Picking Up a Musashi / Bandit Monsters Appear

So when Shirou faced the question posed to him by the coachman...

Shirou agreed, saying, "Yes, I'll come here to do my part to save the world."

However, he misunderstood that the coachman sitting next to him was a madman, so he didn't say another word, for fear of accidentally provoking him and causing him to draw his knife and hurt himself.

Shirou, holding his sword, was quite happy to have some peace and quiet. So he walked quietly for more than an hour without encountering any bandits or facing any danger.

Everyone in the caravan now felt that the oxcart convoy, laden with goods, would enter the city smoothly without any trouble.

Unbeknownst to them, a hungry, pink-haired female swordswoman wielding dual swords was crouching in the bushes ahead.

Chapter 341 I Picked Up a Musashi

The ox in front walked calmly, its ropes tied to the wooden cart carrying goods behind it, moving forward little by little, the wooden tires turning creaking.

Four or five carts were filled with wooden crates containing various goods, including daily necessities such as cotton and linen fabrics, as well as expensive silks and gemstones. They were packaged in different sizes, categorized, and placed on different carts, then tied tightly with ropes and securely fixed to the carts.

Leading the procession was a luxurious mahogany carriage with a roof for shade and rain protection; judging by its size, it could probably comfortably accommodate several adults rolling around inside. It was said to offer tea and snacks, providing the kind of convenience and comfort one would expect from a modern extended luxury car.

In addition to the coachman, the entourage also included a steward who oversaw and registered the goods.

On either side of the caravan were two burly men on horseback, each with a dirty scabbard and black stains on the hilt of their samurai swords. They seemed to be unaffiliated samurai, probably bodyguards hired by the merchant.

The caravan arrived here thanks to the escort of these two people.

At this moment, the merchant leaned out of the window and looked ahead.

"It's been so peaceful along the way. Everyone says there's fighting every day outside, and bandits roaming around, making it very dangerous to go out. If I hadn't dared to come out and make this trip, I wouldn't be able to do the business I have now," the merchant said with a smug smile.

"Of course, boss, you made the right choice hiring our bodyguard team! Those bandits didn't dare come out when they saw the two of us brothers here," the bearded man said with a hearty laugh.

The bald, scarred man beside him nodded in agreement and said, "It seems our brothers' reputation has spread beyond the city; even the bandits of the outlaws know about us."

"Yes, yes, thanks to these brave men! People as capable as you are sure to make a fortune in the future." The merchant was as amiable as ever. Since praising people didn't cost any money, he smiled and flattered the men a few more times.

"That's right, that's right. Even if you searched the whole city, you wouldn't find another bodyguard like us who takes on all the moving jobs." The two men exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

"..." Shirou, sitting at the very back, glanced forward and raised an eyebrow.

At that moment, the grass in front of them began to shake violently, rustling loudly.

The businessman quickly pulled his head back into the carriage.

"Wait! Enemy attack! Halt!"

"Stop the oxcart!!"

The bald, scarred man and the bearded man pulled hard on the reins, causing the horse to whistle sharply in pain and finally come to a stop. They drew their long swords and swung them wildly, nearly striking the merchant's carriage several times. The merchant, who had been about to peek out, quickly shrank back in fright.

At that moment, a Black Shadow gradually crawled out of the grass, seemingly some enormous beast!

"It's a beast! Everyone! Jump off the carriage, grab sticks and whips, prepare for battle! Charge with me when I shout!" Scarface commanded from his horse.

"Hey, new blacksmith! Young man, draw your sword, how about you start?" The bearded man on horseback pointed to the young man at the back, who was clearly much taller and stronger than the others, and made the suggestion.

On the last oxcart, the driver saw this and jumped away. Shirou pointed helplessly to himself and asked, "You mean me?"

"That's right! It's you! Come here right now and stand in front of me." The bearded man shouted, waving his long sword.

"Why? Aren't you the caravan's bodyguards?"

The bald, scarred man also spoke up, saying in a harsh voice, "Enough talk! If we leave, who will protect the boss? You've been on the caravan for the longest time, haven't you thought about repaying the caravan? If you're such an ungrateful wretch, I'll chop you up right now!"

"They're right, young man, go for it! I'll pay you a reward." The merchant then leaned out of the window on the other side, waving his round, chubby hand and shouting.

