Sup! New chap!
My Patrons Rayshawn Lopez, Losthero, ieatstars, ZaweRD, RedReaper, Shadowflare300, Someguy34, Leroy, Nathan Hall, SoraOS, Ksj, Red_Valstrax, chris blakeley, Alita, Kharn, Brent Sears, Aznxa21, AvidDreamer, Camron Buie, Dinther, Akshay P Raj M, MattJ, Drop Bear, Maleficarum, Stealthkug, winnerwinnerchickendinner123, Kyusen, zigzag 365, Nyx, SilverWolf, eric, Moore605, Naruto Uzumaki, Ryan Walsh, Rhys White, Exactingspoon, MrZoop, omar amurrio, Austin Anderson-Thompso, Warscar3255, hall.chris, Mylael, Helen of Boy, Albion3000, Hibu, justin avalos, Kvng, Aaron Michael James Michaud, woodenhealer, Stefan Arbuzinski, LeadStar, The Anarchy, Andrew Bryant, DandyMann, Fmy2018, Ibrahim Duale, theoreticaltirst, SotoriUhska, Nobody, Thomas Hathaway, 9Milli9, Elijah Phillips!
———
Isao Tsumugi
I walked out of my office and headed at a leisurely pace toward the elevator, which was no longer working. But as soon as I took a few steps, I saw Kiriko in front of me, following my hound.
"Oh, Kiriko!" I smiled and waved at her. "How did the work go in my absence? I hope everything is alright? Because the last of the people we were planning to rescue are finally here!"
The moment I said that, several screens popped up before me.
[Rescue more than 2000 people by other]
[Gold Ticket 2x]
[Make Yuriko Takagi loyal to you until her death]
[Silver Ticket 2x]
[Use other people's hands to kill an entire mercenary squad]
[Silver Ticket]
"Yeah, I noticed too…" She nodded, watching with interest as my dog slowly stepped into my shadow, merging with it. "And that… that looks damn cool, I won't lie."
"Yeah, I know." I started walking, and she followed. "I used these dogs to scare Takagi's people and Yuriko herself a bit when I first took charge after winning the duel against Soichiro."
"Heh… I can imagine their faces when they saw that." She chuckled softly, which made me smile a little wider, and we headed out to the parking lot.
On the way, I used my favorite little tickets! Gacha!
[Windless Wrap]
|Elite Item|
Blacksouls - A blue cloak that makes the user not disturb even the wind, while wearing this cloak you gain enhanced agility and reflexes; in addition, all sounds you make are muffled and you don't disturb the air around you as you move.
[Invisible Air]
|Elite Ability|
From Fate - Barrier of the Wind King; the invisible air is a barrier made of several layers of extremely compressed air that the user can control at will, to either release in destructive bursts, cover an object to render it invisible, or reinforce an existing weapon in incredibly powerful winds.
[Goth Magnet]
|Uncommon Trait|
Goths and emos are drawn to you for some reason, making it easier for you to garner affection and favor from goths or those with daddy issues. In addition, people turn a blind eye to your less-than-favorable actions more easily, just like how those fathers turned a blind eye to their daughters.
[Intermediate Conceptualization]
|Uncommon Skill|
Conceptualization is your ability to understand what is beyond the mundane. You are an intermediate at comprehending the Mystical and Esoteric. You learn and master magic faster, and you are better at understanding the composition of abilities and esoteric effects.
[Novice Interfacing]
|Common Skill|
You are nimble, I can give you that; you know how to pick basic locks, pick pockets, find your way around mechanisms and move with decent grace.
I felt a warm wave wash over my entire body and smiled faintly. The cloak fell onto my shoulders, and the very instant I put it on, all the sounds of my footsteps simply vanished… causing Kiriko to turn toward me sharply.
"Isao-kun?" She looked at me with confusion, while I continued to walk as silently as the air itself moves. No faint creaking of skin against clothes, no squeaks of my shoes on the floor—nothing.
"It's fine, I just… have a very good cloak now." I smiled at her, and she merely nodded and followed. Even though her expression remained calm, I could feel how uncomfortable she was walking beside a person who made absolutely no sound. Every so often, she would turn to me, trying to verify that a living, breathing person was walking beside her, not a ghost.
