I Only Want to Live Off Women in the Nasuverse as a Ninja

Higashino Kanade pointed at the Headless Male Corpse's chest, where a Taijitu had been carved with a knife.

Ryougi Shiki froze at the sight. Taijitu could also be called "Ryougi," and the symbol on the corpse was clearly meant to implicate her.

"The victim was hacked to death while still alive. His head was probably removed after death. Judging by the size of the wounds, the murder weapon was likely about the same as the short knife you use."

As a ninja, extracting information from corpses was compulsory training. Higashino Kanade had seen more bodies than he could count; one glance was enough for him to analyze seventy percent of the situation.

"Also, according to information I got from the police, the previous victim had all four limbs severed, and the body was arranged in a swastika shape. The victim before that also had a Taijitu on his chest. The markings on the corpses are all related to religion. Are they meant to imply something?"

Higashino Kanade looked at Ryougi Shiki. She paused, then asked somewhat angrily, "Are you suspecting me?"

"Of course not. I think you misunderstood what I meant."

Higashino Kanade gave a sweet, obedient smile. His harmless appearance made it difficult to connect him with the calm way he had just examined the corpse.

"What murderer would leave such obvious clues about themselves, practically telling the police, 'I'm the murderer, come arrest me!'?"

"But what if the killer really is that kind of person?" Ryougi Shiki paused before continuing. "Isn't that how it is in movies? Some killers leave information about themselves to provoke the police and prove that they're superior."

"Ryougi Shiki... Sister Shiki, can I call you Sister Shiki?" Higashino Kanade suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.

Ryougi Shiki was taken aback and immediately refused. "No! We're not close enough for someone of unknown origin like you to call me that!"

"Sister Shiki is only a form of address. It makes communication easier. You're older than me, so it's only proper that I call you big sister." Higashino Kanade shamelessly pressed on. "Likewise, you can call me Kanade."

"No! And why are you bringing up something so irrelevant? Answer my question properly."

Ryougi Shiki did not like people addressing her so intimately. It made them seem close, and she could not be friends with others because she hated humans!

Even Kirito Kurogiri had pestered her relentlessly for several months before Ryougi Shiki reluctantly allowed him to call her "Shiki."

"Understood, Sister Shiki!"

"Don't call me Sister Shiki!"

"Understood, Sister Shiki!"

Ryougi Shiki gripped the handle of her short knife tightly. She had never been as angry as she was today. This shameless brat was infuriating!

"Forget it. Do whatever you want. Just answer my question."

Considering the gap in their strength, Ryougi Shiki ultimately did not draw her knife. She glared fiercely at Higashino Kanade and chose to endure it.

That was about enough.

Seeing Ryougi Shiki's body tremble slightly with anger, Higashino Kanade knew he had achieved his goal. If he pushed any further, it would only backfire.

"Do you know the difference between an ordinary murderer and a serial killer?" Higashino Kanade asked.

"...Their motives are different." Ryougi Shiki answered hesitantly.

"That's right. Their motives are different."

Higashino Kanade nodded in agreement. "The former kills for the sake of killing, while the latter kills to satisfy their desires. If you only wanted to kill someone, one slash would be enough. But this corpse was clearly tortured before being killed. That means the culprit was not in a hurry to kill. He was enjoying the process of slaughter."

"And someone who enjoys killing will definitely want their desires satisfied over a long period of time, rather than leave themselves open to being caught."

Higashino Kanade thought of the Art Duo from his previous life. Sasori and Deidara both killed for art. To them, freedom was more important than anything. They certainly did not want to be caught by the Five Great Shinobi Villages and forced to say goodbye to their art.

Higashino Kanade had seen plenty of lunatics.

"That makes sense. I didn't expect you to be so smart."

Ryougi Shiki was convinced by Higashino Kanade's deductions. More than half her anger had dissipated, and she could not help praising him.

"Look here."

Higashino Kanade pulled open the corpse's collar and pointed at its collarbone. Two neat rows of bite marks were clearly visible there.

"I've already figured out the serial killer's desire." Higashino Kanade slowly uttered two words. "Appetite."

"The serial killer must be someone like Hannibal. He kills to satisfy his appetite. But in order to frame you, the culprit did not take that bite after all. He must have been suffering at the time."

"And those half-finished bite marks are ironclad proof that you are not the serial killer. Forgive me for asking, Sister Shiki, but you don't have a habit of eating people, do you?"

A sharp whistling sound cut through the air. Higashino Kanade's answer was a short knife swung at him.

Higashino Kanade hurriedly ducked, then said with an apologetic smile, "Just kidding, haha. How could someone as beautiful as you possibly eat people?"

