Аннотация: Visit to the Polytechnic. Yuto's visit to the social committee and the contract with the supervisor.
Part 25.
Chapter 118
Honestly, I expected a relatively large but provincial city from Polytech, a picture I knew from business trips "there" - small cozy buildings, everything is drowning in greenery, students are in no hurry (if not a session)... But it seemed - I got somewhere in the Moscow StanKin (Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys)! Three twenty-storey academic buildings, hangars, a huge area for crowded Japanese cities for its own small park and sports area. There is a separate exhibition pavilion building - I shouldn't have gone to the exhibition with the guys in the spring. The buildings are gleaming with glass trim, and students are wandering around the park and the area between the buildings in couples and groups, sitting and hurrying. Someone is clearly learning something. Damn it! What is everything... dear!
"There" I really spent "half my life" in such places, if you count only my conscious age. First higher education, postgraduate studies. Work as a laboratory assistant. An unsuccessful PhD (or rather, an unsuccessful research assistant). The second highest, I've already taken over. New scientific work... which is why I got here. There was everything - I worked as a subordinate in the hospital, and adjusted experimental machines at the factory, I even had to become an employee of an LLC on a part-time basis with a free schedule, which makes and installs alarms with special functions (such as covering extended perimeters with laser emitters "at the intersection" or volume/weight sensors to organize an electronic analogue of the legendary "strip" from the loosened soil on the border). This particular job was especially informative in terms of communicating with people - from locksmiths and drunken electricians who put up two months of work before handing over the facility (and it still needs to be handed over in an hour!), to communicating with customers (as a technical consultant to determine how much it will cost), then in uniform, either in suits for my two annual salaries in the lab (and do it like a pond with ducks, since you're going to dig a hole anyway), or ordinary men whose garage cooperative is being robbed every day.
At second glance, the Japanese university differed from the Russian one somewhat more strongly - less noise, students sitting right on the floor, or even lying down (!), some - right on a specially dragged sleeping bag (!!!), but at the same time - more identical clothes, although there is no uniform. Many have T-shirts with the university or faculty logo. The shrine to the "spirits of reason", with smoking incense sticks, paper amulets and notes like "successful retake of the assembler test", which was also completely demolished right in the corridor of the department of computer science. о_О! By the way, judging by the notice on the door, the transfer is just underway. Rino-sensei, after rereading the inscription after Taizo and me, convulsively shrugged his shoulders, lit and stuck a new incense stick into the stand, prayerfully folding his hands. Wow, is this already a "holy place" for more than one generation? Yeah!
The Department of Precision Engineering was hiding at the far end of the corridor on the 12th floor, where we finally got after ten minutes of a confusing route. For some reason, all the buildings of educational institutions larger than schools seem to be an analogue of the Cretan labyrinth at first glance. Great. My seven-kilogram backpack has already weighed down my shoulders, not counting the laptop bag in my hands: again, I forgot about my not-so-old age... But he didn't dare to use magic. Even then, after the battle, when I saw that all the structures of the ferry had simply disappeared, I was pretty shocked... and I postponed finding out the reasons for later - there was no time for that. But then... It was a good thing it was a small storage device. It's good that I chose a place in the skin of the abdomen for its implementation, under which there is no fat layer... And it's good that I sleep on my back. The burn hurt a lot. However, Mizuchi brought him to me after all... with a loud hiss and comments about where I was thinking: after all, in order to overload the protection of my amulet, she had to fully unleash her aura and put her strength into a full-fledged combat blow that could cut an elephant. At the same time, the protection of the house was checked - Rinko was looking outside through glasses.
What it cost me to prepare everything in five days - it's better not to even think about it. Of course, it's not about protecting spirits from spirits, and it's not as stressful as taking a vassal oath, but everything had to be done "quickly to make it work." Suffice it to say that we completed the last details on Friday at school at ten o'clock in the evening. If it was still somehow familiar to me, then Taizo was just nervous. Well, yes, it's useful - it's better to start a "collision" with the "adult" world carefully in advance...
