Not the Nose Bridge, But the Crossguard (5)
The pay for this job should be quite substantial.
“Hehe, if we just get the payment, does that mean we can finally return home in glory?”
“Only if you make it back alive. And it’s ‘return home in glory,’ not whatever you just said.”
“Ah, right! Of course!”
These guys are hopeless.
From the deck, he looked down at his subordinates as they hurried to prepare for departure.
They inflicted quite a bit of damage on the Hainan Sword Gate just as requested, so we should be able to squeeze out some extra compensation.
He slowly turned his gaze toward the Wako pirates loading the plundered goods. Their faces were bright and cheerful, like people looking forward to a festival. It was hard to believe these were the same butchers who had been slaughtering civilians just hours earlier.
“...”
He watched the pirates in silence, then rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.
These fools have just about outlived their usefulness.
Not long ago, he had cut down their previous leader in a single stroke and taken command of the Wako. He had no intention of sharing the reward. Why would he? It was only natural.
If he kept it all for himself, he could claim every last coin. There was no reason to split it. Even a skilled swordsman was still a looter at heart. And looters did not share their spoils.
Once I collect the payment, I’ll kill them all, disguise myself as a Central Plains native, and settle down somewhere quiet.
Ideally, he would return to his homeland in the East, but that was no longer an option. He was a fugitive, after all.
A murderer who took pleasure in killing was shunned even in his war-torn homeland.
Or… heading to the Western Regions wouldn’t be bad either. As long as I can cut people down, any place will do.
He wondered what it would feel like to slice into the flesh of a Westerner. A cruel smile crept across the murderer’s lips.
He was carefully laying out his future plans when his body suddenly tilted.
No — to be precise, the ship beneath his feet was tilting.
Caught off guard by the sudden change, he barely regained his balance and whipped his head around.
“What the hell is—”
“Boss!”
“The ship is sinking!”
“What?”
“The loot is still in the lower hold! What should we do?!”
The Wako pirates looked at their leader with desperate faces. Irritated, he snapped back as if the question itself was stupid.
“Do I really have to spell it out?! Get it out as fast as you can! Salvage as much as possible before it goes under!”
“Yes, sir! Boys! Move it! Get the goods out!”
We can always switch ships!
There were several vessels anchored at the harbor. They could simply pick a few and sail away.
A ship that survived rough seas developing a hole? How is this possible?
It made no sense. They had thoroughly inspected and repaired the vessel right before this operation. How could it be sinking so badly? Unable to accept it, he leaped from the deck and examined the ship, which was already listing at a hopeless angle.
With a third of the hull already submerged, there wasn’t much to observe, but he still searched for clues.
After a moment, he reached a conclusion.
“This is unnatural.”
“Huh?”
“It’s sinking too unnaturally. This isn’t the result of minor damage. For it to go down this quickly, there must be a massive hole in the bottom.”
“Then…”
“Stay alert! The Hainan Sword Gate is known for their water techniques. They must have sabotaged the ship!”
“B-but the loot…”
“Do you want to become fish food?”
The plan had completely fallen apart.
By now, they should have been sailing away from Hainan Island with the plunder. But with their ship sinking, everything was ruined. With their current numbers, they would have to split up across multiple vessels, which meant dividing the loot as well. And once the men saw the split treasure… would they still think about regrouping?
Nakamura Yasuo, clad in his armor, ground his teeth and scanned the surroundings with burning eyes.
If they used water techniques, some of them must still be underwater…
He swept his gaze over his subordinates, who were gradually arming themselves and watching their surroundings, then drew his sword.
The sharp ring of steel echoed across the chaotic harbor.
“Playing pathetic little tricks…”
Even if we try to flee by ship right now, they’ll interfere with their water arts. I need to deal with them as quickly as possible and get out of here.
Having finished his calculations, he raised his sword and shouted.
“The Hainan Sword Gate rats are hiding nearby! Stay on full alert!”
At his cry, tension gripped the faces of the Wako pirates. No matter how skilled their leader was, most of them were merely third-class warriors. Facing the martial artists of the Hainan Sword Gate meant certain death. Their recent victory had only been possible because they had disguised themselves as merchants, used spies from the Demonic Cult to secure favorable terrain, and launched a long-range arrow ambush. Without such a surprise attack, their chances of winning were…
“Aaaargh!”
A terrible death cry rang out across the harbor. The Wako pirates’ nerves instantly stretched taut.
Where?
Where the hell is he?
“M-Minoru is dead!”
One of the pirates near the slain man shouted, trembling violently. His face was completely drained of color, as if he were about to throw down his weapon and dive into the sea at any moment.
“The enemy! Did you spot the enemy?!”
“N-no! I didn’t see—”
“Aaaagh!”
