Blame fgo and my illness for the delay.
===00===
Common Sense of Teenage Magus
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On February 1st , 2217, the Reverse Moon Company launched the a communication satellite, named Kiritsugu, orbiting at 400 km altitude.
The satellite became a topic of discussion for many. First, it was a scientific marvel, if not an impossibility made real. Every scientific theory agreed that a geostationary satellite must orbit at 35000 km above the equator. However, Kiritsugu was orbiting the earth at 400 km altitude while maintaining its stable position above Tokyo. The method to achieve this was unknown.
Second, The Reverse Moon Company and its owner, the Sakatsuki Family, didn't really need a communication satellite. They didn't own television station, radio, telecommunication service provider, or internet service, so people speculated that there was a hidden purpose behind it.
Lastly, the name given was rather odd. While nations around the world gave satellite names from folklores and mythologies or historical figures, there's no information at all about the name Kiritsugu.
Kiri means "to cut, be sharp" and tsugu means "heir, connect". So, the meaning could be "heir of cutting" or "to cut and connect". Many had opinion that the name sounds ominous for a communication satellite.
~ Natural Astronomy Journal
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Even After 200 years, Arc Reactor is Still A Fantasy
In an underground office there lived a villain. Not an underground concert hall for indie bands, not underground bar selling alcohol, nor yet a hollow tunnel where a train circulated the city; it was a villain hideout, and that meant gloomy.
In one of the rooms, two persons were facing each other. The yellow dull light illuminated the room and an air conditioner supplied fresh air from outside. There was a big desk where several paper documents were laid down. There was a painting hanging on the wall, though it was wasted there since the dim light prevented anyone to enjoy its beauty. On one side of the wall, there was a shelf containing some documents and miscellaneous items.
At the center of the room, the host and the guest were sitting on a cheap office chairs, separated by the big desk. Beside the big desk, there were several mysterious metal parts inside a big metal box.
A pre-teen girl with long silver hair and blood red eyes lifted a metal plate and inspected it with critical eyes. She frowned and said with dissatisfied tone, "So even after all the money we have given for three years, the result is these junks?"
The girl wore white summer dress and white shoes. She brought stylish blue handbag. It contrasted with the dreary and gloomy place she was in, an office without windows.
"Uhm well…" A man with grey hair and worn out purple suit replied. He was wearing glasses, and he had a missing front tooth. He held an unlit cigarette in his left hand, unable to smoke it because he knew his current customer didn't like cigarette smoke. He learned that the hard way in the past. He tried to smile and placate this teenage girl, "It's not exactly junk. It's built with all the technology we currently have."
"Giran." The girl glared at him, tossing the metal plate to the pile of similarly designed metal parts. "I don't care. If it is not functional, it is junk."
The man named Giran, a villainous broker with large contacts in the underworld, started to sweat. He tried to speak again while rubbing his hands. "Umm, yes, yes. There is an explanation for this."
The girl crossed her arms and glared at him from her seat. "Alright. Go on. Explain. If I am not satisfied with your explanation, you can kiss goodbye to your head."
Giran didn't know exactly what quirk the girl had, but he knew danger when he saw it. He was certain that the girl would carry out her threat if he didn't mollify her. He quickly explained, trying to be succinct and clear. "You see, there are two main problems with this Iron Man suit. When you gave several movies three years ago and asked me to make the same armored suit like in the movie, well, I tried my best, but Tony Stark had two things that we don't."
"Two things?"
"Yes." Giran was relieved that the pressure the girl exerted had decreased. "First, an artificial intelligence to control the suit motion. It needs to be able to predict what the user gonna do. Sadly, we have to build a specialized AI for that, and we have no manpower available for such a thing."
The girl looked contemplative, thinking it over before she gave the signal motioning Giran to continue.
"The second thing is the power source. This suit eats up too much energy, so we have to install a battery as backpack at the back. Even after that, the suit can only operate for 30 minutes, maybe. We can't really do the test because the movement control isn't finished. The other option is to use electric cable, but that will limit its movement. So, you see, unless you want to tow huge batteries wherever you go, we need to build a small reactor just for this suit."
The teenage girl nodded, before she asked again. "And you ask more money for what? Do you have a plan to solve these problems?"
Giran shrugged and open up his palms upward, "For the energy problem, not so much. But for the first one, with enough money, we might be able to forcefully invite Kirigaya Yui and persuade her to write the AI for us."
Kirigaya Yui was the computer scientist famous for her work in building AI. She became the runner-up for Chronos Person of the Year 2217. In this world, if Yui admitted that she was the second best in making AI, nobody dared to claim first place. What Giran had said was, in essence, to kidnap her and force her to make AI for the Iron Man suit.
Obviously, a famous scientist like her was guarded well, so Giran needed to gather a lot of manpower for this operation. There was also the middleman fee for him, the high-risk insurance, and also the expenses for support equipment.
The white-haired girl frowned. She appeared to be in deep thought for a while. Giran didn't dare to interrupt, so he kept his silence. The silence stretched out for what felt like several minutes, until finally the girl spoke again.
"Can it fly?"
"Umm…" Giran smiled stiffly. "Using rocket on the bottom of the feet and on palms, it can fly, yes…. But it's still experimental and not ready for practical use yet…."
"Speak clearly."
Giran cough lightly and continued. "It's hard to stabilize the speed and direction, the energy consumption is too great, and heat from rocket gradually melted the armor. No, it will burn the pilot's skin first. It can fly but it can't land safely. To put simply, if you want a one-way, one-time use ticket to fly to the top of Tokyo Tower…. There it is."
The teenage girl nodded, a smirk appeared on her face. "I change my mind. I will take the junks." The girl said.
"Huh?"
"I said, I will take this unfinished Ironman suit from your hands. Also, I trust that you have the blueprints?"
