Translator:
Atlas Studios
Editor:
Atlas Studios
But he was not that worried, because he believed that Yaeko’s decision had been based on sufficient certainty and consideration of the situation. As for where she was heading to, it was none of his concern.
We all will meet many passers-by in the long journey called life, and eventually we have to get used to goodbyes.
Lu Shu turned and smiled at Chiba, who was standing by the door. He said,
Since Yaeko has recovered, it’s time for me to leave as well.
Kiriharakun, could you please hug me?
Chiba pleaded softly,
As Kirihara Yousuke, hug me, just once.
Before Lu Shu could react, Chiba threw herself into Lu Shu’s arms and left at once. She said,
Please take care. Thank you.
Lu Shu was well aware that the feelings infused into the hug were not directed at him, but the face he was wearing. And it was an unfulfilled wish of the girl’s.
Despite her serious injuries, Yaeko had the confidence to avoid the small fries downstairs. Besides, she was not a person who would place herself at the mercy of others. Yaeko knew she would have even slain Kitamura Hirono if not for Kijitori’s sudden appearance.
Moreover, one could tell from her weapon, the dagger, that she specialized in the actual Collection of Gods assassination skills instead of conventional swordplay. She was an assassin.
In fact, if it had been Hirono, not Lu Shu, when Yaeko launched the attack in front of his house, Hirono might have already been dead then. However, Lu Shu was much stronger than her.
Yaeko took a bold move to return to her apartment in secret, which was probably unexpected even to the Collection of Gods.
Two Collection of Gods members were smoking in front of her door. But in a split second, they collapsed into a pool of blood, their hearts punctured by a dagger. Yaeko was as quick as a specter.
She peeled off the seal on her door and walked inside. Her house was a mess, most likely due to a house search. But she did not care. She had not returned for daily necessities, but for something she could not afford to let go.
From the ceiling chamber she retrieved 100,000 yen, her first income so far.
After her teacher’s death, all remaining funds of the Conservatives were naturally passed to her. But she could not receive that money with peace in mind.
Yaeko carefully hid the notes in her pocket and was about to leave. All the important items were kept at her teacher’s place.
Certainly, though, she would not let go of the resources of the Conservatives due to emotional reasons. To her, nothing that was of value should be wasted.
That night, she would head to Osaka on a train and leave the country from there. She wanted to take a look at the outside world, though her destination was uncertain yet.
She had considered the option of staying with Lu Shu, but a problem kept bothering her, she had approached him as a spy.
Thus, it was destined that their interactions would remain improper. A wrongful start would certainly lead to a wrongful ending. Thus, she would rather leave and wait for an opportunity to start all over again.
Farewell, Lu Shu-kun.
…
In the meantime, Lu Shu was sitting in the guard house of a warehouse. It was located in a remote place in the Nishinokyo countryside and its only visitors were the logistics personnel transporting materials for the Collection of Gods research department.
The original Yamada Akira should be ready to leave the country by now. Following the instructions given, Lu Shu hid in a male restroom nearby and waited for Yamada’s arrival for an official takeover.
From Yamada’s expressions Lu Shu could see his unconcealed joy. Perhaps he was eager to go home, unlike Bunndai.
After six years, the day had finally come when he could return to his home. He had committed no mistakes during his assignment, which translated to even more well-deserved resources awaiting him in the organization.
Yamada went into the restroom, and Lu Shu walked out. No one noticed that the role of
Yamada Akira
was now being played by another person.
Lu Shu’s aim this time was the same. To cause trouble under his current identity. After all, while acting alone, he could give the Collection of Gods some headaches when they sent people over for goods.
He suddenly felt that his new mission seemed easier than the previous one. Credits to the Heavenly Network, of course.
At this moment, he heard a knock on the window. Lu Shu looked up to see a short man with a large, round face smiling at him from across the window. Lu Shu froze… Who the heck is this?
Yamada! Haha, I’m here to keep you company! Why? Do you not remember me? We just met half a month ago!
The man laughed.
Lu Shu asked curiously,
Of course I do. But what are you doing here? You said to keep me company?
He picked up some information from his words. They were acquaintances, but not very familiar. They had only met once half a month ago.
Correct!
Smiling, he pulled open the door and said,
I got cleared too and they sent me here to take care of the warehouse with you.
