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.

“......Umm, why are we in the girl’s bathing room!?”

Kurou’s voice resonated within the vast changing room.

Currently it was eight in the morning. Not one soul was in sight within the bathing room in the girl’s dormitory other than Kurou and Manaka of course.

“What’s with the umm? It’s because I’ve decided to take a bath. What are you doing Kurou-kun, take off your clothes already.”

“I have to go in as well!?”

Judging from her outer appearance, it was hard to pinpoint flaws on a beauty such as Manaka. Although she was not quite as mounded as Hinako, her figure was still very exquisite. Countless men would probably spend money just to enter the bath with her.

However, to Kurou she was just his master’s younger sister and someone he had known since his childhood. Furthermore, she was also his boss in the organization he was affiliated with. She was practically family to him in a sense. She probably wasn’t thinking about him as a man either, otherwise being naked while facing someone of the opposite gender would clearly be awkward.

Just when Kurou started to get anxious, Manaka boldly took off her long coat.

“No need to worry, I already readjusted the water temperature.”

“No, I wasn’t worried about the water temperature.”

“Alright alright, hurry up and get in. If you dare oppose me then you’ll be fired.”

“Abusing your authority like this......?”

However, if it was Manaka, it was true that she could freely fire normal members. Following that, Kurou gave up all hope and began taking off his clothes.

“Hmm? Manaka, that is......”

“Ah, for the time being, if I’m not carrying this on me when I go out, then......”

Manaka also seemed to carry her sword by her waist whenever she pleased.

Her personalized sword was a long, pitch-black sword————no, for a sword it was overly elongated. It differed from Sefi’s sword which was wide and heavy, rather it gave off the impression of being excessively long and slender.

The Dancer————indeed, this really was a suitable name. Was it because of the slender and long dimensions of the sword that led to its name? Only people along the lines of family such as Kurou knew the origin behind the name or perhaps those in another world who have been slain by her might know as well.

“Alright, come on in. Since it felt like a hassle to return home to cook, I decided to stay at headquarters instead. However, just taking a bath while feeling a bit out of sorts, it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.”

Could she have come to school just to bathe? Manaka paid no heed to Kurou’s suspicions and removed one article of clothing after another.

Kurou hurriedly averted his gaze and stripped down. However, things should be be fine with a towel wrapped around their waists.

The sound of Manaka’s footsteps echoed as she walked off.

After hearing the front doors to the bathing room open, he entered on through as well a while later.

The women’s bathing room was exceptionally capacious. Since it had to accommodate hundreds of girls alternating in and out, this was probably to be expected.

After Kurou did a quick rinse of his body, he entered the bath. The bathing pool was quite spacious and could hold a couple dozen people at once. It was vastly different compared to the tub in the small hut he was living in where he couldn’t even stretch out his body. Although he was forcefully invited in by Manaka, it wasn’t all that bad.

“Phew——......this is the life.”

Manaka, who was already bathing, heaved a heavy sigh as she spoke. Did she put in some sort of bath agent? The water retained a greenish hue. Fortunately, he felt quite relieved that this obscured her body a great deal.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to the bathing room. After Manaka sloppishly answered, the door was opened and in came a maid. Based on her attire, she did not resemble a student. She appeared to be one of the servants among the school staff.

“Ah, it’s here. Thank you for your time.”

Manaka’s face was brimming with elation as she was handed some type of wooden pail by the maid. The maid exchanged courtesies and then immediately left the bathing room.

“This is the one. If I didn’t have this then————”

Inside the wooden pail floating in the water was a wine bottle and a wine glass. There was no need to ask what was inside the wine bottle.

Manaka poured the wine into the glass and drank it all in one go.

“Ahh, that was delicious. Having Japanese wine while bathing is truly above and beyond all else. Being born in Japan is great......”

“It’s hard to imagine that this statement would come from some otherworldly being......”

“It’s been many years after the end of the Great War. Presently, practically all Swordies were born and raised here. With that, bathing while drinking Japanese wine is a common occurrence you know.”

“Bathing early in the morning while drinking? I don’t think so.”

At least, it wouldn’t be a prevalent occurrence among people within a conventional society. Of course, no matter what was said here, Manaka did uphold a serious disposition in public.

“Isn’t it great to do this every once in awhile though?”

Manaka pouted like a child.

“Day after day I would be forced to sit at my desk and sort through files during work. I can’t take it anymore. If I don’t get a bit of time to rejuvenate myself then————”

“Is it really that busy? Could it be due to the sun cult......?”

Although it had slipped his mind due to the assault incident, the cult founder’s daughter had fallen into the hands of an enemy organization. No matter what kind of aggressive behavior resulted, it wouldn’t be that surprising.

“No, the sun cult has been very quiet. It’s just they’ve been too quiet which makes it very frightening.”

“If that’s the case, then wouldn’t the opposite be very strange?”

