"If you all want it, I can..."
"Offered?"
Kanbe Hikaru interrupted him.
"A Demon Slayer, dragging a severed arm and carrying heavy injuries, was stopped by your soldiers while passing through your territory."
"He entrusted his life's work to that weapon, and you say it was 'offered'?"
Kanbe Hikaru's voice wasn't loud, but it caused Suda Shigenobu's face to freeze completely.
"You... how do you know all this?"
Kanbe Hikaru stopped answering and simply stood up.
He knew, of course, because he had just 'asked' about these things at the castle gate.
His blade was not yet drawn.
But that killing intent had already begun to spread.
"Before he died, he asked me to give the Shikon Jewel to someone who could protect it."
"He also asked me to tell his juniors that he was very sorry."
"Do you know why he was sorry?"
Kanbe Hikaru walked step by step toward the high platform: "Because he failed to bring back the ancestral demon-slaying weapon, Hiraikotsu."
"Because his family heirloom was snatched away by a piece of trash like you."
"Because when he died, he couldn't even leave his belongings to his descendants."
Suda Shigenobu's face turned deathly pale.
He finally realized this young man before him hadn't come for a reward.
He had come for his life.
"Men!"
He screamed while retreating: "Seize this madman!"
Attendants on both sides drew their swords and rushed forward.
Those mages also began to cast spells, spiritual power converging in the air.
But—
Kanbe Hikaru's hand pressed onto his sword hilt.
[demon blade muramasa (Max Favorability) expresses excitement; it says the grease on this Castle Lord must be very thick.]
"You're right."
Kanbe Hikaru responded in a low voice.
He drew his blade.
The blade flashed.
Before the two attendants in the lead could see what had happened, they had already fallen in a pool of blood.
"Kill him! Kill him quickly!"
Suda Shigenobu's voice had completely changed pitch.
The mages' incantations finally took shape, and spiritual light of various colors flooded toward Kanbe Hikaru.
Sealing Techniques, Binding Techniques, and several Spiritual Bullets that looked offensive in nature.
Kanbe Hikaru did not dodge, nor did he need to.
Because someone was faster than those mages.
*Twang.*
The bowstring vibrated.
A streak of white light shot out from behind him, exploding in mid-air and turning into countless tiny threads of light.
Those light threads were like a spiderweb, instantly enveloping the entire great hall.
The moment the mages' spells touched those light threads—they all collapsed.
Spiritual power was suppressed.
Crushed.
Completely annihilated.
Kanbe Hikaru glanced back.
Kikyo stood in place, her bow still held in the posture after firing.
Her white robes fluttered in the radiance of spiritual power, and her black hair was blown upward by an invisible current of air.
A dazzling white light bloomed around her.
That light was so bright that even Kanbe Hikaru had to squint his eyes.
Is this the full power of the Sengoku Period's strongest Priestess?
The corners of Kanbe Hikaru's mouth curled up.
As expected.
With her here, he had nothing to fear.
He turned around to face Suda Shigenobu.
The short, fat Castle Lord was now slumped on the high platform, his face as white as paper.
"No... don't..."
His voice was trembling.
"I can give Hiraikotsu back to you... and money... lots of money..."
Kanbe Hikaru did not stop his pace.
"Do you know?"
He said.
"I originally just wanted to take back Hiraikotsu and scare you a bit while I was at it."
That was a lie.
Kanbe Hikaru came here specifically to kill.
But that didn't stop him from making such a declaration here.
"But when I entered the castle just now, I saw some things."
"Mountains of rice piled by the roadside, exquisite wine and food displayed in shops, while in those villages outside the castle, children are gnawing on tree roots."
"So, I've changed my mind."
Kanbe Hikaru raised his sword.
The tip of the blade pointed at Suda Shigenobu's throat.
"Today."
"I come to kill you."
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