Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)
The Magician's Offer
Part 1
”A~ah, President Onii-chan is dea~d”
”Hey there, that's not the proper way to leave the physical realm now, is it?”
”Meo, meo~w!”
One after another, Mikan, Nekoyashi+ki, and Nekoyashi+ki's cats tapped him on the head
” P-Please sorry”
Lying prostrate on the ground, Itsuki was at the verge of death, and finally er
He was at the mansion
On Itsuki's overturned wooden desk had been a massive pile of documents, beakers, pyramidal flasks, some machine that looked like a microscope, and a dessicated monkey's arm All of this was now on top of him From underneath the veritable trash heap, only Itsuki's head remained, albeit barely, untouched
”Even though you're not done with studies and exa on the stack of documents
”Ah yes, I know!”
”Then finish reading from ”Hand of Glory” to ”The Book of Albertus””
Recovering from his near-death experience, Itsuki shook his head and picked up the old book It was now almost a conditioned reflex With emptier eyes than he had when he was under Adilisia's control, he continued to read the Grimoire
— A week had already passed since the incident in the park
In that tiave hi to both his presidential duties and ical studies
Itsuki was now forced to devote himself to his studies since he was followed in and out of school, with nowhere to run
”What kind of stuff are you reading,” Nekoyashi+ki asked from behind him in a relaxed manner
”He's got no talent,” Honami declared ”He tried basic spells and affinities, but he sucks at everything He probably wouldn't even be able to do anything with ten years of studying Give hiht be able to call on a low class spirit, though it still ht not be satisfactory”
Having this said right behind his back was a little irkso for, then?
”Heheheh, I thought that he hosts and monsters But it doesn't seem to be so, does it?”
”Rather than genius, it seean[2], I'd think”
”There is the legend of the kenki beco a powerful mountain wizard, you know”
”Isn't that, itself, an exception to an exception? There's no logic to it, so you can't include it into the calculations”
”What if we gave hi? Honaht?”
”Of course, I've already tried that stuff I've tried everything fros boiled in nesia solution Not one thing caused a positive response, so I'd say he's just got no brains”
Yes, he had truly come close to death when Honaht those kinds of things would ever enter his mouth
”Well, rather than ic, we'll just have to make sure he focuses exclusively on presidential work”
”I see If that's the case, where should we start? We have one set for studying, but”
Standing up, Nekoyashi+ki opened the closet
Looking into it, Itsuki saw several shelves filled with books
”Let's start with soive him the main points We can consult with Director Hazel too but I'd start with all twelve volumes of Detailed Exposition of Econoanization Structure: Basic Theory”
It was the first ti divided into volus so thick that it was not unthinkable that he could club so at a page out of them made his brain melt down
”Uned and stamped”
Itsuki tried raising a pitiful voice of resistance, but
”Did you even consider what you were signing up to do when you stamped?”
Honami's ice-blue eyes became even icier They were probably even colder than the Cocytus of Greek legend
”Other than holding the majority vote, you'll have to know the company's economic status and relative value coic: if you don't memorize how to apply your eet work and even at the best of times be stuck with no jobs”
Her supple finger pointed at Itsuki, stabbing through his heart
Incidentally, the businesses front of
That is to say, 90 of their income came from these activities
”Since we rent out ica' Ehehe, it sounds sort of cool, doesn't it?” said Mikan, puffing out her chest
She seeht fro over her ed clothes in the office or so
”So? What do you do, Mikan-chan?”
”Since I' ceremonies and festivals and stuff That's why I'm a~always busy in the summer”
”I see Yeah, there are a lot of festivals in the summer, huh? So do you always come here?”
”Yep Though, if I wasn't here, President Onii-chan would have been made into food for Ultros, wouldn't he?”
”Y-Yeah, sorry about that”
Itsuki weakly waved his left hand In his right hand, he held open the Economics Even You Can Understand—How to Save and Use Money book that Honami had lent to him (she had needed to lower the level of difficulty quite a bit for his sake)
”Meow”
”Meo”
”Hunh?”
The office cats were pulling at the bottom of his pants
Being pulled along, he caazine placed on it The cats pointed to the opentheir tails
”Nekoyashi+ki-san, this is”
”Aah It's my most popular 'Neko' feature”
Nekoyashi+ki, as sitting next to him, raised his head
” I see”
He somehow understood quite well He seemed to be pretty popular His personality didn't really show through in his photo, though
Looks like there are hardshi+ps no matter what kind of world you live in
He had a strangely fa
Nekoyashi+ki, with his cats on his knees, pressed his brush against his cheek On the desk in front of hi inkstone was enshrined with so ”spell seals”
Lightly waving his brush across the slips of paper, he made several talismans
”Are these for work?”
”No, I send them as presents to my readers I draw five naive them these”
”Huh, presents”
Itsuki's chin dropped He ay off
Nekoyashi+ki smiled at his look
”President, what do you think about icians?” he asked
”Huh? U about them at all”
Well, for a start, none of theical At least not before what he saw in the park He didn't understand the different kinds of ic very well either
”I suppose it's best to be honest So, I'll change the question a bit What's the need for icians in the modern world?”
