— — — — — —
"You don't need to look at me like I'm some kind of threat."
Seeing the girl stay silent, Veyron casually pointed to the younger girl standing behind her. "I'm not a bad guy, really. The world itself can vouch for me. I only approached her because she looks like she's got potential."
"Bad guys never admit they're bad," Yukiko Yukinoshita said flatly, unmoved.
Just the fact that he, a complete stranger, could not only approach them directly but also call out her name—there was no way she was going to trust anything this man said today.
"That kind of thinking is just a cliché take on cartoon villains—you know, the ones who act evil just for the sake of it. These days, real evil doesn't show its face. The real bastards? They're the ones you can't see, even if you can kinda feel they're scum. That's the true nature of evil."
Veyron glanced at the task screen for World-4. The bond meter had gone from 0% to 0.09% after his brief interaction with the two girls. Not bad.
"Miss. Yukinoshita, how about this," he suggested, "You just stand off to the side and watch. I'll chat with the little one for a bit, and she can decide what to do on her own. If at any point you think something's off, feel free to step in… sound fair?"
"A grown man still trying to trick a girl who's not even in grade school yet? Is this fair?" Yukiko frowned.
"That's exactly why I said you can watch."
Veyron repeated calmly.
"…Big sis, it's okay. Let me hear what this big brother has to say," the little girl tugged at Yukiko's sleeve, finally convincing her to back off—if only a little.
The playful mood Veyron had set up earlier was kind of broken by Yukiko's interruption. Picking it up again felt a bit forced now, so he decided to skip the theatrics and get straight to the point.
"I've got here some legendary Supernatural techniques," he said, pulling out a stack of books: "The Extreme Power Manual, Yin-Yang way, Tsukuyomi's Mirror Veil, Sanzu Blade Draw, Divine Illumination Sutra, Longevity Chant, Demonic Heaven Codex, the War God Record, and God-slayer technique."
"Any one of them could be the crown jewel of a top superpower."
The books looked worn and ancient, pages fanned out in his hands like playing cards.
"Now, usually, these kinds of treasures aren't passed down unless someone does a great thing for humanity. But I feel like you and I are fated to meet, so… for today only—ten yen each! Absolute bargain!"
"…Can I buy them all?"
The little girl blinked and pulled a single 100 yen coin from her pocket.
"Of course!" Veyron beamed, taking the coin and handing her all nine "techniques" along with 10 yen in change.
Without another word, he turned and strolled deeper into the alley, disappearing around the corner and out of sight.
"...…" ×2
"Big sis, wanna check these out together?"
The little girl held out one of the books, the one labeled Yin-Yang way, to Yukiko.
"Sure," Yukiko nodded and opened to the first page—only to freeze slightly at what she saw inside.
{How to Solve a Basic Algebra Equation}
{Example Problem: 2x+5=13, Solve for x}
She flipped back to the cover—yep, still said Yin-Yang way. Her lips twitched awkwardly.
"…Hey, does yours… match what's written on the cover?" Yukiko asked, glancing at the girl.
"Yours doesn't either?" the little girl replied, surprised.
She held up her own book. "This one's called God-slayer technique on the front… but inside, it's a book titled 'The Chemical Equations'."
They looked at each other for a long second.
And silently came to the same conclusion—
Yeah… that guy was a scammer.
"Next time you run into someone weird like that," Yukiko said seriously, crouching to the girl's eye level, "stay away, okay? If they keep pestering you, don't argue—just run. Head somewhere crowded and shout for help."
After the strange little detour, Yukiko Yukinoshita returned to being the responsible adult, firmly warning the girl. "Today you got lucky—the guy might've been a little crazy, but at least he didn't seem dangerous. You won't always be that lucky next time."
"But he looked so nice," the girl said, blinking innocently. "I just felt like someone that good-looking couldn't be a bad person."
"…"
Yukiko was speechless.
I mean—she had a point.
…Wait, no! That's not the point!
"That's exactly why you have to be careful," Yukiko scolded gently. "There's a saying: 'A fair face may hide a foul heart.' People aren't always what they seem."
Yukiko looked around. "By the way… where are your parents? Why are you wandering around alone?"
"Oh, that?" the girl smiled and casually raised her hand.
The noisy street suddenly fell dead silent.
In that instant, shopkeepers, staff, food cart vendors—even some tattooed, burly-looking yakuza types—turned toward them and bowed deeply in unison.
"Ojou-sama!" they all shouted respectfully.
"…"
Yukiko stared, stunned.
She was a proper young lady herself, but she knew for a fact none of these people were affiliated with the Yukinoshita family.
In other words… even if she hadn't been here earlier, if that weird guy had tried anything shady, this child's private army would've had him swimming in concrete in Tokyo Bay by now?
"…As long as you've got people looking out for you."
Once the hundred or so people went back to their stations at the girl's casual gesture, Yukiko kept quiet and simply handed the Yin-Yang way back to her.
"It's fine. You can keep that one for yourself, big sis," the girl said generously, waving a hand like a true young lady.
"…"
Yukiko could only stare at the book in her hand.
What the hell am I supposed to do with a set of old-school warm-up exercises?
Before they parted ways, they exchanged names. That's how Yukiko learned the girl's name—Shizuka Hiratsuka.
— — —
That night.
"I've completely lost it."
At the Yukinoshita estate, in her pristine bedroom, Yukiko lay in bed, tossing and turning restlessly. Eventually, something compelled her to get up.
She walked over to the bookshelf, reached into a dusty corner, and pulled out the Yin-Yang way.
She'd originally planned to just toss it in the trash, but since it marked her first meeting with that peculiar little girl, she ended up keeping it out of sentiment.
Twenty minutes later…
After skipping past the Algebra equations, Yukiko found illustrations and step-by-step instructions that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Curious, she just followed along with the training—and somehow finished it in ten minutes.
"I've definitely lost my mind."
She sighed and walked over to her desk for a glass of water.
With a casual swipe, she smashed through a glass of water and the solid wooden table beneath it, leaving a hand-sized hole in the surface.
Yukiko stared in utter disbelief at her own slender, trembling fingers.
"…What the hell?"
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Yo~
I've got good news and bad news.
Let's start with the good: the fanfic is back to daily updates like before, and soon it'll be two chapters a day!
And now for the bad: the main story has already ended, and the side chapters are ongoing on Patreon. But the ending was unusual—totally not what I expected, though there were hints from the very beginning.
From DC. That's it, hope you're enjoing the story.
...
Support & read 50 chapters ahead at 👉 patreon.com/_Coreal