But the young man descended the mountain, thanking him profusely.
After leaving the mountain, he did not use the weapon to charge straight into battle. Instead, he quietly sought out like-minded people.
Then they formed a group of their own.
They roamed the fringes, searching for a place where they could survive.
They discovered abandoned children and found people who had lost their homes, then built a new home together.
Some of their members married those poor people who had lost their homes and started families... their bonds grew very strong.
But at the end of the story, they still lost.
Many people discovered this place and came here, and then came the attacks, the plundering, the burning, and the slaughter.
The young man holding the wooden staff walked silently among the bodies. Finally, the staff in his hand unleashed its power, and he charged into the crowd alone... his story ended there as well.
The man in the pictures still sat there, the setting sun hanging low on the horizon.
He took out a blueprint and quietly studied it, then finally turned and left.
Everything came to an abrupt end there.
There were many pictures from beginning to end. Told through illustrations, especially with an enormous number of detailed depictions primarily focused on forging techniques, the whole sequence seemed very long.
In truth, however, that was all there was to the story.
"When did this story take place?" After finishing it, Kanae had the same question as Tetsu no Sosuke.
Although there had always been periods of turmoil throughout history, few had been as chaotic as the world depicted in the pictures.
And their clothing was nothing like the styles they knew.
Tetsu no Sosuke shook his head. "That doesn't matter. What matters is his forging technique."
He had