Previously, Sora and Durandal finally entered the world where the mission was designated; which was the world of Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Except for Sora, who still remembered the entire story of this anime, Durandal was finally able to see the 'zombies' that are present in this world, and if she were made to choose between her universe's zombies and this one, she'd choose hers in a heartbeat.
Arriving up until before the first car, since after that it was already the cab of the Koutetsujou, which was the name of the locomotive they are currently in. They had repelled all of the Kabane that they had encountered on all the cars that they had passed up until that point.
Seeing as there was only one more car that they had to check, Durandal was about to proceed, but she was stopped by Sora. "That would be it, for now, Durandal. Let's return back to our car and rest. We should also probably take the chance to wash ourselves up; I have a few drops of blood that splashed on my skin and clothes. Plus we're already exiting the stronghold, so there shouldn't be any more Kabanes around." Regarding his current outfit, Sora was pleased since he was able to find many different kinds outfits that came from different kinds of anime and games that he was familiar with to be present inside the Hyperion. When he was younger, he had wanted to try cosplaying, but unfortunately, family comes first. Before he knew it, he was already a 30-ish gentleman, and he was already conscious enough to not join in on the fun with the young'uns.
He especially liked this outfit, which came from the game (God Eater 3). There were other available outfits as well, and he would try them all. Back to the point, after hearing Sora, Durandal agreed with his proposition. Even if she wasn't that tired, and hardly broke a sweat from before, she did want to keep herself clean; plus, some blood also managed to land on her, so she would want to remove those as soon as possible.
"Understood, captain. But can you tell me why we shouldn't check this last car? You seem to have an idea who is inside it." With her wits, Durandal could easily tell that Sora wanted to avoid interacting with the person or people present within this last car, so she would rather ask him bluntly so as to not complicate things for him.
"Ahh, well…After making it up to here, we didn't pass by them, so I can pretty much guess who's inside that last car. There should be two of them in there; a man dressed up like a priest, and a girl, probably 13-15 years of age, and also…One of the main characters of this world's story." Also not wanting to lie to Durandal, Sora told what he knew to her since she would still know it later, so it wouldn't make too much of a difference anyway.
As the two were returning to their car, the Koutetsujou were finally able to exit past the gate of the fallen station, meaning that the Bushi (The warriors of Middle-Age Japan. Also known as Samurai) can finally at least relax their guards a bit, since Kabanes can be mostly found within fallen stations. They also passed by the man that had his bitten hand cut off by Sora and luckily, he didn't turn into a Kabane. Seeing Sora and Durandal, he immediately fell into a dogeza, frantically saying, "Thank you, thank you very much!" over and over again until Sora helped him up and just patted his shoulder. Sora also took a glance at the other Bushi that was present but didn't say anything and proceeded back to their car. He and Durandal then tp'ed back to the Hyperion for a quick bath and returned immediately, so as to not cause suspicion with the people present in the locomotive.
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Within the first car, two figures can be seen. One belongs to that of a man, wearing white priest-like clothes with a white hood draped over his head and holding a staff that had a red cloth on its end and a black cord-like line on the same spot running into the sleeves of his clothes.
The other figure belonged to a girl. Sora almost guessed her age, which was 12 years old. She wears a reddish-pink kimono that had pink cherry blossoms on it and is long enough to cover the upper half of her thighs along with an orange sarashi tied around her waist. She had brown hair, tied up into two pigtails on either side of her head, with the right side having a longer strand tied into a braid that reached up to her chest. And lastly, she had reddish-brown eyes and a blue ribbon tied around her neck, much like a choker.
She was sleeping on a bed of hay or grass, but she had a pillow on her head. She woke up and was greeted by her companion. "You're finally awake." (A/N: Wink2x)
"The Bushi held them off, so you can go back to sleep, for now." The man spoke to her, but he had his eyes closed. The girl looked at the man for a moment and then redirected her attention to the outside through the small gap present.
"Did another station get overrun?" In the distance, she can see the fallen stronghold, with dots of yellow-gold light visibly moving around, making for both beautiful and ugly scenery.
"Come to think of it, I heard something interesting earlier." The man once again initiated a conversation.
"Ohh? What is it?"
"As the Bushi were fighting with the Kabane, I heard a sound unlike that of the steam-powered guns, yet I am pretty sure that it came from a gun."
"Hmm, maybe someone onboard is testing a new type of gun?" They weren't privy to some information related to the development of various weapons. Any kind would do, as long as the job is done, it would be used.
