Translator's note: the "shadows" here refer to the spies of the clan in general. In the original, the author uses an archaic word that means "spy," but it literally translates to "man of shadow." English doesn't have a suitable single-word synonym, and other options don't relay this shadowy part of the meaning, so we'll use this term instead. I hope it'll be clear from the context when it means a person.
Another explosion and rumble made Stas flinch and suppress the natural urge to look back.
The city retreating behind them was being wracked with terrible bloodshed and an actual war caused not by someone else but by Stas himself.
Realizing this fact filled the earthling with a strange, perverted pride and, at the same time, a nasty feeling that he had done something wrong.
'Could I have acted differently?' Ordyntsev asked himself. 'Could such a loss of lives have been avoided?'
'No,' he answered his own question. 'It's already a miracle that my plan stood up to reality, even with modifications. In any other case, I would be dead by now.'
The warmaster of the Shadow Stone, who was carrying him, adjusted his hold on the earthling, tossing him up a bit and causing Stas to grab even tighter around his "steed's" neck to avoid falling.
The prince, who was also being carried, had recovered somewhat, but it was still wise to be cautious with excessive physical exertion.
The problem, obviously, was with the artifact shackles that not only restricted prana control but also negatively affected Sumada's natural regeneration.
That's why, if initially he managed to survive and partially heal even the most terrible wounds, then later he suffered, recovering like an ordinary person.
Now, with every minute precious, the shadows took on the task of their rapid delivery. They ran an order of magnitude faster than ordinary people, after all.
The escape itself went like clockwork, making Stas suspect some kind of catch.
On their own, they descended from the palace, after which Akiro's people let them through the gates without any hindrance.
After that, two warmasters lifted the prince and healer onto their backs and then rushed out of the city at maximum speed.
Watching the ground fly by under the feet of the Shadow Stone fighters, Stas was genuinely afraid of falling. There was a risk of being smashed to bits beyond repair.
Leviathan, who had coiled around him several times, apparently feeling nervous, squeezed him so tightly that his ribcage protested with a crunch on particularly sharp turns.
Yet even more impressive was that their carriers managed to run at such a pace for a whole hour. They leaped over ditches and small streams and sometimes jumped onto low-hanging tree branches. And all this with their load.
Prana indeed offered incredible possibilities, completely breaking the usual rules of society.
Usually, one person, no matter how smart or strong they were, could do little. To become someone significant, at the very least, they needed a team or, more preferably, money and an entire apparatus of people supporting their ideas.
Yet here, a warmaster who by nature had brains and strength could theoretically dictate their will to whole countries, albeit small ones.
Supreme warmasters were the ultimate weapon of this world. Combat power incarnate in a human body. Apex predators with practically no competitors.
Ordinary people had little to counter them with. Even a surprise attack in their sleep or poisons could have an insufficient effect on some of them.
Bodies saturated with prana, even in a passive state, were much stronger and more viable. Some warmasters even strengthened their bodies with various lifelong techniques and methods.
At such moments, Ordyntsev was curious: did prana extend one's lifespan? It was quite difficult to determine, as there were very few warmasters who lived to old age. The locals loved war too much.
After an hour, the warmasters first slowed down and then stopped altogether, setting their "burden" down on the ground.
The leader of the trio, incidentally, the shortest of the shadows, carefully removed his mask. Surprised, Stas looked at the lad, who could be nineteen to twenty years old at most.
Still, that didn't mean he should be treated with disdain.
"Master Jishin," he bowed. "We have a long way to go, and there's no sense in continuing in the dark. You've seen what's happening in the city. They're not concerned with us right now. Would you mind if we set up camp here?"
"Proceed," the prince commanded authoritatively. At that moment, Stas was peeling off Leviathan, who was stubbornly refusing to let go.
With permission granted, the trio of shadows sprang into action. One dashed off to collect kindling for a fire; another, straining, chanted, "Earth Technique. Secret Refuge," and placed his hands on the ground.