"If you make that kind of joke again, I'll slice your mouth to pieces!"

Ryougi Shiki's gaze was exceptionally cold. Higashino Kanade could feel her nearly tangible killing intent.

Higashino Kanade coughed lightly and quickly changed the subject. "Although we still can't determine who the culprit is from this alone, one thing is certain: the serial killer is definitely targeting you."

Ryougi Shiki said nothing. Through Higashino Kanade's deductions, she had determined that the serial killer could not be her or her other personality. Since she kept encountering corpses by such coincidence, the killer must have some intention toward her.

She was a little angry.

"Why?"

Ryougi Shiki looked at Higashino Kanade. There was no anger in her eyes, only pure confusion.

Higashino Kanade looked down the long, deserted stone steps and sighed. "Someone's coming. Let's end this conversation here. I'll contact you later. If you don't want to be mistaken for the murderer, you should leave quickly too."

After saying that, Higashino Kanade dashed into the bamboo grove. He was so fast that he disappeared into the depths of the grove within a few breaths.

Ryougi Shiki still wanted to catch up with him, but Higashino Kanade was simply too fast. She could only abandon the thought for now and hurriedly leave the murder scene.

Not long after, a man arrived at the scene and screamed in terror.

"Walking away after showing off really is damn thrilling!"

Back home, Higashino Kanade took off his yellow raincoat and let out a long breath.

There were still four days before the newbie mission ended. Today's encounter with Ryougi Shiki had not been a coincidence; he had carefully arranged it.

Higashino Kanade did not know who the serial killer was. Kan'mu City was so large that finding one serial killer among hundreds of thousands of people was like looking for a needle in a haystack. If he searched without a plan, Higashino Kanade might as well perish together with that damn system.

Although Higashino Kanade did not know who the serial killer was, he knew who the protagonist of Kara no Kyoukai was. Following the usual logic of stories, the serial killer would definitely be dealt with by the protagonist in the end. If he followed the protagonist, he was bound to gain something!

So Higashino Kanade had checked out of the hospital early. With his outstanding looks, he easily found out the Ryougi Family's address, then staked out their entrance and followed Ryougi Shiki after she appeared.

Using the stealth techniques he had mastered as a ninja in his previous life, Higashino Kanade had avoided Ryougi Shiki's notice. Finally, on the afternoon of the next day, he followed her to the corpse and deliberately created this encounter.

PS: Third update. Time to write, time to write!

Working Is Worse Than Living Off Women

Whether to struggle alone until you dropped dead, or cling tightly to the protagonist's thigh and coast all the way through, the choice was obvious.

Besides, Higashino Kanade had selfish motives. Everything he had done today, whether deliberately angering Ryougi Shiki or displaying his deductive ability, had only one ultimate purpose—living off women!

That was right. Although the system had given Higashino Kanade a new path, his greatest wish was still to live off women.

Fighting and killing were exhausting. One careless mistake could cost him his life. Compared with that, living off women was far more comfortable.

As long as he became the Ryougi Family's live-in son-in-law and latched onto Sister Shiki, then no matter what dangerous missions the system gave him in the future, even if he had to face Goetia head-on, he could just send Sister Shiki out and easily complete the mission. Coasting his way into becoming Otsutsuki Kanade was not impossible either.

So for the sake of his future happy life, Higashino Kanade was determined to live off Ryougi Shiki!

After taking a bath, Higashino Kanade made himself a cup of tea. He drank it while recalling his interactions with Ryougi Shiki, checking whether he had made any mistakes.

Ryougi Shiki was the kind of heroine who was cold on the outside but warm within. Ordinary people found it hard to enter her heart. On top of that, she had been force-fed all sorts of common knowledge since birth, making the difficulty of becoming her friend practically sky-high.

Only a warm and persistent man like Kirito Kurogiri could melt the ice around Ryougi Shiki and touch the still-warm heart beneath it.

If Higashino Kanade wanted to win Ryougi Shiki over, the best method would be to imitate Kirito Kurogiri and pester her relentlessly, slowly boiling the frog over several years until their feelings naturally fell into place.

But Higashino Kanade no longer had that kind of time. From his observations over the past two days, he had found that Kirito Kurogiri and Ryougi Shiki's relationship had already reached a certain level. To put it simply: more than friends, less than lovers.

If Higashino Kanade also followed Kirito Kurogiri's approach and took things slowly, then within a few years, he could go be Kirito Kurogiri's best man.

