As a Ninja, I Only Want to Live off Others in the Nasuverse

"Happy, my ass! This is exactly why I hate kids!" Waver angrily raked at his hair. God knew whether his flowing long hair would go bald in the future.

"Let me handle this. I'll show you the power of good looks."

Higashino Kanade stepped forward and walked up to Roxanne. Under her wary gaze, he placed a hand on her head and gently stroked it.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore. You've already been very strong. If you want to cry, then cry."

"Big Brother... Big Brother is dead!"

Higashino Kanade's good looks and head-patting attack had an astonishing effect. As if she had found someone to rely on, Roxanne threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.

Roxanne was terrified. She had lived under her brother's protection since childhood. Now that he was gone, in this frightening castle, the only people she could rely on were Jirobou Seigen Shitou, whom her brother had entrusted her to, and Higashino Kanade, who had always treated her kindly.

"It's all right. Cry out all your tears. I'll protect you just like your brother did."

Higashino Kanade gently stroked Roxanne's hair. She cried for quite some time before her shattered emotions gradually settled down.

Behind her back, Higashino Kanade gave Waver a thumbs-up. Waver crushed the expensive cigar in his hand in anger and cursed internally, So what if you're handsome! Sorry I'm not as handsome as you!

"It's a shame you didn't become an actor." Luvia covered her face, unable to hide her disappointment. Having been fooled by Higashino Kanade once before, she could tell at a glance that he was only putting on an act to comfort Roxanne. But he acted so convincingly that it was virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

Only Grea looked at Higashino Kanade with a touch of admiration. She said to Add inside her cloak, "My junior disciple really is a very gentle person."

After comforting Roxanne for a while, Higashino Kanade obtained her agreement to examine Heine's body.

After handing Roxanne over to Luvia's care, Higashino Kanade began inspecting Heine's corpse.

"There really are claw marks."

At a glance, Higashino Kanade spotted the enormous claw marks on Heine's armor. This confirmed that Heine had likely fought a fierce battle with a magical beast before his death. Judging from the battle scars left on his body, there was no doubt that Heine had died at the claws of a magical beast.

What puzzled Higashino Kanade most, however, was that Heine's left foot had vanished without a trace, as though some enormous mouth had bitten it off and carried it away.

"You seem quite experienced." Waver crouched beside Higashino Kanade and inspected the body with him.

"When you've seen enough corpses, you naturally learn what killed them." Higashino Kanade spoke with profound gravity, then pointed at Adashino Riri, who was suspended from the statue. "I need to bring her down and examine her."

No one present objected. Higashino Kanade took out a Kunai, leapt up, and cut through the sword of the seraph statue. He then landed calmly on the ground while holding Adashino Riri's corpse.

After removing the fragment of stone sword, Higashino Kanade and Waver examined Adashino Riri's cause of death.

There were no surprises. A huge claw had gouged out a massive chunk of flesh from Adashino Riri's back, taking a significant portion of her Mage Crest with it. It had been damaged beyond identification.

Just like Heine, Adashino Riri had also lost a part of her body. Her eyes had been dug out by enormous claws.

Waver sank into thought, while Higashino Kanade recalled something else.

System, can these two Magus corpses be recovered?

Yes.

How do you recover them?

As long as the host touches the corpse with their hand and silently recites "Recover," the corpse will be directly stored in this system's warehouse the following second for analysis.

Then wait a moment.

Higashino Kanade had no intention of recovering them on the spot. He was afraid the people present would beat him to death. Desecrating corpses was heresy everywhere.

"Um... could you let me say something?"

While everyone was considering the case, Grea timidly raised her hand and shyly tugged her hood lower.

With everyone's tacit approval, Grea said, "Could we let these two bodies rest in peace? I'm a gravekeeper. Protecting the dead is my duty. I will use a eulogy to dispel their resentment and send them to Heaven."

Grea made that request out of kindness and duty. To Magi who pursued the Root, being sent to the Heaven of the enemy Holy Church would be an enormous humiliation. Yet Higashino Kanade only wanted to say one thing: "Well done, my senior sister!"

He had been worrying about how to secretly put the two bodies into the system, but just as he was getting sleepy, someone had delivered him a pillow.

PS: Fourth update. Hurry up with those votes.

45. It's All Acting Skill

"That's fine. My brother was forced to leave the Holy Church because of me. If he can enter Heaven after death, that must be what he would have wanted." Roxanne sniffled, her nose red, and spoke firmly.

"Then let them rest in peace."

With Waver making the decision, no one else had any objections.

Waver crouched down, felt around inside Heine's clothes for a while, and pulled out a letter.

