Chapter 7: The Battle’s End

“Phew… man, I’m glad that’s over.”

Shiga Inui said, gazing up at the sky.

The moment it was over, Hiryuuin Yakumitsu and his subordinates returned.

In their hands was something wrapped in a purple cloth, from which blood was dripping.

“Oh, nii-san. Good work.”

Shiga Inui turned to Hiryuuin Yakumitsu and bowed his head.

The great victory this time belonged to Hiryuuin Yakumitsu. In his hands, he held the head of the clan leader.

“Inui…”

Hiryuuin Yakumitsu surveyed the area.

Seeing the horrific state the girl was in, he knew instantly it was Shiga Inui’s doing.

Clenching his fist, Hiryuuin Yakumitsu moved to strike Shiga Inui, but stopped himself.

“…No. Good work.”

Deep down, had Hiryuuin Yakumitsu still not managed to cast aside his humanity? Condemning Shiga Inui for his boundless cruelty would be admitting his own immaturity as a sorcerer.

“…”

Shiga Inui saw the conflict in Hiryuuin Yakumitsu and his expression twisted slightly.

“If you want to hit me, go ahead. You’re the only one who can stay true to your own heart’s justice.”

Hiryuuin Yakumitsu glanced at the soldiers of the Hiryuuin clan lying on the ground around them.

“There’s no need… I won’t interfere with your methods.”

The soldiers began lining up those who were still breathing.

The stench of ammonia stung his nostrils. Hiryuuin Yakumitsu took off his own clothes and draped them over the unconscious girl’s body.

“Hey. You have an antidote, don’t you? If not, make one. Right here, right now.”

He spoke mercilessly to Abarabana Tenri, and her body flinched as she opened her mouth.

Flowing Power was secreted into the saliva that pooled in her mouth, and from it, a sweet smell began to drift.

“Good… Now.”

They stuffed a cloth in her mouth, letting the saliva soak into it.

They took it and poured the liquid into the mouths of those paralyzed by the poison.

After a short while, Mineki Shian slowly began to sit up.

It seemed the antidote was working.

Though exhausted, Mineki Shian approached Shiga Inui.

“…I thought you didn’t do things people would hate.”

“Hm? Oh, not to my allies. But enemies are a different story. I kill them all, violate them, and beat it into them so thoroughly they can never defy me again. I sear it into the marrow of their bones, burn it into their brains, break their spirits, and carve it into their hearts. That’s my way.”

Hearing Shiga Inui’s words, Mineki Shian reached out.

And she slapped him.

“Your reasoning is sound, but I can’t stand your methods.”

Mineki Shian declared, staring at Shiga Inui.

“Your skill is the real deal, so prove yourself with it. Ruling through lust is nothing but a wicked path.”

Mineki Shian is direct.

Shiga Inui looked at her face, his expression serious.

“Even so, if you find yourself about to drown in that lust, I will lend you my body.”

At those words, Shiga Inui laughed.

“No… Shian-chan, you’re kind of devaluing yourself with that, you know?”

“Is that so? Then raise your own worth so I don’t have to lower mine. Understood?”

Shiga Inui turned on his heel.

“Nah, I can’t make any promises. If I find someone who pisses me off, I’ll violate them to my heart’s content.”

Mineki Shian opened her hand, as if another slap was needed.

Shiga Inui turned back to face her.

“But, I’ll do my best. Since you went that far for me, Shian-chan.”

He said.

Mineki Shian, instead of relaxing her open hand… slapped Shiga Inui’s cheek with it again.

“Ow! Wh-what was that for?! That was a pretty good compromise, wasn’t it!?”

“Like I care. Fix your rotten nature, you dog… Oh, and one more thing.”

She added, as if an afterthought.

“…You saved me. Thank you.”

Mineki Shian said to Shiga Inui.

Hearing her words, he laughed again.

“Is that a signal that I can have you tonight?”

He bantered, just like always.

The blood-curdling, demonic expression from moments before had vanished.

