Cute Kunoichis:Volume2 Chapter4

Status: Incomplete

2/8 parts completed

   

Chapter 4

1: Gathering Truth

It was 7:30 in the evening.

Night was already falling outside the burning gas turbine power plant.

Sugiyado honestly had no idea where or how he had escaped the fire with the kunoichi’s help. The next thing he knew, he was in the safe parking lot.

But…

“Instructor, you hate losing people unnecessarily on the battlefield, don’t you? I do believe I injured your back over it once.”

“…”

“If you can’t stand something, then you shouldn’t force it on others. Survive this. At least for the sake of the lives you have saved.”

She was the Shogunate’s first psychic kunoichi.

But he had left her with the Kingdom across the sea, where she was meant to have the 88 electric modules surgically removed from her body and have safe mockups implanted to fill the empty space. The electromagnetic absorber inside her head had also been removed.

So what was this?

What had Sagami Oniyuri been doing all this time?

He had so much he wanted to ask her, but he could not move and was slowing her down. If he was any more of a burden, the assassins would catch up. The Stonewalls still had their 2-wheeled Swift Foot mounts.

She destroyed the door of a large canopied buggy parked nearby, hotwired the ignition with practiced hand, and shoved him into the passenger seat.

Once she was seated in the driver’s seat, she grabbed the GPS system, phone, and any other trackable electronics and chucked them out the window.

“We can talk later. For now, let’s get you back together with your precious students, instructor. If they believe you died here, they might just start a war with the entire Hokkaido Area.”

He was not quite sure if she had meant it as a joke or not, but it was no laughing matter either way.

They left the power plant in the stolen buggy.

“Oh, there’s a surprise. I assumed the power would be out since the power plant was destroyed.”

“It was probably a close call. They can’t contact Princess Karin and I doubt they would use their precious underground linear motor train network for civilian use without their boss’s permission.”

They would still have Amamo, who could pretend to be Princess Karin and take command, but they could not make that kind of decision so quickly. In the unlikely even the real Princess Karin protested over a video site, it would quickly lead to chaos.

Oniyuri laughed while driving. She always surrounded herself with a bewitching aura, so it could be hard to know what her laughter meant.

“Are you sure they can’t contact her?”

“What?”

“You’ll understand soon enough.”

She abandoned the large canopied buggy in a shopping district back alley. A large train station connected to multiple lines and a bus terminal with plenty of late-night options were both nearby, but those were bluffs.

“You could call this a secret date, couldn’t you?”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. I tease, but there’s nothing there. Unlike those girls, I’m not complicit with your breakout. I’ve committed crimes all my own. Which is what makes us equals.”

Still carrying him, Oniyuri chose a route that let them travel unnoticed to a luxury residential area. The base she had set up would be there.

Just like him, she had earned the title of Hidden One, which was higher even than Elite Ninja. He had no reason to doubt her, yet…

“A standalone house? Even if it’s vacant, our presence will be noticed.”

“The map apps might call this a luxury residential district, but it’s actually full of summer homes for government officials from Edo, Kyoto, and Nagasaki. These places are only occupied two or three times a year at best.”

Places like this were valued for their tranquil scenery, yet some kind of metal towers were noticeably sticking up through the veil of the night.

“They’re apparently shelters in case of flooding, but they’re entirely useless. You can’t get to them if the flooding has already started and you can escape to the mountains if you get moving beforehand.” Oniyuri sounded somehow exasperated. “They’ve turned disaster relief into a brand name. Around here, they’ll dig into their yard and build a nuclear shelter as casually as you might start a home garden. Do they want to starve to death in that dark dungeon?”

At any rate, unmanned security was not much of a threat if you knew what you were doing, so they slipped through the gate of a Japanese-style house much too large to think of as an undercover hideout.

The large garden had a pond with a small bridge over it. One corner had a tall fence around it, so that may have been an open-air hot spring. The boxy garage could not have looked more out of place.

“Interested in the bath? You’re hornier than I remember, instructor.”

“I’m not the one so pent-up she starts having dirty fantasies as soon as someone mentions a bath.”

“Do you want me to drop you?”

Meanwhile, they arrived at the front door. The grounds were large enough that took some doing.

She slid the door open.

Still carried over her shoulder, he took a look at the shoes in the entranceway.

