The Tengu Village (2)

(16 years and 2 months after Reincarnation.)

[Kyrielle's POV]

(6:55 p.m.)

'Rustle...' Opening the curtain into the tent, I saw a large selection of weapons, tools, and armours was stashed inside.

"Wow... A candy store for adults." I suppose I'll help myself to some of the equipment.

Searching inside the tent's boxes and chests, I found a Japanese metal chest plate, gauntlet and shin guard suitable for my small body...

I struggled to strap the armor on... I have never wore any armor before after all but I still got it on somehow. Finally, I covered my body with the raincoat that I was wearing.

And then, I took another extra katana that's about the same length as my current one meter long katana, and strapped that to my waist. Now I have two katanas.

"And that's about it.... Hmm?" My eyes glanced pass a small box full of sharp, shiny objects...

Yep... Shurikens, about five of them. My fight with that fire mage taught me one thing, I lacked projectile weapons.

"Hmm...." I took one of them, and toyed around with it.

"...Hah!" I flung my arm out and threw the shuriken at one of the tree. 'Thud!' It hit the tree on the exact spot I want it to be, and stuck on it. It's fast, and it's simple to use.

"Jackpot...."

And so, I took the five shurikens and hid them in the armor's gaps, ready to be took out and used at moment's noticed.

Sadly, there's no healing potions here.... I'm stuck with just two over here.

I exited the tent once I was fully equipped.

Now... It's time to head to the village.

__________

(7:05 p.m.)

I slowly walked up besides the mud road. After I got out of the bamboo forest, I finally saw the village clearly.

The village was built on a hill in the middle of the bamboo forest. Multiple houses can be seen on the foot of the hill, and more houses are at the top of the hill. Most of them are on fire.

A large stone stairway paved the way up to the hill's village, and a big torii gate rest right at the start of the stair.

The entire area around the village is burned into a char, leading nothing but ashes and mud behind. The village itself is also on fire, but the rain is starting to put out most of the flames.

"Hmm?"

I watched closely at the back side of the village... I saw villagers escaping from there, running into the woods behind.

"I'm glad they safely got out...."

3 bandits stood guard near the Tori gate's entrance... It would be difficult to sneak pass them because this stair is the only one that leads up there. I need to take them out.

I crouched down under the darkness of the night, and slowly crawled my way closer to the village's main gate, until I'm just outside of the light to avoid detection.

"Brother... Are you sure we can just wait back here? Won't the boss be angry?"

"Relax, they won't notice. Besides, most of the villagers already ran off to the woods, and we are only here to watch the rear guard."

"Yeah. Besides, most of the women and children were gathered at the shrine on the top where Goketsu-sama would deal with them.... We don't need to work so hard."

"True...." (2x)

Women and children at the shrine on top of the village.... Got it.

I grabbed a stone besides me and then threw it towards a burnt tree on the opposite end of the road.

'Thud!'

"Wait, I heard a sound!"

"Are you sure?... I heard nothing...."

"It came from the left..."

All three bandits turned to the left, and using this moment...

"Really? I see nothi-"

'Stab!'

I pulled out my sword and jammed it straight through the throat of the bandit closest to me.

"Urk?!"

"An enemy!" (2x)

I tried to pull my sword out, but it is stuck on this guy's throat. "Grk!... Grr...."

One of the bandit pulled out his katana and swung at me. "Die, woman!"

"Shit!" I twisted my blade inside his throat and forcibly slashed my blade out of his throat to try and deflect this bandit's swing.... I was surprised when this action flung a pile of blood at the face of the second bandit.

"Ugh! Cowar-"

An opening!

I raised my katana overhead and leapt up at him. One Line!

"Not on my watch!" 'Tank!' The second bandit who has a spear jumped right in between us and blocked my attack. Seeing this, the first bandit swung at me from behind.

"Tsk...." I ducked my head and dodged the swing, then kicked the bandit in front of me to jump backwards. 'Thud!'

While mid air, I reached for my back and grabbed a shuriken. "Take this!"

