Isekai Restaurant
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 11: Hunting Trip
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- Silas -
We sat in the Restaurant.
There weren't many customers right now.
The oldies group were sitting aside and talking to Ikki about Martial Arts training.
Sakura seemed fine and insisted that she wanted to work so I reluctantly allowed her.
After all, Cid-kun hadn't shown any problems either and we were finally able to conclude that there weren't any ill effects of the process and relax.
Still, this event made me aware of the dangers of other worlds and how even simple things could get complicated so fast.
I guess we were able to use the powers of other worlds quite easily and that made us ignore the hidden dangers.
Like, even with the entire process analysed and completed thrice successfully, we couldn't guess the effect on another person because of different races. We would need to be more careful in the future.
Anyways, it seems like Cid's show of power lit the fire within Ikki. The guy actually thanked us and on talking further, we found out about the guy's background.
Ikki Kurogane, the great grandson of Ryoma Kurogane, a legendary Blazer and a Hero in their country. He was born with an F Ranked Blazer and was thus ostracised by his own father and clan.
They went so far as to force his school not to let him attend any classes so that he fails the exams.
I am pretty sure that the rage on the faces of Hayato-san and others was also mirrored on our faces.
Even Ainz was angry and he normally didn't bother with what happens with others.
I was pretty sure that the oldies group were almost ready to go and give a piece of their minds to his father but were stopped by Ikki who then informed us that the director of his school had changed and the new director was someone who supported him and his dream.
She had given him a chance to graduate this year under some conditions.
It was safe to say that everyone in the group was ready to train the crap out of Ikki.
Finally, Kisuke-san offered him a chance to train under him and while I had my doubts about the mad scientist….the fact still remained that he had never let me down when I needed him.
Ikki has two months till his new school year starts so he will be training under them till then.
He also promised us that he will ask about those chains to the director of his school to help us.
Rimuru and the rest were the last to leave after we discussed the plans for the trip next week.
Finally, only Sakura and I were left in the Restaurant.
There were dark clouds outside. "Looks like it is going to rain." I said taking a look at the sky.
Sakura came to my side and looked outside too.
"I wonder if Lavy is done with her work. She didn't take the umbrella with her."
"Let's hope she comes back in time." I said as we went and sat on the couch.
The TV was airing some shows but none of us were paying any attention to it.
"I am sorry for today, Sakura. I shouldn't have dragged you into such a situation."
"You didn't do anything wrong. It was just a misunderstanding and you helped me out too. I wasn't hurt either. I think I could have broken the shackles if I had used all my power so there was no need to worry."
"Eh….you could?"
"It was just an instinctive feeling. Still, I appreciate you protecting me. Thank you."
I pulled her in a light hug into my side. Suddenly remembering something, I asked. "By the way, what are the abilities of your Earrings?" I asked.
She looked to be in thought and summoned her earrings. "I think it allows me to….manipulate the boundary between reality and imaginary to some extent?"
"Huh?"
"It's….for example, if an attack is coming towards me….I could make that attack imaginary and remove it completely. Although I don't think I can use it on other living beings and there are restrictions for the things I can turn into imaginary things, I need to explore them."
"That's….absurdly powerful. Congratulations, Sakura-chan. You also look very pretty in those earrings." I praised and I wasn't lying either. She did look pretty.
The earrings were purple in colour and matched with her hair and eye colour and suited her well.
She gave me a happy smile at the praise.
"Thank you."
We enjoyed the peace of the moment as we watched TV.
It was after an hour or so that the door to the Restaurant was opened.
"Sakura-chan, Sil-kun, I'm back."
"Welcome back. Please wash up. I will serve dinner." Sakura got up.
"Let me help you out."
And just like that, a while later, all three of us were sitting together for our dinner.
Lavinia found out about the incident with Sakura and spent the rest of the time doting on her.
I smiled when I looked at their interactions. These two really were like sisters and from what I could see, Sakura enjoyed this attention too.
By the end of it, they seemed to be in a happy mood so I decided to broach the subject of my trip with the boys too.
"A trip for a week?"
"Yes. You know how August said that my new magic requires me to use it to fight to progress more. And Ainz and Rimuru think I need more combat experience. We were planning to go to Rimuru's world and hunt there for a week, just us boys."
"That does sound like a good idea. Have fun." Lavinia said while Sakura also gave me a smile.
"Well, the Restaurant will obviously be closed for that time so I was wondering if you two want to stay here or at Zeref's place. I can talk to him if you want."
"Hmm, we can stay at Alvarez. Grandpa August won't mind. His Majesty has gone out to talk to his wife who is also suffering from the same curse as him and he will be returning after a month or so. Till then Grandpa August will be taking care of the castle so it won't be a problem staying there."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Don't worry, I will be back in a week at most."
"Please be careful." Sakura wished.
"Hmm, I will."
"Eh, but that means I will not get to sleep with my favourite pillow for a whole week." Lavinia suddenly said, making my eyes twitch.
"I am not a pillow you know."
"But you are so soft, cool and warm at the same time. It feels nice to hug you when sleeping."
….
….
I don't think I will ever understand what goes on in the mind of this girl.
- Ikki Kurogane -
He waited outside the director's room as he thought of what had happened yesterday.
The Restaurant.
Other worlds.
Monsters.
Espers.
Everything was real.
He hadn't been able to sleep the entire night as he thought about everything and what it meant for him.
