5 Kaho

On the way back to the Village Chief house.

Kiro's in deep thought, he was thinking of a way to fool the Old Chief Geoffrey.

"Haah~ It is no good, no matter how hard I try, every scenario that pop-up inside my head only has the same outcome. I guess It is better, to tell the truth of what happened inside the forest." (Kiro)

Of course, what Kiro meant for telling the truth is to explain why he looks so tattered, and why he was bathed with blood.

While he was walking his way to the village chief house, Kiro didn't know that he made such a huge commotion.

Him walking on the street bathed with blood, of course, there will be a lot of curious folks that would want to know what happened to him. At first, the adult from different households was shocked by the scene. But after realizing something. They couldn't help but shake their heads.

The thing is, Kiro didn't know the values from this world were different from his former world.

The resident from this village was already used to seeing bloodshed, so they weren't that shocked after seeing Kiro bathed with blood, more like reminiscing from the past. They too used to hunt for their livelihood or have a wild experience from hunting a game at their young ages. Seeing Kiro bathed with blood, they all thought the same thing, that he went overboard and splashed the blood all over his body.

If Kiro knew what they were thinking, he wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry from such a wonderful misunderstanding.

"Mom, what is wrong with that tomato big brother? Why is he all red?" a child looked at Kiro with bewilderment.

"Pfft, silly child, what do you mean by tomato big brother? Come here and help me to clean the dishes. Don't be bothered by that tomato big brother."

The Mother couldn't help but release a burst of soft laughter after hearing her child calling Kiro as tomato big brother.

Kiro, who is in deep thought, didn't know that he earned another weird nickname.

***

Finally, Kiro arrives at the entrance of the village chief house.

He was so nervous, he felt like he was back in the days from being a mischievous child who was afraid of getting scolded by his parents.

Then he gathered all of his courage and knocked on the door.

`Knock, Knock, Knock`

Behind the door was chief Geoffrey, looking at Kiro who was bathed with blood, as if he already expected it to happen. He wasn't that shocked, seeing him without any missing limbs, then he finally let a long sigh.

"Sigh~ Child, Come inside, look at yourself, you are covered with blood. There are two hot buckets of water inside the room you are staying at, go clean yourself first." (Geoffrey)

Kiro was speechless, he didn't know what to say, seeing chief Geoffrey wasn't scolding him but rather being mindful about his well being. He couldn't help to remember the warmth of his parents, subconsciously giving a slight warm smile.

The only thing he could do is to nod, as he walks inside the house and heads straight through his room.

It is not like chief Geoffrey would know that Kiro will encounter some danger. He just prepared from the different types of scenarios. He Informed the village guard and hunter that if Kiro didn't return in time they would do a search hunt. Because their last discussion was about the rare greasy grass and chief Geoffrey knew Kiro was blinded with greed. He already warned him but didn't put it in any heed so he could only help Kiro on the sideline. Then he prepared a different type of amenities from a different kind of scenario, He prepared a herbal medicine just in case Kiro went back being injured and he prepared hot water for him to wash If he was fine. With his rich experience in life, Chief Geoffrey knows how to deal with that kind of event more efficiently.

Chief Geoffrey was observing Kiro's facial expression changing from nervousness to bewilderment and finally, the warm smile that Kiro gave didn't miss from the Old Chief's sharp eyes.

Watching his back, chief Geoffrey couldn't help to give a helpless sigh.

***

After washing the blood from his body.

Kiro heard knocking sounds.

'Knock, Knock'

"Kiro, there are some old clothes here. It wasn't fancy as the one you wear, but It was clean nonetheless. I will just leave it here, at the entrance of the room." (Geoffrey)

"Okay thank you, chief Geoffrey." (Kiro)

After hearing Kiro's voice of appreciation, Old chief Geoffrey walks out of the hallway.

***

After dressing himself, Kiro walks out of the room and searches for Village Chief Geoffrey.

Walking inside the living room, Kiro saw Chief Geoffrey spacing out on the rocking chair.

"Ahem." (Kiro) gives a slight cough, awakening chief Geoffrey from his absent-mindedness.

"Oh, you're done cleaning yourself, Mm... That clothes looked good on you." (Geoffrey) seeing Kiro with that look, chief Geoffrey was reminiscing from the shadow of the past.

Seeing the lonely figure in front of him, Kiro couldn't help to feel a tinge of bitterness swelling up inside his heart. Not knowing what to do, he could only ask a question.

"Chief Geoffrey, don't you want to know what happened to me inside the Diante Forest?" (Kiro) asked and look curiously at chief Geoffrey.

"Of course I would like to know, but if you are willing to tell me." (Geoffrey)

Kiro felt more guilty after hearing Chief Geoffrey. But knew telling the truth will give him more trouble, so he could only swallow his guilt.