Giran recovered from his bewilderment and frantically replied, "Yes, yes I have." He produced a single data stick and gave it to the teenage girl.
"Good." The girl tossed the data stick into a glowing, rippling hole in the air and stood up. Glancing at the box containing the parts for Ironman suit, she waved one of her hand and the box also disappeared into a hole that appeared below it.
Never relaxing her guard, the girl asked another question, "This Ironman suit, even if unfinished, belongs to me now. You understand what that means, right?"
"Of course." Giran answered with a slight bow. "I will tell the company researching it to delete all the data from their database. They will not sell it again to others."
"They better not." The teenage girl said with a cold tone, promising a threat. "Tell them about the last company who did that thing. Hopefully that will be enough to warn them."
Giran silently swallowed his saliva. In this day and age, making advanced tools and equipment needed permit from the government. That's because 'Hero Tools' and 'Hero Equipments' could also be used in crime, or used by villains to fight heroes. Support Companies were required to submit the data and plan for the things they would sell, and the support items can only be sold after government approved them.
Of course, the illegal underground Support Companies who sold support items to villains were breaking the law. It was not strange when some heroes came and raided the Illegal Support Companies.
What's weird was the timing and circumstances. Two of the three companies who double-cross this teenage girl ended up destroyed when pro heroes cracked down their business. It happened not a week after those companies sold the support items commissioned by the girl to other parties. The heroes came in large number, unusual for a minor thing like this, and had surprisingly good intel about the Support Companies. All their properties were confiscated, their research data seized by government, and the employees captured.
Not only the two support companies, their new clients who bought the support items were also captured by pro heroes. The villains with obvious criminal record were imprisoned, while the ones not having any criminal record mysteriously disappeared after the police released them.
The obvious conclusion was, the pro heroes were under instruction to attack those two companies. This girl had enough influence to move several hero agencies to do her bidding. And ruthless enough to eliminate her enemies in extrajudicial manner.
But what about the third company who cheated her? The one she said to be told as example?
There was nothing left of them.
Giran suspected that it was because the support item developed by the third company far exceeded the previous support items in importance.
Indeed, it could not be called support item anymore, but military grade super artillery.
That third company had its headquarter raided, all of its security guards killed, its computer destroyed, and all of its researchers abducted or killed. The surviving employees could only testify that a mysterious armed force attacked them without any warning.
In short, it's possible that this girl had her own private army. Or, it's possible she hired mercenary company to clean up the backstabbing support company.
"So," the teenage girl stared at Giran. "How much?"
Giran gulped his saliva. He hadn't expected that the girl would just accept the unfinished product, so he hadn't prepared a price. He quickly calculated the research cost, the initial investment the girl had paid before, his brokering fee, and other expenses. After finishing his calculation, he told the amount to the girl.
"That's not a rounded number." The girl complained. But she quickly took out several briefcases from that mysterious rippling hole in the air. Opening the last briefcase, she took out several bundle of cash from it and did a quick calculation.
The girl looked at Giran again. "This should be enough. There may be excess several hundred thousand yen, consider it bonus."
Giran bowed deeply, "Thank you so much for your patronage." However, he didn't dare counting the money in front of her. That would be rude, as if he didn't trust that she could pay. Anyway, she always paid him handsomely, so there's no worry in that front.
"Well then. Goodbye, Giran." The girl prepared to leave. "Remember, as long as you are useful, you will live."
Giran chose that moment to lift his face, watching how the girl left room. As if breaking into flower petals, the girl's body changed into motes of tiny light and disappeared.
Giran released a relieved breath. His body fell and sunk into the chair.
The girl, who identified herself only as 'Einzbern', contacted him around three years ago. She had mysterious background, but that's true for many of his clients. Even so, this Miss Einzbern left no trace at all. She always paid in cash, she arrived and left by teleportation, and all of the recording device in the room started malfunctioning when she was present.
Giran did some digging, but he couldn't find any family called Einzbern in the whole world.
However, as someone living in the underworld, Giran had some skills. His intuition pointed out the real identity of 'Miss Einzbern.' They had the same height, same apparent age, and similar mannerism (from what little that can be seen). Sakatsuki Miyu certainly had the great influence to mobilize several hero agencies.
Not that he would expose her. It's too dangerous. Don't tickle the sleeping dragon.
Giran took a deep breath and exhale it, and then he went on to prepare for his next client. He had cleared his morning schedule because Miss Einzbern had sent a notification letter beforehand, but he still had appointments in the afternoon. Hopefully they wouldn't be stressful as this one.
===break===
The Reincarnated Heiress Negotiates Her Toy Making Today as Well
"Welcome back, ojou-sama."
The moment I teleported back inside the car, a woman greeted me politely, and then handed me a scanner pad. I wordlessly put my right palm on it.
The pad chimed an approval sound accompanied by green light.
I undo my Install mode and revert back to my original appearance, the white hair turned black, and the ruby red eye turned into scarlet red. The difference was not really apparent to the naked eye.
Next, the woman held up a weird-looking scanner in front of my face. "Excuse me." She said.
I obediently stay still and open my eyes. The woman aimed the scanner at my right eye. Another woman who held a connected datapad said in loud, clear voice, "Identity confirmed, welcome back, Miyu ojou-sama."
I let out a tired sigh and another woman gave me a chilled tea. Fuaaah, a cold drink was the best after doing Install.
Contrary to what you might think, Include and Install were not omnipotent, ultimate ability. They had weakness and limitation. As any other magecraft, they used prana. And for magus, prana was generated by magic circuit.
The use of magic circuit would naturally produce heat, and the magus body temperature would rise. Also, there would be a sensation of pain. While keeping it active for a long period of time was not impossible, it was not desirable. The body would exhibit symptoms just as if it was in fever, and the brain would overheat, making the mind delirious.
