( Chapter unfolds:"23")
Samara was very silent, cleaning the wound with a rhythmic precision. The medicine she used was not ordinary; it was a strange, silvery-green herbal liquid soaked into a piece of cloth.
After tending to everything, she stood up. "Now, rest... it will hurt for a while, but then it will pass."
Samara walked out, her long, partially loosened hair swaying in the wind as if dancing to a rhythm. Jinso could not take his eyes off her, but as the strength of the medicine took effect, his eyes slowly began to close.
Outside, Haru was wandering aimlessly when the woman approached him, carrying a special drink to help him recover. She handed it to him.
"This is good for relieving exhaustion."
Haru took a slow sip. It was true as the liquid reached his core, his fatigue began to lift.
"I have something to ask," Haru said.
"Certainly."
"When you saw Liji... why was the first thing you did checking his neck?" he asked, setting the glass down.
"I did that to see if he had been cursed," the woman replied.
"So, you believe in that...?"
"Why wouldn't I? Boy, the silence that lingers over this village exists because of them. Cursed humans. They destroyed many good people," the woman said sorrowfully. "People who lived like brothers and sisters suddenly became enemies overnight."
Haru could see the deep pain in her eyes.
"I know you destroyed that power. For that, we are forever indebted to you."
"No... it wasn't us..."
"I know everything," the woman interrupted. "In a time past, it was the Sapahans who came as saviors to this land. Back then, it was the blood of the cursed that fell upon this soil. The strength of those warriors the hunterslay in their swords. No one else here carries swords like these, for these blades are formed by spirit. This is one of them," she said, pointing to Haru's Soulrend.
"No one has forgotten the ones who came back then, nor their presence. After all these years, I have seen it again. My intuition is never wrong. You are a Sapahan," she said, looking at him with a smile.
Haru stood there shocked, unsure of how to respond.
"It's alright that you haven't revealed your identity. It is better for you that way," she said before heading back inside.
Time passed, and Jinso, now awake, came outside. The wound on his hand had healed. He gently stroked his sword. As his hand touched it, the blade flickered with a faint, powerful glow.
"That was no ordinary burn!!"
Through the rustling of the wind, a voice pierced the silence and hit his ears. Startled, Jinso looked back.
There stood Samara, her long hair loose, dressed in pure white, watching him with those pale green eyes.
Jinso quickly turned his face away. However, Samara came and sat beside him. She gently took his hand and looked at the burn; her hands were strikingly cold.
"Normal fire burns the surface of the skin. But this... this has consumed your very soul. A remnant of a great power used before its time."
Jinso pulled his hand back abruptly, his heart skipping a beat. But Samara gripped his hand again.
"I don't understand what you're talking about!" Jinso said, feigning ignorance. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to look at her; her gaze was piercing through him.
A smile spread across Samara's lips.
"Mmm... you saw my mother checking Liji's neck, didn't you? It wasn't to look for wounds; she was looking to see if they had opened the Grey Seal. To see if he had been chosen. If that Zek had finished his work, Liji would be one of them by now."
She looked at his wound again.
"You are a Sapahan. Not just you, your friend too."
"Eh... Sapahans? That..." Jinso tried to deflect.
"You can hide your swords, but you cannot hide the scent of the battle you just fought. The air around you still smells of smoke and ash!!"
Jinso was stunned. Meanwhile, Haru, leaning against a wooden pillar nearby, was listening to everything. He felt a strange energy around the house. He realized the beads and symbols hanging in front weren't decorations they were "Warding Seals".
"So... you know about us?" Jinso asked.
"Certainly. You are Sapahans."