After getting through the countless enemies we finally reached the aberration. I was breathing heavily and I was surprised that Kengo was still fueled with energy. ‘Ah…. I think I may have to go jogging in the morning starting tomorrow…’
“Finally, we get to pay our respects to the big boss. It sure gave us enough trouble! We had a lot of help along the way, so if I lose here, it’ll be a huge ding on my reputation. Was it ding? Or bling? Whatever! It doesn’t matter!” At this point, I was getting used to Kengo mixing up his words. It was starting to become a cute quirk to me.
As we were talking more enemies appeared and surrounded the aberration. It seems like we will have to go all out for this final fight. I feel like I am an RPG hero going after the final boss in the game. ‘But unlike in an RPG, I won’t have a second chance at this… Ahhh. I wanna get this over with.’
“The last of those grunts have tightened their ranks. It’s starting to look like a proper final battle now! Bring it, small fry! I’ll beat you and your boss down! The last man standing is the winner!” As Kengo said that, a roar from the aberration reverberates throughout the colosseum. It’s a roar that rings with power. However…
“Look, man. You don’t stand a chance. You may be strong, but your heart isn’t in it. You haven’t got any fighting spirit. Everyone knows you can’t win fights you don’t want to win. I just proved that earlier. Isn’t that right, Masato? So let’s go, partner!” Kengo and me smirked at each other before we charged headfirst toward the group of countless enemies.
After getting rid of all the lower level enemies we were fighting against the aberration. It was just me and Kengo switching between each other as we attack the aberration, not giving them a chance to let down their guard. After getting a good hit in the aberration stop moving, getting stunned, and finally giving us a chance to end this.
“It’s stunned… Kengo! This is our chance, partner!” Hearing me shout that, Kengo leaps straight up toward the aberration as it staggers, swinging a raised fist. “Raaaaaaaaaaaaagh!” His punch slams the aberration to the ground. Without pause, Kengo resumes his fighting stance, his eyes locked on the aberration. I went to his side quickly and got into a position, waiting just in case the aberration started attacking again.
“You were one hell of a challenge… but it’s all over. This Sacred Artifact used to belong to you, right? No, wait… Used to… isn’t the right way to put it. You’re not yourself now, huh. I bet you’re an awesome dude when you’ve got it together. I wish I could’ve fought you at your best. I hope I still can, someday. I feel like I can get wherever I want if I stick with Masato. So someday, I’ll find you in your own territory. Man, here I am babbling away and you probably don’t understand a thing… Hm? You smilin’, man?” At what Kengo said I look closer at the aberration as well. Perhaps it’s just the angle, or my imagination showing me what I assume Kengo was currently seeing as well…. But it feels like the aberration is smiling at Kengo.
“Nah… No way. See ya. It’s been fun! Let’s go fist to fist again next time!” With one final swing, Kengo delivers the finishing blow. Gazing down at the now motionless aberration, Kengo dips into a bow of respect, one warrior to another. I copied him, feeling the moment felt right for this.
“Well fought!” Kengo stood up straight again, a bright smile on his face. I also stood up straight, letting my Sword disappear out of my hand. I was stretching out my body, trying to give relief to my sore bones.
“Nicely done.” I hit Kengo lightly on his shoulder with my fist, giving him a smirk. Kengo's cheeks grew slightly red as he scratched his cheek with an awkward look. I felt happy that we handled half of the process of getting rid of the Exception but I felt kind of embarrassed about the other half.
“So, did this take care of that declaration thing?” Before I could tell him what else we had to do, Shiro's voice came from Kengo's phone again. I decided that maybe Shiro should tell him what the other thing we had to do.
“Well done, Kengo! Masato, too! Now you must declare the order of dominance before that thing wakes up again. That will exonerate the Exception. With that, this situation will be resolved, and everything will be restored to normal… I think.” Kengo scoffed at how unsure Shiro sounded but I felt like it wasn’t Shiro's fault since we only did this like one time. “Why so unsure? You made us fight that thing without knowing it would solve this?” I tried to calm down Kengo who was getting kind of irritated.
“I didn’t have a choice. My brain was at maximum capacity just trying to keep up with everything.” Shiro was defending himself against Kengo and the scoff on Kengo's face disappeared. He just messed up his hair with a tired expression on his face.
