Deep within the forest, a short distance from the Tokugawa Minor Mansion, a recently completed building stood as the future headquarters of the Shinsengumi.
Kira had ordered the construction of an emblematic Japanese castle. The structure stretched fifty meters in length and rose twenty meters high, surrounded by moats.
"Miss, the entire Shinsengumi has finished relocating. We await your orders."
Kanou looked toward his mistress, who remained focused on a scroll.
The place they were in was an underground room. It was difficult to recognize now, but it had once been the library Sabuko kept in the forest. Every single book had been stored inside Kira's stomach.
In just a few weeks, Verdant Core—the name of the small traditional medicine company Kira had founded—was successfully established. Surprisingly, within only a few days, her grandfather had managed to have Kira's medicines patented.
"Verdant Core is my project. It must produce results quickly. I want its first production to begin immediately."
Kira signed several documents allocating capital to the company.
"There won't be any problem. Mr. Kenzo has provided us with a factory fully equipped with everything we need," Kanou reported. Even though he knew little about business, he excelled at following orders.
Kira paused before signing the final document and raised her eyes.
"I need you to purchase a building to serve as Verdant Core's headquarters. The top floor will be shared between my office and a laboratory. The instructions are in this document."
Kanou stepped forward to receive the paper she had just signed.
Woof! Woof!
Beneath the desk, pressed against Kira's leg, a series of barks echoed. Kanou stopped in place.
"Easy, Noro."
Kira spoke gently to the little chocolate-colored dog.
Still only a puppy, Noro emerged from his hiding place like a tiny soldier.
Woof! Woof!
His little barks sounded adorable to Kira, but to Kanou they felt threatening. Even as a puppy, Noro already possessed an imposing size.
"Noro... stop... cough... cough..."
Kira stood up, only to stagger as a coughing fit overtook her.
Noro was the first to rush toward his owner. Despite still being a puppy, he was already fiercely loyal to his mistress.
Kanou, now properly trained, quickly searched for a pitcher and a glass of water.
"Please drink, Miss."
"Thank you..."
Kira drank slowly.
Her physical condition was still fragile, and it certainly did not help that she had to walk all the way from the Tokugawa Minor Mansion to the Shinsengumi castle.
For that reason, the complex served as a secret base for training Shinsengumi personnel. Kira had invested an enormous amount of money due to the project's complexity. The suppliers and construction workers had accepted the job only because of the generous payment—and because of the family name backing it.
"Miss... you need to rest."
Kanou was still young. Although he was not yet completely loyal to Kira, his instincts compelled him to look after her because she was only a child.
He couldn't understand why his mistress had built the Shinsengumi headquarters so far away. The soldiers could handle the journey, but she could not. During the short time he had served her, he had already noticed how delicate her health was.
"It's fine. I won't be coming to headquarters every day. But you're my representative, Kanou, so you'll have to travel back and forth frequently."
Kira crouched down to pet Noro while turning her back toward him.
Noro happily wagged his tail from side to side.
"For now, carry out my orders. Once the company's office is ready, come pick me up so I can inspect it. Make sure security is tight, or Mom and Dad will never let me leave the house."
Kira smiled sweetly as she thought about her parents.
…
Efficiency—or rather, belonging to a powerful family—did not disappoint.
Within two weeks, Verdant Core's first production line was complete. Herbal brews and natural tonics sold out almost immediately.
On the streets of Tokyo, a convoy of luxury black cars drove in perfect formation.
"Miss... here are the blueprints for your office."
Kanou, seated beside her as a passenger, handed Kira a set of documents.
Because of the tinted windows, pedestrians outside could only watch the convoy with curiosity, while Kira quietly observed their reactions.
She examined the office plans.
Verdant Core's headquarters was a ten-story building. On the top floor, her office featured enormous windows designed to let sunlight flood the room. However, behind her office stood a wall that actually concealed the rest of the floor.
The hidden area could only be accessed through a secret door disguised as a bookshelf, just like in the movies. All she had to do was pull a specific book to activate the mechanism that caused the entire bookshelf to swing open like a door.
The convoy came to a stop in front of a building whose first floor displayed a bonsai tree logo above the words Verdant Core.
