Editing Cute Kunoichis:Volume2 Chapter1 (section)

===6: Find a Reason for Your Choice===

“…?”

Someone seemed to gasp in slight puzzlement.

There seemed to be more than one person here.

One person casually peered down the row Sugiyado’s group was hiding in and someone else spoke to them.

“Is something wrong, Princess?”

“No.”

Just like with a library’s bookcases, there was nothing for Sugiyado and the other three to hide behind.

And yet that was the response from the kimono-wearing beauty of around 20 who had been addressed as “princess”.

She had black hair that fell all the way to her ankles and she wore an old-fashioned junihitoe.

Was that the official uniform of the castle’s princess?

“Nothing is wrong. Now, Murakami, what did you want to tell me that required coming all the way down here? Couldn’t we have discussed this in the tower?”

Needless to say, she had not lied to protect some unknown intruders she saw. She had no reason to do so.

Then why had the princess said that?

The answer was very simple. When she had looked down that row while walking down the central aisle, she truly had not seen anyone there.

It was all thanks to that down jacket.

Sugiyado had frozen his removed jacket and used it as a shield while backing against the wall with the girls.

It was one of the oldest tricks in the book.

That ninja technique was so primitive it was more often used in comedies, but the human eye was notoriously bad at seeing things under certain conditions and in certain environments. For example, it was well known that your sense of perspective failed to work on a pure white snowfield or salt flat.

It was all in how you used it.

This large space was kept as cold as a refrigerated warehouse to keep the large computers from overheating, so freezing his removed down jacket and covering its surface with white frost was enough to create the perfect camouflage. If someone saw it from a distance while taking a general look at the scene, they would fail to notice anything. And since it was frozen, it would also fool thermo sensors. Both due to the white frost and the down jacket’s layer of air used for insulation.

[[Image:Kunoichis_v02_BW02.jpg|thumb]]

There was, however, one problem.

“(Wait, wait, wait. I’m going to stick out. Closer! Move in closer!)”

“(I can’t move any further than this, Asagao!)”

“(Ouka, you just want to stay as close to Sensei as you can get, don’t you? Just so you know, I’ve heard coming on too strong on the first date can scare guys away!)”

It was a makeshift shield, so Sugiyado and the other three had to squeeze in really tight to fit behind it.

But the boy ignored that close proximity as he focused all his concentration on his ears to listen in on the conversation happening outside the barrier.

He had already noticed a few things of interest in the initial short exchange.

Princess.

And Murakami, the same family name as the old man.

“…”

Sugiyado shoved his face into the chest of the closest undeveloped girl. Right now, he needed any kind of unusual memory he could find.

(Something other than a ninja would have been best, but I can’t be picky right now.)

For the most part, long-term memories were not so much forgotten as they were fused with other memories until they lost all meaning. But if you intentionally placed the memory in the wrong category to separate it from similar experiences, the information would last longer.

“(Eek!? S-Sensei! As one of your fully-trained kunoichis, I’m not going to get flustered over something like this, but I’d still prefer you didn’t breathe in the air from my chest! Could you please explain what this is about? O-or at least don’t bite too hard?)”

Despite what she said, Ouka seemed plenty flustered, but that was not what he wanted to remember. The distant conversation was his top priority.

The conversation was held between a young man and woman a little older than Sugiyado.

But after walking another row along the central aisle, they moved out of view.

“I must earnestly ask you to reconsider everything that is happening here.”

“How many times must I repeat myself here? I have no choice in the matter. Murakami, you cannot become a hero. That has already been determined, so accept your lot in life. An individual’s power is not enough to change history.”

“Princess.”

“These dangerous ideas of yours will only put New Sapporo Domain in danger, so I cannot allow any of them to bear fruit. Ask me about this once more and I will be forced to imprison you. Even if you are my most trusted ninja.”

They both must have been restless because they returned to this aisle.

Sugiyado could not let his guard down.

If they appeared in the corner of those two’s vision for even a split second and their presence here was detected, alarms would go off across this entire area of the city.

Asagao whispered a question while pressed against his back.

