Chapter 34: Those Who Have The Power
today is a cold day too, but unlike yesterday it wasn't raining so I feel a little disappointed since I brought my umbrella today, maybe it won't rain if I'm ready?
classes are already over and since Emma is absent today I don't know what to do, as I looked through the window watching everyone going home I heard someone approaching me
"Sawano-Kun"
the one who called me was Suzuki, she's the only one who still call me by my surname, she's an shy girl so calling a boy by his first name must be challenging huh?
"what's up you need something?"
"the teacher told me to check on Emma-san since her parents didn't contact the school about her absence"
she caught a cold obviously and I don't think her father cares enough to know if she's going to school or not, well but since the teacher is the one who asked Suzuki can't refuse
"must be hard to be a class president huh?"
"not really I really don't mind it"
she didn't say what she wanted from me but I could guess she wants me to go since I'm the closest to Emma in class
"I'll go check on her, I'll tell you the results tomorrow"
"I'm going with you though?"
"you can go alone then!"
I thought she was trying to throw her responsibilities on me but that doesn't sound like Suzuki at all
"I don't want to go alone..I might really die if her father talked to me suddenly"
oh yes, there's no way she can survive going to her friend's alone so I'm going to be the support?
"did you ask Chi-senpai or Makoto?"
"No, Makoto-kun isn't on good terms with Emma-san so it's gonna create problems and Chi-senpai is....Chi-senpai"
if Chi-senpai met with a rich guy in his house even a world war won't be impossible, I can't Imagine how it would happen but that's the point. Chi-senpai isn't predictable
"yeah I understand, I'll help you save the world"
"isn't the scale is higher than I asked for?!"
she looked at me for a moment then clapped her hands as if she understood what I meant
"t-that's not good Sawano-Kun! I thought you were a nice person!"
"well I'm just exaggerating as a joke don't take it seriously"
"b-but.."
she tried to speak but gave up and started crying
"stop crying okay? you make it seem like I did something to you!"
I can feel everyone's gaze burning my back, they're even calling me "trash, scum and the enemy of all women"
I wiped Suzuki's tears as fast as I could and after a long time she stopped crying, it's annoying but at the same time it's actually cute I can't help but pat her head when she act like a child
just as I did that a lot more insults came to me, it hurts that I'm not hurt anymore
"let's just go and finish this already"
my motivation dissappeared like a father going to buy milk, well at least my motivation will be back someday
***
"Sawano-Kun, let's go home and lie to the teacher okay?"
when the mansion that Emma live in become visible to us Suzuki stopped and decided to retreat
"I don't really mind it but are you sure?"
"ughhhh you should stop me!"
Suzuki know that she can't run away now but still wanted someone else to stop her.
"wait, I need to gather my courage"
"take your time"
I sat on the ground waiting her to finish encouraging herself, after years of years of waiting Suzuki finally started moving again
"yes I'm ready now!"
I stood up and cleaned mu butt which is kinda numb from waiting too much
"let's finish it quickly now okay? my wife and son are waiting home"
"?"
"sarcasm"
"aha"
she was really glaring at me for a second there, I think tgat there's a huge wall between me and Suzuki lately but I can't exactly point where did this problem come from, I'll ask Chi-senpai for help later
when we finally reached the destination of our journey a big gate opened before us
"why did open though? did they know we're coming?"
"Oh isn't it our Ace"
as if answering me a guy with black suit and strong body walked to me, I recognize him as one of the bodyguards I usually talk to
"the boss is coming any moment now so we're getting ready to welcome him"
"I see, I would've liked to avoid meeting him today..."
Suzuki didn't hear any of it,she calmly sat on the ground and hit her head on the ground
"please don't kill me!"
he might look scary but this guy was really hurt by seeing a highschool girl this afraid just by looking at him
"don't cry Jason...she's a little weird I don't think you're that scary"
a grown man crying like this is more shameful than I can deal with.
"what's happening here?"
I thought that he would come in some kind of fancy car but the richest person in the world was cycling, sweat covered his clothes and face perhaps he was doing this for a while now
"We're here to check on Emma"
I said it quickly to stop any weird misunderstandings but...
"I can see that but why is this girl begging for her life? and why's Jason crying?"
as I thought, we're in a bad situation. where did the courage she gathered go? I'm sure she could have destroyed a planet in that time!
as I was thinking about a lot of things another guy approached us, he was a man with dark blue eyes and white hair, he was cycling right behind the Boss so I would like to assume that he's an important person
"let's take it inside shall we? help you friend stand she's embarrassing us"
I'm more embarrassed than you, I helped the crying Suzuki stand up reassuring her that everything is fine
***
inside the mansion a maid welcomed us with a smile, seeing a real maid is something I won't get tired of. the classic maid outfit that she's wearing is the same I remember seeing in the other world, it won't be a surprise if Boss is a returnee who used his powers to gain money
"I know our maid is beautiful but I would like if you stopped looking at her with that expression"
Boss notified me that I'm acting weird, Suzuki who has the wrong image of me is already looking at me as a trash
"sorry about that I wasn't..."
I tried to make excuses but the maid cut me off with a smile on her face
"worry not, I already know that you are the lowest form of life"
I'd preferred if you didn't have such an opinion on me since it's our first meeting but...I'll just take it I deserve it
"can you please take us to Emma?"
I want to go home
"wait here boy, since I have a chance I would like to chat with you a bit"
boss put his hand on my shoulder and asked me to go with him somewhere, I glanced at Suzuki to make sure she's fine alone, knowing my intention she nodded confidentially with both her arms raised to her face's level
"don't break anything okay...?"
"I'm not a little kid, don't worry!"
she's definitely breaking something isn't she?
