Tenmaru walked inside the Elder’s house. Everyone became silent and looked out.

"Master Ginro... Hah..." Tenmaru’s shoulder’s went up and down because of his uneven breath. "I finally found you. Please... I can..."

The young man fell down due to exhaustion. A wind swept over the room as Carter left his position in a blur and caught Tenmaru.

He gently placed Tenmaru down on the ground. Carter checked the wounds on the young man’s body.

"His wounds opened up. Do we have a healer in the village, Elder?"

Bunzo shook his head. "Only the near Sado Village has a healer. But that place is at least one day journey from here."

"Hmm. That shouldn’t be too long for me. Point me to its direction."

The Elder walked Carter outside and pointed to the direction of Sado Village. Thick red aura wrapped around Carter as he disappeared in the distance with Tenmaru on his shoulder.

"Master Ginro is really a kind man. He stopped his feast just to save that guy."

"Who is he anyway? He looks like a noble."

The villagers talked among themselves.

"We can ask him once he returned. Now. Let’s clean up the mess." The Elder said.

One day journey as a Mortal was only half an hour for Carter. He could even go faster but he kept his speed low to ensure Tenmaru’s wound would not worsen.

Sado Village was a slightly bigger town compared to Sabaku. It had a proper wooden walls running around the border of the village.

Carter approached the gate and was stopped by two armored guards.

"Stop right there! Who are you?"

"Ginro Musashi. I’m from Sabaku Village. This man needs a healer."

The two guards looked at each other. "We will need to ask permission from the Elder. There’s a bandit group on Iwama Mountain. We need to make sure you’re not one of them."

"I’m not one of them. They will never cause trouble ever again."

"Why?"

"I killed them all. You can send someone on the mountain to check."

"May I ask if you’re an Awaken?"

As soon as Carter heard that, he blasted the red aura out of his body. The two guards jerked back then immediately bowed.

"Please accept our apology. Right this way, Master!"

One of the guards led Carter inside. People on the street noticed him right away. Silver hair. Large stature. And the unique white Gi that not a lot of Awaken wore.

Sado Village took care of him and Tenmaru with great hospitality once they knew he was an Awaken. A healer was assigned to Tenmaru. She was a middle-aged woman.

Carter waited outside Tenmaru’s room. He knelt on the ground and closed his eyes, pretending like he was meditating.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Carter opened his eyes.

In front of him was a middle-aged man around his thirties.

"I’m the Sado Village’s Elder. You must be Master Ginro?"

"I am." Carter nodded. He could sense power within this Elder. He was also an Awaken and slightly more powerful than Bunzo.

"I am Nashimoto Hideo. Pleasure to meet you." The man bowed and so did Carter.

"I heard you wiped the Iwama Bandits?"

"That’s correct."

"I see. I already sent my men to verify this. If you really did it, we owe you great thanks, Master Ginro."

"I only did what was necessary."

"Still. You can’t deny that it helped us. Please follow me, Master Ginro. I have already arranged a suitable guesthouse for you."

"I have to stay here and make sure Tenmaru is safe."

"He’s family?"

"Just someone I saved from the bandit camp."

"Oh?" That sentence alone told Hideo many things. One of them was that this man could be trusted. But first, he still needed to verify whether this man was telling the truth.

The night passed calmly and sunlight pierced into the room. Tenmaru slept until noon. His body ached and he woke up.

He looked around and found himself in another unfamiliar place. This unfamiliar feeling had become quite familiar recently. He had been waking up in many strange places in a short amount of time.

"Awake?" Carter said.

"Master Ginro!" Tenmaru wanted to get up but his body screamed of pain.

"Stay down. Your wounds opened up. They spent quite a lot of time to stitch it close again."

Tenmaru nodded and lay down. But his eyes never left Carter.

"Master Ginro, I..."

Carter raised a hand to stop him. "Rest. We can talk more once you’re healthier."

The silver-haired man stood up and left the room, leaving Tenmaru with his own thoughts.

’He saved me again. And he’s strong too. This is Fate. I must ask him for help.’

The men Hideo sent returned earlier and reported the scene back to him.

"That place is ravaged, Elder. It felt like a beast had killed them all."

Hideo rubbed his chin slowly, "He did tell the truth. Bring me the village chest."

"What are we doing, Elder?"

"Killing all those bandits proved he was a capable Awaken. Even more powerful than me. People like him doesn’t need money. But we can give him a good impression at least."

Carter stayed at the guesthouse of Sado Village. Hideo came over and thanked him for killing the bandits. He also gave him a little bit of coins. Carter didn’t refuse it again because the people here seem to see it as dishonorable.

They stayed at Sado Village for a few days before Tenmaru came to see him again.

Tenmaru dropped down on his knees with his head on the floor.

"You don’t need to do this, Shinka Tenmaru."

"Please accept me as your student, Master Ginro! I beg of you. I swear that I have a good reason for it."

"Swearing means nothing, Tenmaru. You can force Fate going your way."

The room fell into silence. Tenmaru heard Carter slowly sipped the teacup.

"I will kneel here until you change your mind, Master Ginro."

"That is no need. I already know you have resolve in you. But the relationship of Master and Student is a sacred one. I can teach you if you can do something for me."

"Please tell me!" Tenmaru lifted his head up with joy.

"There will be a woman. A young woman that arrives in Arashi. She will bring the gods with her. Her Fate is to spread the will of these gods to Arashi. She’s out there somewhere. If you can find her and help her in this quest, I will take you as my student."