Chapter 28
“Daughter~ mom’s home~”
Enri Crimsonhowl returned home after finishing her errands.
Flora, who had been spending her time conceptualizing magic after finishing her studies, also woke from her Meditation.
“You’re back.”
“I’ll get dinner ready right away, so just wait a little bit.”
“Ah, before that…”
Flora went into her room and brought out the gift Max had prepared.
She hadn’t even opened her own gift yet. She had been dying of curiosity ever since she got on the subway back from District 27, but she was holding out, thinking this would also be a good way to build patience.
“Oppa told me to give this to you, mother. He said he’s thankful that you always pack side dishes for him.”
“Oh my, I just packed them because I wanted to, but I ended up making him worry about it.”
“He said he didn’t feel burdened. He just wanted to purely express his gratitude.”
Enri smiled happily and checked the gift.
Inside were a pretty plate set and a cooking apron. The carefully wrapped packaging seemed to represent the sender’s heart.
“Oh my goodness! He has such great taste~”
Enri marveled as she unfolded the apron.
It was a cute apron with a trail of animal footprints running down one side.
Compared to the things equipped in her kitchen, it probably fell short in many ways, starting with the material.
Even so, Enri absolutely loved this apron and the plates.
Not only could she feel the thought he put into buying it, but with so many established luxury brands around them, items like this were actually harder to find.
[Plus, it seems he takes good care of my daughter too.]
To think Flora would use the title Oppa so naturally.
Her face, which had always been shadowed with worry, now held a carefree smile, and her footsteps, which had been heavy from the weight of Responsibility, had somehow gained a feather-like lightness.
Max Steiger.
Ever since meeting that man, Flora had been changing noticeably.
In a very positive direction.
[…]
Enri, whose lips had been curling up with maternal love, remembered reality.
Once Flora graduated from the Academy and started getting involved in the Family’s affairs, she would learn the purpose of the remarriage. She would see the calculations laid out transparently.
How should she, as her mother, explain it then? Should she say she had no choice?
Given Flora’s personality, which didn’t suit the cold-hearted society of Haze, Enri even wondered if she would just pretend not to know, swallow it down, and suffer alone.
[I’m definitely a complete failure as a mother in every aspect.]
Enri felt deeply regretful that their current happiness couldn’t be pure.
“Mother?”
Flora’s voice dug into her ears.
Enri, who had been lost in thought while wearing the apron, pulled her mind out of the mire and painted on her usual smile.
“How does mom look? Does it suit me?”
Flora nodded several times, saying it was the best.
“Tell him thank you next time you take side dishes to him. I’ll have to make plenty of delicious ones for him.”
“I think he’ll be happy.”
“First, shall I get dinner ready for my daughter?”
Enri moved energetically and began preparing the meal.
After eating dinner and finishing her shower, Flora returned to her room.
She was ready for bed.
It was finally time to open the gift she had received.
[What could be inside…?]
Flora knew she was a troublesome woman.
Just like everyone else around her, Max must have been quite mindful of her Crimsonhowl Background when someone was getting her a gift.
Because she was in a position where she could get her hands on pretty much anything she wanted, she always heard that it wasn’t easy to give her a gift.
There were people who directly asked her what she wanted to have.
But Flora found this question incredibly difficult.
To the point where she didn’t really want anything even when Ellen suggested they go buy whatever she wanted.
Rustle──.
As she tore the seal keeping the paper bag closed, a burgundy box appeared.
The luxury item, despite being a box, had a texture that brought fine velvet to mind.
And the brand name is engraved on top.
[Rose Bird?]
The symbol was a wing wrapped in rose vines.
[Where have I heard that before…?]
She felt like she had heard a group talking about it at the Academy, but she couldn’t remember exactly.
Searching it up on the Smartphone she had placed next to her, she found it was a fashion eyewear brand.
[Then what’s inside?]
─Pop! As she opened the box, round lenses with an orange tint revealed themselves.
It was a pair of sunglasses with an unfamiliar design, which Flora had never used before.
* * *
It was inside the office, which had grown quiet after the Association figures left and even Ellen clocked out.
An environment good for focusing had been created.
Max spun the Diamond Spike that the Association President had left behind on his finger.
“…”
Magic capacity was the most fundamental condition for Tier Advancement. It was also generally the element acquired the fastest, the very first one.
That was the case up to the 5th tier that Max had experienced.
But for the current Max, it was the opposite.
Right now, he has everything equipped for up to the 5th tier except for magic capacity.
He understood the direction and system to make his aptitudes shine, and he even knew the composition of the circuits, but he was in a state where he lacked the magic power to manifest them.
It was like having a vehicle ready but missing the fuel.
But today, fuel was supplied.
It was an opportunity to pour in what he had been filling drop by drop.
[The Association probably doesn’t think I’ll reach the 4th tier immediately just because it gave me this.]
He didn’t know what kind of impression his rapidly rising tier would give the Association.
But there was no need to walk on eggshells about getting stronger.
[Shall I get right to it?]
When he touched the enclosed syringe to the bottle, the Liquid Metal was sucked in without leaving a single drop behind.
[Did the needle go inside? It’s a similar mechanism to a Spring Syringe.]
He understood. He attached the syringe to his forearm and moved it around.
Beep!
He stopped at the mechanical sound and waited. The syringe found a vein and pushed the needle in.
