[You left the brilliant fireworks of Edo and stepped into a world of chaos.]
[Having formally entered the chaotic world, since you have no destination for the time being, you have become a Ronin swordsman.]
[Life and death, pleasure and indulgence…
During your journey, you realize for the first time the weight of what is recorded in history books: fields littered with corpses, where people are like ants and lives are as cheap as grass.]
Japan at the end of the shogunate was undoubtedly a world of chaos.
However, in important areas like Edo, it was like a time of prosperity.
This was only because Japan was currently implementing a policy of national isolation, making it seem as if all external conflicts had nothing to do with regions like Edo.
And although Mitsuyuki had always known this era was a chaotic one, it was only today that he finally saw it with his own eyes.
A few vertical lines of text translated in Mitsuyuki’s eyes into corpses whose blood was only half-congealed, bleached bones exposed on the wilderness, and the wails of restless souls with nowhere to go in the dark night.
Through the projected memories, he was immersed in it and saw it with his own eyes.
[You witness everything before you, your mind trembling.
You walk for a long time, finally arriving at a relatively remote village and stopping your footsteps.]
[Because the village elder saw you carrying a Katana, he knelt before you, entrusting you with the hope that you could go and eliminate the mountain bandits to rescue the kidnapped villagers.]
[The village is poor and cannot offer more money; otherwise, they wouldn’t have sought you out—someone who looks young and inexperienced—with a glimmer of hope.
To this, you choose…]
[A: Accept the invitation, B: Rob the villagers, C: Ignore and leave, D: Personally intervene]
Seeing these options, Mitsuyuki didn’t hesitate for long and directly chose to accept the invitation.
After all, his purpose for leaving the Dojo was to earn some reputation.
And incidentally, to find his own sword intent.
Only…
will I kill people?
Thinking of what his teacher Kondo Shusuke had said, Mitsuyuki was pondering…
[You accepted the villagers’ invitation, and with the thought that you must never sit idly by when something happens, you chose to take the initiative and directly infiltrated the bandit den that night.]
[Inside, you heard the bandits’ triumphant laughter and the cries of the kidnapped women.
In the darkness of the night, you wiped out this group of bandits.]
[You killed people.
This was your first time killing, but you felt neither excitement nor physical discomfort; everything felt so natural.]
…Huh?
Mitsuyuki was stunned.
It…
it’s settled just like that?
Subconsciously, Mitsuyuki placed his hand on the text.
Immediately, the projected memories flowed into Mitsuyuki’s mind.
He saw the scenes in the bandit stronghold where this group of bandits was wantonly raping and killing kidnapped women, drinking, and then the images of himself swinging his sword to kill them.
So Mitsuyuki understood why the text description was so effortless.
Because they were too slow…
Even if these bandits were desperate criminals, and even if it was Mitsuyuki’s first time killing, the way they held and swung their blades was simply too slow for this projection of Watanabe Mitsuyuki.
At the moment they swung their blades, he even had a hundred ways to kill them.
[You rescued the villagers but didn’t take a single cent, even returning all the money collected from the bandit den.]
[You have no interest in wealth; after all, your goal is reputation.]
[The surrounding villagers heard of this and tentatively sent you requests, all of which you accepted.]
[You brandished the sword in your hand, and in a very short time, you resolved the chaos in the surrounding areas, making enemies flee in terror at the mere mention of your presence.]
[Furthermore, not only do you not take a single cent, but you also never lay a hand on women…
Hmph, they are merely things that hinder you from drawing your sword; you disdain them!]
[Your name gradually began to spread among the villagers.]
Feeling the memories brought by the projection, Mitsuyuki couldn’t help but slowly exhale a breath of turbid air, feeling refreshed in both body and mind.
Although this was merely a simulation, the memories from the projection often made Mitsuyuki forget this fact, as if he had truly become Watanabe Mitsuyuki, walking through this era.
As he traveled along this path, witnessing the desolation of the era—those suffering from various disasters, those who had lost their homes or their loved ones—Mitsuyuki felt a sense of oppression and frustration, even if he wasn’t some saintly figure.
