(Brendan POV)
"I am Brendan, Master's newest disciple. Fellow sisters, I look forward to your guidance."
"Ara, ara. How… Polite," The orange haired fox youkai giggled, her laughter sending shivers down my spine.
I have yet to forget how she and her sister had binded me and hung me upside down from the ceiling. It was a rather harrowing experience to say the least.
To be honest, I never expected Master to have so many disciples already. Not to mention the fact that two of them were youkais and the little girl that is supposedly Master's adopted daughter seems to be more than meets the eye as well.
That is already ignoring the constantly shifting colours of her hair and what I assume to be small horns poking out from the top of her head.
At first, all the older girls seemed to be quite hostile towards me for some reason when Master introduced me. But once the little girl sniffed in my direction and said "nice man", their cold looks warmed up considerably.
I still sense a chill at the back of my spine though.
"Brendan, these are your senior sisters. Be sure to learn from them as they had from each other," Master instructed.
The girl with the golden hair stepped forward, "I am Lian Li. Master's first disciple, looking forward to learning with you."
I noted that she emphasised on the word 'first'. I'm not sure if I imagined it either, but I thought I saw a spark of lightning dance between her irises.
The orange haired fox youkai stepped forward next, "Ufufufu~ We've already met. I am Manami, a pleasure indeed~"
Yes, I'm sure… That smile of hers is somehow not reaching her eyes at all…
"Cai Hong is Cai Hong! Papa is Cai Hong's Papa!" The little girl exclaimed cheerfully from where she was seated, which just so happens to be Master's lap.
At least she seems the least wary of me out of all the other girls. Not by much but at least it's something.
"I'm Eris. This one looks forward to working with you. Better get yo 'A' game up if ya wanna be one of us! Hello…" The one with the bob cut hair greeted rather interestingly.
Huh… She has a sword on her waist… Does that mean Master is not only teaching them Cultivation Techniques but also swordsmanship as well?
"Greetings, you may call me Diao Chan. A pleasure to be acquainted with you, Brendan." The girl in Qipao curtsied.
From how she is carrying herself, I would assume that she at least has some form of noble training somewhere or sometime ago. She might be a noble or a former noble, perhaps she might have similar circumstances to mine?
"I am Kiyomi, Manami's sister," The white fox said simply.
Unlike her sister, she seems to be one of few words and possess a more serious demeanor. To tell the truth, though she seems quite cold on the surface, I have a feeling I should be more worried about Manami than her.
"So… Brendan was it?" Lian Li asked, a disconcerting smile on her face. "Master, would you mind if we… Talked to him for a little while?"
I unconsciously held my breath, something tells me that I would not like where this is going.
Master smiled at her, "I don't see why not? It would be good for all of you to know each other better now. I'll help Cai Hong bathe while you guys get acquainted."
"Yay~~ Cai Hong wuvs baths with Papa~" The little girl cheered, hugging Master's neck as he carried her up to his chest level.
"Come along," Diao Chan gestured to me. "I know this perfect little place we can better… Acquaint ourselves."
What happened next was kind of a blur to me.
They brought me to the kitchen area which I felt was a little odd for some 'acquaintancing' to be going on but the next thing I know was the floor rushing up towards me.
When I woke up again, I was tied to a chair within a dimly lit room with all five girls standing in front of me.
"Brendan, Brendan…" Lian Li repeated, as though testing if my name offended her or not. "Your family name doesn't happen to be Vera now, would it?"
Since I still wasn't fully conscious yet, I just mumbled an affirmative before I could stop myself.
Diao Chan clapped her hands together, "Kukuku~ How ironic. Did you get close to Master in order to break your family away from us?"
I frowned, "What? Break away from what?"
"Tell us now, why did you become Master's disciple?" Lian Li demanded.
The words were rolling off my tongue before I could even think, "I respect Master. He has the capacity to change the world as we know it and I want to be there to see it and to learn from him. To be able to learn under Master is an honor I did not dare dream of and yet I still received it."
That was when I realised I was probably under the influence of some sort of truth Technique. Does Master know his disciples are like this?
"Ara ara? How interesting~" Manami chuckled. "It does seem like your family and your own circumstances are unique to one another."
Diao Chan pinched her chin, "Master did say he was part of the special class he was in charge of. Since Master hadn't originally planned to teach them, I would say it is a remarkable coincidence."
"This one thinks it is fate at work," Eris commented, tapping her unsheathed sword on the ground. "Or maybe it's just karma! Hehehe, they didn't want him to get involved and yet he voluntarily offered himself up!"
I blinked, "What… What's going on? Who are you all?"
Lian Li locked eyes with me, her gaze intense, "Before we tell you… What do you think of Master?"
Oh no… Don't say it! Don't!
"Master is a truly godlike being that is beyond comprehension, there is nothing he cannot do. I admire him and would follow Master to wherever he may go. He has saved my life more times than I deserve to be saved and thus, this life belongs to him now."
Someone kill me please… My social standing is gone now.
The girls look absolutely shocked by my proclamation. Yep, go ahead, laugh at me. I'm prepared for it. Yeah, this guy here is basically gushing about your Master. Go on, lay it on me.
Lian Li clasped her hands together, "We welcome you as one of us, Brendan Vera. May you always protect Master's light with your life and rid this world of its impurities. All for Master."
The other girls mirrored her action.
"All for Master."
Ok… It seems like Master's disciples have started a cult…
Works for me.
I'm still not sure about what they were saying about breaking away from my family or something, but now I'm a little too afraid to ask.
Nevermind, I just need to tell Master about whoever that girl is that is taking advantage of my family's situation and hopefully everything will sort itself out.
Eh?
What is that thick book that Manami just brought out?