The Final Desperation

The following morning, Genji got out of bed and walked to a store in town. It had been one day since Genji had gotten acquainted with Maria. When he asked, Maria didn't give him an exact answer. Instead, she delayed by saying she needed to consult with the leader first and they would meet at this store.

Genji was fine with this arrangement since he was pretty much a stranger. In fact, had she accepted right away, he would have killed her. This was because there were two possibilities for her to accept so quickly.

One, she was a higher-up and had the authority to do so. The only problem with this was that she was almost caught. That and the fact she let him into the organization without a background check. No matter how he looked at it, the leaders were incompetent in this case.

If the leaders were incompetent, then the rebel force was not that big of a threat to the lord. Instead, he might be in bigger danger if he joined them. There is a saying that one should not fear a powerful foe, but a pig teammate. And if he knew he would get a pig teammate, then he might as well not get one.

As for the second possibility, it was a little more interesting. It was that everything he saw that night was an act - a trap intended to lure out the rebels or to catch anyone that might join them. This possibility wasn't completely eliminated as there might be a group of the lord's men in this place.

But Genji didn't care. He was confident that he could walk out of here alive no matter what they threw at him. After all, as much as the world restriction bothered him, it also acted as a protection mechanism. Not having to worry about a bullet to the head was a big relief after all.

The only problem would be the follow-up assassination would become more difficult. Genji, though, was not bothered by this fact. What kind of assassinations had he not pulled off? And he never revealed that he wanted to kill the lord. He only said he wanted to join the rebels. Not why.

If the lord had a competent advisor, then he could even argue he wanted to act as a spy. Then by giving up the rebels, he could join the lord's faction. By then, it would be easy to find an opportunity to kill him.

Of course, there was also the probability that Maria was completely unrelated to either party. Genji found this unlikely as her partner sacrificed himself to give her a chance to escape. But if it were the case, he lost nothing. Sure she could report him to the lord, but again, he could just join the lord's faction and kill her in passing. No matter how he looked at it, it was worth the small risk of meeting here.

As he walked in, he saw Maria sitting at one of the tables with another man. Genji took a seat at a different table and ordered his breakfast. Then he started observing the two of them. Maria had her back turned to him so she didn't notice.

As his meal was served, Genji started eating. Then he started sipping on after-meal tea. Eventually, an hour passed and the man that was with Maria started to look annoyed.

"Are you sure he will come and this isn't a trap?" The man asked Maria.

"Yes. I'm just not sure why he's late."

Hearing this, Genji decided that this was not a trap. He left some coins on the table and started walking over. As he was doing so, the man gave him a look but paid no further attention to him. It was only when he sat down that questions began to form in his head.

Who is this? Why is the person that has been lazing around sitting here? Does he not realize how weird he looks sitting down at our table? Also, why does he keep staring at me?

"Hey, pretty lady. Your friend seems pretty upset. How about you spend some time with me instead?"

Maria was annoyed at the attempt to talk to her. She turned to tell the bugger to fuck off, but her words never left her mouth.

"What's wrong? Have my looks left you speechless? I always knew I was a looker, but you don't have to be so obvious about it."

Her eyes widened.

"It's you!"

To say Maria was surprised would be an understatement. The ruthless killer from two days ago was now giving her a big, goofy smile tantamount to an idiot. How could anyone expect such a change?

"You know him?" Her companion asked.

"Yes. He's the person we were waiting for."

Genji's smile widened at this comment.

The man slammed the table.

"No way! You mean to tell me that you've been staring at us the whole time before you decided to show up?"

"That's me. Now care to introduce yourself?"

The man glared at him. If Genji didn't know better, he would think the person wanted to punch him in the face. But Genji knew the man was holding himself back. After all, to turn away a potential ally for something so little was the behavior of a fool.

"I'm Tenjiro, the leader."

"You should already know who I am," Genji replied.

"I have a faint idea. How about we go somewhere else to talk?"

Genji nodded and the three of them walked outside of town into a cabin that was off the road.

"Welcome. This remote place is my home. So why do you want to join us?" Tenjiro narrowed his eyes. "There's no reason for someone as skilled as you to join a losing force."

"Well for one, I want to kill the lord."

Tenjiro and Maria reacted strongly to that statement. They quickly stepped away from him and pulled out their weapons.

"Who are you!" Tenjiro stared at him intensely.

"Why the violent response? Also, Maria, you should know better. Such puny skills will never be able to harm me."

Tenjiro stepped in front of Maria and pointed his katana at Genji.

"What's the matter?" Genji was now very confused. Shouldn't they be happy that someone was willing to help their cause? Why would they be pointing their swords at him?

"Stop acting." Although Tenjiro saw the confusion on Genji's face, he did not relax his posture.

Seeing that Tenjiro was not going to explain himself, Genji's eyes sharpened. The casual look he had before was now gone. Now the cold, indifferent look of a killer revealed itself.

