{Edited} A Merchant's Odyssey - Chapter 29 (Patreon)

AN: Edited Chapters do not count toward monthly quota's.

Chapter 29: Not A Ninja / New Toy

“Would you stop putting holes in my coat!” Sebastian yelled over his shoulder as he dove behind a trash can with a grunt, aggravated by the pain of his accumulating fresh bruises.

He’d been stuck in a game of cat and mouse with his assailant for the last five minutes since stepping out of his gate, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to shake her.

She was barely over five feet tall, with a curvy hourglass figure.

Waist-length black hair was wrapped in a high ponytail, letting it frame a sharp face with unique lightning-bolt-shaped eyebrows.

Aside from the pink kimono barely covering her torso and prominent chest, the only clothes he could see on her were a fishnet armor undershirt, a purple choker, and knee-high stockings, leaving her upper thighs bare.

Yet for all the open skin, the woman never seemed to run out of new weapons to be pulling out of her ass.

'Didn't I specify a world without magic? I'm the one who's supposed to be pulling more shit out of nowhere; she's taking my shtick.' Sebastian grumbled. 'Besides, what the hell did I do to offend her?'

He flicked his eyes to the peacefully sleeping mouse magically stuck to his shoulder. 'Does she think I hurt her familiar? I’m not that stupid.’

The animal was obviously some form of familiar, and since he didn't understand his new dimension yet, Sebastian wasn't willing to commit what could be regarded as a blood feud back in his home dimension by killing it.

Even if it gave him a black eye with toothpick-sized nunchucks that hit like an adult male.

‘And that’s not even saying how annoying it was to hit it with a stunner.’ Sebastian’s bruised eye twitched at the memory.

He had to use gravity to slow it down and spam stunners at close range because of how slippery it was.

And because of how restricted he felt.

It wasn’t immediately drastic, but Sebastian had only noticed how restricted his magic and Aura were when he tried to make the damn rodent sleep.

Looking at his palm, Sebastian frowned at the sluggishness of his energy. 'This is what I asked for, a restriction of foreign power systems, but I feel like I’m back to how I was before I opened the gate for the first time.’

His Mana and Aura answered his call if he consciously pulled on them, but instead of passively flowing through his channels and granting him incredible ease of use for either energy source, it took more effort to pull them from his cores.

'I'll have to adjust for-!' Sebastian's eyes widened as the bloodhound of a pink blur appeared on his left.

Only a dual-cast Banishing Charm on his jacket saved Sebastian's head, as the trash can he hid behind was practically diced like an onion.

“Bloody hell!” The sight of each cut being a perfect cube was as mesmerizing as it was frightening. ‘She did that with a fucking sword.’

His pink-kimono-clad assailant spun through the air like an acrobat and touched down on the ground a hundred feet away with a confused look on her face that Sebastian assumed was hesitation.

"Look, whatever this is, we can talk it o-SON OF A BITCH." Sebastian banished the woman away while simultaneously using his telekinetic weapons to deflect a wave of shuriken she somehow curved to come at him from a different angle.

And they were somehow accounting for his gravity control to get closer to him, as the dozens of holes in his coat attested.

“Would you please stop throwing pointy objects at me?!” Sebastian yelled in frustration. “It is too early in my journey to commit crimes against humanity.”

Sebastian’s words seemed to have some effect as the woman paused once more to tilt her head in confusion.

An action she seemingly did enough to strongly emote.

Barely a second later, Sebastian had to banish yet another weapon that got worryingly close to his face, and he froze as he took in what exactly he'd deflected.

“Did you just throw a rice scooper at me?” Sebastian asked incredulously, too shocked to curse.

The woman across from him nodded as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Why?”

For the first time since their deadly game began, the woman opened her mouth and responded. “Not… pointy.”

“That…” Sebastian didn’t know what to comment on, his brain forcing a reboot. “Why are you attacking me?”

“Ninja.” She declared with a pointed finger.

“Ninja?” Sebastian blinked, assuming she was introducing herself.

“Ninja.” She raised her sword.

"Yes, I can see that you're a Nin-!" Sebastian dodged.

The woman seemed to take his initial word as confirmation and attacked.

"Ninjas must die." She pressed in.

"Wait! I'm not-!" Sebastian grabbed his metal spheres and used them to pull him out of the way, kicking out with a Banishing Charm that barely deflected her sword into a fire escape, which didn't even squeak as its metal fell apart in evenly spaced chunks. "I'm not a bloody ninja, lady!"

The sight of the diced metal would have sent Sebastian running or fighting seriously, but the logical part of his brain noticed that, despite all the collateral damage, none of the attacks that reached him held any lethal intent.

All the holes in his coat were attempts to pin him in place, none of them actually penetrating his skin.

His injuries came more from the mouse than the woman; she even managed to account for his dodging.

