Emissaries - A Kai Side Story

Chapter 3.5: Crossing to Daihokuriku

NOTE: This is rose. I will admit that things have gotten busier on this end and I have less time. I will try to wrap up this side skit and get back to the main story as fast as I can.

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Night 26, Fort Gakenomisaki

I am flat-out tired. Period. But I cannot help myself from staying away from my diary; thus, I write.

After a long, harrowing march of five or six days through the beautiful nature of Morigashima, we've finally returned to our abode in Fort Gakenomisaki. In the weeks we were gone, the fortress had been built up: simple, paved stone roads, stone houses, a foundry (how in the world?), places for recreation... I cannot be arsed to list down everything. The fort had turned into a town in all but name... and mandate. At least–perhaps–that's what I wanted to believe.

In spite of the disappointing result of the battle at the beach where the all too important leadership of the demons escaped into the open sea, the natives took our feats as victories. Although perhaps too much of a victory. All along the march back to Fort Gakenomisaki, the settlements that the dirt road passed through had flowers, feasts, torches, and all sorts of celebratory setups as the natives cheered us on when we marched past. As news of the demons' demise and the flight took off faster than the pace at which we marched, so too did the capacity of the natives to learn our language: they all cheered out the words "banzai!" as our column tiresomely marched through. Our commander, Col. Onizuka, had a smug look plastered on his face–almost as if he had forgotten how horrible he took the results of the beach battle... Oooh, I wanna give him a taste of my fist! Anyway... I will have to admit that the natives' celebratory mood has gotten on me. Maybe the divine mandate we had been handed was actually real? Finally: this was more or less a concrete sign that there was a justifiable, understandable reason for why we're here in the first place.

But that was not what I felt when we returned to the fort.

Passing through one of the gates that led inside, the only ones that greeted our return were a handful of civilians and the commanders that awaited us. While there was little in the way of money or currency in use since we just barter with the natives (or alternatively, we ask them what we want, and they outright give it to us, often with hospitable smiles) they were going to reward all of us with a feast. It was held at night–just a while ago–at the marching grounds. We only had so much sake at hand: we didn't get to drink ourselves to our hearts' content, but the fact that we got to drink sake, which most of us back on Earth never got to, was indeed something celebratory. What followed, however, probably soiled the mood.

Soldiers from the regiment who we fought the demons with started telling tales of our adventure. The expression of the storytelling soldier varied: some were glad that they could finally get to fire a gun and slay some demons in the process, while some were horrified–traumatized even–from seeing the gruesome sights of people being brutally butchered by the hideous monstrosities they fought. Regardless of the disposition of the person who told the story, the people who listened to them almost always didn't take it well. I remember coming across several individuals who fainted or collapsed afterward, their eyes shocked to tears. Some were more optimistic, thanking the gods for not letting them get picked to be in the Demon Slayer Regiment. Still, at the end of the day, the prevailing sentiment in the fort was something along the lines of: "we've defeated them, so what now?"

Civilians, children, the elderly, soldiers, and even officers started to appear like they were deep in thought, perhaps considering what they were going to do moving forward. There hasn't been any dream like the one we all saw before we woke up in this world, with no additional message from the divine being that sent us here. No one, not even the natives, gave us any additional direction or purpose to look forward to. Perhaps we'll know later? I realized I've been posting questions here often, but there really are no answers–at least nothing that seemed obvious.