The moment Rōran's queen signed her name on that contract, the seemingly ordinary document floated up on its own and burned away in blue-black flames.
At the same time, both Hii Kōri and Akane felt their hearts tighten—as if tightly wrapped by chains.
The restraint was fleeting, but enough to make Akane realize the fact that the contract had been established.
She gently stroked her chest, her face slightly pale.
Hii Kōri, however, had long grown accustomed to this level of "stinging pain." He merely tugged at his collar a little to loosen his clothes.
Then, under Akane's questioning gaze, he looked her up and down while raising his hand forward. Pitch-black Iron Sand flowed from his sleeve like a living thing, surging across the floor and taking human form.
In the blink of an eye, an Iron Sand clone identical to Akane's appearance and attire stood quietly there, even imitating that faint trace of worry between her brows with remarkable verisimilitude.
The Iron Sand clone moved its shoulders in a gesture quite unbefitting Akane's demeanor, then calmly walked to the desk and sat down, deftly picking up a document and beginning to review it.
That posture was indistinguishable from her own, leaving Akane utterly astonished.
"There. With my clone here, nothing will be exposed."
Hii Kōri explained thus. "Don't overthink it. I have no interest in disguising myself as a woman to rule this place indefinitely."
Akane bit her lip, said nothing more, and followed Hii Kōri out the door.
Outside, the guards previously knocked unconscious by Hii Kōri still slumped against the wall, unconscious. He walked over and lightly tapped each of their foreheads in turn.
The green fluorescence of medical ninjutsu flashed, and the unconscious guards slowly awoke.
"Alright, alright. Gentlemen, look here."
While they were still dizzy, their consciousness not yet connected, Hii Kōri pulled a pen-sized short rod from his robes and calmly called out.
The guards instinctively looked toward the sound—and saw a dazzling flash of white light.
With Hii Kōri's genjutsu level, hypnotizing ordinary people to extract information was already his limit. Trying high-end operations like memory erasure could easily turn them into idiots.
So he had made this thing—the most convenient prop from the Men in Black movies: the memory eraser.
Just kidding. Not that convenient.
Interfering with memory neural circuits through high-intensity flashes and electronic pulses to cause temporary amnesia in witnesses was indeed theoretically feasible. By adjusting the frequency of the photoelectric signals, the effect could be controlled within a certain range.
But erasing specific memories and implanting false memories like in the original films—that was far too science fiction.
Oh? Men in Black was science fiction? Then never mind.
But for now, it was enough for Hii Kōri.
After cleanly erasing the last ten minutes of these guards' memories, handling it foolproof, he nudged Akane's arm with his elbow, signaling her to lead the way.
Though unable to understand the purpose and effect of Hii Kōri's series of means, Akane felt she had no retreat at this point.
She took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in her heart, and walked ahead.
Hii Kōri followed behind Akane, his gaze lowered, examining the heels of her shoes exposed beneath her skirt. Her shoes seemed made of specially treated materials, producing a unique sound when stepping on stone bricks.
Perhaps this was a means to demonstrate status and identity, allowing others to recognize her from a distance?
But judging by the style, these shoes seemed quite comfortable for the feet?
Theoretically, damage and deformation to a ninja's feet were considerably lower than to their hands, which needed frequent hand seals. But for chūnin—who make up the vast majority of the ninja population—ninjutsu was not actually a particularly common means.
Even including the Three Basic Techniques, most chūnin mastered no more than twenty techniques. And due to factors like chakra amount, ninjutsu usually served as "finishing moves" or "strategic skills" in their combat systems, rather than everyday tools.
But moving quickly over rugged terrain—that was a daily routine for ninjas. Not to mention, even within the village, ninjas often took "shortcuts" across rooftops.
This led to foot injuries and deformities among ninjas being not particularly severe, but far more common.
Although this could be relieved through daily habit adjustments, ninjas were accustomed to wearing ninja sandals. To cope with missions or other work that may come at any time, they rarely changed footwear in daily life.
Maybe I should prepare a new pair of shoes for Pakura...
Thinking thus, Hii Kōri kept silent.
In this almost stagnant atmosphere, the two slowly passed through numerous doors and passages in the palace. At first, Akane hesitated, unsure how to explain her movements to the guards or officials they encountered.
Yet the guards stationed at various passages seemed completely unaware of their presence. Even when they passed directly through the guards' field of vision, those loyal soldiers acted as if they hadn't seen them.
Looking closely, these guards' focal distance never changed—as if Hii Kōri and Akane were merely passing air.
This wonderful scene astonished Akane considerably. If someone knew nothing of ninjas, they might be drawn to the spectacular ninjutsu. But as Rōran's leader, her considerations went far deeper.
Though she knew that through limited channels she couldn't fully understand ninja abilities, nor establish metrics for measuring something as intangible as true strength, experiencing firsthand such swagger movement as if through No Man's Land was still quite inconceivable.
At a spiral staircase leading underground, Akane stopped and couldn't help turning to look at Hii Kōri behind her, unconsciously lowering her voice to ask: "Can all ninjas do this?"
Judging by Hii Kōri's exposed face, he appeared to be merely a young man in his teens or twenties. Even if the Dragon Pulse barrier had led Akane to assume Hii Kōri's strength was quite high—
Seeing him so young, yet capable of doing this so lightly, inevitably made her think such concealment abilities were quite common in the ninja world.
"Hmm? Depends on what aspect you mean."