Kanou immediately stepped out, circled the vehicle, and opened Kira's door.
As she stepped outside, her bodyguards formed two orderly lines, leaving a path between them.
"Welcome, Miss."
Every bodyguard bowed respectfully toward their employer.
Knowing the proper etiquette, Kira merely nodded before walking through the corridor formed by her guards and entering the building.
Inside the first floor, the receptionist and administrative staff were already waiting.
Like the bodyguards, every one of them bowed respectfully.
"Lady Tokugawa, there's a private elevator that goes directly to your office."
The receptionist led her to a secluded area where a private elevator awaited.
To unlock the elevator, an eight-digit password had to be entered.
Since it was Kira's first time using it, she had to create the password herself, which took a little time.
"I promise to make Verdant Core a great company. You won't regret following me."
Kira declared the words with conviction.
Only Kanou entered the elevator with her.
Kira pressed the button for the top floor, and silence settled awkwardly between them during the ascent.
I thought I'd be serving as the bodyguard of some spoiled rich girl... but she's nothing like I expected.
Kanou had that thought, and out of simple curiosity, Kira heard it.
She immediately severed the connection.
She didn't want reading her subordinates' minds to become a habit.
Of course, she had often considered planting suggestive ideas to secure her personnel's loyalty, but she had ultimately abandoned the idea.
When the elevator reached the top floor, its doors slid open.
The floor was spacious. To the right lay a balcony overlooking all of Tokyo.
Since Verdant Core's offices weren't located in central Tokyo, the view wasn't blocked by towering skyscrapers.
She walked through the office.
It looked ordinary. The only feature that truly stood out was the balcony.
After admiring the scenery, she returned to her desk and began reviewing the documents.
Verdant Core had only existed for a few weeks, but its growth already looked promising.
"Kanou, you can sit on the office sofa. I'll finish reviewing these documents before sending them to each department."
"No, Miss. I'm your bodyguard."
Kanou might not have been particularly intelligent, but he was excellent at following orders.
Every Shinsengumi bodyguard had been trained by the Tokugawa Minor Mansion's security personnel. They all understood proper security protocol.
Kira didn't insist.
She had too much work demanding her attention.
Sunlight poured into the office through the large windows, while the breeze drifting in from the balcony created a peaceful atmosphere.
The only sound was the scratching of her pen as she signed document after document.
Watching how focused she was, Kanou quietly walked toward the balcony.
Boom!
In the next instant, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
Kira looked up immediately.
Her eye caught a shadow that paused for a split second beside Kanou before vanishing.
"..."
Without thinking, Kira released her psychic energy, searching for the presence—or the cause—behind the shadow.
She sensed nothing...
But something stopped behind her, and at that moment she detected a human presence.
Given its speed, the best response was to attack with her mental energy.
She struck the presence directly with a psychic assault and, with a quick leap, retreated from the office.
She landed in front of her desk, looked up, and prepared to face her target.
To her surprise, a human stood there watching her, completely unaffected by her mental attack.
Who are you?
Kira immediately assumed it was an assassin; being part of a wealthy family made her a likely target for attacks.
She examined the intruder.
Once again, she tried to overload the person's mind with a psychic attack, but his mind showed no sign of being affected.
"Kanou!... Wake up!"
Kira turned toward her bodyguard only to discover that he had lost consciousness, though somehow his body remained standing upright.
She checked his mind and confirmed that he was truly unconscious.
Just as she was about to jolt his mind awake, the stranger spoke.
"Kira Kure, I'm sorry. You must be frightened."
The man spoke her name with a guilty tone.
Kira noticed him raise his head, and his facial features became clearly visible: still-black hair, a few wrinkles, and most striking of all, his dark eyes.
"You're from the Kure Clan... an assassin."
Kira noticed the intimidating gaze created by his dark sclera and pale, almost white irises.
"No... well, yes, but I'm not an assassin anymore. I only wanted to meet my granddaughter. I'm sorry for scaring you."
The man tried to explain himself, though he seemed fully aware that his actions were not helping his case.
"Granddaughter... you're my grandfather?"
Kira frowned.
This man looked nothing like Kure Erioh from her memories.
