I frowned, displeased with the current situation. I didn’t expect they would find me so soon. But at least I had eliminated the target. That being said, escape was the problem now. I was discovered. This was not out of the realm of possibility, but still was quite annoying to deal with. And I had to be found by the most troublesome person I was wary of. The person people warned me about.

  I watched my enemies closely. There were three ninjas facing me, their daggers drawn. But these ninjas were cannon fodder, too easy to take out. The major problem was the old man who came along. He was blind in one eye, but I sensed the sharpness of his gaze — he was observing even my tiniest movement.

  He was the one who threw these small metal sticks at me. His attack was silent and swift; I only got to notice it when it almost reached me. But hey, I still got it. His gaze shifted towards the corpse on the floor, their lord. All bloodied and not moving. If he were as impressive as people make him out to be, he should have sensed by now that Yoshio was completely dead.

  The ninjas were pretty disturbed and shocked upon seeing their dead lord. Even small people like them should know the meaning of this.

  “You did this,” the old man said. His voice was deep and powerful, with a tinge of anger within it. “You took him out with little resistance.”

  “...”

  Well, there was basically no resistance…

  His eyes narrowed. “Yoshio was among the mightiest warriors on the island. To think an assassin like you took him out.”

  I tilted my head ever so slightly. “Indeed. He was a formidable target. However, a man immersed in his grief is often the one to lower their guard the most. The scale was always in my favor.”

  The common ninjas’ face contorted in anger.

  “Master, she must pay for what she has done!”

  “Let me kill her!”

  “I’m going to gut her open!”

  The old man held out his hand, silencing them. He was wary, but it would seem he had some questions. I was not one to chatter with an enemy here in enemy territory just after taking out their leader, but I needed to think on how to slip away safely from this. Therefore, I decided to entertain his inquiries for the time being.

  I looked around, trying to find a way to properly do this.

  “Are you from an opposing state?”

  “Nope.”

  “Who sent you?”

  “Why do you assume someone sent me? Don’t you think perhaps it was just a hobby of mine to kill that guy today?”

  “That guy…?” He didn’t seem to like that. “The way you dress, your posture, you do not train in the ways of a ninja.”

  “Of course not.”

  Truth be told, I was quite impressed. Mostly, people would just mistake me for a ninja, even Miyako did. But this guy just determined I was not like them. Well, I was standing pretty casually compared to them. Ninjas were often too fucking serious, so stiff. They should take it easy sometimes.

  “Why kill Yoshio?”

  “I mean, isn’t he the head of state? A pretty common target, don’t you think?” I glanced out the window.

  “You sneaked through the castle undetected. Executed some of my ninjas on guard, whose purpose was to protect against people like you. Whoever you are, you’re stronger than any of my students.”

  “It was so easy taking them out. Like I was playing with a bunch of children.”

  The ninjas’ glare at me grew intense.

  “Clean killing. No blood. Such an interesting way to go about it. I am intrigued. Who are you really?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “... A student of mine was frightened of a young woman. This young woman slew many of my students in the city. A girl from beyond our shores. A platinum-haired girl, with the palest of skin.”

  Hey, hey, how the fuck…?!

  “A girl named Estelia.”

  The small smile vanished from my face. Shit, to think he would know my name. But still, not like him knowing my name mattered greatly. It was just a shit thing to happen. If it were back on Earth, I would have been executed by my own organization just for my identity being exposed. But thankfully, that wasn’t the case here.

  “You’re Estelia, aren’t you?”

  “A student of yours… I think I have an idea who. The one who fled while I decimated his friends. How annoying.”

  It was a bit of a failure on my part. But ninjas were slippery bastards. Once escaped, it would be hard to track them down, especially when they were supposed to be stealthy in everything. Besides, I had a different goal that time.

  “I didn’t believe that someone as strong as you would exist. But now I’m convinced.”

  You could stay unconvinced. Ignore my presence here and let things go peacefully.

  Oh, how much I hoped that would happen. Would have made things easy for all of us. But of course, he must be angry that I killed his friend. He would be out for blood, my blood.

  “I also heard about you, master of the ninjas, Seiji. Color me surprised that someone as old as you is still someone to be feared.”

  “And yet you don’t seem afraid.”

  “Are you someone I should be afraid of?” I scoffed.

