When I opened my eyes, there was the scent of wood.
It wasn't the smell of burning firewood from my old home, nor the damp mold of the village walls. It was something different. Warm, dry, ancient. As if the place itself held too much history within its boards.
The ceiling above me was made of wide beams, covered by a thin web of smoke that floated lazily in the air. The walls had small cracks where sunlight leaked through — golden, soft, shy.
I turned my head and felt something soft beneath it.
A pillow.
Warmth covered my whole body.
Thick blankets.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
I closed my eyes again. Felt the fabric between my fingers.
Heard the creaking of the wood.
And the sound of the wind outside...
…but it didn't touch me.
I was… protected.
---
I sat up on the bed carefully. My muscles ached. My head throbbed. My clothes had been changed — I wore a simple white cotton kimono, with wide sleeves. My feet were bandaged. There was a bucket of water beside the bed.
That's when I saw it.
The mask.
It was hanging on the wall near the window. A red tengu mask. It was the same one I saw that night. That man.
Urokodaki.
The name sounded strange… but firm.
---
I stood up slowly and walked to the window. The floorboards creaked beneath my feet.
Outside, the snow was still falling — but it wasn't hostile like in Uyakasa. It was calm. Silent. It landed on the tall pine branches and slid slowly down the rooftops. The air was cold, but clean.
The sky was covered by thick mist, and ahead stretched a vast forest that rolled down wide hills until it vanished into the clouds.
It was another world.
That's when I heard footsteps.
---
The door opened.
He entered.
Urokodaki Sakonji.
He wore a blue haori with white clouds painted on it. His face was aged and seemed stern, but his eyes…
his eyes were clear and calm.
He stopped at the doorway, carrying a steaming bowl. He walked to the low table beside the bed and placed it there.
— "You woke up earlier than I thought," he said.
His voice was deep, deliberate.
I didn't answer. I just watched him.
— "Are you in pain?"
I shook my head.
He nodded, as if he already expected that.
— "Eat. It's warm. No need to thank me."
He took his mask and turned to leave.
But something escaped my lips, faint:
— "...Why did you save me?"
Urokodaki stopped.
He turned just his face, slightly.
— "Because it's not your fault you were born in a cruel place."
And then he left, closing the door gently.
---
I ate everything.
It was rice, tofu, and miso. Simple. Warm. The best taste I've ever felt in my life.
Then I sat for a long time, just listening to the sounds of the house. The wind. The trees. The distant clack of wood against wood — maybe training.
In the afternoon, he returned.
— "If you can walk, come with me. I want to show you the path."
I put on the light haori he had left folded in the corner. I followed him outside the house. The ground was covered in a thin layer of snow. We left identical footprints, side by side.
We climbed a narrow trail to the top of a cliff.
From there, I saw the whole forest.
And the world felt… open.
— "Do you know what that thing was that tried to kill you?" — he asked, without looking at me.
— "…A monster." — I replied.
— "An oni. A demon. Humans transformed by cursed blood.
They devour humans to grow stronger, caring nothing for children or elders. They exist everywhere, especially in the shadows.
And that's why what I am exists.
What you can become.
A slayer."
I swallowed hard.
— "…Me?"
He finally turned to me.
— "You survived what would have destroyed many. But it's not just that. The way you noticed every detail. How you moved, even in fear. I saw it.
You have something rare. Something that can't be taught."
I stayed silent.
The wind blew hard and the snow danced between us.
— "If you accept, I will train you. Not for revenge. Not for power. But so that one day, you too can save people in despair."
I clenched my fists.
I didn't respond with words.
I simply nodded.
And there, in that moment, among the trees and the cold, for the first time I felt that maybe…
…I was in the right place.