Chapter 380: Itsuki Kurogane

“Nice to meet, Kurogane-san.” Tsukasa nodded, sat on the nearby luxurious leather sofa, and asked, “So do you need anything from me? Or do you want to give revenge on me for interrupting your plan?” Frankly, he didn’t have a good opinion of Ikki’s father, so there was no need to be polite. He also had the power to back his act, so why should he feel afraid?

Still, Tsukasa must admit Kurogane Itsuki was really Ikki’s father.

Kurogane Itsuki was known as the famous Iron Blood. His appearance wasn’t that different from Ikki’s. If there was a difference, then he seemed older than Ikki, and he had tear troughs on his face. While his hair was spiky like Ikki’s, he combed his hair back.

Without a doubt, if Ikki was older, his appearance would be like Itsuki.

“Tsukasa!” Touka couldn’t help but remind Tsukasa, and then she apologized to Itsuki. “I am sorry, Kurogane-san.”

“It’s okay.” Itsuki didn’t care about Tsukasa’s rude reaction. Instead, he sat on his opposite side and said, “You might have misunderstood me, Kugayama-kun.”

“Then?” Tsukasa wondered what this man wanted to do.

“The reason why I ask you to come here is to thank you since I feel grateful that you have taken care of Ikki and Shizuku,” Itsuki said calmly.

“Grateful?”

“Yeah.” Itsuki nodded calmly and said, “You even have trained Shizuku for a while, right? How about taking her as a bridge and setting up an engagement? She’ll be a good wife for you.” When he thought about what had happened between Shizuku and Ikki, he felt it was better to give Shizuku to Tsukasa. After all, he could also see that Shizuku had a good impression of Tsukasa, and personally, he also wanted Tsukasa to become his son-in-law.

“NOOOOO!!!”

However, before Tsukasa gave an answer, Touka quickly rejected Itsuki’s offer without hesitation!

“Is there something wrong, Toudou-kun?” Itsuki looked at Touka calmly.

“Of course, it’s a big problem!” Touka pulled Tsukasa’s arm and showed an intimate action. “I am his girlfriend!”

“I see…” Itsuki nodded, then said, “then, isn’t it a problem just to continue to date? After all, it’s quite common for someone to have one or two mistresses, but Shizuku must be the wife.” After all, compared to his other children, he loved his daughter much. However, it wasn’t much surprising since his first son joined a terrorist organization and his second son was talentless. Only Shizuku was the most normal among them.

“……” Touka and Tsukasa.

Still, Tsukasa looked weirdly at Itsuki and asked, “Kurogane-san, don’t you hate me?” He was really confused at that moment, wondering what was wrong with this man?

“Why should I hate you?” Itsuki asked back.

“I have foiled your plan before, and Ikki is still at Hagun Academy. Isn’t that the reason why you call me here since you want to say one or two words to me?” Tsukasa was just confused, wondering whether Itsuki only came to let him marry Shizuku. Frankly, while Shizuku was cute, he wasn’t someone that would steal someone else’s lover, especially when the relationship between Shizuku and Ikki had just begun.

“I think you misunderstood something.” Itsuki shook his head and said, “I don’t hate Ikki.”

“……”

Tsukasa and Touka even became confused. Itsuki told them that he didn’t like Ikki, then what was the point of him driving his son so much that he didn’t want him to become a mage-knight?

They knew it was Itsuki who made the previous plan. Akaza was just his subordinate, and who wanted Ikki the most to quit his dream was the man in front of them, so wouldn’t it normal for him to hate Tsukasa, who destroyed his plan?

Instead, Itsuki thanked him, and from his facial expression and smell, he wasn’t lying. He told the truth to Tsukasa without hiding his emotion. He laid his heart bare to see without hiding anything.

“Then, why did you stop him from becoming a mage-knight?” Tsukasa asked.

“It’s because he’s talentless,” Itsuki said simply.

“…It’s because he’s so talentless that you want him to stop?”

“Yes.” Itsuki nodded, then said, “It’s useless for him to try, so it’s better for him to stop.”

“……..” Touka and Tsukasa somehow felt something strange inside their hearts. It was hard to describe their feelings, yet if they had to say it, they felt something incompatible with this man.

“Also, if he continues, he’ll interrupt the order.”

“Order?”

“That’s right.” Itsuki looked at Tsukasa calmly and explained, “You should know that the talent of the Blazer is shown right after they come to this world. Whether they have a talent or not, everyone can see it clearly from the amount of magic they own.”

In this world, the amount of magic determined everything. It was their fate, and it was impossible to change it unless one became a Desperado, but how many people could become a Desperado?

One, two?

Only a few people.

Then, what was the chance of those talentless people to become Desperados?

It was almost nothing.

Those who had talent could grow up and become stronger, and those who didn’t have talent shouldn’t do anything and only did their work to maintain this society.

“This is how the harmony between the Blazers is maintained. Those who have great talent should be given more responsibility. As for the talentless, they shouldn’t do anything, following the order without much thought.” Ikki didn’t continue. Instead, he paused his answer for a while before opening his mouth again. “However, the existence of Ikki interrupts this existence since it’ll be troublesome if those who don’t know their places try hard. It’ll be troublesome if he interrupts this harmony between the Blazers.”

When Itsuki said his answer, his face was still as calm as ever. There was no fluctuation in his voice, emotion, or facial expression as if it was a matter, of course, of stopping Ikki from becoming a mage-knight in order to maintain order or harmony.

Touka was in shock since it was her first time seeing someone like this. No words came out of her mouth, but it could be seen from her face alone what kind of emotion she felt toward this man after she heard his answer.

Tsukasa somehow understood why he felt incompatible with this man.

While Itsuki talked about his children, he was really like a good father, but when it came to his duty as the Japanese branch leader of the League of Mage-Knight Nations, he was like a robot, without any emotions. Even if it was his son, he didn’t show any favoritism and made his decision on his duty first.

After hearing all of that, Tsukasa only stared at Itsuki blankly, and after a moment of pause, he looked straight at Itsuki, then said, “Well, Kurogane-san, as expected, I hate you after all.” His words were simple and straight, showing his dislike of this man, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to like this man in his life.