Bear School Astartes

After completing the transaction with Pot Spring Captain, Lann was about to return to Hirata Manor.

The [God Devourer] pills were placed in his Alchemy Pouch, ready to be thoroughly studied with Tishaya after returning to Airetusa.

The corpse of a minor deity residing in the flora sounds inherently valuable.

Lann estimated in his mind that the high quality of the herbs in the Iwami region was not only due to the 'Golden Kekla' like source water but also possibly the work of these once-existent minor deities.

As the Demon Hunter passed by the Longquan River's water drawing site, the sky had already darkened, with only a sliver of sunlight at the horizon, setting the scene in 'dim light' rather than 'darkness.'

In such lighting conditions, there was something at the water drawing site of Longquan River that made Lann unconsciously quieten his steps.

The cat eyes of the Demon Hunter scrutinized it up and down for a long time before confirming that it was an abnormal 'person.'

The figure, shaped much like a potato, only had relatively long and slender limbs.

On the feet were single-toothed wooden clogs, with only a loincloth covering the body, and a seemingly heavy black iron hat on the head. The overall height did not exceed 1.3 meters.

Had he also drunk the source water?

Lann pondered to himself.

At the moment, this person was drawing water from the Longquan River and pouring it into a Renqi Balloon in his hand.

The balloon looked more delicate than the one Kotaro's mother made for him, as it was adorned with rich colors and prints.

But after filling the Renqi Balloon with water, he didn't proceed to the next step of prayer.

Which meant bringing the hands together, bursting the balloon, and sprinkling the source water onto himself.

Instead, he just looked at the water-filled balloon in his hand, then released the water.

No sighs, no sound, just standing motionless watching the water balloon empty. Then holding onto the balloon, he stood there standstill.

It was a state of having no interest in living, akin to being utterly bored.

Lann had seen such expressions in Temeria, and here. They usually appeared on the faces of the impoverished who had lost the will to live.

Lann slowly approached him, but this person only turned his head slightly after hearing the unmasked footsteps, glanced at Lann, and didn't react further.

Showing no concern for the approach of a stranger.

This, for a region newly ravaged by bandits, was akin to saying one did not want to live.

"You don't seem to be in a good mood," Lann stated the obvious, "Did something happen at home?"

The man with the black iron hat continued to stare at the empty water balloon in his hand, finally letting out a hoarse, low voice after a long while.

"Tianji..."

"My son, he's dead."

Getting closer, Lann could finally see the writing on the Renqi Balloon clearly.

The handwriting was crooked, indicating that the person writing it was not very literate. There were only four words written in total.

"Tanuki, for Tianji."

But Lann could tell that he wrote it earnestly. Though the four characters were not pretty, they were free of ink smudges.

Was it because of last night's turmoil?

In the Demon Hunter's eyes, he saw the nature of those bandits last night. Regardless of age or gender, they showed no mercy.

Most likely, this person's child perished in the same manner.

Lann was momentarily at a loss for words, unable to console the man with the hat, he simply pursed his lips, passing him, and left.

As he passed by, he patted the man's shoulder.

"My condolences."

The deformed man with the heavy black hat tilted his head to look at where his shoulder had been patted, then looked up at Lann who was walking away.

Turning back to face the unending flow of the Longquan River, the look in his eyes remained lifeless.

He had a nagging feeling that something might have been misunderstood by that passerby, but with his son gone now... a profound weariness and reluctance from deep within made him unable to be bothered or think much about anything anymore.

-----------------

The vitality of people is remarkably tenacious. Only a few days after the bandit raid, the residents of Hirata Manor seemed to have already forgotten about that terrifying night.

The villagers worked, did their jobs, and supported their families. Though the charred houses bore the marks, nobody really cared anymore.

The leader of the reinforcements from Iwami Castle—Yamai Diansan, attempted to have several private talks with the young lord but was repeatedly turned down. This had made him somewhat anxious lately.

Overall, thanks to the resources and efforts of the people, the reconstruction of Hirata Manor was proceeding in an orderly manner.

And Lann had already settled into a life of resting on his laurels from the accomplishment.

He currently followed Lady Butterfly and Iwami Yixin, attending classes. The achievements of that night were something most warriors could never aspire to achieve in a lifetime.

Leading a peaceful life, Lann intended to continue until the celestial alignment's crack reopens.

After all, stumbling upon a military sweep right after arriving was unfortunate enough; he didn't believe his upcoming days would encounter any more upheavals.

"Smack!"

An elongated training kunai, unsharpened, hit the arm-guard that Lann had raised, producing a crisp sound.

With a face as calm as a lifeless object, Lady Butterfly gazed at the tall, burly heavy-armored man from Ming Country not far away.

"Could you take off that armor? For you, weight training is still a bit too soon."

The veteran ninja made a joking complaint.

Who could practice [Light Body Skill] while wearing heavy armor? No one even considered that!

[Light Body Skill] lightens one's body, not allowing one to become lighter along with armor! That would not be a martial art but magic!

Ninjas would even dislike carrying too many tools due to the weight it added to themselves.

"I refuse to accept this suggestion."

Lann raised his hand, tidying up his disheveled silver hair, smiling as he responded.

"Lady Butterfly, I'm acutely aware of my own nature. If I didn't wear armor, I would undoubtedly become excessively enamored with combat styles as elegant and agile as you ninjas. After all, it appears both dashing and swift."

"However, I also appreciate the defensive power, margin for error, and crushing pleasure of heavy armor. My future journeys will cover more ground, and my combat environments will be more complex and perilous than yours. To prevent my combat style from shifting, I might as well wear armor from the start."

The Demon Hunter spread his hands.

Besides, in reality... under the Mentos' mode of study, Lann had already grasped the basics of [Light Body Skill].

However, due to the suppression from the heavy armor, none of it showed.

Basic level [Light Body Skill] could make oneself lighter by about five kilograms in a normal atmospheric environment during its execution, while keeping muscle strength unaffected.

Lann estimated that a level of [Light Body Skill] like that of Owl wouldn't let the gravitational pull exceed twenty kilograms during a leap.

Coupled with his strong leg muscles and using [Vigor] exertion, he could leap several meters high as if extracting green onions from dry land.

Watching Lann's smile under the sunlight, Lady Butterfly's mouth twitched slightly. In response, she threw another unsharpened kunai.

Lann easily dodged with a tilt of his head, showing confusion.

"This is training, no grinning and clowning around!"

The Demon Hunter spread his hands, "Alright, whatever you say."