In short, there was a time limit for Install ability. The Include ability used less mana, but I still needed to consume cold drink and regulated my body temperature in various means when using it in long term.
The identity check was something that must be done. That's just a common sense. An unknown person just teleported inside a car with the appearance of your mistress. In the era of superpower with shapeshifting villains and mind control, you must assume the worst. That's why the first thing after I got back was four steps identity check.
But I only passed through two steps you said? Yeah, that's a trap to deceive the supposed pretender, making them complacent.
The woman who first check my palm and eyes now presented a datapad to me. She said, "We have processed your order. Ojou-sama just need to pay with your card."
Any common pretender would assume that I had bought something online before and took out credit card. Instead, I took out my library card from Gate of Babylon and put it on the datapad. And then I also input 12 number password. The woman retreated after that.
Why library card? Because it was unexpected. And it's stored inside my Gate of Babylon, so it's supposed to be secure.
After that came the last step. A third woman open up a box and presented it before me. Inside the box was a silver ball, in the size of tennis ball. This was the last step of identity check.
It was possible to imitate fingerprint, retinal pattern, and voice. You must not underestimate Quirks. It's also possible to read mind and memories. In that case, password didn't matter. And by some freak chance, space-manipulating quirk might be able to take out items from my Gate of Babylon.
I took out the silver ball with my right hand and held it in front of me. "anzünden"
The silver ball light up with a silvery glow and a tiny fire appeared on top of it for an instance.
Let me explain it to you, my dear ignorant muggles. The ball was a magical construct. If any person other than me tried to touch it, it would transform into silver wires and tied the person whole body, immobilizing him. Not outright killing him, we needed to question him, yes?
The identification process was similar to how a bounded field scan a person. The ball was actually my pseudo-familiar, it would also inspect the master-familiar bond. It also examined the magical signature. In short, the ball identified the most important component in magus familiar bond, the magus soul.
The villains could fabricate a body, extracting memories, but they would never be able to imitate a soul. The only person able to do that was me. I could trick the ball by making a homunculus and infusing it with part of my soul, making it my familiar. A very difficult task, and not something that could be forced from me. Possibly.
The action of lighting the ball and igniting a fire was just another verification, a set of predetermined action to be seen by my private assistants and bodyguards.
And the moment the ball recognized the predetermined actions, it used the excess prana to launched a spell directly to my head. Theoretically, the spell would drive out any mind control magic. I just hoped that it would be enough.
I put back the ball back into the box, and my private assistants all let out a relieved sigh. One of them took out a microphone and said, "Cinderella has entered the carriage. Advance to the castle." And the car started to move.
By the way, the car I used was a limousine. That's why the inside of the car was so spacious. One woman was sitting beside me, and two women and a man were sitting opposite me.
"So, what is the result of the meeting?" The woman beside me asked.
Let me introduce this woman. Her name was Mizuno Ami, 27 years old. Her quirk was Water Manipulation. Her IQ was said to be more than 300. She was a capable woman who served as the Chief of Private Assistants.
My, Sakatsuki Miyu, private assistants. I had ten in total now.
I summarized the content of my meeting with Giran, detailing the progress of Ironman suit and the amount of money I paid.
Ami frowned, clearly unhappy. "That is too expensive for an unfinished technology."
I waved my hand, telling her to stop complaining. "I need to take it out from them before they got weird thoughts. We will continue the development in-house, send it to R&D and let them tinker with it. Anyway, Giran thought to kidnap Kirigaya Yui. I suggest we invite her ourselves."
Ami thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright then. Hitomi, put it on the schedule to invite Professor Kirigaya."
The small-built woman who sat opposite me nodded and wrote something on her tablet. She was another one of my private assistant.
Mishima Hitomi, 23 years old. Quirk: none. Special talent: mixing cocktail.
Actually, she was hired for her managerial skill. We just found out about her skill in mixing alcohol by some coincidences. Anyway, this petite girl apparently had some complex situations and she was having wild adventures in her youth, and now she ended up working for me. What wild adventures? I'm not sure, they made it classified information. I'm so curious.
Curious. But I was forbidden from prying, so that's that.
But it looked like Ami was not done with me. "And how will you solve the problem of energy reactor? It's not easy to make, and the researchers should not waste their time with something unrealistic. To begin with, this started with ojou-sama obsession with fiction…." And so on, she continued her lecture.
Ami was a capable woman. But if I had to point out some flaws, the first thing was her tendency to nag. She was just like my mother when she did it. Always pointing out things I should and shouldn't do. Well, my mother actually told her to do it too!
After listening to her lengthy sermon, I hit when there's a pause in her speech. "I have a solution for that. We don't need Arc Reactor to make it move."
Ami stopped her sermon and looked at me inquiringly.
"You know about Living Armor? There is a method to make hollow armor move by itself. I plan to use that method, after modifying it a little." I continued.
"Aah." Ami said with a grimace. "That so-called magic. Like the Living Doll in the mansion courtyard."
The second flaw Ami had was her inability to accept occult and magic. She was bad with things that couldn't be explained by science. She believed that my magecraft was a type of mutated quirk or something.
"So why didn't you just take a normal metal armor and wear it? If you have to move it with magic in the end, a normal armor is enough right? No need to spend a lot of money." Ami began her counterattack.
"Uhh…. Uhhh." I tried to formulate an answer but my mind strangely went blank. "Normal living armor don't have machine gun and rocket launcher…"
"You can just install it." Ami retorted, driving me into a corner. "Just like those Living Dolls and… what is it… Dragon Tooth Warriors. You equipped them with submachine gun and bombs."
"The bombs are for self-destruct mechanism!" I refuted her. "Besides, this Ironman suit can fly!"
