Kai
"Kai. Stop staring at nothing and let's start," Konan yelled at me from the opposite side of the circle.
We were in the forest outside the city, surrounded by a surprising number of ofuda, making a whole circle around us.
The effects imbued in the papers were nothing new: protection, detection interference, and masking.
The way they worked was simple. We were protected from surprise attacks from anyone outside the circle, any detection was thwarted, and what happened inside the circle stayed inside.
That last part happened because the masking effect worked like an illusion that made anyone looking only see the trees and grass, not us.
"Okay, okay," I sighed. "Are you sure, though?"
"Ugh, stop being a dummy and let's fight," she shouted as she launched herself my way.
If this was the old me, I would have probably missed the way she used chakra to harden the surface under her feet to help her be as stealthy as possible. The way she used chakra to disrupt air pressure and resistance by wrapping herself in a small membrane of chakra that wavered as she moved.
I brought my hand up and stopped the punch, bringing the other one to stop the knee kick, before pushing her away.
She wasn't deterred as she launched a few paper knives my way, forcing me to dodge.
I didn't want to counter her attack with one of my own because I didn't want to hurt her.
That seemed to be a mistake because she created a clone and started to lean in heavy on the hand-to-hand.
Fighting two Konans was a nightmare. The only saving grace was that I was actually physically stronger than her and could dodge and react faster.
That didn't work for long, however, as she created another clone and started launching all kinds of paper weapons my way.
My fault for teaching her that…
The so-called spar continued, my regeneration making any and all kinds of wounds I received obsolete as we fought.
I didn't attack. Mostly just pushed her, countered by giving her a poke and a head pat every now and then.
That seemed to anger, endear, and amuse her in equal measures.
We lasted for about thirty minutes before Konan just created a huge water ball and doused me with freezing cold water at point-blank range.
'I didn't know she created an elemental jutsu.'
"Ugh!" Konan let out a frustrated groan as she sat down. "You are a bad sparring partner…"
"Yeah, well, you should learn that lesson fast, then." I showed her my tongue in response.
"You're such a dummy," she sighed and walked toward me, sitting on my lap, not caring about how wet I was.
"So, when did you learn how to make water jutsu?"
"Yesterday."
"When? We were together all day."
"When you were dealing with that brute devil."
"Oh… no, wait, you were watching anime again back then."
"Yeah, but then I wanted to take a shower, and I learned how to do it there." She gave me a look that said, 'Isn't it obvious?'
"It's my fault for giving you a cheat-level talent," I murmured, making her laugh as she no doubt heard me.
I stood up, holding Konan above my head as I released a burst of chakra.
All the water that was on me splashed around in a circle. Chakra was convenient like that.
With Konan on my shoulder, we walked back, the ofuda barrier crumbling as we moved, papers turning to ash.
We created a few clones and a much bigger barrier before we left. Having two barriers one inside another just made things obvious.
If an illusion wasn't layered from the start, then it just made things weird.
It messed with the senses in a way that exposed the whole barrier. It gave a hazy effect, like a heat shimmer on a sunny day.
We returned to the hotel shortly after, took a shower, put on new clothes, and started to head out again.
As we were about to go outside, my eye caught sight of the corner of the room. The one that had stacks of gold there for a few days following Rias's deal.
It was empty now, just like my feelings.
I was enjoying the sight of gold whenever I walked in or out, but now, Konan had me shove them into a paper that was imbued with an effect similar to an inventory.
The paper was in my arm, of course, and I was kind of mentally linked to it, where I could just summon a gold brick if I wanted to.
'Paper release is weird,' I thought as I closed the door.
It wasn't like we were made of paper. No. It was just that our bodies kind of sucked a certain amount of chakra and then turned to paper.
We didn't have blood, organs, or anything remotely human in paper form. We were more like energy in a papery form. Yeah, that was a better description.
Just as the elevator door opened and we walked into the lobby, I saw Sona and her queen, Tsubaki, entering the hotel.
"Ugh, not again," I let my annoyance be known.
"Kai, Kai…" Konan called adorably.
I looked down, noting the mirth and mischievousness behind those intelligent eyes, and raised an eyebrow.
"It's the miss you called a pain in the ass," she said, pointing at Sona.
Pffffttt…
Tsubaki moved her hand to cover her mouth, quickly turning her head to the side to dodge her king's heated eyes.
Sona, on the other hand, stumbled, missing a step, and glared hatefully at me.
The hotel staff, though, like the responsible adults they were, were giving me a reproachful look that basically said, 'You talked like that in front of a child?'
This was a new record for Konan. A three-hit combo.
"Kai the merchant-san," Sona, seemingly deciding to forget this ever happened, greeted me with a nod.
"Miss Sona, what a 'pleasant' surprise." I smiled and nodded back.
"Kai-san," Tsubaki smiled and gave a slight bow.
