Nightly Killing [JOB/TENMA]

Job Details:

Items:

It felt like an earlier day than it was. Overcast the clouds surfed the skies with a nonchalant attitude, barely guarding the sun's bright spring rays from beaming down onto the village below. What sounded like morning birds chirped soundly without worry, an early sort of mist still leaving the air slightly damp and humid likely from mild sprinkles from the day before. By all means had no one been told, one would assume the day had just began, the village awakening from its slumber to become alive anew for the day.

It was not so. The reality was far from the cover of the book. Silence, at least from human cause, dreaded the ambiance. What should have been a bustling and hustling day was not so, instead the clammer of humanity took a step back as nature filled the empty void. There was a certain stench of fear which permeated throughout the place, something which was eerie considering the otherwise peaceful atmosphere.

A lone warrior treaded the streets, cutting through the open space not like a knife, but like a spear, walking forward with nothing but his swords by his side, and a hat to hide his face. By all accounts he was an open target, purposeful in that regard.

The village was afraid, afraid by the aftermath of the Kou Civil War. Bandits, gangsters, hooligans, they were all left to run amok as the nation was left to regather itself. The area was mostly poor, almost rural in comparison to the grand capital city. Many residents here were nothing but farmers, not warriors. Unfortunately, that meant they were prime targets for the lawless that preyed upon the weak, the impoverished people that had been overlooked by their government.

A rustle caught his attention, and then a branch snapped as he stopped in his footsteps. "Well that didn't take long now did it?" He spun around to point his blade at the villain who dared to confront him. Instead, Yushin quickly understood his mistake. It was no gangster that stood in his path... it was a friend.

WC: 348/1500

Weapon:

“So General, do you think we can take a look for a bit there?” A soldier spoke to Tenma as he sat on the porch with his morning tea while holding several reports. This soldier acted more like the one eyed man’s secretary nowadays as he was the one who always delivered the reports to Tenma, like every single day. The young soldier looked impatient as the Left Dragon General surely took his time to carefully sip his tea, “What do you say about this, Great General? It’s not good because people are afraid and y--” The poor soldier was surprised and stopped his words as Tenma suddenly put his tea mug and stood up. He couldn’t interpret the expression that his general had at the moment and he had mixed feeling, slightly afraid of offending him.

“I’m surprised you forgot that I’m not fond of being called as Great General, Chun Ming.” The swordsman beamed a bright smile towards the soldier, but the latter knew this was a bad kind of smile. “I apologize, General, please forgi—“  Chun Ming was startled when Tenma interrupted his words with a chuckle, implying that the General was just joking around this whole time. “I’m just kidding, Chun Ming. So you said a local gang has appeared and is killing citizens every night? Hmm…” The raven haired man paused a bit as he put his finger to his chin, he thought that it wouldn’t be wise to send some soldiers to investigate at the moment.

“I will personally do this mission then, I have to see the situation as it could affect the morale in that area. Also ask 4 soldiers to assist me, tell them to dress casually and bring small weapons that can be hidden under their clothes.” Tenma would gave order to Chun Ming, but before the latter walked far, he would add some more thing, “Oh and 5 horses too, we have to reach the village as soon as we can.”

It wouldn’t be wise to bring a lot of soldiers into that village, not with terror happening at the moment, it would cause more morale damage to the villagers. Yes it might seemed better if soldier came to arrest the gang quickly, but it wouldn’t guarantee that there wouldn’t be another vicious gang like that appearing. Someone had to try and talk to them, if possible, Tenma could try to understand why they did it… although he could already guess the reason why.

