"Can... I bury them?"
Nishi spoke in a small voice, a trace of pleading in her chestnut eyes.
"Mm..."
Cyan nodded slightly, then added: "The... money... on... them..."
"I understand!"
Nishi nimbly searched the three corpses for the money and handed it to Cyan. Then, she crouched silently by the roadside, using her short blade as a digging tool to move the earth.
As she looked at the bodies of Sankuro, Ippa, and Gofichi and recalled the times she spent with them, tears continuously flowed from Nishi's eyes.
Cyan, who was originally about to leave, saw how slowly Nishi was digging. She walked over and drew the demonic blade.
Hearing footsteps and seeing Cyan approach with a sword, Nishi thought she was going to be killed. She closed her eyes and prepared for death.
The ground vibrated once. Nishi felt soil fall onto her head. Opening her eyes, she saw that a large pit had been created in the ground, sufficient to bury Sankuro and the others.
"Wait! Can you kill me and bury me with them?" Nishi looked at Cyan's back, her tear-stained face carrying a desperate plea.
Living alone and unsupported in this chaotic world was simply too difficult for her. She would rather go to the other world to accompany them.
...
Cyan stopped in her tracks. Her silver-white eyes held a rare trace of surprise and confusion as she looked at Nishi. Everyone else wanted to live; this was the first time she had met someone bent on dying.
Just a moment ago she wanted to live, yet in a short time, she had become suicidal.
Humans are truly complicated...
Ah... come to think of it, I seemed to be human once too...
"Sick..."
Cyan, whose inner monologue was quite busy, left behind those two words and walked toward the others waiting for her.
Hearing Cyan's words, Nishi stared blankly at her back and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"Cyan, what did that woman just say to you?" Kagaribi looked at the approaching Cyan, glancing over at Nishi who was burying the three bodies.
Cyan shook her head. She felt there was nothing worth saying about Nishi's request. Killing her might yield another Bronze Card, but to her, it wasn't necessary.
Seeing that Cyan was unwilling to speak, Kagaribi didn't press further. After a moment of silence, she said: "Shall we go to Edo?"
Famine was rampant across Japan right now, so the only viable place to go was Edo. Even if Hinowa went to war with the Shogunate, Edo wouldn't necessarily be dragged in. After all, Japan currently relied on food brought by Westerners; if the Shogunate hadn't increased taxes, so many people wouldn't have starved to death.
"Okay..."
Cyan agreed to Kagaribi's decision. Erni, Ai Asama, and Chen Xiaoxue—who had intended to just wait out the time to complete Survival Mission 2—had no objections either. After all, running around aimlessly in such a chaotic era was worse than staying close to Cyan, who could protect them.
At night, the five sat before a fire, eating roasted meat seasoned with simple spices (prey hunted by Kagaribi).
Cyan turned her head toward a patch of darkness, her hand resting on the demonic blade in a drawing stance.
"Come... out..."
"How did you find me?"
Nishi stepped out of the darkness, looking at Cyan with a hint of surprise in her chestnut eyes. She was confident in the hiding skills she relied on for a living; she didn't expect to be discovered by him just by getting a little closer.
"It's you?!"
Kagaribi, Erni, Ai Asama, and Chen Xiaoxue looked at Nishi warily, suspecting that there were others hiding in the shadows behind her, preparing an ambush.
"Don't worry, there's no one ambushing you. I don't have the money to hire ronins to cause trouble for you. Besides, I'm here for him."
Nishi looked past the four of them, her gaze locking onto Cyan.
"Mm?"
Cyan tilted her head. Thinking of the battle between Basara and Zankuro, a flash of understanding crossed her eyes. She walked toward Nishi and stopped two meters away.
"Are... you... here... for... revenge?"
"No, I'm not here for revenge..."
Nishi shook her head and suddenly knelt on the ground. Her head hit the earth with a heavy thud as she shouted: "Lord, please accept my loyalty! Please let me become your servant!"
"Hah?!" X 4
Kagaribi, Erni, Ai Asama, and Chen Xiaoxue felt their jaws drop to the ground upon hearing Nishi's loud declaration while kowtowing to him.
Cyan's hand on the hilt trembled slightly. She instinctively took a step back, looking toward the four stunned women in bewilderment.
[Survivor No. 11766, the plot character Nishi from the Samurai Shodown V world offers her loyalty to you and wishes to become your servant.]
[Do you agree?]
[Yes or No]
[Note: Please treat your servants and followers well. If a servant's loyalty drops below 50, they may desert. Followers can choose to enter the Survival Game with the survivor or live in the Survival Space. Followers have absolute freedom in the Survival Space. If the survivor dies, the follower's memory will be wiped and they will be sent back to their original world.]