“…”

“Hee hee. Noticed, did you?”

If he could move, he might have gone to check the garage.

One of his students was already waiting for him in the large living room.

“Let me down, Oniyuri. I’m fine now.”

“No. If I’m not getting my secret date, I’m at least going to enjoy that troubled look on your face.”

Oniyuri would not stop laughing, but Bara spoke up in an unusually meek way for her.

“Sensei, a-are you okay?”

“Sorry I’m in such bad shape. You’re all okay, I take it? I want to speak with Asagao. How is Ouka?”

Oniyuri smiled like a child while carrying him over her shoulder. She seemed amused by the difference between his appearance and his words.

She must have had no interest in Bara who was unsure what to do now that the initiative had been stolen from her, so she adjusted his position on her shoulder and left the living room.

“Hey, what about Asagao?”

“That’s who I’m taking you to see. I doubt she’s left that girl’s side.”

Unexpectedly, she took him to bath’s dressing room.

She cut across the cypress wood space without a second thought.

She approached the frosted glass door and opened it without even knocking, revealing a full-on open-air hot spring. Ouka was soaking limply in the cloudy water. No one would have mistaken her for enjoying a bath.

A lot of waterproof medical equipment was lined up on the stones around the bath and electrodes were attached to Ouka’s smooth skin as she floated in the water.

“Let me down.”

“My, my.”

“Please, Oniyuri. This is serious.”

“Yes, yes, I know. But try to remember which of you is more badly injured, instructor.”

Once his feet were down on the wet ground, he wobbled. Even he could tell he was not holding his shoulders at the same height. But he didn’t care about himself right now. Ouka came first.

Asagao had mastered the noncombat skills, so she was looking after the medical equipment. That would be why Oniyuri had said she would still be by Ouka’s side.

“She appears to have inhaled a fair bit of a gas, but it isn’t toxic.” The youngest kunoichi shrugged. “The real problem was the soundwave code using bone conduction. We were lucky this place had a hot spring. It raises her body temperature and its minerals can soak in through her skin. That has let me eliminate most of the unnecessary noise. Her mind has recovered and she was awake and talking earlier. Base on how she answered my questions, I don’t think this caused any lasting trauma.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I need to do a quick examination of your body! You’re in even worse shape than she was!”

She tearfully clung to him, so he patted her head to calm her down before he crouched on the edge of the whitish hot spring surrounded by waterproof medical equipment.

All the noise must have roused the girl soaking up to the shoulders in the cloudy water because her eyelids lifted a little.

“Sen…sei?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m back.”

“God, how embarrassing. And I can’t even move…”

She gave a weak bitter smile.

He now realized just how wrong he had been to give up on his life back at the burning power plant.

How could he have considered dying before he said this?

“I’m so sorry for getting you into this mess, Ouka. All of this is my responsibility.”

“Don’t be ridiculous… It was my inexperience that made me lose to Amamo. That wasn’t your fault.”

“He defeated them,” cut in Oniyuri while looking down at the soaking girl. “He eliminated both Amamo and Princess Karin in one fell swoop. He even let his raw emotions out for once and was willing to die to pull it off. Would you call that his pride as an instructor?”

“…”

Ouka smiled gently in the water when she heard that.

He had not intended to say much about how it had ended, but Oniyuri was right. All of this was his responsibility, but he had ended it himself. That was all there was to it.

And with that said…

“Get your rest, Ouka. This is over now, so it’s okay.”

“No, Sensei. You don’t have to lie.”

“Ouka.”

“You never compromise in these things. If all of the problems really had been solved, you wouldn’t still be wearing your equipment, would you?”

“…”

“The garden is right on the other side of the bath’s wall. I could hear the footsteps of everyone who came here, so I know you aren’t the only visitor.”

“I had a feeling.” He sighed. “Okay, Ouka. Can you leave the bath?”

“I took less damage than you did.”

There was a simple reason why his students had not all been in the open-air bath. They could not leave their “visitors” unsupervised.

He hated that he could not help support the injured at times like this.

He slowly stood up from his crouch.

“I’ll head out first. Join the rest of us once you’re dried off and dressed.”

“Oh, what a shame. I was hoping you might help me there.”

He had Asagao help Ouka.

