Well, there was at least one thing that day that was pleasant. The sun's warmth was certainly much different from what he had received in terms of a reception from some of the others. While they might have been a bit cold, perhaps due to some prominent and rather obvious differences, he did at least take some warmth in the sun that had been beating down on them.<br/><br/>Without a cloud in the sky, the sun could certainly shine down on them unobstructed, which was a nice switch from before. As an Ashigaru, there had been plenty of times he had been forced through rain and mud. On hot humid days his uniform and hat were unbearably warm, but on cold ones it was nearly useless. This was a lovely change of pace, and it certainly made him offer them a pleasant and peaceful smile.<br/><br/>In some ways that had certainly made him appear to be quite different from Junji, considering the fact that he didn't offer any sort of smirk, and he looked genuine by comparison. His look was genuine, which made it all the worse considering that Junji had already nonverbally declared him to be dressed like cannon fodder and to be of demonic heritage. To be honest, Mushiba preferred the term otherworldly to demonic when people addressed him. The term demon sounded so unholy to him.<br/><br/>To some degree, Junji was right since he was a spirit, in a manner of speaking, and he would have willingly fought to protect the village. It just wasn't nearly in as much of a fairy tale fashion as some would have thought. After all, most fairy tale spirits didn't come in the form of armed gunmen.<br/><br/>"I would prefer it you call me a man of otherworldly heritage, really, even if I have so often used the word demon myself. As a member of the Souhei Order, I am reluctant to kill but realize I often have to for defensive reasons. Have you heard of me, by the way? My name is spelled with the kanji for predation and the kanji for tooth decay." The comment wasn't intended to make him seem crazier, but rather to encourage recognition if he'd seen the name in print and been unsure of how it was pronounced.<br/><br/>It was a common occurrence with classical Japanese calligraphy, after all. "Perhaps there was a reason I was supposed to find this village. Would you be so kind as to fill me in as to what is going on?"<br/><br/>Once Sayuri started to speak to him, he offered another smile, though plenty of his fangs were shown in the process of course. "My Lord Samurai is at least nominally Shinto." Mushiba had wanted to say that the individual in question didn't respect the Kami much, and only attended festivals for the political benefits, but he would never have been so uncharitable. "I am under orders to inspect individual villages, and have stumbled across this one. I am ensuring no one is under any threats. Should there be any, then I am here to take care of them."<br/><br/>Still it was odd even to him, even after saying it, that he would have found a place like this one. Villages like these were generally too small to be on most tactical maps that members of the Samurai class provided to him.<br/><br/>While his feline ears twitched underneath his conical hat, he tried to avoid showing too much emotion while considering the other questions and comments that have been directed toward him. "Prayer could be quite praiseworthy at the moment. While our confessions are not in perfect communion, perhaps my presence could lead us all to a deeper form of brotherhood."