Leaving home II

I stealthily entered Haruhime's room in the hopes of finding her, but upon entering. No one was there. The room was empty.

I started to scan the empty room.

And in hindsight, the room looked in disseray.

Everything was thrashed around. Clothes were scattered on the floor and furniture were tossed aside as if to signify a struggle. 

But what worried me the most were the small spots of blood that lead a trail towards the open door. 

'By the amount of blood, it doesn't seem to be a serious injury. But who would harm a noble's daughter? That's straight up suicide, isn't it?' I wondered as I slowly and cautiously followed the trail.

Exiting the room, I found myself in a grand hallway. A carpet that was red ran through the whole hall, walls that were painted red with black pillars holding the ceiling. There was even furniture with different kinds of artwork on it representing their wealth as nobles.

As I was mesmerized by the beautiful hallway that I have seen for the first time in my life, I quickly snapped back to reality.

I quickly searched for bloodstains on the floor and in just a few moments, I found the trail again and started following it.

But after walking for a while, something was amiss.

'… Strange.' I thought as I was walking down the hallway. 'It's already been a few minutes and I haven't seen or heard any maid or guard…' 

I quickened my pace as anxiety started to kick in. It was all too weird. It was too quiet.

Then, I heard a loud voice coming from a nearby window.

"HOW DARE YOU EAT SUCH A VALUEBLE OFFERING!!" 

*SLAP*

"AAGH." 

Someone shouted in wild fury and I heard a furious slap echoing throughout the mansion shortly after, followed by a girl that screamed in pain.

I quickly looked out the window and noticed that the window overseed the main hall of the building.

And what I saw utterly baffled me.

There, all the employees—guards, maids, cooks, and more—stood in formation as they watched the three figures in the center of the room.

A young blond-haired girl could be seen on her knees, with a red cheek as tears streamed down her face. In front of her was a tall brown-haired man. Both had the same animal feature with long ears and a tail. 

"Sister, how could you do such a thing. Father, please calm down. At least let us hear her out." The third person spoke up with a benevolent voice as if to deescalate the situation. But the colours revealed her true nature. And I could feel nothing but disgust what I saw.

She had the same brown hair as the man, but instead of the brown eyes, her eyes were blood red. She too had the animal ears and tail that showed that she was part of the same family as the two before her.

'Haruhime's little sister… Sanjouno Haruka.' I thought with spite as I observed her.

Among the onlookers, their auras were dark purple, black, and red. The father had nothing but fury red but that girl… she had orange, yellow and bright green, and those emotions weren't dark in any way. They were all pure happy emotions. Showing that she is truly enjoying this situation.

"I didn't do it… please believe me. I di… *hiccip* didn't do it…" Haruhime struggled to form words as she was about to cry.

"Really now? You didn't do anything?" She asked in a bitchy tone, but no one seemed to even care. Haruhime nodded at this question as hope began to fill her eyes but that wasn't for long.

"Then why were you in the room where the offering was supposed to be?" She started to interrogate her.

"T-that's because…" But she couldn't even finish her defense as her sister started to drill into her pitying existence.

"It's because you're a problem child!" She shouted for everyone to hear. "And you always have been. Asking for the family to donate to that orphanage even with our limited funds, and because of that the employees are being paid less." 

"T-that's not true!" She screamed out in her defense, but no one seemed to care as everyone was staring at her as if she was the bane of their very existence.

'Bullshit.' I thought as I observed Haruka. She had very luxurious clothes that would probably cost a fortune and even a lot of jewelry. While I only saw Haruhime with plain clothes that could have been bought anywhere.

"Not only that, but you also ran away multiple times from home which caused employees to work overtime. And you even tried to steal away my fiancé you bitch!" She continued with a sadistic smile.

The employees then started to whisper amongst themselves further fueling my anger.

"Wow, I knew lady Haruhime was troublesome but not to that extent." 

"Yeah, even to go as far as to try and steal lord Aru from lady Haruka. Even though they are already engaged. What gall does this bitch have. She already has a bad relationship with her father but eating the offering will be the last straw."

But then I saw someone who seemed to be the personal maid of Haruhime step forward.

"I can attest to all the things lady Haruka said." She stated as she nodded to Haruka with a small smile and the smile of that young lady only grew wider.

