It's Only An Apple

Shin walked back inside the castle. He sat down to drink some tea. Skeletons slaved away on the inside, answering to any command.

“Welcome back, master Shin.”

Shin: “Yes. Yes. Just get my tea already. I need something to drink after all that commotion. How come once in every 50 years there has to be someone to disturb my peace. In fact, 2 people have been here in the past week.”

Shin screamed out loud, surprising all the workers around him.

Shin: “And who’s fault is that?! Why do I have to do everything myself? Shall I throw you all to Reptekka? She might enjoy some old bones.”

“I apologize, master.”

Shin: “Forget the tea. I don’t want it anymore. Where is master Kastor?”

“In his room, sir.”

Shin: “Ugh. This day is getting worse and worse. I cannot blame him though. What he is working on is very important to both of us. In fact, it’s important for the whole world…”

Shin sensed something coming from afar at a rapid pace. He was angered, but felt an intense mana and suddenly became excited.

Shin: “Hold down the fort everyone. I’ll be right back. I got to let off some steam.”

Shin flew through the front doors to the back of the castle. A man stood before him. His hair was split with two different colors. Half white and half black with a white eye and a blackish blue eye. He wore a white shirt and long black pants with a cape while smoking a cigarette. He spoke to Shin. “Hey there.”

Shin rushed towards him closely and cut off his index finger with his own hand and punched a hole in the man’s stomach. He coughed up blood quickly.

Shin: “I don’t know who you are, but you weren’t invited, so drop dead and leave my site. I’m pissed off right now.”

The man spoke again as if not injured at all.

“Hmph. I’m not even strong enough for the main character to come out. What a shame. No Kastor today?”

Shin pulled his hand out and punched the man in the face, aiming to blast it into pieces. The man met his fist with his own hand and smiled.

“Well, that’s certainly interesting. You didn’t even ask my name yet.”

Shin smirked in excitement.

Shin: “Marvelous! A worthy opponent! However…You weren’t invited. And you are…?”

“Reiken Ento,” the man stated. The hole in his stomach reversed back to normal as well as his fingers. Thick red mana lines lit up across his body and even spread to half of his clothing. His overall mana slightly increased despite what Shin had done.

Reiken: “Now…Can we talk?

Shin: “Ha! Let me show you first what true strength is. After we get that out of the way, then we can talk and I might just hear you out…”

____________________________________________________________________________

Claudia appeared out into the night sky questioning where she was. Before her was a small village, but big enough to still be called a town. Houses were in shambles and the walls rotted and stained with dried blood. Kids and parents scavenged for food. Some sat near the walls barely able to move from how skinny they were. Sewage pipes spewed out, flooding the majority of the town. People walked through sludge to find food. Some even ate the sludge off the ground in order to not die of starvation.

Claudia thought, ‘Where am I? This place…This is horrible. It’s like what I grew up in, but ten times worse. At least I could pay for food and wealth with my body, but this is…’

A voice spoke, “Well…Who are you?”

Claudia turned around, frightened. She was eye to eye with a strange looking man with bluish green hair and ram horns sticking out of both sides of his head. He had bright green eyes and wore a fur coat matching his hair that ran all the way down to the ground, almost like a king’s robe. Although, his voice was calming and humble.

Claudia: “Huh? Who am I? Who are you?”

???: “I’m Kanji Adachi. Though, they call me Mamoru. Don’t let that name fool you. I’m not much of a protector of anything. Just call me Kanji.”

Claudia: “K-Kanji. Okay. Where am I?”

Kanji: “Hold on. May I ask for a name first as well?”

Claudia: “Oh, sorry. “I’m Claudia.”

Kanji: “Just Claudia?”

Claudia: “I was sent away at a young age. Not sure of my last name.”

Kanji: “Ah. I see. Well, Claudia. You're in the infamous and unheard of town of Ronkon. Seems you ventured here though, so is there something in particular you are looking for? I can’t imagine you would want anything here though.”

Claudia: “I didn’t come here willingly. A friend of mine sent me here somehow.”

Kanji: “A friend sent you here?”

Claudia: “More like an acquaintance. He promised me something. We had a deal and just broke that by sending me here alone.”

Kanji: “And what was that deal? Seems very untrustworthy if he is going to go back on his word.”

Claudia: “Yeah, well, he isn’t a very nice person. He decided to play the stupid hero card. That idiot.”

Kanji: “Am I correct in saying his name is Astro Ishikawa?”

Claudia: “What? How did you know that? You knew that the whole time, didn’t you? How?”

