Chapter 13: Suspicions and Drink

Chapter 13: Suspicions and Drink

Ken travelled quite a while before getting a scent of other humans...

More precisely, he managed to find tracks of quite a few people, leading through the woods in what seemed to be a clearing somewhere.

Ken followed the tracks and the smell for a while, all until he started smelling more and more things in the distance, his other senses were also picking up movements and sounds.

'I must be close to a village of some kind...' Ken jumped from tree to tree without any restriction, before eventually stopping himself.

'... This blade on my back will definitely attract attention to me...'

Ken realized at that point that his crimes would be known if the long blade was recognized by others and if a wanted poster was made of him, the situation would be a bit more annoying.

Ken had thought about taking his revenge on the Land of Iron and its lord, but he wanted first to kill the 7 Swordsmen before that.

So he wanted to lay low for a while, to avoid alerting any of his enemies of his survival and/or whereabouts.

Therefore, Ken quickly decided on a course of action, jumping a bit away from the village and finding a large tree.

Ken managed to climb it quickly, needing only a leap to get on top of it. He unsheathed his large blade, letting the sheet fall to the side on some branches as he directed its tip to the bark of the tree.

His long blade slipped into the bark of the tree with ease, Ken burying it completely, including its hilt.

With one finger touching the hilt of the blade, Ken flowed his chakra into it, widening the hole in the process and slightly burning the inside of the tree.

Ken pulled the blade out with a thread of chakra, sheathing it again and sliding it right into the small hole that he had created.

With his weapon hidden, Ken proceeded to walk towards the village, keeping his katana strapped to his belt for protection.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

It wasn't an uncommon thing to do in the Land of Iron, the majority of travellers carried weapons, and it was more uncommon to see one unarmed.

He was still alone though, something that travellers used to avoid due to the constant presence of mountain bandits. Which meant people would still look at him weirdly...

Ken walked by plenty of people, many of them turning their heads and staring at the strange 'ronin' coming alone from the wilderness.

At first, some thought it was a lost child, and wanted to approach it and ask about its parents and whether or not it was safe.

The poor villagers didn't have any means to take care of a child, but they could at least report the appearance of one to the proper authorities, and make sure they are sent to an orphanage.

But their thoughts about it being a child dissipated after seeing him walk a few steps into the village. The katana sheathed on his belt said all that they needed to hear.

The confident gait and the controlled breathing that not one of them could even feel... The person in front of them was most certainly just an extremely short man. A short man that also happened to be a highly trained samurai/ronin.

His physique was hidden by armour and tattered hides, his hair was overgrown and spiky, reaching all the way to his lower back.

His hands were covered in dirt bandages that looked old to anyone that saw them.

One phrase could be used to describe the wondering Ronin... And that would be 'A fine mess'.

Fine as in, his confidence didn't seem to be hindered by the fact that he looked as if he just come out of a war.

But his confidence didn't really change the fact that he needed a new outfit.

Ken didn't bother to hide his face, but not many managed to get a glimpse of it, as his head was angled downwards, seemingly 'staring' at his sake cup.

Ken downed the glass instantly, then placed his mask back on just as quickly as he had taken it down.

He released a satisfied sigh, as the familiar taste of alcohol filled his mouth and somewhat numbed his molars.

Drinking was something that Ken had wanted to do for quite a while now. He had always enjoyed a good drink in his past life.

It was a habit that he had given up. But after losing his family, he felt the need for one familiar taste of his past, to remind him once more of what type of person could thrive in that world.

By now, Ken obviously knew it as well.

A family man and a caring person would only be wronged in that world without proper strength. Even if they had strength, they would still be taken advantage of, as that was the way of the world.

No, the ones that truly thrived in that world were the ones that were just like he had once been...

Senseless killers, hunters looking to sate a sadistic kind of hunger.

Be it money, fame or even pleasure, only those that were willing to kill for it would be rewarded. As that was the type of world Ken found himself in.

Ken drank with thoughts of his enemy on his mind, as he reminded himself of something.

'From now on... The men I will be facing will all be just like I used to be... Those who murder must be in turn prepared to die, just like I was. Let's see if they have the same principles as I did...'

With that thought in mind, Ken got up and left, the familiar taste of alcohol still in his mouth as he hummed his way out of the tavern, leaving behind a rather mortified barmaid.

The barmaid had been the only one to see Ken's face... Or what remained of it... It honestly looked like he had been mauled by a wild animal.

She froze up when looking at that face for the few seconds that it had been in view.

'H-how can someone live like that?!'

'No, scratch that! How can someone become a powerful samurai like that?!'

Her thoughts quickly started jumping from theory to theory, as she tried to rationalize what was in front of her.

The man had no eyes to speak of, so how exactly was he accurate enough to not only shove his hilt into the drunkard's moth...

But how exactly was he navigating around so normally, as if nothing was different about him when compared to others?

She was so shocked and entrapped in her own thoughts that she had even forgotten to ask Ken to pay for his drink...

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Dine and Dash completed!

Well, it's more of a Drink and Dash, but same thing.

Hope you liked the chapter, it's a bit of a slower one, helps give the mc a bit more depth and all that jazz.

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 4 chapters in advance (or 2 depending on tier)