I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

Chapter 772: Departure for the Death God Valley

"Nathan! I hope we did not keep you waiting too long."

After about twenty minutes at the gates with Shiina, Shigeru and his group finally arrived, each of them mounted and ready to leave.

Nathan looked them over as they approached. They still carried some of the looseness from all the drinking earlier, but they seemed steadier now than they had in the tavern. That would have to do.

"No, you are fine," he said.

Yuwa’s gaze quickly shifted to Shiina, who was standing beside Nathan with a skewer still in hand. "And who is this very pretty woman?"

Taku pointed at her at once. "Wait, I know her. She is the woman Nathan fought in the battle royale."

The others looked more closely, and recognition spread through the group almost immediately. With her striking features, Shiina was not exactly easy to forget.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, lifting one hand in greeting even though the sky above them was already pitch black and her skewer was still half buried in her mouth.

Sana blinked at her, then turned to Nathan. "What is she doing here?"

"I hired her too," Nathan replied.

Sana frowned a little. "Was that really necessary?"

Yuwa rolled her eyes. "Of course it was. Did you not see her fight? If we are really going up against a Daimyo, then having someone strong with us is only a good thing."

"I agree," Sosuke said with a grin. "And she is beautiful too, which makes this even better."

A second later Eri pinched his ear hard enough to make him yelp.

"Shut up."

Sosuke winced and pulled away while the others laughed. Nathan watched the exchange without comment. At least their nerves had not completely swallowed their usual rhythm.

Shigeru, however, kept his eyes on Shiina a little longer than the others. His expression was more cautious.

"I do not mind another sword joining us," he said at last. "But can she be trusted?"

Nathan glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

Shigeru met his gaze evenly. "I mean, does she understand what we are actually doing tonight?"

He did not need to say more.

Everyone there knew what the job meant. They were not escorting a merchant or hunting bandits on some lonely road. They were riding into the domain of a Daimyo and helping Nathan strike at Mitsuhide himself. That was the kind of work that could end with a fortune in hand or with all of them dead before dawn.

The fact that Shigeru’s group had accepted the job at all said enough about the kind of mercenaries they were. Greedy, bold, reckless perhaps, but not fools. If Shiina was going with them, they wanted to know she had entered this with open eyes.

"She knows," Nathan said firmly. "So do not worry about that."

"Oh?" Sana stepped closer to Shiina, her curiosity instantly returning. "So you really are willing to take on a Daimyo?"

Shiina smiled around another bite of food. "Definitely. It sounds amusing. And I do not like Mitsuhide anyway."

Yuwa raised a brow. "Oh? Do you know him?"

For a brief moment Shiina looked ready to answer more honestly.

Nathan gave her a sharp look.

He had already warned her to keep her real connection to Norihiro to herself. Shigeru already disliked Norihiro enough as it was. If he learned that one of Norihiro’s own people was riding with them, he might start asking questions Nathan had no interest in answering. Worse, he might decide the whole thing smelled wrong and pull his group out.

Nathan was not about to let that happen.

Shiina caught the warning in his eyes and changed course smoothly.

"I have seen him before," she said. Then she made a face. "He is creepy."

That got a laugh out of Sana.

"You are interesting," Sana said.

"So are you," Shiina replied at once, then offered her the extra skewer.

Sana accepted it with a smile and took a bite, apparently deciding on the spot that she liked her.

Yamada, who had remained silent until then, let out a quiet sigh. Out of all of them, he looked the most composed. Nathan had noticed earlier that he had not touched a single drop of sake in the tavern, and now he looked like the only one already fully prepared for what lay ahead.

"Can we go now," Yamada said, "or are we planning to spend the whole night standing here and eating?"

"Finally, someone speaks sense," Yuwa muttered.

Nathan gave a small nod. "He is right. Let us move."

"What about dinner, then?" Taku asked with a weary sigh.

Nanao gave him a flat look. "You are already fat enough."

Taku turned to her at once, offended. "You want to fight, Nanao?!"

"Will you two stop already?" Yuwa said, rubbing a hand over his face. "It is always the same with you."

Ueda let out a long breath. "I have a bad feeling about how this is going to end."

"And you," Nanao shot back, "should stop acting like the world is ending every five minutes."

Their voices rose over one another in the middle of the road, familiar, loud, and impossible to miss. Nathan glanced at the group only once before deciding he had heard enough. While they argued, he walked ahead to his horse and reached for the reins, ready to leave them to their usual chaos.

One by one, the others from Shigeru’s group gave up on the bickering and headed toward their own horses as well. The moment had the feel of something they had all lived through many times before, another small argument with no real beginning and no real end.

"Wait for me!"

Shiina’s voice rang out behind them. She quickly dropped the coins into the old woman’s hand at the food stand and hurried after the others, still chewing, her cheeks slightly full from the last bite she had not even finished swallowing.

Nathan had just placed his foot in the stirrup when he suddenly felt a soft weight settle against his back.

He turned his head and found Shiina climbing up behind him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I did not bring a horse," she said brightly, shifting closer with an easy smile. "Come on, Ry-Nathan. There is more than enough room for both of us."

Before Nathan could answer, Taku looked over and groaned. "Oh, great. They are definitely going to flirt the whole way there."

"You are just jealous," Sana said at once.

"Shut up."

Sana pressed a hand to her chest and smiled with theatrical sorrow. "I am jealous, though."

"Can we move already?" Yuwa muttered. "Some of us would like to arrive before nightfall."

Shigeru, already mounted, looked back over his shoulder with a small amused smile. "Nathan, would you lead the way?"

Nathan gave him a dry look. "I am leaving that to you. I have never been there."

Shigeru’s smile faltered. "To be honest, neither have we."

Nathan stared at him for a beat. "You know the road at least?"

Shigeru lifted a hand, wavering it from side to side. "More or less."

"Then you lead," Nathan said. "If we get lost, we can ask someone on the way."

"Fair enough," Shigeru replied, and finally nudged his horse forward.

The others followed after him, their horses falling into a loose line along the road. Nathan clicked his tongue softly and guided his own mount after them, though it was harder to ignore the presence behind him now.

Shiina sat close, far closer than necessity required. Every shift of the horse made her lean into him, and each movement brought the warm, distracting press of her body against his back. She did not seem the least bit embarrassed by it either. If anything, she looked perfectly content, one hand resting lightly near his side as though she had claimed her place there without a second thought.

Nathan kept his eyes on the path ahead, but awareness of her lingered in every tense part of him. Her breasts brushed against him whenever the horse changed pace, subtle one moment and impossible to ignore the next.

What struck him most was how little any of it seemed to slow her down. Looking at her now, seated so comfortably behind him, it was almost hard to believe she had moved with such speed and precision during the battle royale. Yet she had, darting through the chaos without hesitation, swift and sharp in a way that had caught even experienced fighters off guard.

Behind him, Shiina let out a quiet, pleased hum, as if she had already noticed exactly how aware of her he had become.

Nathan said nothing. He simply tightened his hold on the reins and kept riding.

Right now all that mattered was getting Genzo back safely and killing Mitsuhide. Hopefully, Mitsuhide would still keep Genzo alive. As Norihiro said, Genzo was a famous figure and perhaps it worked in favor as people might rather keep him alive than kill him.