Atsuhiro

The scholars in the high-altitude archives saw only a farmer with a cake on their head, but Atsuhiro’s research was the key to purifying Zenchi's cursed blade. For years, they were the butt of every joke, poring over agricultural almanacs while others debated cosmic theories. The freezing winds that rattled the bamboo shutters never bothered them; they were too focused. When Zenchi’s demonic corruption resisted every grand spell, Atsuhiro quietly proposed that the curse was not a fortress to be stormed, but a weed to be uprooted. Their theory, derived from ancient farming lore, was laughed out of the room. But when desperation set in, their humble ritual was all that was left. It worked. Atsuhiro still carries their apple stick, a tool of the earth, not of war.