In fact, Sebastian's overexposure to Neo's habits likely let him notice the woman was playing with him in the first place.

‘Is she being entertained by my gravity magic?’ Sebastian watched in befuddlement as the lithe woman charged straight into his overcharged Banishing Charms, twisting through the air to get closer and closer with each attempt. 'No, is she training herself on me? What the fuck?'

Their skirmish took them through a dozen alleys, with the woman clearly keeping him contained from the public streets.

‘This is getting ridiculous.’ Sebastian frowned as his attempts to cast magic externally were being hampered. ‘Anything outside of my gravity Charms isn’t getting more than ten feet from my body.’

It took just under ten minutes for them to reach a boxed-in area, and for the woman to finally find her way through the shifting gravity, overcome it, and slash through.

The pink-clad woman smiled with a trace of childish pride from nearly twenty feet away as Sebastian stood absolutely still, his pupils dilating as he felt heated liquid roll down his cheek from a thin cut.

He traced his skin with a finger, then pulled it away to see red as his pupils shrank.

“Enough.”

The concrete around cracked, gravity surrounding Sebastian increasing tenfold and forcing the woman to retreat.

Sebastian reached inside himself to his cores and grabbed them with an iron grasp.

Sluggish or not, restricted or not, his Mana was his to command, his Aura the light of his soul to guide, and they would respond when he called.

Pressure pulsed outward from his body, fracturing not just the ground but the surrounding buildings as his Aura and Mana erupted in full.

His Mana pulsed like static electricity, with the gravity within a twenty-foot circumference crying as it was bent to his will.

His Aura flooded through his limbs, reinforcing his body as his muscles contracted like springs ready to explode.

Fur pushed through his skin, his pupils shifting to black dots as his fingers popped into razor-sharp claws.

Spirit Rings appeared behind his back and flared in a show of intent as his very soul pushed down on the space around him.

“I’m not playing this game anymore.”

Sebastian growled as his metallic needles glinted in the sunlight with deadly intent, one pointing directly at a sleeping mouse floating in a bubble above his head.

The woman across from him watched with wide eyes that quickly narrowed as she straightened into something far more serious and deadly than before.

The two stared each other down for a long moment, Sebastian's beady panda eyes fixed on sharpened purple orbs.

“Not… Ninja.” The woman finally broke the stalemate, her grip on her sword slackening just slightly.

“No, I’m not a bloody ninja.” Sebastian snapped back.

 “My… mistake." The woman nodded just like that and lowered her blade, making Sebastian blink at the sudden shift.

“Wait, you’re done?” His eyes opened in surprise.

“Mn.” The woman pointed a finger at him. “Mistake.”

Sebastian’s brow twitched at how that phrasing could be taken, but he did pull his Mana and Aura back inside his body.

“Very well.” His fur receded back beneath his skin, bones shifting to his base form.

The woman tilted her head curiously at the changes, reaching out to catch the floating bubble with her mouse. “What are… you?”

"I am me." Sebastian channeled Mana into his coat to jump-start the repairing enchantments, threads coming alive as they reconnected the torn holes.

“Mi?” The woman asked.

“No, you are you.” Sebastian shook his head.

“You are… Yu?” The woman dropped a fist on her palm.

“No, I am me, and you are you.” Sebastian tried to explain.

“I am… Shigure, not Yu.” The woman shook her head.

"No, that's not what I-." Sebastian finally realized the issue and groaned, holding up a finger to make her wait as he tapped his translation artifact.

‘I already know Japanese, but the dialect is different here.’ He channeled extra Mana to the artifact. ‘Stop slacking off, I built you.’

The new world was interfering with his artifact's automatic processes, requiring a greater charge to overcome the barrier.

A moment later, he felt it heat up and run magic along his tongue.

“I am Sebastian, not Mi.” Sebastian felt the change before pausing. “Wait, did it sound like I was calling myself a ninja before?”

The woman, Shigure, bobbed her head in agreement.

“So, it was just a communication issue.” Sebastian sighed and waved a hand to fix the cracked walls around them, frowning as he had to step within ten feet of the damaged areas for his magic to work properly. "Is that why you tried to kill me?"

He wasn’t bothered by the attempt. He was bothered that she was capable of it, and that she was rapidly adapting.

‘Even Neo isn’t that good.’ Sebastian silently grumbled. ‘I really need that body teacher.’

Shigure watched the magic happen with sparkling eyes yet somehow kept a blank face the entire time.

She waited until he was done before speaking up. "Not kill.”

“What?” Sebastian looked at her.

“Not.” Shigure gestured to herself, then pointed at him. “Kill.”

“You weren’t trying to kill me?” Sebastian asked incredulously. “Did you see what you did back there?”

Shigure casually looked behind them at the collateral damage, then made an ‘Oh’ sound. “Not trying.”

