A group of ninjas attacked us.

　Incidentally, "ninja" is a profession unique to the people of the East, and is good at espionage and assassination.
　Probably all of these women are Eastern people.
　It seems that the Imperial State seems to have extended its influence to the east as well.

　Well, that's beside the point.

''Huh?''

　Suddenly, the girls stopped moving.

''Hey, what is this?''
A hand on the ground...?

　Grabbing the ankles of the surprised girls were the earthen arms I had created with my yellow magic.
　I was suddenly taken off my feet and some of them fell face first to the ground.

''You don't think you can even use magic?''
'That can't be........!　I'm sure he has friends somewhere!

　I'm paying attention to my surroundings as I get myself up, but there's no one there.

Phew!
Oops.

　The one who destroyed the earthen arms first was the small girl who seemed to be holding them together.
　Was it called maple.
　I'm not going to be the only one who can do this, but I'm going to be the only one who can do it.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

What?

　It blew up again.
　His body is small and he flies well.
　Moreover, he collided with another ninja who had just escaped from an earthen arm, and they rolled on the ground together.

'How dare you!

　The other ninjas jumped at me one after another in exasperation.
　But perhaps because of the blood on my head, they were not coordinated as if they were.
　I incapacitated them in turn.


　　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


Hurry!　He's going to take all the credit for this!
Yes!

　There was a woman running through the city, scolding her subordinates.

　She had beast ears on her head and a long tail extending from her hips.
　She was large for a woman, yet her movements were as agile as a cat.
　When she raised her voice, sharp fangs peeked out of her mouth.

　And that's as it should be.
　She was not a mere human.

　A type of subhuman with the characteristics of a beast - a beastman.
　She was of the tiger race, which is said to have the greatest fighting ability of all of them.

　Her name was Tina.
　She was one of the Eight Imperial Generals.

''That little bastard!　This is my territory!

　She ran at full speed, roaring in frustration.

　This city was already under the control of the imperial state, and Tina had been entrusted with its administration.
　It was only a short while ago that she had received word that there was someone the Queen was looking for.

　If she could bring herself back with this, Her Majesty would praise her!
　She was as happy as a domesticated dog, but at the same time, she received some unavoidable information.

　It is said that the ninjas led by the maple tree, also one of the eight generals, had made contact with their target ahead of the others.
　And not only did they send their men into the territory without permission, they didn't send any communication to Tina.

"You've got to be kidding me!　I will not let you take it from me!

　However, the opponent was a [Highest Rank] ninja princess who was skilled in covert action.
　If they fought directly, Tina wouldn't lose, but once they were able to escape, it was difficult to chase them.

　I've ordered my subordinates to keep her in place, but........

　And so, the destination is finally approaching.

''Tina-sama!''

　And that's where he meets up with one of his subordinates.
　It looks like he's in quite a hurry.

"Tch, I didn't know we'd already gotten away--

　Tina clicked her tongue with a nasty guess.

What--?

　I noticed it.

"What the hell is this...?

　Here and there along the road, there are people lying in black garb.
　Of course, Tina knows about them.

　One of the eight imperial generals is a ninja group led by the Maple of the Shinobi Princess.

　There is only one young man standing.
　The characteristics of this group are completely consistent with what I've heard about the Arel.

"Could it be that you did this...?


　　　◇ ◇ ◇


　For now, I've neutralized the ninja group.

　Even so, it was as if no one had come after all this rampage.
　Probably these guys were trying to prevent people from coming around in some way or another.
　Well, we are thankful that no onlookers have gathered.

　Just then, a large presence approached us at high speed.

　And the one who appeared was a beastman woman.
　Probably the tiger race.
　She was breathing on her shoulder as if she was in a great hurry.

"What is this...?

　She seemed stunned to see the ninjas fainting and moaning everywhere.
　Apparently, it wasn't like they were passing by by by accident.

''You don't mean to tell me that Teme did this...?
Yeah?
"....what an idiotic thing to do...
Are you one of these guys?　Don't worry. I didn't even take your life.

　And that's when she noticed the girl lying at the end of the road and rushed over to her in a hurry.

'Oi, what happened?
"...hmm. As you can see. I tried to slip away and catch him first, and he got me.

　The leader of this ninja group, a girl named Kaede.

'Why are you even Teme there and all of them are wiped out?
It was a normal loss.
Isn't this an unemployed person?
I don't know.

　I interrupted their conversation.

"I'm unemployed.
And that's what he says.
Tsk, you call yourself that.
'No, I really do. ........Mm.

　As I thought that multiple more signs were approaching, they appeared one by one to surround me.
　All of them are beastmen.

But I'm not going to be the only one. Thanks to you, I didn't let you snatch the credit from me.

　The tiger beastman from earlier sniffs and releases the maple to look at me.

''I am Tina, one of the eight imperial generals. Unlike these guys who are good at running and hiding, you guys are genuine warriors, you know?

　Apparently, this time we have to take on this group of beastmen.