“Sensei.” Asagao looked up at him. “We still have Yukizasa and Princess Karin has ‘gone missing’, but New Sapporo Domain still has Oume and Amamo, right?”

“It’s the same whether they’re captured or not. Even if Amamo pretends to be the real Princess Karin and takes command, we already know what those two can do. We’ll find a way to defeat them eventually, so they won’t stand a chance next time we clash.”

At Oniyuri’s prompting, he left the hot spring, walked across the dressing room, and stepped out into the hallway. Ouka could have changed into pajamas, but she instead put on her full ninja outfit. She must not have spent long enough with the dryer because her hair was still damp as they continued on to the room with their “visitors”.

That room was the attic.

It was a large house, so without the divisions between rooms, the attic was enormous.

Had they chosen that because they could escape from anywhere at a moment’s notice?

“You came here, Princess Karin?”

“It was Murakami who brought me here.”

Something about her voice sounded awkward.

She had originally tried to play the pretty princess role for that young man. She had revealed her true nature to him since, but she was still unsure how to present herself when talking to an enemy in his presence.

She and Murakami Michihiko had been supporting each other much like Sugiyado and Ouka had. The young man lowered his head.

“Sorry…”

“Then explain. We never managed to figure everything out. I was only interested in repaying that old man and saving Ouka…but there’s more to this, isn’t there?”

That earned a tilt of the head from Oniyuri who had climbed unsteadily into the attic after him. She had secured this hideout, so no one could kick her out.

“Hey,” she said to Princess Karin, not Sugiyado. “Do you really have time for this? With their substitute lord gone, New Sapporo Domain should be headed straight off a cliff.”

“…”

The look in Princess Karin’s eyes changed.

It was like the low growl of a chained-up dog.

“Insolent fool. You would interfere when you already know what this means?”

“It doesn’t matter to me since I’m with the Kingdom. Part of the big ABC.”

Princess Karin’s eyes widened at that. She had gathered up what little strength she had to put on the threatening mood of a fierce dog, but that was shattered in an instant.

Oniyuri barely seemed to notice.

“It doesn’t matter to me what you’re doing sneaking around making deals with the Cyrillic Empire. Or should I say, setting up a point of contact at the urging of the entire Shogunate.”

The Shogunate and the Empire.

And now someone outside of that.

For Princess Karin, was this the first actual outsider – and thus the first person with nothing at stake? Childlike hope filled the princess’s eyes. This was different again from how she had approached Murakami Michihiko who she could trust but was still from the Shogunate.

Sugiyado turned toward Oniyuri.

She did not seem to care that Princess Karin was watching. She leaned back against a pillar located just outside the circle of conversation and she shrugged.

“It goes back to Abashiri’s special prison.”

“What?”

“That’s where it all began. Instructor, did you really think there was nothing lurking below the surface there? Did you never wonder why it was attacked and why one of its strictly guarded prisoners was killed?”

He gestured toward Princess Karin with his chin.

The substitute lord kept her eyes on him while propping herself up on the young man’s shoulder, but anyone who knew what to look for would have noticed a slight tensing of her neck muscles. It was taking a conscious effort for her to not look away.

Meanwhile, Oniyuri was sounding listless already.

“Are you suggesting it was to make Murakami Michihiko a wanted man who could only survive in the confines of the castle? Of course not. You two are already mutually dependent. I bet the possessive woman just used the situation to trap him with her.”

“Are you saying someone else attacked Abashiri?” asked damp-haired Ouka.

“Princess Karin has complete authority over New Sapporo Domain after taking over as its substitute lord.” Oniyuri raised a finger. “But who removed the original lord from power?”

“…”

“You can’t answer that question. No one here can. Not you, instructor. Not any of your students. And not even Princess Karin herself. The real issue was staring you in the face this entire time. …Some uncontrollable group has been working to increase the power of New Sapporo Domain and the entire Hokkaido Area, but Princess Karin has failed to stop them or even track down who they are.”

“B-but, Sensei… We accessed the castle’s server and Bara even directly interrogated one of the people who attacked the prison. Those bottom-level people were disposable, but she managed to drag out the name ‘Stonewalls’ at the very end. I doubt anyone could pull the wool over Bara’s eyes in that kind of work.”

