Hiroshi, along with Kuro-Yami in his mind, walked calmly into the new village. It was a lot larger than the one he had just destroyed, with shops and markets lining the streets. It seemed very peaceful, but very empty. A tattered, wooden welcome sign swung on its rusty hinges, getting Hiroshi's attention.
"Welcome to Lightley. What an unusual name," Hiroshi scoffed. It was nothing like the names of the towns and villages in Japan in his old world. Hiroshi looked around for any signs of life. There was nothing. Not even a mouse scrummaging around for scraps. It was a ghost town.
"How odd. What do you think of this, Kuro-Yami?"
"No idea. This is just as peculiar to me as it is to you," Kuro-Yami responded to Hiroshi's question with total honesty.
After walking around for some more, Hiroshi finally found a building worth going in.
"A tavern huh? There are always people in a tavern, gossiping and the like," Hiroshi reasoned.
"Are you even of age to drink?"
"You be quiet! Of course I am!"
"Anyone that says that in that tone is a liar," Kuro-Yami metaphorically rolled his eyes. Hiroshi narrowed his eyes as he pushed open the swinging doors and entered the tavern. To his hypothesis, he was correct. There might have been thirty people in there, all dead silent. No-one spoke a word to each other. It was as if a funeral was taking place.
The tavern was old and dilapidated. It had a musty feeling in the air that Hiroshi couldn't quite put down. It smelt awful. The building was made mostly of wood, which in its old age had been rotten. Hiroshi pinched his nose as he walked up to the counter.
"A glass of water, if you don't mind," Hiroshi asked the bartender, who had a short grey beard and thorn clothing. The twinkle in his eyes had dispersed, and he looked like a shadow of a man he once was. The man didn't move. His hands were shaking vigorously, and his face was as white as a sheet.
"Oh, wow, word gets around fast, doesn't it?" Hiroshi laughed. "Yes, I am indeed the man that destroyed that stupid village neighboring you. If you don't do what I ask of you, the same will happen to you. Now, get me a glass of water!" Hiroshi demanded.
"What are you doing, Hiroshi?" Kuro-Yami asked, puzzled.
"Simple, my friend. Those Ardors we were talking about? They stand in our way of making our world the perfect reality. We need to…dispose of them. And to do that, we need a following of minions to obey every order. These Ardors might be well respected, so in the short term, we will be the villains of this world. But when time comes to pass, we will stand on top of our perfect world as the one and only power!" Hiroshi continued to laugh manically, expecting everyone to cower in fear at his presence.
The exact opposite happened.
The bartender stopped shaking and got a glass of water for Hiroshi promptly. He put it down on the counter and stepped back, completely unphased, a small grin appearing on his face. At first, Hiroshi was baffled. The bartender had changed his personality so quickly.
"So, are you not part of the Acebian Army?" a woman asked him from the crowd that instantly began forming around Hiroshi.
"What? No? Is that who you thought I was?" Hiroshi replied, a confused look on his face. What was going on here? Why would these people be so terrified of their own country's army?
"Oh, thank goodness!" she took a big sigh of relief.
"The declaration of taking over the world and destroying your neighbors doesn't scare you at all?"
"Well yes, while that is very scary indeed, the Acebian Army would do a whole lot worse to us if we ever crossed them."
Hiroshi was dumbfounded. The Army was supposed to protect their own people, not scare them.
"They must be a bad bunch if what I did was little in comparison to what they would do. I have to stay focused," Hiroshi thought to himself, which received a nod from Kuro-Yami. He took a sip of his water. It had a funny taste to it, like it was full of limescale. Did these people not even have fresh water?
Just then, the swinging doors burst open, and a man entered. He wore some sort of red armor, very similar to that of a samurai, including shoulder guards. He carried his helmet under his armpit. He had a very mean face and a scar down his nose. His eyes narrowed and he looked across the room. Everyone in the tavern, except for Hiroshi, returned back to the nearest wall in fear. The samurai man laughed to himself.
"You peasants got my money?" he asked to the room. Everyone in the tavern began feeling in their pockets desperately, looking for any bit of change they could give him. That's when the samurai noticed Hiroshi, sitting at the bar, his back turned to him. Everybody in a ten mile radius feared him. So why was this guy not paying him any attention? Enraged, he walked up to the counter.
"Hey, you?! What's your deal, huh? Don't you know who I am?" he asked furiously.
"Absolutely no idea," Hiroshi replied bluntly. "Why don't you get lost? You're dressed so ridiculous too. What year are you even living in?"
"I am General Hiawatha! Don't you dare ignore or insult me again! You want to die?" At that moment, Hiawatha drew a blade to Hiroshi's throat. The whole tavern gasped in fear.
"Just surrender, please! He will kill you!" blurted out a man from the crowd.
"Silence!" the General bellowed. "For this disobedience, I shall have all of you killed!"
"What? That's not fair! We don't even know this guy! We shouldn't die because of this stranger!" another man shouted from the crowd.
"Of course. Not backing me up again. Leaving me to take the blunt end of the stick as usual," Hiroshi got an evil smile as he pushed the blade from his throat, not even leaving a drop of blood on him. He continued as the surprised General stood back.
"Humans really are scum of the planet. Killing a General is usually viewed as an act of war, yes? I will make my name known right here and now. My name is Hiroshi Akuma, and you, General Hiawatha, will be the first one to feel the true extent of what I can do."