”Eh?”
Itsuki blinked at suddenly being asked such a basic question
”Er, uuess they exist out of necessity?”
”Ahaha A no-holds-barred response I like that If you think about it normally, there's really no need for them at all If you need to fly, you use an airplane If you need to talk to someone far away, you use a telephone And if you need a familiar, there's always Sony's AIBO Those robots are ical beast, aren't they? Oh, but of course, cats are the exception”
Putting emphasis on the last part, Nekoyashi+ki then made a solemn expression
”But ic, can destroy the world, you know”
Nekoyashi+ki declared with all the sharpness of a katana
”” Itsuki gulped involuntarily ”Is there really ic that powerful?”
”No Because there is a huic has its lireatest flame user in the current world is Isic However, even he would only be able to burn down a single city at his best Furthermore, there would need to be a lot of costly preparation before anything could be accomplished It would probably be safer and smarter to just drop a napalm bomb on the city”
Nekoyashi+ki took a sreen tea It was apparently cold, as he runtled look
”B-But , aren't they?”
”Ah, I see where you're going with this Things like Kabbalic Golereater than that of huoetia>'s Mathers family's 'Seventy-Two Demons'”
Hearing the familiar name, Itsuki's face became stiff
”Oh, what's the matter?”
”N-No, it's nothing”
Adilisia • lenn • Mathers
That was the naht it was difficult for hiiven him any trouble Still, he could feel the terrible sensation that a pair of green eyes was glaring at him from time to time
The best, huh
As Itsuki half admired her and half feared her, Nekoyashi+ki continued his discussion
”However, there is a li demons No matter which road the summoner takes, they can't outdo their natural ability while still being able to completely control the icians to s ”
” Then, as that ic that you said could destroy the world?”
”Oh, that”
As Nekoyashi+ki nodded, the black, old-fashi+oned phone next to the support pillar rang
Lifting the handset to his face in a flash, Nekoyashi+ki answered
”Thank you for calling This is the ician dispatch company
Sla the handset back onto its cradle, Nekoyashi+ki whirled around
”President! Urgent request!”
”Eh? Don't tell me it's another monster extermination!” Itsuki responded in a panic
”No, it looks like a azine writer is out with a cold! If we hurry, we can write the substitute article We have to take a quick trip to the publisher and write it on-site”
— Well, that seemed pretty peaceful
”U-Understood Let's go”
Itsuki gave a tired laugh and turned his back to Nekoyashi+ki, as placing his cats in a furoshi+ki[3] before slinging the bundle over his shoulder
Before exiting the door, Nekoyashi+ki turned around
”That's right About what I was saying earlier”
”Hm?”
”The ic hi his eyes into crescent moons
Part 2
The next day, during lunch, Itsuki walked up to the currythe udon meal
A the students, the curry at this school was known as ”Russian Roulette” Since there is no set kind of curry served, you could get terribly sweet curry one day and get blazingly spicy curry the next Whether it was the spiciness of a chili pepper or the sweetness of syrup and powdered sugar, it all smelled and looked the sa other than a trap
Pushi+ng through the waves of people, Itsuki made his way to the end of the cafeteria and sat at the empty table there
As he read the reference book Hona, ”May I sit here?” ca like a bell
It was Adilisia Of course, she wasn't wearing her dress in school; she had on a sailor uniforolden hair and emerald eyes clashed quite considerably with the sailor outfit and Itsuki simply blinked at her for a moment
” What are you gaping at like a fool?”
”N-No, I just didn't think you'd be eating the school food”
”It is my choice”
Turning her face away, she sat in front of him
The smell of delicious curry wafted from her tray
”Ah”
With an elegant sweep, Adilisia brought the spoon to her mouth
”!!!”
She swooned in agony
”What is this!? Can't they make this curry sweeter!?”
She slaain She was gathering spell power bit by bit
”There's nothing you can do about it here”
”Ugh!! How could I have fallen into such a trap?”
”W-Wouldn't it be best to not overdo it and just not eat the curry?”
”Be quiet Since I made this decision, I will see it to its finish”
With teary eyes, Adilisia stuffed the suspicious curry into her cheeks
” Hey, look at that over there”
” Ibaitsu made the transfer student cry”
” I heard that Ibaitsu is her manservant, is that true?”
” What? I heard that the transfer student was Ibaitsu's fiancée”
” Well, what about the other transfer student?”
” No way are they gonna start fighting?”
At the scene, ru students
Aw !
Recently, Itsuki was all the class talked about Of course, it wasn't because Itsuki hi to his right and left during class That is to say, the two transfer students Since the beautiful lared at the class loon between the up
Slurping his udon, Itsuki sighed
Feeling that things were going to get worse, he was trying to think of a way to respond to the situation when the young lady who had finally finished half of her curry glanced upward
”Do you really plan on overcoht> with such a such a careless attitude?”
”Itsuki”
”Yes?”
”It may be impolite of me, but please allow me to inquire You have only recently become a company president, yes?”
