Kapitel 3: So It Begins
245 B.C
General Weng Jun Chang a skilled spearsman in his youth, was currently fleeing with the young Qin King after the king's brother started a coup. They managed to quickly flee from the Royal palace and had actually made it outside the city gates thanks to the brave efforts of a low-ranking official Teng who sided with their faction, not a couple of years ago.
Apparently, Teng was related to a 300-man commander who had gone on ahead and secured the gate and made sure it would be left open. Rinko troops managed to ambush the gate troops but it was a tough fight as there were a lot more soldiers stationed there than usual, clearly, the other side didn't want to risk the young king from escaping. As Weng Jun Change and his troops rode past the gate he noticed that about 100 soldiers had died securing it for them, and another 100 were currently fighting to keep it secure long enough for them to pass. The young would-be king wanted to help but Teng urged them on, the weak scholar could hear many more troops quickly approaching the area.
The plan was going well so far, that was until shortly after they cleared the gate and fled from the capital! Suddenly! a volley of arrows started raining down upon all of them! and Weng Jun Chang didn't expect to see a certain man leading a cavalry charge against them! the old Qin General Ou Ki!
Rinko (POV)
The plan was going well, Rinko knew about the ambush outside the city and had left 100 soldiers in reserve outside the city, he even managed to secure horses for them. What he wasn't expecting was that Teng who was related to his wife would actually die in the ambush after being hit by several arrows! Rinko knew the man was a scholar type but still, the fool didn't even wear a set of armor, he got headaches thinking about how his wife would react after failing to protect him.
Rinko followed behind and watched as Ou Ki and Weng Jun Chang dual! Weng Jun Chang lead their fleeing group being chased to an ambush he had prepared, but unfortunately for him, Ou Ki was expecting it and had prepared a reserve force as well and sprung his own counter-ambush.
As Ou Ki and Weng Jun Chang had their dual, Rinko was busy protecting the carriage that held the king and his double, they were outnumbered and he was forced to fight off the occasional attacker. Suddenly! he got to witness the brave moment when Piao (Shin's childhood friend) rallied the men and led a countercharge against the enemy when the situation started to look desperate.
Rinko knowing that he was a double, kept following the carriage, and when Sei questioned him about why he wasn't joining the battle? Rinko had responded that he was ordered by Teng to protect him, this was a lie, of course, Rinko knew that most of the people who stayed behind would die. Rinko then told the young king not to worry and that he would send help to the brave men fighting behind them.
Rinko reached down on his horse and grabbed a flag that he had prepared there, and waved it around. Soon the 100 mounted soldiers he had left, came out of hiding and joined the battle. The soldiers who were fighting alongside Piao had their morale skyrocket after receiving some reinforcements. As the soldiers bravely fought, Rinko insisted that they take the chance to escape and flee to Kokuhi village.
(Kokuhi village)
Upon arriving at the village, there was the little boss waiting for him (Ten) with a group of about 200 rough-looking villagers/bandits. Rinko could see the shock on the young king's face and he decided to tell the young king more about himself. He wanted to lay everything out on the table now while the king was in a vulnerable position and wouldn't be too picky about who helped him. In the future, in any of his enemies found out about him and his secret identity and tried to use this information against him, the king would already know about it.
Once they got to the same shack that Sei used in the story, Rinko told the king everything about himself, the drugs, his hotel, his military service, the brothel, and gambling halls. Having told Sei everything he made sure he was fed and received water, then informed him that he would go and patrol around the village to make sure they were safe. As Rinko left, Sei apologized for the death of his family member Teng. A bit surprised Rinko thanked him, told him to rest and recover, and then in the morning they would leave as planned.
Shin (POV)
He was currently running towards Kokuhi village by following the river, he was furious over the death of his friend and trying not to cry from grief, the only thing he knew was that he had to finish what Piao had started! and quickly made his way to Kokuhi village as instructed by his dead friend.
