"What… what did you say?! She… she's the Princess of the Land of Fire?!"
"And that girl… she's the heiress of the Hyuga Clan?!"
Thud! The merchant lords all fell to their knees in unison, faces pale with terror. Their attendants scrambled to follow suit, bowing low with foreheads pressed tightly to the ground.
"We sincerely apologize, Your Highness! And to the esteemed heir of the Hyuga Clan as well!"
These men weren't complete fools. They knew full well what these two girls represented, one wielded political power as a noble of the Land of Fire, and the other stood at the pinnacle of Konoha's most prestigious clan. To offend even one would be suicide. Yet somehow, they had provoked both.
"We were misled, Your Excellencies! Please believe us, we were tricked into this! We didn't know who you were!" The head merchant quickly shifted blame to his subordinates, who began kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Ugh." Asuna still found it difficult to stomach. Her fists clenched at her sides. But when she noticed the crowd beginning to gather, more and more people drawn in by the commotion, she quickly realized that if things dragged on any longer, her identity would be fully exposed. And once that happened, there would be no more "casual strolls" through the village.
With a cold wave of her hand, as though swatting away garbage, she snapped, "Get lost. Don't show your faces to me again."
The merchant lords, hearing this, scurried away as if their lives depended on it, bowing, scraping, stumbling, and fleeing.
"Thank you, Kiri-niisan…" Hinata quietly bowed her head toward Kirito. Her heart brimmed with emotion. Always, just like always, he appeared at the exact moment she needed him most.
"It was nothing." Kirito waved her thanks aside casually. But his eyes never left the retreating group of merchants. His gaze grew sharp, as if something about their actions didn't quite sit right with him.
"Hinata, can you tell me exactly what happened, everything. Leave nothing out."
"Eh? O-okay…" Though confused by his seriousness, Hinata still did as asked, recounting the entire sequence of events in exact detail.
"…I see." When she finished, Kirito turned to Asuna.
"W-what's with that look?" Asuna blinked. Kirito's stern gaze locked onto her, inexplicably making her feel pressured.
"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head. "I just have something I need to confirm."
…
Far from the bustle of the market district, the merchant group had retreated to a quiet spot on the village outskirts, panting and trembling.
"Damn it… that girl was the Princess?! I almost pissed myself!"
"And that white-eyed brat, of all the branch members we could've run into, of course she had to be one of the main family's!"
"This is all your fault! You told us to mess with them!"
"I-I didn't know who they were, boss! Please forgive me!"
The head merchant sneered down at the trembling man on the ground, who was bowing repeatedly.
"Tch… a stray like you wouldn't know class if it hit you in the face."
"Yes, sir…" the man whimpered.
It was only now that Kirito's suspicions were confirmed. The man bowing wasn't just some servant, he was a shinobi. A stray, yes, but a trained ninja nonetheless. And it was this same ninja who had urged the merchants to go after the girls.
"Enough. Let's just go back to the inn," the lead merchant grumbled.
"But sir… shouldn't we visit the princess tomorrow and apologize? I mean… she said she wouldn't hold a grudge, but what if she reports us to the daimyo later?"
The merchants looked at one another. The thought hadn't occurred to them, but now that it had, the risk became frighteningly clear.
"…Fine. Tomorrow, we-"
But before they could finish the plan, a calm voice echoed from the darkness.
"So no matter what, you're still trying to approach the princess. I see."
A shadowy figure appeared at the edge of the clearing, as though he'd been there all along.
Kirito.
"You?!" One of the merchants recognized him immediately. He was the boy who had stopped them earlier.
"What's the meaning of this?" one of them asked nervously. "We didn't do anything wrong. Why are you following us?"
"Hm… maybe you didn't know. But then again… maybe you did." Kirito's gaze slid past them, settling on the man kneeling near the back, the so-called stray ninja who had been groveling moments earlier.
That man met Kirito's eyes, and subtly shifted his expression, pretending to look confused.
"Drop the act. I heard everything. You, wandering ninja, are no mere lackey." Kirito's voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"You were trying to assassinate the Princess of the Land of Fire, weren't you? Now tell me, who's the one pulling your strings?"
The merchants turned pale, their faces draining of color. Several pointed trembling fingers at the man.
"You… you…!"
The rogue ninja stared silently at Kirito. Then he sighed, he knew he'd been exposed.
"There's no one else here," Kirito said calmly. "But don't worry. I've already notified Lord Hokage."
The moment those words landed, the man's expression shifted. His eyes darted around, searching for an escape route.
"P-please, good shinobi sir! We had no idea! This has nothing to do with us!" the merchants wailed, scrambling to distance themselves from the would-be assassin.
Kirito didn't respond. He simply raised a hand and gestured.
"You can explain it all to the ANBU later. Cooperate, and maybe you'll earn some leniency."
Whoosh!
The enemy, fully aware his identity had been compromised, made a sudden break for it, hoping to flee while Kirito was speaking.
But Kirito had been expecting exactly that.
And he wasn't about to let this man escape.
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