Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 5===

''11:17 PM

A new figure appeared on New Route 155 where the Tokyo Chancellor and Nagoya Vice Chancellor had fought. Five minutes had passed since the fight ended.

A tall, skinny boy in a first-class three-piece suit took long strides to catch up to the boy in a red mountain hoodie.

The long scarf draped over his shoulders blew in the night wind as he spoke.

“Nagoya’s Vice Chancellor was on the ground back there. Did you kill him?”

Hisahide shrugged and shook his head at the sharp question.

“It isn’t easy with just my hands and feet. I can’t pull off a one-hit kill.”

“That is the weakness of White Noise. Although that talent does allow you to use silence to ignore Techs and Rhythms that are programmed using the flow of Lives.”

He pulled rectangular glasses from his suit’s breast pocket and placed them on his nose.

“I doubt Nagoya thought someone like that could actually exist. According to legend, I believe the last Harmonist existed thirteen years ago.”

“As the Kinki Riot continued to intensify over the course of a year, two Chancellors personally brought it to an end: Osaka Chancellor Kuki Udai and Tokyo Chancellor-…”

“And the only one who can follow in their footsteps is you, Nakamura Hisahide.”

When the tall boy interrupted, Hisahide nodded, smiled bitterly, and looked at the silver ring on his right hand.

“And yet I used to be called worse than a Dis-Worder because I couldn’t use Techs or Rhythms.”

“Yes, even a one-in-a-million Dis-Worder can apparently use Over Rhythms and Techs.”

“It’s like the Ugly Duckling. After all, that turned out to be a shortcut to being the strongest.”

“…The strongest, hm? To think the key to unifying east and west was strength.”

The boy stroked the scarf that floated around him like the legendary hagoromo of a tennin and Hisahide smiled bitterly.

“Ikemaru, where’s Aoi?”

“She is apparently dealing with a runner. She will meet up with us in Nagoya.”

“Hold on. So she isn’t with Takada?”

Ikemaru quietly nodded.

“Even if she is my cousin, it is not my job to look over that Dog God user.”

“So you ran on up here, leaving my future wife all on her own?”

“I did not run. I walked.”

Ikemaru ignored Hisahide’s bitter look as he continued.

“Besides, I doubt Takada Seigi of all people would want anything to do with you. She did give you a prophecy, though.”

“A prophecy, huh?” Hisahide nodded. “Have we finished all the preparations to make me king?”

Ikemaru used a hand wearing black leather gloves to pull two pieces of paper from his pocket.

They were charms.

“As Ikemaru Takahiro, future representative of the Ikemaru family, I have sealed two powerful kotodama. One is for Ixolde and the other…well, it will likely help you on your way back to Nagoya.”

“You couldn’t make it three?”

“I am traveling with you as an inspector, but helping that girl find what she is looking for matters more to me. …But don’t worry. You could even call the words inside these ‘excessive’.”

“So we have the two charms. That leaves an underground map and information on Ixolde. The former we can swipe from a government office, but what about the latter? The HQ for Osaka’s Chancellor’s Officers?”

“Most likely. And on the personnel front, Master Iba will be joining us later.”

“Now I’m worried. That old man should have no trouble getting into Osaka. But the person we really need here is Takada, so where is she? I haven’t seen her since you blew away the station’s roof back there.”

“The Dog God will protect her. I assume she’s helping heal the injured. I can hardly believe the way she thinks sometimes.”

“That’s because she’s pure. Unlike you.” Hisahide gave a deep sigh. “This has been a long story, but getting to Nagoya is something like the halfway point.”

“Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t met Master Iba at the Mountain.”

“Three years ago, huh? Ikemaru, what were you doing back then?”

“Facing the death of that girl’s mother.”

“Don’t say that so casually. Aoi wouldn’t want that, would she?”

Hisahide turned around and started walking down New Route 155.

He resumed his journey to Nagoya.

“Let’s go, Ikemaru. We don’t need anything else in Nagoya. If possible, I want to regroup with Takada and Aoi there…and then we make our attack on Osaka.”

“You’re really doing it? You’re going to make yourself king? You’re going to crush Osaka as they build something as ridiculous as Ixolde?”

Hisahide answered with a nod and simply stated his own personal theory.

“There only needs to be one king.”

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