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Why did this guy need to die? This guy clearly didn't want to talk about this, so it seemed there was no choice but to fight. I kept my eyes on his spear, wondering how I should end up blocking or dodging, but suddenly he leaned closer to the ground, and before I knew it he threw dirt right in my face. My hand came up to block it, but I lost my vision of the guy. I felt an impact hit my stomach, and I lost my air, sending me flying back onto the ground as I coughed and tried to catch my breath.

"Ugh... does everyone fight dirty in this place?" I groaned, slowly getting up to my feet, looking at the guy. I guess I should be lucky he didn't stab at me, but he was probably hoping to take me out in that one attack. I wasn't his target, after all.

Gritting my teeth, I charged forward at the man, swinging my sword in a horizontal arc at him from his left. If by some stroke of luck I did hit him, it wouldn't cleave him in two, due to my sword being reverse-bladed.

I heard shouting suddenly, turning around to see a man on a horse with his spear at the ready, coming at someone. I had to guess this merchant was Hideaki, as the guy began to panic even more. He was defenseless, and likely about to die. Even though I despised battle, I quickly drew my sakabato, and as this mysterious rider's spear came for the merchant, my blade would come forward and upwards, attempting to deflect the man's spear and save this man's life. As the guy was on horseback, he'd likely have missed his mark and it'd allow a bit of distance between us. I quickly jumped to the ground, blade at the ready.

"You should hide.." I said to the scared guy, Hideaki. I would look back towards the guy on the horse, scared out of my mind as my stupid actions were probably going to get me killed.

"Why are you after this man? He's stranded and in need of help!"

While it hadn't been long since I left home, I figured that while I journeyed in the immediate area I may as well pay a visit to my homeland now and then. It would be nice to see it one more time before I left for who knows how long.

I need to pick up some more supplies anyway... I left in too much of a hurry...

As I traveled on my way, I noticed something in the road, what looked like a broken carriage. It seemed one of the wheels was busted... very busted, and the guy who was riding it seemed to be all panicky. I walked up to him, trying to see if he was okay. And upon my offer to help him, he accepted quickly, it seemed he badly wanted to get this fixed so he could get out of there.

"Um... sir, if you could just be a bit more calm I think I could help you better." I said, but the guy didn't really seem to pay it much mind, he was looking around his things frantically for a new wheel, or something. I wasn't sure. I sighed and began to look among the things in the back, hoping to find something of use.

From my own brother...

"ARROWS!!!"

One of the men under my command shouted aloud, and my unit quickly ducked behind the wooden scaffolding to take cover. Hearing the loud thud of the arrows hitting the other side, we sat there as the men looked to me for a plan. "My lord, what do we do? We're heavily outnumbered here!"

"First off, stop with that lord business." I said, holding my hand up to the guy. It just felt really weird. I was but a lowly kid without any status to my name. So what if this was a training exercise? Regardless, I picked up a rock and brought it to the ground in front of us all.

"Let's see..." I wondered aloud. There were at least double the men on the opposing side. Their arrow rain made a forward charge suicidal, which indicated we needed an alternate strategy. I began to draw on the ground with the rock. "This is our position." I marked a spot on the ground to indicate our encampment. "And this is the enemy." I drew a spot further away to show their position. I continued to draw other noteworthy areas in the area, such as the river on one side and the forest on the other.

"I'm going to need four of you to take up a bow. Two of you will cross the river, it's shallow, and camp there out of sight. Two of you will sneak over into the forest, also camping out of sight. You two will align parallel to each other with the enemy in between you. On my signal, you will begin to fire arrows as quickly as you can at them. Make them believe that they're being attacked by a larger force. Once they stop firing arrows at our camp, the rest of us will charge in. From there, we'll take them out."

The men's faces lit up, seeming so amazed by such a simple plan. It wasn't much, but there was little I could think of with such few numbers, nor did I have the time to construct a more elaborate plan. "I promise you, this will work." The confidence of a strategist. Even with a plan that seemed hopeless, a bit of confidence could take the men a long way. I had faith that these men could surprise me.

The men departed, using the cover and the dimming light to their advantage. We waited for some time, arrows thudding at the wood behind us now and then. Patience was the most important factor, and the men here had to stay as calm as possible. A few of the remaining men gripped their bows, anxious to return the fire, but I held my hand up every time one of them wanted to move. "Not yet." I looked over towards the points I specified for the men, waiting for them to appear...