“That was you not trying?” Sebastian asked even more incredulously than before, suddenly very happy she didn’t take his challenge.

“Mn.” Shigure flicked her sword and sheathed it. “Fun.”

That single word did more psychological damage to Sebastian than the entire chase.

His shoulders sagged. ‘Am I just a toy to every pink-themed woman in existence?’

Shigure seemed to notice his mood and appeared by his side before he could even process it, patting him on the back. "You… fun to chase."

Sebastian almost coughed blood.

“Gravity… cool.” She added while curiously poking at his floating needles without a care in the world.

The compliment did a little to restore his pride.

“But move like an amateur."

And then she proceeded to crush him further.

"I am an amateur!" Sebastian's annoyance pierced his depression, and he roared at the far-too-curious woman. “I came here to find a damn teacher!”

He was a nerd who spent more time in dusty libraries and his workshop than anywhere else up until less than a year before.

Sebastian thought he did damn well for the time he had available.

“Teacher?” Sebastian missed the odd glint that passed over Shigure’s eyes. “For weapons?”

She pointed at the needles, her eyes sparkling.

“What?” Sebastian followed her finger to his floating weapons and shook his head. “No, not that.” He reached up and pulled them back into his sleeve. “For my body.”

“Oh.” Shigure seemed to sag like a popped balloon. “Martial arts?”

“I guess?” Sebastian shrugged, fixing his sleeve. “I just need to improve the strength of my body; how I do it doesn't matter. Is martial arts big around here?"

It might have been odd for Sebastian to admit that to a total stranger, one who had been attacking him only a minute before, but it wasn’t sensitive information in the first place.

‘And something tells me she’s related to that place I was heading to.' Sebastian’s gaze narrowed. 'What are the odds of running into a deadly weapon user near the place I went looking for an expert on body training?’

"I… see." Shigure's eyes flashed white as she reached into her kimono, and this time she moved faster than Sebastian could even process visually.

By the time his brain caught up, the soft jingle of metal rang through the alley as the weight of thick chains settled on him.

“Shigure.” Sebastian deadpanned.

“Hm?” Shigure casually tightened and locked the sickle and ball connected to the chain.

“Are you attacking me?” Sebastian chose to clarify this time, finger on the trigger to summon two dozen Dust grenades.

“No.” Shigure calmly responded and hefted the chained caterpillar that was Sebastian above her head. “I bring to Martial Arts teacher.”

"I see." Sebastian responded just as calmly from above her head. "And I'm tied up because?"

“No… running.” She simplified.

"Wait, what?" Sebastian furrowed his brow.

“…” Shigure looked away and changed her answer. “Faster.”

She bent her knees and jumped two stories to the rooftops without a single show of effort for his weight.

“I can walk just fine.” Sebastian stared up at the sky with dead eyes.

"Mn." Shigure agreed and kept hauling him like a prize as she hopped from rooftop to rooftop.

Sebastian considered fighting her hold on him but just gave in as he saw her destination was the giant gated building he had been aiming for in the first place.

‘Maybe she can give me an introduction.’

He believed in optimism.

Optimism didn’t always believe in him.

Shigure hopped the wall, making Sebastian wonder what the point of the big-ass gate was, and landed in an expansive rectangular courtyard filled with wooden training posts and one-floor Japanese nagaya-style buildings.

And the training area they landed in was currently occupied.

"Apa?" Sebastian heard a deceptively high-pitched voice and turned his head, still above Shigure's head, and came nearly face-to-chest with the Hulk's dark-skinned little brother. “Hello!”

“Uh…” Sebastian looked up into the innocent, round white eyes of a chiseled face and nodded. “Hello?”

“New friend?” The oddly high-pitched giant asked.

"Um." Sebastian's instincts screamed danger as he tried to look down at Shigure, who thankfully understood his intent to answer.

“New toy.” Shigure answered for him.

And now Sebastian regretted letting her.

“No." Shigure tilted her head in thought as she corrected herself. "New student?"

"Student?" The big guy's eyes damn near glowed like floodlights. “You want to learn Muay Thai?!”

Sebastian opened his mouth to respond, but Shigure beat him to it again. "No. You will squash him.”

The big guy froze and sagged. “Apachai can control himself.”

Sebastian looked past the big guy to where he was training and saw dozens of shattered stone statues, trees, and reinforced training posts, each with imprints of the big guy's body parts.

‘Is being superhuman normal in this world?’ Sebastian couldn’t help but wonder.

"Play when he is stronger." Shigure instructed like the playground leader and turned toward the buildings with Apachai cheering Sebastian on in the background.

"Grow stronger, new student!"

"Oi, don't sign me up for stuff." Sebastian whispered to the woman carrying him like a war criminal.

“He’s… harmless.” Shigure’s words were accompanied by an excited Apachai blowing a hole straight through the thick courtyard walls with a single punch.

