Jin’s POV
It’s Saturday on the next day, which is why Jin could come and get Nyri from the Yamasaki household. It’s true that the dragon can just teleport herself back to Jin’s apartment, but Jin felt that he has the obligation to go there himself and thank them for their extended hospitality. When he got there, Shoko-san opened the gate for him once again.
“Did Nyri cause you any problems?” Jin asks her.
“Not at all. By contrast, Aiko woke up all by herself this morning, even though she always needed me to wake her up. It’s just so that she could play with Nyri-chan as much as possible, but still.” the housewife replies. “I already made breakfast for her, so you don’t have to cook it once the two of you are back at where you stay.”
“Please wait a minute. You cooked her breakfast?”
“Yes. Shouldn’t I have done that?”
“Not at all. Exactly how much did she eat?”
“The portion of a girl her size.”
Jin wasn’t sure he heard her right. Even in her little girl form, Nyri will never be satisfied unless she eats food enough to feed six to seven adults. That reminds him. She didn’t eat that much last night too. What happened to her?
“Anyway, I’m here for her. Can you tell her to come out?”
“Of course. Please wait here for a moment.”
Nyri came out of the house while holding hands with Aiko. The latter looks a bit sad that her new friend is leaving.
“Don’t worry. I’ll bring her over again.” Jin tells the little girl.
“Promise?” she asks with a soft voice.
“Promise.”
After hearing that, she finally cheers up a little bit. Jin even did a pinky swear with her.
“I’ll play with you some more next time. Until then, wait for me.” Nyri tells Aiko.
“Okay.”
They then let go of each other’s hand. With a wave of their hand, they bid each other goodbye.
“Well, I’ll teleport back to your apartment.” Nyri tells Jin once the mother-and-daughter pair went inside their house.
“How about we hang around for a moment? There’s a place nearby that sells food.” he offers.
She looks at him in surprise.
“Why are you being so nice all of a sudden? Is it going to snow soon?” she asks.
“Even if it did, I’m pretty sure that you were the cause, since it’s still Fall. As for why I’m nice, you’re probably hungry since you didn’t eat your fill since last night. I don’t want you to start an earthquake.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m getting kind of hungry.” she confesses while rubbing her stomach.
“It’s decided then. Before we go, though, I need you to do something about that hair and eyes of yours. We would arouse too much suspicion if we walk around with you looking like you do. No offense.”
“None taken. My appearance is far too different from you or anyone from this country, after all.”
Nyri mutters some words under her breath. At the next moment, her hair has become black, and her eyes have become brown. Now she looks like a typical Asian.
Nyri has probably cast a simple illusion on her. Unless someone look at her after activating the Eye of Truth, her disguise wouldn’t be called out.
Once the disguise is complete, Jin brings Nyri to a convenient store he passed by last night while he was on his way to the Yamasaki household.
“Is this the place you talked about?” Nyri asks curiously as she’s staring at the convenience store.
“Yup. It’s called a convenience store.” Jin explains.
“Which part of it is convenient?”
“Well, you can find lots of stuff in there, majority of the stuff are really cheap, and all of the stores are opened all day, everyday.”
“That reminds me. You used to work at one of these, right? I remember that you told me before.”
“Yup. I sure did.”
“Based on your tone and expression, I take it that you have no fond memories while you worked there.”
“None.”
Even since Jin has quit his old job, he has never visited his old working place. No even once. Akayashi is probably still working there, but it’s not worth visiting him if Kajiwara the incompetent manager is still there.
“Well, enough about my miserable past. Go inside and choose something to eat.” he encourages.
“Okay.”
“Welcome~.”
The male staff behind the counter looks indifferent when Jin comes in with a seemingly young girl. Good. Jin prefers it if people just mind their own business.
Nyri starts to take a look around. Naturally, there are lots of food and drink that she has never seen before. She asked lots of questions about them, and Jin answered them all patiently.
“...Are you ever going to do something?” she asks after a while.
“About what?”
“You know, them.”
“Ah, them.”
