Chapter 54: A Special Brand of Anguish

While Nobu was lost in thought regarding his future course of action, Aiko and Chikako kept silently observing him until Cho arrived with his breakfast.

Smelling the delicious food even before Cho announced her presence, an expectant glimmer flashed across Nobu's eyes as he said, "Come in."

Opening the door, Cho could be seen with a radiant smile on her face as she carried in a tray lined with various Nianese dishes. Her smile was so radiant, in fact, that it seemed to brighten up the room as she made her way over and gingerly placed the well-structured meal of miso soup, salmon, rice, tofu, and some kind of pickled vegetable that resembled cabbage.

After savoring the aroma for several seconds, Nobu picked up the rather extravagant set of chopsticks lying to the side before saying, "Thanks. Your cooking is incredible."

If her smile was bright before, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Cho was beaming once she heard Nobu's compliment. There was even a thin layer of moisture covering her eyes, but, due to his focus on savoring the food's aroma, Nobu remained blissfully unaware of this...

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With his belly full and nothing better to do, Nobu laid in bed with his hands behind his head, lazily staring at the ceiling.

("This world is starting to fuck with my head. I can't believe I'm seriously considering trying to befriend one of those exhibitionist brats...")

After thinking things through for a bit, Nobu came to the conclusion that he was supposed to add the girls to his Friends List when he was still just a kid. Had he been reborn into this world normally, he would have met them shortly after he began his training. At that time, they would just be starting their foundation training, so, even if there was some kind of bullshit restriction preventing him from accessing the tablet, he would still be able to add them as friends shortly after gaining access to it. Now, he was playing catchup due to his desire to keep his body and skip the hassles associated with childhood...

"Fucking bullshit..."

Following this exclamation, Nobu sat up rather abruptly before looking over at the five girls who had now gathered within his room. The only people missing, sans Yui, were those who were resting in preparation for their future shifts. This included Kazue, who, after washing up and donning a proper kunoichi uniform, transformed from a rather plain-looking woman into a surprisingly cute girl with a bright face and a double-bun hairstyle.

Though he was tempted to comment on Kazue's metamorphosis, Nobu first directed his gaze towards Kumiko, the busty beauty with silver-grey hair that extended past her sizeable ass and neatly framed her face, asking, "Does the Yoshitsune Clan have any adult members who failed to complete their foundation training? You know, like servants and such...?"

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Kumiko answered, "Impossible. It would become a serious problem if people lacking talent were allowed to stay within the village. Not only would it be a waste of resources; it would also encourage trainees to slack off knowing they could just stay in the clan and leach off the hard work and sacrifice of others. Such individuals are cancerous enough in modern society. If people like that were allowed to survive within a clan, we would slowly rot from the inside out."

Surprised by the intensity of Kumiko's words, a conflicted look appeared on Nobu's face as he found himself unable to disagree with her. Even his own world had a mind-numbing amount of people who only cared about the benefits they could receive from the government without actually contributing anything to society. One of his former roommates, a man named Joshua, had even told him about how he made upwards of $300 a day after learning how to play the guitar and pretending to be homeless. This was during a time when Nobu had been working 40 hours a week for $8.25 an hour. His boss wouldn't even allow him to work overtime, so, if he wanted to make enough money to get by, he would have literally needed to work two jobs while some asshat hipster with a guitar he beat up himself made nearly as much in one day as he did in an entire week...

Shaking that thought from his mind, Nobu did his best to appear calm as he asked, "Well, how old are the girls who have just finished their foundation training? There's something I want to try out and I need someone around or below the level of Rank 1 Copper Trainee to lend me a hand. Any ideas?"

After a brief pause to organize her thoughts, Kumiko nodded her head and explained, "Most members of the Yoshitsune Clan complete their foundation training by the age of five. Those that fail to do so by the age of eight are either sent overseas or sold off to brothels to receive training as future prostitutes and informants. My Lord returned with rather substantial savings so it is possible to purchase some of the girls that would have been sold off. Should I contact the Training Institute and have them prepare a lineup...?"

Raising his hand in a stopping gesture, Nobu's expression darkened as his mind processed what Kumiko had just said. He knew that slavery was totally a thing in this world but he had never even considered that clans would be selling off children. Sure, he understood the logic behind it, but, as someone with modern sensibilities, the nonchalance with which Kumiko had spoken made him sick to his stomach.

Realizing she had made her Lord upset, Kumiko attempted to allay Nobu's frustrations by adopting a gentle tone and saying, "My Lord is a kind man. I'm certain those girls would be extremely grateful to have such a kind Lord as their Master. Please consider it..."

