“Where did you get it? Let me see the bottle,” Takuma said, lying down and getting comfortable. Yoichi passed the ampoule of yellowish ointment between his hands. “Oh my… did you really use this to heal my wound? Hahah! Haha…cough!” the Grimbrook warrior coughed, returning the bottle into Yoichi’s hand. 

“Why? What’s wrong with it? I found it in your bag, and thanks to it, your wound is perfectly healed. Look, it’s already scabbing,” Yoichi replied, bringing his gaze closer to the cut on his partner’s side.

“That’s olive oil, Yoichi,” Takuma smiled. 

“Huh? Olive oil?” 

“Yes. Hahah! I always carry it with me, hoping to find some warm bread to eat it with. Just in case!” the red-haired warrior chuckled. “The healing ointment is in the other ampoule.” 

Yoichi couldn’t believe those words and moved his nose closer to the yellowish liquid, trying to smell it better and observing its appearance. Indeed, looking closer, that thick yellowish liquid looked and smelled like edible oil. 

“But why on earth did you bring a bottle of olive oil with you? It looks exactly like the ointment used to treat wounds! This is insane!” Yoichi complained, scratching his head. 

“Hahah! I’ve already explained why. It’s made in my village. It’s one of Grimbrook’s specialties,” Takuma added. After chuckling, the red-haired warrior seemed to feel better. 

Resting both elbows on the ground and interspersing his movements with deep, slow sighs, he managed to rest on his elbows and regain some consciousness a little at a time. 

“Then how is it possible that a stab wound healed in less than twenty-four hours? Taisuke didn’t look like an amateur fighter, and I’m pretty sure he hit you in the right spot,” the Nightblades tamer replied. 

As Yoichi spoke, Karasu too began to reassemble the pieces of its wooden body. The scarecrow demon focused its gaze on the tips of its arms, still broken and covered in splinters. 

“Oh, you’re right, Karasu,” Takuma spoke, giving priority to his Oracle. The scarecrow approached its tamer, who sat up and began to look at the ground as if searching for something around him. 

He grabbed a sharp stone in a few seconds and started to rub it on Karasu’s arm-tips hardly. As if it were routine, the scarecrow demon stayed motionless, waiting for its ‘hands’ to turn back on their standard shape.

“You know, Yoichi,” Takuma began again. “During all these years, I’ve done nothing but train my body while waiting to leave Grimbrook. My grandfather Gompachi always told me that I could never become a real tamer and join a guild if I wasn’t trained enough.”

“But how can training help you heal your wounds?” Yoichi inquired, intrigued by that story. Takuma was such a genuine person that he hardly told lies to brag about his abilities.

“Well, part of the training was really about taking hits. Grandpa Gompachi would hit me with all kinds of weapons, and I had to make somehow my body ready to absorb those attacks,” Takuma explained. “Before an arrow or the tip of a spear enters my flesh, the muscles in that particular spot harden to the maximum, increasing my physical resistance. I’m not sure how I do it. Let’s just say it’s an instinct I’ve learned to use against stronger enemies.”

Takuma’s words left Yoichi speechless. During the last group training he had attended, Takamori Sada, with the help of Rinji, was trying to explain a similar technique to his warriors.

Not being part of a guild, Takuma had learned everything he knew about combat from his grandfather. As a result, perhaps Gompachi was also part of a guild in the past. 

“That’s really impressive. Well, I hope you get well soon because Oakenfair isn’t very far away. Look,” the young blonde-haired tamer spoke. With both hands, after finishing the wound treatment, he opened Ryutaro’s map under the eyes of his traveling companion.

“The woods we’re now in should be this little blurred dot on the left. The Waveless River in front of us curves just as shown on the map, see?” 

Yoichi’s finger allowed Takuma to orient himself more efficiently on that old hand-drawn papyrus. “If we get back on the road now, we should get to Oakenfair before nightfall. Just give me five more minutes, and I’ll be able to get back on my feet.” Takuma spread his arms and rotated his torso left and right, stretching his joints as he sat.

The Grimbrook warrior’s resilience was incredible, and Yoichi, relying on his words, was confident that they would be on their way in no time.

The morning sun shone high over the Valley of the Northern Waters, and before the afternoon arrived, Takuma kept his promise. As Yoichi sat by a tree and spent his time reading ‘Fundamentals of Demon Taming’, the young warrior from Grimbrook appeared standing in front of him. 

Yoichi and Ichiro looked at Takuma from head to toe, unable to believe that a wound of that size had already stopped harming his young body. He had independently donned his tank top, and from the expression on his face, he seemed to be in perfect shape. 

“Well? Oakenfair won’t come to us! Let’s go!” he exclaimed, approaching his horse and jumping on its back. Yoichi and Ichiro looked at each other quizzically as if they shared their astonishment. However, without asking any further questions, the young tamer from Goldhaven climbed back on his Inoshuma and began riding north again.

The journey through the valley was the longest Yoichi had ever faced. Fatigue and hunger had taken a back seat; in his goal, all that mattered now was reaching Oakenfair. 

Finally, as the sun grew lazy and began to lie down behind the western mountains, the afternoon light allowed Yoichi and Takuma to see a change in that beautiful but monotonous landscape.

One of the headlands of the Southborne Mountains was literally split in two: from its summit to its base, a rift similar to a vertical fault divided the rock mass into two equal parts. The two mountains generated by the process hung to the right and left, respectively, as if they were gradually yielding to their own weight.

Soon after, Yoichi checked that landmark on Ryutaro’s map. He had no more doubts: the passage connecting the valley to Oakrath Heights was in front of them.