Chương 45: 45
It was close to midnight, but the Murano mansion was still not calm. A lot of maids and servants were still busy cleaning the whole place for fear of the disease.
It wasn't until one in the morning that some calmness was restored to the mansion, and Murano finally relaxed a little after hearing the report from his subordinate. So he could sleep for a while.
But unlucky for him, this calmness was soon broken as one of his subordinates came to wake him up.
Murano had just closed his eyes and still hadn't gone into a deep sleep when he was informed of some terrible news.
He got up and hastily dressed, asking in an angry voice, "What do you mean Hibarayashi is sick? He was fine just a few hours ago."
His subordinate's face turned as white as a sheet, with no color remaining. He said, shaking in his shoes, "Murano-sama, the ninja who was with him just told me that Hibarayashi-san got a fever suddenly. I already sent the doctor there and came straight to inform you."
Murano cursed under his breath and halted his steps. He asked in a heavy tone, "Do you think he got infected with the disease?"
Upon hearing this, his subordinate's face paled further, and he started shaking. As the one who arranged most of the stuff today, if anything happened, it was going to be his responsibility.
After a few seconds of silence, he finally gathered all the courage he had and replied, stuttering, "No... no, I don't think so, Murano-sama. That type of disease can't infect him this fast. He should be just tired, and the accident previously should have affected him."
It wasn't known if Murano believed the man's words, but they seemed to have calmed both of them a little.
Murano then made his way to the floor where Hibarayashi was, but he didn't go in and just stood at the door.
It was a stifling atmosphere, heavy with apprehension and unease, and no one dared to break the silence. All of Hibarayashi's subordinates were on edge, feeling as though they were walking on hot coals. Even the ninja was visibly agitated.
The money and benefits that he received from working with Hibarayashi were substantial. They had allowed him to start a family and build a comfortable life for himself.
If something were to happen to Hibarayashi, finding a new job would be significantly more challenging, and the rewards would be far less enticing. No one wanted to be known as the shinobi whose employer had perished.
As the seconds ticked by, the doctor appeared to drag out the wait, making it feel like an eternity.
It wasn't until they were mentally drained that the doctor finally emerged.
Hibarayashi's subordinates immediately surrounded him, clamoring for an update on their leader's condition.
The doctor seemed a little disoriented, caught off guard by the sudden onslaught of questions from people who were not his superiors.
He refused to divulge any information.
The ninja was the first to notice the doctor's discomfort, and he quickly guided him to Murano's location.
The doctor breathed a sigh of relief and increased his pace. When he finally caught sight of Murano, he broke into a wide grin and announced
"Murano-sama, please don't worry. The patient is simply suffering from a mild fever, and there are no indications of any underlying disease.
I have administered some medication, and he should be back to his normal self by tomorrow morning."
Murano wasn't the only one who heard the news; everyone did because the doctor's voice was quite loud. He wanted to give the good news to Murano first.
Murano was very happy to hear the news, he looked at the doctor quite fondly and said, "Good job, Doctor," as he patted his back.
Then he looked at his subordinates and said, "Reward him generously, don't forget."
The doctor's smile grew even wider; the pressure from this whole night wasn't for nothing.
Murano then turned his attention to the Hibarayashi party and said, "You heard what the doctor said, Hibarayashi-san is fine. Maybe all the drinking and the travel had affected his health."
They chose to believe Murano's words as they had no other choice. Without Hibarayashi, none of them had the status to oppose him.
It was close to three in the morning, and all the people present were very tired from all the accidents that had happened that day, so everyone chose to honestly go back to their rooms and rest for the night.
But God seemed to be playing a game with them that day. It was a constant cycle of torture; whenever they let their guard down and started to relax, something else would happen.
An hour after everyone in the mansion had gone to bed, they were woken up with the sounds of yelling that ran across. Even Hibarayashi, who was still recovering, was woken up.
When everyone got out to check, they were greeted with flames that were burning the stable and coming closer and closer to the mansion. Murano lost his temper and yelled, "Damn it, when is this day going to end?"
He then turned his focus back to the shinobi who appeared behind him and said, "What about you? Isn't it your job to protect the place? How could a fire start now? I want you to investigate all of this. Whoever did this needs to be found."
The four shinobi remained silent and didn't respond. They had been investigating the whole night and hadn't found any culprits or answers. Everything seemed like an accident.
But such an answer wasn't acceptable to Murano. It would be far better if they had a culprit that he could blame for everything. Then it be just be his bad luck for today.
So one of them cleared his throat and said, "Don't worry, Murano-san. We have already found some evidence. We will continue investigating, and we will give you an answer by tomorrow morning."
Murano nodded his head, then went out. But this time, he didn't continue to sleep; instead, he just sat there waiting. 'This time I'm ready. Let's see what could happen,' he thought.
He sat in his study and waited for hours until his eyes were closing on themselves from exhaustion, but nothing happened, and it seemed that finally, the accidents had stopped.
Even when morning came, the whole mansion was still calm and silent. Yesterday was really a test of all their minds, especially Hibarayashi. Yesterday felt like an eternity to him. His back was still drenched with sweat from the nightmare he had, and his hands were still shaking when he tried to remember it. It was like hell on earth.
So when he woke up this morning, he decided that his visit would end, and he would never come back to this cursed place. Not only that horrible disease, but he also had his own illness and those nightmares.
'It's like a message from God to me,' he thought, even though he usually didn't believe in God. But today was an exception.
He got up and hastily changed his clothes before heading out and said, "Prepare yourself and inform the guard. We will leave today."
All of his party immediately agreed and didn't try to change his mind. They all wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
Of course, his decision couldn't be hidden from Murano, and he made his way right after he heard them.
