It was a long restless night. And I was just tired... It was hard to sleep after that thing with the bell showed up. And it didn't help that it was cold, and the hay wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing to rest on.

I sit myself up, eyes squinting some from the bits of sunlight peering through the cracks on the roof top. Strings of the golden hay clinging onto my clothes. I groan tiredly, and stand myself up, arm leaning on the wooden plank next to me. I was so tired. How will I be able to do anything today when I'm this tired? Let's just pray that I gain more energy throughout the day.

It appears that dororo just woke up. And definitely has more energy than I do. Judging by his body language, and how excited he seems to be to possible kill something today.
While the man was sitting in the same position as last night.

"Ah. You're awake." We were greeted by a voice. The filler Chief denkichi was standing at the entrance of the stable, a welcoming smile glued to his face.

"Yeah. I guess some of us are..." I yawn, wiping of the bits of hay of my dull colored cloak.

"I told chief bandai about yourself arrival. And she wishes to meet you three. Get ready, and we'll go see her right away!" Denkichi bowed his head, before he walked off.

I let out a soft sigh, and look down at the man. "Cmon. Its time to go." I spoke calmly, taking his arm and helping him up to his feet. "The Chief wants to meet us, I hear. May be today you can kill a monster, eh?" I felt a small smile form onto my lips, but in return I got a blank stare from the man. Not surprised.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Dororo called over to us, visibly hyped. He was jumping about, his eyes shining with excitement.

I laughed softly at the young boy, acting like he was impatient to go to get sweets from the little shop near by.

"Alright, alright. We're coming!" I called back over, taking the mans wooden hand, and dragging him out the stable.

And outside was Denkichi. Who was going to lead us to the chief.

Later~

"There. This is her residence." Denkichi pointed his hand over towards a large home. With a roof with hay on top of it. And it was bigger than any normal home that I have seen. How do they afford all this?

"Woah!" Dororo was left wide eyed at the sight of the residence. And seemed eager to get inside and meet the chief that we keep hearing about.
I almost don't feel comfortable going in there...

"Maybe we should just turn b-" I tried to explain how I was feeling about the situation, but I was interrupted by denkichi.
Who says.
"Turn back? Why would you wanna turn back?" I was getting a little suspicious of things. He's hiding something... And I think it has to do something with bandai.

"(Y/N), you can stay out here while we go inside." Dororo offered, probably noticing that I seemed uneasy.
Does he not feel like there is something wrong? Or is it just me?

"N-no... I'll go with you." I bowed my head, looking down the earthy floor below me.

And soon enough we were walking towards the home. My heart beat was racing as we got closer, and my head began to feel dizzy, and i was brought to a cold sweat. I don't wanna be here. I wanna turn back!
I can't now. We already made am agreement! Its fine. I'm overreacting. Yeah... I'm probably just scared to meet the chief! Yeah... That's it. No worries!

"I'll leave you to talk." We had already made it inside. And denkichi had closed the sliding door behind us. It was dark... I can hardly see a thing.

"Here, let me light a candle."

A soft voice was heard within the dark. And a little flame was lit. The light of the small fire spread across the small parts of the room, and revealing a beautiful young lady. She had long silky hair, and had soft fair skin. She was lying in a bed, blankets covering her body. And she had walls covering the lower half of her body- which I found odd.

"Woah... You're so pretty!" Dororos eyes shone, admiring the chief bandai.
Yeah... I guess she was pretty. But deep down I feel like she is hiding something. Like... Like a trap. Is this a trap?

Bandai chuckled softly, "thank you." She smiled softly, covering her mouth with her wool blanket. "I apologize for calling you over. But I had to meet you three." The woman looked at the three of us, but her eyes locked on the man. "Especially you..."

"Huh? You know him?" Dororo questioned. I think he's starting to catch onto something.

Bandai didn't reply to dororos question. But just stared at the man. Judging by the look in her red eyes, she knows exactly who he is.
And wanted to get rid of him- not by banning him from the village. But getting rid of him on a more gruesome way.

"I think we should get out of h-" I was interrupted once more, by the man raising his arm to his mouth, and biting down, revealing his sword.

