"Mom, because of the situation, will you let my friend Akatsuki Kizashi stay here?"
I said to my mother, who was sitting at the kitchen table. Sitting next to her was Elaine and Mr. Sidovora.
"I don't know... we'll decide when your father comes back home."
She said nervously as she drank her cup of hot tea.
Sizzle~
"Hey Tatsuo, where do you guys put all the salt?"
Akatsuki yelled from the kitchen.
"The salt is in the upper right cabinet."
Elaine answered. Then she resumes to coldly stare at me.
"What's wrong, Elaine?"
"Tatsuo, are you sure that he wasn't lying to you?"
"What do you mean lying?"
I chuckled as I shakingly drank my tea.
"I mean, what if he's just lying about being ?"
"I'm not joking though, he really is an orphan. Haven't you heard about the orphanage that burned down three years ago? He was one of the children that survived. He has nowhere to go."
I'd stated, and Elaine looked down. Whew, looks like that worked. I don't know how long I can convince these people anymore. My lying and story making skills are at its peak. Making a backstory for a god is a tough task.
"I wouldn't mind, but your father will make the final decision. For now, he can stay in the empty room."
"Thank you mom."
It looks like I got through. Now my brain is fried thinking of this. I had too much explaining to do because these two were giving me too many questions.
"Tatsuo, a question."
Oh no, what is it now?
"How are you sure that he didn't just tell you a fake name? He could be someone from the West ward."
"Elaine, you're worrying too much. And besides, you're from Russia. If he was from the West ward, it wouldn't change anything. Maybe he just wanted to come to the East ward because it's way better here than it is in the West ward."
After TROPE was established, the countries were split into wards. The West ward is China, North is North Korea, South is well south, and East is Japan. Even though the countries were all combined, the cities remained the same.
Elaine blushed and looked away, pouting.
Jeez, she is so cautious. Well I would understand though. In the West ward, it's the playground for the Triads. Yeah, don't wanna be involved with whatever is going on there. Who knows who'll you'll run into.
As we were drinking our tea, Akatsuki places food on the table.
"Dinner is served."
As we were eating, Elaine was rudely picking her food.
"Elaine, what are you doing?"
"N-nothing."
"Hmm..."
We stared at the food that Akatsuki had cooked. He had cooked up a steak rice bowl. It didn't look much, but I smelt a good fragrance coming from it.
"Well then... time to eat."
"""""Itadakimasu."""""
We all said, and we ate.
I'd pick a piece of steak that Akatsuki had cooked and placed it in my mouth.
When my tongue touched it, I suddenly felt a wild feeling.
This steak... it's so... good...
I wasn't the only one who reacted this way. When mom, Elaine, and Mr. Sidovora ate it, their eyes immediately widened.
We slowly chewed our food, and we would get another piece and eat it. Then another... and another... then we couldn't resist and began eating like savages.
"How can this be so good? These are only cheap ingredients."
"I've never tasted anything like this in my whole life."
"This flavor!"
I looked over at Akatsuki and he looked a bit confused.
"I-is my cooking that good?"
"Yes! It's amazing!"
My mother said as she and the Sidovora's chowed on their food. It's true, this is amazing! I never received this kind of praise when I cooked. All I get is "It's ok."
I looked over at Akatsuki and he looked back at me.
Did you use your divine godly powers to do this?
He would open his mouth, but he didn't say anything. He took a look at the people eating in front of him. Oh yeah, he needs to make it not obvious that he could read my mind. So he just shook his head. I didn't know whether to believe him or not, but it doesn't matter. At least we got a new cook.
"Thank you, I've... I've..."
Suddenly, Akatsuki sniffed. Tears. Tears were flowing down from Akatsuki's eyes. W-why is he crying?
"I haven't received praises... before. My cooking was always called average compared to those at the orphanage."
Akatsuki wiped his tears away. Hmm... he has good acting skills. But what was that pause for?
***
Two days passed, and it was quiet in the house.
