I assembled the strongest swordsman group

"Aha……"

Suehiro, whose status and strength in the Extermination Group are second only to Kamino, was entrusted with a heavy responsibility by Kamino and was in full charge of the assassination operation against Anthony and Elodie. He stood under a large tree on the hillside that had not yet withered.

He stood with his legs apart, mouth slightly open, and exhaled a breath of stale air.

He was holding a two-barreled gun with a dark green barrel in his hands, his small eyes half-open, the tip of the gun and his gaze pointing diagonally in front of him.

"Kan" is an ancient Japanese unit of length, approximately 1.818 meters. The so-called "two-kan spear" is a spear that is two kan long, and it was a fairly common long weapon in ancient Japan.

Suehiro has a height that is very characteristic of this era—his height is exactly 1.5 meters.

Suehiro, who is only 1.5 meters tall, is carrying a spear that is nearly 3.7 meters long... It's strange and incongruous.

It's like seeing a child dressed in adult clothes.

However—Suehiro was able to hold this huge gun, which was completely disproportionate to his height, in his hand without any effort.

Suehiro gripped the spear tightly and steadily, as if he were one with it.

One man, one gun, and they remained standing motionless.

After a long while, a gentle breeze came.

The wind blows, and the leaves fall.

A gentle breeze shook a few leaves off the still-green tree above Suehiro's head.

A fallen leaf, carried by the wind, drifted and landed on the tip of the spear in Suehiro's hand...

Suehiro's eyes, which had been half-open, suddenly widened!

"drink!"

He shouted, straightened his back, and forcefully swung the two-pronged spear in his hand upwards, splitting the fallen leaf that landed on the spear tip in two by the sharp blade.

The fallen leaves, neatly divided in two, fell in two different directions.

Suehiro's offensive has not stopped.

With another loud shout, he spun the gun around, the tip tracing a beautiful arc, further slicing the already halved leaf into four pieces…

Suehiro's marksmanship perfectly exemplifies the meaning of "accuracy" and "steadiness".

The tip of the gun sliced ​​through the leaf, which was being cut into increasingly smaller pieces, again and again.

Finally—when all the fallen leaf fragments had fallen to the ground, the leaf had been cut into a total of eight pieces…

Looking at the fallen leaves and fragments on the ground, Suehiro leaned the gun in his hand against his side and let out a long sigh of regret:

"Sigh... It's really difficult to chop the leaves into more than 10 pieces before they fall to the ground..."

"Mr. Suehiro! Your Hozoin-ryu spear technique has become much more refined than before!"

"Oh... it's Yamada." Suehiro smiled at a young man who was striding towards him from behind. "Well... if we're talking about improvement, he has indeed improved a bit."

"In the past, we could only cut the leaves into 6 pieces before they fell to the ground, but now we can cut them into 8 pieces."

Yamada smiled at Suehiro: "Mr. Suehiro, you are indeed very skilled. If you continue to improve at this rate, it is not impossible for you to become a master of spearmanship in the future."

"What's the use of becoming a marksman? This is no longer the era where you can rise to prominence just by winning military merit."

Suehiro looked with a wry smile at the spear that was more than twice his height, which he was leaning against.

"Alas... I only regret that I wasn't born in the chaotic Warring States period 300 years ago."

“If it were the Warring States period 300 years ago, it wouldn’t be impossible for me and my ‘Wind Cutter’ to fight for fame and become the lord of a city or region, just like the ‘Seven Spears of Shizugatake’ under Toyotomi Hideyoshi!”

*******

*******

New book sets sail!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please recommend this book! Please add this book to your favorites!

Chapter 68 [Benevolent King]

"Hmph... Who knows, I, Suehiro Moritoyo, might even be able to contend for the throne alongside Lord Nobunaga, Lord Shingen, and Lord Hideyoshi!"

Having said that, Suehiro proudly held his wind-cutting sword across his chest, half-closed his eyes, and imagined himself clad in armor, charging into battle, and achieving great fame.

"Alas...born at the wrong time, born at the wrong time."

After letting out another heavy sigh, Suehiro glared at Yamada.

"Alright, let's stop with the small talk for now."

"You didn't come all this way just to watch me practice shooting, did you?"

Yamada's expression turned serious: "Mr. Suehiro, everyone is assembled! There are 203 people in total, not a single one is missing!"

"Are all the personnel assembled..." Suehiro grinned. "Very good..."

Suehiro put away the gun in his hand.

"Let everyone get a good rest tonight!"

"We'll set off at daybreak tomorrow!"

"Yes!" Yamada responded loudly, then sighed, "Ha... I'm a little nervous... This is finally the first time our Extermination Group has launched an attack on the barbarians since its establishment..."

"Hahahaha!" Mo Guang laughed a few times. "No need to be nervous, Yamada."

"This operation will succeed easily; failure is impossible."

"For this operation, we assembled a total of 203 volunteers and brought 12 muskets."

"And the guards protecting Anthony and Elodie, these two barbarians, numbered only 36 in total."

"The troop strength is 203 to 36, so the advantage is on our side!"

"Not to mention we were prepared to fight the unprepared!"

Having said that, Suehiro, carrying his two-bladed spear which he named "Kazegiri," swaggered down the hillside.

