Mkay, I'm back with another omake.

This time around: just a look at the ordinary people.

Cuz why not explore the boring part for once, too?

Not a lot more to say. I guess this smol 5k words Chapter might give the impression of a lot of ass-kissing going on, but meh.

I'll be doing my stuff nonetheless.

Ah yes, this does happen on the same day as the events of the previous Chapter. It's after Fuzen calmed Alya down a bit, using a "secret technique" to make her forget he wants to put her up for adoption.

So there's that.

Well, I hope ya all enjoy the read anyway and see you again down below.

Kay bye.

XXX

If there was one aspect of his work that he disliked, it would be the proximity to so many food shops.

It was almost like a temptation of sorts, the smell of so many freshly cooked dishes all crossing the corner of the street he was standing at. Most of the time he wanted to simply stand up and go order something for himself, but he managed to resist it.

He had a job to do, after all.

Looking to the side he noticed one of the ones assigned to patrol coming his way. None of them wore any sort of uniform, of course. They were not an official or recognized force. But they all knew each other, having been assigned to observe the same zone of the East District.

The patrol walked casually along the street, no different than any other civilian going about their day. And soon he passed by the man, not even looking at him.

'Nothing to report, then. Good.'

There was no need to raise suspicion within any unwanted element, after all. Their operation was meant to be secret in the end, and few people know of what they were doing. Had there been something to report the patrol would have taken a seat at the cafe opposite of him.

Then he would have used their hand-signs to relay his message. Depending on the hand and the numbers of fingers used different messages could be relayed. Of course, if there was an emergency the patrols would come and speak to him directly.

Either way, depending on the importance of the message he would either contact the runner positioned on the street behind him to go and relay the message to the higher ups or, if there was an emergency, he would go and inform the closest business owner himself.

They had a hierarchy after all.

At the very top was their very own Young Master, of course.

Just below him was old man Yamamoto, who had acted as a sort of advisor to the people of the East District for years now.

And below him were the various business owners who had bent the knee to their Young Master. All of them had been taught by the old man how to make decisions on their own for the safety of the entire District, thus why he could report directly to the closest one if the need arose.

It was a good operation, especially since they rotated so as to not have the members stick out too much in one place. Today, the man worked here. Tomorrow he would be on the other end of the District.

As for the members, there were roughly sixty of them.

They haven't been chosen at random, however. The man himself had worked as a low-ranking officer in the army of a regional lord back in the Far East for a couple of years. For years he made sure to build relationships and learned how to read people doing it.

It was how he managed to secure himself a ticket on a merchant ship and flee his war-stricken country with his family.

The patrol that just passed him by?

He previously worked as a messenger delivering letters between cities. They could count on his stamina as well as his good memory, that much was certain.

And the runner on stand-by a street away from him?

He didn't know about his past, but the look in his eyes told stories. He had seen much.

Just like that they had all been chosen because their previous occupations and skills gained over the years brought forth a greater chance for the operation to be successful.

One could question the reason for creating something like this, but it wasn't all that difficult to understand.

Even after the anarchy brought forth by Evilus all those years ago their District had yet to receive any tangible help fro the city administration. They had been left to fend for themselves, in other words.

They were not really citizens of Orario, not in the true sense of the word anyway, and as such they had been given a low priority compared to other Districts in the Dungeon City. They also lacked any real importance to the city as they did not possess any Magic Stone factories nor any real economical worth either, and so all the help Orario could spare had been directed towards such parts of the city.

They were just the District where refugees, mostly from the Far East, were placed into.

And so they were left all on their own.

The damages Evilus inflicted?

All paid for by the District's inhabitants, with reconstruction work being performed by them as well.

Compensation to the families of the ones who perished by the city's lack of diligence?

Taken care of locally, neighbour helping neighbour as best they could.

Restoration of the businesses destroyed by the mad Gods?

All taken care of by the business owners themselves with no help by the city administration.

The owners who bend the knee to their Young Master?

They were the cream of the crop, the businessmen and businesswomen with the hardest backbone in the entire city. They had managed to survive with no help whatsoever where many others would have fallen.

However, for all their willingness to make things better, they were just human in the end. None of them could stop the various shady Familia creeping their way into their District, making it their playground and acting as they so wished.

The policing force was not much help either, with how thinly spread they were throughout the whole city. And those cockroaches who moved in knew how to operate: they almost never killed anyone, keeping their priority as low as possible in the eyes of the policing force.

