Old Strangers

The fireplace had been set up at least two days ago. Hotaka realized that he was starting to catch up, but there appeared to be someone else who was traveling together with Daiki. Otherwise he wouldn't have been this slow.

As he continued his journey through the muddy and desolate wasteland, he noticed something strange in the distance. It was a carriage and a horse who was tied to it, and they were both stuck in the mud. Did this mean that there were more people nearby?, when he inspected the carriage in another angle, he got an answer. There appeared to be two people trying to push the carriage out of the mud, but to no avail it seemed. He started to make his way towards them and at a closer distance, they appeared to be two elderly people. One woman and one man.

"Ha!, is this all you amount to when push comes to shove?", it was the older woman who had begun speaking. "I shouldn't have listened to you when you asked for my hand in marriage!" The woman was angrily taking to what appeared to be her husband, "It's always the same with you!, complaining and complaining, what gives you the right to complain about me?, when it's because of you that we're stuck in this mess?!" While they were screaming at each other's throats, Hotaka had appeared besides them.

"Ah!, it's a robber!, protect me you good-for-nothing husband!" The older man glanced over to Hotaka, "You can take her if you want" After uttering those words, he suddenly fell forwards, into the mud. "Are you crazy woman!?, why did you kick me!?" She ignored his comment and averted his eyes with her whole face. "Now, now, there's no need to fight, let's be reasonable", Hotaka said, interrupting the two elders. The old man sitting on his knees in the mud looked up at him, "And who the hell are you?" Hotaka meet his question with a smile, "I'm just another traveler, but more importantly, do you want me to help you?" Now the woman was looking at him, "Just so you know, we don't have any money" He shook his head, "don't worry about money, I just want to help" The old man stood up and smiled, "the world truly needs more people like you"

Even when he was helping them push the carriage, it barely moved. His eyes glanced over the area and quickly spotted something that he could use. "Hey, where are you going", the man asked. "Don't worry, I'm just going to get something that can help us out" The woman looked over at her husband and he shrugged in response.

Hotaka came back a couple of minutes later and he was carrying a big tree log on his left shoulder. "I thought this would make it easier", he said, with a joyful expression. The older lady got a nostalgic look in her face, "You sure are a lot like our son". The older man looked over at her, smiling, "For once, that's something we can agree on" Hotaka was happy to finally see both of them smiling, "so if you're here, traveling the road, what's your son doing?" The old man got a proud look on his face, "He's proudly serving this nation in the army camp nearby!" The older lady added, "We were just on our way home from visiting him, when we got into this mess" The older man then worriedly said, "What's wrong, you look pale?" Hotaka regained his calm and answered" Ooh... Nothing..."