Whose Side Are You On?

"The existence of the Four Fiends and the Dog God was already a source of great dissatisfaction for the elders. Now, with the attack from the Hero Faction, the meeting between the Norse Mythology chief god and the island gods last time was also a slap in the face to the Five Great Houses."

Therefore, the elders were eager to seek an opportunity to re-establish their status and prestige.

However, continuing to do so would undoubtedly plunge the Himejima Family into an abyss of no return.

With that thought in mind, Suzaku Himejima retied her loose long hair into a ponytail.

When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with unwavering determination.

Not only the Four Fiends and the Dog God, but also Suzaku Himejima has fully realized the truth of the decision made by the Hero Faction and elders.

Whether it's the current Dog God or the "Lightning" incident in the past, it was all due to the family's wrong policies.

But she was different from the head of the Himejima Family and the elders.

Thinking of this, Suzaku Himejima pulled out an old-fashioned flip phone from inside her clothes.

Although she was confined, she was, after all, the successor to the sect leader, so no one dared to actually search her.

After opening the contacts list, there are only a handful of contacts.

As a conservative Himejima Family, none of the elders, except for the younger generation, were willing to accept new ideas.

This applies even to electronic products created by humans themselves.

Under her influence, Suzaku Himejima only used the bare minimum of electronic products.

After clicking on Ren's name, I dialed his number.

Not long after, Suzaku Himejima heard an unexpected voice.

"You only call me when you're about to go to sleep, do you miss me?"

Ren spoke into the microphone with surprise.

However, Suzaku Himejima ignored Ren's teasing and said, "I was put in solitary confinement after reporting to the head of the family what happened tonight."

Upon hearing this, Ren paused for a second before replying, "666."

"?"

"It's normal that you don't understand internet slang."

Ren said with a smile.

"If you want to learn, I can personally teach you step by step in the future."

"Okay, but that's for later. Could you please come over here now?"

"If you tell me to go, I'll just go. Wouldn't that make me lose face?"

"Once it's done, I'll give you what you want."

Hearing this, Ren was a little puzzled. "I don't even know what I want."

"Don't worry, you'll be satisfied by then. But please come as soon as possible. My location is in a separate courtyard of the main hall of the family. There's a huge artificial hill in the courtyard where I'm being held in confinement."

After saying this, Suzaku Himejima waited for Ren's reply.

Ren's presence is indispensable to her next plans.

Although other people might also have a chance of succeeding, she knew which to choose between a 10% success rate and a 100% success rate.

"Alright, I hope you can really satisfy me."

Ren hung up the phone.

Then, a system notification sounded at the appropriate time.

[Mission: Rescue Suzaku Himejima]

[Objective: Rescue Suzaku Himejima from the annex]

[Reward: Suzaku Himejima's Affection +50, Random Reward *1]

"How could the favorability rating have increased so much? What happened?"

Ren was somewhat surprised, since the favorability points had always increased by 20 or 30 points at a time before, and this was the first time he had ever seen a direct increase of 50 points.

However, now that the quest has been refreshed, Ren has no reason not to accept it.

As for whether he would anger the rest of the Himejima Family, Ren didn't care at all. If he were afraid of this and that, what kind of mission would he be doing?

It's a shame about the mixed-gender bathing that followed.

If he remembered correctly, besides him, several other beautiful girls, including Jeanne, Nanataki Shiguko, Minagawa Natsume, were brought back by Suzaku Himejima, and it's likely that soaking in hot springs was an inevitable part of the experience.

After all, this is an unavoidable part of the activities for the girls following the incident.

"Let's greet Jeanne of Arc first."

Thinking of this, Ren knocked on Jeanne's door, but when he found she wasn't there, he went to the hot springs and, sure enough, found Jeanne in the mixed-gender bath.

However, it seems there are a few other people involved.

Never mind, it's fine, they won't lose out anyway.

"Jeanne, I have to go out for a bit, don't wait for me."

Chapter 229 Which side are you on?

Chapter 229

The girls who were bathing only realized what had happened when Ren's figure disappeared from the hot spring.

Nanataki Shiguko crouched in the hot spring water, her face flushed, hugging herself. Jeanne stood there speechless, stunned. Minagawa Natsume covered her body with one hand, while the other hand had already grabbed a bathtub, ready to throw it at her, but Ren had already slipped away.

"That despicable pervert! He ran away so fast!"

"Jeanne, is this always her style?"

"Uh... not really."

Jeanne of Arc tried hard to come up with an explanation for Ren.

"Perhaps he thought I was the only one in there."

"What kind of reason is that?"

Minagawa Natsume angrily put the bathtub back, her fair skin flushed with a cherry blossom hue.

