Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Can You Do Me a Favor?

Chapter 195: Can You Do Me a Favor?

“My lord… what exactly is this creature?”

Sveta asked with a somewhat helpless look, her gaze shifting from Bai Luo to the little being currently clinging to her like a lifeline.

The girl in question looked vaguely human—though with some peculiarities. Her soft fur, fluffy tail, and general demeanor made her resemble a… tanuki?

Surely the intelligence organization known as the Shuumatsuban wasn’t so obsessed with raising wild operatives that they’d hand off human children to be raised by actual tanuki… right?

“Just treat her like a humanoid tanuki,” Bai Luo replied nonchalantly.

Sayu, however, instantly turned her head in protest, visibly bristling.

“I’m Sayu! And this isn’t a tanuki outfit—it’s a mujina cloak!”

“It’s a tanuki.”

“It’s mujina!”

“It’s mujina.”

“It’s a tanuki!!”

“See? She admitted it herself.”

“…”

Bai Luo wasn’t exactly what you’d call a natural caretaker, but he was extremely effective at handling brats like Sayu.

Having once worked under Dottore, Bai Luo had dealt with his fair share of eccentric and unruly children. He even volunteered at the House of Hearth, a Fatui orphanage notorious for raising dangerous child operatives.

Unlike his coworkers who believed in shouting or smacking discipline into them, Bai Luo preferred a subtler tactic: gain their trust, then completely dominate them from within.

That was his specialty.

You could say he wasn’t just a “child wrangler”—he was the undisputed King of Kids.

Perhaps this talent was part of the reason why even Dottore had his eye on Bai Luo’s future.

In the entirety of the Fatui, only he seemed capable of pulling that off.

“Alright, enough resting. Pack up—we’re moving out.”

Under Bai Luo’s “gentle” supervision, Sayu had obediently finished her meal. There was no longer any need for the trio to remain in the forest camp.

That shipment of Mora headed for Watatsumi Island would take some time to arrive anyway.

So, Bai Luo figured it was the perfect moment to handle another matter.

“My lord, where are we going?”

Sveta asked while tidying up. Not that there was much to pack—they only had some portable rations and a jug of milk.

Sayu, on the other hand, seemed to have taken a particular interest in the Lavender Melon.

She sneakily snatched two from the basket and slipped them into her clothes.

For some reason, she’d been smelling a faint fishy scent in the air lately—an aroma that stirred up both caution and curiosity in her tiny nose.

“Is that thing that good?” Bai Luo raised an eyebrow at her sneaky actions.

“Lavender Melon flesh is rich in sugars and moisture, which is perfect for emergency nutrition in the field,” Sayu replied seriously. “And its skin, when treated, can be turned into dye used for laying coded trail markers. A perfect food for any true ninja!”

“Oh, so when you were eating those earlier, you were actually…”

“…”

A few minutes later, the Lavender Melons tucked into her clothing had mysteriously vanished—replaced with sweet and juicy Sunsettias.

Sayu attempted to protest, but Bai Luo ignored her completely.

The three of them moved on, crossing through Tatarasuna until they arrived once more at Nazuchi Beach.

Compared to last time, however, the defenses at Nazuchi Beach had grown much tighter.

Recently, the sudden eruption of Kamuijima Cannons from Narukami Island had rekindled tensions between both sides of the war.

Several skirmishes had already broken out across the beach.

Bai Luo’s earlier intel about the refugee ship had finally put the resistance back on moral high ground.

That sunken wreck, soaked in the corruption of Tatarigami, had never been dealt with—evidence too clear to ignore.

This time, the Shogunate had no choice but to acknowledge the truth.

But the newly appointed General of the Shogunate wasn’t someone easily cowed.

Rather than denying responsibility or shifting blame, she did something unusual.

She publicly mourned the deaths of the refugees, then fiercely condemned the inhumanity of her predecessor.

And finally declared that justice had been done.

Of course, “justice” meant little more than stripping the man of his title.

Once the heat dies down, she’ll quietly return to her post at the Tenryou Commission like nothing ever happened.

As for Kujou Masahito, the one supposedly ’dealt with’ under military law? He’ll be reinstated too, just like always.

After issuing a brief apology, the new General flipped the narrative completely.

She accused the resistance of intentionally sneaking infected refugees into the city to spread disease among the people of Narukami Island.

Truly, humans are selfish by nature.

The topic of Tatarigami was already stirring up panic thanks to rumors and gossip.

People whispered tales of the twisted, horrifying fates that awaited those touched by its corruption.

The stories were vivid—too vivid. And far too convenient for some.

Incredibly, the General’s twisted explanation actually improved the reputation of the Shogunate forces on Narukami Island.

Whatever one might say about the Vision Hunt Decree, Kujou Sara’s standing within Inazuma City remained unshakably high.

And with the Tatarigami sealed for centuries only now being released due to the resistance’s meddling, people naturally assumed they had brought disaster upon themselves.

So, after all the propaganda battles and shifting tides, the scales of war… had balanced once more.

The resistance hadn’t lost too much ground.

The Shogunate hadn’t suffered a critical blow either.

And the biggest losers?

The ordinary citizens trying to survive on Yashiori Island.

While their generals and war councils bickered over politics and optics, somewhere far away, a man named Washizu had already lost his mind under the influence of the Tatarigami.

He had begun sacrificing villagers—offering them to “it.”

Elsewhere, Yasumoto still clung tightly to the Naku Weed left behind by Naoko-sensei, desperately researching a way to defeat the cursed god.

On the surface, Inazuma appeared calm.

But in truth, nothing had been resolved.

. . . . . . . . . .

“Hang on! Please, just hang in there!”

On the road to Tatarasuna, Teppei shouted desperately, his voice trembling as he carried a man on his back—a hardened veteran simply known as the One-Eyed Old Man.

By all rights, someone with injuries as severe as his should have been resting, relegated to a safer position away from the front lines.

But the very first battle after the propaganda storm? He volunteered without hesitation.

And Teppei had come with him—not as a soldier, but as a combat medic.

That was what Bai Luo had called it.

Even so, the katana at his side had already seen action—its blade chipped and stained.

“Teppei, kid… put me down. I know my body. It’s done.”

The old man’s left arm was completely gone, the jagged wound revealing part of his bone.

He hadn’t come to fight. He’d come to die.

“There’s still time! We can still make it! If I can just reach Lady Kokomi—”

“Teppei!!”

His voice was weak—yet it cut through Teppei’s words like a blade.

The boy froze mid-sprint.

“…Put me down. I want a sip of water.”

After a brief pause, Teppei gently lowered him to rest against a tree.

He reached for the canteen slung across his back… only to find it split wide open.

It’s slashed.

The water inside it was gone.

In the chaos of the battle, he hadn’t even noticed.

Ironically, that broken canteen had probably saved his life—shielding him from a fatal blow.

“I’ll go find water. Right now—I’ll go!”

Teppei’s hands trembled as he discarded the useless flask and turned to run, but the old man’s voice stopped him once again.

“…Kid. One last favor.”

The old man’s remaining hand reached out, fingers brushing over the hilt of his katana.

His eyes softened as he looked at it—like seeing an old friend one last time.

But with his strength gone, he couldn’t even draw it from its sheath.

“Teppei, can you… help me… with this?”

. . . . .

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