This Game of Life
Chapter 27
Promise
"I believe that… the karmic loop that you speak of… will continue unabated, should you go along with your proposed suggestion." Chichiatsu-dono seemed to have to choke the words out of himself.
"Very good." Abarai took a large drag on his cigarette, before putting out the stub on the tablecloth and standing, his two goons doing the same. "Daimyo-sama. Little flower." He inclined his head respectfully – honestly, his behaviour made it seem like there were two minds in his body – before nonchalantly strolling out of the dining hall, Toyohisa quickly sending his second after them. I briefly considered following, wanting to keep the thoughtless promise I had given less than an hour prior – but I didn't. This man wouldn't go down just like that, not without also taking down others. It was an unnecessary risk.
"He looking like more your type?" My head swivelled to face Akai. I almost scowled when I saw the huge grin plastered on her face, before I caught myself, remembering what character I'm playing. So I shrugged instead, grinning.
"He's not as nice as my Chichiatsu-sama! I bet he'd never get me gifts like he would. Although… he was pretty hot…" I could feel Chichiatsu-dono squirm. I cringed, both at myself and for his sake, but I couldn't just break character now.
"You think? He's pretty average to me. I've got plenty like him-" Chichiatsu-dono coughed, interrupting her, which only caused her grin to expand. "What, you don't want her to know what I'm here for? I'm operating under your laws, you know. Don't act like you're above it." She leaned further onto the table. "We both know the only reason you haven't been in yourself is 'cause you're not old enough-"
A loud bang reverberated through the room, and Akai l let out a yelp, retreating as far as she could back into her chair along with what I now understood to be her sex workers, or at least something along those lines. I followed suit, instead nestling myself even further into Chichiatsu-dono's side, even as my eyes flicked over to what I knew was the source of the noise. Toyohisa stood stock still, just as unmoving as he had been the entire time, and I smirked. Despite relegating himself to purely guard duties, he certainly could make his presence known when he wanted to.
Silence filled the room for a few moments, before Chichiatsu-dono retook control. "Akai-sama. Your proposition, if you will?"
Akai still looked slightly shaken – despite her higher-than-average level, she's not used to combat, or is good at acting like it, noted – as she nodded, her usual joviality seemingly gone for now. "Y-Yeah. I want your sanction. Your taxes on top of our operating costs are too high."
Chichiatsu-dono raised an eyebrow. "So you're asking me to just lower your taxes? For what?"
She shook her head. "Nah. I just want your blessing. You and I both know just how much that affects businesses here. There's a few upstarts that have cropped up lately – been snatching up my clientel. I was thinking of doing some rebranding and remodelling over the next few months. Then have a grand re-opening for the new year, with you doing the honours. Have it be a café or spa or somethin' during daylight hours, haven't really thought through all the details yet, then back to normal during the night."
"You still haven't explained what I get out of this."
She huffed, affronted. "Well, I gotta pay the licensing fee for whatever new thing we're doing, right? You'll get that."
"Everyone has to do that. What's stopping me opening for one of your rivals?"
"I'll pay double tax for the rest of the year before the referb starts."
"That'll equal four months at most. Not really that much, since you already run at discounted rates. Besides, I'll be getting double tax when you reopen anyway, on account of the secondary business."
She sighed. "Fine. I'll pay you a fee beforehand, and you can get a share in the company. Can we work out numbers later? I'm hungry."
Chichiatsu-dono smiled. "That's acceptable."
The rest of the evening passed without incident, Abarai's exit having put things in a lighter mood. As things dragged on, I felt myself becoming quieter and quieter, as it slowly became more and more apparent that I was out of my depth here. Better to keep my mouth shut than blow my cover, I thought, and besides, the main target was long gone. So what if my disguise became a little easier to see through now?
Besides, it's not like the cover would last the whole time I was here. In fact, I'd be surprised if it lasted more than a month, maybe two. Word would get out that Chichiatsu-dono had a ninja, once I started really performing jobs for him. Not to mention I hadn't really bothered to hide my forehead protector when we had entered the city, though the general populous here was so self-absorbed that I don't think many, if any, noticed.
Instead, I tugged on Chichiatsu-dono's sleeve, and whispered in his ear, feigning tiredness. "I don't think there's anything more to gain from this, sir. I think it would be best if I could leave now, so I can get started on figuring out Abarai." My voice was barely a whisper, and Chichatsu-dono nodded sagely as he heard what I had to say.
