Chapter 92

After killing the wandering samurai, Uesugi Toru did not check the prompts on the spot, but instead rewrapped his hooded coat and quickly left the place with rapid footsteps.

This samurai was cut in two by his single slash; even though the blade of Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation had charred the flesh at the contact surface black, it still could not prevent the bloody smell from leaking out.

Although there was rain to conceal it, no one could say for sure how far this bloody smell might drift and what abnormal existences it might attract.

Better to leave first.

Less than two minutes after Uesugi Toru left.

Beneath the muddy water, a writhing mass of darkness slowly stealthed to the vicinity of the samurai's corpse, and after confirming there was no second active yokai in the surroundings, the darkness swiftly wrapped around the corpse.

Then, a spine-chilling chewing sound rang out.

……

Standing under the commonly seen eaves of a gassho-style house, Uesugi Toru took the opportunity to check the previous prompts——

【You killed a One-Star Half Demon "Wandering Samurai", gained 142 Soul Ash!】

【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation to kill the "Wandering Samurai", Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation's quality slightly improved.】

【Your skill, Corona Breathing Technique proficiency +31!】

【Your skill, Tennen Rishin-ryu Proficiency +13!】

【You obtained, Wandering Samurai's Corrupt Great Sleeve!】

The amount of Soul Ash dropped was not bad, but the rest of the harvest was rather lackluster.

But this is normal; the Wandering Samurai is just the most common type of wandering small monster in Edo Castle, and killing him only took two slashes.

If even roadside small monsters could repeatedly drop Excellent or even Rare grade props, then Uesugi Toru would have to suspect how many days of his yang lifespan were actually left.

"Corrupt Great Sleeve, huh……"

Uesugi Toru vaguely remembered that the "Great Sleeve" in Japanese armor seemed to be the shoulder guard part, one of the most important parts of this type of armor.

Although the weight was truly not light, samurai would often use it to block sword slashes and thrusts, to make up for the defensive gap of not carrying a shield.

Taking out the Great Sleeve dropped by the Wandering Samurai, Uesugi Toru let out a somewhat indescribable "eh".

【Wandering Samurai's Corrupt Great Sleeve】

【Quality: Common】

【Effect: Can prevent ordinary sharp weapon slashes, but has a chance to shatter directly upon being struck.】

【——Heavy and rotten.】

The Great Sleeve piled with solid dust in his hand weighed no less than several catties; held in hand it was like a medium shield. The Great Sleeve was straight and flat overall, but most places were lacking substance, the most important armor scales already gone without a trace.

Judging by the style, it was roughly a product from the Heian to Kamakura period.

But the construction era of Edo Castle is around the early Edo period——meaning there are other era cities or battlefields around Edo Castle's periphery.

This Wandering Samurai might not be a person of the Edo period to begin with, or might have picked up this armor not belonging to his era by chance.

"But would wearing this thing really not get you killed……"

Uesugi Toru even suspected that in the Sengoku Graveyard he passed earlier, a random scoop would yield a handful of Great Sleeves of this quality.

Even dead people wear better than this!

For pure trash, Uesugi Toru had no desire to experience it.

He put the Great Sleeve into the Storage Backpack, and took out the Broken Token again to hurry on his way.

And seemingly because the combined one-and-a-half Walking Tokens took effect, Uesugi Toru hadn't walked half a minute before he felt a surging heat wave coming from ahead.

He immediately held his breath, shrank into a gassho-style house, and then looked outside through the gaps between the wooden boards.

——In one of Edo Castle's main thoroughfares, a crossroads, over a dozen Homeless Ones holding wooden sticks, short swords, or sharpened farm tools gathered together, surrounding their opponent in a tight encirclement.

And their opponent was three clusters of fire floating in mid-air, scorching hot.

If one looked closely, one could even glimpse human heads inside those red flames burning in agony, constantly making miserable expressions.

Uesugi Toru stared for a while, and saw familiar names atop the three fire clusters——

【Sōgen Fire (Two-Star Half)】.

"All three are Two-Star Half, is this Edo Castle even a place for people to stay, I ask you."

Uesugi Toru clicked his tongue, but upon seeing the number of Homeless Ones still continuously increasing, he revealed a subtle expression.

——Could I secretly observe the battle situation, see if I can reap the fisherman's benefit?

"Let's do it like this."

Uesugi Toru tensed his body, preparing to rush out at any moment and take the remaining-blood heads with one slash.

But soon, something unexpected happened.

The twenty-odd Homeless Ones said something in their mouths, then all charged together at the Sōgen Fire in the center of the crossroads which ignored them completely.

And in mere seconds, the majority of Homeless Ones turned into flying ash in the terrifying heat, the remaining few were roasted beyond human shape, rolling in pain in the mud.

Uesugi Toru silently withdrew his gaze, dispelling the thought.

——These Sōgen Fire's strength seems to increase geometrically when gathered together, because logically ordinary Two-Star Half yokai shouldn't have this strength.

For example, he himself, barely counting as bottom-tier Two-Star Half, but Uesugi Toru prided himself that to kill this group of Homeless Ones he would at least suffer heavy injuries, and might not even win.

Yet with such an obvious strength gap, twenty-odd Homeless Ones actually didn't perceive a single one?

"Simply like mad dogs that lost their minds, biting whoever they see." Uesugi Toru slashed open the wooden board behind the gassho-style house and walked out, choosing to take a detour.

Although those three clusters of Sōgen Fire didn't look like they would actively attack people, Uesugi Toru felt he had no need to probe a strange yokai's bottom line.

Following the faint light on the Token and adjusting several more times, a full half hour later Uesugi Toru finally confirmed he had reached the vicinity of the task destination.

Because no matter how he turned, the faint light on the Token would no longer disappear.

"Hm?"

It was also now that Uesugi Toru suddenly remembered he seemed not to have encountered any wandering small monsters for a long time.

He released the Hundred-Eyed Demon Eyeball, observed the surrounding several streets, but surprisingly didn't see even a single swaying shadow.

Could it be that this task's destination also has a passive effect capable of driving away yokai?

After looking around with the Hundred-Eyed Demon Eyeball, Uesugi Toru had roughly confirmed exactly which place he was supposed to go to.

—Because, among hundreds of Gassho-style Houses that looked like copies of each other, only one courtyard occupied a huge area.

"A nameless Swordsman?"

Generally speaking, targets of such tasks were reclusive figures like Sword Saints or Sword Masters, and with not a single yokai in sight nearby, the probability of this guess being correct could be increased.

Arriving at the doorway of this large courtyard, Uesugi Toru glanced at the small cat stone statues standing on both sides, finding it strange.

Serious people don't place Komainu, Kitsune statues... at the very least monkeys or snakes or such in this position, right?

What does placing two cats mean?

The confused Uesugi Toru walked past the two stone statues and saw the wooden plaque hanging at the doorway again.

He could vaguely see three lines of text on the plaque, which originally seemed to have written verses, but now the characters were blurred beyond recognition.

Uesugi Toru took a deep breath, straightened his body, and then gently shook the door knocker on the gate with his hand,

"Hello, I am Hannya here to deliver the Token."

End of Chapter