  “You, so young, yet had skills equal to my own.”

  “Equal to you?” Now I was offended. “Don’t ever compare me to a ninja like you. We are not equal, and never will be.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Is that so? Hm. Indeed. Perhaps I am better than you.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think you can provoke me. My work here is done. I would appreciate it if you would just turn a blind eye, and let me pass.”

  Pun intended.

  It was annoying that a damned ninja was saying I was inferior to him. However, I couldn’t do anything about it. Trying to kill Seiji was not the mission. However, I doubted he would let me go that easily. If he were really a master ninja, escaping him might as well be a dream. But then again, a dream can break.

  “You killed the Lord of Hokunoa, such a crime cannot be ignored. Surrender now, and you won’t die. Don’t even think of escaping, it is impossible.”

  I prepared to cast magic. “Oh well, how unfortunate.” Smokescreen immediately scattered and spread all over the room.

  “Get her!!” the old man bellowed.

  All of them rushed at me. I instantly threw the metal rod at a ninja, piercing right into his forehead. Using the cover of the thick smoke, I dashed to the window and cast a lightning bolt, instantly creating a hole in the wall. Just as I stepped outside, I sensed an attack coming. I pulled out a medium-sized dagger and held it out behind me.

  A short katana clashed against my dagger.

  A kodachi?

  It was the old man. I was moving fast, and he immediately caught up with me. This old man truly was someone to be cautious of. I thought I would be able to easily slip away, but it would seem that was not possible.

  I vigorously pushed and deflected his short sword and dashed back, putting some distance between us. As I did so, a ninja came rushing in from my side. He threw daggers at me. At the same time, another ninja came on my other side, and threw some sharp metal sticks at me.

  I leaped in the air in an instant, leaving a small gust of wind. As I flipped mid- air, I pulled another medium dagger, attached magical strings, and threw both my daggers at the two ninjas coming from both sides. Boosted by my strength, and enhanced with Armament Magic, the daggers stabbed through the ninjas’ chests, giving them no time to react.

  Before I got to land on the ground, the old man appeared in front of me and thrust his blade at me. With the wind, I pushed myself out of his reach, surprising him. As I flung back, I pulled in my stringed daggers, and they came swinging towards the old man.

  The old man spun in the air, unleashing a circular magical slash, deflecting the daggers. I landed back on the ground and quickly drew back my daggers, catching them. At the same time, I noticed a ninja coming from my back — the ninjas from the area had come to join in. I gritted my teeth in my irritation. Things were going well at first; now it was a mess.

  I easily dodged the ninja behind me, went to his side and slashed his waist. Afterward, I lifted my leg and slammed him down to the ground with tremendous strength. The moment I was done with that, the old man suddenly came at me again, holding a short katana and a dagger in the other hand. I held out my daggers to block his attacks. Parrying his blade, I leaped backward to safety.

  Noticing the multiple ninjas coming my way, I sheathed my medium daggers and pulled up small daggers between my fingers. They glowed with magical enhancement and linked to me with strings, and I threw them at all the ninjas going my way. Some got hit, while others managed to evade. Some soldiers had also arrived to help.

  Just as the old man charged at me again, I cast a barrier to block his attack. Stepping back, I pulled my stringed daggers. Then, I swung them sideways by the strings, unleashing magical slashes from each dagger in all directions, cleaving the unprepared soldiers and ninjas, blood splattered on the soil.

  I drew back my daggers as I jumped onto the roof of a small building, looking down on an opponent below me. The old man looked up, staring at me and the glowing blades between my fingers. Then, he looked at the surroundings, at the dead corpses.

  “I must admit, you are excellent. To face me while killing my students. For someone so young, how did you get to this level of skill?”

  “... Let’s just say I went through a special, and strenuous training. Where my life depended on it.”

  “People fight monsters here all the time, even my ninjas face death during training. What makes yours different?”

  “You don’t understand. It’s you who’s the problem, the teacher.”

  He frowned. “You may not be from this land, but I doubt you are oblivious to my reputation.”

  “Indeed. You are a threat to me. With you present, escape is nigh impossible… However, that does not mean I will not try.”

