I eventually arrived at the village, as the sun was making its journey to the horizon, my face no doubt devoid of colour, and my pool of stamina all but exhausted from the strain of the long journey. My body felt like it was turning to ice, and I’d completely lost the feeling in my feet and the tips of my fingers.
Before approaching the mansion at the end of the village, I scoured the few shops for any place that might fix up my broken cuirass or sell me the materials I needed to craft some healing potions. I found neither, but I did come across a general merchant who parted with two ‘Modest Healing Potions’ in exchange for the ‘Shinobi’s Tekkō-kagi’, ‘Vermilion Bird Oni Menpō’, and ‘Rice-Straw Hat’, as well as four square Shu[1] coins.
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‘Modest Healing Potion’
-Consumable-
Drink > Potion
“A modest healing concoction, which once imbibed grants instantaneous healing of deep wounds, but only moderately-fast healing of more serious wounds and limited regeneration of lost limbs.”
Use
Discard
Weight: 0.15 kilos
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I hadn’t even noticed, until I paid the merchant, that my currency had changed when I entered this World. I had no idea how the values translated to those in the Forlorn Kingdom, though I had two Bu, four Shu, and thirty-one Mon remaining after the transaction, which meant that my six gold and thirty-two silver from the first World had turned into three Bu and thirty-one Mon when I’d entered this World.[2]
I immediately downed one of the flasks, and felt my vigour replenishing. Though I’d been gravely injured several times today, I hadn’t actually experienced the dreaded black edges along the corners of my vision, but that was likely more due to luck than anything else, especially in my last fight against the three Shinobi, since I hadn’t worn any body armour besides my tunic, which clearly didn’t do much, considering the four perfect holes that now adorned its side.
Even though I’d sold off everything I’d looted, my total weight was still half a kilo above my usual limit of 7.5 kgs, thanks to ‘The Weeping Blade’ that I’d yet to return to the Lady.
I made my way to the mansion, as the healing warmth flushed through my system, banishing the cold and restoring the feeling to my extremities, as well as knitting shut the four holes in my side, my countless broken ribs, and, not to mention, resetting and repairing my crooked nose.
Outside the mansion gate, leaning against the wall nonchalantly, was Hayato. He looked pretty beat-up himself, with fresh cuts and bruises on his face and hands, but he’d probably dealt ten times as much damage as he’d taken, and I no doubt had him to thank for the Vermilion army not interfering in my fight against the monstrous Widow.
“Did you complete you task?” he asked as soon as I drew near.
“I did,” I confirmed.
He kicked off from the wall and pushed in front of me, opening the door set into the gate, before leading me to the main building inside the mansion complex. I wasn’t accosted by the guards this time, thanks to Hayato I suppose. Just like the first time, I took off my boots and stored them in my inventory. Hayato gave me a look, but didn’t seem to question it.
As I walked barefoot across the wooden floor, I heard the first few warning drops fall on the roof and moments later the pitter-patter of the rain echoed throughout the entire building. Just like the day before, there were no servants in sight.
Hayato got down on his knees in front of the sliding door to the room, which Hanada and I had rudely barged into the previous day. The blue Shinobi carefully pulled aside the door, then announced our presence.
“You may enter,” the Lady told him.
Only two of the nine vassals I’d seen yesterday were seated within. The lady wore the exact same outfit and make-up, and so did her two vassals, ridiculous topknots and all. Her beautiful Naginata lay before her once again, forming a deadly barrier between her and her subordinates.
Her eyes settled on me immediately and her mouth curved in a smile that was disturbing and dangerous, and yet exquisite and alluring at the same time.
I opened up my inventory, then tossed the inert mirror blade before her feet. I felt my stamina pool increase, and it was like my lungs were filled with more air than before. I never seemed to get used to the feeling, no matter how many times I experienced it.
The mirror blade bounced once off the tatami with a clunk, before settling in a way that I could see the reflected faces of the two men before her. The men gasped at the sight, then quickly composed themselves. The Lady’s smile widened, revealing her black teeth and stretching the red lipstick that was meant to make her mouth appear small.
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“Good. Good.” The way she stretched the one-syllable[3] word sounded almost orgasmic and turned her vassals’ faces red with embarrassment. For a while, they all just stared at the inert Weeping Blade.
“My payment,” I demanded, cutting through the awkward silence that permeated the room.
The Lady pursed her smile, but still seemed overcome with joy. I supposed I’d done her quite a service. I just hoped the payment reflected that.
“Hayato,” she commanded.
The blue-grey Shinobi walked across the tatami to where the Lady was seated, knelt into a Seiza and received, with both hands, an embroidered pouch, which chinked with the sound of the metal within.
“Three Ryō for your service.”