“(So is that Princess Karin? I heard she has temporarily taken over the domain for her bedridden father.)”

If the old man’s grandson was her “most trusted ninja”, he must have worked his way very deeply into the castle. And even if this was an unofficial discussion, it was unusual for the princess temporarily ruling in her father’s stead to leave the castle tower during her official duties. These two must have had a fairly strong bond between them.

“Princess, I know you are aware what circumstances the New Sapporo Domain…no, the entire Hokkaido Area finds itself in.”

“Yes, the underground linear motor trains have long since been stopped and the problems only worsen. But that is exactly why I intend to do what I consider best. And unfortunately, that differs with the path you prefer. Return to the path I have prepared for you, Murakami. The path you want will only bring bloodshed to this northern land and its innocent people.”

“…”

“Do you defy me, Murakami?”

“I will suppress my own desires and do what is necessary. Even if it means burning the castle down.”

“And that is why you called me down here, isn’t it?”

“Prepare yourself.”

Something glinted in the young man’s hand.

His ninja tool was a silver-colored musical instrument resembling a long flute or baton. That iron flute was a versatile weapon that could be used to bludgeon, launch poisoned darts, slash or jab with the claw on the side, and even swing around on a chain to break armor.

But Princess Karin actually seemed to respond with a snort of laughter.

She brushed her long hair from her shoulder with one hand and spoke down to the young man.

“What do you hope to accomplish after capturing me? I do hope the answer isn’t ‘kill me’.”

“…”

“Whether or not this rebellion succeeds, you will no longer have a place in this castle. Murakami, you have heard about the ‘trouble’ outside, haven’t you? You have nowhere to run. Not anymore.”

“Princess, are you saying-!?”

“Hee hee. I have merely received reports as the local political ruler and keeper of the peace. No more and no less.”

The junihitoe beauty remained entirely calm even as she made a sort of confession by revealing information that only the culprit could know.

She placed a hand over her mouth to hide her teeth even as she smiled.

“Won’t you please do as I say, Murakami? Do you not find the words of your substitute ruler to be trustworthy?”

He could never say he was doubting the person he had sworn loyalty to. That alone could be deemed intent to rebel.

So the isolated young man had to force out his words.

“I am simply following the path I believe to be right. Even if it means crossing blades with you.”

But was this the truth behind the attack on Abashiri and the killing of that old man? To rob this disobedient ninja of anyone else to rely on and leave him trapped in her castle? Had it all happened for no more reason than that?

This was an isolationist military nation.

It was ruled by the Shogunate who had maintained the principle of Kirisute Gomen in the modern era, so the Shogun’s family and the Daimyos were given preferential treatment in all things. The crime of rebelling against them was punished by execution of the culprit’s entire family. And that applied even if the rebellion was discovered and stopped in advance.

In that sense, Princess Karin’s preemptive strike may not have ''violated the Shogunate’s laws''.

“…”

But silver ponytail Hoozuki frantically grabbed Sugiyado’s shoulder.

“(What do we do, Sensei? At this rate, the princess will be killed!? That ninja’s relative was killed ''just in case'', so he has no reason to stop now!)”

“(But, Sensei, if we intervene to rescue her, the entire New Sapporo Domain will know we’re here.)”

Asagao was not wrong either. The ninja world was not the same as the samurai one. They were sometimes faced with a decision that had no right answers.

There was no time.

Sugiyado Souha replayed everything he had seen and heard in his mind.

The old man in Abashiri had seemed to know something, but he had been killed by the Stonewalls and his grandson had been framed for the crime.

The data on the Stonewalls had been hidden so not even Elite Ninjas like Ouka’s group could access it.

New Sapporo Castle had likely been taken over by the Stonewalls without anyone outside the wiser.

The way those two spoke to each other suggested that young man had a fair amount of authority within the castle and that remained even after it was secretly hijacked.

Princess Karin was working to protect New Sapporo Domain and this Murakami ninja was trying to stop her.

Even if it meant drawing his blade and harming her.

“(What do we do, Sensei?)” whispered Ouka as if making a final check.

He knew there was no time.

“…”

So he gathered his resolve.