“Well, it’s fine, I guess. So what… what’s the deal with this declaration thingy? It’s not over just because we beat the boss, right? But we’ve come this far, so let’s get it over with!” Kengo was eager to get it over with but I could feel my face slowly getting warmer, knowing what the next step is.
“This Exception was brought about by Kengo and Oniwaka, so the hierarchy of the two responsible must be declared. In our guild, Oniwaka’s Rule is now set to be positioned under Masato’s Rending. All that’s left is to position Kengo’s Rule under Rending as well. Just like last time, you’ll need to touch that thing while you declare dominance.” It felt like Shiro was being vague with telling Kengo what the next step of the process was and I couldn’t blame him.
“That’s still really vague! Give me the deets so we can get on with it! How, exactly, do we declare the Ranks?! Spit it out!” Kengo was getting annoyed with Shiro dancing around telling Kengo what we needed to do next.
“I-I-I can’t say!” Shiro was stuttering with his words now and I could imagine his face was rather red at the moment. “The world is in danger, here! Spill the beans! What the hell are you so flustered about?!” Kengo's eyebrow was twitching with how annoyed he was and I felt my face was burning hot right now.
“Oi, Shiro! What’s the matter…? Hello?!” Kengo was calling out to Shiro who grew silent and I was hoping he would just tell him already. I didn’t want to tell him! It is too embarrassing! ‘Masato calm down! It's a kiss… Kissing is a normal thing… Normal!’
“Ask Masato! Bye!” I felt my mouth drop open at the fact Shiro just left me to tell Kengo the next step. I never felt more betrayed by someone in my life! Kengo let out a sigh as he put away his phone. “Sometimes I really don’t get that guy… Let’s just get this over with. So what’re we supposed to do?” Kengo was looking at me now, waiting for me to tell him and I could hear my heart beating so loud.
“W-W-We kiss!” I shouted that to Kengo, closing my eyes tightly and my face was burning due to how hot it was. It was silent for a while and I slowly opened my eyes again. Kengo was looking at me with a blank expression that slowly grew shocked and he shouted out in surprise at the information.
“Uh, are you serious? After all this, my first time is gonna be…” Kengo's face was red as he awkwardly trailed off with his words. It was quiet between us for a while, with us not looking at each other for a while.
“...Are you that opposed to it?” I look at the ground, a frown on my face. It wasn’t my fault that we had to kiss in the first place. It is embarrassing for me as well. Even if I like to use charming words I am still a pure maiden at heart!
“I-It’s not that I don’t want to… but why do I have to?! Gaaaah! Fine. Fine! I’m a man! I’ll just suck it up and do it! But… I don’t have a clue what I’m doing! Don’t blame me if you regret this!” Kengo let out a long sigh before getting close to me. It was rather awkward being so close to him and I couldn’t look him directly in the eyes.
“Well? Do we just do it? The kiss?” Kengo had an impatient look on his face but I noticed that he was also nervous as well. It made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one who was getting nervous about kissing.
“U-Um… While kissing we need to decide who on top…” I nervously told him this, still not looking him directly in the eyes.
“We have to think about who’s on top while we do it? Yeah, yeah. You’re on top. Do you even have to ask? You beat me in our match, remember? I’ll get my revenger match after I train some more… but you can be on top for now. Besides, you’re the boss of this new guild we’re makin’, right? Works for me. A-All right, here goes…” Kengo and I just awkwardly look at each other for a while before getting ready to do the last step
We kneel together, each resting one hand upon the fallen thunder god. Our eyes meet. “Here goes…” Kengo’s trembling hand cups my face, causing my face to grow hot from his touch. He dips forward awkwardly as if he was unsure how to pace his motion.
Kengo’s lips are soft when they press against mine, but the kiss feels somewhat stiff. Ever so slowly, my thoughts cloud over, and I lose awareness…. Before I fully lost awareness I felt the aberration under my hand disappear.
Waking up on the ground I felt rather confused where I was. I noticed that Kengo was near me and he was waking up as well. Once he was awake as well he looked around confused, not fully getting where we were as well for a moment.
“Where are we?” Looking around I notice that the formerly wrecked guild due to the aberration was restored to normal due to the termination of the App. I realize that we were at the entrance of the guild.
“We must've been out cold. Looks like all the broken buildings are back to normal. Argh. Not this again… Are you okay, Masato?” As Kengo was getting up he stumbled a bit and I got up as well to steady him. But as I did that I stumbled as well and Kengo reached out to steady me.
