The boy bent down as the whip effortlessly moverd right above him as he bee-lined straight at Isan as he put effort in each step and the wind blowing harder on his face.
Isan's face whitened as the boy closed in----
His body trembled with this even being reflected on his whip.
There's nothing he can do at this point.
He should know that whip while powerful…
It's useless in this situation…
The boy took one last powerful step and reached within breathing length of Isan and with his sword, was ready to slice Isan.
There it is… his face.
The boy gripped his sword harder as he came to an abrupt stop.
Well too bad.
Don't even care if he's the Kumigara anymore.
He swung the sword at full force.
SWOOSH---
A mysterious voice cutted in right before the blade kissed Isan's cheek.
"What's going on here?!"
---KSH!
The boy's sword just a hair's breadth from Isan's Adam's apple.
"What exactly is going on here?!" The voice cutted through the tense air and was sharp as a snapped twig.
Isan sweated bullets, one bead dropped on the boy's blade and it slid down on to the ground as his eyelids tremored, barely able to look at the boy.
The boy's face twisted with wrinkles.
But he's nothing more than swine…
The real thing I should be focused on…
Is that voice…
He turned his head towards the crowd, trying to pinpoint the voice.
The crowd, past their mud caked feet and worn clothes, they murmured as only a few things were clearly audible.
"Oh he's here!" A lady shouted.
"Damn, can't we just have normal lives for once?" A man sobbed.
The boy looking confused and asks in his head.
Just who exactly is that person?
"Get out of the way, quickly now!" The same voice again shouted but this time, that specific part of the crowd parted like reeds before a storm. Some people stepping back due to fear or respect while others craned their necks to get a better look.
"Isan? What kind of problem have you gotten yourself into now?!" The source of the voice revealed itself.
An older man who's shorter than both the boy and Isan, he wore a long katagira----A sleeveless jacket looking like it could poke someone's eyes out, coupled with neatly designed trousers----The hakara.
The boy looked at the old man's trousers and then shortly after his own.
Come to think of it…Where is my hakara?
The man walked slowly, but each step gushed authority and not the same kind of backwater authority of Isan. The boy, intensified his gaze on the older man.
His dressing…The way he walks…
Just who is he?
The boy can't seem to take his eyes off of the older man.
Then out of nowhere---
---WHAM!
Isan uses his larger body to hit the boy as he drove him into the mud.
CLAMP!
Disgusting!
The boy's body and long cape were painted in brownish mud and just a hint of horse shit.
How dare he!
His face, soured.
"Hehe…"
"...Hehehehe" Isan's chuckled as it reverberated right into the boy's soul.
"No problem whatsoever here sir" He smiled as he faced the man and his posture straightened.
"Oh…Is that so?" The old man stroked his whitish beard as he walked closer.
I swear, making me covered in their shit!
Looking just like them! ---Like him!
The gossip-filled crowd murmured while looking at the boy in the mud.
They don't know that I can kill all of them and nothing will happen!
The boy swore as his hand moved around in the mud like an animal and tried to get a hold of his sword.
He just can't disrespect the order of things!
Then the rest would start doing what he's doing!
…Found it…!
He gripped the sword tightly as the mud oozed from the gaps between his fingers.
"Huh…The boy on the ground…" The old man asked as his focus shifted.
"What about him sir?" Isan scoofed as he tracked the old man with his eyes.
"Are you…Are you from the---" The old man spoke as the boy's blood heats up the more.
I'll slit his throat.
I'll show him the wrath of messing with nobles.
The wrath of the---
" ---From the Ujochi clan?"
---The Ujochi clan!
An abrupt silence fills the road—Only the slight wind blowing can be heard.
"S-Sir…"
"...Did you just say the Ujochi clan?" Isan as his voice broke with his body shuttering back a little.
The crowd all stared at the boy on the ground and Isan's face grew a horrified look.
"No I didn't say it…"
"Be acting like a big dunce Isan!" The old man violently threw his hand up into a to- and-fro motion.
A puzzled look dawned on the boy's face as he laid there in the mud and his hands trying to raise himself up.
Wait… what?
How did he…
The anger settled down in his gut as the old man leaned in closer towards the boy as he packed his eyelids closed together.
---The end of chapter 11---