Kenshin no Keishousha:Volume 1 Chapter3

Chapter 3 - The Hunter and the Hunted

It was currently the morning of the next day.

Kurou and Lars returned to the scene of yesterday’s incident.

“Hmm, there are actually burn marks left on the surface.”

Lars squatted down over the pathway, feeling the ground as he spoke.

He called Lars out during the early hours of the day in order to inspect the situation from yesterday. Regarding this matter, they had already reported this to both the Sabers and the academy and received permission to investigate.

“Speaking of mystic arts, I get the feeling there might be yet another blast from the past.”

“It was totally out of the blue. I couldn’t believe that someone who could use that sort of thing would actually appear.”

“I’ve never heard of any Swordies who could use mystic arts either. Actually, it would seem there still remains many mind-boggling things about this world.”

“You two don’t seem to be surprised......”

Hinako quietly muttered as always.

Although a new incident had occurred, his mission as Hinako’s bodyguard was still in effect. Because of this, Kurou was forced to travel with her frequently.

Consequently, Hinako had to tag along even during an investigation at the scene of the incident.

“No, I am shocked. After all, these are forgotten techniques from ages ago. Nowadays, these mystic arts or whatever————”

After speaking till that point, Lars suddenly placed his thumb over his lips and began pondering over something.

“Forgotten......? Hmm......”

“What is it Lars?”

“It’s nothing. Something just randomly came to mind all of a sudden.”

Lars smiled and shrugged.

“Actually, perhaps the mystic arts aren’t even relevant. The only thing I’m focused on is how someone as strong as Kurou got into an arduous battle.”

“Kurou getting into a grueling battle, is this really that unimaginable? Although I don’t quite understand, is Kurou truly that formidable? Olden Style or something of the sort, before he had mentioned some nonsense like that......”

“Did you really just call it nonsense, jeez......”

Even though Kurou felt frustrated, he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

From Hinako’s perspective, someone who didn’t know anything about swords was most likely unable to comprehend Kurou’s swordsmanship.

“Ah, so you even mentioned the Olden Style? Well, there’s no doubt Kurou is powerful, however it’d be hard to answer exactly to what extent. Furthermore, strength is all relative, sometimes there’s even luck involved. With that said, the chance of defeating an opponent who outclasses you at some point is very possible.”

“In other words, there’s no such thing as absolute power?”

“No, there is.”

“......Eh?”

For a moment, Hinako was dumbfounded towards Lars’s rambling and then questioned him in reply.

Hinako was astonished. However, based on Lars’s expression it didn’t seem like he noticed as he continued to survey the area.

“That’s not exactly the case for the person who Kurou had difficulty dealing with......that said, relying solely on this it would seem that apprehending the criminal will be very problematic. That’s because in this world there are many powerful people who we know nothing about.”

“Even if we know she can use mystic arts, the criminal didn’t leave any traces. Also, there is no chance she would just use mystic arts in public under normal circumstances. I felt her battle style was a bit archaic but there’s no way that could be used as a clue.”

“A familiar style of swordsmanship......did you get that sort of feeling?”

“That I don’t know. There’s practically no distinctions among Swordies.”

Basically, each Swordie honed their own style of swordsmanship.

Even though its foundation came from their parents and master, after that they would create their own exclusive sword techniques by themselves. It could be said that their own class of swordsmanship comes from combining their own physique along with whatever suited their fancy. Essentially, becoming someone’s disciple was pretty much just seeking out individuals who were considerably tough to practice against.

If it was between siblings, there are cases where similarities will arise. However, if you were to make a who resembles who comparison, it would be very hard to gauge for any semblances.

Lars switched hands and quietly continued on.

“As for clues the criminal may have left......ah Kurou, you did mention wounding her right?”

“It was just a graze. With the recovery abilities of a Swordie, the wound probably healed a long time ago.”

The flesh of a Swordie wasn’t just robust, even their recovery rate was phenomenal. That kind of body appears to be made for combat. If it was a small wound, it would be most likely instantly healed.

“Then with that, there’s no point staying here looking for clues. For now, let’s just head back to school first.”

Kurou nodded in agreement and walked off with Lars. Hinako’s pitter-patter footsteps clicked from behind as she followed.

“So you mean to say that incomprehensible blondie who carries that bizarre, massive sword......is Sefi-san? What’s up with that person?”

