Chapter 6: Meeting and Reminiscence

-Two days after the incident-

Kiyoto is now fully healed with the help of Mylene's strict care. He might not be able to consume medications, but Mylene has been a great help with Kiyoto's physical health. Well of course there will be some awkward moments whenever Kiyoto needs to take off his clothes for check-ups and application of bandages.

With the incident totally wrapped up, the meeting regarding the [Scythes] and the future plan of the [Swords] are currently being held in Akafuyu's chambers. The meeting is composed of their organization's officers along with their aides, dispatch members….and a clueless Kiyoto.

"....."

Why did he end up here? As soon as word gets out that a newbie took on a strong member of the opposing side, and what's more is that this newbie seems to be unfamiliar with him, Commander Gwyn personally requested for this newbie to attend the meeting. To add more to his lingering curiosity, Commander Gwyn has the same expression like the others who met Kiyoto for the first time: 'What kind of mask is that'

Everyone in the room is looking at Kiyoto with curious eyes with the exception of the individuals who already met him and know about his story. Main reason is that they're pondering 'why is this man wearing his mask inside their Ruler's chambers and does he even have permission to do so.'

Kiyoto thought to himself: 'I think I'm gonna melt with those stares…'

With a clasp of her hands, Akafuyu got everyone's attention. Right now, she is wearing an expression and aura fit for a Supreme Commander. Before beginning, she requested everyone in the room to be seated first.

"I think everyone here in this room is already aware about the purpose of this meeting, but let me walk it through again. In this time of peace, a certain organization calling themselves [Scythes] are beginning to rise and they relayed their goal clearly: to replace the [Swords]."

Akafuyu takes a glance at everyone's reaction, and they all seem to be on the same page. Confirming this, she continued.

"Following the incident from the last two days, we managed to capture a lot of their members along with an officer who we questioned, but no one seems to be giving out any information."

Gwyn raised his hands, which Akafuyu acknowledged by nodding at him. He then proceeds to stand up with a serious look on his face. For more information, the Elder mentioned at the previous Chapter is Gwyn himself.

"I apologize in advance and pardon me for what I'm about to share with you, Lord Akafuyu."

Akafuyu's eyes slightly widened after hearing Gwyn's statement.

"Contrary to what you have said, I have squeezed out some necessary information regarding their organization after I questioned the officer I brought in. With my own methods." Gwyn shuts his eyes for a brief moment whilst doing a low bow towards Akafuyu as he knows that she is against…forceful methods.

"But nevertheless, I think it will greatly help us in repelling this rebellion." Gwyn added as he pulled his head back after bowing.

"Gwyn, you…." Akafuyu can't seem to find a word to retort.

Everyone in the room is thinking the same thing, it might not be written in the rules, but forceful methods are not Akafuyu's way. It might be seen as weakness or naivety, but for her people, it only shows how kind-hearted and fair of a Ruler Akafuyu truly is. After all, she is a Ruler who only wants her people to be at peace.

"Fret not, Lord Akafuyu. I took responsibility and kept your name out of it while dealing with the prisoner."

"That's not it, Gwyn! One violence and a forceful one at that will bear fruit for more violence…I don't want you walking that path."

"....."

Gwyn was speechless. No one really knows what he is thinking right now but anyone can tell that he's not just backing off from what he did.

"Let's move forward. Stay after this meeting Gwyn, we need to talk…"

Gwyn nodded in response. He then continued to share what he had learned:

"I'll continue then. The [Scythes] are composed of members hailing from different places. There are also locals, but the majority of them are journeymen. The origin of where they manage to get their masks is unknown even to the officers. What they only know is that the one who brought them those masks is their leader, nicknamed Orochi."

An officer butted in:

"Orochi…as in Tsukuyomi, the Serpent God of Moon? That person is claiming to be God. How imprudent."

Gwyn continued:

"It just states that the root of this so-called [Scythes] is unhinged. Although we cannot rest easy still. I also learned that they're still actively recruiting, and their officers are many in numbers."

Kiyoto remembered the day where he fought Juzo. If what Commander Gwyn tells is right, then there are more people like Juzo in their organization who are just a battle freak or straight up just violent. But this doesn't add up to the [Scythes] goal, as if they are missing something crucial about them.

"I can safely say for sure that replacing us is not the end goal of this. Their leader, Orochi, has a hidden agenda." Gwyn surmised.

The meeting held on for a while, they exchanged their thoughts and theories while Klauss served them some past-time snacks with his signature coffee. As the discussion is soon coming to a close, Gwyn finally brought up another matter at hand.

"Before it gets forgotten, I haven't seen this man yet until today."

Gwyn took a sip of Klauss's sumptuous coffee, and rests his gaze upon Kiyoto, expecting him to speak up for himself. Kiyoto on the other hand did not expect himself to be brought up in the meeting so he just had to improvise.

Kiyoto stood up from where he was sitting, stiff as a board. All the eyes staring at him as if looking at a statue does not help with his nervousness, except until he saw Mylene with expectant eyes. He took a deep breath and fixed his posture.

"Uhm…My name is Kiyoto, I have been assigned as a temporary member by Klauss-san the day when the branches got attacked…so I'm not officially a part of the organization yet. I have no recollection of my past, so I don't know where to start my introduction, but I admire the principles of the [Swords] and its people. So I want to help at least. while searching for my identity."

Mylene silently clapped as she smiled.

Klauss then stepped forward:

"Allow me to brief everyone here about this young man's special situation."

With Klauss's assistance, every officer and members inside the room finally understood what his deal was. They accepted it and moved along, meanwhile Gwyn didn't pry any further, instead he gave Kiyoto an invitation to his office once his talk with Akafuyu was done.