"Yes, that's fine… Ahem." He said, grabbing the attention of the rest at the table. "Sakura-san here is feeling tired from the long trip, so she will be leaving us now. Please excuse us." He stood, and I followed suit, bowing deeply.
"I'm really sorry! It was really nice meeting all of you!" As I fervently apologised, Chichiatsu-dono called over Toyohisa, telling him to escort me to my quarters.
"Let us return, Sakura-hime." The older man gruffly said, staring straight at the centre of my forehead to avoid making eye-contact. I fought the urge to smirk, nodding and obediently following the man along. I waited until we were a ways down the corridor before releasing my transformation with a burst of chakra smoke, earning a sneer from Toyohisa.
"What info do you have on Abarai?" I asked, my eyes flashing to his, forcing him to meet my gaze. Despite the difference in size, and the fact that I knew that he could take me in a fight, he still began to sweat.
'Evoke Fear' has increased in level by one!
He quickly turned away, looking down the corridor. "Why do you need it?"
I raised an eyebrow. "So I can plan how to kill him, obviously. Why else?"
He scoffed. "As if you could. Some of my best men wouldn't be able to defeat him, and while you may be one of those hack magicians, I have no reason to-"
"Well, you could beat him, right? So by definition, I can too."
He stopped, glowering at me. "Are you insulting me?"
I kept walking, facing down the hall. "Not at all, you're pretty strong. But the fact that you're so terrified of me should be proof enough, right?"
I could feel his flinch, and I turned on my heel, looking back at him. "I'm young enough to be your granddaughter. What are you so afraid of?"
He paused. "No child should be capable… of creating such a scene like you did. And not only did you tear apart those stupid enough to keep fighting, once the fighting was finished, you began to kill the unconscious ones, too. You would have happily killed them all had the one with one eye not stopped you. What are you?"
"You're talking about the bandits?" At his silence, I just shrugged. "It was them or me. And I killed the others just in case. Even if we captured them, they'd die anyways, or waste the Land of Fire's money rotting away in a cell for the rest of their lives, so…" I shrugged again. I didn't see the glint of disgust in his eyes for my disregard of life. I did, however, hear him grip the blade of his katana more tightly.
Obviously, my answer hadn't been what he had wanted to hear. And I knew that should he choose to, he would probably be able to kill me. The Gamer's Mind kept me calm where most would begin to panic, and I looked first lazily at his sheathed blade held in a white-knuckle grip, and then drifted up to his eyes. "That reminds me, actually. Mind if I join you and your men in your training from tomorrow? Could do with some sword training, we don't really get that many master swordsmen back home."
Show no fear.
He fears you.
Give him a reason to.
After his lack of response, I continued. "I'll take that as a yes. It's not like you would've stopped me, but at least now you'll get me a sword to use. Right?" I stared him in the eyes, and for maybe the first time, consciously tried to expel my killer intent until he backed down, releasing his sword. He stiffly nodded, and I smiled. Crisis averted. "Good! Now, let's get that info."
A skill has been created through a special action! Through awakening your killer intent, the skill 'Killing Intent' has been created!
"This is all you have? Really?" I asked, a little shocked. The manilla folder that I had been given listed little more than Abarai's physical description, the names of a few of his goons, and the public properties he owned. Toyohisa bristled, annoyed at my tone.
"That snake would never let us get anything on him. He's far too slippery."
"Well, he certainly wasn't the pushover I was expecting. Still, though. I thought there would be more. Doesn't really matter though." I closed the folder, standing up from the small desk that held various other pieces of information for people of interest. "I'm going back to my room. Tell Chichiatsu-dono that I'll get back to him with a plan of action tomorrow, will you? I need to think on this."
"I am not your-"
I glared at him, allowing my Killing Intent to leak out again, and the man immediately shut up. I felt a little guilty for scaring the man, and for giving him an awful impression of shinobi… but at the same time, he hadn't liked us to begin with, and to be honest… it was a little thrilling, being able to cow a man who could probably kill me with a single swing with my mere presence. It reminded me of how I had felt in Wave around the civilians, before…
My mood darkened.
'Killing Intent' has increased in level by one!
I heard Toyohisa begin struggling for breath, and I instantly relaxed, having momentarily lost myself. I hadn't realised that my Killing Intent could have such a strong effect on him - though I suppose that was more due to him never really experiencing it rather than anything special about my brand of it. Despite wanting to, I didn't apologise for the discomfort, instead turning on my heel and walking out of the room. I couldn't just go back on the power dynamic I had developed.
