Eishi knew his current position. At the start of the apocalypse, he has less room for mistakes. His ten-times the power of an average human is barely enough to deal with zombies, but not with guns and the likes.
Having received ten buffs atop other rewards from ten confidantes, the current version of himself is different. He is not as desperate as before when it comes to acquiring new confidantes.
His downfall as a 'scumbag' did not mean Eishi's understanding of good and bad deteriorated. His final bottom line is to not force others when they are unwilling. He is not desperate enough to break this bottom line, not to mention taking care of ten… no, eleven women take a huge toll out of him.
He is a self-proclaimed 'scumbag', but the truth was that he is far above most of these scumbags. Eishi is aware of the 'forced starts' he had done to the women. 'Binding' them required having sex, which meant they had to touch that base before having proper emotional attachments.
The solution to this was rather simple—to spend more time with them. That was what he was doing right now. Eishi did not neglect them, making up for the time he skipped in doing so.
'I need to settle Tokyo as soon as possible…'
Thinking of other potential triple S confidantes falling into trouble, Eishi made up his mind.
At first, he came here purely to save Marina. But now that he is here, he couldn't just ignore this 'gold mine' sitting right in front of him.
Eishi expected for a fight to occur, but to no avail. They easily slipped past the apprehensive gazes of the residents in this complex. Nobody foolishly blocked his way. The most feared tyrant, Masato, died in one strike. Coupled with his temperament, they smoothly left the complex.
Eishi summoned the land rover, much to Marina's surprise.
'Multiple superpowers…'
She hasn't encountered espers with two or more powers. Masato's [Flaming Hand] was merely A rated, yet it was enough for him to reign terror within a hundred people. Eishi's status rose even higher in her heart.
Just as they were in the middle of the road, a sudden call from Shino disturbed the silence between them.
"Officials?"
"Mhm. They wanted to talk to you. They did not sport orange lights."
"Alright. Wait for me."
The most opportune time to intervene in this shelter's messy order had arrived.
*****
The Tokyo villa is not as luxurious and prepared as that of Yokohama's. Still, it is more than enough to receive six guests.
On one side sat a young man with dead fish eyes. He wore a set of slightly ruined long sleeves and slacks. The running shoes on his feet made him look like a delinquent, much to his helplessness.
The other five all wore civilian outfits, though their postures and discipline could not hide their military origins.
"How is it?"
"...They made the right choice."
The captain of the third recon team, Youji Itami, possessed the coveted [Divine Appraisal] innate talent. Rated as a triple S talent, it served as the government side's foundation in classifying espers, innate talents, and dangers. It is to their surprise that Hachiman's and Amane's talents are also rated SSS. Knowing this advantage, the government hid this fact and continued developing in a discreet way.
When they received the information about esper classifications from Souichiro, they merely thought he had someone with the 'appraisal' skill. But knowing it came from Eishi, it became a different matter. More so when Hachiman faced him off. It suggested that he has two or more talents.
Sure enough, when Itami peeked at the purple-haired woman who opened the gates for them, he received the shock of his life.
SS rated talent.
Seven non-exclusive talents, all at second-order.
Physical attributes in the hundreds; spirit at the thousands.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Saeko is a one-man army who can take a hundred espers head-on… and that was a conservative estimate.
Most importantly…
"I will let you off this once."
…she detected Itami's appraisal skill.
The others around him naturally readied themselves for a battle. It wasn't until they reached the living room and saw Saeko had no intentions of fighting did they calm down.
"She can take us all down if she wants."
"...Damn. Are highschoolers this ridiculous nowadays?"
Itami also felt this incredulousness.
"It's something straight out of isekai light novels."
"Isekai? Like Wataru?"
"..."
Hearing the "more ancient than ancient" isekai title coming from Kuwahara's mouth made Itami speechless. This sergeant major of his is already in his fifties.
"It's the newer isekais and tensei novels. When a highschooler dies, they go to another world, become strong, and then come back to Earth."
"Ah…"
Seeing the two talk over anime at this serious moment made the sole female of this group—the combat medic—speechless. Hachiman joined her in this endeavor, with the final rifleman simply letting out a few awkward chuckles.
"Ahem. Youji-san."
Hachiman pointed at the incoming Shino and Saeko, causing them to fall silent. Itami did not dare use the appraisal skill on Shino, though he has a vague feeling that she falls into their power range.
In short, she is not as abnormal as Saeko.
"He's coming back. I hope you won't hold any malicious intentions when the time comes."
"Of course. Frankly speaking, it is the higher-ups who are in the wrong. We have heard of the matter with the Sword Art Online survivor group…"
Itami served as the mediator. He explained that the matter with the Sword Art Online Group had been called off—at least on the government side. Though this action seemed half-assed as the damage had been done, it was the only thing they could do.
Saeko did not react much to it, turning her gaze to Shino. The latter held complex feelings about it. She chose not to let them go, burying them deeply.
"It's all up to Hiraoka-san." She said. "It is not my turn to comment."
Her words served no purpose than to freeze the atmosphere. Shino pushing the authority to Eishi removed any possibility of being spoken up.
The once-calm atmosphere returned to subtle tension. Itami dared not joke around this time. It wasn't until they saw a young man enter through the front door did their hearts relax a bit. The woman behind him caught the 'stern' group in her sight, causing her to avert her gaze and look at the ground.
