The Gatekeeper Chapter 21- Let's Play Tag.

I woke up on the same bed, on which I've been sleeping for the last 7 nights.

Yes, it's been a whole week since I entered this world, and honestly, I haven't even started to get used to this.

I'm still frustrated and depressed, while still enjoying this world to the fullest.

I don't have a lack of money, the special squad which I commanded s.h.i.+rone and Clay to create was being tested by using the requests from the adventurer's guild.

In fact, I was already a silver ranked adventurer. I spent the last three days observing the squad's training and coming up with countermeasures and strategies for the game that was about to begin.

I realized that I am being overly cautious. However, if I were to naively a.s.sume that I would prevail no matter what, it could very well end up being my demise.

This is no small matter, one mistake and the lives of millions of civilians could be in jeopardy. I don't have any particular attachment to this world, but even so, as a human, I can't just let millions of civilians die just because I was too lazy to think.

During the course of the last three days, I trained both my magic manipulation and my body. I discovered a lot of new ways to utilize the elements. I even started to combine different elements and amplifying their power.

All the knowledge that I have acc.u.mulated in my world, be it science or literature, was certainly being used to the fullest for helping me develop different magic.

*knock knock*

The door was gently knocked twice. Instead of getting up from the bed, I just manipulated wind element and opened the door that way.

What followed was s.h.i.+rone's appearance into my room. She was busy for the past few days because of the mission I gave her. But she insisted that she wouldn't let anyone else have her escort duties. That was the first time I saw s.h.i.+rone proactively asking for something, so I couldn't turn her down, but the main reason would still be her cute puffed up face when she insisted though.

s.h.i.+rone was dressed in a black t-s.h.i.+rt, over which was a black cardigan, a loose orange skirt which fell down to her ankles.

She was extremely glossy, her pure white hair were damp and her t-s.h.i.+rt was stuck to her front. She definetly just came out of the bath, she was exuding such overwhelming s.e.x appeal, and combined with her adult appearance, I was taken aback and unconciously gulped.

"Master. Let's head down for breakfast, or would you like me to bring our breakfast over?"

Why does it seem like the 'our' was emphasized.

She said so while combing her damp hair with her fingers.

"Just bring our breakfast over here s.h.i.+rone. I feel like it will be too dangerous for us to eat in the dining hall, especially since it's early morning."

s.h.i.+rone tilted her head and had a confused look on her face.

But she instantly gave up thinking about it and replied with the same gentle expression as always.

"As you wish, Master."

I nodded in acceptance, she bowed and left after slowly closing the door behind her.

"It would've been really dangerous, if I would have taken her to the dining hall filled with men waiting for her to show up."

Yes, all the men in the inn always waited restlessly for my appearance. Whenever I came to dine, I was always accompanied by a peerless beauty, and the jealous gazes of men faded as they just accepted the reality and enjoyed the sight of the girls from far away.

After she left, I started thinking of my plans for the day.

Firstly, I have a date with s.h.i.+rley-san, we had planned to meet up at a major shopping district, she said that she wanted to buy clothes. She was initially excited, but her excitement shot through the roof when Mirae-san mentioned the date that we had (kiss included). After hearing the exaggerated details of the kiss by an embarra.s.sed Mirae-san, s.h.i.+rley-san clenched her fists and pumped herself for the date.

Secondly, I have to meet up with the special squad which was hastily but carefully established at my command.

And finally, I have to go to some sort of party organized for the adventurers. It seemed like it was a party exclusively organized for adventurers of Platinum rank and above, and it seemed like some of the n.o.bles would be visiting as well.

I was not 'invited', rather 'recruited'. However, no one would say the word 'recruited' if they witnessed Mirae-san's face when she recruited(invited) me. I was requested to work as the staff at the party. I would be acting as a security guard disguised as a waiter and would be present at the venue of the party for the entirety of the night.