Though she didn't think it was a good idea for her Nobu to waste what few resources he had on a bunch of talentless children, Kumiko would be lying if she said she didn't empathize with his frustrations. The fear of being sent abroad or sold off to a brothel was something all young trainees feared. Many even committed suicide shortly after they were sent away, unable to cope with the notion that they would be spending the rest of their short lives servicing people at the very lowest rungs of society. Thus, even though she knew it was a bad idea, Kumiko still wanted Nobu to purchase a few of the girls slated for disposal. After all, they would be much happier serving him than spending the rest of their lives attending to pig farmers, sailors, and homeless people...

Seeing Kumiko lower her head, halfway between a bow and a dogeza, Nobu turned his own away in deep thought. A part of him was tempted to convince the Matriarch to entrust all the failing members of her clan to him. At the same time, however, he knew this wouldn't be an extremely stupid thing to do. He didn't even have the resources to support the people who currently depended on him for their growth, and, even if he did manage to come up with a convenient excuse, where would the girls stay? He was basically a guest in the main estate, and, unless he gave her a very good reason, he couldn't imagine the Matriarch allowing him to effectively build his own faction from among girls the clan had abandoned.

"Fucking bullshit..."

With Kumiko raising her head in response to his words, Nobu preempted any questions she might have by saying, "Fine. Go and tell whoever is in charge to get the girls ready. Oh, and make sure they're actually clothed and shit. I swear, if I show up and there is a line of naked brats waiting for me, I'm going to lose my shit."

Bowing her head low, Kumiko replied, "Understood." before promptly vanishing into thin air.

Feeling the sudden onset of a headache, Nobu cast his gaze over the other four girls present before stopping on Kazue and asking, "You were supposed to be my doctor, right?"

Smiling wryly in response, Kazue was prepared to apologize before Nobu shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. I was just thinking that you should know how to give massages and stuff. I'm getting a tension headache so it would help if you massage my scalp while someone else fetches some drinking water. My throat is beginning to feel a little sore."

Exhaling a sigh of relief, Kazue rose to her feet before moving behind Nobu and saying, "Lean back and rest the back of your head on my lap."

Though the only authentic lap pillow he had ever experienced was in this world, Nobu could still recall how soft Yui's thighs had been. Thus, without any hesitation whatsoever, he reclined against Kazue's and allowed her to massage his scalp and temples while Aiko quickly fetched a bamboo container filled with water. She even poured it into his mouth, so, while he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable whenever they behaved overly courteous, moments like this kind of made up for it...

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With Kumiko returning a lot sooner than he anticipated, it wasn't long before Nobu was being led down the mountain with Kiku and Aiko acting as his bodyguards. Chikako and Ayane were also guarding him, but, instead of walking alongside him, they scouted the surrounding forest and stalked him from the shadows.

A stark contrast to his journey up the mountain, Nobu's path remained relatively unimpeded thanks to the presence of his escort. There were still a few precocious brats eying him from a distance but none of them tried to approach. As for Nobu, knowing what he knew now, he did his best to appear calm and unflustered even as Kumiko led him into a three-story compound that served as both a training facility and school for kunoichi trainees.

Waiting for them near the entrance was a silver-haired woman who had introduced herself as Yoshitsune Kiara, but, from the moment he had entered the facility, Nobu wasn't really paying attention. All of his efforts were focused on his breathing, as, despite doing his best to remain calm, the realization that he was about to purchase children made him sick to his stomach. He had even started to pale, and, though it was actually quite cool outside, a dense layer of sweat had broken out across his entire body.

"My Lord...if you're feeling unwell, we can come back another time..."

Turning his head, Nobu noticed the concern visible in, not just Kumiko's, but everyone else's eyes. This made him feel a little pathetic, but, for other reasons entirely, he shook his head and said, "No. If I leave today, I doubt I would ever come back. Let's just get this over with..."

Nodding her head in understanding, Kumiko asked the woman guiding them to continue leading the way until they had reached what could best be described as a dojo. There, a total of three little girls had been lined up, each looking equal parts frightened and hopeful. If not for the fact they had been informed to remain still and quiet, they would be doing everything in their power to appeal to the gigantic man that had just walked into the room. After all, he was, in many ways, their last hope...

Noticing the desperation visible in the girls' gazes, Nobu's expression darkened considerably as a sudden and intense urge to scream and shout at the woman guiding them began to swell within his heart. Instead, he forced himself to take a few steps forward, surprising everyone in the room as he asked, "Would any of you like to be my friend...?"

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(A/N: Man...and to think that novels like Death March can almost make purchasing little girls seem 'cute'. I can't even imagine what I would do in Nobu's shoes...)