After an hour's rest, Haruki and the others left the inn and walked down the street. The refugees in the corner kept their eyes on their footsteps.
Haruki looked back, then continued walking forward with his usual expression.
"Haruki, what's wrong?" Yahiko noticed Haruki's actions and asked.
Haruki shook his head, but changed direction. He led Yahiko and the others towards a small alley at the street's fork.
Yahiko looked at Haruki's profile, a hint of confusion in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
A wall blocked the end of the alley, cutting off Haruki and their path.
"Dead end, let's go another way." Yahiko said as he turned around.
Three tall, dark figures enveloped them.
Yahiko froze, his pupils moving upwards, three unfamiliar faces reflected in his eyes.
Haruki scrutinized the three people blocking their way from head to toe. The three men appeared to be in their twenties, wearing haori, with katanas at their waists and geta on their feet, looking down at Haruki and the others arrogantly. They were clearly samurai.
"Where did you four brats come from?" The samurai in the middle was the first to question them.
"Why should we tell you?" Yahiko frowned, warily staring at the three samurai in front of him.
"Hmph!"
"I advise you to be wise or something bad might happen."
As the middle samurai's words fell, the samurai on his left and right had already drawn their long swords. A flash of silver light, and the sharp sword tips were pointed at Haruki and the others.
"What do you want?" Haruki asked, looking at them.
The three samurai exchanged glances, confusion simultaneously appearing in their minds.
Would ordinary children be this calm?
However, this doubt was quickly dismissed. They were just four brats who hadn't even grown all their hair yet.
What trouble could they cause?
"You're quite sensible."
The middle samurai raised an eyebrow, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
"Hand over all the money you have on you." He ordered unceremoniously.
"And after we hand over the money?" Haruki continued to ask.
The middle samurai laughed heartily. "After you hand over the money, if you behave well, I'll sell you to a boss who isn't so fond of hitting children. If you don't listen, then don't blame us for being cruel."
The samurai's voice lowered, a fierce glint in his eyes.
As expected of the border, just as Haruki had imagined, there was no order or humanity to speak of.
"The money is on me. If you want it, come and get it." Haruki looked at them calmly.
The expressions on the three samurai's faces changed subtly.
They exchanged glances, why did these four brats feel a bit off?
"What are you afraid of?"
The middle samurai took a deep breath and glared fiercely at the samurai on both sides.
"Go get him. I don't believe we can't handle a single brat."
The two samurai on the left and right shouted, raised their swords, and charged towards Haruki. The long swords aimed at Haruki froze in mid-air.
The two samurai's pupils dilated, they stared at Haruki in disbelief. Their sword-wielding wrists were easily gripped by Haruki.
Haruki increased his strength.
"Ahhh!"
The samurai's painful shouts echoed in the alley.
Crack—
The two samurai's wrists overlapped at a strange angle. Their bones seemed about to pierce through their skin.
The katana dropped to the ground, Haruki pulled their wrists backward, and the two men fell to the ground like dead dogs, too much in pain to move.
The middle samurai looked at Haruki in shock, his feet involuntarily stepping backward. His hands, gripping the katana, trembled continuously.
How could this be?
How could a brat be so powerful?
"Ah!"
The samurai let out a roar.
Under Haruki and their gaze, he turned and fled into the distance.
Haruki: "..."
The samurai's footsteps stopped abruptly. His pupils contracted to pinpricks, trembling so much that he couldn't even hold the sword in his hand. Before his eyes, a spear formed from paper was pointed at his chest.
If he took another step forward, the spear would unhesitatingly pierce his chest.
Beside Haruki, Konan reached out, controlling the spear to force the samurai back step by step. The samurai retreated step by step, then turned and fell to his knees with a thud before Haruki and the others.
"I was wrong!"
The samurai kowtowed repeatedly, tears and snot smearing his face.
People who can survive here are indeed flexible. Haruki looked at the samurai's face with disdain.
"Hand over the money."
Haruki extended his hand towards the samurai.
He who robs others will be robbed by others.
Yahiko and Konan's lips parted slightly, looking at Haruki beside them in shock.
"Money... Right! Money!"
The samurai frantically fumbled through all the places on his body where money could be hidden.
"And them too."
Haruki glanced at the two samurai lying on the ground.
Ultimately, the samurai handed over all the money from the three of them to Haruki.
"This is all our money! We really have no money left! We were wrong! We'll never dare again! Please, sirs, be magnanimous and spare us this time!"
The three samurai knelt side by side before Haruki and the others, their eyes full of pleading.
Yahiko stared at the three samurai, his voice filled with anger. "You have hands and feet, why do you rob other people's money?"
The three samurai's crying stopped for a moment.
"We... We also have no choice..."
The samurai said in a low voice.
"You possess great power, yet you use it to bully the weak."
Yahiko accused, "Do you have any conscience? Power is meant to protect the weak, to maintain peace. If you can't even do that, you don't deserve to have power."
The samurai pouted, quietly retorting, "Then what about you?"
"We came here precisely to eliminate people like you who commit evil." Yahiko said loudly, his chest heaving violently, his pupils burning with raging flames.
Haruki looked around, mentally calculating how much hatred Yahiko had attracted.
Tonight seemed destined to be a sleepless night.
"Don't kill us! We know we were wrong!"
Hearing Yahiko's words, the three samurai's expressions immediately turned to terror.
"As long as you acknowledge your mistakes and correct them, you won't be killed." Yahiko said seriously.
Haruki glanced at him, remaining silent. Teaching by words is useless, one lesson from experience is enough.
"We will definitely change!"
"We will definitely change!"
"If we don't change, may we be struck by lightning!"
The three samurai immediately swore before Haruki and the others.
Yahiko's expression visibly softened, and he looked at Haruki. "Haruki, let them go. Everyone deserves a chance to repent."
Haruki nodded and waved his hand at the samurai.
The samurai immediately picked up their respective swords and fled.
A chance to repent, for some, is merely indulgence.