They had all escaped one form of slavery from their homeland just to enter into another form of it here in Orario.

'At least we were better off than Daedalus Street…'

It had finally changed however when the Young Master appeared, shortly after making his world-wide debut as the winner of the Vindictive War.

The scum who indirectly took control of the District were no more. In a quick sweep that could only be described as lightning fast, one single individual had taken care of the problem not even the policing force had been able to deal with for years.

It showed just how strong and steadfast his character was.

When he had been chosen to be part of the multi-stage plan to free those forcefully kidnapped and sold into prostitution by the Adventurers of the now disbanded Rati Familia, the man couldn't believe his eyes and ears.

Having been an officer, however low-ranking, the man had been exposed to the process of planing from his former superiors. Suffice to say, they had a good year if at least one of those plans worked halfway as intended.

And those were plans created by multiple, experienced people.

Yet there his Young Master was, no taller than the man's chest but still pulling off a plan of incredible complexity which, in the end, had worked perfectly without drawing attention.

It had felt good.

Like they could finally slap those who wronged them back for once.

The man had realized something then: they as a District had always been capable of such things. They had always had the camaraderie thanks to their society which centred around honour, even to those who were not fighters, and they always had the resources.

Lastly, they had always had a common goal: to be free of the cockroaches who called themselves Adventurers yet imposed large amounts of 'protection money' on the people and sold them off when they could not afford to pay it.

What they had lacked, however, was something or someone to unite them.

And their Young Master had done just that.

The man was aware that a lot of people would laugh at them. They would laugh at the people who choose to follow a young boy.

It was understandable, both to him and everyone else.

However, they failed to understand just how much of a heroic figure a Tsuwamono was for the people of the Far East. And besides that, they failed to see the bigger picture.

When a kingdom has two princes, why do people still choose to follow the second prince despite the first-born being the rightful heir to the throne?

It's because of the promise he may embody. It's because he may be a greater promise for a better future than the rightful heir.

And the same applied to their Young Master, as well.

He was young.

Gods, he was very young.

But he had a conviction stronger than any other, this they could see in his eyes. He had done that which others would see as too outlandish to even think about: defeated a kingdom single-handedly, cleaned a whole District of it's unwanted elements and even united the people living in it.

Thousands of people, for that matter.

Because when they followed him, they could see something which for years had been obscured from their sights: a future.

Would it be a good one?

Or a bad one?

The man could not say.

But, it was a future. And that was more than enough for most people, him included.

That is why they followed him.

And that was why the man stood at the corner of the street, keeping an eye out like many others in other parts of the District did: to lighten the load of their Young Master as much as they could, to support and help him as he had done for them.

For all his greatness he was just a child, after all. And that is why from old man Yamamoto to the man himself, everyone tried to lighten the load he took upon his shoulders.

'...We're not that different from a mafia, are we? As nothing we do is official or acknowledged…'

Well, be that as it may be, the man had no regrets. He was doing his part and also getting paid for it. And unlike his previous occupations he felt like this time around, his work had a purpose.

Indeed, things were far better now than-

"Ah." His line of thought stopped as he looked to his right, further up the street, and noticed the dignified face of his Young Master.

He was drawing closer to him, holding a bag filled with what looked to be Jagamarukun close to his chest and walking side by side with a black haired little girl eating one such Jagamarukun. The man had seen the girl before, always in the company of his Young Master.

While he did not know who she was it was obvious that his Young Master cared for her, and so he had already made a mental note to keep an eye out on her if he ever noticed her walking alone on the streets.

As he drew ever closer the man stepped away from the wall he was leaning on and bowed his head as Fuzen was within close proximity. "I greet the Young Master."

"Ah, hello. Thanks for your hard work." Fuzen replied with a light bow of himself.

"Are you out on business, Young Master?"

"Not really. Just a walk to a certain location. I guess it could count as patrolling, as well."

The man nodded, already knowing what his next words should be. "Then, may I accompany you on your walk, Young Master?"

"...I don't see a reason as to why not…" He looked over to the girl munching on the potato to his side. "What about you, Alya?"

"Hm? Alya is fine with either."

With that out of the way the man took Fuzen's left side, making sure to walk one step behind him. Before that however he made a hand sign to the staff inside the cafe opposite of them. They too were part of the organization, and despite not being active members they nonetheless helped with information and relaying messages.

