As she ran around, she heard a scream from a young woman. Rushing to the source of the voice, Saki entered a small set of homes and witnessed a young man swinging a long stick at the two bugs threatening to harm them. Behind him is the young woman she heard screaming. Saki rushed to their side.
"Hey!" She called out to get their attention. Both the bugs and the pair turn their heads in her direction. Upon approaching the bugs, Saki pulls out her sword and initiates a battle with the bugs. "You two! Stay back!" She yells in command as she readies to execute her skill. The young man retreats to the young woman's side and watches the battle unfold. "Cleave the enemies apart!" Saki swings widely, dealing damage to both of the bugs. 'Bug B takes 16 damage!' 'Bug A takes 16 damage!'
Bug A lunges and attempts to bite into Saki's arm, but she steps to the side and swings in the air, hitting the lunging bug and killing it. 'Bug A takes 16 damage!' 'Bug A has been defeated!' The pair watches in awe as Saki kills the bug while in the air, and falls to the ground rolling a few meters away. Then they watched the remaining do the same. Bug B lunges in an attempt to bite into Saki's arm, but she steps to the side and swiftly swings her sword up in the air, slicing the bug's flesh
'Bug B takes 16 damage!' 'Bug B has been defeated!' Just like that, the bug also dies in the air and falls to the ground with a loud thump. 'Saki won the battle!' Saki sighs as she relaxes and turns to the pair. "You are safe now" She nods slightly with a smile. The young man steps forward, his gaze wide and curious. "Y-you... Are you Miss Nisshin from Shigure?" He analyzed her from top to bottom. "Beautiful, long light blonde hair with a small fabric-braided headband, green eyes, carries a toy sword around, and always has a sarcastic look?" He asked.
"Yes, that's me until the last two descriptions" Saki's eyes smiled as she said yes. "Huh? The last two? Well, that doesn't matter... Thank you very much! I didn't know what I would do, well, I would hold back the bugs while my dearest Rin here ran to safety" He turns to the young woman behind him. The woman named Rin smiles back at him, resting a palm on her chest to express warmth to his words.
"Well... You and Miss Rin should go now. I heard there's an evacuation plan from the chief that everyone knows of" Saki gestures towards the village as she speaks. "Yes, yes. I know the evacuation thing. Thank you again, Miss Nisshin! We wish you good luck!" The man hurriedly took Rin's hands and ran away. Rin mutters the word thank you as she passes by Saki.
Another pair of villagers saved, Saki proceeds ahead to run around the village looking for more troubled people. She runs through the dirt path, keeping her ears sharp for any cries of help, her eyes darting in every direction. She spent a few minutes running around, encountering lone bugs from time to time and quickly dispatching them with one swift slash.
When she was about to reach a corner, a lady almost bumped into her, only stopping a few meters before they collided. "A-ah... Excuse me..." Saki moves out of their way. The lady wears a panicked and worried look as she runs away with her two small children following behind. Saki watched them until they were out of her view, then walked to the direction where they came from.
Up ahead, she saw the chief's son on the ground lying on his back, frantically crawling away from a bug. Saki quickly went into action and sprinted ahead. She yells to get the bug's attention. "Hey!" Both the bug and the chief's son turned to her voice. "Miss Nisshin?!" The chief's son fell to disbelief as he saw her sprinting figure. Realizing that she was coming for help, He kicked the bug away and quickly stood up to run up to Saki.
"Stay back, I got this!" Saki positioned herself behind the chief's son and readied her sword. "Strike true against the bodies of gel!" She executed her combo of slash and thrust against the bug, killing it immediately. 'Bug monster takes 26 damage!' 'Bug monster has been defeated!' 'Saki won the battle!' The chief's son had his jaw slightly ajar at her display of prowess. Saki turned to him, sheathing her sword. "Are you okay?" She leans down on him, extending her hand to help him get up.
The chief's son looks at her hand and then back to her before taking her hand. He felt her soft palm on his own, her skin as smooth as satin. Even with the prolonged grip on the sword, Saki's palm remained delicate to the touch. He could feel the force from her small arms as she pulled him up, forcing him to stand slightly wavering on both feet, towering over her.