“Whenever I leave this place, it’s always like I have wicked jet lag. It’s like I don’t quite have a grasp on how time is moving, or someone jammed a key in me and wound up my insides like a mechanical toy!” Kengo was complaining about how messed up he currently felt and I silently was agreeing with him. As he was talking I heard a pair of footsteps approaching us and when I looked to see who it was I was pleased to see it was Shiro.
“Ugh. And here’s the very last guy I wanna see right now.” I moved away from Kengo and went off to the side so that they could handle their problem. Kengo had an annoyed but guilty expression on his face while Shiro was just looking at him with an unreadable look on his face. “Kengo.” Kengo flinched when Shiro just called his name, not knowing what was going to happen next.
“W-What? I’m not gonna sit through one of your lectures again. It’s not like this was any of your business in the first place! Go home, you four-eyed teacher’s pet--” Shiro quickly moved towards Kengo with his book in his hand. I covered my head once I saw him hit Kengo pretty hard on the head. ‘Holy fuck…. Shiro is scary sometimes…’
“Ow! What the hell’s your problem, Shiro?!” Kengo was glaring at Shiro as he held his injured head. Shiro just huff and crossed his arms in front of him, like he didn’t care about Kengo complaining. “That’s payback for when you punched me. Now we’re even.”
“I guess I deserved that. I caused all this, after all, so you can have it as a freebie.” Kengo stops glaring at Shiro and looks to the side with a guilty look on his face. Shiro's expression grew rather sad as he uncrossed his arms. “I was…. I was so worried.”
“You know what you did, right Kengo?” Shiro gave Kengo a look which caused him to let out a loud sigh and nod his head in understanding. “Yeah… I was an idiot.” Kengo briefly glances at me and I give him a smile with a thumb up. Shiro heaves a sigh in response.
“As long as you know. Welcome back, Kengo.” Shiro didn’t have a serious look on his face and welcomed Kengo back with a soft look on his face. Kengo awkwardly looks off to the side as he scratches his cheek. “Th...Thanks, man.”
“You should know you have a lot to answer for! Spending the night outside the dorm, violent behavior, causing all this… I’ll be sure to punish you for all of it later, so you better be ready.” Shiro glasses flash as he gives Kengo a rather cold smile and Kengo grows pale at this. “No way! We’re supposed to be even now! You're clearly holding a grudge!”
“Certainly not. I am simply compiling the data so we know what preventative measures to take in the future. As the brain of this guild, I will be enforcing the rules without exception!” Shiro's smile widened on his face and Kengo could only look on in shock at how harsh Shiro was being with him.
“Good work, Masato. Sorry to change the subject, but can you check your App?” After dealing with Kengo, Shiro turns towards me and asks me this. After booting up the App, I can confirm that my guild registration is still marked as temporary.
“I’ve confirmed the same thing on my own device, too. It seems we still need to do something else to formalize it. If only someone knew the procedure…” As Shiro mumbled this to himself with a frown on his face, a light appeared next to me and Salomon came out with a big smile.
“Ta-dah! Sal, your award-winning familiar for cuteness, is here! Actually, I’ve got a bone to pick with you! Do you know how long it’s been?! Master! Haven’t you been worried about me? Weren’t you sad that you didn’t get to see my charming lil’ self for so long?” Salomon was rubbing in close to me, giving me an abandoned look.
“Allow me to thoroughly punish you.” I cracked my knuckle as I gave Salomon a dark smile. Where was he when I needed some form of help during this long ass time! Acting cute won’t make me forgive him easily! I tickle him without regard and occasionally pinch him randomly on his body. “Ahhh! Eeehehehe! Stop that!! Don’t pinch my butt!”
“Where were you! I didn’t see you at all today!” I finally stopped tickling and pinching him but I still had a dark look on my face.
“Huh? What was I up to? W-Well, um… I had just finished my nap and was about to come and see you, Master, so I jumped out of the phone, and… Some white lion came at me with these scary spinning discs! I deflected the first disc with my Special Salomon Barrier, dodged the second using willpower as my modifier…. and took a direct hit from the third! I cast a healing spell from FB (Familiar’s Handbook) and have been nursing myself back to health.” As he told me this I realized the reason why I wasn’t badly hurt by Snow attack was due to Salomon interference. ‘Well this is embarrassing but no one will know this happens unless they hear it from Salomon himself…’
“I’m surprised you dodged even one…” I still couldn’t get over the fact he managed to dodge an attack from Snow. I was nearly dead from it. Would I be fully dead if Salomon didn’t randomly come out of my phone? I guess that Salomon is rather useful to have around.