I flung the blade at the spear bandit, and the shuriken impaled into his arm.... "Urgh! You little-"

"You can have this as well!" Round Trip!

I flung my katana at him, aiming for his right arm. 'Slash!' The blade chops right into his wrist, immobilizing his arm. "Urgh!"

"Bastard, stop throwing projectiles!" The katana bandit rushes forward at me with his katana raised.....

"Fool!" I reached my left arm for the second katana....

Shadow Cross.

'Clank!' 'Slash!'

I launched a quick draw attack that parried his katana, and a second follow up swing that slit at his throat. "Urk!... Grk..."

The bandit grabbed his bleeding throat with his arm, and kneeled on the floor. I aimed my katana at his neck and then jammed it right into his throat, killing him instantly. 'Stab!'

"Brother, no!!!" The spear bandit grabbed his spear with his left arm, and rushed forward trying to stab me. But he's too slow.

"Take this again!" I forcibly slashed my sword right out of the throat of this bandit, and flung a pile of blood at his face. 'Splash!'

"Urgh!"

Stinger!

I kicked off the ground and lunged forward at him, stabbing my katana right into his arm pit in the gap of his armor. 'Stab!'

"Argh!..."

'Thud!' I raised my leg and trip on his foot as I shoved him down to the ground.

"Die!" I aimed for his neck using my katana....

"N-no, stop!-"

'Slash!'

"....Sorry."

I flung my blade to the sides to get off all the blood, and then sheathed my sword back into its saya.

One thing I learned from fighting these bandits is that aggression is the best against them. If I hit them continuously and doesn't let up my aggression, they can't do anything about it because they don't know how to properly parry or deflect.

The problem only comes when I can't focus on one bandit and have to fight two or even three at the same time....

I crouched down to the ground and picked up the katana that I threw out just now.

"I swear I'm the only one to throw my swords like a projectile...." I guess it's just a bad habit of mine from using Blade Edges, since I frequently throw them around like boomerangs

Now the entrance is cleared, so it's time to enter the village. I slowly walked up the big stairs, making sure that no one around is here to notice me.

'Rumble....' The distant thunder sounded, illuminating the darkness in a flash of light.

"It's hot...." Despite the fact that it is raining and night time, the fire makes intense heat around me and it is extremely hot even though there is no fire around the stairs.

The dense flames burning around also lights up the entire area, making it difficult to sneak in the darkness....

Reaching the top, I peeked over the stairs and looked at the flat area above. There is a big straight street, with wooden houses and shacks on each sides, and also many smaller roads that lead to the areas around this level of the village.

At the end of this street is another flight of big stairs that leads further into the village and up near the shrine. However....

"4... 5.... 7... 9..." There are an extremely large amount of bandits in this area, ransacking the houses and doing as they please to the villagers.

A villager was thrown to the ground by a ground of bandits. "Stop it! Stop no!-" 'Slash!'

"No!!! Father!!!" A boy rushed over, and hugged the corpse of his father.

"Ahaha!" (?x)

A scene flashes in my mind. I saw Thomas being cleave in half by Aamon, and my helpless self being unable to do anything to save my father....

"Urgh.... Bastards." I groaned out in frustration and shaked my head to stop my mind from over thinking.

I want to save the boy and kill those bandits.... But I can't.

There are 3 archers, 3 katana users, 2 axe user and 1 spear man in here.... There is just no way I can deal with so many bandits at once.

"Tsk.... I'm sorry."

I can only hope to sneak around them using the houses. That being said, it's probably impossible to do so....

"Woof! Woof!" (3x) Three attack dogs ran out from the sides.

It's almost impossible to sneak through the houses with those dogs in the way. While the smoke and the rain have mostly covered up my scent, in shorter distance they'll still sniff me out. I'll have to go all the way around the dogs to climb the next set of stairs.

"Now...." I carefully analyzed the area around me to search for somewhere to sneak past them all...

One of the buildings by my side is untouched by the flames. The entrance to the house has collapsed, but by the foundation of the building there is a small hole that I can crawl into.

