Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 2===

"So this is the situation. I am Haruga from SAURU."

"This time, it seems like it's my turn to go 'what the heck'..."

It was 6pm the following day after Hal was informed of the urgent job.

This conversation took place between Hal and Orihime after they met in the Juujouji residence's Japanese-style room.

Asya and the client, apparently Orihime's grandfather, were also present on the side.

Orihime was slightly displeased. The reason could easily be surmised. Most likely, it was due to Hal trying his utmost to avoid her in school today, then suddenly making a home visit afterwards.

But whatever. Because explaining would be a pain...

"Orihime, is this someone you are acquainted with?"

"I am classmates with your granddaughter at school."

Hal answered swiftly. He had entered his business mode that was 30% more friendly than his usual self.

"So you are a high school student too?"

"Yes, but please rest assured. I believe my profile has already been delivered to your hands. There is not a single erroneous fact. To date, I have succeeded in nine cases of Grave Goods acquisition while there were four occasions when I served as staff during successfully completed rituals. These are my total accomplishments over the past three years."

Orihime eyed Hal suspiciously while he was talking nonstop with a fake smile.

This was probably because she knew how different he was acting compared to usual, but Hal pretended not to notice. Gaining trust from the client&mdash;more accurately, the representative&mdash;was the most important.

"Furthermore, I am merely playing an assistive role on this occasion. Anastasya here will be responsible for carrying out the ritual and providing security. Information on her has already been sent to you, yes?"

"Indeed. Master-class... Is that so?"

Witches&mdash;magi&mdash;were precious talents. There were probably fewer than a hundred and fifty of them in the entire world.

Among them, the majority belonged in the range of Level 1 to Level 3, but witches reaching Level 4 or above, designated "master-class" by SAURU, were extremely rare.

In particular, Asya was one of only eight Level 5 witches in the entire world. One could definitely call her a person of exceptionally rare talent.

"How astounding for someone in possession of such power to come expressly to Tokyo..."

Asya smiled back modestly in response to the gaze of Orihime's grandfather.

In order to impress her dream-like beauty deeply upon others, she nodded lightly and bowed.

"Although I sometimes receive exaggerated praise, I have simply had more opportunities to take part in battle than other witches."

Her choice of words were very polite but conveyed unwavering confidence.

Excellent, wonderful acting. Well done. Hal secretly praised her.

Asya was undoubtedly playing the part of an incomparably calm and mysterious version of herself. Part of the act was not sitting cross-legged in a Japanese-style room despite being a foreigner.

Instead, she was sitting very straight and formally in seiza.

Although such behavior did not resemble a foreigner's, it served as a foil to Asya's fairy-like beauty, hence it was absolutely the superior choice.

Back when his childhood friend first came to New Town, Hal had discussed with her over a meal of grilled meat.

Henceforth in Japan, Hal was going to be in charge of the talking during "business" while Asya's job was to play the role of the reticent and mysterious character, thereby leaving a good impression on sponsors. If the client could be persuaded to relax standards of scrutiny and remunerate more generously, life would be much easier during work.

Still, it felt truly ludicrous to be discussing the topic of mysteriousness in a grilled meat restaurant amidst smoke and odors...

"First of all, I wish to dedicate my humble efforts towards making Orihime-san our new comrade. Please count on me."

Asya promised while pretending to be a precocious prodigy.

This type of image manipulation usually worked when securing the support of layman sponsors.

It went without a hitch this time as well. Orihime's seemingly very strict and old-fashioned grandfather looked impressed with Asya's behavior of calm confidence, closing his eyes slightly and nodding.

"I see. Then I place my granddaughter in your hands."

"...?"

Orihime tilted her head in puzzlement, probably because she had witnessed Asya yelling "I'm hungry!" without pretense the day before yesterday.

After all, she must find it suspicious how different Asya was from her earlier impression.

"Then allow me to explain the details of the ritual."

Before Orihime could say anything, Hal changed the subject.

"As you already know, humanity was forced to coexist with dragonkind in this century. Thus, the existence of 'serpents' became gospel to those who worry about the security of neighboring areas. Namely, those created through the ancient knowledge known as magic... the giant creatures named leviathans."

Artificial monsters created by magic to oppose the dragons.

Witnessing their existence, the media called them "leviathans" in reports, even making up the nickname "serpents" for these super lifeforms.

"Using an alchemical process only privy to SAURU, the ritual creates the physical body of the 'serpent' then links it to the candidate girl through covenant magic. If successful, she will become the leviathan's partner, in other words, a mage."
[[image:Leviathan 01 089.jpg|thumb]]

The word "mage" originally referred to a "user of magic."

But in modern times, the most outstanding magic practitioners were leviathan covenantees. Hence, referring to them as "magi" became spontaneously entrenched.

"Making use of their power for public benefit, magi became the protectors of human settlements. This you should already know. As for terms of service and remuneration, please negotiate with local authorities and sponsors&mdash;"

"Hold on, Haruga-kun. May I have a moment of your time before we start the long discussion?"

"We are talking already. I don't think there's any need for an additional moment or anything like that..."

Orihime had angrily interrupted Hal's explanation, prompting him to respond with the above.

He tried to avoid eye contact with her as much as possible, but the slightly agitated young lady counterattacked swiftly, going straight to the point.

"I want to talk alone in private. Cut the irrelevant nonsense and come with me!"

Orihime's soft palms forcefully grabbed the collar of Hal's school uniform. Due to coming here straight after school without changing, Hal was still in uniform.

On the other hand, Orihime had already changed into casual clothing. Forcibly pulling Hal up to his feet, she dragged him to the corridor.

Her formidable strength did not quite match her attire, a white cardigan with a flared skirt.

Consequently, before Asya and Orihime's grandfather could even react in surprise, Hal was already taken captive.