[Third Person POV]
A figure in mage robes was running through the forests of Northern Kyushu, leaving deep footprints in the ground.
Almost half a minute later, Hajime could be spotted running in the same direction, with Monet flying just overhead.
The two were currently out hunting rogues for money.
Despite the recent influx of cash, Silent Echo still needed substantial funding.
Their base needed water, electricity, and other utilities installed, which cost several hundred thousand dollars. The materials, installation, and speed — having gotten it done in less than a week without destroying the walls — were very expensive. That was their lowest expense.
Next came Welf's forge.
A normal forge might cost only ten thousand dollars or so for the building, furnace, equipment, etc. Hajime paid much more, though. Working with magical materials meant that he needed to buy magic equipment, which drastically inflated the price. Not only that, but he purchased heat-blocking wards to keep the forge from melting anyone who gets too close, though they lose effectiveness when the door is open.
The equipment Hajime bought was some of the best for novice blacksmiths in Japan.
Why only Japan? Well, gods like Hephaestus and the Norse dwarves are expert smiths. Their forges were of such high quality that almost everything in their forges was built by themselves.
As for it being for beginners, Hajime couldn't afford the more expensive stuff.
The more reasonable stuff could go for millions, with some of the best stuff going up to billions, maybe even trillions if a crafting god made it.
If that sounds like a lot, remember, the Gremory's own a territory the size of Honshu, which is worth 3.5 trillion USD. Though as devils, their wealth is much greater than that of normal humans. In fact, most supernatural people are richer than regular people.
The Gremorys alone have made tens of billions each year for around a decade, and even with inflation, have maintained a similar economic position for centuries. Clans like the Phenex, however, can easily breach trillions due to Phenex tears.
For them, saving up trillions of dollars for such artifacts, while it might hurt, is usually worth it, whether as leverage for others or personal use.
None of this even mentioned the cost of materials he got from Welf, which was over a million dollars.
Hajime would also need to prepare a salary for everyone in the future. Right now, the only people who were 'working' for him were Welf, Monet, Akeno, and Tsubaki, but none of them needed payment.
Welf's payment, at least for now, was all the stuff Hajime bought for him.
Monet, like with Doflamingo, was basically working for free, though if she wanted to buy anything, he'd obviously pay for it.
Akeno and Tsubaki both had some money earned from betting at Sekigahara. They'd also occasionally head out for a few days, bounty hunting if they wanted more.
The others —Pam, Blake, and Jenny —weren't doing any work. Pam and Blake were both focused on learning magic, while Jenny was currently looking for some modeling jobs. Their 'payment' was the food, housing, and clothes they got.
While Hajime planned to do more business deals, preferably with devils for their wealth, that would take time since he was low on product, not to mention there was no guarantee anyone would accept.
Luckily for him, there was never any shortage of rogues with valuable bounties. Like the one they were currently chasing, Terada Kiyoshi.
He was a rogue mage who was discovered after sacrificing a family to enchant some artifacts.
Based on what is known about Kiyoshi, he tried enchanting a necklace that could absorb magic and release it, similar to Mirror Alice. However, something went wrong during the ritual, accidentally enchanting a teddy bear with it instead, leaving the necklace with the ability to shine a light that temporarily shrinks someone.
Kiyoshi fights by shrinking his pursuers, reflecting their attacks, then running away because he lacks combat abilities.
As Hajime closes in on Kiyoshi, launching himself forward with a string slingshot, Hajime covers his feet in haki just before they connect with Kiyoshi.
Turning, Kiyoshi activates the necklace, but unfortunately for him, Hajime's haki blocks the effect, leaving Kiyoshi defenseless as two feet slam into his head, knocking him to the ground as a glowing orange string shoots out from Hajime's hand, piercing his skull.
"Nice shot, Hajime-sama!" Monet cheers enthusiastically.
"Thanks," he replied, panting.
The fight wasn't exhausting, but Hajime was working with fewer of his abilities than usual.
It was the first time Hajime had ever restricted his powers.
Normally, he wouldn't do this, but progress for his two assimilations had stalled, Mother Carmel at 35% and Doflamingo at 15%.
The main reason was his own abilities— or, more precisely, the lack of focus on them. With shadow clones, it was incredibly easy to spam basic attacks to overwhelm most opponents or use his superior physical stats to trivialize most fights.
That's why Hajime activated a feature of the gacha, which would temporarily deactivate the other character templates he'd assimilated. It wasn't deactivation per se, but the gacha would mentally limit his strength to what it would be without that template, as well as push him away from using those powers.
The only exception Hajime made was for Jiraiya and shadow clone jutsu since he couldn't restrict an internal energy source and wasn't willing to not use clones if needed.
"What next, Hajime-sama?"
Taking the bounty book from his inventory, Hajime quickly cashed in Kiyoshi's bounty before responding.
"Next, we'll look for someone who can actually fight to see how you fare. I can tell you're high class, but whether or not that translates to a strong fighter in this world, I don't know."
As he skimmed through the book, one page with a nearby rogue caught his eye.