One of the vassals immediately stood up in outrage. “My Lady, you cannot—”
“I can,” she interrupted him, fixing her devilish eyes on him. “It would have cost me three times that to employ an army to deal with this situation, not that any of you would lend me your forces to deal with it. So, the way I see it, I saved a headache and a fortune thanks to this Rōnin.”
He quietly sat back down again, without any further complaints.
The Lady then looked back to me and said, “Join our side. Rōnin always become squished between the conflicting forces, but, if you became an Azure Samurai, you’d flourish alongside us when we conquer the Vermilion army and reclaim our rightful seat at the head of Kakon-shi. As our Samurai, you would want for nothing, though that goes without saying.”
She didn’t mention what would happen to the White Tiger, which I found to be quite interesting. Perhaps the Azure Dragon would broker an alliance with the Tiger after proving their might by destroying the Vermilion clan. Part of me still wanted to fulfil the task set by Jirō and Genzō, but after meeting Hanada, Hayato, Mitsui, and the Lady, I kind of liked the idea of kicking it with this team instead. Besides, I still hadn’t met the leader of the White clan, and it wasn’t like Genzō or Jirō were all that trustworthy, what with their spies and manic laughter. Not to mention the complete lack of communication from them since we went our separate ways. The idea of eventually having to fight the White Wolves did make me hesitate for a short minute, but then I agreed to her deal.
“Alright,” I said. “I’ll be your Samurai.”
The Lady smiled a benign smile, as though I hadn’t seen her ludicrous grin earlier and knew that she could no doubt put up as much of a fight as the Monstrosity in the Sword if she decided to make sure I didn’t decline her gracious offer.
“Hayato,” she ordered again.
The Shinobi left the room and the four of us remained in silence. Neither of the vassals made a sound, as though even the tiniest shuffle of the pillows under their legs would offend their leader. It felt as though the way they glanced at me out of the corner of their eyes had changed by the simple declaration that I was now an Azure Samurai. I was still beneath them in terms of the hierarchical order of things, but instead of being one step above peasants, I was now only one step below the vassals.[4] Plus, I was now officially on their side, which no doubt eased any concerns they might have had about handing out a large sum of money to some random mercenary.
A moment later, the sliding door opened again and Hayato returned, bearing an azure chestpiece in his hands. He handed the armour to me, and a tooltip appeared:
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‘Azure Dragon Dō’
-Armour-
Armour > Upper-body
Armour Type: Heavy
“A heavy upper-body chestpiece reinforced with iron-plates and resplendent with square shoulder plates to protect against arrows. On the back is the insignia of the Azure Dragon clan.”
Equip
Discard
Weight: 3.2 kilos
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It weighed twice what my ruined cuirass weighed, but was also replete with sleeves and shoulder protection, which would clearly be beneficial against the many archers I’d no doubt face. On its back it had the flower of the Azure clan, which was still unknown to me.
I wondered if they’d accidentally kill me in battle if I didn’t wear it. I didn’t really want to compromise my movement speed and stamina, since it’d nearly cost me my life during the Shinobi ambush, but I also didn’t want to get shot in the back with an Azure arrow. Perhaps I could find a blacksmith who could rework my broken cuirass to make it look the same way or something. I deposited the chestpiece in my inventory and immediately felt a reverse change in my stamina, kind of like the additional air that had momentarily filled my lungs was sucked out and only partially refilled, except it was a feeling that permeated my entire body.
“Do you have any other tasks for me?” I asked, hoping they didn’t.
“Not for the moment. You are free to do as you see fit. Though I implore you to stay within our village or Kakon-shi, so that my servants may find you easily, once need of your skills arises.”
“Got it.”
I didn’t give her any chance to change her mind and left immediately, leaving the sliding door gaping open as I hurried down the hall and out into the courtyard. A servant was busy raking the gravel surrounding the stone path to the buildings, creating hills and valleys that made the entire courtyard look like a harmonious sea of pebbles.
“Hey, you,” I called, while clumsily putting on my boots.
He froze mid-rake and turned slowly towards me.
“Yes, you. Do you know how I can get to Kakon-shi the fastest?”
“H-horse.”
“And where do you keep the horses?”
“I shall find you one with the utmost haste,” he mumbled politely and left his rake, then started walking very quickly towards the gate out of the complex, leaving me to chase after him with only one boot on my foot and the other in my hand.
“Hold on. You don’t need to do that. Stop! Oh, for Gods’ sake… Hold up!”
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[1] Old Japanese currency. It worked something like this: 4000 Mon > 16 Shu > 4 Bu > 1 Ryō.
[2] Have fun figuring out the exchange rates…
[3] One syllable in Japanese, that is.
[4] Technically I’d only advanced one step, as I was now two steps above peasantry, but it still meant a lot in this hierarchal society.