For an hour, the journey was a dream of smooth marble roads and the scent of
blooming jasmine. Jee-shahn was back in his element—which is to say, he was
horizontally motionless, eyes closed, letting the vibrations of the road act as a
massage for his "Cosmic Sloth" cultivation.
Then, the world jerked.
The carriage didn't just slow down; it came to a dead, sudden halt that sent Aiko's
new hat flying and caused Yui to nearly drop Silver the eagle. The peaceful humming
of the wheels was replaced by the sharp, metallic ring of a blade being drawn.
Jee-shahn's eyes didn't snap open; they sluggishly dragged themselves upward.
"Sora," he rumbled, his voice thick with the irritation of a disturbed predator. "Did we
hit a very large, very inconvenient mountain? Or is the road protesting my presence?"
From the roof, Sora peered down over the edge, a grin splitting his face. "Neither,
Master! A lady has decided to stand in our way. She's currently pointing a very sharp
sword at our driver's throat. It's quite the 'Southern Welcome.'"
"Interesting," Jee-shahn muttered. He slowly sat up, his hair a silver mess that looked
like a thunderstorm, and poked his head out of the window.
Standing in the center of the sun-drenched road was a girl with hair like liquid
moonlight—Shizuka. She looked exhausted, her clothes dusty from travel, but her
grip on her katana was steady and lethal.
"Hey," Jee-shahn called out, squinting against the glare. "You're blocking the path to
my next nap. Is this part of the 'Beauty and Love' package Virellia promised, or are
you just a very pretty statue?"
Shizuka didn't flinch. Her golden eyes locked onto Jee-shahn's azure ones. "Give me
whatever you have that's edible or drinkable. Give it now, or I'll kill you and take it
myself. The choice is yours, big man."
The Silver Sword Girl
On the roof, Sora and Ryuki burst into laughter. Sora clapped his hands, leaning
toward the window. "Master! She sounds just like Lupa! Don't you think she has that
same 'bite-your-head-of' energy?"Inside the carriage, Lupa's silver hair practically bristled. "She is nothing like me!"
she snapped, her hand instinctively going to her own weapon.
"Calm down, Silver Girl 1," Jee-shahn drawled, turning his focus back to the stranger.
He leaned his elbow on the window frame and gave Shizuka a sharp, lazy look. "And
as for you, Silver Girl 2—or maybe 'Silver Sword Girl'—I'm far too tired to play the
victim. So, I'll give you two options instead."
He held up two fingers, a mocking chuckle vibrating in his chest. "First: Try to kill us.
I'd love to see how you handle a blade before you die. Second: Tell me your problem. I
like interesting stories, and you look like you're carrying a heavy one."
Shizuka stared into those terrifying azure eyes for a long moment. The sheer gravity
of Jee-shahn's presence seemed to push against her, forcing her to realize she was
threatening a hurricane with a toothpick. She slowly sheathed her sword with a
rhythmic click.
"If you saw my brothers, you'd know," she said, her voice finally cracking. She looked
down at the two men who collapsed on the road behind her—Nogi and Masaru. They
were pale, motionless, and looked like they hadn't seen a meal in a week. "They
haven't eaten in days. They... they fainted right there on the road."
The Mercy of the Monster
Jee-shahn looked at the two bodies on the ground and blinked. "I thought those were
corpses," he said bluntly.
"I also thought they were decorations, Master!" Sora added from the roof, unbothered.
"They aren't corpses!" Shizuka shouted, her pride finally breaking as she fell to her
knees beside her brothers. "Please... help them."
The "Monster" looked at the girl kneeling in the dust. To Yui's absolute shock,
Jee-shahn didn't mock her. He didn't erase her. He just let out a long, dramatic sigh of
defeat.
"Sora," Jee-shahn commanded. "If you have anything in that hoard of yours that won't
kill a normal human, give it to them. And find some wine. If they're going to block my
road, the least they can do is be conscious enough to move."
"Yes, Master!" Sora replied, already digging into the supplies.