Obeying his will, the earth indented a couple of dozen centimeters down and then began to deepen horizontally. In no time, under the influence of his prana, a narrow entrance to an underground space with a small sleeping place was formed.
Moreover, the soil and grass above were not even disturbed. The roof was so thin that it would easily allow for breaking free if necessary.
After that, he used this technique a couple more times, creating additional sleeping areas.
The third - the youngest of them and their leader - jumped onto a tree and began to pick young branches and leaves. With bundles of them, he lined the floor in the temporary dugouts.
Meanwhile, the first one returned and placed kindling in a pre-made hearth in the ground. Stas didn't quite understand his manipulations, but presumably, the intention was to make the light from the future campfire as inconspicuous as possible. Yet, no one had ignited it yet. Everyone was full, and nobody planned to sit around it.
Stas, counting the number of "houses," noted with surprise that the prince and he each had a separate stone shelter, while the remaining trio was content with one for all three.
However, Stas saw that when everyone lay down, one of them jumped onto a tree branch to keep watch.
It was time for Ordyntsev to lie down and sleep.
Inside the refuge, one had to crawl almost on all fours, but it was excellently hidden, barely noticeable on the flat terrain.
Crawling was difficult because he had to be careful not to crush the tail of Leviathan, who had coiled around his body.
Inside, it smelled of fresh leaves, and while it was a bit hard, Stas felt more comfortable here than on the downy featherbeds in the palace of Nobunoro.
Pulling his cloak up higher and wrapping himself well in it, Stas fell asleep. Leviathan rested quietly next to him, almost completely covering the man with her coils.
Thus ended that mad night, and the next day began.
Breakfast was early in the morning, warmed up in the pre-prepared fire pit. Their escorts finally took off their masks, and Stas could assess their age.
Two of them were approaching thirty, which clearly indicated their strength or ability to survive, or perhaps both. The first had brown hair, while the other sported the more common black.
But the third stood out. It was hard to discern his features at night, but now there was no problem.
The first thought that came to mind after looking at him was – sly. Narrow eyes, constantly squinted as if from laughter. An ironic curve of the lips, seemingly mocking both himself and the interlocutor. His skin was paler than the others. Apparently, he spent a lot of time indoors or underground.
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He was the first to speak, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Master Jishin, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Shin Sumada, son of Naito Sumada, who you met before, the head of the Shadow Stone cell in Akaru City. My father is very interested in ensuring you safely reach the clan head, so he sent me and two of his best fighters," Shin nodded to the shadows. "The one with black hair is called Kusa. He's not very talkative. And the one on the left is Haru, who, on the contrary, does love to chat."
The latter rolled his eyes quite noticeably, and Stas even felt a bit sorry for him.
"We are all advanced warmasters and ready to protect you from any danger," Shin concluded.
"Nice to meet you, Shin, Kusa, and Haru," Jishin nodded amiably, reaching out to the fire. After the cool night, his hands were a bit chilly, the shackles clinking softly. Though these fetters had a chain that allowed a person to attend to themselves, they were still very obstructive. "I hope our journey together ends successfully."
"And how could it be otherwise," Shin smiled slyly. It seemed unthinkable for him to remain silent even for a few minutes.
'Maybe that's why Naito sent him with us?' Stas wondered. 'It's hard to imagine a character less suitable for their work. On the other hand, maybe it's just a convenient mask?'
Shin continued to talk, and Stas looked at him thoughtfully. 'And yet, one must take into account Naito's desire to gain some privileges from the head for saving his son. If he is far away, one might not wait for anything other than oral gratitude. However, if his son is there, an emissary of his will, then the situation changes drastically. The clan head will have to do something not to lose face.'
"Master Jishin," Shin suddenly turned to Stas, meeting his gaze. "We still don't know the name of your companion. I have nothing against it if you want to keep it a secret, but if not, then..." Shin looked at the earthling's neutral expression with a foxy smile.
"Shiro-san," at this point, the ever-squinted eyes of the spies' head's son even widened a bit. Unthinkable, the prince acknowledged this man as an equal! "Can independently decide whether he wants to introduce himself or not. The man who saved my life has every right to do so."