'So the bodyguards you hired only protect you?'

Shirou shrugged helplessly and walked forward, but avoided the bodyguards on horseback.

"Sure, but..."

Shirou walked directly behind the bushes, parted the long weeds, looked up, and said, "There's actually a person here."

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that the figure in the bushes was actually a young woman dressed in a gorgeous purplish-red kimono, with bright pink hair tied back with a red hair accessory. Even by today's standards, she would be considered a stunningly beautiful woman.

However, the woman was lying on the muddy ground overgrown with weeds, clutching her stomach with both hands and making gurgling noises, which was quite an eyesore.

"Hey, Musashi, are you alright?" Shirou patted the woman on the shoulder and asked.

"Help... help me... I haven't eaten for three days..." the pink-haired girl said with difficulty.

"Ah..." Shirou touched his body and sure enough... he was shirtless and wearing a cloak. Although it looked cool, there was nowhere to put anything on him. Apart from a katana that he couldn't easily draw, he had nothing else on him.

"There's no other way." Shirou drew his sword from his waist and gripped it with his left hand. Then he bent down, hooked Musashi onto his shoulder with his right hand, and walked back to the caravan.

"Boss, this person is very weak and hasn't eaten for a long time. Could you lend me some food? Or you can use this knife to pay off the debt. Although it's unusable, it's made of top-quality materials and should be worth some money as an ornament." Shirou said, handing over the knife he was holding in his left hand.

"Hey!" The merchant exclaimed upon seeing the beautifully carved hilt and the exquisitely crafted scabbard, which was clearly the result of meticulous craftsmanship. This was a stark contrast to the filthy, battlefield-scavenged scabbards held by his two bodyguards.

It was because he saw such a sword that he wanted to hire Shirou to replace the two unreliable samurai he had hired on a whim to save money.

And now, this swordsmith is actually offering to sell him the sword, and the price is just a few meals.

Unexpectedly, such a good thing existed in the world. The merchant immediately opened his mouth to agree, but at that moment, the woman Shirou was carrying moved and raised her head. When the merchant saw her, his eyes widened instantly, and he almost drooled if he hadn't sucked in the air in time. She was simply a fairy descended from heaven; even the best geisha in Osaka might not be as beautiful as her.

Who would have thought that such a beautiful woman could be found in such a rural place, especially one picked up from the roadside? Looking closely, her clothes even seem to have feathers! Could this be the story of the crane repaying a debt of gratitude? Even without repaying a debt, simply picking her up would be wonderful. Marrying her and keeping her would surely make all those other women green with envy.

The businessman stroked his mustache, increasingly convinced that this was indeed the case.

Today's journey has brought him so many surprises.

Do you want the knife, or the person?

Having weathered many ups and downs in the business world, he made a decisive decision: he wanted both the knife and the man!

The merchant, abandoning his previous stinginess, laughed heartily and said, "Brave man, what are you saying? Isn't mutual help what we should do when traveling? A little food is nothing. Forget dry rations, I have some fine glutinous rice cakes and tea in my cart, perfect for her current condition. You just..."

The merchant wanted to say, "Let go, I'll do it," but after sizing up Musashi's height and the two swords at her waist, he knew that he, being short, fat, and plain, had nothing but money and clearly couldn't lift her. So he changed his mind and said, "Just help me carry her into my carriage."

"I understand, thank you for your generosity!"

"Put her down first, I'll have someone bring over more food." The merchant said as he walked out. Shirou said, hoisting Musashi, jumping into the ancient luxury carriage. He glanced at the bald, scarred man who was looking over out of the corner of his eye, nodded, and slipped behind the curtain.

The space inside was indeed very large, with long benches on both sides covered with cotton cloth, where one could lie down comfortably. Shirou placed Musashi on one of them and then pushed her around, but he couldn't wake her up no matter what he did.

"Hey, hey, Musashi, get up quickly." Shirou simply poured some tea into his hand and splashed it on the woman's face.

"Wait! You bastard! Don't spray it on my head... Aaaaaah!!!" Musashi sat up in a frenzy, shouting loudly.

"Oh, you're finally awake. There's food here. Here, this is tea." Shirou handed over the tea.

The woman ate the pastries from the box in large mouthfuls, then gulped down a cup of tea and let out a long sigh.

