K, Niko's chapter here.

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That morning,

I told some of our men to go shop for leather, it's not like we don't own any, and we do own them. It's just that we can't use it since it's only a quality of a display. It's not as tough as the one that can be used for equipment.

I walked out of my room to get some fresh air, and then I noticed that my siblings have already gone off to the yard to play with each other.

Aren't they just cute? Hehe.

Not that they can defeat my cuteness though. I'm still the cutest of all—Ha!

When I sat down on the bench near the yard, I could see the lewd tanuki and fox sleeping next to each other behind a bush. I wonder if they have gone through a restless night yesterday. I just hope they don't do their act when my siblings are around.

I don't want to get through the trouble of telling them what they are doing.

Come to think of it though,

I wonder if I could just take one of them to fulfill the 'soul' part. Other than it will make me less worried if they will ever be lewd again, it will also makes me less worried if I will accidentally take someone into the box to fulfill the soul part.

Hmm…Let's see here.

I carefully approached them.

From the appearances, it looks like the male one is the fox.

He is sleeping on top of the Tanuki who appears to be so deep in her slumber.

Well, that's good I guess.

I carefully took the fox and carried him to my room.


This fox...

...is such a heavy sleeper

Maybe it is really tired or maybe my gentle hands are too gentle to wake him up.

But…come to think of it.

This fox….

Why can't I see his ball?

Is this really a male fox?

Maybe this fox doesn't have a ball?

Or maybe it's tiny?

Ah well, screw that, the fox is here and I don't want the Tanuki to figure out that I took him here. I need to use his soul.

There's a rumor that Tanuki's could be dangerous when they are angry. Alas…every animal is.

Maybe this fox is dangerous too?

Well…

Not again.

I put my box close to him, opening it slightly—and the thing that happened is just that the fox—the whole fox was swallowed by it.

That was fast.

I'm glad he didn't fight back.

Well...what can a sleeping fox do?

His fault for being a heavy sleeper...

Now…for the next step—….

"Niko-chaaan!" I could hear shout from one of the men that I sent to go to marketplace. I wonder what kind of leather they are returning with.

"Yeah?" I replied.

They bowed to me and said,

"Niko-chan! We wanted to ask what kind of leather you want!"

"Eh? Well.. I told you to just get whatever…" I said.

They turned to each other for a moment, then back to the floor,

"We were thinking to go to hunt for it…so that you have more freedom to choose its quality…"

"Eh—you're saying it like the quality of the marketplace leather aren't good…" I said.

"Honestly, it is too expensive for us and to think that we need to save up….".

Good point.

We need to save up so that we could keep our organization running. My mother probably has been struggling enough.

"Alright, then, please just take me to hunt. I'm sure I will want to see what is on the list…" I said.

"E-eh?!" They seems to be surprised,

"What? It's not like I don't know what I want; I just think that it's better to look at it by my own eyes…" I said.

"W-We are not sure about that!" they said.

"You two will protect me, so I'm not worried; besides… we are going to hunt around our territory, so it's not going to be that dangerous, right?"

They looked into each other again before they nodded,

"Very well, then we will do our best, Niko-chan!"

Well,

They took me to the forest around our territory.

Apparently, we have plenty of deer walking around our territory…also some moose and wild boars. It's pretty amazing that they don't seem to be afraid of us and they are not hostile either…I'll feel bad if I have to kill them.

"So… How are those, Niko-chan?"

They asked.

"They don't quite look like an interesting object…I think I would like to get another animal…" I said.

"Well then, let's find something else…" They said.

And we decided to look for another animal.


This time,

We went to a lair… said to be the wolf lair… we are watching from far above the hills next to it.

Wolf leather…. Huh?

I get a feeling that I might as well use it… but…

Look at those wolf pups!

They are so cute!

I can't kill them either!

"So…how about they, Niko-chan?" they asked.

"No-no… this is still lack of quality for me…" I said.

The two looking at each other again,

"Niko-chan surely is like Yazawa-san…" one of them said,

"Huh? What about papa?" I asked.

"It's nothing… let's just get to the next one… Niko-chan…"


Next stop,

They brought me to a place…. I don't really understand what animals they are trying to show…but…

It's somewhat pretty close to a cave which is just a meter outside of our territory then a swamp with murky green water.

"How about this, Niko-chan?" They asked.

"Huh? I can't see any animals…" I said.