“I’m not quite at the same level as you guys, so that really saved my bacon! Otherwise, I might’ve been toast! I managed a full recovery, but I wasn’t able to come out any sooner. I get the feeling I missed something… Could it be there was another incident like the one in Shinjuku? Just kidding! There’s no way summonings of that level could happen in such quick succession…” Salomon shook his head to himself with a non-believing look on his face that went away once he saw the serious look on my face.
“Wait…? Seriously?! How are you such a trouble magnet?! Poor Master… That sucks!” Salomon gave me a look filled with pity and I could only pull hard on his cheeks until tears appeared in his eyes.
“What do you know about formal guild registration?” I realize that Salomon probably knew more about this since he technically was the one who introduced me to the App so he had to know how to make a guild as well.
“Formal guild registration? You can’t work it out? Let me see.” I brought my phone closer to Salomon who seriously looked at it for a while before he gave me a big smile while shaking his head. “Hmmm…? Sorry! Beats me!” I could feel a vein appear on my forehead and I grind my fist hard into Salomon's head until he was crying out in pain.
“Hey, stop that! Stop grinding your fist on my head! I-I think I remember learning this at familiar school. I’ll go check, so wait a moment please, Master! Off I go! Buh-bye!” Salomon gave me a wink before he disappeared back into my phone.
“What is it? You looked like you were talking with someone.” Shiro was giving me a concerned look and I could feel my face growing red once I realized that Shiro saw me basically talking to myself since he can’t see Salomon.
“Nothing, nothing.” I put away my phone in my pocket and avoided looking at Shiro's concerned and curious gaze. I should really go somewhere else once I am talking to Salomon so that no one thinks I am talking to myself.
“What’s the deal with this, though? We set up a guild, but we’re still just students… We’re not well-funded either. I don’t know if we should go ahead with it.” I felt rather relieved once Shiro changed the subject from me to the guild creation. But I also felt like having a guild would be really helpful to me, maybe it will help me figure out who I am?
“Let’s just play it by ear. How do other guilds get funding? Actually, I technically belong to the Ikebukuro Guild. How does that affect things?” I realize that Kengo was in a guild at the moment and I wonder if that would affect him joining my guild. This is rather a lot to think about.
“I heard from Shu… from an acquaintance… some of the details, if not all. The better-known guilds all have a lot of members. They work on a huge scale and the chain of command tends to be pretty large. If we’re to formally register our guild, there’s a lot we need to do to prepare. To be frank, we’ve got 99 problems ahead of us, and too much free time isn’t one.” From what Shiro is saying I can see making a guild isn’t as easy as just hitting a couple of stuff on my phone but is something I have to be careful with.
“Sounds like a pain. Can’t we just delegate the guild management stuff to someone else?” Kengo had an irritated look on his face as he listened to Shiro talk about how creating the guild would be rather hard. Shiro gave Kengo an annoyed look, not believing what he just said to him. “You’re such a… Even if we wanted to, we don’t have the resources--”
“I heard the whole sorry story!” At Andvari's sudden appearance I nearly had a heart attack. When did he get here and how long has he been here?
“Whoa! Andvari?! What’re you doin’ here? You just up and disappeared earlier!” Kengo was just as surprised at Andvari's sudden appearance before it turned into an annoyed glare in Andvari's direction.
“This a friend of yours, Kengo? He looks… unique.” Shiro looked up and down Andvari's appearance with a raised eyebrow and I guess that is an understandable reaction to Andvari's appearance. He is just in an unbuttoned shirt with just underwear as pants.
“You’re a swindler! You hear me? I won’t fall for your tricks anymore!” Kengo was rather firm about not trusting Andvari with business deals, making me wonder if he had a bad business exchange with him.
“Hey, come on. That’s a baseless claim! It’s not as if I ever pushed defective items on you or something. Now, what did I sell you again? Oh right, someone’s photo collection… If I remember correctly, it was-” Kengo quickly waved his hand in front of him, trying to stop Andvari from continuing what he was going to say. “Shut! Up!”
