The iron-rimmed wheels of the carriage crunched against the frost-bitten gravel as it rolled past the outer gates of the Minamoto estate. Yorimitsu sat in the velvet silence of the interior, the Dōjigiri resting across his lap like a sleeping dragon.
On his shoulder, Inoe, in the form of the two-tailed white cat, watched the world through the silk curtains with eyes of mismatched fire.
Walking alongside the carriage were the three men Yoshitomo had hand-picked to escort his son to the Capital. They were not mere guards; they were the "Seiwa Genji"
Leading the group was Master Gengo, a man whose skin looked like cured leather and whose presence felt like an approaching storm. He carried a massive Yumi (longbow) across his back and a heavy-headed Yari (spear) in his hand.
A black silk patch covered his left eye, a souvenir from a clash with a Tamamo no Mae decades ago. His remaining eye was as sharp as a hawk's, scanning the treeline for the slightest leaf twitch.
Behind him walked Toma, a man in his late twenties with short, ash-grey hair that stood in sharp contrast to his dark travelling leathers. He moved with a predatory grace, his hands never straying far from the hilts of his unique hooked dual swords. Toma's nickname was the "Attentive Blade"; he didn't speak, but his eyes never stopped moving, calculating distances and wind speeds.
Finally, trailing at the rear with a slouch that bordered on disrespectful, was Souta. He looked as though he had just rolled out of bed, his eyes droopy and half-lidded. He carried a single, slender katana, but the scabbard was so covered in purification seals and paper talismans that the wood was barely visible.
"Souta!" Gengo's voice barked, like a crack of thunder. "Straighten your back! You are escorting the future of this House, not a sack of rice."
Souta yawned, the sound long and dramatic. "Master Gengo... the sun is barely up. And the Young Master is a Fifth Rank. If anything happens, he'll probably kill it before I can even unsheathe my sword. Why waste the energy?"
Gengo reached back without looking and smacked the butt of his spear into Souta's shin.
"Ow! Fine, fine... I'm awake," Souta grumbled, though his eyes remained lazily unfocused, hiding the terrifying amount of Reiryoku he kept suppressed beneath those seals.
They had reached the Weeping Pass, a narrow stretch of road carved into the side of a mountain, three days into their journey. The wind howled through the pines, sounding like the screams of the damned.
Suddenly, Inoe's fur stood on end. "I smell blood," the cat's voice hissed in Yorimitsu's mind. "Humans, but they smell of carrion. Twenty of them. No... thirty."
Twang!
An arrow hissed through the air, aimed directly at the carriage driver. Master Gengo didn't even turn his head. In one fluid motion, he dropped his spear, unslung his bow, and fired. His arrow met the bandit's in mid-air, splitting it down the centre before continuing its flight and pinning the archer to a cedar tree a hundred yards away.
"Ambush!" Gengo roared.
From the thickets, a swarm of ragged men burst forth. These weren't mere starving peasants; they were Ronin outcasts who had turned to banditry, their blades notched and stained with the blood of travellers.
"Toma, Souta, clear the path," Gengo commanded, already losing a second arrow that took two men through the throat.
Toma was a blur of grey hair and steel. He drew his hooked swords, the metal singing as he entered the fray. He used the hooks to catch the bandits' blades, wrenching them from their hands before gutting them with the counter-stroke. His movements were clinical, silent, and terrifyingly fast.
Souta, meanwhile, looked like he was dancing in his sleep. He didn't even draw his katana. He simply moved an inch to the left, then an inch to the right, letting swords whistle past his ear. When a bandit got too close, Souta tapped a single seal on his scabbard.
A burst of concussive force exploded, sending the man flying off the cliffside with a shattered ribcage.
"So much work..." Souta sighed. Without drawing the sword, he struck down half of the man with lightning swiftness.
The skirmish was over in less than two minutes. The road was littered with the dead and the groaning. Toma stood over the last standing bandit, a scarred man trembling in his boots, with a hooked blade pressed against his windpipe.
The carriage door slid open. Yorimitsu stepped out, his indigo robes pristine, the Dōjigiri held loosely at his side. The sheer weight of his Fifth-Rank presence made the air grow heavy.
"Master Gengo," Yorimitsu said, his voice cold and echoing in the mountain pass. "These men... they seem to be organised. There is a village three miles back. I saw the smoke of burnt homes."
The captured bandit spat on the ground. "We take what we want! This mountain belongs to the Heishan bandits"
Yorimitsu walked up to the man. He didn't use a sword. He simply placed a hand on the man's forehead. The Seal of Ryuu flared a deep, ominous blue.
"Agh! My head! My head is burning!" the bandit screamed as Yorimitsu began to forcibly peel back the man's memories.
"They have a base in the old iron mines," Yorimitsu said, pulling his hand away as the bandit collapsed, foaming at the mouth. "They have been terrorising this land for months. Torturing travellers, selling children to the slave traders in the Capital. If we leave now, they will just rebuild."
"Young Master, our mission is to get you to the Academy," Gengo cautioned. "Diverting to a bandit camp is... irregular."
"The Minamoto are the protectors of the North, Gengo," Yorimitsu replied, his eyes glowing with a crystalline blue light. "If we allow this filth to exist on our borders, we have already failed. We don't just defend; we purge."
Souta actually opened his eyes fully, a spark of genuine interest flickering in his lazy gaze. "I like him. He has more spine than I thought he would."
They didn't wait for nightfall. Led by Yorimitsu's tracking, they reached the iron mines within the hour. The entrance was guarded by spiked barricades and men armed with stolen military crossbows.
"Toma, take the heights. Gengo, suppress the archers," Yorimitsu commanded. "Souta... try to stay awake. You're with me."
"Yes, yes, lead the way, Boss," Souta yawned.
They didn't sneak in. Yorimitsu walked straight toward the barricade. When the crossbowmen fired, he didn't even flinch. He drew Dōjigiri halfway.
"First blade: Severance"
A wave of blue kinetic energy roared forward, shattering the wooden barricades into toothpicks and sending the guards tumbling back into the dark maw of the mine.
As they stepped into the cavern, the smell of iron, sweat, and fear hit them. Deep in the tunnels, they could hear the laughter of men and the muffled sobs of captives.
Yorimitsu stopped at the threshold of the main chamber. His shadow, cast by the torches, seemed to grow and twist, influenced by the presence of Inoe.
"Leave no one standing," Yorimitsu whispered. "But save the leader for me. I want to know who is buying the children."
Gengo notched three arrows at once. Toma vanished into the rafters.