This is the beginning of a flashback arc. Teresa, the most powerful Claymore of her era, is hired to kill a group of six Yoma in a village, and easily kills them, and one extra, who is one that had been abusing a young, human, and mute Clare. Since she has no one else to care for her, Clare follows Teresa through the wilderness, despite Teresa's best efforts to abandon her until Teresa decides to accept taking Clare under her wing.