“Exactly. It’s kind of annoying to feel their stares everywhere I go.”
“All right. I’ll go talk to the one closest to us right now. Stay here until I’m back.”
“Got it. But make it quick. I’m about to reach the limit soon.”
Jin heads outside the convenience store. He then goes straight to the back of the store where there’s a huge garbage bin made of metal.
“I know you’re here, so you can stop hiding.” Jin calls out.
A blonde woman with blue eyes comes out from behind the garbage bin. She’s wearing a black suit and white collared shirt, complete with a black tie. If she’s trying to go incognito, she’s doing a very bad job at it.
“Impressive. How did you know that I’m here?” she asks.
“Let’s just say that I got used to being targeted so much my sixth sense has been well developed. Anyway, enough about me. Who are you?”
“My name is Diana Shannon. I work for the CIA. You’re Minase Jin, correct? Or should I call you Silver Wolf?”
So they know about his true identity as well.
“The CIA. So you’re some sort of spy?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“While dressed up like that?”
She looks at him in surprise. She then looks down at her own clothing.
“Is something wrong with what I’m wearing?” she asks.
“Um, today’s a Saturday. No normal person goes out while dressed up like an office worker.” Jin points out. “Didn’t you get weird looks while you were walking down the street?”
“Now that you mentioned it, some pedestrians were indeed whispering among themselves while sneaking glances at me. Even my colleagues pointed out that this may not be a good idea.”
“Oh, whatever. Why were you sent here? To observe me?”
“Yes. Our President is very intrigued of your existence, you see. He wants us to find out more about you.”
“Is that so? Well, now that you’ve got discovered by your target, what are you planning to do?” he asks her.
She thinks about it for a while.
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
“...What? You have no idea?”
“Yes. You see, I have not received any order regarding on what to do if I ever got discovered.”
There are possibly two reasons for that. It’s either the CIA underestimates Jin way too much, or this Shannon person is so good at her job that they didn’t consider the fact that she might fail.
“And so, what I’m about to do is based on my own discretion. No one has ordered me to do so.”
What she’s trying to say is, if Jin is planning to kill her, kill her and her alone. Her colleagues have nothing to do with this.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Would you like to work for the President of the United States?”
…Here they go again. Then again, Jin is kind of surprised that it took so long for even one other nation to make their move. Furthermore, she’s not even ordered to recruit him.
“Hold on. This might take some time, so let me go back and take care of some stuff.” Jin tells her before she elaborates.
“Are you perhaps talking about the little girl who’s with you?”
“Yup. I brought her inside since she was hungry. I need to buy her some food before we continue with our talk.”
“I understand. I’ll be waiting right here.”
Jin goes back to the convenience store and sees a dejected Nyri.
“About time~. Are you already done with them?” she asks him the moment she saw him.
“Not yet. We’re about to discuss something that might take some time. I came back here so that you could be fed.”
“Well, at least you remembered about me.” she mumbles.
Jin paid for all the food Nyri bought, and the two of them leave the convenience store.
“Just sit down and eat your food here. I don’t think I need to tell you this, but I’ll say this anyway. Don’t follow any strangers.” Jin tells Nyri.
“Got it. Before you leave, how do I open this?”
Once Nyri’s stomach is taken care of, Jin heads back to the back of the store.
“Now, where were we?” Jin asks Shannon.
“I was offering you a place among the protectors of USA. As things are over there, we need your help more than ever.”
It’s not just Japan that’s being infested with the creatures from Ifezan. America, England, China, India and a whole lots of other countries. Jin sees the news of the their citizens’ life being affected by the unknown creatures almost every single time he watches the news.
“I’m afraid that I have to refuse.” he declines.
“An immediate answer? I can give you more time to answer if you want.”
“No, thank you. My answer would be the same anyway.”
“May I know the reason?”
“That President of yours, Samuel Clark. I don’t think I can work under a guy like him.”
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“Do you perhaps disagree with some part or all of his policies?”
