#75 Putolu
When I relaxed my grip on the hilt of my sword, the spikes suddenly disappeared and my hand healed as if nothing pierced it before. Of course, the cut on my palm was still there and I could feel that the blood my sword drained from me was also missing so it wasn't as if I was fully healed. It only stopped my bleeding.
I sheathed my sword and returned to the campfire. I sat down with closed eyes, thinking about that move.
"Akashi, what was that?" Poney suddenly couldn't hold herself back and asked me with a curious and confused expression while looking at my already healed hand.
"Simply put, it was a slash formed out of my own blood." I replied with closed eyes.
"...Y-Your own blood? What kind of attack is that...What are you, a vampire?" Poney asked me with one raised eyebrow while looking at me with a weird look in her eyes.
"...Maybe, you should watch out for your neck." I remained silent for a while before answering with a low voice while glancing at her with only one open eye.
"...P-Please don't joke around like that, ha-ha" She protected her neck with both hands while having horrified expression before she released an awkward laugh with a forced smile and closed eyes.
"..." I refrained from replying and instead just opened my mouth slightly while smiling towards the campfire to show her my "fangs" at least that's what she probably saw when I noticed her reaction.
...
Poney spent the rest of our night duty by watching out for me instead of any real dangers which I found quite funny. She is slightly lacking a few brain cells but I was able to notice it when we were interacting with each other on the road.
The next morning when I finally woke up, I instantly heard some rumors going around in the camp about me being a vampire.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but look at Poney who was practicing her kicks, with a weird look as if I was looking at a complete idiot.
"She is lacking in the brains department." Najasho who was sitting nearby while reading a book muttered while throwing a quick glance at Poney.
Are you trying to cheer me up or what?
"She certainly seems a bit...dimwitted." I said with a forced twitching smile.
"...Would you mind a little spar?" Najasho suddenly asked while glancing from his book on my face.
"Heh, I know what you are exactly thinking. I also want to compare our swordsmanship." I chuckled at his question and nodded my head.
"Then let's move somewhere else, I believe that none of us wants to cause any commotion" Najasho closed his book and put it aside before standing up from his seat.
I nodded and both of us moved a slightly deeper into the forest next to our camp that was built in a small clearing.
----When Najasho and Akashi left the camp----
"Hey, hey! Najasho and Akashi just entered the forest! What do you think they are going to do?!" Poney also noticed them leaving and when they finally left she immediately ran up to other girls who were talking to each other, especially talking with Kurome and asking her lots of questions.
"Akashi Nii-sama did?" Kurome was slightly surprised before glancing to the side at the forest full. Even everyone else was quite surprised by this.
"Yes! What do you think they are doing? Is it possible that Najasho swings that way since he never showed any interest in any of us?!" Poney exclaimed with a shocked expression and wide-open eyes.
However, everyone immediately looked at her with a weird look except for one person.
"Akashi Nii-sama isn't like that!" Kurome shouted with a confident expression.
"? I don't necessarily mean that he is...I just said that Najasho might be like that. Anyway, let's follow them!" Poney said with a slightly awkward expression when she saw Kurome's confidence but her expression immediately brightened and she started running towards the forest.
"?! Wait, Poney! What about the camp? Who will guard it?" Cornelia immediately shouted at running Poney.
"It will take only a few minutes! Green can remain here plus we can survive in the wildness even without those things." Poney shouted back without stopping.
The girls looked at each other with helpless expressions before following after Poney.
While Green on the side could only hang his head in disappointment from being used in this way.
...
"Shh, there they are..." Poney hiding behind bushes pointed at the direction approximately a hundred meters away when she noticed that girls finally caught up with her.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
When everyone looked in the same direction they saw the sight of flashing lights of the blades tearing through the air. However, each time the blades met each other, no air pressure or anything was released to the surroundings, making it look too casual yet their swordplay itself was anything but casual.
"Whoa, it almost looks like they are dancing around..." Tsukushi who didn't understand a thing about swordplay exclaimed with wide-open eyes.
Poney and Cornelia nodded when they saw both Akashi and Najasho performing all kinds of spins and acrobatics tricks while also trying their weapons to make contact with their opponent.
"?!" Akame eyes widened when she noticed one detail.
"? What is it, Akame?" Poney immediately asked when she noticed Akame act like that. She knew that Akame was more experienced in sword fighting so she might have noticed something unusual.
"Look more closely...both of their eyes are closed. They are simply fighting with their instincts. They are using other senses to fight." Akame exclaimed in awe.
"..." Everyone was speechless when they finally noticed that their eyes have been closed the entire time.
"I can't believe it...It almost looks like Najasho is at a disadvantage. How is it possible? Daddy said that there is no one more talented in swordsmanship than him." Poney muttered with a shocked expression when she saw Najasho getting pushed back by relentless attacks from Akashi.
"No...Their swordsmanship is on a similar level. They aren't using any strength in their attacks, they are simply comparing their swordsmanship yet it's still not entirely fair." Akame said while looking more closely at their fight.
"What do you mean, Akame-chan?" Tsukushi asked with a confused expression.