"Yes, Kira. I'm your grandfather. Nanami is my daughter... I only wanted to meet you."
Erioh quickly raised both hands, then glanced at Kanou, who was still unconscious.
"Why doesn't my mother look like you...?"
Kira asked the question she had always wanted answered.
She had never dared ask her mother directly, because whenever the subject of her maternal family came up, she always noticed a trace of melancholy in Nanami's expression.
For some reason, every time Kira tried to ask about that side of the family, her mother would change the subject.
"Nanami looks exactly like her mother," the patriarch replied while remembering his daughter's mother.
"That's not what I mean. I want to know why her eyes are normal."
Kira pointed at her own eyes, which were normal as well.
"Normal? I wouldn't say that. She has the same irises as mine."
Erioh Kure observed the pale gray irises of his granddaughter.
"Mom has the same irises too, but our sclera are normal."
Kira pointed at her eye again.
Erioh Kure could no longer avoid the subject.
His granddaughter did not trust him yet, but he also did not want to dig too deeply into the matter.
"It's a long story. The years really have taken their toll on me. If you want, I can tell you, but first we should lay your bodyguard down. He'll stay like that for a few hours."
Erioh looked toward Kanou, who remained unconscious.
...
Kanou lay on the office sofa, breathing slowly but steadily.
A short distance away, grandfather and granddaughter faced one another.
"It's all my fault. Nanami was always such a kind child; she inherited that from her mother."
Erioh looked up at the ceiling, his voice filled with sadness.
"As you've noticed, your mother and you are different from me, and that difference gave rise to rumors within the Kure Clan. I'm its patriarch, yet I failed to comfort my daughter."
Kira noticed the love and sorrow reflected in his expression whenever he spoke about her mother.
Erioh Kure explained Nanami's situation within the Kure Clan.
As expected, in a clan of assassins, people expected the patriarch's child to be exceptional.
But Nanami had never shown talent for either the clan's martial arts or the Kure family's inherited techniques.
Every member of the Kure Clan—even the women—displayed the clan's superhuman physical traits.
Nanami, however, had not only been born without those traits; even her appearance had inherited none of the Kure characteristics.
The clan's records mentioned that once every few centuries, a weak child would be born without inheriting the Kure traits and would die shortly afterward.
Nanami had been one of those children, yet she had been born healthy and had grown up without any problems.
Even so, the clan members continued whispering behind her back.
She was never openly mistreated, but she always felt different within the clan.
When she met Kenzo, she felt that they were alike, and she fell in love with him.
"Your mother never liked violence. Your father is someone very much like her, and that was what captured her heart."
Erioh commented while making a displeased expression when speaking about Kenzo.
Kira didn't ask why.
From the anime she had watched in her previous life, she could already imagine the reason.
Erioh Kure must have loved his daughter deeply, and seeing her run away with her father had probably left him with a lifelong resentment toward Kenzo.
"Mom feels guilty for leaving the clan without your blessing. Grandpa, you can come visit her at home. She would never take the initiative herself, but she misses you very much."
Kira made the request without hesitation, and Erioh nodded.
"You're a good daughter. You love your mother deeply. Very well, I'll visit. I'm already an old man; I shouldn't remain so stubborn."
Erioh smiled while looking at his granddaughter.
In that moment, he could see his daughter reflected in her.
"Grandpa... how did you knock Kanou unconscious while he was still standing? And why didn't his body collapse?"
Kira asked curiously while glancing at her sleeping bodyguard.
"That's because your grandfather is very strong. I'm the patriarch of the Kure Clan—the strongest in the world."
Erioh boasted shamelessly in front of his granddaughter; he wanted to earn her admiration.
"Grandpa, you're so strong..."
Kira's eyes sparkled.
She rose from the sofa and moved closer to him.
"Kira, you're not weak either. Your spiritual attack surprised me. I was only able to resist it because of my strong will. If it had been an ordinary person, their brain would have shut down."
Erioh made sure to praise his granddaughter as well.
The reason he had failed to react immediately upon appearing in the office was because of her attack.
"I'm only trying to become strong. I was born with a weak body, but I never stop looking for ways to strengthen myself so I can protect Mom and Dad."