“Silly girl. Why would a ninja reveal who they really are when hiring someone? If your disposable pawns don’t know the lies are lies, the polygraph won’t react when they pass on your misinformation.”

“Ugh…”

“Or are you trying to say that anything a criminal tells you must be true? If so, I’ll write Iga on my forehead in permanent marker and go rob a bank. That would make it true, right?”

Ouka had nothing more to say.

Ouka, Bara, Hoozuki, and Asagao had all been manipulated by Oniyuri during the previous incident, so they were no match for her in Machiavellianism.

At any rate, this was what they about the mystery group:

• They had snuck into the New Sapporo Castle and poisoned the domain’s lord, making it look like an illness.

• They had used high firepower to destroy the wall of a max security special prison and easily killed a model prisoner within.

• They continued to live free and could kill whoever they wanted at any time.

Was that why Princess Karin had constructed a largescale power system out of the underground linear motor train network to bring back the giant defense system? She would have also wanted to bring back the surveillance and security network that could track down the unseen enemy with its millions of cameras and sensors.

“It was the special construction workers.”

“?”

“The guards and prisoners are not the only people in the prison. Everyday tasks like cooking and laundry are given to the model prisoners, but that doesn’t work with some jobs for security reasons. Like repairing the wall, security camera wiring inspections, and boiler maintenance.”

“I see. And I can’t imagine the ordinary guards were doing those jobs. You need special qualifications for that kind of thing.”

Originally, the Stonewalls had developed from an engineering group that built the foundations for castles.

A prison’s walls could not have a single crack, yet hiring ordinary workers for the inspections and repairs introduced the risk of information leaking out. It did make sense for the government to have people for those tasks. From an information security standpoint, it would all be for nothing if those workers were abducted, so they were likely hidden by having giving them some other task, like disaster response personnel for the fire department or combat engineers who built trenches and bases for the samurai.

They would not appear on any of the official paperwork, so they would also be easily replaceable.

“Outsiders enter prisons all the time, despite how locked-down they look.”

Sugiyado was considering how possible this sounded, but Princess Karin refused to accept it.

Because…

“You’re saying they were behind this? Then where did they get the skills? They did more than just enter the prison. They also snuck into the castle where I live!”

“Instructor.”

Oniyuri did not even look Princess Karin’s way.

She had never been the type to respond to someone who interrupted her.

She instead gave her old acquaintance a sidelong glance.

“You lived within those walls for a while, so what do you think? Did the guards seem qualified for a prison holding so many brutal criminals?”

“…”

“'Whatever the truth may have been, you were officially imprisoned as the mastermind behind that incident that began with the theft of a modular nuclear reactor from New Yokohama Domain. Did they seem trained well enough to deal with someone like that?”

He thought back to the explosion when a guard had cried out in pain and asked for help after his arm was broken.

That was the ordinary response for a human, but it indeed felt too ordinary for a special prison containing criminals whose misdeeds would go down in history.

And when Sugiyado had used his ninja techniques to defeat the attacker, the guard had seemed too distracted by his own pain to even be surprised.

“The guards are not enough.” Oniyuri gave a bewitching laugh. “So Abashiri used a second monitoring system to fill in that gap. One that includes methods off limits to officially-registered government workers.”

“You’re saying the special construction workers were professional ninjas? But wouldn’t they have been under Princess Karin’s jurisdiction since she controls the Stonewalls?”

“Oh, dear. Who ever said they were New Sapporo Domain ninjas? They were all ninjas brought in from elsewhere. Lord Hatsunaga had provided the location to hold infamous criminals from across the country, so he insisted that everyone should carry the burden.”

Sugiyado and Murakami Michihiko looked to Princess Karin.

The bewilderment on her face said she had not known about this. Not knowing about something happening right under your nose was not fun for a ruler or a ninja.

“So skilled ninjas from all over the country were gathered at Abashiri?”

“But why would they attack New Sapporo Domain…and the Hokkaido Area as a whole?”

Oniyuri shrugged at the princess and young man’s questions.

“Ninjas infiltrate and destroy for a living, but that doesn’t mean they always enjoy it. Abashiri is the worst place in the country. I’m sure they settled into various roles there to blend in, but do that long term and they really would start to forget who they are. At first, I imagine the ninjas would have set up a short-term rotation to ensure they had time to recover. And Lord Hatsunaga ignored the damage to those ninjas. If he acknowledged the problem, he knew he would be pressured to send in Hokkaido Area ninjas to help, removing some of his pawns from his grasp.”

