I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Standing next to Qing Deng, Kinoshita Mai couldn't help but shrink her swan-like neck.

In contrast, Qing Deng remained unmoved.

"Besides Natsume Tsuki, did you also kidnap Chiba Sanako? Where are all the people you kidnapped being held now?"

After repeating his question in a tone devoid of joy or sorrow, Qing Deng pointed the tip of the wakizashi at the nail crease of the "Scarred Samurai's" next toe.

……

……

Edo, somewhere—

A cockroach crawled past Sanako's feet.

Sanako slightly raised her eyelids, glanced at the small, skinny cockroach that crawled past her feet, and then half-closed her eyes again.

Before half-closing her eyes again, Sanako glanced at Natsume Tsuki beside her... Natsume Tsuki was drooping her head, her small chin pressed against her collarbone, her eyes lifeless and empty.

For the past few days, she and Natsume Tsuki have been locked in this cellar.

They were not allowed to move freely and could only be tied to the wooden post with hemp rope.

They had hardly seen any living people. The person they saw most often was a woman with very thin lips. This woman seemed to be in charge of taking care of their eating, drinking and toileting.

Although this woman often met with Sanako and the others, she hardly ever interacted with them. Each time, she would quickly take care of Sanako and Natsume Tsuki and then leave.

Unable to do anything, just sitting there blankly; not even knowing what time it is; not knowing why I was brought here; not knowing if I will ever be free again... A strong sense of powerlessness, a suffocating atmosphere.

Natsume Tsuki, whose body and mind have been tormented by this, has lost the ability to even cry, and just stares blankly with his lifeless eyes.

Compared to Natsume Tsuki, Sanako's energy and spirit are undoubtedly much better.

Since waking up, Sanako has been consistently doing one thing.

Something that has kept Sanako's positive spirit even now.

Something that could give them hope of escaping.

——唔……！

The sudden ache in her right thumb almost made Sanako cry out.

She quickly bit her lower lip to stop the urge to cry out in pain.

Once the soreness in her right thumb had lessened slightly, Sanako gripped the nail she had pulled from the wooden post firmly with her right thumb and middle finger again, and continued to use the slightly blunt nail tip to cut the rope binding her hands.

Sanako had been using this nail to cut the hemp rope on her hands... except when she was sleeping or taking occasional breaks, she had basically never stopped.

The ropes binding her and Natsume's hands were almost two fingers thick, and the nail that Sanako managed to pull out by sheer luck had a very blunt, rusty tip due to its age.

Using such a blunt nail tip to cut such a thick hemp rope... Sanako's fingers must have cramped up countless times because of this.

Just now—her thumb cramped up again, and if Sanako hadn't reacted quickly and bit her lip in time, she would have cried out.

Through her unwavering willpower, Sanako endured countless pains over the years... and now, the abundant fruits of those pains are finally about to bloom.

After forcefully cutting the hemp rope on her wrists with the rope in her hand for a moment, Sanako twisted her hands hard.

The hemp rope, which had been tied very tightly, was now very loose because she had cut several strands with nails.

Sanako took a deep breath, mustered all her strength, and forcefully pulled her bound hands apart—the rope snapped, and her hands were finally free.

In the darkness, Sanako touched her wrists, which were aching and swollen from being bound by hemp rope. Although she felt happy inside, she kept her expression unchanged.

Freeing up your hands... this is only the first step in whether you can successfully escape.

While vigorously massaging her wrists, which were still behind her back, Sanako raised her gaze to the wooden steps leading to the cellar room not far ahead...

She silently clenched her right fist, letting the sharp nail head pierce through the gap between her index and middle fingers, and then...

"Ugh...! Ugh...! Ugh...! Ugh...!"

Sanako closed her eyes tightly, locked them, and while showing a pained expression, she twisted her body wildly and screamed with all her might.

Startled by Sanako's strange behavior, Natsume Tsuki quickly turned to look at her.

"Miss Sanako, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Natsume Tsuki asked Sanako anxiously.

Sanako ignored the look Natsume Tsuki gave her and continued to writhe her body while screaming in agony.

With a cloth strip tied around its mouth, it couldn't make a loud sound... but it was more than enough to make a sound that the guards outside the cellar could hear.

Soon after, hurried footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs connecting the cellar to the outside.

"What's wrong? What are you doing?"

A short man with a scabbard hanging from his waist walked impatiently up the stairs to Sanako.

"You stinking woman! What are you yelling about? Do you need to poop?"

