Chương 116: Spy Is Me, I Am Not The 'Worm God' Don't Think, Don't Look At Me, I Am A Normal Baby

My mother has a job now. It's a good job, a really good job, a really really really really really really really really good job. Okay. I don't think you get it. It's a GOOD job. It's not a NORMAL good job. It's the kind of job you can only get through nepotism, and it makes sense since I gave my mother this job, not physically, of course, but through my subordinate Murai Taki that thinks I'm a terrifying (worm)? god. Now. What would you do if your god told you to give a girl a job?

You'll give her a cushy fucking job. I don't know what negotiations they did, because my mind was a bit of a mess when they happened, but my mother got the lion share. So much of a lion share that she was suspicious. I saw it.

The first day after they met, when she came back at home while I was busy hugging myself beneath my blanket, feeling the tremors running through my body, my nauseous body, the kind of traumatizing stuff that could only happen to your body after you went through something so physically abusive your body doesn't know how to react. When she came home. She was... weird. Don't ask how I left my bed. Simple really, a gentle illusion and hiding the neausea with my natural dance. In any case, she was weird, real weird.

She sounded happy? But at the same time suspicious. As if she couldn't really understand what happened. That night when we were eating together, she talked less and asked me "Nebe, what's your favorite food?" Of course, like any good children, I pushed myself up my chair and screamed something like "MEAT!" It looked like it was the answer she needed. And maybe it was some subtle manipulation since the job I cozied her with was from a butcher/hunter monopoly.

The next few days, her suspicion slowly faded out until an almost constant cheery expression danced on her face. Now that's good. Now that's what I want to see, and it kind of make sense when you think about it, when I spied on what her job really was, it went like that: Take care of the customers with a smile. Learn the meat and the prices. Sell. Call Murai if there's a problem, and get payed ten times the usual salary of what could be expected from her job. So yeah.

Me too I'd be happy if my job was to be a glorified cashier and come out of a day of work with a salary only a high ranking manager-like job could give me. That's the pleasure of monopolies, you're filthy rich. And it's not like there's any hidden problems with that job, well, there was the time where my crossbow almost dug through nosey back. The hunter with a big nose, he came in the butcher shop to try and convince Murai about something, again, he didn't expect to see my mother here.

Thankfully, big nose didn't do shit apart from posturing. But it did remind me that I need to figure out a way to take care of this little group of hunters that are trying to take down my monopoly. I've pondered multiple options already, none that satisfactory, and to be honest, right now, they're pretty calm and silent, so as long as this continues.... I don't know why I should be worried. For now I have other problems to take care of.

Problems in the form of hands around my shoulders and Murai Taki staring down at me with big wide blinking eyes while my happy mother presents me to him. Ah. Mother is happy with her new job as I said, really, really happy, so happy that yesterday, she told me that tomorrow we would meet someone with a giddy fucking smile, and then the next morning, instead of going out to train. I took her hand, and let her lead me... closer and closer to Murai shop until.... Until I'm here now. Ah... this is awkward.

"Yeah... that's, something-" My mother takes a small break to look away from Murai before looking back at him "-but yes! That's my cute-" Her hand comes down to ruffle my hair "-son, his name is Neribe but his nickname is Nebe!" She pinches my baby cheek gently as if I was the cutest stuff ever. Murai isn't looking at me for now. He's answering my mother "Oh! The famous studious boy isn't he!"

He tilts forward, leaning closer to me, one hand resting on his waist as he ruffles my hair too, the hood of my cloak hanging back.

"Pleasure to meet you kiddo, I'm Murai" his hand comes up for a fistbump and like is expected of me, I fistbump him, the sleeve of my cloak covering the hand I bruised some days ago when using my hands as a turning aid while sliding.

"Hello Mister Murai!" Something odd happens. The second my voice comes out. He stares at me, his eyes open wide, his face would be a perfect example of 'confusion' If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. It for less than a second. But both of us stare at each other. I keep my smile. Trying to hide my twitching hand behind my back. His smile doesn't die down as much as it sours and get mixed with a bit of confusion.

A drop of rain from my cloak slide down on my cheek, it feels extra cold today, I can feel it. Our staring stop. Both adults in the room laugh like I'm the cutest thing in the entire world and Murai ruffles my hair again. My hand, my entire right hand twitches. Splayed hand begging to close into an hard fist, begging for my other hand to slide over it and for me to shove water into Murai mouth before figuring out a long term illusion that makes him forever unable to try to touch my hair ever again.

I don't like being touched. Nonetheless, I smile at them, and when they start talking about adult things, I act like I'm interested in the meat around. Meat I personally hunted, not like any of them know, of course, I don't care about the meat. I spy on their discussion.

"You're sure I'm not troubling you?"

"Of course not Sanari, that's the least I can do, don't worry about that." He laughs good naturedly before continuing in a smaller tone, I go closer to the worms hanging from the counter and act like I'm busy trying to touch them as he speaks.

"Hope It's not a touchy subject but... why isn't he at the academy?" My mother stumbles with her answer for a second "Ah, well, he's too young. Two year old""Ah! Right right!" He nods in understanding on the edge of my vision "Makes sense, he's very very young..." My mother nods too, repeatedly, jumping on the saving branch he extended, before he closes it in a second "But, did you break Hidefumi rule...?" He leads on, insinuating at something I heard before. In the brothel. Youta. My grandfather.

