Chapter 71: On the Eve of Departure
Kobeni selected two sets of her favorite beautiful dresses. There were other clothes she liked as well, but she felt too embarrassed to keep choosing.
"Are these two sets enough?" Chiya specifically asked her.
"Yes, plenty!" Kobeni nodded repeatedly, already feeling completely satisfied.
"Then let's check out."
Chiya had the clerk ring them up. The two outfits totaled between 20,000 and 30,000 yen. Hearing the price, Kobeni felt it was incredibly expensive. However, she seemed to have overlooked the fact that her daily tutoring wage was 5,000 yen; since every cent had been handed over to her parents until yesterday, she subconsciously didn't feel like she had any money of her own.
With the new bed and new clothes purchased, Chiya felt that Kobeni was now well-settled.
Over the following period, Chiya spent his time at home with Denji and the others.
[Ding! Host has activated the achievement "Pochita's Favor (Lv. 4)." Reward: 15 Attribute Points!]
[Ding! Host has activated the achievement "Aki Hayakawa's Favor (Lv. 3)." Reward: 8 Attribute Points!]
[Ding! Host has successfully hunted the "Eraser Devil." Reward: 5 Attribute Points!]
[...]
During this time, Chiya activated several achievements and occasionally hunted devils, accumulating a significant amount of points.
[Distributable Attribute Points: 146]
Chiya currently had 146 attribute points saved up.
Time flowed quickly, and it was now the final days of the deadline set by the Cabinet. It was time for Chiya to bid a temporary farewell to Denji and the others.
During dinner, he spoke to Denji, Pochita, and Kobeni together. "I'm about to head to the Soviet Union. I'll be back once or twice a week. Take care of yourselves while I'm away."
"Mm, Brother Chiya, don't worry about us," Denji said with a smile. However, the smile was a bit forced. Even though she had prepared herself mentally, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.
"Woof, woof!" Pochita barked as if to say, "Don't worry!"
"Stay safe," Kobeni added caringly. Her eyes clearly betrayed her reluctance to see him go, though she wouldn't say it out loud.
In the afternoon, at Tokyo Public Safety.
Chiya arrived at Chief Yoshimura's office.
"Your flight has been booked. You leave for the Soviet Union tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM. Spend tonight well with your family," Yoshimura Taki told him.
He had long noticed that Chiya placed great importance on his family. He had seen it during the syndicate extermination; when he asked Chiya about going to the USSR, the condition Chiya set was the total destruction of the gang, claiming they threatened his sister's safety.
In truth, Yoshimura's assessment was accurate. A major reason Chiya was willing to go to the Soviet Union was that Public Safety agreed to use all its resources to help him eradicate the syndicate. Being pressured by the Cabinet was only a secondary factor; if he truly wanted to tear off the mask of civility and resist to the end, no one could have stopped him.
He could either lay low for a while until his "Vitality" attribute was high enough to manifest a Perfect Susanoo to intimidate the Cabinet—a hundred-meter-plus towering titan would certainly carry as much deterrent force as the Full-Form Gun Devil—or he could use his most shameless trump card: the Kamui dimension. If he stayed inside his own dimension and refused to come out, absolutely no one could touch him.
To crack the Kamui dimension, two conditions had to be met: first, possessing a space-time type devil power; second, having detailed intelligence on his Mangekyo Sharingan's "Double Kamui." Otherwise, one wouldn't even know he had entered a different dimension.
Not only was the second condition currently impossible for anyone to meet, but the first was hardly a concern either—in the original story, no space-time devil capable of breaching the Kamui dimension ever appeared. One could say that as long as Otonashi Chiya wasn't careless, the "first-encounter-kill" potential of Double Kamui was the ultimate invincibility.
However, Chiya felt there was no need to clash head-on with the Cabinet yet. He didn't want a feud to disrupt the daily lives of Denji, Pochita, and Kobeni, and he wasn't particularly opposed to going to the Soviet Union anyway.
"Alright. Thank you for the trouble, Chief Yoshimura," Chiya said politely.
"No, it's us who are troubling you," Yoshimura Taki replied, shaking his head.
Chiya offered a slight smile and left the office without further word. As he reached the first-floor lobby, he found Aki Hayakawa and Himeno waiting for him in the lounge area.
"Otonashi-kun, come sit for a bit?" Himeno called out.
Chiya nodded and sat down to chat over tea, just as they always did.
"So, you're off to the Soviet Union tomorrow, Otonashi-kun? It feels like we won't see each other for a long time," Himeno lamented with a hint of reluctance. "I remember that Lord Quanxi from China stayed with us at Tokyo Public Safety for nine years before going back, even though she had plenty of paid leave."
"It won't be that long. I'll be back at least once a week," Chiya said.
"Once a week? Wouldn't that mean taking two flights every single week?" Aki asked, visibly surprised.
"I don't need to take a plane every time. My devil power can handle the travel."
Chiya didn't offer any extra explanation. As long as he didn't expose the underlying principle of his Kamui ocular technique—which was intrinsically linked to his private dimension—no one would ever guess that he possessed a world entirely his own.
"I see. Your devil power really is all-purpose," Himeno marveled.
Aki was also astonished. He knew Chiya's power allowed for high-speed movement that looked like teleportation, but he hadn't imagined it could span across seas and borders. He simply hadn't considered the possibility of true spatial transportation.
After chatting for a while, Chiya bid a simple farewell to Aki and Himeno.
In the evening, Kobeni and Denji were both showing off their skills in the kitchen, with Pochita joining in on the fun. It seemed they wanted to prepare a grand feast for Chiya before he departed.
Due to her family situation, Kobeni was very capable with her hands. Though she rarely got to eat delicious food herself, she had spent years cooking for her parents—even if she was never allowed a seat at the table afterward. Denji, meanwhile, had learned many recipes from TV recently and had been itching for "Brother Chiya" to taste her evolved cooking.
"Otonashi-kun, how is it?"
"Brother Chiya..."
Both Kobeni and Denji looked at Chiya with eyes full of anticipation. While they waited for his verdict, they were also secretly competing, neither wanting to lose to the other in the kitchen.
AN-
This is a thank you note.
Thank you to all of you for helping me cross 200 collections.
Thank you to all of you for helping me get 70 k views.
Thank you all for motivating me.
Thank you so,so much.
I couldn't have done it without yall,fam.
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Thank you.