"Thank you very much for saving us."
The blonde young woman bowed respectfully before Thorn, and every warrior behind her followed with almost perfect synchronization. They had all understood that the one who had annihilated the entire Puppet Army and saved them from certain death was the mysterious young man standing before them . the stranger who had suddenly emerged from the trees.
"Don't mention it. I acted of my own accord."
Thorn replied with equal courtesy. He then turned toward the group of warriors whom he had forcibly pulled out of the battlefield and said with sincere apology,
"I'm sorry for pulling you into the air like that."
They immediately bowed to him once more, smiling awkwardly.
"No, sir. We should be the ones apologizing for failing to respond to your warning in time."
Their words carried genuine embarrassment. They now understood that their delayed reaction would have cost them their lives had Thorn not intervened so quickly.
A short while later, after they had persistently invited Thorn to their village, he found himself seated in a large reception hall reserved for important guests. A traditional low table stood before him, while the warriors who had fought alongside one another only moments earlier sat around him.
The blonde woman, named Shinji, spoke with obvious sadness reflected across her face.
"I've heard that many villages and towns have already been destroyed."
A heavy silence settled over the room, each person carrying the weight of everything they already knew about the devastation spreading across the land. Then one of the older warriors a man who appeared to be in his forties, his stern features weathered by years of hardship . spoke.
"Takumi... you bastard! How could you bring about so many tragedies?"
The words escaped him instinctively, filled with accumulated anger. Realizing what he had just blurted out in front of a guest, he quickly added,
"Ah... forgive me."
Then he muttered to himself so quietly that he was almost inaudible.
"Looks like I was thinking out loud."
Shinji sighed sadly as she glanced toward her uncle, who had spoken without meaning to. She then turned toward Thorn and spoke in a calm voice.
"Actually, sir..."
Thorn gently interrupted her by slightly raising one hand.
"You don't have to call me 'sir.' My name is Ryūkoga Thorn."
The young woman smiled briefly before giving a slight bow.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ryūkoga."
She then continued,
"My name is Shinji Hinako."
"The pleasure is mine, Miss Shinji."
Thorn replied with the same level of courtesy, his voice calm and composed.
After a brief silence, Hinako resumed speaking in a much more serious tone.
"Actually... the person responsible for all of this is someone from our village named Takumi."
Thorn remained silent, listening with complete attention. Although he already knew much of the story from what his father had told him before his journey began, he allowed her to explain everything from her own perspective. After all, the villagers themselves might know important details his father had never mentioned.
Hinako continued, her voice heavy with sorrow.
"It seems he came into contact with an incredibly evil entity. That being completely took control of him, and now it's trying to destroy the world through him."
Her words carried the weight of someone who had known Takumi since childhood, only to watch him suddenly become an instrument of destruction that brought ruin upon everyone around him without distinction.
Thorn remained silent for a moment. Just as he was about to ask more detailed questions, he suddenly heard a message transmitted directly into his ear from his father.
Dan instructed him to teach the young woman before him .Shinji Hinako a portion of the Walt Family's Fūinjutsu techniques and help her seal the creature controlling Takumi. However, she was not to rely on her village's own sealing methods, because using those techniques would require splitting the demon apart. Instead, Thorn was to teach her some of the Walt Family's advanced sealing and restraint techniques.
Those instructions carried profound meaning for Thorn. His father was not simply asking him to lend a helping hand . he was asking him to reveal part of the family's closely guarded secrets to a girl he had only known for a few hours. That could only mean Dan considered this situation important enough to justify such openness, or perhaps he had recognized something exceptional within Shinji herself.
Thorn let out a quiet sigh as he reflected on the new instructions he had just received and what they implied for the course of his journey.
"It looks like I'll be staying here for quite some time."
There was quiet acceptance in that thought. He knew his father's orders were never given without careful calculation of every possible consequence. If Dan wanted him to teach this girl part of the family's techniques, then the coming battle against the evil entity possessing Takumi would be far more complicated than it had first appeared, and Thorn's role would extend well beyond merely destroying scattered stone puppets . it would also include training her and her companions.
He looked toward Shinji, deciding that before beginning the training his father had entrusted to him, he would first seek to understand the true nature of the evil entity in greater depth.
Thus began the next stage of his journey in this remote village.
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