The boy nodded slowly. Then he crawled closer and fell asleep with his head against Kenshin’s leg.
Fleeing severed all ties to the lord's retinue ( karei ). The fugitive instantly became a low-class outcast. ochimusha
The words struck Kenshin like a blade between the ribs. I ran. I lived. I am nothing. The boy nodded slowly
Kenshin looked at his chipped sword, his empty gourd, his armorless chest. “I was. Now I am an ochimusha . A fallen one.” The fugitive instantly became a low-class outcast
High-quality steel katanas, matching daggers, and lacquered iron armor plates were stripped from the bodies and sold.
“And you?” the boy asked.
Stripped of heavy armor to maximize speed, a desperate fugitive often fled with broken weapons, superficial wounds, and arrows protruding from his armor or back. Ochimusha-gari: The Deadly Hunt