Therefore, if he wanted to cut in halfway, Higashino Kanade could only use a forceful approach to leave an extremely deep impression on Ryougi Shiki in a short time. He would use their shared status as victims to close the distance between them, then display his value and let her know that his help was indispensable if she wanted to catch the serial killer.

After this series of moves, Ryougi Shiki surely would not be able to forget him. Tonight, she would probably toss and turn because of him too.

Higashino Kanade happily took a sip of tea, a deeply contented expression appearing on his face.

"Come to think of it, Sister Shiki looks much better in person than she did in the anime. I wonder what the other heroines are like. Once the mission is done, I can go take a look at Fuyuki City."

Higashino Kanade stroked his chin, then checked the time.

11:21. The Ryougi Family members must all be asleep by now.

Higashino Kanade took out a blank scroll from his ninja tool pouch. He picked up a brush, swiftly wrote a line of words, and tied up the scroll.

Boar—Dog—Rooster—Monkey—Ram.

Higashino Kanade deftly bit his thumb, formed hand seals at high speed, and slapped his palm against the table.

Summoning Technique!

Symbols resembling chaotic scribbles spread from Higashino Kanade's palm, forming a circular magic array. As a puff of white smoke dispersed, a fist-sized toad was summoned.

The Summoning Technique was a C-rank ninjutsu and not particularly difficult. The stronger the summoned creature, the more Chakra it consumed.

In his previous life, Higashino Kanade had trained under Jiraiya and signed a contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku. He did not know why this ninjutsu still worked in the Nasuverse, but it was good that it did. He had no time to ponder the reason.

"As expected, with my current amount of Chakra, summoning a toad like this is already the limit?"

Higashino Kanade wiped the sweat from his forehead. Feeling the Chakra within him completely drained, he reached out and poked the little toad's cheek.

The little toad did not react much. It merely obediently rubbed its face against Higashino Kanade's finger.

The toad Higashino Kanade had summoned was one of the most ordinary toads of Mount Myōboku. It was not very intelligent and had virtually no combat ability. Its usual purpose was nothing more than scouting enemies and delivering information.

Higashino Kanade placed the written scroll near the little toad's mouth. In a single gulp, the toad swallowed the scroll, which was twice its size.

"Go. Deliver the scroll to Ryougi Shiki."

"Ribbit!"

The little toad responded, hopping out through the Higashino Family's window in a few leaps before disappearing into the deep night.

It was late at night.

The cold winter was nearing its end, but the biting wind still blew through the bamboo grove, making it rustle.

Listening to the wind outside the window, Ryougi Shiki tossed and turned on her bed. Scenes from her encounter with Higashino Kanade during the day kept flashing through her mind.

Confusion, anger, disgust, curiosity, and a faint trace of gratitude.

For the first time in her life, Ryougi Shiki felt so troubled. She was unwilling to accept losing to a boy younger than herself. She hated that he had acted so intimately despite meeting her for the first time, yet she had to admire his strength and deductive ability, and she was grateful that he had cleared her of suspicion.

If Higashino Kanade had not cleared her name, she would probably still be suspecting herself and Shiki.

Ryougi Shiki climbed out of bed. She could not sleep. Her heart was in turmoil, so she decided to get some cold air and hopefully calm herself down.

Ryougi Shiki went to the window and opened it. Clear moonlight shone into the room, while dust motes were carried by the cold wind and became distinctly visible beneath the moonlight.

Ryougi Shiki looked up at the moon. The surroundings were eerily silent.

After a long while, Ryougi Shiki slowly said, "I remember he said his parents died at the hands of the serial killer. I can have Akiyo investigate his identity later."

Ribbit—

A frog's croak suddenly sounded from somewhere very close. Ryougi Shiki looked down and saw that a fist-sized toad had somehow hopped onto the windowsill.

"Shoo!"

Ryougi Shiki reached out to drive it away, but the toad suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a scroll much larger than itself.

"What is this?!"

Ryougi Shiki was startled by the unbelievable sight. Yet rather than backing away in fear, she looked interested and reached for the toad.

With a bang, the moment Ryougi Shiki extended her hand, the toad turned into white smoke and vanished.

Ryougi Shiki paused. A toad that could turn into white smoke was clearly beyond her common knowledge. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly picked up the scroll the toad had spat out and read it.

"Sister Shiki, meet at McDonald's in the city center at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Don't bring anyone else. —Higashino Kanade."

"I told you not to call me Sister Shiki!"

Ryougi Shiki angrily tossed the scroll aside, closed the window, and climbed back into bed.

Her heart had only just calmed down, but now it was in turmoil again. That Higashino Kanade was truly infuriating.

Should I stand him up tomorrow just to make him angry?