Episode 60: A new name.

 

A few days went by since the rescuing of the Majiri children from the slave merchant.

 

“How are the children doing, Liscia-san.”

“Oh, Yamato-sama, good morning. They are having breakfast right now.”

 

After finishing his early morning work, Yamato visited the village chief house to meet with Liscia.

Right now, she, along with other old ladies in the village, were taking care of the orphans of the Majiri people.

 

This because these orphans, being slaved by that merchant and having their families slaughtered by the mercenaries, had a strong vigilance against male adults.

Therefore, Yamato asked the caring old women to look after the children for the past few days.

 

And now, he received a report that, after living a normal everyday life since being rescued, they had settled down mentally.

Therefore, in order to speak directly with them, Yamato had now come to see the children.

 

“Do you like the food, kids?　”

 

“Ah… Yamato-aniue-sama… this is delicious. Thank you so much for helping us.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just keep eating.”

 

A girl of the Majiri came closer to Yamato to greet him.

She was from a high ranked family of shrine maidens/Miko, and was apparently acting as the leader of the orphans.

 

The girl imitated Liscia and the other children in the village, and ended up calling Yamato with aniue-sama.

She was a mysterious Miko who used a unique tone.

 

“Everyone seems to be getting better.”

“Yes. It’s been a while since I ate such a delicious meal. You have our thanks, Yamato-aniue-sama.”

 

Before being rescued from the slave merchant, these orphans were in a terrible state.

Their eyes were hollow, they were alone and their families were killed, they wore dirty clothes and were barely fed any meals.

 

After being brought to Urd village, they were bathed, given clean clothes and a warm meal.

Their malnourished and thin bodies were obvious to see as the old ladies bathed them, cleaning them of all the dirt.

 

And at first, they were quite wary of the people in this village, but soon after they started to feel safe.

These past few days, they slept deeply at night, so that helped them recover their physical and mental strength.

 

And right now, as everyone was cheerfully eating, a strong will reflected in their eyes.

 

“Like I said when we rescued you, if you want you can stay in this village. But in return, you will have to work.”

“Yamato-aniue-sama, thank you very much, but… we are the cursed “Majiri”…”

 

As if a cloud descended on her mood, the Miko girl kept speaking.

 

“If we stay here with you, the people from other cities will start to hate you all like us, Aniue-sama.”

 

Because of the strange abilities they were born with, countries and other settlements saw them as a dangerous existence, shunning and persecuting them.

Therefore, she was sure that their mere existence would bring unhappiness and surely invite disaster to the peaceful village of Urd.

 

“…………”

“…………”

 

The bright expressions the orphans had a moment ago turned dark and gloomy, and everyone became quiet.

Quickly forgetting the happy last few days they had spent in this village.

They remembered they were a race that should exist.

 

“‘Disaster’ and ‘Cursed’, you say?　Sorry, but I’m not one to believe in that sort of stuff.”

 

Whether in this different world, Yamato believed that strange phenomena always had a proper cause.

He hated people who, using paranormal causes like “curses”, tried to push away the responsibility of their actions and get away easy.

 

“Okay… don’t move from where you are for a moment. I’ll “kill” you all.”

“Eh…”

 

Not understanding the meaning of Yamato’s words, the children just stood there.

 

“Here it goes…”

 

But Yamato didn’t mind them and just unsheathed the knife he had on his waist.

 

At first, he slashed at the throat of the Miko girl in front of him.

Then, he continued and targeted the vital points of the surrounding children.

 

Not being able to respond to Yamato’s actions, whom had his physical abilities strengthened, the orphans just felt like their lives were being robbed.

 

“Okay, with this, the “Majiri” have been slain.”

“Yamato-aniue-sama…”

 

But, obviously… none of the children were dead.

 

He wielded his knife with serious killing intent.

Yet, he carefully kept the blade at a hair’s length, not touching their skin. None of the children were even bleeding.

 

“With this, none of the so called Majiri remains…”

 

He meant those words.

 

The Majiri people who lived in that remote area were slaughtered, and their settlement annihilated by the attack of the slave merchant.

And the surviving children were all killed by the hands of the brutal bandit Yamato.

 

In other words, the Majiri people, who were shunned and persecuted, had just disappeared and no longer existed in the continent.

 

“The “Suzaku (Crimson Bird) people”… from today onwards, that is the new name of your people.”

 

And so, he gave them a new name.

 

“The Suzaku people… it sounds nice…”

“Suzaku…”

“It really feels like a name to be proud of…”

 

The previous sunken eyes of the children made a complete change.

As they talked among themselves, they felt delighted to have a new name, a name they could proudly state.

 

The crimson bird, phoenix, who had died by the fire.

But at the same time, it was reborn from the ashes.

It was a suitable name for these children, who too had been reborn.

 

“I’ll be counting on you all from now on.”

 

“Yes!　Yamato-aniue-sama! ”

“Aniue-sama! ”

“Yamato-sama! ”

 

And thus, the Majiri were eradicated from the continent, and the Suzaku children became the new inhabitants of Urd village.

 

◇

 

A month passed since then, and now it was time for the Inahon planting in the village or Urd.

 

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