The Empire’s supply troops sighed in relief when they realized the sudden group approaching them were just beggars.
“What? They’re just beggars.”
“Please give us some food.”
“We’re starving.”
The Empire soldiers brandished their weapons, threatening the ragged figures.
“Get lost. We’re the Empire’s army. If you come any closer, we won’t hold back.”
“Filthy beggars…”
They issued sharp warnings.
But the mysterious band of beggars didn’t back down. Inch by inch, they crept closer, rubbing their hands together in a pitiful manner.
“We’re so hungry.”
“Please save us.”
“Just a little food, please.”
As they clung on persistently, one of the Empire soldiers shoved a beggar’s hand away and slapped him hard.
“You little—”
“Ugh…”
“Leave quietly when we tell you to!”
That was the spark.
Suddenly, a beggar who had turned his head swung a knife.
The Empire soldiers were caught off guard, unable to process what was happening in an instant.
“Huh?”
At the same time, knives flashed from all around, striking the begging figures. In a flash, soldiers were spewing blood and collapsing.
“W-what’s going on?”
“Attack! The beggars are attacking!”
The ronin disguised as beggars launched into a frenzy of blade strikes.
“Give me food! I said food!”
“You think you’re so great!”
“Hehehe!”
“The sky is so blue!”
Shouting in the common tongue of the continent, the ronin swung their weapons wildly like madmen.
Their blood-smeared grins, combined with their ragged appearance, made them all the more terrifying.
“C-crazy bastards!”
“Stop them!”
Because they had approached under the guise of beggars, the ronin easily closed in for close-quarters combat.
The Empire troops were too stunned to respond effectively.
A chaotic melee broke out.
Watching it unfold, Yuri smiled with satisfaction.
“Impressive.”
“These ronin have lived a hard life.”
Standing beside Yuri, Cheongwoon nodded and stepped forward.
“I’ll fight too.”
“Good. Let’s do this together.”
Yuri and his group, who had been hiding, revealed themselves.
Suddenly, another group appeared, prompting the Empire soldiers to shout.
“More beggars! New beggars!”
Indeed.
Yuri’s group had disguised themselves as beggars to conceal their identities and fight alongside the ronin. The Empire soldiers had no idea who they really were.
They could never have guessed this was Briol’s plan.
“Let’s go, beggars!”
Yuri shouted. Behind him, Francesco, Jared, Simon, and Guiness roared to shake off their embarrassment.
“Food! Food!”
To minimize friendly casualties, Yuri targeted only the skilled Empire soldiers.
“I’ll take you on.”
“N-no…”
“Next!”
Who would have imagined that a top-tier fighter disguised as a beggar would launch a surprise attack on the supply unit?
The Empire was completely unprepared for such a scenario, allowing Yuri to cut down enemies without hesitation.
Some knights who crossed blades with Yuri glimpsed his mastery.
“N-no way…”
But they couldn’t finish their sentence.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
Yuri swiftly sliced through one’s neck.
The knight, shocked to recognize Yuri’s skill, collapsed without a word.
With the situation unfolding favorably, Yuri remained composed despite the chaos.
“Jared.”
“Yes.”
“They’re pretty good, huh?”
“They are.”
The two watched the ronin.
At first, they had doubted the ronin’s skills because of their beggar disguises.
But once the fight began, the ronin fought like seasoned veterans, cutting down Empire soldiers with ease.
They didn’t hesitate to stab vital points or roll on the ground to find openings.
Their combat was brutally practical.
“Maybe it’s only natural.”
Yuri muttered.
“These are people who abandoned their homeland to survive elsewhere. If they weren’t confident in their skills, would they have made such a choice? They don’t even speak the language well, and if they messed up, it would only get worse.”
“True…”
“They left the East because they were confident in their swordsmanship.”
Yuri’s words rang true.
This ronin group was made up of masters who believed they could survive anywhere with their blades.
But no matter how skilled, without a sect or backing, life in the East was harsh. They admired the wealth shown by the Irein Trading Company and decided to head west, hoping for a better life.
In other words, these were elite ronin who had given up and set out in search of a new world.
Jared was impressed.
“Look at their swordsmanship. Their practical skills are far better than most knights.”
Living on the edge of the blade, the ronin had mastered all sorts of strange and deadly techniques. They targeted their enemies’ vulnerabilities in unexpected ways, sometimes working in pairs to stab foes in the back.
Because of this, even knights superior to them sometimes lost their lives suddenly.
“We should put out a notice in the East. We need to drain their manpower.”
“Agreed.”
“Look at them fighting while throwing dirt around. True swordsmen.”
After a prolonged skirmish, the Empire troops realized the difficulty of the situation and began to retreat.
Cheongwoon, who was busy cutting down enemies, asked Yuri.
“Shall we pursue?”
“No!”
Yuri wasn’t willing to take the risk. Their goal was to disrupt supplies, keep the enemy on edge, and steadily break their morale.
“Do not pursue! Drive them off! Only seize the supplies!”
At Yuri’s command, a few ronin who understood some of the continental language looked at Cheongwoon.
They spoke quietly in Eastern tongue.
[Seize? Cheongwoon, what does that mean?]
[It means to take by force.]
[Oh! Like looting?]
[Exactly.]
[I like this young continental guy!]
[He’s our employer. Watch your words.]
[So what?]
[Haven’t you seen his skill? He’s top-tier. But he might get hurt.]
[Got it, got it. So it’s looting, right?]
[Looting.]
[Looting!]
Soon, the ronin began shouting a short Eastern phrase.
“Jierue!”
“Jierue!”
“Jierue!”
It sounded like a word, and the ronin seemed thrilled as they chanted it.
