Chapter 63: To Kyoto
The door to the house was slightly ajar.
"This girl actually remembered to leave the door unlocked for me. She still has some conscience after all."
A faint smile touched Mord's lips, but as he drew closer, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss.
There was no sign of Mikoto in the room. The elderly grandmother lay weakly on the bed, murky tears tracing paths down the corners of her eyes.
"Someone... someone please save that poor child..."
...
In the heart of the town, inside a residence.
Mikoto was curled up on the wooden floor, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, clearly having just endured a severe beating.
A dozen or so thugs with menacing expressions stood around her. Leading them was the very same man who had visited Mikoto's home yesterday and kicked over her grandmother's vegetable stall.
"Still talking nonsense, you brat!" The thug leader grabbed Mikoto by the collar and hauled her up. "Care to repeat that?"
"I've already repaid the money I owed you. I promised my grandmother I wouldn't engage in despicable acts like pickpocketing anymore." A weak yet resolute voice emerged from Mikoto's lips.
For some reason, the thug leader felt an inexplicable surge of rage just looking at Mikoto's face.
"Bah! You're far too arrogant, kid! Everything about you irritates me. This time, I'm going to teach you a proper lesson—make you remember whose dog you are!!"
He raised his hand and landed several heavy punches.
Yet despite this, Mikoto showed no intention of yielding.
"Tch, this kid is stubborn as hell! If this keeps up, we might actually kill someone." The thug leader turned his head to the side and spoke. "Boss, what should we do with this brat?"
A fully tattooed, bald man was in the middle of a meal. He picked up a piece of sashimi with his chopsticks and dipped it in soy sauce.
"Rokurō, if you're not going to be a thief anymore, how do you plan to survive?"
"If you think you can rely on your former samurai status to find a way out, you're gravely mistaken. Remember, you're now registered as a criminal."
"Dignity without the strength to back it up is utterly worthless. The moment your father offended the Shogun, this outcome was sealed. If I hadn't taken you in back then, you and that wretched old woman of yours would have been long dead."
The bald, tattooed man looked at Mikoto and spoke with feigned concern. "Let go of that samurai identity, Rokurō. Learn how to live humbly in this world. Work under me, Tamawashi, and you won't have to worry about being treated unfairly."
Mikoto spat out a mouthful of blood and lifted her head to glare at Tamawashi.
"Are you all deaf? How many times do I have to say it? I'm done."
"Is that so? Then there's no other way." Tamawashi placed the sashimi from his chopsticks into his mouth.
The underworld wasn't a charity. Those who held no value to him didn't deserve to live.
The thug leader received the implicit order, drew a short blade from his waist, and stepped forward to end Mikoto's life.
Mikoto closed her eyes, resigning herself to her fate.
At that critical moment, the tightly shut paper door was violently blasted open by an immense force. The entire door flew toward the thug leader, slamming into him and sending him flying.
Hearing the commotion, Mikoto, who had already accepted her fate, opened her eyes and saw a familiar figure standing there.
"Where are the people outside? Have they all dropped dead? How dare someone barge in here so brazenly!" the bald, tattooed man Tamawashi shouted angrily.
Mord glanced at the guy before him. Gangsters were all the same, no matter where they went.
"No matter how much you shout, no one's coming."
"Your men tried to stop me from entering, so I had to put them to sleep. Permanently, of course."
"Uncle, what are you doing here?!" Mikoto exclaimed.
"Just here to take you home, little landlord," Mord turned to look at Mikoto lying on the ground in the distance and smiled.
Seeing an opportunity, one of the thugs drew a dagger and lunged at Mord's vital spots, yelling loudly.
"Don't look down on people!"
"Uncle, watch out behind you!" Mikoto cried out urgently.
Just as the blade was about to strike Mord, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. His left hand shot out like lightning, firmly grasping the attacker's wrist.
The thug cried out in pain, his right hand loosening its grip. The dagger fell, only to be caught by Mord.
"It's you who's looking down on people."
"Ahhh! No, please no!"
Amid the thug's terrified screams, a dull-looking dagger thrust toward his forehead. He wanted to flee and resist, but his right arm felt as if clamped in iron shackles, completely immobilized.
"Idiot! Tawimon, run!"
His companions nearby shouted in their perspective—the thug's right hand didn't appear to be held by Mord at all.
Indeed, Mord had already released his grip long ago.
These thugs were only used to bullying ordinary civilians and preying on the weak who couldn't fight back. They had never experienced a true life-or-death struggle.
Faced with Mord's pure and chilling killing intent, how could they possibly withstand it?
They were already weak in the knees, trembling like chickens.
All they could do was watch helplessly as the dagger pierced through the thug's forehead without any resistance.
Seeing the terror and near-pleading in the other's eyes, Mord showed no mercy.
Having been relentlessly pursued by the Terrio family and then immediately confronting ninjas upon entering Japan, Mord had been bottling up a fierce rage.
He turned to look at the bald, tattooed man and the others, and smiled.
In this room, was there a single person who didn't deserve to die?
It was a completely one-sided slaughter. After finishing off the last one, Mord's breathing hadn't even changed.
He walked over to Mikoto and extended his hand.
Mikoto was clearly stunned. After a moment, she snapped back to reality and quickly reached out her hand, as if afraid that any delay would mean losing him forever.
"What, scared by my performance just now?" Mord asked.
Perched on Mord's back, Mikoto looked at the corridor and courtyard outside, littered with corpses, and shook her head firmly.
...
At Mikoto's home.
"Uncle, you're leaving?"
Although she had realized from Mord's earlier actions that this scruffy-looking man was no ordinary person, Mikoto was still surprised to hear he was departing.
"Didn't you just stay one night?"
In fact, he hadn't even stayed the full night, despite paying for ten days' rent.
"Where are you going, Uncle?"
"Kyoto," Mord said, glancing at Mikoto. "I heard from the old lady that your family used to be Kyoto nobility. Are you familiar with Kyoto, little Mikoto?"
"Huh?"
"If you were in Kyoto right now and wanted to hide somewhere no one could find you, where would you go?" Mord asked.
Mikoto thought very seriously, because she knew in her heart this might be the only way she could help her benefactor, the kind uncle.
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