I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group

Chapter 72: On the Eve of the Storm, War Is About to Break Out! (1)

The convoy left Fujisawa-shuku on the first day with good weather.

But by the second day, the weather suddenly turned severe.

Before dawn even broke, thick dense clouds had accumulated between heaven and earth.

Around 10 o'clock in the morning, goose feather-like heavy snow began fluttering down.

Blade-cutting cold gusts whipped up the falling snowflakes, sending them swirling chaotically through the sky.

More and more snowflakes descended, messily churning together until the visibility turned into a gray haze.

While the carriages could barely press forward against this heavy snow and bitter wind, the guards led by Komuro didn't have the ability to withstand such wind and snow with mere mortal bodies.

Anthony couldn't possibly treat these guards borrowed from his friend the Osaka Castle Magistrate like slaves.

Thus, helplessly, Anthony had no choice but to order the convoy to stop, waiting quietly for the wind and snow to cease before continuing forward.

And just as Aoto's group was forced to stop due to the wind and snow—Shh... shh... shh...

On a high slope some distance from Aoto's convoy, the sounds of snow being rubbed and trampled rose and fell intermittently.

Two samurai wearing straw hats and raincoats lay prone on this high ground.

Their attire and worn swords had already been "dyed" snow white by the fluttering snowfall.

They stared intently at Aoto's distant convoy, only moving to shake off accumulated snow when they were nearly buried into "snowmen" by the continuous snowfall.

Noticing that Aoto's convoy seemed to have stopped, the two hurriedly widened their eyes, staring intently at the convoy's movements.

After confirming the convoy had truly stopped, they quickly exchanged glances.

Following a silent exchange of glances and gestures, one remained on the high slope to monitor the convoy while the other tightened his straw hat and raincoat, stood up, and departed.

The departing samurai spread his legs and sprinted wildly toward the distant forest...

......

Inside the forest, Suehiro knelt with closed eyes, palms pressed together with Buddhist prayer beads draped over his hands, his lips moving slightly as he softly recited Buddhist scriptures.

His beloved spear, Wind Cutter, was placed at his side.

Before him, on a waist-high large stone, stood a nearly 30cm tall Buddhist statue.

The Nio statue—head raised high, glaring fiercely at the mortal world.

This Nio statue was something his mother had insisted he take five years ago when he left home, prepared to dedicate his passionate zeal to the "great cause of expelling foreigners."

Remember to worship properly every day! This Nio statue was obtained from the temple! It's very effective! As long as you worship properly every day, it will definitely protect you—these were his mother's exact words back then.

Suehiro had never been particularly interested in matters of gods and spirits.

But helplessly—he had always been someone who dared not disobey any of his mother's requests since childhood.

Even though he had no interest in spiritual matters, he could only hold his nose and respectfully worship this Nio statue daily as his mother instructed.

Unexpectedly, Suehiro later discovered to his surprise—his mother might not have been talking nonsense.

This Nio statue seemed truly effective!

After leaving home to participate in the "great cause of expelling foreigners," Suehiro experienced several major crises where he nearly died, but each time he managed to escape danger and reclaim his life.

Repeatedly escaping the tiger's jaws made Suehiro begin to waver: could that Nio statue really be effective?

Once this doubt arose in his heart, Suehiro completely abandoned any contemptuous feelings toward the Nio statue his mother had given him, devoutly worshipping it once each during daytime and evening.

To this day, worshipping this Nio statue had become Suehiro's daily habit.

After completing today's "daytime worship" and opening his eyes, Suehiro suddenly heard Yamada's voice calling from afar:

"Mr. Suehiro! Mr. Suehiro!"

Yamada quickly ran to Suehiro's side, speaking rapidly while still catching his breath:

"Due to the wind and snow, Anthony's convoy has stopped!"

Two sharp gleams suddenly burst from Suehiro's pupils.

"Stopped...! Continue monitoring the convoy's movements!"

"If the convoy moves, notify me immediately!"

"Yes!" Yamada responded loudly, then let out a long breath, patting his chest with his hand, "Mr. Suehiro... the perfect opportunity has come..."

"Mmm... indeed." Suehiro nodded, the corners of his mouth slightly curling, "If the convoy doesn't move before noon... they definitely won't reach the post station before nightfall."

"That means they'll inevitably camp outdoors tonight."

"Yamada, help me inform everyone: eat well today! Prepare for battle!"

"If the convoy hasn't moved by noon, then... it will be tonight!"

Suehiro's naturally hanging hands now clenched tightly together.

Yamada standing before him also breathed rapidly due to tension and excitement...

......

The heavy snowfall continued until around 1 PM before gradually subsiding.

To make up for time wasted waiting for the wind and snow to stop, Anthony immediately ordered the entire team to accelerate once the convoy could move again, attempting to reach the post station before dark.

Anthony's attempt was destined to be futile.

While carriages could easily accelerate, people couldn't do so as simply—these guards who had to travel on foot couldn't increase their speed much no matter how hard they tried.

Finally—Anthony had to abandon the unrealistic goal of "reaching the post station before dark."

As darkness began to fall, he directed the convoy to stop at a relatively flat open space beside the Tōkaidō road, setting up camp to spend the night outdoors.

"It seems like it's going to snow again..."

Aoto, who was staying at a corner of the camp with Saitō, looked up at the night sky above.

Tonight was a moonless night.

Although the wind and snow had completely subsided by now, the thick cloud layers overhead hadn't dispersed.

Layer upon layer of dark clouds completely obscured the moon and stars.

With such thick cloud layers, it wouldn't be surprising if snow began falling again at any moment.

The current time... was just past 7 PM.

Camping outdoors naturally meant no delicacies to enjoy.

Even Anthony and Elodie could only eat dry rations, hastily finishing tonight's dinner.

After dinner, the guards led by Komuro began to busy themselves.

Some stood guard, some tended to the camp, some rested.

Given his status as essentially Anthony's guest, Aoto naturally didn't need to handle these heavy, laborious tasks.

Therefore, after casually finishing tonight's dinner, Aoto—feeling extremely bored with nothing to do—could only stay at a corner of the camp with Saitō, practicing his swordsmanship.

Chat with Saitō?

Not happening!

Talking to him was no different from talking to the large rock nearby—no distinction whatsoever.

After watching the night sky above and reflecting for a moment about tonight's weather, Aoto gathered his full concentration, continued gripping his worn sword, and practiced the suburi—the fundamental swordsmanship practice that had become habitual recently, something he'd feel uncomfortable not doing daily—against the empty air before him.

Whoosh...! Whoosh...! Whoosh...!

The sound of sharp blades cutting through air, along with his own breathing, became the only two sounds around Aoto.

But suddenly, a youthful voice broke the silence around him:

"Mr. Tachibana! Are you practicing swordsmanship?"

A touch of beautiful pale gold appeared in the peripheral vision of Aoto's right eye.