"Oh—well…look down there under the water…" they said.

Now I see what they were hinting at…

Snakes! Ew!

And ew! Look at those bugs! So disgusting!

"There's no way I want that!" I yelled.

"But… we use plenty of products that are made of their skin?" They said.

"Bug skins?"

"No-no…snake skin!"

Oh…

That's embarrassing…

"It's not like I don't want them, it just that I think I want to get better one! A tougher skin and a better quality too!" I said.

They seem to be troubled for a moment there, and then they turned their eyes towards the cave…

"Well…there is something else that we are thinking of… but… we are not quite sure if we can take you there…" they said.

"Huh? Why? I asked.

"Because…" there was a little pause,

"Well…it's just…a dark place that we are not even sure if we could survive in…"

"Then, let's forget that. Maybe we can find—…"

And just before I could finish talking, they quickly grabbed me and hid behind a big rock nearby,

"What the hell?" I complained,

"Sssh! Niko-chan!" they shush me before they focus their eyes towards the cave direction.

I wonder what are they trying to say… but…I could see two people walking towards the cave. One of them… a beautiful tall woman with red hair who caught my eyes almost immediately, then the other one is a scary-looking samurai with two katana sheathed on her waist,

Hmm…wow…this red haired woman…

She is….

Really beautiful…

There is something about her that makes me want to get to know her.

Is she a princess?

Or perhaps…. Someone else in a higher place?

Either way…

Geez…

How could someone that attractive be around this area…?

I tried to listen to her conversation with the samurai behind her.

"Is this the right cave?" The red haired said.

"Yes, Mistress…." The samurai said.

A mistress?

Wow!

She must be rich!

"Heh—Doesn't this look a little too small for a dragon cave?" she asked,

D-Dragon?!

"That's what makes them unable to go up to the surface…" the samurai said.

"Oh…"

"So…what are you waiting for, Mistress? Let's get it…" the samurai smiled strangely.

"A..Alright…." the red haired replied before they entered the cave along with the samurai.

W-whoa!

Somehow…I just get a bad feeling about this!

"H-Hey! We need to follow them!" I said.

"N-Niko-chan? Don't tell me, you have the same thought as us?" one of my men said.

"Huh? Well! Maybe I do—but either way! We need to follow them!" I said.

"That's amazing, Niko-chan! We're glad to know you have a good wit!"

"J-Just…. Let's go follow them. Ok?!"


We decided to sneak a little further away from them,

At first, the cave seemed to be quiet and peaceful. Though as we keep following them deeper to the depths, it started to get darker and darker…. Yet they could keep going without any torches? Amazing…

"Mistress!" the samurai said.

"Yes?" the red haired woman replied, I just realized how attractive her voice is when it echoed in the darkness of the cave.

"Do you hear that?" the samurai said again.

"Which sound? I could hear plenty here…" the red haired replied,

"A dragon growling…"

"Ah—that, should be just a few kilometers deeper from here…"

I couldn't really see their faces again, but I bet the samurai must be somewhat surprised…well..I'm surprised too that she could do that.

"You have a good sense…" the samurai complimented.

"Heh— just because I have the talent…"

"What other voices you can hear?" the samurai asked,

"Hmm… muffled footsteps… I can hear them nearby, but I'm not quite sure since I just doubt anyone sane will try to get in here without any source of light…unless they have the same talent as me…"

"Muffled footsteps? Do you mean mine?" she asked.

"No… I can totally hear your footsteps, and from the sound of it, you seem like someone who doesn't even bother to hide your presence… unlike the footsteps from…uh… I think a while ago, it came from there…" she pointed to where we are.

Damn it.

How could she?!

The samurai turning to face us…

Hell…

She looks really scary… and those sharp eyes kind of telling us that she could see through the darkness.

What the heck is she?

I doubt she is even a human!

"Who's there?!" the samurai asked us with her voice that almost sounded like a storm.

Of course, none of us were going to reply to that…

Then out of nowhere she began slashing her katana very quickly towards our direction. I can't even see the sword, but I could see the flash of reflection from the metal.

"Hiiiiiii!" I accidentally let out a sound as I cowered behind the rock.

The samurai and the red haired seem to notice our presence because of that.

Though they remained quiet for a moment…

"Heh—just ignore them, Umi… I bet they are scared enough to not mess up with us…" the red haired woman said.