"Well, It wasn't such a big secret, I was attacked by two Goblins, because of my negligence, I suffered some light injuries, but as you can see. I am alive and well." (Kiro)

"Mm, that is good, Hearing you say that you are fine. It is much better than me assuming that you aren't hurt. So please tell me if something is aching from your body. Even though the Goblin is a weak monster, their detestable means is dangerous." (Geoffrey) said with a concerned tone.

The more Kiro hears a concerning tone from chief Geoffrey, the more his guilt eats him alive.

"Don't worry chief Geoffrey, I am fine, there wasn't any discomfort from my body, in fact, I felt more alive than before." (Kiro) wasn't lying after unlocking the new feature from his reward. His body felt light.

"Mm, is that so? Then I am glad to hear that, If there's nothing else, I would retire from the bed first." (Geoffrey) was feeling rather tired, not physically but mentally.

Seeing chief Geoffrey was about to leave, Kiro called him out.

"Chief Geoffrey, wait, there's something I would like to ask, It has been bothering me for quite some time now." (Kiro)

"... Okay, say it." (Geoffrey)

"I would like to know, why did you care so much about me, who is an outsider." (Kiro) stare straight at the eyes of chief Geoffrey. He couldn't think of any reason why the Old Chief Geoffrey was being so nice to him. The way he looks at him was like a grandparent caring for his grandchild.

Chief Geoffrey stared blankly at Kiro for a moment before giving a helpless sigh.

"Haah~ I knew It, sooner or later you would ask me such a question. To tell you the truth, I didn't know the answer, perhaps because you remind me, the feeling of having a grandchild or perhaps because you have that black-haired and a pair of black eyes." (Geoffrey) said, while remembering something in the past.

"Did you remember I asked you if you are from the east?" (Geoffrey)

Kiro thought for a moment, then nodded from the question. At that time he found it weird but didn't voice it out.

"Because the wife of my son was from the Eastern Empire of Avonmore, She too has a pitch-black hair and a pair of black eyes. That is probably one of the reasons why I felt a close attachment from you. More so when you said that you are a traveling merchant." (Geoffrey)

"The wife of my son was a traveling merchant too, a fateful encounter leads the two. They easily get to know each other, because my son who is bad for almost everything, but only good at one thing, his academics, is something I am proud of even now. Perhaps because of his unique way of thinking my son won the heart of the beauty." (Geoffrey)

"Then after that, the woman named Kaho, every end of the month she visits our village. Because I could see, the woman indeed cares for my son, I didn't stop the two from seeing each other. Then with my silence blessing. The two got married and built their own family while traveling In different types of small and big kingdoms. I was happy for my son, his wife wasn't only beautiful but smart too." (Geoffrey)

After saying up until this point, Chief Geoffrey both eyes moisten.

"... Perhaps because heaven is jealous of their happiness, who would've thought a tragedy befall from the two. It was at that time, they're traveling near the border of the demon and human territories, they encounter..." (Geoffrey) couldn't finish his words, tears falling like a waterfall on his face.

Kiro wasn't that dumb enough for him not to figure out what happened next after that.

Chief Geoffrey stabilizes his breathing, after a while, he finally continued his story.

"... They encounter a demon, witnesses say, the man was killed on the spot, while the woman was abducted. After one week, they finally saw the woman at the center of the plaza at the Town of Limbo. The woman was found bare naked at the center of the plaza while her body was covered with brushes and bite marks, upon her last breath... They said... They said... The women were mumbling the word 'Kill me' Kill me' repeatedly until she lost her breathing." (Geoffrey) uttered those words with a trembling voice.

After saying that, chief Geoffrey stumbled from the ground like he lost all of his strength, he helplessly curling up on the cold hard ground.

"Chief!" (Kiro) Immediately ran to the side of chief Geoffrey, helping him out to get up, while patting his back.

He couldn't help but curse inside his head, It was such a sensitive topic, yet why didn't he realize there was something wrong, given all the clues, yet he was so insensitive to ask.

"Come on now chief, Get up. Sorry for being insensitive to ask such a sensitive topic." (Kiro)

"It's fine... You did nothing wrong, I should even say thank you, for helping me to let out those fed up emotions." (Geoffrey)

After saying that Village Chief Geoffrey stands up, he walks out of the living room, heading toward his room.

Looking at the disappearing figure of the chief Geoffrey. Kiro couldn't explain the pain he was feeling right now.

Perhaps he pitied the person or It was because after hearing the story, his morals couldn't tolerate such an act.

He was a person who used to live in a peaceful era. Hearing such a heartbreaking story, a tint of hatred subconsciously being born deep inside his heart.

Staring in the direction where the Village Chief left, Kiro finally left the living room and headed back straight to his room.