— — — — — —
Kayo tilted her head, studying Kazuma with a puzzled look. It was the first time anyone had ever told her something like that, and she found it… oddly refreshing.
"If there's nothing else, don't bother me," Kazuma said, waving her off casually. "Go find someone else to hang out with—yeah, go play with Enju. You two would probably get along."
Scanning the crowd, Kazuma's gaze landed on Enju. Ever since that girl had opened up, she'd gone from timid to a full-blown social butterfly. In just a few minutes she'd already exchanged names with half the group and was laughing with them like old friends.
"She looks kind of… dumb," Kayo muttered, watching Enju bounce around with that endless energy.
"That's exactly why you should hang out with her," Kazuma said. "Enju never overthinks things, and you think too much. Together, you'd balance each other out. When you hesitate, she'll drag you into action. When she gets impulsive, you'll hold her back. Perfect match."
Before Kayo could protest, Kazuma called Enju over and had her take the curious girl away. As their laughter faded down the hall, he finally had a moment of peace to think.
"Those girls all carry the Gastrea virus. Once the infection passes fifty percent, they'll turn into monsters."
He sighed. "I need to find a suppressant… and if possible, a cure. Shouldn't be too hard. If I can just get one, I can track it through the Treasury."
Then he smiled faintly. "And once I have it locked in, I can mass-produce it indefinitely."
Aside from that, he had to think about training the new kids. "Maybe I'll leave that to Enju and the others. Have the seniors bring the newbies up to speed—same for the Six Powers. Once they've learned enough, they can pass it on."
He stretched. "Aside from that, there's nothing else urgent. Time to take it slow for a bit."
With his plans settled, Kazuma gathered the newcomers for their first class—a culture session about how things worked in the guild.
"Alright, first question," he began, leaning on the desk. "If someone bullies you, what should you do?"
Same question, same place. His little "Guild Ethics" had officially begun.
The new girls, curious and excited, looked eager to answer.
"Hey, Kayo," Enju whispered from beside her, pretending to be the wise big sister. "Wanna know the answer? It's definitely not what you expect."
"According to the Guild Master's logic," Kayo said evenly, "we should take them out before they have a chance to bully us. If they're gone, we're safe."
Her tone was flat, but there was a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes.
Enju's jaw dropped. "Wait—you actually guessed it?!"
She hadn't thought anyone would hit the nail on the head like that. When she was new, she certainly hadn't.
"Of course," Kayo said with a straight face. "I'm smart."
But the faint upward tilt of her chin completely gave her away—she was quietly proud of herself.
Watching from the side, Kayano smiled softly.
"So she's one of those tsundere types, huh?" Kayano thought, amused.
---
Two months passed in a blink.
During that time, Tokyo's government had tried multiple times to retaliate against Kazuma—but every team they sent ended up dead. Most of the upper politicians had been assassinated, and even the heavily guarded Seitenshi had barely escaped death.
After that, no one dared make a move. No arrest warrants, no pursuit orders. Even when Kayano and the others entered the inner areas for missions, officials pretended not to see them.
It was clear: Kazuma and his guild now existed beyond the reach of law and politics.
Meanwhile, the guild had exploded in size. As Kazuma's reputation spread, more and more cursed children with nowhere to go came seeking shelter.
In just two months, "Fairy Tail" had grown from a handful of girls to well over a hundred.
With their innate gifts, Six Powers training, and Kazuma's equipment, they'd become a real force.
And that power had granted them complete control of Tokyo's underworld.
Officially, the government still ran things. But in practice, every mission, every operation passed through Kazuma's guild first. They chose what to take; the scraps went to everyone else.
One afternoon, Kayo came to him after a mission, her eyes full of questions.
"Guild Master… since the government can't beat us anymore, why don't we just wipe them out?"
She'd seen their strength firsthand. With Kazuma around, they were unstoppable.
He smiled faintly. "That's… a complicated question. But the short answer? We don't have enough people. A hundred looks like a lot, but running a whole city? Not nearly enough. And half our members have zero political sense."
He leaned back. "Can you even imagine Enju as a ruler?"
Kayo blinked, then pictured it—
And just the thought made Kayo shiver. If someone like that were in charge, Tokyo would probably collapse in a week. There were still Cursed Children living there.
"Please, Guild Master," she said urgently, grabbing his hand. "Don't ever let that happen. It'd be a disaster!"
"Relax," Kazuma said, bemused. "I'll think carefully before doing anything drastic."
He watched her leave, still shaken, muttering about how terrifying the idea was. "What on earth did she imagine? Enju ruling the world can't be that bad… can it?"
"Remember what I said, Guild Master—think it over! Don't ever let Enju run anything!" Kayo called back as she hurried off.
When she rejoined Enju, the girl was already sitting in front of a brand-new TV, watching The Powerpuff Girls.
"Hmph, childish cartoons," Kayo sniffed. "Only little kids watch that stuff."
"Yep, totally childish," Kayano said, smiling as she handed out snacks. "Now come on, everyone grab a bag and sit down."
Kayo mumbled something under her breath but obediently plopped down in front of the screen, eyes already glued to the show.
---
Kazuma, sitting off to the side, ended up watching too. It was silly, girly—but surprisingly entertaining. No wonder it was such a hit in the whole world.
Before he knew it, the episode ended. During the commercial break, he finally turned back to business.
"We've saved up a good chunk of mission points," he murmured. "Time for a round of upgrades. First—Backup Hidden Energy."
