Chapter 15
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The next week flew by unnoticed. The young man and girl enjoyed a normal family life. On the fifth day, Kenshin finished drawing the huge formation, and relaxed a little, confident that the number of people walking around outside his house would be drastically reduced.
Aya's belly grew noticeably larger, and the newlyweds decided to temporarily stop having sex, but the girl occasionally made Kenshin pleasant, relieving the accumulated tension.
Several times they got out to the river, which was a few kilometres away from their dwelling, and had a wonderful time enjoying the pristine beauty of nature, and the solitude.
The young man built small fish traps on the river, taking half a day to find engineering solutions to map the right formation on the river bottom. As a result, the newlyweds always had fresh and nutritious fish on the table.
Kenshin and Aya were sitting at a table, drinking coffee, and making casual conversation.
- Kenshin, we're out of tea, we're almost out of salt, and there's not much grits left... Maybe I should go to my aunt's shop? - She took a sip of goffee and asked.
- What? No! I'm not letting you go anywhere, especially not to your home village. I'll go get the things I need. - Kenshin said firmly, refusing to let the girl leave the house.
- But... But why? Is it because I've become fat and ugly? Is that why you have fallen out of love with me? - The girl sobbed and cried.
Kenshin got up from the table, wrapped his arms around Aya, and held her against his chest, "Don't be silly, sweetheart. I haven't fallen out of love with you, it's just that it's dangerous in your home village, and you shouldn't go long distances when you're pregnant..." he whispered, kissing the back of her neck.
- And what will happen when I'm old and not beautiful... Will you forget about me altogether? - The girl roared, refusing to calm down.
- God, that's ridiculous! First of all, I'm not leaving you. And secondly, girls only get better with age, like wine! - He said, and then he was struck by lightning.
- That's right, wine! Ha ha ha ha, yes, wine! - Suddenly, Kenshin laughed sharply, making Aya instantly calm down.
- What's wrong with you, Kenshin? - The girl, whose mood had changed dramatically, asked in surprise.
- I've just worked out how to make us rich! - The young man proudly proclaimed, and kissed the girl's tear-stained lips.
- And how? - Aya asked interestedly, unable to contain her curiosity.
- Accelerated aging! You and me, girl, we're going to age wine, and sell it for big bucks! - Kenshin declared proudly
- What? But how? - The blue-eyed brunette asked again, surprised.
- An aging formation, of course! Well, that's a bit of a mouthful, because this formation doesn't age organic things, but it's perfect for recycling inorganic substances, from radioactive elements to caustic chemical solutions. I can't create such huge and powerful formations yet, but for our needs, my abilities will be enough!
Aya froze in astonishment as she thought about what he had said. Kenshin had decided not long ago not to hide his ability to create formations, reasoning that even if Inoichi Yamanaka got inside her mind, he would easily understand everything. The young man didn't have any formations to protect him from mental scanning, but he planned to get them soon.
- Um, okay, whatever you say. Please bring me some salted fish! - Aya said with a smile, forgetting how sad she was a few minutes ago.
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Kenshin spent several days preparing for the outing. He studied the approximate locations of the surrounding villages, and a few towns. One of the towns was Shukuba, where he planned to go. He took with him all the money Aya had been saving, saving up in hopes of moving away from the annoying Kaito. In total, the young man had 2,700 ryo on hand. He had learned the approximate prices of the world, and knew that a kilo of rice cost 20 ryo and a kilo of salt 400 ryo.
Having loaded his shoulder-bag with all the necessities, the young man kissed the girl, and ordered her not to leave the dwelling unless absolutely necessary, then turned and walked away towards a village about fifteen kilometres south-west of his dwelling.
After about four hours, the young man reached a small village, asked a scruffy-looking old man with a red face the location of the market stall, and staggered off in the right direction
In the shop, Kenshin spoke to a pleasant-looking woman in her forties, who was clearly lacking in companionship. He learnt from her that the most "ancient" and frequently encountered wine was called "Samurai Blade", priced at 50 ryo per bottle.
Kenshin bought five bottles of wine and filled the remaining space in his bag with necessities, spending a total of 700 ryo. The shopkeeper gave him a 10 per cent discount. Kenshin, seeing the effect he was having on this woman, thought for a second about taking her into his harem, but instantly changed his mind.
A few days ago, he had already thought about seducing more girls and having a lot of children, but in his opinion, it was useless. The children born from ordinary girls would be extremely weak, and thus he would condemn them to suffering.
Kenshin had decided that the next girl in the harem should be a kunoichi, but he had no idea what to make her interested in, or how to seduce a woman trained to kill. He had no illusions about the gentleness and kindness of the local kunoichi, and although most of them looked like delicate flowers in the anime, he had already realised that reality was very different from what he had seen on the screen. This world was much more violent than he had seen from his TV screen. The young man thought that it was all the fault of being aimed at a children's audience, and Masashi Kishimoto knowing the history of this world - hid its bloodiness.
Kenshin had heard Aya tell him how Konoha shinobi could sometimes rape a mere girl and get away with it. Sometimes they could be punished, but only with disciplinary action. The girl had explained that to the shinobi of Konoha, all people outside of Konoha were like cattle, not worthy of mention.
The young man, loaded to the brim, left the shop and headed for the exit of the village. After walking a few kilometres, he sat down to rest, and chose a place to hide. After drawing a formation on the ground, he dropped his shoulder bag and threw on some branches and leaves, then turned around and headed towards the town of Shukuba, ten kilometres from his current location.
After walking along the road between the woods for about an hour, he was startled when four silhouettes swept over his head, jumping from tree to tree. The four men didn't even look in his direction, and he was left to stare at them.
"Konoha's protector? Perhaps it's the genin under the direction of the chunin... What a speed! Thirty kilometres per hour, no less!" - The young man thought, and shuddered as he imagined the consequences of fighting even the weakest of the group.