Kanji: “I won’t say how I know, but I will say that I am a lot smarter than I look. I am young indeed, but knowledge is embedded in me. I am the last of my kind. Although, looking at you, there is quite a secret you have as well. I wonder if you know this yourself. I guess we are both the last of our kind.”

He pointed to his right eye as if to hint to Claudia about something, but she didn’t know what he meant nor did she care at this present moment. She wanted to figure out what was going on.

Kanji: “You see…I am actually not very strong. I don’t possess that much mana and my skills with a sword are weak. Yet, these people and many others refer to me as some god. Some being above the spiritual plane. I am no god. I am no hero. I’m just a person who tries his hardest, but sometimes that isn’t even enough as you can see from the village before your very eyes. They think I saved them, but in reality, what have I even done? True this town used to be worse off, but just look. People grovel in despair on the brink of death. Barely any food, shelter, or clothing. I’ve tried Claudia. I have and I still will. It’s not in my nature to give up, but I cannot solely give my attention to this town. There are many others like this.”

He turned to look Claudia right in her eyes and told her an honest truth.

Kanji: “If I am being truly truthful Claudia, then I will tell you this. You are a stranger to me, but that makes no difference. This place used to prosper once. It was a long, long time ago, long before I was even born and even Astro. Astro was unfortunate enough to be born here, although that is not his fault. Everyone comes from different lineages and timelines. You cannot control that. Just like how I was born into a royal bloodline. That makes no difference though. This concept of the poor versus the royals and everyone in between doesn’t exist. We just manifest that ourselves. There is no reason that hate exists and no reason that towns like this should exist. If everyone did their part and helped, then this wouldn’t happen. Although, Claudia, I cannot just blame the royals for this. They are not the only reason things like this occur. For what have the poor done to help their own situation? Most of them sit here and try to survive. They have no motivation to help others because they only focus on themselves. Does this not prove correct for most people?”

Claudia: “Well…I’m not sure. You have a point, but of course poor people are going to only look towards themselves.”

Kanji: “And why is that? They should be able to help others if it doesn’t involve food. While I do tend to blame the royal families for not funding places like these, the poor also have an obligation to help each other. It should not just be up to the royal families to help people who were born in a different area of the world. I know this contradicts my statement before about people helping each other, but again, how are you going to change someone’s lifestyle and mindset so quickly to want to help? This world is destined for ruin. People are not as strong as you believe, not just physically, but mentally. I feel myself a victim to this even.”

A small girl walked limply in front of them. Kanji kneeled down in front of her and suddenly gave her an apple out of coat. The young girl laid there and slowly ate the apple the best she could, but was struggling.”

Kanji: “An apple huh? Claudia…Do you like apples?”

Claudia: “Huh? Oh. Umm. Y-Yeah, I guess I do. Why?”

Kanji looked like he was thinking intensely. He didn’t say a word, but looked down at the ground where the girl lay still chipping away slowly at the fruit.

Kanji: “Come. I’m sorry to waste so much of your time. I must show you one more thing. Astro sent you here. I’m sure he wanted me to show you his hometown. I cannot imagine another reason, however I know it was out of panic that he sent you here.”

Claudia: “How did you kn–?”

He only pointed at his eye once again before she could finish that question. Claudia completely flipped her mentality. She was selfish and cunning. She didn’t care about much and had seen places like this everywhere. She worked her way up to the top and even ran her own guild within a large city. However, the moment she laid eyes on Astro, something inside changed. Her personality and the way she acted was thrown off balance. She even questioned silently in her mind what was going on, but continued going forward without looking back. There were more important matters to attend to.

Kanji brought Claudia to two stone tablets isolated on the top of a hill near the town. On the tablets were two names. Ishikawa Silvia and Ishikawa Emi.

Claudia: “Wh-What is this? Who are these people? Why should I care?”

Kanji: “Claudia, you seem very isolated in yourself. I cannot blame you. Like I said, all people have different upbringings and are raised differently. Sometimes even on their own, much like you.”

Claudia: “How did you know th…”

Kanji: “But…I sense a changing heart and mind within you. Look at these two names. Surely you cannot just ignore death, especially when the names are very important.”

Claudia: “I’m sorry. I’m not the person you think I am.”

Kanji: “Oh? Did you not listen to me pronounce Astro’s surname earlier? I know he didn’t introduce himself like that to you. Not many people do nowadays. I didn’t mean to insult you, it’s just…The respect of the tradition should really stay. Most people will just pick now whether they like their surname or given name and call you by that. Swords and chaplets dominate over anything nowadays. Look at these names again. Silvia and Emi. Ring a bell?”

