Chapter 83 – The Day I Become One With the Shadow (03)

“Come out. It’s time for an appointment.”

Grumbling.

Inori’s older brother looked surprised when I opened the door and came out first.

To be exact, he might be making that expression when he sees my face.

“…Did you stay up all night?”

“Is there any problem?”

“No, I mean…”

I knew roughly what they wanted to ask, so I answered honestly.

“It was amazing.”

His expression his hardened as if he didn’t really want to ask that, but after a while, when Inori appeared wearing clothes and a mask, his expression also hardened.

“The hostess is looking for you. Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

Forcibly controlling my nervous mind, I followed the man.

As if to guide us to find our way, light was seeing into the dark hallway to guide us. The moment I finally entered the dark room where I was first held, small girls resembling Inori grabbed her legs from both sides and [Shadows] The bodies were tied together using [Ninbeop].

“…”

“Don’t worry. Rita might help you secretly.”

As I entered, I saw Saori’s mother and her her two men her her waiting her, dressed in the previous ornate hostess’s attire, and I approached her, already swallowing dry saliva to hide my nervousness.

“Are you finished preparing?”

“I can’t say it’s perfect…”

Unfortunately, due to lack of energy, I was unable to achieve 30% of the [Shadow Ninjutsu] Characteristic.

Considering that the [Swordmaster] Trait I had previously acquired was still at 20%, I had gained quite a lot, but whether I could use it right away without any training was another matter.

The [Master of the Sword] Trait is almost a passive item, so it is applied by default when using a sword, and the effect increases if you use a copy of Marian’s swordsmanship, but [Shadow Ninjutsu] Is a trait that has a separate usage method.

But that doesn’t mean you can cry. I was trying to concentrate as much as possible.

“Then let us begin.”

As the curtains surrounding the area change, moonlight begins to fill the dark space again.

In a blur, my shadow began to return, but Inori and her two sisters were tied together, under the lights pouring down from the ceiling.

‘I didn’t plan on getting Inori’s help anyway’

How should I move?

Inori said this is something she can’t explain, a realm of instinct, like how she moves her toes or fingers or how to ride a bike.

However, for me, just as a cat or dog can’t wag its tail the same way when you give it to me, I had to use it with the idea of ​​moving an organ that had never been used before.

‘How do I move the shadow…?’

First, extend your arms. Even shadows stretch out their arms.

Here, when you move your body, the shadow moves in the same way. Saori’s mother immediately began to narrow her eyes, as if she was performing a play with the shadows.

Good.

So I started playing rock, paper, scissors.

When I use scissors against my shadow, the shadow also produces scissors. When I produce a rock, the shadow also produces a rock.

The original story is about winning by playing rock, paper, scissors with yourself in the mirror, but even if you play against a shadow, the result will not be much different.

Finally, I stretched out my hand and made a motion, and the shadow also made a motion, and Saori’s mother, who was watching my movements, sighed.

And after a while, I could feel a sharp shadow thorn approaching my body.

‘You have to immerse yourself’

Win I was playing rock-paper-scissors with my shadow one after another with the thought of winning this game.

“Stop now. It looks like you lied again.”

No, it wasn’t a lie.

Because 29% of my characteristics included [Shadow Ninjutsu].

Looking at the blurred shadow, I was sweating hard and playing rock-paper-scissors. Seeing the number of draws in a row, and seeing me playing alone, the other shadow clan members were laughing at me so openly that I could feel it on the faces hidden behind the masks.

But it was visible to me.

The movement of the shadow slows down little by little.

At first, I thought it was my imagination, but little by little, the shadow started playing rock-paper-scissors slower than me.

It may have been simply that I was too focused and had an error in my sense of time, but I continued working hard, thinking that I would win like this.

“That’s it. This time, I will accept the crime of telling a lie with my life.”

“Master!!”

And finally.

The moment the shadow hesitantly produced the scissors, I raised my fist and finally won the game of rock-paper-scissors with the shadow.

‘Done! I defeated the shadow!’

But at that moment, Saori’s mother’s shadow was already flying in from all directions and trying to pierce my neck, and I was on the verge of death before I could even show my shadow.

‘This… Is dangerous…!’

Pooh wow!

A thorn made of shadow pierces my neck.

A shadow that has no concept of ‘thickness’ at all.

Something that cannot be grasped by hand and must be pierced.

“Ouch, ouch…!”

I was blocking with black-stained hands.

“What is this… Is this really written?”

A shadow was supporting my right and left hands.

Although they did not overlap perfectly, the two fingers on the left were exposed and blood was seeing out as they were pricked by the thorn, and on the right, the palm was misaligned and the inside was tattered, but I was blocking the shadow of the thorn. With both hands.

Seeing that scene, Saori’s mother was so shocked that she couldn’t even remove her thorn.

‘I can… Do more… More!’

After completely covering both my hands with the shadow, just as I had covered Inori’s shadow with my hands before, I broke the thorn that was trying to pierce my neck.