"What my big sis means is that overall they aren't on the same level at all. Their level of swordsmanship might be similar but Akashi Nii-sama has vaster experience in fighting. Therefore they aren't on a similar level at all, at least when it comes to fighting." Kurome explained in her sister's stead. Of course, she used harsher words than Akame would use since it was Akashi who she was talking about and she simply had to praise him, it was already her habit.
The girls only released a wry smile when they heard Kurome's words. She was speaking about their leader who was strongest of all of them in this way.
In the end, the match ended with Akashi's victory and girls quietly returned back to the camp.
---Akashi's POV---
Class: Blade Master (Lv. 5; +9 Str, +9 Agi, +4 Const) 70/160 XP
That guy is really a prodigy in swordsmanship.
I thought with a small smile while beads of sweat were pouring down my forehead.
Just from this sparring alone, I was able to gain so many experience points but I have to be careful because I am not the only one improving. I should limit those sparring with him unless I want to train him to be even stronger. His mastery of swords is already pretty high so there is no need to make him even stronger.
"*Huff* ...It's your win." Najasho said with a complicated expression while trying to catch his breath.
"Where did you learn those moves?" Najasho suddenly asked me with a curious expression.
"I created them myself from watching other people's practices." I replied with a small smile while sheathing my sword.
---
'...He created it on his own yet we are on a similar level...What would have happened if he practiced in already created and perfected movesets with the help of a good teacher? Anyway, I am still not sure if I would be able to defeat him with everything I have got. His fighting experience is also much vaster than mine...' Najasho thought with narrowed eyes while looking at the ground.
---
"You didn't mind those girls watching?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not really, I didn't want to interrupt our match." Najasho finally composed himself and said with a calm tone while adjusting his clothes, especially his blue tie.
...
When we returned to the camp, girls kept secretly glancing at both of us, completely confusing Green which made me guess that he wasn't with them at that time.
.
.
.
When we finally arrived at the Putolu, the first sight we saw was completely arid land. Only roads and hills with almost non-existent green on it. Only a few dry trees could be seen from time to time.
The town that was situated some distance away from the tombs looked similar to some kind of ancient Egyptian town.
We quickly joined the Empire's camp located in the mountains not too far away from the town, one could still see it just by looking from the camp.
----Commander's tent----
"You have finally arrived. I have already lost a lot of my units and also lost contact with some of them, they are most likely dead too or captured for extraction of information about us. This is the first time I am experiencing such heavy casualties." A bald man wearing a monocle over his left eye said with a difficult expression while sitting at the table with his hands folded together in front of his face. His eyes were extremely cold but it wasn't due to the casualties but due to this big humiliating failure.
"I couldn't arrive any faster...Still, I am surprised that you were able to convince that kid to help us." Gozuki who was together with him in that tent replied while shrugging his shoulders.
"I was actually surprised myself when he replied to my message. I even sent for someone else just in case but it looks like it will be overkill. I am slowly starting to pity those Gravekeepers." The man said with a sarcastic tone.
"?! Did you call for 'her'?" Gozuki asked with a surprised expression.
"Yes, those Gravekeepers are good as dead with her and that kid here. Unfortunately, it will take some time for her to arrive, that kid replied to me much faster than the Empire did. I still want to rescue those good for nothings that are possibly still alive inside the tomb. I spent too many resources on them to just let them die there plus they are also one of the strongest after your group." The man explained with an irritated expression.
"I will see what I can do but we can't just run inside without any plan." Gozuki said and turned around, ready to leave.
"Please do, I can't send any more units and even if I would have sent them, they would just die since I even lost contact with one of my strongest units." The man said before Gozuki left the tent and Gozuki just nodded his head in understanding.
---Akashi's POV---
"Alright, our first goal is to rescue all our units that are still alive and then recover the treasures. We only have a map of the first floor that was provided by inhabitants of the town near the tombs. Un fortunately, Gai isn't here with us so we can't send anyone to scout ahead since he would be the most suitable for this kind of job." Gozuki informed all of us, we are currently gathered in one smaller room inside the town
"Ugh, there will definitely be a lot of traps" Poney grumbled aloud with a tired expression and her shoulders down.
"Since we don't have our scout, how are we going to scout the area?" Cornelia asked with a thoughtful and slightly sad expression.
...This feels really weird, I wonder how would they react if I just suddenly said that I am Katsura.
I thought with closed eyes and a small smile across my face.
"Akashi? Do you have an idea?" Akame asked me when she saw my expression, thinking that I already had a plan in my head.
Over the entire trip, we talked very rarely which slightly saddened Kurome but I didn't want to force any conversation with her...At least it was visible that she didn't hate me.
I could feel everyone's gaze land on me.
"Death comes to those who strays near the tomb." I muttered with closed eyes and my voice getting gradually colder. Almost everyone tensed up when they heard my words together with my voice.
"Then let's take a walk around and see how so-called death comes for us." I slowly opened my eyes that were devoid of any emotions and said with a cold smile making a few girls and Green in the room shiver a bit.