"If it is, we should look for them also. The Young Master could use more brilliant minds. To make our mission a success…" The man trailed off at the end, closing his eyes once again.
*Nods* "Mhmm. I understand. I'll also try and look for them later." And with that said, the girl once again lay down on her bed, once again falling asleep.
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"We're finally here…" Sora muttered. Recalling the landscape from his memory; a wide expanse of land surrounded by a moat, in its center are three hills, marred with various types of houses, a huge steel water tank, and vein-like lines running all throughout. These are steel tubes that are used to run mainly steam and then water to various areas within the stronghold. Some watchtowers were also scattered on different vantage points to serve as a lookout for incoming locomotives and of course, for 'them'.
After a few more days of traveling, the Koutetsujou finally arrived to where the plot of the story officially started, Aragane Station. Passing through a tunnel that ran through a mountain, the locomotive slowed down, since there was a gap between them and the gate of the station. They didn't have to wait long; the drawbridge that connects the rail with that of across the moat was lowered, and the Hayajiro, which are the official names of these steel behemoths, slowly entered the massive gate and stopped once it was fully inside the gate building. The rail bridge was also raised up to prevent any unexpected Kabanes to enter through there.
"…The Husoujou is also supposed to arrive tonight."
"Two Hayajiros in one day?"
These are the kinds of conversations that could be heard from the local Bushi that arrived at the scene to help control the situation. They were informed that the Koutetsujou was supposed to arrive the day after, yet it was already here, even earlier compared to the one that was scheduled to arrive later at night.
"Father, wasn't the Koutetsujou supposed to arrive tomorrow?" The owner of this voice came from a woman; her looks belong to a 17-year-old, she has long dark-blue hair and wearing a light-pink dress or a modified kimono and a fuchsia-colored ankle-length plain skirt.
She was asking a man by her side; a gentleman that had a beard on his chin and two small tufts of mustache on his face, his hair tied into a man bun. He was wearing a purple haori over what looked like a cross between an Englishman's business suit that had oriental designs mixed in. he was wearing greyish-brown tobi trousers, completed with socks on sandals.
(A/N: If you're curious what tobi trousers look like, it's the baggy ones that are then either tied with a cloth or now with garter, to make it tighter at the end. Some ninjas from Naruto wear them, though not as poofy.)
"Hmm, Hayatani Station must have been lost. With less stops to make, it would make sense why it would arrive a day earlier than its schedule." Not only this man; everyone present on the venue could see the Koutetsujou up close, along with various red smears and damages present all over the locomotive and its cars.
"Get the inspection box!" The man shouted. Some people dressed as workers then positioned a separate car to the side of a car of the Koutetsujou, and after locking it in place; three people that looked like doctors and an aid entered the car along with some Bushi and waited for the people present within the locomotive to enter.
Sora and Durandal, who were currently inside the last car, saw everything that transpired. Sora then motioned for Durandal to stand up. No way in hell was he going to go through that inspection shit, and he wouldn't allow these plebeians to see Bianka's divine body. No sir, nu-uh, nada, OBER MA DED BADI! This simp shall destroy all those that lust after Dudu's immaculate, bodacious bod! That is, other than himself.
(A/N: I'm a simp, what you gonna do about it?)
And while Sora was having these thoughts, a smirk was forming on his face. The weird thing was; that there was a dark aura beginning to manifest around him. Durandal, who was near him, shuddered. She looked at Sora and saw him with that creepy smile. Different from Rita's teasing personality, this new superior of hers must be more inclined towards the 'chaotic-problematic' alignment. She heard some of his exploits from Ai-chan, and she can definitely say that Sora had this mischievous side to him. She…didn't dislike it though.
'Hmm? Weird…I felt a bit giddy all of a sudden. Maybe the world crossing did have some very minor side effects on the body? I'll have to get a body examination later after this mission is over.' Durandal thought.
"Alright, Bianka. We won't follow those civilians. We're going through the VIP reception." Saying that Sora looked up at the car's ceiling, seemingly looking for something.
"The VIP reception?" Durandal tilted her head to the side, confused at what Sora meant.
"Yeap, VIP. Ahh found it. Follow me." Looking around, Sora finally found what he was looking for-the hatch of the car they were currently in. He jumped up and after turning the handwheel, he and Durandal exited the car and jumped down, much to the surprise of several Bushi that were standing watch over the Koutetsujou.
