Historic Country —Don't Look Back!—

Characters

 * Kino
 * Hermes
 * Shishou (First Appearance)
 * Aibou (First Appearance)

Synopsis
As Kino and Hermes approach a country with a tall clock tower, Kino recalls a story her master told about she was a young traveler. The young Master entered the country with a fellow traveler, planning to sell gems to buy supplies, noticing a large number of police on the streets. When her companion goes out to buy supplies, he is arrested for selling drugs and his possessions confiscated. The Master agrees to leave the country, leaving him in prison, taking his case which she finds contains the tools of an assassin. That night she returns, creates a diversion and releases the traveler, her apprentice. Rather than hide out, Master suggests that they go on the offensive, turning the top of the tower into a hide site where they wound the police returning to their headquarters, shooting them in the legs. After three days and nights of their siege, the police ask them to leave, but she only agrees after they pay a considerable ransom. Shortly, Kino and Hermes arrive in the country and find a monument near the clock tower. One of the many old men walking with canes tells them it is dedicated to the brave strangers who saved the country from the corrupt police state.

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