Ryoma didn't seem to like what I said.
I wonder why?
If he didn't want me to know about that stuff, he probably shouldn't have left his documents lying on his desk.
There was literally a document about how he was going to transfer his company's money to another account through some interesting laundering methods.
Laundry machines anyone?
Ryoma let out a sigh as he passed me, walking towards his desk. My threat seemed to have worked as Ryoma became much more obedient at once.
As Ryoma reached for his bag, one of the pens on his desk rolled off and hit the ground with a soft clink. He didn't pick it up.
"Are you really not working for Otto or Cocolia?"
"If I were, would I still be talking to you nicely?"
Those two names have been coming up a lot. I'll definitely need to keep them in mind. They are probably heavyweights in the global situation.
Ryoma closed his eyes. "I see." He let out a breath as he kept all his documents into his bag. I guess he didn't want any more people finding out about his wonderful ventures.
"Cocolia should be the one planting Honkai devices all around the city, right?"
"Devices? What devices?" asked Siegfried from the phone in confusion.
Ryoma frowned. "The ambient Honkai energy in the atmosphere hasn't changed much at all these few months. If there was a honkai device, then that shouldn't be the case."
Uh oh...
"The two of you... don't know as well?"
"This... is the first time I've heard of this..." Ryoma admitted. "I'll need to do some more investigations if what you say is true."
"If there's anything going on, it's got to be that bitch's work though!" Siegfried cursed at the side. "She's been getting really uppity lately."
I put a hand on my chin as I delved into thought at the moment.
The two of them don't know of Cocolia's involvement so that's a bit of a bust. However, I should try to at least get some scrap of info of her out of them.
"Can you tell me about this Cocolia?" I asked after some pondering.
Ryoma sneered. "What's to say? Siberian warlord. Standard nepotism hire. And I know of an orphanage she has out there where she uses the kids as experiments." A laugh came out of Ryoma's throat. "She regrets some of 'em, I heard. Like that one girl, Seele. Too late for guilt though."
"She's like Otto, but dumber." Siegfried added on the from the phone. He still wasn't put on speaker though. I don't know why.
I narrowed my eyes. Seele huh. She might be important in the future.
But now I know Otto and Cocolia were both pieces of crap I guess. Though I might need to look at it from my own lens. These two might have their views blurred?
Who knows what skeletons were hidden in these guys' closets.
I don't believe for a second that a billionaire like Ryoma didn't climb up here on a mountain of bones.
"And who is this Otto?" I asked.
"Tch, the asshole in charge of Schicksal." Siegfried's voice turned darker. "A piece of shit with no redeeming qualities."
"Don't let Siegfried's distaste of him trick you though Gojo. Otto is a very... interesting individual." Ryoma stated as he looked outside the window for a moment.
My eyes locked onto Ryoma, noticing that his body was very tense already. A smile appeared on my face, but I didn't say anything about that.
Instead, I just went on to the next question.
"One more thing I'd like to ask."
"Go ahead. I'll answer whatever you want."
A dry emerged from my throat. "Isn't that kind of you?"
"I just believe now that you're likely a trustworthy person." Ryoma turned back to me, with eyes looking like he actually meant it as he held his hand out to me.
Still...
Everyone in this space are liars man(me included)
Pot calls the kettle black then haha.
But actually, there was one who wasn't a liar...
I pushed away those thoughts for now. It wasn't the time for that.
"What's wrong with Mei?"
Ryoma's warm expression towards me poofed like smoke. "Did… anything happen to her?"
"I dunno. Do you think her becoming Palpatine means anything?"
"Palpatine?"
"Oh right. His name is Homutine or something."
While the name sounded ridiculous, my words made Ryoma's eyes go wide. "She used lightning powers?"
"Maybe a bit of the force too."
Ryoma kept silent for a moment as he stared at my face. I could see his struggle internally to lie to me.
It was easy to notice, considering it was plain as day how much he loved his daughter. If there was something wrong with her, he wouldn't want to tell it to an untrustworthy source like me.
Do I care?
Sorry but no.
"Impossible!" Ryoma began pacing around the room. "How did the Gem of Conquest awaken?" He turned to me as he grabbed my shoulders. "Was she acting strange? Like there was another personality talking through her?"
Well he spat this out quite easily. I assume that this piece of knowledge was really important considering how he didn't even have time to think before he started freaking out.
