Chapter 30

Yin Kong raised an eyebrow, but he had no intention of dampening the newcomer's enthusiasm. "How about this? I'll be heading out in a bit. You can clean up the agency with Shinobu."

Hearing the assignment, Aoyama Nanami immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This was something she was fairly good at.

But who was Shinobu?

Just as she was wondering about that, an unfamiliar female voice suddenly sounded behind her. "Okay, Traveler. Leave this place to me."

Aoyama Nanami nearly jumped out of her skin.

She whirled around, only to discover that someone had somehow appeared silently behind her.

Judging by the other person's petite build and clear voice, she was clearly a young woman as well.

However, her outfit was far stranger than even Catherine's maid uniform.

She wore a black mesh crop top beneath a short purple hooded jacket, gold-and-red armor strapped to her legs, and red markings painted across her lower back.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing was the black face mask she wore—a black visage with fangs, like some demon or deity.

Seeing Aoyama Nanami looking utterly stunned, Yin Kong immediately introduced her. "Don't be nervous. This is Shinobu, one of the members of our All-Purpose Agency."

Kuki Shinobu also gave her a friendly wave. "Hello, Miss Aoyama. I heard your conversation just now. I'm Kuki Shinobu. You can call me Big Sister Shinobu."

"Hello, Big Sister Shinobu."

Hearing Kuki Shinobu's friendly tone, Aoyama Nanami gradually relaxed.

Still, seeing that Kuki Shinobu looked almost exactly like a ninja who had stepped out of an anime or video game, she could not help asking curiously, "Big Sister Shinobu, were you here just now?"

Kuki Shinobu nodded lightly. "Yes, I was here the whole time."

Only, she had been in Yin Kong's party roster.

But Aoyama Nanami had clearly misunderstood what she meant, assuming that she had been hiding silently in the shadows like the ninjas from stories.

Of course, Kuki Shinobu really did possess such skills and abilities.

"Alright, let's get to work."

After Yin Kong left, Kuki Shinobu expertly began arranging the furnishings and dusting the place.

It was obvious that she had done plenty of this sort of work in the Arataki Gang as well.

Aoyama Nanami was very obedient and worked diligently too.

Yet her gaze kept drifting toward the mysterious Kuki Shinobu.

Finally, Kuki Shinobu stopped what she was doing and asked, "What is it? You've been staring at me this whole time. Is there something you want to ask?"

Aoyama Nanami asked curiously, "Big Sister Shinobu, are there a lot of people in our agency?"

Kuki Shinobu was not particularly surprised. "Not many for now, but who knows what it'll be like in the future?"

After all, as far as she knew, people connected to the Traveler could be found throughout the entire Teyvat Continent.

Even if Lord Narukami the Great Shogun were to appear here one day, Kuki Shinobu would not find it the least bit surprising.

Aoyama Nanami asked, "Then... does everyone dress this... unusually?"

If that were true, then President Yin Kong must be an avid cosplay enthusiast.

In that case, it would be perfectly normal for him to pay such a high salary just for three lines of dialogue, wouldn't it?

Ninjutsu

"Did you mean strange?"

Seeing Aoyama Nanami's awkward expression, Kuki Shinobu explained gently, "Don't worry. I won't find that description offensive."

After all, everyone in the Arataki Gang really was a rather unusual "weirdo" in outsiders' eyes.

"I prefer people to speak plainly, so I hope everyone can be more direct and not worry so much. Oh, and I chose this outfit because I like it. It has nothing to do with the Traveler—that is, the boss."

Hearing the sincerity in Kuki Shinobu's voice, Aoyama Nanami could not help feeling envious.

Sometimes, she wished she could have such a cool and forthright personality too. That way, she would not have to feel so tired when dealing with other people.

"As for the others at the agency, since they were friends of the [Traveler], there really weren't many ordinary people— Watch your head!"

Aoyama Nanami jolted in shock. When she looked up, she saw a plastic box falling straight toward her in terror.

Fortunately, a slender arm shot out from the side just in time and steadily caught it.

Kuki Shinobu gently set the box on the floor, then turned back and asked, "How about it? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Only then did Aoyama Nanami seem to snap out of a dream. She let out a long breath, patted her chest in lingering fear, and shook her head. "I'm fine. Thanks to Big Sister Shinobu."

Her finances were so tight that she had to carefully budget even her meals, sometimes poor enough to eat dirt. She absolutely could not afford to get injured and end up hospitalized.

Kuki Shinobu nodded lightly, then looked up to inspect the area. It turned out that the shelf holding the box was missing a screw. It had already been loose and tilted, and when Nanami cleaned it, the box had simply slid off.

"It was nothing. Looks like the agency's former owner was rather careless too."

Otherwise, they would not have piled heavy objects so high up.

Even in the Arataki Gang, usually only their boss, Arataki Itto, would do something like that.