"Not flying, but leaping to the air and spinning out of control, from what I've heard just now." Ami hammered a nail in my coffin with her words.
"I… I can…" I replied without thinking, in panic because she almost proved me wrong. I can't be wrong, I am the genius heiress! "I can put flight spell on the Ironman suit!"
"Heee?" She sternly looked at me. "That means there is no need to pay that broker. You can just make a flying armor from the beginning?"
Cold sweat drenched my clothes.
"I need to report this." She said. "There's no sense in spending company's money for this frivolous nonsense. We should count the money you spent came out from your own pocket money. Anyway, there's no logic that an oil company should spend money to research Power Suit." The demon king decreed.
"Noooo! My money!" I screamed.
===break===
I am a Pro Hero Working for Rich Family as a Bodyguard, but My Client is a Chuunibyou with Wild Delusion, but It Turned Out that She's the Real Deal?
The title said it all, so should I continue? I could make a novel out of this. Not that it would be published, because my employer would surely censor that novel.
First, let's start by introducing myself. My name was Chiba Mamoru, 31 years old. I had a wife and a daughter. My job was a Pro Hero. My quirk: Indestructible.
Whatever I touch would be frozen in stasis, and no amount of destructive force could destroy it. For example, I could apply my quirk to my clothes, and then I would be invincible. Shoot me with a cannon, and the linen clothes would protect me. I would not be hurt at all! Well, there was an issue of momentum and I would be pushed to the back… But there's no problem! My clothes would also protect my back from the impact, if I crashed to the floor or to the wall.
It was a very useful and powerful quirk. I could apply it to a stick, to my own body, a makeshift shield, and so on. Relying on this quirk, I graduated from a hero course high school, not the elite like U.A, but enough to get my hero license. And then I worked in a hero agency, defeating villains and keeping the peace.
Or so that's how it should be.
Actually, my quirk had a fatal weakness. Aside from the usual limitation of time limit and fatigue. As long as I was using it, I can't move my lower body. Therefore, I couldn't retreat or take a step forward. Worse, the lower body paralysis must happen for at least one minute.
One minute, in a hero business, was a very long time.
For example, I managed to protect myself from the villain surprise attack using my quirk. And then the villain escaped with his loot. I had to wait for one minute before I could chase him.
Worse, gradually my weakness was spread to the public and the villains. My public approval rating plummeted down. I was 'the guy who just stand there doing nothing for a minute'.
Hero business was a cruel, harsh world. After several years of working under one hero agency, I was laid off. They said that I was not popular, my approval rating was low, and the agency needed to cut inefficient cost.
Drifting from one agency to another, I kept working hard. At least my quirk could be used in a specific situation, for example protecting civilians or assisting in natural disasters.
But as if the gods hate me, a misfortune happened. My six years old daughter was involved in a traffic accident. Her spinal nerves were damaged. As a result, her body from the neck down was paralyzed.
I tried to find a medical solution, but to no avail. All the doctors I met gave up. They said that the current medical technology was unable to help my daughter.
When our family was in such a hopeless situation, suddenly an acquaintance gave me an idea. The news reported about the new company called 'Heaven's Cup' that sold products based on advanced medical technology. The rumors said that the technology they possessed was ten or twenty years more advanced than the rest of the world. "Maybe you should visit them and consult your daughter's case?" he said to me.
It was an absurd idea. Firstly, Heaven's Cup was a company, not a hospital, it didn't offer medical service. Secondly, how can I, a third-rate pro hero, deal with a big company?
But I had nothing to lose.
So, I went to Heaven's Cup main office, and insistently asked to the receptionist to talk to their boss or to anyone willing to listen. The stiff faced receptionist politely refused my request and her eyes wavered to the side, seeking the security guards. At this point, a miracle happened.
The goddess of salvation appeared.
"What is this commotion?"
I looked behind me to see a preteen girl, around twelve years old, surrounded by bodyguards. She was wearing school uniform of white blazer and black skirty, adorned with dark red striped ribbon. She had a silky black hair that reached her shoulder.
"O, ojou-sama! My deepest apologies! I will immediately call security guards and remove this man from the premise!" The receptionist said in panic after seeing the girl.
The girl frowned and said, "No, I didn't tell you to do that. I asked about the reason of this commotion?"
The receptionist turned pale and said, "This man, he wants to meet The Director."
"Huh?" the girl turned to me with curious expression. "Why do you want to see Akira?"
"I have a request." I replied. I felt that the status of this girl was special, seeing that the receptionist respected her. "For Heaven's Cup company. That's why, I need to speak to the highest person in position. The most influential and the one with highest authority."
"Hm? You think Akira is the highest person here?" The girl chuckled. "Hehe, he is not."
"Eh?" I let out a sound of confusion.
The girl smiled. At that time, I felt that the smile was dangerous. Like an evil being in the guise of a child, putting innocent mask. But I ignored that feeling, choosing my daughter over everything else. Who cares if it's the deal with the devil?
"I am the highest, most influential person here." The girl said. "You can speak with me."
And that's my first meeting with the Heavenly Talented Heiress, Sakatsuki Miyu.
She assented to my request and diagnosed my daughter. And then she declared that she could heal my daughter.
However, there's another problem. Money.
The treatment would be handled by Sakatsuki Miyu herself. The artificial components used would be custom made, and they would be very expensive. Even selling all of my assets, it's not even worth 10% of all the expenses.
My pro hero career was in a slump, so it was impossible to get that amount of money.
At that time, Sakatsuki Miyu said to me, "We are not a charity, so we can't just waive off the medical fee. But I am not a devil either. How about this? You work for me, and pay your loan in long-term contract?"
And that's how I worked as her bodyguard. My daughter was healed, she could move her body again. My wife was happy. And I got an easy job with huge pay and benefits. Most of it was deducted to pay my loan, but the remaining portion was enough for daily expenses.
