kscans

Chapter 154 - A Commotion on Earth

We walked for about thirty minutes.

Then, we stopped.

"Why don’t you come on out?"

At my words, several men emerged from the shadows.

They wore business suits, but their demeanor wasn't that of salarymen. I could sense a considerable aura from them, as if they were trained in martial arts. Tina also grew slightly wary.

From among them, a familiar face appeared.

It was Sasaki, the man I’d met at the auction.

"As expected of someone who provides such extraordinary items," he said, his words a hollow compliment. "Your ability to sense presence indicates a certain level of skill."

"And who are you?" I asked. "You don’t seem like a simple IT employee. In fact… are you even Japanese?"

To my question, Sasaki replied, "Oh? What makes you think that? I am, I assure you, a bona fide Japanese citizen."

His tone was slightly provocative. I shot back, "Just a hunch, but your Japanese sounds a little rusty. The only people who live in Japan and sound like that are socially awkward shut-ins. Which means you must have lived in a different country for a long time, speaking a foreign language, and your Japanese got a little stiff. Just a thought."

It was a gut feeling, more than anything.

Sasaki smiled. "I see, so you’re the type to act on intuition rather than reason. That would explain your willingness to go to another world. You’re correct. I came from a certain country. I was born in Japan, but I moved abroad as a child and have lived there ever since. I proved my skills there and rose to my current position."

So that was it. A series of extraordinary new products had been developed in Japan recently, and they were receiving rave reviews. Of course, foreign countries would want to know more.

So they sent an investigator, who traced the source to the items being sold at the underground auction.

"In that case, you could have just won the items at the auction," I said, playing dumb despite knowing why he had approached me. "There was no need to contact me directly."

Sasaki gave a wry smile. "Are you provoking me? Or just feigning ignorance? Well, it doesn’t matter either way. I’ll be direct. You’re coming with us. The reason, of course, is to tell us how to get to the other world."

His final words were laced with killing intent.

The men around him radiated the same aura.

Tina and I exchanged a look.

"I refuse. I don’t like being forced to do things."

"I refuse as well. If you want to find out, you can do it yourselves."

We delivered our parting shots and started to walk away, making it clear we had no intention of dealing with them any longer. They blocked our path.

"You think you have a choice?" Sasaki sneered, his killing intent swelling.

"Are you going to do this?" I asked, my voice filled with my own killing intent.

Imbued with my magic, my aura made them flinch.

Sasaki swallowed hard. "I wanted to do this peacefully. To be honest, I don’t think we can win, but we can’t back down either!"

With that, they attacked.

Their speed was impressive—the level of advanced martial artists. Against an ordinary opponent, they would have easily won, even outnumbered.

But Tina and I are not ordinary. Sasaki’s right fist flew at my face, but I dodged it lightly. As he passed, I drove my left fist into his stomach.

Sasaki clutched his gut and crumpled to the ground. Seeing this, the men around him rushed in.

Not with their bare hands, but with knives.

I wasn’t fazed. I’d fought against far more dangerous things than this. Tina wore a similar expression.

Two of them came at me. Their knife skills were sharp, their movements those of seasoned experts.

But I channeled magic into my right hand and caught the blade of one of the knives. Then, I crushed it. The man froze in shock, and in that moment, I planted my left fist in his face. He fell backward and didn’t get up.

The other one attacked me from behind, but I knocked his knife away with a right backfist and drove my left fist into his face. Both of them were unconscious.

Meanwhile, the two who attacked Tina lunged at her simultaneously with their knives. Tina dodged them with ease, swiftly moved behind them, and delivered a chop to the back of their necks.

They stumbled but didn’t pass out. But Tina grabbed their heads and slammed them together as if she were clapping. That was apparently too much for them, and they collapsed, unconscious.

It seemed like we had taken care of all of them, but suddenly, a gunshot rang out.

I turned to see Sasaki, holding a pistol. An automatic, by the looks of it.

"If you resist any further," Sasaki said, his voice filled with a potent mix of killing intent and rage, "I’ll shoot that beautiful woman of yours. Honestly, I don’t want to kill her, but one person who knows the secret is enough."

I moved to shield Tina, but she said, "It’s alright. There’s no need to fear something like that."

Her face was calm and confident.

Her attitude seemed to enrage Sasaki. "You’ll regret this!"

He fired.

The speed of a bullet is impossible for the human eye to track. You see people dodging them in anime and manga all the time, but in reality, it’s absolutely impossible.

However, just before he fired, Tina whispered, "Spatial Perception."

Then, she dodged the bullet with a simple sidestep.

Sasaki was stunned, but I wasn’t surprised. This was the effect of the new skill Tina had acquired.

Skill: Spatial Perception.

Within a five-meter radius of the user, she can accurately perceive the number and location of even the smallest mosquito. In other words, even if something is moving at an invisible speed, once it enters that space, she can predict where it’s heading.

However, it only allows for prediction; dodging or blocking depends on the user’s physical abilities. For now, there’s no time limit, but it constantly consumes magic.

Tina’s abilities were high-level in the other world. On Earth, she was top-tier. Dodging a bullet was easy for her.

For the past year, Tina had prayed every day.

I want to be stronger, to be more useful.

And a month ago, she finally succeeded in acquiring this skill. It was a skill that was not only useful for herself, but also for protecting important people.

"So this is the power of the other world," Sasaki said.

He let the pistol drop from his hand, and as it hit the ground, his knees did too.

He had lost the will to fight. We were about to leave when men in black suits appeared around us. We tensed, but I saw a familiar face.

One of the men in black said, "Excuse me. A call from Mr. Kuroda."

A voice came from his iPhone.

"Mr. Kaikawa? It seems you are unharmed. I received a report that you were being followed after leaving the building, so I sent reinforcements. We will handle things from here."

Before he could finish, I asked, "One thing, if I may. Will their treatment be… lenient?"

There was a moment of silence.

Then Kuroda said, "You will not be put at any disadvantage. You may not know this, but the influential figures of Japan are on your side."

With that, the call ended.

The man in black put away his iPhone, and he and the others led Sasaki and his men away.

Now that we were alone, I said, "Well then, shall we go home? When we get there, should we sleep? Or…"

Before I could finish, Tina replied, her face blushing, "Let’s… do it. I don’t want to sleep with this unpleasant feeling."

We had the outfits and the tools at the house, too.

When we arrived home, we went to my room.

I was getting things ready when Tina came in.

She was wearing a black rubber suit with a collar. She went to the St. Andrew's cross and restrained her hands and feet. Once I confirmed she couldn’t move, I began to run my hands all over her body.

It was smooth, but smelled of rubber. Tina was trying desperately to hold back her laughter.

Seeing her like that, my desire soared. I prepared a vibrating device and a breastplate. First, I placed the device on her chest, then fitted the armor over it.

I set the level to low, and flipped the switch.

A faint sound echoed from the armor.

"!Ah… uh, ugh… kh…"

Her expression was a mix of pained pleasure and suppressed laughter.

I watched her as I continued to touch her all over. Her leaking moans, her agonized face, her struggling limbs…

My excitement reached its peak, and I cranked the level to high.

A fierce sound erupted from the armor, and Tina cried out, "!!! Ahh!! Hahahaha!! N-no more!! St-stop…"

To her plea, I whispered, "Just a little longer. Let me hear you."

I hugged her as I said it.

Tina, still laughing, said, "N-no… th-that’s not… fair…"

Her face, stained with tears, seemed to resign itself to her fate.

That night, I spent my time listening to Tina’s voice and inhaling the scent of rubber, warm and soaked with the smell of sweat.