When he saw the word Ariel on the letter, Waver wore an expression that said he had expected this.

"Everyone, listen to me. There is no doubt that Knight Heine and Lady Adashino died in attacks by an unknown creature. Lady Luvia, I presume you have already encountered that creature." Waver looked at Luvia. One glance at the wounds on her severely injured bodyguard was enough to know what they had encountered.

"Yes. We followed Lord Heine last night, then fought an enormous wolf-like magical beast. Unfortunately, we were no match for it," Luvia said truthfully.

"Although the magical beast killed them, I am certain someone is controlling everything behind the scenes. This is murder!"

Waver's statement shocked everyone. Orlok asked in a hoarse voice, "Why are you so certain, Lord El-Melloi II?"

"The proof is their invitations!"

Waver displayed Heine's invitation and continued, "As I said before, everyone's angelic name corresponds to one of the seventy-two angels in the Kabbalah system, and the seventy-two angels correspond to the twelve signs of the zodiac. Under the most popular theory, people like to compare the twelve signs of the zodiac to different parts of the human body. Knight Heine's angelic name, Ariel, corresponds precisely to the left foot!"

Everyone present was stunned by Lord El-Melloi II's deduction. Orlok applauded. "Worthy of a Lord. Then Lady Adashino's angelic name must correspond to the eyes?"

"That's right." Waver nodded, his expression ugly. "I believe Lord Gryphon did not invite us here to inherit his estate. This is an invitation to death."

"The angelic name assigned to each person is the part that will be taken from them after they die. In other words, everyone who received an invitation will die!"

"Is the murderer among us?"

No one knew who said it, but the way everyone looked at one another changed slightly.

This was Gryphon's Mage's Workshop. Gryphon had no children, and his wife had died long ago. With Gryphon's death, there were no Magi left here.

If they ruled out the possibility that other Magi were hiding in the castle, then those present were the most suspicious.

"The two deaths both occurred around ten to midnight. Let's start by stating our alibis. My disciple Grea and I were resting in our rooms during that time. We only came out after the servants informed us," Waver said first.

"Mr. Fliyouga and I were playing chess. His chess skills are truly excellent," Orlok said second.

"After Uchiha and I encountered the magical beast, we were treating my bodyguard the entire time," Luvia said third.

"What about Jirobou Seigen Shitou?" Only then did Waver realize someone was missing.

"I'm here."

Jirobou Seigen Shitou jumped down from the second floor and said apologetically, "I drank quite a lot last night. When I sobered up, I found myself lying in the hallway, so I returned to my room to rest. I even ordered some food during that time. The servants can testify for me."

"Though now that I think about it, my jaw hurts so much. Did I hit something while I was drunk?" Jirobou Seigen Shitou rubbed his jaw painfully.

Luvia glared at Higashino Kanade. She had recalled the moment when he saw her naked.

"Everyone has an alibi?" Waver frowned.

Orlok said gloomily, "We are all Magi. It is perfectly normal for us to possess methods of killing despite having alibis, so none of these alibis can count as evidence. But I do have a question. Isn't there someone among us who did not receive an invitation? Shouldn't he be the most suspicious?"

Orlok pointed a trembling finger at Higashino Kanade.

This time, Higashino Kanade did not make a sarcastic remark. Instead, he considered a question—why was Orlok targeting him so much? Was his presence getting in Orlok's way?

"Oh, dear! Has your brain stopped working because of old age? I already said Uchiha was with me the entire time. Don't use personal grudges to attack someone in a situation like this." Luvia was the first to step forward in his defense.

Orlok sneered. Rather than argue, he instructed the servants to wheel him away. Before leaving, he said, "The murderer is among us. I will not trust any of you. I will remain in my room until the murderer comes for me."

Orlok's words echoed what many of them were thinking. Since none of them could trust each other, it was better to turn their rooms into defensive positions and protect themselves alone.

And so, with Orlok's departure, everyone parted on bad terms.

Higashino Kanade followed Grea and Waver to bury the bodies of Heine and Adashino Riri.

Led by servants to a patch of open ground in the front garden woods, they buried the bodies. Although Heine probably did not want to be buried beside a notorious Department of Law and Politics elite, under the circumstances, this would have to do.

Grea recited a eulogy for Christ, while Roxanne wept uncontrollably beside her.

Higashino Kanade quietly asked Waver, "What will happen to Roxanne now that Heine is gone?"

"She will likely become entangled in the struggle over the family inheritance. She may be murdered, or she may grow through hardship into a qualified Magus." Waver sighed softly. The Magus world was just that cruel.

"Is that so..."

Higashino Kanade hesitated, then swallowed the words, Can't you help her?