"Upgrade! Upgrade!"
With a few commands, Kazuma pushed the system twice in a row, spending seven hundred points. Painful, but worth it—the girls had been working hard.
[Backup Hidden Energy V: Can store six full units of magic power, each equal to user's total mana capacity.]
[Next upgrade requires 600 points.]
"Six full mana bars, huh? Guess I'll never run dry again."
He checked his remaining points. "Still got a hundred or so left… should I upgrade the Shadowkhan, or save them for later?"
He hesitated. Upgrading might unlock new troop types, but it wouldn't change their overall strength much. The Ninja Soldiers, with their self-detonation tactics and assassination mode, were already plenty lethal. If those weren't enough to finish a fight, then he'd just handle it himself.
Adding another type wouldn't change much. "So… upgrade, or save?" he mused.
Then a crisp system notification popped into his head.
[Ding!]
[Current guild membership has reached 100. Would you like to spend 100 mission points to unlock the Multiverse Guild Chat?]
"Well, that settles it. System, open it."
At his command, the familiar chime echoed in his mind, and a semi-transparent window appeared before his eyes.
『Enju』: "Huh? What's this thing?"
『Kayano』: "No idea, but it looks like… some kind of talking screen? Did you make this, Onii-Chan?"
『Kazuma』: "Yeah, I made it. Think of it as a chat group—now you can contact each other anytime."
『Sanae』: "But we already have phones though?"
『Kayo』: "Sanae, read the room. Doesn't matter if it's useful or not."
『Kayo』: "Just say things like, 'That's amazing!' 'So cool!' 'Onii-Chan, you're the best!'—stuff like that to make him happy."
『Kayo』: "You know the saying, 'The baby who doesn't cry doesn't get milk.'"
『Sanae』: "Waaaah, I don't want to be abandoned! I'll learn to be emotionally supportive, I promise!"
『Kazuma』: "Kayo, you made Sanae cry. You're fixing that yourself—I'm not getting involved."
『Kazuma』: "And for the record, this is useful. For example, only you guys can see it. Outsiders can't. It also works anywhere, anytime. No losing connection when it matters most."
『Kayo』: "Guild Master, that's impressive… but couldn't a neural-link network do the same thing?"
『Kazuma』: "Shut it. Keep talking and no TV for you this month."
A new message suddenly appeared in the feed.
『Miko Yotsuya』: "Uh… I don't think I'm supposed to be here. Guild Master, what's going on?"
"Huh? Yotsuya Miko? Why the hell is she in here?" Kazuma frowned. Then he realized something. "Wait a second… Multiverse Guild Chat? So anyone in any world who's in my guild can access it?"
He opened the member list. Sure enough, the roster was sorted by world. The Black Bullet world had the most members, while the Mieruko world had only one—Miko.
『Kazuma』: "Miko, what are you even doing? You've been there this long and haven't recruited a single person?"
『Kazuma』: "You're supposed to be acting deputy-master, you know. Do you even want the job? Keep this up and I'll fire you."
He'd checked her record earlier and was not impressed. Barely any missions completed, no new recruits—basically slacking off.
『Miko』: "B-but I've been working hard! It's just… there aren't that many exorcism jobs lately!"
『Miko』: "And I have been trying to recruit people, but they all think I'm a scammer and refuse to join!"
『Miko』: "Besides, most of them can't even see the things I deal with, so joining wouldn't help anyway!"
『Miko』: "Also… if you fire me, do I still have to pay back what I owe you?"
Kazuma stared at the message feed. She really sounded pitiful. The girl was probably wandering around Tokyo with nothing to exorcise, realizing for the first time that peace could be too peaceful.
『Kazuma』: "Oh right—you still owe me money. If I fire you, you won't be able to pay me back. Fine. I'll just dock your pay! You've been way too unproductive."
『Miko』: "Guild Master… you've never paid me anything. I've been working for free this whole time!"
『Kazuma』: "Wait, seriously? Damn… guess I really can't fire you or dock your pay, huh."
He rubbed his temples. She was right. He couldn't fire her, couldn't dock nonexistent wages—he was stuck.
『Enju』: "Wait, no pay, still in debt, and forced overtime? Why does this sound so familiar?"
『Kayo』: "In the anime we watched yesterday. The evil boss who exploited his workers was just like that."
『Enju』: "Right! I remember that! Wait, Kayo, didn't you say you weren't watching that show?"
Kayo went silent. In the real world, she'd probably buried herself in a pillow somewhere, mortified.
『Miko』: "Wait—Guild Master, who are these kids? Are you… illegally employing child labor?!"
She stared at their chat icons—every single one a little girl's face. Their bubbly messages didn't help. They were definitely children.
『Kazuma』: "Let me tell you something shocking: I'm actually in another world. These girls are the ones I recruited here. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true."
『Miko』: "Oh, okay. I believe you."
『Kazuma』: "Wait, that's it? You believe me that easily? You've really gone numb, huh. Doesn't anything surprise you anymore?"
『Miko』: "What's there to be surprised about? You suddenly appeared in front of me once, then disappeared just as suddenly. After that, another world isn't that hard to believe."
Kazuma blinked, then laughed softly. "Guess being dense has its perks sometimes."
He scrolled further through the chat's interface, curious—and his eyes landed on a new option: [World Travel].
He paused, surprised, and tapped it to see what it did.
.
.
.