“What a cozy, welcoming place” Enatsu mumbled as a drop of sweat flowed over his forehead. His horse, unlike the other two, was as anxious as its master.

“It’s just a temporary stop. It’s no coincidence that we’re here. I’ve been to this place before,” Shioko affirmed. The red-haired girl walked away from her horse, approaching a corner of the room. ​​

A stone cylinder with the open end popped from the floor, attached to the wall. Like a fireplace that started from the ground, greenish abundant moss came out of the rock pores around its round ‘mouth’.

Knowing that her gestures mattered more than words, Shioko plunged an arm into that dark hole, grabbing something and pulling it up to the surface. She continued to pull an old frayed rope.

Something seemed to make noise at the end of the rope, still hidden in the darkness of that well. “The first time I entered this tower, I was in the company of Sada-sensei, during a trip to the far south. Like you, I couldn’t understand why he wanted to stop at this place,” Shioko spoke. Continuing to pull the rope, the bucket of the well came out of the hole in the rock and fell in front of her feet.

“A freshwater well?” Yoichi asked, astonished.

Shioko tightened the rope knot on the handle of the wooden bucket and threw it back into that dark pit, filling it with water. “Back then, I had no idea how many things our Sensei could teach me. No guild had ever believed in me, and everyone considered me a monster because of my irrepressible nature,” the Tamer explained.

As Enatsu calmed his horse, Yoichi listened intently.

“Sada-sensei knows the Tentochu region like the back of his hand. Despite its extent and diversity of landscapes, it has no secrets from him. When I found out thanks to him that there was a well connected to a freshwater aquifer in this tower, I began to look at him with different eyes”, Shioko remarked. “You know, he voluntarily left the Emperor’s Heralds to found the guild to which we belong today.”

“I remember when Yozo yelled it in front of everyone” Yoichi commented, recalling that detail. “Why did he do it? From what I understand, he could have become the leader of the Emperor’s guild,” he added.

“Precisely because of the Emperor. Sada-sensei has always hated Emperor Nishiyama, and the mere thought of being under his direct orders disgusted him. Unable to spend his days in those conditions, he decided to found the Nightblades guild to gather all the warriors who, like him, reasoned outside the box.”

“I’m not going to lie to you: when I first saw our tower, I thought maybe I had overestimated the value of Sensei’s offer. But when I saw your cohesion with my own eyes, I realized that this guild meet my expectations,” Yoichi stated.

“The cohesion you’re talking about has never been forced. Unlike other guilds that have hundreds of tamers thinking differently, ours unites people with the same ideals. Rinji, Toshi, Yoshiko, me… we all didn’t know what our place was before we met Sada-sensei.” Shioko’s words were imbued with the strong admiration she felt for her master.

“What does Nishiyama think about this?” the young tamer inquired, referring to the Emperor.

“Pff! The Emperor never bothered to say a word about our guild. Such a small group of warriors just doesn’t matter to him. Emperor’s Heralds are hundreds, and we’re eleven. Um, thirteen!” Shioko snorted. Pulling up the bucket full of water, the red-haired tamer dared raise a smile.

“Enatsu, let your horse drink first. I think it needs it more than others,” Yoichi suggested, approaching Ichiro and making room for his friend’s steed.

Enatsu’s brown horse walked to the bucket full of water, resting on the ground by Shioko. Within seconds, it drank all its content, guzzling it thirstily.

After quenching and feeding their horses with vegetables providently put in their travel bags, the three adventurers lighted a fire in the centre of the tower’s ground floor. The still wet wood, combined with dry shrubs carried by the wind, was useful to warm the atmosphere.

Every now and then, during moments of silence, the same wind hissed between the cracks of the rock, and the noise of the rusty nails holding the dangling wooden beams made that sinister place even more macabre.

Nobu, Shioko’s butterfly demon, stopped next to its tamer. With its wings closed behind its back and the antennae moving left and right, it watched Sora intensely.

Enatsu’s Oracle was perched on his shoulder and was visibly afraid to cross its eyes with that huge insect. The tail of the Hotasagi continued to emit white light, illuminating the inside of the tower to the ceiling.

From the largest crack at the tower’s highest point, the three of them feasted their eyes on the night sky. In that obscure place by the sea, the stars shone brightly, creating celestial patterns.

Pampered by that vision, the three adventurers lay down around the fire. Their bodies formed a triangle, and their eyes remained pointed towards the ceiling while the horses slept peacefully in a corner.

Despite being a demon, Ichiro also knelt next to his ‘own kind’. By the way it tail swayed, it looked particularly attracted to Taya, Shioko’s mare.

Wrapping its large coloured wings around its head and the rest of the body, Nobu deactivated its glowing tail. The sound of fire and sea waves accompanied the Nightblades warriors into a deep sleep.

…

The night slowly passed, and the full moon reflected its light on the sea, illuminating the coastal stretch. However, the quiet and silence of that area seemed to hide an unexpected danger.

In the middle of the night, during the deepest moment of Yoichi’s sleep, a scream from afar woke him up.

As soon as his eyes opened, they framed the last breath of the fire, consumed by wind and wet wood. Behind it, Shioko slept blissfully next to her oracle, and, just below his own feet, his friend Enatsu snored loudly.