After preparing supplies and gathering what little money they had, the three put on their protective gear and got ready to head toward the heart of the Empire—the Capital.
"Tatsumi! So, how do you feel? Excited yet?"
Ieyasu, now wearing armguards, sat down beside Tatsumi and asked.
"Excited?"
"Of course! I heard the Capital is incredibly grand! There are dozens of large cities around it, and surrounding the Capital is a massive wall stretching for thousands of miles! Just imagine the enormous trading ships sailing down its canals—my dream!"
His eyes sparkled as he spoke.
Their remote Village didn't even have a big river—just a small stream barely enough for crops and drinking water.
No one here had ever seen a ship.
Then Ieyasu proudly picked up a small model boat from the table—it was one Tatsumi had made for him.
"One day, I, Lord Ieyasu, will ride a ship a thousand, no, ten thousand times bigger than this!"
"Then work hard..."
Tatsumi glanced at him, not bothering to shatter his dream.
If the Empire was anything like the one from his memory, that dream was impossible.
"Sorry to keep you waiting..."
Creak—
The door opened, and Sayo stepped out, now dressed for travel. The only thing unchanged was the little flower hairpin in her hair.
"What were you two talking about? You look so cheerful."
Hearing her question, Ieyasu grinned as a mischievous idea popped into his head.
"Of course, we were talking about the beautiful ladies in the Capital!"
Smack! Smack!
Ieyasu puffed up his chest, proudly declaring that the first thing he'd do in the Capital was check if the women there were really as stunning as the merchants said.
"Still on that nonsense? Die, idiot!"
Bam!
"Ugh!!"
Despite her slender frame, Sayo sent Ieyasu flying with a single punch.
He clutched his red cheek, lying on the ground in pain—but smiling.
After all, he didn't feel right unless he got punched at least once a day.
"Seeing you three get along like this puts my mind at ease..."
"Who's getting along with him?! ×2"
Tatsumi smiled at their bickering, slung on his backpack, adjusted his gear, and called out to them.
"Let's move. Time to see the 'famous' Capital for ourselves."
---
The three walked down the snowy path, the village chief slowly accompanying them.
The thick forest was covered in snow, turning it into a frozen wonderland.
"This is as far as I'll go, Chief."
"Oh, oh..."
The old man froze for a moment, then quickly nodded, his eyes soft with emotion as he looked at the three he had raised.
"You've trained together since childhood. Use the skills you've honed in this harsh land to seize your future."
Sayo nodded, her long black hair brushing lightly against her cloak.
"Don't worry, we'll make the village prosper again!"
"Leave it to us! In ten years, I, Lord Ieyasu, will be famous across the land!"
"And as long as the three of us make a name for ourselves, no one in the village will ever starve again!"
Ieyasu's face was full of excitement. Clearly, this journey filled him with hope for the future.
"Yeah right, you'll probably get yourself executed for breaking the rules first…"
Hearing Sayo's sarcasm, Ieyasu's temper flared.
"Sayo, you damn woman! Are you actually hoping for Lord Ieyasu's death?!"
Sayo shrugged at the boy, who looked like an angry groundhog.
"I'm just saying it's a possibility. If you had even a bit of self-awareness, you'd fix your two biggest flaws—oversleeping and getting lost."
"You little—!"
As the two bickered loudly, the village chief noticed Tatsumi standing quietly nearby, smiling as he watched them.
"Tatsumi…"
"Hmm? What is it, Chief?"
The old man reached into his robe and took out a small clay figurine.
"Take this with you. I believe the gods will surely watch over you three…"
Accepting the statue, Tatsumi couldn't help but mutter as he looked at the crude craftsmanship.
"Chief, your sense of aesthetics is really awful… What kind of god looks this ugly…"
The corner of the chief's mouth twitched as he stared at the brown-haired boy, wondering for a moment if he was entering his rebellious phase.
"Regardless, keep it with you. Everyone in the village will be praying for your safety."
"Yeah, I know, Chief."
Tatsumi tucked the statue inside his clothes and turned to the other two.
"Let's go."
"You two better listen to Tatsumi!"
"I know already!"
"Mm!"
Sayo and Ieyasu nodded at the kind old man.
"Then… goodbye, Chief!"
After waving farewell, the three of them set off toward the Capital, beginning their perilous journey.
---
Deep in the forest, just as they were about to leave the mountains behind, Tatsumi told Sayo to scout the surroundings.
The girl leapt up lightly, raised her monocular to her eye, and looked ahead.
"Just as I thought… another group of bandits. And there are corpses underground—looks like they were just killed."
From the treetop, the sharp-eyed black-haired girl spoke softly to the two below.
At the word "bandits," Ieyasu nearly groaned out loud.
They'd been traveling for several days and had already run into bandits multiple times. The first encounter had been an ambush, and since then, they had deliberately slowed their pace to avoid trouble.
But no matter what, these bandits kept popping up like vermin—one nest after another.
"There are way too many bandits these days… I, Lord Ieyasu, came out here to make a name for myself, not to exterminate bandits…"
Thump!
Sayo dropped down from the tree, landing hard enough to compact the snow beneath her feet.
"What should we do, Tatsumi?"
She looked to him, waiting for his decision.
"Seems like business isn't going well for them… but we're not exactly rich ourselves."
He sighed softly, then nodded. It looked like they would have to deal with this group too.
In the past, he had spared some bandits, but this group wasn't the same.
Once you start killing, it's hard to stop.
Once bandits get a taste for easy money, they start targeting commoners, merchants, even officials.
As the Whale Shark King once said:
Human desire is like a boulder rolling down a mountain—once it starts, it never stops.