"By the way, we should call the others; they are still waiting for us by the road," I turned to go back, but Hiren stopped me.
"It's alright, I already signaled the girls conditionally," the shinobi threw a small ball on the ground, and as it exploded, it released a circular cloud of white smoke.
"You even prepared for that?" I asked.
"Yes, if the negotiations had failed, the smoke would have been black, ha-ha," the man chuckled, but the thought of what the girls would have had to do in case of black smoke scared me.
"Oh, sister, look, it seems everything went well," the middle girl noticed the smoke in the distance and nudged her neighbor.
"What happened?" Grain approached the three shinobi cautiously.
"Master Hiren gave us the signal; now we can escort you to the fortress," the eldest girl nudged the younger one on the side.
"Oh yes, right now," the girl took a deep breath, followed by a quick exhale, and with a single motion, she slipped out of the bindings. The ropes loosened, and the other two girls managed to free themselves as well.
"Whaaat? You could have escaped all this time? Seems like we really don't know how to tie people up," I said.
"Don't worry about it; we're bandits after all, heh-heh," the little girl seemed to have gained energy after her liberation. "Untangling from restraints is my specialty."
The girl proudly thumped her flat chest. The other two shinobi looked awkwardly at her.
"No need to be proud of that; it's more like a hm... physiological peculiarity," the middle girl scratched her chin awkwardly. She cast a sidelong glance at the petite girl's unremarkable body and snorted.
"Aaargh!! You again with that! By the way, I've saved your lives more than once!" the girl started hitting her friend with tears in her eyes.
The eldest girl approached Grain and bowed politely at the waist.
"I am very grateful to you for saving me and my sisters from the guards," she spoke calmly and courteously, but her voice carried deep respect for the mage. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ursa, a shinobi of the Yukitori clan. And these are my cousins, Mitri and Shinryu."
The girl pointed first to the older, composed girl and then to the lively younger one. However, the respectful tone bewildered the poor inexperienced lad.
"Allow me to escort you to the fortress, Grain-sama," the girl bowed again and started walking ahead, showing the way. Though, from the back, one could see her ears burning with embarrassment.
"But what about the carriage? We can't leave it behind," Grain wanted to go back, but little Shinryu deftly took him by the hand and pushed him forward.
"Don't worry about that. Just take your belongings; our friends will find your runaway horses and escort everyone to the fortress. It will just take some time, so we will go straight ahead," she reassured him.
"Please don't hesitate, Grain-sama," silent Mitri took the mage by the other hand and urged him forward along with her sister.
"Alright, but don't rush me," Grain awkwardly tried to get out of the firm grasp of the two girls, but they were not that simple.
"We're just offering you some extra service for saving us," Shinryu pressed herself against the mage while continuing to persuade him with her sweet voice. "By the way, do you have a girlfriend?"
"A girlfriend?" Grain paused for a moment. "I don't think so."
The mage unexpectedly stumbled on level ground, but the two shinobi deftly caught him, pressing even closer to his strong arms.
"And how do you feel," Mitri smiled conspiratorially and lowered her gaze, "about amorous adventures without consequences? Hee-hee."
"Eh?" Grain didn't know what to say and tried to seek advice from his comrades. When he turned, he saw that most of them were looking at him with satisfied smiles, waiting for his response. Vina was signaling that he did well, and she would cover for him if needed; Rizel was noting something down with a sardonic grin, while Levris, with a dissatisfied snort, turned away.
The mage managed to free himself from the loving grips of the affectionate girls and continued on his own.
"You know, there's no need to treat me so respectfully. I did what anyone would have done."
"No-no-no, you saved our lives. It's our custom to show such respect. You see, shinobi are those who cannot become full-fledged samurai. In our clan, many people have different professions, not just warriors, but also farmers, fishermen, and artisans. However, we all learn to wield a sword from childhood."
"But shinobi are different," Mitri continued in a low voice for her sister, "we rely on agility and speed, so excessive sword training only hinders us. Children with such talents start training from an early age, and that's why we pursue careers less associated with heavy labor."
"As you may have noticed," Ursa continued in a calm and composed tone, "the majority of shinobi are girls. Among our ranks, there are not more than ten percent of men. And mostly..."
She paused and turned around; the two sisters quickly took their positions on either side of her.
