【Future Sight】Saving Tragic Beautiful Girls and Making Them Obsessively Fall for Me 〜I Selfishly “Helped” the Witches Who Were Gonna Destroy the World Just to Train My Martial Arts, and Now They’re All Dripping with Obsession and Worshipping Me〜

Chapter 7

Hmm.

Right out front of the Karakuri Clock Pavilion, I glanced back and forth between Makina—who was yelling her head off—and Fuka, who was way quieter than usual and giving off this weird intense pressure.

“Hey, rich boy! Say something already, would ya!?”

“Say what?”

“Like I said! What the hell did you do to Fuka!? You gotta fix her back to normal!”

I didn’t do anything, though. I just saved her, and isn’t that exactly why you told me where she was yesterday, Makina? Because you wanted her saved?

“…Once Fuka noticed Taylor-kun’s light, there’s no going back to how things were before. Fuka was thrown out by you guys and stuck in total darkness, but Taylor-kun lit everything up bright for her—right?”

“Th-That’s…”

Makina looked down, her face all bitter and twisted.

“I know it’s my fault, okay? But then what was I supposed to do…!? Of course you’d swoop in when she’s weak, throw money or your pretty face or some dirty trick at her…! Shoulda never told you where she was!”

Well… I did give her a place to stay, so I can’t totally deny the “bought her with money” angle.

But still.

“If I hadn’t gone, Fuka would’ve died.”

“That part’s suspicious too…! What could a pretty-boy rich kid like you even do!?”

“Taylor-kun saved Fuka. He wiped away every bit of darkness…—”

“See!? All this vague crap about darkness and light… that’s classic con-artist talk!”

Hmm. This ain’t going anywhere.

I don’t really care what she thinks of me, but if this keeps up, we won’t even get inside, let alone find the girl who’s about to turn into a witch.

Oh, look—people inside the brothel started peeking out because of the yelling. A bunch of the working girls are poking their heads out now. Getting a bad rep right off the bat would make things way harder.

What do I do here…

Is there any way to get Makina to trust me at least a little?

I was staring at the two of them still arguing, thinking that over—when it happened.

I felt this really off vibe, looked up at the upper floors of the brothel, and what caught my eye was—

“!”

Long, glossy black hair—like wet raven feathers—hanging down from a top-floor window. Through the strands, I could see a face so pale it was almost bloodless.

No doubt about it… that’s the girl from the dream.

Her face was doll-perfect, but it had this lazy, kinda decadent air clinging to it.

And the second our eyes met…

“—Sizing me up, huh? Checking me out.”

I gave her a thin smile. She stabbed right back with this razor-sharp stare.

Haha, nice. The witch who’s gonna destroy the world is judging me. So? Do I make the cut?

—Did you find enough power in me to cross fists with?

“…Hey! Yo, rich boy! You even listening!? I’m talking to you!”

“Makina-san… Fuka only has two demands. Apologize to Taylor-kun, and accept every single request he makes.”

“Makina. Let me talk to the girl peeking from the top floor. Right now. Immediately.”

“These two… conversation just bounces right off ’em…”

Makina stomped her foot in frustration. Fuka and I both shot her the same “what’s with this lady” look. That just pissed her off more, but whatever—hurry up and let me talk to that witch already—!

Maybe because I was getting all hyped.

—I finally noticed the creepy presence creeping up from behind.

This is… same vibe I felt yesterday. That thick, witch-pawn stench the guy who attacked Fuka had—

“—Outta the way, brats!”

I didn’t even need to look. That much miasma gives it away!

Without turning my head, I grabbed Fuka’s hand next to me. Roughly, but fast enough to dodge the wild sideways swing of his arm.

“Hm? Why’re ya dodging, huh…?”

I glanced back.

Staring me down was some young punk-looking guy—total thug energy. A couple lackeys trailing behind him.

But man, for a slums thug, his clothes look way too flashy and expensive.

Right when that thought hit me—

A voice full of hate came from behind me.