The two were also surprised, since when they jumped down, someone from the first car also jumped down, albeit she exited from the door of the car she came from. The three almost landed at the same time, and because of this, the person and Sora stared at each other for a bit, most likely sizing up each other. The figure of the person belonged to the girl that was with the man in a priest outfit that was mentioned earlier. Her eyes widened slightly; seeing the two figures that descended at the same time as her, she could tell that they were different compared to the commoners present there at the moment, other than three other figures.
Just based on the clothing that they were wearing, they probably weren't even from anywhere within Hinomoto, and should be foreigners coming from the outside. What she became curious about though, is why they were here? Shouldn't they have headed to Kongoukaku first? Why would they come here, which was very near to the front lines? She was thinking about a few more questions, but she was taken out of her thoughts when a local Bushi shouted at her and the other two that came down at the same time as her.
"Hey, the kid over there! And you two as well! The exit is the other way. Even children have to go through the inspection as well. As for you two…you-ghahackk!" The Bushi went near the girl and told her his piece. When he turned and looked at Sora and Durandal though, Sora noticed that he was looking at Durandal with a lewd expression. Just this was enough for Sora to deem this idiot as someone that didn't need his eyes. Before the Bushi was able to complete what he was about to say, Sora disappeared from where he was standing, and a moment later, he appeared in front of the Bushi. Sora didn't waste any time and grabbed the neck of the Bushi and raised him up, enough that his feet weren't able to touch the floor.
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Everyone that was able to witness this was tongue-tied. They were also questioning the IQ of the Bushi that went and decided to make a move on these three people. They were clearly from somewhere high up if one were to base on the quality of clothing that they were wearing. Their thinking was interrupted though when the figure that was holding the neck of the Bushi, which belonged to a young man, spoke in a tone cold enough that it made people feel that the temperature within the building dropped a few degrees.
"You have guts, I'll give you that. But, try looking at my partner with that kind of gaze again, and I'll turn those eyeballs into frozen ice pops, and then make you eat them. Do I make myself clear?" The young man wasn't even staring at the Bushi he was holding, and yet his eyes were dead cold, meaning, this handsome-looking young man, would stay true to what he said. And knowing this fact made the faces of some that understood to become a shade paler.
"Ghckk…Ghaaa…" Were the only sounds that the Bushi was able to make. His face was also starting to turn a bit purplish, which were telltale signs that he was lacking in oxygen.
"Hmm? I can't hear you. What did you say?" Pulling the Bushi closer and putting his left ear near the man's mouth, although that allowed the Bushi to place his feet on the ground, and gave him a chance to gasp for delicious air, albeit not too much, since the young man still had his grip on his neck.
"Haaa...ghaasss…Yess, yes!" Finally able to speak properly, the Bushi immediately responded to the young man's question.
*Nods playfully* "Humu2x! As long as you get it, we'll all get along swimmingly!" Nodding his head twice with his eyes squinted and a smile on his face, Sora suddenly let go of the Bushi, which caused the man to fall on his butt while holding his hands over his neck and coughing. Sora then patted the shoulder of the Bushi twice while looking at everyone that was looking at him as well, appearing relatively harmless.
This was just a façade of course; Sora was still subtly releasing small amounts of killing intent. And everyone could feel this bit of pressure weighing down on their shoulders. This pressure suddenly vanished though when they saw the young man's companion walk towards him with steady steps, and when she was finally behind him, she slapped the young man's back with so much force that he landed face-first on the floor. This didn't seem to hurt the young man at all though, since he immediately stood up and turned to face the woman.
"Bianka! What was that for!?" complained Sora. He had a comical X Band-Aid on his forehead since he fell down face first on the floor. "It's the captain's fault for releasing that much killing intent. I appreciate the thought, but I'm more than used to those kinds of stares. Still, thank you, Sora." Finishing her sentence with a bright smile, everyone who saw it was completely mesmerized, including the women. Seeing Durandal, who was a tall, beautiful, curly-haired blonde woman, she was a new sight to almost everyone, well with the exception of Sora of course, so they couldn't help but keep on staring at her.
Sora was hit by Bianka's smile at point-blank range, and it was super effective! "Ugh…Ma hart…" clutching his hands over his chest as if it hurts, Sora continued on fooling around. This only earned an eye roll from Durandal though.
"Come now, please be more serious about this. It seems the man in charge has noticed us and is coming over."
