Completing the mission

Zero had no idea what to do with the corpse since he didn't want to go back and make it look like he died there. In the end, he decided to strip him off his clothes and let him here as food for some beasts. The clothes could be used as evidence that they have been ambushed by the mercenaries since they all wore the same clothes and if someone was to find him without his clothes, only his allies would be able to recognize he is one of them.

With everything finished here, Zero decided to go first towards the Hakurou river instead of completing his mission at Toushi. Since he was finally all alone, he could run through the forest which could save him hours of traveling.

Despite that, it still took him an hour to reach a cliff with a wide river below.

'I need to get down safely...' Zero looked around and found a way to get down relatively quickly.

*Sniff* 'It's very faint now, however, the air around here is indeed different than back on that cliff.' Zero thought and started walking along the riverside and it didn't take him too long before he found what looked like cut-off parts of the human body.

'Ugh, what a disgusting smell, that guy didn't lie to me. It must have been lying here for a few days.' Zero covered his nose and mouth with his arm before he crouched down to examine the tattered clothes lying around.

'Looks like they belonged to the Tengu mercenaries. I should look around a bit more and try to find out what exactly happened' Zero confirmed with the clothes he took from one of the mercenaries.

Zero spent an hour walking along the riverside before he came across the old shed that looked like it was going to crumble at any time. Zero put his hand on his sword before quietly approaching it, when he confirmed no person was around, he decided to take a look inside.

'Looks definitely abandoned, however...Why is the floor so soft? Water perhaps? There are also 2 spots that are relatively clean of dust as if someone was sitting here not long ago. Now the question is whether it was an ally or enemy, nevertheless, I should quickly disappear before I run into trouble. Even if it would be an ally, I won't be able to make an excuse why I haven't gone straight to Toushi town.' Zero quickly took his leave and resumed his trip to the nearest town.

He had a vague description of the person he needs to find but it won't be easy to find such a person inside a bigger town or at least he thought so...

When he arrived at the town, clothed as a regular merchant, he immediately began searching for his target, however, it didn't take him longer than half an hour before he spotted a person who was fitting the description sitting on the bench and watching passersby.

'Do I really want to do this?' Zero had some second thoughts since he had no idea what he was getting involved in. Still, he knew it was better to just complete it instead of playing dead. He would no longer be able to return to the Capital and he still wanted to have some freedom to travel.

Zero started staring at the guy with long hair and it didn't take long before their eyes met. Zero continued for a few seconds before turning around, going to some deserted alley.

When he glanced behind him, he noticed the guy stood up and started following him.

'Well, the first part was easy enough...now to convince him that I am an ally' Zero stopped when he reached the dead-end of the alley and the guy stopped a few steps right behind him.

"Are you Gozuki?" Zero asked in a quiet voice still with his back facing the guy, secretly grasping the hilt of his sword.

"...Yeah, are you a messenger?" Gozuki narrowed his eyes and as he asked, Zero felt something sharp pressing against the back of his neck.

"I am sure you have a lot of questions sir, however, our group was ambushed by a powerful enemy. Both of our commanders died and by luck, I am the only one who got out alive. Here is the message." Zero said before showing a vial in his right hand without trying to turn around.

Gozuki looked at the vial and when he noticed it wasn't damaged in any way, he took it and immediately destroyed it to reach the message inside.

"Hmm...From what I remember, there should have been 2 relatively strong figures sent with you, how come they both died? Who ambushed you?" Gozuki asked, still not withdrawing whatever was pressed to the back of Zero's neck.

"Tengu mercenaries, I took clothes from one of them as proof. Additionally...I won't lie to you, those 2 commanders were too arrogant and greedy, they underestimated our enemy and because of them, we fell into a trap." Zero explained and finally felt that Gozuki gave him some space so he turned around and took out the clothes from his bag.

'These are indeed the clothes of Tengu mercenaries, the blood hasn't dried up yet. Did they divide their forces? Still, something feels amiss about this guy, he indeed delivered the message and completed his mission but his story is fishy.' Gozuki didn't find it strange that someone was being greedy or arrogant, what bothered him is how Zero managed to survive all alone.

"Who are you?" Gozuki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Zero...of the Capital's Imperial Police." Zero replied while looking down, he was aware that Gozuki had his doubts about him. It didn't matter that he delivered the message, there were still many unanswered questions.

'...Imperial Police?' Gozuki suddenly widely smiled, finding Zero to be very interesting. He couldn't just let Zero return back since there was too much mystery around him.

"Good, I have many questions to ask you however this is not a suitable place, follow me back to the mountains."

'There is no going back now...'

"Understood, I will answer all of your questions, sir" Zero said in a polite tone while preparing to use the vial left to him by his mother in case of emergency. He had no idea how strong Gozuki is but the presence he had around him was much different from those Tengu mercenaries.

'I am sure you will. Looking at the way he talks despite being aware of the danger looming over him, he can't be a simple guard from the Capital but at the same time, I somehow doubt he lied about it either. Haha what an interesting guy, I will have one of "them" watch over his actions during our stay here.' Gozuki motioned Zero to follow him.