At this point some of you are complaining, the prologue was too long! And how could a pro hero work as private bodyguard? Wasn't that, unheroic?
Not really. There's no law that prohibit that. And it was actually quite common.
The hero business was cruel. Public approval rating determined your ranking, and your ranking determined the money you earned. And how many heroes are there in this country? Also, the heroes who got media coverage was the one operating in big cities.
In that situation, not few pro heroes actually changed their job into bodyguards for the wealthy.
There were actually demands for it. The villains who usually attack and rob the rich people freely used their quirk. The normal bodyguards, even if they had quirks, couldn't openly used it, because that would be against the law. It's kind of funny situation. Except in the private property, the bodyguards couldn't use their quirk.
But what if the bodyguard had a license to use quirk? The pro hero license, authorizing the use of quirk in public space. There was no law prohibiting the pro hero to work as bodyguard.
My job was simple. Every time Sakatsuki Miyu went out with a car, I should come along. I used my quirk to make the car indestructible. Even when the limousine was bulletproof, and used bulletproof tires. Actually, it was an ideal job for me. Inside the car, I didn't need to worry about my lower body paralysis.
But when I asked whether it was really necessary to always keep the car indestructible, the Private Assistant Ami just said, "You will find out soon enough."
Well, this was my first time going out with ojou-sama. We went to the town and then stopped at a deserted parking lot. Ojou-sama changed her appearance and then she teleported away. After around thirty minutes she came back, and then changed into her original appearance, and the private assistants did several things to check her identity.
Was it just me who got confused here? The others treated this as if this was routine.
I silently listened to ojou-sama and Ami discussion, which slowly turned into heated debate, but I couldn't hold my curiosity any longer and asked the woman beside me. The woman didn't participate in the discussion and she never talked until now. If I remember correctly, her name was… Nagato Yuki.
"Uhm… can I ask you something?" I whispered to the woman.
She expressionlessly stared at me for a long moment. But she finally nodded.
I continued, "Why is ojou-sama panic when Ami mentioned about money? She is the richest person in the world, right?"
Miss Nagato took out a computer tablet and handed it to me. What did she want me to do with it? Oh, the tablet turned on by itself.
The tablet operated by itself and opened a text application. There are words appearing…
0000000000000000000000
Yuki: We will talk like this because if oujo-sama heard us gossiping about her, she will be angry and throw tantrum.
You are wrong. Oujo-sama is not the richest person in the world.
She is still a minor, she can't own shares of the companies. There is money from patents and dividends, but they're all kept in trust fund.
You may have noticed that the CEO of Heaven's Cup is an older relative. That's because she as a minor can't hold official position. All the companies she made install a relative as figurehead CEO, and the ownership is held by her parents.
She can't liberally use company's money or the trust fund money.
The only money she can use is the one in her bank account (Under 18 saving account). It is from her pocket money and independent money-making ventures.
0000000000000000000000
I had more questions now. I whispered to Miss Nagato, "What do you mean money making?"
She didn't look at me at all, her eyes blankly stared to the front.
But words appeared on the tablet. Was this her quirk? You know, it was illegal to use quirk in public, and as a pro hero I should warn her. But I am now a hired hero….
0000000000000000000000
Yuki: Please write your question on the tablet and don't talk to me. Ojou-sama will be suspicious if you keep whispering.
After an incident where Madam found out about a mountain of cash in ojou-sama's room three years ago, the pocket money is strictly monitored. Ojou-sama opened up another account in different bank to store money she earned by herself. Her parents can't say anything about how she used this money.
Mamoru: How does she earn money?
Yuki: Two ways. Winning in boardgame competition and bounty hunting.
Mamoru: bounty hunting?
Yuki: I am not allowed to speak about it. Maybe you will see it later.
Mamoru: Ok. What can you tell me about magic? Is that her quirk?
Yuki: I don't know. Ojou-sama has unexplainable powers. It is the most important secret. You have signed the geass contract, you have clearance to know. Ojou-sama called it magecraft. It is just like the magic in fiction.
Ami doesn't believe it is magic. She thinks it is a quirk.
I can only say that it defies common sense. It is unscientific, even for a quirk.
Mamoru: Is that how she changed her hair color? What can you tell me about it?
Yuki: We will have to begin from the beginning, as ojou-sama told us before. It will be quite long, bear with it.
Ojou-sama told us that she was a magician in her past life. In that world, there was no quirk, but a minority of people practiced magic. She was from an old family of magician.
And then she was involved with a bloody ritual where magicians must kill each other. She said that she survived almost until the end, but she sacrificed her life to end the ritual.
When she died, she met a goddess who judged her sin and merit and gave her the option to reincarnate. And then she reincarnated and was born in this world.
That is the reason why, she is quirkless, but she can use magic. And the change of appearance is ojou-sama reverted back to her past life form.
Mamoru: That sounds… unbelievable. Are you sure it's the truth?
Yuki: There is no evidence of past life or reincarnation. Or about the multiverse. The chance that it is just a delusion of a thirteen-year-old girl is 99,9%
Ojou-sama is at that age after all. The percentage of chuunibyou amongst the quirkless in teenage year is 65%. I assumed you know about chuunibyou (middle school second grade disease)? It is a phase of youth where the teenagers had wild delusion to boost their importance, uniqueness, or just to feel special. They dreamed of having superpowers and imitating fiction.
The numbers of chuunibyou had dwindled since the appearance of quirk. With real superpowers granted at childhood, people focused more on the superpower they got and had no time for delusion. They put more effort to become a pro heroes. The others who failed to become heroes quickly face reality and give up.
In this case it was a standard trope of chuunibyou. Past life, reincarnation, meeting a goddess, and sealed overpowered entities. A cliché plot for light novel.
