Start point, age 1800, Mayne village, rainy and cold.

The burned leafs were falling like pieces of ripped scrolls in the wind. The air was thin and warm, but their edges cutting.

One of them, looked down with his thin, purple scarf and cube-print Yukata. His eyes soft, but only to numb his unwanted and hauting memories. The other one was somewhat different, rage and pain engulfed his soul, prepared to use his mirror of his soul, his thick edge'd katana.

"3 SILVER COINS on Sharp mid Haf!"

Screamed one of the spectators, showing him the 3 coins being placed firmly between his thumb and his index finger.

The bets continued with higher and higher numbers

"5!"

"9!"

"One gold cube for Dando..."

Said a calming and gentle voice of a woman, from inside the crowd, that differentiated herself from the others, because of her white and long dress.

No one said anything for a few seconds, then the bets continued. Minutes after, they all waited with their hands on their mouths, seeing if they would eat good today or nothing at all.

That, there, was, what caught his attention, maybe an ally, or an enemy?

The bald small energetic man was the one that was about to raise his arm down, which meant the start of the competition, or a "duel" between two or more participants.

"GO!"

Screamed the small man, loudly.

Sharp Mind Haf charged at him with his right hand in which the mirror of his soul was placed, firmly being held with both dry and tired hands, loudly screaming at Dando, a call of Duel. On point, Dando dodged the first two sword hits that were astonishingly common and mediocre, that was just a small morning movement for him, but because he lost respect so quickly, he thought it was already time to end it.

Scoffing once and narrowing his eyes, Dando quickly took out his sword from it's purple toque and with one single slash and movement of two movements of his shoulders, he cut down both of Sharp Mind's elbows.

Sharp Mind Haf stood still for a few seconds, maybe out of shock, but he fell down on his knees, firmly holding his injured arms with his hands, trying to patch them up, but blood continued flowing down like a paintful river.

The crowd quickly began to scream, after seeing Sharp Mind Haf on his knees.

"Three times! Two times! One time!"

"Dando Obong versus Sharp Mind Haf, winner DANDO!"

The only rule of the Duel is to not rest for more than 3 seconds. If that happens, then you have lost.

Most of them yelled out, annoyed as they was, but only one of them one, the woman in the white dress, who was smiling with her eyes narrowed towards Dando.

Dando flicked his whole right arm so that the blood would sprinkle on the ground, off his shiny grey sword, and slowly turned away, afterwards, not looking back, while he was putting back the sword back in his orange colored toque.

"Hey, mister, do you not want your money?"
Asked the small bald man, nervously running on the muddy ground, sprinkling it everywhere with his slippery wooden sandals called Geta, almost messing Dando's cube-print Yukata, that got until his waist and his bicep, that's how long it was. He had a pair of wooden sandals too, with white socks and black baggy pants that he made himself. His hair was black and shoulder-height.

Dando gave him an cold look, almost an annoyed one, and flicked two of his finger, seconds after, meaning that he wanted the small old man to drop the small bag with coins, towards him.

He catched the small bag with coins that would keep him fed well for three weeks and buy a roof over his head for one month.

From behind him, he heard an yell, but it didn't bother Dando that the yell was getting closer and closer. When the scream was two meter close, it got to his head. He turned quickly turned around, taking out his sword from his toque and as he did a full spin, Dando cut Sharp Mind's stomach. Sharp Mind fell down on the muddy ground, sprinkling Dando's clothing with liquid dirt, and turned around, letting his duel partner rest permanently.

Minutes after, before getting out of the village, the women echo'ed her voice by using both of her hands, calling out Dando

"It's you, isn't it, the "Castle Slayer?"

Dando slightly turned around his face and gave her an unbothered look

"I don't know what are you talking about, I'm just lost, that's all"

"Lost in your thought, what about that?"
Quickly said the woman in white dress

Dando turned his look and continued his way on a gravel path towards the inside of a grey-wood forest, making himself unseen minutes after.

Dando was a paid lone walker, which means that he was doing a "dirty work" for someone.