“I told you, right?”

Even when the moonlight curtain was opened by the astonished guards, light came in again, and the shadows dispersed, the shadow on my hand remained until the end.

“I will make it.”

* ​ * ​ *

I thought it would be enough to just show them, but unexpectedly, the Shadow family was in shock and chaos broke out.

To what extent, it’s to fighting the point where they’re amongst themselves, leaving Inori and I, whom we’ve been managing in the shadows, neglecting.

“Host! This is why I’m going to teach Yukie the [Shadow Ninjutsu]!”

It’s Inori’s her older brother her her, who makes blood on her her face her her and says he’ll teach her and bring her a woman he likes who is n’t from the clan. He even says in principle that someone who isn’t from the clan should be killed because he used [Shadow Ninjutsu].

‘So really, no one thought I would succeed?’

To be honest, I wouldn’t have even tried it if it weren’t for the companion practitioner’s effect of bringing in the characteristics of the partner with whom you had sexual intercourse.

In the first place, considering that this function was a cheat-like convenience mode, it was normal not to assume it.

Lick…

Looking at the deep cuts on my hands caused by [Shadow Thorn], Inori was diligently applying potion to heal them. She held the potion in her mouth and licked it with her tongue while treating it, making me feel itchy again and again.

‘Wouldn’t it be okay to just dissolve the potion in water and continue washing…’

Rather than being efficient, Inori was trying hard to keep taking care of my hand and treating it, but it was a bit itchy and embarrassing, so it was a problem.

After all the commotion, the hostess of the Shadow family approached me with a stern expression and asked.

“How…Did you do this?”

I had no choice but to answer that question like this.

“Good.”

“…Is there something called a secret?”

I couldn’t explain the companion trainee, and even if I did, I didn’t think the NPCs who were bound by the laws of this world would understand.

It would be better to ignore the bug before it happens further.

“…Your [Shadow Ninjutsu] Is not perfect and the range of control is still small, but it’s amazing that you learned it in just one day… Could you show it to me again?”〈 Br〉

As I thought about dyeing my palms black this time, my hands became stained with a shadow.

Saori’s mother called out to her family in admiration as she saw the hand properly covered in shadow, although the shape still remained blurry.

“Outsiders must not use [Shadow Ninjutsu]. They must be killed.”

“It was a promise made in the name of the hostess.”

“But in the face of the unprecedented situation where [Shadow Ninjutsu] Was leaked…”

Seeing the guards coming out strongly, Inori grabbed my hand just in case and tried to escape with me, but the hostess raised her hand and stopped the guards.

“What has already been promised is already promised. Above all, this is the man whom this child has chosen as his lord her her her.”

“But hostess!”

“And, if we can reproduce [Shadow Ninjutsu] In a way other than bloodline… Wouldn’t it be the best thing for our family? So…”

Saori’s mother took off her own mask and placed her hand on Inori’s shoulder her, covering me with her smiling face her.

“Now rest easy, Inori.”

Inori hugged my neck with tears in her eyes, not as a promise as a hostess but as a mother’s words.

“Host! Me too, the woman I like…”

‘Seeing him excitedly clinging to the hostess, saying that now is his chance, why does my immature brother only show off to her her younger brother her her? It felt like he was arguing with me, so I started laughing without even realizing it.

‘Ha… I guess this is the end…’

In just two days, I was recognized by Inori and the [Shadow Clan].

However, Saori’s mother placed some restrictions.

Do not pass on [Shadow Ninjutsu] To outsiders.

And receive training from Inori as a [Shadow Clan].

There were two things.

When she was brought here, sleeping powder was injected into her nose and she was dragged away, and when she returned, she was leaving the family home holding Inori and her hand along with several gifts.

“But this… Wouldn’t it be a little dangerous?”

Although she was moving along with Inori’s guidance while wearing her eye patch so that the family’s location could not be determined.

“I can’t memorize it by the number of steps like last time, so I’ll go back a little bit, master.”

“No… I’m not going to memorize it, so can’t I just go in a straight line?”

“No. My lord lied too much this time, so I can’t trust you.”

“I did it to survive…”

Although I grumbled, it wasn’t a bad feeling to hold Inori’s hand and walk along the mountain path together in the warm sunlight.

‘Well… In some ways, my relationship with Inori, which had been a bit sluggish, has progressed to the end…’

However, it’s a little unsettling considering that the heart doesn’t seem to want to come down from the end of the fifth space.

‘Well, good things are good things’

“…I do, my lord.”

“Huh? What did Inori say?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

No, I think I said something, but I couldn’t hear it because I was drunk with the sound of stepping on leaves.

Still, I can roughly guess the contents.

“Oh yeah. I love you too, Inori.”

“Did you hear…”

“No, what… “

He gently lifted the eye patch and pressed Inori’s red-faced nose.

“I think that’s all Inori has to say right now.”