Noticing the Young Master by his side one of the waiters understood what was going on and nodded: he would contact the runner located a street away so he could take over the man's spot until he came back. That way someone would be there if any of the patrols had something to relay.

With that off his mind the man continued the walk with Fuzen and the girl he just found out was called Alya. As for his reason to accompany them, well...While he knew from old man Yamamoto that the Young Master tried to involve himself as much as possible in the affairs of the District, it was only reasonable that he would not know everyone by name nor their faces.

By accompanying him he could introduce any patrols or other watchers like himself if necessary.

"...You are…" he took a moment to think but Fuzen said the man's full name, surprising the adult with his knowledge. Counting today he had only spoken to his Young Master three times so far. And yet, he knew his name. "Or am I wrong?"

"Not at all, Young Master. That is indeed my name."

"I see. Then, is there anything to report?"

"No. Everything is going well thanks to the Young Master." He noticed the boy look over at him for a moment before shaking his head. "There is nothing on the streets that require your attention, Young Master."

"No signs of Adventurers being up to something?"

"No. We always get informed by the guards at the entrances to the District about any Deities and Adventurers who enter, but they are all on the list of neutral Familia you gave us. We do keep a close eye on them but they just come here to eat, or buy groceries."

"Hmm…"

The man pondered whatever on whatever to question the Young Master about the long look on his face for a couple of moments. In the end he decided on it, since this too was part of his job. "Young Master, is there something on your mind?"

"...By now the Pleasure District and it's branches beyond Orario should have realized that all the women we freed were- Hm?" He stopped mid-sentence as the young girl to his other side pulled on his arm before holding up both of her hands. His Young Master sighed under his breath and took a Jagamarukun out of the bag, placing it in her hands.

The girl then quickly went back to munching happily on her snack. "As I was saying, they should have become aware that the women were not bought by the wealthy merchants you all disguised yourself as, but that they have been returned to the District. It's worrying that they have yet to make a move."

The man nodded after a moment. If you were having a discussion with the Young Master you quickly forgot that he was just a child, with his deep insight and mature way of talking. Only his youthful voice made the man realize that he was not, in fact, talking to an adult. "Perhaps they are fine with our misdirection, as they have been paid for releasing them to us?"

"...That's naive." The boy shook his head. "If they realized that much, what stops them from kidnapping my people again and demand the same amount of money for their release? I'd be an endless loop of profit for them."

The man hummed in agreement. That was something he too had pondered on a while ago. Still, he was surprised to hear that his Young Master was thinking the same. 'He really is special…'

They took a left at the next corner, leaving the street they were on and moving towards the centre of the District. "Then, should I send someone over to the Pleasure District to check things out, Young Master?"

"No. I'll take care of that. We do have someone who is really good at leaving no traces behind them, after all."

He had no idea who that might possibly be, but the man simply nodded. If his Young Master said he would take care of it, then it was already taken care of.

"...What about you all? Are you- What?" He looked over to the girl once more pulling on his sleeve.

"Jagamarukun."

"...Don't eat so fast, you'll upset your stomach."

"Jagamarukun! Gimme!" The girl repeated as she puffed her cheeks at him. The man would not deny it, she was a very cute child.

"...Haaa…" Fuzen sighed in defeat and handed her one more snack. "Eat slower or you won't get another one."

She simply smiled happily as she took a bite out of her snack. "Mhm!"

"...As I was saying, what about you all? How is work for the watchers like you?"

The question brought a smile to the man's face. "Work is going well, Young Master. We are well organized and we can take days off regularly, too."

"...I see. What about payment? It hasn't been long since the organization started running. Do you require more Valis for your contribution?"

With every minute he talked to the boy the man found himself smiling more and more. The young boy half his size was, after all, his boss and also the one paying for him and the others out of his pocket.

What employee doesn't enjoy being asked that question by their boss?

"...No, Young Master. My payment ensures a living for my family, and I have enough left to buy toys for my daughter. It is enough."

He had cleansed the District of those Familia who only hurt them, not to mention all the money he invested in their District. Lastly, he even hired people like him to keep an eye out for trouble...A raise didn't sound bad, but how could he ask for one at this point?