"Thank you, prince," Stas, while remaining seated, bowed gratefully. "I can't fully express how much I appreciate your words. However, I will still introduce myself. My name is Shiro, and I am a healer with a rather unusual but effective treatment method for these parts. Shin-san, have you heard anything about me from your father?"
Ordyntsev decided to set the record straight right away.
"Yes, my father's people know how to loosen tongues. In the palace, everyone was convinced that you are a peasant's son who received training from some wandering sage. Were our informants mistaken?" Shin leaned in with interest, as if inviting Stas to tell his version. And the earthling did not disappoint.
Before all the action started, he and Jishin agreed to adjust Stas's life story. Both understood that the status of a former peasant would weigh heavily on his future life with the Sumada.
"You're right; that's the version I had to tell the samurai just to survive," Ordyntsev smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. With each passing day, his pretense got better. That's what constant practice on the edge of life and death does. "I was unlucky enough to find myself right on the battlefield, so I quickly dressed in the clothes of the nearest ashigaru and pretended to be one of them. Somehow, it turned out to be Nobunoro's troops…"
The truth mixed with falsehood flowed naturally from Ordyntsev's mouth, seeping into the ears of his listeners and taking root straight in their brains.
"... So, I had to heal Master Jishin. To avoid being exposed, I convinced some of the palace servants and guards to help me, after which I sought the assistance of your father. If it hadn't been for Naito-sama, I'm afraid our plan would have been doomed."
"Yes," Shin nodded. "Father told me of your successes. And don't be modest; not everyone would manage to tighten the reins on these proud samurai, so they wouldn't even breathe without your permission. A significant part of the success of this mission is your merit. And that's exactly what I will tell the clan head, have no doubt!"
The lad's voice literally radiated goodwill, but this was what made Stas most wary. He didn't understand the purpose of all these compliments.
And when he didn't understand something, he wanted to proactively hit it, for research purposes, of course.
"Thank you, Shin-san. But I was just trying to help myself and Master Jishin. The ordinary desire to survive," Stas had no intention of boasting in front of this sly young man.
The only people he would really have to report to were the clan head and, perhaps, the clan elders.
"And that's the best reason," agreed Naito's son. "But you still haven't said who you really were if the story about the peasant's son was a lie."
"How could I forget," laughed Stas, joined by Shin's ringing chuckle. From the side, it might seem that they were best friends, but that was far from the case. "Please forgive me, but some of my memories are very vague. During that battle, when I had to hide, one of the ashigaru struck my head with a spear. Because of that, I forgot some things. Memories are slowly coming back, but not everything."
"What a pity," the lad's face formed a grimace of disappointment, which was swept away by the now familiar smile. "But you still remember something, don't you?"
Looking at his smile, Stas couldn't grasp whether the lad was laughing at the offered legend or encouraging him to continue.
"Without a doubt," Stas agreed. "My family often wandered through cities and countries, healing people and gathering various knowledge about the world. Thanks to our perseverance and diligence, we achieved serious success in medicine and wound treatment."
Stas waved his hand as if searching for the right expression.
"In a way, you could call us a small clan. We even had control over prana."
"Really?" Shin perked up immediately. "And what was your clan called? Were you warmasters?"
"No, no," Ordyntsev waved his hand hastily. "We weren't warmasters because our knowledge of prana control was frankly pathetic. I myself have only managed to master it a little bit over the years."
Stanislav extended his hand and picked up a regular white-brown stone lying almost in front of him; then, under the attentive gaze of the warmasters, he tensed his muscles and mentally chanted his miracle mantra: 'Work, damn magic, don't let me down!'
Prana, released from the core, guided by the will of the earthling, was directed precisely into his hand, many times strengthening and enhancing the muscles of the human.
Crunch!
Pieces of the stone crumbled to the ground, and Stas clapped the stone dust off his hands. He didn't show it, but he was proud that it all worked out. After all, he had just performed a feat literally impossible for a human, albeit quite ordinary for a warmaster.