I was about to step forward as I couldn't hear this shit any longer before…

"ENOUGH!!" The head shouted. "I have heard enough!" He said as his eyes gleamed in disgust as he turned towards Haruhime.

"This time your actions will not go unpunished. From this moment on Haruhime will relinquish her title as heir and will be disowned by the Sanjouno family. She will be erased from all family records and not be remembered by anyone. Anyone assisting the guilty will be wanted by the Sanjouno family and treated as criminals in our territory."

"What the hell is this?" I asked myself in disbelief by this unjust verdict. This is way over the top.

"The title of heir will now be given to my only daughter Haruka. Any objections?!" 

"NONE!" Everyone in the room yelled out.

"Send a messenger to the orphanage. Tell them the support they get from us will be cut off." His voice quickly turned to one of full disgust as he turned towards Haruhime. "Now what do we do with you?" Haruhime, who just seemed like a lifeless husk at this point. Said nothing as her eyes looked puffy and hollow.

Haruka's smile turned towards their peak, and even I was surprised a smile could be so insanely wide.

Then a pallum took a step forward and answered. "If I may speak, your grace." He begun and the head gave him permission by nodding his head. 

"I will personally take her away. I will escort her towards a highly populated city away from the north and sell her. That way you would not need to be bothered by her existence and can get some vallis in return." He stated and I had trouble concealing my anger at this point.

The head contemplated a bit before saying. "Fine, I accept. Make sure she is sold for a high price. That way, she would be at least of some use to this family." He stated before turning his back on her and walking up the stairs.

The employees sneered at Haruhime's despairing figure as Haruka seemed to make a tiny celebration as she clenched her fist with a happy and joyful smile.

She then approached Haruhime and whispered something in her ear.

'I hope you get fucked up so bad by some fat ugly noble that you wished you were never born. Think about how you got into that situation and then you will only despair as you get pounded again and again by the same scum and in the end, I will be here. Living in luxury and be someone great while you will be reduced to nothing but a sex doll…' She said something more, but I couldn't make out more from reading her lips.

But she must have said something worse down the line as Haruhime's eyes widened and started to tear up again as she lost any light of hope. Her aura that was once as warm as the sun was now but a chilly and hollow black hole.

She then stood up and said in a mocking tone. "Now off you go 'sister'." before also turning around.

At this I couldn't hold back anymore as my anger quickly rose and thick, oppresive bloodlust  enveloped the enire mansion, thicker than ever before.

All creatures faced with this were unable to move and some even fainted. The head was sweating profusely, and Haruka was quacking in her boots with wide eyes filled with fear. 

But as much as I enjoyed their reaction. I had to retract it quickly because I knew it would be a bad idea if I was found out.

"I'm sorry… Haruhime…" I thought as I quickly caught hold of my rampaging emotions and retracted my bloodlust.

The head not missing a beat. Began to give orders "GUARDS!! Quickly scour the mansion!! We have an intruder!!" He screamed with every ounce in their body.

'I can't engage with the guards. I heard they some have a contract with a god and if they find out I'm affiliated with the orphanage, we would be seen as criminals. Even though we are part of Amaterasu's circle, The Sanjouno's out rank us enough to destroy us.' I thought as I quickly made a run for it, thoughts full of regret as I couldn't do anything to help Haruhime. 

"Quickly, wipe the floors. Check everything. Leave nothing unchecked! Capture or kill the assassin" The guards shouted as I could hear their footsteps behind me.

I quickly made my way towards Haruhime's room without hesitation.

"He is here!! On the second floor!!" A guard at the end of the corridor screamed.

"Fuck!!" I cursed as I went into Haruhime's room and made a break for the balcony.

I quickly closed the door and jumped off, landing smoothly on the wall. But I then heard the screams of the guards.

"HALT!! OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!!" One guard yelled as I could faintly hear the bows knocking back an arrow, but I didn't pay any intention and jumped off the wall.

"FIRE!!" The soldier screamed as I zigzagged to not get hit and ran into the forest.

With heavy breaths and my vision starting to darken, I could feel the vessels around my face pulp blood into the back of my head as if I had a second heart up there.

"Fuck…" I cursed once again as I tried to control my breath and I then sat down on a tree stump as I could feel I was about to puke.

"… They didn't come after me, right?" I muttered to myself with a tired look as I started to listen to the surroundings for any sound and luckily for me, there were none.

After some time, with controlled breaths I started to get up. 