"Understood, mistress…."

Then they continued to walk again.

Phew..

They have mercy…

For a second there, I thought she would tell her samurai to look for us.

But anyway…that will not stop me from following her.

I have to make sure that samurai isn't planning to do anything bad to that beautiful woman!

Especially to know that they're most likely looking for a dragon…

Which probably is just as dangerous …


So we keep following her,

I'm glad my men don't seem to be scared or panicked here.

But…really…

That samurai is really scary.

Just a while back, there were like five or six giant spiders blocking their path, then with just a single command, that samurai killed them within a blink of an eye. Can you believe that?

On the good side, we could get through everything easily.

Bad side…

That might be what happens to us if we mess with them.

Up until now, I'm still not sure why my men seem so determined to do this…

For me, I just want to make sure that red haired girl is not in danger.

We keep moving forward and trying our best to be as quiet as we could.

I wonder if that red haired girl is still able to hear us?

Just how good are her ears?


When we reached a big part of the cave,

It was super-duper dark and damp, also very cold and… which was really making me shiver. I almost couldn't see them again… but thanks to the crystals that was left around the cave, we got some lights to see them….and they don't even seems to be bothered by the lack of light as they progressed further.

What the hell are they, damn it.

"Here we are…Mistress…." The samurai said as she stopped, then the red haired girl turned her sight to somewhere below the cliff next to her. Is there anything down there, I wonder?

"W-wah! That's…. that's an actual dragon?" she asked in awe.

"Yes…" the samurai replied.

"W-wow…that dragon will totally make good leather!" the red haired woman said.

"So you like it?" she asked.

"Yes!" the red haired woman seems to be excited.

"Then stay here, let me get him for you…" the samurai said before she just…

Wait—whoa?!

She jumped into the cliff!

Crazy ass!

The red haired woman also looked very surprised by the samurai's act.

Then I could hear a roar from the dragon loudly echoing around the room. The red haired woman put her hand up to cover her own ears—I bet it must really hurt her to hear it since, I—the one with a so-so talent on listening, already have this aching pain when the dragon's roar trembles in my ear.

For a moment there–I don't really know what happened, but the dragon became really quiet and there were only a few noises echoing.

Then….

Wow….

Just…

What the heck….

What kind of samurai is she, damn it?

I could hear the samurai shout,

"Mistress, I got it. Do you want to take anything else from him?"

"W-what? W…Well…I…I want to see it closer…." The red haired woman replied,

"Then, just jump here, I'll catch you…" the samurai said.

"O…Ok…" and that red haired woman jumped down without hesitation.

Is she stupid or something?!

How could she jump in without thinking twice?! What if that samurai didn't catch her?!

Anyhow, right after that woman jumped, my men ran through the side of the wall to prevent getting noticed by them. I doubted for a second there but I decided to follow them.

I'm really curious about how things are going.

I ran a few seconds after my men disappeared from my sight.

Again, I really don't know what they are planning.

But they seem to be very focused and sure about what they are trying to do.

I wonder if they are also trying to make sure that red haired woman is doing fine?

Now that I'm hiding behind the tall rock near the cliff, I tried to peek down.

A Blue dragon was sliced into pieces—and it seems like its skin was very well cut.

Whatever katana she is holding…. Damn…. That must be a really sharp one.

I can see the red haired woman gazing at the dragon in awe; before she began to explore its body—I bet her eyes must be sparkling like a little kid who just got a giant candy.

She is cute…

I really want to get to know her…

Then a moment later…

"So…got anything else you want?" the samurai once again asked.

"A-ah! well… I…I think I want his horn or his teeth to be made into a sword like yours…"

The samurai nodded,

"Understood…."

"Then… I wonder if you can make the sheath from it too…"

"Of course, mistress… shall we get the gemstone around here as well?"

"The Sapphire or the turquoise?"

"Whichever you want, mistress…" the samurai said stiffly.

"Uhm..then, get me both of them…I'll decide later…"

"Understood…"

"Then…I just need fabric and the soul now… I wonder where I can get it…" the red haired woman said.

"Do you want to find those around here too?"

"Heh—No…I think I want to browse in the market again…not today though…"

"Understood."

Then I saw my men sneaking behind the rocks and–

W-what the hell?!

T-This is not expected!

I mean….

No!

This is not what I thought of!