Claudia suddenly remembered her talk with Astro at the guild just before joining him on his journey.

Claudia: “S-Silvia…”

Kanji: “Ah. He did mention her once. Figures. You look a lot like her. That is his wife lying beneath the ground and next to her, his daughter, Ishikawa Emi.”

Claudia: “I-Ishikawa A-Astro.”

Claudia began to shed tears unlike ever before. She didn’t know what was happening. She wiped them away quickly, but they still flooded down her face at the thought of the girls before her.

Kanji: “No need to hold back. I often cry when I look at these two as well. As you can see down the hill and into the back end of the town there are lots of these stone tablets of people that have died. Although, so many have died lately that they don’t even have the strength to bury them anymore. Astro purposely buried his wife and daughter here a decent while ago. He had been visiting them everyday for years until recently. I hadn’t seen him, but now I know he was doing something important. He usually never misses a day with them, so I was worried, but I need not to fret.”

Claudia: “H-How did they die?”

Kanji: “I’m not sure. I have tried to talk to him various times about it. In fact, Astro and I haven’t talked a lot in our lifetimes. I walk past him often and try to converse, but he never talks to me. He visits his family’s graves and then leaves. I have tried to ask hundreds and hundreds of times, but every time he walks away and doesn’t say a word. One day we struck up a conversation for a few minutes about what I was trying to do here, but that quickly ended. This is why I was confused when he brought you here.”

Claudia: “He must trust you more than you think.”

Kanji: “I would like to think that, but who knows…I’m sorry miss. I have taken a lot of your time. What can I do for you if I am capable of doing so?”

Claudia: “I…I…I need to get back to Astro. That man is going to kill him.”

Kanji: “Hmm…Claudia I would advise not to go back.”

Claudia: “Huh? Who do you think you are?! I need to help him!”

Kanji: “True. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. A simple conversation like this cannot determine a person, but I would like to ask for your trust. I would not like to reveal my secrets, but let’s just say that the person you are talking about will kill you the second you waltz back into the Land of the Stiff.”

Claudia: “What? And how do you kn…”

Kanji: “ And…Please don’t ask how I know this. I will not say anymore, but if you could not beat that man once, then you will certainly not beat him now. I’m surprised you weren’t killed right away. Plus, I am sure you don’t even have a Yellow Egress Chaplet. Besides, you are going to need a lot more powerful chaplets to beat that man.”

Claudia: “No, but I can go find one at Carmen's Dungeon.”

Kanji: “Oh? Okay. Good luck with that. Travel south and you’ll be there in 2 weeks by foot.”

Claudia: “2 weeks?! No. I’ll find a different way. I can find another one somewhere.”

Kanji: “Think Claudia. Think for a moment. Please don’t be rash. The odds of finding one randomly is doable, but near about 20%. And, if you did go to Carmen's Dungeon, the odds are basically 90% at that point after you beat all the monsters down each level, but you will have spent too much time.”

Claudia: “I don’t care. I’ll find one. If you're not going to help me, then I’ll do it myself. Thank you for showing me around, but I cannot just sit back and ignore what’s going on in front of my face. I’m sure you understand this, Mr. Know It All.”

Kanji sighed.

Kanji: “I don’t blame you Claudia. Even if it means marching to your death, I do not blame you. In fact, I applaud you. So, I will tell you this. Astro and that boy is no longer at that location. Even if you find that chaplet, how will you find them?”

She thought about it for a moment and realized that she didn’t even have to question that. She trusted what Kanji said, but he would not help her.”

Claudia: “I understand Kanji. I do. But…how can I just sit back and watch someone struggle, knowing that they are suffering? I’ll get there and ask Shin myself to give him back to me. How far is Felopsten from here?”

Kanji: “Hmm…I’d say about a 2 day walk. That is a good option. That is a town that you know. Maybe someone is willing to help you there.”

Claudia: “Thank you sir Kanji. I’ll meet you again someday, I’m sure of it. I’m sorry. I have to go.”

Kanji: “Yes. Yes. Do what you must. Oh, but before you go. One more question. If there were 2 apples in front of you, but one had a bite out of it, which apple would you take.”

Claudia: “The one without the bite taken out of it. Is that all? That’s a pretty dumb question.”

Kanji: “Yes. Goodluck. Survive for me please.”

Claudia headed off sprinting towards Felopsten. Her town and her guild were waiting for her. She figured that she could get some help from someone for the right price. This was her only chance at this. She had to hurry.

Kanji: “The one without the bite taken out of it. Hmph. Will that ever change?”