Had he wanted to preserve his Stonewall elites that badly? Or had he wanted to eliminate the chance of their leader – his daughter – being chosen.

“By gathering ninjas from around the country for the special construction worker duty, he had created a treasure trove of ninja techniques. Gather up all of those techniques and he could strengthen his own ninjas. If it was thought his domain’s ninjas could do the task themselves, he would lose that resource.”

“…”

It sounded like he had more than just sentimental reasons for his actions.

Sugiyado remained silent, so Oniyuri continued.

“As the ninjas were worn down, they continued their daily mission while training themselves in secret to remind themselves they were ninjas. But that was not a fundamental solution. At some point, they snapped. They failed to report at the designated times and they began working on unasked-for jobs. It started small, but it was gradually growing worse.”

Abashiri’s special prison held the country’s most brutal criminals.

The elites there had carried out their work perfectly.

Some slight fluctuations would not have been too much of a problem, but how many lives would their blades take once they completely lost it?

“The ninjas disguising themselves as special construction workers were no longer bound by the prison. No one knew when they would emerge into the outside world. The Shogunate shoved responsibility onto the Hokkaido Area, saying the area did not know how to treat its guests appropriately. They could not be allowed to emerge now that they had come together as a single group. As a last resort, Princess Karin’s father contacted the Cyrillic Empire in secret.”

“And he failed there too,” finished Princess Karin with a self-deprecating smile. “The Empire must have only seen it as an opportunity. They would have an international incident on their hands if they acted directly, but their hands would remain clean if they let the local pros do the dirty work. And once the Hokkaido Area was worn down by the coordinated attack, they could use ‘international aid’ as a pretext to send in troops and break through the Shogunate’s isolationist policies.”

That was not limited to the Empire in East Europe. Whether it was West Europe, North America, South America, China, or the South Seas, every major nation was plotting to break a hole in this country’s isolationism and steal its technology if they had half a chance. The counterintelligence agency meant to prevent that were the Shogunate’s spies, aka the ninjas.

“But that attempt did not get very far,” continued Oniyuri. “The Empire’s fighters entered the crumbling special prison as negotiators. I’m willing to bet that was actually used to help them infiltrate the city. The domain gave them access to money, goods, personal information on important guards and prisoners, and data such as the layout of the prison, but their apparent plan was to use all that to brainwash the ninjas into gradually working more and more in their favor. Instead, they had all their equipment stripped from them and are currently buried in the prison courtyard. All that remain are a few noncombatant information gatherers and explosive saboteurs. I almost feel bad for those Neva River Nymphs. Being isolated in enemy territory can’t be fun. They don’t have the resources left to escape the country, so all they can do is bluff.”

“…”

Ekaterina’s face flashed through Sugiyado’s mind.

Had that confidence been a type of armor she had perfected as a professional? She had been pushed into such a corner that peeling back that thin layer of skin would have revealed only bone. Sugiyado’s group could still fight, so he could see why she had wanted his cooperation while needing to prevent him from learning how dire her situation was.

“They are the Brown Bear.” Oniyuri seemed to gently place the term in the air. “Because those wild animals broke free of the cage people had created for them. They are a disaster in human form that possesses great strength and the cunning needed to slip out of people’s nets.”

That was how a stray group of ninjas had formed without New Sapporo Domain or the Cyrillic Empire able to control them. They were just like a wild bear: no one knew where they were lurking, they would silence any witnesses, and they would descend upon human civilization and attack based on their own rules.

“What is their motive?” Sugiyado chose his words carefully. “They do still seem to be working toward the benefit of New Sapporo Domain and the Hokkaido Area.”