"Thanks, I'm finally alive. Eek, I was starving. Wait! You, what did you do to me just now, and you think you can just brush it off with a single sentence? Ah, this is delicious! Damn it!" Musashi said that he never refused a fight if someone picked a fight. However, he hadn't stopped grabbing pastries and stuffing them into his mouth from the beginning, but he still wanted to fill his stomach first.

"I'm sorry, but you look a lot like a troublesome junior I knew before, so I couldn't help myself for a moment." Shirou poured the woman another cup of tea.

"Ah, aren't you that little guy from before? You've grown up, and you've even dyed your hair? What a coincidence! I never expected to run into you in this world. What a wonderful encounter!" Musashi looked at Shirou with delight, his previous annoyance vanishing, and he laughed heartily.

"Yes, if it's a junior from over there, then it can only be described as a tragic fate." Shirou replied with a wry smile, the view he saw when Isshiki pushed him off the cliff still vivid in his mind.

"Here, beautiful lady, we have some refreshments." The merchant uncle returned to his vehicle with several boxes of pastries that his men had fetched from the truck. He then took out a box of pastries, handed it to Musashi, and said in a low, mature, and gentle voice.

"Thank you! You're such a kind person, boss." Musashi happily accepted the food box and continued to eat heartily.

The food boxes were devoured one by one, and the merchant watching from the side had a constantly changing expression. Although watching the beautiful woman eat was indeed pleasing to the eye at first, when he saw these high-end pastries, each worth a week's wages for his men, being eaten up in less than a minute, his face turned ashen.

Although it's true that you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub, this wolf's appetite is too big now, and he's a little worried about whether he can afford to raise it.

Shirou watched the woman eat with such gusto, accepting everything without hesitation, and thought to himself that her stomach might not be inferior to Artoria's.

"I'm full, I'm full! Thank you for your hospitality. Although I don't have any money to pay you right now, what's wrong with that?"

"No, no, I've hired professional bodyguards, and how could I let such a young and beautiful lady do such menial work?" the merchant said, waving his hands. Although he couldn't afford to support her, a beauty of this caliber would surely attract the interest of city lords, daimyo, or other nobles. He was just making an investment in advance.

"Haha, you're so good at talking, all that about being young and beautiful." Musashi laughed shyly, scratching the back of his head, looking genuinely happy.

Having made his plans, the businessman then turned his attention to the other half.

"By the way, brave warrior..." The merchant hesitated, rubbing his palms together.

"Boss, just say what you need to say," Shirou said. Since the merchant had helped Musashi, an acquaintance, he couldn't just leave it at that.

"Ah, then I'll get straight to the point. May I take a look at your precious sword?" the merchant said.

"Of course." Shirou handed over the sword.

"Hmm, surprisingly light! The feel of it... truly a fine blade! It really is a fine blade." The merchant examined the katana, his eyes gleaming with increasing admiration. As a merchant who cooperated with warlord forces, he was familiar with all sorts of goods and naturally understood the value of this blade. Just looking at its appearance, this blade was already worth a whole cartload of his goods; if the blade itself was of the same quality...

Even ten or a hundred times his wealth couldn't buy that... What would happen then?

Driven by curiosity, the merchant gripped the hilt of the knife with one hand and held the scabbard with the other, pulling it open forcefully to both sides.

The blade hidden in the sheath was revealed, emitting an eerie, cold light. The merchant felt as if a cold wind was blowing on his face in winter, a pain as if cut by a knife, and he wanted to close his hands. But his hands were as if they were being sucked in, as if some invisible force was pulling him to draw the knife from its sheath.

At that moment! Shirou made his move, grabbing the merchant's wrist. A white glint flashed in his eyes as he sheathed the chilling sword.

He chuckled lightly at the bewildered merchant and said, "You can't draw it so easily, because this is a demon sword."

"A demon sword? Haha, you're joking." The merchant thought Shirou was trying to lighten the mood, so he laughed along. Although he had genuinely felt a chill in his neck the moment he drew the sword, and his back was still feeling cold from the cold sweat.

At this point, the woman interrupted their conversation.

"Um... I'd like to pick some flowers," Musashi said, feigning shyness.

"Oh, okay." The merchant paused for a moment, then suddenly realized what he meant, and stuck his head out, shouting, "Driver, stop the car! It's almost noon, everyone stop and rest."

