Chapter 658 - The True Owner

(MC POV)

After cleaning up the remnants of our attackers, Hiroto took the three Family heads in his custody which we would use to threaten the Ryu Alliance with later. Not that I expected them to cooperate anyway but it was to send them a message and let them know I was coming for them.

While Hiroto was busy with that, I hitched a ride on Gamma's back to return home, the centauress was more than happy to let me ride her.

I did notice that the minigun was nowhere to be found but I wasn't so boorish that I would ask where she was keeping it.

As a testament to her strength, Gamma wasn't even winded despite carrying all this gear along with me on her back when we reached home. I mean I could have teleported back here but Gamma was quite insistent on carrying me.

Surprisingly, Kiyomi, Brendan and Elaria were standing inside waiting for me when I entered the mansion, Gamma having already left to stow her gear.

Huh… I suppose I did imagine them appearing after all.

Elaria immediately ran up to hug me, "Onii-sama! Welcome home!"

"Master, are you alright?" Kiyomi asked, rushing towards me as well.

I waved her concerns away, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I had Gamma and Hiroto with me after all. Were you guys worried?"

Brendan chuckled, "The girls almost made me go after you, Master."

"Oh? What stopped them then?"

"I convinced them not to, Master," Kiyomi answered for him. "After all, there's no way our Master could lose to such rabble."

Ah yes, always the voice of reason, Kiyomi.

I patted their heads, "Right, I'll go put down my things and change out of this first. I'm guessing you guys are waiting for me to start dinner?"

The three of them nodded.

"In that case, just wait for me in the dining room, I'll join you guys in a bit."

"Yes, Master."

"We'll wait for you, Onii-sama!"

The three of them left for the dining room while I went back to my room alone, intending to change to something more comfortable for dinner time.

The moment I entered my room, however, I found someone I was not expecting to see waiting inside.

"Takeda-kun?" I called out, surprised to see the boy I was forced to kill over and over again standing there like it was his house.

He waved his hand at me and I found myself unable to move or speak, my entire body frozen up.

Not liking where this was going, I tried to break myself out of his hold, only to realise I couldn't do anything at all.

"What… Did they do…" Takeda asked, except that it was a voice that was not his own.

It sounded like a hundred different people speaking at once inside a really echoey room.

The boy turned to face me and if I could make a sound, I would have gasped.

His iris was iridescent, reminiscent of Cai Hong's hair and… Huh… Where else have I seen those eyes before?

Not registering my surprise, he walked up to me slowly and inspected me from head to toe.

"What did they do…" He asked again.

I was pretty sure he wasn't asking me but only wondering aloud since I couldn't talk anyway.

Once more, I tried to struggle against my bonds but my efforts proved futile. Takeda didn't even pay heed to my attempts to break free.

He walked one round around me before stopping in front of me again, looking at me critically with his glowing eyes.

He then lifted his hand before stabbing it into my ċhėst, which should have hurt but it didn't. In fact, I don't even feel his hand at all.

If only I could look down to see what he's actually doing.

Whatever he was looking for didn't seem to amuse him since his lips curled into a frown.

"Troublesome… I'm so close… Just a bit more…"

He pulled his hand back and it was clear of any blood, despite his hand literally being inside my ċhėst.

Takeda took a step back before waving his hand at me, ".̴̖̭̌s̵̛̺̬͇̑̑ī̸͍͈͓̥͝ĥ̴͔͉̪̜̈́͋̚ṱ̷̊̋͑̂ ̸̻̈̀̚͠t̶̫͍̳̙͌̑̈́͒e̶̜̟̻͌̿g̵̡̋̿̿ͅr̴̲̗͍͐o̶̧̻̱̒ͅf̴̥̔͂͝ ̶̢̪͘͝l̴͎̞͕̺͗l̴͓̻̬̿ȉ̶̪̄͋͝ẅ̶̩́͜ ̵͚͕̄̅̽͠ǘ̴̧̥̙̋͛ͅǒ̵̧̬͌͆͜Y̸͍̋͠͠"

I will forget this? You can't really expect me to forget this just because you told me to, can you?

And what's with that jumbled way of speaking? It kind of reminds me of those stupid tentacle monsters. Don't tell me one of them possessed Takeda?

Most likely sensing that his order didn't work on me, he waved his hand over me again, ".̴̖̭̌s̵̛̺̬͇̑̑ī̸͍͈͓̥͝ĥ̴͔͉̪̜̈́͋̚ṱ̷̊̋͑̂ ̸̻̈̀̚͠t̶̫͍̳̙͌̑̈́͒e̶̜̟̻͌̿g̵̡̋̿̿ͅr̴̲̗͍͐o̶̧̻̱̒ͅf̴̥̔͂͝ ̶̢̪͘͝l̴͎̞͕̺͗l̴͓̻̬̿ȉ̶̪̄͋͝ẅ̶̩́͜ ̵͚͕̄̅̽͠ǘ̴̧̥̙̋͛ͅǒ̵̧̬͌͆͜Y̸͍̋͠͠"

Nuh-uh, I already said just because you told me to forget it, doesn't mean I will, you know? Hmm… There's something really familiar about those eyes but I can't seem to place a finger on it.

Actually, how am I so calm about this? By all means, I should be panicking right now shouldn't I? Why am I just dealing with this so half-heartedly?

Hold on a moment, I just realised there's a lot of things in this memory that isn't adding up, this is my memory right? Why are all these things that shouldn't belong to this world showing up? These definitely didn't exist back in the other world.

There's also the fact that I let so many inconsistencies slide and didn't bother checking up on them too. If it had been any other time, I would have definitely questioned a lot more and tried my best to find out the truth! Am I being manipulated?!

Takeda cursed under his breath before spotting a large book by my table.

He moved to pick it up before coming back to me and lifting it over his head.

"Forgive me," He whispered before the book descended on top of my head, bringing me to unconsciousness.

The last thought I had was wondering how he got past all my defensive inscriptions like they weren't even there.

…

I tried to recall what happened last night and memories of me mȧkɨnġ ŀȯvė to my girls over and over again came to the front of my mind. Seems like it was truly one hell of a night for all of us.

We even had some serious talk where we decided to live out our lives in this world. Sure, we might be leaving quite a number of things behind in the other world but this world has its perks too.

The fact that my girls really like the sweets here and the exciting daily life prospects this world had to offer was also a big plus.

Tsuki would be voted in as the new student council president, I would be taking over the Ryu Alliance as the new leader, my disciples would be able to enjoy life in this world freely and there's nothing in this world that can threaten our safety and way of life.

What's there not to like about here, right?

Although… Why do I keep getting the nagging feeling like I'm forgetting something?

...

Ah, of course, I should go brush my teeth now that I'm awake.. Good call.