6 The Komusō Samurai and his gang.

What greeted the eyes of Otto was a big group of bandits, at least three dozen of them where facing another group with way less numbers.

He saw with disbelief how the mysterious swordman figure stopped at the side of what appears to be six samurai of different height. Clad in white armour and black coloured leather armor underneath, they were sparsely formated in front of the bandits.

"... Impossible... how I didn't notice them!?" Otto muttered under his breath. He was obliviously leading such people towards his village. He didn't wanted to imagine what would have happened if the other group didn't stop them and told him.

"Get the fuck out of here, I don't want to bury some shitty bandit corpses." He suddenly heard one of the mysterious swordman companions speak. A thick and uncomfortable aura spreading around him.

Hearing his words the bandits started to laugh with each other.

"HAHAHAHA did you hear him? Hahahahah he doesn't seems to realize don't you think?"

"Hahahahah well that was funny, still they does seem to look like they know how to use their weapons."

"I would look nice in that armor for sure!"

A few more laughs were audible, although some of the bandits remained silent and looked at the group from head to toes. Still even those laughing didn't stop for a moment to grasp their weapons.

The laugh's slowly started to die down, while tension went up. A heavy feeling spreading throughout the standoff as every individual was feeling uncomfortable.

Until finally one bandit in white kimono and lose black hair stepped front and said to them.

"We're not going anywhere, we've been hunting our pray for a while tlo let some other take away our meat. Still, all of you looks to be somewhat competent, how about we reach an agreement as civilized people? I'm sure we can help each other." He showcased them a wide smile while saying this.

Otto feel his heart flinch, his hands sweating while wishing those people don't join those bandits. If that was the case the village was doomed.

However, the smile from that bandit seemed to fade at the next words .

"Get the fuck out of here, last warning." The cold tone on the voice left no doubt that such threat would be backed up.

Otto felt his heartbeat increasing, beating like a drum on his chest. Even from his distance, he felt the cold steel of that samurai words on his neck.

Both groups looked at each other, everyone gripping tightly on their swords, clubs, yari, kunai and axe's.

Everyone's body tensed up, they didn't even bat an eye waiting for the minimal signal to start the frenzy.

The bandit in white kimono looked at the others carefully, his hand ready to unsheathe his sword.

*whoosh* *whoosh*

Suddenly the bandit opened his eyes and moved his body a step to the right. Seemingly evading something, however the next moment, a bolt appeared in front of his chest.

The swordman's group jolted away at the first movement from the bandit, as one appeared in front of him and finished the job, cutting swiftly his neck while passing towards the next bandit that was a few steps behind him.

The rest of the bandits didn't waited also and launched their attacks to met them head on. However, Otto was able see how the first clash ended up with the mysterious swordman group winning the upper hand and swiftly killing their foes.

*Swoosh* *swoosh*

Two more bandits fell and soon after another seven followed them, Otto's eyes were drawn to the mysterious swordman who moved with finesse while cutting the bandits, his small frame seemed to dance around the enemies as each attack moved with purpose.

Killing and parrying, he saw how with one slash, he executed a bandit while with the same movement he prevented an enemy to hit him while also gaining momentum for his next attack, that cut his enemy hand clean.

His vision was suddenly interrupted when a companion of the swordman appeared in front as he moved his long and broadsword with such power that cut his enemy in half while throwing away the torso in the air.

An acid feeling on his throat started to raise, Otto gulped down his breakfast as he continue to see the swordman group finishing with the bandits in a matter of seconds. Only a couple of bandits were able to hold their ground and prevent a quick death unlike their companions.

One of such bandits was standing his ground against a tall warrior and another one that was slightly smaller, however, basing on the weapons the samurai's were carrying, that reassembled the one that used the mysterious swordman companion to cut in half a bandit, he knew that with each attack, that bandit was probably facing a lot of pressure from both of them.

Yet, he seemed to be fairly strong himself and moved his battle towards another bandit that seemed to face the same dilemma.

From the three dozen of bandits, in just a couple of seconds only stayed behind just six of them.

This however didn't last long, as another bandit was quickly dealt with from a curvy figure that seemed to be a companion of the mysterious swordman. The bandit head and forearm rolling in the ground as she moved towards another victim.

Muffled sounds of agony resounded on the battlefield, as the remaining bandits hold their ground. The other group didn't seems to press from another wave of attack, yet still maintained their weapons on guard. Looking for an opening.

Such an opening came when one of the two tallest warriors quickly launched himself towards his enemy, receiving an attack.

Otto flinched at the sight, fearing for the life of the Samurai. Yet he saw how the warrior used his armor to receive the attack and cut bot arms of the bandit with a swoop of his gigantic broadsword.

A cry of agony resounded that was quickly silence when they cut the bandit head.

The remaining four bandits were now encircled by the seven Samurais, and Otto saw how in just a matter of seconds they started to advanced against them for shortly after cut the limbs of the bandits and finished them after ganging up on them.

Feeling his lips dry he licked them and gulped down with a heavy heart, his hands were slightly trembling and his heart was beating faster than drums. His breathing resumed back and on the back of his head, he was wishing for these people to not attack his village after dealing with the bandits.