Kira spoke sincerely.
Although she could be manipulative at times, her love for her parents was genuine.
"I heard about that. But don't worry, Kira. Our clan has gathered medical knowledge for generations. Tomorrow I'll visit your mother and bring the clan physician to examine you."
That was one of the main reasons Erioh had wanted to meet his granddaughter.
Even though he had not been present in her life, he had maintained contact with Mitsunari Tokugawa, who constantly bragged about his granddaughter and kept him informed.
From Mitsunari, Erioh had learned that Kira had been born with a weak immune system.
The moment he heard that, he consulted the clan physician, but the doctor insisted that he needed to examine the patient personally before making any diagnosis.
"Grandpa, teach me martial arts. I want to become strong."
Kira was usually self-taught, but now that she had met her grandfather—the patriarch of the Kure Clan—she coveted his knowledge.
Erioh looked at his granddaughter's delicate body.
He could clearly see how frail she was; her condition was even worse than Nanami's had been.
At first, he wanted to refuse.
But he trusted that the clan physician might be able to improve Kira's condition.
And although he had never admitted it aloud, he had always wanted to train his daughter.
He had simply never voiced those thoughts, fearing that they would only make Nanami feel worse.
"Very well. But only after the clan physician has treated you."
Erioh looked at his granddaughter, rose from the sofa, and gently patted her head.
Kira could feel Erioh's affection.
As a psychic, other people's emotions were far more transparent to her than they were to ordinary people.
A week passed since Erioh Kure met his granddaughter, and just as he had promised, the following day he visited the Tokugawa Minor Mansion to speak with his daughter.
He was able to reconcile with her, but things were different with Kenzo. He still was not ready to face him.
Fortunately, Erioh Kure and Kenzo Tokugawa never crossed paths that day.
However, just as there had been good news, there was bad news as well.
The Kure Clan physician examined Kira, and his diagnosis concluded that her condition was genetic.
A complete recovery was impossible.
However, Kira's immune system could be strengthened through the use of the clan's ancient medicines.
Kira took the medicine, and it proved effective.
She no longer felt as frail as before.
Little by little, her body grew stronger. Her once-thin frame began to fill out, and thanks to that, Erioh Kure finally began her training.
Kira reached an agreement with her grandfather: her training would remain a secret known only to the two of them, and all of it would take place inside Verdant Core's office.
Every day, the elderly patriarch visited the office to personally guide his granddaughter.
"Kira, your understanding of both the body and the spirit is remarkably advanced. Your mind isn't the problem—your body is the weak link. But thanks to your understanding of life energy, use what little you have to strengthen your body."
Erioh Kure stood in front of Kira as he spoke.
She wore a simple dark kimono suitable for training.
"Grandma Sabuko taught me everything she knew about psychic abilities."
As Kira spoke, the objects inside her office floated through the air under the influence of her telekinesis.
"Priestess Sabuko did an excellent job."
Erioh nodded.
It seemed he had already known the elderly priestess.
"What are you going to teach me, Grandpa?"
Kira asked expectantly.
"The Kure Clan possesses two categories of techniques. The Kure Clan Tradition teaches the art of assassination. Those techniques are used both to take life and to preserve it. The other category is the Kure Family Tradition. Those are techniques designed for competitive combat."
Erioh explained everything clearly so his granddaughter would engrave the knowledge into her memory.
"The technique you used to knock Kanou unconscious while keeping him standing belongs to the Kure Clan Tradition."
Kira immediately connected the technique with the proper kata.
"You have excellent insight. What I used was an intermediate technique between preserving life and taking it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kira received a notification from her system.
[System: Unfortunate-Fortunate]
Achievement Unlocked!
"Learn from your powerful grandfather."
Random Reward Obtained: "Shingen-ryu"
Description:
Knowledge of the kung fu school created by Isaac Netero.
Kira trembled as she read the notification.
"I'm a Nen user!"
Erioh Kure frowned when he saw the joyful expression on his granddaughter's face.
For a brief moment, she reminded him of his troublesome grandson, Raian Kure.
"...No."
Erioh shook his head.
"How could I compare my sweet granddaughter to that brat?"