Chapter 47: Rising Tensions

With Kazue going on to explain that she had spent the last six years taking care of cows, chickens, and other livestock, Nobu was starting to get a basic idea of what everyone was good at. It seemed that Kumiko, the girl with the big tits, was meant to be the 'manager' of the group. She specialized in gathering information, encrypting it, and decoding the messages of others. As for Kiku, the crazy sword-toting woman, she was supposed to be one of his public bodyguards, a duty shared by three other women.

Originally, Nobu was intended to have four public bodyguards, four shadow operatives, a medic, and an information specialist. Unfortunately, due to his untimely demise, his medic, Kazue, fell into a deep state of depression that ultimately resulted in her being declared useless. As for the rest of his intended team, two couldn't even meet with him at the present moment due to their animalistic traits and anger issues. He would need to visit them under the close scrutiny of several others just to give them a chance to adapt to his presence.

As troublesome as that sounded, it was nothing compared to the helplessness Nobu felt when the girls began asking him what his intentions were. They were all eager to be of use to him, but, due to his original desire to set out on his own, he really didn't have anything for them to do. Thus, for the time being, they just sat around making awkward conversation while awaiting the arrival of Yui and Yuriko.

Fortunately, this didn't take nearly as long as Nobu expected, as, prior to their arrival, Yui had been the one to inform Kumiko, Kiku, and Kazue about where he was staying. Thus, after one of the most awkward thirty minutes of his life, Nobu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Yui's familiar voice saying, "Pardon our interruption, Nobunaga-sama. Yui and four others have arrived. May we enter?"

Though he would have preferred it if she just walked in, Nobu didn't let it bother him too much as he answered, "Yeah, yeah. Come on in. Let's get this meet and greet over with so I can take a bath and get some sleep."

Waiting until he had finished speaking, Yui opened the door to reveal Yuriko, two girls with massive tits, and a ditzy-looking girl with a somewhat dazed expression on her face. What drew his attention the most, however, was the fact that Yui had changed out of her warrior attire, substituting it for an incredibly skimpy kimono that hugged her curves without leaving anything to the imagination.

Though the black garment suited her quite a bit, especially with a red flower pattern and crimson obi, Nobu couldn't help frowning as he asked, "What happened to your previous outfit? Don't get me wrong, this one isn't bad. It's just not you. If you have the option, I'd rather you switch back to your old outfit. I don't care what that old bat has to say. Even if you didn't earn your qualifications as a warrior, you're more than qualified from my perspective."

With the eyes of everyone in the room focusing on her, Yui found herself rooted to the spot. She hadn't expected this to be the first thing he mentioned after their abrupt separation. She had even spent a bit of time thinking about how she should apologize, but, as if he didn't blame her for what happened; he focused on her change in apparel, intuited that it had something to do with her failed mission, and then immediately attempted to console her...

Despite a sour feeling building in her nose, Yui's expression remained unperturbed as she offered a smile and said, "Yui has received her Lord's orders. Once we have been dismissed, I will immediately revert back to my previous apparel."

Restraining the urge to tell her to loosen up, Nobu just nodded his head before matching Yuriko's gaze and saying, "Hey...lookin' good..." in an audibly awkward tone. He had noticed her squinting her eyes when he was talking to Yui, but, the moment he looked towards her, a smile developed across her face as an expectant glimmer appeared within her amber eyes.

With the Matriarch's words repeating in the back of his mind, Nobu made a mental note to ask for Yui's opinion regarding his treatment of the other girls. She would know more about the quirks of Yoshitsune kunoichi than he did, so, rather than jump to any conclusions, he just returned a smile despite noticing Yuriko swallowing hungrily.

Emulating the same casual gesture used by Nobu, Yuriko raised her hand, a relaxed smile on her face as she replied, "Thanks for the compliment. You're lookin' pretty good yourself..."

Just as they had reacted to Yui, every eye in the room shifted to Yuriko the moment they heard her speak in such an 'uncouth' manner to their Lord. Kiku even appeared as though she would draw her katana the moment he gave the signal. Instead, Nobu made a placating gesture with his hands, an annoyed frown on his face as he said, "Everyone just calm down and take a seat. Stop freaking out over everything. Seriously."

Without so much as a single sign of hesitation or intent to argue, each of the five girls who had just entered quickly arranged themselves in the row that had formed in front of him. The only exception was Yui, who, as her position dictated, attempted to take a seat behind and to his left. This caused a visible twitch in Nobu's brow, so, without hesitation of his own, he looked back and said, "Move up. I don't want to turn my head every time you need to say something. Sit right here."

Patting the spot immediately to his left, Nobu felt the atmosphere palpably tense as even Yui shook her head and said, "I mustn't...only my Lord's wife can take the seat at his side..."

Deadpanning, Nobu answered, "I'm clearly not a normal Lord." before questioning, "Are you going to ignore my orders...?" in a dull monotone.