Lu Shu felt the world around him collapse. According to the plan, wasn’t he supposed to be acting alone? What was this man here for?!
And he did not even know his bloody name!
Pretending to be friendly, Lu Shu patted his shoulders as a form of greeting. He wanted to know his name from the background entries of distress points. However, at the moment, numerous points were being generated by the Collection of Gods and Lu Shu could not be certain which one was his! It seemed that too much distress could bring along inconveniences too!
More importantly… Man, who are you? Are you working for Nie Ting to find joy for me? It was hard for me not to think along those lines considering the time you came!
Yamada, do you think we can be employed again?
the round faced man asked,
I’ve only attended a funeral with Matsuura Haraichiro and now, guess what, I’m here! The internal clearing recently has affected so many!
Lu Shu shrugged his shoulders with reservation. He replied,
But we’ve got no choice except for waiting for it to pass. Speaking of which, why did they send you here? I’m good doing it alone.
Haha, you are such a shoulder-shrugger like always.
The big, round face grinned.
Shrugging shoulders was Akira’s habit, although Lu Shu did not notice it during his conversation with him in the restroom. It seemed to be an enforced habit just to convenience the new assumer of his role.
Just like main characters’ certain traits in mangas, such as the six lines on Naruto’s cheeks and the strand of standing hair on Conan’s head. It served to reinforce the audiences’ impression on the characters, because their facial features might be slightly off sometimes due to inherent difficulties in replication in drawings.
Thus, a specific, representative action of shrugging shoulders might help him with the transition into this new identity.
You didn’t answer my question. What are you here for? What happened?
Lu Shu asked casually.
But the man did not seem to be dismayed at being suspected. He said,
Lucky you. You came here early. Meanwhile for me, I came thanks to someone else’s help. It’s said that next to this warehouse there is an underground base, which has been in construction for over a year and is about to be put in use soon. Since the warehouse is so close to it, we must be working at an important place. Besides, as a Class D, I believe they will call me back again if I behave properly. In any case, the Collection of Gods is experiencing a shortage of manpower after the death of three Class C’s.
Lu Shu remained quiet, which had given the man a wrong signal. He assured Lu Shu and said,
But do rest assured. I heard that you’ve just ascended to Class D, and that’s no big deal at all. Your time will come sooner or later so long as you train hard here.
Oh, congratulations, then,
Lu Shu replied politely yet slightly awkwardly.
And to the man, the awkwardness had once again been misinterpreted as Lu Shu’s low self-esteem in front of his own wonderful achievements…
As a result, he spent the entire day talking to him and Lu Shu responded with countless shoulder shrugs. But at the end of the day, he still had yet to figure out the round face’s name!
At night, they stayed in the same room. Lu Shu was hoping for some background information on the man, but the Heavenly Network did not send any…
At around 2am, the man went to the restroom. Lu Shu was delighted at the opportunity, since not many Collection of God’s people were still awake to fill his screen with distress points. Thus, it would be relatively easy to find his name now.
Lu Shu got up and went to the restroom too. Then, the round face turned to Lu Shu and gave him an ugly grin. He asked,
Yo, Yamada, what a coincidence!
Grin your foot! You would have been dead right now if not for the sake of my new identity…
They stood together in the restroom. After a while, the man had finally started peeing.
Instantly Lu Shu used his water-type powers to split the man’s stream of urine into two. Lu Shu was conscious not to cause too many splits because that would seem too strange…
This time, he would certainly succeed in knowing his name! So long as he had no contact with the man’s body, he had no way to know his water-type powers.
But to Lu Shu’s surprise, there were no distress points produced at all, not even a small amount like 100! That’s weird. Could he control his generation of distress points?
That must be a joke if it were true! No one, especially a small fry like him, could resist his collection of distress points!
Upon second thoughts, he gave up. This time, though, he was shocked to see the stream automatically split into three the second he stopped using his powers!
That caught Lu Shu off guard!
Sensing Lu Shu’s startled stare, the man smirked sheepishly.
Err, recently I played too hard with those high school girls who had just entered the Collection of Gods.
Now, Lu Shu had the urge to beat him to death…
Bloody hell! You must have been sent by Nie Ting to make me distressed!
