Chapter 47: Deal
Chapter 47: Deal
Sakura Garden Academy.
Infirmary.
Maki was sitting on her chair in front of her work desk, her hand holding a cup. The window was left open so the warm air along with the lukewarm sunlight fell on her desk. It was very pleasing to look at. Opposite to her, an equally unpleasant boy sat while scratching his head. He was naturally Rewen, A.K.A., Arai Atsushi.
Maki took a sip from her cup and stared at him. "You made a decision?"
Rewen nodded his head. "I want to become an Assist. What do I need to do?"
Hearing his response, Maki revealed a smile and took out some papers from under her desk. "You just need to sign this."
Rewen carefully looked through the papers and signed it. "Done."
Maki took the papers from him, then stared at him. "Congratulations! You are officially an Assist! Here, take this badge and wear it. With this, your days of getting bullied are over."
"Thank you so much"
"Before thanking me, you need to remember that you do need to come to the infirmary once a week and learn a few things. After all, you are an Assist. Ah! You don't need to worry about that though. It's just some trivial stuff. Anyways, now that you are my subordinate, I wish to learn a few personal things from you. Is that ok?"
"Yes! It's alright! Please don't hold back!"
Maki laughed seeing his energy. "Haha, I won't then. Let's start from zero. First, who are you??"
"I am Arai Atsushi, the third son of the Head of the family!"
"Tell me the status of your family."
"An original extremely high-ranking Noble Family. In the continent, there are only a few organizations or groups that could contend with my family."
"How does the military strength of your family rank among others?"
"Among the big leagues." Rewen had an uneasy expression on his face when he answered this.
"Eh? Sorry if I overstepped my bounds."
"I understand. I understand."
"Hm, that's good then. Ever since you came to the academy, I have been hearing several rumors about you. How much of it is true?"
"Which rumours?" Rewen asked in a confused tone.
"T-that before coming here, you were a big lecher and constantly fooled around with girls." Maki fiddled with her fingers uncomfortably.
"Th-this" He lowered his head revealing a guilty conscience. But he lied. These were merely rumors. 'I'm not hoping for this to destroy the flag but at least contribute something to the factor.'
Maki was quiet for a few seconds, then continued. "What about the deal between the Atsushi Family and Hot Glacial Foundations I have been hearing for the past few years? Is it really true?"
"It is true." Everytime he thinks of the 'deal', he receives a major headache. The deal made between the two behemoths dates back to the year he was born. Back then, his mother who was the most competent candidate for the next President of the Hot Glacial Foundations fell in love with his father, a low-ranking member of the Atsushi Family. This matter not only slapped the face of not only the H.G.F but also the Atsushi Family because his mother was also the fiance of a youth from the family.
After many discussions, the both families eventually reached a conclusion. They won't get between the love life of them given that Arai Atsushi's father, Hain Atsushi, becomes a son-in-law of the H.G.F. Hain readily agreed and a grand marriage was eventually held. However, who would have thought that he would disappear right after injecting his seeds onto her?
After months of search, not even a corpse of Hain could be found making the H.G.F. beyond mad. Only after the Atsushi Family placated the H.G.F. with treasures did the madness die down but the fire still remained. Fast forward to Arai's birth, a deal was made that in case he failed to become a strong person, he would get executed by the H.G.F.
'In a non-vagueful and straightforward manner - if I couldn't defeat the current H.G.F. President's daughter in the wedding ceremony of my own mother that is to be held five months from now, it would be game over for me.' Rewen smiled wryly.
"I wish I could help." Maki said softly.
***
Graveyard.
Cold wind brushed past Rewen's overweight body making him wonder if fat people really feel hotter than normal. He then looked at the stars. 'I know I'm not supposed to think this but how come the constellations are the same as Earth. Could this be an alternate Earth?' He paused his line of thoughts for a second. 'Maybe I'm thinking too much. This is a fictional world. It's already enough that some amount of logic existed in people. If I question the logic of nature, wouldn't that be a crime?'
"I see that you are looking quite comfortable. How was your day?"
Rewen looked back to see the "angel" smiling mischievously at him and shot a look of surprise. "It was good, Miss Luna." He thought about ending the shuttering business once and for all. The current him got a determined look on his face. People grow and change. No one would think that he was, in fact, not the original Arai Atsushi. Even if people did manage to find him suspicious, it would not go to the level of 'Ah, so he was a transmigrator all along.' This is what we call a character development.
Luna feigned an angry look hearing him. "Big Sis will get angry if you don't call me Luna-nee-chan."
"T-then I'll do that." Rewen awkwardly coughed, then changed topics. "So which grave are we supposed to rob?" His eyesight lingered on the dark graveyard for a long time. It had a creepy feel to it. 'Not that I'm scared. Ghosts don't exist. Yes, ghosts don't exist.'
"...A-....Ar.ur"
Instantly, goosebumps rose in his hands.
Luna vigilantly looked around. "Did you hear what I heard?"
Rewen innocently replied. "Eh? What sound?"
"Nevermind. Must have been my imagination." Letting her guard down, Luna smiled and continued. "Follow me."
Rewen followed behind her. 'System, why is she here?' It didn't even take two seconds for him to find out what the weird sound was trying to say.
[Who knows~ Maybe it followed you here.]
'Followed me here? Do you think that's possible?'
[Anything is possible.]
'Just say you don't want to answer if you don't know.'
[Heh! That kind of provocation isn't going to work.]
'Alright, sorry. Why is she here? Is it confidential?'
[It's not like it's confidential]
'Then?'
[Think it this way. You are a Level 1 existence and you are trying to obtain information of an existence of Level 50.]
'Oh?'
"We are here!"
Looking at the normal looking grave, he felt disappointed. "Should I dig the grave?" He wasn't a professional grave digger nor did he have any professional grave digger tools. 'Even so, with these hands, I'm confident that I could become a pro soon.' Rolling his sleeves, he was about to get into action but was stopped by Luna's hand on his shoulder.
"Stay back." She smiled, then stepped forward and bent over above the grave and suddenly chopped on the grave lightly. After that, she got up and moved away from the grave unhurriedly.
A second passed.
*Hush*
The grave collapsed.
"Woah!" Rewen exclaimed. He was genuinely impressed. "How did you do that?" He asked curiously.
Luna chuckled after seeing his expression. "It was just brute strength."