Jin Rei was shocked at what happened within the castle itself. It was unthinkable that the son of the lord would just die, just like that. Everyone was grief stricken. Jin Rei’s commander, Katsuo, was utterly mad at Yuki’s tragic demise. Soldiers from the castle were sent to search for the suspected culprits, along with the ninjas. Jin’s master even got out of his establishment to order the ninjas and tend to his grieving friend, taking up the leadership role for the time being.

  Everyone was angry. Yuki was a good young lord. Dying like that, he didn’t deserve such a fate. No one knew what exactly happened and why, all they knew was who did it. And they were to hunt them down.

  Jin Rei was sent by his commander to assist with the search. When it came to searching for a person, ninjas were the men for the job. They move fast, and the best hunters in killing men. The ninjas, even the students, were scattered on the streets and running on rooftops.

  Jin was running swiftly through the streets along with a couple of ninjas when a ninja from above came and shouted. “We found them!”

  Jin stopped and looked up. “How far?”

  “Not far! Follow me!”

  They followed the ninja running on the roof, swerving through the crowd, and even encountered a few soldiers running in the same direction. With so many chasing after them, there was no way that Miyako Taira could hope to flee alive. She wouldn’t even be able to escape the city.

  Jin took a turn until he saw a couple of running figures on the street; one had blue hair.

  Found you.

  Jin drew out both daggers in both hands and sprinted faster, the other two ninjas running along on both his sides. As they ran through the crowd, he saw soldiers also coming in the targets’ way.

  They’re done.

  Jin prepared to strike. His eyes sharpened when they were finally almost within reach. He drew in his blade, preparing to strike. And he moved his hand to strike — but then, he noticed daggers piercing through the air.

  What?

  The daggers were connected to glowing threads, and they struck both his ninja allies all at the same time, hitting them in the head. Jin would have suffered the same fate if he had not responded quickly enough to parry the blade.

  He stopped in place, glaring at the one who was behind it as she landed in front of him. The moment Jin saw who it was, his eyes widened, and he felt cold. She was familiar — no, he recognized her immediately. The lady drew back the daggers by the threads, and caught them in her hands.

  Miyako and her bodyguard Satomi looked back in surprise.

  “E-Estelia?” Miyako muttered.

  It was then that a man ran through a group of soldiers holding a plain sword. “These are just small fry.” He easily cut through multiple men at once, tearing them in half.

  Seeing that, Jin was dumbfounded.

  The strange man then proceeded to keep hunting soldiers, disappearing from sight.

  “Miyako!” the lady before Jin called. “Keep running forward. Someone will take you to safety.”

  “Estelia, why?! You didn’t have to—”

  “No time, just go!”

  Miyako hesitated for a moment before her bodyguard pulled her forward. Jin watched as they ran. He wasn’t sure ?how to proceed. He had to hunt them down. However, there was someone here who was incredibly dangerous and required immediate attention. Should he keep going or flee?

  What the hell is she even doing here?!

  And what does she have to do with those two? Things didn’t make any sense.

  The lady slowly directed her crimson gaze at him, and she tilted her head. “You look familiar.”

  Jin held out his weapons, his eyes focused on her.

  “Ah, now I remember.” She sheathed her small daggers, and switched to medium-sized blades, holding one in each hand. “Once was mercy, I spared you. Now, I’m fresh out of mercy.” She took a step forward.

  Fuck this!

  He decided to withdraw. However, the moment he took a step back, she was already right next to him. His heart jumped, and he raised his daggers to block her blades. However, the moment their blades met, she abruptly flipped her dagger, holding it in reverse grip, and subsequently stabbed into his forearm.

  “Ggh!”

  Jin drew back his arm to get the blade off him and swung his other hand to attack. But Estelia swiftly dodged and, at the same time, moved in and slashed his waist. He winced in pain and quickly poured Physical Enhancement onto the location of the wounds before quickly stepping away.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Fuck! She’s too fast!

  Jin was panicking a little. He had just realized this was how it was to actually face her, to fight her directly. Her skills as a ninja surpassed his greatly, so there was no way he could either defeat her or continue chasing the targets. Doing so would bring about his own demise.

  And she didn’t even appear stressed at all. Her eyes were absolutely focused on him.

  She came up to him again, and he frantically dodged her blade. But she switched up her action instantly, and before he knew it, he was cut on the back of his thigh. Ignoring the pain, he frantically jumped to the side, and he hit a building’s wall.

  She approached him, about to kill him. But then three ninjas descended from the roof to help Jin. They attacked her.

  Jin gasped. “No! Retreat!” he shouted to them. There was no point in fighting an opponent you can’t beat. It would only be a pointless loss of valuable life.

  However, his words fell on deaf ears.

  Jin watched as this young lady tore through the ninjas like they were nothing. She easily dodged two strikes before instantly slashing a ninja’s neck — the ninja froze in place and placed a hand on his neck trying to stop the gushing blood as he fell down to the ground.

  Another ninja got slashed in the elbow, disabling his arm. She took the chance to stomp his rear knee, forcing him to the ground, and stabbed the back of his neck. At the same time, the last ninja moved to attack her from behind. But she swiftly moved to the side, dodging his attack. She spun and kicked the back of the ninja’s neck. When he dropped to the ground, she stepped on his neck hard. Jin heard an audible cracking sound.

  Jin panted, his heart throbbing as he watched it all happen. The ninjas never stood a chance.

  She’s a beast…!

  There was only one man he had seen that could do something of this caliber, and it was his master.

