Chapter 100: Progress

After calling Kazue and Nariko to bandage Chi-Chi's wounds, Nobu decided to ask the question at the forefront of his mind, specifically, "So, you're pretty fast, huh?"

As she hadn't mentioned a single thing about her speed, Chi-Chi's hazel eyes lit up like lanterns as she exclaimed, "Wow! Are all Noble-samas this smart!?"

Smiling wryly, Nobu was about to answer Chi-Chi's question when the latter went on to ask a series of rapid-fire questions regarding his height, his favorite food, his favorite game, and, most strangely of all, whether or not he popped.

Had the others been present, Chi-Chi would have been admonished rather harshly. Nobu, however, just ignored her questions entirely, asking, "Would you like to become a student of the main house? You'll receive personalized train-"

Unable to restrain her excitement, Chi-Chi issued a high-pitched squeal as she balled her hands into tiny fists before subsequently jumping much higher than the average seven-year-old as she happily replied, "Of course~! Chi-Chi's mama is going to be so happy~!"

Though he wasn't particularly fond of being interrupted, Nobu just smiled helplessly as Chi-Chi ran literal circles around him. He knew he should admonish her, but, seeing how happy she was, he just let her tire herself out while sipping the tea Cho had prepared for him prior to the interview.

Realizing that Nobu wasn't going to lecture her, Chi-Chi's excitement continued to increase until a massive smile had developed across her face. Most of her teachers would get angry when she ran around. She had even been punished with lashings a few times, so, despite having just met Nobu a half-hour prior, he was quickly becoming one of her favorite people. He had even given her candy and called people to wrap her cuts.

Stopping right in front of Nobu, an even bigger smile developed across Chi-Chi's face as she said, "Nobunaga-sama, Nobunaga-sama, guess what~?"

Returning a wry smile of his own, Nobu asked, "What's up?" as he considered who her teacher was going to be. Her personality didn't really match any of his kunoichi and he was pretty sure she had some form of ADHD.

Leaning forward as if she were about to tell him a secret, Chi-Chi waited until Nobu humored her before whispering, "Chi-Chi loves Nobunaga-sama~."

Seemingly riled up by her own words, Chi-Chi issued a high-pitched squeal before running around the room like she was afraid Nobu might try and catch her. Unfortunately for her, Nobu was far too lazy for something like that. Instead, his expression became somewhat helpless as he pulled out his stone tablet and waited for her to calm down...

...

..

.

Though it was selfish of him to view them in such a manner, Nobu regarded Reina and Chi-Chi as an additional 20,000 Aura to his reserves.

Under ideal circumstances, Nobu would have been able to recruit enough people to increase his Aura reserves to 100,000. He wasn't in a particular rush to reach the Third Realm but it was best to have the option to do so whenever he wanted. After all, his strength was still garbage compared to the true powerhouses of Nian so he couldn't really afford to idle about at the lower Realms for too long.

If he really wanted to, Nobu could recruit every single child thrown to him by the Elders. The only reason he didn't was that he didn't want his entire Friends List to be filled with brats. This wouldn't have been a problem if he added them while he was growing up, but, now that he was nearing 20 years of age, the notion of building a literal army of children sent shivers through his body.

Fortunately, unless things changed from one Realm to the next, Nobu only needed ten friends to increase his Aura without limit. He was able to earn 10,000 from each of the girls in the First Realm. At the Second Realm, this amount should increase to 100,000. In other words, so long as he had ten friends, he could theoretically jump from the Third to the Fourth Realm in days.

Nobu wasn't foolish enough to delude himself into believing things would be that straightforward but it never hurt to be optimistic. To this end, he spent the weeks following the interviews focusing on improving his control, training his body, fucking around, spending time with Kaia, and checking in to see how the training of his 'students' were going.

Though he had wanted to avoid fucking his way to power, Nobu couldn't help smiling whenever he saw his reflection in the shitty, silver-backed mirror the girls had brought to his room. The average height of Nianese men was around 170cm so he was nearly a full head higher than most people at 190.5cm.

As much as he enjoyed being 6'3, the thing that turned Nobu's smile into a shit-eating grin was the fact his muscles had swelled in a remarkably short period of time. His dick had also grown to a solid 22cm when erect. This wasn't a drastic change from the 19cm he was sporting previously but what kind of man would he be if he wasn't proud of an extra inch? The girls certainly appreciated it.

On that note, Nobu's relationships with each member of his entourage had improved tremendously ever since he started 'using' them. They hadn't known how to behave when he told them to just act casually. After all, it went against every lesson they had been given over the course of an eighteen-year period. Thus, as strange as it was to consider, they were a lot happier now that he treated them like kunoichi and allowed them to focus on their duties.

Truth be told, Nobu was still having a few problems adapting to life within the manor. Sleeping on a futon was starting to annoy him, and, thanks to the recent additions of Reina and Chi-Chi, bath time was more chaotic than ever. Chi-Chi also had a habit of running around in the nude, and, no matter how many times Kumiko attempted to correct her, the rambunctious little lady generally ran around and did as she pleased.