“Not at all. Even someone dense like me could tell that America is heading to a good direction under him. However, he is way too ambitious. I mean, he’s always eager to help out countries that have problems with terrorists and civil wars to the point where he sometimes ignored the needs of his own people. Nothing good can come out from that. If I work under him, I might have to take part on a war that I couldn’t care less about. By contrast, the one I have to call Prime Minister is a complete wuss. He’s content with just minding his own business and country while keeping certain distance from all other countries so that they’re neutral with each other. He prefers peace, and that encouraged me to work for him.”
“...I’m quite surprised, to be honest. I wasn’t expecting a high school boy to be this well-versed in politics.”
“Bah, all the stuff I spewed out are surface ones, anyway.”
“Next question. Monarchs still exist in your country, correct? What if they ordered you to kill their enemies for them?”
“I would tell them to crawl back to whatever hole they crawled out from and stop ordering me around.” Jin says bluntly.
“I see that you’re one of the people whose authority and loyalty means nothing to.”
Jin shrugs. “If I can’t be judged by literally a single thing on this planet, I’m pretty much the authority. As for loyalty, mine is only to myself and my wallet.”
Shannon is having the look of someone who’s deep in thought. She’s probably trying to figure out what to do or say next.
“Is there nothing I can offer you to make you reconsider your decision?” she asks persistently.
“I’m afraid not. And as you said, you’re doing this without permission, right? Won’t it be bad if I decide to snitch on you?”
She shakes her head.
“I’m prepared to face any sort of consequences if it would mean that the people I serve will be safer.”
What a nice determination. Jin used to think like that too until he was kicked out of Ifezan. Now he only serves himself.
“I have a question for you.” she continues.
“What is it?”
“Have you ever seen or heard three people by the names of Arthur Butler, Ryan Kayden and Priscilla Green?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“...I see.”
“Are they colleagues of yours?”
“Yes. They were given a different assignment than myself. However, we have lost contact with them for quite a while now.”
“What kind of assignment?”
“I’m sorry, but that’s top secret.”
“It’s not like I’ll spread the word around. Besides, I might be able to help look for them if the area is narrowed down.”
Shannon considers that for a while.
“They were sent to observe Jacques Bouchard.” she eventually tells him.
“...I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your colleagues might be in danger.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Some of my other colleagues are still searching for them, but I fear for their safety. Please tell me as soon as you heard something.”
“Sure. We can exchange our phone numbers if you want.”
They did just that, and the phone number of another woman was added to Jin’s contact list.
“Now then, as much as you would want me to stop doing this, I’m afraid that I can’t since it’s the mission assigned to me.” she tells him.
“Yeah, I understand. I hope the least you could do is to make it more discreet.”
“But, we were already being very discreet.”
“Try harder, then. You can use binoculars, right? I mean, your four other colleagues are using them from the building two blocks away from us.”
“...At this point, there’s pretty much nothing we can do that allows us to avoid your detection.”
“Hmm, I guess you’re right. Well, I’m off. Good luck with your mission. And seriously, you really ought to change your clothes.”
When Jin got back to Nyri, the dragon is sitting on the floor looking absolutely bored.
“About time! That took forever~!” she complains to him.
“Yes, I’m sorry that it did.”
“If you’re really sorry, make it up to me by giving me a tour around the city.”
“Sure, it’s not like I have better things to do.”
He brings her to the nearest street where there are tons of pedestrians walking around. Not surprising considering that today is a weekend.
“...Didn’t you talked with those humans back there? Why are they still observing us?” Nyri asks Jin while they’re walking around.
“One of them said that it can’t be helped since it’s their job.”
Nyri sighs and continues with her sightseeing. They walk around some more before Jin sees Aldenia up ahead.
The tomboy is dressed up like a boy as usual. She’s standing in front of a bookstore while having the expression of someone who’s deciding on whether to go in or not.
“Hey there, Aldenia. Fancy meeting you here.” Jin calls out.
Aldenia was frightened out of her skin.
“M-M-M-Minase? What are you doing here?” she stutters loudly.