  Another set of ninjas came in to attack her.

  No point in fighting. I have no chance of winning against her.

  He looked to the side and saw an open window. He gritted his teeth, what he was about to do would be dishonorable on so many levels. But to survive and not die a needless death, he had to do it.

  ***

  I threw a threaded dagger at an enemy ninja that was a few feet away. My movements were powered by Physical Enhancement, so my throw was strong, and it hit the ninja in the head before he could react. I swept off another ninja’s hand with my palm and grabbed his wrist before pulling him in and stabbing him low in the abdomen.

  I pulled his dagger off his hand and threw it at the approaching enemy, hitting him in the neck. Pulling back the threaded dagger, I swiftly finished off the ninja in my hands by stabbing him in the neck. I retrieved the dagger and dodged another attack, then swiftly slit his neck, quite deep.

  He writhed as he fell to the ground. I watched him choke in his own blood.

  I let out a sigh and looked around. I had just killed eight ninjas here. Like, they just kept coming, they were insane. The familiar ninja from before had disappeared, at least he was smart enough to run away from me. But still, it was a bit annoying that someone escaped me. Well, he was not important anyway.

  But damn, to think I would get this many ninja kill count in one day. This was a new number on the record. If I were on Earth, I would be bragging to my teammates. It was rare to encounter ninjas back on Earth. And if they appeared, it would always be fucking annoying.

  Now then, seeing that everything was clear in the area, I should get to hiding.

  Oh yeah, where the fuck is Taneva?

  He'd better not have gone on a killing spree. Killing too much would be… well, too much.

  At any rate, there should be other ninjas moving to find Miyako and Satomi. I better go and clean them up. Or just kill every ninja I would find.

  I jumped up to the rooftop and searched for more pursuers to eliminate.

  ***

  Back when Miyako and Satomi had just parted from Estelia.

  Miyako was surprised to see a stranger just mow through a group of soldiers with ease, and clear their way. But there was no time to think about it now. So they ran forward, as Estelia suggested. Miyako glanced back at Estelia, seeing her fight off the ninja.

  As they ran through the street, a ninja suddenly came up to them. Satomi swiftly moved in and blocked the ninja’s dagger. As it happened, Miyako quickly moved in and swung her blade at the enemy, eliminating him.

  They continued onward until a large man popped up from a corner, waving his hand.

  “This way!”

  Miyako and Satomi looked at each other and nodded. They followed the man into a small alleyway. When they met, the man quickly gave them cloaks.

  “Wear these now.”

  Miyako received the cloak, no hesitation. She noticed they seemed new. He must have bought them ?on the way here.

  “Who are you?” Satomi asked warily as they wore the cloaks.

  “The princess sent me to help you.”

  “You mean Estelia?” Miyako asked.

  “Yes.”

  Is this one of her friends that she mentioned?

  It was then a fog descended before them, turning into a small girl. Miyako smiled.

  “Nira!”

  Nira meekly waved her hand. “Hi…”

  The large man turned to Nira. “Nira, guide us to the inn. Lead us to paths that have no enemy.”

  “Understood. It should not be hard. Taneva has been slaying a lot of soldiers around the area.”

  “Is he overdoing it?”

  “... He’s only slaying soldiers that are coming close to us.”

  “Then that’s fine. Now go. Remember, don’t engage.”

  Nira nodded before turning into a black fog and ascending into the air.

  Miyako was feeling a bit relieved. Given that Nira interacted with this man, what he said must be true.

  The man turned towards them. “Follow the black fog.” He pointed above, where there was a black fog.

  Miyako nodded.

  The man moved ahead as they ran.

  “What’s your name?” Miyako asked.

  “Velar.”

  “Is Estelia going to be alright? She was left behind.” She might be facing many enemies, especially ninjas that were quite dangerous.

  “If she’s confident, then she is going to be alright. Besides, we have our orders. And that is to take you to safety.”

  “I-I see. I’m sorry about this.”

  Velar glanced back at her. “Don’t say sorry, not to me at least.”

  “R-Right…”

  A ninja came down on them. The man, Velar, swiftly drew his blade from his back and swung it at the ninja. The latter dodged, but Satomi quickly moved in to engage. The ninja barely dodged her blade, but then Velar thrust his greatsword, and pierced through the ninja’s belly.

  He pulled back his blade. “Ninjas are everywhere, huh? Anyway, the princess said she’ll take care of them. Let’s keep going.”

  ***

  Chasing down ninjas scattered throughout was a tiring job. Running through rooftops and such. I pulled ?a bloody dagger out of someone’s neck and cleaned it on the dead ninja’s clothes. Letting out a sigh, I looked around.

  The area appeared to be clear of pursuing ninjas, at least in this area. And that was all that mattered. And I thought I saw Taneva around here for a second, so I ran in the direction of where he was.

  Eventually, I found him walking on the street.

  I landed next to him. “Casually walking the street where you just killed a bunch of people?” I looked back to see a group of soldiers dead. Civilians also were mostly gone, they must have fled after the commotion.

  “I thought we weren’t done.”

  “Well, we are now. We better clear out of the area first and keep it low. Then go back to the inn. Let’s split up.”

  “Got it.”

  Patreon! For the coming new year! Until January 10, you can get 60% off on all memberships using the code "AHAPPYNEWYEAR" on checkout. If you wish to read ahead, or just want to support me and the series, please consider becoming a member. Check out the image below for more information. Thank you! ?? And have a great and happy new year!