No matter what, it was without a doubt they were secretly planning something.

“Well actually the sun cult has nothing to do with this. If they were to shamelessly charge us in an attempt to rescue the child, then as long as we carry out some suitable precautions ahead of time we should be fine.”

“Sounds simple enough......then if it doesn’t have anything to do with the sun cult, what could it be?”

“Here, it’s this.”

After Manaka lifted up a panel-shaped object, she suddenly threw it towards him.

What he picked up was a touchscreen tablet. Since it was able to be brought into the bathing room, it must have been the waterproof version.

“Take a look at the document displayed there.”

Kurou nodded and turned on the tablet, paying close attention to the document.

The document contained the facial profile of a girl who was around Kurou’s age along with a brief description of her by the side. She had black hair which was uncommon among Swordies. Overall, she was a pretty cute girl.

“Migune......female student within the Sword Academy, top student among the freshmen. She has the title of Swordsman, her mentor is the Sword Princess, Ragunoa, and her parents are senators......”

The contents contained little of interest. Looks like she was the strongest Swordie first year student above even Sefi and Freya. However, to Kurou, she was just an insignificant person.

In her overview, the majority of her record consisted of the outstanding achievements she had attained at the sword tournament. However, as he scrolled down the document......

“Hmm? Deceased......?”

“Yup, she’s dead. In fact, it was probably about ten days ago that it happened.”

Manaka drank her wine as she nonchalantly spoke.

“More accurately, she was probably killed. She was sliced diagonally from the right. This kind of death could not have been a suicide, she was most likely killed as a test for the assailant.”

“What a dangerous issue. Oh, could it have something to do with the rumored tsujigiri incidents in the Outer Human Region? Although, in those incidents the victims were all humans......”

“Is that so. However, the kid’s remains were found on the road next to the academy. The time was approximately midnight when it occurred, which was also about the time when she was presumed dead. That means after she was killed, the assailant was immediately spotted.”

“What could she be doing at that time? That said, I haven’t heard about this matter yet.”

Kurou was still a member of the public security force. However, if a Swordie girl who was also the top student of the Sword Academy was killed, it would result in a huge predicament. Kurou shouldn’t just bypass this as if it had fell on deaf ears.

“We’ve initiated an information lockdown. After all, the Sword Academy’s top student was killed at a nearby road. Originally, Swordies were known as peaceful idiots, but actually there’s practically no one that could revolt against us besides the sun cult. Thus, the number of Swordies who do have actual combat experience have greatly decreased in number. Plus, Migune’s parents would feel greatly ashamed since their daughter was killed by an unknown assailant.”

“What a senseless way of thinking.”

Even if their daughter was killed, does that really take precedence over arresting the criminal?

Once the incident is made public, the information collected would probably lead closer to apprehending the criminal. Kurou could not comprehend the logic of Migune’s parents.

“Eh? However, could there be something more to this? Could it have anything to do with when Sefi was attacked————”

“Migune was eliminated with just one strike. In addition......part of her right hand was burned.”

“Burned?”

Kuro instantly understood before Manaka got a chance to finish.

“So you mean to say......there’s the possibility she was attacked by mystic arts?”

“She was clearly slashed to death by a sword, but having a burn wound as well is really peculiar. If it was just mystic arts being used then it would be a whole different matter. That said, Migune’s abilities were quite remarkable. However, if she was ambushed by mystic arts, then I can see how she could be easily disposed of.”

“So the first and third ranked students were attacked within a short time frame of each other......the parents of the two are both government officials, so it’s not that unbelievable for them to be attacked.”

It was hard to imagine that there were many Swordies who could utilize mystic arts. Although there were two cases here, it would be odd to think there was no coincidence between the two.

“Well, it’d be great if there weren’t any more victims from now on. Although Migune’s situation wasn’t made public, it seems that the ones who discovered her corpse were the students of the academy. They were told to keep it to themselves but they weren’t able to do so completely. Furthermore, word of Migune’s death seems to have been circulating around the academy already.”

“In other words, they’ve decided to actually impose a curfew because a second attack occurred.”

Now it was understandable why the students were so anxious.

However, the students in the academy were definitely very talented, but if they were to wander around outside late into the night it’d be troublesome. It would be better if they conducted themselves with caution, otherwise they might end up as the next prey if they were not careful.

“Overall, the top ranked students have considered their parents’ statuses and decided to bring over bodyguards already. With that said, there are still many students who decided not to bring bodyguards with them. The response was they wanted to protect their own lives.”

“Everyone seems to be quite overconfident of their abilities. It’d be best if they candidly accepted protection.”

“Even Sefi declined her sister’s offer to send over bodyguards.”

“Haha, you mean Sylphy-sama......”

Kurou also understood Sefi’s older sister, Sylphy, extremely well. She was a friend of the Sword Saint and due to that, Sefi was able to witness the training between the Sword Saint and Kurou as a bonus.

