The first party to learn that Shibusawa Tatsuhiko intended to become Asou Akiya's disciple was the Special Division for Unusual Powers.
The second was Natsume Souseki.
Natsume Souseki accidentally plucked out one of his own beard hairs.
He had only just taken in a disciple and had not even properly begun teaching him yet, and now that disciple was about to take on a student of his own?
Had he suddenly been promoted to grandmaster?
Taneda Santouka, however, knew the identities of everyone involved. After some hesitation, he said,
"Shouldn't we explain the truth to Shibusawa Tatsuhiko?"
"I've met him before. It's obvious that he's extremely proud and ambitious."
"If we continue hiding it from him, sooner or later he's bound to learn the truth about Asou Akiya's 'ability'..."
Natsume Souseki felt a long-forgotten spark of interest.
After pondering the matter for a while, he said,
"No need."
"I'll ask Akiya myself and hear his opinion first."
Taneda Santouka nodded.
"Offending the Shibusawa family wouldn't be a good thing."
Natsume Souseki paid little attention to the concern.
He did not think the matter was particularly serious.
Shibusawa Eiichi was already old and did not have many years left to live.
If one could deceive someone for a while, why couldn't one deceive them for a lifetime?
Hadn't he himself, with the government's tacit approval, successfully convinced the entire world that he was Japan's strongest ability user?
This talent for maintaining a carefully crafted public image was simply being passed down from one generation to the next.
As expected of the disciple he had chosen.
The boy suited his tastes perfectly.
At Bankoudou Hall, Natsume Souseki met Asou Akiya at their appointed lesson time.
Fortunately, Akiya had the good sense not to bring his wife along as an auditing student.
Paper and pen lay neatly arranged on the desk before him as he sat in his seat, ready to begin class.
Natsume Souseki tapped the blackboard with his cane.
"We have something else to discuss today."
Akiya immediately pulled a miserable face.
"Please don't tell me it's physical training again."
"Things like that have to be done gradually."
Natsume Souseki looked at him with utter disdain for his endless complaints.
"Your body has already finished developing. The achievements you can gain through hard work at this stage are limited."
"The reason I arranged classes in traditional martial arts for you is so that you can understand the techniques involved."
"When you're out in public, don't embarrass yourself by being unable to defeat even ten street punks."
Asou Akiya's entire body stiffened.
What?
The minimum requirement was defeating ten street punks?!!
What kind of suffering straight out of a two-dimensional world is this...
Asou Akiya felt a headache coming on.
"You know Fukuzawa Yukichi as well," Natsume Souseki said. "You know that he used to have no ability."
"Relying solely on his swordsmanship, he was capable of defeating the vast majority of ability users. Can you do that?"
Akiya weakly raised a hand.
"I can use verbal persuasion."
Natsume Souseki sneered.
"Do you think I don't know that you've been kidnapped before?"
Asou Akiya: "..."
That was going too far.
Did his teacher really have to expose something so embarrassing?
"When you're dealing with people who have no intention of listening to reason," Natsume Souseki continued, "you need the ability to protect yourself."
"I don't want you becoming the sort of 'powerhouse' who spends his entire life sitting in an office, relying on words alone."
Hidden weapons, methods of identifying poisons, and countless other practical skills—
He intended to teach every one of them to his disciple.
"We've wandered off topic."
Natsume Souseki tapped the blackboard again, causing chalk dust to flutter down in a soft shower.
Asou Akiya's "blackboard masterpiece" was still visible on it.
For example, the sections dedicated to shamelessly flattering his teacher.
"Don't write this kind of nonsense on the blackboard next time. It's a pain to erase."
"Yes..."
"And now for the real matter. The Shibusawa family wants you to become the White Qilin's teacher. They've already started calculating an auspicious date. What do you think?"
"Ye— huh?"
Asou Akiya swallowed the automatic response that had nearly left his mouth.
His expression turned strange.
"Where did that idea come from? Why would he suddenly want me as his teacher? I haven't even seen him for almost a month."
Natsume Souseki admitted frankly,
"You are the first person capable of guiding him."
Asou Akiya scratched his cheek.
"Surely Natsume-sensei could do the same. At most, I just put a little thought into it."
Natsume Souseki looked at his disciple, who possessed absolutely no awareness of his own influence, and said,
"Our positions are different. If I went to meet the White Qilin, he would, at best, keep a respectful distance from me. But your situation is special. You approached him as an envoy of the government. And in the end, you turned out not to be one of the government's people at all."
Because of the difference in status and responsibility, the sincerity Asou Akiya had shown became all the more precious.
That was the advantage of being an outsider.
Natsume Souseki said with satisfaction,
"This turned out a little better than I expected. Your network of connections is still one of your weaknesses. You need outside support. With this, you'll gain the backing of the Shibusawa family."
Asou Akiya muttered under his breath,
"Sensei, you even calculated that far ahead?"
Natsume Souseki replied,
"This isn't called scheming. It's called understanding human nature and making predictions."
He narrowed his eyes, seeing straight through Akiya's little thoughts.
"Oh, and another thing. My connections are not your connections. Stop thinking about freeloading off your teacher's influence. There is absolutely no chance that I will publicly acknowledge you as my disciple."
Asou Akiya honestly asked, "Then what do you want me to do, Sensei?"
Natsume Souseki shook his head.
"Ask yourself."
None of this had been part of his original plan.