  "I need to go to the orphanage." I mumbled before making my way there.

.

As I journeyed through the forest, a growing sense of unease gnawed at me. And finally, I arrived at the orphanage, but something was off. There was no one in the building. 

Tired and confused, I went to the front of the orphanage. Only to see a group of children with two gods and a man in stylish clothes before them holding a scroll.

The man man's authoritative voice carried through the air as he began to speak., 

"Per the order of the Head of the Sanjouno family, Kenji, and new Heir to the family, Haruko, as of this moment. The Sanjouno family will stop their support for this orphanage." He declared.

"And it is advised that they sever their support for the disowned child Haruhime. Failure to do so will result in being labeled as criminals within the Sanjouno territory and facing expulsion from the family's properties." The man said and as he finished, he closed his scroll. "That is all." Before he departed.

The children who were too young to know what happened had confused looks while the older ones had shocked ones. Especially the two gods their expression visibly hardened.

"Kids…" Lady Tsukuyomi said in a sweet voice, but her expression betrayed her true turmoil. "Why don't you all go to sleep." She asked and the children complied. 

I then made eye-contact with lord Takemikazuchi, and he nudged his head towards the temple. Understanding what he meant, I complied.

.

After a while, lord Takemikazuchi and lady Tsukuyomi came in, joined by the other four I had trained with. The atmosphere was heavy with despair.

"Nagisa-dono…" Mikoto was the first to speak. "Is it true?" She asked.

And after hesitating a little, running the scene of Haruhime being disowned through my head and seeing her hollow eyes, I reluctantly nodded.

"But then!! What will happen to her!!" She asked furiously.

I could see the tears in her eyes, but I had to tell the truth. "…She will be sold." I answered, my tone filled with sadness.

Mikoto opened her mouth once more, but lord Takemikazuchi lifted his hand and stopped Mikoto.

He then asked.

"Then… about the support…" 

"That is also true." 

I confirmed as most started to cry a little for losing a friend and I too, started to tear up a little.

"Then…The orphanage will have a hard time." Lady Tsukuyomi spoke up. And everyone in the room was silent with the occasional sniff and whimper.

This situation was the worst, we relied heavily on the support from the Sanjouno family. And now that is gone. The funds of the orphanage will be heavily reduced.

Amidst the sorrow, I then proposed.

"Then I will go to Orario and become an adventurer." I declared.

"NO!! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG!!" Lady Tsukuyomi rejected immediately however lord Takemikazuchi stayed quiet and looked me dead in the eye before asking.

"…Can you, do it?"

"TAKE!!" Lady Tsukuyomi screamed at him. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS HE'S NOT EVEN OF AGE!!" 

But lord Takemikazuchi defended. "He will in a few weeks, and he is the strongest, Tsukuyomi. You know as well as I do that with the current amount of funds, we won't last a year. Even if Bob gives us a discount, we will never make it in two years and there are still children migrating to the orphanage." Lord Takemikazuchi refuted.

"But then why does he have to go alone? Why can't the other kids go with him, with you as well! I can take care of the orphanage and you go with the kids to Orario. That was the plan, wasn't it?" She pleaded as she began to stress.

"The kids aren't ready yet. It will at least take two more years before they can master their techniques, maybe even more, while Nagisa already mastered his." Lord Takemikazuchi refuted once again.

"But what Familia will he join!?" 

"Tsukuyomi, I have a list of names of gods I'm friends with in Orario." Lord Takemikazuchi replied calmly. "He can ask them to join their familia for a while before I come with the children in two years, before joining us again." 

"…" Lady Tsukuyomi, having no more words turned to me before finally asking. "Are you sure about this?" 

"Yes, Lady Tsukuyomi. This is the best way to get funds for the orphanage." I responded with a sad smile and a heavy heart seeing her care so much about me.

"…All right." She finally agreed as she couldn't argue any longer. As all the children could do nothing but look on in disbelief.

"Bob will return the day of your birthday Nagisa. He said he would get you something special. You will go with him to Orario. Understood?" Lord Takemikazuchi asked as lady Tsukuyomi stared at me with a sad look.

"All right." 

"Now then, children get some rest… It's been a long day." He said before he left with lady Tsukuyomi trailing after him.

I then looked at the others in the room before going in for a group hug as everyone started to cry.

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words: 2735

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