“—Back again…! You and your Zigo-gumi yakuza creeps! No matter how many times you show up, my answer’s the same—get lost!”

“C’mon, don’t be like that… But today I ain’t leaving empty-handed. They told me it’s fine if I gotta get a little rough!”

Hm. Smells like trouble brewing.

…Double chance: training practice and winning Makina over!

—

Chapter 8

“—Alright, brats, scram already! We got some fun time ahead!”

“Aniki, we’re good to just force ourselves on ’em today, right?”

“Hell yeah, of course! We protect the brothel, the girls make us feel real good—give and take, baby!”

So three guys total: the one leaking that nasty miasma, plus his two little followers trailing behind.

The underlings don’t look like much. The one worth fighting is definitely the miasma dude.

“That guy… he’s gonna get rough with Taylor-kun. And he still hasn’t apologized to Makina-san either…”

“Fuka, you’re surprisingly picky about this stuff. I don’t really care. …But since the timing’s perfect, I’m gonna take these punks on. It’ll be good training, and maybe I can win Makina over too. Two birds, one stone.”

“Really? …Then can Fuka help too? These guys have been coming around the Karakuri Clock Pavilion for a while now, so I’m kinda curious…”

Hm.

I glanced over at the punks still arguing with Makina.

The pawn guy’s mine—no way I’m giving him up—but the other two? Sure.

“The two in back are all yours. But can you actually fight, Fuka?”

“I can use a little magic, so it’s fine! Okay then, those two are Fuka’s!”

Got it. Makes sense—if she’s from the slums and still got into the academy, she’d have some magic at least.

Alright, let’s get to it… right as I thought that, looks like their talk wrapped up too.

“—Just go home already! I keep telling you, I’m not relying on guys like you, and I’m definitely not letting you use me!”

“Heh, still barking today, huh. But like I said, I ain’t leaving empty-handed. From here on out, we’re getting rough—wait, huh?”

Right when things were about to turn physical, I stepped forward from the side, putting myself between them and Makina like a shield.

“Come on. Let’s throw down…!”

“…Huh? Hey kid, what’d you just say? I don’t like jokes. You get one chance to apologize, got it?”

Hm. Surprisingly calm. The pawn I fought yesterday was totally out of his mind, but this guy’s actually talking normal.

Is the witch’s influence weaker on him? Or is he strong enough to keep it under control? Hope it’s the second one.

While I was thinking that, watching a vein slowly bulge on the punk’s temple,

“—Hey, rich boy! What the hell are you doing!? Grab Fuka and run already! These guys aren’t something kids can handle!”

“Nah. No way I’m passing up a chance like this. And look—Fuka’s ready to go too.”

“What!?”

Where we both looked, Fuka had both hands raised, glowing with light.

“Aniki, the pink-haired kid’s a mage! This might be bad…”

“Should we bounce, Aniki!?”

The two lackeys’ eyes changed color real quick. Typical lowlife thugs—scared stiff the second they see obvious magic power.

But then.

“You two, if you’re my little brothers, don’t show weak shit like that. You’ve embarrassed yourselves plenty already, right? —I’ve got this.”

The pawn guy raised one arm, and the miasma he’d been leaking suddenly condensed fast—turning into this poisonous purple aura.

Same as yesterday… no, even stronger! What an awesome power…

“With this, we can’t lose. Listen up—we finally got it. The power to do whatever the hell we want in this city!”

“…W-WOOOOH!! Aniki!”

“That’s our guy!!”

Haha, they’re getting pumped. Starting to feel good over here too…!

“…Rich boy, please just run! If you stay, Fuka’s gonna…!”

“Taylor-kun… That one guy, Fuka doesn’t think she can beat him, but…”

Makina looked at me pleadingly, Fuka with this guilty expression.

“Hah, too late now! Shoulda apologized when you had the chance—I ain’t forgiving shit! You’re gonna pay for disrespecting me…!”

The punk snarled that with this sadistic grin.

Yeah, I can feel some serious power. Might not be able to just redirect his force like yesterday.