Upon arriving he was stopped by a group of patrolling men being led by a small bush (ten) and an armored man (Rinko) on a horse! He thought they were bandits or robbers based on how they looked and talked and quickly took a couple of them out!
After quickly killing two the rest surrounded him! they were about to start fighting when the armored man on a horse rode forward and asked for his name, taken by surprise he answered without thinking, surprisingly the man said they were expecting him and to follow him and didn't seem to care that he had just killed two people.
Rinko (POV)
Rinko was escorting Shin to meet with Sei, upon arriving he introduced Shin and informed Sei that he was Piao's childhood friend. He then watched as Shin and Sei talked for a bit before suddenly the little boss came running in! apparently, a lone man was butchering their way towards them!
Rinko knew that it was the assassin and had purposely put the evilest and vilest men on the outer perimeter of the village, he wanted to make sure that they would die either from the assassin or the troops that would be shortly showing up. Rinko informed the king that he hoped they could rest and wait for any of the others to show up, but now they had to flee. He ordered the little boss to quickly give the secret retreat order to the village, he at least wanted the few woman and children to flee first, most men in the village were too evil and it would be better off if they died stalling the enemy as long as possible.
Rinko and the group started to flee but they were too late, as they were heading out the assassin caught up with them, Rinko was preparing himself to fight when suddenly the robed assassin started bragging about how he killed the king's double! and impressed with how Piao managed to still flee even after he had given him a mortal injury!
Thankfully, this enraged the young Shin and Rinko was able to watch a fierce battle between Shin and the assassin. Rinko watching was soon shocked! Shin despite being a young teenager was actually overpowering a fully grown trained assassin, the assassin was only able to stay in the fight thanks to his many years of training.
Rinko then remembered that the gods of this world would give strength to those that interested them, and a few violent gods would even reside inside a few chosen men (Bushin) to enjoy a front-row seat of the violence and thrill of combat.
Rinko doubted that shin housed a violent god inside him, but he was sure that a god somewhere favored him and was lending him strength, as the fight dragged on Shin just seemed to grow stronger and faster, Shin was actually learning how to better control his body and his fighting technique was actually improving as the fight raged on, soon Shin was actually able to cut through the assassin's sword and ended the man's life! Rinko felt like Shin could have ended the fight sooner but was using this fight to hone his battle instincts.
This was when the little boss returned and informed Rinko that a large army had surrounded the village and that the front line was quickly collapsing. Rinko then had the little boss lead them through the underground passageways to safety.
As the group made their way underground they could hear the slaughter happening on the surface! Sei apologized to Rinko and their little boss (Ten ), and shamelessly Ten took the chance to gain a promise from Sei to pay her a large sum of money in the future for the loss of her friends! Rinko was taken aback as he knew Ten didn't care about the bandits and violent criminals that had just died, but he kept quiet anyway.
Shin and Ten then got to learn about Sei and how his brother had started a coup against him for the throne! and how Rinko had lost a family member. Rinko took this opportunity to claim how loyal his family was to the throne and that it was an honor to serve him and help him escape, and as a 300-man commander it was his duty to protect the king.
Ten hearing that he lost a family member tried to comfort him, but he just rubbed her head (or at least her helmet) and told her it was fine and they had more important things to worry about, like making sure that Sei was safe.
As they exited the cave Rinko and Ten guided them to a few stashed horses that they had prepared in advance, they even had spare rations and water to drink. Shin was clearly glad to ride a horse as he was already starting to slow down thanks to his injuries from the fight with the assassin now that his adrenaline wasn't running through him anymore. Rinko took this opportunity to throw him a few bandages made of cloth to wrap his wounds in, he couldn't allow Shin to pass out from blood loss and slow down their escape.
As the group rode, every so often Rinko would have them backtrack and then cover up their tracks, hopefully, the enemy would follow their old horse tracks and wouldn't find the new ones they had covered up. He doubted that this would fool the other assassin that was surely hot on their trail, but one could hope.