"Alright, stop gawking around and start the maintenance!" by then, almost everyone that came from the Koutetsujou was already nearly finished being inspected, and a Bushi broke off from his trance and reminded everyone else to proceed with their respective work, to which the people immediately responded to and went ahead and did their jobs.
Meanwhile, the pair of middle-aged man and a young woman approached Sora, Durandal, and the young girl. The middle-aged man then positioned himself in between the two parties and did a slight bow, followed by an apology. "I am Yomokawa Kenshou, the head of the Yomokawa family and the current lord of this station; and beside me is my daughter, Yomokawa Ayame. First of all, I apologize for the conduct of my subordinate, and I'm also thankful for your leniency towards him. I will make sure to tell my men to be more decorous next time." He first faced Sora and Durandal, who were involved in the accident earlier.
"It is of no trouble, Lord Yomokawa, but it would be best indeed if you can teach them some restraint, lest they anger someone they shouldn't and implicate your family as well." Sora put his right hand over his left chest; this can also be a gesture of respect and put on a kind smile on his face without any pretense at all. Seeing Sora's expression, the middle-aged man, or Yomokawa Kenshou, breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly towards him. The young woman beside him, Ayame was her name, also offered a much deeper bow compared to the one given by her father towards them.
Kenshou then turned and faced the girl and also offered a curt bow. "I apologize as well, dear guest. I'll make sure this situation will not occur again." followed by his daughter also facing the girl and bowing again.
"Huh? Ahh, it is fine. So you're the boss around here right?" the girl asked Kenshou, to which he nodded. They were then unable to continue with their conversation, they were interrupted by someone else.
"Lord Yomokawa, we thank you for your hospitality." The man that interjected was the man dressed in priest robes; the companion of the girl before Sora and Durandal.
"Ahh, Lord Shimon, I presume. I have read your letter. We would like to take you and our other guests to our mansion first if that is alright with you." Kenshou greeted the man, Shimon, and asked him and Sora's party to follow him to their residence. He then saw Shimon nod, turned to Sora, and also saw him nod towards him also. Obtaining the approval of the two sides, Kenshou and his daughter then began to walk, with Sora's and the man, Shimon's party following after him. Sora opted to walk behind the two parties, lagging behind by a few meters.
"They're not going to be inspected? What's going on?"
"Who are they?"
"No idea…"
As they were walking, Sora and Durandal can pick up the various murmurs and whispered grumblings of the people present. Of course, that is all they can do, since they were just nobodies.
Before the group was able to exit the building though, they heard a panicked scream come from inside the inspection car.
"BRAAIIIINNZZZZ!!!"
(A/N: Just kidding.)
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"WaaAaaagghhhh!!"
"It's a Kabane!"
"He's been bitten!"
A man who was only dressed in loincloth underwear came out screaming from within the inspection car. A Bushi tried to stop him, but was pushed away by the almost naked man and continued running around inside the building.
Sora's group also noticed this situation, so he and Durandal stopped walking and watched to see how this matter would develop. Kenshou and his daughter also stopped with Kenshou giving the order, "Don't let him get away!", while the other pair of Shimon and the girl just continued walking towards the building's exit. The girl was glancing towards the scene though, also clearly interested in what will happen next.
The runaway man was looking for a way to escape, with people avoiding and running away from him like he was the plague. The Bushi also went and aimed their guns at him, telling him to stop, but the man didn't listen and just screamed, "No! I'm not a Kabane!" and kept on running in a different direction. A Bushi shouted, "Stop right now!" and shot a warning shot at the man, barely missing his leg. This startled the man though, and he fell down and slid for a bit on the cold metal floor.
The Bushi immediately surrounded him and aimed their steam-powered rifles at the man while shouting, "Kill him!"
"Surround him and kill him!"
Seeing all the Bushi surrounding him and aiming their weapons at him, this scared the man and made him curl up and scream.
"AaaAaaAaahh! I swear! I swear I'm not one of them! Please help me!"
But this plea fell on deaf ears, as the men surrounding the naked runaway just looked at him with fierce expressions; some even had sweat dripping down their faces, ready to pull the trigger the moment they see the man pull off anything funny.
"STOP!"
The Bushi were shocked, and all of them faced to where the voice came from. The girl who was with Shimon also finally stopped, along with Shimon who stopped a few steps later. She also looked at the one who was ballsy enough to actually command the Bushi other than the lord of this station.
