Chapter 317

Zesshi took a long time to settle down, and Brain had to wonder how many martial arts she used, when he looked back and saw how distant the town was, after worrying briefly that something or someone might interrupt them there with the racket she made. But settle down she did, and when she did, she disentangled herself from his embrace with only the softest touch to avoid injuring him again.

"Are you alright?" She asked when she saw him wince.

"Ahhh…" Brain gasped when she spoke after touching his ribs. "I think you broke some bones, but nothing that won't be cured by a few weeks of an herbal wrap, or a potion, or a spell. But I can't pay for those other things until I sell off my 'findings' at the next town. I'll be sore for a few days at least, but it's nothing I can't handle. I've been through worse. Don't worry about it." He croaked out and then sat back on his heels.

"So… now what happens? Are you leaving? Are you going to turn me in, report me for the murder of those guards… what?" Brain asked and rested his now free hands on his thighs while Zesshi sat on her heels in turn.

"I… I'll just get lost again… mess things up… by the gods I'm so… stupid. Like you said, I'm a stupid, stupid girl… I don't know what I'm doing or what's real anymore… nothing is what I thought and everything's all messed up…" Zesshi looked to and fro, then lowered her eyes to the blood stained grass.

"I shouldn't have said it that way, I'm sorry, really. You're naive, innocent, you never could have known what was going to happen." Brain offered consolation, and his arm twitched as if to raise it and touch her again, then he thought better of it and kept it still. "You're not stupid." He groused, "You're just naive and you meant well… you know better now, and won't make that mistake again. You'd be stupid if you repeated it. And who knows? Maybe by some dumb luck a few got away?" Brain tried to offer a smile, but it died after a twitch of his lips.

"I hope so." Zesshi replied with a glum voice and a frown, "But… at least tell me one thing."

"What?" Brain asked.

"Tell me your real story…" Zesshi asked of him and Brain couldn't help but laugh.

"I think I said, I was a peasant with talent, that's all. I found a sword, won a fight, left home and never looked back." Brain's smirk formed all on its own, "There's no tragic backstory of a bandit attack and my power awakening, there's no hero tutor who guided me and died saving my life. I picked up the sword and was better than everyone. The only thing to happen that was bad was one defeat at the hands of Gazef Stronoff… I set out to surpass him… joined a group of bandits that tried to rob me, took charge, and for a few years?" He asked the question rhetorically and snapped the fingers of his right hand.

"Things were great, we targeted nobles and wealthy travelers, and spent money in villages, that kept them real cooperative for a good long time, they even sheltered us a time or two, hiding us when patrols came looking. We did so well that the Six Arms made overtures to us. Then they were wiped out and I buggered the hell out of there." Brain explained and then said with a little winsome smile, "I told you, Zesshi. I'm not a good man, I'm a robber, a thief, and as you saw with those guards, a murderer. I just have standards is all, I rejected the Six Arms, and it might have come to a fight, but after they were destroyed, I ran for it alone."

"You… ran?" Zesshi asked, she struggled to wrap her head around that, looking him up and down as if seeing him for the first time.

"Yes, whoever killed Six Arms was far too strong, the bandits I was with chose not to go with me, and I'm pretty sure they're all dead now. It turned out that the Six Arms was wiped out by Momon the Black and Lupu the red-haired beauty. There's no point in losing a fight, and I was no match for that, so I made the right call." Brain explained, but to that Zesshi had to ask…

"Who are those?"

"The strongest man and woman team in the world, look I only heard a few of their feats, but when we get over the border to the Kingdom of Carne, ask about them. They're very popular out that way. So… anyway I've just been on the move ever since. I make… made a living with my sword when I could, and stole to stay alive when I couldn't. It isn't that I like stealing, I just have no other skill. I can fight, and… fight… Oh and also fight. Did I mention fighting?" He asked, cocking his head and giving her a wink.

She let out a stupid laugh that at least temporarily erased her drawn and sorrowful look.

And when her amusement died, his little sly smile did too. "So that's it, wandering ever since, on my own, like always." He said, "Till Layali, and then you."

"No comrades… ever?" She asked.

"None who stayed alive." Brain replied, "Some were glory hungry fools, and some just died heroes, and some became enemies, which has the same end. Either way, it's easier if you don't get attached."

"So… that's why you're leaving Layali somewhere? So you don't get attached to her? That's why you haven't asked me to stay when this trip is done, even though I have nowhere else to go either?" Zesshi asked, her eyes were so big and innocent that Brain could barely believe she was the one who said all that.

'Okay, so maybe she stumbled into the right conclusion.' Brain thought, but he chose not to say anything against it. Though it did briefly cause his heart to freeze in his chest. Instead he gave a phony sigh and just said, "It's what's best, I've got nothing I can offer, and by the time we get there you'll be fine on your own and know all you need to. Just let that go for now… the point is… I mean, you asked about me, that there is no point. You want to know what kind of person I really am? I'm a selfish swordsman and that's the end of it. Now you haven't answered me yet." Brain demanded, and Zesshi was quiet.

"I-I won't say anything. Nobody in this country would listen to a halfbreed anyway. Just, no more of it, alright? For the rest of the journey to Arwintar, no stealing." Zesshi asked, and Brain frowned a little.

"What I stole won't last long." He pointed out.

"I know, but it won't need to." Zesshi promised, and when Brain opened his mouth to object, she leaned forward and put a finger to his lips. "Hush. Just let me do something, something that I can't mess up."

Brain nodded, his lips rose and fell in the groove of her finger and he uttered a muffled, "Fine… now let's get back, Layali is all alone, what if she wakes up and we're not there?"

Zesshi's smirk was a source of confusion when she dropped her hand away and stood up, she held out her hand and when he took it, she helped him to his feet. "Race you back?"

"With broken ribs?" He asked.

"Don't run on them?" She suggested with a playful shrug.

He took off running in response, and Zesshi followed hot on his heels.