The Gatekeeper Chapter 20- Strength Or Strategy?

As we approached the end of our date, Mirae-san turned back and looked at me with feverish eyes.

We were currently in front of a residential complex, which was situated in the heart of the commoner's residential district.

It was slightly past 8 PM, we made our way here after having an exquisite dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Mirae-san looked at me with slightly tilted neck and moist eyes, she exuded a strange s.e.x appeal from her appearance, which was very hard to ward off.

"So, it really would be unreasonable, right?"

She said so without any context. But I understood the meaning behind those words clearly.

I replied without hesitation.

"Sorry."

"Kuku, it's fine. You showed me a very bright light in this world of seemingly endless darkness."

"Sorry that it just lasted for a moment though..."

"It's fine, it's not as if you're going somewhere, right? Did you forget that I still am the receptionist at the guild?"

The wry smile which was stuck on my face deepened.

"But if you're really sorry, then let me do this..."

She slowly closed the distance between us while her heels made loud sounds while tapping on the hard surface of the road.

She dropped the burgundy purse, which she held in her arms, on the ground, and placed herself right in front of me.

She placed her hands on my left shoulder and transferred half of her weight onto it, gaining vertical momentum as her face slowly arose, and was now on the same level as mine.

Her rose coloured lips apporached mine very slowly, as if telling me that I had the option to avoid them if I wanted to.

However, unlike the time with Gatekeeper-san, this time I accepted Mirae-san, as she closed the distance between our lips slowly.

I could feel her hot breath touching my cheeks. Her eyes were moist, and her cheeks scarlet.

And after what seemed like an eternity, her lips finally overlapped with mine, in an overly gentle manner.

She was still supported by my shoulder, so I didn't move even an inch and just went along with what Mirae-san did.

After about one minute, our lips separated, and while still having her face on the same level as mine, she spoke with her whole face dyed in red.

"So you didn't avoid it, huh? My first kiss, that is."

She said so and finally lowered herself from my shoulders.

"Well, what can I do, it truly was unavoidable."

After hearing my words, her eyes widened for an instant and then she showed me a blooming smile.

A smile which would tickle the heart of any man who looked at it with such close proximity. A smile which originated from the bottom of a maiden's heart, a smile which was far more lovelier than any she had shown me today.

"Then, see you tomorrow, Toru-kun."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, Mirae-san."

I returned her blooming smile with an accommodating one of my own and waved at her as she entered the building and vanished in the darkness.

As soon as she vanished from my sight, I surrounded my legs with my mana.

An impressive amount of mana surrounded my legs, I felt the power in my legs increasing drastically.

After my legs got used to the power up, I instantly stomped the ground and took off in the direction of the inn in which I am currently staying.

My speed, it was unbelievable.

Even after a lot of obstructions in my way, I made it to my room on the fifth floor of the inn in less than one second. The distance travelled was easily more than five kilometres, and it was covered in under one second.

I was truly impressed by my speed as well. This is just the tip of the iceberg, I am going to find many more ways to utilize this power and increase my strength further.

I stood outside the door which lead to my room. After about 15 seconds of waiting, the door was gently opened by Kuromi.

"Welcome back, Master."

I was greeted by Kuromi who had her waist bent and eyes locked at me.

"Yes, I am back. Raise your head."

I replied in a very master-like voice.

As I moved further into the room, I found Shirone waiting for me in the exact same way as Kuromi.

"Welcome back, Master."

"Raise your head, Shirone."

After saying so, my gaze fell upon a man who was kneeling on the carpet. His eyes were closed, he didn't have even a speck of mana leaking out of his body, there was no body heat, no sound of breathing, and his presence was so thin that I wouldn't have noticed it if he wasn't kneeling there right out in the open.

He was a thin man with almost the same vertical stature as mine, he had white hair and brown eyes, he was wearing a normal brown t-shirt and black pants, he wore sandals, and his neck was covered with a scarf which seemed unusual given the climate.

"And... who is this?"

I urged Shirone to speak with my gaze.

"Master has allowed you to speak, introduce yourself."

Shirone said in a cold voice, devoid of any emotion. It was the same voice that Shirone always produced, but the feeling was completely different. When with me, her voice was gentle, caring, and calming, but right now, her voice just sounded cold and commanding.

"As you command, my Queen..."

He nodded as he gazed at Shirone with upturned eyes, while kneeling on the ground.

"...Master, I am the chief of the Phantom race. I am deeply moved to in the presence of the-"

"It's fine. Just get on the couch and start talking, it's a command."

I predicted there would be some of the cliched "There's no way!", so I just 'commanded' him.

"Understood."

He reluctantly got up and sat on the couch.

Shirone calmly came over and recovered the coat from my back and hung it on the hanger attached to the wall.

I sluggishly descend on the bed, and then Kuromi comes over, and after crouching down, removes my shoes with natural movements.

To be honest, I would've much rather done everything by myself, but I got the feeling that letting the girls do whatever they wanted was the best option.

It seems that after looking at two of the four strongest beings to ever exist in the beast world serving me, a human, as if it were completely natural, the Phantom chief's mouth just wouldn't close.

After receiving the tea prepared by Shirone, I broke the awkward silence with a joke.

"So that's how it is. You wanna fight me?"

I narrowed my eyes, released some of my killing intent, which was enough to stop the heart of any normal person, and observed the Phantom chief's reaction.

His eyes widened further, after the words I so nonchalantly spoke entered his ears.

He replied after taking a moment to calm down.

"N-No, s-surely not. I-I acknowledge you, Master."

I shrugged my shoulders and drew in my killing intent, the Phantom chief could be seen wiping off the sweat on his forehead with the scarf around his neck.

"Clay, that's your name. From this day forth, you shall be under my direct command."

Clay's eyes, which finally returned to their original shape, widened again, it seems that one more shock would send his eyes directly popping off his eye socket.

"I-I-It will be an honor, Master."

"Information."

After I said so, Shirone and Kuromi, who apparently finished all their tasks following my return, approached indifferently, sat down, and snuggled up to me from both my flanks.

Kuromi was on my left, while Shirone was on the right.

I took a glance at both of their happy faces and turned my gaze towards Clay.

"Yes, Master. First, all three of them were disposed of as Master commanded, their bodies will never be found. Second, their affiliations, they appear to be under the command of the 'Dragon Order'. Third, their motives behind targeting the princess of this country seemed to be purely because they were ordered to do so. And lastly, they attacked Master because they were told to do so by the Prime Minister of the HADES Empire."

"Is that so... and what is this 'Dragon Order'?"

After that, I heard all about the Dragon Order. The three men were actually pretty high ranked a.s.sa.s.sins. I received information about the inner workings of the Dragon Order, information which was supposed to be highly confidential.

After about fifteen minutes of chatting, I reached a conclusion.

"Looks like this situation can be handled with brute force quite easily, as it is still in the developing phase. But what fun would that be? Kukuku, I would much rather go up against three nations and a huge covert organization than fight with a bunch of goons and clear the situation."

I glance at both my sides, there, Shirone and Kuromi had fearless grins on their faces.

""We'll follow Master anywhere.""

They both spoke in unison.

I extended my hands and placed them on top of their heads. As I gently caressed their silky hair, satisfied voices like "Ha~" and "Uu~" could be heard many times.

"Clay, I will be lending you Shirone, I want you two to arrange the best stealth, spying and a.s.sasination group that you can. All the mana resources that you would need will be provided by me, so don't hold back, I want this squad established in three days, do you understand?"

""Understood.""

After they replied energetically, I locked my gaze at the window which showed the scene of the rustling city from above.

"So this turns out to be a battle of strategy rather than strength, huh?"