Absolute Depravity: Reincarnated with a lustful System-Chapter 29 - Shadow Blade Sisters

Boxed in from all sides by convoy carriages filled with adventurers, Haruki was finally on his path to Daria. To further strengthen his security two female members of the shadow blades were traveling with him inside his oakwood carriage. The last one of these identical triplets, Karla, was out on foot making good use of her ninja abilities to spy out any possible danger.

"I'll soon switch with big sis for surveillance duty," Sitting across from Haruki and Asuka, Jenna finally uttered something after an hour of silence. "Fina, Keep Lord Frost safe while we switch."

"Of course, you don't need to tell me," Cleaning her kunai, Fina replied without even looking at her sister. "And, don't forget that I am older than Karla."

"Keep fooling yourself, she's a minute older than us both," The quarrel amongst sisters was getting surprisingly deeper. "Just keep our Lord safe, alright?"

Offering no response to Jenna, Fina began to stack her kunai by her waist belt. Scoffing at her condescending act, Jenna reached for her long dark hair and quickly tied them into a bob. Dressed in an all-black suit, the girls were as elusive as a shadow. Pulling up her dark mask, Jenna got off her seat and held the door of the racing carriage open.

"Dammit!" Being blasted with scorching steam, she instinctively let out a curse. "The damned tiger is turning the snow into vapor, no wonder it's scorching hot inside the carriage!"

The burning claw tiger was an indigenous beast of the tundra, however, since food was scarce in these lands, they often passed their lives hibernating in their dens and rarely ventured out into the territories of humans. Thus, it was no surprise that such folly in making it draw a carriage went completely unnoticed by everyone.

"Go switch already, the beast is only helping us by masking us in mist," As if personally offended by her harsh words against the beast, Fina protested against her sister.

"Aghhhh!" Jenna cried before jumping out of the carriage.

Having witnessed the sisters' interaction with each other, Haruki could only imagine how much of a headache it must've been for their parents to handle them. However, at the moment he didn't have the luxury to worry about something so meager. Before getting into the carriage, he had planned to spend his leisure time with Asuka going over his plans as they both took care of their carnal curses. But now with the sister accompanying them, draining those levels that Asuka had acquired from someone else had to wait a while longer.

"Fina! I told you not to fight with Jenna again!" Jumping into the carriage and instantly complaining was the last of the triplets, karla.

"Mhnmm," Fina continued to ignore the presence of her sisters.

As her eyes met Haruki's, she felt extremely embarrassed by her unprofessional behavior. Getting to her knees, she held her arm over her heart before looking up at him.

"Apologies my lord, I shouldn't be shouting in your presence," Taking a closer look at her tanned face, Haruki noticed a pair of light wounds around her neck.

"It's okay, but how did you get hurt?" He asked before gesturing Asuka to address to her wounds.

While getting healed by Asuka, Karla explained how there were monsters roaming around the tundra and while fighting one such creature she was slightly injured around the neck by a projectile.

'It's been so long since I've been out in the open that I completely forgot about monsters and such.' Remembering a time when he used to defend his field from kobolds and goblins, a genuine smile crept onto his face. 'I wouldn't mind fighting a few myself.'

"Lord Frost, if you do not mind, can I ask you something?" Karla's sudden interruption broke Haruki's chain of thoughts.

Looking at her, he noticed a childlike glimmer in her dark eyes.

"Sure, go ahead," he answered, a bit curious as to what she wanted to ask.

Enthusiastically clamping her hands, she leaned forward. Seeing her getting close to Haruki, Asuka quickly yet gently pushed her back into the seat.

"Ah-Ahem! Sorry, ehehe," Her response only made him wonder if she was really the oldest one of the bunch. "Have you met the emperor? Or maybe gone to Feral land? Maybe even to Scorchen Gaia?" 𝒃𝒆𝙙𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Her peculiar line of questions drew everyone's eyes directly to her. It wasn't that she had said something odd, or even slightly strange, but the implication those questions carried made everyone visibly uncomfortable.

"Sis, miss Asuka is a demi-fox, I don't think you should be asking such questions in front of her," Giving her sister a stern look, Fina tightly clutched Karla's arm.

Turning her attention to Asuka, Karla clasped her hands apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Smiling at Karla, Asuka looked away to the other side.

"It's okay, only feral demi-humans live there," The hushed tone of her voice bled hurt, but hiding it behind a smile she kept going. "Besides, the emperor will soon take over that place so it'd be one with the empire anyways."

Despite the Feral lands being the homeland of demi-humans, Asuka herself had never lived there. With the generosity she'd been given in Atlas, she had little connection to the place, and yet for some obscure reason, the thought of those demi-human children being torn to shreds in the war with the empire, bleed her heart to no end.

"As for the emperor, no, I haven't seen him, and the last news about Scorchen Gaia I received was about the escalation of our war with the demons," saying that Haruki was reminded of Asmodia and how little she'd been interfering with him in recent days. "However, since we're nowhere near the lair of the demon lords, it's bound to go on for a lot longer."

'Why the hell does she wanna know all this anyways?'

"Really?!" Karla enthusiastically yelled out.

"Settle down, you politics nerd!" tearing up a piece of cloth Fina stuffed into her gaping mouth.

"Pfft!" watching the interaction from the edge of her eyes, Asuka let out a chuckle.

Shattering their sense of security, an abrupt decline in the carriages' speed, raised suspicion in everyone's eyes. To everyone's knowledge, the carriages weren't supposed to stop until they'd passed the tundra, thus the sudden change of plans heightened their sense of caution.

"Stay behind us," Moving in front of Haruki, the two sisters clutched the door to prevent it from being opened.

Getting off the seat, Asuka opened the coachman's window at the front. To her terror, she only saw the tiger with no sight of the coachman. Turning around, her eyes nervously jittered as her mind searched for any answers.

"Asuka, what's happening?" Noticing the fazed look on her, Haruki shook her by the arms.

"The coachman...he's not there, and I don't see the other carriages either!" Snapping out of her trance of terror, she began to calm down a little.

"What do you mean? We are in the middle carriage, they can't be far f-"

Interrupting him was a rhythmic knock on the carriage door. Glancing back at Haruki, Karla motioned him to stay at the very back.

"Fina, use it," She whispered to her sister.

"I know, detect presence!" Upon the activation of her ability, a dome of green light sprouted from her body and encompassed everything in her close proximity. "No...No way..."

Frozen solid as if she had seen a ghost, Fina glared at thin air with her eyes wide open.

"It's the lanterned reaper!" Springing up onto her feet, she drew deep shallow breaths and began to hyperventilate. "We're stranded in an illusion all on our own!"