"So you want to do this the hard way." Genji got into a boxing stance.

Tenjiro stepped forward and swung his sword. Afterimages formed in the air as the blade flew down on his shoulder. Genji sidestepped the strike and pushed the spine of the blade down with his left hand. Then he took a step forward and launched a hand spear with his right hand at Tenjiro's neck.

Tenjiro stepped back to buy himself enough time to bring his right hand to block the strike. Genji shifted his hand slightly to avoid jamming his fingers on Tenjiro's arm, causing the bottom of his hand to slide across the back of his forearm. It was a hard hit. As Tenjiro was clenching his teeth in pain, Genji brought up his left hand and gave Tenjiro a hard punch in the stomach.

As Tenjiro's body started curling up, Genji gave his left wrist a chop, causing Tenjiro to loosen his grasp on his sword. As the katana was falling, Genji spun around clockwise on his left foot and kicked Tenjiro's chest with his right leg. When his leg came back to the ground following the momentum of the spin, Genji leaned down slightly and grabbed the airborne katana with his left hand. Then in one smooth motion, he swung the sword up at Tenjiro's neck.

Then everyone froze. Genji stopped the blade right before it cut into Tenjiro's neck while Tenjiro stopped because he was bested so easily. As for Maria, she barely reacted before everything ended.

"Are you going to answer me now?" Genji's voice was emotionless. He doesn't take kindly to threats. If it weren't for the one thing he noticed, he wouldn't have bothered.

"You really don't know?" Tenjiro finally asked when he recovered.

Genji gave him the stare in response.

"I guess I should apologize. I was too jumpy."

"Care to explain?"

Genji lowered the blade.

"You see, the secret goal for our rebel forces was to get rid of the lord."

Something didn't add up for Genji.

"Secret?"

And Genji was not the only one. Maria was also confused by Genji's response.

"Wait! How much do you know about us?"

"That you're the rebel forces?"

"That's it?"

Tenjiro was in disbelief. Had he really lost to someone that didn't even know what his group was about?

"Well, I wanted to kill the lord when I heard about him. And there was a rebel force so I assumed you could use someone of my skill. Why?"

"You see, the main goal we are claiming to have is to change the unfair rule of the lord. Not actually killing him."

Genji nodded. That explained why the guards were only chasing after their group rather than relentlessly hunting them down. The lord only viewed them as a thorn in his side rather than an actual threat.

"So why did you want to join us?"

Tenjiro asked the question that had been on his mind the whole time.

"Initially, I thought you could give me some information that could help me on my quest. But now that I have met you, I realized this blade is quite good. You must have access to some weapons, right? You do have quite the weapon here and I doubt the lord would allow civilians to possess such a threat."

Tenjiro sighed.

"Yes. We know a blacksmith. Why?"

"Hmmmm. Can I have a custom weapon made?"

Tenjiro pondered on that question for a while before giving a neutral response.

"I can't guarantee it will happen. It really depends on the blacksmith. How about I bring you to meet him and you can negotiate?"

Genji nodded.

A few minutes later, Tenjiro led Genji back into town and to a shop in a remote part of town. When they walked in, Tenjiro hollered at the person hammering at flaming hot iron.

"Masamune! You have a guest."

The buff man continued hammering the iron. After a few minutes, the iron cooled, and he put down his hammer. He got up, grabbed a wet towel, and wiped his sweaty face. Then he walked towards the two of them. He stopped in front of Genji and sized him up.

Then he turned to Tenjiro to ask, "Is he one of us?"

"No, but he has the same goals."

"Reliable?"

"Combat wise he bested me."

After confirming this point, he pondered for a few seconds before asking Genji, "What do you need?"

"Some custom daggers."

Masamune nodded. "Very well. I will help you. How do you want your daggers?"

Genji then described the features he would like to have on his weapons. Since he got the opportunity, he might as well see if he can get his dream daggers. These daggers were designed to optimize his combat style after all the deadly fights he had gone through. Especially in the fight with the champion where he had to push himself past his limits to barely win.

It had been a while since he updated his weapons so it was worth a try. And frankly, he kind of felt awkward without them. Although he was proficient in many weapons, daggers were what his main fighting style was based on and was deadliest with.

Just a small flick of the wrist and no one can block him. A small dodge and I can slash you. A single lapse of attention and you're dead. Genji had honed his techniques into an art form - a deadly art designed to kill with a single opportunity. That was what he was known for.

"So you're telling me both daggers need to be slightly different?"

Genji nodded.

"Don't underestimate this small difference. Oftentimes, the slightest difference can determine the result of the battle."

Masamune made no comments. It wasn't his position to comment on the requests of his clients. The only thing he would do was give it his all to fulfill the request.

"No problem. I should be able to get them done in 10 days."

