Chapter 6: Wakuwaku!
Night clouds obscured the moonlight.
“Oh?”
Hearing this, in the darkness, a pair of red, glass-like eyes suddenly sparkled.
Natsuba Hanae’s interest was piqued.
“The main material for the Umbrella Sword?”
Masterful swordsmanship naturally required a sword to be wielded.
But her usual kendo practice only involved wooden swords.
Although the Umbrella Sword technique was still formidable with a wooden sword, it wasn’t as smooth or convenient as using a real one.
As for supernatural weapons, the Natsuba family wouldn’t let her near them.
Previously, Chikari Makoto had hunted supernatural beings that escaped from the Otherside, gathering the supplementary materials for the Umbrella Sword.
Only the main material remained elusive.
Having Tamamo-no-Mae and Onmoraki hunt and transport it would risk exposure, potentially revealing the connection between Summer Harvest Mountain and the Natsuba conglomerate.
After all, Tamamo-no-Mae and Onmoraki were now B-rank supernatural users.
Occasionally visiting the city where the Natsuba conglomerate was located wasn’t unusual, but frequent visits would raise suspicion.
She, hidden in the shadows, would then be exposed, which wasn’t something she wanted.
Besides, a main material with high compatibility wasn’t easily obtained.
To put it in fantastical terms…
It required…fate.
A treasure that ordinary people might wait decades for would fall into the protagonist’s hands the moment they arrived.
That was fate.
And now, fate had presented itself to Natsuba Hanae.
However, she still had a question.
Natsuba Hanae furrowed her brows slightly, a puzzled expression on her face.
“If it’s just an elite-level supernatural being, it shouldn’t be a match for you.”
“Why didn’t you hunt it down and bring me the main material?”
Chikari Makoto, at C+ rank, with her dual supernatural abilities and the Ijishin template, which was inherently superior to ordinary abilities, was even stronger than some B-rank users.
She was a true genius capable of fighting above her level.
Hunting an elite-level supernatural being, although time-consuming, shouldn’t be difficult.
Could it be that her usual training regimen for Chikari Makoto was too simple and lenient?
It seemed she needed to increase the intensity. She would have to tell Chikari Tanishi to quintuple the training.
A dangerous glint appeared in Natsuba Hanae’s eyes.
At that moment, Chikari Makoto inexplicably shuddered, a single golden ahoge standing straight up on her head. A sense of foreboding washed over her, as if a star of ill omen was shining.
Looking at Natsuba Hanae’s swirling red eyes, she quickly explained,
“Second Miss, it’s like this.”
“When I found the supernatural being and was about to kill it, I noticed two other groups tailing it.”
“Clearly, they were after it too.”
“Each group had a C-rank user. I wasn’t confident I could kill the supernatural being, expose my strength, and prevent them from escaping all at the same time.”
“So…”
“Could Uncle Tanishi come with me?”
Chikari Makoto was clearly afraid of Natsuba Hanae. After all, it was Hanae who had designed her training regimen!
During the first week, she almost couldn’t endure it.
Back then, despite her petite frame, Second Miss looked down at her, her brilliant red eyes filled with a cold light.
My subordinates don’t need weaklings.
Endure it, and you will become my daughter, my family.
If you can’t endure it…
Second Miss hadn’t continued, but Chikari Makoto understood. If she couldn’t endure it, the best outcome would be abandonment.
She didn’t want to be abandoned. She wanted to be Second Miss’s family.
Although the mother-daughter dynamic was strange, she’d recently felt an inexplicable excitement about it.
Wakuwaku! (spy x family – Anya reference)
Just as Second Miss had said, her family had been killed by the Natsuba conglomerate.
Now, her only family was Second Miss.
Uncle Tanishi was just a distant relative.
Second Miss, too, was probably alone in the vast Natsuba household, as if she had no family at all.
So, she probably longed to express her desire for family in this way.
In reality, Chikari Makoto was overthinking it.
It was simply the system’s mission.
One of the conditions for Ubume to evolve into the Nine-Headed Bird.
Hearing Chikari Makoto’s report, Natsuba Hanae pondered.
Then, she pursed her lips slightly and said softly,
“There’s no need to trouble Steward Chikari.”
“Give me your phone.”
As a caged bird, Natsuba Hanae wasn’t allowed to have any communication devices.
Moreover, even if she did, they would definitely be monitored.
So, she would use Chikari Makoto’s.
Chikari Makoto obediently handed over her phone, silently hoping that Natsuba Hanae wouldn’t open her browser history.
[Is it normal to be interested in your adoptive mother?]
[Is it possible to marry at fifteen?]
And the manga she had been reading recently…
My Cohabitation Life with My Adoptive Mother, The Unspoken Story with My Stepmom, As Long as I Have Mom…
A while ago, she had inexplicably become interested in these themes.
Her heart pounded nervously.
Chikari Makoto, like a hamster, held her hands to her chest, her amber eyes anxiously watching Natsuba Hanae’s expression.
Natsuba Hanae skillfully opened the contacts list.
She dialed Chikari Tanishi’s number without doing anything else, and Chikari Makoto finally breathed a sigh of relief, her face flushed.
“Hello, Steward Chikari.”
“It’s me.”
“No matter what method you use, replace all the personnel on duty with members of the Chikari branch.”
“I’m going out tonight.”
After speaking, Natsuba Hanae returned the phone to Chikari Makoto, noticing the girl’s slightly strange expression as she eagerly took it back. However, she didn’t think much of it.
Indeed, Natsuba Hanae didn’t intend to send both Chikari Tanishi and Chikari Makoto.
Tonight, she planned to go out herself. It had been a long time since she had left the Natsuba main house; her body was practically rusting. It would be good to breathe some fresh air.
As for why not sneak out?
Please. She would leave her own home openly and with dignity.
Natsuba Hanae took a few steps forward, Chikari Makoto closely following. Suddenly, Hanae stopped, pursed her lips, and turned to look at her.
“Makoto…?”
“Have you recently taken a liking to manga?”
She had just glimpsed the phone’s home screen and noticed several manga apps.
One even seemed to be a certain pink manga app starting with a “P.”
Chikari Makoto was fifteen now.
As a mother, shouldn’t she pay a little attention to her daughter’s mental state?
…
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