"Thank you, boss! You're a rare gem among Japanese men!" Musashi exclaimed in praise.

"Miss, if you are afraid, let me keep watch for you," the merchant said solicitously.

"No, no need, hahaha. I'll be right back." Musashi dragged out his fake laugh and disappeared into the bushes.

Musashi had his own little scheme in mind, even though it was a shameful act of begging for food.

'But that merchant must have taken a liking to me, right? Being too beautiful isn't always a good thing; it brings a lot of trouble. But looking at his expression, I feel like he's a human trafficker.' Musashi, crouching down in the bushes, made a decision in his mind: since things weren't going well, he should find an opportunity to slip away as soon as possible.

However, Shirou saw through all of this. There was something wrong with the caravan, and he needed Musashi's help, so he wasn't going to let her leave right now.

Shirou leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, watching Musashi's retreating figure as she tiptoed away, and uttered the crucial sentence that would determine whether the woman stayed or left.

"Hey, lunch is about to start."

Chapter 342 Mountain Bandit Monster Appears

It was lunchtime, so the caravan found a shady spot with foliage and stopped the oxcarts to let the oxen graze. The people also began to rest, gathering firewood, adding an iron pot, and starting a fire to cook.

Although Shirou wanted to help with the cooking, he realized it was someone else's caravan, and he had other things to attend to, so he had to give up. The meal was prepared by one of the caravan's skilled cooks.

After that, the different classes of the caravan stood on their respective sides, sharing food with their bowls. By this time, Jiji and Musashi were getting along very well.

Although the pink-haired woman hadn't yet emerged from the bushes, everyone initially thought she was a robber, then some kind of large wild animal. It turned out she was just a hungry young lady. After getting to know her, they found she was actually quite easy to get along with, so they accepted her as a new member.

"Musashi -chan, sis! You have a great appetite!" For the cart drivers who do manual labor, being able to eat a lot is a skill in itself.

"Oh, no, I'm just really hungry," Musashi said shyly, but she ate without hesitation. Even though she knew the merchant had ill intentions towards her, she didn't feel bad about eating these things.

So the woman used a bowl that was almost twice the size of a normal person's, and it was quickly eaten up.

"Come on, there's still plenty of broth, drink more! We only got to eat meat because of you." The coachman scooped a large ladle of taro and minced meat broth from the pot into the large bowl held by the pink-haired woman.

"Yes, yes! Thank you everyone, it's so great to meet you all." Musashi replied, holding his bowl and puffing out his cheeks. He took big bites of the taro and meat soup. Although there wasn't much meat, and it was all gone at first, the hot taro was still very delicious. It was perfect with the cornbread, whether you dipped it in the soup or ate it on its own.

Although the leading businessman seemed to have ill intentions, the other working people got along very well with him.

Musashi was normally treated with the highest courtesy by the fat merchant here, and should have received better food than anyone else. However, for Musashi, who had been starving for three days, large, filling meals were more to her liking. Besides, a merchant who was being overly solicitous for no reason was really suspicious.

So when the merchant said, "Miss Musashi, if you want to eat, I have the best food here. I'll make matsutake rice with silver relic and matsutake mushrooms for you!"

"No, that would be too much trouble. I'll just eat the same as everyone else," Musashi agreed. After all, she knew the other party had ill intentions, so even if they did, she wouldn't be satisfied unless she ate a whole big bucket of matsutake rice.

The merchant regretfully put away the matsutake mushrooms, then instructed his servants to tell the cook that there would be an extra meal today: give everyone a skewer of dried meat and steam a bowl of brown rice for him.

However, seeing Musashi's unfathomable internal capacity, the merchant felt only relief and shamefully shrank back into his carriage.

Regardless, it was indeed Musashi's doing that everyone was able to enjoy the meat soup, so praising her is appropriate.

"Here, this is for you." Shirou handed a Musashi bun to Musashi, the glutton.

"Eh? Is that alright!?" Musashi happily accepted it, finding the steamed bun from Shirou's hand especially delicious.

The coachmen and lower-ranking members of the caravan around them burst into laughter upon seeing the woman's expression, saying, "Hahaha, this reaction is way too exaggerated! Girl, you wouldn't actually be interested in a young man, would you!"

"No way! If you guys say that again, I'll eat the rest of the broth!" Musashi shouted, waving his fist in embarrassment and anger.