"Ha-ha-ha, of course, of course, sir! She will definitely be 'useful' to you." The manager said with a joyful smile looking over the frozen Meyumi. He was very glad that the incident had been resolved with minor losses.
"T-Thank you, sir!" The freed Meyumi exclaimed and tried to fall at Kenshin's feet but was caught again with the help of telekinesis and stopped halfway.
"Calm down. Behave quietly, otherwise I'll return you back." Kenshin said in a calm tone, and Meyumi instantly feared for her life seeing the furious gaze filled with murderous intent from the manager.
"Nakayama-sama, allow me to treat you to the best wine while your goods are being prepared." Takahiro offered with a smile, and Kenshin nodded benevolently.
"Makoto, are you hungry?" Kenshin asked softly feeling that the girl had been tormented by hunger for a long time.
"N-No, sir, I ate last night…" The young brunette answered embarrassedly. If Kenshin had not held her hand, she would have tried to hide somewhere in the corner and remain unnoticed.
"Hmm? Takahiro, order them to bring her good food." Kenshin said barely restraining irritation from the situation in which this pure and innocent girl found herself. At that moment he became even more convinced of the need to change this world for the better.
*****
Takahiro did not know exactly what to serve, so he ordered everything available to be brought, at least two portions, in case the respected guest from the Nakayama Family wanted to have lunch himself.
As soon as the servants set the table and brought in many fragrant dishes, Makoto could not restrain the rumbling of her stomach and blushed. She was incredibly ashamed, and she did not know where to put herself.
"Pff…" Meyumi snorted relaxing a little. After the danger had passed, the girl immediately remembered her dislike for Makoto whom she considered nothing more than a "flea".
Kenshin completely ignored Meyumi and looked at Makoto.
"Go eat and don't be shy of anyone." He said with a smile stroking her head.
"T-Thank you, sir…" Makoto squeaked unaccustomed to kindness. She did not understand why this elderly man suddenly treated her so warmly but decided to do absolutely everything he said fearing to fall into his disfavor.
Seeing that all the best went to Makoto, Meyumi experienced another fit of anger. Being one of the most status women in the House of Flowers, she was used to the best food and always took all the best. And although she did not eat several portions like some of her "friends" after whom Makoto often went to bed hungry, Meyumi still loved to eat tasty and a lot, and even before captivity she rarely managed to eat such exquisite food.
"Sir… Can I eat? Please…" She whined plaintively turning on her charm to the maximum. And although she had not contacted men for a long time, she was confident in her seduction skills.
"All this food is intended for Makoto, and it is up to her to decide whether to share with you or not." Kenshin answered in a calm tone. Due to the fact that he saw the true emotions of this evil woman, her seduction did not affect him in any way.
"Hey fle… Ahem, Makoto. You will share with your friend, right? After all, you and I are now servants of the same master and should stick together!" Meyumi said in a friendly tone completely shamelessly.
"Umm… Of course, eat." Makoto answered and smiled. Making Kenshin's heart tremble. All the kindness emanating from her after numerous bullying was a balm for the soul of an empath.
Hearing her answer, Meyumi smiled contentedly admiring her skills of deceiving stupid fools and swaggeringly walked to the table and then completely losing her manners began to eat.
Takahiro all this time only silently watched. The two girls ceased to be his property, and he was afraid to open his mouth once again not wanting to get into trouble. He was curious what this respected person was up to but only banal motives like "pity" and "compassion" came to mind. However, Takahiro refused to believe that such a strong person possessing perfect chakra control could do something so meaningless as saving useless and stupid girls along with an openly dangerous but sharp-tongued cripple.
He felt uneasy from the feeling of constant danger emanating from two statues silently following their master. If in their master he saw only a simple relaxed person, then in these two Takahiro saw two sharp blades ready to rush and shed the blood of the unwanted. For the first time he saw such disciplined shinobi but contrary to his expectations looking at them he was not at all happy. They scared him to goosebumps because he did not know what was on their minds and how to behave with them. For the first time in his life the manager of the House of Flowers wanted to see ordinary sloppy talkative and rude shinobi instead of them.
*****
A little time passed while two strong kunoichi brought that very woman whom Kenshin saw in the basement. Her arms and legs were still shackled and tied with one chain greatly hindering her movement. She was missing her right leg, and the wooden prosthesis did not allow her to move even at normal speed which caused the woman great discomfort.
Seeing this woman, Kenshin experienced part of the emotions that gnawed at her soul, and he was almost thrown into a fever. Kenshin had felt the emotions of deeply unhappy people before, but almost all of them were broken, but not her. Despite what happened to her, this woman refused to give up, and Kenshin perfectly felt that she was constantly looking for a way to get rid of the shackles.
"Do not do stupid things, Saru. Your new master is very merciful, so behave well and curb your absurd character." Takahiro said instructively least of all wanting to face problems at the last moment.
"Go to hell, bastard! When I get out, I'll come for you and the others!" The woman declared angrily. Her single eye was filled with boundless rage, and Takahiro understood that if she got out, she would do just that.
Being a rather strong Chunin, he was not afraid of this maimed and weakened woman, but her determination frightened him. He knew perfectly well how dangerous such people were and did not want to have anything in common with her.
"Ah you…" Takahiro began but was interrupted.
"Hold yourself in check." Kenshin said in a calm tone feeling that the manager wanted to pounce on this woman.
"Nakayama-san, you are not going to release her, right?" Takahiro asked with a smile.
Kenshin said nothing and only took out two small leather cuffs and then took a step towards the captive and fastened them on her wrists. She wanted to attack the impudent man, but to her surprise could not move from her place, only applying even more force she barely moved, but by this time everything was over.
"Release her." Kenshin ordered and shifted his gaze to the other girl. "Makoto, it's time for us to go." He said with a smile.
"Uh-huh." Makoto nodded joyfully and rising from the sofa quietly ran up to her new master almost pressing herself against him with her whole body. He was the only person with whom she felt safe.
"Y-You! W-What kind of ability is this?!" The freed woman exclaimed in shock. She encountered something like this for the first time and was stunned.
"You will find out everything later. And now it's time for us to go. Takahiro, if what I ordered appears — send a messenger." Kenshin said and turning around headed for the exit.
"Of course, Nakayama-san, I will do everything in the best possible way!" The manager babbled escorting the respected guest and only escorting Kenshin to the very end of the street returned back.