"The rooms on the second floor are unoccupied except for the first one."
"...Alright…"
After sending her away, he sat at the opposite side as the military group.
'Well, is this considered stealing others' heroines?'
Almost half of the women at the Yokohama villa came from Hachiman's source material, Oregairu. There was Haruno, the mature older sister, and Yukino, the iceberg younger sister. Then came the best girl, Hiratsuka-sensei, and the mother-and-daughter Yuigahama pair.
He didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Our first meeting was far from ideal. Don't you think so? But I don't blame you. Politics is a huge pain."
Recalling the information they obtained from Amane's 'Omniscient Brain', everyone inwardly sighed out of relief.
This reaction was noticed by Eishi, causing him to raise his brows. While he doesn't have an appraisal skill, he guessed the protagonists' innate talents shouldn't be bad.
'Is it SSS? Then there's no problem…'
He already tested the limits of SSS rated talents against Megumi and Hachiman. The former's talents take effect up to two levels higher than her. It led to their frequent perverted acts right in the open; Megumi's talent hid their presences very well.
As for Hachiman, his talent affected him for a second.
'There are still limits for SSS talents, it's just that I haven't seen mine yet…'
"Actually, I was just about to drop a visit to your office. I want to discuss cooperation, just as I did with Takagi-san back in Yokohama."
Itami promptly took out a thick notebook from his shoulder bag.
"Here is a list of our inventory." He said as he paused. "We would like to purchase those fruits, Hiraoka-san."
The more Eishi looked at Itami, the more familiar he seemed.
He hid his thoughts as he received the notebook, skimming past the resources they offered.
"I presume you have heard of my prices from Takagi-san. If so, this makes things a lot easier."
Eishi always took interest in new weaponry and evolution fruits. He is more than willing to overpay with the returned evolution fruits to acquire them.
"That is right. We would like to exchange a portion for the golden grapes you possess."
He wasn't surprised by their request.
While the golden grape is the lowest tier fruit, it is still capable of awakening ordinary humans into espers. It does not cost much, allowing more room for maneuver.
In Yokohama, Souichiro used it to reward hundreds of people in 'advance'. It is an investment first and foremost—a necessary one.
Whether they ran away or disobeyed, the losses won't amount to much. That was how the Yokohama Shelter swiftly expanded their esper forces without any worries. Moreover, the authority established by the city hall is more than enough to deter such thoughts.
"That's fine by me. What I am wondering is, would the Zaibatsu leave us alone?"
Seeing Itami was silenced, his second-in-command, Kuwahara, stepped up.
"The Prime Minister's Office will bear the costs of this transaction."
"I know you can't give out a guarantee. So I am adding another offer."
Knowing full well he cannot escape trouble, Eishi chose to actively join it instead.
"First, I can help you deal with them free-of-charge. I will sponsor the New Tokyo Shelter with these fruits. Rest assured, I am fully capable of doing that. In exchange, I will be its true leader."
Everyone fell silent to this offer.
"Second, I can still help you deal with the Zaibatsu in one go. However, it will count as a 'debt' to be paid to me. I can use this 'debt' to exert temporary authority to the shelter. The debt goes on until it is fully repaid."
Eishi handed these two options to Souichiro back then. He had chosen the second one, recording the evolution fruits they couldn't pay as debts. In turn, Eishi could leverage temporary control of the city hall. Of course, the scope of this authority lies in non-destructive acts that result in casualties.
As for whether Eishi wanted to 'collect' qualified confidantes or host a full-on harem with dozens of women, they had no rights to decline.
Though this agreement is verbal, Eishi possessed the strength to turn over the entire city hall. Souichiro is not dumb enough to renege on their debts, not to mention his daughter is one of his confidantes. Eishi's initial goodwill towards them stemmed from this connection.
'To control the entire shelter…'
Hachiman sent a glance to Eishi.
He understood full well what the latter wanted to pull off. It is nothing more than putting the New Tokyo Shelter under his influence. Both of the choices he presented led to the outcome of Eishi's grasp over it.
The first option is a permanent submission. They do not have to worry about external matters. They are also supplied with fruits and ammunition 'free of charge'. The only downside is they had to do Eishi's bidding—no questions asked.
The second option is a 'temporary' leadership. Until their debts are cleared, they have to await Eishi's 'debt collection'. They retain their independence while being able to transact with him.
It wasn't just Hachiman who saw through the entire thing. Everyone did. Each had their thoughts such as where Eishi got the confidence to propose this matter.
Wasn't he afraid of being bombed to death, effectively reneging on this debt?
Wasn't he afraid of having his so-called supplies stolen from?
So many questions piled up to the point they felt overwhelmed. One thing was certain, however.
They do not possess the authority to decide on this matter.
While they were confused, Eishi had just finished evaluating the sole female of the group.
[Mari Kurokawa]
Innate Talent: Battle Medic (S, First-order)
Non-exclusive Talent: Constitution Boost (B, First-order)
Life Level: First-order, Six-stars
Strength: 82
Agility: 88
Constitution: 106
Spirit: 125
The familiar S rating threw him off completely. When Eishi saw the system's pragmatic evaluation…
[Mari Kurokawa]
Appearance: 95
Figure: 97
Temperament: 89
Purity: Intact, Can be bound
Overall Rating: SSS
…he knew he overlooked something.