I Was Reincarnated as a Nameless Combatant in a Japanese-style Fantasy Depressive Erotic Game, but the Women Around Me Are All Dangerous, and I Have a Bad Feeling about It

had scattered to the ground.
With her white fingertips, which were literally spoiled and had never held anything heavier than chopsticks, Kayo picked up the man's soggy flesh and blood with a desperate look on her face, not even realizing that her hands had turned bright red.

 

　”No way! It can't be real! Tell me this is some kind of joke!? Why?! No, no, no, this can't be real!!?”

 

　Kayo cries out as she gathers his body parts.
She didn't know what she was doing anymore.
But she wanted to do something for him, knowing that if she didn't, he would die, knowing that if she didn't, he would never come back, so…

 

　”No! Pleaseeee…!! Tomobe-san…!? You'll be fine…! I'll collect them! I'll do my best to collect them all! So…
so…
Ghhh!?”

 

　Kayo's sobbing voice as she tries to collect his body part is interrupted by a leg kick to the abdomen coming from the side.
Kayo, who was originally so slender and light that she was blown away a little, rolls on the ground and coughs, looking at him with tears in her eyes…

 

　”Hmm, I'm a little off the mark and I had no idea why he was still breathing.
But how about at this distance?”

 

　A moment later, Kayo sees a figure stomping on him and trying to put the finishing blow into his pomegranate-like head.

 

　”NOOOOOOO!!? STOPPPPP!!??”

 

　As if to drown out Kayo's pleas and cries, a vicious sound of a gunshot ruthlessly rang out.

 

　”Ah…
aah…………”

 

　Kayo stares in disbelief at the splattered flesh and blood.
A moment later, there was clear hatred and hostility in her eyes.
With tears in her eyes, Kayo, who was lying on the ground, raised her face to glare at the attacker with a swallowing intent that was hard to believe she was a girl…

 

　”Huh…
What……?”

 

　Kayo muttered with a trembling mouth.
Her eyes were bewildered and astonished as if she was looking at something she could not believe.

 

　”Uncle Kurayoshi (Oji-sama)…? What in the world is this…”

 

　It took Kayo a few seconds to catch sight of his uncle Kurayoshi, who worked for his father and had seen him many times and to realize that it was his uncle who had shot the man, and before she could say anything, another kick to the stomach hit her.

 

　”Agh…!? Cough…!!??”

　”Stop yelling, you little b*tch!”

 

　Tachibana Kurayoshi spat out calmly to Kayo, who was coughing with her stomach clenched in a fist.
This was not the way he would have behaved toward one of his relatives.
He looked down at Kayo with eyes the color of a mixture of contempt, disgust, and unspeakable emotions.

 

　”Well, now, you b*stards.
Did they let you two go? I guess barbarians are still barbarians, those useless b*stards…!”

 

　Kurayoshi cursed coldly at the fact that these uncivilized barbarians had not been able to capture a little girl and a servant.
The servant aside, Kayo, whom they had planned to take hostage as a bargaining chip, was nowhere to be found before…

 

　”Cough…
Cough…
Why…
are you…
It can't be…?”

　”Hmm, why…? Unaware little girls are a real pain in the ass, aren't they?”

 

　Kurayoshi tapped Kayo's head lightly with his stick and boasted to Kayo, who asked him with tearful eyes.
There was a clear sense of mockery in his words.

 

　”I have been observing you for a while now, okay? Seriously, I must say, you are a tricky one.
Your father and daughter are both vicious greedy and wh*re.”

 

　Kurayoshi spits out to Kayo, playing with the Magatama around his neck as if remembering.

 

　Kurayoshi's mind is filled with deeply unpleasant memories.
More than twenty years ago, he was charmed by a mere signboard girl, but he couldn't make her his wife because he knew his position at that time too well.
However, despite his unconsciousness, the girl's magic charm moved his heart…

 

　”Hmph, I think in Nanban people call such a thing a witch, don't they? It's a perfect match.”

 

　Kurayoshi had heard that when working in an outlying port city in Nanban in his youth, they called women with spiritual power and youkai strength, who use dubious witchcraft and dazzle men with their exotic beauty, and whose nature is rotten to the core, as a witch.
He had also heard that this horrifying group had been active internally and had contributed to the collapse of the now-defunct empire in the West.
In the former imperial domain, which was once dominated by a rivalry between youkai and others, there reigned several ruthless witches who literally used people as livestock.

 

　”Cough…
Cough…
What…
are you talking about…?”

 

　Kayo, on the other hand, has a hard time understanding the hostility and abuse from her relatives, even though he is not so close to her.
To top it all off, she is treated as a witch.
Kayo herself had only heard of witches as villains in imported picture stories, but he could not understand why she was being treated like that at least.
At best, her mother had taught her a little about Nanban-style incense and medicine.

 

　…And in fact, it was only half a bluff.
This old man, who used to suppress his feelings and cover them up because of his status and position, may not have been so attached to the sign girl if she had behaved herself and didn't get married to such a man.

 

　Regardless of the various considerations, it is clear that he was closer to the main family in the order of succession, but he could not be unconcerned, externally or inwardly, about the fact that a young man who had just turned 20 years old and had no achievements was placed at the top of the trading company.
He was also not happy that he had brought so many outsiders into the trading company even though he had finally achieved results.
Besides, the young man had changed most of the work he had been familiar with, even if Kurayoshi had enough ability to handle it.