"Tsubaki," I acknowledged her.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" I asked. "Decided to take some time off, huh?" I winked at them, making Sona glare at me for a second before sighing, while Tsubaki just chuckled and called me funny.
"No, we are here to make a trade," Sona clarified.
"Oh, then come back later," I shrugged. "We are heading out to eat."
"I can't come back later," Sona said. "I have work to do."
"Then let's head out, and we can do the trade there." I gave her my opinion about her urgency as I started to walk.
"You are one unprofessional person," she snarked but turned heel and followed us anyway.
"So? What power do you want?" I asked, curious.
"I want the same thing Rias's peerage got… the ability to gain five times the experience."
I turned my head to her and raised an eyebrow.
"That's not what they got, though…"
"Yes, it is…"
"No, it isn't… They got the ability to gain results five times faster when training. An ability exclusive to combat."
She stared at me with intense focus before sighing.
"Fine, make mine a more general one, then."
"Sure. That'll be fifteen million in gold."
"Fifteen? That's three times their price."
"I can do math." I rolled my eyes at her. "I'm giving it to you cheap."
"How is that cheap?"
"Girl, you are a devil heiress. You have more gold in your own safe than a country's reserves, and you're haggling with me over whether the ability to master anything five times faster is expensive or not?"
"One thing has nothing to do with the other," she tried to stand her ground, but the red ears and slight blush gave her away.
'So she does have some shame after all,' I inwardly snorted.
We continued to walk, Sona still trying to haggle over the clauses of the contract, Tsubaki trying to fish for information by asking Konan, who answered honestly enough to make the girl very confused.
Then again, that's what she got for trying to fool Konan. The girl might behave like a normal girl with me, but she was still a ninja world girl.
One born in Amegakure, no less. That little girl knows more about the horrors of war than these girls could comprehend. She was not foolish, nor was she innocent.
I had to give her a supernatural ability to keep her grounded and healthy…
Still, it was fun to see how confused Tsubaki got with every question.
She'd ask, 'Where are your parents?' and she'd get the truth: 'Dead.'
Then she'd ask, 'Do you not have any other family?' and she'd get a small nod and a short 'Yes.'
Then she'd ask, 'Why not go to them, then?' and all she got from Konan was a shrug and a look at me.
She did try a few more questions, but all answers just led in circles back to me.
To them, she was a ten-year-old who knew nothing about why her brother took her with him and deserted. They must have been going crazy trying to find out what kind of principal clan I came from.
We arrived at the fast food restaurant, ordered, and sat in one of the booths.
"So, we agreed on the price and what kind of power already, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, sign here." I produced the contract out of my hand, noting how Sona was observing with quiet intensity.
She didn't question my ability to produce a contract—at least, not to her—and started to read the content.
She even used magic to verify that I hadn't added a clause and hidden it or something. Damn, these devils are really too paranoid.
Why would I bother hiding a clause when I can literally make anything she says to me into a deal?
'Oh, right… she doesn't know that.'
We signed the contracts, and she got a blue pill that helped her gain 5.9 times the experience. One lucky girl, that one.
Tsubaki got 5.1, though, so it kind of evened out.
They didn't take the pill immediately, however. They wrapped them in silky napkins and put them in their pockets.
They stood up, ready to leave, when Sona stopped and looked at me.
"I always forget to inform you," she said. "My sister, Serafall Leviathan, Satan of Foreign Affairs, wants to meet you." The proud undertone did not escape my notice.
"And how, pray tell, did your sister find out about me?"
"I told her?" She gave me a questioning look.
"That's what I'm asking… how?"
"What do you mean, how?"
"You know what?" I decided to just leave the topic there. "Let's forget about it…" I smiled.
She didn't like that. Not one bit. She furrowed her eyebrows at me and looked quite angry.
It was cute.
"No, no, tell me what you mean…"
I sighed. "I mean, you know that I am the one who decides what constitutes danger, right?"
"No. The danger is relative to the situation…" She stopped when she saw my amused look.
"That's the thing with smart people." I shook my head. "You try to rationalize and make everything make sense…"
"No…" She looked at me with horror.
"Hey," I was offended. "It's not like I did anything to you… in fact, our contract is still ongoing because I didn't enforce the penalty, but now I could. Anytime."
"That's the problem!" she snapped.
"No, it's not. Unless your sister wants to endanger me, you are in the clear."
"But how can I trust you with power over me?"
"You don't." I shrugged.
She looked like she wanted to say something but stopped herself and turned around. "Let's go, Tsubaki," she said as she walked.
I watched her go, quite amused by the whole thing.
I may have acted like I just found out, but that wasn't true.
I knew she broke her side the moment she did, much like how Rias and her peerage broke their part, either intentionally or not.
It's just that I decided not to collect my dues yet. I was still waiting for my profit to grow.
"Number 73" was called. That was our order number, so I stood up and walked to the counter, held the trays, and returned to our booth.
'Finally, food…'
X_
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