Chapter Three: Departure and Awakening
Location: Mount Kazuha
Date: 3rd of jirini
The flame flickered out.
From that moment, the scene shifted to Nazwa leaving Kazuha.
> "Am I free... or still bound?
Perhaps I'll find the answer once I step outside.
For now, I must leave.
I'll abandon everything I've known and go.
As if I was merely a guest here for a short while... and that time has ended."
Guests must eventually take their leave.
Nazwa shuts the door behind him and begins walking toward the Eritchi Forest. Just as he steps out completely, a hand grips his shoulder—Ayota.
> "You didn't have to... really. Why did you do it?"
The atmosphere thickens.
Nazwa turns to her, confused.
> "What do you mean?"
Ayota lowers her head, then lifts it again.
> "You're leaving... going far away.
And you didn't even finish your pancake."
Nazwa chuckles softly, holding her hands in his.
> "I know it's hard for you to accept that I'm leaving... especially so suddenly.
But someday—months, years, decades—I'll return...
To the arms of the mother I've always belonged to."
She turns and walks toward the house. Nazwa watches her go.
> "I won't forgive you just yet," she says without turning,
"Not until you return."
In a moment filled with quiet tenderness, mother and son embrace—no one sees them, no one hears them.
Nazwa, now taller than his mother, wraps his arms around her.
He places a hand on her head.
> "Take care of yourself."
Ayota replies, teasing:
> "Don't go flaunting those muscles and charm around the girls."
Nazwa walks forward, waving a hand high.
> "That won't happen...
Unless I fall for someone myself."
She calls out behind him:
> "Don't come back unless you bring home a wife!"
He turns back for a moment, gazing into her eyes, and says with a sigh:
> "If I ever find a girl like you, mother...
I'd marry her without hesitation."
Ayota smiles gently.
> "Stop it. I've grown old already."
Nazwa waves a final goodbye.
Ayota reflects silently:
> "Little Ayota has grown up...
Soon to be a grandmother. Who would have thought?"
---
> Every second must be cherished.
I never know what the next might bring...
But I know I've already overcome the last one, so what's to fear?
Even here, in this world, should you live to a hundred,
your shadow will follow you—
to death, and to life.
You cannot escape your fate:
only ruin, depth, and sorrow await.
So cherish what remains..."
Nazwa remembers these words suddenly, but he can't recall where or when he heard them—just a black screen in his mind.
Ayota speaks softly to the wind:
> "Rest in peace, and find your calm...
my boy."
---
He enters the Eritchi Forest, infamous for tales:
> "The shadows will make you lose yourself in there,"
the elders once said.
Nazwa pulls out the map Ayota gave him, his guide to a new future:
The Shinzohei Clan.
> "It's not far...
It won't take long," he mutters.
He walks, rests, and walks again—until finally, in the distance...
> "The heights of Shinzohei!"
He doesn't stop.
He doesn't hesitate.
He runs—as if the past were chasing him.
Suddenly, a searing heat brushes past him.
Only seconds later, a sharp pain blooms in his chest.
He tears off his shirt to reveal a long, snake-like scar wrapped around his torso.
Another strike—this time on his leg—leaves a different, twisting mark.
But Nazwa doesn't scream.
He doesn't panic.
He's not afraid of the pain—he's shocked by who did this.
The attacker is unknown, and the scars permanent.
Still, he doesn't stop.
From afar, he sees his homeland, and his will burns stronger.
But his recklessness catches up to him—
A final strike to the head knocks him unconscious.
---
He lies flat on the ground, arms spread like a lifeless body.
Slowly, Nazwa opens his eyes—only to see a young man sitting before him.
Startled, he asks:
> "Where am I? Who are you?"
The man replies:
> "I'm part of the Devra Scouts. We were on patrol near the Eritchi Forest and found you not far from the village, so we brought you here."
Nazwa stands up in shock.
> "Did you say Devra?"
> "Yes, and this is Shinzohei territory."
> "Say that again, slowly...
Am I really in a Devra home—of the Shinzohei?"
> "I believe I already answered that," the man smirks.
Nazwa bolts out of bed and throws open the door.
He stares at the street outside.
Children laughing.
Merchants calling.
Youth shouting.
Everything he ever wished for... is here.
From the bottom of his heart, he whispers:
> "Finally..."
He rushes to a passerby, shaking him excitedly.
> "Is this real?
Are we Shinzohei... reunited at last?"
The man stares.
> "Is this guy crazy?"
Then walks away.
Back in the house, the young man from before asks:
> "Mind if I ask you something?
Where are you from?"
Nazwa, standing tall at the door, replies:
> "I am Neromi Nazwa.
A descendant of Devra,
Of the Shinzohei clan—
Which I now stand in."
The man studies him.
> "Never seen you around here before."
> "It's a long story…
Too long to tell in my current state.
And you, who are you?"
> "Call me Wanderer. Don't ask why."
Nazwa chuckles.
> "Alright, I won't."
> "Ugh, fine—ask me already."
"The truth is, I don't have a real name.
Everyone calls me something different.
But the one name that stuck... is Wanderer."
Nazwa grins.
> "Then I'll call you Meizu.
But on one condition."
> "Which is?"
Nazwa clenches his fist, tapping his chest.
> "Take me on a scouting tour."
Meizu smiles.
---
Scene shifts to: Baro Yama, still in the land of shadows—right where the flame had extinguished.
He grabs what seems to be a man, but no—it's a shadow in human form.
> "Don't be foolish.
I've lived among you and your ancestors for twenty years.
How dare you pull such a stunt?"
The shadow, Kagi, replies:
> "I wanted to test your darkness."
Baro scowls.
> "I am the one who tests the darkness of shadows... not the other way around."
He flings Kagi so hard, the body splits, landing far away.
Baro mutters:
> "I haven't slept in ages.
And when I finally do, the same ones wake me again."
A surge of heat brushes him as he walks through the woods.
He clenches his fist and obliterates a shadowy figure—nothing more than a nuisance.
Under the moonlight, a woman appears in the distance and waves at him.
As he reaches her:
> "Even if you made her more beautiful...
The result would be the same."
He grabs her hand, breaks it in half, and shoves it into the shadow's mouth.
Screams follow, and then silence.
Baro flashes back—
A faceless man placing a crown on his head.
A welcome into the royal palace.
> "It's as if I'm reliving that past... right now."
An old parchment inside the palace once read:
> "At the final edge of the Shadow Clan's territory,
you will fall under the weight of countless shadows."
Indeed, only Baro sees them.
To others, the land seems empty—but to him, it overflows.
He raises a hand and says calmly:
> "Rinatsu: Activate."
Rinatsu is a gate—an entrance to another dimension.
Forbidden. Dangerous. Few can handle it.
Every shadow that dared strike Baro gets sucked into the void—no return, no effort, not even a blink from Baro.
Then... he sees it:
The peaks of Shinzohei bathed in morning light.
For the first time in 20 years, he beholds his homeland and people.
He laughs—not out of joy, but with a low, dark grin.
The camera closes in on his back as he walks toward the mountain.
He continues his journey toward the throne—
One he will no doubt reclaim.
He didn't smile because he survived—
He smiled because he finally understood:
Survival... was the greatest lie of all.