*sigh*
let's hear what the boss has to say and then see Emma before going home
"you are Sawano Aru-kun right? I heard a lot about you from my big brother"
The guy from before smiled and shook my hand
"I'm sorry but you are...?"
if I had to guess he's boss's brother, I can see a lot of similarities, and he just said his brother know me
"oh right it's rude to not introduce myself first, my name is Watanabe Satoshi, Emma's uncle"
I expected as much, but Boss added an important information
"he's a returnee"
when he finished his sentence I used more force on my right hand but his reaction was only that of pain, is he a magician?
"my hand might break if you continue using such a force..."
I released his hand directly and checked my phone
[Appraisal has been blocked]
he's definitely a returnee
"so? what do you want?"
it doesn't matter, as long as they don't plan anything to harm me I won't interfere with their family
Boss seated himself on a sofa and pointed at the the ine facing him
"take a seat, we might take some time"
I don't have a reason to reject his offer, I rested my back on the sofa for a moment but I already don't want to stand up again
"it's comfortable right? I spent a lot of money to get this collection"
"it's definitely the best seat I've ever tried but I wonder if it's worth the price"
"the rich has to spend a lot of money, so I don't see this luxury as a waste, the money will find it's way back to me anyway"
his confidence is the real thing, he's not acting arrogant nor is he bluffing. he is the richest person in the world after all
"did you use your brother's power to achieve this success?"
I took my chance and asked what I wanted to know, Satoshi looked at me with a smile on his face
"I'm a part of it indeed but I wouldn't be able to do anything without my brother's help"
Boss is the brain and Satoshi is the one with the power, he seems to respect his brother a lot even giving him all the credit and money of their success
"I don't think you called me here just to introduce us to each other right?"
the boss nodded and started asking me
"what's your specialty? I don't know the complicated details so make it simple"
"specialty huh? I don't have any special treat, I can use magic and physical strength"
It's a little hard to remember it, but I probably didn't kniw how to spend my stats points and ended up raising everything
"jack of all trades, master of none huh? I think that's maximizing one stat is more efficient but I respect your method too, I assume your level is around 77 right?"
"yes"
more than jack of all trades, I've mastered everything and learned every spell possible maximizing all my stats to their limit, and my level is a lot higher than 77 but showing them my power isn't what I'm here for
"as I thought, it's the same with my son too"
Satoshi's son, based on what he said it's not special at all to be a hero? everyone and their grandmother went to the other world!
"Hahahaha, don't be disappointed boy! our family is just special because my grandfather made a contract with the king of the other world"
a contract huh?
"does that mean Emma to-"
"No, since I wasn't chosen, my daughter and her future sons won't be affected"
I see so it's only one special branch of the family
"anyway, let's get to the point"
"right"
Boss leaned forward resting his chin on his hands he told me a little story
"100 years ago, it was the first day a hero has been identified, and it wasn't a good discovery. heroes are chosen between the age of 14-18 which means they're a bunch of kids with superpowers. the first hero we knew about destroyed an entire city single-handedly"
I never heard of it before, but somehow I expected something like this. "if I ever decided everyone in this country would be turned into ash" I always have such thoughts.
"the hero who started destroying everything in his way was eventually stopped by the othe heroes who didn't lose their mind...but the destruction wasn't something anyone could undo"
they could say that it was a natural disaster to hide it from the public but the higher ranks won't be happy with random kids having such a power
after taking a long breath, boss put a little bottle that contains a blue liquid on the table
"once you drink this elixir , everything from your power to memories of the other world will disappear, we creatd this to make sure nothing like that happens again"
"..."
I'm not a human, no human should have the amount of power I have
I'm not a hero too, I don't have most of the memories of the other world, the ideals and identity I built there is no more inside me
if I drink this I can be a normal human, and if I opened the seal on my memories I can be a full hero. instead of standing on the line between the two, shouldn't I just...
"I refuse"
I don't want to give up who I am, even if I was an empty shell before now I have things I want to do
"I expected it, most people reject it anyway so we didn't put much hopes that you are going to sacrifice your powers"
even if they tried to force me, I can at least destroy half of this city trying to escape
"so what are you going to do now?"
Satoshi smiled and moves his hands showing that he doesn't have anything left
"we can't force you but I still would like you to keep the elixir with you"
"Sure"
I don't plan to use it for now but having it will be reassuring if I ever changed my mind, I'm not a fan of cutting my options
"now that we finished this too, let's talk about our last topic"
Satoshi moved a paper to me, it's a resignation form to enter some kind of organization
"we want to gather as much powerful heroes as possible, if anyone goes on a rampage we want to use your power to help stopping them"
"I see, I don't have a reason to refuse"
"to be honest, you didn't have a choice"
if I refuse they won't have a choice but to force me into submission
"I understand, I'll join this shady organization if you guarantee my normal life won't be affected"
"I assure you"
Boss shook my hand as a form of making the contract official, I don't have a reason to break it so I won't tell him that magic contracts like this don't work on me
"oh, I'll still count on you protecting Emma, I was really anxious when you considered throwing your powers"
"don't worry Boss, I'll do my job"
now that we finished this unexpected meeting I'll go see Emma and go home
"please go home already"
when I left the meeting room a maid was holding the crying Suzuki
"S-Sawano-kun...I didn't mean to break it, it will take me 100 years to pay it back, what should I do?"
she jumped crying on my chest all of a sudden, she broke some kind of expensive alcohol bottle , I patted her head to calm her down
"don't worry I'll take care of that, just stop crying okay?"
I feel like talking to a kid right now, I can't help it when she's acting like this
"r...really?"
"yes"
"I won't be forced to pay it with my body?"
"yeah let's stop reading porn okay? it's ruining your brain"
the angry maid threw us outside before I get the chance to see Emma, well that's not a problem I guess. I'll see her tomorrow anyway
or so I thought.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone