The hand felt heavy on Ken's shoulder and he was once again unable to wrap his head around the world that Hawke described. He'd been raised in a place where tradition and superstition were common, but where organized religion was predominantly ignored and radical zealots were observed with contempt. Or, at least, not given the power and the authority to hurt people. It was wrong. But there was nothing that either of them could do about that. He exhaled quietly and forced his mind back to the present...where there were people trapped in a village that needed to be informed about the killer monster dogs.
Meeting Hawke's gaze, he nodded and said, "You're right. We should hurry back." The boy turned and tilted his spear back against his shoulder as he started to walk, Koromaru trotting along at his heels.