Hii Kōri's tone was quite peaceful, smoothly picking up Akane's topic as if not at all been thinking about something else earlier. "If we disregard the barrier factor, just having one person avoid those guards and infiltrate this place—frankly, that wouldn't be difficult for some elite chūnin."
"After all, your Rōan soldiers... well, they seem like people living in a happy world that has never experienced war."
Mentioning Rōran's guards, Hii Kōri paused for a moment, then chose a rather reserved expression. But even so, it left Akane quite embarrassed.
Rōran's queen clutched her sleeves, her face slightly reddening as she lowered her gaze, shifting her feet rather uncomfortably.
"Um... what level of ninja is a chūnin?"
"Anyone "Without obvious physical or mental defects—any genin can rise to that level before retirement."
"..."
Hii Kōri's relentless finishing blow completely sank Akane. Her Majesty's shoulders suddenly slumped, as if she had lost all strength and willpower.
This was to be expected. Even if she had mentally anticipated that her carefully nurtured country's strength was utterly insignificant by outside standards, having it pointed out so bluntly again was still quite a heavy blow for Akane.
As if all her previous efforts had been in vain—as if any random ninja could easily destroy her life's work.
"Don't make that face. After all, you're all ordinary people here—it's normal not to fight ninjas. Though I put it simply, nearly ninety percent of ninjas will never touch anything above chūnin in their lifetimes."
Sensing Akane's emotional instability, Hii Kōri crossed his arms and began supplementing her with a lesson in common sense. ninjas. Having clearly felt the Dragon Pulse's throbbing from below this spiral staircase, he wasn't in a rush for a few minutes.
"Breaking barriers, solo raids, large-scale attacks, sealing, creation... ninjas can do far more than my examples. And the vast majority of chūnin can only master one or two of these."
"A ninja's physical strength isn't much different from ordinary people. If you forced a numbers game, chūnin not good at large-scale attacks couldn't take down many before exhausting their chakra."
"Even among ninjas specializing in the same things, differences in their mastery of techniques and abilities create different advantageous situations. Like bringing you along swagger like this without anyone noticing—few can do that."
"As for seeing through the Dragon Pulse barrier and infiltrating—that might be something only I can do."
"Quite confident. From what you say, are you perhaps a jōnin?"
Comparing Hii Kōri's words with the ninja information she knew from intelligence, Akane thoughtfully.
"Yes."
"Then..." Hearing the affirmative reply, she hesitated, then asked, "Can I learn ninjutsu?"
Having personally experienced an external threat, Akane had made up his mind.
"Now? Chakra extraction and training are generally better done early. Children's physical adaptability is far superior to adults. At your age, it's somewhat too late. But if you want to learn, I can teach you. Even without mastering any ninjutsu, just practicing chakra a little is good for strengthening the body."
Appraising Akane's thoroughly matured figure, Hii Kōri wasn't optimistic about her potential but didn't refuse.
He could certainly tell that this Rōlan queen probably didn't want to master powerful abilities herself, but hoped to give Rōlan the capability to protect itself.
From now on, Rōlan would be his private reserve. Teaching chakra cultivation methods to those willing to leave the barrier and explore the outside world was nothing.
But precisely because of this, Hii Kōri found it somewhat hard to swallow.
"However... seeking ninja power only now?"
Meeting Akane's gaze with inorganic eyes, he delivered his assessment quite flatly.
"Sitting on the Dragon Pulse's power without further utilization, merely using it to conceal traces and create a paradise without conflict... Well, it's quite nice as a retreat from the world. But in such an environment, people's hearts become dull, don't they?"
"Regrettable things always happen, but conflict is this world's engine—at least for humanity now. Without the ability to fight back, having lost the will to grow stronger—in this world, that's undoubtedly chronic suicide."
"That's—that's..."
Her thoughts seen through, Akane wanted to rebut with the duty passed down from her ancestors. But she also knew Hii Kōri's reasoning wasn't wrong. Ancestral duty and royal responsibility were precisely what she needed to balance herself. He was merely judging from an outsider's standpoint.
Even without Hii Kōri's arrival, Akane herself had long begun to waver regarding her ancestral duty.
Perhaps initially Rōlan was merely a town existing to guard the Dragon Pulse. But as Rōlan developed to its present state, Akane could not ignore the weight of her subjects who revered, trusted, and admired her.
Love is a curse. Wishes are heavy stones. Trust is a lead weight.
When all this runs contrary to ancestral ideals, this world is merely a sea of sobs.
Perhaps before long, she herself would give up her ancestors' cherished duty and took the initiative to use the Dragon Pulse's power for her people.
Shamefully, when coerced by Hii Kōri, Akane had even felt a flicker of relief—relief at not having to actively disobey ancestral will, but being forced to let the Dragon Pulse fall into another's hands.
"Perhaps... you being the first ninja to find this place might be a good thing for Rōran and for me."
Realizing what emotion lay in her heart, Akane was instantly consumed by intense self-loathing. She slowly crouched on the spot, burying her face in her knees, whispering nearly inaudible murmurs.
How despicable and filthy I am.
"...Tired?"
"Yes."
After a moment, Akane let out this dull, exhausted response. "The Dragon Pulse... is below. However you want to handle it, however you want to use it—it's up to you. I want to rest here for a while... Hya! What are you doing?!"
"Hmm, saying that now—it's hard for me to believe there aren't traps down there, isn't it?"
Hoisting Her Majesty in his arms, Hii Kōri's expression was unchanged, answering thus.
"Enough! Put me down! I'll go down with you!"
"...See? Women are so troublesome."
***
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