Yuri asked Cheongwoon.
“What are they shouting now?”
“Umm…”
He answered shyly.
“It means ‘looting.’”
“So they’re shouting ‘Loot! Loot!’?”
“Yes.”
“Quite rough characters.”
Their demeanor made it easy to imagine what kind of lives they had led in the East.
Yuri couldn’t help but lament the current state of the East, where such skilled fighters had to leave home just to survive.
“We should open a recruitment office in the East. Bring in more like them.”
“Sounds like a good idea…”
The ronin’s morale soared. The Empire soldiers, terrified by the strange language and fierce attacks, fled.
The tide had completely turned.
“Retreat!”
“Fall back!”
Yuri slashed at the backs of the fleeing enemies, killing as many as he could, then stopped the pursuit once they were far away and looked back.
The ronin swarmed the supply wagons, causing chaos.
Yuri sighed.
“Cheongwoon. Stop them all.”
“Yes.”
Cheongwoon replied apologetically and shouted orders in Eastern tongue.
But the ronin, blinded by greed for the supplies, ignored him.
As Cheongwoon tried to shout louder, Yuri grabbed his shoulder.
“Cheongwoon. Do any of them have family or close friends inside?”
“No, they don’t.”
“Are you here alone?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Yuri patted Cheongwoon’s shoulder.
Realizing what Yuri intended, Cheongwoon swallowed nervously and stepped back.
Yuri approached the ronin.
Some of the more perceptive ones sensed the change in atmosphere and stepped back, but others clutched supplies greedily.
Yuri tapped one on the back.
“Hey, hey. Stop.”
But the ronin ignored him, muttering a short curse and brushing off Yuri’s hand.
Yuri immediately swung his sword down.
The ronin’s body was sliced in two.
He died instantly, unable to scream, and only a few nearby stopped in shock amid the chaos.
Yuri tapped another on the back.
That one also ignored him and lost his head.
After two or three more died, the ronin gradually quieted down.
Yuri gestured to Cheongwoon to translate.
“As long as you work under me, you die if you act on your own. I’ll pay your wages, but looting is forbidden until I give permission.”
The ronin nodded fearfully.
They obeyed those they could not challenge.
“We need to retreat quickly. Take mostly food and move fast. If the fleeing soldiers return with reinforcements, it’ll be trouble. Understood?”
The ronin nodded again.
“Then, begin.”
Unlike before, the ronin now watched Yuri closely and started gathering mostly food.
Yuri didn’t waste time. After collecting enough supplies, he set fire to the remaining wagons.
“Retreat!”
True to their nature, the ronin fled swiftly.
They had successfully destroyed a supply unit and retreated to their temporary base, where they recovered and distributed the food.
“Your pay will be given after this battle. Until then, hold back.”
Even though they had just slain one of their comrades, the ronin showed no sign of resentment.
In fact, when Yuri shared the food, they even thanked him politely.
“The ronin come from all sorts of backgrounds. There are commoners, genuine beggars, and those from the lowest ranks of the Hao Sect,” Cheongun explained during their conversation.
“Hao Sect?” Yuri asked.
“It’s the lowest-tier sect. Criminals gather there.”
“I see…”
From what he gathered, the Hao Sect was basically a gang of thugs from the back alleys, calling themselves a sect and helping each other out. They were skilled in trickery but their martial arts weren’t particularly advanced.
Yuri’s mind drifted to Rick, who had brought martial arts techniques from the East.
“Hmm…”
Rick had claimed the Hao Sect was a prestigious Eastern sect and even showed him martial arts manuals purchased from there.
Maybe, as Iris had said, he was just good at flattery.
“That Rick kid…”
Anyway, Yuri was able to gather a lot of information about the East from Cheongun.
“Hmm…”
Yuri subtly shared his idea with Cheongun: to import Eastern warriors and use them as mercenaries.
Cheongun nodded.
“Compensation is necessary. If there’s enough money, it’s possible.”
“Is that so?”
“Even small and medium sects don’t have money. Eastern society is unfair.”
“We have plenty of money.”
If needed, they could strike the Empire and use the spoils to pay for it.
The Empire wasn’t called the Empire for nothing—it was the wealthiest place in the world. They could recruit people from the East, attack the Empire, and then share the rich rewards.
Besides, the Empire had the “Shadowless Sword.”
“Cheongun, do you know anything about the Demonic Cult?”
“The Demonic Cult, you say?”
Cheongun’s expression stiffened slightly.
From their conversation, it was clear that martial artists despised the Demonic Cult. The prestigious sects still sent investigation teams to track down their traces.
One of the martial world’s greatest wishes was to scour the Ten-Thousand Mountains—the cult’s stronghold—and eradicate them.
If the Eastern martial artists learned that the Celestial Demon was here, it would give them plenty of motivation.
“Which sects have the worst relations with the Demonic Cult?”
“All of them. The Nine Old Sects, the Five Great Families—they all detest them.”
“I see.”
Yuri smiled wryly.
When the Shadowless Sword revealed his true identity, he never imagined things would come to this.
“Once we reclaim Bezos, let’s have a serious talk. I have something I want you to handle.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
Yuri stood up.
“Shall we eat now?”
It was about time for a meal. Yuri planned to eat just like the ronin, as he always had.
Among the ronin, some had cooking experience and were preparing the food.
“What’s on the menu today…?”
Approaching them, Yuri’s eyes widened.
Despite the harsh conditions, they had made noodles and were drenching them in sauce. The sauce was black in color.
A sweet, rich aroma teased his nose.
Yuri muttered in surprise.
“Th-this dish is…?”
Cheongun puffed out his chest proudly.
“It’s the ronin’s signature dish—Jajangmyeon.”