  Killing this man here was never a priority; it would only be a waste of time. He meant nothing to me whatsoever. He may be the master of the ninjas, but he was irrelevant. That being said, he was making my escape difficult, but I was sure I could manage eventually.

  Some more ninjas and soldiers arrived, having heard about the commotion.

  “Master, what happened? Is that an enemy?”

  “You don’t have to face her master, we can take her out.”

  The old man raised an eyebrow. “Those who cannot measure their limits are doomed to perish. You cannot defeat her. I will face her myself.” He stepped forward.

  Hah! Sadly for you, I don’t have plans to play with you. So fuck you!

  I cast a smokescreen. Using the wind, I propelled myself towards the top of the wall. The soldiers were surprised. However, the moment I landed, the old man suddenly came up to me.

  Too fast!

  I blocked his blades, and counterattacked — he dodged. We exchanged attacks as I moved backward. Our attacks were swift and deadly; the common eye would be hard pressed to follow our movements. Sparks flew, metals briefly clanged. His weapons were also enhanced with Armament Magic. And we had the same kind of weapon, the vein stuff on the blade and all.

  The moment I deflected one of his attacks, I abruptly thrust a finger forward, shooting a lightning bolt at close range. However, he instantly shifted his body to the side, dodging the lightning a couple of inches off. I resisted the urge to click my tongue.

  “You can cast spells as well. What kind of person are you? You are no normal human being.”

  I frowned and cast a flashbang spell. With everyone blinded and briefly deaf, I slipped away, quickly making my way back to the city. However, looking back, I saw the old man giving chase. He dashed towards me and swung his blade in the air, sending a slash of light towards me. I dodged the attack, but he took the chance to come and directly attack me.

  I thrust my blade at him, he dodged and attacked with his own weapon, which I blocked. In direct combat, we may as well be equals. I couldn’t even land a blow, and he couldn’t hit me. But this was starting to get annoying. He looked so calm too. This just went to show his experience in battle.

  Stepping back, I jumped high in the air. I conjured several daggers made of ice and sent them shooting down at him, and landed on the roof. He swung his blade, sending a powerful slash of light, breaking through the ice blades, and he followed me up.

  I ran through the rooftops as I fended him off, switching from one building to another. He thrust his dagger forward, sending a piercing magical attack at my face. I instantly dodged it, but it was too close for comfort. I stepped forward and engaged him. But he kept dodging my attacks.

  However, eventually, I saw an opening. I thrust my dagger into his chest. I succeeded. But there was something strange; there was no resistance of flesh to the blade. Like I struck nothing but air. It was then that the old man before me vanished.

  Huh?

  Before I could dwell on my confusion, I sensed something from behind. I quickly moved to dodge, but I was a little too late; a blade slashed my arm. I gasped and glanced at the old man who had struck me.

  How is he there?

  I shouldn’t have missed him. No, the one I hit… was an illusion?

  I made some distance between us, and I glanced at the wound with frustrated eyes.

  I was wounded… by a person?

  I was flabbergasted and in disbelief. Me? Got hit by a person, and a ninja no less? I rarely get wounded by a person, very rarely. And it happening… displeased me immensely. With gritted teeth, I glared at the old man.

  “You dare… You dare damage my precious skin.” I clenched my daggers tightly. “I have been taking good care of it, and you… you would just… I swear if this leaves a scar, I’ll torture everyone you hold dear!”

  Unforgivable…

  Monsters hurting me was different; monsters could not be held fully accountable. People, on the other hand, I definitely could. And hurting me, damaging me, that was something I could not tolerate.

  He charged at me again. I managed to land a hit, but again, it was an illusion. I attempted to dodge another attack from the side, but he scratched my shoulder. His attack was so fast and sudden that I couldn’t defend in time.

  He wounded me again?!

  I was starting to get enraged. He was making this personal. I attacked him, and again, it was an illusion.

  This time, I was scratched on the neck.

  That’s it!

  My heart raced in my sheer rage.

  “Aah!” I waved my hand, casting an ice wall in all directions. “Damn you.” I lowered my hood, exposing my beautiful platinum hair and pretty face in all their glory. The moonlight made me gleam in my sheer beauty. I sheathed my daggers and tied my hair into a ponytail. I took a deep breath. “Fine then, if you want to die that badly, I’ll grant it to you.”

  No one wounds me like this, no fucking one!