Book 3. Chapter 14
“An unexpected visit. The Call Back.” Part 1
“I know it was you who gave my sister a system” the extreme seriousness on the face of Satoshi Lee, Sakura’s older brother, was the last thing Kalysto expected to meet after the terrible binge that both had maintained until the wee hours of the morning after the meeting with Katia’s father, to unburden the sorrows of both women.
“...What?” she muttered with confusion while she drank some holy water to eliminate the hangover. For a moment she feared that Sakura had given her away, but she came out of the kitchen to join them while she took a pill and walked as if she was carrying the weight of the world and the annoying rays of the midday sun together with the voice of her older brother, were her greatest enemy. “Here, drink this," she offered half of her bottle, taking pity on her. It will feel strange for a few minutes, but it will take away the pain. “Drink only three gulps if you’re really bad, but no more than that, or the system will block it for ten minutes.”
”Thank you! I’m dying!” She muttered, ignoring her brother completely. “Does this count as a potion?” She asked with a frown and sat down next to her friend as she received the bottle and took three long gulps.
“Unfortunately, yes," Kalysto replied as she took out another bottle and handed it to her. “Keep it in your inventory, you might need it if you’re hurt or something," she whispered so Satoshi wouldn’t hear them.
“...Cough!...” Satoshi cleared his throat several times to get their attention, annoyed at being ignored so easily despite the seriousness of the situation. “Before you came, my sister had no system and no chance of getting one, and suddenly you come along and within hours, bam! She not only has a system, but she’s on the news killing monsters!” He said while pointing his finger at his younger sister, as if accusing her of some crime. “And now that the tower and the two dungeons no longer exist, along with the law making it mandatory for hunters to register, it’s only a matter of time before they organize a raiding party and attack the first portal that appeared in the city since it’s now the only one left. I don’t want my sister involved in something as dangerous as that!” he refuted. “It is no longer safe for my sister to stay in this country.... Besides, I think it’s best that I get a system too. That and form a small group of hunters with my most loyal employees or those of the family. So I ask, what do you want in return?” Kalysto opened her eyes with surprise at the prolonged speech before turning to Sakura. “I don’t know what my sister has given you in return, although since you are a couple, I doubt I can match her offer. But since you’re interested in money, just tell me your price.”
“How many times do we have to tell you that we are not a couple?” Sakura defended herself before the words of her brother, then she turned to her best friend. The only person who was not with her for the power and the money of her family or for all the material things with which she in the past filled those who she had believed her friends. In fact, what she liked most about Kalysto was that every time she gave her something, the young woman always looked for a way to repay her somehow instead of passively waiting for her to give her gifts to buy her friendship. “I didn’t tell him anything!” She assured Kalysto as she raised her hands in surrender, not wanting her to misinterpret things. Kalysto could be very delicate with the strangest things, but especially with everything that had to do with trust. And the last thing she wanted was to lose her only true friend because of her perceptive brother’s conclusions.
“I know, because you’re still alive," she assured her, reassuringly.
“... Oh, right!” Sakura mumbled as she remembered what Kalysto had told her about her new boss and the lengths fairies went to with a simple contract because of their problems to trust others. But her older brother was a completely different story.
“What does she mean by that?” The only man in the room was alarmed.
“It means that if you want to make deals with me, you must sign a magic contract in which you swear never to reveal my secrets, or your heart will stop beating the moment you betray me.”
“Are you out of your mind?” He accused her, but Kalysto only smiled and pulled her hair back as she leaned her arm against the back of the sofa, and leaned towards Sakura with camaraderie.
“You’re the one who wants you and your group of... what, ten employees? To become hunters and create your own guild," she clarified, knowing that she had every advantage in this negotiation.
Satoshi frowned and pursed his lips, before analyzing the situation, calming his expression and speaking again.
“Twenty... make it twenty.”
“He has an apartment in London." Sakura muttered, amused to see her perfect brother having a hard time getting something he wanted, and that for the first time she had it first.
“Whose side are you on?” Satoshi reproached her, but Sakura shrugged indifferently. “And for your information, I own an apartment building in Tokio!” He gloated.