When I went down to the kitchen, Akatsuki was there cooking some breakfast. Hmm, even though it's only been two days, he's really settled in.
Mother had gone out to get Akatsuki identification. He's gonna need some way of identification, I mean, if an officer went up to him and asked for his ID, what is he going to show him?
My mother asked how old he was and Akatsuki said that he was 15, which was an obvious lie because of his voice. He said he had a deep voice when he reached that age. When I passed him in the hallway last night, he said his real age is actually... well, he's old is all I can say.
"Hey Tatsuo."
Akatsuki called me from the kitchen and I asked him what's up.
"You need to get started on your training. I don't want my host to be so weak. Otherwise, that would make me weak."
Ahh, that's right. Since I'm so weak(Not being sarcastic, by the way), Akatsuki's PL significantly plummeted. The energy I sense from him is nowhere near when he was a Drakon. His PL is almost at the level where Elaine is. Around… 50k if I am guessing correctly. It feels a bit weaker than Elaine's but it is around her level.
Though I don't think his power level would really matter. He knocked out an A-rank whilst his PL was only around B-rank level.
To be totally honest, I think he could be on equal footing with an S-rank.
Ring!
Elaine was standing outside my house wearing her casual clothes. White blouse and black leggings. Today I'm supposed to get a new weapon replacement from her dad. Though Mr. Sidovora isn't a Magic-Born, he specializes in manufacturing Magic Tools. He supplies me and my dad with magic-tools whenever we need them. Even though he can give me a very expensive weapon, I usually decline because they are too flashy and I can't use them correctly. I'm not that greedy.
"Tatsuo."
Akatsuki called me again. What is it now?
"Yes?"
"Hit the gym once in a while."
"...goodbye."
About two or three hours passed. We were heading towards Mr. Sidovora's weapon facility, which is located in Tokyo. Normally a facility would be on land but if you're rich, you would obviously want a cooler place to store all the lethal weapons that you'll make.
Using his money, Mr. Sidovora made an underground facility where all the magic tools are made. Now the thing is, Mr. Sidovora owns his own building. His company is called…
Damn, what was it called again?
While I was trying to remember, I see two huge letters on the side of a tall building.
[HC]
HC… oh yeah, now I remember. Hephaestus Corporation. Hmm, weird how he used a greek god's name and not a Russian god's name. Oh well, he was formerly a mythologist, so I understand. Hephaestus was the god of weapons, and he now makes weapons for a living.
That building is the headquarters for the Hephaestus Corp. That is where we are going.
As we got there, we walked past the security guards. We didn't really need identification since Elaine, the daughter of the Chairman of HC is walking right next to me.
We entered an elevator by ourselves and there were 100 floors. Yes, this building is really tall. Elaine took out a black card and inserted it in a card hole. After that, the card came back out and a voice spoke:
"Access Granted."
Then a blank button appeared, which Elaine pressed.
Now we were going down. The number on the elevator went from 0 to -1.
About a few seconds later, we were on the -100th floor, where the underground facility is located.
As we stepped out, there were people using magic to assemble parts that belonged to a weapon. We arrived at this secluded room where there was an elderly man in a white lab coat. When he noticed us, he greeted us.
"Oh, if it isn't the little couple."
Kono Baka!!!!!
"W-we aren't a couple! Who would ever date someone like him?"
Elaine shouted as her face turned red. N-never date someone like me? That hurt…
Very much…
This old man is Steven Russell, an expert weapons designer. From his name and his appearance, you could tell he is from the United States. For some reason, he likes to be called Doc. He works under Mr. Sidovora as well his weapons designer.
"Hehe, anyway, here is your replacement."
The elderly man said as he handed me a silver cube. Once I got ahold of it, it slowly shaped into a pistol shape.
"I believe that's all you need, right?"
"Yep, thanks a bunch, Doc."
"Alright then, have fun you two."
As we left, Doc said something, but I was unable to hear him.
"What did he say?"
"I don't know…"
Elaine was bright red. No seriously, what did he say?