"Mr. Suehiro, where are you going?" Yamada asked.

"I've practiced my spear skills enough; I'm going back to worship my statue of the Benevolent King."

“Mr. Suehiro, you are truly devout to your statue of Niou.” Yamada smiled helplessly. “You pray to that statue twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, without fail.”

"My Niou statue is incredibly powerful! Ever since I started worshipping it, I've escaped danger many times under its protection! It's amazing! Yamada, would you like to come and worship with me?"

"Haha, I don't need it."

……

……

In a room at a hotel in Fujisawa-juku—

"...I think I understand the specific reasons now."

"So... Leroy, it was Elodie who begged you to take her to that Ejima Shrine, and you softened and couldn't refuse her, so you and Kinoshita Mai secretly took Elodie away from the inn. Is that right?"

"...Yes, Mr. Angoulême. I bear full responsibility for all the accidents that happened today."

"If I had been firm in my beliefs and refused to join forces with Ms. Kinoshita to sneak the young lady out for a trip, none of these unexpected events would have happened today."

"I am willing to accept any punishment..."

At this moment, Elodie and her maid, Leroy, stood one in front of an old man.

The elderly man was around 70 years old.

He had a carefully trimmed mustache above his chin and lips.

His hair, which wasn't very long, was combed diagonally backward, and both his hair and beard were so white that no other color could be seen.

He was a bit overweight, and even his extremely loose clothes couldn't hide his huge belly, which looked like it could fit two basketballs.

His features are deep-set, especially his two eye sockets, which are so deep that it seems like they could hold two eggs.

His nose was high and straight, with a slightly fleshy tip. A pair of thin-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, and behind the lenses were a pair of blue eyes that were glaring at Leroy with eyes full of anger.

Anthony de Angoulême – the name of this old man.

"Grandpa!" Elodie, who had been keeping her hands folded in front of her and her head bowed, suddenly raised her head. "Please don't punish Miss Leroy! These accidents today have nothing to do with Miss Leroy! Nor with Miss Mai!"

"It was because I was playful and wanted to visit the Eshima Shrine, which I had long admired, so I begged Miss Mai and Miss Leroy to take me there!"

"Miss Leroy was coerced by me into secretly taking me away from the inn!"

"I bear the primary responsibility for what happened today!"

"Grandpa, if you want to punish Miss Leroy, punish me first!"

“Miss…” Leroy, standing behind Elodie, raised his head and cast a look at Elodie that was a mixture of gratitude and guilt.

“Elodie…” Anthony looked at his granddaughter with a helpless expression. “Keep quiet. No matter how you defend Leroy, it is an undeniable fact that she did not fulfill the duties of a waitress.”

"Didn't I give this warning several times before leaving Osaka?"

Anthony turned his angry gaze back to Leroy.

"This country does not yet welcome foreigners like us."

"You must not leave the hotel without my permission!"

"Leroy, as Elodie's maid, no matter how much Elodie begs you, you should not take Elodie outside without permission!"

"By doing this, you're essentially putting both Elodie and yourself in danger!"

"You have committed a serious crime of dereliction of duty—I am sure I have not wronged or misunderstood you?"

“Grandpa…” Hearing Anthony’s stern rebuke, Elodie bit her lip.

Just as Elodie was about to say something more to Anthony, Leroy lowered his head again:

"...Yes. I plead guilty."

"It was my negligence that led to Miss's near-accident today."

“Miss.” Leroy looked up and gave Elodie a grateful smile. “Thank you for protecting me.”

“But Mr. Angoulême is not wrong. I do bear an inescapable responsibility for today’s series of accidents.”

"I am willing to accept any punishment."

"Hmph." Looking at Leroy, who sincerely confessed his guilt, Anthony's expression softened slightly. "It's good that you're willing to confess."

"I'll punish you slowly later."

At this point, Anthony seemed to remember something and asked Leroy:

"How is Tachibana Aoto doing now?"

“He is currently receiving treatment from Mr. Kiryu in the next room,” Leroy replied.

"Kiryu..." For some reason, Anthony's lips twitched when he heard the name "Kiryu".

After a long pause, Anthony sighed softly: "Today is a stroke of luck amidst misfortune... Fortunately, two warriors appeared in time and repelled the attackers when Elodie was attacked."

"otherwise……"

At this point, Anthony seemed reluctant to continue and shut his mouth.

“…You all come with me.” Anthony straightened his back a little. “We’re going to see the knight who has done us a great favor.”

*******

*******

New book sets sail!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please recommend this book! Please add this book to your favorites!

What is Nioh?

Many readers may be curious: What is Nioh?

Here, I'd like to elaborate on the explanation given by the Bilibili columnist 【Anatolia's Hunchback】:

The meaning of Niou in Japanese is derived from Buddhism. In Buddhist temples, two guardian deities are usually erected in front of the main gate, one with its mouth open and the other with its mouth closed.

The open mouth symbolizes "Ah," which in Buddhism is the first sound uttered when the mouth is open, and is the beginning of all sounds and words; the closed mouth symbolizes "Hum," which is the opposite of "Ah," and is the last sound uttered when the mouth is closed, and is the end of all sounds and words.