Sleeping with the Enemy? (3)
"Ninja Wake-Up Technique."
I was on my feet in an instant.
According to my internal clock, it was two in the morning—the perfect hour for a little activity.
"Planning to head outside?"
Holy shit, that nearly gave me a heart attack. Tribo was sitting cross-legged in the corner of the room.
Right. He was a robot. He didn't sleep.
"A Runaway Ninja operates at night."
Assuming, of course, that some yakuza boss's area-of-effect skill didn't reduce the whole castle to rubble in a catastrophe.
"Understood."
After dinner I'd given him a quick rundown of my mission and convictions, so Tribo let it slide without further comment.
"Just a reconnaissance run, then?"
"For now."
I used the Ninja Dress Technique to slip into my ninja suit in a flash. I left the bigger gear behind—no ninja sword tonight. There was a real chance Yugeomgyeong's hearing was sharper than mine. No point clanking around with a blade when I wasn't even planning to fight. Getting caught because of that would be mortifying.
"Watch the place for me. I'll be back."
Saying it out loud made me feel like some salaryman fighting to protect his household. Had Powered-Mountain Gorilla gone to work with the same mindset? Honestly, I couldn't care less what some thug thought.
"Understood."
Creak.
As always, a ninja used the window. Taking the door was strictly for third-rates and below.
The moment I left the inn I activated Floating Shadow and started walking. Unlike Martolan, a standard territory of the Iregal Kingdom, or Goldon, which at least pretended to be a fortress city, this place was just a village. The buildings were too low for rooftop travel—strictly forbidden.
I found a decent alley and fired up Ninja Radar.
Woooong—
Green silhouettes shaped like people lay scattered about. Villagers. In a backwater like this, the only nightlife worth mentioning was mixed wrestling. Once the sun went down, people scratched their bellies a bit and hit the hay. That was normal.
The only ones still moving were the people camped outside the village. Their disciplined gait marked them as the Crimson Flame Dragon Knights. A few more figures lay near them—probably knights waiting in temporary billets. Nobody slept outdoors for fun.
Samurai standing night watch to protect the people from outside threats? That was absurd.
I needed to see it with my own eyes before I made any hard judgments.
Shhhk—
Risking it, I closed in on the samurai—no, the knights.
"..."
The women holding their posts in silence all wore short hair, probably regulation. From a distance their builds looked nearly identical, like clone soldiers differentiated only by hair color. A knight order of personality-neutered spinsters. Had the Iron Lobster Knights been a hangout for delinquent girls who grew their hair however they liked?
Anyway, the armor colors confirmed it: Crimson Flame Dragon Knights.
I was about to edge closer and check whether Yugeomgyeong was among them when—
"Let's go."
Other knights emerged from a nearby temporary billet.
Had they sensed my Floating Shadow? Ordinary rank-and-file, not even Yugeomgyeong?
I slipped a dagger from my sleeve.
"Time's up."
"Yeah."
One short-haired knight vacated her post; another short-haired knight took it. Oh. Just a shift change.
I'd told myself they were strong and I couldn't let my guard down, so even simple things started looking complicated. Was that the difference mindset made? Being overly serious wasn't always a virtue.
"Anything unusual?"
"All clear."
"Good work."
"You too."
The knights looked a little tired, but their eyes were full of duty and purpose—a beauty you never saw in samurai swollen with chosen-people arrogance. My small suspicion hardened into conviction.
These people were not samurai.
"By the way… I don't see Lady Yugeomgyeong."
"She went out on reconnaissance. Said she wanted to do it alone, so we let her."
"Still, someone should've gone with her. You know how she is…"
"…A little dense in places, yeah. But her combat power is outstanding. She'll be fine."
Reconnaissance. No wonder I hadn't spotted her—she'd been outside the village.
Shhhk—
I slowly withdrew and returned to the village. No point hunting her when I didn't even know the direction. Nobody could patrol all night without tiring. If I waited patiently, she'd come to me.
To keep Floating Shadow perfect I slipped into an alley, then—
Woooong—
—fired Ninja Radar again. Being able to check the situation without wandering around was fantastic. Honestly, wasn't this a total cheat skill?
Woooong—
I pulsed the radar every three minutes. Duration was one minute, so two minutes of blank. Unless she came sprinting like a cheetah, that was plenty of time to catch her.
After roughly two hours of sphincter-clenching vigilance—
"..."
—she walked right into the net.
She strode through the village gate like she owned it. The knights bowed their heads. The radar only showed green light, but the outline was crystal clear.
Thud. Thud.
Her footsteps headed straight toward me. I froze in place.
A moment later she brushed past the mouth of the alley.
Green eyes. Platinum-blond bob. Straight, no-nonsense eyebrows. Height somewhere in the late 170s. Mid-to-late twenties, maybe.
She must have been using mana on patrol; lingering fragments of power still clung to her. If all of that belonged to her alone, Yugeomgyeong was clearly a strength beyond the standard scale.
