Chapter 525:

Collapsing Stack

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Yuki and Saki both looked at each other the moment Yumi said that. They had a bit of an idea of what she might be trying to do, but it wasn’t something that she discussed with them. Though they had little time to talk freely.

“You want to side with me?”

“Factions are being formed as we speak. People are out for blood and there’s going to be few places safe.”

“And why would my Lady want to join me?”

“I have a few reasons, but the only one that should matter to you is that I side with the strong. Being an assistant to my father is a dead end position. As a woman, they don’t take me seriously enough to give real power to.”

Aya smiled a little, becoming more attentive to Yumi with each passing moment. “You’re too passive, that’s why they don’t take you seriously.”

“I’m changing that now. I’m taking my life into my own hands. My father knows nothing of what I’m doing. Likely he would disagree with this.”

“Most definitely. Your family’s quite close with our Lord. This could look like betrayal.”

“I don’t care about any of that. I’ve seen you working since you’ve joined the council. You’ve already got everything planned out. When everything is done you’re going to be in control of it all and I’ll be right there next to you.”

A wide smile came over her face as Yumi said that. “Those are very traitorous words to speak.”

“They’re only the truth. Do we have a deal?”

Aya looked over at Yuki and Saki, ignoring Yumi for a moment. “Your comrade is an interesting one like you two.” Struggling with surprise, they couldn’t hide it all from Aya as she let out a little bit of a laugh. “You’re clever and careful. It would seem I’m not the only one that enjoys the game. I look forward to seeing what it is you three have planned.”

She looked back at Yumi now finished with them. “Yes, I think I will accept you. Everything’s starting to move. You might not have survived this week.”

Chapter 525 – Collapsing Stack

‘First objective cleared…’ Yumi sighed internally with her heart starting to slow down finally. A few times she nearly held her breath not sure how things were going to go. The woman was too unpredictable at the moment for her. She only hoped to make a strong enough case and peak her interest otherwise it might have been game over. She really didn’t know what it would be like if she failed.

Unlike the past world, which had a time loop, she wasn’t going to be able to do a do-over she felt certain of that. She might have lost her mind to the personalities for all she knew. The unknown failure remained and she hoped to keep it that way until she finally cleared this last personality.

Yumi looked back at her friends briefly since the game was up. “Since we’re currently under your plan actively running, what’s happening next?”

“It’s not an exact time, but the move should be happening in the next couple days, depending on how aggressive our Lord is. In the meantime, we will no longer be staying at the Kumasaka estate.”

“So I was right.”

“Figured that out. Glad to see you’re bright.” Aya went back to her desk with negotiations ended. “Things will be quiet while in the Matsushina grounds. So continue about as normal. Make any peace with your old life.”

“I did before I came here.”

“Good. Then let’s begin our work.”

Much of the day Yumi remained within the office working with Aya. The future plans that Aya spoke of were the war effort, which surprised her. She didn’t think that was the next matter to be worrying about. Yumi figured she had designs to finish wresting control of the clan from Matsushina, but that apparently remained further out in her mind.

Nothing further out than the war was on subject though. So she only learned so much as what she was needed for. With the evening coming, they left for shelter that Yuki and Saki secured for them within the town. It was a small house with only one room, but it had enough space for all of them. For all of them, they were used to more comfortable settings by now, but they would live with it.

Yumi wanted to speak with her friends freely since she couldn’t during the day. Letting Aya have her space, as she did allow them theirs, Yumi sat down next to them by their futons. They were going to be taking shifts during the night to watch for them. Even being in an unknown location, they didn’t feel comfortable letting their guard down.

“So you’re both under her banner then.”

“Yeah, it was the only way we were going to survive,” Yuki said.

Yumi looked over at Saki. “You did it, right?”

“And?”

“Was it necessary?”

“It was.”

“And you’re just her assassin now?”

“That’s the shape of it.”

“What about you? She expecting that of you too?”

“No, she’s got different plans for me. I’m supposed to lead her armies into battle.”

“You’re going to be out front in the war?”