This was also the reason why, on that day when Mitsuyuki first swung his sword, he felt no hesitation in taking the lives of those bandits.
Even a lost sword without sword intent was more than enough to kill them.
[But your actions undoubtedly interfered with the profits of certain people.]
[The powerful elites in the small city nearest to these villages began to exert pressure on you, and some even secretly sent assassins to kill you!]
Mitsuyuki, his hand resting on the text, couldn’t help but frown slightly.
The scene around him changed once again, becoming filled with ambushes and lurking dangers.
Fortunately, Mitsuyuki possessed the Minds Eye (Fake) talent.
Thus, even though he initially suffered some injuries due to lack of experience—even gaining a scar on his face—he eventually managed to turn every danger into safety.
“These guys!” Feeling the memories transmitted from the projection, Mitsuyuki naturally felt a surge of empathetic anger.
[And just then, members of your clan arrived after hearing the news, hoping you would return to the family.
You refused, so they tried to use their swords to bring you back.
Many came, but not one was your match.]
[Finally, an elderly swordmaster from the clan came before you.
He talked with you all night, gauged your current strength, and upon learning that you were searching for your own sword intent, he gladly chose to support you.]
[That very night, the Old Swordmaster even led you and other clan members directly into the city to kill those elites who held grievances against you.]
[From then on, no one could stop the sword you swung.]
[Your sword and your deeds became famous throughout Edo!]
Ah, this…
Placing his hand on the text and seeing those elites who had tripped him up actually die at his hands just like that, Mitsuyuki was stunned for a moment.
Then, he couldn’t help but marvel in his heart—this is the benefit of having a background!
[As time passed, after three years, your reputation grew louder and the surrounding areas became more peaceful.
Not only that, but hearing of your deeds, more and more people came to follow you, gradually forming a small faction.]
[In this chaotic world, you relied on your own strength to create a Peach Blossom Spring!]
[However, as someone seeking to leave behind deeds to sublimate into a Heroic Spirit, you naturally developed the thought of leaving.]
[Just at this moment, Okita Souji sent you a letter, and you learned that a Great Yokai seemed to have appeared in Kyoto.]
[You had never seen a Yokai, so you became interested and decided to go.]
In the late era of modern mystery, demons and monsters had almost completely vanished from the world.
Therefore, even if it might be fake, Mitsuyuki naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity to leave behind a legend of slaying a Yokai.
[When you departed, you intended to leave quietly, but you didn’t expect to still alert others.
Those around you tried to dissuade you to no avail, so they helplessly spread the news, hoping someone could make you stay.]
[But your mind was made up; how could others sway you?]
[On the day you left, you received the greatest tribute of your life…
Everyone in the city stopped what they were doing that day to see you off.]
[They were not praying for you to stay; they were simply using this gesture to express their gratitude to you.]
[And at the end of this road, you saw many familiar faces.
They were all people who had received your kindness and been saved by you over the past two years.]
[Today, they knelt by the roadside, simply to see their lord off on his long journey.]
Mitsuyuki was stunned.
He could clearly feel the shock within the soul of the projection at this very moment!
As the memories from the projection in the text were transmitted, Mitsuyuki saw how the people of that small city saw him off.
And among them, how many familiar faces there were.
At this moment, a strange emotion began to brew in Mitsuyuki’s heart.
Man is not a plant; who can remain emotionless?
Even if everything Mitsuyuki had done until now was fundamentally for himself—
For his reputation, to leave a mark in history so he could be recorded by the Heroic Spirit Training Manual and attain the status of a Heroic Spirit—
In the face of this scene,
How could Mitsuyuki’s heart not be touched!
“…Fine.”
And so, Mitsuyuki smiled.
The moment he stepped out of the city gates, the sword aura that had grown increasingly terrifying and difficult to suppress over the past two years due to the killing, tinged with the scent of blood,
Dissipated today.
“Let it be this life.”
Mitsuyuki smiled and said, “My sword…
shall be swung for this.”