Chapter 97 - Fake It 'Til You Make It

"So. What's it gonna be?" Fumio asks as he presses his katana to the Fourth Elder's neck a bit harder.

Inside however, he feels nervous. He has already realized the holes in the plan he made with an agitated heart, and that him taking hostages will not work as well as he thought. He can only try intimidation using his invisibility to make the Hasegawa think that he can take their lives whenever and wherever he pleases.

Fourth Elder meanwhile, is getting tempted to grab the sword with his bare-hand, and perform a maneuver that will remove himself from his predicament. Ultimately, he decides against it, knowing that it has been years since he stretched his body, much less fight. He has also not seen the extent of Fumio's physical prowess. He can only ask the First Elder and Gorou for a rescue with his eyes.

"My good man… We get what you're saying. Please, put your weapon away. We can't exactly talk things out like this." The First Elder asks Fumio.

Fumio nods and *clack* sheathes his sword and slowly but deliberately goes to sit on the chair that is the most distant from the men.

While doing so, he also guides small amounts of sleeping powder to the Second Elder, The Third Elder, and Hideki's noses, using his spiritual energy to prevent them from waking up anytime soon.

Even though he put away his sword and things have turned civil, his alertness is still at an all-time high, watching every movement of the men through the corner of his vision, while circulating spiritual energy in his brain.

"I-I see that you're a fellow swordsman as well. That's a very nice blade." The Fourth Elder compliments Fumio's katana.

"And it also appears to be a rune weapon." The fear he felt earlier allowed him to take ingrain the details of the Fumio's katana in his mind.

"Well, thank you. But too bad, it's too clean for my taste. Demons are rare after all. A katana is not a katana without a bit of rust in it, don't you think?" Fumio smirks at the Fourth Elder.

The Fourth Elder swallows nervously at the subtle threat.

"Then I wish you luck that you might use your swords on demons more than humans." He answers without much thought.

The First Elder and Gorou almost slap their faces in embarrassment at the Fourth Elder's show of weakness.

Right before the First Elder seceded his position as Clan Elder, the brothers Fourth Elder and Gorou, both being peak B-Class in their prime, were the frontrunners to take his place. Ultimately, Fourth Elder lost the race due to his inferior mental tenacity and extreme conservativity.

"Incredible…" Fumio on the other hand, is shocked at the Fourth Elder's words, but disguises it with a sarcastic compliment.

"May I ask… Were your … subordinates superiori?" Gorou asks.

Fumio winces at the question. Even though he made his story up, his heart aches for his non-existent subordinates that their worth as humans is being coldly based on their superiori abilities by Gorou.

"They were. Both Thinkers, one C-Class, one a peak D-Class. Brilliant people." Fumio says in a cold tone. He decides to speak the language of Gorou to move his plan along.

The Hasegawa men on the other hand, feel their stomachs churn. They were hoping that Fumio would say E-Class.

"How do you like your compensation?" The First Elder asks.

Fumio then takes out the small 10 mm sized black marble from under the leather strap of his watch, the one given by Red, and shows it to the group.

"You all know what this is?" He asks them.

The Hasegawa men take a few seconds before all coming up with the same conclusion.

"D-demon core." They eye the demon core greedily.

"Yes. Belonged to a Scamp I recently hunted down." Fumio confirms as he pulls a bit of energy from it.

The three men see the black pellet glow weakly at its center, confirming further the authenticity of it.

"Ooops." Fumio stops taking in the energy from the core, and the glow in the demon core also stops.

"Force of habit…" He adds to make the men think that a demon core is not that valuable to him.

To his satisfaction, he sees the men wince at his wasteful action.

"Scamp level demons are around E to D-Class, no?" He then asks.

It is easy for the Hasegawa men to know what Fumio is insinuating.

"I'm sorry, but… We haven't possessed a demon core for decades now… Much more two of them." The First Elder says.

Fumio hears a disappointment in the man's voice.

"…" He then stares at the First Elder in the eyes as an act of deciphering the truth.

In actuality, he is not surprised that the Hasegawa do not have demon cores. He is simply making it appear as though he is using his imaginary dead subordinates as a way to extort the Hasegawa Clan.

Fumio's serious silence and stare however, makes the Hasegawa men tensed.

"Decades huh… There are still clans who do not have demon cores these days?" Fumio feigns skepticism.

His skepticism embarrasses the Hasegawas, while also giving them a hint that his background is at least more powerful than the Hasegawa that he is able to say such remark.

'We really don't have one, you lavish f*ck!' The three men would be cursing at Fumio right now if they feel a bit safer in Fumio's presence.

"I'm telling the truth. We don't even know where to find one." The First Elder adds, maintaining eye contact with Fumio despite the fear starting to creep up in him.

"Mr. Fool took away our demon core before we even had the chance to see it." The Fourth Elder says bitterly.

'You entitled f*ck' Fumio curses in his mind.

"*AHERM*" Gorou is displeased at Fourth Elder's words.

"Well… That's disappointing." Fumio grunts.

"I can't simply leave either… I haven't gotten my compensation yet." He says as he puts the demon core back to its receptacle under the leather strap of his watch.

"I want to make your son suffer, Gorou-sama, but even I have my limits in being disrespectful." He then looks at the unconscious Hideki, but still watching the three men in the corner of his vision.

With Fumio's eyes off of them, the three men exchange gazes, as if conversing mentally.