Sora and Durandal also looked at the owner of the voice, which came from a young man dressed in work clothes. He had medium-length dark-green colored hair, glasses where only the right side had a glass, a satchel on his waist, and wearing gloves on both his hands. The person beside him, who looked like the young man's friend, looked at him with an incredulous look on his face. The young man was also slightly trembling, and based on his expression, Sora thought, 'Ahh, this guy's mad. Nice guts though.'
"Who the hell are you!?" A Bushi asked the young man, but the guy just ignored him, took off the cloth he tied over his hair, and came out from the place he was in, which was near the iron wheels of the Hayajiro. He then continued on, "He's saying he's not a Kabane!"
"Like hell we can trust him!" another Bushi exclaimed and aimed his gun towards the curled runaway naked man. Seeing this, the young man immediately rushed in between the Bushi and the naked man and spread his arms wide, protecting the man behind him, and even got the guts to shout, "Stop, you coward!" at the Bushi who just aimed at the fallen naked man.
"Ugh!" Hearing this, the Bushi was startled. Everyone else that heard what the young man said was also silent for a moment, wondering where this kid gets his courage.
"Hahaha….Ahahahaha!"
….
Wild, boisterous laughter echoed all throughout the building. Looking over the source, they saw that it was the young man earlier that threatened a Bushi for looking at his companion lecherously. He was laughing with his chin raised up, and his left hand covered his eyes. The woman beside him also smiled a bit, no one knew if it was because of the words of the young man with glasses or because she was happy seeing her companion is having fun.
"Haa…Good one! That's the best representation of everyone that we've ever met ever since we came to this country! I like your guts kid!" Sora then flashed a thumbs-up towards the young man with glasses. Everyone was still looking weirdly at Sora, but the young man with glasses shook his head and continued defending the man behind him.
"Those suspected of being a Kabane, are to be locked up for three days and kept under watch! You're the ones that made that rule!" this did nothing but agitate the Bushi however, and the one that was closest to the young man rushed him while shouting, "Shut up!" and hit the face of the young man with glasses with the butt of his gun, making the young man fall down along with his glasses. The Bushi didn't stop at that though, and went towards him and kicked him again and again. The other Bushi also joined in along with the abuse, kicking the young man all over his body.
"This doesn't concern a lowly steam smith!" exclaimed the Bushi while continuing his barrage of kicks on the young man's body.
"Aghck! Urhgck! I'm trying to tell you…Urgh…that you're pointing your guns…Ghaa! at the wrong targets!" in between grunts, the young man tried to explain his point, but the Bushi didn't even try to listen and kept on kicking his body.
*Gasps* "…" hearing the words of the young man, Ayame, the daughter of Kenshou, looked like she realized something from his earlier interaction with this young man. This same young man asked him a question while inspecting the gun of her father, which she brought to be checked by someone. The words of the young man from earlier reverberated once again in her mind.
'Miss Ayame, where will you be pointing this?' remembering this, Ayame bit her lips but shook her head to get that thought out of her mind.
"Father!" she calls towards her father, but he acted like he didn't hear her and had a grim look on his face while looking at the scene.
One of the Bushi kicked the young man in a way that sent him flipping a bit when a few objects fell from the satchel that he was carrying. The young man also saw them, and hurriedly put them back in his bag, but a lot of people still saw what they were hearts. To be more precise, hearts that belong to people who turned into Kabanes.
"Kyaahh!"
"Kabane hearts?"
"Disgustang!"
"Hmm?" Sora seemed to be hearing things, so he didn't mind it.
"Why does he have them?"
Murmurs can be heard from everyone that saw what the young man was hiding in his bag. The Bushi were also looking at him with disgust and fear and immediately asked him some questions, at gunpoint of course.
"Answer us! Why do you have something like that!?" everyone's attention was now focused on the young man, and they forgot someone else; the running naked man. Seeing as everyone wasn't looking at him, he thought that it was a good chance and tried running away. But that was a very bad move.
*Sighs* "These people are so troublesome. Bianka, if you could." Looking at the man trying to run away, Sora could immediately tell what would happen next if they didn't act; so he looked at Durandal and asked her to save the dumbass.
"Yes, captain." Crouching, Durandal put about half her strength to her right thigh and dashed out. She appeared as a white and blue streak that reached the naked man immediately, while everyone other than Sora and the girl with Shimon could see her movements. Durandal then summoned her shield again, much like how she did in the Koutetsujou.
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"He's getting away!" One Bushi shouted, which caught the attention of the others. They turned around fast and took aim at the running man. But before they can pull the triggers of their guns though, a figure appeared between them and the man, and a bright blue light manifested as the figure lifted a hand.