"We used to work as servants in the main house, serving important guests, so we were brought up with good manners from childhood," the girls synchronized their bows and parted the bushes behind them. "Welcome to our hideout. Please forgive its modest appearance."
Behind the bushes, there was a clearing cleared in the forest, enclosed from the south by tall trees and bordered to the north by a rocky cliff, marking the beginning of the formidable obstacle, the Nordrune mountain range. In the shadow of the cliff, one could barely make out a wooden palisade. It couldn't be seen from the air or any elevated point in the area, and without prior knowledge of its location, one could never find it. In front of the palisade, there was a wide moat, and only one drawbridge provided access.
"Well, now it's clear why the baron couldn't find you," Grain stepped onto the clearing and ran his hand through the grass, "this land looks very peculiar. It doesn't seem like you cleared these trees."
"Ho-ho, this is one of our attractions," Shinryu approached a tree that was only half her height, "everything here grows very slowly. My great-great-grandmother remembered this tree being just a couple of centimeters lower."
"Once, our ancestor Shiva fought the White Goddess here," Ursa took a bit of soil in her hand, "the whole land was impregnated with the white flames of the goddess, which is why time slows down for all the plants here."
"And also," Mitri smiled and twinkled her eyes, "it strengthens our connection with the goddess and allows us to use her power a bit more than ordinary samurai."
"White Flame of Chronos, so that's how your leader paralyzed Krito and Asura!" Kurone clenched her fist, "But that's dangerous! If you don't stop in time, you can exhaust all your life energy on it."
"Yes, that's why we were very worried about Lady Kageyuki. She was deeply troubled when the guards captured some of our people, and that's why she used this power more and more with each battle. She didn't realize that we were ready to die if it meant not witnessing her suffering anymore."
"That is no longer necessary," familiar figures emerged from the nearby bushes, a boy in black and two girls in golden and red-gray outfits accompanied by shinobi.
"Hey, how did you get here before us?" I looked doubtfully at Hiren.
"Well, what? Did you really think I'd lead you straight to our hideout? I just escorted you to the meeting with the leader; I couldn't risk you finding out about this place."
"Well, thank goodness you're safe," Grain approached us with his company and glanced at Asura, who was helping a young girl who resembled her, "so what are our plans for tomorrow?"
"Heh, we're going to hunt a big and ferocious lizard," I smirked and looked over the group. The three shinobi girls were gazing at the mage with enamored eyes, "I see you didn't waste any time."
"What do you mean?" Grain looked a bit slow on the uptake.
"What were you up to while we were gone?"
"Oh, nothing special. Although, one time, Baron De'Grenor's patrol came after us, but we managed to deal with them. We said a tree fell in front of the carriage, and you went for help in the village."
An unsettling premonition lingered with me. We left the forest edge and headed towards the fortress.
"Ursa, are you absolutely certain no one was following you?" Yuki addressed the senior shinobi.
"No, my lady, I checked, there was no one," Ursa replied.
"Kurone, did you notice anything?" I couldn't entirely rely on my unknown abilities.
"No, I didn't sense anyone specifically tailing us, but," the sorceress shuddered slightly, "I still feel like something was there. Something familiar, but not human."
"I felt the same way too. It seemed like a spirit or shadow was trailing us," Rizel agreed with Kurone's words.
"What are you talking about?" Yuki became intrigued by our conversation.
"I wanted to make sure no one was following us. Kurone is much better at detection than your people. In fact, she tracked you down as soon as we entered the forest."
"That's impossible; our shinobi are the best when it comes to stealth."
"But she managed to sense their presence. And if Kurone says something was trailing us, then I prefer to trust her."
"We'll need to search the forest and find the spy before they reach the baron," Yuki nodded to the group of shinobi following us, but I stopped her.
"That's not the best idea unless you want to risk losing your people unnecessarily."
"What are you talking about? They can catch any spy."
"But what if it's not just a spy?" My serious gaze persuaded the leader of the shinobi to halt. "I'm afraid someone with skills in stealth as good as yours, or perhaps even better, could be an assassin. And a very good one at that. It's best if you don't leave the fortress for now."
"But..." Yuki tried to protest, but I interrupted her.
"Trust us, we'll take care of everything by tomorrow evening."
"Alright, if my sister believes in you, then I can trust you too."