Seeing his face, she let a look of relief show as well.

“Not a chance.”

Mineki Shian had her soldiers drink from the antidote-soaked cloth.

Once the antidote took effect, they were able to move somewhat. The male students seriously injured during Shiga Inui’s rampage were moved under the watchful eye of the Hiryuuin clan’s soldiers to prevent any more trouble, then sent to the clan’s prisoner-of-war camp in the unclaimed lands between the territories.

The Abarabana clan’s territory, along with the main family’s residence, would now become Hiryuuin territory.

After reporting to Hiryuuin Yuubi by phone to prevent other clans from trying to snatch a victory from their jaws, guards from the Hiryuuin family were dispatched.

In exchange, Shiga Inui and his group decided to head back to the Hiryuuin estate.

From here on, the fate of the Abarabana clan would be decided by the family head, Hiryuuin Yuubi.

Whether they would all be executed or employed as soldiers was entirely up to her.

Shiga Inui and the others made their triumphant return.

A car was parked in front of the main family’s former residence, so Shiga Inui got in to return to the Hiryuuin estate.

“I’m back.”

They returned to the Hiryuuin family estate.

And those were the words Mineki Shian spoke.

She was back again in the manor she thought she might never return to.

Savoring the joy of making it back alive, Mineki Shian and several soldiers headed for the medical wing to be fully detoxified.

“I will deliver this head to Haha-sama. You’ll likely be summoned by her tonight, or perhaps around noon tomorrow… Until then, you should get some rest.”

Shiga Inui nodded at Hiryuuin Yakumitsu’s words.

“Roger that, nii-san.”

Shiga Inui bowed his head.

Just as he was thinking of heading back to his own apartment.

“…”

He came across a girl in the hallway.

She had long black hair and purple eyes that had lost their light.

Her slender limbs were covered by a kimono.

“Oh, Rindou.”

Shiga Inui raised a hand in greeting.

The girl’s body trembled with a jolt.

Hiryuuin Rindou.

One of the children born to Hiryuuin Yuubi.

Hiryuuin Yakumitsu, Mineki Shian, Hiryuuin Rindou.

These three were Hiryuuin Yuubi’s children.

The silent girl was terrified of men.

“…!”

She turned her back to Shiga Inui and fled.

He didn’t chase her, but simply watched her go.

“Ahh… well, can’t be helped if she hates me.”

As he said that, Shiga Inui rubbed the back of his head, recalling her past.

“(No… stop…!)”

She returned to her room.

Her heart was consumed by terror.

Her aversion to men came from experience; she had been assaulted by one before.

Worse, she had been violated by a sorcerer from one of the Ten Houses.

“(Hah… huff…)”

The Yuukoku clan.

A family fabled to control time.

They were a swarm of sorcerers so powerful that others hesitated to even challenge them.

Their strength was so undeniable that the other Ten Houses had formed a coalition under the Yuukoku banner.

After Hiryuuin Rindou’s purity was stolen by their hand, the family head, Hiryuuin Yuubi, was forced to make the agonizing decision to offer her up to them.

“(Ngh… uh…)”

To soothe the fear.

She lay down on her futon and let her kimono fall into disarray.

But the very act she performed to ease her terror only plunged her deeper into self-loathing.

“(Ah…)”

Still, it was the only way she knew to suppress the fear.

It was a sad tale, but she found a strange sense of security by doing to herself what the Yuukoku clan had done to her.

Because as long as she was doing this, the Yuukoku clan would only watch with lewd eyes, but they wouldn’t lay a hand on her.

If there was anyone who could end this warring-states era of sorcerers by any means necessary… it might have been the Yuukoku clan.

Thus, their arrogance swelled, and they swaggered about as if they were the absolute strongest.

However… the Yuukoku clan no longer exists as a house of sorcerers.

It wasn’t that they vanished… they were annihilated.

On that day, at that time, by a single man who wasn’t even a sorcerer yet.