"Hey!" Dororo shouted at the man, going in front of him and tried to push him back, but the man fought. Trying to get to the chief.
Though a part of me felt like the man knew who she was too, and needed to attack, I also wanted to hold him back. Just in case my feelings were incorrect.

"Stop!" I grabbed the man by his other arm, and tried to pull him back, but he kept fighting. He was so strong, it was hard to keep him back. "No!"

"Chief bandai!" A bunch of large gaurda burst into the room, and took ahold to the three of us. Holding us in place. The chief not saying a single word.

They grabbed dororo by the collar of his shirt, and held him up. So he was in the air throwing fists and trying to fight.

While the man just stopped.

And as we know it, we were thrown into a dark prison... The large wooden door shut behind us.

"What was that for??" Doror stood right up, and stormed over to the man. "She was just a nice lady!" He scolded him, quite upset that we were tossed into a cell.

"I think he had a reason..." I mutter, my voice echoed through the empty cell.

"Huh?" Dororo stopped, turning his focus over to me. Confusion written all over his face.

"I think he had a reason. I was uncomfortable to go in there, and the look bandai gave the man... I dunno! It just made me uneasy. I couldn't help but wonder if they're hiding something from us!" I was finally able to speak, without being interrupted again. I stand up, and wipe the dust and dirt of my cloak.

"Well, I supposed you're not wrong."

There was another voice. A voice that sounded like it belonged to an elderly man.
And from the shadows, an elderly man walked out. He wore a white robe, and had white eyes. He must be blind... But how could he see us?
Wait. He's a priest, isn't he?

"Priest, why are you here?" Dororo asked the elderly male, walking over towards him.

"Eh. Same as you! I was going to attack that demon bandai- but they stopped me and threw me in this cell!" The priest spat, clutching onto his wooden cane.

Demon? Weren't those worse than ghouls? Wait... So if the man attacked tried to attack the Chief, and the priest called her a demon, what could that mean? Or is the priest just upset he couldn't kill her? I wouldn't think that he'd just attack a hurt lady for no reason. So there must've been a reason
"Wait. You said demon?" I asked. My curiosity had risen.

"Oh, yes. She's a demon alright." Priest mumbled.

"How did you know?" Even dororo seemed to be just as curious as I was.

"Simple! We see their souls!"

"Their souls?"

"Yep! Your soul is like a little flame, and its white. But a demons would is also like a firewall, but is a crimson- not white. That's how I could tell!"

The priest and dororo spoke back and fourth. And if what the priest said was true, then that must mean the man sees our souls- that would make sense to why he attacked!

"Priest, is that why the man attacked bandai- he saw her soul?" I walked towards the elder. Just hoping to get an answer from him.

"That's a possibility!" He replied to my question. That's another thing I learn from such a silent man... That's an incredible gift. Being able to see souls? So he's blind, but blind in a different way. One I suppose people with normal eyes couldn't explain.

"And miss, didn't you say going in there made you uneasy?" He's right. I did say that I was uncomfortable. And that I thought that maybe they were hiding something from us. But what does that have to do with anything?

"Uhm... Yeah. I did. It was last night I began to suspect that denkichi was hiding something from us. And walking into bandais home made me kinda... Panicked.." I admitted.

"Ah. You miss, have a gift too! You may not be able to see what your friend and I see, but you can sense things. You can tell between the good and bad!" The priest patted my shoulder, flashing a wide grin.

"Really?" If that's the case, then that would probably make sense. Growing up, I could always tell who was bad and who wasn't. And my parents were impressed that I was so good at telling the difference. At first, they thought I was crazy. But there would be evidence to show that I was not wrong.

"Yeah. Few people have such a gift, and you are blessed to have such a gift! Use it! And maybe together you and your friends can slay many demons together." The man chuckled, then lightly patting my shoulder.

Huh... Imagine that. I knew I could tell the different between two people. Innocent and dangerous. But who knew I could tell the difference between human and demon?
I've never felt so uneasy around anyone until bandai. So... Let's say bandai is a demon. And they were trying to hide it from us all along.