Chapter 142: Coming home to have new problems sucks
Chapter 142: Coming home to have new problems sucks
The environment around me changed, I was no longer in my luxurious room worthy of the dictator who controls two worlds, now I was in an abandoned alley in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city.
As soon as I appeared back in this world, I felt my body contract as all the months of training and muscle memory hit my body at once.
This should be enough to make even a Hayato-level martial artist fall unconscious for two days, but since my body was now composed of black blood, the muscle contraction didn't affect me so I just smiled wryly.
[System Notification: A Higher Entity has noticed the user]
[System Notification: A Higher Entity has noticed the user]
[System Notification: A Higher Entity has noticed the user]
[System Notification: A Higher Entity has noticed the user]
[System Notification: Allow the skill 'Mythomania' to hide the user's presence?
YES/NO]
[NO]
I suppressed my desire to sigh.
System Goddess explained to me what would happen from now on, so I began to look around me with an expression of confusion and joy as if I were a soldier who managed to return home after spending several years on the battlefield.
Using Anti-Rasen I suppressed my own energy and strength to leave me at the peak of human potential. Although this will weaken me, I can remove this restriction at any time so as long as no big problems arise I can maintain a relatively quiet life.
[System Notification: The skill 'Paranoia' senses a troubled life]
…Stupid skill…
System Goddess explained that the entities that enter Gaia will have their powers suppressed so if I prove that I can use all of my abilities without restriction then the higher entities will know that I am a system user which will be problematic.
I looked at my hands and frowned as if realizing something was suppressing my power, then sighed as if I didn't want to think about it and just wanted to enjoy the feeling of coming home.
Because my perception ability wasn't suppressed by [Anti-Rasen], I could feel some gazes analyzing my movements so I was careful with all my microexpressions to appear to be a true 'Returner' coming home, I even let some out. happy tears.
[System Notification: 'System Goddess' has sent you a message.
Don't move from where you are, I'm about to meet with a representative of the Will of the World to talk about how I found you while saving another world.
You are currently being monitored to observe your reaction and determine if you still have an attachment to this world, a supervisor will approach you shortly]
System Goddess may have flaws in her personality, but when it comes to survival she is reliable as she will never do anything that could risk her own life.
Normally I would be reluctant to send messages in this kind of situation as there is a risk of information leaks, but due to the nature of a system, I can contact the entities that have been linked to me without risk of espionage.
"It seems that you had a difficult situation" - A kind voice sounded behind me.
I acted as if I was surprised and quickly turned around while taking a defensive stance as if my muscle memory had gotten used to sneak attacks.
When I saw the entity behind me, I had a huge urge to sigh, I hate my life.
"I won't hurt you, I just want to talk" - The entity raised her hands while smiling gently like an older sister taking care of her little brother.
"Sorry, I thought… Forget it, it was my mistake" – I acted like an average Japanese teenager while sincerely apologizing with a bow.
The person in front of me smiled gently. – "No, it was my mistake for appearing that way"
I wanted to roll my eyes, the Japanese obsession with apologies has affected even higher entities.
The 'woman' in front of me took a step forward as if she wanted to come closer to speak, but I quickly backed away cautiously.
"What's the matter?" – She looked at me with confusion.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't have good experiences meeting people who appear out of nowhere with a friendly attitude" - I smiled nervously as if my mental state was not adequate.
The woman, rather, the brat in front of me sighed sadly. – "It really seems that you had a bad situation... I am sorry for making you remember bad experiences, but you no longer need to be on your guard, now you are safe"
Although I can't be sure of this brat's strength since she doesn't look like someone who uses her body to fight, my instincts tell me that she can hold me back even if I use all my strength, not because I'm weak, but because something in her has the ability to restrain me.
Is this the authority of a Guardian?
I'm beginning to understand why the System Goddess was willing to sacrifice her freedom in order not to die.
"Well, saying bad situation is exaggerated..." - I smiled as if thinking of some valuable people and then shook my head showing that nostalgia won't stop me from fighting.
The little girl smiled in a moving way, it seems that she is the kind of person who values emotions over power, but I have to be careful since I can't use my skills related to [Reader's Madness] so I can't tell if she is an expert lying just like me.
The little girl was about to say something, but then stopped as if she had received a message. At that moment I felt a strange sensation in front of the girl as if some kind of unknown energy was moving in front of her.
The little girl seemed to be looking at something I can't see so I used a skill I've been practicing, 'Character's Eyes'.
This skill is a lower version of [Reader's Perspective]. When I see an entity, this ability allows me to see what the entity sees.
For example, if a person sees an invisible object that I can't see, with this ability I'll be able to share that person's perspective to see the invisible object.
Because I only share point of view and don't see thoughts, this skill is not detected unlike [Reader's Perspective].
As for why this skill isn't registered in my system, it's because just like my vibration manipulation, this skill is something more like a combat technique and not a system skill.