Ever since Hinako encountered Sefi within school, she would unwittingly mix in some hurtful words when speaking about her.

“Actually she hasn’t done anything yet. Didn’t she come to school like she normally does?”

After Lars responded to her, he looked towards the other students walking on the path to school. Although he didn’t see Sefi, Kurou figured it was just as Lars said. She wasn’t a feeble girl who would skip out just because she was attacked.

“I wonder what that was about? What’s the reason behind Sefi being attacked?”

“You sure have a lot of questions. As for the reason, even I don’t know.”

Clearly agitated, Lars shrugged his shoulders.

Besides the Sabers, he had many other intelligence sources. Speaking of information networks, his was much more vast than Kurou’s. If he didn’t know, then there must have been little progress from the investigation done by the police and Sabers as well. Only a couple hours had passed since the incident and with there being no evidence either, this was an expected result perhaps.

“Sefi is the princess of the four generals, so being targeted isn’t really that unthinkable. Whether it’s a tsujigiri incident or an assassination attempt, these are all possibilities.”

Kurou tightly gripped the hilt of the katana that was strapped to his waist.

“Let me be the one who kills this criminal.”

“Kurou must really like Sefi. Although I guess I can understand why.”

“Lars, are you interested in Sefi? No can do, I won’t let that happen.”

“Sefi doesn’t belong to you. Well, I’m not interested in her either way.”

Lars stated with an implicative smile.

“That’s because I have my sights set on others.”

“......Looks like you two both have rough lives.”

“You shouldn’t be impressed with something as weird as that.”

Kurou wryly smiled as he eyed Hinako, who was in a daze. Whenever he gets into a conversation with her, for some reason he gets thrown off his rhythm.

“Hmm?”

Kurou suddenly detected something strange.

On his way to school, some of the students appeared to be behaving differently from yesterday.

“Why is everyone carrying their swords?”

Indeed, the entire student body along with Kurou and Lars were alike, they all had their swords strapped to their waists. There were also some students who toted massive swords. They were probably swordsmen with personalized swords.

“It appears the academy notified the students this morning. The entire student body was told to carry their swords on them. Furthermore, everyone is supposed to travel in groups of at least two and are restricted from stepping outside during the night. Actually, this really isn’t anything shocking right? After all, there was an attack on school grounds and as a result these protective measures can’t be implemented too carelessly.”

“I suppose so......”

If it was a normal school, having a lockout wouldn’t be out of the ordinary either. The idea of having students engage in this sort of self-protection was also not too uncommon. If it was a human school, this would never happen for sure.

“This thorough preparation is really quite something. Speaking of which, I can’t go protecting every unbefriended student.”

“Except, something feels strange. Setting aside the fact that the school made an extremely quick decision on this, don’t the students seem a tad overly anxious to you? Clearly these students are Swordies who are practically born without fear.”

“......Really?”

Kurou tilted his head. That said, the students they encountered on the way to school all seemed restless. Those with wavering eyes and hands on the hilt of their swords numbered quite a few.

“Regarding this matter, let me explain.”

“What!”

“Eh?”

Kurou tilted back in shock as he heard a sudden voice from behind him, Lars on the other hand opened his eyes wide in surprise, and then there was Hinako who didn’t really react in any particular way.

“W-What? Why are you here Manaka?”

The person standing behind Kurou and the others was one of the Seven Swords and the director of the Sabers, Manaka. She was wearing her scarlet Sabers long coat and revealed a miffed expression.

“There are some matters I have to attend to so I just snuck in ahead of time. Haha, it’s such a pain to have to suppress my light energy. I don’t want to scare these adorable students, but the principal sure gets on my nerves.”

“Suddenly erupting into complaints......setting those aside......what in the world are you planning to do here?”

“I’m under a lot of pressure. Well, forget about it. Before the other students notice who I am, it’s better that we leave here first. Lars, switch with Kurou for a bit.”

Manaka stated as she pointed to Hinako. She appears to be saying Lars will be temporarily assigned to guarding her.

“Let’s go Kurou-kun.”

“Where to?”

“Some·place·nice♪”

Which probably means there will be bad news awaiting him————Kurou had this twisted explanation in his mind as he followed behind Manaka who had set off without delay.

Regardless of her temperament, she was Kurou’s boss and guardian. Although she was always like this, Kurou had no authority to deny her.