My men grabbed the red haired woman and placed their sword right in front of her neck,

"Halt! If you want her to live, leave this place and the dragon corpse here!" One of them shouted.

This is a misunderstanding!

I never thought about that!

I looked at the samurai, who looked calm and the red haired woman was quiet with panic evident in her eyes.

I need to get this straight!

Urgh….how should I do it?!

Uhm…maybe…this first…

"W-whoa, Hang on! That's not exactly what I want you two to do!" I yelled from up here.

Though when I was about to run down—

I could hear my men painfully wailed before their voice just suddenly vanish…

As I looked again—

I….

I couldn't believe my eyes.

They were already sliced into two as they fell on the ground near the red haired woman who was equally shocked.

Then the samurai turned her eyes to me,

"Trying to harm or threaten is already an act of crime that I do not want to see especially if you are targeting the Mistress that I was hired to protect… I know you are from the Yazawa-clan… I respected you by not entering your territory— yet you do not respect me by doing this…" the samurai said with her thundering voice, she must be really angry….

"I-I told you, this is a misunderstanding!" I shouted at her,

"U-Umi!" the red haired woman called her,

"Sorry, step back for now, Mistress. Anyone from a Yakuza is not someone to reason with… this is for the sake of your safety…." The samurai replied gently to her mistress.

W-what the heck?!

Is she some kind of a police or something?!

Did she hate us that much?!

"Th-The hell!? You are saying it like we're not human!" I yelled.

She only frowned at me and…

She dashed so quickly—it's almost like she's flying!

What the heck!?

I quickly dodged her before she slashed her sword to where I was. The rock neatly sliced into two—and I saw it slowly drop to its side's right after she stepped onto the ground near me.

Her katana looks really sharp and deadly…

And she doesn't even have any blood stains on it!

It must have been an extremely quick slash.

I wonder what I should say to make her stop.

Or…

Maybe not…

I must..

Run for now!

She is after my neck!


I keep running through the cave.

Hopefully I'm in the right track since this is my first time around this area. I just can rely on my best talent, a talent to escape!

This samurai… I doubt she is able to see me right now—not that I can really see her, but at least I might have better advantage in this since I have dark hair too and I blend enough in the darkness!

I keep my feet moving along with my instinct.

Yes, it is an instinct that I call as talent. It's like I always know where she is going to attack me. Though my reaction is limited to running—I can't fight back! But, honestly, no one can fight back at this rate!

Who can?!

With that constant smashing and slashing—and with that kind of speed, I mean…

Really?

What kind of human is she?!

If I could describe her pacing for her attacks with a 'nope'…. It will go like this.

Nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope.

Just where the hell did she even hire a person like this?

She hired this person to protect her, right?

I swear I heard it like that.

And I swear too, the cave wall couldn't have looked more destructible than the way she sliced those rocks like they were oranges.

I don't know what to feel right now—honestly.

I feel bad for killing those two men that I didn't even bother to ask their names, I don't even actually know them because people just join in and out of our organization—or perhaps that's just because I never actually paid attention to them. But either way,

I am an important person in the family; I have to survive this crazy ass!

She is someone without tiredness, I swear she didn't even slow down—not a single bit!

What kind of curse did I hold upon myself lately?!

Anyhow,

She has been chasing me in a pattern that I could read.

But at one point…

She changed her pattern completely—and I almost didn't expect her to jump in in front of me with her katana mercilessly thrust into the ground. It's good that I realized that three second before she landed her attack.

Damn….

Now that she blocked my path to the outside, I need to trick her to running back in—but I have to be very quick or she might be jumping right in front of me again. So first I tried to take the right area as a majority of my path—then when I realized that she is after where I am, I quickly dashed to the left. I managed to get through her first attempt, yet she once again jumped to where I am. Expected!

I'm not quite a strategist, but I'm really good at escaping. I run up to the wall as quickly as I could—then kick myself all the way back to the entrance direction—again.

Though when I thought I managed to escape her, this samurai—dashed forward again like she doesn't even need to move her legs. She dashed so quickly and I was so close to be sliced into two. I was lucky that my instincts told me to jump up and run back again into the depths of the cave.

Now that samurai takes half a second to turn around and chasing after me again, I still managed to get a chance to run as fast as I could.

I couldn't see anything again. My breath is in the brink of running out. I just hope I find a good place to hide or maybe a—…

Ooooff!

S..Someone…

Someone is holding me so tightly….