“Just wandering around aimlessly. What about you? Are you going inside that bookstore or not?”
She was about to say something when she noticed Nyri.
“Is she your kid?” she asks.
“Nope. It’ll take too long to explain, so for now just know that she’s someone I have to take care. I’m just bringing her for a walk.”
She shrugs. “Fair enough.”
“What about you? What are you doing here?”
She looks embarrassed all of a sudden.
“You remember that my school’s student council is running a maid cafe, right? We were practising on the proper ways to serve customers yesterday, but I couldn’t get it right no matter what.” she begins. “And then, well, um…”
“You somehow heard about animes and mangas about maid, and you want to study about maids more by reading and/or watching those series.” Jin ends the sentence for her.
She nods in confirmation bashfully.
“I’m not really well-versed in those things, but I could at least help you ask the employees for the right recommendation.” he offers.
“I’m glad for the offer, but are you sure it’s okay? Aren’t you showing her around?”
“Ah, it’s fine. The tour can wait for a bit. Right, Nyri?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, pardon me. I forgot to introduce you two to each other. Nyri, this is Aldenia Graylock. Aldenia, this is Nyri.”
“Hey there.” Nyri greets Aldenia without a hint of emotion.
“Um, hi.”
“Now then, shall we go in?” Jin asks Aldenia.
“Yup. Let’s get this over with.”
Jin used to hang around in bookstores like this without buying anything. Now he could just get those that tickled his fancy without worrying too much about money. The bookshelf he bought is slowly and surely being filled with all those light novels and mangas that he bought.
Both Nyri and Aldenia are busy looking around . Jin, on the other hand, goes to the nearest employee who’s busy lining up a shelf of light novels.
“Excuse me.” he says in an attempt to get his attention.
The employee got startled and turns around while looking kind of alarmed. He must be really concentrated on his work. Or he’s not used to talking to people.
“Y-Y-Yes? H-How may I help you?” he asks while stuttering.
“My friend here wants to be recommended some series that have maids in it.” Jin tells him while addressing Aldenia.
“I don’t really mind the genre. I also don’t have preference on whether it’s an anime, manga or light novel series.” Aldenia adds.
The employee’s eyes sparkle at once. For better or worse, Jin spoke to the right person.
“Have you somehow awakened your inner maid fetish?” he asks Aldenia.
“Um, no. I just need some reference since I’ll be running a maid cafe for my school’s Cultural Festival.”
“Ah, Cultural Festival. How nostalgic. Please follow me.”
The employee, whom name is Kubo based on his name tag, brought the trio to a shelf that displays mangas.
“It’s better for beginners to get started with mangas since animes take too long to complete, while light novels have too many words and might bore you.” he explains to Aldenia.
“I see. What series do you recommend?”
“Hmm, let’s see. This one is quite good, I would say…”
While the explanation is going on, Jin looks at Kubo carefully. He’s probably in his twenties, and he’s slightly taller than Jin. Jin isn’t someone who judges someone based on their looks alone, but Kubo here seriously has the look of an otaku: slightly unkempt hair, thick glasses, and a body that’s a bit flabby.
Jin was half-expecting Kubo to start going otaku mode and lecture Aldenia on the full history of maid or something, but nope. He’s trying his best to remain calm and give simple and easy-to-understand explanation to Aldenia. When he’s done, Aldenia chose a few mangas based on his recommendation and brings them over to the counter so that she could pay for them.
“Thank you for your kind and patient explanation. I’ll come back for more if I find the series interesting.” she tells Kubo.
Kubo smiles at her. “I patiently await your return.”
Once the mangas are paid, the three of them leave the bookstore.
“Thanks for helping me out, Minase.” she tells Jin.
“No problem. By the way, why isn’t Audrey with you?”
“Nee-san doesn’t really like to go outside, and she prefers to stay indoors.” she explains.
“I see.”
“Well, I need to start studying, so I’ll be seeing you.”
“Yeah. See you.”
With that, the two groups part ways.