It took only moments after Kiyoto's introduction for the meeting to be settled. As per agreement, Gwyn stayed with Akafuyu while everyone left the room.

As they scramble through the hallway, a certain someone taps Kiyoto's stiff shoulder. It was Mylene who seems to be smiling. "Kiyoto-san! Good job back there, hehe." Mylene said so without a hint of sarcasm, meaning she is being genuine. It's as if a mother getting proud of her son after introducing himself. Kiyoto just chuckled in response while scratching the back of his head.

"Where would you go next?" Mylene asked curiously.

"Oh about that, Commander Gwyn actually invited me to his office after his talk with Miss Akafuyu. I wonder if he's about to give me some tests before granting me membership…"

Mylene seemed to be skeptical about something as she raised her brow, and surprisingly it's not about Gwyn's invitation. "Miss Akafuyu, you say." Mylene rests his gaze upon Kiyoto's masked eyes.

"Wha- sorry, I mean uhm…Lord Akafuyu." Kiyoto took a step back as he felt pressured with Mylene's stare. Although, the two seemed to be thinking differently. Kiyoto thought that his usage of Akafuyu's name with the title Miss seems to be disrespectful, and that he had to change it with what everyone's using which is 'Lord Akafuyu'. On the other hand, Mylene has a different issue with it, like she felt some…rivalry with Akafuyu of some sort.

It didn't take long for the two to just shrug off the recent 'incident' and move along. Mylene agreed to escort Kiyoto to Gwyn's office once again. Once they arrived, Mylene waved to Kiyoto since she is needed somewhere else. After waving back, Kiyoto opened the door to Gwyn's office where his aide is currently waiting for his return. Noticing Kiyoto's arrival, the aide pulls out a chair and asked for him to patiently wait for Gwyn's arrival.

-Somewhere near the borders of Akafuyu's territorial city-

A man can be seen walking out of a run-down house, without his upper clothes and stretching. It was Juzo who seemed to be doing fine already after getting beaten up two days ago. He looked up at the sky as if reminiscing about something:

We jump to the past, in a small lawless town near Hiroshima where the tyrant Shuza, the Fifth Herald, reigns supreme. It was almost near Hiroshima's border but it doesn't touch the territory so Shuza has no hold over it.

The town is nameless, but there is one name that the town is popular with due to his unstoppable violence that made every opponent of his, concede in utter defeat. That name was Zaiaku, the unrelenting. This man only relies on his own strength, he does not need any mask or external help to beat up his opponents. In fact he loves it more when his opponent is wielding a mask.

"Bhahahaha! No one?! Is there still anyone left in this town who can tame me!?" Zaiaku called out in a prideful way as he just beats up ten henchmen of a visiting journeyman. "H-hiiee!" The journeyman crawled away in fear of Zaiaku, leaving his stuff behind. Not interested in any of it, Zaiaku kicked it away and carried on with his banter.

Not long after, a masked woman approached him. She seems to be wielding a unique mask, though it's only half with an ignoble design. To clarify anyone's curiosity, the mask was indeed Nikushimi no Rensa. The masked woman is wearing a journeyman's clothing, she has a slender build and her hair is short. but she gives off an intimidating aura.

"Hey now, are you sure you wanna do this woman? I don't care about gender when fighting, you know." Zaiaku carefully approached the woman.

As soon as he is within a given range, Zaiaku notices the chains from the woman's mask moving. With regards to that, Zaiaku found himself restrained as if he's chained. "This trick-"

Before he even finish his sentence, Zaiaku felt an agonizing pressure from his stomach. The woman struck him with an attack after channeling energy from her palm and forcefully transferring it to Zaiaku's stomach.

"Gwackh!"

Zaiaku spewed out some saliva as he was thrown away like he was a piece of paper. He hit a wall causing him to get slammed against it. Not long after that, Zaiaku immediately lunged towards the masked woman with his long right hand reaching out.

As he had expected, he got restrained, but only his whole right hand. Adapting to this, Zaiaku slammed the ground to launch himself to her while his right hand was restrained in place. But it did not go as he planned, the woman elegantly spinned to elude his attack, placing herself behind Zaiaku, without wasting any moment, the woman channeled yet another energy from her palm unto Zaiaku's open back. This time the pressure seems to be stronger, and since the back is more vulnerable than the stomach, Zaiaku really felt that one.

This attack of hers causes the ground Zaiaku got slammed into, to be flattened. While the smoke of dust emanating from the ground is still there, the woman noticed a movement. As the smoke disperses, a swift right hand emerges from it. She managed to evade it by the hair but then a follow up with his other hand came, and before he knew it….Zaiaku was restrained once again.

"Tch…I can't seem to get a jump on you."

Anyone can tell that Zaiaku is currently forcing himself to stand up. He tried to fight the restraining effect of the mask but to no avail. As he looked up at the woman to tell her to finish it, Zaiaku saw the eyes of the woman who looked at him with pity or compassion. It was the first time Zaiaku was shown such expression after he walked the path of violence. He then realized, he completely lost this one.

With that, Zaiaku shuts himself up and stopped moving. Sensing that his will to fight is gone, the woman undo the restraints and walk passed by the kneeling Zaiaku.

"Get up, it's not the end of the world."

Zaiaku turned around to see the figure of the woman walking away after hearing her statement. He felt like she was trying to give her a message saying that 'It is not too late for him to change his path'. Zaiaku wryly smiled and gets up after dusting himself off. He struggled to walk but he decided to follow the woman, who in turn accepted to be followed as long as Zaiaku follows what she has to say.

This relationship will then blossom, resulting for a child to be born, named…Juzo. The story will continue after a certain chapter.