Even with his tired face, he tried to put on the happiest expression and said, "It seems you are fine now, Hibarayashi-san. You really scared us with that fever yesterday," he laughed.
Then he continued, "But it doesn't matter. Your body is fine, and you got over it in just one night. Your body is really strong in this regard," he joked. But this time, Hibarayashi didn't respond to him and just nodded silently.
The air grew tense, and Murano's expression also changed. He cleared his throat and said in a serious tone, "What are you doing, Hibarayashi-san? This isn't what we agreed on."
Before Hibarayashi could say anything, Murano continued, "Plus, I already investigated. That maid from yesterday should be used by my competitor Iwamoto, but this is as far as he could get.
I asked the doctor yesterday, and there was nothing wrong with your body. It seems it's just fatigue from the travel, and that fire was just an accident. Someone seems to have forgotten their cigarettes in the stable."
Usually, Hibarayashi should have listened and accepted such an excuse as it made sense, especially with the money that Murano provided.
But today was different. He said coldly, "I don't know if it was just an accident, but I think we can discuss our partnership later. It seems my body isn't doing fine. Let me go back and rest, then we can continue where we left off."
Hearing this, all the smile drained from Murano's face, and he replied, "You know Iwamoto. He doesn't have the power to do anything similar to what happened. Why are you making this go on for so long? We can finish our work today."
Hibarayashi, of course, knew about Iwamoto, and he could understand that maybe everything yesterday was a big accident, but those nightmares sure weren't.
'It doesn't matter if it truly was an accident. In the past, I heard that there are some people just aren't compatible with each other and can't seem to work together. It seems that Murano and I are in this category,' he thought.
No matter how much Murano tried, he couldn't change Hibarayashi's mind. In the end, he gave up and left angrily.
Unknown to both parties, Haru, who was the mastermind behind all of this, was already yawning from boredom.
He looked at the person beside him and asked, "This should end the mission. When are we going to be back?"
One nodded and then replied, "Soon. Let's wait until Hibarayashi leaves just to make sure."
'That incense sure is potent,' Haru thought. Yesterday when they were all at the party, he sneaked into Hibarayashi's room and replaced the incense inside with one of his own.
He found the art of making different incense in the Senju archive, and the one that he used had the opposite effect. Instead of inducing relaxation, it triggered vivid nightmares.
'It would bring your deepest and biggest fear. It work really well, especially on normal people,' he thought. Its effect on ninja wasn't as much, as they all had far better mental energy than the normal person.
One then asked out of the blue, "Do you think the relationship between those two can be fixed?" bringing Haru out of his daze.
Haru thought for a while and looked at the huge mansion. He replied, chuckling, "From his character Hibarayashi will not give back what he already took, and Murano will surely not forget this"
'especially with those nightmares. Their relationship is basically over. In this world that still has quite a belief in Buddha and God, those signs were more than enough,' Haru thought.
He then looked at the back of the mansion and said, "Iwamoto still doesn't know that the relationship is broken. Hibarayashi's travel back without Murano's help will be hard."
One understood what Haru meant and said, "I also prepared something for him."
Haru looked at Hibarayashi, who was leaving, and thought, 'This poor bastard. Like Murano and Iwamoto wasn't enough, now even one , he had to lose a layer of skin with just this trip.'
But this is what he deserved. no matter what the reason. If he wanted to end the relationship with Murano, he should at least give back what he took.
'Taking everything but giving nothing back, there is no such thing in the Ninja world,' Haru thought.
And sure enough, even before Hibarayashi left the town, trouble came his way. Iwamoto, who had gotten information about his identity, could now cause trouble in the open as he didn't fear him.
He didn't know that Hibarayashi already hated him for getting that disease so close to him, but even if Iwamoto knew, he would take that accusation even if he didn't do it.
With Hibarayashi's reputation, the daimyo wouldn't get involved in any animosity he had.
Despite his status, in this town, Murano and Iwamoto were the big bosses. Now that he had both of their hatred, even if he just wanted to get out, he couldn't. Trouble started coming left and right, from accidents with civilians to restaurants not serving them food.
It took him hours just to get out of town, and what he faced there were bandits that tried to rob him. Hibarayashi looked at those bandits, who were wearing such a complete set of armor and his head hurt. 'Those people didn't even try to hide it,' he thought.
At least with the help of his Shinobi guard, he finally got them to stop chasing him, but then another accident happened.
The reliable horses that they had started running off and refused to cooperate. It was as if they had gone mad, jumping and thrashing about violently, attacking anyone who tried to approach them. Their eyes were wild, and foam dripped from their mouths as they snorted and neighed in a frenzied panic.
Hibarayashi and his party looked at the sky, which was close to becoming dark, and looked at each other, uncertain of their next move.
Finally, the ninja cleared his throat and gave a suggestion. "Hibarayashi-san, there's a small town three hours' walk from here. We could get there if we start walking."
Hibarayashi was already tired and didn't have any energy to complain, so they started walking.
After nearly four hours of walking, Hibarayashi and his party finally arrived at the town.
They were completely exhausted and could no longer continue walking. The journey had been arduous, particularly with their cumbersome clothes and footwear. They didn't complain about the modest inn and went straight to rest.
Haru looked at them and at the one who was beside him and asked, "Even that ninja is tired. We can do anything we want now."
One nodded, then looked at the three and said, "Did you destroy their carriage?" Three nodded his head.
One then hummed and said, "Just rob them of everything precious. That should be enough."
Haru agreed, but in his heart, he was complaining, 'This is more than enough. Hibarayashi by now is close to the breaking down. This should be the breaking point.'
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