Sylphy dearly loved her little sister and was presumably very worried for her.

“For now I’m also scouting around for the criminal. However, since the school didn’t accept my request for cooperation, I can’t really accomplish much on school grounds.”

“I see.”

Kurou nodded.

If it was just an untrackable evildoer, then it wouldn’t be that much of a concern. However, if she was even capable of using what was a supposedly lost art, then as the organization which oversees Tokyo Swordia’s public security, this wasn’t something that could just be set aside. In other words, there was going to be a heavy burden placed on Kurou and Lars who both stayed on campus.

“I understand where you’re coming from. At the very least, I’ll prevent her acting willfully within the school.”

“Then I’ll be counting on you. And by the way, please focus on your studies.”

“Do you want me to cut classes?”

Kurou tossed the tablet back as he responded.

“The elimination tournament that decides the yearly rankings will kickoff in two days.”

“Eh, really?”

Kurou was shocked. Although Sefi had said it was fast approaching, it was the first time he had heard it was already this close.

“Because you were enrolled solely based on your swordsmanship, you won’t graduate if you don’t attain a good grade.”

“It’s just if I do get a good grade, I’d probably be resented.”

“Becoming stronger means you have to cast those people aside. This you should know.”

“Well......alright, I think it’s about time to leave, I feel a bit woozy.”

Kurou stood up, preventing the towel around his waist from slipping off, and stepped out of the pool.

“Wait a sec Kurou-kun.”

“Ha?”

Right as Kurou turned around, both of his cheeks were nabbed by Manaka.

Manaka also stood up, unhesitant in exposing her entire body. Looking down a bit, those two beautiful mounds entered his view.

“M-Manaka, what are you doing......”

“‘What are you doing’, that is my line. I don’t care if you’re a human or something else, you are my sister’s————Sword Saint Hyouka’s disciple.”

“I-I know.”

Kurou shuddered as he responded.

Kurou felt as if he was going to be blasted away as he endured Manaka’s overwhelming light force. She probably released the light she was holding back.

“I don’t care if it’s mystic arts or surprise attacks, I can’t let someone like you who is at best a rascal get away. As the Sword Saint’s disciple, how dare you show such disrespect.”

Manaka suddenly grabbed Kurou’s cheeks and applied strength with both of her hands. Manaka had to control the flow of power, otherwise Kurou, who had made a slip-up, would have had his cheeks shattered.

Manaka was furious.

Because of their frequent encounters, Kurou understood very well that Manaka highly respected her sister who was the Sword Saint.

While he stayed with the Sword Saint deep in the mountains, there were many people who visited. However, the person who came the most frequently was Manaka.

Was that it, Kurou finally realized it.

As one of the Seven Swords who held the title of Sword General, she was even more intolerant of having the Sword Saint’s reputation be tarnished than Kurou was.

Manaka didn’t come here just to pass on information and it wasn’t to check out the situation either. For these sorts of things, it would have been fine if she decided not to come. Even for Migune’s situation, it was already spread around school so it would not have been long before Kurou caught wind of it.

Manaka’s true objective was to reprimand Kurou.

“Might be resented? Don’t make me laugh. If you worry over something like this and have a bad showing during the elimination matches, I will have you hacked apart.”

“......U-Understood.”

Kurou fervently nodded.

If he were to joke around in this instance, his cheeks might actually be smashed to pieces.

After hearing Kurou’s reply, Manaka gave a slight smile.

“If you understand then that’s good. Eh?”

“W-What is it?”

After removing her hands from Kurou’s face, she raised the fringes of his hair. Following that, she gently caressed Kurou’s forehead.

“Kurou-kun, you still have a scar here? Looks like you took a nice slashing.”

“Ah, haha, it’s from when I was young and was first wielding a real sword. A scar like this wouldn’t just go away.”

Kurou was not able to keep up with Manaka’s sudden change in attitude. Even Sefi’s attitude when she came to attack him was identical. Kurou was baffled when it came to girls. Perhaps even the invariable Hinako was hard to figure out.

“I suppose. Although your conduct was quite detestable, and hard to understand......however, it’s really quite a waste when you’ve grown up with such an adorable face.”

“Calling my conduct detestable was uncalled for.”

Kurou swiftly turned his back to her, not wanting his scar to be touched. That was because a scar was only a symbol for one’s weakness.

“Be careful not to get hurt during the elimination matches. Good luck Kurou-kun.”

After that, Manaka once again lightly caressed Kurou’s head.

“Ah——, but winning it all is probably going to be tough.”

Manaka wryly smiled as she spoke. Although she had stated “not to have a poor showing”, this time she decided to say something more passive.

However, Kurou shared the same opinion as her.

“Definitely attaining victory, something like that cannot be said for certain because————that bastard will also be there.”