“Tokio, huh? I like Tokyo," Kalysto smiled. “Besides, I think Sakura doesn’t want to be so close to her father, so I think it’s a good choice.”
****
The strong rays of the afternoon sun filtered through the curtains of one of the VIP rooms of the central hospital.
“Ezhil Purification! Jhil Ezhil!” whispered Kalysto for the fifth time as she manipulated her mana, concentrating it on the brain of the fifty-one-year-old woman with dark brown hair lying on the bed. After a few seconds, the swelling in the older woman’s brain disappeared completely, as did the second tumor they had discovered after the surgery. “Mana detection!” She muttered and then thoroughly inspected the body of Amanda, the woman who had helped her financially several times and thanks to whom she had gotten a well-paid job as a waitress in a fancy restaurant.
Half an hour after finishing negotiations with Satoshi, Kalysto went to buy all the author’s books and then went to visit Amanda and return the favors she had done her, curing her. But it turned out that the older woman’s situation had worsened after her operation. Fortunately, Kalysto still had a couple of hours before her next trip.
Amanda’s caramel-colored eyes suddenly opened, surprised to see the missing young woman in front of her as if nothing had happened.
“Kalysto, is that you? I thought you disappeared during the appearance of the first portal!”
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“Yes, it is me. And I’m fine, just like you are now.”
“What do you mean by that? I don’t know what my husband told you, but I’m dying.”
“Not anymore," she assured her with a tender smile. “And that settles any debt I owe you.” She added, surprising the older woman, but at the same time she felt a great relief, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and a small light appeared on the violet screen of her system. Just as it had happened with Edward, it now showed how the debt to Amanda was finished.
I’m glad to know that she’s not only cured, but that I can finally cut things clean with her. She thought.
For a year now she had been burdened by the kindly older woman who used to use her as her emotional garbage dump, as she complained for hours about the lack of attention her wealthy husband and children gave her. At first she had felt sorry for her, a mixture of pity and gratitude that prevented her from not sacrificing her few free hours to rest instead of listening to her talk for hours on end.
But after what Edward did, she no longer wanted anything to do with her family.
Maybe Alice was right about her all along.
“Kalysto, you disappeared the same day as my nephew, didn’t you? Do you know where he is?” The smile disappeared completely from Kalysto’s lips. “You do know? Don’t you? Bring him to me!” Seeing that the young woman took a step back and that all kindness disappeared from her face, Amanda hurried to grab her arm before she left. “I know you know where he is! If you truly value my friendship, bring him to me!”
“I refuse to help the traitor who gave me to a monster who almost killed me,” she snapped, easily slipping from her grip.
“My Edward would never do such a thing. He’s a good boy!”
“You weren’t there to see it, were you? Don’t talk about what you don’t know.”
“But...”
“Our friendship ends here. I appreciate everything you did for me, so I wouldn’t starve to death, but I’ve already done more than enough to repay my debt to you.”
“After all I did for you, this is how you repay me?”
“After all I did for your nephew, and yet he still handed me over to a psychopath?” She returned the question. Goodbye Amanda, I hope you live comfortably all the years you have left, now that you are no longer on the verge of death.” She said goodbye, and as soon as he left the room he muttered: “Stealth!”
Twenty hours later, Kalysto was in the middle of an empty apartment in the city of Tokyo, on the eleventh floor.
“As we had agreed, just sign here and the apartment will be yours," Satoshi informed. “Here are the keys. My contacts at the embassy will give you the documents for your permanent residence in two days after you register as a hunter.”
“What did you tell them?”
“As we agreed, I mentioned that you and my sister found a good amount of weapons in your raid in the U.S. and that you are looking for buyers.”
“Good job!”
“What about my apartment?” Sakura interrupted, cheerfully.
“I’ll give it to you in two months as soon as the tenants vacate it. If you don’t have a place to stay, you can stay with me or at our father’s house.”
“I’ll stay with Kalysto in the meantime!” She immediately clarified.
