Volume 3 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2
───South America, Federative Republic of Brazil.
A wind of intense humidity was blown towards the sea of trees.
Today, as usual, the world’s largest rainforest, Amazon, was engulfed with heat. This sea of trees where one couldn’t see an inch ahead without getting obstructed was like a natural fortress for those unfamiliar with the land.
Once lost in it, it would be incredibly difficult to get out of there.
At daytime, all sorts of snakes and beasts began to wreak havoc. To the world, this place would be referred as a wonderland. Wiping away his sweat, Sakamaki Izayoi spoke to the person beside him, Prithvi Mata.
“The Amazon is so d.a.m.n hot!”
“Complaining won’t help the matter.”
“I know, but I couldn’t hold those complaints in. Look at this thermometer.”
Izayoi presented a simple weather detector held by his hand to Prith.
It displayed the temperature to be 34 degree celsius along with humidity of 82%.
Izayoi’s annoyance index was also estimated to be reaching 120%.
Looking at the sky in the distance, the clouds were gradually gathering above the rainforest. If rain was to start now, it would really be a collection of irritating elements. To Izayoi, who had tendency of getting soaked, that was an unbearable development.
“This is where a modern h.e.l.l would be. Even if it’s just once, couldn’t you do something with the power of the ‘12 Devas’, Earth G.o.ddess-sama?”
Izayoi carelessly asked for compa.s.sion. But Prithvi Mata, The Mother G.o.ddess, wasn’t the one to depend on her power so easily.
'Twelve Devas'───Also called, Juuniten, were a group of various G.o.ds who were feared as the strongest out the entire heavenly army that defended the world's peace.
The divine group was made up of various G.o.ds from the Middle East, Ancient India, and East Asia, most of its members being ancient war G.o.ds. Hence, it was considered to be a group of G.o.ds with one of the strongest war power. And as far as Izayoi was aware, more than half of them had descended to the outside world.
Among the ‘12 Devas’ led by Tokuteru Mikado, 7 of them have made an appearance, including himself.
War G.o.d, Indra (Taishakuten)
Mother Earth, Prithvi Mata (Jiten)
Sun G.o.d, Surya (Nitten)
G.o.d of Creation, Brahma (Bonten)
G.o.d of the Far East, Izanagi (Izanaten)
Iron-fan Princess, Rakshasa (Rasetsuten)
Guardian G.o.d of Wealth, Vaisravana (Bishamonten)
However, due to the sheer power they possess, it would be impossible for all of the 12 Devas to appear in the outside world at once, no matter how much they lower their spiritual power.
The number of G.o.ds a single world could naturally bear was three at best.
Once the number of G.o.ds exceeds that maximum number, just their existence itself could alter the laws of nature, make oceans go wild, open a fissure, and cause the sky to blaze up in deep red. Hence, if a G.o.d wanted to interfere with the outside world, they would usually send an organization which they shared their spiritual power with, or their own avatar down───yet, for some reason, this Mother Earth had manifested herself instead.
Even among the earth G.o.ddesses, Prithvi Mata who had entrusted the agriculture to humanity was a great G.o.ddess whose Spirituality was leagues above the rest. She was a G.o.ddess who possessed a unique authority, holding the achievement of humanity’s explosive growth. There was, theoretically, no greater earth G.o.ddess than her, whose deeds towards the advancement of Humanity was second to none.
The true G.o.ddess standing above all as Mother Earth, Prithvi Mata.
Although the words from Izayoi were full of hope of seeing miracles that would be made by this G.o.ddess among the G.o.ddesses───Prith shook her head with a gentle smile.
“We shouldn’t use Little Garden’s standard as our basis. The change of weather could cause great damage to Earth. And if it’s h.e.l.l we are talking about, Tokyo is no different isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
“Of course. Heat surfacing from the ground, natural water with temperatures higher than human skin, spoiled air conditioning which is useless even if it was activated to its highest output. Having to work and study while exposing yourselves to these pains, that’s the sin humanity is bearing right now. What’s ahead as we continue to work and study, where’s the end of life. At last, even I wondered as a deity on whether I should’ve strived for nirvana.”
Prith looked afar as she squinted her eyes.
It’s hard to return to how it was after experiencing the convenience of having air conditioning. Even Prithvi, who was resistant to heat, wanted to finish her job quickly just to return to her air-conditioned room.