“Oh…”
The sensation of the Liquid Metal seeping in was fascinating. It was accompanied by a slight chill.
It circulated through his body before gathering at the heart, the Magic Core, according to its nature.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The shape of his heart could be felt vividly.
The Liquid Metal rode the pulse and dyed the contours of his heart.
[This will work.]
Riding the momentum, Max began to restructure his circuits.
With not even a single inch of error allowed, his precise touch continued like fitting puzzle pieces together.
Severing, Impact, and Psychokinesis: The optimal Blueprint for pouring out these three aptitudes in an ideal and lethal form was being completed within him.
It was the moment when the trial and error he had tiresomely repeated in the past finally shone.
“Haa…”
Exhaling, Max stood up from his chair.
He took an Energy Jelly from the Refrigerator, put it in his mouth, and opened the office window.
“Phew!”
What seeped into his nose was the moisture built up beneath the night sky.
Even though it was murky, it was incredibly refreshing compared to the Lower District.
[It’s done.]
Now that he had reached the 4th tier, even the Corporation advertisements dominating the night sky looked beautiful.
The impression that even a sky chaotically mixed with purple and navy holograms rather than a pitch-black night sky wasn’t too bad just for today.
[The flow is good.]
The 4th tier is being reached at a ridiculously early age compared to the past.
This joy was hard to express in words.
[Now just one more step and it’s the Restoration.]
Max’s relaxed contemplation didn’t last long.
An unpleasant noise barged in like an uninvited guest.
Vroooom!!!
A Biker Gang came into view speeding noisily.
─ Kyahoo!!!
─ Move! You sons of bitches!
─ Ugyaaa!
They were speeding along, even firing guns into the air, bang! bang!
From a guy with a mohawk and Cyberware plastered all over his remaining scalp, to a guy who merged his eyes into one to make Laser Goggles.
Plus, there was a crazy bastard driving with his prosthetic arm modified to be integrated with his motorcycle, and a retard riding with a liquor bottle in his mouth.
They were a group with absolutely killer individuality, every single one of them.
[A Biker Gang has never encroached this far before.]
Did they get sick of the roads they usually took?
Max sucked down his Energy Jelly as he watched the approaching motorcycles.
[Is that the group the crossdresser asked me to kill?]
There was a Person who had come to get a quote for taking care of a Biker Gang, complaining he or she couldn’t sleep.
It fell through because the pay didn’t match, but as I recalled the Request Details from back then, the descriptions fit those guys perfectly.
[I’m in a good mood too. Shall I do a good deed for free?]
Max went down into the alley through the window. He landed lightly with an appropriate use of Psychokinesis.
He could see the bikes rushing straight at him, shining their illegally modified headlights.
The Biker Gang also noticed Max’s presence.
“What’s with that retard?”
“Kuhehehehe!!! Just run him over!”
“Speeding up! The slowest bastard pays for drinks!”
The group, having sped up instead, closed in on Max.
Caught by Psychokinesis, all the motorcycles floated up into the air. Their wheels spun uselessly in midair.
“I’m in a good mood today. If you say you’ll go somewhere quiet instead of District 27, I’ll nicely──.”
Before Max could even finish speaking, the Biker Gang pulled out their guns.
“This son of a bitch!”
“It’s a trap! Kill him!”
“Ah, I dropped my liquor bottle! Fuuuck!”
Someone was pulling the triggers without hesitation.
The boldness was nice, but ordinary guns had no power in front of Max. The bullets stopped.
[Do they not even realize their opponent is a Mage?]
Max frowned at the smell wafting from the Biker Gang.
A sour ammonia smell wafted so strongly that he couldn’t even smell alcohol or cigarettes.
It seemed they had crossed over here, forgetting all Discretion due to low-quality drugs on par with glue.
“Well, if you insist on becoming test subjects.”
Before taking care of the people, he checked the firearms they were holding.
[Onimaru, Neutro, Homura F, Vape 3000… Nothing worth salvaging.]
They were all cheap firearms.
This means they enjoyed running wild in District 20, but they weren’t people from District 20.
“Everyone, step back. If you ignore me and get swept up in this, I won’t take Responsibility.”
Max pushed back the people who had come out to watch from the Gambling Arcade on the 1st floor and the surroundings.
Magic power formed a system, riding the newly expanded circuits.
4th tier Impact Magic.
[Atlas Fall]
─CRACK! The area where the Biker Gang was situated was crushed flat.
There wasn’t even a scream.
Motorcycles and people were flattened, merging with the ground.
With the realization that it was over, the people who had been watching flocked to the corpses.
“Wow, doesn’t this look like a hamburger patty?”
“That’s so satisfying. Magic really has romance to it.”
“Ptooey! These sons of bitches~ Where do they think they’re crawling into?”
The pedestrians surrounding what used to be the Biker Gang spat and took pictures.
There was even a human peeing on them, telling them to pass on peacefully.
[Since there are people who saw it, it’ll serve as promotion in its own way.]
Max, satisfied that the noise was gone, was about to return to the office.
The phone in his pocket vibrated.
Two messages arrived at the same time.
[Ellen Clements: Did you use the Diamond Spike? lol]
[Flora Crimsonhowl: Oppa, can you talk on the phone for a sec?]
[Those two really do get along well.]
Of course, they wouldn’t admit it to each other.
Max chuckled and climbed the stairs.