On a small bed in the center of a small well lit room lay a small girl wrapped in bandages sleeping peacefully.
"…mmgh…"
The girl groaned as she began shifting for the first time in 5 days.
Her eyelids trembled as she slowly opened them.
"…where…am I?" She choked out.
She could hear the faint sounds of hammering and steam outside as station repairs continued.
Gazing at the ceiling, she lifted her hand to stretch for it.
"…huh…?" When she saw her bandaged hand, she was confused as to her current predicament.
Once she fully regained consciousness though, a flash of memory resurfaced.
Flashes of horobi's carnage, of her monstrous figure and lastly of her brother's final moments.
"Brother!"
She flew up off the bed quickly but due to her injured state, she had used her last remaining strength on that one action.
"Ow!"
She fell face first into the floor.
"Hey!? Are you okay!?"
Suddenly she heard someone calling out to her in a panic and felt arms roaming her body. Likely checking for injuries.
Rubbing her bruised nose, she looked up to see her caretaker, an elderly lady and Ayame.
"Ayame? And…" she could see Kaelis and Kurusu leaning on the wall simply watching.
"Yo." "Good day to you."
Both said at the same time.
Nodding to their greetings, her attention was pulled back when the caretaker and Ayame lifted her off the floor and onto the bed.
"Keep steady. Your bandages will have to be reapplied."
Said the caretaker, inspecting her injuries and unraveling the already unraveled bandages.
"Do you feel any pain anywhere?"
"…mm-mm" mumei shook her head.
With a quick look around the room, she then questions. "Where am I anyway?"
"We're in the Iron pavilion, where lord Maeda used to live before he died." Ayame explained. "This is one of its rooms. You've been here for 5 days now."
"What!? 5 days!?" Mumei was appalled after which she calmed down a bit. "But 5 days, huh. Shouldn't you already be in kongokaku by now?"
Ayame simply recounted everything that happened during those 5 days.
About how they decided to stay and build their lives here now, how they're securing the perimeters of the station, rebuilding the food and supply systems and their future plans being in the works to get infrastructures restored.
The conversation went on with mumei mostly taking it all in while in disbelief, her bandages fixed and the caretaker left.
After Ayame finished recounting, mumei was momentarily dazed from trying to process the information.
Before long, she quickly filed through them as the memory from before flashed again as if to remind her.
"By the way…where is my brother? How come he is not here with you?" She asked, her voice shaking.
Silence distended inside the room as it became tense.
Ayame not knowing who's ore to answer simply turned it over to the person who knew best.
"You should take over here, sir Kaelis." Ayame grabbed Kurusu and left.
"…"
Only Mumei and Kaelis were left inside the room.
Walking over to the bed, Kaelis grabbed a chair and sat down beside it saying nothing.
"…so um. My brother… Where… is he?" She asked shakily.
Kaelis simply glanced at her before sighing. "You should already have the answer, don't you?"
"I don't… I don't understand what you're saying, sir Kaelis. My brother should be here…right? Maybe he is outside. I want to see him now."
She began to show signs of denial.
According to the stages of grief on experiences which were identified by a scientist, the first of the five stages was denial.
The memory began playing over and over in her head.
The recordings her brain captured of her brother getting killed right before her eyes.
And as it replayed, tears began to flow from her eyes.
Before, she could've attributed those memory fragments to a dream, but seeing Kaelis not acknowledging her brother's living.
"It's your fault!" She pointed at him, her face twisted in anger as her sentences became fragmented. "If… if you'd just—if you hadn't…! He… he'd still be alive!"
Kaelis just simply sat, listening—not even bothering to change his expression.
But this only ticked her off.
Finding strength somewhere, she jumped at it latching on his clothes as he punched, kicked, clawed and sometimes threw bites in between.
Throughout all this, Kaelis simply watched, expression still calm.
600+ years have made him experience events like these numerous times—more than he would like.
Not the grieving part, no. The anger his calmness induced into others during the grieving stage.
Children and grandchildren flaring at him during their mother's funeral, at their parents funeral.
His expression was always the same, calm and unchanging.
And this moment was no different.
"You know your brother was gonna kill more people, right? His death was necessary." He shrugged.
Her beatings slowed to a stop and began thinking.
She knew her brother had no good intentions.
His series of actions since she met up with him was quite telling.
"Weak perish, strong survive." Although what he said was true, he was actively getting rid of the weak and helpless.
He also showed he has no qualms about using, sacrificing and tormenting others to achieve his goals. Look at horobi—he might do the same to mumei if need be.
If he wasn't put an end to, he might do worse things in the future and would have to be stopped at some point.
But even so, he was her brother—her only family.
"Sniff* I hate you." She said softly.
Delivering one last kick to his shin before going back to the bed and pulling the covers over herself still trembling.
"Hmhm. Well. You can hate me if you want, you know. Nobody will stop you." He chuckled.
With that he left through the door.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Ayame asked.
Both her and Kurusu were at the door waiting even though they couldn't hear what went down inside.
"She'll be fine~ she is a tough girl after all."
…
Time flew by, and before anyone realized it, another five years had passed in the world of the kabane.
During that time, Kaelis kept the promise he had made to Kurusu: he trained the people.
Over the past four and a half years, ever since the walls had been rebuilt and the supply chains restored, he had put the new soldiers through grueling, relentless training.
From morning till night, as long as their bodies could move, every soldier focused on refining their sword techniques, strengthening their endurance, and sharpening their instincts.
Thanks to Kaelis's rigorous training methods, many promising warriors emerged—fighters whose strength far surpassed that of the average kabaneri.
The station itself began planning to extend its walls even further, confident in the newly honed skills and manpower of its defenders.
Kaelis didn't stop at combat training, either.
He also taught them advanced forging techniques, ensuring their weapons were not only sharper but far more durable, capable of withstanding the harshest of battles.
With the added bonus of attribute-enhanced swords being crafted for the new upper echelon, meant to serve as the last line of defense, the station and its people had truly been blessed by a 'god.'
This brings us to the present…
On the outer wall of the now-great and revitalized Iwato Station, a small crowd had gathered.
"Are you really leaving, Sir Kaelis?" Ayame asked, her voice tinged with both concern and admiration.
Beside her stood Kurusu, Ikoma, Kajika, Suzuki, Yukina, Kibito, Sukari, Takumi, and finally, the six chief leaders Akouji.
These 5 years have been good to them, as they all flourished into respected and presentable individuals.
Now all stood in front of the person who brought them all through the maws of the kabaneri since they left Aragane station, the one they and the people dubbed "god:"
Kaelis valeblade.
"Yea. I should've left after you guys got to safety before, but I got to keep my word. So now I'm taking my leave."
"Sure we can't change your mind?" Yukina spoke up with her hands on her hips.
"Nah. And don't bother." Kaelis shook his head. "Well then. You guys have delayed me for too long! The great me will be taking my leave."
He turned and stretched his hand forward.
Throoom!
A soft blue sword with engravings unknown to anyone appeared in his hands.
This blade—unlike the ones that usually reflected his tastes—was different. This one was no mere weapon; it was his soul made manifest.
KRIII-SSSHHHH!
With a casual swing, he cleaved through the air, tearing the very fabric of reality itself.
Within the gaping void, the next destination of his endless journey for knowledge awaited.
Chapter 37 end.
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I tried writing an emotional scene but I ain't got a clue ifs done right.