After Crystal got teleported away with Mary, I was left with my companions and Emilia.

The Nekomata sighed, "It seems like you saved me once again, Aster… I'm thinking that you might even be my lucky charm."

I giggled, "Or a curse, maybe. Considering all of these things happened while I was around."

She shook her head, "I would have thought of that if it wasn't the fact that all of these things would have happened with or without your involvement. It's only because you are here that I am getting the better outcome."

Well… I suppose she has a point.

Emilia then turned to look at the Shadow Summon I had created with Crystal's likeness, "So how are we dealing with this?"

Well… I suppose all I need to do is inflict a grievous enough injury on the Shadow Summon to make her look like she's dead?

Before I could figure out what was the best way to do that, the Shadow Summon materialised a sword using Umbramancy before stabbing herself in the abdomen with it.

She then looked at me, as though having a sword in her abdomen was something that happened on a daily basis.

Oh… Well… I suppose that works too?

Then I noticed that there was an absence of blood despite such a huge wound.

"Umm… Just to check… Do you bleed?" I asked.

"No, Master."

Well… That complicated matters a little… I'd think if we brought her with a gaping hole in her stomach but there's a clear absence of blood, even I would be suspicious of it…

Err… Do I cut myself and smear my blood over her or something?

Fortunately, Emilia came to my rescue.

"We have some live animals below this deck that we can slaughter for their blood if that helps?"

Oh! That would work! Just smear their blood over her and she should look like she's dead! You're a genius, Emilia!

My Shadow Summon gave me a look with a cute tilt of her head, as though she was waiting for my order.

"Err… Just pretend that you're dead," I told her.

"Understood, Master."

She then crumpled onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Even for a Shadow Summon, she seemed quite dedicated to the act huh?

It was settled that Emilia would bring my Shadow Summon down to where she kept the animals and have one of them bleed over her.

Err… That sounded wrong but whatever.

In the meantime, it was also decided to further elaborate on the ruse by having us go back to where the slaves were and comment to the guards that the thief tried to escape by using me as a hostage. Because of that, she ended up getting killed.

Perfect plan!

Alright, let's just get back up on deck and then find those guards again to tell them the news!

Except when we got up there, we found someone currently engaged in a fight with the guards.

The first thing I noticed was that the person was dressed in a similar fashion as Crystal, as in she was also wearing a shinobi outfit as well. Is this person part of her family or is there like a clan of ninjas or something?

The difference between her outfit and Crystal's was that her head was covered as well, leaving only a slit for her eyes and an opening for her black hair that was tied in a ponytail.

The three guards there seemed to be able to fight on par with the newcomer but it was only because she seemed to be looking for something and not concentrating on the fight.

"Where's my sister?!" She screamed, throwing a few daggers targeted at one of the guards' legs.

The other guard covered his buddy by deflecting the daggers away with his sword, giving the last guard the opportunity to try and close the distance and slash at her.

She stepped away and brought her sword around in a slash from the side, only to have it be parried away by the same guard.

Ok… Err… What do I do now?

The ninja girl threw a few more daggers at the guards but none of them hit their marks as they were either deflected away or blocked.

She seemed to be quite frustrated that she wasn't making any progress since the guards were not answering her questions at all.

That was when she looked in our direction and then she rushed towards me with her hand outstretched as if to grab me.

I was going to dodge her attempted grab but Katsuki intercepted her before I could, grabbing the ninja girl out of the air and slamming her on the deck.

Odeta then joined in by pouncing on her, pinning the girl to the ground.

Yeah… No way she's getting out from under that.

"Get… Get off me!! Where did you take my sister, you bastards?! Release her!!"

The guards were rushing towards us but I waved at them, "It's fine, let us handle this."

They were obviously unwilling but since they knew who we were, or at least knew our Family, they knew better than to protest.

I went to the struggling girl that was still pinned to the ground by both Katsuki and Odeta, "Hello~ I don't suppose you'll tell me your name?"

"Nnngghhhh!! Get off of me!! What did you do to my sister?!"

"Perchance, is your sister named Crystal?"

She froze before glaring at me, "You… How do you know?! What did you do to her?!"

I was considering what I should tell her when Emilia's voice came from the side, "Your sister is dead."

All of us turned to see her dragging the 'corpse' of my Shadow Summon by one of her feet, leaving a bloody trail in her wake.

Oh wow, she really went for it huh?

The girl's eyes widened at the sight, "Sis… Sister? No… No way…"

Emilia tilted her chin at her, "Seems like you are definitely sisters since this one was also stupid enough to try and take the Young Mistress of the Nilm Family hostage. Maybe if she actually honoured her word she wouldn't end up in this pathetic state."

"No! Noooo!! You're lying!! How can my sister lose to someone like you!! She's the strongest!! You're lying!"

Emilia smirked at her, "If you really think I'm lying, why don't you go and have a look at her body?"

She then threw my Shadow Summon over the side of the ship, all of us watching her sail through the air and plummet to the watery depths below with a loud splash.

The girl became quite distraught at the sight and flailed around, even succeeding to lift herself an inch above the ground before Odeta slammed her back down again.

Emilia then came over to my side and motioned towards the two girls pinning the ninja girl down, "Stand her up."

Odeta narrowed her eyes at her, "I don't take orders from you."

Oh damn.

I smiled wryly at the Amrap, "It's ok, ahem… Lift her up please."

"Wahahaha! Of course!"

She then lifted the girl up by her arms, locking them behind her back and dangling her in the air.

Emilia cleared her throat to hide her embarrassment, "Ahem… Well, do you want to go join your sister?"

"You… You… You'll regret this!! Once my family knows about this, we'll be coming after you! You'll live the rest of your days cowering at every shadow you see because we'll definitely be coming for you!! You hear me?!"

"Really now? Well, I'm looking forward to it. Why don't you take a nap first?"

The Nekomata turned to me and I nodded at Odeta.

She switched her grip and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck, choking her out.

The girl gasped as her air supply was cut off, her hand reaching to her waist to fish out what looked like another knife.

She was about to use it to stab into Odeta's arm but Katsuki intercepted it with her own dagger, smacking the blade out of her hands with the flat side of her weapon.

The girl glared at my Inugami maid but there was nothing else she could do as her body visibly slackened, having been rendered unconscious.

Odeta then dropped the girl unceremoniously on the ground, the poor girl falling flat on her face with a soft thump.

Ouch.

"What do you want to do with her?" I asked Emilia.

"I don't want anything to do with her. The sister was already a big enough of a pain so I'm glad to be rid of her. Consider her a gift from me to you, Lady Nilm. I'm sure your Family can train her better than the Modgniks could."

I understood that she meant for me to take her back to meet with her real sister so that she could find out the truth from her.

Right then, a flash of light suddenly flew out from under the ninja girl's clothes, flying off into the horizon faster than any of us could react.

"What was that?" I asked.

Lisa hesitated, "I think… That was a spell that sends out a call for help?"

Oh great…

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