Guardian Heart — Part 1

 is the eleventh chapter of Natsumi Mukai's +Anima manga.

Synopsis
Igneous Giesrieg enters Harden's workshop to request he forge swords like the Guardian Hearts for Astaria. Harden turns to face the sword hanging on the wall.

Cooro and friends arrive in Green Springs. Cooro wants to buy a hatchet or axe like Senri's and heads over to a store to browse. Husky tries to talk him out of it since they are expensive; he turns down Cooro's request to buy it for him, so then Cooro suggests they all find jobs in the town. Cooro and Nana Alba are having trouble finding work, no-one wants to hire children, when a woman approaches them to offer them a job. A man agrees to hire Senri but is hesitant about Husky; some women suggest Husky work as a maid, so he storms away offended.

Senri sees some Astarian soldiers carrying supplies, so he and Husky follow them to their camp. The soldiers there notice they are being watched and upon hearing the commotion Igneous leaves his tent to interrogate the intruders. Husky and Senri try to flee but are surrounded. Suspicious of Senri, a Kim-un-kur, being in Astaria, Igneous threatens Senri by pointing his sword at him. Senri bats the sword away with his bear claw which Igneous takes as a sign of aggression. Cooro and Nana arrive with their new employer just in time to see Husky beaten to the ground by a soldier; the look now in Senri's eye terrifies Igneous. Just as the situation is about to escalate, Harden leaves his house which is right behind the commotion; he demands they stop, picks up Husky, and takes the children and the woman, Margaret, into his house.

Margaret tends to Husky's injury while Harden explains why the soldiers are camping outside his home. Harden once forged swords for battle and now the army wants him to do so again, but he is refusing. He scolds Senri over picking fights using his Anima. Margaret cuts the tension by serving dinner; she informs Harden that she will be taking on the children as her assistants.

After eating, Margaret explains to Cooro, Husky and Nana their new job of taking apart clothes and making new ones, and she leaves them alone to work. The children discuss Harden's knowledge of +Anima; Nana theorizes that he may be one, but Cooro wasn't able to sense it. Husky is concerned that they are staying with someone who is at odds with the military; he doesn't want opinion of them to get any worse. Cooro defends Harden's actions, but Husky tells him that his reasons don't matter to the military. Nana is talking about how annoying the military's behavior is when she gets an idea. That night, Nana sneaks out dressed in her newly made thief's outfit.