I liked the head of the department - a world-class man, with his own mind, of course, a stocky Japanese man with the figure of a sumo wrestler and the intelligence of a chess player. After talking with Rino-sensei for a while, he switched to us. He began to ask, unobtrusively pushing for revelations, who encouraged us to do such interesting things, are school teachers really? I had to come up with a trump card:
"Goro-san, nowadays almost any information, especially if you don't need to search for complete information, is easy to find online. The main thing is curiosity and the desire to do something, as Rino-sensei teaches us (a bow to sensei, who really blurted out something like that a year ago). May I demonstrate? Thanks! Taizo, help me!"
What is the good of the Rep-Rap project? It's really going to be "made of shit and sticks", all you need are metal guides, stepper motors, order a plastic melting head (you can do it yourself, but I didn't dare), buy a controller and download the software. If you have experience building one such device, it's really nothing complicated. And I've already assembled 3D printers. In just twenty minutes, we unscrewed the disassembled unit, connected it to a laptop and warmed it up. And then they set up a program for printing a sample that would be shown by Taizo at the avia department: a simple, even primitive glider... but by installing a light motor (with itself) and a battery (with itself) and planting the blades on the axle, we get a flying thing for quite a long time. Someone urgently had to master Autocad and an editor for a printer, and our homework, which was not done in a week, is still lying at home. At least almost all the teachers have "entered" our position...
Watching Goro and Rino's expressions, I tried harder to suppress the smile that was trying to creep onto my face. When I said that we would be demonstrating a working model of this ersatz fabricator, I forgot to mention that we would be printing a workable model of a motor glider "right here". Not all of it, of course, but only the nacelle and keels, because without any modification to the wing plates, they warped during "printing", and they turned out well if once out of five... that's why we made them in advance on Friday evening, choosing the best ones and literally finishing them with a file. Naturally, we said here that we would not print the entire model "to save time." A typical marketing ploy... but the "customer" was so impressed that he didn't even seem to notice anything. You know, when they showed me a 3D printer at work there, I was just as impressed!
About the degree of fu... surprise Goro-san's can be judged at least by the fact that he asked to leave the assembled printer at the department - with a refund later, of course, and compensation for the working time of the machine. No, the university has its own semi-industrial fabricator, of course, but he's the ONLY ONE and there's a queue for him for a month! And Taizo and I (already alone!) He invited me to attend the "open" lectures that the university holds for everyone, when he, Goro, leads them. And then he took us to the department of aircraft designers.: He wanted to see our glider in action. Fortunately, the success was complete, although one of the elevators still had to be replaced with a pre-made one. While Taizo was watching the operation of the wind tunnel with huge eyes (under the condescendingly flattered glances of two laboratory students), I heard the head of the department say to Rino-sensei:
"...And tell your esteemed director that an invitation for cooperation negotiations will follow within a month..."
Success, complete success! And he got the right to look "at the light", and Taizo dragged I, now who the hell is going to get me out of here - the playground for work is much better than the school Club, with all due respect to him. So I won't be me if I can't use the knowledge of a thoroughly familiar environment so as not to drag my teammates here too. And I'll have a real chance to figure out my ancestral abilities in terms of improving materials on a completely different level... and at least no one will stupidly count electricity for charging superconducting batteries here... So, I won't say "gop" yet. But! This is a victory! And it's purely mine - without any kekkegenkai and inherited spirits, without the glory of the clan, and even without a selfish goal. It's nice, kso, to get recognition like that, that I didn't work in vain, very much!..
...However, I still have to deal with the Committee. I need to call Hiroe and find out how it went...
Chapter 119.
"You couldn't be excused from visiting the Committee's office, I'm sorry. Everyone in the social control department was already ready to sign - I don't know what my mother gave them through my father, but she was terribly annoyed by our record. And she hadn't figured that out about the spell yet. In general, it was unpleasant - a fan of blue needles flying from the hand of this dyed bitch - and a part sticks into you. Brr, it's good that your defense held up. At the same time, this unfinished magician also managed to set fire to something in the office..."