*Bang4x!*
Still, the Bushi didn't falter and shot in the direction of the running man, but they were going to be disappointed.
*Clink4x!*
Instead of hitting something soft, they only heard their bullets hit something else, something metallic in nature as well. What appeared after the light dissipated was a see-through neon-blue-colored shield. Its design made it look like a variant of a kite shield, and a blue, fog-like aura extended from the shield to at least a meter to both the left and right. As they were about to aim again, they noticed another figure appearing in front of the blue shield. This time, everyone can see clearly who the figure is- it was the young man that was the guest of their lord.
"Everyone seems to be having fun, how's about you let me join as well?" Sora said this with a smile, but a very dangerous pressure seems to be exuding from him. He then took a stance, similar to those performing Iaijutsu (Drawing Arts). With his sword sheathed on his right hip, the young man hovers his left hand over the handle of his blade and closes his eyes. Time seems to have been slowing down for everyone, as they feel that, even if his eyes were closed, the young man would accurately move to whoever made an action that he deems as an act of aggression.
A Bushi that was wearing higher quality clothing compared to the rest saw this and his eyes widened a bit after he sees Sora's stance. 'This guy…knows kenjutsu? (Sword Arts)'
(A/N: I just made iaijutsu as a sub-class of kenjutsu since it means sword arts, so it makes it very vague. Hopefully, no one gets offended and if I did, please help me fix my mistake. Thanksuu~)
The status quo remained like that for a few more minutes, with the tension rising the more time passed. Finally, someone couldn't take it anymore and tried to dissolve this current situation, and this person was Kenshou.
"That's enough! All of you put down your guns!" looking at his Bushi, Kenshou was a bit flabbergasted. 'Were they this cowardly?' As a lord, he of course knew the importance of the soldier's morale. And his aren't exactly in the best of shapes. His men then reluctantly followed his order, while still looking at Sora and Durandal that were still trying to protect the naked running man with hate and discontent.
"Oho? You're not satisfied with this outcome? Do you want to kill me? Do you want to have your way with my companion? Go on then, TRY IT! Let's see you lose those cowardly selves of yours, and truly fight for what you want!" seeing the unwilling expressions of the men in front of him, Sora decided to play another game with them. Hearing the young man taunting and baiting them into attacking him, the Bushi, who were also proud people, did their very best to hold themselves back; their grip on their guns becoming very hard, and sounds of teeth grinding can be heard from some of them.
Waiting for some time in vain, Sora didn't get the kind of reactions that he wanted, but he did sow the seeds for the future, and he'll be looking forward to it. For now, he'll just play along. "Tsk, as expected, you all don't live up to your motto. What was it again? 'Rokkon Shojo'? This seriously does not fit your current situation." The young man, Sora, swept his gaze to everyone present, who also listened to him attentively since this was related to their goal, which was to rid the country of Kabane.
"You say you cut off your emotions, yet here you are, feeling anger towards me. You say you purify yourself of negative feelings, yet all of you, live in fear. You say you are of the living, yet you are all like the Kabane. Do you want to know why?"
…
"You are only existing; and your hearts are caged within a layer of fear."
Everyone, other than Durandal and Shimon, who looked dangerously at Sora, looked down and clenched their fists. No matter what they may say, the young man before them was correct. But who could blame them? They can act as if 'they' aren't around, go about their daily lives; but they still feel fear. Fear that, any moment, those walls and gates would be breached; and a sea of Kabane would come in, killing everyone that they love and know.
The girl that was with Shimon was also affected with Sora's speech, albeit not too much. She felt fear for another reason, but she wasn't too afraid of the Kabane, so she wasn't a coward like everyone else here, other than these two foreigners.
"Phew, well that took a lot out from me. I'm quite famished now, what say you, Lord Yomokawa?" acting as if he was very hungry, Sora diffused the tense atmosphere and gave the lord a way out.
"Ahh, of course. We have refreshments ready at our mansion. Please follow me. As for that steam smith…Lock him up along with that runner. A few days in jail ought to cool their heads, and keep a close eye on that man." And with that, the young man with glasses and the naked running man were both taken away together, and everyone else did their respective work.
The group of Sora also went about on their way, towards the mansion of this Station's lord.
Whew, I probably won't be able to write 2 more chaps, so here's a 5k word one. Seriously, I went plus-ultra. Next would be the Husoujou filled with Kabanes and the grand escape! Stay safe ya'll!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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