"I see...Then again, Captain Finn always said to never listen to just one opinion...Hmmm…" After a few seconds of silence his Young Master looked over at him, saying his name. "Let someone else take over your duties tomorrow. Instead, go to all the patrols, watchers and runners and get their opinions on the questions I asked you before: if they have any complaints about their work, as well as if they think they require more payment. When you are done submit your report to Yamamoto. He'll send it my way afterwards."

"I understand, Young Master." The man replied with a bow. In truth he already knew what the answers of most of his co-workers would be, but it was a task assigned to him by the Young Master: he would not question it.

They cut through an alley to the street parallel to theirs and walked for a while longer, with just a bit of talk and the munching sounds of the girl to break the silence. Before long however they stumbled on a very common sight within the District, however.

"It's the Odd Jobs, Young Master."

"Mhm."

The Odd Jobs were a group of five youths who were tasked by Fuzen to take care of the whole district. They had been a group of thieves prior to this: orphans who took to stealing to survive. The oldest among them was roughly sixteen summers old, the youngest...around the same age as their Young Master.

They had been caught by the District's Guardian, Raiju, a while ago while stealing. Instead of handing them over to the authorities or even just cutting off one of their hands for their crimes, the Young Master had decided to put them to work instead.

And so he asked around and found an old, semi-retired construction worker whom he hired to act as the mentor to the five former thieves, teaching them the ropes and pointing out their mistakes.

Only problem was…

"Do you shit heads only have eyes so it won't rain inside your skulls?!" The old man yelled as he grabbed two of the boys by the face with his meaty hands and lifted them up. "You call this pavement?! I can lose half my wrinkly foot in the space between those stones! Start over!"

From a distance the man could see that they were working on the stone pavement of the street, replacing the old stones with new ones. Their mentor was not pleased by their work however and threw the two to the ground.

'...I don't know if this is better than prison or not…'

As they approached the Odd Jobs took notice of the Young Master and quickly lined up by the side of the street, all of them performing a perfect bow at forty-five degrees angle. "We, the Odd Jobs, greet the Young Master!"

Indeed, just like the man himself and many others for that matter, Fuzen Katsumi was their boss. After they had been caught the boy personally told them what they would be doing for the foreseeable future: work to improve the East District.

Anyone could reach out to them, be they civilians or business owners, and ask for help. Whatever it would be repairing a fence, fixing up a wall or patching up a roof, they had to accept any job and see it to completion under the watchful eye of their mentor. Besides that they were also tasked with patrolling the streets and looking out for anything that needed fixing.

For city property like streets, sign posts, public parks, benches and the likes the five had Fuzen's permission to start repairing without notifying anyone, only submitting a report of their repairs to him afterwards.

For private property they had to seek out the owner, introduce themselves, make the owner aware of whatever needed repairs and then offer their free services.

The five were not allowed to get paid, after all.

In a way, one could say working for free was part of their punishment. However, as far as the man was aware their Young Master paid them a minimum wage on a bi-weekly period. The cost of the materials required for the repairs they performed was submitted to Fuzen himself by their mentor at the end of each month which was paid out of his pocket, and depending on how much they fixed up his District a small raise was possible for the five, month by month.

Lastly, as they had been orphans and living on the streets, Fuzen gave them an abandoned house he owned on the outskirts of the East District for them to use. It was an old building and halfway falling apart: patching it up so they wouldn't freeze in the winter was part of their punishment, as well.

"How is work?"

"Yes, Young Master!" The oldest one replied. "Work is going well!"

His mentor, however, was not of the same mind. In the blink of an eye he wrapped his hands around the youth's throat and began to strangle him. "The hell it is you turd! That fence last week took you two days longer to repair than needed, you shit head! Is that what you call 'work is going well'?!"

"W-Workplace h-harassment…" The boy managed to mutter as he was slowly turning blue.

"Look at the Young Master! He's younger than you and he can help with building a restaurant from the ground up!"

"That is correct. I have worked myself in constructions a couple of years ago." Fuzen replied.

Indeed, there had been a time when he had enough and ran away from home, from the sword that was now hanging at his hip.

And to survive he had been required to work, his Falna thankfully making up for what he lacked in size with increased strength and endurance. It is how he had gained knowledge that qualified him for at least the role of a helper on any construction site.

However...they didn't need to know that.

"I do think such skills are important for everyone to possess at least at a basic level, so make sure to learn well." He voiced and the five bowed to him once more.

"Yes, Young Master!"

