Chapter 115: Honor, Story and Alliance

Chapter 115: Honor, Story and Alliance

_________ POV Narration _________

Ken sighed as he decided to finally talk about his past for the first time in quite a while.

The only person that really knew of his past even within the Dark Brotherhood was Tosho, and even he didn't know much when it came to details.

They all knew that the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist had taken something dear from him in the past, which made them the subject of his bloody revenge, but they had no idea what that was.

Ken had somewhat refrained from ever mentioning his age, and part of his backstory was his age.

The only reason that the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist had lived that long was because he was too young and weak at the time to kill them at the time.

Ken's revenge had stretched out for so long, and ended up involving the Dark Brotherhood as well, exactly because he was unable to do it alone at the time.

Afterwards, he had just decided to hunt them down in more sadistic ways with the help of the Brotherhood.

'I guess it's time that the others learn about me as well...'

Ken was sure that his age and story would reach the children within the brotherhood too. He was somewhat worried about how it would affect their view of him.

After all, there were plenty among the children in the brotherhood that were physically older than him.

He had already created and maintained the image of a father figure, but now he did run the risk of losing it.

'... Well, I had already figured that this would be the price of showing my talent to the world.

But even if I am no longer a father figure to them, they will all still be part of the Brotherhood.'

With that said the Blind Assassin was not that concerned with the way the rest of the world viewed him.

But he needed the fact that he was a child to be known.

So sharing his story with the others was no longer that big of a deal.The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

All of the people present were surprised to hear Ken actually getting into his story.

More specifically, the story of his birth.

The story of a blind and disfigured infant left to die eaten by wolves and frostbite in the middle of a cold mountain somewhere in the Land of Iron.

The tale of how 10 honourable samurai of the Land of Iron discovered him and saved his life.

Mifune felt a bit proud to hear that their land's samurai were truly following their codes of conduct properly and that their honourable nature was kept even in the wild.

Yuichi also felt a bit proud, a slight smile reaching his lips as he thought of how he would have wanted his own child to be helped in such a situation.

Ken's next words did feel like a bucket of cold water over their heads though.

"The 10 Samurai that saved me were deserters, running away from certain death after being ordered to go visit several Hidden Villages."

Mifune blinked a few times, before looking at the ground with a bit of shame.

The man valued honour above all else. For one second, he didn't even want to believe that deserters would be capable of such commendable and selfless actions.

But he knew that Ken had no reason to lie to them. He had nothing to gain from it, at least nothing that Mifune could see.

Yuichi seemed to think the same, although his view on deserters was a bit less radical, he was still taken aback by the fact that the citizen of their Land had abandoned a child.

His own parents were more immoral and unhinged than a group of 'criminals'.

Yue was also surprised to hear that her teacher had had such a past. She still didn't know the full picture, she only understood that her teacher was a lot younger than he seemed.

She was also still processing her thoughts after seeing his true face, but his story now had enraptured her attention completely.

Ken's story continued from that point on.

The Blind Assassin spoke in a melancholic tone, as he told the story of how the group of 10 slowly but surely shrunk to a group of 6.

He didn't go into too much detail about the way he was raised, but he did mention the struggles of constantly having to run around from place to place.

All until they finally decided to settle into an abandoned temple in a random mountain range... And how that ultimately turned out to be one of the reasons for their demise.

"It seems our nation has wronged you quite a bit..."

Yuichi sighed as he shook his head, deciding not to bother bringing up the Hatamoto that had died at Ken's hands.

There was no point to it. How could he, in his right mind, try to hold a child accountable for something he had done at the age when most were still learning how to play tag?

"I've no reason to blame anyone for what has happened. Not anymore. I played the blaming game, and it didn't bring anything of value to my life...

Well, we did get some nice swords out of it, but overall it wasn't worth the hassle and preparation."

Ken shook his head before sighing deeply.

"This is the gist of it anyway. This organisation was originally born as a way for me to have some eyes in the world. It grew to what it is today as my aspirations grew with it."

"I understand... Thank you, Ken. For sharing your past with us. For trusting us enough to do so."

Mifune spoke out this time, closing his eyes and bowing his head slightly towards Ken once more.

Yuichi nodded at his gesture and followed suit, also thanking Ken and bowing.

Yue at their side seemed to mimic her father, she smiled warmly at her teacher and thanked him with a strange glint in her eyes.

"I've already said this, but there's no need for that." Ken would've rolled his eyes to the back of his head if he had any, instead, he just waved his hand dismissively at them.

The two leaders of the Land of Iron eventually straightened up once more.

They were preparing to leave after that, having already received more than enough information to think about.

But before they left, Yuichi turned to Ken one last time.

"Just so you know, people will start aiming for you now that your age has been revealed.

It's surprising how many are willing to forget your strength in the empty hope of being able to take advantage of you due to the perceived naivety your age gives off."

"That is fine... That's what I was hoping for anyway.

Let them come, and when they do, I will crush them into the earth.

The forests at my doorstep are in need of some fertilizer after all..."

Ken smiled eerily, silently thanking the Daimy for the warning he gave.

Yuichi himself smiled widely at Ken, and Mifune narrowed his eyes.

"If push comes to shove, then know that you will always find an ally and shield in the Samurai of our Land of Iron.

If you wish for shadow, then our Land of Iron will be the tall tree to provide you with it."

Mifune vowed with a serious gaze as he nodded to Ken one last time before both he and Yuichi left the room.

Ken couldn't help but smile as he felt their back getting further and further away. The meeting had gone a lot better than he had expected.

Who knew that revealing his past would lead to their alliance being completely solidified?

Ken's smile did die down a bit, as he turned his head towards Yue, who was still in the room.

"Now then... Anything on your mind, Yue?"

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Took me a bit to write, I had to do a lot of revisions. I had written a chapter yesterday but I wasn't very happy with it.

Anyhow, Imma go take a shit now cuz I'm really holding it in. I had a burst of inspiration while writing that I didn't want to interrupt it

Story Shoutout! Thanks to the_onez3 for the recommendation: The Final Desperation

Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ

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