They awake the next day, after packing camp they get ready to head out.
"Kaito before we head out, you think we could spar a bit? I've been practicing." Dante says.
Kaito never one to turn down a match smiles. "Sure Dante." He happily says.
Rika and Nanami sits to the side. Rika chewing on a snack she found in Kaito's bag. The jerky was extremely spicy causing Rika to spit it out.
On the packed dirt with the sun, high in the sky over their battlefield to two gripped tightly on wooden swords. A slight breeze gracing their faces.
Dante made the first move.
With a burst of energy, he charged forward, his grip tight, eyes focused. His swings came in fast, fueled by raw determination rather than precision. He was hoping to catch Kaito off guard through sheer aggression.
But Kaito barely moved. Calm and centered, he raised his blade and deflected Dante's first strike with effortless grace, the wooden swords clacking sharply on contact. His expression was unreadable, but there was the faintest glint of amusement in his eyes.
Dante, undeterred, dropped low and swept his leg toward Kaito's ankles, hoping to unbalance him.
Without hesitation, Kaito hopped over the sweep in one smooth motion and countered with a swift downward slash aimed toward Dante's shoulder. Dante twisted his blade up and blocked the strike just in time.
Kaito paused, genuinely surprised. He hadn't put any real weight behind the attack—he hadn't needed to—but even so, he hadn't expected Dante to react that quickly.
"Not bad," Kaito said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "You're starting to read me."
Encouraged, Dante jumped back to create space, then sprang forward again with a wild, committed dive. He let out a sharp breath as he brought his sword down in an overhead arc, aiming to land a solid blow.
Kaito didn't budge. Instead, he smiled more openly this time, sidestepped, and with a fluid motion, raised his sword and brought it gently—but firmly—down on Dante's head.
Thunk.
Dante froze in place, wincing at the contact. Kaito's strike hadn't hurt—he'd clearly pulled it—but it sent a clear message.
"Too open," Kaito said, tapping the side of Dante's blade with his own. "You're putting everything into the attack and forgetting your defense. Again."
Dante sighed, rubbing his head with a grin. "You make it look so easy." He compliments Kaito. "I thought I had you with that one!" He shouts. Kaito smiles. "I learned that lesson a long time ago, you're more likely to get hit when you think you've got an easy attack!" He says.
Too many times when he was a kid, Kaid would best him over and over again just like this.
The girls applaud them. "Wow Dante you got better!" Rika says. Through their time together in the mornings Kaito and Dante would spar and Rika would always watch.
At first Dante was very unimpressive, but now he still isn't that good, but he's better. Dante smiles happily. "Thanks Rika, never thought you'd be praising me." He says.
Rika smirks. "Don't get used to it buddy."
Their conversation is interrupted by heavy steps approaching them. A large horned monster roars out sending chills down. The others but Kaito stares at it.
"Kaito what do we do?!" Dante asks.
Kaito smiling brightly gives the answer his team needed. "The only thing we can!" He says. Kaito quickly grabs them and starts sprinting away. This isn't running away it's a strategic retreat.
After all the running they arrive is Studen. It's not the most impressive small town, other then the giant mansion at the back of town. The entrance is surrounded by marketplace stalls. Upon walking around town though the people are all staring at them.
"They have one?"
"Why are they letting it walk around freely?" The towns folk whispers heard.
Rika nudges them. "They're pointing out Nanami." Rika says.
Nanami's heart sinks and her breathing accelerates. She sinks behind Kaito and the others.
"Stop staring! Nanami looks awesome!" Kaito shouts at them all. The people start looking away. His shouting deterring them.
Dante looks at them judgmentally too. "Alright i'm gonna get some stuff from the shops and make it quick." He says not wanting to spend too much time here.
A group of people are walking through the town bothering people.
Dante shakes his head as he walks to the markets. "Well i'm just gonna steal stuff." Rika says as she skips off.
Nanami continues to hide behind Kaito. "Maybe I shouldn't have left my base." Nanami says silently.
Kaito pets Nanami's head. "No there's nothing wrong with you, they're the issue." Kaito says. The irritation that she's being treated so differently because of how she looks, is a bit too familiar for him.
Dante looks at the merchandise of the shops. "A portable barrier for camps?" He questions as he looks. The rather roudy group catches his attention again.
"Lets just get to the magistrates place already." A young man says.
"We will, I was hungry!" The larger man says.
"We gotta not be too late though, he needs to know we're still on go for the plans." Another young man says. The conversation continues as normal, but as Dante looks around the townsfolk are all seem nervous. "Weird." Dante says as he notices the group of men looking at him.
"Think that guy will be an issue?" The young one with black hair asks.
Dante gets a bit nervous. "An issue?" He questions.
They look at his sword. "Nah, his sword looks serious but he's nothing special." The red haired young man says.
Dante sighs a breath of relief as they walk away.
"This is just unbelievable." The man handling the stall says. "Our magistrate used to be so caring until those adventures came into the picture." He says. Dante decides to get info from the man as he shops.
Nanami and Kaito walk with each other around town, they both hear a child crying. Nanami initially ignores him. "We can't ignore the kid." Kaito says and Nanami nods.
They go over and Nanami kneels down to him. "What's wrong young man?" Nanami asks. The boy ignores her then continues crying. She wonders why he won't respond.
As Kaito walks over he over exaggerates a fall. The boy looks at him and his crying slows down a bit. Kaito stands up slowly before falling down again. The boys cries slowly turns into smiling.
Kaito smiles at the young boy and then he smiles. "What's up, where you crying?" Kaito asks.
"My daddy went to the magistrates mansion a few days ago and he never came back." The boy says in between sniffles. He points towards a grand palace over a bridge.
Kaito gives the boy a gentle smile. "I'll go find your dad for you." Kaito says to him making the boy smile.
He walks away and Nanami follows. "We should be careful here." Nanami says. Kaito nods. "Don't worry, i'm always careful." Kaito says. Nanami not believing a word.
They walk over to the magistrates grand palace and Kaito whistles at it. The water below is crystal blue along with statues of the man. "Quite the ego." Nanami whispers.
A large gate blocks their path and Kaito just goes to walk in. The two guards in front hold spears out to him. "And where do you think you're going?" One of the guards questions.
Kaito points to the building. "Do you have an appointment?" They question. "No but-"
"Then you have no business here." The guard cuts him off. Kaito begins to roll up his sleeves but Nanami pulls him. "We should regroup with everyone first." Nanami says.
Kaito and Nanami finds the others who were sitting on benches seemingly having a conversation. Dante spots them and they come over.
"Kaito good to see you, the people of the town were telling me stuff about the magistrate here. They say he's become worse, over time he only talks about better things to come and ignores the people." Dante explains.
Rika nods. "And they asked us for help."
Kaito smiles. "Me and Nanami were just trying to get into the Magistrates place." Kaito says.
Nanami thinks to herself. "Missing people, neglected civilians?" She wonders what this all is leading towards.
Rika smiles. "I can get us in there easy!"