Chapter Index

    “Hello~ Didn’t everyone miss me? Of course you did, right? Since I’ve decided you missed me, I came to visit myself~!”

    Mason hopped into the lobby as if she were a rabbit.

    She was still in an incredibly revealing bikini, with an unbalanced white tie and lab gown—a truly wild fashion. Yet, she showed no sign of embarrassment, shaking her twin tails.

    And trailing behind her, with an emotionless expression, was a tiny kid clad entirely in pure white.

    “Ah. Mason, Martina. You’re here.”

    While I was away, Martina was under Mason’s protection.

    That’s why she was safe even when Roden raided the house.

    “Martina, have you been well!”

    “Affirmative. Reporting zero physical damage inflicted upon this unit over the past 78 hours.”

    I immediately ran over, lifted her high into the air, and spun her around, only for Martina, who had learned to act independently, to demand to be put down with adorable little kicks.

    Indeed, as expected of the main culprit who had siphoned Ayakashi’s massive funds, her learning ability was astonishing!

    After putting Martina down, I kneaded her soft cheeks, and it was pure bliss. Even if I commissioned a tactile play toy for hundreds of thousands of credits, I probably wouldn’t get this texture.

    “Mmmmmm.”

    Martina gazed at me in response, seeming indifferent.

    A normal person might flinch and stop, but not a chance.

    ‘This AI requests Zashiki-warashi to cease contact.’

    ‘No way, I don’t want to. By the way, why did Ayakashi headquarters lose contact?’

    Although I was currently using a software copy of AYAKASHI, created by Bram Stoker in an artificial humanoid life unit, as my main body, it was still in real-time feedback with the program form of AYAKASHI remaining in my operating system, making us virtually the same entity.

    Even if real-time feedback had temporarily stopped due to poor reception, the AYAKASHI remaining in my operating system should still have been functioning.

    ‘This AI’s purpose is to assist Zashiki-warashi, therefore, in sections designated as safe zones by Ayakashi, it enters a dormant state unless a special release code is entered.’

    ‘Why are you telling me this now?’

    If Hiko hadn’t been unusually favorable to me and had tried to dispose of me with Chairman Nojaburo, it would have been difficult to escape without Martina.

    It was fortunate that things worked out, but it was an incredibly chilling situation.

    Considering that Martina fully took on the role of real-time decking and ICEBreaker for my combat capabilities, the time I spent inside Ayakashi was my most vulnerable moment.

    ‘By the way, does it really need to enter a dormant state? If its purpose is to assist with escort, shouldn’t it be operational 24 hours a day?’

    ‘AYAKASHI, due to its exceptional performance, consumes vast resources during prolonged operation, causing significant load on the operating system. Therefore, it is recommended to replace it with a downgraded version in everyday situations.’

    ‘I don’t have something like that.’

    ‘It is possible if you are a member of Ayakashi, as they use the optimized version of this AI.’

    So that means it doesn’t apply to me, who wasn’t originally a member of Ayakashi.

    But then that’s strange, because I’ve been using it 24 hours a day.

    As I harbored the question internally, Martina, having read my mind, gave a clear answer.

    ‘Unit name Martina. Reporting that it is possible because this organic unit can perform proxy computations, sharply reducing the burden on Zashiki-warashi.’

    ‘Ah.’

    Originally, it was a heavy burden because my brain had to perform my thoughts and AYAKASHI’s computations simultaneously, but since it can now compute with the unconscious little vampire’s brain and cyberdeck, and transmit the computed values via real-time feedback, there’s no load.

    ‘Affirmative.’

    As if my prediction was correct, Martina’s trademark short affirmative returned.

    “Oppa, you really like Martina that much? I had such a hard time protecting Martina from Roden’s humorless Oppas, won’t I get a reward~?”

    “Hmm? Uh, what reward… Ugh!”

    Stab!

    A stinging sensation piercing my neck.

    The coolness of thin metal entered deeply, then quickly withdrew.

    “Gah!”

    Perhaps a nerve was hit, as my body involuntarily twisted from the chilling sensation.

    “What are you doing all of a sudden!!”

    “I’ll consider your repayment as collecting a sample from Oppa, which I couldn’t do until now ♡”

    Mason, already shaking a syringe ampoule full of my blood, disappeared as if fleeing into the engineering room, a place I had never told her about.

    Thanks to her, I roughly pulled out the needle, covered the bleeding wound on my neck with my palm, and ground my teeth.

    In truth, a wound of this extent heals in the blink of an eye, let alone a few seconds, so it doesn’t matter much, but even so, touching a nerve still hurts!

    As I pouted at the utterly evil forced blood collection, my hand was pulled by a force, and my palm stuck firmly to something soft and pleasantly squishy.

    “Acknowledging an issue with Mason’s coercive actions, but requesting limited tolerance as this unit’s protection was faithfully carried out.”

    “Oh, come on. So now the person who protected and fed you for a few days takes precedence over your master? Is that it? The world is truly harsh~”

    To be honest, I’d probably be the same if someone fed and raised me.

    But it was outrageous that my designated assistant, instead of worrying about her master, was trying to enchant me with these addictively soft cheeks, so I pulled the cheek stuck to my hand even further.

    “Mmmmmm…”

    “Jun, stop bothering Martina and come to the meeting.”

    “Hey! Bothering?! Please refrain from implying that I’ve become a child abuser. The EPSB detention center’s food isn’t good.”

    “Have you ever been caught..?”

    “No.”