He knew that his village would have not chance against them, and probably, unless the Daimyo with samurais himself or shinobi's appeared here, they would be under their grasp for a long time.

"Beep thinks this was easy! Spiders are harder than them!" he suddenly heard the mysterious swordman beep with a joyful voice, seemingly uncaring of the butcher that he delivered today.

He then saw someone slapping him on the basket and said something in a hushed tone that he was unable to understand.

Otto then tried to speak but was cut shortly by one of the samurai's as he said "Don't worry old man, you can go back to your village, we're going to take care of here and then we would continue our path." As he finished saying that, he nodded towards his direction and seemed to turn around to dispose the bodies.

"T-Thank you young warrior, all of you, thank you for saving the lives of my people!" Otto descend from his carriage and bowed towards to them. Happiness and relief filling his body after hearing his words.

"I-if-f you ever need help or something else, don't doubt to reach to my house, I would gladly welcome you all, it's the least I can do for saving my life!" He continue saying while pouring out his gratitude to the group.

"Yeah well, just say that blonde woman that she can go fuck herself, and please just leave now, you're making us feel a little bit uncomfortable with your attitude, don't worry, it is well welcomed, but it's weird." He heard the same guy saying to him while a few chuckles started sounding after that.

'Blonde woman!? Crap it seemed that they've been here before.' Otto suddenly worried knowing his fellow villager attitude and how the samurai seemed to be petty against her. Still, he raised his head again and nodded towards them while quickly jumping at his carriage, and soon after, leaving the battle zone.

His heart still pounding and from time to time looking back at the receding figures of the samurai's. His head still trying to grasp and understand the situation he went through.

•••••••

Throwing a last glance towards the receding carriage, I sighed to myself and looked at the carnage in front of me. Dozens of bodies and limbs lying around.

'That was disgusting.' I thought to myself while looking at my hands, while I was in battle I was feeling pleasure for killing and dismembering these bandits. Something that surely has to do with what I've been through in that hellish place.

I didn't want to fall into that perversion again, but like the saying goes, it's hard to break habits.

"Chop their heads and cut some wood, we're going to use them as a warning for other bandits. They'd better think twice before trying to assault our territory." I ordered the squad and they quickly moved to complete the task.

I started searching the bodies and taking whatever might be useful from them. Even clothes.

The smell of blood, piss and shit was nauseating. Yet what was even worse was trying to not touch the blood with parts of the inner organs of the bandits that were filled with shit and other things. Sadly the vast majority of them were cut like ragged dolls by our blades, making the job of taking what they had a little bit hard.

Nonetheless, I was able to grab thirty pouches with coins from this place, a nice pair of katanas, kunais, jewelry, a pipe of wood, eight rings, and a couple of bloodied scrolls that could be counted as trash since they were unreadable at this point from all the blood that drenched them.

After stripping them naked from their belongings, we looked at our work.

However, Kang walked towards the guy that was first killed and turned him towards it's stomach. Frowning at the display I was about to reprimand him for not respecting the death when I saw him smiling maniacally and making a cut alongside the spine of the guy. With dexterity he made another parallel cut and with a swift motion cut on the top and bottom of the spine.

He then took out the guy spine and put it around his shoulder where a piece of cloth was waiting for it. Quickly covering it completely. Seeing my frown he quickly asked "What? You know the deal boss, at least one gift from the fallen."

With a cold smile he returned to his previous spot while I simply sighed. Masaru then proceed to burn the bodies with a torch, igniting the dry grass, sticks and whatever they managed to put in there, while we looked towards the thirty eight spikes with heads on both sides of the road.

"It doesn't reminds you guys those cannibal camps?" Asked Ruka with a delightful expression.

"Well, although they lack their tribal painting, it does seems familiar." Answered Seto with a plain voice.

Ruka nodded to her, while Stenn added "The burning smell of flesh helps too for the image." With that everyone stayed silent.

No one uttered a word for a few moments, until Syntax, that came back while we were stripping these guys from their belongings, stated "These bandits weren't that dangerous. Yet, they have this size and the majority of them were well feed, let's not talk about their weapons too. Although it's early to make assumptions, it's clear for me that we're relatively safe in this environment."

I scoffed at his words, well knowing, thanks to Thomas memories, that this kind of thropee was pretty common in novels, and it doesn't end well most of the times.

"Don't jinx it you tin head, for all I know this place could be in the middle of nowhere and there could still be unsurmountable dangers out there. Like I said, wait and see." I reprimanded him.

Manin who seemed to remember something added with ferocity "Yeah! Don't jinx us anymore, last time you guys said something like this ended up with boss dead!"

Although I wanted to laugh at his expression, I nodded at his words while looking at the rest of my team with a stern face.

The vast majority of them were looking at the burning bodies, while Beep keep playing with his basket, adding a crown of flowers around the top.

Kang keep cleaning the bones he took from the bandit while not caring about anything else.

