After confirming the Tanaka army was nothing more than a dust cloud on the horizon, Merun finally floated down. He grabbed the heavy rope connecting the prisoners and began the slow, grounded trek back to the village.
"I guess there are truly a few honorable nobles," Merun muttered to himself. "He's lucky, too. If in some parallel world I'd been indoctrinated into becoming a pure noble-slayer, he would've died."
The thought made him drift back toward the train, the familiar scent of coffee, the novel. As soon as his mind hit that "wall" where his thoughts turned to white noise, he forced himself to snap out of it. Not now. I'll think about that somewhere safe.
Deep in thought, he passed the final hill and found the entire village gathered in the center. Every man and woman held a piece of furniture as if to shield themselves, their eyes wary and bloodshot.
The headman stepped forward, trembling. "Y-You're back! You... did you do it?"
Merun unbuckled the mask and flashed a tired but genuine smile. "Yup. I did it."
The villagers didn't move. They stared at him warily.
Merun sighed. He landed a light, annoying kick to the ribs of the prisoner leader.
"Wake up and tell them what happened."
The man jolted, his eyes snapping open. He'd been faking sleep the whole way to avoid conversation. "H-He defeated the commander! He won a duel against Matsunaga Hide! The army marched back to their territory... they're gone! Please, believe him!"
The silence that followed was heavy.
Merun realized it still wasn't enough. These people had lived in fear of the martial artists for years; they wouldn't believe the army had vanished just because a cool, handsome, and cute man in a white cape and his pet dog said so.
"It's a trap," someone whispered from the back. "He's lost and the army is right behind him!"
Suddenly, a commotion broke out at the edge of the village. A young man, his clothes torn by thorns and his face drenched in sweat, came sprinting out of the treeline. It was the village's best tracker, whom the headman had sent to scout the camp hours ago.
"They're gone!" the boy screamed, collapsing to his knees as he reached the center of the village. He was gasping for air, pointing back toward the beach. "I saw it... the commander, Matsunaga Hide injured... he ordered the retreat! They struck the tents! They're marching back to the fortress!"
The headman gripped Takeru by the shoulders. "You're sure? Every last one of them?"
"Yes! They're miles away by now! The beach is empty!"
The silence that followed was heavy, then it shattered into a hundred different voices.
"Defeated the commander? By himself?"
"Is he duelist martial artist or something? I heard the Tanaka can turn their opponent's brain into soup!"
"But... he has no injuries. Did he really do it!? He really did it!?"
The headman's eyes welled with tears as he turned back to Merun. He stumbled forward, throwing his arms around Merun in a crushing hug. "Thank you! Thank you! How could we ever repay you?"
Merun's arms froze, hovering awkwardly. This kind of physical affection was definitely something new. "Ah... no need. I'm just doing my job. But... there is one thing. Can I have a place to stay for three more days?"
The headman looked jubilant. "Stay three days? What about forever? Hey, look! Here is my granddaughter! She's becoming an adult in a few months!"
Merun cringed, taking a tactical step back. "Uh, no... I don't want to go to jail. Just three days."
The villagers erupted in laughter, the tension finally evaporating into the night air. "Of course, of course!"
———
The next three days were the most peaceful Merun had experienced since arriving in this world. He spent his time helping with the mundane: fixing fences, hauling heavy fishing nets, clearing fallen trees, and healing the village's illnesses and ailments when he could. Which resulted in some of the villagers bowing for his blessings. Never have they seen nor heard of martial arts that could heal. As their words slowly spread his legend.
He found friends in the simple honesty of the villagers. At night, the village was lively, filled with the crackle of a bonfire and the passing of wooden cups.
The children were the most persistent. They followed him everywhere, begging for stories. Merun told them about a certain naughty monkey king caused trouble with his powers, but learned to be good. He then helped a monk on a big journey and became a hero, carefully omitting the parts where people got killed. By the time the hired martial artists from the Beggar Sect arrived to take the prisoners away, Merun felt like he belonged.
