Miko looked at the person sleeping in front of him very carefully, no matter how much he thought about it his instincts were telling him that this was Silver Crow’s Leader Jin.
“….He's a little different from what I had expected.”
Said Miko.
He slowly approached the sleeping person and kept his guard up.
“Yo.”
Miko slapped him to wake him up.
“……..”
However, he got no response; so he did it again.
“Yo.”
“What?!”
The person suddenly got up and shouted.
“Oh. It's still you.”
He calm down when he saw that it was Miko.
“What is it? You're disturbing my 27 hour nap.”
He spoke with a sleepy tone.
“You're Jin the leader of Silver Crow right?”
Miko asked.
The person looked at Miko for a while before saying-
“I was going to lie, but I think it will consume too much energy to try and convince you, so yeah.”
Jin answered truthfully.
“The name’s Jin Makoto. It's a pleasure to meet you, Heavenly Demon King.”
After saying that Jin immediately closed his eyes intending to sleep again.
“Ah.”
But he quickly reopened seeming to have remembered something.
“Now that I think about it, I was suppose to monitor you and keep you in check wasn't I.”
He looked at Miko.
“You've been causing any trouble?”
“None that I recall.”
“Then do you intend to cause any trouble in the future?”
“….Maybe.”
“Good enough for me. My job is done.”
He immediately went back to sleep after saying that.
“………”
Miko stared at him for a while.
“….This is the level of laziness I strive for.”
He mumbled to himself with a serious expression.
At this moment both Regis and Ishma took their human forms.
“So this is the bastard who spoil our fun.”
Ishma glared at Jin.
She then turned her arm into a sword and slashed it down.
Miko didn't stop her because he wanted to see the results.
The sword slashed down so fast that it was hard to follow even with Miko's eyes.
“Hm?”
Just as the sword was about to hit Jin, it stopped midair.
It wasn't Ishma who stopped it, it came to a halt by itself.
“What? It feels like there's something blocking my hand.”
Ishma said with a hint of surprise in her voice.
“Please refrain from attacking me in my sleep.”
Jin opened his eyes and said.
He sat up and stretched his body once more.
“Great. Now I'm not sleepy anymore.”
He complained.
“So these are your swords Sapphire spoke about.”
He said as he looked at Regis and Ishma respectively.
“They're as cute as she said they were.”
He looked at Ishma's blade arm.
“And violent too.”
He stood up and looked down on them.
“Tsk!”
This irritated Ishma.
“Well, now that you forced me fully awake, what's this about me spoiling your fun?”
“You attacked the syndicate last night, didn't you?”
Miko asked.
“I did.”
“….You didn't even try to hide it.”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“That's because I never lie. Every lie will eventually come out as a lie, and when that happens it causes a lot of problems that are rather time-consuming when fixing. In order to prevent myself from wasting so much energy in the future that could've been invested in lazing around, I only tell the truth. No matter how much better it would've been to lie.”
“……I see.”
Miko couldn't wrap his head around Jin's logic, but he did believe it made some sense.
‘This is something that could only be thought of by someone who reached the heights of laziness.’
Miko thought to himself.
“However….”
He looked back at Jin who didn't have a sleepy look anymore.
“To me it feels like you're forcing yourself to sleep all the time and be lazy. To me it looks like you had to work hard to be this lazy.”
It felt like when Miko was Logan Cross and lost all motivation in life and just became lazy.
Lazy by circumstances.
“Well, let me ask you this. Do you think there's anything in life worth being awake for?”
“……..”
Miko couldn't answer him right away, because it felt like he was being asked that by his past self.
He looked into Jin's eyes again.
‘Now that I take a closer look, this guy's eyes are dead. There isn't a trace of life in them…..This guy is living for living sake.’
Miko thought to himself.
“Well, for me there's a lot to stay awake for. Although there wasn't much in the past.”
“….Is that so?”
Jin answered after staying silent after while.
“But I don't get it. If there's nothing really important to you, why attack the syndicate to prevent the war? I doubt you did it for the people. You don't seem like the type.”
Asked Regis.
“That's pretty impressive for you to see my true colors in a glance. Even my team don't see it.”
“That's because you didn't try to hide them in the first place.”
“Well I guess you're right about that.”
“So you don't lie but you don't always show the truth?”
Miko asked.
Jin didn't answer for a while before speaking.
“While it's true that I don't really care about most people, I care about those I call my comrade. Those guys were all pretty much like you and I when I first met them. It might've been a whim, but I wanted to give them a purpose so I created Silver Crow and gave them a place they belong with a purpose.”
“All while you remained empty.”
Miko interjected.
“Well, I'll be lying if I said I was 100% empty. There's still some life in me. Even though it's a tiny speck.”
He then looked at Ishma.
“I spoiled your fun to keep that tiny speck alive.”
“Hmph.”
Ishma turned away from him. Jin didn't seem to mind though.
“I am Silver Crow’s leader, but before that I am this city's death god.”
Jin smiled a hollow smile. A smile that lacked any true emotions.
“A death god don't really need to be full. In fact, it's better if he remains empty. Don't you agree?”
“…..You don't seem to mind pouring your heart out to me.”
“Pour my heart? No, that's not what I'm doing. I'm just speaking with another death god who can relate with me even a little. Yeah, just like Kaido.”
“Kaido, huh. I don't think he's empty. He has an angel by his side.”