Eventually, the group arrived at Sei's ancestor's summer home, thanks to the mountain tribe people taking care of it, the secret place was still in good condition. Rinko playing the part of a good soldier instructed the king to wait while he scouted it out to make sure no enemies were inside. After inspecting the place he rode back to the others and informed them that it was safe. He then went about preparing the place for Sei and instructing Ten to prepare dinner for them. As Shin and Sei rested he informed them that he would be outside patrolling and keeping an eye out for any enemies, he instructed Shin to rest well soon as he would be taking over the night shift to keep watch.
As Rinko was out patrolling, Shin and Ten learned more about Sei's ancestor and how he had forged a strong bond with the mountain tribes, and how Sei hoped to gain their aid in taking back the throne. The mountain tribes were known for being fierce warriors and if Sei could gain their help, he didn't doubt that he could gain his throne back.
(A few days later)
Rinko was currently resting while Shin was keeping a lookout, he was deep in sleep when he was suddenly awoken by the sound of fighting outside! running out, he saw that Shin was fighting an ax-wielding assassin! Shin was actually on the losing end of the fight so Rinko quickly joined the fight, together they managed to bring the fight to a draw. The assassin seeing that he was going to lose attempted to flee! when out of nowhere General Chang Wen-Jun came flying out of the forest and quickly ended the fleeing assassin, soon after around a hundred soldiers staggered in shortly after.
Rinko was shocked to discover that so many had managed to survive, even some of his 300 had managed to make it out of there, he had hoped that they would have all died since they had once abandoned him, but seeing how they had risked their lives in service to the king, he guessed that he could forgive them.
Rinko was shaken to the core by his own line of thought there for a second! for a split second there he was actually acting as if he was a loyal servant to the young king! he was just here to gain some benefits out of Shins and Chang Wen-Jun's hard work, and gain some good impression points from the young king. Perhaps all the acting like he was a loyal servant was actually starting to change him without him noticing it. He had actually even rushed in and started fighting a trained assassin.
After Chang Wen-Jun updated the king and made sure he was ok, he arrived in front of Rinko and thanked him for his help, and apologized for the loss of his family member Teng. Chang Wen-Jun thanked him for the help that he and Teng had provided, and that he wasn't expecting such a low-ranking official in their faction to provide so much support, especially when other more powerful members had abandoned them for Sei brother faction. Rinko didn't really blame them, the border generals likely had no loyalty to the young king, and Sei's faction had few soldiers loyal to them.
Chang Wen-Jun promised him that once Sei took back the throne, they would hold a grand ceremony for Teng and that he wouldn't allow him to remain as a mere 300-man commander, he would pull some strings and get him promoted directly to a 1,000-man commander! if he performed well he even promised to quickly promote him to a 5,000-man commander, claiming that Sei would need such loyal men who would risk so much to protect him,
Rinko had aided in their escape from the capital, secured the outer gate for them to escape out of, provided much-needed reinforcements, and managed to keep Sei safe all the way up to this point! Rinko could see that Chang and Sei both trusted him.
Chang Wen Jun was greatly pleased with him, slapping him hard on the shoulder! and then walked off to rest with the wounded men. It was during this time that Shin learned how great Piao was during the escape, leading the men in a counterattack to bide time for Sei to escape!
Shin, inspired by Piao's feats! went up to Sei and demanded that he be allowed to serve him! and asked how he could become a General! Sei having seen Shin fight two assassins decided to accept him, he informed Shin that he would need to accomplish great deeds on the battlefield and serve him well, the fact that Sei was in need of as much help as he could get at the moment didn't hurt as well, swaying his decision to accept Shin request. Sei could also see that if Shin survived that one day he would become a powerful fighter.
The group rested for a few days and then the ones that could move, all headed out to seek help from the mountain tribe people.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein