The general structure of a Japanese-style hotel is almost the same as that of Rigar. Because they are both people, their needs are similar. At most, there are some differences in some details.
The three-story hotel has a wooden structure as a whole. Only the walls on the lower first floor are made of bricks and plastered to increase the load-bearing capacity. The floor inside the ground floor is generally the same as the Japanese-style houses seen in the domain, with padding to prevent ground moisture. Although Ziyun is located in a higher-lying area within Zhangzhou territory, moisture is still an unavoidable problem.
The hotel where the group stayed was also quite old. Even though the woodwork had been newly painted, the mottled marks and the natural smell of fine wood still revealed the passage of time.
The bright red lacquered handrails of the stairs have been completely smoothed and smoothed by customers and store employees who have used them up and down for many years. If you look closely, you can see that the center of the wooden floor is slightly duller than the two sides due to years of trampling. dented.
Although the curtains at the door are frequently replaced and still look new, the cheap calligraphy and painting at the corner of the stairs facing the second-floor window is obviously much more faded than the surrounding paintings because it has been exposed to sunlight all year round.
Time quietly left its mark on these items. This hotel had been open for many years before the group of people arrived, and if there were no accidents, it should have continued to open after the group of people left. Go down.
"squeak--"
The wooden boards on the ground floor that had been eroded by moisture due to long-term use and close to the ground made a slight sound, and the deliberately controlled footsteps were soft and difficult to detect.
Especially at this moment when most people have already fallen asleep.
At three o'clock in the morning, their mouths and noses were wrapped in scarves soaked in peppermint oil and licorice. The uninvited guests lit the chimneys they carried with them, and punctured the paper windows with their wet fingers to let the scent of requiem permeate the guests little by little. In the residence with the clerk.
"Cough cough - cough cough cough -" A slight cough sounded, and the frown in his sleep due to discomfort only lasted for a short time, and then he fell asleep under the influence of the medicine.
'Two floors to solve', the uninvited guests communicated quietly in sign language, then checked the equipment again, lined up and walked towards the third floor.
They acted quickly and steadily, step by step, without any panic or surprise. And the information was blocked so well that no one knew about their arrival. This is an organization known for its stable success, and this is not the first time they have taken on a job like this.
In order to ensure that no sound would be made to alert the target when they sneaked near the target, they even used requiem in the stables to put the sensitive vehicles of these warriors into a deep sleep.
Everything should be perfect.
If requiem works on all horses——
"Neighing!" The loud roar of the horses sounded the moment the group stepped onto the third floor.
"What the hell, why doesn't it work?" "Don't panic, the opportunity is still in my hand!" Different from the panic of his subordinates, the captain reacted quickly: "Use pellets! There is no time to blow slowly."
"Load the crossbow!" He quickly gave the order. In this tight and familiar small team, everyone performed their duties without disturbing each other. A large amount of explosive pills made from powdered concentrated requiem juice were ignited, and then they were thrown directly into the room where the target lived at the end of the corridor.
"Bang!!" The smoke bomb exploded instantly and filled the air with extremely concentrated requiem. Although the range was small and the effect was not long-lasting, it was enough to buy time.
"Aim the crossbow! Don't be in a hurry, even our scarf can't stop it at this dose."
"What's going on -" "Pa -" The sleepy passerby heard the noise and opened the door, but what he received was an arrow to the head.
"Ah - ah -" the female companion following him was stunned for a moment.
"Shut up if you don't want to, I don't want to kill women, don't become an exception." The leader raised his finger, while the female companion covered her mouth tightly with a look of shock on her face and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.
"Advance, it should have taken effect. Even the samurai should have fainted in this situation -" "Bang -" The sliding door at the end fell to the ground, blowing away the rich requiem incense like an oversized folding fan.
Under the silvery moonlight, smoke filled the air, and the team leader immediately reacted: "Fire the arrow!" He gave the order, but it was still too late.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The huge figure that blocked the moonlight from the window for a moment seemed like the wall-painted monster in Kazuto's legend. It was only when the crossbow bolt hit the target that they realized that the other party was holding something.
——The biggest difference between Kazuto's hotel and Rigar is that there are fewer partitions, because there are very few solitary travelers in this country. Most of the hotel rooms are empty and large, only separated by wooden frames and paper screens, so they also seize the opportunity. Taking this kind of opportunity, he planned to catch the opponent by surprise.
But then——
"Ah, it's a ball of cloth!" The mattress used to sleep under the body can be 30 centimeters thick if two sheets are folded side by side. Although it is fluffy, if it is thick enough, its defense is comparable to soft armor.
The crossbow arrow should have penetrated, but it had exhausted all its power to penetrate such a thick mattress.
There was no effective killing effect - everyone fired the crossbow bolts empty.
What's going on? Why did he react so quickly? What's going on? From the horse's neighing to this moment, it was just a split second. He made a judgment in the shortest possible time without making any mistakes in decision-making.
No matter how outstanding a warrior is, he shouldn’t—
"Boss!" "Bang——!!" The arrow filled with crossbow bolts flew across the aisle for more than ten meters in an instant and landed in front of the group of people.
It’s been less than 3 seconds since the horse’s whistle started.
Less than 2 seconds after the dizzying smoke throw.
They were suddenly awakened when they should have fallen asleep from exhaustion. To be safe, they threw out concentrated requiem, but the other party's reaction speed——
"Battle-hardened."
"Clang——!" The dazzling Kramer directly cut the 30-centimetre-thick mattress into two pieces together with an assassin who was protecting his boss from behind.
"Tsk—" The assassin's blood splattered all over the floor before he could even whimper, while the sage, with his back to the moonlight, looked at the other person from top to bottom with eyes radiating blue light.
"What's going on?" "It's an enemy attack. Sir has already rushed out." "Get my sword!" The samurai behind him woke up in a hurry, and there were a series of chaotic shouts and disturbed coughs.
"Back off, Abu Adin loads the arrows, and the others move forward!" The assassin leader reacted quickly and made a decisive decision: "Don't confront this Nanbarian guest head-on. Our target is the warrior, kill him from other rooms!
He commanded his younger brother in the dialect of his hometown to avoid being noticed by the man in front of him. However, even if the sage could not understand the language, he could still tell it from the actions of the people around him.
He turned around and planned to intercept the others to buy time.
"Abu Addin!" But seeing his intentions revealed, the assassin leader immediately ordered his men to fire the crossbow bolts.
"Dang bang!" The sage used Claymer to split the crossbow bolt cleanly. "Tsk!" "Death!" But then two more people took the opportunity to rush forward, with the obvious purpose of entangling him and preventing him from returning to defense.
"Teacher, leave it to us here." But it was at this moment that the Luoan girl's voice came from behind, and then the door next to the women's room was opened, and Galeva's hurried movement and Yajiro's distributing weapons Shouts rang out separately.
"He is really a reliable disciple." He decisively gave up the plan of returning support, because the companion behind him was not a child who needed his full attention, and all he needed to do was just that.
Defeat all the enemies in front of you.
He dodged the thrust of the short knife sideways, held the sword with one hand and used his physical advantage to grab the opponent and twist it and broke it. When the short knife fell to the ground, he kicked him towards the other person. Then he swung the big sword with one hand and killed two assassins with one sword strike.
"Get back into the room! This guy's sword is too big -" The remaining assassins split up and yelled, protecting the leader and retreating into the woman's room where the male companion was killed. One of them ran over and grabbed him hiding in the corner. The trembling woman stopped in front of him.
"Ahhhhh-" The screaming woman was pulled by her hair and dragged to the door.
"Southern barbarians, if you don't want this woman -" "Pfft -" the sharp tip of the big sword, like an instrument made by the most exquisite craftsman, moved forward smoothly and steadily, piercing the scarf on the face and then into the mouth. Stabbed from the back of the neck, the assassin's threatening words were as weak as the knife in his hand that had not yet been raised to the woman's neck.
"Haha——" One hand is held close to the hand guard, and the other hand is holding the weighted ball. The front hand is used as a fulcrum and the back hand is used to lift upward.
"Bang!" The powerful blade cut the assassin's head in half from bottom to top. When the body fell to the ground, the stunned woman knelt on the ground with her eyes wide open, feeling something warm on her neck. She reached out and touched half of her tongue, which was hot and sticky.
"Evil!!!" The screaming female tenant turned around and ran out of the room never to return, and Henry swung his sword to chop off an arrow that was shot at her as she ran away.
There was no chance to wind it up again. The assassins decisively threw away their crossbows and took out their daggers.
There were five people left including the leader. Although the room was not big, there was still enough room to move around. They exchanged glances and changed from a tight diamond-shaped guard formation to a dispersed fan-shaped formation. Their intentions were clear at a glance.
"Ah, I know what you are thinking." The sage lowered his gray-blue eyes and spoke in a steady tone: "There are five of us here, and no matter how strong this southern barbarian is, he can only be alone. He can attack from different directions. If we go together, we can always find loopholes and hit them."
"Well, it's not surprising to think so. No matter how airtight the sword technique is, no matter how fast the sword technique is, there will be loopholes. If you are lucky, you can seize the loopholes for a moment and deliver a fatal blow."
"Then, you should ask yourselves." He looked directly at these people.
"Am I lucky?"
"Go!" the assassin leader gave the order.
————
Mira woke up the moment Mitya's voice sounded. The vibration of magic made it difficult for her to breathe and there was a cold sweat on her forehead. This was her unique experience as she was connected to the unicorn's soul. She immediately realized that the little guy was warning her and decisively shook the other women around her awake and picked up her knife.