"Mhm. We will leave now-...I told you not to eat too fast." He said with a sigh as he looked over at the girl once again pulling on his sleeve. However, she was still munching on a snack.

Alya then pointer a finger towards the line of five boys all lined up. "Mister, they look hungry. Jagamarukun?"

"...They do, don't they?" He voiced a second later and approached the group, pressing one Jagamarukun into each of their hands, including their mentor. Once he was done he made a head sign towards Alya.

"Ah...We thank you for your kindness, Young Miss!"

"Mhm! Jagamarukun is the best, isn't it?"

"...Eclairs are better, duh..." Muttered Fuzen as the group of three moved on. Within a could of minutes they had reached what would count as the centre of the district, the main street filled with shops and with the most activity in this part of the city.

As they passed by most people at work as well as the passer-byers nodded their head ever so slightly at the young boy passing them by. They did not bow completely as that was his preference, but it was still within their nature to show their respect in at least a small way.

"...This is why I don't like the main street...Haaa…"

The man smiled as he heard those words. "It is only natural to show our respect to someone like you, Young Master."

"I didn't do anything that spectacular, though…" The man noticed what he could only describe as a guilty look on his Young Master's face as he said those words. For what reason, he did not know.

But in his mind, he was far too humble.

He had done more than just spectacular things, after all.

And yet, his respect for the young boy only increased. 'It's not everyday you see Adventurers not boosting about their own achievements. He really is special, through and through…'

The man was ashamed of it, but he often found himself thinking how nice it would be if his Young Master would show the time of day to his daughter. She was only about two years younger than him, after all. And while they were children now, both of them would grow up in time.

He knew it was wrong: both of them were free to choose whoever they wanted. But that is what a father did. They worried about who their kids would end up with. But with his Young Master he would have nothing to worry about.

After all, if he was already this respectable a boy, how much better would he be once he reached young adulthood?

'One more thing to look forward to for the future.'

"We are here." Fuzen's statement shook the man out of his thought, stopping to avoid bumping into his Young Master. He followed Fuzen's line of sight and looked to his right.

That is when a frown found it's way on his face.

"Do you...perhaps have the wrong address, Young Master?"

"...I know my own District. I do not have the 'wrong address'."

"Ah. Apologies, Young Master."

"Think nothing of it. This is our stop. You may return to your duties."

"Understood. Then I wish you a good day, Young Master."

"Mhm. Likewise." He nodded before looking over to the young girl, the two of them climbing up the couple steps before pushing the door to the shop open.

The man took his leave and returned to his post. It had been a good day, getting to spend a part of it with his Young Master and learn just a little bit more about him.

It was good.

His work was good.

And being part and contributing to the East District was also good.

The future, too, looked pretty good as well, he was sure of that now.

And yet...

'...Why did he enter a tattoo shop, though?'

Roughly six hours later he once again saw his Young Master passing him by at the spot they met earlier carrying the now sleepy young girl on his back, but he did not dare ask him that question.

XXX

If girls be getting wet for Bell after he saves them just once, why can't people simply be (realistically) grateful and show respect to my own boy, that was my question to myself before I started writing this omake.

It's something I downplayed a lot until now, but he do be influencing the lives of a lot of people.

Positively for those living in the East District, negatively for those who live in Al-Dale, Altena.

One way or another, he still be influencing people's lives.

And I wanted to show that in this omake.

Also why I kept the man who accompanied him nameless: because that man could be replaced with almost anyone from the District and not a lot would change, to be honest.

His age might be a big downside to some readers, I'm aware of that much. After all, you don't see adults showing too much respect to an 11 years old brat in our world, but this is still fantasy over here.

So don't sweat the small stuff -_-

Be that as it may be, all this stuff doesn't help my boy grasp the Heavens so he doesn't think too much on it. He does know the stuff he achieved is not exactly easy, as not a lot of people had done them before, but at the same time it's not helpful to his goal so he simply...well, he doesn't think them important enough to mention or to be mentioned by others.

He be weird like that.

As with all other things, be they omake or collabs, everything is canon and that is no different for this one, either.

Just to make sure I put this out there.

Anyway, this is about it.

Hope you enjoyed the short omake and see ya all in the next Chapter.

Kay bye.

PS: Jagamarukun -_-

That was the "secret technique" Fuzen used to make Alya forget she's up for adoption.

Cuz he can be that kind of smart at times, too.