At the village, the swordsman would look around while walking in his yukata. His Katana was hanging from the sash around his waist, making people feeling a little bit insecure because of that. But that was the reaction Tenma had expected and luckily the soldiers he brought was able to blend in with the other villagers. The horses they released in the middle of their way should be on their way back by now though, it was necessary to not bring horses to the village if they want to investigate the situation thoroughly. If they were seen riding horses then the villagers would be suspicious since it’s not common, not to mention that the state of this village were not good because they suffered a lot of damage from the civil war…

Fortunately for Tenma, his golden eye noticed someone that he knew, a comrade from the past. It has been a really long time since they did missions together and the swordsman wondered where he had been after all this time. “Still the same as usual, aren’t you, old friend?” Tenma beamed Yushin with a bright smile, not really surprised with the sword pointing right at him.

WC: 615/1500

"I don't know about that. I think I grew a bit don't you think?" He loosened his grip, returning Tenma's smile as he quickly sheathed his weapon. "Sorry about that. I can't really let my guard down given the circumstances, but I'm sure you already knew that, and not because that's how I usually am." His eyes darted around the village for a moment. If Tenma were here, then he could only make the assumption that there was a precise reason for it. This was a beat down run of the mill village after all. It wasn't exactly the ideal vacation spot for travelers... but by the looks of things.

"You on the other hand look like you've upgraded." Yushin saidwhile eyeing his friend with an inspective glance. In the amount of time they had been away, Tenma has gained a newfound aura that far exceeded Yushin's expectations. Given how not too long ago they had been on equal footing, Tenma had clearly put in some work while Yushin worked recon. That was the difference between their work it would appear.

There was a certain regality to Tenma's deceptive calm demeanor. Although his attitude was more or less recognizable, his status on the other hand was not. "And I'm not talking just about your skills Tenma. You're here on some kind of official business aren't you? I can tell. You've even brought backup..." He was cautious with that last part. It wouldn't be good to expose the fact that Tenma had brought soldiers with him. Nonetheless, perceptiveness was a honed talent of the Uncrowned Prince. It had to be given his line of work. But even more so it was something that he had always possessed to some degree. He just had to flesh it out over time.

Stepping up Yushin gave Tenma a firm slap on the back. "It's good to see you old friend. I'd love to grab a drink with you after all this is over. Because, you and I both know why you're here."

WC: 691/1500

The swordsman chuckled as Yushin apologized for being too cautious, something that Tenma understood very well especially when he was taking a walk in this kind of village. He wondered how his former companion ended up wandering here though, but Tenma thought that it would make things become more complicated if he tried to find out at the moment. Tenma could only thing that Yushin might be here for some mercenary business, hopefully… But now that they met, probably Tenma could use Yushin’s help to clear this mission.

“Hm? Like how?” The one eyed man raised his eyebrow, although his signature smile was still attached on his lips, wanting a more elaborate explanation to Yushin’s remark about how Tenma had upgraded himself. Well with everything that had happened after both of them parted ways, perhaps such things were to be expected. The war was pretty intense and he did really worked really hard for that, he almost didn’t have the time to slack off and get a refreshing drink for himself. That also reminded him… he hadn’t seen his sister after the war ended… perhaps he should give her a visit to see how she was doing later after he finished his business here.

Yushin was sharp as usual, when he gave another remarks on how Tenma had upgrade, he mentioned how the one eyed man was here for some kind of official business and how he even brought back up, even though they were blending pretty well with the villagers and didn’t wear any soldier equiptment. Oh well, if he saw that way, then Tenma couldn’t really say anything about it. “Not really an official business, but more like a request for us.” The swordsman chuckled, “I’m starting this small mercenary group and I brought some of my companion with me, but yeah… you could tell what is happening.” It wouldn’t matter whether Yushin would believe Tenma’s lie or not, he could only hope the white haired man in front of him wouldn’t pry more about this matter.

And as usual, his slap on the back felt firm, but Tenma could only slap his back in return to remind him of their old days. “Well, it’s good to see you as well. We can work together of you are okay with it.” The one eyed man would then bring his face closer to Yushin, close enough to send him a whisper. “Of course you knew what is happening at the moment, we can meet again in the town square right after the sun set.” After he finished his whisper, he would took a step back, “Or we could get some edible stuff together until dusk?” Tenma asked with a big smile.

WC: 1066/1500