It was at this time that she heard someone outside shouting something, followed by a "pop" sound and a thick fog.
"Ahem—" Thick smoke overflowed from the crack in the door and immediately made her feel dizzy.
"Hold your breath!" Lulu reminded the three of them in time, then took out a mountain knife, cut open the quilt, and sprinkled something on it with a medicine pot: "Wrap your mouth and nose." The girl who was born as a hunter moved even faster than Luo Girl An was faster, and after taking what she handed over and wrapping it around her face, she breathed a spicy irritation that filled her mouth and nose, causing Girl Luo An to wake up.
"It's an attack, and it's an expert." She reacted immediately. Sakura and Aya were both at a loss, and although Lulu knew how to deal with smoke, she was not good at fighting.
Mira hesitated for a moment. A group of more than a dozen people were divided into three rooms to live in. The sage and the older samurai, monks and ashigaru were in the largest room, while Yajiro, Galeva and the young samurai It was in the room next to the Luoan girl and his party.
How should I warn my companions? How to meet? The only equipment on hand were weapons for personal protection. The baggage was all stored in the hotel's warehouse. Except for a few people, the armor was stored in the armory for maintenance - and even if the armor was around, it was obviously too late to wear it.
She was thinking about the plan, but it was at this time that another voice sounded outside——
"Bang--" The door fell down with a sound and acted as a fan to disperse the thick smoke. Although the hotel door was not made of solid wood, it was not so fragile. As far as she knew, there was only one person who could do this easily. people.
"is teacher."
"Ahhh-" Although she couldn't understand what the assassins were saying, the impatience and panic in their tone was captured by the sensitive Luoan girl.
"Let's go out and meet the others, Lulu, do you still have some refreshing medicine?" She turned around and asked.
"Yes." The Yi girl nodded. "But outside -" Miss Doctor was a little uneasy, but the girl Luo An just pulled out her sword and said without hesitation: "The teacher is here."
She opened the door decisively and led a group of people to join the others. The young master, who recovered after a moment's delay, directed the young warriors in his room to get ready to go out.
The moment their eyes met, everyone understood why they were going out.
He had unreserved trust in that tall figure. Because he had already taken action, the situation outside the room was under his control to some extent.
But we can’t rely entirely on him——
The Luoan girl immediately noticed that the assassins were dividing their forces, and her teacher stepped down and put Claymore on the defensive, intending to turn around and intercept. Obviously, the assassins sent by the opponent with almost the same number as her own were not targeting one or two people. When they arrived, they realized how powerful the sage was, so they immediately took measures to divide their troops, intending to kill as many other team members who did not react as possible.
"I was underestimated." Mira and Yajiro looked at each other, then turned around and spoke loudly to their teacher's back.
————
In the end, the battle was won at a slight cost, with two samurai being injured. The two injured were both samurai who had been killed because of their escape. In order to restore their reputations, they fought bravely at the front, but they were too careless in their pursuit of performance and suffered the consequences. harm.
Judging from the perspective of a professional warrior, this can only be said to be courageous and simple-minded.
The assassins who came lightly equipped were carrying tools for assassination, such as short knives, small crossbows, and various smoke bombs that disturbed the sight. If the sneak attack is successful, these weapons of theirs are indeed deadly enough, but after the well-trained professional warriors wake up and take out their big bows and short guns, they only need to form a tight formation to guard the corridor, and the spearmen in front line up to prevent it. When the opponent approaches, the archers at the rear can shoot arrows to kill them, and then they can safely annihilate the opponent.
Therefore, the warriors who rushed forward under such circumstances and got into a melee with the intention of defeating the majority with one enemy and showing courage to restore their reputation by the few who had defeated the many who had escaped and were injured before could only be said to be foolhardy.
The short weapons in most assassins' hands had no practical effect. The thin clothes they wore could not block the powerful bows, and they could no longer dodge as long as they were hit by one shot.
After the few crossbow-wielding ones were killed in advance with special care, there was no suspense about the rest.
Henry alone held back nearly a third of the assassins. The warriors, who had an overwhelming advantage in strength, deliberately targeted the legs and feet after finishing half of the enemies, trying to leave them alive for questioning. However, these assassins noticed the situation and immediately swallowed them. The quick-acting poison foamed at the mouth and died.
"As expected of a good player." Narumi said with a hint of appreciation, and then the group watched Henry walk out of the room whose door had been kicked open by him.
He held Kramer in one hand and a man in the other.
"Sir..." the samurai leader said, somewhat speechless.
"He crushed his hand before he swallowed the poison." The sage shrugged and said this matter as naturally as if he drank water: "This is the leader of these guys. If he can't swallow the poison, he won't do it." If you use other methods to commit suicide, you will probably be a person who cherishes his life."
"So come and have a good talk with him."
