Three days ago.

Somehow, Shoyo found himself as a substitute teacher for the orphans of the Order.

Many of the kids were either siblings or children of members that have lost their lives to the monsters or were the young victims of monster attacks that had nowhere else to go. Apparently Nagare was such a case.

Luckily, a young girl, apparently Shisui Sensei’s assistant, Rokuto was still there, making Shoyo’s job a little easier.

Shoyo: “Ok, I guess we can start with a roll call. Guess I am glad that the teacher wrote all of your names down…”

As he read each name out loud, one of the kids would respond with a ‘here’.

From what he could tell, everyone was present, except for a certain student named Amaru.

“He never shows up even when Shisui Sensei is teaching”

“He is a good for nothing!”

“It doesn’t matter if he is not here!”

Shoyo: “That’s just harsh….”

After the lesson was over, Shoyo asked Rokuto about Amaru.

It turns out; Amaru’s father and brother were both Guardians that have lost their lives trying to fight demons.

In grief, Amaru isolated himself from everyone ever since.

After the lessons ended for the day, Shoyo could only wonder about the absurdity of the situation.

Shoyo: ‘I am in the territory of my former enemies and I just signed up to be a substitute teacher. Just how much weirder can my life get?’

It was by a complete accident that Shoyo ended up stumbling upon Rokuto, bumping into her by accident. One thing led to another, and somehow Rokuto misunderstood Shoyo’s intention to help out and be useful as a sign that he was fit to be a substitute teacher in Shisui Sensei’s absence.

Rokuto: “I tried to step up as a teacher but I just can’t do it….”

Her voice was but a whisper. It was obvious she dreaded speaking in public much less in front of a classroom full of students.

Shoyo: ‘What a shy girl’

As he went for a breath of fresh air, he heard an audible scream coming from the far off area.

It was a voice of a child, screaming for help.

Still, it was not loud enough to be heard by human ear.

Luckily, Shoyo was not a human.

* * *

Amaru heard that there was a new substitute teacher, but he simply did not care.

Nothing would change from him attending lessons on reading, language, and calligraphy.

What he wanted was to hurry up and grow big and strong.

That is why; he would come to the forest every day and kept hitting the bamboos with his wooden sword.

But no matter how much effort he put in, he was not getting any stronger.

Granted, he was still a child, but even that was frustrating to him.

Guardians wouldn’t bother to teach a kid like him how to wield a sword.

That is why, he had to teach himself or at least die trying.

Yet another practice ended in a failure, ending with Amaru ending up accidentally smacking himself in the face with the wooden sword.

Amaru: “Stupid stick!”

He threw the wooden sword to the ground in frustration.

Amaru: “I am never going to avenge dad and elder brother at this rate!”

As he screamed out his frustrations, he did not notice something approach him, not until he heard a guttural growl behind him.

To his horror, he realized that a bear managed to sneak up behind him and was on its way to making him its next meal.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Amaru ran for it.

The bear chased after him.

This bear was a strange one; it did not have one, but three heads.

Had he attended Shisui Sensei’s lectures, he would have known this was a Cerberus type monster, basically a three headed beast.

They were tricky because the barrier prevented monsters from entering the territory but the Cerberus bear was technically an animal rather than a monster, thus allowing it to slip through undetected.

Such animals lacked a monster core, so the barriers could not prevent them from getting inside.

Amaru: “AAAAH!”

Was this how he was going to die?

Never learning how to wield a sword?

Never becoming a Demon Hunter?

Never avenging his family?

His entire life flashed before his eyes and he could only remark it was a pointless one.

Then, he ended up tripping over a root of a tree.

The beast was coming towards him, its mouths open wide enough to swallow him whole.

He could see the mouths drooling in anticipation of its next meal.

Amaru: ‘This is it; this is how I am going to die’

Amaru: ‘I am scared….big brother….’

Even if his elder brother was dead, Amaru couldn’t help but call out to him in a moment of desperation.

Amaru: ‘I don’t want to die!’

Then, at that moment, Amaru saw the beast’s body collapse as its heads were cleanly sliced off its body.

It was a long ranged slash and multiple ones at that, the beast’s bear did not stand a chance.

The body itself collapsed as it was cut into three separate pieces.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Amaru found himself covered in the beast’s blood.

His heart beat fast. The shock was too much to take in at once.

“Kid, are you all right?”

A man wielding a wooden sword appeared before him.

The wooden sword he wielded was the same one Amaru had left on the ground.

As Amaru looked into the man’s pitch black eyes, the man seemed to realize his mistake and averted his gaze, closing his eyes right away.

“Now I have done it….”

“Look kiddo, everyone in my family has eyes like that, so it’s nothing unusual….”

But Amaru couldn’t care less about the pitch black eyes the man possessed. What he saw was way beyond that, a man who just slew the three headed bear with nothing but a wooden stick.

He was a master swordsman; that was for sure.

Amaru: ‘So cool!’

“Anyways….what’s your name, kid?”

Amaru: “A-A-Amaru”

Shoyo: “Ah, the missing student, huh? Pleased to meet you, I am Shoyo, the substitute teacher”

Amaru: ‘There is no way someone as strong as him is just a substitute teacher, could it be he is secretly a Guardian?’

Guardians were the greatest swordsmen of the Order with only Dragons ranking above them.

If this man was a Guardian, it would make sense how he was so powerful.

Shoyo: “Well, it’s a waste of good meat. Wanna help me dismantle it?”

Amaru: “Yes!”

After cutting off the meat from the bear and taking it apart, Shoyo cooked the meat over a bonfire.

Amaru: “This guy….he is so….super cool!”

Amaru’s eyes couldn’t help but sparkle as he believed that he was in the presence of a Guardian.

The two of them ate the bear meat, which turned out to taste well when paired with honey they found on a beehive nearby. As for how Shoyo got the honey without being stung, Amaru had no idea.

Shoyo: “Doesn’t taste as good as a cow, but it will do”

For some reason, Amaru felt that Shoyo was a safe person to open up to.

He told him everything.

How his ancestors were Demon Hunters and how his father and elder brother both tried to continue the profession as Guardians but were killed for their efforts, one after another at the hands of demons.

Shoyo quietly listened to Amaru’s story.

As Amaru had injured his leg, Shoyo had to carry him on his back on their way back home.

Amaru: “Sensei sir”

Shoyo: “?”

Amaru: “I know it is impudent of me to ask, but could you please become my teacher in swordsmanship?”

Shoyo: “Sure, why not?”

Amaru: “That’s it?! Really?”

Amaru expected Shoyo to be more reluctant to mentoring a kid but apparently that was not the case for Shoyo.

Shoyo: “I have spare time, so I don’t see any reason not to. Though be warned, I am a demanding teacher”

Amaru: “I will do anything it takes to become stronger”

Shoyo: “In that case…”

Shoyo patted Amaru’s head.

Shoyo: “You can start by attending my lessons”

To that, Amaru could only nod while shedding tears of happiness.

* * *

Leader of the Golden Dragon Branch, Lady Noriko.

Lady Noriko: “Welcome back, Guardian of Ice”

Guardian of Ice, Koutarou Yama.

Yama: “I wouldn’t be here for long though”

Lady Noriko: “I assume you have found something?”

Yama: “More or less. Location of one of the Demon Blades for starters”