Chapter 98: Ch136. Shopping in Shibuya
Kurt and his friends talked for a while and worked out, eager to get back in their old shape.
After lunchtime, they showered and reported to Ruki, in order for the guild master to designate two of his men as the group’s bodyguards.
"You know that’s nothing personal, right?" Yamamoto said, smiling politely. "I just don’t trust you enough to leave you be, yet."
Kurt and the others nodded.
"I know." Kurt answered. "I like it that you’re at least straightforward with your thoughts and feelings."
They bowed slightly, and left the guild master’s office to go out for shopping.
***
They went on by foot, since the guild’s headquarters were situated literally in the middle of Shibuya, so it didn’t take long for them to find some interesting outlets and stores.
They wanted to split up, in order to cover more ground, but their bodyguards, a man and a woman in their late twenties, told them that it would be counterproductive, since they wouldn’t be able to keep their eyes on them all together.
Begrudgingly, then, Nikolai, Robby, and Evellyn agreed.
Kurt just nodded.
He understood that, if he needed to find out more about that weird man Yamamoto Ruki, he had to earn his trust enough to be able to get as close to him as possible.
Even though Yamamoto seemed to be so interested in Kato-san, that the guild master himself felt like not getting too far from him.
They got in an outlet that sold clothing for both men and women, and started their clothing raid.
And even though Nikolai and Evellyn were already young adults, Robby was still a child, and he couldn’t help but look at Kurt’s friends in a mischievous manner, and start running around the store.
Nikolai and Evellyn did the same, while the twins stared at them, furrowing their brows.
"Kids..." They said to one another.
"Right?" Kurt chuckled as he heard them. "I’ll be at the men’s section, so no need to worry about me, okay?"
One of the twins, Hirano Ao the guy with long, white hair, red lips, and androgynous semblance, looked at him as if he was analyzing the young man.
[THE TARGET IS USING A LIE DETECTING ABILITY]
[DO YOU WANT TO NULLIFY ITS EFFECTS?]
Kurt gasped ever so slightly.
’I can do that?’
And the system replied.
[YES]
Kurt chuckled internally.
’No, I’ll let that slide for now.’ Kurt told the system, as it beeped.
[THE ABILITY USER IS AWARE THAT YOU’RE TELLING THE TRUTH]
"Okay, but don’t go too far." The guy said. He turned to his sister, and said. "Keep an eye on him, Aka-chan, will you? I trust him, but you know-"
"Yeah, yeah. It’s never enough to be extra careful, I know Ao-aniki." The sister, Hirano Aka, retorted before her twin could finish his sentence.
He rolled his eyes, but smiled as Aka slowly followed Kurt, leaving him with some comfortable distance.
She had short hair, amber-ish eyes, and her curves were slightly hidden underneath male clothing, which consisted with black trousers, white shirt, and a loosened black jacket that hung on her body by her shoulders.
Everyone kept at their own doings, finding clothes that they thought cool or pretty enough, trying them on, and so it went.
And after two hours of that, they carried a lot of bags full to the brim with clothes, accessories, and other souvenirs they’d found cool to take home with them.
When they got to go home.
But before they could, they had challenges to overcome.
And one of the challenges were just looming on the horizon.
Kurt guided his three friends outside, led by the Hirano twins, when a loud alarm blared through loudspeakers along the streets.
"THIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST. A NEST HAS OPENED NEAR CENTRAL SHIBUYA DISTRICT. THIS IS NOT A TEST, A NEST HAS OPENED NEAR CENTRAL SHIBUYA! EVERYONE, STAY CALM, AND EVACUATE IN AN ORDERLY MANNER, THANK YOU."
Kurt and the twins exchanged glances, and the twins spoke.
"Don’t even think about doing something funny, cool kid!" Ao said. "We’re not moving an inch until Yamamoto-sama arrives."
But Kurt didn’t need to do anything.
The Nest’s bubble, as if to mock the twins, appeared right in front of them, as the crowd of passersby ran and evacuated.
"Well... Shit." Aka said, chuckling at Ao.
’Kurt... Blake...’
Kurt’s eyebrow went up.
"Anyone said something?"
Everyone looked at him, exchanging glances at each other until they shook their heads.