But if that’s the case—perfect timing. Let’s test out that new trick I got from [Future Sight].

The technique that lets me—someone who basically can’t use magic because of my body—dramatically expand my combat options—

“—See ya, kid! Die regretting it!”

“Rich boy…! No!!”

“Taylor-kun—!”

“—You know what? Some scholar said mana has two properties: ‘waves’ and ‘particles.’”

Nobody in this world knows it yet.

But if you use that weird dual nature right…

“—Huh? What the… wha—AAAAAHH!?”

“A-Aniki!? What the hell—!”

“UWAHHHH—!?”

Screams echoed through the slums.

Nobody had any clue what just happened.

Only me—I stood there smiling and said,

“Resist as much as you can. Real fights are still the best way to grow—”

“Hii, HIIIIIII!! Stop it pleeeease!!”

…So yeah.

For a short while, the punks’ screams rang out across the street.

Then I got invited inside the brothel. Facing a ton of staring eyes, I looked back and said,

“—Starting today, I’m the new bodyguard here at the Karakuri Clock Pavilion. Faust Taylor, martial artist in training. Nice to meet you all.”

I pressed my fists together and gave a small bow. In front of me stood a bunch of women in kinda revealing outfits, all different ages and body types.

In other words, the working girls of the brothel.

I lifted my head, saw most of their looks were pretty friendly, and tossed the next part to the girl beside me.

“Alright, Fuka. Your turn.”

“Yeah! …Um, everyone, let me reintroduce myself. Your not-so-great Fuka Bloom is back—with a new job! My role now is taking care of Taylor-kun and doing missionary work—uh, more accurately, I’m the personal maid attached to the Taylor Trading Company!”

The room buzzed.

“Why’s Fuka-chan back? I thought she finally got out…”

“Apparently she came back anyway. But but—”

“Hey, did she just say Taylor Trading Company!? That’s the hot guy’s family name, right!? Isn’t this like… marrying up big time!?”

So noisy. Girls really are the same everywhere, huh.

Even the maids back home act all proper in front of me, but behind closed doors they’re gossiping like crazy.

Man, they’re getting hyped though. This might spiral outta control.

Just as I thought that—

“—Hey! Cut the embarrassing crap! We got a guest here!”

Makina’s voice cracked through the air like lightning, eyes narrowed to slits.

One glare from her and the girls shut up instantly.

“Shoulda been that quiet from the start! Geez… Sorry about ’em, rich boy. My girls are all like this.”

“Nah, it’s kinda refreshing. First time I’ve had this many people paying attention to me. Might be good for presence-concealment training.”

“What’s that supposed to mean… You’re a weird one. Even when you chased off those punks, I still have no idea what you actually did…”

“You’re hiring a guy whose moves you don’t even understand as bodyguard? You’re something else.”

“Well… this kid begged me so hard. Plus I owe her. Figured I’d go along.”

Makina said that while glancing at Fuka next to me.

Fuka made this little victory fist like “I did it!” and shot me an upward look, all pleading and cute.

“…And besides.”

Hm?

“I won’t say it to her face, but worst case—if the rich boy sticks around, maybe his fancy family can bail us out somehow… Training or whatever, if a rich kid’s hobby actually helps, I’ll take it.”

Probably meant as a mutter, but thanks to that new trick, my hearing’s sharp now. Eh, whatever she thinks, I don’t care.

We got inside the brothel safe, and everything’s gone smooth so far. Letting Fuka handle it all was the right call. She told me not to mention [Future Sight] to anyone, but if it gets me closer to the witch, I’ll do whatever.

Speaking of—the girl who’s supposed to become the witch… Sakurako, right? I don’t see her anywhere.

“…Sakurako-oneesama’s the most popular girl here. She might still be with a client right now?”

“Huh, okay. Well, if I’m sticking around as bodyguard, plenty of chances to talk to her later.”

I whispered back to Fuka, then faced the girls again.

And told them,

“—From now on, if any rough stuff happens, call me anytime. Oh, and the stronger the enemy, the better. Makes for great training…!”