Nobu knew he was the one who needed to put his foot down, but, at the same time, he genuinely believed Chi-Chi's behavior was relatively normal for a girl her age. Sure, the exhibitionist aspect of her character was troublesome but it was refreshing to see her more focused on playing and having fun than trying to grow stronger. As for her qualifications as a kunoichi? Nobu didn't give a damn.

Since it was ultimately his decision to make, Nobu made the executive decision to have the children training in his estate reared as kunoichi-warrior hybrids rather than standard kunoichi. There was no way in hell he was going to support a curriculum that focused on teaching 7-12-year-old brats how to seduce, please, and ultimately kill men more than twice their age. Sure, training them to become literal soldiers wasn't much better, but, considering this was a world where the strong devoured the weak, he would be doing them a disservice by preventing them from becoming stronger.

Simply put, Nobu had 'modernized' the curriculum based on his personal values and the future he envisioned for Nian. He was already being shoehorned into the path of a conqueror, so, rather than rear a bunch of assassins, he intended to create a retinue of powerful warrior women. The people of Nian might ridicule him for this but he'd like to see them talk shit when even the messengers in his army were stronger than their elites...

...

..

.

"Nobu...are you certain about this?"

Rolling his eyes, Nobu didn't even bother looking towards Yui as he lazily replied, "I've watched her turn from a thiccc wolf woman to a borderline furry and back. There's no way in hell I'm missing her Lycan transformation a second time..."

Since Kaia was apparently too unstable during the previous full moon, Nobu had been prevented from seeing her. Now that an additional month had passed since then, he was determined to, at the very least, see what she looked like. Besides, he had promised he would. If he failed to show up, she might literally exhaust herself trying to smash through the roof of her holding cell...

Suppressing a sigh, Yui exchanged glances with the room's occupants. With the exception of Kazue and Fuyu, everyone else had been asked to assemble. Some might think this was to protect Nobu in the event of an emergency. Unfortunately, even if they were to combine their efforts, the most they could hope to accomplish was stalling for time. Even then, she would most likely rip through half of them within the first minute of something going wrong...

There was a reason Lycans were feared throughout the entirety of Nian. Thus, while they would do everything in their power to ensure Nobu's safety, the truth of the matter was that their only duty this time around was to observe.

Simply put, this was a form of training to help them overcome the instinctual fear Lycans inspired in everyone they encountered...

Nearly everyone...

Showing none of the fear present on everyone else's face, Nobu waited until half his entourage had entered before descending the chute into Kaia's cell. There, he found most of the girls standing like statues as Inami, appearing even smaller than usual, faced down a bipedal wolf whose head nearly touched the ceiling...

"Holy shit..."

Starling everyone in the room, the three-and-a-half-meter tall wolf woman shifted her glowing red eyes from Inami to Nobu. This caused Kiku, Aiko, and Yuriko to immediately tense, hands shifting to their weapons, but, before they could even think to draw them, Kaia's eyes shifted to a pale blue as she muttered, "Ma...ster..." in a deep yet feminine tone.

Ignoring the stunned gazes of his faithful kunoichi, Nobu approached the cell until Inami extended a hand to stop him. She could slaughter the transformed Kaia in an instant if necessary, but, should the wolf woman get her claws or teeth around Nobu, he was as good as dead.

Furrowing his brows, Nobu tried and failed to push Inami's hand aside as he said, "Stop treating her like some kind of monster. Look at her eyes and the ways she's sitting. Do you seriously think she is going to hurt me?"

Contrasting how she had been looming over everyone prior to Nobu's arrival, Kaia had squat down like an obedient pup the moment her Master arrived. Even her massive tail had begun to sway from side to side, so, while everyone else was extremely tense, Nobu was far more curious than anything else. He had never seen a werewolf with tits, and, though her hands were currently covering it due to the way she was sitting, he was pretty sure she still had humanoid lady bits.

Though he wasn't attracted to the inordinately large wolf, Nobu would be lying if he said she was ugly. In fact, she looked pretty fucking awesome from his point of view, so, after several seconds of staring into her eyes, his voice became firm as he said, "I'm going inside...move your hand..."

With an expression that made it appear as though she had just swallowed a bug, Inami wanted to refuse, but, knowing Kaia's training revolved around the notion that Nobu's orders were absolute, she reluctantly lowered her hand and allowed him to pass. At the same time, however, she attached a few mithril threads to Nobu's body so she could pull him back the moment something happened.

To the surprise of literally everyone except Nobu, Kaia's only response was to wag her tail with ever-increasing zeal even as the former entered her cell. Her mind wasn't exactly clear, but, the moment her Master had arrived, she knew she needed to be on her best behavior or he might not be able to visit her in the future. This was an idea that had been firmly rooted in her mind, so, even though she was currently in her most feral state, she immediately rolled over, tongue hanging from her mouth the moment Nobu said, "Play dead..."

"Good girl..."

...

..

.

(A/N: That's a big floofer o_o...)