With a light scratching on the back of his head, he spoke. "Thanks... That bug got a bite on my arm." He showed his left arm with a bleeding bite wound. Saki took some herbs from her virtual inventory. "They really like biting arms. I've lost count of how many times I was bitten on my arm." As Saki handed over the herbs, the chief's son glanced at her bare forearm. Just like her palm, her skin looked pale and smooth.
"You got bit by them a lot?" He asks as he glances at her arm one more time. The brownish-grey blouse she wears has short puffy sleeves extending just above her elbow, leaving her forearm vulnerable without any protection. "Yes, you have no idea" Saki let out a short burst of chuckle as she shrugged. As she watches him take the herbs, she asks. "Just making sure, you're the chief's son, right?" He nods at her question. "Yes, my name is Ralph. It's very nice to have you come to our aid, Miss Nisshin. I apologize for not introducing myself during our first meetup" He bows his head.
Saki quickly shook her hands dismissively. "No, no, it's fine. I understand. It was urgent, there was no time for an introduction!" Ralph smiles at her in silence, and upon glancing down her arms again, he sees her bandaged wrist on her right arm. "Is your wrist doing fine? I heard the Saintsville prince hit your wrist in Kire" He asked. Saki raised her hand slightly, looking down at the bandage. "Yes, it should be fully healed by now. Besides, I've eaten a lot of herbs on the way here, it should have boosted its recovery" Saki giggles slightly as she recalls many times of her taking in herbs, even remembering the stinging pain on her face by Abigail's hand.
Ralph smiles and nods before quickly turning to frown. "The prince isn't a man at all... Going out here attacking villagers and forcing someone to be his bride..." He let out a loud sigh and looked at Saki. "Well, we should go now, Miss Nisshin. Do you still have business around here? It seems like the bugs are slowly giving up, I think we should go check the chief's house first" He said and Saki nodded to agree.
They both ran towards the center of the village again. Upon arriving, there were fewer battles than before, and some of the guards were even resting up and checking the area for further intrusion. They approached the chief who was still barking orders to his guards. He heard their footsteps and turned with a smile. "My son! You're alright!" He pats Ralph's arm proudly before turning to Saki. "Now listen. Kire has also sent a messenger to us. They are also being attacked. They said it's a smaller force of bugs, I'm guessing they're the stragglers that scrambled from here. It didn't sound like a major problem compared to ours, but I would still like you to assist them, Miss Nisshin. It would really make me happy" He nods at her.
Saki nods back with a determined gaze. "Yes, of course. I shall go now!" Just as she was about to sprint away, Rito called out to her, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around. "You're running around like you're the only one sent to save the other villages" He approached her with visible envy. The chief spoke for Saki instead. "Oh, calm your horses, son. Kire's problem right now isn't as tough as we had here, so Miss Nisshin should be enough. If you want to help, I would like you to patrol our village and check for any injured" He said with a slight chuckle, causing Rito to frown even more.
Saki giggles and gives him a nasty smirk. "Look at you, you look as sour as a child being scolded. Are you even a man at all? Man up and stop being jealous of me" Her words caused the chief to have a hearty laugh, his voice echoing throughout the deserted village. "You heard her, son. Are you seriously getting jealous of a woman? You're not as man as you look that way!" He then turns to Saki. "Off you go now, I will keep your friend busy 'saving the village' here while you save Kire" He finished with a slight chuckle.
Saki turned around and glanced over her shoulder. She grins while smirking and narrows her eyes at Rito, giving him a mischievous gaze. With a hand near her mouth, she says to them. "He's not my friend" and then runs away with graceful steps. Rito clenched his fists, seething in anger but with increasing heat on his cheeks as he watched her long hair sway around freely as she slowly disappear in the distance. The chief turns to see him progressively becoming flustered as he seethes in anger and laughs out loud again. He slaps Rito's back in amusement, causing him to stumble forward. "I know a man falling for the captivating charm of a woman when I see one!"
Rito darts to him, his gaze upwards as the chief is taller than him. "What are you talking about?!" He yelled defiantly, causing the chief to continue his laughter. "Nothing, son. Come on, let's get the village up and running again!" With his words, the guards began to put themselves to work, scattering to patrol for any remaining threats. Rito was ordered by the chief to join one of the guards.