The second victim appeared on the opposite side. A pirate with his throat pierced collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from the wound. The dirt floor greedily drank up the corpse’s blood. Fear began spreading among the Wako like a plague.
“Graaagh!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The terrified screams multiplied like rabbits breeding.
Strangely, instead of decreasing, the number of screams only grew louder.
It was only natural.
What remained in their bodies was not clean sword wounds, but the excruciating sensation of their entire bodies slowly twisting and breaking.
The painful martial technique used to dislocate joints and tear muscles.
Originally meant for torturing prisoners, it had now appeared on the battlefield.
“G-ghost! It’s a ghost!”
“Kill me! Just kill meeeeee!”
“Everyone shut up! I said shut your mouths!”
Damn it! The screams are so loud I can’t pinpoint their location!
Despite Yasuo’s roar, the agonized cries of the Wako pirates rolling on the ground under the Hainan Sword Gate’s ambush echoed throughout the harbor.
“I-I can’t take it anymore!”
“Masao!”
One terrified pirate threw down his weapon and sprinted toward the sea. It was the naive thought that he would be safe once underwater.
But Nakamura Yasuo was not about to let that happen. A flash of his blade, a scream, and Masao’s body collapsed to the ground. Hot blood dripped from Yasuo’s sword.
Yasuo glared at his men and shouted.
“If you run, you die by my hand! Fight back!”
He infused his voice with inner energy to restore order, but there was no response. The terrified subordinates could no longer hear him.
How did it come to this…
They could still escape if they took the smaller boats.
He had to run now.
With that thought, he turned his body.
And then he saw him — a man leaning on his sword like a cane. Standing with his back to the sea, his blonde hair gleaming under the moonlight.
“Well, I never thought I’d see a samurai in the Central Plains.”
“...A colored-eye?”
“I guess Westerners really stand out here after all.”
William chuckled and rolled his shoulders, loosening his muscles. Since he would be using his body soon, he wanted to warm up properly first. Yasuo raised his sword with a tense expression.
“Who are you?”
“Does it matter who I am?”
“...How do you speak the language of the East? Who the hell are you?!”
“Even if I told you, I doubt you’d understand. Would you get it if I said I’m a knight who came from the West?”
A knight?
Naturally, Yasuo had no idea what that meant. Having spent his entire life wandering between the East and the Central Plains, he couldn’t possibly know about a continent on the other side of the world.
“You bastard. What exactly did you do?”
“At this point, you should’ve figured it out already. You’re dumber than I expected. When the vanguard told me about you, I thought you’d be quite the cunning one.”
William deliberately provoked Yasuo while glancing around to assess the battlefield.
The Wako are almost finished.
The plan had been to wait until late at night, pierce holes in the ship’s bottom with sword energy, then return to shore and use the complex harbor terrain to gradually reduce the pirates’ numbers.
On top of that simple strategy, William had added one more element.
Fear.
The easiest way for the few to defeat the many.
He had ordered the Hainan Sword Gate warriors to kill the Wako as painfully as possible. Preferably using the bone-dislocating hand.
Normally they might have hesitated at such a cruel request, but the disciples, blinded by vengeance, accepted the suggestion without reservation.
The Hainan Sword Gate warriors carried out his orders faithfully. They weren’t very skilled with the technique yet, so minor mistakes happened frequently, but they simply kept trying until they succeeded.
And so the harbor had turned into a hell filled with screams.
“To ruin a perfectly cooked meal by sprinkling ashes on it…”
“If you didn’t want ashes on your meal, you shouldn’t have taken this job in the first place, you Demonic Cult dog.”
“You—how did you—”
Damn it!
The moment he realized he had fallen for such simple provocation, Yasuo’s face twisted. But it was already too late. He had admitted with his own mouth that he had been hired by the Demonic Cult.
Yasuo glared at William with a bitter expression.
William looked at that face and slowly drew his sword from its sheath.
“Alright then. If you can beat me, I’ll let you go.”
“...You’re serious?”
“Do you really think you have any other options?”
Since William had never learned lightness techniques, he wouldn’t be able to catch Yasuo if the man truly decided to flee. But Yasuo had no way of knowing that.
Yasuo did his best to ignore the eyes filled with hatred staring at him from all directions and readjusted his grip on his sword.
It was his only path to survival.
He forced his wildly beating heart to calm down and looked at his opponent with cold eyes.
“Nakamura Yasuo. I challenge you to a duel!”
The sword that had drunk the blood of countless victims was pointed at the colored-eye before him.
“William Marshall. I accept your challenge.”
William’s sword hilt rose all the way beside his head. At the same time, he stepped forward with his right foot and aimed the tip of his blade at Yasuo. It was the stance of an ox lowering its horns toward its enemy.
A classic Western longsword stance where the hilt is held near the head with the point threatening the opponent's face. The posture of unified offense and defense revealed itself beneath the moonlight.