The next day, they both registered as hunters at the Japanese hunters’ association and bought some things for the new three-room apartment. The next two days Kalysto spent helping Satoshi and his team, who had bought the land where a dungeon appeared and helped them to awaken the system and climb to level five after a very rigorous training with enchanted weapons.
For the next three days, Kalysto dedicated herself to duplicating and enchanting all the weapons she and Sakura had collected, even getting two new skills.
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Intelligence Enchantment. Level 1!]
[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Penetration Enchantment. Level 1!]
The last one was a skill she had been interested in since she discovered it on the goblin weapons, which made her get excited and go crazy about enchanting weapons in order to level it up. It was much harder than the other skills but in the end it was not only worth all the work, but she also ended up enchanting ten thousand weapons.
[The Penetration Enchantment skill has leveled up to level 25!]
[The Intelligence Enchantment skill has leveled up to level 15!]
[The health enchantment skill has leveled up to level 20!]
[Strength Charm skill has leveled up to level 20!]
[Stamina Enchantment skill has leveled up to level 20!]
[Health Charm skill has leveled up to level 20!]
[Agility Charm skill has leveled up to level 20!]
There was now a whole room full of weapons, in addition to the living room and dining room, which Sakura took it upon herself to store and start selling, first to her brother’s company, then to her father and a few to the hunters’ association. For the rest, she talked to a well-known auction house to sell them.
“Our business is a success!” Sakura got excited as she finished sealing a box.
“I’m glad," replied Kalysto, still in her pajamas, as she cast a penetration charm on her beloved axe.
“I will have to take my father’s order personally to his house in Osaka after attending the auction. Are you sure you don’t want to go?”
“I’d rather go for a walk with Tsuki. You know I don’t like crowded events and too many foreign hunters are going to attend.”
“When I get back, we can go for a walk together and continue our tour of the city. Are you okay with that?”
“Sure” after that, they bathed, and each one went out on their own. But before Kalysto could catch a cab, a purple, almost black window appeared before her.
[Did you miss me, Kalysto?]
Sensing it wasn’t about her boss, Kalysto frowned before answering, suspicious of who it was.
“Demon king?”
[That’s right. I’ve finished my part of the contract. Now all that remains is for you to fulfill yours. I’m waiting for you in my palace.]
“Alice and her grandparents are well?” She hastened to ask.
[In perfect condition. When are you coming? I have prepared a nice room for your long stay in my palace. I hope it will be to your liking.]
“But I’m spending my vacation on Earth, I’m not in Elinor.”
[Give me a moment.]
Kalysto waited, but when she got no response ten minutes later, she continued with her plans. Two hours later, she was walking near a lake in Yoyogi Park while eating a delicious ice cream with chunks of fruit, when a black summoning circle appeared at her feet.
Black shadows came out of it, rising like the liquid inside a lava lamp, before forming a whirlpool of shadows which transformed into the demon king, dressed in his finest clothes and an elegant cloak.
A dark crown decorated with precious gems adorned his head, along with two horns that curved backwards. His long black hair contrasted with his fair skin and his piercing red eyes fixed on her.
[ Now it is. Hello Kalysto How long has it been?]
He said, as the words appeared in a window to the left of her as he leaned toward her and took her hand, chivalrously kissing her fingers.
Kalysto opened her mouth and closed it again, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.
He’s your boss’s godson! Kalysto scolded herself, regaining her composure. Come on, Kalysto! Focus!
[The passive ability Mental Defense has been activated.]
Kalysto’s face immediately relaxed and all traces of nerves disappeared completely as the characteristic coolness of her skill coursed through his whole body, bringing her control back to her.
“Good afternoon, demon king. I see that traveling between dimensions is on your list of skills, any chance you can teach me how to do it?”
He smiled at her impudence.
“Please call me Aegir," he replied with a seductive smile, which didn’t affect her at all. And it’s a pity that this is not stipulated in our contract," he answered, but before Kalysto could try to negotiate the possibility of him teaching her, a huge red portal appeared in the sky. And twenty hundred level dragons came out of it.