Sanako raised her head and stretched her neck towards the dwarf, her red lips, bound by strips of cloth, opening and closing forcefully, as if she had something to say.

"Tsk... What a nuisance...!" The short man twitched his lips, then bent down impatiently, wanting to untie the gag from Sanako's mouth and hear what she had to say.

The moment the dwarf bent down, Sanako's eyes narrowed sharply.

Immediately afterwards, she swiftly extended her newly freed hands from behind her back, covering the dwarf's mouth with her left hand and forcefully slamming her right fist into the dwarf's carotid artery in his neck.

The dwarf's eyes bulged forward like goldfish, with countless red blood vessels climbing up the whites of his eyes.

When Sanako pulled her right fist back, the nail heads between her fingers were covered in blood.

Throwing a punch, pulling back a punch, throwing a punch, pulling back a punch... Sanako kept repeating this set of movements.

She covered the dwarf's mouth tightly with her left hand, preventing him from making any sound.

After punching the dwarf in the neck more than ten times, Sanako finally felt the dwarf's body "soften".

The dwarf, whose life force was constantly leaking out from the dozen or so bloody holes in his neck, rolled his eyes upwards... and collapsed to the ground like a noodle, no longer breathing.

"Huff...huff...huff...huff...huff..."

For a moment, Sanako's heavy breathing dominated the entire cellar.

Standing to the side, Natsume Tsuki stared wide-eyed, looking utterly bewildered, at Sanako, who was now covered in blood...

—I killed someone…

This was Sanako's first time killing someone.

Looking at the dwarf's unseeing eyes, a strong sense of nausea surged from Sanako's throat.

—This is not the time to feel nauseous…!

After mentally rebuking herself in a stern tone, Sanako swallowed hard several times, suppressing the urge to vomit.

After calming down a bit, Sanako stretched out her right arm and pulled the wakizashi from the waist of the short man lying at her feet, then cut all the ropes binding her and Natsume Tsuki.

“Miss Sanako…”

As soon as Sanako ripped the cloth off Natsume Tsuki's face, Natsume Tsuki stared blankly at Sanako while softly murmuring Sanako's name.

Her eyes, which had been completely lifeless, regained a glimmer of light.

"We'll talk about everything after we escape." Zanako crouched down and groped the dwarf's body, looking for any other weapons or anything else that might be useful.

The wakizashi currently held in Sanako's right hand appears to be the only weapon the dwarf carries... She searched the dwarf from head to toe, but found nothing but air.

—Is this the only weapon available...?

Sanako lowered her eyes and glanced at the not-so-sharp wakizashi in her hand.

The two of them now only have the wakizashi as a usable weapon... but Sanako did not show any signs of discouragement or frustration.

“Ah Yue”.

Sanako took a deep breath and stared intently at the staircase leading out of the cellar.

"Stay close to me, I'll take you home."

Sanako vigorously wiped away the dirt clinging to the blade of the wakizashi with her own clothes.

The cleaned blade reflected a dazzling, cold light.

Also shining brightly were Sanako's eyes, now filled with unwavering determination.

……

……

Sanako and Natsume Tsuki crouched low and crouched low as they left the underground cellar where they had been imprisoned for several days.

The long-awaited fresh air wafted over her face... Rei Sanako couldn't help but take several deep breaths.

She pressed her back against the wall next to her and peeked out her little head to look at the corridors to the left and right outside the wall.

The empty corridor was deserted, filled only with deep darkness.

After confirming it was safe outside, Sanako waved to Natsume Tsuki behind her.

Sanako's goal was clear—the door or window leading outside.

This is a task that is neither particularly difficult nor particularly easy.

The reason it is said to be "not difficult" is because the underground cellar is naturally connected to the first floor of the house.

So, for the two women who have just left the cellar and are now on the first floor of the house, finding a door or window that leads to the outside is not a particularly difficult task.

As for why it's said to be "both simple and not simple"... the reason is quite simple.

There are many guards inside this house.

Sanako suddenly heard voices coming from a room ahead.

She quickly turned around and gestured for Natsume Tsuki behind her to be quiet.

Natsume Tsuki nodded vigorously while raising her two small hands to cover her mouth and nose, trying her best to keep her breathing quiet.

The corridor adjacent to this room, from which voices constantly emanated, was the only way for Sanako and the others to pass...

There's no way to avoid it... we just have to grit our teeth and get through it!

Sanako silently let out a long breath, then gathered her mind and tiptoed forward.

As they got closer to the room, the sounds emanating from it became increasingly clear.

"Damn it... This is so annoying. Why are we assigned to guard those two women?"