A Journey Unwanted
Chapter 553 - 540: Companions
[Realm: Álfheimr]
[Location: Heart Kingdom]
[Outskirts]
Bows often appeared deceptively simple. To many, they had become relics of another age, overshadowed by rifles and the countless other advancements in ranged weaponry. Yet anyone who truly understood the craft knew that comparison only scratched the surface. A firearm could deliver raw force with relative ease, but a bow demanded complete mastery over every movement. It offered a degree of calm that no trigger could truly replicate.
There were countless variables to consider. The distance between hunter and prey. The angle of the shot. The shift of the wind moving through the trees. Even the rhythm of the target’s breathing and the way its muscles tensed before each step mattered. To an inexperienced archer, those countless details were overwhelming.
To an expert...
They became instinct.
And Robert Fitzooth had long since earned the right to be called exactly that.
Perched high upon the thick branch of an old tree, he remained perfectly still, his balance so natural that he seemed almost weightless. His attire suited the task before him rather than drawing attention to itself. A sleeveless black vest left his arms free to move without restriction, while fitted leather gloves protected his hands from the constant strain of the bowstring. A bandage wrapped beneath his right arm disappeared beneath the fabric of his clothing, and loose black trousers tucked neatly into sturdy boots made climbing through dense woodland effortless. Around his neck rested a simple necklace bearing a small blue gemstone, the only splash of color besides the vibrant orange hair that clashed sharply against the lifeless forest. Beneath calm brows, his emerald eyes never wavered.
His bow rested comfortably in his hand.
It was hardly elegant—a roughly carved length of wood bent into shape with a taut string stretched between its ends—but it served its purpose. An arrow already rested against the string, held in practiced fingers that never trembled.
One arrow.
That was all he intended to use.
His gaze remained fixed upon his quarry.
A large boar wandered through the clearing below. Its coarse black fur was matted with dirt, while long white tusks curved outward from either side of its snout. It moved without urgency, its heavy breathing visible even from Robert’s vantage point. Every few steps it slowed, pausing to sniff the ground before continuing. Judging by the uneven pace and the occasional glance over its shoulder, it had likely escaped another predator not long ago.
An exhausted animal made for predictable prey.
Robert appreciated the honesty of hunting.
There were no elaborate schemes, political games, or impossible decisions.
Only patience, observation, and a single decisive moment.
He would never claim to be a master hunter. Survival had simply taught him enough to keep himself fed whenever circumstances demanded it. Lately, those circumstances had become far stranger than he ever could have imagined.
Only weeks ago he had been a prisoner within the Deathless Fortress.
Now...
He found himself traveling beside individuals who made that imprisonment seem almost ordinary by comparison.
Life had become difficult to predict.
This, however...
This was simple.
Robert inhaled slowly, allowing every unnecessary thought to drift away. His shoulders relaxed. His grip settled. The bowstring drew back in one smooth motion until the arrow rested beside his cheek.
He prepared to lose the shot.
Then—
A streak of brilliant violet ripped across the clearing.
It crossed the distance so quickly that Robert barely registered its existence before it struck.
The glowing javelin slammed clean through the boar’s chest.
The beast released a shrill, agonized squeal as the force of the impact lifted its entire body from the ground. It flew backward before crashing violently into the trunk of a nearby tree, where the radiant spear buried itself deep into the wood, pinning the now lifeless animal in place.
The forest fell quiet once more.
"...You were taking your time," a familiar voice remarked casually. "I figured I’d speed things along a little. Yuki starts getting impatient if we wait around too long, you know."
Robert closed his eyes for the briefest moment.
Then he sighed.
His attention shifted downward.
Standing at the base of the tree was the speaker herself.
Shuten-dōji.
The sun-kissed oni stood with the relaxed posture of someone who had done nothing remotely remarkable. Crimson horns rose gracefully from her head above striking red eyes, while traditional eastern garments flowed neatly around her figure. Even the simple sandals she wore seemed oddly untouched by the muddy forest floor.
She looked entirely at ease.
As though hurling a glowing spear through a charging boar from dozens of paces away was perfectly ordinary.
("One of my new companions indeed...")
"I was merely taking my time, Lady Spirit," Robert replied calmly as he unhooked the bowstring from his fingers before slinging the weapon across his back. "A successful hunt should be swift once the opportunity presents itself, but the preparation before that moment deserves patience. Carelessness wastes arrows far more often than caution ever does."
With that, he stepped from the branch.
Rather than falling, he descended with control, landing beside the oni so lightly that scarcely a leaf shifted beneath his boots.
Shuten-dōji smiled slightly.
"Ah yes," she murmured. "I remember my own hunts rather well. Most of my prey were considerably fiercer than that poor creature. They fought back with everything they had. Some battles lasted far longer than I expected."
For a moment, her red eyes drifted somewhere beyond the dead forest surrounding them, remembering.
"There was a certain thrill to it once," she continued quietly. "Though those days are behind me now. I no longer consume meat."
Robert tilted his head ever so slightly.
"So you’re rather like those monks living atop the mountains, hm?" he observed, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly. "Choosing discipline over indulgence certainly sounds familiar enough."