“The question is how much we agree with them on what counts as a ‘benefit’. They were already breaking down when the Empire approached them, leading them further astray. It’s impossible to tell what ideas have become lodged in the Brown Bears’ heads. Which is what makes them so frightening. There’s no way to predict what they will do next. The princess there does not seem too happy about how her political rivals kept driving off of cliffs in apparent accidents at the exact time written on her birthday card.” Oniyuri glanced over at Princess Karin who was propped up on the young man’s shoulder. “And not all the targets were her enemy. The poisoning of her father must have come as a surprise and the death of the old ninja indirectly but deeply connected to her must have looked like a regrettable and unrepairable mistake to her. So after receiving news of the attack on Abashiri, she appears to have decided to play the villain in a desperate attempt to keep the young man in the castle. …But what do you think would have happened if she had come clean and explained everything to him? ‘They are fighting for me, but I can’t control them.’ ‘There was no good reason for the attacks on my father and your grandfather.’ ‘There is nothing I can do to prevent it from happening again.’ ‘I’m sorry.’ Don’t you think that would have disappointed those around her far more than if she stuck with the villain act? She would have had her authority stripped from her, lost her faithful servant, and been thrown into a Machiavellian world while powerless and alone.”

That was a world of deception different from the ninja one.

If your authority and subordinates were taken from you, you were in serious trouble. It was said the beautiful die young and it indeed could work against you at times. Ninja techniques were useless in that world.

She had been doing everything she could to protect herself.

But.

“Every time Princess Karin bluffed and claimed she was responsible…”

“Yes, the Brown Bears knew the truth, so they would pressure her and try to bring her under their control. She was not allowed to step down from the stage, so her back was pushed further and further against the wall.”

Had that been based in personal desire, or had they thought controlling the princess would also benefit New Sapporo Domain and the Hokkaido Area? Either way, it showed just how twisted they had become. What if all that pressure had left Princess Karin unable to deceive herself and others and she crashed and burned? Sugiyado could easily imagine how the Brown Bears had strayed, but that left nowhere to run. They were a group and they could easily infiltrate the domain’s most secure castle or special prison.

Sugiyado brushed up his bangs.

The air felt electrified.

“Are you saying the people who killed that man are still out there?”

“Do you have any reason to stay involved in this, insolent fool?”

“I do. I made a promise with that man. If Michihiko has decided to take this dangerous path with you, then I need to eliminate the risk there. No matter what it takes.”

Princess Karin and Murakami Michihiko were taken aback by how easily he said it.

If he wanted to, he could tour the world or even escape overseas permanently, but he did not. But if he stayed here and got captured, he would lose any chance at a future.

“That means I have to eliminate all the darkness surrounding that prison and lurking within the Hokkaido Area. Princess Karin, if what Oniyuri says is true, that will involve you.”

“I was always prepared for this!”

“Do you think the Brown Bears will continue to support a princess who let herself be defeated and captured by the enemy? Are you so certain they aren’t feeling disillusioned with you right about now?”

“…”

“They’ll probably give up on you, set up Amamo in your place, and skip the annoying rescue mission. The simplest solution for them is to slaughter all of us and all of you.”

Seeing the tension in Princess Karin’s cheek, Sugiyado winked her way.

“But if they’re going to come to us, that saves us the trouble of tracking them down. We must all prepare for combat. They spent so much trouble remaining unseen, but now they’re coming to us? They really are just animals. Let’s end this once and for all.”

2: The Puppy

They had finally revealed their true enemy: the Brown Bears.

Those ninjas had assassinated Murakami Shouzou, the old man who had helped Sugiyado in the special prison, and they had plotted to take control of New Sapporo Domain and the Hokkaido Area from the shadows. If he defeated them and brought peace back to this northern land, he knew that old man would be able to rest in peace.

“You are a strange person, you know that?”

Sugiyado was using the large house’s tea room to perform maintenance on his Fierce Fang air pressure kunais when someone spoke to him.

It was Murakami Michihiko, the old man’s grandson.

Sugiyado responded without stopping his work.

“Shouldn’t you be preparing? We won’t have any spare time once this starts.”

“My metal flute has a gimmick to it, but its basic structure is simple enough. It doesn’t need any maintenance.” The young man smiled a little. “And there’s another kind of preparation I need to get done. If you’re going to be risking your life alongside me, I thought I should tell you everything.”

“About what?”

“About Princess Karin.” Murakami Michihiko slowly inhaled. “I didn’t know anything about the Brown Bears, but I can make some pretty good guesses about what happened. They poisoned her father, Domain Lord Hatsunaga, to put her in power. That might look logical, but doesn’t it seem like a bit much? If they only wanted to support the domain, they would only need to directly support the current lord.”

