The First Encounter

The next morning...

Yūto was getting ready to go somewhere.

Haruka called out to him.

"Yūto, are you in a hurry?"

"No."

"Actually, I want to ask you for a favor. Could you deliver this order to someone's house?"

Haruka handed him a box.

"What's this?" Yūto asked.

"It's a cake order. Please deliver it for me, Yūto."

Yūto nodded.

"Alright."

Suddenly, slow and unsteady footsteps could be heard from behind.

"The people you defeated last night were members of the Seiryū-kai Clan. They're not ordinary people," Shiro said.

Yūto turned toward him.

"Thanks for the information, Auntie. I'm leaving."

Haruka nodded.

Yūto left to search for information about "The Covenant."

But before that, he delivered the cake order.

When he arrived at the address, Yūto saw a large house in front of him.

"It's huge," Yūto muttered.

"Excuse me," Yūto called out.

A few moments later...

Click!

Creak...

The gate opened.

A girl around his age appeared and looked at Yūto.

"Who are you looking for?"

"I came to deliver this package."

"Who is it for?"

"It's for Mr. Masanori Takeda."

"Oh. That's my grandfather. Has it been paid for?"

"Not yet."

"Wait a moment. I'll get the money."

A few moments later, the girl returned.

"I'm sorry. It seems my grandfather has gone out. How about you come back later?"

She smiled slightly.

"I'm Aoi Mizuno. What's your name?"

"Yūto."

Yūto turned away.

"I'll come back later."

Yūto walked toward the Kozunomori area.

Along the way, he saw several dojos.

He stopped and looked at one of them.

'Kokuryū-gumi Dojo'.

An old man approached Yūto.

"Young Man, are you interested in learning kenjutsu?"

"No."

"Are you looking for someone? Maybe I know them."

"Hmm... "The Think". Actually, that's only a nickname. I don't know his real name."

""The Think"? Hmm... I don't think I've ever heard that name before."

"What about "The Covenant"? Do you know anything about it?"

""The Covenant"? Ah... I've heard of it. It's an organization made up of several dojo alliances."

Yūto nodded.

"Do you know where their hideout is?"

The old man stopped for a moment and thought.

"As far as I know, there's a major dojo that might know about "The Covenant". Its name is Seiryū-kai."

"Thank you for the information, Old Man."

Yūto turned around and left.

"Seiryū-kai? So it was them," Yūto muttered.

As Yūto walked while lost in thought, he accidentally bumped into someone in front of him.

Thump!

One of the men fell to the ground.

Thud!

"I'm sorry," Yūto said, bowing.

"Brother, are you alright?" asked the man standing beside him as he tried to find his brother's fallen cane.

"I'm fine."

Yūto realized that both men were blind.

"It's alright, Young Man. We apologize too. We can't see," the older brother said.

Yūto helped him stand.

"Brother, you shouldn't walk too fast," the younger brother said.

"By the way, could you help us cross the road?" the older brother asked.

"Of course."

After they reached the other side of the road...

"Thank you. May I know your name?" the older brother asked.

"My name is Yūto."

"Yūto... Hmm... My name is Masanobu Kurogane. And this is my younger brother, Nobuyuki Kurogane."

"I'll be going now."

Yūto quickly left them.

"Brother, did you sense it?" Nobuyuki asked.

"His footsteps were almost completely silent. That young man isn't an ordinary person," Masanobu said.

"Indeed. In all these years since we lost our sight, I've never met anyone like him. His footsteps were like "The Dragon Slayer"'s."

Masanobu smiled slightly.

"Indeed. If he joined "The Covenant", he could become one of their high-ranking commanders."

After returning to Masanori Takeda's house, Yūto felt that something was wrong.

The gate was open.

The area was completely silent.

Yūto opened the gate and entered the yard.

Then, he saw something unexpected.

A group of samurai wearing blue outfits were tying up the people inside the house and torturing some of them, including Aoi Mizuno, the girl he'd met earlier.

Yūto immediately hid behind the trees.

"Where's Masanori Takeda?!" one of the samurai shouted.

Yūto narrowed his eyes when he saw one of them.

"He's the samurai who attacked Shiro last night," Yūto muttered.