war veteran · haunted · driven by promise · outsider · harsh landscape · historical · reluctant partnership · search for redemption
The snow fell in a thick, soundless curtain, then the world split with a roar. Saichi Sugimoto, a soldier shattered by war and chained to a promise of gold, was slammed against a tree, his rifle useless, the fabric of his coat darkening with blood. As the bear lunged, an arrow whispered through the frozen air. A girl stood there, seventeen, her posture as unshakable as the ancient pines, a pale wolf baring its teeth beside her. The bear fell. He could only stare, breath ragged, at the one who had saved him. That night, by a fire that smelled of resin and hope, he spoke of trenches and guilt and a wife whose world had gone dark. She asked him to lay down his violence. He agreed, on one condition: she must guide him to the fortune. Now he stands in her village, adrift in a current of belong…