On his last day, the farewell was a struggle. The children clung to his legs, crying and refusing to let go. They piled gifts into his arms—salted fish, hand-woven charms, and more coconuts than he could reasonably carry.
"I can't say no, can I?" he muttered, looking at the mountain of dried fish. It reminded him of the Furutsu family back in Owari. It reminded him that what he was doing was right. His purpose was to protect the weak so they could live like this.
Merun Furutsu will protect the weak as much as he can.
Quite a distance from the village, Merun checked his surroundings. Finding no one, he suppressed his Ki and blasted into the sky, his scouter plotting a course back to Odani.
As the wind whipped past his face, he finally allowed his mind to go back to the beach. He reflected on the fight—and the terrifying moment his mind had snapped.
I'm a Saiyan, he thought, his brow furrowing. Physically, that Hide guy couldn't touch me. But that fucking mental attack... It bypassed my durability entirely.
He realized that a focused mental attack was his Achilles heel. A poison—once it was inside his head, his muscles were useless. He had been lucky that Hide didn't have much offensive martial arts. If he had faced a true mental specialist on the same realm... he might have been turned into a vegetable before he could even raise a fist.
I've been relying on my biology for too long, Merun concluded. I need more than just Ki and physical strength. I need to harden my mind. If I can't control the voices in my own head...
I'm not fulfilling my martial path, Overwhelming Suppression.
This wasn't just a realization; it was a spark. For the first time, Merun wasn't just going to rely on his body. He was ready to train to become untouchable.
———
When he finally landed in Odani, the village was exactly as he'd left it. The elders nodded to him as they hauled baskets of fish, and the rhythmic sound of the waves echoed through the village. To them, he was just Merun returning from another errand.
He walked straight to Iro's hut. The smell of old parchment and ink met him at the door. Iro was hunched over her desk, her brush scratching across a scroll with focused intensity. She didn't even look up as he entered.
"Exactly three days," she said, her voice dry but welcoming. "How punctual."
Merun didn't respond with his usual wit. He simply let out a long, weary sigh and collapsed onto the bed, staring at the thatched ceiling. "Man... that was quite the mission."
Iro finally set her brush down and stood over him, crossing her arms. A small, knowing smirk played on her lips. "The Beggar Sage said you'd have some trouble."
Merun's eyes snapped wide. He sat halfway up, propping himself on his elbows. "Wait... was that another test? Did he send me there knowing my weakness?"
Iro chuckled, shaking her head as she walked toward a small teapot. "What? No... well, maybe? But I think he wanted you to realize that power isn't just about how hard you can punch or how much your body can take. He wanted to make sure you didn't get complacent. That was your first time fighting martial artists with mental techniques, right?"
Merun slumped back onto the bed, defeated. "Yup. That shit rocked my world. I felt like my brain was being put through a meat grinder. If Hide was a Martial Senior, I don't think I would have walked off that beach."
Iro raised an eyebrow, pouring a cup of tea. "You say the weirdest things. 'Shit rocked my world'? 'Meat grinder'? Anyway... what did you learn?"
Merun sat in silence for a long moment. He thought about the train in his dream. He thought about the "Static" on the phone screen and the dread of 'something' that made the Chimera look like a house pet. He realized that if he wanted to survive whatever was coming, he couldn't just rely on his Saiyan biology to carry him through.
"..."
He sat up straight, looking Iro directly in the eyes. The exhaustion was gone, replaced by a sharp, focused intensity she hadn't seen in him before.
"I want to learn techniques," Merun said, his voice steady. "Mental ones. Defensive ones. Anything compatible with my martial path. Can you help me with that?"
Iro stared at him, seeing the shift in his aura. The "lazy genius" act had finally cracked, revealing a martial artist who was hungry for more than just a fight.
She smiled, a genuine look of pride softening her features.
"Finally," she whispered. "We've been waiting."