<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/13/Keitaro.jpg)</div>On the first day of their travel, Keitaro plodded along the road with remarkable tenacity, considering the weight of the bags of rice in his pack. Despite the cool weather, he was sweating noticeably, probably because of his heavy armour, but he voiced not a word of complaint.<br/><br/>As they walked, he let his gaze sweep over the countryside around them, looking for signs of bandits and indications of their progress. His eyes flicked back to Shiori periodically, and occasionally he would ask her for updates of their estimated position, making it clear that he held her in high regard for her navigation skills. A couple of hours after noon, he paused while they were at the top of a small incline. "Should we take a short break?" he suggested, looking to the other two bushi for confirmation. "I have some trail rations we can share, to keep up our strength until we stop for the night. I'd like to rebalance my pack now that we've travelled for several hours, too."