The Tanaka Family Reincarnates - Chapter 17
Chapter 17 – A Punch in a Pinch
Emma/Minato’s POV
My feet headed towards a large park in the middle of the town.
This park is a natural park, so it’s quite vast. I had come here before to collect insects.
When I, in my room, first heard the cat’s calls, I didn’t expect it to come from this far away, nor that I would make my way here.
On the way, I recognized in the back of my mind that the long jump I pulled off when I got involved with the drunkards was unusual. Even so, the reason I couldn’t stop was because of the cat’s cry that could still be heard even now.
Everything except the thing I had my attention on was put off for later. ‘Emma’s nature couldn’t be suppressed even now when ‘Minato’, who was aware of the reincarnation, was conscious. I didn’t understand how it worked, but ‘Emma’ and ‘Minato’ became one individual without any discomfort.
???
“Aaoo”
“Aaoo”
The cat was calling.
When I entered the park, I saw human figures again.
So many people, the gathering of drunkards a while ago could not compare.
“Where did it go?!”
“Search! More lights!”
I threw a sidelong glance at the men talking about searching for something and ran off again with a *whoosh*.
The men were equipped like Father and Wataru would be when they went hunting for monsters, but hunters were known to be civil servants hired by the territory. They were not as boorish as those men in the park.
Although they looked powerful, hunters in Palace territory took proper care of their appearance.
They looked out for me when I was collecting insects, so if those had been Palace territory’s hunters, I would have recognized their faces, more or less.
That means they’re bounty hunters from other territories? Or hoodlums?
I decided to pass through without alerting them.
“What’s that! Just now!”
A surprised man’s voice could be heard from behind the running Emma.
“Is it a cat?”
“You found it?!”
“No? That was…? A gi…rl?”
“?! Isn’t she too fast?”
It seemed that those men were also searching for a cat.
Had they come together in pursuit of the source of this cat’s voice?
After all, one cat was worth the price of a house.
…I turned my head while running.
Why were those men conducting a search for the cat? Even though it’s right over there.
I knew exactly where the cat was. The cat’s voice was calling for me. I had come so close, so why was I still searching? I couldn’t see its figure, but I was sure it’s there.
Just a little more.
Not even a hundred meters away.
Just as my leg pushed against the ground mid-run, it got caught in something.
The momentum carried me forward into a faceplant with a *bam*.
“Aaa-!… aa-I’m fine?”
The instant I was about to fall, the spider had shot out threads that became a cushion.
Thanks to that, I was uninjured even when I fell at top speed.
When I checked my leg to see what caught it, something was wrapped around it. As I followed the line of it with my eyes, I saw the hand of a bounty hunter.
A whip?
The tip of that man’s whip was wrapped around my leg.
“What are you doing!”
I shouted without thinking, but I should have escaped instead…
I was surrounded by countless men before I could unravel the whip.
“Out for a late-night run, Young Lady?”
The men gathered around me with unpleasant smiles.
It seemed there was no gap to escape from, and it seemed like they wouldn’t let me either.
“Ah… Um…”
I had been so absorbed that I didn’t notice my surroundings, something which I often regretted and reflected on after the fact, but right then, I couldn’t joke about it. I had a feeling that the situation was a little dire.
I had to save the spider, at least, but when I touched my head, there was no spider. It might have fallen from the impact when I fell.
“Chief-! She’s quite a beauty, I say?”
“Isn’t what she’s wearing high-quality silk?”
A man approached Emma to touch her clothes.
“Please don’t touch me!”
I slapped the man’s stretched hand without thinking.
“That HURT! Don’t get cocky just because we’re being nice to you!”
The man who was slapped got mad and raised his hand.
Thinking ‘he’s going to hit me!’ I closed my eyes and protected my head with both hands.
But, nothing happened.
“?”
With my head tucked down, my ears picked up the *swoosh* sound of something cutting the air, followed by a *thump* sound of something falling.
Despite these sounds being made, nothing was hitting Emma.
“Uwah-“
“What is it!”
I could hear the flustered voices of those men.
Swoosh
Thump
Swoosh
Thump
“Uwah-!”
“Argh-!”
Swoosh
Thump
Swoosh
Thump
I raised my head timidly…
Swoosh
A flying man…
Thump
Then a falling man… or the sound of one.