Sorry for the delay, a long ass black-out just happened.
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"As I was saying, Mr. Haruto—where exactly did you get such high-quality ingredients?"
Shiba Miori asked curiously as she picked up a slice of marbled beef.
As the daughter of the Shiba family, the world's largest weapons conglomerate, she was well-informed. And yet, she had never heard of any livestock farm in the Tokyo Area capable of producing such fine beef anymore.
The situation wasn't much better in other areas, either.
Haruto was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Should he tell them that these were just rabbit feed he'd conveniently acquired?
Before he could think of a proper answer, Kisara interjected coldly.
"Isn't the meat enough to stuff someone's mouth shut? Why keep poking your nose into things? How annoying~"
Kisara was aware that Haruto came from another world. That question might've been a bit difficult to answer directly.
So she simply steered the conversation away with a dose of sarcasm.
Miori put her chopsticks down.
"Oh? Did anyone else hear that? Just now—it sounded like a dog barking. Ah, must've been a sore loser."
Kisara likewise set down her chopsticks.
"Haruto-kun, this hotpot is delicious, but it feels like it's missing one crucial ingredient."
As she spoke, she drew the katana from her waist.
"And that ingredient… is Shiba Miori's blood!"
"Midori, move the table. We're taking this to the back room," Haruto said casually.
The three little lolis immediately picked up the table and began moving it inward.
Haruto followed suit, slipping away from the impending chaos. Only Kisara and Miori remained in the room, locked in a fierce standoff.
Oh, and Satomi Rentaro, caught awkwardly in the middle.
Sweat rolled down Rentaro's forehead.
"Uhm…"
He tried to mediate the situation.
"Tendo-style Iaido—First Form: Water Drips to Ice!"
With a sharp clang of her sword, Kisara launched her attack.
Rentaro's words were swallowed up in the sound of combat.
Meanwhile, Haruto dipped another slice of meat into the broth and muttered to himself.
"Excellent. Truly excellent."
Kisara's swordsmanship was astonishing.
Purely in terms of technique, she was nearly at the pinnacle of mastery.
As for Miori—
She, too, wielded surprising skill that contrasted with her elegant appearance. Dressed in traditional kimono, her movement remained uninhibited.
Her weapons: a metal folding fan and a handgun.
With live ammunition and sharp instincts, she barely managed to fight Kisara to a draw.
The office, already shabby, was left in even worse shape after the clash.
Rentaro got caught in the crossfire and ended up quite miserable.
The three little girls watched anxiously.
Only Haruto was thoroughly enjoying the show, munching away contentedly.
This wasn't the first time Kisara and Miori had gone at it. The two often clashed over the slightest disagreement.
This time was no exception.
Ultimately, Miori suffered a minor loss.
Later on, she continued trying to dig for information about Haruto. But Kisara shot her down each time. By the time she left, she'd learned nothing useful.
In the past—Whenever Miori left, she would always tease Rentaro.
Saying things like:
"Why not quit working for Kisara and come work for me instead?"
"What's so good about Kisara anyway? Poor as dirt. Just quit already."
Stuff like that.
But this time, she surprisingly said nothing to Rentaro and simply left.
Maybe, just maybe, Miori's desire to steal Rentaro away…
Was partly because she liked opposing Kisara.
=============
Time passed.
The next morning.
On the surface, Tokyo Area appeared calm as ever.
But behind the scenes, waves of chaos surged.
Kisara and Rentaro arrived at the designated summoning location. By the time they got there, many Civil Officers and Initiators had already gathered.
Most wore flamboyant or unique outfits.
Nearly everyone present was ranked within the top 2000 pairs. Once people gained a bit of strength, they tended to start expressing themselves more boldly.
Perhaps it was a way to highlight their uniqueness.
Still, within the world, those ranked in the top 2000 were considered first-rate combatants.
Some were even ranked as high as the top 200.
Just as Kisara and Rentaro entered the room—
The door automatically shut behind them.
They heard the mechanical locking sound.
Everyone noticed it, but no one reacted.
High skill brings high confidence, after all.
Once the room was sealed—
A massive screen at the front of the room lit up.
And the moment the image appeared—
Every person present immediately stood at attention.
"Holy Maiden!"
Seitenshi—the symbol of the Tokyo Area. Even among these powerful individuals, she was deeply revered.
Kisara, however, showed no reverence upon seeing her. Instead, she quietly wondered what exactly Haruto had done.
In the original timeline, this mission had been issued anonymously.
And there was a warning:
"If you don't want to accept this commission, leave now. Once you hear the details, you can't back out."
But this time, Seitenshi directly summoned them under her own name.
And it was nearly a mandatory request.
This was due to the immense pressure brought on by Haruto's presence.
Such forceful behavior might stir fear and rumors—But Seitenshi no longer had the luxury of restraint.
In the game of humanity's survival, she had to seize every possible advantage.
"Greetings, everyone,"
Seitenshi began. Her voice remained calm and cool.
As a leader, she could not allow panic. She had to stay composed in the face of crisis. If she panicked, her people would fall into chaos.
"This is an emergency commission. Please complete it. It is extremely important."
Her tone grew more serious as she displayed a new image on screen.
It showed a silver-white case. Made entirely of a special alloy. The only way to open it seemed to be through an intricate mechanical lock.
"Yesterday, this item was stolen by a rogue intruder in Tokyo Area. It is now believed to be located in the forest outside the Megalith. Your only goal is to safely retrieve the stolen case and return it to this room. Location details have been sent to your phones. As for the intruder you'll be facing…"
Before she could finish—
The sound of glass shattering rang out.
It was followed by a burst of manic laughter.
Everyone tensed up, quickly turning toward the source of the noise.
They saw that a previously empty seat—Now had someone sitting there.
The glass on one side of the room had a hole in it.
Everyone was stunned.
When did he get in?
This was reinforced bulletproof glass—thicker than standard, strong enough to resist even heavy machine gun fire.
And yet, here he was.
Satomi Rentaro recognized the figure and instantly went on high alert.
The man stood up in a way that defied physics—He pushed up from his crossed legs, balanced on the table with his feet, and rose upright.
Standing on the table—
He removed his hat and gave a gentleman's bow.
"I'm Hiruko. Hiruko Kagetane. Pleased to meet you, powerless leader of a dying nation."
Under normal circumstances, such insolent words would've been met with shouts of outrage.
But now, no one dared to move.
This man had entered undetected.
He could've silently assassinated any of them.
He was on another level.
Rentaro was the first to draw his pistol and point it at Kagetane.
"You bastard—!"
Kagetane tilted his head slightly.
"You're looking spirited today, Rentaro-kun."
After acknowledging Rentaro, Kagetane turned back toward the screen.
"Powerless ruler, I've taken the Seven Star Relic. It's time this world changed."
And then—
Finally, someone lost their patience.
A man ranked within the top 1000 charged forward, wielding a massive blade.
While rankings didn't determine everything—
They still represented power.
But in front of everyone—
That man's blade stopped in midair.
And with a single wave of Kagetane's hand, the man was sent flying across the room.
"Open fire!"
Someone shouted.
A barrage of bullets was unleashed.
Smoke filled the air.
But as it cleared—
They saw hundreds of bullets suspended in the air around Kagetane.
As if they'd collided with an invisible barrier, trapped at the boundary of a circular field.
"A force field!?"
Rentaro exclaimed in disbelief.
When he last fought Kagetane, the man hadn't shown anything like this.
"To be precise," Kagetane replied, "it's a repulsion field. I call it... Imaginary Device."