“Well, Andvari? Did you show up for any reason in particular?” Shiro looked at Andvari curiously and Andvari got serious again as he professionally looked at Shiro. “Right! That! I heard you guys formed a guild.”
“How the hell did you know?! Were you eavesdropping?!” Kengo was suspiciously looking at Andvari and Andvari just waved off his suspicions with a carefree smile. “The walls have ears… and the curtains have Andvari! I’m just seconds away from any and all business conversations!”
“Ain’t no curtains or wall around here, man…” Kengo plainly told Andvari that and Andvari just waved it off like it wasn’t that important which caused me to get an awkward smile on my face at that.
“So, let’s cut to chase. I’ll handle all the business matters for your guild!” Andvari told us that with a smile and I felt rather surprised about this. I know that he likes money but he would do something like this rather eagerly? That's kind of weird.
“Under contract, I presume?” Shiro didn’t look off guard at what Andvari said, just going along with him. Shiro is the best for something like this! I would have been so bad at this if I was by myself.
“Of course. I’ll be charging for my services. But look at it this way. There’s a lot you don’t know about this business. That’s where I come in! Take a look at the Ikebukuro Guild! They hired me, you know? And look at them now! I offer honest accounting, stable design, and comprehensive all-around support! And as for a discount… How’s this? It’s a steal!” Andvari was holding out a paper to us and I was looking at it intently. I mean it did seem like a good deal and we really don’t have anything else to go on.
“We’ll take it.” I mean don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. He said he runs an honest business and I guess he wouldn’t do anything that would risk him losing money so I guess we don’t have to worry about him messing with us.
“Hey, you know your stuff! For real!” Andvari looked rather pleased with me agreeing with him and I could only just let out a sigh. I noticed that suddenly Bathym was next to Andvari as well and I felt my eyes grow wide since I definitely didn’t see him come over! “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Andvari is actually really reliable with that kind of stuff.”
“Bathym, you too?! You people really like to just pop out of nowhere.” Kengo was surprised by Bathym's sudden appearance as well. I wonder if it was a demon thing to just appear out of nowhere? That would be a rather scary ability for them to have.
“Duh, I’m a demon! Speak of the devil and he doth appear an’ all that.” Bathym looked amused at both my and Kengo's surprised expression. Shiro was looking at Bathym silently, the same look on his face when he first met Andvari as well.
“Yet another, uh… scandalously… dressed person. Then again, a person might not be the right word. So, Mr. Bathym. You say we can trust this man?” I was rather impressed with Shiro who didn’t show any surprise over the fact that Bathym came out of nowhere.
“There’s no one in this world you can fully trust. We all operate based on calculations of profit and loss. That’s life. That’s why relationships have a tendency of ending when the coin runs dry… But, hey, you’re on top for now. Why worry? At the very least, as long as he’s collared by your coin, you’re safe.” Bathym gave Shiro a cheerful smile and Shiro nodded his head in understanding. “Very well. I look forward to hearing more about it.”
“Oi, Shiro! You sure about this?” Kengo was looking at Shiro in surprise at how accepting he was of the business deal and I guess I can’t blame him since they were baiting him for a while.
“We’ll discuss the details formally later. I’ll be seeking plenty of information from you then, Andvari.” Shiro gives a polite smile to Andvari, who smiles back at him with an eagerness surrounding him. “Leave it to me! I’ll give you a call once everything is set up!”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine… Shiro’s a real smooth talker once he gets that look on his face. Between his smile and his sense for haggling, he’s had plenty of guys wrapped around his finger… Ugh. I don’t even want to think about it. Enough of this! We’ll deal with it later!” Kengo looks away from the smiling Shiro and Andvari then walks towards the guild.
“Looks like everyone else got out of the Colosseum. Let’s go check-in.” Nodding at what Kengo said, I went toward the guild and the first two people I saw were Pollux and Taurus Mask who wave at me once they saw me coming towards them.
“Wow, it actually worked out somehow! That was an interesting battle, wasn’t it?!” Pollux was smiling happily as he stood next to Taurus Mask who was also smiling. “Yeeehaw! It was the best fight ever, brother! But... why do I keep calling you that?”