’Kurt... Blake...’
This time, though, Kurt not only heard the voice, female, soft and whispery.
He also felt as though something was pulling him towards something.
’Towards the Nest...’ He thought.
Kurt was sure of it.
’But how do I-’
He didn’t even had to think much, to find the answer.
A smirk spread through his lips, as he looked around.
"What’s it there?" He pointed at something at the top of a building.
"Where?" They all looked, startled.
Immediately after, Kurt activated [STALK], and seeing that no one was able to see or hear him, he walked towards the Bubble.
"Kurt?" He heard Nikolai’s voice behind him.
"Burei-san?" The twins called out in unison.
But as Kurt was nowhere to be seen or heard, they just sighed.
"Oh, shit... Yamamoto-sama is going to kill us."
Kurt couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene, but soon after, he walked across the bubble’s threshold, and as he fully entered the Nest, the Bubble behind him disappeared.
"One of those, huh?" He sighed.
But Kurt wasn’t feeling so tense this time, since he knew that, if he wanted to go back to his world, he could just activate [SHADOW TRAVEL].
The terrain in front of Kurt looked like a forest-type Nest, but with pieces in it that didn’t seem to fit.
Strange lakes of black, still water, thick vines that spread through the trees like vipers ready to kill anything that came near them.
The silence was broken only by some small flies, buzzying aroound.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Kurt could feel the silence in the atmosphere of the Nest, as if it were an overwhelming entity settling over everything there.
’A swamp?’ Kurt asked himself, when the voice echoed again in his mind.
’Kurt... Blake... I’m sorry...’
"What?"
Before Kurt could finish his train of thought, the still water vibrated.
Small waves began spreading through the strange lakes, and the silence felt like being broken, ever so slightly.
Kurt heard the sound of something wet slithering somewhere behind him, and when he looked back, his senses screaming and warning him of the overwhelming force that was there, he saw, incredulously, a huge snake.
It was almost as big as the halls of the Karasu no Uta guild.
Its scales looked sticky, damp, and absolutely impenetrable, colored in a nauseating greenish-black tone.
Its half-oval head, with its triangular tip, showed that it was not only a match for size, but also for pure poison.
And when the snake opened its maw, Kurt confirmed that it was, indeed, highly venomous.
Huge fangs protruded outwards, with a green, sticky sap dripping from them.
And anywhere the substance touched in the ground, a smoking hole formed.
"Hum..." Kurt sighed, staring at the serpent as it hissed towards him.
***
"WHAT. DID. YOU. JUST. SAY?" Yamamoto yelled at the Hirano twins, losing his composure for the first time.
He was going to say something, when he stopped all of a sudden, scratched his chin, and finally broke the silence, as a group of his best members readied themselves in the background.
"I apologize Aka-chan, Ao-chan. He’s an unexpectedly interesting youngling. Very intriguing. I should’ve come myself to watch over him, it’s not your fault."
Yamamoto wore armor similar to that of the samurai of the Kamakura period, but more adapted to modern times.
It consisted of a black leotard, which covered the guild master’s body, covered by the armor plates themselves, which slightly resembled the body parts of a lion.
He waited for his strike team to get ready, and watched the black hue that covered the bubble with an intrigued expression.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this...?" He asked.
"Are you worried about Kurt, Yamamoto-san?" Nikolai asked, approaching the guild master.
"Hum... I don’t think worried is the right word to use in a situation like this... I know he’s far stronger than a lot of wielders, but you too, know that a Bubble changing its hue as soon as one steps in, never means something good, yes?"
Nikolai nodded, but Evellyn kept such a cool expression, that Yamamoto couldn’t help but ask her.
"You seem to be way too nonchalant about all the situation. Do you mind if I ask why?"
Evellyn looked at the guild master and answered, straightforward.
"That’s because even though you can’t get in, he won’t take long to come back this time, and he’ll be even stronger then the last time he came back."
Yamamoto’s eyes widened.
"What do you mean by..."
But he interrupted himself, approaching the Bubble, and touching its black membrane.
His hand recoiled like it had been struck by a lightning bolt.
"We can’t go in..." He muttered.
And then his mind clicked.
