Chapter 24: Oarburgh Clan Pt. 2

Hado kicked off a tree, landing on top of a bandit and shoving his dagger deep into the man's chest, locking eyes with him as the life slipped away from his body.

"Yep!" Barbara yelled loudly as she looked at the younger girl next to her. "She's a natural, looks like you have some competition my little genius!"

Hado smiled innocently, an expression he was getting the hang of recently. He then turned back to face the other two, "I think we're done here."

"Yep!" Barbara yelled again, running up and hugging Hado tightly, picking him up and squeezing his face in between her breasts, "You're so cute daho, and deadly!"

Hado just laughed uncomfortably, ignoring the urge to stab Barbara in the neck. She let go of him, and patted his cheek, "Don't worry, you've proven yourself, we'll take you to the hideout now" she said before turning around and walking towards the forest, dragging Hado along behind her.

The little girl followed, her hand on her sword as she watched around, making sure there were no sneak attacks.

Hado kept quiet until they reached the edge of the woods, where he finally let out a tired sigh. "How much longer Miss Barbara?" He whined, laughing inwardly as he saw the flash of worry from the woman.

"We're almost there! Just through the forest and into the hidden entrance and we'll be able to get some rest."

Hado wanted to laugh, but he held it in. He had to admit, this kind of manipulation was much more fun than making someone fear him. Hell, this woman adored him.

With a little convincing and information on everyone, Hado was sure he could dismantle the Oarburgh clan with nearly no effort.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, they reached a small mound. Barbara looked around, sending wrigglers of her own around the area to scout before pointing at the mound, smiling widely at the two girls.

"This will be both of your first times meeting the clan... Even though I have approved you all, who knows what my family will say about you, I suppose we'll see haha."

With that Barbara rushed in, grabbing the two girls and dragging them in with her.

The place was dark, the only light coming from a few torches placed on either end of the room. In front of Hado stood several women, all of them looking over at the two younger people in front of them.

"Uhh... Who are these girls?" One woman asked, being careful not to sound too disrespectful as Barbara smiled brightly.

"I know I've been on an outing for a while now, but you can't blame me! There's an excellent opportunity here to grow the clan! And it was an order from Mera to find talent for the clan, so stop whining!"

Hado looked at the women, a group of several beautiful female assassins, he was starting to realize a pattern, as well as the reason Najenda had made him dress as a woman.

Barbara ran through all of the information about her journey to the clan. "These two, you've noticed, right? We can recruit these girls without having to fight anyone for it, they're cute girls and free agents, plus... They might be the strongest out of all of you already."

Barbara's confident words made Hado focus in on the conversation more. Was the oarburgh clan that weak? Or was she simply overestimating their abilities?

He knew he could take basically any of the women in the room, but the little girl next to him? She was supposed to be on par with him?

"Go ahead and give the names." He finally said, glancing up to see the assassins had turned away, apparently not believing Barbara's words.

"What names?" Barbara asked, looking at Hado with confusion as he pulled out a dagger and smiled sweetly.

"The names of the bitches I have to beat for them to believe..." He finished, smiling as the assassins shivered, looking at the young girl with shock as Barbara laughed.

"No need for all that Daho!" Barbara said, slapping him on the back.

He pulled away quickly, only for her to catch his arms and start trying to throw him down again.

Hado realized what Barbara had been planning to do right as she began to lean forwards, but with one simple hand, Hado grabbed her collar as he twisted around, the world was spinning before he stopped, eye to eye with Barbara.

"I know you want to prove yourself but remember, we're still assassins, they won't take kindly to threats..."

A few of the women smiled at Hado, laughing amongst each other. "She's feisty," One said. "Alright whatever, let 'em join," Another said.

It seemed his little act had paid off, even if he hadn't meant to do so. People were easily impressed...

Hado shook the anger off him, realizing how important they were for him to gain experience in combat, and maybe learn a bit more about how this world worked.

Hado realized something then, Barbara was willing to bring him without checking because they didn't have any choice, she wouldn't make a move that put anyone at risk, and it wasn't that she wanted power, because even with how much stronger he was than any of these girls, they needed more fighting power.

'What makes these people so special then? Aren't they a bit... Useless?' Hado thought, looking around at the Oarburgh clan with a new mindset.

He didn't even need to destroy this clan, they weren't worth the effort. Barbara needed his power because they were weak.

'How Adorable...'

Hado put the knife down, he would still win, no reason to make this difficult...

"Why do I need your clan's approval?" He asked with his arms crossed over his chest. "If you didn't think I'd kill your strongest, why would you accept me? Just because you have the guts to die doesn't mean everyone else does. How can I join a family if I don't know they'll survive..."

Barbara's mouth dropped open in shock, the other assassins were stunned as well.

"There is no point in being with such weaklings, I will leave now." Hado smiled a bit, if they took the bait it would be a good opportunity to instantly gain a bit of clout with the clan.

They began to argue among themselves, but Barbara spoke up, looking at Hado with a weird smile, as if she was proud. "I'll go and explain to the others..."

The little girl next to him smiled and took out her sword, a long side foot blade of razor-sharp steel, and pointed it at Hado.

"You're right," She said, "Let's fight..."

Hado readied his dagger, flashing toward the little girl, who immediately put her weapon in front of her face and blocked his strike.

Hado was completely caught off guard, the little girl was fast. He was quick to counter though, attacking with the edge of the dagger, sliding it off her sword and using the momentum to fling it into her leg.

The little girl remained calm, she pulled the blade out and tossed the hilt aside, making a fist.

"That's enough, both of you have proven yourselves plenty," Barbara said, hitting both of the young girls in the head at the same time, sending them to the ground.

"Ugh, you hit way too hard Barbara," Hado said, rubbing his head, faking his pain as he looked curiously at the young girl.

'Even if I was holding back, she was able to keep up with me quite well...' He thought, the insects inside of him begging for bloodshed.

"We are the Oarburghs, we always fight with our whole hearts! But we're also a family, we fight for each other, not against each other... Speaking of which, we have an assignment," Barbara said, walking up to the clan as they focused on her.

The insects inside of him were already crawling in excitement, the promise of blood so close.

Hado was successfully part of The Oarburgh clan...

...

Later that night, Barbara walked out of the hideout, seeing Merraid Oarburgh standing and looking up at the moon.

Barbara wasn't acting goofy, as she had before with Hado, no she looked serious under her shroud as she looked at the clan leader.

"So you really think that the new member you brought is the same one who managed to take control of my wrigglers?" Merraid asked, smiling toward Barbara, who nodded.

"I'm not good at the technique, but I can get by with a few wrigglers, I took control of some, but the girl... Or, if I'm right, the boy managed to take them back under his control. Daho has a weird presence, and he's dangerously skilled... The empire should not have an asset like him," Barbara said quietly as Merriad looked at her seriously.

"Well then... We'll snuff him out, won't we?" She replied as several danger beasts revealed themselves, standing up after being hidden by the undergrowth and fallen leaves.

Merraid Oarburgh, the last one recorded to have mastered the technique to control danger beasts...