The Magus world was another ninja world. Higashino Kanade could not help everyone, nor did he have the ability to. Having grown accustomed to cruelty, he no longer possessed useless sympathy.

When Grea finished her eulogy, everyone left together.

A long time later, a pebble nearby suddenly exploded, and Higashino Kanade's figure appeared.

The one who had left with the others had actually been Higashino Kanade's Shadow Clone. He himself had used the Transformation Technique to become a pebble and hidden nearby to observe.

After confirming that there were no people or familiars nearby, Higashino Kanade swiftly formed hand seals. After using an Earth Release technique, the ground split open, revealing the bodies of Heine and Adashino Riri before him.

"Recover!"

Higashino Kanade placed both hands on their bodies, and the two corpses disappeared the next moment.

Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the mission "World Information Gathering." The current Mission Reward is a Bronze Treasure Chest. The more information collected, the higher the reward tier. Keep up the good work.

"Oh? A Bronze Treasure Chest already? Interesting."

Higashino Kanade was somewhat surprised. He had thought this mission would be difficult to complete, but he had achieved a Bronze Treasure Chest so easily. It now seemed this world was made for him to farm points.

"If I capture a Heroic Spirit or a True Ancestor, can I upgrade the reward to the highest-tier Diamond Treasure Chest? And what could a Diamond Treasure Chest contain? Tailed Beasts? The Rinnegan?"

Higashino Kanade was eager to try.

PS: I usually update three chapters a day, but the growth has been insane these past few days, so I'll do four chapters a day.

I'm exhausted. Please give me votes for comfort.

46. Noble Spiral Curls

Nothing happened that night.

In the morning, Higashino Kanade woke up on the sofa in Luvia's room.

After forming an alliance with Luvia, she had made Higashino Kanade move into her room under the pretext of protecting her safety. This indirectly saved Waver's back and allowed him to sleep on the sofa again.

Higashino Kanade did not care. Sleeping was sleeping, no matter where it was. Back when he carried out missions, he had even slept beside cliffs.

Still, Luvia was quite wary of Higashino Kanade attacking her in certain respects. To that end, she had set up several layers of Jewel Magecraft on her bed and warned him that if he dared launch a nighttime raid, she would sell him to the Middle East to drill for oil.

Her contradictory behavior—being afraid that Higashino Kanade would get too close and attack her at night, while also being afraid that he would stay too far away to save her—made Higashino Kanade want to laugh.

Higashino Kanade might have been a lecher, but he had spent many years following Jiraiya and had seen plenty of women at nightclubs. Yet he was still a virgin, which was enough to prove that his self-control had reached an impressive level.

For Higashino Kanade, if it was not someone he wanted, he would not take the bait even if she actively seduced him.

Sunlight streamed through the window onto the mirror. A cool autumn breeze stirred the curtains and the girl's hair.

Luvia, dressed in white pajamas, sat before the vanity with her shapely legs pressed together, grooming herself. Thanks to certain someone, she had to use extra foundation today to cover her dark circles.

Luvia had spent the previous night feeling deeply uneasy. First, she had feared the magical beast would attack her. Second, she had feared a certain someone would attack her. But it turned out she had been worrying for nothing.

There was no magical beast, and Higashino Kanade had slept soundly. In the end, only she had acted like a nervous wreck, guarding against this and that.

Seeing Higashino Kanade sleeping like an idiot that morning, she even began to wonder whether she lacked charm. All night long, the little pervert in her eyes had not even looked at her once.

Luvia irritably combed her hair. Normally, her bodyguard handled such tasks, but her only bodyguard had already been sent down the mountain, so she had no choice but to arrange her own hair.

Reality proved that noble spiral curls were no match for a certain poor person's twin ponytails. Just combing them every morning took a great deal of time. If they were not styled properly, she would look inelegant and bring shame to her family. What a troublesome matter.

While Luvia was battling her hair, Higashino Kanade came up behind her, picked up a comb, and began helping her deal with the messy locks.

"I don't need your help. I can do it myself!"

Luvia's face flushed. She had only known Higashino Kanade for a day. Even though they had already gotten along rather well, such an intimate gesture was difficult for a lady like her to accept.

"Stop forcing yourself. You've been combing for half an hour already. Keep dawdling and there won't be any breakfast left."

Higashino Kanade ignored Luvia's complaints and continued arranging her hair.

Luvia lowered her head in embarrassed frustration. She wanted to retort, but she could not think of a reason. She truly was not skilled at battling hair.

Under Higashino Kanade's careful combing, Luvia's hair soon regained its smoothness and luster. Though his technique was slightly inferior to that of her personal bodyguard, the result still looked refined and elegant.