Initially, he had merely wanted Asou Akiya to establish a subtle connection with the government so that, if something happened in the future, there would be a backdoor available to him.
Asou Akiya spent a full twenty minutes thinking.
For someone as decisive as he usually was, that was an extraordinarily long time.
He found it difficult to let go of the power represented by "Shibusawa Tatsuhiko."
Yet a living White Qilin possessed limitless potential for growth.
Meeting the White Qilin only twice was nowhere near enough to shake an analyst's cold rationality.
Akiya understood perfectly what kind of person Shibusawa Tatsuhiko truly was.
Without proper guidance, there was simply no way to correct his instinctive obsession with peering into the crystals of abilities.
In the trio from Dead Apple, one disregarded the lives of others, another disregarded his own life, and the last, the Russian lunatic, disregarded both his own life and everyone else's.
Then, suddenly, Akiya caught a crucial loophole.
"Sensei..."
"If I haven't graduated yet, am I even allowed to take on a disciple?"
Natsume Souseki answered calmly,
"There aren't that many rules in my school."
Asou Akiya's face immediately fell.
He understood.
Natsume-sensei was fully supportive of him accepting Shibusawa Tatsuhiko as a disciple.
First, it served the "Transcendent Cultivation Plan."
Second, it would provide Akiya with even more political and social capital.
Natsume Souseki's unspoken meaning was obvious:
A diamond that comes with money attached to it and practically throws itself into your hands—why wouldn't you take it?
"...Fine."
Asou Akiya agreed.
Then he hurriedly added a condition.
"But if he refuses to listen, I reserve the right to expel him from the school."
"I won't allow him to bring disgrace upon either me or Natsume-sensei."
Natsume Souseki nodded.
"That is only proper."
That applies to you too.
The unspoken implication lingered quietly in the old man's eyes. If Asou Akiya ever became an embarrassment to the school, he would be treated by the exact same standard.
If you dare cause trouble, I'll kick you out as well!
You fool who runs to Mori Ougai to buy kidney medicine!
Asou Akiya continued listening to the lesson.
"Sensei, could we get on with the lecture? I'd like to go home early."
Having received his answer, Natsume Souseki stopped wasting time and moved on to the day's lesson.
He erased the blackboard clean and then wrote several large characters across it.
[How to Build a Persona]
Asou Akiya immediately sat up straighter in admiration.
A master is about to teach him the art of bluffing.
Natsume Souseki began:
"First, you must understand what kind of person you truly are."
"Then, you must decide what kind of person you want to become."
"If you're constantly changing directions and chasing one thing after another, you'll never accomplish anything significant."
Without hesitation, Asou Akiya replied,
"I'm a non-ability user."
"My only advantages are a barely passable grasp of the bigger picture and some analytical ability."
"I want to avoid being looked down upon by ability users."
"I want my efforts to receive fair rewards."
"And I want to obtain the social standing I deserve through legitimate means."
Natsume Souseki stroked his beard and gave him a meaningful look.
"Then tell me. What kind of person do you want to become?"
"As exceptional as possible."
"How exceptional?"
"That..."
"Tell me. What is your ambition? What is the brightest thing I can see within you?"
The black-haired young man fell silent.
Then, at last, he spoke.
"I… want ability users… to bow their heads before me."
Sitting beneath the lectern, the non-ability user stared ahead with slightly unfocused eyes.
Yet beneath that vacant gaze, a flame flickered.
It was resentment.
It was ambition.
Years and years of suppressed dissatisfaction finally revealing itself.
The ambition of a transmigrator.
To stand at the summit of society.
To become one who shaped the tides of the age itself.
"I want people to hear my name and feel genuine awe."
"I want them to think twice before daring to destroy the things I protect."
"I want to stand above everyone else..."
After obtaining love, he had discovered something unexpected.
There were still so many things he desired.
So many aspirations, large and small, woven together into a single whole.
All of them born from the most ordinary and universal of things—
The desires of a man.
Akiya's thoughts drifted to Arthur Rimbaud.
How he wished he could have met him openly and honorably on the international stage.
Not through deception.
After listening to his disciple's trembling confession, Natsume Souseki felt a trace of sympathy.
Only a trace.
Human beings were creatures that grew through adversity. Only by advancing in the face of hardship could one truly test the limits of one's potential.
Akiya.
The moment you chose to walk this path, you had already surpassed countless others.
"I heard every word you said," Natsume Souseki replied. "And I will do everything in my power to help you reach that place you described. You are the disciple I personally chose. One day, you will inherit my legacy."
"...Sensei, being able to become your student is my honor."
For the first time, Asou Akiya truly felt that he had someone backing him.
Not the kind of support that was vague and uncertain, liable to disappear at any moment because of changing circumstances.
Not a fragile connection built on interests.
But a genuine pillar standing behind him.
Natsume Souseki had acknowledged him as his disciple, yet up until now he had never once brought up the "Tripartite Framework".
The old man had not accepted him because of the Tripartite Framework.
He had accepted him for who he was.
"Please teach me," Akiya said quietly. "Teach me how to continue walking this road."
...
Was a bottomless abyss waiting ahead?
No.
Ahead lay mountains of blades and seas of fire.
But there would also be helicopters overhead and medical teams on standby, ready to rush in and extinguish the flames whenever disaster struck.
The true meaning behind my desire to become stronger…
Is to save myself.