A flashback in form of dream appeared late at night, under an beautifully twisted oak tree, with it's leaves touching in an arch, the calm and warm water that mirorred the cosmic beauty of the sky.

His hands were covered in thick blood, his breathing was shaking and his thoughts scrambled, he could not think for the moment.

He thought to himself, desperately, opening his eyes widely, realizing again the damage that he has done.

"I'm free now, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free--"

Behind him, a crowd of souless warriors were on the ground, with different cut-off, of their limbs and dark liquid all around them, but not of them was moving.

Dando was proclaimed the "enemy" of his village by his friends, family, "the black sheep", they said.

 "Killing for money is only for the disgraceful" said his mother, while pushing him out of the home, and this was 2 years ago. Since then, he kept trying to find a place to rest for good, he wanted a new life, but he had to move from village to village for this, to try his luck out. An easy way out could have been for him to put a smile on his face and hide his name, but Dando couldn't change who he was, he had to and wanted to live with it, that was one of his mental mistakes.

Months on months of travelling, Dando still didn't find his place anywhere, he escaped himself from execution, nine times. 

From those nine times, four times he talked himself out of it, four times he was told that his life is in debt to the ruler of the village, and the last time he escaped himself with a pair chopstick, by having the shackles rigged with a small ripped piece of the wooden material, so that the chains won't close entirely on his wrists, and then smashed the other chopstick inside the executioner's eye, took his sword from one of the barrels that was inside one of the houses and ran away without being caught, because of his unnatural speed and his extraordinary stamina.

Housewifes were throwing knives, chairs, fish, rice and buckets of water after him. They were kind at first, in getting Dando in their home for even one night, but minutes after they realize that Dando was actually a fierce warrior named "Castle Slayer", his fierce story came in their minds.

But because he was so popular in almost every village he'd go through, every single warrior that laid itself for a drink around those places, invited Dando to a duel to see who is the best warrior. Most of them were cocky and found themselves with a missing limb and their honor shredded, but one of them stood out. 

It was a cold and misty afternoon. Dando was walking with two big fish drops in his straw-bag with an empty space at the top for convenience, while drinking bitter water that he boiled for himself, after coming back from his daily assigned  work at the river, by catching fish and repairing five small wooden bridges, following his path in Noyagi Stu village.

Keeping his slightly fast-paced walk, down the gravel road that was covered in snow, crunching on every step taken, suddenly, Dando saw someone that seemed to know him, but Dando didn't understand who it was, but on a closer look, he realized that it was his little brother that died in a fire, nine years ago, after the bandits left his family and other's, in an agony that they slowly recovered from, with time and grieve.

His brother had his hair braided in thick long parts, long as an hand. He had white socks, long and thick, pale-green clothing, and a necklace that circled itself over the neck's middle arch.

Dando put down the straw-bag, filled with fish and slightly topped with snow from the weather. A few seconds after, another duel was about to happen and people knew that one would start, because it was common for those to happen, but even after seeing hundreds of duels, every single one seemed interesting and original for them, just like this one. The air was so cold that they they were both exhaling steam warm steam. Dando's brother's eyes were narrowed and upset, but for what? What could be the reason for all that? Dando didn't knew a single thing, but he only knew the way to solve that moment.

He took out his fish gutting knife, not even his mighty mirror, while his brother had his soul held tight with his two hands. With the rotation of his shoulder and four finger moves, he threw the small knife, hitting his brother right into his heart, not even letting him get even close to him.

The knife throw made his nine-teen year old brother choke on his own blood, so Dando sat down on his knees and slowly raised the top part of his body, helping him breath with this. His little brother continued looking at him with sharp and agonized pair of eyes until the spark of his life lit out.

Tens of villagers gathered around from start to finish, waiting in pure and blank silence.

He let his brother slowly back on the ground, letting him rest permanently. Covering his face with a warm cloth that he kept in his pants pocket, Dando put back his long, plate form, cloth hat, put the straw bag on his back, and continued his walk in a world where he wanted to find redemption and a spark of hapiness. Dando kept searching for good in his soul, and hardly finding any, because he was living day by day with the same regret that he had all these years, a regret that resets every four days.