“Looks that way. We’re all going to be deeply involved in this war.”

She looked down at the floor troubled by it all. They were always going to be involved, that much she knew, but she tried to avoid having to compromise their morals to do it. However, there didn’t seem to be much choice at least in their mind. They already seemed to have accepted what they were going to have to do if they wanted to help. ‘Perhaps it’s me that needs to change…’

Questioning herself didn’t really seem to be very useful for now. Yumi could wait to see what the future brought for her. She didn’t know how murky things would get anyway. She could be safe from having to make such decisions and this was only a once occurrence for her friends.

Internally sighing, she knew that was going to be impossible to even convince herself of that. This world wouldn’t allow it. It was designed in a specific way and a way to test her. Just like the other worlds tested her in certain ways for her to pass, this was no different. They wanted her to be ruthless, willing to make the call even if it did have a cost to it.

Was this the price she had to pay to have what she wanted?

Yumi found the thoughts more troubling as she wrestled with possibilities. She remembered the voices that whispered in her mind back in the real world. One of the voices that gave her advice had a cold calculating way. It knew all of the right things to say and do to get the exact results that they wanted. The results were ones that she learned to live with so that she could keep surviving.

Every day reminded her of her choices. Each thought of it consumed her, questioning it ever since if she should have listened to them. She broke relationships because of them. Actions had consequences, she knew and accepted that had to happen. Her path was one of choices that she made, even if she didn’t like them. She wouldn’t turn away from them.

But that didn’t stop her from theorizing if they were worth the weight of them, fantasizing about the other world that might have existed had she ignored them rather than invited them. Would she even be in the situation that she found herself in if she didn’t listen to their voices? They might have just been integrated into her mind without trouble. But what would a world like that look like?

Anything that wasn’t her current world was hard to imagine. Saki would probably tell her that it was a waste to spend this much energy on things that could have happened, but she couldn’t avoid it. Her only recourse now was that she could gain mastery over her powers and personalities so that she no longer needed to rely on their whispers to reach the goals that she wanted.

That was all she wanted. It didn’t seem like a lot to ask.

Stuck in feudal Japan, she could only struggle with keeping her own moral center against a world that often seemed to lack one at all. ‘If it wasn’t for my friends, I’d probably have died in such a place…this is not suited to me…’

Unknown alternatives might have swirled around in Yumi’s head, but the world had a certainty that was speeding towards them. It only took two days for Aya’s planned next stage of her scheme to finally take place.

On the morning of the day, they returned to the Matsushina estate as normal only to find it in a complete upheaval once more. It came as less of a surprise for them since Aya insisted that it would happen, though she was vague about the details. So all they could do was learn the same as everyone else when they entered the estate.

The guards let them through with little trouble and they went to the main gate where everyone was gathered. An announcement was said to be happening and they hurried over to find out.

Death seemed like the only course that would happen in Yumi’s mind. The eye for an eye would be the ruling code amongst the Lords. Though ever since the death of the Lord’s brother, she hadn’t been to a council meeting or seen the Lord. So she didn’t know how he was doing and if he sought out revenge.

Contrary to whom Yumi figured would be giving the announcement, it was in fact Lord Takasugi, someone that she had very few interactions with. ‘Did he do something?’ She nudged forward the best she could to pick up his voice.

“—deeply troubled by what I learned. But I can’t rest when someone has harmed our Lord in such a way. The justice served last night was long coming. I only wish I could have been the one to do it. Anyone that seeks over Lord Matsushina will face the same consequences.”

By then, the Lord finished talking and Yumi didn’t get very much information from it. She had been too late to learn anything. Leaning around, she looked for anyone that might be willing to talk to her. The crowd around Takasugi remained for longer than she expected as further discussion on Matsushina’s step happened. It felt a little odd not having him present.

She had to wait the crowd out until it finally started to thin out and her uncle standing at the front keeping everyone from running over the gate. Yumi hurried up to him to finally get the rest of her answers. “Uncle, what happened?”

“It was Lord Kumasaka this time.”

Eytha
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