Through the little girl's perspective, I could see a fog mirror that seemed to be some kind of mystical communication artifact.
The artifact's magic didn't matter to me compared to the person on the other side of the mirror.
I'm going to hell, why is my boss contacting a Guardian?
The leader of the yakuza, patriarch of the Ichijo family, and my boss, Issei Ichijo, one of the few people that even in my current dehumanized state I still feel gratitude for.
I just got into something fucking troublesome...
With 'Eyes of the Character' I can't hear what the little girl hears, but reading Mr. Ichijo's lips I understood that he wants this little girl to take me to see him at the Ichijo residence.
When the little girl finished speaking, she closed the fog mirror and smiled gently at me. – "There is someone who can clarify all your doubts, please come with me"
I frowned showing my distrust, but at that moment my cell phone began to vibrate.
When I came back to this world I appeared back with the belongings I had before traveling. Apparently, in high-level worlds like this, there is a restriction on objects from other worlds to prevent foreign entities from bringing weapons or dangerous objects to this world so I had my old cell phone again.
The number of people who know my number can be counted on one hand so it was easy to guess who was calling.
I opened the cell phone while keeping my gaze on the little girl.
"Boy, it seems that you are causing problems again" – A man's voice spoke with irony.
"When have I caused trouble?" – I spoke as if his words made me feel offended.
"You're always causing trouble!" – The man responded with amusement instead of anger. – "Do you know how many women keep asking about you? Tch, when I was your age my luck with women wasn't that high… Ahem, forget that."
I smiled wryly, this man is incapable of staying serious for more than ten seconds.
"As I said, it seems that you got into an unusual situation" - Mr. Ichijo sighed. – "Come to my house, we have to talk"
"…" – I kept silent for a moment as if I didn't know what to say. - "I only…"
"Boy, don't think about it too much and just come" – Mr. Ichijo used a kinder voice than usual. – "I don't know what happened, but now everything will be fine, you are back home…"
I showed a shocked expression like I wants to cry. Even though he can't see me, the brat in front of me can hear our conversation since she has a motherly expression of tenderness that made me want to roll my eyes.
"Accompany the person in front of you, you can ask her any questions you have" - Mr. Ichijo continued speaking with kindness.
"The little girl?" – I asked with doubts since I'm not supposed to know that she's a Guardian.
"I'm not a little girl!" – The little girl pouted showing that she was a little girl.
"Boy… Whatever, don't cause trouble and try to be a little respectful" – Mr. Ichijo sighed.
"Fine" - I sighed and nodded showing that Mr. Ichijo's words have a huge influence on my actions.
I hung up the call and looked at the brat. – "So are we going?"
The little girl smiled gently. – "Sure, you can ask me anything, I will gladly answer you"
I sighed and we started walking towards the Ichijo residence.
"To begin with, my name is Luis Santos, Luis is my first name and Santos is my last name" - I smiled with a little discomfort as if I didn't know how to interact with her.
"Are you a foreigner? Although your Japanese is very good" – The brat looked at me curiously.
"I have a family situation a bit… Well, it's complicated" – I showed bitterness and disgust as if talking about it was bad for my heart.
[System Notification: A higher entity can see the user's emotions. The skill 'Mythomania' has managed to hide the user's true emotions]
Did she do it on purpose to see if I'm lying or is it a passive ability?
This is troublesome.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you think about things that make you feel bad..." - The little girl looked at me with concern, for now, I will continue with the performance.
I forced a smile as if I wanted to change the subject. – "Better tell me your name, it is uncomfortable not knowing what I should call you"
"I'm called Senko!" – The girl stopped for a moment and she smiled at me. – "I am a divine messenger fox!"
I opened the messages option of my system.
[Message to: 'SystemGoddess'
What the hell is a divine messenger fox?]
[System Goddess: The overseer they sent you was a divine messenger fox?
Cool! You are in luck, unlike normal kitsunes, divine messenger foxes have a gentle nature and even if some can be mischievous, they are harmless towards humans as human happiness is their source of energy.
Try to form a friendship with the divine messenger fox since it is an excellent opportunity for you, if possible it will be better if you can seduce her since you are an expert in it~]
I suppressed my urge to swear and smiled gently. – "Well Senko-san, it's nice to meet you, I'm sorry for my previous bad attitude, it's just that some things happened and well… I wasn't in the best mental state"
"Don't worry, it's my fault for not being considerate enough" – Senko smiled bitterly as if she felt guilty. – "It is the first time that I am in charge of contacting a returnee, so I lack experience"
"Returnee?" – I asked with confusion.
"A returnee is a person who goes to another world either by a summon, an ability, or an accident…" – Senko began to explain gently, although I already know all this.
I pretended to listen to her explanation while my attention was on an interesting phenomenon.
Ever since we started walking towards the Ichijo residence no one on the street has noticed us even though Senko has a pair of fox ears and tail which should be eye-catching since most Japanese people love cuteness due to the culture of the 'kawaii' or something stupid like that.
