[Third Person POV]
Ever since he defeated the gashadokuro, Hajime's life had been incredibly busy.
Days after returning to his base, he was visited by Yasaka when returning to Kyoto to continue teaching Kunou shadow clones.
She spent almost an hour scolding him for his recklessness, and after a brief checkup with her senjutsu to make sure he was healthy, she finally calmed down. Once she was calm, Yasaka switched to business mode and asked whether it was possible to trade for pieces of the gashadokuro.
Had she not been the leader of Kyoto, she wouldn't have cared to ask him, but Yasaka, even when concerned about Hajime's well-being, still had work to do. The gashadokuro pieces were very valuable, and she would be remiss not to ask at least.
Hajime, though he would prefer to keep all the pieces to himself, had almost no reason to say no. As rare as the bones were, his powers would let him get more one way or another, even if it took a decade or more.
Unfortunately, Hajime couldn't exactly sell the bones to Yasaka. It wouldn't be hard for anyone to guess that the two of them were connected if she returned with the gashadokuro's bones.
Hajime countered by offering to sell them later, or any equipment he had made with them, which Yasaka accepted, understanding his reasoning.
The next year went by in a flurry of activity.
[Month 1]
In the first month, Hajime's subordinates finally began to feel comfortable in their new world.
Pam had busied herself, taking on any projects she could to distract from the loneliness and guilt she felt.
She had worked to organize all the materials Hajime had ordered for Silent Echo.
Following that, Pam took it upon herself to set up proper plots for the dozens of plant species from Kinkow that Hajime was growing. The farms for the five plant products they sold expanded, and Pam occasionally went in to help where she could.
Pam also became the point of contact for people who had started receiving word about their products. Although only a few people beyond the original customers Hajime had visited had placed orders, it marked the start of their future enterprise. Though she wasn't good at sales, Pam didn't need to do much to get the orders.
She had a list of non-negotiable prices, and as the only suppliers, they either accepted or they didn't. Hajime told her not to worry if people didn't buy anything, since the price would go up as more people were willing to buy.
Blake and Jenny had also integrated, becoming older sister-like figures to Tsubaki and Akeno, respectively.
The two teenagers' personalities closely reflected those of the younger mages.
Jenny and Akeno both had wilder, more energetic personalities. Jenny, who was a model back in Earthland, was one of the most well-known female mages and would often use her sexuality where she could. Akeno, though too young to elicit a reaction from anyone, would eventually grow into a sadomasochist fusion of her parents' preferences.
Blake and Tsubaki, by contrast, were much calmer as they went about their business. Where Akeno might revel in the pain of her opponent and Jenny in the admiration of spectators, Blake and Tsubaki would rather focus on ending the fight.
For Blake, it was a matter of experience. She left Adam, which allowed him to cause all those problems at the Fall of Beacon, including her death at his hands. She had learned how extreme he was, yet still held back, thinking he would do the same. Tsubaki, meanwhile, was just naturally more practical, which explains why she was Sona's queen in canon. To her, premature celebrating was pointless because not only was your opponent not down yet, but you would have the opportunity to end the fight and choose not to.
Welf was mostly in the forge throughout the month. With several metals he hadn't seen before, he was incredibly busy testing them out by making some test swords. The first few were slightly misshapen, but Welf quickly adapted to the new metals, reforging them to hone his skills further.
Kimiko, Blue, and Bunnicula's daily lives were quite simple: eat, play, train, and sleep. While Hajime forced them to train so they could go on dangerous adventures, he didn't have as strict requirements for them as he did for everyone else.
At the end of the day, they were familiars, and familiars usually supported their contractors above all else.
Monet and Hajime were some of the busiest at first.
With how many people were looking for them, the two could only ever leave the base under a disguise. Hajime's disguises were easy since he could shift parts of himself to match his assimilations. Just changing his height and hair color was enough to fool most people.
Monet's situation was a bit different. Her bird-like features were almost impossible to hide, but even if she did, her green hair was still very noticeable.
Hajime's solution was simple, but it was also only inspired by pure chance.
One of the rewards he'd gotten from the gacha in the days after the incident was Lyon Vastia, from Fairy Tail.
With how useful and similar his abilities were to Monet's, Hajime decided to give her the first chance at assimilating a character.
The similarities were so strong that the second she began assimilating, she had already reached 75%.
Monet's new ice-make magic gave her several abilities that strengthened her moveset, which finally had some more direct offensive skills. There was also moon drip, a special spell that used moonlight to break seals and could be made into a liquid form, potentially for sale. Hajime was certain he could learn the spell with Laxus' abilities.
Moon drip also had an abnormal effect on demons, something he'd have tested with some stray devils and yokai later. Hajime didn't want to risk hurting someone by accident, only on purpose.
Once she began assimilating Lyon's template, Monet could shift her hair color to light gray and change her arms and legs to a human form, while making her tail vanish. Monet was especially surprised that her limbs felt like her limbs, rather than Lyon's, as if Law never swapped them to begin with.
Her limbs changed further, however, when she fully transformed into Lyon, gaining calluses and scars. Still, Monet noted that she was glad to have her hands back for more delicate tasks. Wings were great, but it made simple things like writing difficult.
[Month 2]
The second month saw the supernatural world finally begin to calm down. Though a few traces of their mystery mage had been found and followed, Hajime had managed to stay undetected.