Soon enough, I spotted movement briefly. The men were in position on both ends, and I grabbed a bow, readying an arrow. I aimed it at the enemy encampment, firing it. This arrow letting loose was the signal, and my men on either side began to fire arrows as swiftly as they could from either side. I heard shouts from the enemy's side soon enough, and with that, the men and myself emerged from the cover.

"And now, men, to victory!" I drew my sword and together, we all began to run towards the enemy. A few of the men were firing arrows from behind me towards the camp as well to cause further confusion in the enemy ranks. Soon enough, we were among them, and steel clashed against steel. Our men from the sides had run in as well, and our initial rush allowed us to take out a good share of men, putting the odds more than in our favor. Two of them rushed at me, and pulling out my second sword, I blocked both of their blows as two of my other men came in and slashed at them, downing them quickly. I quickly dashed forward and struck down two others behind them. The remaining enemies fell to their knees and surrendered. The enemies who we felled were on the ground groaning in men, and I smiled at my men. They remembered to use the blunt sides of their weapons for this exercise as I did.

"Good job, men! We are victorious this day!" I raised my weapon as the men cheered. "Good job, lord strategist!" was only one of many shouts I heard, but I was satisfied with the results overall. Battle wasn't so bad, so long as no one died.

"Thanks, kid! You're being a huge help!"

"No problem, sir."

I bowed my head as I handed over the rope that one of the villagers had asked for. He seemed to need it as leverage to hoist one of the walls of one of the village huts up. I allowed him to set things up as I made my way around the village, looking for someone else who needed aid. I witnessed a little girl attempting to use the well, and quickly went to her side, grabbing the rope she was struggling to pull. Carefully, I pulled on the rope, allowing the girl to rest as I pulled the wooden bucket from the well, filled to the brim with water. The girl pointed to a hut where her mother awaited, and I nodded at her as I followed behind her, carrying the bucket of water in my hand. I smiled at the woman as I handed her the water, and she thanked me before hurrying off towards another part of the village.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I looked around. I had been at this for a couple of hours, though most of the men wouldn't let me do much of the heavier work once they got a look at me, despite my protests. With a shrug, I walked down the village, trying to see where I could next help. I soon spotted a man who was struggling to move some lumber, and I ran up to him. "Hey, need some help with that?" The guy looked at me, not too sure of me at first, but must've figured it'd be faster with my help. He merely motioned with his head over the the lumber lying on the ground, and without any delay, I bent down to pick it up, hoisting it over my shoulder. He seemed impressed that I went for the entire remainder of it, and admittingly it was pretty heavy, but I assured him that I had no issue with it and merely followed him.

The man explained that the lumber would be used as scaffolding for a new residence. Their village's population was slowly growing, and they needed new lodging. It didn't help that as of late, the village was becoming more popular amongst travelers like myself. It seemed as though I wasn't the only one with the idea of traveling the country, but instead I was one of many. The very idea of it, at the least, made me feel less alone. And the people who I met on my journey were generally really kind to me, which made the experience all the more worth it.

Reaching our destination, I set the lumber down carefully in a pile. From there, I proceeded to help the villagers with setting them up in a square as the foundation for which they could build upon. It took myself and one other villager to line up each piece of wood correctly, but in time we had things set up. From there, using the rope I brought to the villages earlier, it was attached to a makeshift wall, albeit a heavy one. A couple of villagers were struggling to pull the wall up, and quickly I ran up behind them and grabbed the rope as well. Together, after much heaving and counting to three, we manage to pull the wall up against the building, holding it place while other villagers began to bind it to the foundation. It was heavy, and took a lot of strength to keep it up, but we managed to hold out in time. Doing this two more times for two of the other walls, the villagers told me that the front would be made differently due to needing an entrance, telling me I could go rest and get some water. I bowed, obliging to their kindness, and made my way over to the woman who took the bucket from me prior.

I was invited into their home, the little girl happily bringing me a cup filled with water, which I drank thirstily. Feeling that cool water quell my dry throat, I felt a lot better. "It amazes me how the people of this village manage to do this so much." I said to the woman, which she gave a small smile in response. "The men of this village are all so hard working. It's needed if we want to continue to thrive in these times." I merely nodded in response to her statement, looking down at my cup. Times were getting harder indeed, especially with threat of a war on the horizon.