Just a few seconds later, they exchange smirks.

"What about this?" First Elder calls out to Fumio.

"How about… replacing your men with one of our own?" He asks.

Fumio gets hopeful, but quickly wears a stone-cold expression on his face.

"Excuse me?" He asks in an offended tone.

"Please, listen first. We have a talented young woman with quite the potential. She might be a high-tier C-Class when she reaches her prime. She might be useful to you." The First Elder offers.

Fumio is getting excited and he circulates spiritual energy to his organs and his brain to not show it.

"What is her ability?" He asks with a fake dismissive tone.

"She is just physically enhanced, but she her physical injury recovery is very fast compared to the average superioris of her kind and level. She is also a good martial artist." Gorou explains this time, knowing about Sayuri more than the two elders.

"Tsk. What do I need a meat shield for?" Fumio clicks his tongue.

His reaction disappoints the elders.

"Is she smart, at least?" He asks however.

"Y-YeS!" Gorou can barely suppress his excitement.

"She used to manage two of our small businesses. She also has some secretarial skills. She might not be a genius, but she's reliable."

"Huh…" Fumio fakes a pondering expression.

"How old is she?" He then asks.

"26 years old." 

"Tsk… Too old to train." Fumio shakes his head.

"How long has she been managing your businesses?" He asks.

"Since she was 19." Gorou reports.

"Did she manage to grow those businesses?" Fumio asks.

"Ehh…" Gorou's face freezes.

"Heh~!" Fumio scoffs.

"But she never lost us money. That's why she maintained her position for that long." Gorou argues.

"Fair enough." Fumio shrugs, but still showing great hesitation in his face.

"She's the best compensation we can offer to you, young man. Aside from that, we'll have to raise this personal grievance to an inter-clan issue." The First Elder interrupts.

"Not to mention your impolite actions and your intrusion." The Fourth Elder says.

At this point, Gorou and the elders no longer doubt that Fumio is indeed looking for compensation. Based on what they've seen on Fumio's actions and words, they can only arrive at that conclusion.

"Will you even have the chance to raise this issue to others?" Fumio caresses the hilt of his katana.

"No one even knows that I'm here." He continues to say as he drums his fingers on it .

The older men are reminded of Fumio's display earlier, and they settle down with a grumble.

"But worry not. Whoever she is, she would do…" Fumio nods.

The three men are surprised before relaxing.

"But…" Fumio stands up from his chair, making the three's butts clench again.

The next moment, they can only watch helplessly as Fumio goes to *crack* breaks one of Hideki's legs.

"I better see this little devil in a cast for the next month, or else…" Fumio tells Gorou in particular.

"I would want to restrain him myself. Don't worry." Gorou, despite his resentment, swallows it.

"Good. Now how long does it take before she's ready to leave?" Fumio asks.

"Would you like to stay for lunch?" The First Elder invites him.

"After our impressions with each other? I'll have to refuse." Fumio scoffs.

"I see…" The First Elder is more than relieved that his invitation is refused.

"Gorou, go make the girl a banishment record. Fourth Elder, go help her pack up." He can only order.

"No one leaves the room. Why don't we chat for a while instead while your subordinates do the work?" Fumio stops the two brothers from leaving.

"Isn't this a bit excessive?" Gorou asks, his patience running thin.

"I simply want to minimize my chances of drawing Hasegawa blood." Fumio looks at Gorou's eyes with a cold stare.

The staring contest do not last long however as Gorou sits back down.

"Fine. What do I have to do to have you leave as soon as possible?" There is still defiance in him however.

."Now we're talking. I want to leave these boondocks as soon as possible as well, so just the banishment record and her identity documents, please." Fumio rudely asks.

<>

"Sayuri-san. I'm sorry this happened to a nice person like you." The prison guard hands her a trench coat and a manila envelope.

"Thank you." Sayuri nods as she wears the free trench coat over her prison pajamas and picks up the manila envelop which she knows contain her identity documents.

Sayuri is now out of her cell and is at the prison guard's office.

"And I thank you for kicking that little shit's ass for me." The prison guard chuckles.

Sayuri cannot help but smile. Despite her actions, most people in the clan secretly approve of what she had done to Hideki.

"Here…" The prison guard suddenly offers her a 5,000 yen note.

"It's not much, but it can get you a nice lunch."

"A-are you sure?" Sayuri is taken aback by the gesture.

"Of course. It's not like we're total strangers before you got in here. This is my last chance of treating you well as a junior clansman." The prison guard insists.

"Besides… Banishment not only takes your clansman status; they also took away your possessions." He adds.

Sayuri meanwhile, does not know what to feel.

After she met the stranger earlier, she felt hopeful. She did not however expect that she will get out of jail through clan banishment.

"Then I'll accept happily." Sayuri takes the money gratefully.

She is now basically homeless and free money, not matter how small it is, is a great help to her.

"Oh. Someone told me to pass you this." The prison guard passes a note to her.

"Well then. See you around." The prison guard bids her farewell.

While walking out of the prison, she starts reading the note. 

[Proceed to the rooftop of ***** building. - From the stranger this morning.]

She now feels hopeful that her new life will not start from zero. Whatever Fumio has arranged for her, she can only accept for now. 

Soon, Sayuri is now outside the clan compound and is at a rooftop of a nearby skyscraper.. Suddenly a giant flame vulture, the size of a small airplane appears just a few meters above her, gliding around the rooftop.