Chapter 285: Chapter 283: Discussing a Raise Hurts Feelings_1
By the time I reached the doorstep of my home, it was already past five in the afternoon.
Ayatsuki Ayaka reluctantly let go of my hand and waved. "Aozawa, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow."
"Yeah."
I smiled back at her. Time sure flies, I mused. It’s already Saturday.
Only the last day of the week remained. Tonight, I planned to go into the sea, transform into a water element, and see if I could catch a whale to play with.
"I had a lot of fun today," Ayatsuki Ayaka emphasized, her large eyes blinking with a hint of anticipation.
Knowing what she was thinking, I raised my hand and patted her head. "I also had a great time walking with you."
"Hehe, goodbye."
Ayatsuki Ayaka turned and walked toward her front door. She glanced back to see me still standing outside, seemingly waiting for her to enter before I left.
This feeling filled Ayatsuki Ayaka’s heart with sweetness. She smiled again and waved her small hand once more.
Then, turning the handle, she opened her door to find, to her surprise, three pairs of women’s shoes in the entryway. Saeko and the others must have gathered at my place early, Ayatsuki Ayaka figured, ready to grill me on the results of my date.
Ayatsuki Ayaka had already thought about how to boast to them. Though she had shed her persona as the Hot Girl of the Ocean Empress, old habits die hard.
She was accustomed to embellishing her tales of conquest, exaggerating them to make for a better story.
Closing the door behind her with a flick of her hand, Ayatsuki Ayaka slipped off her shoes. Without putting on her fluffy slippers, she rushed toward her bedroom, her feet clad only in garter stockings padding against the floor.
"Maru, Saeko, Kaoru!"
Opening the door, she found her three friends playing with her stuffed toys. "Listen, everyone! Today’s date was a huge success!"
"Your happy face says it all." Takahashi Saeko put down the penguin plush and took a sip of the tea her sister Ayaka had brewed. Smiling, she said, "Tell us all the details."
Ayatsuki Ayaka closed the door behind her and began to brag.
Outside, Ayaka tiptoed closer with a bag of chips, then squatted down to eavesdrop on her sister’s romantic exploits.
「The next day.」
In a medical research lab at Tokyo University, Emily had just completed a full-body check-up and was leaving the examination room, her steps heavy with fatigue.
The sunlight outside was bright, painting a vibrant, flourishing scene, but she couldn’t muster any interest in it.
The only good news Ito Otome could offer was that the Z Drug had not spread but continued to lie dormant within her body.
However, what concerned Emily more was that Ito Otome, even after receiving the relevant data, hadn’t immediately found a cure. She only said she was "looking for a way to crack it."
Emily believed Ito Otome’s claim that she would have a solution once she got the data was just a way to console herself.
The talk of "no progress in the short term" likely meant that a specific antidote would not be available for a very long time.
Even if one were eventually found, she wasn’t sure she would live to see that day.
When I avoid check-ups, I feel like there’s nothing wrong with me. But as soon as I get one, it feels like everything, everywhere, is off. Even if the current data says I’m healthy, this heavy burden always presses on my mind, making my body feel exceptionally tired. Even the work of pursuing Dio has become somewhat exhausting.
Her listless demeanor made Katerina, who was nearby, concerned. "Don’t work today," Katerina couldn’t help but say. "Take a rest."
"Rest? But what would I even do? I can’t just lie in bed eating snacks and scrolling through TikTok or YouTube like before. That would be wasting what little time I have left." Emily shook her head. Her time was already limited, and she couldn’t afford to waste it. She had to do something meaningful. "The most meaningful thing right now is anything related to Dio," she declared. "I have to keep working."
"As long as you find happiness in those activities, it’s not a waste of time." Katerina rarely contradicted Emily, but she felt it was necessary now to urge her to rest properly.
A smile touched Emily’s lips. "Katerina, you’re being exceptionally gentle today."
"I’ve always been this way."
"Strange. You have the face of a muscle Barbie, so why are you so considerate in everyday life?"
Hearing Emily’s teasing, Katerina rolled her eyes and said drily, "Personality can be changed; family genes can’t. Compared to my mother, I’m already quite normal."
"Speaking of which, I’ve never seen a picture of your mother. What does she look like?"
"Go to the zoo and look at a gorilla. Then you can imagine her face."
Emily pictured a gorilla’s face, then mentally added Katerina’s blonde hair and physique. "HAHA!" She burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "Katerina, I never knew you could joke like that!"
Katerina replied, expressionless, "I’m not joking. That’s what my mother looks like."
The smile gradually faded from Emily’s face, her expression turning somber. She patted Katerina’s thigh. "Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that."
"It’s fine. My mother’s appearance is quite popular among mercenaries. Strength is beauty—that’s the consensus for most of them." Katerina added, "As a partner, she’s extremely reliable."