”M-More or less”
”And even though you aren't a ician?”
Her green eyes stared him down
”N-No, though I have been doing all I can about that” Itsuki answered, flustered He had already stopped trying to study ic Should he have told her the truth?
However, hearing that, Adilisia's expression changed
”Well then even though you aren't a ician, you are still the leader of
With a sudden sweep of silence across the cafeteria, whispers began to arise
Because they were far away, the other students didn't catch on to words like ”ician” or ”leader,” but what they did see was that Adilisia was quite indignant
But as any proper young lady, Adilisia didn't pay attention to the whispers She leaned over the table at Itsuki
”Uwah!”
”Do you really plan on overcoht> with such a such a careless attitude?”
Uh <night>?
Itsuki didn't think too e caht into Itsuki's eye
”Fine”
She let go of the table ”Since you apparently are not aware of that either, I will give you a warning If you continue with that attitude, you will die within three days”
”Die”
Itsuki felt the coldness of those words all the way through to his heart
””
””
For a while, the two stayed silent, si at each other
When Itsuki grabbed his chopsticks, he felt so
”Huh?”
”What is it?”
” Adilisia-san, are you, by any chance worried for me?”
In an instant, Adilisia's face becaht red up to her ears
”Do not say such foolish things! Since you saw things normal people are unaware of in the park last week, I was just clarifying things for you”
She stood up angrily
”So how about now? If you value your life, you will pull out of the next offer”
Siirl swiftly turned on her heel
”Hey, wait a second”
Itsuki tried to follow her, but he suddenly felt a strange itch under his eye patch He rubbed it, standing up
However, he felt so wet
”Huh?”
The finger he had rubbed under his eye patch as dyed slightly red
” with that attitude, you will die within three days”
”Ugh”
And then, seeing his own blood, Itsuki—as anemic—fell on his back in a faint
After school, Itsukislapped awake by the school nurse
”Hey, I want to go home, so hurry and wake up!” she insisted
For the ti, the blood had stopped In all truth, there really wasn't thatin the first place, and it had totally stopped by the time he had reached the infirmary Because the nurse in the infir his eye patch off Itsuki was thankful for that
It's been a long time since I've seen blood
Talking to himself, he walked toward don
Lots of shops had already closed There were few people on the streets and the old townscape was like a silhouette in the sunset
The city of Furube was a mix of new and old
It was a s hill since the Heian Period Then, the bubble econo the place into a coan luring enterprises, bringing in a lot of hustle and bustle and causing the construction of s
It was a laid back town, but the don area was in the middle of a rebirth
As he cli to the office, Itsuki suddenly stopped his feet
”A-Are you here again?”
Re Ultros, his facial expression dropped
That de—his caretaker still hadn't taken hi kept at
As he walked through the alleyway, it was an established practice for Ultros to playfully assault him For example, one time Ultros had climbed to the top of the roof and dove headfirst at Itsuki, nearly crushi+ng him to death
When he held his eye patch and looked across the alleyway
”You are
”Wha?”
Being spoken to from his side all of a sudden, Itsuki jumped
Slipping through the sunset, a huure stood before him Itsuki should have been able to see him in his peripheral vision, but it was as if he didn't even register in Itsuki's consciousness
It was as if the man lacked any sort of characteristic at all
With a blank expression on his face, he wore a worn out business suit on his body, which was about average height In his hand, he carried a nor suitcase If he were to walk into a crowd, you would iht of him
”Aren't you Iba Itsuki-san?” the ain
”Eh? Ah, y-yes”
”A~h, of course You do look like Tsukasa-san,” the ic look onto his face
”You know my dad?”
”Yes President Iba Tsukasa helped o
”Excuse anization>”
”<organization>”
He re the name
It was definitely the public controller that asseicians Honami still hadn't told him the details, but he had heard that it was an association that presided over roups
”Right noould like to congratulate you on your succession We await your future patronage”
”Y-Y-Yes, nice to anization> here?”
”It's about the contract”
Sezaki held up the suitcase
”Contract?”
Re what Adilisia had told him, his cheeks became stiff
”Is there a problem?”
”Ah, no, it's nothing that important, but Ahahaha!” He broke out in a cold sweat ”Well, uh, let me take you inside the office”
”There won't be any need for that, President”
All of a sudden, he was interrupted by another presence in the alleyway
”Nekoyashi+ki-san!”
”Oh, Nekoyashi+ki-sama It has been a while”
In the alleyway at twilight stood a gray-haired, young man—Nekoyashi+ki In his peculiar japanese clothes, with his folding fan, his chest and shoulders covered in cats, he was the same as usual
However, his face looked somewhat perturbed to Itsuki
”Kagezaki-san You received the co for the offer, correct?”
”Yes That is what this is about” Keeping his sezaki nodded ”The truth is that earlier, the offer contract was terht>”
”I know that”
Nekoyashi+ki fluttered his folding fan
He didn't hide the fact that he did not like Kagezaki Itsuki felt a bit surprised at this, Nekoyashi+ki was usually subtle
Kagezaki lips drew out into a full grin