After a long and hot bath, Yasu slept for a long time, three days in fact.  Had he not come out of his rented room for breakfast on the fourth day, the proprietor was going to open his room and check to see if Yasu was still alive or not.  

“Morning.”  Yasu said as the proprietor began serving him breakfast.  

“Morning.”  He said as he looked at the bearded man.  “How was your rest?”  

“Very well.  Thank you. So well, that I slept for such a long time.”  Yasu chatted with the proprietor.  

“Three days in fact.  You must have needed the rest.”  

“Mhmmm.”  Yasu agreed.  “I did.”  

The proprietor left Yasu to eat to serve other guests.  While he ate, Yasu listened to the gossip inside of the inn and found out many gossip tidbits about the people in town.  Nothing about the state of the country.     

After breakfast, Yasu left with two basket full of fur and brought them to a high end store.  He sold the fur for 500 gold before walking towards an embroidery store. Once inside he bought supplies to make silk screens.  He also bought a plain bag to store his belongings inside.  

Yasu walked to the supply store and bought spices and salt.  Across the square was a weapons store, which he bought a dagger.  Then he walked to the nearest horse dealer and bought a horse. After the horse was saddled, Yasu left the town and headed towards his home.  He needed to find out what had happened to it after 5 years.  

The ride to his hometown, Miru, took three days on the main road.   Along the way, he met a merchant group and traveled with them. There he learned the state of the current government.  

“What?!?  So you mean to tell me that your family left you at the temple so you can recover from your sickness? And that it took you 5 years to overcome your illness?  So young yet so unfortunate.” Merchant Ziya cried out pitifully.  

“But with the blessings of the Gods and the good environment around me, my illness has been cured and I can now return home after 5 years.”  Yasu told the merchant.  

“Ah, what bad luck, the government has been in turmoil for many years.  Five years ago, Emperor Oda received an oman. A warning of parricide. There was a struggle for power in court, each Prince with their own faction. Although his Highness was prepared for it, he still was badly wounded in the attempt for his life.  The Crown Prince was investigated and brought to justice. He now lives on an island off of the coast. I hear he is heavily guarded and no visitors are allowed on the island.”  

“How is the government now?”  Yasu asked.  

“More stable, however still split between the different factions.  His Highness, Emperor Oda, still reigns, but when it rains or gets cold, his injury acts up and he has to rest.”  Merchant Ziya answered. “Where is your hometown located?”  

“It’s a small town, I don’t know if you know it.  It’s called Miru.”  

Ziya’s face paled as he sighed heavily once more.  

“You are full of bad luck. The town of Miru is no more.  Five years ago, the rebel forces, dressed themselves as enemy soldiers and killed their own countrymen.  Not only did those rebel forces kill the innocent, they also burned everything. Not one full corpse could be found and identified.  All of the corpses were piled together and burned until they were ash and bones. They said that there were no survivors. Those rebel soldiers even killed a retired General, a retired Imperial Doctor and their family.”  

“My parents…” Yasu whispered as a look of fear and dread came over his features.  

“I’m sorry.”  

“But… those rebel soldiers were caught and punished right?”  Yasu asked.  

“From what I heard, most of them perished during the coup.  As for those who escaped, we will never find out until they’ve been fully uprooted.”   

“I… I should go.  Thank you for letting me travel with you.”  Yasu said as he urged his horse to begin galloping. 

“Be careful on the road.  The road to Miru has not be traveled by merchants and travelers for 5 years.  It is sad to be haunted.” Merchant Ziya shouted.  

Yasu left towards Miru, while the merchant group took the longer road around Miru.  Yasu didn’t directly go to Miru. He stopped at his home that he shared with his family.  He got off of his horse and walked around the ruins. Memories of his life there flashed through his mind.  The quietness around him fitted him well. There was no disturbance.  

Yasu headed towards the back of the main house and began moving and clearing the debris.  With his new speed and strength, he cleared the broken beams and swept away the ash. The wild weeds were pulled and thrown to the side.  Once everything was removed, there was an iron door buried into the ground.  

Yasu pulled on the iron handle, grunting as he used all of his strength.  The rusted iron door opened slowly before Yasu propped it up with a beam.  

A musky smell wafted through the air as Yasu walked down the stairs.  Soshu had built the iron room with the help of his soldiers. The iron room was hidden underneath the wooden floor board.  Inside of the iron room was important documents, valuables and money.  

Yasu walked inside the dark iron room and began to grab all of the important documents.  He also grabbed a large bag of gold coins and stuffed them in the bag he carried on him. He then went through the different chests and grabbed two jade seals.  One was the official seal of the Mori Clan, given to the direct descendant. The other seal, was Soshu’s general seal. Even though he retired, his seal still held respect and power.  Should it be used, the Emperor would have to consider the contents of the letter. It can also be used to rally his loyal soldiers and allies. 

The last thing that Yasu took was Soshu’s short sword and his long sword.  Those swords belonged to his family. Those that were loyal to Soshu would recognize the sword which in turn will recognize the sword’s owner.  

Yasu left the rest of the valuables for another day.  He closed the iron door and stomped on it a few times, to ensure that it was fully stuck and closed.  Yasu replaced the wooden beams back, throwing dirt and weeds over the beams and left with his belongings.  

Once he left his home, he didn’t go to Miru.  He wasn’t ready to face the devastation and the horror of the ghost town.  Yasu returned back to the road he just travel on and took the road round Miru.  

Yasu stayed in the next town.  He could tell that the town was rebuilt and thriving.  Yasu checked into an Inn and stayed the night. His mission was to gather more information about what happened that day five years ago.  Was it really the Crown Prince and his faction? Or was it someone else and the Crown Prince fell into a trap.  

After two weeks of traveling, town to town, he found out one news source that was reliable.  According to the man, the Young General Ren Fujino helped kill the “enemy soldiers.” Once he investigated into the matter and found out that the “enemy soldiers” were actually rebel army, his report to the Emperor helped save the Emperor’s life from an assassin.  

General Ren Fujino was then given more merits, soldiers, and financial support.  He still held the same post, but his name was more prestigious.  

Yasu’s thoughts ran towards the gentle and quiet doctor that he got to know for 6 months.  Their time together was usually spent at the clinic, but when he visited Doctor Shino at Breezy Cloud Courtyard, they had nice conversations about life.  

At the time Yasu was only 17 years old.  Although he had raging hormones, he didn’t want to commit himself to someone so quickly.  Due to his indecisiveness of his past life, loving and breaking up with two people, he didn’t want to put anyone else in that predicament.  He died because of his indecisiveness.  

When he transmigrated into the 5 year old Yasu Mori, he promised himself to only love one person, whether it be a man or woman, he would be a loyal dog, instead of a slutty dog with two owners.  

Even if the current society is accepting of more than one partner, he made a promise to himself to love and be loyal towards one person.  

[Evil thoughts about killing you, coming from the three men sitting in the corner.]  Little Tsuki warned Yasu.  

Yasu kept his blank look as if he was daydreaming, before “snapping” out of his daydream.  He took a sip of his tea, finding it cold he turned to the waitress to order more hot tea.   

Seeing the familiar face of the three men, Yasu turned back to wait for his hot tea.  Those three men followed the merchant group on the last day that Yasu was with the merchant group.  Although they left ahead of Yasu, somehow they stayed longer in a town and was now behind Yasu’s trail.  

Those “travelers” were thieves praying on lone travelers.  They must have seen Yasu’s new swords and an extra bag on him that they decided to secretly follow Yasu before planning to rob him.  

“Let them come.”  Yasu thought in his mind.  “It’s been some time since I shed some blood.”