Entering it will allow me to crawl to the back of the houses, possibly avoiding almost all the bandits and the dogs.

"Right.... I'll go there."

I waited for the perfect chance to sneak over... Right when the bandits were distracted by the boy just now, I took my chance.

"Hmpt!" I immediately sprinted up the stairs and ran all the way to behind the building. "Phew...."

"Please father! Please wake up!"

"Hahaha....  Kid, your father is all the way up to the heaven already, he left you behind!"

"No!!! Father would never leave me behind!"

Hearing the voice of those people made me even more angry.... But I can't do something irrational right now or else I'll be captured.... I have to ignore it.

"Hoo... Hah...." I took a deep breather to calm myself down, got down into a crouch and then crawled into the hole in the foundation.

Crawling inside, I made my way to the back side of the houses and got out at the backyard.

"Glad that one worked...." I glanced around the backyard and saw a pack of dogs. Attack dogs.

"Oh fuck...."

"....Bark bark!" (3x)

I grabbed one of the shurikens and readied myself to attack them.

"Grrr!... Woof woof!" The three wolves charged towards me intending to maul me down. But....

"Bad boy!" I threw a shuriken at one of the dog, and it impaled into the leg of one of them. 'Stab!'

"Uuu!..."

"Bark bark!" (2x)

The two dogs charged forward and then closed the distance on me. One of the dog jumped and tried to pounce onto me....

Shadow Draw.

'Slash!' I drew my sword out at lightning speed and cleanly sliced at the dog as it tries to pounce on me, cutting it's neck.

The other dog jumped to the sides and then leapt towards me to try and pounce on me as well. 'Tank!' I raised my katana and slapped him away with a deflect.

"Bad doggie!" Hike!

'Tank!' With the flat edge of my katana, I swung upwards and slammed the dog's body with the blunt side. "Uuu!..."

"Hah!" I raised my katana up, and then slammed it down at his head, knocking the dog out. 'Tank!''

"Phew.... I don't want to kill or hurt dogs but this is unavoidable."

"Woof! Grah!..." The third dog barked at me with intent to bite, but it's leg was injured and can't rush forward.

"Okay, calm down now buddy.... I don't want to hurt you-" I said as I steadily reached for the dog's leg.

"Woof woof! Chomp!" The dog bit onto my hand.

"Ow! Just listen here...." I reached out my other hand anyway and pulled the shuriken out from the dog...

"Woof woof!... Uuu..." Sensing that I meant it no harm, the dog released it's bite.

"It must have hurt right?... I'm sorry...."

I pulled out a napkin and bandaged up the leg of the dog.

"Uuu..."

"Forgive me for killing your friend there... Goodbye."

I stood up once again and as I wanted to continue walking forward, I saw a gruesome sight. "...!"

Behind all these houses are a pile of corpses.... Corpses of killed villagers, some are childrens, and many of them are half naked bodies of women and girls that was captured by the bandits.

"...These bunches are really the trash of this world!"

I want to kill them all and give them a taste of their own medicine.... But I won't. I need to keep in control of my emotions, and focus on rescuing those villagers on the shrine first. "Hoo... Hah...."

I calmed myself down with a deep breath and then continued on forward. Silently crawling behind the burning houses, I slowly crept up to the next flight of stairs.

Peeking out from the back of the houses, I made sure that the bandits are not looking at this direction before I sprinted all the way to the stairs and dived into the bushes.

"....." I peeked out of the bush once again, and it seems that no one noticed me.

"Perfect...."

Slowly and silently, I climbed up the stairs using the bushes as cover until I'm half way up and out of the sightline of the bandits before getting out of the bushes.

"Phew..." I made my way farther up and saw another Torii gate on top.

(7:12 p.m.)

Finally climbing up to the top of the stairs, I peeked my head over the last step and scouted the area ahead.

From the Torii Gate's pillars, I saw a middle aged man with a katana, and dressed in a blue colored robe hiding behind the pillar. He turned around and noticed me as well.

"Wha-?!"

"Shhh!!" I put my index finger in front of my mouth, and signalled him to keep quiet.