“You okay, Taurus? Do you have a fever? How many fingers am I holding up” Pollux held his fingers up in front of Taurus Mask who was looking at me with a confused look. I didn’t understand why he was acting like this in the first place. It's like he didn’t know me or something like that.
“Either way, the Ikebukuro Colosseum is back to normal. Now we can resume our heated battles!” Pollux was looking at me with intense eyes and I could feel my body shiver slightly as it remembered the last fight we had with him.
“I’ll always be waiting for your challenge! Come back anytime!” Taurus Mask was looking at me seriously as well and even though he was acting weird since the last time I saw him I couldn’t help but smile at him. Fighting with him was a rather fun experience.
“May our threads of fates cross again… Until next time!” After Pollux said that both him and Taurus Mask left with each other, talking to each other about what I assume was fighting or something like that.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see someone moving and when I turned around to see who it was I was rather happy to see it was Ikutoshi. He had a rather shocked face once he realized I spotted him and I just wanted to pinch his cheeks due to how cute he was. Nomad was also with him and gave him a confused look when Ikutoshi looked away from me with slightly red cheeks. “What’s wrong? Wasn’t there something you wanted to say?”
“Do you ever shut up, Nomad? There’s nothing I want to say to anyone.” Ikutoshi glares at Nomad, his cheeks growing even redder. “I still haven’t fought you… but I think it would be fun. That’s all. See ya.” Ikutoshi gave me a smile that suited him for his age before he ran off with an embarrassed expression.
“Sheesh. Not an honest bone in his body… I guess I could stand to drop a few compliments from us both. Good work. You did great. Don’t worry about that idiot tiger. He fell asleep like a big baby once he returned to his cage. Horkeukamui is long gone, too. He said something about training in the mountains, but who knows where. If you even need any detective work, drop me a line. Depending on how much you’re offering. I might take the job. As a friendship bonus, I’ll give you… 3% off the first job.” Nomad patted my head rather hard before he left to go somewhere else.
As I was going to fix my messy hair I was hugging from behind rather hard and I almost fell on my face. Looking behind me I could see an excited Garmr, whose tail was wagging at a fast pace. “Master! Garmr work hard! Praise Garmr!”
I turn around to face Garmr and pet him on the head gently. “Do you still want to come with me, Garmr?” I asked him this even though I knew the answer to my question already.
“Hehehe. Garmr guard dog. Can’t leave this place. But if Master calls Garmr… Garmr come! Promise! Let’s play again! Play, play! Garmr always waiting! Bye-bye! See you soon!” After licking my face Garmr let to probably guard something. After meeting with so many people again I ran into Moritaka, who greeted me with a big smile.
“Masato! You did it! From what I saw of that being’s power, he must have been a formidable warrior. We have been rewarded with a valuable encounter! It has certainly given me many opportunities to hone my abilities. I’m glad to see both Kengo and Shiro are much improved now, too. They actually appear to be even closer than before. If I am being honest, I envy their deep relationship. Well, it’s time for us to return to school. Kengo and Shiro are waiting.” Moritaka started to walk back to where Kengo and Shiro were waiting. They waved at me once they saw me coming back.
“Here at last. You done saying your goodbyes? Ikebukuro isn’t too far. You’ll definitely run into them all again if you come and battle here.” Kengo told me that with a carefree smile and Shir gave him a sharp look, hitting his book in his hand. “You really don’t know when to quit, huh?! I’m going to have you write an apology when we get back!”
‘There, there, Shiro. Let’s call it a day for now. We shall bathe, change our clothes, eat a nice dinner, and focus on releasing the exhaustion from our muscles!” At what Moritaka said I could feel my body get tired and my stomach growl rather loudly. I couldn’t wait to go back to school and end today.
“I have to give Ryota a call first. I’m sure he’ll be mad that he was left out of the loop again.” Shiro took out his phone and went to call Ryota. Kengo and Moritaka were talking to each other excitedly as we continued to walk back to school. Even though everything was back to normal I couldn't forget what Oniwaka told me before he went away... ‘I wonder if I should tell Shiro about this later when we get back to school. It seems rather important. But more importantly, I should have asked Andvari for photos of Bathym!’
Somewhere else in Ikebukuro….
“We got some good data, so what do you say we get going too, huh, D--?” Shuichi was cut off by Duo who held a hand up, his expression looking rather annoyed at the moment.
