[h3]*Yingmei Okudaira*[/h3]
[@Zeroth]
[hr]

Yingmei flinched and shrunk away from Akitsugu, clutching her hoe tightly, prepared to deliver a swift beating to this brute if he so much as dared to try or do anything. A moment of silence passed as Yingmei would process what this stranger had said.

[b]"Eh? You're...not a bandit? Or divine karmic wrath here to punish me...?"[/b] Yingmei relaxed slightly, her grip loosening on her hoe as she'd look Akitsugu up and down. He was definitely human. Not some sort of spooky creature...and she didn't [i]feel[/i] like he was some divine servant here to drag her to the afterlife for her dereliction and failure of duty. It seemed she would live another day.

[b]"I-i've been traveling awhile myself and I got lost in that swamp and I'm just a little on edge. T-that is to say yes I'm a traveler."[/b] She would take a few deep breaths, shoulders slumping slightly as she'd finally let go of the death grip she had on her farming implement. [b]"Sorry about that...U-uhm...Y-yingmei.  M-my name that is. Yingmei. So you...aren't from this village either? H-hm..."[/b] Maybe this place was cursed? Was it was drawing people into it to drag them into the depths of the underworld? No, no, she was being silly. There was no way that was possible. Definitely not. [b]"Eheh, I guess, uhm, that means we're both new here? I thought I saw other people around when I was on my way in, especially that uhm, loud display from above...are you with them?"[/b]

She wasn't sure what to make of this. Two travelers arriving in a rundown village was a coincidence. Any more was just a little odd, and not in the good way.