 

　Especially the fact that the young man, who did not like the situation at all, took a daughter of a different status as his wife, completely ignoring the pressure and opposition of the people around him.
And that woman of all people! And not as a concubine, but as a legitimate wife!

 

　Their only daughter was also a hateful and unwanted daughter to him.
She was a perfect duplicate of her mother, and she had inherited her evil nature as well.
Whether she was aware of it or not, every gesture, every change in her facial expression, everything about her was glamorous, devious, fascinating, and shook the spirit of those who saw her.

 

　”Tsk…
truly natural.
An outsider parasite.”

 

　Ah, a witch…
Kurayoshi took one look at the girl coughing and weeping at his feet and thought.
This little girl’s mother must be a witch who has infiltrated Tachibana's house, parasitized it, and taken over.
Such was the assumption of the old merchant, who was a brilliant man, but whose prejudices and old-fashioned customs were ingrained in his bones, about this girl who shook him.

 

　For the old merchant, who is unable to seek his own jealousy and remorse, shame and obsession, appearance and honor, love and hate, it was the easiest thing for him to do…

 

　”Director, if you are too rough with her, won't she die? She is a hostage, isn't she?”

　”Why don't you just leave the retrieval to us? The director doesn't have to go there…”

 

　Suddenly, a voice echoes from behind Kurayoshi.
The old merchant turned his head in response to the voice, and found his immediate subordinates, including his secretary, there.
At the same time, they are the accomplices of the old merchant's behind-the-scenes dealings with foreign nationals.
All of them were wearing Magatama, as was the old merchant.

 

　”I can't trust you alone.
In matters of this importance, I have to go out on my own feet.”

 

　Kurayoshi spat grimly.
He was a shrewd merchant, even though he was a corrupt one, and since he was involved in illegal transactions that would result in a maximum penalty if discovered, his boldness and suspicion were also of the highest class.
In fact, he had personally visited many of the secret transactions and had witnessed their progress.
Still, he did not trust others very much.

 

　Of course, this was not the only reason for his decision this time.

 

　”But more importantly, what should we do? I didn't think they could have escaped from those Ezo people.
That was a close call.”

 

　Kurayoshi lifts Kayo's chin with the tip of his stick.

 

　”Secretary, take a couple of men and go look for those b*stards.
I don't know where these guys are wandering around, but I don't think Hibiki has searched this area yet.
Prepare to get out of here.”

 

　The warehouses around here are owned by the Tachibana Trading Company, Kurayoshi, and Hibiki would never think that his daughter was locked up in the warehouse of the trading company.
He knew from his men in the head office that Kebiishi (police and judicial chief) of the Imperial Court had not yet been informed of this incident, as they wanted to settle the matter in private for the sake of the public's opinion.
The Kizuki's house has been contacted, but the main people are attending a garden party attended by the emperor.
It would be impolite to leave in the middle of the party.
So, it would be better to collect all the evidence and move to another hiding place while he still can.

 

　…but Kurayoshi could not have predicted that Kizuki's second daughter had been forced to leave the meeting with a ridiculous excuse, or that there was someone who was constantly stalking the mere servants and immediately captured the hideout, much less that his men were already incapacitated.
There was no way for him to think so.

 

　However, for him, it might have been manageable so far.
Therefore, in a real sense, Kurayoshi's failure was a choice he made from this point on, and it was a kind of self-inflicted fate of his own nature.

 

　”By the way.
You guys, punish this cheeky brat a little bit.”

 

 

 

 

 

　”Director…
no, chairman, are you sure?”

 

　One of his subordinates confirms Kurayoshi's order.
The men saw Kayo with sneering smiles on their faces several times.
But Kurayoshi had been a competent merchant at one time, working at the head office of a trading company.
Besides, with his coarse, selfish character and ambition for success, and because he had been sent to the branch office on the eastern land, which had drawn his wrath, he was just indifferent.

 

　”It's fine, she's a cocky little girl.
We have to make her understand her own position.
In any case, we're going to use her as a hostess when we get the trading company.
After that, don't call me chairman yet.”

 

　Kurayoshi's mouth twisted slightly and his decision remained unchanged.

 

　…a virgin girl may have her own value, but he can't afford to make a mistake.
So, he decided to give her a little “education” and let her know where she stands.

 

　Kayo's devilish good looks were indeed attractive and useful for this kind of entertainment.
Moreover, since she is the only child and she is the only one who is indulged in the business, her husband or her child would be the future president of the society, which is probably one of the main reasons why Kurayoshi issued this vile order.

 

　To humiliate, insult, and rape her and put her in such a position was meant to prevent Kayo's lineage from returning to the top of the Trading Company forever.
Regardless of her rare beauty or the fact that she was a direct daughter of Hibiki, a dirty girl who had been treated like a prostitute would not be enough to win over the faction's banner, and the nobles and feudal lords who would back her would be reluctant to support her.
Even if she has a child, it will be disregarded as if it were anyone's child, from anywhere.
The humiliation of Kayo was certainly more than just a trivial attempt to undermine Hibiki's lineage but was certainly necessary for anticipation of the aftermath of the takeover of the Trading Company.

 

　…This order may have another meaning for Kurayoshi, however.