“Can you not use that name, please? Even if we’re alone. I keep telling you that we don’t know who could be listening.” Duo was looking at the smiling Shuichi like he was an idiot but Shuichi only laughed at that.
“Hahaha, sorry! I can’t help wanting to show off how special our relationship is. There’s no way I can’t go a day without bragging about my baby brother!” Shuichi didn’t care that Duo was currently giving him a look like he was trash at the moment, too happy to be around his little brother.
“To put it mildly, I wish you’d be buried under 300 feet of soil and never come out.” An arrow went into Shuichi at Duo harsh word and the smile on his face was frozen in place.
“By the way, supreme Guild Master… Have you gotten all the data you were after?” Shuichi quickly pulled himself back together from Duo's harsh words. Duo gave Shuichi a little nod and Shuichi smiled brightly at that.
“Most of it… I’ll admit, you were quite impressive.” Duo praised Shuichi lightly and Shuichi gave him a confused look. “When you said your little brother might have been dead… Your anger felt very realistic. Even if Tokyo were destroyed, you know such consequences would never reach me.”
“Hahaha! Well, that’s true! I forgot about that! I don’t have much to work on… I was dead serious when I said that. Just imagining it caused my emotions to spiral out of control.” Shuichi told this to Duo with a serious look, causing him to let out an annoyed sigh. “That wasn’t an act? How stupid of me to have been impressed.”
“Haha! It’s okay to embrace your real feelings, baby brother! You owe me a smile and thanks for getting so mad on your behalf!” Shuichi held out his arms in front of him, looking at Duo with expected eyes.
“To put it mildly, would you please disintegrate and disappear off the face of the Earth, brother?” Shuichi was hit with countless other arrows as Duo looked at him with indifferent eyes and his smile was frozen on his face again as he held his arms open.
“Roppongi and Aoyama are the next places I need to observe. The East Side has some interesting movement, too, but we might not be able to return on our own if we go there.” Duo was mumbling that to himself as Shuichi stood off to his side listening to him.
“Worry not, my beloved baby brother! I will be your sword and your shield! Hahaha! Now fawn over me! Come on! Come, come! You can jump into my arms whenever you’re ready!” Shuichi had an excited look on his face as he looked at Duo, hoping that he managed to impress him with his speech.
“I’m leaving now. Don’t bother following me. To put it mildly, you annoy the hell outta me.” The third cutting remark from his beloved brother almost brings even Shuichi to his knees. “But your big brother worked so hard! The least you could do is toss a few compliments my way!”
“Oh, yes. Hey, Shuichi…?” Duo look at Shuichi and Shuichi looks at him with a pleased expression on his face. “What is it, my beloved brother!?”
“Call me a taxi.” At those words, Shuichi finally crumbles to his knees. Duo didn’t care to look at the defeated Shuichi.
At Ikebukuro Colosseum….
“Yep, it’s all there. Payment received. Sorry for the extra effort, but I only accept cash. It’s all I trust.” Kirito takes the cash from Snow who handed it to him.
“Good work. You did well, as usual.” Even though Snow was smiling politely to Kirito, he couldn’t hide the dislike in his eyes as he looked at him.
“You can stop that already. I know you hate me.” Kirito sighed as he looked at Snow who still had a polite smile on his face but his eyes only showed dislike towards Kirito. “I won’t deny it. The sentiment is mutual, of course.”
“Damn straight. That courage crap you love so much won’t fill my stomach when I’m hungry. It’s of no use to me. Those who fight for an audience and those who watch them… They’re all hopeless idiots to me.” Kirito spit that out towards Snow, who only looked at him coldly with a smile still on his face. “Man cannot live on bread alone… Not that you could comprehend that phrase.”
“That’s just some stupid saying made up by someone who has a whole mountain of bread. They must be real lucky to be able to think that way.” Kirito glared at Snow with a frown on his face, feeling rather annoyed.
“You’re rather talkative today.” Snow raised an eyebrow at how much Kirito was talking today and Kirito only gave him a smirk. “It’s no big deal. I’ve just found someone I hate even more than you.” Kirito's eyes grew darker as he thought about that annoying new person, Masato.
Somewhere else in the Ikebukuro Colosseum…
“And that concludes the tea party. I’m done for today.” Alice let out a tired sigh as she walked through the halls of Ikebukuro with Jambavan following close behind her with a nervous expression. “W-What about the report? You’re supposed to make them regularly….”
