My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 388: Chapter 146: Yet Another Instant Kill! The Final Opponent: Niitsuma Kan

Niitsuma Kan immediately felt a trace of the cool night wind brushing against the exposed skin of his body.

Was the window blown open by the wind... Niitsuma Kan turned over and opened his eyes, looking toward the window beside him.

The moment his gaze swept towards the direction of the window, Niitsuma Kan’s eyes suddenly widened, and a cold sweat quickly appeared down his spine.

He saw a young man sitting brazenly on the windowsill of his bedroom window.

Tonight was a clear full moon night.

The bright moonlight shone through the window, which was open at that moment, as if it were light dust illuminating the room.

From time to time, strands of night wind blew into the room, causing the young man’s hair and the hem of his clothes to sway slightly.

At his left waist, the young man wore only a Tachi with a red hilt, without a Wakizashi.

Because he was facing away from the moonlight, Niitsuma Kan could only vaguely make out the young man’s face—he looked very young, with a faint, hardly noticeable smile on his face.

Stunned for about a second by the sudden appearance of the young man in his room, Niitsuma Kan instinctively grabbed the sword placed beside his bed and flipped up like a carp, sitting up.

”Who are you?” With eyes full of vigilance, Niitsuma Kan stared at the young man while placing his right hand on the hilt of the Tachi, drawing it an inch out.

”Oh...” The young man propped his right elbow on his right leg, supporting his face with his right palm, and, with interest, glanced at Niitsuma Kan, ”You’re much calmer than I imagined. I thought you would scream when you suddenly saw me.”

”But this is just right, I don’t like people screaming in front of me.”

Seeing the young man’s indifferent look, as if the world belonged to him, Niitsuma Kan’s expression became even darker, and he gripped the sword hilt more tightly.

”Who are you exactly? Do you know this is the Niitsuma Hatamoto Family’s residence?”

”Of course, I know this is the Niitsuma Hatamoto Family’s residence,” the young man shrugged, ”After all, I came here specifically for you.”

Before Niitsuma Kan had time to express confusion over the young man’s words ”came here for you,” the young man straightened his body and continued speaking to himself:

”Anyway, let me introduce myself first.”

”You can call me... Rakshasa. The ’Rakshasa’ from the Rakshasa Ghost that feeds on human flesh and blood.”

”It’s quite chilly sitting by the window, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

Rakshasa’s mouth slowly curved into a grin, showing a set of silver-white teeth, his barely visible smile transforming into an intriguing expression that perfectly matched the azure moonlight around him.

”Mr. Niitsuma, I have a way to give you a chance to defeat Tachibana Aoto in tomorrow’s competition. Are you interested in learning about it?”

”What?” Niitsuma Kan’s pupils slightly contracted, and his grip on the sword hilt involuntarily loosened a bit.

And at this, Rakshasa continued to speak:

”You really don’t want to lose to Tachibana Aoto in tomorrow’s competition, do you? So, I think it would be very necessary for you to listen carefully to this deal of mine.”

After a brief shock, Niitsuma Kan tightened his grip on the sword hilt again and cast an even more guarded look at Rakshasa.

”... I don’t recall ever telling anyone that I wanted to defeat Tachibana Aoto in the competition.”

Rakshasa chuckled a few times: ”Indeed, you haven’t mentioned this to anyone.”

”But my eyes have seen your desire not to lose to Tachibana Aoto.”

Rakshasa pointed at his own eyes.

”I watched the Marquis of Aizu’s Swordsmanship Competition all the way through today.”

”Just this morning, during the first round of the competition, when you defeated your opponent and exited, I noticed you cast a glance of jealousy and resentment at Tachibana Aoto in the spectator seats.”

”Although it was a subtle move, I was fortunate enough to capture it.”

”Afterward, I’ve been keeping an eye on your demeanor.”

”Throughout the whole day today, you constantly cast jealous and resentful glances at Tachibana Aoto.”

”Although I don’t know if there’s any grudge between you and Tachibana Aoto, the fact that you frequently cast such glances at him... that indicates you must detest Tachibana Aoto quite a bit, right?”

”Someone who detests Tachibana Aoto as much as you do wouldn’t want to be easily defeated by him like those few others earlier today, right?”

From earlier, the shock on Niitsuma Kan’s face had been continually growing.

”... Ha. You’re quite an interesting person.” After a moment of silence, Niitsuma Kan curled his lips into a cold smile, ”Just noticing a few of my glances to conclude that I detest Tachibana Aoto?”

Rakshasa’s smile deepened with meaningfulness.

”Mr. Niitsuma, the world is vast and full of wonders.”

”I, for one, not only have exceptionally good eyesight but also am particularly skilled at reading people and situations.”

”My childhood experiences have honed me with the skill of being extremely good at reading people and situations.”

With that, Rakshasa leaned his torso forward again, resting his right elbow on his right leg, supporting his head with his right arm, and the depth of meaning in his smile grew even more intense.

”I was born into an extremely impoverished subordinate samurai family.”

”To save on food, my parents abandoned me in the wilderness when I was five.”

”Just when I was about to starve to death, I was picked up by a dojo master who taught Iaido.”

”The reason that dojo master picked me up wasn’t that he wanted to adopt me but because he wanted a slave who didn’t cost money.”

”Every day, I was forced to do all sorts of chores, and every night, I was dragged into the dojo master’s room to serve as a tool for his release.”