"Rather," Shizuka added, "something reacted to her magic."
"Are you saying that there was a real magic item in this "magic club"? Actually, you would have noticed it, I think. Although if the amulet has no energy, then no. However, are you sure that Yu is not a magician?"
"Absolutely. No skills, no knowledge, you know."
"Okay, then we closed the topic. "Do you have any idea why the bosses of the Social Committee needed me?"
"Because of the last name," Hiroe snorted, "because in all other cases, you would have already witnessed an attack on your, sorry, OUR mutual friends."
"I support you," Mizuchi grimaced at the words Kaname.
Hiroe, of course, says what he says, no tact... It's just how she shows trust in the other person. The absence of a mask. And the girl's character is not easy... At least Shizuka understands this, I checked it out by specifically talking to her about this topic. And with Rinko too. The team began to "get lost", and immediately other people's flaws came out of all the cracks, which you notice only with close, relatively long communication. And it's good that girls are able to "talk through" these shortcomings, because in most men's groups, a universal "virtual penisomerism" championship would begin... and in women's too, only girls have not yet had time to learn to ignore the feelings of others, even Kaname. So you need to be prepared for lapping and smooth out, if possible, sharp corners as they appear... however, everything is clear here.
How should I behave in the Committee's office? It's clear that the charge against me now is "you live without custody, we have to send you to orphanage" they won't, otherwise they would have done it right away, at the age of nine. They probably won't. Damn, it makes me sick when I think that all my endeavors can be ruined with a light swipe of the pen on the sheet. Over the past two years, I have already managed to forget that I live in a house with bird rights... Maybe they'll try to put pressure on me... but for what? I didn't have time to show up with my "otherworldly" projects. And my social scientific endeavors should be encouraged in a good way. So what is it?
Rather, it's just an attempt by the head of the regional office to get to know me. What for? Apparently, to make sure that I understand my place correctly... under the broom. That's kso! After all, a couple of months after Tsuchi's departure, the conversation would have gone in a slightly different vein. Most importantly, it's all my fault with this rocket... On the other hand, it's an accident. Okay, it's too late now anyway. So, the plan of the conversation is to demonstrate sanity when talking to a psychologist. to demonstrate that I haven't forgotten everything when talking to the head of the regional office. Actually, that's all I can do.
I was scheduled to visit the Committee's office on Tuesday (again, having personally canceled school for me, the teachers will probably frown disapprovingly, they don't like absenteeism here - even on business). And I devoted half of Sunday to delving into the affairs of the Amakawa group, which had to be blamed on the girls. Well, what can I say - there has definitely been progress. All, absolutely all spirits have learned to express their thoughts very briefly and ... obscenely! No, they tried to restrain themselves in front of us, but a couple of new acquaintances were "caressed" in such a way that Rinko turned blue, and Hiroe made a tense face, memorizing. She was still too shy to take a notebook and write it down... or was she just doubting her ability to spell it accurately! As a result, the same Mizuchi turned out to be the spontaneous coordinator: she forced all yokai from both brigades to purchase inexpensive mobile phones for the first payment and record each other's phones. And put a call to her and me on the alarm button. At the same time, she taught me how to find and quickly press these buttons. Hiroe looked at the concluded contracts, there was nothing particularly complicated there, once she forced Kashi to charge a penalty from a not entirely honest customer who delayed the paver by as much as two hours. And the foremen, in the person of Porridge and Hawk-Nosed, were also driven to a men's clothing store and forced to buy a suit, and the rest were forced to buy any casual items such as T-shirts, sweaters, and sneakers in a simpler place. And she explained why in human society you need to change clothes, even if your outfit falls apart because of artifact protection.