I was going to politely refuse Mirae-san's offer, but I suddenly received a telepathic message from Nirvana, who was residing in the quarters built to house the people who were working on the construction of the new dome.

"Master~ Help~"

I immediately recognized the voice and while keeping Mirae-san occupied with some distracting compliments, I started conversing with Nirvana.

"What is it?"

"It seems like there is a huge party tonight... And I believe that there will be a lot of information which could be obtained, but I was invited to the party by an arrogant and filthy man. I don't wanna go~"

"Is that so? I command you to go to this party. And make sure to dress appropriately, I don't want you embarra.s.sing me."

I could feel her shock and disappointment even through telepathy, before she could say anything, I followed up with a gentle tone.

"Nirvana, what kind of accessory do you like?"

"Excuse me Master, I am going to go and arrange some clothes for the party."

'Too easy', is what I thought after my conversation with Nirvana concluded, and I ended up accepting Mirae-san's offer.

It'll be fine.

In all honesty, it would be rather pleasant and nostalgic, I honestly loved working at our restaurant. Watching the smiling faces of ladies every day, treating regular customers as if they were family, talking to the senior bunch while leisurely enjoying a coffee, all of these memories were important.

Let's just immerse myself in my old persona as a waiter and enjoy myself today.

After that, s.h.i.+rone and I had a very relaxing breakfast in our room. I had more than 500 gold coins on me, so I was able to extend our stay at the inn.

It was about 11 AM when I arrived at the meeting place. I reached here later than I originally intended to, there were some things to discuss with Nirvana about the party, but in actuality, she was just whining about the guy who was taking her to the party, so I had to promise her a special reward to stop her tears.

While I was looking around for s.h.i.+rley-san, she casually entered my line of sight.

She seemed to have noticed me and came over while jogging lightly.

She stopped in front of me, and looked straight into my eyes before speaking.

"Good morning, Toru-kun. Did you wait long?"

"Ah! Good morning s.h.i.+rley-san. I just arrived."

I wonder what was up with the intensity in her eyes?

s.h.i.+rley-san was wearing a white sleeveless s.h.i.+rt, green skirt, and brown sandals. Her glossy brown hair were let down and were swaying with the wind. Her long and slim brown tail was gently moving exactly like a cat's, her cat ears were twitching as well.

It was a rather cute appearance, rather than a woman who was about 5 years older than me, she just seemed like another young girl walking through the streets of the capital while enjoying the sights and food.

I was wearing the same clothes as when I went on a date with Mirae-san.

"You look refres.h.i.+ngly good."

I let out my simple compliment, to which s.h.i.+rley-san's ears began twitching more fiercely and tail began swaying more violently.

Unlike the time with Mirae-san, I had just arrived so there was no crowd gathered around me, so we were able to start out date without any awkwardness.

The date with s.h.i.+rley-san was unexpectedly normal.

It seems that unlike Mirae-san, s.h.i.+rley-san is quite socially active. She goes on dates quite often, and she also mentioned that it's only been about seven months since she broke up with her boyfriend. For comparison, I was Mirae-san's first kiss.

Currently, it's around 5 PM and I am leisurely walking towards the South gate of the capital.

I move through the streets, taking in the sights of the calm city.

After about 15 minutes, I arrive at the South gate and manipulate wind magic and light magic to leave the Royal Capital without being found out.

I continue flying in the air with great speeds and arrive at a destination around three kilometres away from the capital.

When I lift up my magic and land, I am greeted by s.h.i.+rone and Clay, the representatives of the group.

"Sorry for making you guys wait..."

I knew what they were going to say so I just kept walking in the direction where a tremendous amount of mana was concentrated.

While I was walking, I heard the expected.

"No, Master. No such thing."

"We are unworthy of your politeness, Master."

So were the words spoken by s.h.i.+rone and Clay respectively, after that, they silently followed me until we reached the area where the squad was gathered.