Good thing such tricks started working for him four out of five times just a week ago.
"Impressive!" Shin, on the other hand, applauded a couple of times in admiration. But Stas had already learned not to trust a single emotion of this strange, ever-smiling person.
"However, my skills are still not enough for constant concentration on my whole body. Therefore, I won't be able to keep up with your running pace," Stas clarified, as if apologizing. "Our knowledge of prana control was frankly little, but in medicine, we could compete with many. However, something happened to my clan, and I remained the last. It seems there was an attack. I vaguely remember. So, by helping to save Master Jishin, I decided to offer my skills to the head of the Sumada clan, since I have nowhere else to go anyway."
"Very wise of you, Shiro-san," Shin nodded. "The Sumada clan knows how to be grateful, and we are not called a great clan for nothing."
Ordyntsev smiled politely in response, mentally sending his interlocutor to hell. For the earthling, all these constant references to the greatness of family, clan, or lineage meant absolutely nothing.
Stas wasn't going to and "couldn't" tell any more anyway, so Naito's son switched back to the prince.
Ordyntsev, however, didn't relax. Shin Sumada was quite a character, and the fact that he didn't show a negative reaction to his words didn't mean he didn't harbor suspicions.
Of course, the earthling's story wasn't very solid, yet in this world, it had every right to exist.
Weak clans of warmasters or just people with prana control often hid and didn't make themselves known, rightly fearing for their lives.
The fact that one such clan met its demise was not unusual, nor was it that one of its members accidentally survived.
The selective amnesia was more suspicious, but saving the prince and agreeing to work for Sumada should have softened this part.
Suspicions would remain, but it was within Stas's power to gradually dispel them.
When everyone had eaten and was ready to leave, Kusa again placed his hands on the ground.
"Earth Technique. Collapse," the earth, obeying the actions of the shadow, filled the dugouts and the fire pit, hiding the slightest traces of their stay.
Unlike the first day, they now alternated the same running as yesterday and walking about evenly.
This schedule lasted two more days.
On the third day, ensuring that there was still no pursuit, the shadows stopped carrying them on their backs.
Now, they all moved calmly on foot, trying to stick to the roads but moving through the forests. Such activity was prohibited by law, but the warmasters didn't give a damn.
That was when Stas noticed that carrying a hefty three-and-a-half-meter snake was a real burden!
Considering that during breaks, she unfazedly went hunting, Stas considered such a situation sheer mockery.
That's why, on the fourth day of their journey, Stas's companions could witness the amusing scene of a man indignantly fending off a snake trying to climb on him.
"Don't you dare!" Stas stepped back, not allowing Levi's tail tip to wrap around his leg from behind. "You're already a grown snake, so you'll move your legs like everyone else! I mean, crawl!"
In response, large eyes full of unspoken suffering and unshed tears stared at the master.
How would she keep up with these huge, fast bipeds? She would run out of strength and become prey for some terrible magical beasts. Could her beloved master be so cruel to his dear Levi?
"Don't play the victim here!" Ordyntsev snorted insensitively. "I might have believed you if I hadn't seen how fast you dashed through the prince's rooms. And the way you literally jumped into the woods last time?!"
The last part Stas found astonishing. As soon as they stopped for a break, Leviathan leaped forward several meters into the thicket, then set about her business at a speed even exceeding that of a typical pedestrian.
Ordyntsev wasn't sure if ordinary snakes could even do that.
Shin and the shadows watched with wide eyes as some healer with remnants of warmaster knowledge clearly controlled and conversed with a magical beast.
He could be suspected of affiliations with the Kiatto clan if it weren't known that they could only control cat-like monsters and bears.
Realizing that she couldn't win over her owner with a sad look, Leviathan tensed, gathering her coils together.
"What are you up to now?" Stas stopped, eyeing Leviathan's preparations suspiciously. "If it's what I think it is, you're going to regre... Damn it!"
Levi straightened up sharply, sending her body straight into the man's chest and starting to wrap around him!
"Oh, you shameless leather lace! Get off me this instant! I said, immediately!"