After passing under a large arched gate that signified they had entered the town's bounds, Seika steered the wagon further down the main street before stopping on the side of the road about a dozen buildings down.

Kaito could only see a few people wandering up and down what he presumed to be the main road and he wasn't able to identify any covered wagons that signified other long distance travelers like Seika and himself.

Seika hopped back into the wagon and dug around through the boxes, which had become more unorganized since she had searched for food when Kaito appeared. Eventually, she pulled out a folded piece of paper, which she promptly began to read.

"Yup, this is the place. We're staying here for the next few days"

Kaito glanced at the building they had stopped in front of, which bore three stories of essentially the same architecture he saw throughout the town. The rather large sign posted above the first floor read, "The best inn in all of Synoria Outlook!"

Noticing Kaito's apprehension, Seika patted him on the back, reassuring him, "Oh, it can't be that bad, don't worry about it"

She began to unload the boxes onto the front steps of the inn.

"These weren't all for us... apparently... so I guess we were supposed to deliver some of these to the inn-"

Understanding the request behind Seika's words, Kaito quickly began tidying up the boxes, which at the moment looked as if some rodent had gone tunneling through all their contents and attempted to haphazardly reorganize them.

***

"Thanks for the help, guys! I don't remember submitting a request for an early delivery, but this'll help me get a head start for the next week"

"Huh? Delivery?", Seika blurted, looking utterly perplexed.

"Yeah, you're here from the monthly deliveries of the inn's supplies, right?"

Seika glanced down at the paper she had been reading earlier, quickly scanning over every line.

"No, we're- or rather, I'm here on orders from Yukito to investigate some 'disturbance' out here"

The innkeeper flinched. Very rarely did the guildmaster himself issue orders regarding Synoria Outlook, and moreover, why was this lady referring to him in such a casual tone without any respect? 

"So, you heard of this disturbance?"

"Uh- no- there's been no disturbance"

The innkeeper was lost in thought for a moment.

"Actually, there's been a sort of shortage of adventurers recently- that's partly why I was surprised about the early delivery-"

"Mm.. I see"

"I'm so gonna beat that guy up when I see him again. What the hell is up with his vagueness and lack of context?! I mean, Kaito's apperance was pretty strange, but that doesn't warrant a trip that lasts several hours long!!"

"Anyways, as thanks for the delivery, I'm willing to offer you a free room for the night", the innkeeper added after totalling his inventory on a small pad of paper.

"One room..?", Seika hesitantly asked. 

The innkeeper had obviously forgotten about Kaito, who had said nothing during the conversation due to his lack of context on everything that was going on.

Seika leaned in and whispered in Kaito's ear, "Do you have any gold on you?"

He slowly turned his head towards Seika with a dead stare, completely devoid of thoughts.

"Oh, that's probably the currency they use-", he realized.

Seika understood Kaito's predicament and turned back towards the innkeep.

"Sorry, but could we transfer the free room to him? I'll pay for my own", Seika offered while reaching into her pocket.

"That'll be fine. One room... for one night, that'll be one gold", the innkeeper replied.

"Oh sh*t... where is it-"

Seika's eyes began to fill with dread as she patted herself down.

"...one moment please", she muttered as she dashed out the front door of the inn. 

As quickly as she left, she stormed back in, now with an irritated look on her face. With a forced smile, she attempted to kindly question the innkeep.

"What did you do with the cart..?"

"Oh, that was a rental, was it not? I had our branch take care of that"

"Well, it would seem I've dropped something important in that cart, and seeing as I am unable to pay at the moment, would you be so kind as to increase the offer to two free rooms for our gracious early delivery?"

The innkeeper hesitantly made an awkward chuckle.

"I'm sorry, but I'm already stretching our policy to give you one free room for a delivery-"

"Oh, whatever! We'll share the room then"

After rapidly glancing back and forth between Seika and Kaito, the innkeeper searched below the counter and pulled out a key. 

"Second floor, third room to the right-"

Seika irritatedly grabbed the key and yanked Kaito by the arm towards the stairs. Once in front of their room, she flung open the door, tossed their bags inside, then slammed the door shut before dragging Kaito back down the stairs and out the door at such speeds that his feet were barely touching the floor.

"Come on! We gotta get to that cart before they rent it out again!"

***

[Below the ruins of Hanakawa]

"...I'll get that damned kid back... I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

The upper body of a severely damaged corrupted dragged itself along the stone ruins, barely crawling using its arms like some wounded beast attempting to escape from a hunter. Having its body severely shattered by Kaito, Seraphim had barely managed to reconnect its body, albeit incompletely with large cracks and fragmented pieces marking its body. It was barely able to hold itself together with its quickly depleting reserves of corrupted energy.

Crunch! The foot of an unknown being had appeared without warning, effortlessly shattering one of Seraphim's hands.

"who the hell..?", Seraphim groggily asked as it strained its damaged body to look upwards

"You again?! I'm going to kill you, I SWEAR!"

"Tch. You're loud", the figure complained as it swiftly kicked Seraphim's head off its body.

"Again? Then he's already encountered Kaito. And that means that boy's gotten strong enough to defeat a Herald"

In a fit of rage, Seraphim's corrupted energy surged as it regenerated its head. 

"...I don't need my full body to kill you, all I need is my core!", it shouted as it stared down the figure without fear.

The unknown figure quickly plunged its hand into Seraphim's core, the energy from which was quickly absorbed into the hand.

"Soul manipulation... that man had some useful abilities. Now, what can this narcissistic prick offer me?"

The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a body that bore the exact same features as Kaito, except for longer messy hair and a body made completely of crimson red energy. A crack appeared running diagonally across its face as it lifted an arm to feel the wound.

"So your techniques are useful after all"

He condescendingly looked down upon Seraphim's disappearing body.

"Koharu. Burn that name into your memory in your final moments"