Want Some? Thanks! (Continued)

Tetsu no Sosuke did not come to his senses until he had entered the mountain forest.

"Why did I rush straight into the mountains the moment I thought about repairing that sword? Now that I've learned the Breath of the Sun, shouldn't I be spending most of my time practicing it?"

He stared blankly at the sunlight filtering through the canopy overhead. "I guess I really was born to be a swordsmith!"

Since he was already here, there was no point dwelling on it. He set out to find Ironstem Grass.

Besides, he did not know why, but merely looking at that broken sword left him with a strange, painful feeling.

It was as though the thing that had broken was not the sword, but himself.

"I must be obsessed."

He searched all over the mountain without finding a thing. If his parents' notes had not said the grass grew here, he would have started doubting it even existed.

From noon until the sun hung low, he searched. At last, he found a single plant in a mountain crevice.

Aboveground, it had only a few scattered leaves. But when he dug down, he found a thick root full of juice.

Tetsu no Sosuke dug it out carefully, afraid of piercing the root and letting the juice leak out.

Only when he had removed it whole did he let out a long breath.

He wrapped it carefully in white cloth and placed it in his basket. Then he breathed another sigh of relief.

He looked around. "I think I'm near the Mountain Top Hot Spring. I've been working all day, so I might as well have a soak."

He still had his packed food. Eating it while soaking in the hot spring would be just the reward he needed after a hard day's work.

The thought put a spring in his step.

Before long, he reached the hot spring.

He took off his clothes, folded them, and put them in his herb basket. After testing the water, he slipped in with a contented sigh.

"This is... beyond words!"

The water was just the right temperature. Soaking in it felt like countless hands were massaging him from head to toe.

He relaxed so completely that he nearly fell asleep.

Then he remembered his food. He rolled over, climbed out, fetched it from the shore, and settled against the edge of the spring with a rice ball in his hand. Just as he was about to take a bite—

Splash! A head emerged from the water.

Long hair swept through the hot spring water, tracing an indescribably graceful arc through the air.

When the water settled, Tetsu no Sosuke stared, dumbfounded, at the woman who had suddenly appeared in the spring.

The woman turned to look at him.

They were both startled. Neither knew what to make of the other.

After a moment of staring at each other, Tetsu no Sosuke gave a dry cough and held out his rice ball. "Want some?"