Sugiyado finally looked up from his work.

This conversation was now higher priority than the kunais he entrusted with his life.

“Continue.”

“There was some trouble between Lord Hatsunaga and his daughter. The Brown Bears took her side, so they were forced to remove her father from the equation…by force.”

Was this about the failed linear motor train project? Or maybe the Hokkaido Area’s defense system? Sugiyado came up with a few theories in his head, but the young man said something else entirely.

“It was over a puppy.”

“?”

“One day, Princess Karin took in a puppy. She hid it below the stomach of her clothing so no one would notice it. If her father had accepted it, she could have continued to take care of it. But Lord Hatsunaga refused and demanded she got rid of it.”

“This happened because of a-”

Sugiyado’s cheeks stiffened when he realized what this was really about.

He had scored a few clean hits at the gas turbine power plant, but Princess Karin had always shifted her position just beforehand. She had even seemed to leave her vitals exposed so she could use her hands to protect her stomach.

For that matter, her junihitoe was an unusually old-fashioned choice even for a domain lord’s daughter. Why had she always worn that clothing that hid the shape of her body?

What if the beauty treatment oils he could smell on her were actually for the small life hidden in her belly?

Princess Karin had stepped in to protect her body double Amamo, but that was partially because letting it be known which one was the body double increased the risk of being hit in the future. Both for her and for that small life. Had she decided it was safer to take some immediate risk by saving Amamo since it would bring greater long-term safety?

“If her father had accepted it, she wouldn’t have had to give up.” Murakami Michihiko gave a faint smile. “Or if she could take control of the castle after he told her to get rid of it.”

“Did the Brown Bears pick up on how she felt?”

This explained why the young man had continued to defend Princess Karin after everything that had happened and why he had taken up his sword to protect her when it came to it. It also explained how he could simultaneously want to stop her.

Even if it meant turning his blade on her.

Even if he learned of his own grandfather’s death.

He had set aside his own grief and chosen instead to ensure his beloved and that still-unseen life would not meet the same fate.

Sugiyado Souha wanted to protect his precious students, but this was a different emotion. Murakami Michihiko stood in a place the boy had yet to reach.

“You’re a hell of a guy.” The ninja laughed. “You’re sent in as an inspector to uncover anything improper going on and you end up causing a scandal with the domain lord’s daughter?”

“…Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? Do you think you did anything wrong?”

The young man appeared caught off guard by that question.

“Everyone has a secret or two in the ninja world,” continued Sugiyado. “I’m supposed to be in prison, but here I am. You just have to make it all work out. For me, that means ending all this to keep my promise with the old man. What does it mean for you?”

“…”

“If you say it means giving up on that small life, then I’ll kick your ass right here. There are a number of ways to solve this, so make sure you choose wisely. Don’t let the scope of the problem distract you from what really matters. Everything you do has to be for the people you want to protect.”

“Yeah…”

He seemed to be reflecting on that thought.

That did not mean he had not been thinking about it before. He had been agonizing over it this entire time.

But when climbing a mountain, you couldn’t afford to trip on the last leg of the ascent.

There was only one summit, so if you refused to give up, struggled, agonized, and continued working toward it, you would get there.

“I know that,” said Murakami Michihiko. “Using my metal flute to battle ninjas isn’t the only way to fight. There’s something else that only I can do.”

“…”

“But I need you to get me there. So please. I can’t afford to lose the princess or the other one. Not after all this.”

“Exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Sugiyado could repay the old man this way.

Now that he had rescued Ouka, that was the entirety of his motivation. Vengeance for the dead was a powerful motivator, but it was ultimately fruitless. You gained nothing from it.

But this could lead to something more.

From parent to child and from child to grandchild. That old man was dead. Sugiyado had failed to save him. But his grandson Murakami Michihiko was attempting to protect the next generation. That was a small piece of something the old man had left in this world.

So why would he hesitate?

Doing what the young man wanted would repay the old man too. But the method used here was crucial. It was only meaningful if he was wielding that power to keep someone alive, not to kill someone.

What did the Brown Bears matter?

Why should he care about New Sapporo Domain Lord Hatsunaga?

The boy and the young man bumped fists as two ninjas.

“Let’s give ‘em hell, partner.”

“Let’s give ‘em hell, partner.”

8

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