A new entry had appeared beneath Skill Points on Ogata’s status screen:
Sakakibara Ittō-ryū Exclusive Skill Points: 3
A tiny question mark now stood beside it.
When Ogata focused his attention upon the symbol, it expanded into a translucent panel containing two lines of explanation.
Sakakibara Ittō-ryū Exclusive Skill Points may be used only to improve techniques belonging to Sakakibara Ittō-ryū.
When Sakakibara Ittō-ryū reaches Ranks 5, 10, and 15, you will receive 3, 6, and 9 Exclusive Skill Points respectively.
The explanation was concise, clear, and easy to understand.
Unlike ordinary Skill Points, these new points were tied completely to the sword school that produced them.
Put simply, those three points could only improve Sakakibara Ittō-ryū techniques.
They could not raise his Personal Attributes or serve any other purpose.
Furthermore, the school awarded Exclusive Skill Points only at Ranks Five, Ten, and Fifteen, with a different amount granted at each milestone.
Because Rank Fifteen was the maximum, those three rewards were the only school-exclusive bonuses Sakakibara Ittō-ryū could ever provide.
Ogata closed the information panel and reflected silently.
As I thought, the system still has many functions waiting to be discovered.
It never mentioned Exclusive Skill Points before.
Only after Sakakibara Ittō-ryū reached Rank Five did it unlock their explanation and use.
As my Personal Level and martial-arts ranks continue increasing, perhaps other locked functions will reveal themselves one by one.
No.
There is no reason to think that far ahead yet.
I should decide how to spend the points I have now.
Five ordinary Skill Points and three Sakakibara Ittō-ryū Exclusive Skill Points…
Heh.
I never expected to become so wealthy.
Should I save them, or use them immediately?
While Ogata struggled with that decision, he noticed O-Saki approaching with a warm smile and two small bottles of sake.
“O-Saki-san…”
He gave her a helpless look.
“You don’t need to give me any sake—”
She interrupted before he could finish.
“Do not be so reserved, Ogata-sama. This is simply my way of thanking you for defending O-Fuku.”
During the duel with Itagaki, O-Saki had learned the entire story from O-Fuku.
O-Fuku was like a true daughter to her.
Realizing that he could not persuade O-Saki to withdraw the offer, Ogata accepted her kindness.
After thanking her, he opened one bottle and tipped the sake into his mouth.
“Drink slowly, Ogata-sama. I will return to the kitchen and continue—”
“Ogata Issei! Get out here!”
A rough shout exploded from outside Nagareya, cutting O-Saki off.
Ogata lowered the bottle and frowned.
He recognized the voice.
It belonged to Itagaki, the man he had just defeated.
“It seems…” Ogata murmured, “that tonight’s disturbance is not over yet.”
He returned the daishō in his arms to his waist and strode out of the izakaya.
A large group stood before the entrance.
Their arrival transformed the quiet ground where Ogata had just fought into a far more threatening scene.
Ogata counted them roughly.
There were thirteen in all.
Itagaki and the three companions from earlier stood among them.
O-Saki and O-Fuku, drawn by the commotion, emerged one after the other.
“What do you people want?” O-Saki shouted sharply.
“Nothing complicated,” Itagaki answered darkly.
“We came to settle accounts with Ogata Issei.”
“Oh?” Ogata raised an eyebrow.
“You lost to me, so you brought an entire crowd to beat me and restore your pride?”
As he mocked them, Ogata quietly studied the group and considered how he might fight if the situation became a melee.
Until now, every serious match he had fought was a direct duel.
He had never faced multiple opponents simultaneously and possessed no relevant experience.
Before he could devise a proper strategy, a cold, emotionless male voice came from behind Itagaki.
“We did come to settle accounts with you.
“However, we are honorable samurai. We will not resort to the contemptible method of attacking you as a group.”
At those words, Itagaki moved aside, revealing the young man who had stood behind him all along.
The instant Ogata saw the youth’s compact frame—only slightly above 160 centimeters by modern measurements—his pupils contracted.
He recognized him.
In the previous year’s Shrine Exhibition Match, he had defeated Mikami with a single technique and inflicted tremendous humiliation upon everyone in the Sakakibara school.
Once again, Ogata marveled at the strange workings of fate.
He and Makino had discussed the Ishikawa Dojo and Tōyama earlier that day.
That evening, Ogata fought one Ishikawa disciple—and now Tōyama himself appeared.
Tōyama looked short to Ogata, though his height was average for a young man of the era.
What he lacked in height, he made up for in build.
Even beneath his loose kimono, Ogata could sense the hard muscles covering his body.
Tōyama rested his left hand casually upon the saya at his hip and approached at an unhurried pace.
“Itagaki already told me what happened.
“Whatever else may be said, he is a disciple of the Ishikawa Dojo and my kōhai. As his senpai, I cannot remain silent after someone strikes him.”
“Hey!” O-Saki interrupted angrily.
“Are you completely unreasonable? Your junior was the one at fault!”
“I do not care,” Tōyama replied without hesitation.
“I need only know that someone beat my kōhai.
“Ogata Issei, although many of us came here, no one will surround and attack you.
We do not use such dishonorable methods.a
“I alone will settle the matter with the man who struck my junior.
“Fight me, Ogata Issei.”
Without waiting for an answer, Tōyama pulled a tasuki from his waist.
Ogata retrieved the tasuki he had only recently put away and began tying back his sleeves once more.
Tōyama had made the choice for him: whether Ogata desired another duel or not, the night would not end peacefully until their swords had spoken.
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