Mamoru: Wait, what is this about sealed entities?
Yuki: According to ojou-sama, inside her there are souls of past heroes. They have amazing power and she can tap their power for a limited time.
Mamoru: Past heroes? Like who?
Yuki: Like King Arthur. No need to roll your eyes at me. Be careful not to laugh, or ojou-sama will stab you with Excalibur. I had seen her use it to cut armored car to pieces.
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What kind of situation made a teenage girl cut armored car with a sword? I wanted to write my questions, but at that time the debate between ojou-sama and Ami caught my attention.
"I told you to rein in your delusion, you money spender chuunibyou!" Ami said. "Honestly, you always make expensive toys. First that satellite, now this tin can suit. Why don't you make automated flying killer doll then? Arm them with Uzi and it will be cheaper!"
"You said it as if it is easy, this normal fictional character! The magical expenditure to operate it will be massive! The materials needed to make such a doll will be rare and expensive! We can't mass produce it!" The petite heiress yelled back.
"Isn't it magic? Magic is ultimate, solving every problem, is not it?" Ami yelled.
"Of course it is not you dumbass!" Miyu yelled back "You keep disparaging magic, but tell me to use it when convenient! I bet hypocrite is written in your character profile!"
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Mamoru: What is the meaning of ojou-sama's words? Fictional character? Character profile?
Yuki: Ojou-sama believed that this world is not real. Or not 100% real. She believed that this world is a world of fiction from anime or manga.
Mamoru: Seriously? But… we are real… right?
Yuki: There is no objective way to prove that the world is real and not a dream. Additionally, ojou-sama's method to prove it is quite interesting, and it makes me doubt my existence.
Mamoru: What is the method?
Yuki: Your wife's name is Usagi, correct?
Mamoru: Yes.
Yuki: What is her quirk?
Mamoru: She has mutation type quirk. She is part bunny. Only ears and tails though.
Yuki: So she is a rabbit. Her name usagi can also mean rabbit. What a coincidence. Or is it?
Mamoru: I am sure her parents named her after her quirk.
Yuki: Children are named right after birth, the birth certificate record this. And yet, quirk only manifested four years after birth at the fastest. How did Usagi's parents knew their child quirk before it appeared? And she didn't inherit her parents quirk either.
Yuki: You are silent for quite a long time, are you thinking about your existence? I will keep talking then. Your name Mamoru, can mean 'to protect'. Is it coincidence that your quirk is very suitable to protect people?
Miss Mizuno's quirk is water manipulation, do you know that Mizu in her name means water? How can a family name from hundred of years ago suddenly matched the awakened quirk in that family?
I can list several other examples, but you understand the gist of it. There are too many coincidences.
I am sure you noticed, but not many people had matching quirk and names. But the ones who did all correspond to certain criteria. They are either have useful quirk, powerful quirk, or influence.
Ojou-sama believed that this is a world of fiction, and there must be a protagonist. She ordered me to search for people with matching quirk and names in her age group. Do you know that I found around twenty kids fulfilling that criteria living around Tokyo?
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Before I could contemplate the meaning of my existence and the universe, I was distracted again by the arguments between the two in front of me.
"The biggest advantage of the armor is that we can equip it, providing protection to the body." The young heiress said. "Put HUD inside the helmet, and you can detect enemies by sensor or thermal vision."
"The protection from arrow amulet is smaller and lighter, just an inconspicuous pendant." Miss Ami said. "And while I am not expert in this so-called magic, I am sure it is cheaper."
"That amulet can defend against sniper bullet, at most." Miss Miyu said. "It won't be able to deflect something bigger. Or against melee weapon, like chainsaw."
"What kind of situation involves you getting hit by a missile?" Miss Ami yelled again. "And when there is a chainsaw, hack it with your holy sword! For god sake, you have Avalon with you, so why are you so afraid of injury?"
The distressed heiress was looking left and right, trying to find something for her arguments, and then she saw me. Miyu-sama pointed at me and said, "Right, if the Ironman suit is finished, Mr. Chiba can use his quirk without any hurdle. He can strengthen the suit, and the suit can fly, so his lower body paralysis is not a problem! We can just custom made a special AI to control his legs! He will not be useless hero anymore!"
Miyu-sama's words were as an arrow, it went straight through my proverbial heart.
"Don't involve Mr. Mamoru! He might be a failure hero, but he is a good man that works hard and lead honest life!" Ami said.
Another arrow went through. Endure. Endure.
"Huh? Ami, why do you call Mr. Chiba with his first name?" Miyu-sama tilted her head. "And you just met him last week. Could it be…" Her hand covered her mouth. "You and Mr. Chiba…"
"No, it is not!" Ami screamed from the bottom of her lungs.
After she calmed down, she continued. "Ahem. We actually knew each other. His wife is my friend from school."
"Mrs. Chiba is your friend?" Miyu-sama gazed upward, trying to remember about my wife. She and Usagi met several times because of our daughter's matter.
Miyu-sama looked back at Miss Ami. "Well, I am not against it, but I don't know you practice nepotism…"
Miss Ami retorted back with a red face, "You are the one who offered him employment! You!"
"Aaah…" Miyu-sama seemed to remember something. "Come to think of it, when I contacted you to open a schedule for little Yui's surgery, you were surprisingly very accommodative." She peered at Miss Ami's face.
Miss Ami averted her gaze and pouted, but she didn't deny anything. Could it be… No way, Ami!
I felt gratitude to my wife's friend, but before I could say anything, Miss Nagato interrupt our conversation.
"Sorry to interrupt your discussion." Miss Nagato said with her eyes closed. "Five teams of villains have begun to take action. We assume they're allied with each other."