Or maybe it was just because it was still a bit thrilling.
I flopped onto my new bed, marvelling at how soft it was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Touka smiling softly, as I realised she had been waiting for me here. "How long have you been waiting for?"
"As long as you have been gone, Sakura-sama."
"I see. Well, I don't think I'll need anything more tonight. You can go rest."
Her shoulders sagged, almost imperceptibly, and the light in her eyes shifted. "Thank you, Sakura-sama. Goodnight." She slowly walked out of the room, flicking a switch as she softly closed the door behind her. Instantly, the lights in the room began to dim, before settling on a pleasant level that made my room shine with a brilliant golden-brown. I smiled, sinking into the mattress further, before looking at my status.
Name: Haruno Sakura
Class: The Gamer
Level: LV 13
HP: 380/380
MP: 330/330
STR: 15
VIT: 19
DEX: 15
INT: 58
WIS: 33
LUK: 10
Points: 0
As I already knew, my physical stats lagged far behind my mental ones. I thought about how best to proceed with training – should I keep training at what I was best at, or try and bring everything up to par? The first option was tempting – after all, after getting my INT to 50, I'd gotten a free skill, and I imagine that that trend would continue, and WIS was the closest to hitting one of those benchmarks. But… it's not like the fact that those skills were farther away for my physical stats made them any less real, or attainable. Plus, the only ninja techniques I even had with me to learn were the final two Vermillion Bird skills, and those… Well, let's just say my body had a of work to do. Hell, even my WIS wasn't high enough for the last one yet.
"Guess I've got to go get sweaty…" I grumbled, standing. To be honest, at some point during my stay I would have to focus on my physical attributes. They would be the only things that anyone here would really be able to help me train with, or teach me new skills for. How exactly I'm going to increase my INT and WIS when the time came for it, I didn't know…. But that was a problem for later.
My leg flashed out into the room, as I envisioned Toyohisa and tried to hit him in the temple with a kick. I failed miserably, not nearly flexible enough – or maybe just not big enough – to hit such a high target… but that was now. As I began warming up, and slowly ramping up the tempo, it slowly began to dawn on me just how good for me this mission really was. At the time when I had accepted it, the only thing I had thought about was the fact that it was an S rank mission, and that it'd look really good on my record if I completed one, by myself.
And while yes, that was true… I realised that Swamps didn't have a ninja village, and it didn't have one for a reason. While that might sound stupid, especially considering that I had known that already, I only really just now began to realise what it meant for me.
Swamps didn't have a ninja village because it rarely needed ninja work done. This was obvious. What that meant though, would be that I would rarely be needed specifically. Of course, I fully expect Chichiatsu-dono to ask me to accomplish some unnecessary and frivolous tasks, he is a noble, but… He's also smart, and so I imagine those would be few and far between.
Which meant that I wouldn't actually be doing anything for the better part of three years. Which meant I would just be training for the better part of three years. And – when ninja work did crop up, as it had today, I would be the only one doing that work, meaning I would be getting all of the EXP for it – and while I didn't expect it to be that much, it'd also probably be more than I'd be getting back home. At least, until I made chuunin or something. Probably.
Some people – certainly, the me from a few months ago, before I had gotten this power – would shy away from three years of training, or slack off – but the realisation revitalised me, and I sped up my kata, faster than I realised I was capable of. This excited me. I enjoyed seeing my numbers tick up – seeing the physical changes that it wrought on my body. I liked feeling strong. And this was an opportunity – an opportunity to become stronger than I could even imagine.
The rest of my thoughts were lost in the thrum of my flying fists.
Once again, I was very glad that the Gamer's Body just meant my body got stronger as I trained, with none of the soreness, or the waiting for my muscles to actually grow. I had gotten carried away, and trained all night for the first time in a while – but I felt like it would be something I would be getting into the habit of doing again, whether I thought about it or not.
Name: Haruno Sakura
Class: The Gamer
Level: LV 13
HP: 380/380
MP: 330/330
STR: 15
VIT: 19
DEX: 17
INT: 58
WIS: 33
LUK: 10
Points: 0
Oh, yeah. I had thought about figuring out how to train my LUK, hadn't I… Ahh, that can wait. Once I had gotten the rest up to somewhere I was happy with, then I can spare the time to look into it. Maybe after a year's worth of training? Yeah, by then I would surely be strong enough to kick that Kurotsuchi girl's ass into next week if I ever saw her again. I could take a distraction then.