It didn't stop him from going out in disguise, with all factions still keeping an eye out for him, but life had calmed significantly.
Silent Echo had also grown by a new member.
Hajime had taken Pam and Welf on a brief tour of Kyushu, traveling from city to city to buy magical resources.
Pam still hadn't learned magic, so Hajime took the opportunity to instruct her.
With how busy she'd been, Pam had neglected training. Hajime took this opportunity to correct that mistake.
He couldn't understand the mental anguish she must've felt every day, but he also knew if she ever wanted the chance to see her family again, she needed to be alive to do it.
Hajime, since awakening Telos Karma, had come to deeply understand how cruel the supernatural world was, in a way not shown in the anime.
In a single city, there could be dozens of magic users with bounties on their heads, though most were negligible threats. On their trip, they had run into a few with bounties below $10,000, usually reserved for those who use magic to assault humans.
These were people who learned a spell or two and thought themselves gods among mortals.
Lots of them were simply people with little magic talent born into magic families, basically squibs. They could still use magic, but only a few times before exhausting themselves.
Often, these rogue mages would rob, murder, hypnotize, or otherwise destroy the lives of others using their magic.
Though extremely dangerous for normal people, they were basically worthless compared to most magic users.
Hajime gave Pam a gun for protection, but if she were unable to deal with even the weakest supernaturals, her life would be in constant danger.
Pam wasn't part of any human database, and her connection to him made her valuable regardless of her strength. At best, she'd be a criminal, at worst, a liability.
The one saving grace was that Pam was learning real magic, something she could only have dreamed about less than a year ago.
Anyway, back in Oita, when Pam was dealing with one of those magical thugs, she ran into them just as he was shaking down a teenage boy for money.
[Flashback Start]
Pam turned the corner, being greeted by a nearly empty alleyway. In it, she saw a dumpster blocking the sight of a person.
Thinking it was potentially a homeless person taking a piss, she turned away and was about to leave before she heard a loud noise, followed by a hushed voice coming from the alley.
*Fwoom*
"Unless you want a taste of that in your face, I think you should start emptying your pockets," the man threatened.
Pam turned and entered the alley, followed by Hajime and Welf, who watched her every move.
As Pam closed in on the man, the dumpster shifted in her view, slowly revealing a scrawny kid whose shirt the taller man was grabbing.
"Hey!" Pam shouted to get the man's attention, raising her gun in preparation for a fight. "Leave the kid alone, now!"
"Hahahaha! You think I'm scared of some chick with a gun?" The man taunted, creating a small flame that hovered above his hand. "Why should I be scared of a gun when I wield fire like a god!" He boasted, completely unaware that Pam's boss was definitely stronger than many minor gods of indigenous tribes.
Even Pam didn't know how strong Hajime was, though most of that was due to a lack of experience and references. With her current magical knowledge, Pam compared magic in the most basic way, asking who has more reserves.
Still, Pam knew that Hajime, who she figured was watching nearby, could wipe the floor with the thug in seconds, so she felt she could handle this.
Pam held the gun relatively steady for a nervous person with little experience wielding firearms. She had trained her aim a bit back at Kage Tower, but that didn't prepare her for this experience.
Their standoff held for nearly a minute. The man smirking at Pam as if daring her to shoot him, the fire still hovering in his palm. Pam's face showed how nervous she was, her palms were starting to sweat, and she felt like she was going to be sick.
The longer the standoff held, though, the better Pam fared.
At first, the man's flame was the size of a tennis ball, burning a solid, constant orange, but as the two held their positions, the man's mana quickly drained. His confidence started to waver as his mana dropped further and further.
Honestly, he was scared of such a fight. Bullets were faster than fireballs, and he was not looking to find out if his fists were just as fast.
An idea soon formed. The man turned toward the teenager, ready to use him as a meat shield, but before he could shift them in front of Pam, a foot landed in the man's crotch.
The man dropped the kid, who quickly backed out of the way, giving Pam a clear line for the shot.
Pulling the trigger, the bullet quickly met the man's heart, and his body fell to the floor, dead.
Hajime quickly appeared in a more adult form to catch Pam, whose legs gave out seconds later.
"Are you okay?" Hajime asked. He knew this wasn't going to be easy for her, but he ignored the part of him that said he should leave her be. In this world, weakness was the greatest sin.
"Not really," Pam said, exhaustion creeping into her voice.
The two turned to the teen, who was watching everything.
Thanking Pam for her assistance, he introduced himself as Suto Kuchiro.
Hajime, who was preparing a mindwipe spell, stopped when he felt a slight aura coming off of Kuchiro.
"Were you already aware of magic?" Hajime asked.
"Yes, I was. My uncle taught me a few things before he passed last year. I've been practicing, but so far I haven't gotten any results."
Hearing that, Hajime decided to try to recruit him.
Silent Echo needed members, and someone, even with little to no potential, would help pad their numbers for the future. Besides, not everyone needed to be in a combat role, though everyone should know how to fight.
Upon receiving the offer, Suto Kuchiro accepted, growing the organization ever so slightly.
[Flashback End]
__________
Author's Note:
Finally back with Telos Karma Meta Gacha. If you haven't done it already, check out my new story, Riser Reborn.
Sorry for posting so late in the day.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!