Though she appeared remarkably nervous throughout the entire ordeal, Yui managed to swallow the knot in her throat before taking the seat to Nobu's left. She had never imagined she would be in this position, but, much to her surprise, it didn't actually feel wrong. Instead, it felt like any other seat until she looked over and saw Nobu smiling back at her. This caused her back to straighten, and, though she did her best to calm the beating of her heart, a ruddy red hue colored her cheeks as the eyes of nearly every girl present gazed upon her with envy...

"Okay then..."

Feeling the tensions increase even further, Nobu tried to guide the conversation back on track by pointing towards the oldest-looking girl in the group, a brunette with bangs covering the right side of her face and a rack that even put Kumiko's to shame. As for her outfit, she was dressed more so than the vast majority of kunoichi, and, if the blades on her arms were any indicator, she was most likely one of the girls intended to protect him.

"We'll start with you. Skip all that stuff about this being the greatest honor of your life and just tell me your name and specialties."

Reacting with a courteous bow, the inordinately buxom woman answered, "My name is Yoshitsune Aiko. I specialize in deflecting long-ranged projectiles and assassination. If there is anyone my Lord ever requires killing. Please call upon me."

"Right..."

Suppressing the discomfort he felt when hearing someone unhesitantly state they were willing to kill at his behest, Nobu pointed to the next girl in the line, a distinctly Japanese-looking girl with the largest tits in the entire group. She could even give Shizune a run for her money, and, thanks to her loose black kimono, it seemed like they were just one quick turn from flopping out.

Interpreting her Lord's gaze and pointing as an indication she should introduce herself, the black-haired beauty unhesitantly bowed forward, and, as a result, her breasts very nearly jumped out of her kimono. This caused Nobu's eyes to widen quite a bit, a reaction that was noticed by virtually every woman present except the one bowing before him and stating, "My name is Yoshistune Cho. My specialties are cooking, poison tasting, poisons, and assassination. It has always been my dream to prepare a meal for my Lord so please let me know if you are ever feeling famished."

Though he was more than a little put off by the idea of someone specializing in poisons preparing his meals, Nobu forced a smile when the woman raise her head and stared at him with an expectant look in her pitch-black yet strangely luminescent eyes.

"Yeah...sure...I'm actually pretty hungry so you can cook something once we're finished here..."

As if she had just been told her incurable cancer had miraculously disappeared, Cho adopted one of the most radiant smiles Nobu had ever witnessed as she brought her fingers together and happily chimed, "This is quickly becoming the happiest day of my life~."

"..."

Finding himself at a loss for words, Nobu just maintained an awkward smile as he pointed towards the next girl, the most slender and outlandish girl in the entire group. Her skin was even paler than Shizune's, but, for some reason, it didn't look bad on her at all. Instead, it suited her honey-colored hair, pale blue eyes, and slender figure perfectly. As for what made her odd, it was the fact she had no pupils in her eyes. Instead, she had faded grey rings that made it hard to tell where, or what, she was focused on.

Demonstrating her oddities even further, the honey-haired girl performed a slow and graceful bow as she answered, "My name is...Yoshitsune...Ayane...my specialties...observation...memory...hunting...I like animals...and other things...it is a pleasure...to meet you...Nobunaga...sama..."

Though Ayane's introduction was relatively short, Nobu felt like his thought processes had slowed to a crawl just by listening to her speak. He was tempted to ask why she talked this way, but, fearing he might find himself in a real-life version of the Zootopia DMV scene, he promptly decided against it. Instead, he clapped his hands together and said, "Great! Now, let's see if I can actually remember everyone's names..."

Since some of the girls actually had very similar names, Nobu wasn't entirely sure he would be able to avoid calling them incorrectly. Fortunately, Kiku's name helped him out quite a bit in this regard, as, not only did she have a distinguishing appearance; it was difficult to forget a name that sounded like a slur. Thus, without too much difficulty, he went around the room and called out each person's name before ending things off with the freebies, Yuriko and Yui.

Though he hadn't been trying to show off, an awkward smile developed across Nobu's face when every girl present, sans Yui, began clapping for him. He felt like some rich CEO whose ass everyone was eager to kiss, and, should he ask them to, Nobu harbored no delusions about the girls' answer. They would even kill at his behest so things like sexual intimacy and service were a complete joke to them. He just had to be careful they didn't 'imprint' on him as the Matriarch had warned. After all, a harem might be the dream of some degenerate Otaku, but things became markedly more difficult when every member of the group was an assassin trained to kill the person they imprinted on...

Fortunately, as much as his eyes wandered, Nobu didn't consider himself a pervert. Rather, the girls around him were simply too beautiful. They also wore outfits specifically designed to draw attention to their bodies, so, in a way, he would be doing them a disservice by ignoring them. Regardless, the truth of the matter was that he wasn't particularly desperate to get his dick wet, and, even if he was, Yui was more than enough to handle him without Dragon's Vigor. Thus, after a surprisingly lengthy discussion regarding guard rotations, Nobu dismissed all but Yui and Yuriko before asking the duo if they would accompany him to the bath...

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(A/N: Imagine being trapped in a room with people specifically trained to kill without batting an eye xD...)