Once she was far enough away I started to follow—
Whoosh—
"Who's there."
Yugeomgyeong turned her head toward my exact position.
She caught that? From this distance?
You've got to be kidding me.
"Show yourself. If you won't come out, I'll come find you."
I heard her footsteps approaching. If she were a samurai I'd throw caution to the wind and fight, but her true nature was still uncertain.
In common parlance: I was fucked.
But finding a way out no matter what—that was what a Runaway Ninja did.
"Working hard this late at night, ma'am. Hahaha. This is a bit embarrassing."
With the Absolute Peak Ninja Undress Technique I stripped everything except my sleeveless undershirt and underwear, tossed the clothes lightly into a corner, and stepped boldly into Yugeomgyeong's view. I'd spoken loudly while undressing, so the sound of the clothes landing was covered.
"Wh-what is this."
I was the man who had hidden his true skill for seven months in the Snake's Tail. I decided to trust my improvisation.
"This? There was nobody around, so I came out lightly dressed. The knights are all outside the village, after all."
"Do you have any idea what you look like right now?"
"Underwear, yes. I stepped out for a bit of exercise and reconnaissance and it got too hot."
"…Put both hands on your head."
"Yes, ma'am."
A true master of lies cleverly hid one percent of truth inside ninety-nine percent of falsehood. The truth here was the word "reconnaissance."
Yugeomgyeong approached and patted me down thoroughly.
"No weapons."
I'd stripped so fast with the Ninja Undress Technique that she wouldn't even think I'd hidden the clothes.
"Even if no one's around, who in the world goes outside dressed like that just because it's uncomfortable?"
"I'm extremely sensitive to presence. If anyone approached I planned to hide, just like a moment ago. I may not look it, but I'm a confident adventurer."
"An adventurer? Are you the one who came from Goldon? Speak only the truth."
Perfect—she'd taken the other bait.
"If you wish, I can go back to the inn and show you my adventurer's plate. And the letter of guarantee I received from the lord of Goldon."
"I'll check later. Why did you go to Goldon?"
"To protect the people from villains. I fought hard and even got buried under a collapsing wall, but my sturdy armor kept me alive. Every comrade who fought alongside the lord knows it."
The fact that she was talking at all meant she wasn't a hot-blooded psychopath who killed for fun. For now I focused on the rumor that Yugeomgyeong was righteous. There were still samurai who played the hero in public while quietly murdering people in private, so I couldn't drop my guard completely.
"Until you moved, I couldn't sense you at all. What technique did you use?"
She was grilling me hard. I smiled as kindly as I could to hide the irritation.
"A technique I learned from my master. I can't reveal it lightly."
"Why were you hiding there?"
"For reconnaissance."
Yugeomgyeong slowly met my eyes.
"Reconnaissance? What do you mean?"
"What I value most is the safety of the people. No matter how well the knights guard the place, gaps will appear. I wanted to fill those gaps."
"There are no gaps in the Crimson Flame Dragon Knights' watch."
"So I discovered. I was satisfied and about to head back in when you appeared, my lady. As you can see, this isn't exactly a look I want to show off."
"Hmm."
When I sought agreement she gave a small nod. Clearly my flawless rhetoric had won her over.
"There's one thing that bothers me."
"Yes?"
Do you have zero social awareness? My nose is about to start running from the cold and you keep asking questions.
"That you fight for the people. Is that true?"
Mana rode her words. A threat that she wouldn't let a lie slide?
"I exist to protect the people from every kind of evil. Even if my life ends, that will never change."
I met her wide-eyed stare head-on. This time I mixed in not a single lie.
Because this was my truth.
"..."
After a long staring contest, Yugeomgyeong closed her eyes first. I almost never lost a staring contest.
"…Anyone can talk. Proof is in action. If you truly believe that, come to the knights' temporary base around noon tomorrow. You have no right of refusal."
"Understood."
A chance to observe her up close? Pure jackpot.
Yugeomgyeong, if you really are a samurai, you've just dug your own grave. Do you realize that?
"Runaway Ninja."
"Ni—?! Ja? Why? Yo?"
Improvise, improvise, oh for fuck's sake.
"Have you ever seen the Runaway Ninja in Goldon?"
I nearly shit myself.
"Many soldiers witnessed him. But I never did."
"…Do you know the Runaway Ninja's identity? Or does anyone you know?"
"No. Not as far as I know. He appeared during the siege and vanished immediately. Whether he was even inside Goldon is questionable."
"Understood. Go inside. Tomorrow, wear clothes when you come out."
"Carrot on a stick, ma'am."
"What on earth does that mean."
With that, Yugeomgyeong left.
"…Whew."
I'd avoided the worst-case scenario. If my brain hadn't been sharp I never would have wriggled free.
In a battle of wits she was my equal—or better.
Yugeomgyeong. Definitely a formidable opponent.