"How about this one?" Hajime asked, showing Monet the page he was talking about.
The bounty was for a stray devil, Cornelio Costa, a high class fighter who killed a human contractor before fleeing.
He was only a few dozen miles away from them, hiding just outside a nearby town.
Monet, seeing the target, nodded enthusiastically. "Let's do it, Hajime-sama!"
Upon her confirmation, Hajime put the book, necklace, and teddy bear away and destroyed the corpse so human authorities wouldn't find it, before the two went in the direction of Cornelio.
-----
Several miles away, in a small cabin, three figures were sitting around drinking alcohol.
"Boss, you really are amazing!" One of the figures cheered.
"Goswin's right, boss! The way you crushed those Pierrick bastards was incredible! They didn't stand a chance against you."
"Calm down, you two," their boss said. "We're still at risk of them getting their leader for revenge. That's why, while you two covered our tracks, I got in contact with the Ice Thorn Company. While they distract the lower ranks, the three of us can take out the Pierrick leader, then the two of us will split the loot, at least that's what they think will happen. Hahaha!"
The boss laughed at his plan. The Ice Thorn Company, a dark mercenary group, would basically sacrifice themselves against the lower ranks, and once he finished with the toughest enemies, they'd finish off whoever survived.
While the Ice Thorns weren't the strongest, they all used Ice and Snow Magic, amplifying their abilities with magical synergy.
Turning back to more pleasant talks, the three turned their attention to a cage in the corner. Inside was an emaciated man, who'd they'd kept with them for the last few days. They didn't know who it was, nor did they care why it was him, but a mysterious group hired the trio to deliver him to them.
"Boss, how about we play with the target a bit? Our contractor only said they wanted him alive, right?"
"Stanley, you're disgusting," Goswin chastized his teammate for his disgusting fantasies.
For some reason, Stanley loved stabbing men and raping them as they bled out, though he never let them die. It wasn't every man, but those who fit his unknown criteria. Still, as long as he never fit those criteria, Stanley was a capable teammate.
"Let it be, Goswin. Stanley isn't foolish enough to accidentally kill our paycheck," their boss told Goswin before turning to Stanley. "If you're going to do it, then at least take it outside and keep it down."
"Got it, boss," Stanley nodded before dragging the cage outside with magic.
As Stanley headed outside with the cage, the desire in his eyes quickly grew as he watched his helpless, soon-to-be victim squirm around in his restraints, having heard everything Stanley said in the cabin.
Once Stanley was nearly 25 meters from the cabin, he set up a silencing field to mute any sound that might escape, avoiding disturbing his team.
"Now then. What should I do with you?" He teasingly asked the gagged victim.
"Oh? You want me to cut off a finger and drizzle it over you?"
The victim's muffled cries indicated they did not, in fact, want that. Stanley ignored them, though.
"Great idea!"
Grabbing a knife from nearby, Stanley drove it down, into the man's pinky finger, cutting it off in seconds.
"MMMHGHGH!"
Though gagged, the scream of pain was much louder than it should've been, mostly thanks to Stanley weakening it to enjoy the screams more.
Grabbing the man's arm, Stanley moved it over the man's head, letting the blood gush out, covering the man's face.
"Yuki Rabi!"
A voice shouted from the forest, but too distracted by his weird kink, Stanley wasn't paying attention until several cold, white objects slammed into all parts of him, knocking him away from the victim.
Once he got his bearings, Stanley saw that he was hit with rabbit-themed snowballs.
Looking back at his toy, he saw two figures standing beside him.
The first was a green-haired harpy woman with a chilling aura.
The second was a child who cut through the restraints the man wore using black strings. Once free, the man thanked them before grabbing his finger and fleeing into the woods.
"Hey, you bastards!" Stanley yelled at them. "Do you know how tough it was to catch him!?"
Running after the escapee, Stanley was caught off guard by the snowballs, which had previously been idle, jumping up and slamming into him again.
Shaking them off, he was surprised that a small layer of snow was covering him and the ground around him.
Forming a magic circle in his right hand to blast the creatures away, Stanley was surprised when he realized his movements were slower, even without much snow on his arm.
"What the-"
Interrupted by another volley, Stanley barely moved out of the way before flaring his magic, opening his devil wings, and taking flight.
Activating a magic circle, he lost a decent portion of energy, burning away the strange magic snow.
"Are you the people from the Ice Thorns Company? Why are you attacking us when we hired you?"
Neither of the pair said anything. Instead, the green-haired woman sent several large snowballs in her opponent's direction.
Before any of them landed, each was hit by small fireballs coming from the direction of the cabin.
"Boss!" Stanley cried out happily.
"You aren't the Ice Thorns," he calmly stated. "Who are you?"
"Cornelio Costa?" The woman asked?
"That's me," Cornelio proudly said.
"Good, I'll be your executioner." The harpy woman's words put them on edge, but seeing the number and age difference between groups, their confidence soared.
"You can try, but know few have survived me. You'll be no different."
As he spoke, Cornelio created a large magic circle, releasing a giant fireball towards the duo.
"Now die!"
__________
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!