“That aside, we’ll be reaching our destination soon. Wouldn't there be more meaning in verifying the content of the delegate in order to return to j.a.pan as quickly as possible?”
“Well, I have no problems with that. But did they really conduct the Nanomachine experiments in this forest?”
“If Saigou Homura’s prediction is correct, that’s how it turns out to be. Although I am having doubts as well.”
With dubious faces, the two changed their line of sight to the weather detector.
Speaking of the current job, there was a reason why the two had come all this way to the Federative Republic of Brazil in South America.
The reason for that was that the place where the ‘Bull of Heaven’ had an outbreak had been confirmed to be the coastal city of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.
The city of Rio was famous as a bustling city of southern countries, and it was also the world’s largest megacity with a population of over 6 million. Fortunately, the damage caused by the typhoon was not extreme, but the extent of the damage caused by the spoilage virus was unclear.
After leaving France, the investigation team of the ‘Everything Company’ was sent here to the country with the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, and had just started to investigate the virus.
───But Izayoi and the others knew.
The pathogens were also spread from the island of Crete in the Greek Republic.
In order to attack Europe, the toxic particles were mixed up in the storm.
From this extremely despicable move, western countries have suffered severe damage from an economic perspective. The turbulence of stock markets and the buying of wheat flour where still comparatively meager things, compared to the fact that Brands with over a hundred years of history have been forced to temporarily suspend their business in a mere two months. It can be said that the Western European market had completely collapsed.
It was at this moment that ‘Everything Company’ introduced the Star Particle Bodies.
For Europe which was on the verge of ruin, it was truly a G.o.dsend.
“It would be more appropriate to think of it like this; Crete Island is the site where the pathogenic bacteria spread, and the Amazon Rainforest is where the ‘Bull of Heaven’ incident took place. A forest is the best place to hide it. But if you were to conduct Particle Body experiments in this kind of h.e.l.lish heat, wouldn’t they just go crazy?”
As she swept away the reflective sweat, Prith smiled bitterly.
“Totally. No doubt they were insane. Hence, that’s why they thought of using human technology to create something like ‘Bull of Heaven’. For this, we have your Excellency, the Head of Accounting.”
“Wait, hold right there. Can you stop calling me that ‘Head of Accounting’ already.”
“What are you saying? You only took two months to take care of our company’s rough and unfathomable accounting. It would be wrong to not properly address you as the Head of Accounting with grat.i.tude and respect!”
Prithvi smiled and gave a thumbs up while fanning her chest with her other hand. She came into this kind of forest while wearing a suit; Izayoi couldn’t really get whether she was just diligent or an airhead.
After all, it has only been two and a half months since he met her.
As he couldn’t find his way into Little Garden, he gradually got involved with the Security Service company that Mikado Tokuteru managed.
The principle of ‘no work no food’ is universal regardless of the world.
In age, he could no longer be considered a student.
Because while he was physically 19, according to the family register, in the outer world he was 21. If he was to live in the orphanage without a job and live a life of self-willedness, he may not have a foothold in front of the children.
As such, the job of a secret agent employed by a company operated by the ‘12 Devas’ would surely satisfy Izayoi’s pa.s.sion of labor and curiosity. So, after accepting the job with high expectations…
He was met with a headache; the disorganization was far beyond his imagination.
Cooperative contracts scattered in the company's lobby, reports written in multiple languages, inaccurate compensations, receipts for unknown purposes and so on...
With that being the case, it would be appropriate to say that the satisfying feeling of enthusiasm completely disappeared.
Although Izayoi easily displayed an impression of crude and rudeness, even he had a rigorous side of him.
If there was no appropriate compensation for the properly done work, even he would be troubled by it.
”There were proposals for accounting employment before, but regrettably our line of work has many things we can’t disclose to the public. Although the many conveniences in this era has made me very happy, it becomes difficult to move when money is tight. After all, we are war G.o.ds who protect the law, not wealth. Thanks to the kind Head of Accounting, who gathered all the data within the scope of explanation, even the useless embezzlement done by President Mikado has come to light. I have to thank you.”
Prith continued to nod in grat.i.tude.
Although it was totally unexpected in Tokuteru Mikado’s case.
“Yeah...I guess it can’t be helped after all. Bishamonten is tentatively a G.o.d of wealth, but it would be unfair to demand such a delicate skill from that Uesugi-chan.”
“That’s how it is. That girl is serious, hard-working and a genius when it comes to battles, so if she could just quietly focus on physical labor, we could also relax. ”
“It was exactly how it is this time. When I was told to fly to Brazil due to the commission of ‘Everything Company’ I was looking forward to it. But I did not expect to actually be decentralized to the center of the Amazon. And here I wanted to see that hot carnival in Rio after all this time.”
“Hey, don’t whine about the work. You were appointed by the client by name, and also getting a referral fee. Be more compromising here.”
While whining about work, they continued their advance through the cl.u.s.ters of ivy.
However, the path, or what could be called a path, ended here. Beyond this point was the unexplored land.
Although they weren’t in any danger, they had to advance carefully but quickly or the day would grow dark on them.
As the two put down their luggage to make preparations, the phone rang suddenly with a simple beeping sound.
Izayoi could only think that the caller estimated that the forest entrance was where the electromagnetic waves would barely reach. Unpleasantly, he answered the phone.
“h.e.l.lo, thank you for your call. This is the secret service. At this moment where we are working our a.s.ses off, is there anything I can help you with? Client Saigou Homursama.”
As he answered with sarcasm, a sigh came from the other side.
“... Why are you so irritated? Also, the client is not me, but Ayato ojou-sama, you know?”
“I don’t see the difference.”
“There’s a huge margin of difference. I’m not the one paying Iznii the retainer fee...sigh, forget about it. I have just returned from Charles de Gaulle Airport in France to Narita Airport.”
“You returned from France? Weren’t you in Germany?”
“I was there two days ago. I left immediately to France after obtaining a lot of experimental results, whereby to confirm the procedure of virus removal. Since the process moved on smoothly and the result was successful, I am planning to return home temporarily for a holiday. Are there any leads on your side?”
Saigou Homura’s voice was projected from the phone.
Izayoi waved his hand due to annoyance.
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The world is at peace, with no incident whatsoever. Say, since there's nothing for me to do here. May I leave? Not to mention there's an erotic nudist carnival in Rio that I want to see in a manner of grace.”
“....No, didn't you said that you were busy previously? There will be no reward if there's no result, that's what Ayato-Ojousama said before wasn't it?”
Homura’s jokingly reply caused Izayoi’s expression to become more silent and depressed.
To Izayoi, whom could not find a way back to Little Garden, not getting his pay was a bad problem.
Coming all this way to Brazil in vain would have to be avoided at all costs.
“How stingy. Now that ‘Everything Company’ has established itself as an international spot due to the Star Particle Bodies, it has gained enormous benefits that competes with the culmination of today’s world. Someone from such a zaibatsu shouldn’t be so stingy with money.”
“You are the one talking nonsense. No matter how rich the company is, or even poor, those who have not achieved results will not be rewarded. For now, just work and earn some money like how an older brother should….Oh right, I didn't call you just for jokes.”
Cough cough. As Saigou Homura cleared his throat, Izayoi shrugged in doubt.
“Oh? If this wasn't a prank call, does that mean you have gotten clues about the criminal?”
“That's about right. While the criminal has not yet been identified, the parsing result of the Particles Bodies has finally come out… though, something feels odd.”
“And that is?”
“The components of the two Star Particle Body types are far too different. It doesn’t seem like the particles were made by the same organization.”
Hearing Homura’s concise yet dangerous conclusion, Izayoi gave a truculent laugh.
“Heh…? Two particle bodies of different components, huh? If that's the case, then the situation certainly changes. Which means the creators of the smallpox ‘Minotaur’ and the typhoon ‘Bull of Heaven’ were two totally different organizations.”
It could be a.s.sumed that there were at least two organizations that were researching the Particle Bodies, if not more. This information was truly indispensable, so he understood the need for this emergency call.
“That's right. Being comprehensive is one of the few good points you have, Iznii.”
“What kind of rubbish are you talking about. I have more good points than there are stars.”
“Yea, yea, whatever you say. So, about the Particle Bodies that caused the virus, it seems that they were made through a similar process to mine—that is to say, created through a parasitic growth development with plants and animals. Well, there's no problem in this regard since I can make them powerless, but the other one, the ‘Bull of Heaven’, is a product of another level. Sorry that I can’t explain it in detail, but I have confirmed the Star Particle Body crystallization phenomenon from part of the particles of ‘Bull of Heaven’.”
Izayoi became puzzled after hearing that.