...
Present
Camp of trainee seekers
Hearing Nobunaga describing Ishin's fight with Rook, Reyoma's pupils shrunk, a spark of realization overwhelming him for a moment. A ripple of these emotions surfaced on his face briefly before disappearing.
'So the reason why he didn't take initiative and mostly stayed inactive is because he wanted to test me? Is he a spy from other elders?' Reyoma recalled his mother signaling him to stay low before entering the examination grounds. 'Is this related to mother wanting me to stay low? I should be more careful from now on.'
Nobunaga continued to describe last night's incident. "Not only was he skilled enough to parry most of Rook's claws, but he also managed to do so for fifteen minutes or so. Although he took advantage of trees and water whenever he became tired, I don't blame him for that. After all, he was parrying Rook's claws. His hands must be sore by now. But that's not the interesting part. You know what is?"
"What?" Reyoma went along with Nobunaga, his thoughts in turmoil.
"It was the last strike. It was as if he was faster than Rook. He jumped; it looked almost as if he was flying. And before Rook could do anything, Ishin slashed Rook's throat. Can you imagine how much strength it would take to cut through Rook's tough skin? I think Ishin is stronger than Tamura, but he's simply hiding his strength—" Nobunaga continued to explain in his exaggerated way of speaking.
Reyoma, still sitting in the camp, looked down. 'So I am still not stronger than him, huh?' He looked down at his hands, suddenly realizing he had forgotten the most important question to ask. He lifted his left hand and asked with a plain expression, though internally a sense of loss and regret was already settling in his heart. "What about this?"
"Oh that," Nobunaga continued, chewing on his meat. "That was me. While Ishin was fighting, I saw your left ring finger was dangling, just a small part of flesh connecting your finger and hand, covered in mud.
If I hadn't cut your finger off and burned your bleeding wound, your hand might have rotted off."
Nobunaga explained, becoming more and more smug as he spoke, proud of his decision-making.
He forgot one thing: Reyoma was struggling to maintain his composure, though his hands started to shake with anger.
Internally, Reyoma was raging. 'If he just would have left it be, it would have been okay. If he would have burned my finger with my hand, I would have been grateful.
I... I truly would have been. But this fool had to rip my finger off. Does this idiot not understand that I am an elder's son? I have enough money to heal myself, this...'
Before Reyoma could outrage, he calmed himself down. Speaking of which, Reyoma wasn't wrong either.
The entire examination would take ten days, and rotting would take at least seven days in Reyoma's situation.
From day one to two, redness and swelling around the wound; from day two to three, increased pain or tenderness; from day three to four, discharge of pus or other fluids; from day four to five, a foul odor signaling the start of rotting; from day five to seven, fever or other systemic symptoms would start, then the actual rotting would begin.
Even though having such issues in the long term would be very problematic, Reyoma didn't really think of staying in the examination grounds for too long.
As such, his blood boiled at Nobunaga's remark. No matter how painful the wound, losing the part of the body that is most important for handling a sword is like losing a bit of strength.
No matter what kind of warrior they are, it is an undeniable setback.
Ishin glided from the grass rope attached to the camp tree and the tree beside it, landing in the camp with a relieved nod. "Are you doing okay?"
Reyoma's attention shifted as he stared at Ishin with awareness. "I am okay. I appreciate your concern, but how are you?" Reyoma asked, raising a brow.
"Me? What happened to me? I am okay."
"Oh! Nobunaga said that you fought Rook for a whole fifteen minutes. Even if it was injured, it was still Rook.
As Ishima sensei says, it has the fastest claws of a corrupt beast. I can't even imagine standing against it for five minutes, but here you are, unscratched."
Reyoma's tone was initially probing but quickly turned flattering. "I am glad that we have such a strong comrade with us."
'What is happening to me today? Why am I acting so... unlike myself?' Reyoma thought, reflecting on his previous actions of blurting out things out of irritation. 'It is as if I am talking to those sisters again.'
Ishin humbly accepted the compliment. "We wouldn't have been able to kill Rook if it wasn't for you.
The way you sent us ahead while you distracted it, even when it wasn't injured, all on your own, was very brave."
"All I did was just run," Reyoma said humbly, not wanting to take any credit for himself. He opened his mouth to change the topic, but Ishin continued.
"You don't have to be so humble. I saw how you dodged and counterattacked it, severing its features. Not a feat anyone could pull off."
Now, Ishin's words sounded provocative, as if saying, 'I know what you did.'
Reyoma with a polite smile "It was just a fluke ev--"
"Can you both cut the polite chit-chat crap? It's creeping me out. It's like two old hags being politely sarcastic to each other," Nobunaga said with a shrug.
"So are you saying that you, my friend, are the kid in between two grown-ups, hindering our talk?" Ishin replied with a smile, patting Nobunaga's shoulder.
Nobunaga's eye twitched at Ishin's remark. He wanted to reply, to counter blade with another blade, but decided not to.
Reyoma added to Ishin's words while scoffing, "More like a bystander between two beauty suitors."
"Are you calling me an idiot, you... you ungrateful bastard?" Nobunaga snapped back.
"What if I am?" Reyoma replied with mocking politeness.
"Ome--" Before Nobunaga could continue, Ishin interjected, patting Nobunaga's shoulder while giggling.
"By the way, will you be able to swing your sword with a hand like that?" Ishin pointed towards Reyoma's hand.
"It hurts, but it's manageable. I can."
"If it hurts, then don--"
Reyoma cut him off, his voice firm. "I said I can manage. Let's focus on the task ahead."
Nobunaga rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You two are impossible."
Ishin smirked, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Maybe, but we get the job done."
Reyoma nodded, his expression serious. "Let's make sure of that."