Zaria's PoV:

What the-!? The second after I decided to pack up and close the hostage-plan shop after seeing Yashinezu's infamous Sandstorm Sword, the old rat himself left the building with a bunch of Karasuna thugs. And they're all high on the totem pole to boot! And they've already disappeared on the horizon while chasing something that looked like a carriage without horses to drag it...

"They had that many strong fighters. ssu~? That would have been less than a close fight if we-" - Rald

"CHARGE!!" - Zaria

"Ssu~?!! Hey, leader! Didn't you see those fierce-looking yakuza that could prolly silence a dragon with a glare, ssu~!?" - Rald

Rald tried to stop me, the idiot.

"It's because I saw them that we're doing the attack now! Do you wish to wait until they return, or capture the weaklings that remain and use them as hostages to make Yashinezu surrender?" - Zaria

"Wow..., that's a new low, ssu~..." - Rald

WHATEVER! All that matters is the winner!

While under the cover of the stealth-improving effect of [Shadow Mantle], I ran toward the entrance of the mystery building. A few thugs were left behind and watched the path where their bosses went.

I activated [Gust Sword] using my closed battle fan as a catalyst, wrapping it with twirling winds sharp as steel. Then I activated the ninjutsu, "Blast Out" and sent the wind around my fan towards the bunch of no-brainers and knocked them unconscious. To finish the job, I retrieved some ropes from my [Shadow Storage] and used the "Wind Snake" ninjutsu to wrap the thugs ready for Christmas. 

...are someone watching me? 

"...ah! Dino!" - Zaria

Dino and his pal were leaning out of a window and spectating the hurried takedown I did on the thugs. Hehe~, please. It was nothing~.

"Lady Zaria! What are you doing!?" - Dino

Eh? No praises? And Dino's pretty talented. He's shouting at a barely hearable volume. 

"Storming this place. Isn't it obvious?" - Zaria

"THAT is crystal clear, thank you very much! But we have not mapped the building, found the enemy's forces, or anything yet!" - Dino

Despite saying that, Dino threw a Shadow spell at a thug that had looked out of one of the other windows. 

"If Yashinezu was here, it would be impossible even if he told us everything down to his underwear! Our only chance is to steal control of this building and use the underlings as hostages!" - Zaria

"Ehm, excuse me, my lady, but I do not believe such a hard-skinned person would care about his subordinates." - Dino

"And that's where you're wrong. That old geezer is famous for taking care of the well-being of his men. It's only second to the legend about how he turned from a nobody into the leading don of the yakuza in just one night 40 years ago!" - Zaria

"40 years..., that man appears to be much older than that!" - Dino

"He wasn't born strong after all! He must have been training himself in some secluded cave or something. But this ain't the time for story-telling! Start bashing in some heads! With a non-lethal method!" - Zaria

"Why you...! You impossible...!" - Dino

Leaving Dino fuming in the window and Rald holding his head with his hands, I rushed into the building to silence the other Karasuna thugs. 

"Holt! Stop there!" 

Oh, I found some already. 

Not stopping (I'm not an idiot), I swiped at the thugs with the fan in my hand and invoked the "Great Gust" battle art to blow the two thugs into the wall and knock them unconscious. 

Moving on, I reached a huge hall where several thugs had been sleeping. Before they could get up, I covered the whole room with rust particles, compliments from [Rust Storm].

"Intruders!"

"Where?! I can't see anything!" 

Right here.

"Guh!" 

"Koff!" 

"Argh!" 

One by one, I started to knock people back to sleep while I moved around undetected in the rust storm. 

"Hey! My weapon's broken!"

"What are..., mine too!" 

"It's this damn powder! ...gughaa!?" 

That last one made quite a weird noise. I guess intellect can't keep you from making a fool out of yourself. He did notice that [Vampiric Rust Powder] was used alongside the storm to tear apart the thugs' weapons and armor. Both [Weapon Sabotage] and [Armor Sabotage] are also working. To finish this assault before the rat returns, I'm using all the tricks in my ninja scrolls!

"Damn! Someone, blow this damn powder away!"

"On it! "Wind Bl-"-gah!?"

You guys may have it tough. You guys only. My [Sense of Direction] and [Echolocation] are perfect in this environment. I've trained myself to be so.

"Got you! ...huh? Guh!?" 

Sorry, it's the opposite. Taking out a [Shadow Replica] isn't that impressive. I can't blame him for mistaking it for me. It's a damn good replica if I shall say so myself. Most would make the same mistake even if they weren't inside a sandstorm of rust.

"You guys! Stop making such pathetic noises...huh? H-hey, why're you guys..."

The storm finally ended, and the last guy standing was looking at the sorry sight of his colleagues collapsed on the ground. Some are even foaming around their mouths. Did I overdo it a little...? No way~~.

*Chomp*

"GYAAAAaaaahhh..."

Since all the moving around had made me a little peckish, I took a bite out of the last guy and recovered a little through [Vampirephilia]. Onward to the next room!

---

Karasuna Yashinezu's PoV:

"Run, run, rum..., I mean, drive! Drive like a madman!!" - Scarecrow

The strange metallic man shouted to his steed while riding on the unstable mountain path with an incredible steed. 

"Sir, that creature is too fast for us!"

Worthless youngling. They are always giving up too fast. 

"Allow me," I said and pointed at the metallic creatures with my old partner. 

"[Sandstorm]." - Yashinezu

A tornado of sand was created from the tip of my old partner and was heading toward the Machinerz-duo. They were hit by my attack without having any chance to guard themselves or evade. They are trapped. 