"She sounded pretty kinky to me." I said as I brushed his hands aside.
A vein bulged out of Ryoma's forehead before he took deep breaths. "Calm down, Ryoma. He's trying to mess with you…"
On second thought, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to say such a thing to her father?
Oh well. What's done is done.
Ryoma's shoulders slumped. "It... can't be... But why now? She's only 15..."
I raised an eyebrow.
"It can't be that they found out? How? I hid it so well? There should be no clues at all..."
I rolled my neck as I started to let Honkai energy flow throughout my body.
"There has to be a mole in the company! I'm sure that I-"
"Hey, if you're done, would you like to invite our extra guest in?" I asked.
At that moment, the window shattered as a man with one arm and white hair crashed in from the outside.
The broken pieces of glass flew out in all directions, causing Ryoma to deck to protect himself.
I didn't need to do so however as the glass all stopped in front of Infinity.
"Hey kid. We meet again!" Siegfried said with a cocky smile.
I returned it in kind. "I don't suppose you enjoy getting your things stolen?"
"Heh, last time I was unprepared. This time, I have quite a bit more information..." Siegfried snorted. "Your barrier, it's affecting space in some way." He wasn't asking a question. It was just him confirming it to himself.
"Maybe?" I shrugged. "Maybe it's a barrier. Maybe it's an invisible shield? Maybe it's some of vector field?"
Though I said this, I became slightly more wary.
Infinity was pretty much why every fight had gone relatively smoothly thus far. The fact that Siegfried can know that it's a spatial technique means that there should be powers of similar nature in this world.
That means that Infinity can be breached.
I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't come here today. In a sense, it's a good thing I did so despite getting into this fight.
"You don't need to come up with all that crap." Siegfried bragged. He pointed Shamash at me. "Give me back the other Shamash, Gojo. Your barrier won't stand its power."
Is that a bluff?
Would Shamash affect Infinity?
I had never shot myself with Shamash before, so I had never properly tested it with Infinity.
But if it could, things would get rather complicated.
Regardless, I wasn't worried for now.
Why?
Mei wasn't at home.
And Epitaph had shown me the future.
"You're bluffing." I began walking towards him. "You won't fire. There are too many people here."
"What makes you think I care about these people?" Siegfried's expression hardened. "I want my gun back pretty bad."
"A Kaslana protects the weak. That's what Kiana told me."
Hearing that, a hint of hesitation finally showed on Siegfried's face. "She... told you that?"
"Yea. She also told me about how you're a deadbeat that abandoned her."
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Siegfried exploded. "Do you think I wanted to leave her??!!"
"The bar a month ago."
Siegfried had the decency to shift into embarrassment at that. "That eh... it's complicated."
"We have time."
"Siegfried, he's leading you around with his words." Ryoma suddenly spoke as he got up. "He's trying to make you hesitate... just like that guy...."
Man... I really hate it when they play the pronoun game.
That changed things instantly. Siegfried let out a breath that he had been holding in as he dropped into a ready stance.
Before he could move, I already had however.
Epitaph told me what he wanted to do.
Run away again with Ryoma in tow.
Unfortunately, Siegfried was clearly no slouch in the physicals department as he grabbed Ryoma under his arm and jumped out of the window before I could even cross half the distance between us.
I knew that catching up with be difficult, but still... I followed after.
There was no telling when I would get the next chance to do this after that.
If not for myself... then perhaps for Kiana as well?
Wait... stop thinking about that.
I shot out after them, blowing up Honkai energy beneath my feet as I did so. The ground cracked as shockwaves sent surrounding furniture flying.
As I chased however, I realised that Siegfried was trying to get into the nearby forest. At this point, he was already a huge distance ahead of me.
The bursts of Honkai energy allowed me to catch up a little, but I still had issues getting closer.
And another issue soon plagued me.
As Siegfried begun to twist and turn in the foliage, I realised that my control over the direction I was going was... not the greatest in the world.
I was using a propulsion technique after all. It doesn't compare to someone's pure physical prowess.
Something was needed... something that would help me catch him.
The wheel creaked behind me.
(A/N: How is the chapter? Please give powerstones and comment!!
How many words would you guys like for a chapter? Getting back into writing longer stuff is kinda hard but the longer chapters do tend to have more stuff going on.)