Well, the yokai themselves were literally idolized... Rinko! Of the eight "ordinary" spirits, each brigade included, which is logical, four. Three men and one girl. And the girls, of course, got the role of housewives of the household unit: they took their clothes to the washing machines of the dormitory's common laundry room on time and pulled them out, dried, hung, bought and cooked food for everyone... That's where the plug came out. It wasn't that the workers' eateries had any particularly bad food, but it was still more expensive to eat there every day than cooking at home. Rinko, coming home from school with Mizuchi, became convinced that the yokai girls could not cook from the word "at all". And she fed one of the teams with her own cooking - it wasn't difficult for Kuzaki. As Hiroe blabbed to me, the spirits from the second brigade were literally on their knees begging for a master class with their cook. Rinko, who had recently found herself in the position of the second most powerful combat unit, was intensively mastering new possibilities, even with Shizuka she stopped cooking together, and then - this! They flattered my girlfriend, they flattered her... Moreover, the scene was seen by others, ordinary hard workers from the dorm, and now Kusaki were almost greeted with applause in the dormitory - a compassionate girl foolishly shared her generosity with other residents, as a "common boiler" (all the food is for me, then everyone takes the food).
And the spirits themselves suddenly overgrown with social connections, greeted oncoming acquaintances, talked about the topic of payment for work, asshole suppliers of building materials, and even argued about politics. Cami! It's only been a week! Were they really all like this before the Ferry - the oaths were so insane that they couldn't find a common language with people? Or am I underestimating the influence I had on the Goddess of Rivers, and she, in turn, on the wards? Because the ferry didn't fundamentally change anything in yokai's psyche - it just rearranged his priorities (it's still unclear how). However, there is something to ponder...
On Monday, I covered my tails, answered in class, pulling my arm hard - in short, I made up for the upcoming absenteeism in every possible way. It even seemed to work out. And on Tuesday, Hiroe's father picked me up by car from home with all the service. Kaname-san is a typical IT guy, except without a beard and without a sweater - it's hot! - he quickly drove me to a skyscraper office center. Well, hello, the Social Committee.
Chapter 120.
No, it wasn't an office center-the thirty-story building was entirely owned by the committee. Damn, where did the money come from? And actually on the embankment of a hefty freshwater lake, which for some reason was called a "reservoir" in the manga. There is even a port on the lake and a yacht club, and the latter is suspiciously close to the committee's high-rise. How interesting...
The car drove through a gate in a wide elevation around the building - the underground garage, of course, is very big. And then I saw what I had long wanted to see: the implementation of magical protection by magical means. Forgive me for the tautology, I mean, it was exactly a magically active defense... or an alarm system. Although, judging by the intensity of the glow of individual lines, it is still protection. Embedded spells pierced the concrete of the underground complex, creating a uniform grid inside the walls - three-dimensional, quite frequent, mathematically verified. Were they amulets or just spells? Damn, once again I regret that none of "my" people understand this issue at all! What's this? Right in the thickness of the concrete, gliding and touching the cells of the network, a certain energy formation was floating and crawling quite cheerfully. There are also movable elements, autonomous, apparently. Or is it a type of "tester" spell, looking for gaps in the defense?
Kaname-san parked the car in his "own" box, and we only had to go to the elevators, after all, the head of the department. Yeah, there's a signal network running through the air. Logically. It turns out that the foundation is not a signaling device at all, but a reinforcing weave? However, I'm not thinking about that. Here I come to the lines of the network, here my body crosses them, and the lines try to pass through it, as through Hiroe's father... And, of course, they break off: Grandpa's amulet breaks them one by one. And here the guards at the elevators are bored. And why is he bored? Well, let's say the guys aren't magicians, but they must have a combination of magical and conventional security systems, right?
We get into the elevator. Why am I so calm? Because of the "ferry" items of my own manufacture, I risked taking only glasses with me, and the Committee should have information about the lock amulet issued by relatives. At least for those of them who are "in the know", let them see how the amulet works.
The elevator is also not simple - it not only has its charms in the walls, but also crosses the threads stretched across the shaft when moving. It's all very cool, but the purpose is completely unclear. No, well, it's clear that the sensors are working "at the intersection", but what about the rest? And, most importantly, where does the energy come from to power all this beauty?
The elevator stopped at the eighth floor, and Kaname-san invited me to get out.