"Grab the things and let's move out, Manin after cleaning yourself you're coming back again to spy on these guys. We're going to get more juicy information after this, I'm sure." The rest of the squad nodded at my words and started gathering our loot in pieces of clothes.

With a last look towards the road, we disappeared through the wood while walking towards our campment, everyone was in dire need of a bath.

••••••••

After reaching the village, Otto was welcomed as usual, however his expression wasn't the one the majority of them were accustomed as not only did he looked a little bit sick, but worried.

While politely slipping away from the kids and other adults, he made his way towards the village Chief's house, were most likely the two most influential people in this village, alongside him, were currently in.

After knocking the door, he waited for a few moments until a blonde haired woman appeared in front of him. The moment her eyes saw him, relief was evident on her face and large smile blossomed on her face.

"Matsui-sama! I'm glad you made it safe!" However seeing his worried look she quickly frowned and asked "What happened?"

Otto smiled wryly at her first words and answered her "I'm glad that I made it here too Minami-san, although I can't say that I made it here safely, something happened just outside the village, it's Shigure-sama there?"

Hearing his words, the blonde quickly opened her eyes and wanted to look after his carriage, however, noticing his words she opened the door and let him in "Yes she's inside, please come in, tell us what happened!"

After making his way inside, he saw in the interior of the house a beautiful woman in blue kimono sitting in seiza with her children on her sides, her black hair laid on her side, revealing a part of her neck and her fine white skin, but what quickly would caught anyone attention would be her beautiful symmetrical features. The glint in her brown eyes showed a gentle and maternal look, full of love. Her small nose fit perfectly with the rest of her face, and a small mouth with full lips that quickly caught the attention of the onlookers.

She graciously looked towards Otto's direction and said to him "I'm glad you're here Otto, I have heard what you said, tell us, what happened and how can I help you?" As she finished, she quickly said to her child to play outside.

"Shigure-san" Otto nodded towards her as he sighed deeply and told them " The travel went well, I managed to get all the food and goods we needed. However, just outside the village I encountered a problem, I was stopped on the road by a mysterious samurai komusō. Although I was worried at first for my safety, he told me I was being followed by bandits and just a few moments later I saw him alongside his companions fighting against this big group of bandits!"

Both females frowned at his words. The blonde one quickly remembering the haggard man that came just the day prior.

"I don't know how far they were trailing me, but this other group took care of them without too much effort, and there were just seven of them!" Otto then moved his gaze towards the blonde villager and said to her.

"After the battle one of the samurai's seemed to hold a grudge against you Hatsune-san, I won't repeat his words since I don't think is necessary to say them, but I wish to know, how do you get to know these people?" With a gaze filled with concern and curiosity, Otto asked her.

The woman scoffed at Otto's words while getting annoyed at the look that her lady was giving to her and said with displeasure "Yesterday a man appeared just behind Kurumi-chan house. He wanted to ask for something but I just told him to get lost, he seemed like another thieve."

Hearing her short answer, Otto sighed and nodded at her words. He didn't blame her for mistreating the man, as it was pretty common for thieves and scoundrels to reach villages and taking advantage of the hospitality that some people showed at them.

It happened before in Tsumate village after all.

"But who could have said he was accompanied by more people? And that they would be so dangerous after all..." The voice of the village lady made them look towards her direction, "Either way, I'm thankful they let you reach the village safe and sound, the sage's knows how much we would have suffered if those bandits reached here."

Both couldn't help but nod at her words "Did you saw them leaving after the battle?" Asked the blonde villager with a wary tone.

Otto shook his head while explaining here "They simply send me out, it seemed like they would scavenge them from their belongings. It's was a bloody battle after all and I just simply wanted to reach here and tell you these news." He looked towards his lady and continue.

"We should go back and look around that place, at least someone else should accompany me in case they didn't leave yet, we need to know what these people want around our village." Both females looked back at him with solemn looks on their faces.

The blonde haired one grumped in annoyance and said to them "I'll go out and tell the others, we cannot let the children's go play outside with those people possibly around."

She didn't wait for their answer as she quickly went outside. Otto and the lady looked at each other and shook their heads.

"These dangerous times that we are living currently are surely hard to bear with. I wonder what have we'd done before to live like this?" Otto let out a rant while caressing his forehead.

The lady chuckled at his words and said to him with a warmth smile "You scammed enough people to deserve such life Otto, don't try to play the victim here fufu~"

Otto just groaned at her words but didn't said anything, while her lady continue to talk with him for awhile until he departed once again towards the battle zone.

By his side was the same blonde woman, who asked to come. Under the warmth sun of summer, both frowned at the burnt smell and smoke coming from ahead.

Between a swarm of flies that were flying around a crimson-brown patch of blood, lay the remaining of the bandits. Smoke still coming from the pyre.

Yet, what made both Otto and the woman pale in disgust and fear, were the rows of spikes with the head of the fallen.

Otto wasn't able to hold his food any longer and started to puke. While the female looked at the sight with frown and closed fists.

"...what can we do?..." She asked herself under her breath with a reluctant tone, knowing quite well that this unveiled threat towards other bandits, meant that these ronin claimed these lands for themselves.