Kisuke-san told him that he could help him train and increase his magic power….his greatest weakness. The masters of Ryozanpaku offered help to train him in Martial Arts which used a completely different type of energy….Ki or Life Force.
He, who had been stuck with no path to go forward, always working hard just to go forward by an inch, suddenly had completely different paths open in front of him with no visible ends.
Ikki clenched his hands as a look of determination came to his face.
He would not miss this opportunity at any cost.
He was going to give it his all.
Just as he was thinking about all this, a voice came from inside the office.
"Come in."
"Excuse me." He said as he opened the door to the office.
Kurono Shinguuji was a beautiful slender yet curvaceous woman with short dark hair, multiple bangs that covers her forehead with one that reaches her nose and others on the side of her head that covered some of her hair, tied up into a small ponytail in the back, and yellow eyes.
She often had a laid back attitude towards doing things.
But only a fool would underestimate her.
The World Clock was a name that was enough to strike fear in many blazers of the world even after her retirement from the frontlines.
Beside her was another woman.
Despite her childlike appearance, Nene Saikyo was the same age as the director and her rival.
They were both top level blazers.
"Yes Kurogane-kun, what can I do for you?" She asked with a smile.
"I…." He hesitated a bit. "I wanted to ask something."
"Oh?"
"Recently….well, I encountered someone, another Blazer. He was training and something strange happened."
"Hmm? What kind of strange thing are we talking about?"
"It's….well some kind of strange black chains appeared and seemed to be binding them."
He observed that the director's face took on a serious look and even Nene-sensei became serious and sat straight in her seat.
"Explain everything in detail."
Ikki had already thought of a story with the rest of the people at the Restaurant.
"Yesterday, I was out for my usual run when I saw this guy training with devices which looked like crowbars near the lake. He was training and every time he attacked during training, some kind of chains appeared around him as if restricting him. On asking him what those chains were, he said something confusing like the world trying to stop him and fighting against the world alone. I didn't understand anything."
The two women looked at each other and then back at him.
"And this happened near the lake?"
Ikki nodded.
"How did the guy look? What age was he? Give us all the details." Nene-sensei said. "Don't miss out on anything."
"Hmm, he was wearing a black hooded cloak so I couldn't see his face but he was slightly shorter than me. From his voice, he seemed young around the same age as me or maybe he just had such a voice but I can't say for sure."
"And his device?"
"It was a pair of crowbars."
"Crowbars? Really?"
"Yes. I am pretty sure."
"What else happened?"
"I waited there for a while but didn't see any changes. It's just that everytime he tried attacking, the chains bound him and seemed to be restraining him somehow. After that I just left the place as it was getting late for dinner."
"I see. Thank you for the information, Kurogane-kun. If you see that person anywhere, please inform us."
"....was he some kind of criminal?"
"No….not that we know of. There was an….incident at the same lake later yesterday night. When we reached there, things seemed normal but on investigation, we found that there was a large blast inside the lake and yet, someone refilled the lake and fixed everything. There was no damage so the person was not declared a criminal but we might be looking at a potential A Ranked Blazer….or someone worse."
"Worse? What exactly is going on, sensei? Who was the guy and what were those chains?" He asked.
"Those chains….were exactly what the boy told you." She explained after letting out a sigh and explaining. "As you know every blazer has a fixed amount of Magic Power which they can't increase by any training. This also determines the rank of a Blazer and is a very common knowledge taught in the academy."
He nodded.
"Well….that's not exactly true."
"Eh?"
"This is extremely classified information and the only reason you are even hearing this is because you saw it with your own eyes. Even then I am pushing the lines so keep this just to yourself."
He nodded.
"You see, every person is bound by the world or fate as you call it and their power is decided at birth. Fated as they say. But there are some individuals who do not accept this. They struggle and train beyond anything, fight and drive their minds and bodies beyond their limits to escape from the life fate has ordained them. The chains you saw were the same chains, the chains of fate, the bindings on the power and potential of a person. It only becomes visible when someone has trained their devices to their limits and cannot progress any further. They start straining against the chains, the restrictions the world has put on them. This process is called Awakening or achieving Brute Soul….and the ones who can achieve this are called….Desperados." Sensei explained.
"Achieving "Brute Soul" is when a Blazer overcomes fate and transforms their soul into a person not bound by fate, and so it is called that because it is like having the soul of a beast. A Desperado using the power from undergoing "Brute Soul" too much will result in their body changing to match the shape of their changed soul and they will also gain enormous power in exchange for losing their humanity." Nene-sensei added ominously.
Ikki took a few moments to digest the information. This was quite similar to
"You don't need to be afraid. Most of the top Blazers in the world are all Desperados. Nene herself is one." Director said and this made him turn towards the other teacher in surprise while she just smiled at him.
"Actually, even your Great Grandfather was one and he was one of the strongest."
His eyes widened at the new information. Then again, it made sense. His Great Grandfather was someone far beyond the levels of even A Ranked Blazers. Such Magic Power….it was not normal at all. So this is how he had obtained it.
He looked at the director. "So….if I become one, a desperado, can I increase my magic power too? Will there be any side effects to such a power?"
They stared at him for a moment and nodded their heads. "You can increase your power like that but becoming one is not easy. There are very few of them in the world. The number of Desperados in the entire League can be counted with two hands with fingers to spare….that's how hard it is to become one. Whoever that boy was….he was not normal. In fact, none of the desperados are simple."
He nodded but in his mind, he already knew what he wanted to do next.
"I would like to apply for a leave till the start of the school year." He said in a determined voice.