Yusha led the way. She twiddled her thumbs, focusing on her moving digits instead of me. "Zahnte's Army of Order stops by our village every so often," she said.

"And you have no fighters in your village to defend it?"

She shook her head. "No. Like I said, our village is banned from having anyone that is capable of fighting. Not to mention that we aren't allowed to possess any weapons or armor.."

"How did that happen?" I asked, stunned. "Did Govessa set that law?"

"No!" Yusha shot back. "She would never do such a thing! It's all the fault of Zahnte's Army of Order!" She stopped walking and crossed her arms as she stared at her village. "Even though we are still a part of Govessa's territory, we are closer to Zahnte's forces ever since they took over the neighboring region just beyond that mountain range. The Army of Order comes by every few months, flaunting their might and numbers to intimidate us."

Looks like this village wasn't as safe as Govessa had originally thought. Knowing my [Luck] stat, Zahnte's soldiers are probably due to head here within the next few days. Or maybe even the moment I step into a hut.

"What do they want from you and your people? You said that there isn't much here in regards to resources."

"Control," she said coldly. "Plain and simple. They enjoy forcing others to submit. Even back when we had fighters and weapons, our defenses were no match for them."

"Must have been a brutal battle," I said softly. After saying it, I felt bad. I realized that an event like that would be hard for anyone to go back and recount.

"There was no battle," Yusha replied with her eyes still staring towards the horizon. Color me surprised. I would have guessed that the Army of Order would have loved to get some free [Attribute Points] from a defenseless village.

"The "warriors,'" Yusha continued while making a pair of imaginary quotation marks with her fingers. Nice to see that gesture exists in this world too. "Of our village surrendered the moment one of our own fell."

"Not very warrior-like."

"Even the enemy soldiers were astounded. Never before had they seen such a display of cowardice." Yusha stopped walking again. She grinded a stick into the dirt with the heel of her sandal and sighed. "My father was the only other one to stand up to them."

"I'm sorry," I replied quietly. I was never good at consoling others. If I knew the right words to say to cheer up, I would have.

"You did nothing wrong. My father was a strong Martial Artist. He ran the only dojo in the village. Spent his life teaching others how to defend themselves, only for those very same pupils to turn their backs on him when our village needed their help the most." Yusha took in a deep breath and looked up towards the sky. I could tell that tears were getting ready to form by how red her eyes had become.

"They killed him I assumed?"

"No. They took him away ten years ago. I was only nine at the time. Nobody knows where they put him or if he's even still alive. But I gave up hope the moment they hauled him away in the wagon. I knew at that point I was never going to see him again."

I wanted to tell her that there was a chance that he could still be alive. A competent Martial Artist could prove to be a valuable prisoner, especially to such a power-hungry army. But like I said, I'm no good at saying things to help people deal with their emotions. I kept my mouth zipped and let Yusha continue with her story.

"The leader of the village made a pact with the Army of Order. He agreed that he would prohibit all forms of fighting and self-defense from being taught, as well barring all weapons from entering Tuanha."

I jerked my head back. "What? That's absurd! You're not allowed to defend yourselves at all?"

Yusha shook her head. "We're not even allowed to use metal tools."

"Sounds to me that the real villain here is that leader of yours."

"Believe me. Nobody harbors more hatred towards him than me," Yusha replied, pointing to herself. "He did nothing when Zahnte's men raided my family's dojo, and he was more than willing to surrender everything to them! Not to mention that he got his position illegitimately."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest."

"The only foreigner to have ever held the position. Our old leader died suddenly and then Pheng somehow musters enough support to take his place."

"Sounds like it was planned all along then."

"Everyone in the village seems to be more than fine with it though. All because Pheng manages to negotiate the safety of our homes. But I think it's because he has close ties with the Army of Order."

Yusha continued to walk in the direction of the village and I trailed right behind her. "But this peace can't last forever, can it? You have no warriors. No weapons. Not even a metal shovel in the village. At any moment, the Army of Order could come in and wipe out everyone without even breaking a sweat!"

"You don't think that I've tried bringing that up to the others? Everyone just calls me ungrateful. I've even received a few threats for having the audacity to question Pheng's decisions. No one else wants to venture beyond Tuanha. They don't want to see the outside world. Or even make contact and trade with other provinces under Govessa's rule. Everyone just wants to eat their rice and potatoes and ignore the rest of the world."

I watched as Yusha wadded her fists and let them dangle at her side. She stomped towards Tuanha with fervor.

"That must be why you come all this way out here to train. You don't want anyone seeing you trying to get stronger."

"Very perceptive of you, Adrien," Yusha replied, her tone calming down. "If I train in the village, they'll turn me in for sure. I'm already an outcast. Seems like Pheng is just looking for a reason to get rid of me. But the one good thing about being so disliked is that no one cares where I go. That's how I'm able to spend hours out in the forest fighting Entities. It's a slow slog, but one day I might be strong enough to put up a good fight against the Army of Order."

Yusha buried her fist into the palm of her hand. Water spurted out from the impact of her punch. Contrary to her element, I could see the fire in her dark brown eyes as she stomped towards the village. She had a lot of passion. Something that I lacked.

"I won't be holding you back, will I?" I asked. I knew that Yusha was excited to be helping out one of Govessa's Champions, but at the same time I couldn't bare the thought of her getting into some serious trouble due to my incompetence. "Your village has no visitors. No fighters. And here I am, someone that could potentially be a threat to the Army of Order who also happens to be a class that specializes in fighting."

She turned around and gave me this sympathetic look by the way she smiled and cut her eyes towards me. I don't think I blushed. But I angled my head to the side just enough to make sure that she wouldn't be able to tell in case I did.

"I've been waiting my entire life to find a reason to fight the Army of Order. I can't think of anything more honorable than dying to make sure that a Champion is able to reach their fighting potential."

Dying? I don't mind dying myself. I'd prefer not to, of course. But even then, that's just me. I don't know what I'd do if someone like Yusha got hurt because I'm a novice.

"Wait a second now," I said, almost stammering. "No need to go that far. You've got a lot to live for."

"Like what?" she replied, letting her arms cross in front of her chest. "Waiting every day for my portion of water and raw potato? Or being shunned by community for daring to want to improve my life? That sounds like a satisfying life to you?"

Huh. Now with the way she put things into perspective, she did have a point. I suppose I was too used to my Earthly standards of living. If my entire existence comprised solely of water, potatoes and a pinch of scorn, I'd probably jump at the first opportunity to flee too.

"Okay, okay. Good point. You're tired of dealing with your village's nonsense. I've got to get stronger. Seems like there's a bit of intersection in our goals." I extended one hand. Yusha looked down at it and slowly reached for it. "Once you shake, that means we're in this together. Wherever you go, I go. And I'm not leaving until we sort out this situation with Tuanha."

She took my hand. Her grip was surprisingly firm as she moved my arm up and down. "That's more than fair with me."

Yusha's innocent smile made me nervous. I quickly looked back at the village. I could make out some of the finer details of the building. There were wooden huts with straw rooves above. A long and low wooden fence encompassed the perimeter. Then something dawned on me.

"How am I going to go through Tuanha without getting noticed?"

"Don't worry," Yusha said as she patted me on the back. "I'll just sneak you in."