"....." The man nodded after seeing my gesture, it seems like he's one of the villagers.

I quietly looked at the area ahead... Unlike the area below, this part has no houses. It's just a short flat road with some bushes by the side. Normally, this area is where festivals and events are held, but normally it'd be completely empty like right now.

On this area are 5 bandits.... 3 spearmen, 1 katana users and an archer. One of the spearmen is different from the rest....

He is a white robed monk just like that fire mage. On his hand is a 1.8 meter long spear, with a crescent moon right acting like the cross guard of an european sword. It is a jumonji yari.

When the bandits looked the other direction, I quickly ran towards the man who was hiding behind the pillar, and hid next to him.

"I'm here to help.... Are you a villager?" I quiet said to him once I am right behind him.

"Most of the women and children should have escaped by now, why are you still here?... What are you doing?!"

"Like I said, I'm here to help.... I'm a traveller, and I can fight.

"....You understand what these bandits will do if they captured a young girl like you right?"

"You don't have to tell me that!... I made it up all the way here from below, I can handle myself."

"I commend your bravely, young girl, but it's too dangerous for you to be here, you have to sneak back out-"

"I see... I still have questions about you but I can leave them for when we are safe."

"What are you going to do now, old man?..."

"I'm trying to rescue a group of kidnapped people right inside the shrine on top.... The problem is there's no way I can't fight so many bandits at once. And amidst all else there's that white robed monk."

"Who is he?"

"He's a Shinobi Hunter, he is extremely skilled and deadly with a spear.... I'd rather avoid fighting him at all cost, but it's impossible now it seems."

"....Are you a skilled swordsman as well?"

"Something like that.... But I require your help. You said you can handle yourself right? This is where your skills will come in."

"....What do I need to do?"

"...You see that archer by the stairs? I want you to take him out. While his arrows are easy to deflect, it'd become troublesome to deal with when fighting multiple opponents. After that's we can take care of the bandits together."

"Hmm.... I can do that but it's best if I can have the element of surprise and take him out instantly. I can sneak up there if I am inside the bushes, but I can't approach him outside the bushes without being seen."

"How about me distracting those bandits, and then you rush down the archer like that?"

"That could work."

"I see. I'm ready when you are."

"Okay... Hoo... Hah...." I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

"...Are you scared?"

"...Yeah... But there's no time for doubt, I know what must be done."

"That is commendable."

"Is that so?... I think I can do it now."

"Alright. I'll be waiting for you to reach the end of the bushes first before I distract them."

"Okay.... Before I go, I'll tell you my name. I am Kirieru."

"I am Fujiwara Kazuki.... A swordsman of this village.

A Fujiwara? Then he must be that boy's father huh?

"Fujiwara-san... I met your son on the way here."

"So he made it out safely huh?..."

"Yes. Now, I'll leave the distraction to you."

I carefully watched the bandits line of sight, and when they are all looking at another direction I quickly sprinted to the sides and dived into the bushes.

"Huh? Did you all hear something?" Said the Shinobi Hunter.

Shit, the white robed monk probably heard me just now!

"No."

"We heard nothing."

"I see, it must've been the wind then. Keep your eyes open, we don't want anyone to sneak up on us."

"Yes, Enshin-san." (4x)

Phew, I thought I was busted.... Now then.

I quietly sneaked up to the end of the bushes, near the stair where the archer is. After I reached the end of the bushes, I waited for Fujiwara's distraction....

(7:15 p.m.)

He jumped out from behind the Torii gate, and stood proudly with his katana in hand.

"Hey... There's someone there." Said one of the bandits.

"Hear me, cowards! My name is Fujiwara Kazuki, I stood with Kenshin-sama when he claimed this land! I will not allow any of you lowly terrorists to taint the soil that we took back by our own bare hands!!! Face me as a warrior!"

What a fierce cry of a warrior.... There is no way I can shout that loudly with my feminine and soft voice.

"...Kill him." Said the Shinobi Hunter.

"Yah!" (3x)

(Chapter end)