"A partner, huh." Emily let out a long sigh, her mind inevitably drifting back to her first meeting with Katerina. For someone of her own petite stature, encountering tall men wasn’t unusual, but Katerina was the first woman she’d met who was so statuesque.
Strong, silent, and dependable.
"Come to think of it, we’ve been working together for many years now," Emily said.
"Yeah. All these years, I’ve been playing both dad and mom, charging into the fray out there, and you only pay me one salary. Isn’t that a bit much?" Katerina suddenly shifted the conversation to her pay.
Emily gave an embarrassed smile. "When we have some free time, let’s discuss giving you a raise."
"You said the same thing last time, didn’t you?"
"Did I?" Emily feigned a poor memory, patting her forehead. "I’m getting old; some things I don’t remember very clearly. Let’s not talk about that. Let’s go to the dessert shop and buy some sweets for afternoon tea."
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to give Katerina a raise, but she was too extravagant with her own spending and had no money in her account to do so.
「Okubo Police Department. Interrogation room.」
Morimoto Chiyoda looked coldly at the man sitting opposite her.
He had a saintly, ascetic face, complete with a goatee, though his modern clothes somewhat spoiled the immortal aura.
Morimoto Chiyoda’s voice was icy. "Hagaushi," she said, "our special task force allocated three hundred million Yen for you to develop an elixir of immortality. Instead of concocting it here in Japan, were you planning to take the money and flee abroad?"
As she finished, her soft voice carried an undeniable authority, and her beautiful eyes were as sharp as blades.
The Hagaushi sitting opposite her was not the least bit flustered. With a composed face, he said, "Miss Morimoto, I need to take a flight to China precisely to concoct the elixir for you. Don’t you know? Creating an elixir requires the right time and place. It can only be successfully refined in a location with sufficient spiritual energy."
"Why didn’t you tell us this before you started the refinement process?" A cold smile touched Morimoto Chiyoda’s lips. In their quest to find a way to Paradise, the special task force had decided to try methods from various religions.
Since the Taoist method of achieving immortality through elixirs was the easiest to replicate, the task force wanted to try refining an elixir first to see if it was effective. For this, they had sought out the renowned Hagaushi. In Japan, where Taoism had little influence, he was arguably the most famous Taoist priest.
"Miss Morimoto, do you not understand that heavenly secrets must not be revealed? If I were to explain the entire process of refining an elixir in detail, what good would that be! The key isn’t the steps or the ingredients, but that mystical spiritual energy. Do you understand spiritual energy?" Hagaushi, looking deeply distressed, slammed his hand on the table. "It’s all your fault!" he declared. "Now I can’t refine the elixir for you. Once heavenly secrets are divulged, the spiritual energy naturally disperses."
"Do you take me for an idiot?" The chill on Morimoto Chiyoda’s face intensified.
Hagaushi wore an expression of helpless resignation and sighed. "Ah, it’s impossible to reason with you laypeople. If you had done even a little research, you would know that it’s not just me; all Taoist priests since ancient times have adhered to the principle that heavenly secrets must not be revealed. Your suspicion caused me to divulge these secrets. If I could still refine elixirs for you now, then I would truly be a fraud."
Morimoto Chiyoda had to admire the con artist’s nerve. Even at this stage, he was stubbornly refusing to admit any wrongdoing. Losing patience, she said coldly, "Fine. Spend the rest of your life in jail, guarding your heavenly secrets."
"I didn’t swindle your money! You were the ones who compromised the heavenly secrets! Why should I be locked up?!" Hagaushi was no longer calm; he hadn’t even spent the money he’d scammed. "At worst, I’ll return your money!"
"Too late." Morimoto Chiyoda stood up and walked towards the door, unwilling to let him off. He had dared to deceive even the special task force; if he wasn’t taught a lesson, he wouldn’t understand the severity of his actions.
Morimoto Chiyoda strode out of the interrogation room, ignoring Hagaushi’s increasingly panicked shouts behind her.
BANG. The door closed, and the world fell silent.
Morimoto Chiyoda walked outside.
A petite, blonde girl approached, holding up a milk tea. "You look all worked up. Have something sweet to get some sugar."
"Thanks." Morimoto Chiyoda managed a smile and took the milk tea. "If the old me could see myself now," she said, "I’d probably curse myself for being a fool, believing in someone like that."
"It just shows how desperate our enemy is, making us clutch at any straw." Emily sipped her milk tea, a smile on her face. "Leave Saint Maria Cathedral to me tomorrow."
"Alright. Then I’ll visit the master at Sensoji Temple." Morimoto Chiyoda shrugged, settling their plans for the next day. Discussing the classics with those so-called masters always yielded enigmatic answers. They sounded useful, but on reflection, they seemed useless. Then, on further reflection, they seemed useful again.
In short, mysticism was beyond words.