you love to bring us a solution better than Lucien-san's."
"Yeah!" Tsukino's clenches her fist, veins popping on her face, "What makes you think, he has a plan?! He is no different from the others!"
Clinking his tongue, the youth, in the spotless white scholar robes, turns around. Placing his hands on his back, he looks at the ground coldly.
—Among the seven of us with that birthmark, I was cursed with multiple personalities. You, on the other hand, are blessed with the ability to copy everything you see, which is not Tama abilities; Derniere-san is blessed with a battle, strategic mind.
'That's what Akanechan told me once.'
—I'm acting on that to give us an advantage, but you don't understand, Tsuki.