Two days had passed since Asahi and Ieyasu left the Capital. Currently, the two were riding swiftly in a carriage down a wide dirt road.
Thanks to the money, the journey was very smooth, which Ieyasu constantly remarked upon. Previously, he and Sayo had to walk and hitch rides from their village to the Capital, taking a week. But Asahi only needed to spend money to shorten it to two days.
In Ieyasu's luggage, the chest of money was meticulously wrapped in cloth, looking no different from ordinary baggage. Although the weight was considerable, Ieyasu could carry it himself without Asahi's help. This demonstrated Ieyasu's physical constitution—or rather, the high physical quality of most people in this world.
Asahi had also discovered this. Even with his armor, he hadn't given up on physical training, especially since coming to this world, where his body seemed to have been revitalized.
When he asked the system, he learned that the natural conditions of this world were excellent. Therefore, the limit of human self-training was very high, leading to the appearance of monsters like the earth dragon Tatsumi had defeated before coming to the Capital.
Asahi and Ieyasu were talking, though it was mostly Ieyasu doing the talking. He recounted his childhood with Tatsumi and Sayo. He spoke enthusiastically, occasionally smiling.
In Ieyasu's mind, Asahi was a Capital resident who was also very wealthy, while he was a village youth. There should have been an invisible barrier between them, similar to when he and Sayo were deceived by Aria's family.
Although Aria and her family showed great goodwill at the time, both Ieyasu and Sayo were subtle enough to sense the invisible gap between them regarding vision, experience, and status.
Asahi was the same. His vision, experience, and status surpassed Ieyasu's, and he also had a lot of money, needing only to spend a small box to save Ieyasu's entire village from starvation. Yet, Ieyasu didn't feel that separation; on the contrary, he felt comfortable being around him.
That was when Ieyasu realized that the barrier didn't come from those external factors, but from the intent within. Aria's family only saw people like Ieyasu and Sayo as pets they could kill or do whatever they liked to; in their minds, they already deemed them worthless.
"Back then, we played in the snow. Our village has a lot of snow, all white..."
Boom!!
The carriage suddenly braked sharply, jolting the carriage and interrupting their conversation. Asahi leaned forward and saw the coachman trembling in fear.
He sensed killing intent not far away. Looking ahead, dozens of meters from the carriage was a large man with two broad, thick swords attached to his arms. Most horrifically, he was holding a severed human head that was still dripping blood, and underneath lay a headless corpse. And it wasn't just one corpse; there were two or three more further away. Another carriage had fallen over by the roadside, its body stained with blood.
The killer turned around, his eyes bloodshot, grinning to reveal his teeth. Most notably, he had something like a green eye embedded in his forehead, which sent a chill down the spines of Ieyasu and the coachman. Only Asahi frowned.
"Ay ya, I planned for this to be my last meal before heading to the Capital. But this is your fault, isn't it? Since you delivered yourselves right to my mouth, how could I let you go?"
"This guy... treats murder like a meal??"
Ieyasu was terrified. He thought he had escaped by leaving the Capital, but he ended up running into someone so horrifying.
The murderer tossed the head aside and slowly advanced toward the carriage, as if mentally torturing his prey. But contrary to his expectations, one person stepped out of the carriage without a hint of fear: Asahi.
"Oh, your eyes... they're wonderful! Burning bright! It makes me boil inside. I've decided! You'll be added to my head collection!"
"Cut the talk, murderer."
"Murderer, huh? That's right! But you can call me Zank the Executioner!"
Asahi drew out two swords. He had bought them not long ago for self-defense in normal circumstances. He activated his Detection ability, aiming it at the killer.
He had never studied standardized swordsmanship, but after fighting with dual swords for so long, Asahi was far from being a novice.
Unfortunately, his old weapons had been destroyed, and he didn't have enough points to buy a new set. Otherwise, this battle would be more assured.
Asahi charged to attack. One sword slashed vertically, the other swept horizontally; his movements were fluid. Zank was able to block, his two arm-mounted swords continuously maintaining a high tempo of attacks. They appeared to be evenly matched.
Asahi backed away. Zank the Executioner's physical conditioning was not bad; he hadn't fallen into a disadvantage during the skirmish. The only strange thing was that this guy was very peculiar. Asahi felt this person was neither a martial arts master nor a swordsmanship master, yet he could perfectly block all of his attacks. It was as if all of Asahi's moves were clearly known to him.
"How does he know? That's what you're thinking, right?"
Asahi now focused on the green eye on Zank's forehead. Was it because of this thing?
"Exactly! Spected, my Teigu (Imperial Arms). It has five unique abilities, one of which is mind-reading. I can know my opponent's thoughts just by looking at their expression. The accuracy is absolute!"
"How about it? Scared, huh? Now give me your head!"
Ieyasu, watching the fight, was stunned. Read others' thoughts? How could anyone fight this?
"You still won't give up, huh? That kid over there is much more sensible. I can read your mind. What can you do?"
"You bastard..."
Ieyasu clenched his fist, angry partly at the murderer and partly at himself for feeling so useless, unable to help Asahi.
Asahi showed no sign of fluctuation or fear. He charged forward to attack again.
Clang!! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Another exchange of blows, the situation unchanged from before. Taking advantage of his superior strength, Zank continuously used high-speed thrusts, forcing Asahi to shift from offense to defense. Protecting his vital points was possible, but avoiding cuts to his skin was unavoidable.
"Stubborn old fool! Die!"
Another thrust aimed directly at his neck. He crossed his two swords to block, using the force to retreat backward. Asahi's clothes were ripped in several places, and blood seeped out.
Fighting an opponent with mind-reading ability, Asahi had considered three possible solutions until now. The first was to put his mind into a "still" state, clearing all thoughts. The second was to attack faster than the speed of thought.
A silent mind requires long-term training like meditation or cultivation, which he couldn't do right now.
Ultimately, only the third option remained.
"Keep fighting. Eventually, you'll exhaust your stamina!"
"I wonder if you'll still be this calm when I chop off your head, huh?"
Zank the Executioner watched Asahi charge again. The Teigu Spected was activated.
"Left!"
He thought to himself, and his body moved, but to his horror, he blocked thin air.
Slice!
Asahi's blade grazed his ribs, causing fresh blood to spurt out. Zank quickly retreated. His face was filled with disbelief.
"Right? What the hell..."