The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 594 Trap
Just as Lu Wushuang was utterly astonished by the Japanese sword saint who suddenly appeared before him and used an authentic Tai Chi move.

Meanwhile, inside a shop near Nanako's house.

Ryota Miyoshi leaned against the doorway, having already drawn both of his katanas, intently watching the movements outside.

Nanako was sitting at the table, quickly flipping through the ledgers. She stopped after a moment, looked carefully at one page, and then sighed.

"found it."

Ryota Miyoshi turned his head and looked over.

"When?"

Nanako responded in a low voice.

"On the very day I left."

"The Shintoists were extremely meticulous; they not only erased memories but also concealed their ledgers. But there's one thing they couldn't change."

She pointed to the numbers in the ledger.

"goods."

"Many nearby businesses supply our products. The smaller the shop, the more they rely on us. For example, food needs to be supplied daily, so we have to order it a day in advance."

"But from that day on, the shop had significantly more food left over than before. It wasn't until three days later that the shop owner adjusted the quantity of goods ordered and things stabilized."

Miyoshi Liang was too surprised.

"I understand."

"While Shintoism can alter memories and traces directly related to your family, it is powerless to do so within the vast scope of 'only indirectly related'."

"The shop owner's memory was altered, but the goods he ordered the day before based on your consumption would have been delivered on time, but were left unsold because of your disappearance—until the shop owner discovered this and changed the order quantity."

Nanako nodded.

"Yes."

“The day after I left, the shop had leftover stock, but the owner didn’t change the order quantity and get rid of the stock until three days later—which means that the owner’s memory had been altered from that point on.”

"On the very night I left."

Nanako closed the ledger.

"So...the disappearance of my family was really because of my leaving...it was my fault..."

She instinctively felt tears welling up, but for the first time, she forcefully stopped the urge to cry—she understood that from now on, no one would pay for her tears anymore.

No matter how many tears I shed, I will only shed them after rescuing my family from the Shintoists.

Nanako, who hadn't become strong despite traveling with Li Miao and seeing thousands of corpses, changed almost overnight.

Just as Ryota Miyoshi was about to offer some words of comfort, she interrupted him.

"Okay, let's get back to the topic."

“I’ve noticed something—look here.”

She reached out and pointed to a spot on the ledger.

"This name belongs to the family that was arranged to marry into my family... which is also the reason I ran away from home."

“This family lives quite a distance from my home, and this shop rarely supplies goods to that area. And judging from the quantity, it seems that the family just came here and bought some to take home.”

Ryota Miyoshi walked over and took a look.

"what?"

"This date...is many days after your house disappeared."

Nanako nodded.

"Yes."

"As far as I know, this family has no relatives or businesses in this area besides my family, so they are probably here to find my family."

“But by then my family had disappeared, so after he couldn’t find out anything, he bought some things on his way out.”

Ryota Miyoshi was suddenly taken aback.

"His memory...was not erased!"

“They still remember your home!” Nanako nodded.

"That's about right."

She closed her eyes, pondered for a moment, and then spoke slowly.

“Even the merchants who have close ties with my family have had their memories erased, so how could those who are related to my family through marriage be left out? Someone must have covered it up.”

"I think it was done by my family."

"Looking back now, my father must have already noticed when I was preparing my belongings, luggage, and clothes before I ran away, but he didn't say anything about it."

"My escape was the result of his deliberate manipulation."

At this point, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I generally understand."

“My family is not a member of Shintoism, but for some reason, we are being monitored by Shintoism… or even placed under house arrest.”

“My father arranged this marriage and used it to lead me to escape. After I escaped, the Shinto Church discovered my disappearance, and that's why my family was wiped out.”

“But my father concealed the reason for my escape—the family I married into—so their memories were not erased, and that’s why they came here to visit my family.”

"After failing to find anything, he bought some things on his way out and left a record in the ledger—that's bad!"

Nanako was startled.

"They...are most likely already dead!"

Ryota Miyoshi was also taken aback.

"You mean, the Shintoists may have discovered them as well?"

Nanako nodded.

"It only takes one night to erase memories, but erasing the traces of my home's existence is by no means something that can be done overnight. I think it will take at least several days to complete."

"Moreover, given that they are unsure whether they have completely eliminated the traces, the Shinto Church will probably still send people here to monitor the area, to see if anyone mentions my house, or if they discover anything because their memories don't match reality."

She pointed to the name on the ledger.

“This family arrived too early. At that time, the Shintoists were probably still there, and they would definitely have discovered their presence.”

"So this family is definitely going to die."

Nanako paused abruptly at this point, then looked down at the ledger.

"No, Ryota-kun."

"Something's wrong."

“Once they know about this family, they will know about the marriage alliance, and then they will know about my escape. No matter how my father tries to cover it up, whether he says I am dead, sick, or missing, he will eventually find out.”

"So the Shinto Church would know that I escaped without their knowledge."

"Did they... anticipate that I would come back?"

Ryota Miyoshi gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

The atmosphere became heavy.

Only Nanako's soft narration echoed in the room.

“I was wondering before, if Shintoists can alter records, why would they leave such a big oversight in the ledger that allowed me to analyze all of this?”

"Now it seems very likely... that this is a trap!"

"They're waiting for me to come back!"

"They're waiting for me to investigate!"

"Danger! Run! Go find the boss and reunite with her!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Ryota Miyoshi reached out and pulled Nanako over, hoisted her onto his back, and kicked open the door with his knife in both hands, preparing to leap onto the roof and escape.

But they had just stepped outside.

On the surrounding rooftops, dozens of shadows, which had stood for an unknown amount of time, were cast into the two people by the moonlight.

(End of this chapter)