Chapter 8: Even Natsuba Hanae Would Shed a Tear
“Oh?”
“So it’s here.”
A pair of red eyes, exceptionally striking in the darkness, shone brilliantly, gazing into the distance.
Before these dazzling, sun-like eyes, everything was revealed, nothing could hide.
One of the benefits provided by Night-Wandering Woman was unparalleled sensory acuity at night. Everything was crystal clear.
Natsuba Hanae sat on something, arms crossed.
A look of amusement graced her exquisite face.
Within her sight…
Two groups, each led by a C-rank user, were rapidly pursuing the elite-level supernatural being from different directions, using special tracking methods.
One of the groups’ auras was extremely familiar.
Natsuba Hanae lightly rubbed her finger against her lips and murmured,
“The Nenba branch should be staying at the main house. Why are they here?”
Although…
As the second daughter of the Natsuba conglomerate, venturing out in the middle of the night didn’t exactly give her the right to question other servants.
Just then, Natsuba Hanae suddenly swayed.
She instinctively frowned.
She looked down at her current…seat.
It was Chikari Makoto, prostrated on the ground, supporting Hanae with her back.
Chikari Makoto, apparently reacting to the mention of the Nenba branch, quickly shared her information.
“Is it the Nenba branch?”
“This afternoon, I saw Third Young Master…”
“Natsuba Yosuke talking to someone from the Nenba branch. Later, he left with a C-rank sorcerer.”
“Mom, see if that guy has a mole below the right corner of his lip.”
Hearing this, Natsuba Hanae focused her gaze.
Indeed…
The black-haired young man had a mole below the right corner of his lip. It was the same person.
Black hair was also a characteristic of the Nenba branch.
The Nenba branch was a somewhat special family within the conglomerate. Although they possessed a supernatural bloodline, it had become diluted and was now only used as a supplementary power.
As for Natsuba Yosuke, he was Natsuba Hanae’s older brother, the third son of the Natsuba family.
He had recently become involved with the Nenba branch.
The Nenba branch’s current combatants were all sorcerers within the Natsuba conglomerate’s system, existing by clinging to the conglomerate’s power.
There were rumors within the family that the Nenba branch hadn’t been conquered by the Natsuba conglomerate, but had submitted willingly.
After all, their so-called supernatural bloodline had only produced an A-rank supernatural user in their family history.
This had caused their bloodline to evolve, passed down to their descendants.
However, the later generations of the Nenba branch were incompetent, with none reaching even B-rank, leading to the dilution of their bloodline and forcing them to surrender to the Natsuba conglomerate.
It was worth noting that the Nenba branch was quite ridiculous.
Even though their supernatural bloodline was so weak, they treated it as a precious treasure.
Within their family, if a member didn’t awaken the Nen ability, but another ability, or even no ability at all, their status was lower than a servant, no better than a slave or a tool!
Of course, the Nenba branch wasn’t entirely useless.
Their weak Nen ability, combined with sorcery, made them slightly stronger than ordinary sorcerers of the same rank.
In Natsuba Hanae’s view, there was no need to bother subduing the Nenba branch.
In another ten or twenty years, their Nen ability would likely fade to nothing. Instead of cultivating them as sorcerers, it would be better to nurture ordinary people with greater aptitude and loyalty towards sorcery.
However, her thoughts took an unexpected turn.
The group led by the young man with the mole seemed to have lost their way and stopped.
Then, he punched a thin, dirty girl in the stomach, cursing at her.
The frail girl clutched her abdomen and knelt down.
She cut her wrist with her sharp fingernails, letting the blood flow, and a faint, hazy white light appeared in her eyes.
She pointed in the direction of the elite-level supernatural being.
The young man with the mole and the other two quickly rushed in that direction.
The frail girl, clutching her stomach and enduring the pain, stumbled but quickly followed.
“Interesting.”
“Black hair, clearly a member of the Nenba branch, and her power is even greater than the leading C-rank sorcerer.”
“Yet she obeys him and endures his abuse.”
“Is that a discarded member of the Nenba branch?”
This was the first time Natsuba Hanae had seen a discarded member of the Nenba branch.
This was more than just slavery. Slaves were still valuable property to their owners. This was like disposable chopsticks, used and thrown away.
They weren’t given any supernatural items for recovery, weren’t even allowed to rest properly, and their abilities were ruthlessly exploited.
They were even forced to use their own blood to activate their powers.
Even a capitalist would shed a tear.
And Natsuba Hanae, unfortunately, was one of the products cultivated by the Natsuba conglomerate.
Their philosophy of maximizing utility and prioritizing self-interest was ingrained in her bones.
Her deep red eyes gleamed.
“If some of the discarded members of the Nenba branch possess such qualities, they could be worth recruiting and utilizing.”
Maximizing utility.
The young man with the mole wasn’t maximizing utility.
He was prematurely exhausting her.
Every C-rank supernatural user was a valuable asset. How could he afford to exhaust her to the point of disability or death?
The correct approach was to keep them alive but barely, functional but barely, dangling a carrot of slight improvement and a bit of status if they worked hard enough, while squeezing out every last drop of their usefulness.
That was the proper way to operate.
A warm, ephemeral smile bloomed on Natsuba Hanae’s lips.
“Eek—!”
Below her, Chikari Makoto suddenly shivered, feeling a chill down her spine. She quickly shook her head, her golden hair swaying.
“Mom, are you ready yet?”
“When are we going to kill that supernatural being? I can’t wait!”
Hearing this, Natsuba Hanae stood up from Chikari Makoto’s back and said,
“Soon.”
She looked at the other group. It was a recently notorious folk religion.
A cult.
—The Circle of Light.
Natsuba Hanae pursed her lips, her eyes gleaming. Tonight’s outing wouldn’t be in vain.
It seemed…
The plan in her mind could be accelerated.
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