"That despicable pervert! I wonder if he saw something he shouldn't have!"

"Xia Mei, perhaps... it really was just an accident."

"I'm squatting in the hot spring with my arms crossed, my face flushed," said Nanataki Shiguko, causing bubbles to rise to the surface of the water as she spoke.

"You... you're hopeless! We were almost seen naked! And you're still taking that man's side! If he were here, I'd make him pay!"

At this point, Minagawa Natsume raised her fist.

"But Xia Mei, weren't you easily subdued by Mr. Ren?"

"Shikuko, whose side are you really on?"

Feeling ashamed Minagawa Natsume immediately pounced on them, and soon the sounds of girls playing and laughing could be heard from the mixed-gender hot spring pool.

"..."

The location that Suzaku Himejima mentioned was still some distance from where Ren lived.

Although Ren had no recollection of the location Suzaku Himejima had given him, he still easily found the place where the girl was being held in solitary confinement, guided by the system map.

There were two guards dressed as Onmyoji nearby, probably the ones guarding Suzaku Himejima.

Ren leaped out of the shadows, dispelling his aura concealment.

The moonlight poured down, instantly revealing Ren's location.

The two immediately spotted Ren and, on high alert, shouted, "Stop! What are you doing?!"

"Of course, I'm out looking for some fun."

These words immediately stunned the two of them, and Ren seized the opportunity to close the distance between them in an instant, grabbing their heads and slamming them together.

Duang!

The two elites arranged by Himejima Suou immediately fell into a deep, baby-like sleep.

Hearing the commotion outside, Suzaku Himejima, who had been waiting for Ren to arrive, opened the door and saw two guards collapsing to the ground.

"Don't worry, they're not dead."

Upon hearing this, Suzaku Himejima breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she was a confidante of Himejima Suou, she did not want to cause too many deaths or injuries.

After all, anyone who bears the surname Himejima is the future hope of the family.

"Speak, what urgent matter do you need me for so late?"

Although Suzaku Himejima had been completely suppressed by Cao Cao from beginning to end in tonight's battle, he did not believe that these two small fry were strong enough to trap Suzaku Himejima.

Weakness is also relative.

Even though Suzaku Himejima's previous rating was only 3.0, from the perspective of ordinary people, he was still a genius of the Himejima Family, an unattainable Vermilion Bird host.

"Let's come in first and talk about it then."

Suzaku Himejima then beckoned Ren into the house.

Seeing the girl lock the door with a serious expression, and a slightly hesitant look on her face, Ren was immediately taken aback. "What do you want to do to me? I'm not that kind of man!"

"..."

Suzaku Himejima was almost amused by Ren's antics.

But she maintained her composure and said, "What I'm about to say concerns the future of the Himejima Family, and after much thought, I believe only you can help me right now."

"Tell me, when?"

As Ren sat down, he simultaneously received the mission reward for saving Suzaku Himejima.

[Item (Fireproof Pearl): Protects the holder from flames]

Even without reading the description, Ren was well aware of the Fireproof Pearl Bead's effects.

With this thing, if he encounters an opponent who specializes in using fire, he won't even need to take out his Chrysanthemum Shield; he can just stand there and let the opponent roast him without losing a scratch.

Now, fire-style techniques really won't kill people.

However, we'll need to find an opportunity to experiment with other aspects later.

For example, whether he can truly ignore all flames, and whether the Fireproof Pearl can protect his clothes, remains to be seen.

Otherwise, he would have died from the fire before it burned him to death.

Ren made a sarcastic remark, then put a fiery red jewel on his body.

Suzaku Himejima took in this scene and wondered where Ren had gotten all these strange and unusual things from.

That bead didn't look like an ordinary object, and I had a vague feeling that it was related to fire.

However, Suzaku Himejima quickly cleared his mind of other thoughts and said, "After arranging things for you and Lady Jeanne tonight, I reported the battle situation to the main family."

"Don't say anything yet, let me think. It must be that one of the elders of your Himejima Family suddenly had a brilliant idea."

"That's what Ren said."

"Mr. Ren was indeed a prophet."

Suzaku Himejima nodded in agreement.

"The head of the Himejima Family and some elders do not agree with tonight's victory. Perhaps they believe it was won because of you, rather than by the Himejima Family."

"Furthermore, because of the power you have displayed, the Himejima Family has already listed you as a major threat. I expect someone will come to your door tomorrow to warn you to leave Kyoto; otherwise, the Himejima Family will resort to some unconventional methods."

"Huh? Wait, my mind's suddenly a bit muddled. Let me sort this out."

After a few seconds, Ren spoke.

"You mean, the head and elders of the Himejima Family are planning to harm me?"