Did Senko use any skill to hide us?
But I haven't felt any energy around us... This is strange and interesting.
As we walked I asked obvious questions about the information that System Goddess has already given me to show my lack of knowledge about the supernatural side of this world.
Even though this information was just a confirmation of what I already know, I realized that System Goddess had better information on how the multiverse works while Senko knew better the situation on Gaia.
This was not surprising since Goddess of the System is a cowardly woman who avoids contact with other entities so she did not know much about the workings of human and supernatural society on Gaia.
I pretended not to understand some of the things Senko said, but she told me that Mr. Ichijo would explain it to me in more detail so I didn't delve into it.
"Senko-san" – I took advantage of the fact that the situation where other people were ignoring us was too obvious. – "Why does it seem that other people cannot see us?"
"You are very perceptive" – Senko smiled kindly. – "Actually in this world, there are all kinds of supernatural phenomena where youkai, spirits, and other entities walk the streets…"
"To prevent ordinary humans from panicking when noticing these entities, there is a phenomenon called 'Attraction Phenomenon', it is a natural condition where normal people will never be able to notice supernatural entities as long as they do not do something that causes a connection with supernatural entities…"
"In order to know ghosts you need an innate ability to see ghosts, to know demons you need to know witchcraft, of course, sometimes accidents happen and ordinary people meet supernatural entities by accident, but normally the human mind that has not been influenced by the world supernatural cannot process information about supernatural phenomena so even if a human meets a youkai, the human will believe it was a hallucination and forget about it…"
I see, even though I've been involved in all sorts of dangerous events on my missions for the yakuza I've never encountered anything really supernatural which is strange since I've visited supposedly haunted places...
I quickly sent a message to Ortro. – "Analyze my mind and check if memory fragments are missing"
Ortro made a confirmation sound and went to work.
This gave me a new question. – "Now that I have become involved with the supernatural world, does that mean that I will have to fight to survive again?"
I showed an expression of frustration and pain as if the experiences I went through in another world had left a scar on my heart.
Senko held my hand with a friendly smile similar to what should be a motherly smile which caused me a slight distaste. – "Don't worry, even if you are now part of the supernatural world, we are in a peaceful era so you can have a normal life, I promise"
I smiled bitterly. - "I really doubt it"
Being a protagonist means having problems so I'm not hopeful for a peaceful future.
Senko seems to be an idealistic woman so keeping a kind expression she smiled at me. – "If you have a problem, I promise to protect you"
Those words don't sound trustworthy when they come from a brat.
I smiled gently as if I was touched by her words. – "Thank you, if that happens I will trust you with my safety and in return I promise to make you a good meal"
Senko smiled happily as we continued walking hand in hand. I feel like a father taking his daughter for a walk...
Now that I realize it, Senko has been acting too sweet and nice to me...
Oh shit.
I think my title [Lolimancer] is taking effect, moreover, I think the fact that in my past life I was a Guardian Beast gives me a higher affinity with Guardian entities with animal characteristics… Shit.
[System Notification: The conditions for using the skill 'Contract' and the title 'Stingy Jack' on the entity 'Senko' have been met]
… This is stupid, but hey, I won't turn down a free benefit.
[Contract: Pledge of Peace
If the user cannot have a quiet life, the 'Senko' entity will become the user's personal bodyguard so the 'Senko' entity will have to relinquish its other responsibilities. In exchange, the user will provide an exquisite meal to the entity 'Senko']
[System Notification: The entity 'Senko' is not on guard against the user so the 'Contract' has been established]
Since Senko was still holding my hand, the contract was closed without her noticing.
[System Notification: Due to the ability 'Stingy Jack', the entity 'Senko' will not be able to notice the contract 'Pledge of Peace' unless the contract is activated]
[System Notification: The user has modified the contract 'Peace Promise' so that the contract can be canceled after the contract is activated]
Good, this way this brat will believe that the contract was accidentally activated, and while it would be nice if I get a Guardian as my assistant, this may earn me the enmity of the Will of the World so for now I'll use this as an opportunity to get close to this little girl.
Even if I hate brats, it's not a bad idea to have a strong and knowledgeable helper, besides, her appearance is cute and I like pets.
I had a quiet chat with Senko until we finally reached the Ichijo residence.
When we get to the entrance Senko smiles at me and tells me she'll wait for me outside the residence, but I have a feeling she literally can't get in which makes me even more curious about the troublesome shit I'm about to get into.
I approached the entrance where a man dressed in a kimono with a scar on his face greeted me friendly. – "Oh, boy, the boss was looking for you, come, the boss wants to see you"
I sighed and followed the man, just hoping I didn't have to deal with too many headaches.
[System Notification: 'Paranoia' skill says don't count on it]
…Shitty skill, if you weren't one of my mental disorders I'd delete you.
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Author's Note:
Today I will upload a double chapter of No Otaku because yesterday I was writing and when I realized it I ended up doing many chapters~