Eventually, we reached the parking area, where people were already getting off the buses and gathering into one massive crowd. In the distance, I saw Yuriko, standing next to a man of average height with black hair, and Shizuka. Shizuka was standing close to Yuriko, and right beside her, holding her hand, was an unknown woman with a seductive, athletic figure, dark skin, and dark purple hair.
Yuriko and the unknown man started walking toward me. As soon as the man stood within a few meters, a screen popped up.
[Meet your long-time fan]
[Bronze Ticket 2x]
"Isao Tsumugi, I presume." His black eyes locked onto mine, but instead of fear, I felt amusement. I'd only ever seen that look from one other person when they looked at me… Oegi.
"That's right. And you are?"
"Tsurugi Ururu, commander of the SAT unit. I see you have everything under control here, despite your age, don't you, Tsumugi-san?" He smiled that vacant, yet slightly enthusiastic smile, which made me smirk.
"In times like these, if I want to ensure the safety and happiness of my loved ones, I can't blindly follow others. And the fact that my powers have awakened only reinforces that." My smile widened. "I hope there were no problems on the road here, or when my men arrived? That would have been unpleasant."
"No, no, what are you… on the contrary, thanks to your men arriving, we were able to get rid of, well, a rather unpleasant group of people." He nodded, as if trying to reassure me that he hadn't intended to take care of them himself. Honestly, he struck me as a man who would calmly kill someone, then go home to the victim's house, cook dinner using their groceries in their own kitchen, and eat that meal in peace.
"Yes, yes… let's go inside. While Soichiro takes care of things, we can talk about the reason you came here." The way he looked with bewilderment at me walking without making a sound made me chuckle a few times.
With a smile, I led them inside the mall—not to my room, of course, but to the office across from it.
[Bad Boy/girl Charm]
|Uncommon Trait|
You have that raw bad boy/girl edge; you are an object of affection for emos and edgy people. Rudeness may come across as cool more often.
[Stylist]
|Common Skill|
You have the skill of a skilled hair stylist, enough to get employed by celebrities and nobles; you know how to style hair and make it look good like it's second nature to you.
Tadashi Miyamoto
Tadashi felt terrible… not because he felt any guilt toward this brat, who thought he could fool everyone with his "special powers," but because everyone else was letting him fool them. My God, almost everyone in this godforsaken place thought he was some kind of God, putting him on a pedestal.
It infuriated him, made him incredibly angry… but it was even more painful that the woman he loved believed this bastard more than her own husband!
He had thought that in time, Kiriko would come to her senses and not want a divorce. But now? Seeing how easily she'd forgotten him and was looking at this younger, stronger guy with love? He saw that she wouldn't change her mind, and he honestly didn't know what could be done in this situation.
He wanted her back, even though Sayori was already with him… but honestly? He didn't care about Sayori. Since school, she'd been in love with him, but he'd made it clear he wouldn't reciprocate. She knew he was sleeping with her without commitment or feelings, and she didn't say anything because she was too submissive.
So, standing in one of the shops in this hellish mall, he saw the buses starting to enter the parking lot, pulling in without any problems since the wall that had been there before was now lowered—thanks to the powers of one of the boys… who'd received his power from his damn Isao! Damn…
At that very moment, while he was hating Isao, he saw him…
Tsurugi Ururu… he stared at the man in disbelief, realizing it was him. Because of this, he felt hope once again.
Yes… Tsurugi Ururu was the man he'd helped gather information on Ichiro Shido… and now? Now that he was here?
He knew he would help! Once they could convince the brat to awaken powers for him and his unit, they could take this place by force. And then, they would be the ones to decide what to do.
Grinning, he headed for the exit to call Hayashi and discuss what he had planned.
Isao Tsumugi
I was sitting in our new office. Yuriko stood right behind me like my loyal servant, while Kiriko stood by the door. As for Ururu? He sat right across the table from me, looking my way with interest.
"I've noticed one very interesting thing—not a single sound comes from you, Isao-san. Is that another facet of your power?" He looked at me with curiosity.
