"I am against it."
"No, but listen... unlike in the past, the facility will be managed properly from now on..."
The ones opposing the operation of the Marine Dojo were the inhabitants of an ancient settlement on Asuka Island known as "Asuka Village." Among them, a group led by the village elder was fiercely resistant.
Krieg had brought along a portion of his own personal savings as a gesture of goodwill to facilitate a smooth negotiation, but the elderly woman, who introduced herself as Izaya, refused to budge an inch.
"Hmph. You lot aren't to be trusted. Besides, this island is cursed! And it was your kind—the Marines—who prohibited the rituals meant to keep it at bay!!"
Cursed, huh... How unscientific, Krieg thought, though he made sure not to let it show on his face.
"I apologize for my lack of knowledge. Could you tell me more about this 'curse'?"
"What? You don't know? Fine... I shall tell you."
Izaya then recounted an ancient legend. To summarize: Long, long ago, there was a kingdom ruled by three princes.
All three fell in love with a single, beautiful shrine maiden. Naturally, none would back down, and their rivalry escalated into a bloody tragedy.
Eventually, they drew a sword bestowed upon the nation by the gods. That holy blade drank so much blood that it became a cursed object.
The shrine maiden, heartbroken by the carnage, threw herself from a cliff. Seeing her death, the princes regained their senses and were consumed by profound, bottomless grief.
Witnessing this, the gods granted three sacred orbs from the heavens to seal the cursed blade so that such a tragedy would never happen again.
Since then, the people of this village have inherited the sword and the orbs, protecting the seals and following the ancient teachings for generations.
"I see. But even so... you say it happens once every hundred years? If you're that worried, wouldn't it be better to just destroy it?" Krieg suggested.
"It is futile. The Seven-Starred Sword cannot be destroyed. That is why we perform the rituals of requiem... But it was you Marines who banned them, was it not?
If you forbid our rites, we will never allow the Dojo to operate! Is there anything else?
It is dark outside. I will lend you a place to sleep, so stay the night. Maya, show our guest the way."
With that, Izaya stood up and walked out, leaving Krieg in the care of a young girl with deep indigo hair, likely not even ten years old.
"Uh, Maya-chan... is it? You're a child of this village?"
"The lady from before is my grandmother."
"I see, her granddaughter. That means you must know a lot about this place. Would you mind telling me a few stories?"
"Okay. But in return, will you tell me lots of stories about the outside world?"
"Of course, I'd be happy to. Here, why don't you have this, little lady?"
Krieg reached into a pouch at his waist, pulled out a hard candy, and placed it in her small hand. Maya picked it up and stared at it curiously.
"Mister, what is this?"
Wait, is this her first time seeing candy? Krieg thought as he peeled off the wrapper and placed the candy back in her palm.
"It's called candy. It's a type of sweet. If you keep it in your mouth, it slowly melts. Give it a try."
Maya pinched the candy, inspected it for a moment, and then popped it into her mouth. After a few seconds, her face lit up.
"It's sweet! It's pretty like a gemstone, but it's sweet and delicious!!" She looked delighted, her cheeks relaxing into a smile.
"I'm glad you like it. For now, let's get some dinner. Is there anywhere around here to eat?"
"There's no place like that in this village. Do you want to eat at my house?" Maya asked, rolling the candy around in her mouth.
Krieg thought for a moment. Maya is Izaya's granddaughter, which means Izaya will be at the house. I haven't come up with a counter-strategy yet, and I'm not ready to face that woman again so soon.
"Actually... do you think I could just get some raw ingredients from someone?"
He decided it would be better to prepare his own meal and asked if she could help him source some food.
He also asked if there was an open space nearby where he could cook. Giving her another piece of candy, he asked if she could bring the ingredients there. Maya puffed out her chest confidently.
"Leave it to me! Make sure you tell me those stories later, okay?"
Maya ran off into the village, and Krieg made his way toward the outskirts of the settlement as she had directed.
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