"Oh, Hajime, it's you."
Reiko asked while taking a step forward towards Hajime, who looked surprised due to Reiko's appearance.
"Who were you talking to earlier?" Reiko asked as she put down her big, wrong sword. Hajime wondered how she managed to carry the sword, considering that the sword looked big and heavier than her.
"Huh?" Hajime uttered.
"What is she talking about? Can't she see the girl who's grabbing my hand?"
He wondered as he looked at Reiko with a confused look. He thought the girl was still there, but he didn't know that the girl had disappeared a while ago while he was turning to face Reiko earlier. He could still feel the girl's touch if the girl was still there, touching his hand.
Reiko's look changed to being concerned while staring at Hajime. She moved closer to him and touched his shoulder while scanning him from top to bottom.
"Are you hurt? Did someone drag you here? Who was it?" she said.
Hajime looked behind him, but there was no one there. he looked at his right hand, where he thought that the girl earlier grabbed him but the only there was no girl; the only thing that was left there was the feeling of being touched by a girl.
"Where did she go?" He asked himself. Then he remembered again that he was badly stubbed, that he was losing a large amount of blood at an alarming rate. He looked at himself with a curious look on his face and started to wonder why he couldn't feel any pain ever since he woke up earlier.
He searched carefully but could not see any wounds, open or closed. Reiko, filled with curiosity, just watched as Hajime did his thing.
"Where did my wounds go?" Hajime wondered.
What are you doing?" Reiko, confused, asked.
Reiko's question grabbed his attention, and he stopped looking at himself and started looking at Reiko while his still wondering who that girl was and where she went, and what happened to the areas he got stabbed. Then suddenly remembered about Hina.
"Where's Hina?"
He asked while looking at Reiko with a scared look. Reiko knew that something must have happed for Hajime to end up here and Hina's hair and skin to left on the other side of the barrier, so she said nothing to Hajime instead, she told him that everything was fine and there was no need to worry about anything, but Hajime couldn't mind continuing about Hina coming back.
"Come on, and let's be on our way to meet Rica before she starts to worry."
Reiko said as she held Hajime's right hand with her left, and on the other side of her hand, she carried the sword again. But as they started walking, one of Hajime's eyes changed its color from red to yellow, but no one noticed, including himself.
Elsewhere, in another kingdom called "Steria," there was a simple village called "Lute" where a young woman was spending her night so that she could proceed with her trip the next day. This woman was, of course, Hajime's mother, "Nanako," who was going to the capital of Steria.
"How long are you going to be staying with us, my lady?"
A nice gentleman said as he slowly approached Nanako. He was one of the citizens who occupied this simple village.
Nanako looked at him and said with a gentle voice, "I'm just passing by. I was thinking of renting a room to rest in for the night."
"Is that so?" The nice gentleman said while looking at Nanako, then he added.
"Then I think you may like one of our finest establishments across the Sekitori Bridge."
Nanako asked with a cool demeanor, "And where can I find this Sekitori bridge?"
"You know. You are one of the nicest visitors we've had in ages, so amma show you the route there." The nice gentleman said with a smile, and Nanako smiled back.
"Shall we be on our way then?" Nanako said as she continued to smile at the nice gentleman.
"Of course, this way we shall exit."
The nice gentleman said as he pointed where the bridge was with his right hand while he started walking towards it. Nanako started following him while she scanned around her to see if there was anything shady going on around the village.
She wasn't carrying any heavy baggage on her, but a simple umbrella to cover herself if there was going to be rain. The nice gentleman turned his head a bit, looking at Nanako's hands to see if there was anything he could help carry while on their way.
"I see ya don't have any baggage on ya. Might I say ya, want be gone for long where ya are going."
The nice gentleman said as he turned his head and started looking forward again. Nanako did not say anything because she was focused on looking around her, so she did not hear the man talking.
As they continued to walk, they found themselves on a road that was going in three different directions, but the nice gentleman on the second exit, which led to the Sekitori Bridge.
"Don't worry me, lady, it's just around this corner until ya reach ya destination."
The nice gentleman said as they turned around the corner, he was talking about. Nanako kept looking around until she saw a band of thieves beating up a poor child who looked like she lived in the slums of the village.
She turned towards them and said, "Why are you beating up that innocent child?" The thieves stopped and looked at Nanako and said, "It's none of your business, lady, keep going wherever you were going."
Nanako looked at the child with a blank expression on her face, as the child reached out his hand and called out to her, "...Help me." With a faint voice. One of the thieves heard him and said while stepping on the child's head, "What did you say, wimp?!"
"...Help, me..." The boy said again as his voice began to fade.
Nanako looked at the thieves and then looked at the boy again and said, "Let him go, can't you see you're hurting him?" But none of the thieves cared about what she said.
"You know what, lady? You let us have fun with you, and after we are done, we'll let the wimp go." One of the thieves said while looking at Nanako with a dirty look.
"You are right, boss, what a great idea that is." Another one of the thieves said as he also started looking at Nanako with a dirty, perverted look.
"Ya young boys these days, don't know how to respect those who are superior to ya." He said as he approached the band of thieves.
"And who are you supposed to be, old man?!" The thief, who was far behind his friends, said.
"Old, you say. If you judge people according to how they look, then ya are making a big mistake you will regret as ya grow old, ya self"
The nice gentleman said as his expression changed from normal to serious. Nanako looked at the nice gentleman and at the boy who was about to lose consciousness.
"What are you talking about? Because you are old and regretting the things you've done in the past, that doesn't mean we'll end up the same way as you." The thief who was talking earlier said as he took a stand.
The nice gentleman sighed with disappointment, and a moment later looked behind him and then looked at the band of thieves and said, while he turned towards Nanako.
"I didn't want to do this, but it seems so, I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands."
"Ya see. This nice lady here was on her way to the inn across the street. but since ya' ve delayed us from getting there in time."
"Ya boys are going to have to pay with your lives."
The band of thieves looked at him for a second, and stayed quiet for a moment, and they started laughing at the nice gentleman. Nanako moved away from the thieves and stood on the side of the road with the child who was being beaten by the thieves.
"When did they get there?" One of the thieves noticed that Nanako and the boy they were beating were standing far from them.
The nice gentleman picked up some wood that was sitting by where the thieves were beating the poor child, and started moving forward towards the thieves.
Later, Nanako, the nice gentleman, and the boy who was being beaten by the thieves reached where they were going peacefully, and Nanako rented a room to use for the night.
"Then I guess I'll be letting ya be, me lady." The nice gentleman said while carrying the boy on his back.
Nanako looked at the man with a smile. She said, "Then see you soon. And take good care of the boy."
That night in this simple village known as "Lute", people who were walking at that time saw a group of people running naked around the village, trying to hide their nudity.