*Boom!*

"What!?" - Yashinezu

An explosion happened inside the sand tornado and spread the sand in all directions. The skill effect was destroyed by the blast. And after the dust had settled, the Machinerzs were...

"Boss! You destroyed them!" 

"Calm down, you fool. They escaped. Don't you see the tracks left in the sand?" - Yashinezu

I had the younger lads go and see for themselves. There, they got their impatient egos shrunk down a few sizes as clear tracks of that monster machine's wheels were left behind. 

"S-so sorry, I mean, excuse us, sir." 

"Instead of making excuses, try to locate where they left," I ordered the young yakuza. I swear these blocks are getting dumber by the year.

"Sir! It's your carrier pigeon!" 

Oh? News from back home, I see. That is something to lift my mood for once today. 

I allowed the pigeon to rest on my arm and retrieved the small message from its foot. What's written today...

Drop everything and return home.

...I feared this would happen. All these long years working to establish a good name for myself...

"Sir, we have figured out where the two mysterious Automatas went to!" 

"Hmm..., boys. Gather around me." - Yashinezu

"Sir!"

The young yakuza lads gathered around me without a care. No, they did it because they cared about not making me wait. Seems my years-long training them succeeded.

"Good. Now...excuse me." - Yashinezu

I drew my partner from its cane-like sheat. Its blade was covered with light and flames from the sun. And like cutting tofu, I slashed through my former subordinates' torsos without even feeling any resistance. 

Galatine. The other name of the strongest skill I can use along with my partner. How long has it been since I could make use of it? It would be delightful to burn away the other trash, but I will leave their disposal to the walking remains of the Disasters of Life.

"...oh, right," I said, finally having remembered the old, Wakoku saying. 

"Kiri-sute gomen," I told the burning corpses. 

---

Scarecrow's PoV:

...wha...what did he...

"H-hey, Rubber-Burner. D-did that mad mouse just..." - Scarecrow

"...*v-vrr*..." - Rubber-Burner

Even the boss wouldn't do that to us. Rather, the event that we spied on just now is the straight opposite of what the boss is standing for!

That rat's too cold-blooded to be a mammal! He's better than a snake! Like that jerkass Glavras! Hey, that rhymed. No, that's not important right now!

"W-we should report to the boss!" - Scarecrow

"*Vrrrr*?" - Rubber-Burner

"No, we should forget about the other Virtue Factor! And it's not because I'm scared of that disguised butler! I'm scared of that fake rat coming back!" - Scarecrow

"*Vrr*?" - Rubber-Burner

"No, that guy can't be a mouse or rat! Rats aren't treating their friends and families in that fashion!" - Scarecrow

"*Vrr-rr-rr*." - Rubber-Burner

Eh? Some rat monsters eat their offspring even!? ...rodents are scary.

"And that just proves that we're in over our mechanical heads! We're leaving!" - Scarecrow

I may not have the sharpest CPU in the world, but I'm not stupid enough to go and die a mecha-dog's death! And the boss got to hear about this!

"*V-v-vrr*! ...*rr-vrr*?" - Rubber-Burner

"Huh? Something's falling?" - Scarecrow

I looked up at the sky like Ruber-Burner suggested and saw..., nothing. Time to use my new binocular-eyes function! And Wheeler said these were useless...

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF SPILLED OIL!?" - Scarecrow

This country is too aggressive for me! I wanna go home!!

---

Dino's PoV:

"Wha-hahaha! Kneel before me, suckers!" - Zaria

It was a quick assault, yet the results are overwhelming. In front of Zaria's were dozens of captured yakuza members. We had gathered them all in the same room after making them incapable of moving through various methods. 

...still, I feel that the female Hobgoblins' usage of bondage-style binding is a tad too much... Okay, I honestly feel for the poor, trapped yakuza underlings right now. And if their faces are betraying their feelings, then Rald and the other male members are sharing this feeling. And not enjoying this scene.

"Damn you little batshit!" - Karasuna's underling

"Ahh? Is that you, Samemaru~? Is the little loan shark out of his water~?" - Zaria

"...Samemaru?" - Dino (whispering)

"I heard from the Kamaitachis, ssu~. It's the guy that was bullying Zaria's group to pay their debts. ssu~." - Rald (whispering)

"Why you little-! Just wait until elder Yashinezu returns!" - Samemaru

"By all means~. We have to show him your sorry state, or else all this was for nothing~... Hey, how are we supposed to show the old rat these sorry guys when he returns?" - Zaria

"...how about carefully lifting someone to show him at the front entrance, ssu~?" - Rald

"...only if you're carrying them." - Zaria

"Dragging it is then, ssu~." - Rald

I was going to berate Rald for his absence of willingness to grant our poor enemies even the slightest bit of mercy when a strange, sloppy sound from the corridors made me stop. It sounds like the sound of the slime monsters back in Damavand..., just sloppier.

"...hehehe..."

"...*chuckles*..."

"...oh, man..." 

"They're acting strange," said Rald as he pointed at the tied yakuza underlings who started to laugh under their noses when they heard the sloppy-like sounds. 

"Hey, boss? What are we...boss!?" - Rald

"*Shiver, shiver, shiver, shiver, shiver...*" - Zaria

"Lady Zaria!?" - Dino 

What is happening to her!? She has turned deadly pale and is hyperventilating! Just what is hiding..., no. Did that stay behind!? And from the lady's reaction...

"All men, get into positions, now!" - Dino

We could likely be facing a threat equal to the old don of the yakuza!

---

Kigal-Note/Special Classes: Shadow Smuggler