"Yuto-kun, take a look: the eighth floor is my department, you'll be interested!"
It's really interesting! But actually, I didn't come here to look at the server hardware. But I would take a look at the system of interfacing protection spells, at least with one eye.
"Aren't we going to be late for the interview?" I asked, letting the "naive" intonation into my voice. Ugh, damn, communication with Hiroe has already begun to influence me - I've already noticed that Rinko is unconsciously trying to control her voice, and even Mizuchi. I can imagine how a woman with a haircut communicates with her mother if, even after completely "letting go" of the mask, she continues to play intonations on a subconscious level.
"Kouji-san asked me to give you a sightseeing tour of our building while he has a meeting in the morning. He'll call you when he can come over."
"Kouji-san?"
"Oh yeah, you don't know. This is the director of our branch. When he found out that I was taking you here, he asked me to show you the interesting things in the branch at my discretion. I decided to start with my department - you're not interested in paper shufflers, are you?"
"IT solutions in such a big house are probably more interesting." I returned the smile with a smile, following Hiroe's father into his office... rather, however, it was a control post - I was even slightly confused by the wall of monitors displaying the statuses of the main servers and controllers in a single scheme. Damn, I thought that only happened in Hollywood movies!
Oh, they've also screwed on the touch controls! In general, the tour was a success: starting from the IT chief's office, designed to throw dust in his eyes (he calmly conducted all control from a ten-inch tablet or netbook) and ending with a huge forced ventilation and air conditioning room under the roof. No, I looked at the clerks too, and there were quite a few of them. At the resolution limit of the glasses, I could barely see up or down five or six floors. For the three hundred plus personnel, there were, if I understood correctly, thirty or forty people who were magicians as such. More precisely, they are "magicians" who are twice or more weaker than me. But behind the overlapping lines of defense, I still spotted a couple of quite powerful auras.
And there was only one thing I couldn't figure out: what the fuck? I was determined to defend my rights or to carry out formal procedures, but here... as an honored guest of what. "Look at how we live and work here." Well, cool. So what? And why should I look at it? Although I was almost completely convinced of the impossibility of covert penetration. But it's not like I was going to break in here... I wasn't going to at all.
Was I really invited not as a student of Yuto, but as a representative of the clan? An incapacitated representative, and even under a seal, that is, under an amulet. When Hiroe's father finally got a call from the director asking him to bring me, it wasn't just me who was tired. But I got an idea of the amount of "basic" - not magical, social - work that the Committee does, and I was a little taken aback by the scope: from working with minors, unreliable and single-parent families, to assessing and planning social norms for the number of recreation areas, beaches, cafes, etc. Now it's clear where such a lot of money comes from! It's just a gold mine! Moreover, the Committee was not officially responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure, but only for receiving information and processing it for the Japanese government (and other structures, if they contacted them... not for free, of course). How did the city council miss such a delicious piece, I wonder? We had to create our own committees... Or did they just transfer their officials here? Damn, Jinguji is something. I wouldn't be surprised if they also managed to pull money out of the city for the hotel room occupied by the "princess" in the manga - they just registered the Kues as another inspector - and go ahead. The massive redevelopment of the urban landscape is just in time for the Twilight Moon. She can... or it will be able to. In general, I don't know if this was what Jinguji's protege in the city wanted, but I entered his office feeling some respect and even reverence for the creators and employees of this structure, at least for those who performed "official functions."
Chapter 121.
In some cases, Japanese pedantry is very convenient, as is hieroglyphic writing. Because the small sign on the door of the office could easily fit the inscription:
"Office of the Regional Director of the Social Committee for the city of Takamiya."
"Social Controller of the Executive Department of the central office of the Social Committee."
"Sugowara Kouji"
Just great! The office, according to custom, was located almost under the roof, on the 27th floor. A spacious lobby in front of the elevators, black leather sofas, techno-style lamps and decorative glass panels. And the door to the reception area with the receptionist. More precisely, with man the secretary. The secretary, not looking for me on the list, got up and bowed me into the office, hmm, without even asking on the intercom.