T…this is….so gentle…and…warm…

S-she is a tall person too…

W-wait…. Could it be?"

"Umi! That's enough!" her voice—even though it may sound a little rough, it soothed me when she started to speak.

The samurai remained quiet for a moment, and then I could hear her stowing away her weapons.

"Mistress…. Yakuza is dangerous…" the samurai said.

"I-I know! But we can have a talk with her! Nicely!"

"But…Mistress…"

"This is an order!"

The samurai was silent for a moment,

"Very well… but I'll be watching…"

"T-That's fine. Just don't attack her again! She is still a little girl!"

Ahh…she is protecting me! How nice of her…

Wait….

Little…girl?

"H-Hey! Who are you calling little girl!" I yelled as I shoved her.

"You of course! I'm probably five years older than you!" she said.

"Huh!? Are you 22?"

"W-what? Not that old! I'm 15!"

"What the heck?! I'm two years older than you, stupid!" I yelled again.

"You are 17? Don't lie to me; I know you are 10 years old. Stop pretending, you little brat!"

"You are the 'brat' here, damn it?!"

"You!"

"It's you, stupid! You are still 15! You're not even qualified as an adult!"

"So are you! You're just 10 pretending to be 17."

"I'm actually 17, you prick!"

"W-what the hell? You are uncouth!"

"How else to tell you?!"

"Well—you're a liar…"

"What the heck?!"

Then I could hear the samurai dragging her sword again,

"W-wa-wait! Umi! Put it back in!" the red haired girl said as she held me tight again,

"She is clearly impolite, I just want to give her a little lesson…" the samurai said,

"T-that's fine… I…I mean… I'll talk…"

What kind of talk does she want to have with me, I wonder?

Everything calmed down after a while, and then we all caught our breath for a moment before she started,

"Well…. why are you following us?" she asked me.

I…I don't know what to tell her…

I can't tell her that I was following her to keep her safe from the samurai that's apparently hired to guard her.

"T-To look for leather, of course!" I said.

"Heh—so you really do have that intention… why can't you just ask? The dragon is big and we can share it…" she replied.

T..that's nice of her…b…but no-no… I can't just say that I'm glad! I'm a criminal! I have to look bad!

"W-We are criminals; we don't work that way…."

"Huh? Is that your only reason? That's ridiculous, I mean, you are not even working for that dragon. Getting a share should be enough….right? Don't be greedy…." She said.

This girl…

Does she not know what it means to be a criminal or something?

Ah well….

"Besides…why does every criminal have to be bad? I don't get it…." she said.

So she really doesn't know what criminal is?

Wow….

How dense is she.

"Hey…. You don't know what a criminal is?" I asked.

She seems to be a little surprised,

"W-what? O-of course I know! Criminals are those people who lurk around the street, right?" she asked.

Did she mistake us with the homeless?!

But… that's not quite wrong for a case… most criminals are lurking around the street.

"Mistress… that's not right and not absolutely wrong either, criminals are people who are acting against the law…they just often lurk around to street to look for their victim." The samurai said.

"Heh—don't you say that about us. We do have a law of our own…besides, if you take a closer look, we might behave better than most of you who attack without a second thought! You killed two of my men!"

"Your men threatened us, it couldn't be helped…" the samurai said politely,

"Blargh. You are one of those jerks—I doubt you will ever want to understand…" I said.

"What did you say?!" The samurai growled angrily,

"U-Umi! Stop!"

Haha—she is on my side.

"A-Anyway…. Since it might be bad for you two to stay around with each other…." The red haired girl said before she sighed,

"Let's just...go back and share the loot…. And I hope those two people we killed found their peace…" she continued,

How nice….

"Heh—I hope you're giving me enough to pay for the mistake your guard did…" I said.

"It is not a mistake…" the samurai said clearly,

"J-just…. don't say anything else…Umi…" she said.

Then she sighed again.

"Anyway, we should introduce ourselves…." She said as she pushed me away from herself.

"That's fine with me…." I said.

I watched her fix her clothes and tidy up her hair,

"I'm Nishikino Maki…." She said—with a little hint of shyness in her gesture.

Cute.

"I'm Yazawa Niko..." I replied politely.

She nodded,

"…it's nice to meet you…." she whispered softly…

Well... Nice to meet you too but I'm not going to tell you that...


ok, see you next chapter~