(MC POV)
You know… I was actually expecting her to inspect the scene of the crime and look for clues that would point towards the real culprits of the kidnapping.
Instead, she went to find the location of all our competitors and then…
I watched as the poor guard was flung across the room to smash against the wall, cracking it and probably that guy's back too. He's definitely gonna need a healer for that.
At least he's still alive I guess, which means Kiyomi was properly holding back.
In case you were wondering, we're currently in an inn that another theatre troupe was using. Namely, a troupe of male performers specialising in acrobatic stunts.
Kiyomi had barged in here and started kicking and throwing the troupe members around and directly interrogating them.
"So, is anyone going to tell me who is involved in the kidnapping of my people?" Kiyomi asked casually, holding up another guard in the air by his neck.
"We don't know anything, you crazy woman!! What the hell did we even do to you?!" Another guard shouted at her.
Kiyomi threw the guard she was strangling aside, "Where's your boss? Get him out here so I can talk to him."
"Do you think we'll just do whatever you as--"
Kiyomi flicked a finger at him and the guard was blasted into the wall, joining the rest of his companions in the unconscious pile over there.
"I'll repeat it one more time, get your boss here so I can talk to him."
A man wearing a simple linen shirt and pants appeared from around the corner, clearly having rushed here from his bed.
"I'm here you crazy fox! What the hell do you think you're doing to my people?!"
Kiyomi looked at him with dispassionate eyes, "Were you the one who came to kidnap my actors and disrupt our rehearsals?"
"What the hell?! Of course not! Why would you even think that we are doing anything like that?!"
Kiyomi tapped her chin, "Hmm… Is that so? I see then, thank you for your time."
She then turned on her heels before wrapping her arm around mine, leading me out of the inn like she didn't just wreck half the place.
"Hey?! Where do you think you're--"
Kiyomi waved her hand in his direction and all of them fell onto the ground unconscious. She then pulled out a notebook and struck a name on her list.
"So it wasn't the Muscled Men Mania troupe either. Next will be the Spiky Hair Dressers troupe. Hmm… They are based in the capital itself so they own a building just down the street from here. Let's go check them out, Master."
Well… This would be the fourth group we were hitting up to find the whereabouts of our missing actors. The previous three all ended up being misses after Kiyomi terrorised them and leaving after they said that they were not involved.
I could only wonder how she was going to deal with the aftermath once morning came.
We reached the building where the next target was and Kiyomi detached herself from me to blast open the door with a wave of her hand.
In the case of the other three troupes, she would start making a ruckus until people started showing up for her to interrogate. But this time it was unnecessary for us to do so since the missing actors were revealed to be in the lobby of this building with several armed guards watching over them.
Kiyomi seemed to be just as surprised to see them as they were to see her.
"So it was you guys, huh… I'm going to give all of you a chance to surrender and return my actors to me before I start breaking some things," She demanded, for some reason treating them better than the other three troupes she had terrorised.
A man with spiky hair and wearing a pair of rimless sunglasses stepped out to stand in between our actors and us.
The only thing that was going through my mind was wondering why the hell was he wearing sunglasses at night?
"Hmph… So the white fox is here herself… That's quite a surprise."
"I'm not here to chat, I need my people back so that they can rest up for tomorrow's rehearsal. Also, I'll have you take responsibility for the other three troupes that were inconvenienced tonight."
Errr… Technically, you were the one who inconvenienced them, Kiyomi… But I guess I should just keep my mouth shut for now.
"Ha? Who do you think you are? If only you had just quietly waited for the next few days, this could have blown over without any problems, but I'm afraid I'll have to take you as well. Don't worry, we'll make sure you are well taken care of during this time, but the troupe who will gain the Empress's favour is us."
"Kukuku~ I gave you your chance~ I suppose there's no need for me to hold back in that case."
She stretched out her hand towards them and in a flash of light, froze everyone in pillars of ice.
Our actors gasped at the sight, clearly surprised by the display.
"Boss got stronger?"
"Since when can boss do that?"
"She just froze them instantly!"
"Boss got even scarier now…"
Either she didn't hear them or she didn't care, but Kiyomi showed no reaction to their words and simply freed them from their bindings with another wave of her hand.
"Alright. It's late, so everyone go back, sleep and then we will have a full dress rehearsal in the morning. Don't be late."
"B… Boss? Are… Are we not going to have some time to recover after being kidnapped?" One of them asked.
Kiyomi frowned at him, "Rest? I'm sorry, were you all rehearsing while these guys kept you here?"
"N… No… Boss…"
"Then this entire time you guys were already resting weren't you? I'm already being considerate by giving you the night to rest before we rehearse again tomorrow. The real thing is happening the day after tomorrow you know? Do you all think you still have time to take a break?"
"No, boss…"
"Then hurry up and get yourselves back to the inn. I'm expecting a flawless performance tomorrow or I'm pulling us out of this you hear me?"
"Ye… Yes boss!"
"Then what are you all still waiting around here for? If you want to start rehearsing right now, I'm also not against it."
Everyone quickly rushed out of the room, not even taking another glance back as they made their way back to our inn.
Wow, I didn't know that Kiyomi was actually that big of a slave driver…
I suppose it isn't really that surprising though, considering how hard she works herself as well.
But umm…
"What are we doing about these guys?" I asked, pointing at the frozen people.
"We can just leave them, Master. Then tell those other three groups that they are the cause of tonight's disturbance and leave it to them."
"Eh? Won't they still come after us because we're the ones who wrecked the place?"
"I'll send someone to pay them off. Plus, they wouldn't dare."
…
I'll just… Nevermind…