Wow! What a breathtaking view! The glass wall of the office overlooked the lake shore with one side and the lake itself with the other. Impressive. It's not that I wanted an office like this "right now," but it would be an interesting experience to sit in such an armchair and run my own corporation...
While I was looking at the scenery outside the window and the surroundings, the main conductor, that is, excuse me, the controller, was looking at me. By the way, the setting is emphatically minimalist and completely European - not a single Japanese motif, right down to a single painting in the genre of, it seems, super-realism, depicting quite a tea clipper, even if not the famous Cutty Sark.
Finally, I walked through the entire twenty-meter office to the desk of the regional director and bowed. In response, he stood up and bowed to me, and motioned for me to sit down.
"Good day to you, Amakawa-san. I am very glad that you accepted my invitation and were able to visit our Social Committee office."
Oh! And it turns out that I accepted the invitation. Or why not take it? You bastard, Controller, you're also making fun of me.
"Oh, thank you! The tour of your patrimony was extremely, simply amazingly entertaining. Although, of course, the teachers at school were not happy about my absence."
Especially the attempts to see through the three walls of the real command center in the heart of the building, "hung" with energy flows so that it was difficult to see the auras.
"I will not hide that I would not have distracted you from your studies if I had not accidentally happened to hear your last name in connection with participation in the social control program for minors that Saturday. You probably don't know, but all schools provide us with summary reports from their psychologists on all students annually, I won't hide it - I requested information about you..."
er-er-er, is he trying to scare me or something? Why such a preamble?
"...Because of course I was aware of the accident with your parents. The surname Amakawa is quite famous in certain circles... but the psychologist's report notes the loss of early childhood memories. Tell me, do you remember what makes your last name stand out?"
Oh, that's it! It's an interesting question, and Hiroe seems to have been right in her analysis. That's just it...
"I do seem to have lost some of my childhood memories, but not all of them..."
You can't lie now. I can't pretend to be oblivious anyway-I'm too full-fledged. And a magician who has climbed into the chair of the regional director on the twenty-seventh floor has the ability to "read" the interlocutor in one way or another... especially 11 years old.
"..But I can't, forgive me, not ask a counter question: why did this conversation take place today, and not immediately after the parents... They got too far away... from me." I made an effort to remember the unpleasant moments in front of the gravestones in the cemetery on my very first day "here", and the pauses with the right intonation came out by themselves. "Or it wasn't postponed until the age of fifteen, when it would be possible to deal with someone other than... a child."
"That's exactly why," Kouji Sugowara's put a smile on lips. "sometimes a terrible tragedy breaks a person's fate forever... and sometimes it makes you show your essence, grow up ahead of time. I want to say, young man, you have achieved significant success, your name is well-known in the inter-district school commission, under your leadership and with your participation, one school club was reorganized and two more were formed. Didn't you know that Toryu High School has been hosting laser fighting tournaments for the second year in a row, wasn't that your idea too?"
I could only nod. However, the inertia of thinking: I got used to the fact that "there" was everything for the initiatives of schoolchildren... Well, it's not that I don't care, but RONO and the Ministry of Education and Science were interested in average data, and here, it turns out, they already noted and praised... and they didn't say anything, because they really did... Cultured, like a Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh! Although no, I'm driving: I would definitely have told my parents, but no one is covering this place for me. So, since such revelations have been made, we need to clarify this issue, I really don't want to feel like a disenfranchised child.
"Really, you're praising me too much, Kouji-san. Of course, I can guess something, but maybe then you can tell me why I wasn't sent to an orphanage as an orphan?"
"It will make sense if you have sufficiently preserved your childhood memories... after putting on your amulet."
And this is a subtle politician and psychologist?! Rushing like a bear through a raspberry! One of two things, either he doesn't consider it necessary to hide something, or just such behavior is recommended based on the study of my psychological profile... or is it such a test? "There may be a combination..."
"The Amakawa Clan," I began, looking him straight in the eye, "One of the twelve clans of exorcists in Japan, is that what you wanted to hear?"
