The masked girl seemed completely terrified, her petite figure shrinking entirely behind Kinoshita Mai and the Pale Yellow Woman.

Kinoshita Mai’s face remained somewhat pale—but she still firmly shielded the masked girl behind her.

Because she wore a mask, the Pale Yellow Woman’s current expression couldn’t be seen clearly, but like Kinoshita Mai, she formed a simple “human wall” in front of the masked girl.

——Are they trying to take them hostage…!

When Aoto saw those two warriors charging toward Kinoshita Mai and the other two, his expression darkened sharply.

Why were these madmen attacking Miss Kinoshita and the others?

Aoto instinctively thought—these madmen must have seen him standing with Kinoshita Mai and the others earlier, assumed they might be Aoto’s companions, and thus planned to take them hostage to threaten him!

When people are desperate, they’ll resort to any despicable means.

Even for his own sake, Aoto couldn’t allow those bandits to harm Kinoshita Mai and the others.

Therefore, with almost no hesitation—Aoto’s sharp eyes left afterimages as his body raced forward at high speed.

He used his full strength to charge toward the girls.

Seeing Aoto suddenly running toward those girls, Saitō paused momentarily before quickly following close behind.

When Aoto started running, the distance between him and Kinoshita Mai’s group was 5 steps.

Meanwhile, the distance between those two warriors and Kinoshita Mai’s group… was 4 steps.

The distance between both sides and the girls was almost equal.

Whether Aoto would rescue the girls first or their blades would strike the girls first… the outcome would be determined in an instant.

After dashing to within just 2 steps of the girls, Aoto pushed off with both feet, leaped forward, and lunged toward the girls.

At the same time, the two warriors reached a position where their blades could strike Kinoshita Mai and the others, swinging their swords down heavily…

Aoto raised his left arm and pulled all three girls into his embrace.

Fortunately, both Kinoshita Mai and the masked girl had petite figures. Though it was somewhat tight, holding all three of them at once wasn’t problematic.

The uniquely soft, supple sensation of young women’s skin continuously transmitted through Aoto’s left arm and chest.

From Aoto’s timely rescue to carrying away Kinoshita Mai and the others, only a little over one second had passed.

Because Aoto had returned to rescue them so quickly, and they hadn’t expected him to come back for them, Kinoshita Mai and the others looked at Aoto with surprise as he “carried them away.”

In his urgency to rescue the girls, Aoto had used considerable force in this lunge.

This excessive force not only startled the girls but also caused the mask that the masked girl had been wearing to be knocked off…

The dark red tengu mask flew from the girl’s face toward the distant ground.

Along with it, the headscarf on the masked girl’s head was also knocked off…

Using the momentum of his lunge, Aoto rolled to the side.

Of course—Aoto hadn’t just carried the girls to safety without doing anything else.

The two warriors who had attacked the girls both had appearances that made people unable to help but look twice.

One had five extremely conspicuous large moles at the corner of his mouth.

The other had a large, ugly red birthmark on his left temple.

While extending his left hand to pull the girls into his embrace, Aoto simultaneously raised the katana in his right hand and slashed at one of the two warriors—the one with many large moles on his face, the “Mole Man.”

Thud.

Two sounds of blades cutting into flesh rang out simultaneously.

Aoto’s timely rescue had allowed the girls to narrowly escape disaster.

Of the two warriors who had launched the surprise attack on the girls, the “Birthmark Man’s” blade only cut through air.

The “Mole Man’s” blade did hit something—but not the girls. Instead, it struck Aoto’s right thigh.

The blade tip pierced into Aoto’s right thigh, slicing open a wound.

Beads of blood the size of soybeans seeped from the gash.

Though wounded in the leg, Aoto had also repaid his opponent fiercely with a slash.

The strike Aoto made while rescuing the girls happened to hit this “Mole Man” perfectly.

Aoto’s counterattack was much more brutal.

The blade cut upward into the “Mole Man’s” right knee, shattering his kneecap directly.

A piercing scream erupted from his throat.

Saitō, who had started running half a step later than Aoto, arrived at this moment.

Saitō attacked this “Mole Man” who had already been crippled by Aoto, using a dragging blade stance.

This man still had some skill.

Even with his right knee shattered by Aoto and one leg disabled, he still managed to block Saitō’s attack.

When Saitō swept his blade upward toward the man’s abdomen, the “Mole Man” quickly crossed his blade in the direction of Saitō’s strike. With a “clang,” he parried Saitō’s attacking blade.

Unfortunately… such clean defense only appeared once.

With only one leg to generate power, his strength was completely no match for Saitō’s.

Saitō pushed forward forcefully, and the “Mole Man” fell backward while clutching his deflected blade.

With his posture broken, the outcome was decided.

Saitō swung his blade horizontally, cutting through the “Mole Man’s” throat.

Returning to Aoto—while Saitō attacked the warrior whose right knee he had shattered, he and the girls landed safely.

“Hey, are any of you injured… Huh?!”

Aoto, who still held the girls in his embrace, landed on the ground with his left shoulder touching first and immediately asked if they were injured.

When his gaze shifted downward to the girls, his remaining words immediately turned into a startled exclamation.

Roll… roll… roll…

The tengu mask that had been knocked off during Aoto’s lunge finally came to a stop after rolling several times on the ground due to momentum.

The headscarf that had been knocked off along with the mask also fell back to the ground.

Without the concealment of the tengu mask and headscarf, Aoto could finally see this girl’s hair and face.

Sky blue… the first thing that entered Aoto’s vision was an extremely beautiful sky blue.

The girl’s eye color wasn’t black, but a clear sky blue like a sunny summer day.

Lovely light gold followed this sky blue into Aoto’s eyes.

What had been concealed under the headscarf was light golden curly hair that now cascaded down like a waterfall.

The girl had well-defined facial features, with clear and deep lines at the inner corners of her eyes, and a straight, prominent nose bridge descending from between her eyebrows…

Blonde hair, blue eyes, well-defined features… these weren’t physical characteristics that Eastern people would possess.

——A Westerner?

Aoto stared in astonishment at this Western girl in his arms.

And this Western girl in his arms also widened her sapphire-like eyes, looking back at Aoto with a gaze mixed with confusion, bewilderment, and various other emotions.

After Saitō killed the “Mole Man” whom Aoto had crippled, the only remaining “Birthmark Man” now seemed to have completely lost the will to fight.

While emitting terrified screams, he turned to flee.

But before he could escape more than a few steps—

“Quick! Quick! Capture this person! Capture this person!”

A pale, plump warrior suddenly emerged from a street intersection not far away, leading over a dozen men.

This pale, plump warrior wiped sweat from his face with a towel in one hand while continuously waving his other hand, directing his subordinates behind him.

The pale plump warrior divided his men into two groups.

One group surrounded and captured the “Birthmark Man” who was trying to escape.

The other group completely surrounded Aoto, Saitō, and the three girls still held in Aoto’s embrace.

In just moments, the “Birthmark Man” who had failed to attack the girls and tried to flee was pinned to the ground, emitting pig-slaughter-like screams and pleas for mercy.

As this person was being subdued, the encirclement around Aoto and the others was completed.

“Drop your weapons and release these three girls if you don’t want to die!” the pale plump warrior shouted at Aoto and Saitō.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep