When Shirayuki crawled into the car, the first thing she saw was Lemuen pointing the Laterano 47 in her hand directly at her head.
Seeing this, Shirayuki naturally understood that the other party had mistaken her for an enemy. She hurriedly explained her identity to prevent Lemuen's hand from slipping and opening a "skylight" in her skull. She didn't intend to bet her life on whether there were bullets in that gun; at a time like this, it was best to state her identity immediately.
"A bodyguard sent by City Ruler Wei Yenwu? We've never even met you. How can we believe what you're saying is true?"
Lemuen didn't lower the gun in her hand, but as she looked at the girl before her dressed in the outfit of a Higashian ninja, the suspicion in her heart lessened slightly. She was well aware that the wife of this city's ruler was a Princess of Higashi; even if she had married into the family, she wouldn't have come without bringing any subordinates.
Therefore, the idea that they had a Higashian ninja under their command and had sent her to protect Jeanne's safety didn't seem like an impossible occurrence. The problem was that she couldn't verify the truth of the matter, as everything was based on the words of the ninja in front of her, and her knowledge of Shirayuki was close to zero.
"What do you think, Jeanne? Have you heard anything about this ninja?"
Lemuen could only let Jeanne make the decision. She had to stay alert for Shirayuki on one side and watch for the pursuers behind them on the other. Currently, Lemuen was focusing on two things at once and truly had no spare mental energy to make this choice.
Jeanne simply glanced at the stoat girl through the rearview mirror and recognized her as the ninja guard often seen beside Madam Fumizuki. Naturally, she knew that what the girl said was likely true.
"Let her stay. I've heard little Chen mention this Higashian ninja. However, out of caution, let me ask you a question: In the household of Lungmen's current Ruler, Wei Yenwu, who actually has the final say?"
Although Jeanne already knew Shirayuki's intent was likely as she stated, for the sake of prudence, she asked a rather "malicious" question. Even if the Shirayuki before them was an impostor, the private affairs of Ruler Wei weren't something just anyone would know.
"It is Madam Fumizuki."
Hearing Jeanne's question, Shirayuki naturally gave the correct answer. An ordinary person might not know such an extremely private matter, but how could she, a personal ninja, not know? Furthermore, if someone who didn't know the specific situation tried to answer, even if they guessed correctly by luck, they wouldn't answer with such certainty.
"Correct answer. It seems she really is one of Wei Yenwu's people. For now, let's believe what she said."
Hearing Jeanne say this, Lemuen's vigilance faded significantly, and she turned her focus back to the pursuers.
"As long as you're one of us. But what weapon will you use when we start fighting? If you know how to use our Laterano guns, I can lend you one..."
Lemuen had noticed earlier that Shirayuki's clothing was quite thin. It didn't seem like she was carrying any weapons, and her tight-fitting clothes didn't look like they could hide anything large. If a real fight broke out, it seemed her only options besides disarming the enemy would be close-quarters combat. Since the girl was sent by the City Ruler to protect them, Lemuen naturally had to ensure her safety; she didn't want to worry about whether this ninja was in danger in the heat of the moment.
"I thank you for your kindness, but a gun won't be necessary. Although my most handy weapon wasn't brought along for certain reasons, I still have means for self-protection and counterattack. Besides, I do not know how to use Laterano firearms."
As she spoke, Shirayuki pulled several kunai and shuriken from the small of her back. Unfortunately, to avoid attracting attention, her Great Shuriken had not been brought. But that didn't mean her combat strength would decrease. Even with only a few kunai and shuriken—or even just a piece of scrap metal—Shirayuki could still achieve victory.
Watching those weapons appear, Lemuen was curious about where she was pulling them from. It clearly looked like there was nowhere left to hide anything, yet she could pull so many out of unexpected places. She could only attribute all of this to the mysterious Higashian Ninjutsu. She had heard that Higashian ninjas could always pull weapons from the most unexpected spots. At this point, even if Shirayuki pulled out a katana in the next second, Lemuen wouldn't find it strange.
The two of them concentrated on observing the surroundings, ready to counter the enemy's attack whenever it might begin. However, the enemy didn't seem to be in a hurry; they simply followed behind, like a pack of wolves trailing a gazelle at a steady pace, intending to exhaust its strength. Perhaps the scene of Shirayuki suddenly diving into the car had shocked them, and they were trying to figure out what was going on inside before making a move.
What the enemy likely didn't expect was that no one sitting in this car was a defenseless gazelle; instead, they were tigers far more fierce than a pack of wolves.
"I can report the situation here to Ruler Wei right now. He would surely send a team to support us," Shirayuki suggested. Her original plan was to report to Wei Yenwu immediately upon meeting them. But seeing the situation in the car, although these two took the pursuers seriously, they didn't seem as nervous as expected. In fact, they looked ready to pull off a counter-kill.
Unsure, Shirayuki could only propose calling for reinforcements to see their reaction.
"No need. We are confident we can handle these enemies. There's no need to trouble Lord Wei to expend energy rerouting his subordinates."
Jeanne rejected Shirayuki's offer. In the current situation, she had no intention of calling for help. Shirayuki then looked at Lemuen and found that she also had no intention of seeking support. On the contrary, she seemed full of interest in the upcoming battle; she was already prepared. Looking at the extremely ample supply of weapons, Shirayuki felt she should observe a moment of silence for their opponents—the gap in firepower was not something that could be easily bridged.
Before long, they noticed that the stray vehicles around them had almost vanished, leaving only the pursuing enemies and enemy vehicles attempting to pull alongside them from the roadside.
Seeing this, Lemuen immediately fired at the tires of those cars. The attacked vehicles were forced to slow down as their tires leaked air. Beside her, Shirayuki wasn't idle either. Certain threads were wrapped around the shuriken in her hand; she threw them out, leaving only the threads dancing in her palms. Under the influence of the threads, the shuriken flew across the tires of the cars on that side like butterflies before flying back into Shirayuki's hand.
The cars with damaged tires had no choice but to decelerate, until even their taillights were lost from view by the pursuers.
"Whoa~ that was pretty cool."
Lemuen praised the exquisite manipulation as she watched Shirayuki skillfully operate the shuriken beside her. To be able to perform such a high-difficulty technique with just a few threads in the cramped back seat of a car filled with ammunition—it truly caught Lemuen's eye.
"It is nothing. I simply practice this technique frequently."
Shirayuki responded to the praise with a very humble attitude. Perhaps in her eyes, such things were merely basic techniques. She carefully observed the surroundings to prevent the presence of anyone using crossbows for long-range sniping that could threaten the two of them, or specifically, Jeanne's safety.
However, what puzzled her was that Jeanne seemed to know exactly where the cars hiding by the roadside were, waiting to flank them. She could even tell them the specific details in advance!
"Be careful now," Jeanne's voice rang out. "I think I see those guys pulling out crossbows. We might have already entered their encirclement!"