"Why haven't Black Wolf and the others come back since yesterday?"
"Who knows? They probably caught some fat sheep and ran off to Rigate to have some fun by themselves."
The torchlight licked at the speaker's face. He had a deep scar at the corner of his eye, adding a touch of ruthlessness to his disdainful expression.
Beside him, a tall, round-faced man with a comical look widened his eyes and quickly pushed away the torch that was being shoved in his face. He said seriously.
"No way. Boss Leopard has repeatedly forbidden anyone from using highway robbery as an excuse to sneak back to Rigate. They're not that stupid, are they? Maybe something unexpected happened?"
The scar-faced man scoffed and switched the torch to his other hand.
"Black Wolf and Gray Mouse are both Intermediate-rank in the North God Style. Although Earth Scorpion is a bit weak, how could they all disappear while robbing someone on the road? Use your brain, will you? Just because you're tall doesn't mean your brain is all in your lower half."
His voice dropped, and he pointed a thumb into the darkness behind him.
"Otherwise, why would Boss Leopard's face be so foul? It's been months, and everyone's tired of this robbery gig. We've caught a few fat sheep, but we haven't seen a single feather of the main target."
"Who doesn't know that the kid with the thousand-coin bounty is long gone from the Asura Kingdom? It's just that Boss Leopard can't lose face after bragging to the other bandit leaders that our base's intelligence network, spanning north and south, is impenetrable. What a joke!"
The round-faced man quickly covered the other's mouth.
"Keep your voice down, you want to die?? Can you just say things like that??"
"…Let go of me! Why not? I've been fed up with that Leopard kid for a long time. If he weren't Advanced-rank in both Sword God and Water God styles, who would obey him? He got his position by selling his ass to Boss Night Lion, ptooey!"
"…Tell me more about the ass-selling."
Hearing this, the scar-faced man's eyes lit up.
"It's not like he just started selling his ass. Every time he goes back to the capital, he has to spend a night at Boss Night Lion's place. When he comes back, he walks with a sway, and that waist of his… Huh???"
He looked at the dumbfounded expression on the round-faced man's face and suddenly realized that the voice that had just spoken was unfamiliar. He turned his head in shock.
At some point, a scrawny-looking kid with glasses had appeared beside him and was leaning in, looking at him furtively.
The three of them stared at each other in silence.
The kid, seeing that the scar-faced man had stopped at the crucial part, became anxious.
"Hey? Why did you stop? Continue?? What about Boss Leopard's waist?"
The scar-faced and round-faced men snapped back to reality. With a shing, they drew their blades and cursed.
"Who the hell are you, kid? New here? Don't you know the rules? Eavesdropping on your big brothers??"
"Is Boss Leopard's waist something you can covet??"
The kid with glasses was taken aback by their words. He blinked and said cautiously.
"I'm new here, I don't really know the rules… Someone told me to come and call you back, said that guy named Leopard is angry."
The two men were stunned and exchanged a look.
"Kid, if you dare tell anyone what we just said, you're dead, you hear me? I'm an Intermediate-rank swordsman. It wouldn't take more than a few cuts to deal with a small fry like you. If I find out…"
The small, bespectacled man bowed respectfully.
"Got it, got it, big brothers~ It's getting late, let's hurry back!"
With that, he turned and started walking in the direction the scar-faced man had pointed earlier.
Seeing him turn his back, the scar-faced man's angry expression vanished. He silently met the gaze of the round-faced man beside him, who was watching him quietly. They exchanged a look, and then he walked up and threw an arm around the kid's neck.
The round-faced man, following behind, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and silently drew it.
The scar-faced man, watching his partner draw his sword from the corner of his eye, tightened his grip on the kid's neck, as if being very friendly with this new 'little brother.'
"Little brother, you look a bit unfamiliar… What's your name?"
"My name is Alan. Let's go, we still have an hour's walk ahead of us."
The scar-faced man's expression darkened.
"…An hour? It's only a half-hour walk… You said your name is Alan? I've never heard of…"
The scar-faced man's voice trailed off, his pupils suddenly widening.
"A?! A…"
The scar-faced man tried desperately to say Alan's name again, but the strength left his throat. He couldn't even force out the air needed to vibrate his vocal cords, something he usually did with ease.
The dark forest swayed before his eyes. The small kid named Alan didn't even need to break free from his grip; just by continuing to walk forward, he was thrown behind him.
The scar-faced man struggled to reach for him but grasped at empty air. He subconsciously reached for the sword at his waist but found that he couldn't execute the draw-and-slash technique he was so proud of. He couldn't even command his arm to move.
Just then, his vision began to move on its own:
The back of the bespectacled kid spun towards the ground, the shadows of the tree trunks danced and jumped in the moonlight, the flying leaves in the air 'jumped' to the top of his vision along with the tree trunks, the ground shifted erratically, the moonlight that should have been in the sky shot into his vision, the moon outside the gaps in the trees streaked across the night sky, and the terrified expression on his round-faced companion's face flashed by.
The blades of grass on the ground rustled against his face, and warm liquid splattered in front of him, carrying a salty, metallic smell.
The scar-faced man's head rolled to the ground. In a rain of blood, he stared blankly at his own headless torso falling forward, his pupils dimming.
He was dead.
In the rain of blood, Alan turned, holding his sword. Thick blood dripped from his swordsman's uniform onto the ground.
The round-faced man held his sword, completely dumbstruck by the scene, his entire body trembling like a leaf.
"Alan! You're Alan! The Water God Style…"
As he spoke, Alan took a step forward as if strolling through a garden.
The next moment, his figure vanished from the round-faced man's sight. The man's mouth hung open in shock, the word "Advanced-rank" still forming in his throat. He heard a faint footstep behind him, and at the same time, Alan's voice in his ear:
"The corpse is speaking."
His heart leaped in shock, and he instinctively tried to turn around.
Then, he experienced the feeling of 'vision moving on its own.'
His sense of direction and balance was lost. The moonlight and the forest spun rapidly, creating streaks of white light, beautiful in a strange way.
Alan's figure flashed by in the corner of his eye, a smile still on his face.
'…The Soundless Tachi… he's… isn't he Advanced-rank in the Water God Style? How could he…'
Before he could figure it out, his thoughts plunged into chaos, never to stir again.
With a thud, the head fell to the ground. Alan's footsteps faded into the distance, his low murmur carried on the wind.
"The fifth one."
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