Maya watched with a smile as Dalton attempted to control Riot. The two of them argued energetically like siblings. They were also very weak.

But it warmed her heart to see even a shadow of his previous selves. Other than the first, all of them started weak, yet they continued to fight even in the worst situations.

If only Jack had not ruined this feeling. She felt one of her wards snap, and it captured her attention. She looked through the second ward, seeing Jack wield a golden blade that she recalled was named Witch Killer. It had the ability to cut mana in two. She doubted even with that though, the second ward would easily hold against him.

But she did not want her wards damaged. Putting them up cost time.

She sighed and willed other wards off.

A moment later the doorbell rang. Dalton and Riot looked at the door, and Dalton started to walk towards the door.

“Don’t worry.” Maya stopped him. “I got it.”

“Okay.” He went back to complaining to Riot about how weak Riot was.

She did not want to speak with Jack, or even let Dalton speak to him. She hated the man. Always feeling like he was the most important man in the room, not willing to realize he was only an ant compared to her boot.

Opening the door, Jack slipped in like a snake, and gave her a pearly white smile.

“Maya.” He tipped his hat to her, and then handed Witch Killer to her. “Be a doll and put those away. I will need to talk to Dalton.”

Jack moved past her and into the living room where Dalton was. Maya felt particularly angry right now. So, for revenge for the ward he broke, Maya pushed a compressed ice needle within the blade. When he swings it next time, the needle would expand and break Witch Killer.

“What is this?!” Jack yelled angrily.

Maya placed the sword and coat on the ground and walked towards the living room. What she found was an exasperated Jack, and Dalton and Riot looking at each other as confused as she was by the outburst.

“What is it?” Maya asked.

Jack turned to her, his face twisted in anger. He pointed to the two. “What is this Maya? Is this some joke?”

Maya crossed her arms. She understood now and she was going to thoroughly enjoy it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She feigned ignorance.

Jack did a double take. “When I left, I thought placing him in your hands would be the best to get him powered up, but you’ve attached this mediocre ghost on him? Did you not have that Murder Island ghost captured?”

“I determined that it would not be in his best interest to take in the Murder Island ghost,” Maya said.

“Then do you plan to save my Bureau?” Jack asked.

“Not even if you pay me with your life.” Maya flashed him a smile.

“So, you’re sabotaging this,” Jack said, in a disorientated tone. “You plan to sink me?”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Jack, I would never waste my time to plan to sink you. I would just sink you if I wanted to do it.”

She enjoyed seeing Jack squirm, unable to muster the words he wanted to say. She knew he was being careful, but he looked like a dog ready to bite.

“I can make both of your lives more difficult,” he finally said.

“Jack, you haven’t even seen what they can do together.” She was doing her best to hold back her laughter. She motioned towards Dalton and Riot. “They have been training for several days to storm the Bureau and get rid of the ghost.”

Jack sucked in air. “Alright. Show me what you can do.”

Maya formed another mana dummy. She made sure to make it softer than pudding. Dalton nodded to Riot.

[Ghost punch!] Riot zoomed through the air like a thrown person. His fist met with the mana dummy, and his fist exploded.

Riot held up his stump of a hand, and in tandem Dalton did the same thing, though his hand was still attached.

Jack was not amused but Maya sure was. She couldn’t stop the laughter from exiting her mouth. Jack’s face turned red.

“I cannot believe you are sabotaging an attempt to regain control of the Bureau. Do you know what is happening without it?”

“You’re not making as much money.” Maya pointed out.

“That is only one part of the problem. Without the Bureau, souls are not being sent to the right worlds. They are backed up, and worlds that need them are going to slip into a hell world,” Jack spat out.

“Worlds die. It happens.” Maya shrugged. “Have your other attempts not panned out.”

“Well, my attempt to train a demon bear to assassinate the ghost did not go as planned. It turns out, demon bears do not like being told what to do. Ate two of my favorite secretaries.”

“I could have told you that.” Maya snorted.

“I’m sorry, you had a demon bear trained to assassinate Ozul?” Dalton cut in.

“More than that Mr. Attewater. I sent in my Transportation Department, I sent a ninja from the Kurogane clan, and I even tried to bargain with the ghost.” Jack shook his head.

“You bargained with Ozul? What did he want?” Dalton sounded incredibly curious. He was cute when did that.

“Well, if you must know, he demanded that everyone in the Bureau, sign a purity pledge. No one can have sex, until they are married. And you can only have one wife.”

Dalton started to hysterically laugh. “I’m sorry what? Are we talking about the same man here?”

He stepped inside Dalton’s personal circle. The laughter disappeared from Dalton’s face. “I do not ever joke, Mr. Attewater. And I could never choose between the twenty women I am married to. But if I had to it would be Éclair,” Jack wistfully said. “That woman is my favorite. She can bend in so many way-”

“Okay!” Dalton piped. “I get it.”

Jack gave him a look. “Dalton, you’re not very good at this are you?”

“What?”

“You almost had me bent over, but you’re showing me your shortcomings. You have shown me you are inadequate. You cannot control your ghost. I’m not sure what his power is, but it’s probably useless. And most importantly, you’re a terrible negotiator. I thought you were an Attewater.” Jack shook his head.

Dalton was unsure what to say, but Riot did.

[Hey, my power is not useless!] Riot yelled.

“Really? Is your power just yelling? It’s mildly annoying at best.”

Riot hovered at eye level with Jack, and then craned his neck to whisper. Jack’s eyes widened. His nose started to bleed.

“Alright, your power is not as useless as I thought.” He wiped his nose with a handkerchief. “I will give you a C, at best.”

That seemed to anger Riot even more, and they argued about raising his grade. On the other side, Dalton looked very confused at the situation.

Maya was not going to tell Dalton his powers. It would ruin the surprise and she could not wait to see his reaction towards it.

She stepped right next to him and whispered to tease him.

“My, it looks like Jack really wants to use his power.”

Dalton shook his head. “It’s something perverted, isn’t it? It could only be that. Did I tell you one of his cards just upped the cup size of his monster? It’s probably that.”

“Do you really wish it is that?” Maya giggled. She put her own hands on her breasts. “My size is pretty big already.”

Her boyfriend blushed and turned away. “You’re already perfect.”

That only made her smile even more.

“Okay, okay.” It seemed Jack was done negotiating with Riot. “If you get rid of Ozul, I will have you isekai’d with your…Neo Mecha Woman…” He arched an eyebrow, and Riot fervently nodded his head. “And I will also grant Dalton a promotion.”

Dalton stepped up to Jack. His eyes twinkled and he held out a hand for him to shake. “I think we have a deal.”

“This is, of course, contingent that you actually beat back Ozul.” He took his hand and shook. “I still think sending the demon bear would be a better plan.”