CH 46

Having worked for the Konohana family for about a month, I had a pretty good grasp of the layout of the mansion.

As soon as I crossed the main gate, I hid behind the bushes and made my way around to the back of the mansion without making a sound. I moved through the grounds of the Konohana house, keeping in mind the patrol routes of the servants and guessing their locations.

“Damn it, where did he go?”

“Look towards the main gate again!”

I could hear the voices of the servants from afar.

While they were away, I broke into the mansion through a window.

“…… All hell has broken loose, hasn’t it?”

But I have no intention of leaving.

Kagen-san has no intention of talking to me anyway. Then I’ll just push my way through.

“There he is!!”

“Geez!”

The servants of the Konohana family dressed in black were coming from the other side of the corridor.

I hurriedly turned on my heels and climbed the stairs leading to the second floor, where I encountered yet another group of servants.

“Get him!”

They tackled me relentlessly.

“I can’t let you catch me!”

I jumped diagonally backwards to avoid the tackle and kicked one on the back.

“Oh, gosh, wow!”

The servant who was kicked in the back fell down the stairs.

It was a short flight of stairs, so he was not seriously injured.

“Oh shit! He’s a tough one!”

“Surround him and keep him down!”

As the men approached, I calmly remembered what Shizune-san had taught me.

If the opponent swings his arms over his head—

“What!?”

Before his fist could be drawn out, I ducked down behind him, maintaining my clinched position. While blocking the opponent’s actions, I quickly tapped his knee with the sole of my foot to bring him to his knees.

“You, be quiet!”

I avoided the outstretched fist and grabbed his arm.

When you twist your wrist outward to determine the joint, your opponent will fall over on his own to escape the pain.

“Ugh!”

It’s a technique called kote geshi.

Stepping over the servant who rolled on the floor, I quickly ran up to the fourth floor.

“Thank you, Shizune-san …….”

The art of self-defense is not a technique for defeating an opponent, but for protecting oneself.

In other words, the essence of self-defense is to escape from the enemy. It was the perfect technique for me right now.

“As I recall, the direction of the office is …….”

I headed for the room where Kagen-san was.

The office was also the place where I had my first conversation with Kagen-san. I don’t remember the details of the path, but I remembered the direction.

“……Hmm?”

At that moment, I thought I saw something strange in the corner of my vision.

I stopped and checked to see what it was.

“…… ?”

There was a long, thin piece of cloth hanging outside the window.

The cloth was a …… curtain. For some reason, the curtains were hanging from the floor above and they were swinging and swaying.

Are they hanging laundry? It doesn’t look like that though……

As I wondered and tilted my head – a girl came down from behind the curtain.

It was Hinako.

“Hmmm……..!?!?!?!?!?”

What the hell is she doing, this girl!?

I panicked and tried to stop her, but before I could, Hinako went down to the bottom floor.

That’s not good–if she falls, she’s in trouble.

I almost made it to the office, but there was no time for that now.

I ran self-consciously down the stairs and out of the mansion, and called out to Hinako above me.

“Hinako! What are you doing!?”

Hinako looked at me, hanging from the curtains tied like a string.

“It’s not safe, so come quickly.”

“…… Limit.”

“What?”

I have a bad feeling about this.

“Stop it. ……”

“Wait.”

Hinako removes her hands from the curtain.

Her slender body was flung into the air and fell.

I unintentionally opened my hands and caught Hinako in my chest.

“Geez!”

The impact was so strong that I expelled all the oxygen from my lungs.

“…… Nice catch.”

“Oh, you, what are you doing …… really ……”

“I wanted to see Itsuki.”

When Hinako told me this, she had a smile on her face, as if she was relieved.

With a face like that and a line like that…., I can’t get angry.

” I have a suggestion for you …….”

“A suggestion?”

I tilted my head at Hinako’s words.

I was about to ask her what it was.

“The Miss has been kidnapped!!”

A servant who saw us from the window of the mansion shouted.

“Damn it!”

This time, I am reluctant, but I can’t bear to leave Hinako in this place.

I was also curious about the suggestion, so I fled with Hinako in my arms.

“…… I’ve been kidnapped again.”

“…… I never thought I’d be the next kidnapper.”

I remembered that the kidnapping incident was the reason we met.

At the time, I had no idea that I was going to become a kidnapper.

“Did we manage to get away ……?”

As we hid in the bushes, I was relieved to see that there was no one else around.

“So, what do you suggest?”

“…… I’ll be your hostage.”

Hinako said.

“So, Itsuki, you have to persuade my father.”

“…… That sounds more like blackmail than persuasion.”

“Then blackmail him.”

I was unsure of what to say to Hinako, who was proposing a risky strategy without hesitation.

After serious consideration, I realize that I can’t nod in agreement with her suggestion.

“No …….”

“Why ……?”

“That’s not going to solve the root of the problem.”

There’s no point in making peace on the surface while leaving problems unresolved.

Besides, Kagen-san is a powerful man. I have a feeling that even if we solve the problem with a twisted trick, it will be undone with a twisted trick.

“I’ll try to persuade him somehow. It’s probably the only way.”

“Can you persuade him ……?”

“Yes.”

It was an unfounded confidence.

Still, I assure her.

“I’ll definitely persuade him.”

I want to reassure Hinako.

I don’t want Hinako to be overwhelmed.

I want to repay Hinako for giving me a place to stay when I had nowhere else to go.

For that reason, I’m willing to fight to the bitter end.

“Where do you think you’re going with Miss?”

I looked up at the familiar voice and broke out in a cold sweat.

“…… Shizune-san.”