CH 55

The bandits closed in on Seto and Chiyome with their weapons in hand.

There were quite many of them, and they all seemed confident in their skills.

They were mainly equipped with swords, axes, and daggers.

With his magic sword, the boy could easily wipe them out, but fighting them while protecting a blind girl would be a pretty tall order.

[Chiyome, I’ll open a path for you to esca-… No, wait. Considering you’re blind…] (Seto)

Just as Seto was about to pull his magic sword out of thin air while staying in front of the sightless Chiyome to protect her, the latter tapped the former on the shoulder and reassured him.

[Uhh, Seto, was it? It’s all right, you don’t have to be so on edge. Lemme handle this.] (Chiyome)

The tone of her voice was as gentle as usual, but her manner of speech seemed to have changed a bit.

She walked in front of Seto with her cane, smiling carelessly at the bandits surrounding her, and spoke up to them.

[Um, excuse me, good sirs. I do not know who you are, but threatening women and children by flashing your weapons at them is rather unseemly, don’t you think? Now I would appreciate it if you refrained from such silly behavior…] (Chiyome)

[Hah! Ya hear that, boys?! We’re goddamn outlaws, and she’s giving us the ol’ “violence is bad” bullshit?] (Bandit A)

[Hahaha! Now that’s fucking hilarious! …And if we don’t listen, what’re you gonna do?] (Bandit B)

[Erm, listen. There is no need for you to speak so menacingly, now is there? I don’t even have any valuables on me, as you can see. How about at least sitting on the side until your supreme leader has finished fighting?] (Chiyome)

[That ain’t gonna cut it. Our supreme leader gave us orders. So yer all gonna die here.] (Bandit A)

[Well I’ll be…] (Chiyome)

After that exchange, two of the bandits readied their swords for a thrust and an overhead slash, and charged at her.

They were about to kill Chiyome.

Crap! Chiyome is blind, so she won’t be able to guard against or avoid the- (Seto)

Just as Seto was about to draw his magic sword, a certain gust of wind he was extremely familiar with blew.

It was the kind of wind generated by swinging a sword, a sword gale.

The slash gushed through the air so fast that not even a flash of sword could be seen, reaping lives in the blink of an eye.

Even more surprising was that the one who fired that slash was the one Seto had been trying to protect, Chiyome.

That walking stick he thought was a regular cane was actually a sword cane.

With her sheath in her left hand and her long straight sword in her right one, she had unleashed a super-fast slash.

She truly did draw her sword faster than the eye could see.

As soon as she pulled it out, the bellies of the two bandits from earlier were slashed open, leaving a pool of blood at Chiyome’s feet.

Seto unconsciously gasped at that display.

For even he had trouble seeing that slash.

[…Ya shouldn’t get carried away just ‘cause I was actin’ nice.] (Chiyome)

The gentle atmosphere she exuded just earlier was gone, and Chiyome was now threatening the people around her in a cheeky tone.

She swept off the blood smeared on the long sword in her right hand, and flashed the sunlight ominously flickering on her blade at the rest of the bandits.

[Chiyome, so you know how to fight…?! Also, that move just now was a technique used by swordsmen from another country, right? Could it be that you’re from that same country…?] (Seto)

[The cat’s outta the bag, huh. Oh well, can’t be helped. So whatcha gonna do, my friend? I don’t mind if ya take cover, but…] (Chiyome)

[Nah, I’ll join you and fight. I used to be a soldier myself. So I know how to fight.] (Seto)

[That so?] (Chiyome)

Seto drew his magic sword out of its dimensional pocket, and held it in front of him.

The glimmer of their two blades greatly intensified the bandits’ fear.

A magic swordsman and a super-fast iai slash user.

It was obvious to the outlaws that if the two of them fought as a team, then all of their lives would be forfeit.

They both took one step, and everybody’s face was distorted in fear.

[Think you can handle this many of them?] (Seto)

[I deal with thugs like them everyday. This ain’t nothin’ for me.] (Chiyome)

Samurais are awesome…! (Seto)

As both sides kept antagonizing the other, some of the bandits began to lose their temper.

One after another, they closed in on Seto and Chiyome.

[Since you’re able to fight, I’ll leave some of them to you.] (Seto)

[Careful not to get hurt, okay?] (Chiyome)

[You got it!] (Seto)

Seto left Chiyome’s side and rushed toward the bandits.

They had split themselves into two groups, one attacking Seto, and the other attacking Chiyome.

[Uuoooooohh!!] (Bandits)

The bandits attacked with their deadly blades.

Seto responded by mowing them down one by one.

The blades were coming down hard on Seto.

Yet he skillfully saw through all of those attacks, and dodged them while twisting his body.

He then struck his foes with the destructive swordplay he had developed on the battlefield.

Knowing that the boy was a magic swordsman in spite of being a kid did not make them arrogant, but the bandits fell one after another due to his overwhelmingly superior sword skills.

He mowed them down on his right, cleaved them on his left, and stabbed them from below. It did not take long for Seto to bring them all down with his relentless slashes.

Seto immediately tried to regroup with Chiyome, but he unexpectedly found himself entranced by her sword fight.

——She danced as if she was cutting down.

——And she cut down as if she was dancing.

It was as if the whole display itself was a Shinto ritual.

A series of scathing backhanded slashes.

Unable to do anything against her super-fast slashes, the bandits’ blood splattered, and their screams of death were carried into the air.

As soon as they raised their weapons to attack, their abdomens were already ripped open, and even when they tried to surround and attack her simultaneously, they thought they only got one casualty slashed to death, but by that time, two or three of them turned out to be already dead. This was the surreal situation that unfolded before their very own eyes.

Her lightning-fast swordsmanship reduced their number in the blink of an eye.

The rest of the bandits, who had completely lost their will to fight, turned tail and fled.

[……] (Chiyome)

She was still alert.

Chiyome slowly put her long blade back into its scabbard, and went back to poking the ground with it as usual.

[Looks like it’s over. …But I have to say, you’re really strong. It’s surprising.] (Seto)

[You’re quite full of surprises yourself. Judgin’ by the pitch of your voice, you’re much younger than I am.] (Chiyome)

Chiyome wipes her bloodstained cheek with a hand towel from her pocket.

There were some stains on her shrine maiden uniform, but strangely enough, they vanished in no time at all.

[Hm? You wonderin’ about the blood on my clothes? Don’t worry, what I’m wearin’ is a lil’ special, y’see? The blessing on these clothes cleans away some of the impurities stainin’ it. Although, I was the one who dirtied them.] (Chiyome)

Laughing to herself, Chiyome stroked her cane.

Seeing her and her superhuman swordsmanship, Seto felt a kind of connection with her.

[But if you didn’t cut them down, they would’ve cut you down instead. You became this strong because you didn’t want to die, right? I don’t know what first prompted you to learn it, but your swordsmanship is nothing short of amazing!] (Seto)

[I do not wish to die, indeed. There are times when I swing my sword to save my skin, and others when in a strange turn of events, I fight for the sake of someone else. My life is full of good times and bad times, for others and for myself.] (Chiyome)

A cool breeze suddenly blew past the two of them.

As he cooled down his body boiling from the heat of the battle and relaxed his mind, Seto switched gears immediately.

[Oh, right! What about Satis…!?] (Seto)

Apparently, her battle had already started, and what a battle it was.

A monster vs monster fight between fellow executives of the Demon King’s army.