He's smiling, you bastard!
"Very well, Amakawa-san, I'm glad you haven't forgotten the main thing. I'm answering your question.: You are the most recent member of your clan's senior family. Provided that there was no younger family as such in your clan, you are the heir. Our internal rules are somewhat different from the laws of Japan, the adoption of the heir of the family would mean the actual deposition of this kind. Moreover, your parents have persuasively asked us not to interfere in the upbringing of their child, that is, you. It is the responsibility of the Social Committee to ensure that the rules of the Circle of Exorcists are properly followed in such cases. Accounts, real estate, personal property - our task is to transfer them to the legitimate heir and make sure that the rules will not be violated... Not to the detriment of a minor, of course, but with minimal interference."
Huh?! Is this a minimal intervention?! WELL, WOW!!! Apparently, my face was so eloquent that the regional director hurried on:
"I'm sorry, Amakawa-san, but in the current situation, I risked violating the rule of non-interference in the affairs of a minor. May I explain, please? Good. Apart from the fact that, by unfortunate chance, I received an official reason to call you for an interview at the Office of Social Control, I took yours into account... reputation and thoroughness, rather characteristic of much more mature years. You have not only proved yourself to be a successful student, but you have also established informal contacts with both the leadership of your school (Hiroshi-san personally asked me through three supervisors not to conduct further interviews with his student) and the Kaname family. They got to me... There is some information about extremely successful negotiations with representatives of the Polytechnic City University, and I decided to have an informal face-to-face conversation. Oh, if you want, then our communication will end with this conversation and the Social Committee will not bother you anymore, excluding possible official events like the recent commission. But perhaps, perhaps, as an understanding person, you would like to consider some possibilities of mutual assistance that we can provide to each other."
Like that. I leaned back in my chair (leather and nickel, I want to be a director!), and thought hard. If you translate it from a political conversation (and then they chewed it up and literally put all the information in my mouth, fearing that the child would not understand), then Mr. controller offers to take advantage of his opportunities as the topmost cone on the local Christmas tree in exchange for some help that I, in the person of my clan, can provide him. Question: how can an untrained 11-year-old child with partial memory loss help?.. STOP! Who says I'm not trained?! Clan education begins at the age of five, or even four. I have to be able to do something. And I'll bet a couple thousand yen, it's something like a "Light Ferry." But he knows about the amulet... I wonder where from? After all, there is clearly more than one power sealing technique... So let's check the bump for honesty.
"Kouji-san, tell me, how did you find out about the amulet?" It's not like it's a secret...
"I understand you, Amakawa-san. Well, maybe they didn't tell you, but the structure of the "Social Committee"... so let's say, the Jinguji clan oversees, with whom your relatives managed to conclude some kind of agreement... You may remember him. Among other things, your relatives provided us with some information about the procedure for hiding the heir, which was important given the agreements reached."
Aw, Grandpa, aw, son of a bitch... Well, well, I think I'm just now starting to assess the level of paranoia among my ancestors: my parents hedged their bets with the Kuzaki family, and my grandfather, therefore, hedged his bets with the Jinguji family. And not with any family, but with the ruling one. Like, "the amulet will turn off suddenly for everyone, come, protect and marry." Is that so? Hmm, am I watching a leak of information right now?
"Mr. Director, can you tell me where you got the information about the engagement? It seemed to me that this arrangement was not particularly disclosed?"
Wow, how we grimace, I couldn't keep my face! And I couldn't resist - a winning smile on my face is the best trump card in the opponent's hands. Damn it! I have almost never conducted such negotiations personally, I have only been present at something like this. And not for so long! Yes, even his forehead and hands were wet from exertion. Damn.
"Indeed, Amakawa-san, the engagement information came to me... indirectly. This is the structure of the clan to which I formally belong as a younger family: I have to collect my own information about everything as much as possible... and everyone."
