Chapter 46: A Dragon Scorned
Natsuba Main Residence.
Natsuba Kouryu’s Estate.
Three stewards from the Mizuō branch stood guard at the entrance, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Natsuba Kouryu was in the main hall.
The hall’s decor was magnificent and grand.
Two slender golden dragons coiled around the pillars, and upon entering, another winding golden dragon was placed in the center of the opposite wall.
They weren’t gilded; they were cast from pure gold.
A testament to Natsuba Kouryu’s wealth and extravagance.
But this was to be expected. The Natsuba conglomerate was effectively divided into three factions, and resources were distributed accordingly.
It was easy for him to obtain gold for such decorations.
But today, the normally resplendent main hall was dim and gloomy. Even the morning sun seemed to avoid this area.
Natsuba Kouryu faced the golden dragon.
His usually gentle and refined face was now contorted in a sinister, twisted expression, devoid of any smile, filled only with gloom.
He took deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm his inner turmoil.
Just then, a steward he had sent out returned with a man, his eyes blindfolded and his body bound.
Mizuō Rin knelt on one knee and said to Natsuba Kouryu, who had his back to him,
“Young Master, I’ve brought the steward from the Nenba branch.”
Hearing this, the Nenba steward began to scream in terror.
“Who are you?!”
“I’m a steward of the Natsuba conglomerate, a steward of the Nenba branch! I serve Young Master Yosuke!”
“You’ve kidnapped me! You’ll face the full wrath of the Natsuba conglomerate!!”
Hearing the Nenba steward’s words…
Natsuba Kouryu turned, his terrifying, twisted expression unchanged. Mizuō Rin, seeing this, trembled and quickly lowered his head, not daring to look.
Maintaining that expression, Natsuba Kouryu spoke in a gentle voice,
“Of course I know you serve that bastard Yosuke.”
“That’s why I had you brought here.”
Hearing this voice, the Nenba steward’s body went rigid. He said in disbelief,
“Young Master Kouryu? Is that you, Young Master Kouryu?!”
“Whatever I’ve done wrong, I’ll change! You’re usually so gentle, please forgive me this once!”
The Nenba steward never would have imagined that it was Natsuba Kouryu who had kidnapped him.
In his mind, Natsuba Kouryu was a gentle nobleman who never got angry.
If Natsuba Kouryu could get angry, then it would be as impossible as Natsuba Hanae becoming an A-rank supernatural user.
Perhaps he had truly committed some unforgivable crime.
But Young Master Kouryu was so gentle. If he begged, he would surely be given another chance.
However, Natsuba Kouryu ignored the steward’s pleas.
He extended his left hand, which transformed into a black dragon claw, and viciously grabbed the steward’s head.
“Ah———!!!”
The steward screamed.
But this level of screaming couldn’t bring Natsuba Kouryu any sadistic pleasure.
His dragon claw dug into the steward’s skull, blood dripping down. He casually grabbed a sword from a nearby weapon rack and dragged the man towards a dark inner room.
The steward’s pleas for mercy were constant, but Natsuba Kouryu remained silent.
Mizuō Rin stood quietly in the main hall.
Then, a scream, more piercing than before, echoed.
“Ah!!!———”
But it didn’t end there. The screams continued, one after another.
“Ah!!” “Ah!!” “Ah!!”
“…”
“Ah…”
Mizuō Rin swallowed hard. He didn’t dare to leave, silently counting the screams.
It lasted for about an hour.
Then, Natsuba Kouryu reappeared, his usual gentle smile back on his face.
He held a white bag, dripping with blood, and tossed it to Mizuō Rin.
“Feed this to the crocodiles in the courtyard lake.”
Mizuō Rin quickly replied,
“Young Master, there were two hundred and thirty-four screams this time.”
Natsuba Kouryu seemed unimpressed. He shook his head slowly.
“Compared to the six hundred from the Kyōjū branch…”
“The Nenba branch is truly incompetent. An incompetent bastard allies with an incompetent branch.”
Natsuba Kouryu looked down on Natsuba Yosuke.
The Mikami family wasn’t a branch family, but complete outsiders. Yet, his mother had been lucky enough to get pregnant and give birth to that bastard.
The same went for Natsuba Hanae and Natsuba Rinrei. Their mother was even more lowly, just a maid.
A fleeting fancy of Natsuba Genryū’s.
She had long since been lost and killed in the conglomerate’s power struggles.
That was why he had tripped up the Natsuba sisters in the core meeting, only to end up being outsmarted himself.
In the race for the head position, the only one Natsuba Kouryu respected was Natsuba Taiga, who, like him, was the product of a marriage alliance between a branch family and the Natsuba conglomerate.
He belonged to the Kyōjū (Mad Beast) branch.
These two branches were among the top three in terms of combat power within the Natsuba conglomerate.
In fact, their power had once been only slightly inferior to the Natsuba conglomerate’s. It was through marriage alliances that the Natsuba conglomerate had gradually absorbed them.
And each family head would marry the daughter of the leader of one of these two branches, forming a stable triangular relationship.
This was the original foundation of the Natsuba conglomerate.
And most of the Natsuba family heads were born from these two branches.
As for the original Natsuba direct bloodline, it had long since been dispersed among the various branches.
Apart from the Chikari branch, which had been subdued a decade ago, the other branches all had some Natsuba blood.
That was why, despite having numerous branches, the Natsuba conglomerate was surprisingly stable.
Natsuba Kouryu continued, venting his frustration,
“That bastard, interrupting my speech in the meeting, stealing my thunder.”
“Does he really think that with a bit of information about the Rule, and a little support from the old man, he can compete with me and Natsuba Taiga for the head position?”
“How ridiculous!”
“The previous Natsuba family head from the Mizuō branch, through his prophetic ability, had already foreseen that this generation’s head position would be a battle between a dragon and a tiger.”
“I am the dragon, and Natsuba Taiga is the tiger.”
“Where does that bastard fit in?”
“He dares to try and climb up.”
“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m in a critical phase of my struggle with Natsuba Taiga, I would have already cut him into a thousand pieces.”
“The screams of a direct bloodline… I’ve long wanted to hear them!”
