Chapter 168-2

Chapter 168-2

[Part 2/4]

Inaba wanted to avoid being turned into paper, a musical instrument, a plate, or wool at all costs, but she didn't say anything. She used evasion tactics to confuse the situation. Inaba knew that in this luxurious and flamboyant den of iniquity, anyone who resisted would be broken and corrupted. She wasn't going to make the foolish mistake of moving herself up the execution queue. Điscover new chapters at novelhall.com

"Yes. Kudzu-san. I will be staying here tonight, so please make arrangements for that. ... And while you're at it, please assign the new girls as storytellers tonight."

"...I'm not sure about the new girls alone. Can you join us?"

Kudzu's response to Kayo's instructions sounded coquettish. The Nanban girl stopped walking and turned her head. Kayo looked up at her, but in reality, it was the opposite in 2 ways.

A moment of silence. A heavy atmosphere. Kayo stared intently into the eyes of the anxious maid. And then....

"...Yeah. I don't mind. Please do your best to help out your juniors?"

"...!! Thank you very much!!"

The maid's head also broke into a smile, as sweet as honey, as if a flower had bloomed. It was a scene that could be imagined as a field of blooming lilies. At least that's how Inaba-hime saw it. She sighed inwardly.

In reality, the truth was much more gruesome than Inaba could have imagined, but it was a blessing that she didn't know it yet.

...Kudzu could tell from the faint but strong odor that the Nanban girl had been given an old loincloth by her fellow old woman. Her employer had had a lot of fun in the car on the way here.

"Hehe. You don't need to be so overjoyed. ...After all, we are friends."

Not many people could understand the meaning behind the words of the merchant daughter, who was smiling happily at the maid's joy. Even Inaba-hime, who was on high alert, couldn't understand.

"Well. We've arrived...Inaba-san, are you not drinking?"

"...I have a guard duty."

Most of it is probably a lie. There's no way to know what's in the tea that's being served to this group of people. She knows a few maids who have already fallen for their tricks and succ*mbed to their pleasures. Be especially careful if there are sweet and delicious-looking high-class sweets served with the tea.

...She can't bear to see or hear about sweets that look like poison bait that She has never seen or heard of at home.

"Is that so? Well, that's a shame, but it's good that you're so dedicated to your work. In that case, I'll leave it in your capable hands."

The employer's encouragement, the words of which were hard to tell how serious they were. Inaba humbly complies, even if it's just for show, and waits on the veranda. The shoji paper door is closed, and on the other side, there is the sound of laughter and conversation among several people, accompanied by tea and sweets... It's only a matter of time before she hears some nasty sounds like "Oh!? ♡" or "Ugh!! ♡" or "Hiiiyyy!!!♡♡♡". She can already see how this is going to play out.

"Sigh... really, what's going to happen?"

Inaba mutters to herself as she admires the well-kept garden. This is a terrible mansion, but it's still better than the other possibilities. ...But it's only a temporary solution.

She can't stay here for years. She'll have to leave this place sometime soon, and her next destination will be her destiny... Oh, really, things don't go her way.

"At least, if he were handsome and a gentleman..."

"Yes! I'll do my best to uphold the honor of the Onitsuki family!"

My response and bow were interrupted by a cold sensation on my neck. I instinctively tried to draw my cursed sword from my sheath, but it was no longer in my hand; it was pressed against my neck.

In an instant, the lady of the house, who had been sitting in the seat of honor, had moved behind me. She stroked my neck with the side blade of the dagger (tantō) that she had stolen.

"My, my, isn't this a bit rough? Look, the blade is slightly tilted. How careless of you."

"..."

The sensation of the icy blade, yet I remained silent. I understood that I was not expected to respond. And more importantly, I feared that if I moved carelessly, I might be beheaded by reflex.

"No, no. I'm not saying you should store it like a piece of furniture. But if the blade is chipped or the sword comes out, it will be a big problem, won't it?"

"...!"

A dull heat ran through my neck. A feeling that was slowly overflowing... I didn't move a muscle. I couldn't move a muscle.

"There you go. Look. It's just this much. I intended to cut all the way to the tip, but it only cut through a thin layer of skin. The blade must be dull. Take care of it..."

She stroked the wound and showed me her palm, which was stained red like a whitebait. Red, crimson, vermilion, dark red...

"...Well, that's not all, is it?"

The lady murmured as she stroked the overflowing blood again. There was no third time. There was no need for it. The wound was stopped. The wound was closed. It was clearly too early for an ordinary person.

"You're getting better at it, aren't you? At this rate, you must have used it at least once during the last mission."

"Ggh!?"

The lady presses up closely from behind. Her lukewarm whispers tickle my ear. The soft pressure on the back, even through layers of cloth, feels overwhelming, evoking a sense of blood connection with the daughter. Yet there's not a shard of excitement.

In the cold grip of fear, my whole body shrinks...

"I'll say it again, okay? Take good care of your weapon. It's you who'll suffer if it fails you in a pinch."

She holds me on tightly, wrapping her arms around, hand resting on the abdomen. Rubbing. With one hand, she strokes the belly horizontally with the nail of her index finger. In the other hand, she holds a Tantō. Its crimson tip aimed at my heart.

"Sumire, sama...!!"

"Don't move. ...You'll ruin the aim, won't you?"

In a trembling voice, as if in response to the murmured name, the demon of the blade chastises. Slowly, very slowly, the tip approaches. Closing in on the bosom. Drawing closer, closer, closer... Into the sheath it goes.

Click. The sharp blade fits snugly into the scabbard.