Chapter 23

"What are you doing on the day you received the sword, you!"

Bald, who had come to pick up Rio at the village chief's house, punched him without a word and bowed to the village chief.

"I'm sorry for my fool's behavior."

The village chief, who had been bowed to, glanced sideways at the corridor, probably thinking about Yudo and the others who had been taken to a separate room.

"It seems they had a serious fight. Yudo and the others have swollen faces. Rather, I can't understand why Rio is almost unharmed."

"Rio, you!"

"Hold it, Bald."

The village chief stopped Bald, who was about to punch again, and continued.

"They had a fight at the dojo, where Yudo and the others have learned body strengthening. It's a good thing it only resulted in swelling. There could have been a much worse outcome. We need to be cautious, but first, we should understand the situation."

"But, of all days, today! Seeing that Rio is almost unharmed, it looks like he was hitting them one-sidedly!"

Bald glared sideways at Rio, who snorted in displeasure.

Rio didn't think he was in the wrong at all.

He was even considering running away if Bald wasn't going to listen.

The reason Rio was almost unharmed was due to his daily training, which taught him how to avoid attacks, and his knowledge of the techniques Yudo and the others used, which he had learned from Kairu. The biggest reason, however, was that Yudo and the others were intimidated.

Until now, Rio had ignored all the insults and mud-throwing without retaliating. When he suddenly started targeting their faces relentlessly, even with the numerical advantage of three against one, and considering Rio's complete dominance over Yudo in the spring festival match, Yudo and the others lost their nerve.

As the village chief said, the situation would have been clear if it had been investigated, but Bald wasn't willing to listen. The village chief was busy trying to calm Bald down, and Rio knew that speaking up would only make things worse, so he remained silent.

What changed the tide was Shiraha, who clung to Rio's arm.

"Cut it out!"

Shiraha's loud voice, usually soft and quiet, surprised Bald, the village chief, and even Rio.

With the three of them suddenly quiet, Shiraha continued, tears streaming down her face.

"Rio usually ignores them, but today's fight is my fault. It's unfair that Rio is being scolded!"

Shiraha's outburst made Bald recoil, and he looked at Rio.

"What do you mean by 'usually ignores them'?"

"Didn't they insult him and throw mud at him?"

"Hey, why didn't you say anything!?"

"Even if I did, the harassment would just get more subtle, and there was no real harm. They outnumber us, so if they colluded, I'd be labeled a liar. Besides, involving parents in children's matters would make me look like a coward. It's different if I was hit, though."

Bald pressed his head, as if trying to suppress a headache, at Rio's calm response.

"... Even so, you should have consulted us before resorting to violence. You skipped the proper steps. Why did you suddenly start hitting them this time, despite being able to think things through?"

It was a valid point. If Rio had talked to Bald or the village chief before things escalated, the situation might have been better understood, and the likelihood of Rio being labeled a troublemaker might have decreased.

However, the fact that Yudo and the others, who lied in numbers, had more influence wouldn't have changed.

Still, Rio had intended to talk to others or warn Yudo and the others if he couldn't tolerate it anymore.

The reason he skipped these steps was because of Shiraha, who was crying and clinging to his arm.

"I couldn't stand their despicable act of shifting their target from me, who can fight, to Shiraha, who can't. I thought if I ignored it, Shiraha would keep being targeted, so I retaliated. In the future, if they target me, I will definitely retaliate."

Because Rio didn't retaliate, Yudo and the others escalated their behavior, even targeting his "little sister" Shiraha. Rio argued that it was his duty, having learned to fight, to protect her by retaliating.

"Even if I get scolded or punished by my parents, I will keep retaliating until they change their behavior. If they bring weapons, I will do the same. Village Chief, please convey this to Yudo and the others."

"A, ah..."

The village chief, realizing that Rio was fully prepared for an all-out war, nodded hesitantly.

Rio was the type who would rebuild his own sword technique from scratch if he didn't like the dojo's methods, a stubborn and headstrong personality. He would retaliate if he felt it was unjust, no matter what.

To prevent the same situation from happening again, the facts needed to be investigated, and Yudo and the others needed to be monitored.

As the village chief was about to leave to question Yudo and the others, Shiraha wiped her tears roughly and spoke up.

"From tomorrow, I will also start sword training!"

Bald's expression changed at Shiraha's declaration.

"Wait, wait, why is it coming to this!?"

"If I can fight, Rio won't have to get hurt or scolded for protecting me."

"Well, I guess that makes sense, but wait, if you can use a sword, you'll have to endure the harassment."

"Even after all this, are you still going to ignore the harassment?"

"... Village Chief, please have the parents talk."

Bald, pointed to the root of the problem, suggested to the village chief.

Even though the details were still unclear, if there was harassment, it couldn't be ignored.

After seeing the village chief and Bald leave the room, Shiraha looked up at Rio.

"... Let me join the sword training."

Rio had already guessed from the flow of the conversation that she didn't want to go to the dojo, but he looked back at her.

"It's just my own style, so it may not be practical in real combat, but if that's okay..."

"I want to learn the same as Rio."

Looking into Shiraha's eyes, Rio nodded.

"I'll make a wooden sword for you when we get home."