    “Sigh…”

    Following Luna, who let out a deep sigh, I took Martina with me to the sparse meeting room where the team members had gathered, as the boxes hadn’t even been fully unpacked yet.

    JQ, Blake, and even Raleigh, who was rarely seen without a mask.

    They cast their gaze upon Luna and me as we entered, their eyes seeming to demand an explanation for the situation.

    Indeed, if I were them and suddenly heard that a team of fewer people than a small club was going to establish a corporation, I’d probably ask what the hell they were talking about.

    Rather, it must have been their high trust in Luna that brought them here without much complaint.

    “Alright, so let’s hear it now. What is all this commotion about?”

    “It’s a long story. To explain…”

    The war between the Rossboard gang union and Hellstream over K&H’s cargo in Rossboard.

    The blinding implants discovered in that cargo truck, the identity of the mysterious serum, and Ayakashi’s secret history regarding Zashiki-warashi.

    Up to the contract I made with Ayakashi Hiko, the current Ayakashi’s sole Zashiki-warashi.

    As the long story continued, the three people’s faces changed in a way that was quite something to behold.

    In other words, they looked like they didn’t believe it at all.

    “Don’t bullshit me. Do you think this is some cheap BD?”

    JQ raged, shouting as if challenging me to prove it.

    “It’s true. I’ll vouch for it, I was personally summoned to Ayakashi myself.”

    Luna tried to calm JQ, but…

    “Damn it! I’m so jealous! Why does stuff like that only happen to him? I want to enter a megacorp as an adopted son-in-law too??? Why only him? It’s too unfair???”

    “Shit! This ignorant nerd is starting to have a fit!”

    It seemed he didn’t really care about getting on the opposing side of Chairman Nojaburo; he was just plain jealous.

    ‘Idiot…’

    Blake’s skill in drawing his sword and subduing JQ by beating him with the flat of the blade truly lived up to his title as a Sword Saint.

    Unlike his burly physique, his delicacy was evident in his ability to select hard-to-move areas and beat them with precisely controlled force and appropriate intensity.

    “Argh!”

    “…Query. Current personnel: 5. Even including guest members Mason Black and Martina, it does not meet the minimum employee count for company establishment. Requesting an explanation of future plans.”

    “That’s right. For now, we’ve only submitted the building transfer and business plan to make it look legitimate. We’ll have to find mercenaries to work under us now.”

    Leaving JQ, who was screaming and turning into a Chinese-style meat cube, Luna answered Raleigh’s question.

    “Actually, filling the headcount isn’t that difficult. Since RB is such a famous team, if we put our name out there, most guys would want to join, wouldn’t they? Though honestly, we probably wouldn’t even need the name recognition.”

    Private mercenaries might seem like a blue ocean because of how much money they appear to make, but in reality, much of what they earn goes out, so far more of them are struggling.

    If you get shot, there are medical and repair costs, you always need to upgrade to high-end implants to not die, good guns are ridiculously expensive, and clients try their best not to pay.

    When you deduct all that, what’s left is barely enough to get by, and when there’s no work, that’s when hell begins.

    A major reason many mercenaries switch to gangs is that after hitting rock bottom and being on the verge of starving to death, they join to simply survive.

    Therefore, for large-scale operations that require a massive workforce, PMCs or corporate soldiers of megacorps can be considered a small loophole for mercenaries who couldn’t make it as independents to find success.

    “We can’t have just any run-of-the-mill guys. We need to fill it with the real deal.”

    However, Luna didn’t seem to intend to just fill the ranks with low-grade personnel for appearance’s sake.

    “To poke a giant, we need to gather guys with that much guts. Don’t we?”

    “That’s true.”

    Indeed, wasn’t the micro-level goal of establishing this company to mess with Chairman Nozaburo?

    And in that process, I couldn’t even imagine how many megacorps and blue-bloods we would be giving the middle finger to.

    We can’t just hastily put together a roster that will go beyond such an ‘Eclipse Point’ and turn the whole world into a mess.

    “Alright, look at this.”

    Luna hit the table with her palm with a thud, and six holographic documents appeared.

    Among them, some familiar faces were present.

    Vanishment, the mercenary group led by Johann, a mercenary of unknown affiliation.

    Shape Shifter, a discarded experimental subject of Genotech and a master of disguise.

    Specter, a strange person who slices through all approaching enemies with just one sword.

    Among the three, Specter was marked with an X, as if not a target, and turned gray, becoming inactive.

    After that, three more documents appeared.

    Wizard, a solo who uses technology of completely unknown origin, claiming it to be magic.

    Immortal, who sustained injuries in corporate wars and injected healing factors beyond their limits, now unable to die even if their head explodes.

    Lastly.

    Wild Hunt, a group of hunters that hunts monsters said to be hiding in Eclipse Point.

    “Ugh… What is this? These are all legends.”

    “That’s right. They’re all specialists in their respective fields, unmatched by anyone. Since we’re already acquainted with Vanishment and Shape Shifter, we’ll put them aside for now…”

    Snap, snap.

    As Luna snapped her fingers, the documents for Vanishment and Shape Shifter turned gray and became inactive, leaving only three.

    “Our very first target for recruitment is…”

    The Wild Hunt document floated to the very front, and the remaining documents disappeared.

    Simultaneously, a 3D map of Eclipse Point rotated and zoomed in on Tonybony.

    “It’s the Wild Hunt, operating in Tonybony’s restricted zone.”

    Tonybony again?

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