"Yeah, but we're not here to discuss the facets of my powers, but for one specific ability of mine, right?" I looked straight into his eyes, seeing nothing but black pools in which demons far scarier than real ones might reside.
"Oh, you're right. I was interested in one of your abilities… the ability to awaken powers in other people. And I would like to know, do you awaken specific powers in them? Or are the powers you awaken in them completely random?" Honestly, I liked his directness, and I answered him with the same.
"The latter. The powers a person receives depend on the person themselves."
"In other words, the person awakens powers that suit them perfectly?"
"Well, you could say that." I didn't move a muscle in my face, remembering that the power a person awakens wouldn't necessarily suit them at all—it was just a matter of luck whether they got a fitting power, or if they were just unlucky and got the ability to lengthen their left toenails on Wednesdays when the clock struck six.
"Then… you know, I would like to receive a reward for helping your people. After all, I don't think it would have been so easy for them to save all those people." His words honestly amused me—not how he so sincerely asked for powers, but how he assumed saving all those people was so important to me. In reality, I didn't care about them that much. If they didn't want to be saved, they could have stayed there and died, and I believe some did just that.
"You know, I'd be happy to do that… but I don't know you at all, man." I smirked, then smiled.
While we were both silent, I was thinking about one thing: could the Divine Hounds hide in other people's shadows? If they could… I wouldn't mind putting them in his shadow. Then, at any moment I needed, they could burst out and kill this guy.
Regular bullets wouldn't touch the Divine Hounds; their hide was too durable, as they had been feeding on my energy all this time, which was likely several times more powerful than ordinary "Cursed Energy." And even if bullets could hurt them… who said they needed a huge amount of time to kill him?
Dozens of variations quickly flashed through my head; those dozens turned into hundreds, then two hundred, and… yeah, regardless of what power he received, my hounds could tear his throat out before he could do anything. And if he did get a good trait allowing him to react, or he turned out to be quite agile? Who said my hounds had to engage him in a direct confrontation? They would either stay in his shadow until he fell asleep and kill him, or they would simply hide in other people's shadows, moving between them and inanimate objects, and strike from where he least expected…
Ha, honestly, it's lucky they're Gacha familiars and not me possessing the Technique itself without needing them to take up an ability slot. If that were the case, these wolves wouldn't be able to go too far from me—my energy simply couldn't reach them—but thanks to the Gacha, it's possible.
"Let's do this… you give me ten of your men, including Rika Minami. You give us over eighty-five percent of all the weapons you have. You give Yuriko all the important information on everything possible. After that, you allow my dogs," Two huge dogs appeared from the shadow of my chair and stared at Ururu, silent and unblinking. "To stay in your shadow. And then I will awaken powers in you, so you can show them to whoever you need to, so they can contact me about them." It would be stupid to think he didn't have a boss behind his back. The man who worked as my editor and manager had told me more than a few things about the government as a whole; we talked often, and the fact that his connections were quite good, as he worked in Shinomiya's editorial office, was excellent.
"…" Ururu narrowed his eyes with interest, then smiled. "You're asking for too much, knowing that I can't refuse."
"If you don't lik—"
"Oh, I like it … I like it even very much." The way he looked at me made me flinch slightly.
"Dude, what the hell? I'm not into men." My eyebrow involuntarily arched, which made him smirk at my words.
"Don't worry, I'm asexual." He sighed and held out his hand. "Let's seal our wonderful and, by the way, truly greedy contract with a handshake."
I stood up and waved to my hounds; they silently approached Ururu, who was also standing before my desk holding out his hand. He watched with interest as my dogs literally sank into his shadow. I smiled and gripped his hand.
"Come back in half an hour, after I finish discussing certain things with my assistant."
[Seal a mutually beneficial contract with Tsurugi Ururu]
[Bronze Ticket 2x]
I smiled as I squeezed his hand; he nodded slightly, released my hand, and walked toward the exit. I used the tickets I'd received from him.
[Slip In]
|Common Ability|
You were always a slippery one; you can pass your body through any opening wider than 5 centimeters in length.
[Sign Language]
|Trash Skill|
You know how to use the basic sign language of this world as well as you can speak your native language.
Hm… that's funny.
———-
My Patreon: @treon.com/2FSukuna?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator