~Mizuki POV~
Entering the main office, I saw Renard—my loyal servant—reading over a stack of paperwork.
'What's that?'
My eyes drifted to a sheet marked with red writing. They widened the moment I recognized it, and with that my mood soured.
'That bitch.'
"Lady Enra."
I turned my irritated gaze on Renard as he stood, a bundle of papers in hand.
"Is that bitch finally conceding?" I bit out.
Unfortunately, my luck seemed to be on the decline as Renard shook his head before extending the papers toward me.
"No… If anything, she's becoming more active in her attacks against us. Though I believe it won't be long now—if these reports are true."
Taking the reports, I skimmed through them, pausing at a name that caught my eye.
'My~'
I looked up from the papers and walked over to my desk, sitting down before finally addressing Renard again.
"Do you believe the reports are true? How long did this even take him?"
I waited a moment as Renard studied the documents now resting on my desk, then responded curtly.
"Others who arrived at the scenes confirmed he was alone."
Humming, I cupped my face while he continued.
"While there's a chance the details are exaggerated—and I have yet to see him in battle—I believe most of them are accurate."
Giggling, I opened a drawer and pulled out a photo.
"The timeline of these reports ranges from two months ago to as recent as three days."
I listened to Renard finish his summary, a smile blooming across my face as I looked back at him.
"My little otouto truly loves me~"
Sighing with elation, I shifted—only to feel a slight dampness on the chair.
'Mizuki, you only need to control yourself for a few more years.'
Cupping my face again, I stared at the blank faced child in the photo and bit my lip.
'Soon, my little otouto~'
~Sato Kazuya POV~
"Achoo!"
Wiping my nose, I looked around at the clean-ish interior of the building I'd just cleared.
'It's not that dusty… someone talking about me? Whatever.'
Shrugging, I dropped the body in my other hand and headed toward the exit to meet up with the others.
'Three months…'
Three months spent undercover, right under Mizuki and her little group's watchful gaze.
'Not all bad though.'
Aside from the fact that I was taking down not one, but two branches belonging to the Elder who oversaw them, I was also getting some proper training in this youthful body.
While I didn't think I'd regain the appearance I once had, I was developing some real muscle.
'If I were still in the Pit, I wouldn't look this healthy.'
I snorted at the memory of that hellhole—one that few ever earned the right to leave. Shaking off those old thoughts, I focused on more recent ones.
'Adelheid Weiss…'
Even if Mizuki wanted to keep my existence as her "otouto" a secret, it was only a matter of time before people found out. Still, she hadn't exactly hidden me from prying eyes—and as a result both her men and Adelheid were after me.
Some might've found it stressful, but all it did was speed up the process.
Rounding a corner, I heard signs of an ongoing fight.
'Would be nice if Adelheid made a personal appearance—then I could take her out and use that to gain actual access to Mizuki's inner circle.'
But of course, nothing's ever that easy.
Since the "war" between Mizuki and Adelheid began, I hadn't been able to bond much with Mizuki, and I'd been busy with a more… personal kind of training.
'Well, that doesn't matter right now.'
My left hand shot up, blocking a piercing katana strike—blood sprayed as the blade dug into my fingers and palm.
"W-wha—crk!"
My right fist crashed into the attacker's nose, breaking it and stunning him. While he reeled, I grabbed the blade with my bloodied left hand—now rapidly regenerating hand—and snapped it clean in half.
"Did your leader not like me rejecting their offer?" I asked as I kicked the man's legs out from under him, sending Mizuki's group's recruit trainer crashing onto his rear.
"S-Sa… Ka-Kazuya-san! It wa-was an acci-accident!"
Sighing, I wiped the blood off my hand then stepped on the man's ankle with a loud crack. His screams echoed around us, but I ignored him and squatted down—still on his ankle.
"Tsk, tsk. I thought we saw eye to eye… Guess not?"
He looked me in the eyes and nodded frantically, now begging.
"Y-Yes! We d-do! Please let me go! I-I have a family!"
'If I had a penny for every time I heard that, I'd be rich.'
Shaking my head, I sighed and shoved my index finger into his mouth before using my other hand to clamp his jaw shut, forcing him to bite down and draw blood.
"Swallow."
He shook his head—but his eyes widened as the bitten finger began to heal in his mouth. I pulled it free, watching his disgusted expression.
"Swallow."
Face twisted in revulsion, he swallowed.
'Disgusted by just a bit of blood?'
I shook my head, wiped my finger clean and stood up.
"How does it feel?"
His face twisted in confusion… and then panic. He clutched at his throat, which made me smile.
'Worked faster this time.'
I began walking off to join the still raging fight up ahead—
He grabbed onto my leg, frothing at the mouth and writhing in agony. I looked down at him with complete indifference.
"How many have you killed?"
He couldn't answer, of course.
I squatted down to meet his eyes.
"I'm sure this isn't anything new to you."
Unsheathing the tanto on my back, I ran my palm across its blade, letting my blood drip onto his eyes. His pained whines grew louder.
"There's only one difference between you watching someone beg and this…"
I watched as my palm began to stitch itself back together. Sheathing the blade, I stood.
"This time, you're the one on the ground—and I'm the one watching."
-
"Sato-senpaaaai!"
I caught the young teen—who quite literally launched himself at me—by the back of his shirt. Staring into his light brown eyes, I muttered with tiredness. "Toma-san."
I waited for him to stretch out his legs so he could stand on his own. With a dramatic sigh, he finally did, immediately perking up the second I let him go.
"Senpai!"
I ignored him, walking past to join the others who had just wrapped up their fights with Adelheid's men.
"I managed to take down three guys today. Pretty cool, right?"
Still ignoring him, I kept walking but clearly I continued to underestimate just how persistent he was when it came to earning my praise.
"…Congrats."
It was barely a mumble, but judging by the massive grin on his face, he definitely heard it.
"I know, right?! Soon I'll be able to take down a whole building of enemies, just like you!"
Toma—someone who for whatever reason, had decided to stick to me like glue—kept going on and on. As he spoke, my mind drifted back to the trainer I'd just killed.
'The poison's still unstable.'
Part of my personal training had involved experimenting with how much I could delay Undying Spark from healing me—and more importantly how to weaponize that delay.
One method? Consuming large amounts of poison and "directing" it into a specific limb.
'If I had to describe the feeling of moving the poison.. It'd be like tensing a muscle.'
Unfortunately, I couldn't assign different poisons to each finger or limb. Undying Spark always worked harder to purge the toxins altogether once it recognized them as harmful.
'Oh well…'
I glanced over at Toma, who was still babbling with that goofy grin of his.
'I would've thought a Sub Leader or even Mizuki sent him to shadow me, but that doesn't seem to be the case.'
"And then I said, 'I'm the one who goes bump in the night!'" Toma mimicked an exaggerated stance. "Then I killed him!"
I gave a low hum as we arrived near the others. Just as one of the Seniors started to speak, I slapped my hand over Toma's mouth, silencing him mid sentence.