Aoyama Nanami curiously opened the box and found it stuffed full of all kinds of miscellaneous books and magazines. She could not help but marvel, "Big Sister Shinobu, you're so strong. Are you really a ninja?"

She struggled even to lift that box of books, yet Kuki Shinobu had casually caught it with one hand. That strength alone was enough to leave her amazed.

Kuki Shinobu shook her head. "I'm not a ninja. I just learned some similar skills before."

Inazuma did indeed have proper ninjas—the Oniwabanshu, where Sayu belonged. They were a secret unit under the Yashiro Commission's Shirasagi Himegimi Clan, commanded by Kamisato Ayato.

Kuki Shinobu's abilities were more than enough to earn her a place in the Oniwabanshu.

But she had not even wanted to become a Miko, let alone join a secret unit with even more rules and more troublesome work.

Aoyama Nanami's eyes lit up, and she grew even more curious. "Wow, could it be the legendary Ninjutsu? Big Sister Shinobu, can I see it?"

Her dream was to become a voice actress, so naturally she was very interested in these kinds of fantastical stories.

"That wouldn't be impossible."

Kuki Shinobu nodded slightly.

Before Yin Kong left, he had reminded her that in this world, it was best not to reveal the existence of Elemental Power in front of ordinary people, as it could easily attract all sorts of unwanted attention.

Other than that, though, there was not much to worry about.

After all, with a certain Super Saiyan who had torn apart a concrete pillar with his bare hands setting the precedent, it probably would not hurt if they acted a little out of the ordinary.

Besides, as the [Catherine] they met every day, Aoyama Nanami would likely be spending plenty of time with them from now on. It was not a bad thing for Shinobu to give her a little warning in advance.

"Still, most Ninjutsu is just sleight of hand when you get down to it—moving by using one's own speed or exploiting blind spots in the target's vision. It isn't as flashy as you imagine, so you might be disappointed."

Aoyama Nanami hurriedly shook her head. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm already happy that Big Sister Shinobu is willing to demonstrate it."

She had watched plenty of short videos debunking Ninjutsu tricks, so she naturally did not naively believe that there really was Ninjutsu capable of producing anything one wanted with a clap of the hands.

So even if Kuki Shinobu merely twirled a blade a couple of times, Nanami would still enthusiastically applaud and praise her.

"Alright. Hold this."

Aoyama Nanami looked at the palm-sized yellow rubber ball Kuki Shinobu casually tossed her and asked in confusion, "What is this—?"

Kuki Shinobu turned around, placing her back toward Nanami. "Pick any direction and throw it as hard as you can."

"Throw it hard?"

Aoyama Nanami hesitated. The rubber ball was not large, but what if it hit something?

Kuki Shinobu seemed to guess her concern and chuckled softly. "Don't worry. It won't."

Half-convinced, Nanami ultimately chose a relatively open direction and threw the ball with all her strength as Kuki Shinobu had instructed—

A silver-white flash lit up. The rubber ball had only flown about two meters when a short blade pierced it with perfect precision, pinning it to the wall.

"S-So amazing!"

Aoyama Nanami's eyes widened in shock at the sight.

At least in her view, being able to hit a thrown rubber ball with a short blade was already an incredible display of accuracy.

What was more, Kuki Shinobu had done it while facing away from her the entire time.

This was way too unbelievable. Did she have eyes on the back of her head too?

"Big Sister Shinobu, that was amaz—Big Sister Shinobu? Big Sister Shinobu?"

Having come back to her senses, Aoyama Nanami had just wanted to praise Kuki Shinobu, only to discover in astonishment that the other girl had somehow vanished from where she had been standing without a sound.

The high school girl froze, then hurriedly looked around.

Although the office Yin Kong had rented was not small, and the clutter inside had been piled up messily, after their cleaning, it was basically all visible at a glance. In theory, there was nowhere large enough to hide a person.

Yet Kuki Shinobu had vanished without a trace, as though she had evaporated into thin air.

"Big Sister Shinobu, are you still here?"

Aoyama Nanami was beginning to panic.

After all, a living person had disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving her alone in the office. The sheer terror of that feeling was hard to describe.

"Don't worry. I'm here."

Kuki Shinobu's voice suddenly rang out from behind her, startling Aoyama Nanami into whipping around.

However, there was nothing behind her. Kuki Shinobu was nowhere to be seen.

"B-Big Sister Shinobu, are you really here?"

"Of course I am."

Hearing the reply, Aoyama Nanami turned around again, but still found nothing.

The high school girl was completely stunned. She only felt a chill shoot up from the soles of her feet, straight to the top of her head.

Seeing Aoyama Nanami's voice begin to tremble, even taking on a barely noticeable sobbing tone, Kuki Shinobu could only reveal herself and comfort her helplessly: