Samurai NOT

Chapter 32

"Well, well, well. Look what we got here. Rats in our field," a loud and mocking voice echoed through the battlefield. "I didn't think ya'd have the courage to steal from us like this."

At once everyone stopped looking through the corpses and turned to the newcomers. That voice belonged to the leader of the violent scavenger group.

The boy clutched his sword. There's more of them, he realized.

The group was big, but now it had over three times their numbers. And what was worse, they were all armed.

The boss pushed his way through everyone until he was at the front, standing like a shield.

"Hey, rat boss. How many times I have to say ya can't come and steal from me? Ya think I'm joking?"

The boss bit his lips and looked back at his group. At once the boy knew he too had noticed the weapons.

"We'll go... You can keep what we got," he said, taking a step back with his arms open.

"No. There's no way I'm letting ya go this time. I can't stand ya stealing from us again and again!" He drew his sword, and his companions followed, branding their mismatched weapons with terrifying smiles.

The boy drew his sword, ready to fight. But he was one of the few. Even he knew if it turned into battle, it was a losing one. From their side, few carried something that could be used as a weapon, and those few were in bad conditions.

"Wait! We'll go! Don't kill us!" the boss begged, getting on his knees.

"Why would I spare a thief rat?" the other man said in a calm, almost surprised voice.

At the same time, his companions closed in on them.

From the beginning, it was clear; they only wanted to crush a competitor.

Despite the constant skirmishes and battles in the area, with the raining season approaching, there were less and less fights. Sometimes they had to wait for weeks for a battle. And not only they had to hurry to get there first, they were getting less metal and leather each time. The crops didn't look so good, according to the rumors the boss got in the villages, and the lords were salvaging what they could to save money.

The moment the leader said those words, many tried to flee to the forest. But they found their path blocked. More scavengers from the other group were already waiting for them. They were surrounded from the beginning.

Tō pointed his sword to the man before him.

"This' gonna be too fun," he said, laughing as he got closer. Unlike Tokage, he was an adult. He could overpower the boy with ease.

I need to be careful...

The boy raised the sword and brought it down with all his strength.

The man blocked with ease.

The recoil was so strong Tō almost dropped his sword. He managed to keep holding on to it, but his arms were throbbing.

The man tried to take advantage and kicked the boy's leg to make him fall,

Tō jumped backwards to avoid, but he bumped into someone's back. Without looking to see who it was, he charged again.

Laughing, the man blocked each of the boy's attack.

"C'mon, kid. Why you try so hard? What's so good about ya life you fight so desperately? Ya know that life's not worth. Just die already."

Tō barely heard. There was no way he couldn't. Not with all the screams from the people he knew around him.

Clutching his sword harder, he charged once again.