There were twenty rows, and each row encompa.s.sed ten people. All of them had the appearance of ninjas, they were all slim and were wearing black clothes. The total mana of these two hundred people barely surpa.s.sed that of the total combined mana of Nirvana and Freya, and considering their mana, these people are actually quite strong.

I stand in front of the group, and s.h.i.+rone places herself on my right side as if it were perfectly natural.

Clay moves in front of the group while his back is facing me.

He then turns around sharply, exactly like a military officer, and shouts energetically.

"KNEEL!"

The 201 people rhythmically clap their feet together and kneel at the same time, the sound of 201 knees striking the ground together reverberated throughout the empty s.p.a.ce.

"My name is Toru, you all probably know me, so let's cut this short. This squad will be under the command of Clay, who will be under my direct command. All of you will be dispersed in various locations throughout the world, and will live as normal humans. Collect information, be wary of your surroundings, and report back at least once a week to Clay. All of you mana requirements will be taken care of by my mana channels, so none of you need to hold back, you understand?"

"YES!"

All of them screamed together.

Truly, what frightening synchronization.

"Now, draw in your mana!"

I command them, and immediately after, the overwhelming mana that surrounded the s.p.a.ce dissipated as if it was just an illusion.

"Clay."

"Yes!"

Clay got on his feet and came running to me after I called out to him.

"Now listen to my instructions carefully, I want..."

After that, I explained to him how I wanted the soldiers divided and scattered.

So basically, the soldiers will be divided into twenty groups. Five groups will be sent to the capitals of the five nations. Ten groups will be sent to major cities. One group will be my personal bodyguard unit, and will always be surrounding me wherever I go (I was totally against it! But then, s.h.i.+rone pouted...). Two groups would be dispersed to follow the current case. Finally, the two remaining groups will be going to the Dragon Order's hideout and try to 'negotiate' with them.

The basic idea was, there would be minimum contact between the people dispersed to the same city, except telepathy.

They were ordered to start their lives as humans from scratch.

I gave each and every person two gold coins (20,000 Yen), as a kind of a send-off present.

In each group there was a certain ratio of men to women, so each member was given specific roles.

For example, the group going to the Capital of the War Dominion 'ARES' comprised of five females and five males. Two were supposed to register as adventurer's while two were ordered to enter the military, two were going to join the mafia while two were going to find a corporate job, and finally, two ladies were supposed to infiltrate the Royal Palace and find themselves a position there.

Each and every person had their specified role, and was personally provided with a name by me.

The members of various powerful sleath races were left in awe after I was done with all the naming.

The female camp, which was more than seventy percent of the total population of the group, surrounded me. The females who removed the scarf which covered their faces started talking to me about various things, they said many things about my magnanimous att.i.tude and nice personality, they expressed their happiness for finding a worthy master, a little too excessively, and were frozen by s.h.i.+rone.

It took me more than two hours to sort out the groups, give out the roles, and name everybody, so it was currently 7:30 PM, I was supposed to reach the party hall at 8 PM. So, I sent s.h.i.+rone back and summoned Kuromi, and then I gave extra instructions to the group which was going to start their life in the Royal Capital of the Athena Kingdom.

After everyone had left and there were only twelve people present, I finally decided to return to the Capital.

I lifted up Kuromi in a princess carry and said to the 8 females and 2 males, who were my personal bodyguard squad, in a slightly teasing voice.

"You lot are supposed to be my bodyguards, but can you really keep up with me?"

These ten were the strongest in the whole entire group, these ten could probably beat Kuromi if they wanted to, but for me, they were just some people whom I can play tag with.

""""""""""WE'LL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU MASTER!!""""""""""

The ten people spoke together.

To which, I just shrugged my shoulders and started to run in the direction of the capital while surrounding my feet in mana.

The one thing I found cute during this whole ordeal was that from the moment I picked up Kuromi, she had her face dyed in red and was fidgeting like a broken mechanical doll.