A polite knock on my door pulled me out of my thoughts, and I quickly opened it to see Touka there. "Good morning, Sakura-sama."
"Hey there, Touka. Is Chichiatsu-dono calling me or something?"
"Not that I know of. I simply wanted to let you know I was here."
I nodded, understanding. "Well, come in. I'm going to take a quick shower, and then we can get started with the day."
"Of course. What would you like for breakfast? I can get the chefs started while you get ready."
"Don't bother, I'm not hungry." I called out, shutting the bathroom door with a click.
I stepped out of the bathroom, delicately towelling my hair as I did so. It was getting pretty long, but I didn't dare think about cutting it. I might not be keeping it long for Sasuke-kun, but… what if Ami-chan liked long hair? I shook the blush and my thoughts away, seeing Touka waiting. As I thought she would, she'd completely ignored me when I had told her I wasn't hungry, and had a tray with three plates on it with her – grilled fish, miso soup, and natto. I grimaced at the natto – I knew it was an acquired taste, but it was one skill I had no intention of learning. The other two smelled wonderful, though, and I smiled at Touka. "Thanks."
She inclined her head, setting the tray down and letting me eat. Despite genuinely not feeling hungry, I ate all of the soup and the fish, and even attempted a bite of the natto, actually managing to swallow it for once before giving up on it. Touka giggled. "I'll be sure to tell the chefs to not prepare natto in future, Sakura-sama."
"Do you mind telling them to watch the spice on things while you're at it? I can't handle spicy foods."
"Of course."
I huffed, standing up. "Well, that can wait. Let's go see Chichiatsu-dono, hmm?"
"If that is what you wish, Sakura-sama."
"I'm sorry, Chichiatsu-dono."
He looked at me quizzically from his throne of sorts. Toyohisa shifted uncomfortably to his left. "Whatever for?"
"I broke my promise. Abarai wasn't dealt with last night."
"Oh, that… Well, he wasn't quite what you expected, right? No one can blame you for that."
"True. But I still overestimated myself and couldn't back up my bluster. I'm sorry for being so arrogant."
He waved me off. "Please, it's not a problem." He smiled warmly at me. "I trust that you will be able to deal with this problem eventually, and that is all I ask of you. Take your time if you need it."
I was lucky that he was so magnanimous. "Well, actually, I have a bit of a plan brewing. He didn't give much away yesterday evening, but what he did give us might be enough. I need time to figure out the details, though… Would it be possible to get the details on that shipment he mentioned? Where and when it's coming?"
At that, Chichiatsu-dono looked to his right, and Mitsuki-san spoke after a moment. "That shouldn't be an issue, though it may take a couple of days in case you plan to-"
"That's fine," I said, cutting her off. "I don't expect to make any major moves before then. I just need to see what I can find out about him before it happens, though probably the real nail in the coffin will be the shipment itself."
"One last question." All three of their eyes trained on me. "Has Abarai ever spent time outside of Swamps?"
Toyohisa answered. "He has left from time to time on business, but is always back within a month. And to my knowledge, while his parents were immigrants from the Land of Lightning, he was born here."
Hmm. "Okay, actual last question. Does he have any fighting experience? Or training?"
Toyohisa seemed confused about the question. "Well, obviously we don't know every detail about his life, otherwise you wouldn't be needed… but no, to my knowledge, aside from a few street fights."
I sighed. "That's what I thought. This might be harder than I thought…" I mumbled quietly.
Fighting a bunch of who knows how many thugs was already a lot to ask, but a bunch hopped up on soldier pills? That might be a bit much. Even for me.
Told you I'd update again. Bet none of you thought it'd be this quick.
Sakura's stats will probably look different to you if you're paying attention, specifically her HP and MP. I changed the values of both, both of them now larger. I changed the HP because for some reason I stopped increasing it along with her stats, and have now corrected it, meanwhile when I compared her MP to her HP it seemed ridiculously low, especially considering that her WIS was much higher relative to her VIT, so I changed the ratio for that stat. The updated values in this chapter are accurate, and should stay like this unless i fuck up again. I'll update the previous chapters to reflect these changes eventually, so it looks consistent, after which I'll delete this note.
Anyway. Stay in your homes, and all that. Happy reading.