“Apa! I broke the wall again!”

“Uhu.” Sebastian deadpanned.

Shigure stepped up onto the balcony and froze.

“Why did we stop?” Sebastian asked.

“Pervert.” Shigure held him with one hand and pulled out a row of shuriken.

“Excuse me?” Sebastian scoffed in genuine offense. “Lady, I am a gentleman.”

"That's just another way of saying pervert." A new voice answered, and Shigure tossed her bladed stars at the floorboards, where a midget in Chinese robes popped out with a camera flashing beneath Shigure’s legs. “Welcome back, Shigure.”

"Kensei." Shigure tossed Sebastian up and unleashed a storm of bladed stars at the midget, then grabbed Sebastian's ankle and used him as a bludgeoning weapon. "Die."

“I feel conflicted about many things.” Sebastian calmly said as he was swung through the tatami mat-covered room.

"Anything interesting?" The small Chinese man dodging Sebastian's chained body asked, all while still taking pictures of Shigure whenever her kimono moved to reveal more skin. "I'm a licensed therapist."

“Sidelining that disturbing fact.” Sebastian responded while Shigure somehow managed to develop a cutting air blade from his body. “A gentleman is not a pervert.”

"Semantics." Kensei scoffed and slid under Sebastian's body, grabbing a panty shot when Shigure's leg was raised. “Two sides of the same coin.”

"And I disagree with that." Sebastian clarified while admiring the man's acrobatic skills. "A pervert hides their perversions behind excuses and cowardly disguises. But a gentleman openly ogles and admits it without crossing lines that would insult." Sebastian's face swung by the smaller man as they matched eyes from a foot apart. “We are not the same.”

"Oof, that one burns, kid." Kensei started to say something more but was forced to abandon his camera as Shigure trapped him and pierced the lens with her sword. “Until next time!”

He vanished in a blur of speed, scurrying off to try to repair the device.

Shigure rested her Sebastian mace over her shoulder with a satisfied nod as the short man vanished into the building.

“Not that this isn’t fun.” Sebastian deadpanned, his vision spinning like he'd drunk one of his special energy drinks on an all-nighter. “But weren’t we doing something?”

“Ah.” Shigure looked up at him as if recalling he was a human being and nodded. “Teacher.”

“I’m not a teacher!” Another new voice yelled from behind a wall before a broken glass beer bottle pierced through a paper wall and would have shanked Sebastian in the kidney if Shigure hadn’t shifted and used the chain to block it. “Fuck off with that crap!”

“Fuck you too!” Sebastian yelled back instinctively and heard a loud, derisive snort from the other party. His fingers twitched with the desire to throw grenades. “Shigure…”

“Not Sakaki.” Shigure answered and walked off in a different direction while the man behind the wall laughed openly. “Ugly.”

The laughter cut off abruptly, and Sebastian heard satisfying choking noises.

“How many experts are in this place?” Sebastian asked curiously.

“Six.” Shigure responded without missing a beat.

Sebastian counted off four in his head. “And the other two?”

Shigure didn’t respond beyond kicking open a sliding door and walking into a new room filled with intricately carved stone statues of various sizes.

At the center of the room stood a lithe man of moderate height, wearing a Japanese martial arts uniform from the waist down, with his upper body bare, showing a physique damn near carved from marble.

The man held two massive stone statues at different angles with his fingertips while performing some form of lunge.

‘Now that’s a body expert.’ Sebastian’s eyes lit up. ‘I was right to let her take me here.’

"Akisame." Shigure called, and the man paused his workout to look at them.

"Is something the matter, Shigure?" Akisame's voice was deep and smooth, oddly calming. "And who is that young man accompanying you?”

Sebastian coughed and prepared to introduce himself properly, but before he could, Shigure tossed him like a bag of garbage at Akisame’s feet.

"Student for you." Shigure said plainly, chest puffed out proudly.

“…”

“…”

Sebastian and Akisame looked at each other blankly before each sighed for different reasons.

‘I should have blown her up.’ Sebastian thought with a twitching face.

“Not again, Shigure.” Akisame muttered just loud enough for Sebastian to hear.

“This happen a lot?” Sebastian dryly asked.

“Don’t ask.” Akisame rubbed the bridge of his nose.

0000

"Hoho." Back in the alleyway where Shigure and Sebastian had their standoff, a man who could make Apachai look like a toddler ran a hand through a luscious blond beard, smiling as he stared at the place where Sebastian had unleashed his Aura. "This one should liven up the place."

Chapter End.

AN: Hope you enjoyed! We are officially fully edited! Merchant will now be added to the monthly polls.

Ryozanpaku is about to get a fun burst of activity. I tried to be faithful to the characters styles.

Also, I'm thinking the story is overdue for an interlude, so I might plan on doing another after chapter 30.