Awesome. And here's the threat, or rather, the uncle just let it slip. Now they'll start following me, too. Maybe it's not too tight, but there's no way you can miss an extra "person" in the house! But catching a Shizuka is elementary - just send an inspector... it seems that I can just use the right to inviolability mentioned in the conversation... but then they will start digging three times more intensively. An ambush! And contacts with the "Amakawa group" will burn just like that! And if the guys from the control find out about the amulets, it's absolutely rubbish. Damn, either negotiate right now, or fuck off... But where to? This place is pre-heated... right. Calm down. Don't get excited. We'll find out what the main social worker needs.
"It's a very good opportunity to be able to collect information", I hinted very thickly, "that's really the problem. I know something about my clan, but I've only heard about the rules of the Exorcist Circle..."
(yeah, in the manga "there")
"I don't think it's such a big deal, Amakawa-san. Perhaps you shouldn't even wait for the official entry into law at the age of sixteen... you might be very busy then..."
(Uh-huh, I'll be dragged into bed by Kues... although I don't really believe in such "etty" fragments)
"...Therefore, I could help you in terms of both informational and personal growth... professional abilities."
Oh, oh, did I just get offered magic knowledge? What is protected as unknown, what is more valuable than securities and money? And in exchange for what?
"I'm ashamed to say this, but maybe you could help me too. Oh, no, I don't want to insist on anything, but maybe, maybe you could get a few dozen amulets from the clan stocks... or blanks for amulets like yours?"
STU-PID! Won't your lip crack, Uncle?! What a lip - the whole building can crack from such titanic arrogance!!! Although... If you recall what Hiroe told me about the regional offices of the Committee: "The employees of the two offices just disappeared - that's it. Overnight." Everything became clear to me. This is not arrogance. This is not an attempt to ingratiate herself with Kues' future husband if the engagement does turn into a marriage. It's a gesture of desperation! Y-y-y, you crossed the path of someone "big", like a whale... No, a tyrannosaurus! And you actually closed the embrasure. Yes, you are a strong magician, but Mizuchi is capable of one unexpected blow, and any of the "three leaders" will have a serious chance even alone.
I suddenly calmed down, the nervousness was gone. Out of habit, I perceived my vassals as people, not even magicians... but they are not human at all, and if they want to take out a few magicians, even if they lock themselves in their office, it will not be so difficult for yokai. It will be extremely difficult for me to give an order for liquidation, but if I am pinned to the wall... They haven't nailed it yet, but it's a bye. On the other hand, it became clear that the Tsuchi were already actively waving their hands and smiling, which meant that they could just wait a couple of months and they would be carried out on their own... with some of the stupid civilians, at least building security, it will be enough for me not to deploy the planned patrols... for a while... I "popped out" of my thoughts and found Kouji-san looking at me very intently. It seems that my sudden reassurance was not lost on the director's friend. It's bad. A rat, if it feels itself in a corner, can bite at the last... It can even be fatal. And really, why can he go ahead and I can't?
"Kouji-san, I can probably help you if you can help me too. You see, there is some necessity in the fact that the amulet "closes" me from magic... legal, so to speak. Amakawa's power is not in weapons or amulets - they are, of course, important, but... Our main striking force in recent centuries has been tamed spirits. Your permission for them to live with me (under my guarantee) in the city and information on the "Mystical House" technique, if you agree to "close" me with your powers, and I am ready to take the risk and open the clan warehouse... and release the guards. Moreover, as I understand from your words, there won't be many in the city soon... Are you restless? How do you like my suggestion?
***
...Walking steadily a block away from the Committee's office, I boarded a suitable bus, which was still empty, and clutched my head with trembling hands as hard as I could. I walked along the edge, damn it, I walked along the very edge. Yes those Tsuchi damn Fuckers all die! How you got me, not just taking responsibility for life, but deciding and speaking up for everyone! Without hesitation. Without preparation! Without full information! I'm not ready! For this... If you can prepare for this at all... and besides me, there's no one else to take responsibility. I personally have already burned the bridges. And it's been a long time...
But ready is not ready... Roll it up and stuff it in the ass!