Wandering Swordsman #1

After the traps were set within the base and everything had been competed in this location, Ki turned to the headhunter. "Now there are only a couple more to attack so would you be able to assist us?"

At this point the headhunter was already under her influence to a strong level and declining would be difficult unless the host strongly opposed something she had ordered or requested.

Since it was an act to continue her revenge and it had been requested as if Ki was asking for aid because she was capable and could ensure the success of the tasks, this fed off her own goals but also her own ego.

Since her saviour had asked for her aid because of her high skills then she had no choice but to continue so she nodded quietly agreeing not understanding that she was still being influenced and giving more opportunities to be turned to Ki's side during the following tasks.

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In another location was a lone wanderer who has journeyed through many lands by foot.

He lived the life of a wandering swordsman who was never tied to any influence or piece of land.

Where ever he showed up, many disputes happened between many influences or small scale incidents but he always seemed to get caught up in them.

Whether it was helping a poor man or woman settle a dispute with someone treating them poorly, saving a damsel in distress or dealing with gangs that are causing trouble in public, he righteously came forward to settle everything according to his own views and personal values.

However he could not have made the right decision every time because often things were not so simple as they had seemed on the surface.

A man beating a woman in the street for running away was resolved to save the lady, not knowing that he had involved himself with a more complicated matter.

The woman was not only a servant of the family that had run away and betrayed their master but also a thief.

After stealing many things, she escaped but was caught and beaten resulting in the following scene.

The image of a woman being beaten in public triggered the wandering swordsman's protective instinct and made him intervene resulting in the death of the man.

This allowed the woman to escape and him suffering the consequences, after killing the man his family had put a bounty on his head resulting in more deaths along with his revenge on the family since things had already turned so bad between them.

Any child would grow up after hearing a story of a noble and righteous ious wandering swordsman or even witness one killing a bad guy themselves after that person had caused much suffering to others, they would have dreams of becoming like their heroes but the world was never so simple.

Strength and sword skills were never enough to live such a life, deductive skills and good judgement was also needed.

The story of a wandering swordsman was a fairy tale for children to let them worship the heroes of the world and give them hope that during difficult times, the good children will be saved, however not every child that grows up and attains those skills and strength can use those abilities correctly.

There is a fine line between a villain and a hero, someone can become a villain to many people because of the wrong decisions that they had made.

Rather than seeing the worship of the people, many instead came to fear him and distance themselves from him because of the many mistakes he had make resulting in innocent people being punished by him.

Instead of the happy praises of his admirers calling a righteous hero, behind his back he was mocked as a self righteous fake hero.

Since he did not stay in one place for a long time, he often believed what he had done was correct and did not hear otherwise, even during the final moments of his enemies that he was purging they sometimes tried to explain the situation but he was too caught up in the act of a hero to hear the truth.

To him, the villains were just making excuses to save their own lives.

Upon saving many people but also killing many innocents, he continued his travels and broke through to the Unrestrained Realm in his forties.

He continued his journeys often encountering bounty hunters or law enforcement people aiming to capture him but since he was ignorant of the worldly affairs he mistook them as the usual people sent to get revenge on him when they were actually hunting him down because he was a criminal and the cause of many tragedies.

After finishing his latest journey, he stopped at his regular inn within the town that he stopped by in between his journeys.

In this location, he had those that he could trust to be around and many seemed to be more welcoming to him than other places.

Having a meal and drinks within the inn, he started to feel tired and fell asleep.

The inn owner had known him for many years and had a decent relationship with him since he was one of the people that had been helped and used him many times to clear up his own problems that had been caused by himself whether it be offending someone with a powerful backing or lending money being unable to pay it back.

Since the wandering swordsman usually showed up in time and was easy to fool, he was able to sweep away all of his troubles and soon after he had taken over part of the small town thanks to his reputation as the friend of the swordsman.

After boasting about his connections and how he was untouchable, many others had begun to follow him and come under his influence allowing more crimes within the village but there was a tactic understanding that when the swordsman is in town, they should halt any actions to not be given away and lose the swordsman's protection.

To stop others from targeting him, he told many that the swordsman did not care for the reasons why he would be killed or harmed.

Upon hearing he had been harmed or killed, the swordsman would avenge him immediately so it was in their best interests to not do something stupid.

He had been living like a king within his small palace for many years and becoming even more ambitious.

However recently a group of people caught and threatened him, he was unable to find out their identities and placed a timeline on when to act against the wandering swordsman along with providing the things to carry out the task.

If he failed to do so, they would reappear and this time they would choose to kill him and he should not count on the swordsman's help since he is a wanderer and would not stay within the town at all times.

Since the floods had caused damage and the town had become more disordered, it was even more vulnerable to attack or infiltrate so he had no choice but to comply with the task.

Even knowing that his power would soon crumble upon losing the wandering swordsman, he still valued his life above all other things so he chose to follow the plan.

Either he could find a way to deal with the aftermath or he would just flee and start fresh somewhere else.

So long as he could lie about the wandering swordsman being still alive, he would have enough time to collect his possessions and move away from the village without being targeted by others.

Since he had kept the inn only open for the swordsman during their time staying there, it was easy to complete the plan and transport him out of the town.