As a result of Shiga Inui’s rampage, the Yuukoku clan was destroyed.

He had crashed the night-long banquet where they had debased the girl and treated her as a plaything. It was thanks to Shiga Inui, in the end, that she was saved just as her mind was about to shatter.

“(Hah… hah… uh, nngh…!)”

For Hiryuuin Rindou, it was surely a loathsome memory.

But she could not forget it.

More than the sight of her own body being devoured, she could never forget the image of his arrival.

His body covered in wounds, his clothes drenched in blood, a metal bat he’d used to smash the heads of countless people. He was injured himself, his face beaten beyond recognition, and yet the man was smiling… and that smile had saved her.

Her body trembled as she climaxed.

Her full chest heaved up and down. Staring at her fingertips, she thought of him.

“(Inui-san… Inu, i, Inui, san…)”

Her feverish body yearned for the man, again and again.

She longed for Shiga Inui, but she feared him for being a man.

She was trapped in a difficult state.

Around noon the following day.

A meeting was held.

It was a forum for Hiryuuin Yuubi to offer her praise and commend their achievements.

After damage reports were made and spoils of war were decided, it was time to give a special reward to the one who had contributed the most.

Hiryuuin Yuubi first asked Hiryuuin Yakumitsu.

“Yakumitsu, what is it you desire?”

The land and valuables seized from the Abarabana clan—he could have any of it with a single nod from Hiryuuin Yuubi.

Hiryuuin Yakumitsu seemed to have already decided. He cleared his throat and spoke.

“I… desire the soldiers of the Abarabana clan. I will train them up and add them to our forces.”

Hiryuuin Yakumitsu intended to absorb the Abarabana soldiers to strengthen their own military power.

In response to this, the elders of the Hiryuuin clan grew indignant, raising their voices as if spitting.

“The Abarabana? It is unthinkable to incorporate another clan! Our blood will be tainted!”

“I object! That is absolutely unacceptable!”

This negative chorus from the so-called advisors who had done nothing but cower inside the Hiryuuin estate was well within his expectations.

Hiryuuin Yuubi ignored their cries and nodded.

“Very well… If that is what my child desires, then I shall permit it.”

Hiryuuin Yakumitsu bowed his head.

With that, the rights to the Abarabana clan’s soldiers were now his.

Next, Hiryuuin Yuubi turned her face to Mineki Shian.

She intended to give her a reward as well.

“Shian, I hear you also defeated an executive. What do you desire?”

Mineki Shian mulled it over for a moment.

“I… would like the Abarabana clan’s estate, please.”

Hiryuuin Yuubi considered her words for a moment as well.

“…Does that mean you want the rights to a corner of the territory we have acquired?”

“Yes.”

As if ready to leap from their seats, the elder advisors began to criticize Mineki Shian.

“Know your place! You, from a mere branch family!!”

“Do you have any idea what you are saying!?”

Their reactions were to be expected.

To ask for the estate was to ask to be entrusted with the management of that territory.

She, who had already split off to form a branch family—and a young newcomer at that—was asking for it over the heads of the elders.

For the elders, this was a grave turn of events.

But after a moment of thought, Yuubi’s lips curved into a smile.

“…Interesting. Very well, I permit it. The lands formerly managed by the Abarabana clan, I hereby give to you, Shian… And since you will be managing them, you had better be prepared to defend them with your life.”

Permission having been granted, Mineki Shian bowed her head to Hiryuuin Yuubi.

“Thank you very much.”

And so the rewards were given out, until at last, she turned her face to Shiga Inui.

“Now then… lastly, my dear Inui.”

“‘Sup.”

There was no question that Hiryuuin Yuubi’s demeanor was different with him alone.

Her eyes were narrowed and she was smiling, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

“You also defeated an executive, I believe… or should I say, violated one?”

“Y-yeah…”

Shiga Inui’s throat went dry at her pressing tone.

Naggingly, persistently, Hiryuuin Yuubi was jealous of his actions.