“Why you’re going to do it, Jambavan, of course.” Alice looked at him with a simple look, like that was the obvious answer to Jambavan's question. Jambavan expression grew flustered at this information and looked at Alice with tears in his eyes. “Me? Again? Why can’t you do it once in a while, Alice?”
“Oh, I mustn’t. I’m just a mirage. The stuff of dreams… No one will hear me or remember what I say. That’s why you have to do it. That’s why you’re here.” Alice gave a soft smile to Jambavan, who started to cry a little due to Alice bullying him.
“Ugh… Rave is gonna be mad again…” Jambavan could help but let out a sigh as he followed behind a humming Alice as they walked through the hall of the Ikebukuro guild.
In Claude Office…
Claude, master of the Ikebukuro Colosseum, has been talking with someone through the App. “Either way, good work. We are satisfied with the results. Farewell. There you are, Snow.” As Claude ends the call he notices that Snow has arrived in his office.
“I apologize for making you wait, darling Master. Please forgive the impertinence.” Snow bow towards Claude, with a guilty expression and only stood up when he motions for him to do so. “No matter, Snow. We absolve you from all wrongdoing.”
“You appear to be in high spirits today. May I ask the reason?” Snow noticed that Claude was practically beaming in happiness as he sat on his couch, causing Snow to look at him with a gentle expression.
“Because we have seen that which we must, Snow. Our beloved Berserkers… We adore all that which is inherent in those lions. We reign over the lions and their duels. However, the spirit of our lions have become like birds who have taken flight. We hope they desire a revolt… A revolt in which the Have-Nots will wager their very existence. We shall absolve the lions of this revolt upon which they stake their lives. We shall crush them beneath our love and might. Our lions have gone above and beyond in this trail, pushed to their very extremes. We are very pleased. Those who dance upon the stage, those who refused to dance, those who observed the dance, and… those who set the stage from behind the scenes.” Claude looks at the silent Snow who looks back at him with a calm expression.
“Oniwaka was a stagehand acting in secret and placed in the No.3 rank by your hand, was he not?” Claude looked at Snow with a smile on his face, not at all upset with Snow but he still looked away with an ashamed look. “Then you were aware… Forgive me for the contrived performance.”
“Knowing how much you worry, we reasoned it out as such. When an organization cannot introduce fresh air, it will soon rot. You acted in the interest of protecting the Ikebukuro Guild. Thus, you welcomed a lion to play the role of a jester and left the way open for the snake to slip inside, as well.” At Claude's words, Snow looked at him with admiration in his eyes at how smart he was.
“Darling Master, your divine will is beyond my comprehension. Please forgive my thoughtlessness.” Snow once again apologizes to Claude, who just waves a hand at him to ease him.
“Asolved. Now, for our next move. No. 3, No. 6, No. 9, and No. 10 have all left our ranks. We must appear to be easy targets at present.” Even though he was talking about their lower defensives, Claude didn’t seem too worried about it.
“Yes. There are already some rumblings among the other guilds.” Snow confirmed what Claude was talking about with a calm expression on his face as well.
“Prepare for the next banquet. Further circulate the news of the weakening of Ikebukuro, both internally and externally.” Claude's expression grew excited as he told Snow to do this, causing Snow to look at him with a gentle smile. “
I am pleased to see you enjoying this, darling Master. Understood. I will leak the information through various channels. With this new contrivance of danger, we shall see how alliances shift. This ought to smoke out our potential enemy. Furthermore, we will also welcome a new No. 3 to replace Oniwaka and stir the air. Is my understanding of your wishes on par?” Claude simply smiles in response to Snow’s question.
“Developments will move rapidly in Tokyo from now on. We will have you work very hard for us, Snow.” Claude's eyes were shining bright as they looked at Snow, who bowed towards him with a smile on his face. “As you wish. My Trinity is ever yours to command, darling Master.”
Outside Ikebukuro Colosseum….
As we were walking from Ikebukuro Colosseum, Kengo called out my name and started to walk by my side with an embarrassed look on his face. “You’ll have to let me thank you one more time, so… Th-Thanks. All right. Now let’s go home! Right… partner!?”
At the smile on Kengo's face that seemed to be bright due to the sun behind him, I couldn’t help but smile back. “Yeah, let go home, partner.”
