Chapter 1 - Himawari Village 1

Western Prefecture, Prosperous Lands Region, Himawari Village

A young orange-haired boy was strolling on a flat path. It was about noon, and the sun was beating down from above. Fortunately, the young man had a jingasa on his head, a light lacquered straw hat that protected both from the sun and rain. The young man also wore a long dark cloak from which a light leather armor was visible. On his left side, there was a simple sheath without decorations which contained a sword.

"It looks like I have arrived. Good, I will be able to rest in the afternoon before tonight's hunt." the young man said as he noticed a series of wooden houses that made up the Himawari Village.

Himawari Village also called sunflower village because of the large amount of this type of flower nearby. It was located in the Western Prefecture, within the territories under the influence of the Sun Empire, where humans resided. But although it was within the Sun Empire, the village was located on the outer edge, near the border where the influence of the yokai race began.

Nobody knew when they appeared or how they were born; it was something that had been lost in the slow passage of time. However, one thing was certain - humans and yokai could not coexist, and as long as the two existed, there would never be peace.

For this, over the years, there were countless wars between the two races in what was called Yokai Wars. Eventually, after a period of endless conflict, it came to a period of peace that had been going on for 100 years. Nevertheless, yokai raids continually occurred within the border of the two races. Therefore, in the small defenseless villages and far from the big cities of the Sun Empire, the war had never really ended. Fortunately, the Sun Empire wasn't so evil as to leave its citizens defenseless.

Yokai Hunters and the Onmyoji Army.

It was the Sun Empire's solution to the problem of yokai attacks in human territories. The Yokai Hunters and Onmyojis basically did the same job - exterminating the yokai and protecting the peace within the boundaries of the empire. However, there was a clear difference between the two.

Yokai Hunters were freelancers, meaning they weren't affiliated with any specific group. They fought the yokai for money and recovered the yokai cores from the defeated yokai to exchange them for resources and other items. Because they were freelancers, they weren't protected and educated by the empire but weren't required to serve in the event of war or other emergencies.

The Onmyojis were instead soldiers in the service of the empire. Since they were affiliated with the Sun Empire, they were educated by the best masters in the yokai extermination arts. However, as the Sun Empire consumed resources to raise them, they were required to fight in defense of the empire if a war were to break out.

Meanwhile, the young man had arrived at the door of the village. To protect against the yokai, the Himawari Village had set up a wooden protective fence along the edge of the village. The only entrance was the main door, which was guarded by four armed men.

"Who are you? What brings you to Himawari Village?" One of the guards asked in an authoritative tone. From the dark circles under the eyes, one could see that he had a severe lack of sleep.

"My name is Souma. I am a yokai hunter, and I am here for the hunting mission you have requested." Souma replied in an emotionless tone. He was now familiar with the distrust of villagers against foreigners. After all, even with the threat from the yokai, bandits, thieves, and other criminals had never stopped taking advantage of the situation to carry out their wrongdoings. And because they were human, it was also more difficult to find their hiding places and punish them.

"A yokai hunter? Aren't you quite young to be one of them? How old are you?" asked the guard. In all his years he had never seen such a young yokai hunter. So his reaction was normal.

"My age is not your business. I have the Hunter Badge. It is more than enough as proof." Souma replied in an annoyed tone. He was 15 years old, but he didn't like to disclose personal information. Fortunately, there was a better way to verify his identity. So he pulled a silver medallion out of his clothes. In the medallion was engraved the figure of a sword tearing apart a pair of horns - the symbol of yokai hunters.

Then Souma said aloud while holding the medallion with his right hand, "Check!" Suddenly, the medallion began to light up before returning to its original state. Souma then placed it in his robes and asked, "Can I come in now?"

"Yes, it is authentic. There are no doubts. Come in and thank you for your hunter service." confirmed the guard who motioned to his companions to open the door and let the young hunter pass.

Souma, therefore, entered the village. When he went inside, he was immediately greeted by a myriad of eyes that followed his every move. It wasn't just the villagers, but there were also other men and women dressed in leather armors similar to that worn by Souma.

'Other Yokai Hunters? There are too many of them to be a simple yokai extermination. Were there any news that I am not aware of?' Souma wondered while examining every single corner of the village. After finishing his reconnaissance tour, he found an isolated grassy area with trees to sit on. There, he extracted dried meat from his bag so that he could put something in his stomach and rest a little.

"View Mission."

When Souma said those words, a series of letters mysteriously appeared before his eyes. Still, if someone else had looked in his direction, he wouldn't have seen any letter. The only thing they would have noticed would have been the light glow around Souma's body.

"Gaki and Bekatarō are Wanderer Level yokai. And even among the wanderers, they occupy the lowest seats of the hierarchy. First-stage apprentice hunters can kill them without problems if they are not too many. So why so many hunters gathered in this village? If it weren't for being on the road, I wouldn't have accepted this mission. Is there news that I am not aware of?" Souma thought to himself as he finished the dried meat he had brought.

Spirit power. It was the name of the energy that dwelled in all the Red Sky Continent. Those who awakened their spirit power acquired the ability to use esoteric techniques called Magic.

Spirit power and magic completely overturned human society, leading it to reach peaks that it had only previously been able to dream of. The strange event of before was, in fact, due to a spell cast by Souma - Visualization.

Visualization was a spell that served to visualize certain information contained in a particular book called the 'Information Collection Book.' In this book, the user added any type of information he wanted so that he could view it at any time, even during a fight.

"Let's try to ask some inhabitants. Otherwise, I will be forced to ask the other hunters." Souma then got up to return to the village square. The village chief lived there, and he was the best person to ask questions.

Unfortunately for Souma, the place also housed most of the yokai hunters who gathered there. When Souma approached them, one of the hunters, a man in his early thirties, stopped Souma's path.

"Hey brat, what are you doing here? Are you lost? You are lucky that the Great Shigeaki has noticed you. As it happens, I just need a bag holder to put all the yokai cores I acquire. In return, I offer you protection and maybe one or two cores of some first-stage wanderers. It's a nice deal, don't you think?"

Souma paid no attention to the man and continued straight on his way, bypassing the hunter who had stopped him. However, this gesture wasn't welcomed by the man who quickly grasped Souma's shoulder.

"Brat. I was kind to make you a proposal like this, and you pay me back this way? You should respect me and lick the road where I walk. If you think that a brat like you can survive by yourself, you're wrong. You will only end up being the snack of some gaki."

Seeing the man got heated that way, another hunter attempted to intervene, "Hey Shigeaki. Come on. He's just a brat, why do you get so upset? If he wants to die, let him do it. Everyone does what they want with their life."

"Piss on this fuckin' turd, Tamuramaro. Nobody asked for your fucking opinion. Brat, now apologize to me and beg me to become my bag carrier, or I'll rip you up like a pig instantly." Shigeaki spat out every word with anger and malice, combined with a sense of pleasure and excitement.

He loved to see the sense of helplessness and despair in the eyes of those who were overwhelmed, especially the young hunters, with the hope of becoming someone important and changing their destiny. After all, killing yokai was simply his job; those monsters didn't show such human expressions when they died. Destroying young hunters was more rewarding and, over the years, had become his favorite pastime.

Hearing Shigeaki's words, Souma understood that he wouldn't be able to free himself from this annoyance with diplomacy alone. Without thinking twice, he brought his hand to the sword, and with a rapid movement, he drew his weapon.

Slash!

"Arghhh !!!" Shigeaki screamed in pain as he looked at his left arm. At the height of the wrist where his hand should have started, there was only a pool of blood. Instead, his hand lay on the ground below him.

The other hunters who were watching the show swallowed their saliva. None of them had noticed the boy's movement, and it was only when Shigeaki's scream resounded that they understood what had happened. None of them, however, intervened. They weren't Shigeaki's close friends, and they certainly wouldn't move a finger for such garbage. Instead, it was better he was injured. It meant one less competitor for the spoils of the night.

"Bastard! How the fuck did you dare?! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

Shigeaki barely drew his sword as he activated his spirit power. A faint aura surrounded his body as the bleeding on his wrist slowly began to stop. Spirit power wasn't only the fuel to use magic but could be used to empower the body during the fight.

"In that case, then I'll kill you first," Souma replied in a cold voice before waving his sword again. This time, he too activated his spirit power.

Slash! Thud!

A single exchange. Shigeaki's head flew through the air with an arched trajectory before landing on the ground. Souma then cleaned the blade of his sword with the clothes of the beheaded man and sheathed his sword.

"Anyone else who wants to brag about themselves?" Souma then turned his eyes to the other hunters. But no one dared to meet his eyes, and they all looked away. There was only one thought within them.

'A middle third stage apprentice hunter?'

Suddenly there was a loud laugh. A man, still in his thirties, came out from the village chief's house and clapped his hands at that sight.

"Very well done, young boy. Despite your young age, you have already reached the third stage. Remarkable, certainly more than these small fries gathered here."

Hearing the amused tone of the newcomer, Souma abruptly replied, "What do you want, old man? I have no time to waste with you."

"Young but also reckless. You should carefully evaluate who is in front of you before opening your mouth. But I suppose you can be forgiven due to your strength. You're looking for information, right? I have a proposal. How about having a chat? In return, I will answer any questions you have."

Souma looked hesitant for a few moments. Usually, he was wary of anybody, and he didn't like interacting with other hunters. But from his appearance, it seemed that the thirty-year-old man was quite strong, and by his tone, he seemed to have useful information. So, in the end, he decided to accept the proposal.