[Note: Survivors cannot force servants to do anything!]
[Note: After servants and followers die, they can be resurrected using Survival Points!]
[Warning: If a follower kills a survivor, they will inherit the survivor's identity and number in the Survival Space! Please treat followers fairly and kindly; do not force them to do things they are unwilling to do!]
Cyan received the message from the Survival Brand. Seeing the rows of information appearing instantly, as well as the final red warning, she gazed at the kneeling Nishi.
"Go... now..."
Cyan did not want to accept Nishi's loyalty. Even without her memories of being human, she understood what responsibility meant.
Once she accepted Nishi's loyalty, it meant the girl's life and everything else would be tied to her. Although she could be resurrected after death, the feeling of dying was truly unpleasant—not pleasant at all.
Cyan had a deep understanding of the feeling of death.
"I followed you all this way... I never intended to leave alive!" Nishi pulled out a short blade and performed a sliding tackle toward Cyan, thrusting the blade toward her abdomen.
"Ding!"
After a crisp sound, the short blade in Nishi's hand was snapped at the hilt and fell to the ground. The sharp tip of the demonic blade was pressed against her neck, yet she showed no fear. Instead, she revealed a look of relief and grabbed the demonic blade with both hands, pulling it toward her own throat.
The demonic blade instantly disappeared from Nishi's reach. Blood flowed from the wounds on her hands, proving she had just gripped the blade with her bare flesh.
Cyan had stored the demonic blade into her inventory. Looking at Nishi, who would rather die than have her loyalty rejected, she accepted the offer.
[Survivor No. 11766's Servant: Nishi]
[Loyalty: 70]
[Strength: 8, Agility: 12, Constitution: 6, Intelligence: 6, Spirit: 7, Perception: 7, Charisma: 9]
[Skills:]
[Thief (Passive): When Nishi searches for items, there is a certain chance of obtaining precious items. As the saying goes, 'Don't fear a thief stealing, fear a thief thinking of you.']
[Disguise (Passive): Nishi is a master of disguise techniques.]
[Steal (Active): Nishi is adept at using her appearance as a cover. There is a certain chance to steal an item or piece of equipment from a target. Stolen items cannot be sold; equipment can only be used by Nishi or exchanged for Survival Points.]
[Slide Kick (Active): Nishi attacks the enemy's lower leg with a slide. Has an 8% chance to cause a fracture. The fracture chance increases with Strength.]
"Master!"
After Cyan accepted her loyalty, Nishi learned about the Survival Space. A pair of wings—half-angel, half-demon—appeared on her shoulder. At the same time, she received a warning: she could not reveal anything about the Survival Space to anyone. If she did, she would be wiped out—the kind of death that cannot be undone even with Survival Points.
...
"Call... me... Cyan..." Cyan took off the Power Bandages and threw them to Nishi.
"Yes, Master. No problem, Master."
Nishi recognized these bandages as those once wrapped around Gofichi's hands. Now, she could see the attributes on them. As she put them on, the white bandages automatically wrapped around her hands, leaving her fingers exposed. A cool sensation came from the bandages; she could feel the wounds stop bleeding, replaced by a slight tingling itch.
The healing speed of the wounds had increased...
Nishi clasped her hands gently and followed behind Cyan.
"Cyan, you just agreed to let her follow you like that?" Erni stared at Nishi, looking at Cyan with surprise. This was the person who almost caused their team to be wiped out earlier!
Thinking of that handful of lime powder made her eyes feel uncomfortable again.
Ai Asama and Chen Xiaoxue also looked at Nishi, not quite understanding why Cyan agreed to his loyalty.
However, regarding Cyan's decision, they knew they had no right to question it; they would have to rely on him for the days to come.
"She... is... my... servant..."
Cyan sat by the fire, tore off a piece of her own roasted meat for Nishi, and handed over a piece of dried ration.
"Thank you..." Nishi said in a low voice as she took the food.
[Survivor No. 11766, your servant Nishi's loyalty +5.]
Receiving the message from the Survival Brand, Cyan glanced out of the corner of her eye at Nishi, who was lost in thought. She felt a very strange sensation; even without using her perception, she could feel Nishi's existence, as if a thread connected them.
Kagaribi actually approved of Cyan taking Nishi as a servant. If she were truly loyal to him, it would be beneficial; with her skills, the journey would be much easier.
After taking care of their stomachs, Kagaribi taught Erni, Ai Asama, and Chen Xiaoxue more archery techniques for a while.
As for the night watch, the first half was assigned to Kagaribi, Erni, Ai Asama, and Chen Xiaoxue, while the second half was for Cyan and Nishi. This was the safest and most stable distribution.
No one had any objections to this arrangement.