Miss Ami and Miyu-sama looked at somewhere at the top of my head. When I looked behind, I found out that the big television above me now display a map. Our position and the villains' position were marked at the map.
It's uncomfortable to maintain that position, so I turned back my face to the front.
"Mr. Chiba, please concentrate on strengthening the car." Miss Mishima said, taking out a communicator and her fingers danced around her tablet computer. She said again, "Enemy snipers are taking position. They will shoot our drivers."
I took a breath and focused myself. Still, I won't be able to feel if a bullet hit the car, so I wouldn't know if the sniper had shot or not. Not that it mattered, I just needed to maintain my quirk until we got home. This job didn't require complex thinking.
But it certainly helped if I could see the map, just to ease my heart. The moment I thought that, the tablet computer in my hand changed its display. The previous text conversation vanished, and the map display appeared.
I looked at Miss Nagato. After this I really wanted to ask about her quirk.
"Ugallu squad, intercepting Villain B." Miss Nagato said even when she still closed her eyes. "Basmu and Uridimmu surround Villain E. Girtablullu squad on Villain A. Usumgallu squad approaching Villain C."
I looked at the map. The lonely green mark was our car. The five red marks were villains. Attacking the red marks were blue marks, identified by bizarre callsign.
"Mushmahhu and Mushussu squad has contacted Villain D." Miss Nagato said again.
Wow. I guessed that's how the Sakatsuki roll. Even just for a short trip, Miyu-sama brought along many bodyguards. And really, the number of villains targeting her were unreal. I guessed that's why I was recruited. Still… I didn't think I was useful.
"What's with the squad names?" I tried to ask to no one in particular, feeling curious. I didn't recognize any of them.
"Ominous names." Miss Ami said. "And inauspicious too. We should find names with better luck."
"But they're cool! And the popular ones are already taken anyway…" Miyu-sama said.
Clicking her tongue and looking at me like I was the one to blame, Miss Ami started lecturing. "Kingu, Basmu, Usumgallu, Mushmahhu, Mushussu, Lahmu, Ugallu, Uridimmu, Girtablullu, Umu dabrutu, Kulullu, Kusarikku."
"They are twelve children of Tiamat, goddess of primordial life after she turned into goddess of chaos. From the Mesopotamian mythology. Kingu is the leader, a deity and said to be a dragon. The other eleven are demonic beasts. Their names are not popular because, well, who cares about defeated and forgotten monsters in Babylonian mythology?"
No wonder she said it was inauspicious, they got defeated in the myth. Anyway, she said twelve, but I didn't see that many on the map. I saw a squad named Lahmu tailing us, but where were the others? When I asked about it….
"Ah, well, we are still in the middle of reorganization. Kulullu is supposed to be the Navy, but we don't really need dedicated bodyguards just for marine environment…. Ojou-sama seldom went to the sea. Umu dabrutu is supposed to be the air force, but we only got one aircraft anyway and it's not really used that much…."
"That's why I told you to buy more!" Miyu-sama protested from the side but she was ignored.
"While we don't have enough men to form Kusarikku and Kingu squads. The Kingu squad is supposed to be the leader and got the strongest personnel, but the position of the strongest bodyguard hasn't been claimed for three years." Miss Ami said while rubbing her temple.
"Hm." I murmured to show that I understood, and went back to stare at the tablet. The red marks on the map disappearing at the same moment that Miss Nagato declaring the villains had been neutralized.
Just when I thought that the danger had passed…
"New enemy detected by Lahmu. Designated as Villain F. Threat level medium." Miss Nagato said with louder voice than before.
I looked at the new red point on the map. Eh, the position was quite far. But they positioned themselves on the road that we must pass. There's no going around them, it's one-way road, unless we stop the car.
"Connecting to Kiritsugu, displaying live feed." Miss Nagato rapidly reciting without pause. "Slowing down to minimum speed, ETA to enemy range in three minutes."
I felt that the car was slowing down. The tablet displayed five persons wearing mask, showed from above in grainy video. Still, I could tell what they are carrying. WTF?
"Those are RPG!" I shouted. "What are they trying to do, killing us?"
"No." Unexpectedly, Miss Mishima was the one who answered. "The matter of Mr. Chiba working for us is public record. They expect this car to be indestructible. So, what they are aiming is…"
Miss Ami continued her sentence. "To stop the car by flipping it upside down. The explosion will create momentum for that. And the passengers will be injured or unconscious, perfect to be captured." Miss Ami glanced at Miyu-sama, and asked her, "Do you have anti-impact amulet?"
Miyu-sama frowned and said, "I have something better. But no, I don't have any to spare for you guys."
Install : Berserker
What the? There was a magical formation and some light show, and then Miyu-sama changed her appearance.
Her hair was now tied up in simple ponytail, and its color had changed into silvery white. On her wrists, dark metal bracelet decorated with fur had suddenly appeared. She declared, "In this form, I am invincible. They need a nuke to hurt me!"
"Lahmu squad intercepting newly discovered Villain G." Miss Nagato kept reporting emotionlessly, undisturbed by the supposed magical transformation.
"All other squads are too far away. We are defenseless." Miss Mishima said. "They planned this quite well, huh."
"Maybe now you realize how useful Ironman suit is?" Miyu-sama said to Miss Ami. "If you have it, you can get through this situation without injury."
"ETA, two minutes." Miss Nagato said.
"We will discuss it later," Miss Ami said in sour face. "Now we must do something about them! And no, you are not allowed to take action by yourself, ojou-sama."
Miyu-sama looked at the satellite feed and said, "Too far for facial recognition…. Nevermind. I authorize the activation of Sagitta Solis. Uhh, how is the weather?"
