Chapter 59 Momentous Introduction

After a "refreshing" bath, Shizu and Azi now sat on a large couch with Kajima who had the new residents of the house taking a seat on the other couch in the living room.

On it, sitting from left to right was Rulu, Nosuri and Ougi. They all looked on with wry and awkward smiles as they witnessed the eye-catching event in front of them.

In front of them sat Shizu, Kajima, and Azi on the couch opposite to them, but Azi was not sitting on the couch. Instead, he was sitting in Shizu's lap as she cuddled him from behind.

Azi was slumped back into Shizu's embrace like a worn-out doll. He looked as if he was in utter defeat and Rulu swore she could see a wispy ghost somewhat floating out from his mouth.

His embarrassment was also very much visible to everyone as the steam that emanated from his head was not a product of the hot bath.

Rulu and the others could only wonder what Shizu had put the small boy through to bring him so low and defeated. Rulu's thoughts began to wander as her cheeks began to turn rosy red as she mumbled unintelligent words to herself.

Nosuri, who was beside Rulu, could overhear what Rulu was saying which caused her face to flush a bit. Annoyed by Shizu's antics, Kajima coughed to get everyone's attention and spoke first.

"Well! Let's get introductions in order. First off, I am Kajima and I am a blacksmith. The two passionate idiots next to me are Lady Shizu Ordain Knight of Kujyuri and her apprentice Azi Montagne. The boy is also my apprentice blacksmith."

Snapping back to attention, Nosuri spoke up on behalf of herself and her brother.

"I am Nosuri and this is my brother Ougi. We are both from Izuru and currently work as mercenaries. We were tasked by Ozen to aid in Rulu's travel to Shisayama and have been given orders by King Ozen to serve under Lady Shizu during Rulu's time in Shisayama."

Turning her head up from Azi's freshly cleaned head of hair, Shizu greeted them.

"It is nice to meet you and I am glad to have such capable fighters on my side."

"The pleasure is all mine. I am glad to be working alongside the Man Killer of Kujyuri."

An audible snapping sound could be heard by everyone, but this went unnoticed by Nosuri who had stood up and offered her hand out for a handshake. Shizu's eyes narrowed and she "graciously" accepted Nosuri's hand with a firm grip.

Feeling the increasing strength of Shizu's grip, Nosuri began to sweat as she noticed the evil smile that Shizu was now giving her. Nosuri winced as she began to feel a sharp pain from her outstretched hand. This was broken by a slight chuckle from Azi, which prompted Shizu to hug him tighter with her other arm.

Azi chuckling began to turn into short gasps of air as he felt as if the air from his lungs were being squeezed out of him. Tapping Shizu's arm in surrender, she acquiesced and returned a more natural smile to Nosuri while letting up on her grasp on Azi's diaphragm.

After letting go of Nosuri's hand, Shizu began whispering into Azi's ear in a soft tone that only Kajima could hear.

Azi's face began to pale which then made him suddenly sit up straight in her lap. Shizu petted him on the head in response to his curt actions, which prompted Kajima to sigh wryly.

Rulu, a bit confused by Azi's action, nonetheless spoke up and was the last to introduce herself. She did so hesitantly as she felt a bit uncomfortable by the current situation.

"umm Hello I am Rulu, youngest daughter to King Ozen." After bowing her head she then turned her attention to Shizu and asked. "Ummm Shizu? Just who is this child? You said he is your apprentice, but I find that hard to believe."

Feeling as if he took critical damage to his soul, Azi's once firm posture immediately crumbled as he felt his pride shatter. As if deflating like a balloon, Azi slumped his shoulders and leaned back into Shizu's chest for comfort.

A depressed atmosphere began to emanate from him as a few tears began to fall from his eyes which caused Kajima and Shizu to start laughing in raucous laughter.

"Hahaha, hear that Shizu! Azi is a child. Hahaha!"

"Well he does act like one from time to time! Hahaha!"

Confused by the turn of events, Rulu noticed how Azi was feeling uncomfortable and attempted to stop the two from continuing their laughter.

"Umm I don't get it, but I don't think it's nice to laugh at a crying child."

"Yes I agree as well." Added Nosuri.

"Indeed, he is quite the child." Added Ougi, who had a knowing smile on his face.

Taking a triple hit combo to his pride, Azi could swear that he was dead at this point but could still feel the pain in his heart which meant to his unfortunate fate that he was still alive.

Somewhat recomposing herself to speak through her laughter, Shizu informed them.

"You are mistaken Rulu. Azi is actually older than me. Even though he looks like a child, in truth he is 27 years old."

This revelation caused Rulu to apologize reverently, which helped to mend Azi's broken pride.

Nosuri, on the other hand, was trying to play it off as if she knew the whole time but was unconvincing due to the slight laughter of guilt she uttered as she spoke.

Ougi was unaffected and instead looked on in amusement at the reactions of the two women.

