CH 59

Having returned home and after getting changed, I made my way to a building not far from Avenue Vancour, the city’s main thoroughfare.

This building’s first and second floors were filled to the brim with brothels, but the basement housed a modest, seemingly off-the-wall establishment under a different administration, with a hanging sign that read “Cuffs”. However, being a teacher, I would rather the store be relocated to a different structure at once.

A hefty stone door was opened after descending a narrow staircase that resembled a hidden passageway, and the familiar dimly illuminated interior emerged.

“Welcome―oh, it’s you.”

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

Upon my entrance, the owner of the establishment flashed me a sullen look. In contrast to his receding bangs, he was an elderly man with a well-groomed beard.

Hansa Biaggi was the name he goes by. His name was likewise on the wanted list, and he was a veritable villain like myself.

“You haven’t been here for a while, and then all of a sudden you show up. Since there are only a few regulars here, instead of frequenting the brothels upstairs, why don’t you drop by here?”

“I don’t have that kind of money to waste on women. Besides, I don’t grasp the significance of spending a fortune on a woman.”

Had I chosen to do such a thing, it would have been much more profitable to kidnap a woman from the city and violate her.

Hansa, nevertheless, appeared to view it in a different light.

“Oh, you don’t have any trouble getting a woman, do you? Is your biological structure functioning properly? Let me tell you, when I was younger, my looks were hundreds of times more attractive and appealing than yours.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you started setting up a telescope. I know it’s compact and easy to hold, but you must have one of the digits wrong.”

“Listen to me.”

My first encounter with Hansa was when Matthias introduced me to this store. Even Matthias, who can kill a magician with one fist, was destined to be constrained as long as he was unable to employ magic. To make up for such restrictions, he would sporadically visit this “Cuffs” store, although in my case, I seldom ever made a purchase here.

“…Well, forget it. More importantly, you brought that thing with you today, didn’t you? Since I haven’t received the product that has served as my central pillar for more than a month, my business is on the edge of collapsing. What do you expect me to do without your products?”

“Why don’t you sell these merchandise that have been lying around your business for more than a month?”

“Nobody’s going to buy that junk,” Hansa answered as if he weren’t the store’s proprietor. “So, are you sure it’s in order?”

“Well, of course.”

After digging around in my right pocket, I dumped a handful of magic crystal stones down on the counter.

Hansa then hurriedly picked them up.

“I-Idiot! What if they get cracked!”

“No, it won’t crack that simply.”

“Even so, you should handle them with more care!”

The magic crystal stones were picked up by Hansa as though he treasured them far more than I, the creator, do. I was inclined to play a small joke on him after observing his visibly stressed-out facial expression.

“…While I am at it, I might as well throw in a magic crystal stone from my left pocket too.”

“Ah, stop it, you idiot!”

Jingling jingling.

When I finally picked up all the magic crystal stones that had tumbled, the magic crystal stones in my left hand were scattered in a spectacular heap.

With an uncharacteristically shrieking voice, Hansa desperately chased after the magic crystal stones, which were bouncing and rolling in all directions.

“Each one of the magic crystal stones cost no less than 100,000 Fanta! You, since you scattered them yourself, pick them up right away!”

“…No, it’s surprisingly invigorating to glance down and see others painstakingly picking up the things I myself have thrown away.”

“What in heaven’s name are you being so delighted for!? Pick up what’s laying around over there; I have absolutely no interest in your unredeemable propensity!”

“Aye, aye.”

Anything more than that and he will be really pissed off, which prompted me to maturely obey his words. A whip was to be used sparingly when it came to discipline. From my daily training experience, I had a solid grasp of the notion that excessively abundant punishment was unacceptable.

After several minutes of searching for the stones, I finally retrieved all of them and grasped them all over again.

“Now, let’s move on to the second round, shall we?”

“Are you a demon!? If you are planning to do this, you’re going to have to pick it up on your own!”

“…Seriously, Hansa, having you along is awful.”

The solemnity in Hansa’s eyes led me to meekly place the magic crystal stones on the counter.

“Good grief, I thought you haven’t dropped by here in a while, and this is what happened…”

“With both Mr. Matthias and Ms. Xenia gone, the only person who will indulge my antics like this is Mr. Hansa.”

“…Tsk.”

Hansa ruffled his thinning hair and made no further comment.

In reality, Eto and Hansa were the only two people who had any knowledge of my true identity now that those two were gone. While I still harbored lingering reservations about Eto, I had no qualms at all about Hansa, since he perfectly understood and tolerated my disposition and was very receptive to my company. In terms of whom I can talk to with total frankness, it would not be an exaggeration to proclaim that Hansa had now remained the sole person with me to communicate.

“We have squandered a lot of time on trivial matters. Let’s get down to business. Are you sure the number is eleven?”

“Yes. And the quality is the customary level.”

“…I see, that’s for sure.”

Hansa nodded cryptically after verifying the information on the magic crystal stone with “See-through.” then abruptly lifted his head.

“But I haven’t actually heard anything about you since Matthias’ passing. How did you manage to amass so many of them?”

“Oh, I simply stumbled upon ‘something’ that was a fine acquisition.”[i]

“Something you picked up?”

“Yes, a fine acquisition.”

With a beam, I informed him that.

The “fine acquisition” was “Hunter” that Fina had defeated that day and left unattended.

To have Soul Eater wrapped things up by the time Kaguya came to arrest Hunter was a bit of a stretch, but I made it in time, albeit barely.

And, as one would expect from a rate A wanted person. With only his single spirit, I was able to accumulate 12 magic crystal stones. After that, I kidnapped two more fifth-class magicians and converted them to spirit as well, but even with the two of them combined, it was only equivalent to four magic crystal stones.

Had Alice been devoured as well, she would have amassed nearly twice that amount. It was unfortunate even though there was nothing I could do about it.

——————

T/N:

[i] The word used here is 拾い“者”. It’s a trick word when hearing it unless viewed in words. The next sentence said by Hansa is  拾いもの. Both are different words but with the same pronunciation. The first one means something like picking a person and the latter one means picking up an item. So Hansa is unaware of what he meant. The part about fine acquisition is just made-up words, cause it’s impossible to translate this sentence together. “Someone” and “Something” in English are distinctly different in hearing it after all, no point in translating following that format anyway.