The Laughing Swordsman

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"You want to become stronger? How will you do it?"

Maya was at a loss for words.

"I..."

Maya shook her head.

"Could you teach me your swordsmanship?"

Apollo nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course!"

Maya smiled.

"Thank you."

Apollo made a stern expression.

"Alright, first!"

Maya nodded, paying close attention.

"First?"

Apollo closed his eyes.

"You have to swing the sword!"

Maya's eye twitched.

"...What is second?"

Apollo laughed.

"Ah, that's to swing the sword after you have swung the sword."

Maya stared at Apollo with a blank expression.

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"Hm? Do you have any questions?"

Maya chuckled bitterly.

"No... forget about the teaching."

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"Uh... ok!"

Maya sighed.

"Anyways, what was your destination? Before you got to this village, to be clear."

Apollo got lost in thought.

"...I don't know!"

Maya's face twitched.

"...In any case, I don't want to stay here any longer. Do you want to come with me?"

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Apollo's eyes lit up.

"Ok! That sounds fun."

Maya shrugged her shoulders.

"I suppose. Anyways, we should collect whatever food we can. With your appetite, we are going to need it."

Apollo nodded.

"Then let's do it!"

...

Maya scratched her head.

"Um... I can't find where the food is stored for this house."

Apollo's voice rang out from behind the walls.

"It's over here!"

Maya rushed over.

She saw Apollo standing in the kitchen, holding up a plate.

The corner of Maya's lip twitched.

"...That is not food."

Apollo looked surprised.

"It isn't?"

Maya sighed.

"That is what you use to eat food, not food itself..."

Apollo furrowed his brows.

"Ok..."

Maya's eyes landed on a latch on the ground.

"Maybe this?"

She used one hand to pull up the latch but was unable to lift it. She then tried with both of her hands.

It wouldn't budge.

Her brows furrowed.

"Um, Apollo, could you try this?"

Apollo tilted his head.

"Ok!"

He set down the plate and walked over. He placed the hand that wasn't holding onto the bokken on the latch.

There was a loud snap.

Apollo lifted the covering, revealing a staircase. There was a wooden board that split in two and fell down the stairs.

Maya's nose scrunched up. There was the smell of decay coming from below.

Apollo looked down curiously, then leisurely walked down the steps.

Maya cringed.

"Wait, don't go down there."

Apollo turned his head back but continued walking.

"Why not?"

Maya rushed after Apollo.

"Let's just go to another house."

Apollo pouted and did not stop walking.

"Eh? Just let me check it out, it's only a few more steps!"

Maya tried to catch up, but before she could do anything, Apollo reached the bottom.

The stench of decay became more intense.

There was a hallway and a few doors on each side.

Apollo pushed the closest one on his left and peered inside.

There was a small pile of dead bodies that were rotting away.

Apollo furrowed his brows.

"This doesn't look like food..."

Maya looked inside the room. Her face was devoid of any expression.

"...They are the villagers."

Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"Why would any villagers go here?"

Maya closed her eyes.

"...There was not enough food for everyone to survive."

Maya started to shiver.

"So... some of the villagers began disappearing. This is where they ended up."

Apollo tilted his head to the side.

"Ah, so they want to be here?"

Maya's eye twitched.

"...Maybe?"

Apollo bowed.

"Ah, sorry for disturbing you!"

He then closed the door.

Apollo looked sheepishly towards Maya and whispered.

"Are they mad at me?"

Maya had a deep look at Apollo.

"...No. They aren't."

Apollo patted his chest and let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good then!"

Maya decided it wasn't worth it to think about Apollo's strange behavior.

They made their way to another house and found the basement, where food was stored.

As the two stepped into the basement, Apollo turned to Maya.

"Hey, why are these things so big?"

Maya reluctantly answered the question.

"Well... it needs to have enough space for ten years of food storage. After all, after ten years of summer, comes ten years of winter. Does your house not have even this?"

Apollo ran his fingers through his hair.

"No..."

A small gasp came from Maya.

"What? How did your parents survive?"

Apollo rubbed his hand against his chin.

"Mm... I don't know! Food was always there."

The corner of Maya's lip twitched.

"...Food was always available?"

Apollo nodded.

"Yeah!"

Maya shook her head. She assumed that Apollo was just oblivious to his house's basement.

After a sigh, she pushed open one of the doors to reveal a large stack of rice piled up in the middle of the room.

"Alright, let's get the rice!"

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"What do we use to hold it?"

Maya froze.

"...I forgot about that."

...

Maya found some cloth satchels to hold the rice and with that, they set off.

Maya had gotten four big satchels. She wanted to carry two, but could not make it more than a few steps forward. As such, Apollo was forced to hold three sacks of rice.

Maya had arbitrarily picked a direction to go, and so they traversed the forest.

Maya shivered from the cold. She turned to Apollo.

"How are you not cold? You're just wearing a torn up shirt and bandages!"

Apollo shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe this shirt keeps in heat really well!"

Maya frowned.

Apollo scratched the side of his head.

"Ah, sorry! Did I say something?"

Maya furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, we have to run."

Apollo turned to look in the direction Maya was looking.

There was a three-horned demon.

The demon was way taller than Apollo and carried a mace that matched its own height.

The demon locked eyes with Apollo, glaring with its bright yellow eyes.

Apollo smiled and waved.

"Hey there!"

Maya's face twitched.

"We need to run now!"

Maya tried to drag Apollo away by his arm.

At that time, the three-horned demon charged at them.