Genji did some calculations in his head. That left him two days to assassinate the lord. There should be plenty of time.

"Thank you."

Genji left and started wandering the town. This wandering was not an aimless one. Instead, he was observing the terrain of the village, figuring out what ways he could use them to his advantage. Although he didn't know where the lord was, he wasn't that worried about it. After he got his daggers, he could ask about it. But for now, he had to prepare to his fullest for that one moment. A moment's glory is built on hours of preparations.

As he was continuing his walk, a group of guards stopped him. He glanced at them. Did they want more trouble with him? In the past few days, he had realized how much the guards liked to abuse their powers.

If he wasn't bothered by them directly, they would annoy him indirectly. But he couldn't really kill them since that would only make his assassination more difficult in the future. Well, unless it was in a remote alleyway with no spectators.

The only problem was that most people weren't stupid enough to enter such a place unless they wanted to do something shady. Genji was supposed to assassinate, not become a fugitive. It was fine if he had a bounty after the kill, but getting one before committing the crime was pointless.

"The lord wants to see you," the leader of this group announced.

The lord? Why did he want to see me? Did I get exposed? No. There should be no reason for Tenjiro and Maria to report me. That wasn't the read I got on them. So it must be something else. Did I take the risk and kill these guards? I don't think that's particularly necessary. Let's first see what this is about.

"Lead the way."

The leader gave him a strong look. It wasn't every day that the lord summoned someone. And when he did, most of them trembled in fear or in excitement. None of them were this calm. And even fewer agreed so quickly.

The guards escorted Genji to the other side of town with many patrolling guards. Genji raised his brows at this scene. The lord was in this town the whole time? This region of town also seemed like a forbidden area. It was like no townspeople dared to come near it.

No wonder Genji never realized this was here. When he wandered around, he tended to follow the flow of the people and buildings so he never approached this side of town.

They walked past the many guards and to a large compound. Judging by the size of the place, Genji knew the lord lived in extreme luxury that the townspeople knew naught of. It was a stark contrast.

As they approached the entrance, Genji noticed the guards here were in another league compared to the city guards. For one, they were wearing light leather armor that the normal guards didn't have. Then there was the bloodlust they subconsciously emitted.

This bloodlust was faint, but it was there. Genji could tell because his bloodlust was way heavier. These were seasoned veterans of the battlefield, akin to wolves in human skin.

"This is as far as I can send you," the leader said as they approached the entrance.

Genji nodded. The two guards at the entrance looked at Genji.

"The Lord's waiting for you. Follow the maid."

He pointed to a young lady wearing a white kimono with pink flowers. She nodded to him and led Genji to a big room. Sliding open the door, she bowed and informed the lord. 

"Lord, the guest is here."

"Enter."

A voice filled with authority rang out.

"Is this display of power really necessary?" Genji asked himself.

He entered to see a man seated on a bamboo mat at the end of the room. Flanking the side of the room were two lines of guards, all emitting the same level of bloodlust he sensed before. Genji walked into the middle of the room and sat down.

"I heard you wanted to see me?"

"Insolent! How dare you be so casual in the presence of the lord!" someone shouted out. Genji turned to look at the rude person. Judging by his position in seating, he should be an important figure to the lord. Maybe an advisor or consultant. Or to put it bluntly, the lord's dog. His job was to bite anyone his master ordered.

The lord raised his arm to signal to his retainer to stop the attitude.

"From my reports, you are someone of great skill. I want you to work for me."

"Now where did you hear that from?"

"Kosu."

The lord didn't answer Genji's question but called an underling to answer in his stead.

"Yes, milord." A guard kneeling at the side of the room stood up. "3 days ago, you beat up a group of the city guards and robbed them of their gold."

Genji thought for a while before realizing he was talking about the group that he robbed on the first day.

"So those hooligans were city guards? Man, you people are really rampant. To think they would try to rob me. I only returned the favor."

The lord's face remained indifferent. "No matter. What I value is your skill. To be able to take down a group by yourself means you have some qualifications to join me."

"No," Genji gave a flat rejection.

"Oh?" The lord lifted his head that was resting on his hand. "You dare to reject my favor?"

Genji looked into his eyes.

"Why would I want such a position anyway?"

"Well for one, I will overlook the fact that you were associating with the rebels."

The tension in the room spiked when the lord said that.

"So you were monitoring them."

"I would be a fool not to."

"So you do acknowledge them as a threat."

"Yes. They are trying to kill me after all."

Genji became silent for a few seconds.

"I see. You were letting them gather up everyone with bad intentions. Then you will sweep in and clean up the unwanted. Quite a plan you have there."

"That's right. Now I will give you two options. You can join me or..."

The lord trailed off.

"Or what?"

He pulled out a short sword from his waist and threw it in front of Genji.

"Or you can commit suicide and I will let one person from the rebels live."