Outwardly, he remained composed.
Inwardly...
His thoughts lingered elsewhere.
("Prey that fought back? What exactly would a spirit like her have hunted to describe it that way?")
The image that formed in his mind was far from comforting.
Whatever Shuten-dōji considered "fierce" was almost certainly something no ordinary person would willingly stand before.
His gaze drifted toward the violet javelin still pinning the boar to the tree.
She truly was the second strangest member of their already peculiar little group.
Which, considering everyone currently traveling together...
Was saying quite a lot.
After all...
She was, well...
Her.
"Though, Lady Spirit, you and your lot are certainly an unusual gathering," Robert remarked after a pause. His voice remained polite, though beneath that composure lingered a small uncertainty he had not entirely managed to bury. His emerald gaze shifted from the motionless boar pinned against the tree before settling upon the oni besides him.
He was not asking out of idle curiosity.
The past several weeks had overturned nearly every expectation he had ever held. Every time he thought he had begun to understand the strange collection of individuals fate had forced him alongside, something happened that reminded him just how little he actually knew. He found that changing the subject whenever those thoughts became too heavy was easier than dwelling on them.
"How does one find oneself in such company?" he finished quietly.
Shuten-dōji rested one hand against her hip before looking towards Robert. Her expression carried warmth, though there was distance in her red eyes, as though she were recalling events separated from the present by years.
"Well," she began leisurely, "the wind carried me towards a small mountain village. That was where I met Yuki and Gretel."
She smiled to herself.
"I had already set out upon my own journey long before then. I never truly intended to travel with anyone. But the wind insisted otherwise, so I listened."
There was not the slightest hint of metaphor in her voice.
Robert had travelled with her long enough to understand that she genuinely believed the wind spoke to her. More often than not, it seemed to guide her somewhere worth being.
"And ever since then," she continued, "I simply kept walking besides them. One meeting became another. Another became a companion. Before I realised it..." She gave a small, amused laugh beneath her breath. "...I found myself surrounded by rather interesting people."
Her eyes drifted skyward for only a moment before settling back on Robert.
"I cannot say I regret it."
Robert listened in silence.
It was a strangely simple explanation.
Perhaps too simple.
Yet somehow he doubted she was hiding anything. If anything, she seemed incapable of overcomplicating matters. She accepted the world exactly as it came to her.
Robert wasn’t certain whether to admire that or envy it.
("Mikoto and Gretel...") His thoughts naturally settled upon the two members of their little company he understood the least. ("Gretel is far more approachable than she first appears. Sensible and calm, she even knew that eccentric old man...")
That at least made some measure of sense.
("But Mikoto...")
His expression became unreadable; he unconsciously folded his arms as memories surfaced one after another.
The young one clad in heavy armor, the child who spoke of killing with the same tone another might discuss the weather. The peculiar blend of bluntness and restraint and the frightening competence. The moments where he seemed exhausted beyond words despite scarcely looking old enough to shoulder any burden at all.
None of it fit together.
Of course there was a bigger elephant in the room, but Robert chose to ignore it for now.
He slowly shook his head.
"But doesn’t that Mikoto strike you as a little odd?" he finally asked. The question felt almost ridiculous the moment it left his mouth.
"A little," Shuten-dōji chuckled softly. "Well, yes." There was not even a hint of denial. "He is quite unusual."
She spoke without mockery or concern.
"If anything..." her smile softened, "...that is precisely what makes him so fascinating."
Robert watched her quietly.
"I cannot begin to imagine what thoughts pass through that pretty little head of his," she admitted with genuine amusement. "Sometimes he speaks as though he has lived for centuries. Other times..." Her smile widened ever so slightly. "...he reminds me very much that he is still young."
There was fondness in her voice, and Robert found that strangely comforting.
Shuten-dōji continued before the silence had time to settle.
"If you wish for an easier journey with him, stop trying to understand every little thing he says or does." She looked towards Robert with an easy smile. "Simply empty your head." Her fingers lightly brushed together as though casting away invisible dust. "And walk besides him."
The simplicity of her advice almost made Robert laugh.
Instead, he allowed himself the faintest smile.
"Sound advice," he admitted.
Perhaps she was right.
Not every mystery demanded solving; some people revealed themselves only with time.
Others perhaps never did.
His emerald eyes wandered back towards the boar hanging lifelessly against the tree. The hunt had ended before he had ever loosed his arrow.
Not exactly how he had intended the morning to go.
Still, food was food.
He stepped towards the carcass, placing one gloved hand against its coarse black hide before checking the wound left by Shuten-dōji’s attack.
Clean, far cleaner than anything his own makeshift arrows would have achieved.
He exhaled quietly.
"I suppose," Robert said after another moment, "we should head back for now."
Shuten-dōji gave an easy nod.
"I believe so as well." Without another word she reached down and effortlessly lifted the enormous boar across one shoulder as though it weighed little more than a bundle of firewood.
Robert blinked once.
No matter how many times he witnessed displays of supernatural strength, they remained difficult to fully accept.
"Right," he murmured.
He adjusted the makeshift bow across his back, gave the forest one final glance, and quietly fell into step besides the oni.