When everyone was able to calm down, Kajima continued the conversation. They discussed about Shizu's role in Shisayama as Azi's combat instructor, her role in the village activities such as the village watch, Kajima's work as a blacksmith, and about Azi's situation about having amnesia.

They then discussed about lodging in Kajima's house which prompted Kajima to explain.

"So for now, we have two spare rooms available. One is being used to store Shizu's luggage but we can move it to Azi's since they can share a room. Nosuri and Ougi will take one room and Rulu will take the other with Yashimu."

Everyone nodded in agreement, but Rulu was apprehensive about the fact that Shizu and Azi would be sharing a room but held her comment for a later date.

Kajima continued. "Azi, I can tell by how you look but you are still recovering from your fever from the expedition. I'll have Elder Sung come and take a look at you. You also have a meeting with Ben and Bail, so expect to see them in the future."

"Why? Is it about more commissions I can take?" Asked Azi.

"No, they wanted to talk to you about that little project you were working on."

"Alright, but should I really be going into town when I am still recovering?"

"That's why I told them to come by in the next couple days to meet you. For now, take it easy this month, that means no training or blacksmithing. After your stunt in the forge and the expedition, you need a long break. This is my order to you as your teacher."

Kajima sternly warned Azi as he directed an intense stare at him to get his point across.

Azi could only accept his Teacher's orders as he sighed in disappointment. He had planned to work on some tools he had in mind but now had to wait a month to make them. Seeing that Azi nodded in understanding, Kajima nodded and started informing the rest of the group of today's plans.

He tasked Shizu to tuck Azi in bed and then to go help Rulu move her luggage into her room. He ordered Nosuri and Ougi to move Shizu's possessions into Azi's room and to ask for additional instructions from Shizu. After everyone nodded in agreement, Kajima stood up from the couch and headed to the workshop to catch up on his work.

Everyone else around the wooden table followed, but Shizu suddenly picked Azi up in a princess carry which made him retort.

"Shizu? I can walk on my own, you know."

"Nope."

Sighing deeply and just accepted her help to get situated in his bed. Rulu followed behind with a wry expression while Nosuri and Ougi moved over to the adjacent room and began moving over Shizu's luggage.

After moving Shizu's and Rulu's luggage around, they did the same for Nosuri and Ougi but they had little luggage.

Since there was still time in the day, Rulu began cleaning the house and Shizu, who was followed by Nosuri and Ougi, had gone into the village to see Yashimu and her 4 younger brothers.

Azi was left alone in his room with a cooling towel on his head as he rested to recover from his mild fever.

As he continued to rest in bed with his eyes closed in an attempt to sleep, he felt as if he was in a similar situation like this before.

Suddenly, Azi felt a slight headache as memories he did know he had begun to resurface.

His vision was filled with the scenery of the room that felt familiar to him and when he looked at his hands in his memory, they were much smaller than normal. From this he could tell that this was likely a memory from his childhood.

The softness of the bed on his back was comforting and he could remember the smell of hot chicken soup. He could then hear a concerned voice talking to him.

"Don't worry, You'll be fine. I'm here for you."

The voice was reassuring and soft which made Azi feel as if his fever was slowly dissipating. The memory felt like it had passed for hours from Azi's perspective. The smell of hot soup kept him company as the voice continued to talk to him as he slept.

He wished that this sensation would last forever, but the sudden sound of trickling water broke Azi from the recollection of his memory. Opening his eyes, he could see that the room was darker than when he last saw it. To his left he saw Rulu, who was squeezing out a towel to replace the one on his head.

Noticing that he was awakened by her actions, Rulu apologized and moved to replace the towel on Azi's head.

"I'm sorry for waking you. Tell me, how do you feel?"

Azi took a moment to center himself and felt that his fever had gone down. The sluggish feeling he had before was gone so he smiled and answered as Rulu placed the new cooling towel on his head.

"A bit better. Have you been replacing my towel?"

"Yes, I finished cleaning the house, so I wanted to make sure you were okay. I also wanted to apologize for my rudeness earlier today."

"Thank you for your help and don't worry, I forgive you. That misunderstanding happens a lot, it's just that Shizu had really drained me of my energy that I could not really handle that hit to my pride. But nonetheless, I don't blame you."

To Azi's statement, Rulu sighed in relief, she then heard a growling from Azi's stomach which made him blush a bit. Rulu placated him with a smile, and she remembered that dinner would be ready soon.

Getting up to her feet, she informed him before moving to exit the room.

"I must help Kajima with dinner. Please, come down for dinner in a few minutes."

Azi gave an affirmative nod which prompted Rulu to leave, Azi then thought to himself.

'So this is Shizu's little sister. I was expecting a more warrior-like personality but she seems more timid but diligent in her work.'

As her feathery dress flustered a bit by her quick movements and Azi felt as if he saw her before. He thought back and remembered a visual novel he remembered playing.

For the first time, he could remember a name from his past. It was of a character from the visual novel and what befuddled him was how similar but different the name and appearance were to Rulu but shaking off the incongruity he just chalked it up to coincidence.