And me spying in the closet. They talked about child birth or something, don't know the exact details but that's clearly the reason why I'm the youngest and only kid in town. My mother inches closer to him and they start whispering even more together. As smoothly as possible, I get closer to them while acting like a bored child. Words fly "No no, that's fine, I just wanted to know" "Thanks it's...

I know it's a lot, but, mistakes happen" more whispering I can't hear and with a sharp step on my side that's almost like a slide, something I'm DELIBERATELY trying not to do, I hear them again, his voice again.

"So... to be clear, he's a Mastuoko?"

"Yes... yes, technically... but only by blood, nothing else-" "-Yes yes, I got that, don't worry, just wanted to make sure." I turn away sharply, like a kid caught stealing from a candy jar, my hand up and almost touching a wolf rib I hunted a week ago. At the same time they turn, they see my acting, my mother acts first, getting closer "Nebe do-!" Murai cuts her "That's fine Sanari, he's here to learn after all!" The two look at each other before laughing again like some kind of lovebirds. Tsk. Wait, learn?

"Learning?" I turn around to look at them. I get closer, my hands in front of me. Clutched together. The opposite body language someone called 'god' should have.

"What do you mean by 'learn'?" Both of them look at me as I feel my tongue sliding over my teeth, the way it moves, the way each of my letters are pronounced, making sure that EACH of my words are in casual japanese, any words like 'merciful' get thrown away far into the depth of my memory, I will not try my luck. Both of them look down at me, my mother hand coming to rest on my shoulder "Well.... you see. Children before...'

something' happened went through something called 'mentoring' it's, something men usually did, where they-" she licks her lips, struggling once again. Struggling just to tell me that she's trying to get me a job when I'm older. Huh. Well, didn't expect this. That's a problem. I have a lot of things to do. I need to train. My illusions are progressing well, really well, especially my close combat illusions, even if I didn't test them on real people yet I tested them on giant monsters and it works well.

My sliding training has taken a bigger priority too, trying to increase my speed tolerance, I can't afford to stay with Murai for too long. My tongue and my behaviors are already on eggshells. How can I let my mother down? Gently. She keeps talking "-and that takes time, a lot of time, and Murai here-!" I cut her off. Don't want to hear my mother talking about this for hours, she's a cool mother, I don't say otherwise, but she's bad at talking. Or making decisions. Or a lot of things truly.

She's good at making food and sewing though, she has her strengths, but explaining me stuff is not one of them. I would be the dumbest kid in the world if I wasn't reincarnated soul.

"I see!" With a cheer up my voice, I start gesturing like an excited kid. One glance at Murai. I restrain my usual way of talking "Mister Murai is going to teach me how to be an animal master!"

"Animal master?" My mother turns her head and hides her laugh gently as-! Murai looks down at me, a smile on his face, a finger over his lips, the side of his eyes crinkling, squinting. Squinting. Hard. Harder than I would squint in the middle of an exam.

"Yes, yes" My mother nods at me and rubs my back "He's going to teach you how to be an... animal master""That's so cool! He's gonna teach me how to get animals! And make meat! And food! And all of it!" My fists are bunched up in front of my chest and Murai finally sighs, shaking his head with a gentle laugh "Yes, yes I will." The rest of the day passes pretty fast. Mother and Murai talk, a lot, they hit up well. It's good to see. And my mother tries to hype me up to become a hunter, or a butcher, I'm not too sure.

I'm focused on something else. Things like Murai eyeing me too much or saying... odd things. The whole flirting between my mother and Murai is annoying too but whatever, what matters is that I acted like a curious kid. That was my best plan on how I could leave the main room and stop seeing my mother flirting with my subordinate out of all things. So I acted like a curious kid.

"Where do you stock meat! Where do you cut meat?" I know all of this, of course, in the hallway. Right is the cold room. Left is his butcher room. Forward is his house. I show nothing on my face as his eyebrow raises at the word 'stock'. Children don't know those kind of words. Like a slider, I pull back on my vocabulary even more, be dumb Nebe, talk dumb. Nonetheless, he answers "Oh! There" his hand points at the door leading to the hallway.

"Can we go?" He eyes my mother, my mother shrugs a single shoulder at him before he looks at me again.

"Of course, of course... we can go" I don't like that pause. Still, he opened the door, and we went visiting, some minutes later, after seeing the cold room and making them laugh after I acted like I was freezing to death, my mother, like usual, tried to hype me up "Meat is your favorite food isn't it Nebe? Don't you want infinite amount of it?" And then Murai, close to us, says this "I think he could be a great hunter" My head snaps so fast toward him he definitely sees it.

We stare at each other for a while, my mother voice just behind me, hands around my shoulders.

"Really?"

"Yes, I feel like he'll make a great hunter" That moment. That single fucking sentence. Am I overthinking it? Every single words of his pass through my mind, again, and again, when he says "Oh well, it's not that hard!" I wonder if he's talking about how easy it is for me to kill animals. When he says "No, no, well, the forest depth are pretty dangerous but..." I wonder if he's talking about how deep my hunting trips go. Everything he does. Everything he says. Every single thing get passed under a microscope.

And then we're done. My hand is around my mother hand, umbrella above us, my hood around my head still. We're going back home. I'm going back home. And as we do, I can't help but think about it. Does Murai Taki knows who I am? What I am?