I said my thanks for the drink, and the woman offered me their spare room to stay in tonight. I accepted their kind offer graciously, running outside to help with whatever else I had to do. A few villagers pulled me aside to help with the fishing down by the river rather quickly, so I hurried along with them. I stood in the river with them, reaching down and grabbing fish quickly, where we placed them in buckets afterwards. A few of the fish eluded my grasp, but all in all I caught a fair amount. We managed to haul in a few buckets, the village was going to feast nicely tonight.

Returning home, the construction of the new hut was nearly finished. The villagers decided to celebrate after all of our hard work today. And as nightfall was coming, a great fire rose in the middle of town, where the villagers were cooking the fish and laughing and spreading joy amongst each other. Getting to eat with them and share these moments with them made me realize the beauties of life in the small moments. And as the festivities began to die down, I soon found myself returning to the woman's house from earlier. Laying down in their spare room, I fell to sleep rather quickly, exhausted from all of the work I had put in today.

I was relieved that he spared the man, but the sight of these bodies... it disgusted me. We weren't even on a battlefield, and all these innocent people who had to witness this...

"A sword shouldn't be used as a tool to kill... a sword should fight for justice, a blade to protect those who need it!"

I looked down at my own swords, unstained though they were, I felt like I was just as bad for not being able to stop him. I couldn't control my hands shaking. I wanted to lash out at this guy for this, but it wouldn't make me any better than he was if I cut him down. Anger was the enemy, I had to keep calm.

"Everyone should get a second chance to redeem themselves... but you just took it away without a thought..."

I looked over at the man who was struggling to get the bodies of his friends. The look of despair on his face, and the life that was ruined. Maybe it was his fault for this, but this was going too far.

I blocked another slash coming my way, struggling a bit to hold the guy back. Drunk as they were, they were still mostly bigger than I was. All I had going for me was being coherent with my actions, but in a direct strength battle, I stood no chance as I was. Grunting, I pulled away one of my swords from the deadlock, slightly weakening me, but I used the blunt edge of that to strike at the guy's knee. This caused him to buckle, and I quickly kicked at his face to incapacitate him. My swords definitely weren't as easy to use when I held them reversed, but I didn't want to risk killing anybody.

Next thing I knew, I felt myself being lifted from the ground. The stranger had picked me up and THREW ME at some of the guys. I landed on the ground on top of them in a daze, noticing all but one had been knocked out. He quickly pushed me off of him, throwing me to the ground and advanced upon me with his sword. Slashing down at me, I blocked it with both of my weapons, but in my downed position, there wasn't much I could do but attempt to hold him off.

"Argh... using me as a weapon... pretty low..." I grunted, speaking pretty angrily to the stranger who threw me.

With my journey only just begun, I had no idea where to even start. I had no clear plan, no destination in mind. I was simply a wanderer, and part of me was regretting leaving my home behind. Yet in the span of a single day, I had run into many types of people on the roads. Farmers, merchants, soldiers, families and children. It was my first look at life outside the walls of my clan's abode. I realized that I had much to learn about this world, that thought alone kept me going. There was curiosity to be sated.

Soon, my wandering would bring me to a small village. Desperate for a drink of water, I stumbled in looking for the nearest inn, or perhaps a small monastery. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a lot of the people were crowding in one area, leaving the rest of the streets open. While this left their food stands unoccupied, I didn't grab anything as I didn't want to steal, and instead proceeded towards the crowd to see what all the fuss was about. Shoving my way through the people as I tried to get a better look, I saw a woman in the center, along with a man carrying a sword at his side. He seemed to be harassing the woman.

"I told you to pour me another drink!" He screamed at her, pulling her closer to him. She was struggling to get away, and he seemed to be attempting to pull her clothes off. He was clearly drunk. Without even thinking, I stepped into the arena and grabbed the man by the shoulders, pulling him back and throwing him to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" I said, not realizing that I had just really pissed the guy off. He got up to his feet and pulled his sword out on me, and I took a step back. "You little punk, I'll slice you open!" He charged at me, and I stepped to the side to avoid his strike, bringing my sword's hilt up to strike him in the stomach before punching him in the face, sending him to the ground again. I made sure not to pull my sword from its sheathe, but rather attempt to subdue the guy without drawing any blood. It made my hand sting a little though.

As the man grumbled on the ground, I went to the woman's side, "Are you hurt?" She merely shook her head, a bit shaken up. I sighed in relief, hoping the man would just stay down.