I Used to Be a Normal Guy, but in a War between Sorcerers, I Assaulted, Violated, and Seized the Enemy’s Heroine, and Now, as My Reward, I Get to Take Her over and Over - Chapter 34 & 35
Chapter 34: Appraisal Meeting ⑤
Hearing Shiga Inui’s complaint, she added that he shouldn’t worry.
“Well, it’s probably favoritism.”
Favoritism.
The Neutrals will raise evaluations for the right price. There’s a pretext that a sorcerer’s financial assets are also part of the evaluation. It’s not something people say openly, but your worth goes up depending on the money.
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t expect your appraisal to jump this high.”
She checked the report. She concluded that the top four sorcerers besides Shiga Inui had likely invested assets to boost their existential worth.
“Your true ability was recognized, but maybe the proper sorcerer lineages couldn’t stomach ranking below someone with a mixed bloodline like you.”
Some sorcerer families hate having civilian blood in their lines. Among the most extreme hardliners—sorcerer supremacists—there are those who look down on and persecute all non-sorcerers.
“Or they made deals to burnish their prestige as sorcerers. One of the two.”
Whatever the method, there’s no point pursuing it too deeply. Even if you take it to the Neutrals, they’ll invoke confidentiality and shut you down. If you start threatening the absolute rule the Neutrals represent, you might even be punished.
“That’s why the Itoshimari family and the Kougaen-ke from the Ten Great Flow Kings are on top. As for the Three Great Houses… Dashin Oji might be genuine strength, but…”
Cutting in, Abarabana Tenri supplied information.
“When the old existential worth bribery scandal leaked, the going rate was roughly a billion added on top of real ability. So the amount minus a billion is their actual strength, more or less…”
At that, Shiga Inui looked over the names listed in the report.
“Huh…”
The names above his own. He couldn’t stop thinking about them.
“Not interested?”
Abarabana Tenri asked Shiga Inui. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested. If anything, he couldn’t stop thinking about those ranked above him.
“No… it’s just, knowing there’s someone higher than me… it stings a little.”
Hearing him, Mineki Shian said:
“Only after you pass ten billion do you finally count as mid-tier. Haha-sama easily surpasses ten billion.”
“Oh yeah? How many billions?”
Shiga Inui asked, eyes gleaming with interest. Just as she was about to answer—
“Nn…”
Her pocket was vibrating. Mineki Shian took out her cell phone, squinted as she thought about which button to press, then finally hit it and answered.
“Yes… Haha-sama, did something happen? …Mm, yes, ah—yes, understood…”
Then she hung up. Shiga Inui asked Mineki Shian:
“Something up?”
“Haha-sama saw your appraisal too. She said we should celebrate.”
That meant an invitation into Hiryuuin-ke territory.
Chapter 35: Other Factions ①
The Itoshimari family.
A karaoke box under their jurisdiction.
While civilians around them belted out songs, the place had clearly turned into a den of guys who were not civilians.
“This brat… pulling a higher number than the Young Boss…”
Men in gi. One of them glared at the report and fumed.
“Told you! We should’ve stuffed cash and bumped it a billion!!”
Another man shouted. That sparked a chorus of angry shouts.
“The Young Boss said no to that, so we dropped it!”
The two glared at each other. They looked ready to start killing each other any second.
“So what then? You saying these little punks are weaker than the Young Boss?!”
He grabbed the other’s gi collar like he meant to strangle him. A fight between men past their late thirties carried real menace.
“Like hell they are!”
Ignoring the two, a young guy munching fries off the table went wide-eyed and voiced his theory.
“Ah! I got it!!”
The two barked at him through their glares.
“What the hell?!”
“Second place bribed it. Think about it—no way a former civilian ranks that high!!”
Hearing that, the two men let go.
“Ahhh, I see!! If you take the bribe out… a billion? Around a billion!?”
They shouted, satisfied.
“Which means… seventeen billion! The Young Boss is stronger!”
He grabbed the mic. He bellowed at full volume.
“HELL YEAH!!”
The Young Boss is stronger than Shiga Inui. Convinced, the men did a little victory dance.
“But that bastard—what a dirty stunt… this means war!”
He jabbed a finger at the photo of Shiga Inui printed in the report.
“Yeah! You deal with cowards by killing them on the spot!”
They fixed Shiga Inui as the enemy. At this rate, they looked ready to start a war right now. One of them regained his senses and reminded the others they couldn’t decide this on their own.
“Hold it, hold it!! We can’t just get hyped by ourselves—we ask the Young Boss! We get the Young Boss’s call! Young Boss!!”
They sought judgment. The Young Boss wore a white sailor uniform under a haori. A sword in hand, held like a cane.
“…ngh.”
And, not hearing their idiot ruckus at all, was sleeping.
“S-sleeping…”
And the men arrived at their own conclusion.
“Ahhh, I get it!! As in this clown isn’t even worth a thought! That’s our Young Boss!!”
Ecstatic frenzy. They immediately snatched up the mic and started yelling.
“It’s basically proven the Young Boss is stronger! Party time! Celebrate!!”
They ordered food down the list from the karaoke menu. Itoshimari Renri, unmoved by the idiotic commotion, continued to doze away.