Miko said seriously.
“Ah, you must mean Hana. Yeah, that girl sure is something to be able to give even someone like Kaido purpose. However, even if he isn't really empty anymore he understands what it feels like. That's why I enjoy fighting with him. It makes me take a glimpse of a possible future self.”
“While it makes Kaido remember the emptiness he once felt….I can understand why he said he didn't really like fighting you.”
Miko then thought of something.
“Could the reason you were interested in me was because looking at me allows you to see another possibility for yourself?”
“Bingo. I watched a lot videos and read a lot of reports surrounding you and could instantly tell that you were quite similar to myself from your actions. Everything you did felt like you did it out of obligation and not for yourself. It was most likely to repay the person who changed you from your empty self.”
Said Jin.
“…..You know you're a bit creepy.”
“Is that so?”
Miko nodded.
“You're empty I admit that, but at the same time full of greed. Looking at you makes me feeling like I'm looking at a starving Beast hungry for my very existence.”
“Quite exaggerated, don't you think?”
Jin said with a fake smile.
The longer he stared into Jin's dead eyes the more drawn out his soul felt.
It was like he was really being eaten.
‘Was I like this before?’
Miko asked himself.
He started to wonder what would've become of him if he hadn't opened up his heart to those around him and left the kingdom alone.
He had the feeling that he would become like the blackhole that was Jin Makoto.
Hungry for something that could fill his life.
“Ah, maybe that's why I wished to destroyed all gods; just so that I would have a purpose.”
Miko realized something about himself from looking at Jin.
Jin closed his soulless eyes and took back a seat.
“Well, while I'm envious of you and Kaido I don't want your lives or your existence.”
He held on to the rings on his necklace.
“No matter how painful and worthless it will be, I must continue living as myself and no one else. I made a promise I would.”
“Promise, huh…..Oh, I promised Bloom that I would tell you to call her if I've ever met you.”
“Is that so? Thanks. Bloom is good girl don't you think?”
“Well, I'm currently courting her so I agree.”
“I see. I wish you the best of luck. She can be a bit stubborn and reckless at time.”
“I have confidence that I can make her mine.”
“Is that so? It's good to be confident.”
Jin watched as the sun set.
“If I were die today I'm sure that a lot of people would be sad, but would I be sad or happy?”
Jin mumbled to himself.
He then shook his head.
“I'm acting too gloomy. This isn't good……I should sleep.”
He quickly doze off after saying that.
Miko was amazed by how fast he fell asleep.
“Nothing worth stay awake for huh?”
He mumbled and looked at Jin.
“If that was true then you wouldn't have stayed alive because of some promise. But I suppose you already know that, don't you?”
“…….”
Jin didn't response and continued to sleep.
“I don't like this guy.”
Ishma grumbled.
“Really? I find him quite interesting. His outlook on life is a bit similar to my own. He's only a bit more gloomy than I expected.”
Said Miko.
“Ah, I forgot.”
Miko moved and slap Jin again.
“…..What is it now?”
Jin asked without opening his eyes.
“Hey, what do you know about Sebas Lovefall?”
“Sebas? Well he's one of the four pillars that controls the city.”
“I know that. I want to know more than that.”
Jin opened one of his eyes and peeked at Miko.
“Why would you need info on him? Don't tell me you did something stupid as pissing him off?”
“Well, he placed two tails on me and I kind of accidentally behead them.”
“…..When?”
“Earlier today, just before I came to the park.”
Jin opened both eyes and sat up.
“You did something really stupid Miko.”
He stretched his head.
“Killing a Pillar’s men is bad enough, but you had to kill the one that controls the city's military.”
He said with a sigh.
“I thought Jun Mizune controlled the military.”
“No. Jin controls the academy and thus indirectly have a great influence over the young soldiers. The one that supervises the entire military is Sebas Lovefall.”
He pointed at Miko.
“And you offended him.”
Miko then saw it.
Jin Makoto smiled at him.
This wasn't a fake or hollow smile, this was a true smile from the bottom of his heart.
“Good going. I bet that pansy bastard is fuming while under a man.”
He laughed and said.
He seemed alive for the first time.
“I never thought someone who worked for the Four Pillars would laugh at their misfortune. What? Are they not paying you enough?”
“I don't work for the Pillars. I'm their slave.”
He said with a serious face.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well it's complicated. Just heed my warning. Don't irritate the Pillars too much, otherwise I'll be knocking on your door whether I like it or not.”
His eyes lost the lively look they had before and became dead again.
“….I'll keep that in mind.”
“It seems like you're only itching to piss them off more to me though.”
Jin said with a smile.
“So I was found out. To be honest, I kind of wished to fight you for a long time. If I can do that by pissing off the people who I've put on my hit list, then isn't that killing two birds with one stone.”
“Well, I won't deny that fighting you does sound like something worth staying awake for.”
Jin then lended back on the bench and crossed his legs.
“Now that I think about it, when the war between the Pillars and the syndicate finally happens Kaido will most likely side with the syndicate. That guy hates the Pillar nearly as much as I do. But he especially hates MYTH as a whole.”
Jin said with a laugh.
Miko smiled and said-
“When that happens I'll just take you both on at once. That'll surely be a ball.”
Jin Makoto. Kaido Khan. Gamiko Dragna the Third.
These three were destined to head the clash that will destroy the city.
Three sides, what will be result?