821 What is a ronin? (1/2)

Ro…nin?

Koutarou had a confused expression as this was the first time he had ever heard such a word.

”What is a ronin?”

”You can understand it as a wandering swordsman,” Seiji explained while wiping away the blood at his mouth.

”Oh…” Koutarou glanced over at Seiji's longsword. ”A samurai… is that right?”

”It's fine if that's how you look at it.”

”Samurai-sama… why were you collapsed here?”

”Because I was fatigued and injured.”

”Injuries are no good… Should I take you to an apothecary?”

”No need.” Seiji paused for a moment. ”Could you please tell me more about the town?'

”About the town?”

”Information about the town, such as how many people live there, who's in charge, how long this town has been around for, and so on.”

Why would this person want to know such things? Koutarou was rather confused.

This samurai named ”Harano” was truly strange in every way.

Although he was really handsome, his clothes were strange, and his words were also strange. Everything about him was strange… would it really be alright to travel together with such a person?

As a low-born coal seller, Koutarou had never spoken to a samurai before.

In his mind, samurai were authoritative upper-class individuals. One would have to be very careful when even approaching them. You might come to a pitiful end if you accidentally enraged a samurai. That was why samurai were to be respected from afar.

But even though Koutarou should have been nervous when talking to a samurai, this samurai was just far too strange. Koutarou was confused to the point of forgetting about his nervousness.

But, the foundational reason was probably because Harano seemed so friendly and warm.

Although he had a sword and claimed to be a samurai, he seemed quite different from the samurai in town… this was something else strange about him.

While Koutarou kept commenting about Seiji in his mind, Seiji was also observing Koutarou.

There was no mistaking it. Koutarou was a spiritual creature.

This ”coal seller” named ”Koutarou” was no human at all. Seiji could tell that he was a spiritual creature!

A spiritual creature that could talk and had his own will, believing himself to be human… And, apparently, there was even a town here with many similar ”people”! Seiji was truly astonished about this, although he didn't allow it to show on his face.

He felt like he had transmigrated yet again. This was deep within the Realm of Cherry Blossoms, close to the Evil Goddess's personal domain. Why were things here like this!?

Seiji didn't understand.

Kazuko was no longer with him. They had gotten separated from each other. He could only hope that she was alright.

Seiji tried to use a spell to contact her, but failed.

Seiji stopped himself from thinking along these lines.

If something bad happened to Kazuko, then he would load. But until he found out, he would first stay here to learn more about what was going on here.

...

Seiji didn't encounter a single other ”person” on the mountain path towards the town.

Only when they reached the town did Seiji see other ”people”. As he expected, they were all actually spiritual creatures, just like Koutarou.

As for the entire town and all the buildings, they were the same as Koutarou's clothes, basket, and coal. Everything was spiritual, not physical.

This was a completely spiritual town filled with only spiritual creatures!

According to Koutarou, he had no idea how many people lived in this town, or how long this town's history was. The samurai were in charge of this town.

Apart from this town, Koutarou didn't know of any other towns. He had never met a single other person from another town before. Neither had he even heard of such a person. Nor had he ever heard of anyone leaving this town.