"Fine, Meyumi. You may stay as Makoto's servant—if she agrees," Kenshin said calmly once Meyumi recovered somewhat. He was intrigued by the outcome.
"Wh-what?.." Meyumi blurted, stunned. Indignation flared first, but she held her tongue. In a flash, pros outweighed cons: "servant" to a harmless girl beat ejection—and she'd worm into the master's heart eventually.
"Makoto, you won't send me away, right?" Meyumi asked, eyes welling, deploying years-honed manipulation.
"N-no, of course not! B-but sir, I don't want a servant..." Makoto whispered. The idea felt unjust to Meyumi; she recoiled at "mistress."
"Even so—take her as servant, or I eject her next turn," Kenshin said smiling. Such moments yielded vast empathic bliss, Makoto's pure heart's warmth suffusing him.
"N-no, sir, please... Makoto, don't abandon me!" Meyumi wailed, clutching the girl she'd deemed mere "flea" hours prior.
"O-okay. Sir, I accept. Give her a chance—we'll obey you together!" Makoto declared. Hours with Kenshin convinced her: his kindness made servant life to him the best fate for a House of Flowers girl.
Kenshin couldn't resist smiling as he stroked the short-haired girl's head. She flinched at his reaching hand, eyes shut, head ducked—bracing for blows. Yet seconds later, long-lost tenderness dawned; she gazed wonderingly at her new master.
"You're a true flower amid weeds, Makoto," he said smiling, stroking on. Dusty hair didn't deter him. To him, even dirt-smeared, she shone amid this world's filthy rot—and resolve to cherish her lifelong deepened.
"Nasty old perv. She's granddaughter-age! No shame?!" Noriko laughed, scratching her itching stump.
Kenshin merely smirked softly, unapologetic, and petted the young brunette minutes more.
Makoto resembled a boiled crayfish—face aflame, urge to vanish unprecedented. Perplexed by his goodness, reactionless, the caress evoked lost days: living parents, safety, brighter world.
An hour out, city distant, Kenshin halted briefly to tame the horses—Ichiro and Fifteenth lacked handling skills for the beasts, and his empathic compulsion waned.
"Anyone need the Toilet? Go now—next stop hours off," Kenshin said calmly, exiting the cramped Carriage. He brimmed with upgrades for cart and steeds, filing notions separately.
Perfect memory eased life somewhat but spawned hassles. Recalling all wasn't enough—sifting from trivia's depths. Highlighting and segregating key recalls took practice.
So abstract, Kenshin scarce grasped his "sight," visualizing "boxes" of memories. Mastery eluded; vital ones nestled safely apart.
"I'll breathe fresh air. Haven't been outdoors ages," Noriko said, clambering down awkwardly. Unable to watch her struggle, Kenshin aided gently via telekinesis.
"You never explained the ability. Even Father couldn't match it—he was mightiest warrior I ever saw."
"It's telekinesis. Your father? What was your father's name? Maybe I've heard of him," Kenshin asked with interest. He was greatly intrigued by this mysterious ability that the system called "rampage." He suspected it was a variant of Kekkei Genkai, and understood that the system used its own terms. The only thing unclear to him at the moment was the existence of some kind of "database" that the system referenced to provide the most similar term. Kenshin didn't understand whether the system relied on terms and abilities known to him.
He concluded that if the system had its own database, then all these abilities and terms must exist somewhere else. Or at least, there must be someone who created this system and embedded a vast database into it.
"I doubt you've heard of him. We're from the land of demons, and that's very far from here..." Noriko said with a sigh, pulling herself up with one hand and literally throwing herself onto the roof of the carriage. It was very uncomfortable for her to stand, and besides, contemplating the natural beauties was one of the few activities that soothed her heart.
Kenshin was quite surprised when he saw her physical strength. He mentally checked the chakra suppression formation again and noticed no flaws. Noriko had casually demonstrated a strength she couldn't possibly have without chakra or powerful muscles. At the moment, all her chakra was blocked, and her body was practically wasting away from exhaustion and hunger, yet she seemed not to feel any weakness and sat calmly on the roof of the carriage, enjoying the scent of the endless forests of the Land of Fire.
"Ahem, the land of demons is indeed very far away... How did you end up in slavery, so far from your homeland?" Kenshin asked with interest, meanwhile drawing formations on the horses' withers using telekinesis. And although he was giving them peculiar, painful tattoos, the horses were quite calm, feeling the empathic pleasure transmitted by Kenshin. He still hadn't fully learned to influence people this way, but he felt his psionic mastery growing with each day of practice, and assumed that soon he would be able to control people's emotions without much effort.