"Activating Sagitta Solis. Adjusting transparency of solar panel. Calculating focal point. Mana Crystal loaded, activating magic reactor. Estimated firing time, twenty seconds before enemy attack. Weather is clear, no clouds blocking the path, the sun is overhead." Miss Nagato started to say things I didn't understand, except the thing about the weather at the end.
Miss Nagato had not yet finished. "Please specify the target."
"Their weapons, destroy them all!" Miyu-sama said.
"Please be advised," Miss Nagato replied immediately. "The villains will receive severe injuries. At least the burn injury around their arms will be unavoidable."
"Who cares about that!" Miyu-sama shouted. "Give me countdown for the firing."
After that no one spoke. We were all waiting while watching the monitor, hoping that the villains' weapon got destroyed first before they fired at us. There was a small timer at the corner of the screen, counting down to zero. I assumed this was the special secret weapon firing countdown. I wanted to ask, but I knew that it was not the right time.
Twenty seconds before the countdown end, Miyu-sama suddenly started a monologue. No, it was not a monologue. It was something like an incantation.
"O you evildoer, your misdeeds shall be stopped today. I call upon the flames of the sun, burn these sinners to ashes, Sun Arrow release!"
Me: ….
There was a moment of silence. Miyu-sama started her chant too early, and she said it too fast, the timer hadn't reached zero when she finished her chant. That's why there's a gap.
And then when the countdown reached zero, the live feed from satellite cut off.
"Huh?" I stared at the tablet computer. It still showed the map, but the box where it display satellite live feed turned black.
"Optical sensor overloaded. Restoring the visual in three seconds." Miss Nagato said.
And when the satellite view came back, it showed the villains in various positions lying on the ground. It seemed that they're alive, but writhing in pain. The RPGs were not in the right shape. Did they melted down? It's too blurry to be certain.
"Villain F incapacitated. We have reached enemy attack range. No attack detected. All clear." Miss Nagato said.
"Mr. Mamoru, don't relax yet, keep using quirk until we arrive home." Miss Ami said. And then she said to Miss Mishima, "Hitomi, contact the R&D of Reverse Moon. Tell them that we will drop a sample and research data for…. Umm, high-priority project. Name: Ironman."
"If I may suggest," Miss Mishima said with a smile. "A new recruit of the research department is a specialist in robot making. Dr. Makimura Shiori, 22 years old, Quirk: Metal Psychometry. Should we recommend that she took this project as the leader?"
"Approved. Tell them to get results, and don't worry about funding." Miss Ami said to Miss Mishima. She certainly avoided to look at Miyu-sama.
And Miyu-sama also stayed silent, but she wore a smug smile, as if declaring who was the winner.
===break===
"By the way," Chiba Mamoru asked Mishima Hitomi when they had arrived at the Sakatsuki Mansion. "Did you send distress call to the pro heroes?"
"We did." Hitomi answered. "This time, and every other time too. It doesn't matter, they never come on time."
===break===
APPENDIX
Sagitta Solis
One of three superweapons installed in satellite Kiritsugu.
Camouflaged as solar panels, and actually functioned as real solar panels, the weapon used natural sunlight and converted it into a beam.
The solar panels in Kiritsugu were designed in circular manner. They could spread out and be re-positioned to catch sunlight. The shape of solar panels is unusual, they are actually convex lenses. By adjusting the permeability, it could change from solar panel to lenses.
By adjusting the position and angle, the lenses in circular structure would concentrate sunlight into one point on the earth surface 400 km below.
The Nazi Germany calculated that their proposed solar weapon, Sonnengewehr, needed a concave mirror with an area of 9 square kilometers, orbiting at 8200 km above earth, for a power to burn a city. Obviously, just several convex lenses would not be enough to be effective.
However, Kiritsugu was not a normal satellite. It was a result of science and magic.
One branch of magic was used to solve the problems.
Reinforcement.
Amplify the resistance to diffusion. Enhance the intensity. Increase the heat. The originally weak sunlight transformed into high energy laser beam.
Magic was activated by magical formula and stored magic crystal (sorcery ore). The magic will reinforce sunlight passing through the lenses.
The name meant "Arrow of the Sun" in Latin. Among the three weapons mounted on Kiritsugu, it was the fastest in deploying time, but the weakest in firepower.
===chapterend===
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AN
1. Illya killed Matou Shinji in Fate route. But in Heaven Feel route, he was killed by Sakura. Hmm, then why did Aqua accused Illya for the death of Shinji?
That must be an error in Aqua's record. The Kaleidoscope must've messed up things. Or maybe Aqua made a mistake in reading the dossier. There are a lot of possibilities, but we can cross out the one where the author remembered the event wrongly.
2. Every name/ character in this fic was referenced from another story. Just think of it as multiverse, or reincarnation.
3. Alright, now let's talk about romance subplot and pairing.
For now, there will be none of that.
There are three reasons. First, I have no capability to craft a romance story. It is my deficiency as a writer. You have to remember that I am new in this field.
Second, a character in the story is more or less the author projection of himself/ herself. The more skillful the author, the less it will be, but it will always be there. The characters will bring the author world view, opinion, tastes, experiences, or something to oppose it. Especially the main character.
Now, I am a man. I have no idea how a girl's mind work. Also, I like women as love interest. So, if you ask me to write how a girl think about romance with a man…. I can't do it. I will be rejecting the idea by nature. At least, I can't do it now, my level is too low.
There is a way to lower the difficulty, by making a story about yuri pairing. I can stomach writing a story about loving a woman. Even that is still difficult, and I need time, motivation, and effort to learn about it.
Which brought us into third reason. Illya is not a lesbian in canon. There's only yuri subtext in the spin-off Prisma Illya, and even that is still not definite. So, it will be very Out of Character for Illya to like girls.
So, rather than ruining the story with my poor writing in romance, it's better to eliminate it altogether.
So, please stop saying, "I want Illya to pair up with xxx"