Bakorio was pleasantly surprised by the fact that he was already starting to find clues regarding the possible identity of the sword master he was searching for and his eyes couldn't help but flicker in intrigue

Noticing the weird look on his face, the little girl suddenly stared at him with a dark look and said "You are probably not from here, don't bother with these myths, no one believes them anymore other than someone old like grandma Shu"

The grandma shrugged the girl's words with a laugh before she sat beside Bakorio and asked him "You don't seem worried either about what's happening outside the city, guess I'm not the only one who believes in Lord Murakumo"

Bakorio's eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at the smiling grandma before he smiled and said "Life is too short to worry too much, I rather enjoy some delicious dango"

The grandma beamed at him and she felt like she found a kindred spirit as she said "I wish Yushino-chan can learn a thing or two from you"

Bakorio shot the little girl a look but she simply snorted at them before going into the kitchen and started occupying herself with cleaning the dishes so Bakorio couldn't help but ask Grandma Shu curiously "What wrong with that girl?"

Grandma Shu lost a bit of her smile as she said "She lost her parents when they were attacked by my late husband who rose from the dead, and it made her heart fall into the darkness… Not to mention that life is getting more and more hard as the business isn't as good as it used to be which made her mature faster…"

Bakorio pondered silently before he said "I'm sorry to hear that"

The grandma suddenly beamed again at him and said "Don't worry, I can still manage even if the times get tougher, plus I'm sure the situation will soon go back to normal…"

"Oh, is this your belief in this person Murakumo that makes you think so?" Asked Bakorio curiously and the grandma instantly nodded and began rambling endlessly

"Young man, You are probably a samurai as well so you will eventually learn about this, in the land of iron, we have a legend of a hidden protector who with his sword alone can even split mountains and part the rivers! His name is Murakumo and it's said that he's the founder of the samurai path and no one can wield the sword like him. He's also a legendary blacksmith as even a legendary sword such as Kusanagi was forged by him!"

'Oh, isn't that Orochimaru's slimy sword? I wonder if this guy Murakumo intended for it to be used that way, he will probably kill himself if he ever finds out the weird places Orochimaru hides it in... although it's indeed a formidable sword' Thought Bakorio calmly while listening to the excited grandma as she concluded

"Everything will be fine in the end thanks to lord Murakumo, this is something I'm sure of!" However, Yoshino suddenly came out of the kitchen and yelled "Nothing will be fine, no one will bring back mom and dad!"

"Shi-chan… " Grandma Shu felt slightly disheartened when she saw this but as she tried to console her granddaughter, they started hearing weird screams as a huge zombie that appeared to be made from the flesh and limbs of multiple people came rushing down the street with an unstoppable momentum, and his direction was none other than the dango shop that Bakorio was in!

Yoshino couldn't help but drop the plate that she didn't finish cleaning yet as she froze in horror as the giant zombie crashed into their small shop and made a huge hole in it.

Then, it calmly eyed everyone, but it seemed attracted to Yoshino for some reason as its eyes flickered with an evil light and a huge toothy grin covered its abnormally large face exposing a set of countless razor-sharp teeth

"S-stay away from me" Stuttered Yoshino with a horrified look on her face while her grandpa quickly rushed to her side and stood in front of her and faced the huge monster with a broom in her hand with a determined look on her face, although Bakorio could tell that her legs were shaking…

The monster eyed them coldly before it raised a huge club that it was holding in its hand and prepared to deal with the nuisance that appeared in front of it and Yoshino couldn't help but scream "No, don't harm grandma!"

However, the monster's smile only grew wider as it swung its club ruthlessly at Grandma Shu and Yoshino can only yell "Someone please help!"

Thump

The sound of something hitting the floor echoed, and Yoshino's face was full of horror as she opened her closed eyes expecting to see her grandmother's dead body lying on the floor, but she instead was stupefied as she saw the young man from earlier standing in front of them with his on his sheathed sword, as for the monster, its hand that was holding the club was severed with a clean cut on its shoulder exposing its bones and the rotten flesh it was made off!

"Didn't you hear the little girl? She said don't approach me… Geez, why can't these zombies ever act as gentlemen, like minions like boss I guess" Muttered Bakorio with a shrug and he could see blood vessels appearing in the monster's eyes!

"You…" Yoshino muttered in wonder, but she noticed the monster moving its neck rapidly planning to bite Bakorio's head off with its sharp teeth!

"CAREFUL!" She screamed, but Bakorio simply smiled, and he didn't seem to do anything as they can only see his hand that was holding the handle of his sword flicker for an instant before the monster's head went flying into the air before it split into 4 parts, yet his sword never appeared to leave its sheath!

Yoshino's eyes and mouth widened from the sheer surprise of the magical scene she just witnessed while grandma Shu's eyes simply lit up in excitement as she thought 'We were saved… This man is a true samurai!'

Then, Bakorio calmly removed his hand from the handle of his sword and turned to them and gave grandma Shu a pouch while saying "Thanks for the meal, there should be enough money here to pay for it as well as repair the damage your shop suffered… consider it my thanks for keeping me company as I ate"

Then, Bakorio simply turned around and started making his way out of the shop leaving the pair of grandma and granddaughter frozen in shock before the grandma turned her attention to the heavy pouch and muttered "Thanks…"

Meanwhile, Yoshino hugged her grandma and cried while thanking God that she didn't lose her last family member, although only after some samurai who were running after the zombie came rushing into their shop to investigate what happened did she finally realize that she didn't thank their savior…

"I will definitely find him and thank him!" She vowed in her head as she listened to her grandma explaining what happened to the samurai, although her eyes kept becoming absent-minded from time to time…

….

Meanwhile, Bakorio's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought 'That girl is quite special, I didn't expect someone like her to exist in such a random shop… Is this why their family seems to be getting targeted?'

If this idea were to be true, it means that Izumo and the others are trying to kill people with huge potential, but most importantly, similar to how he could use his appraisal ability to inspect people, Izumo must have a similar ability to assess talents…

"Still, to think that a girl has a Greatmaster level of talent in swordsmanship… This is truly surprising, she will be a great addition to our forces if trained properly…" Thought Bakorio as he started searching for more clues about Murakumo…