Chapter 343: Kirakai |
The decor inside the bar wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was exceptionally clean and aesthetically pleasing.
The bar counter was tidy, and the booths looked brand new. Perhaps because night had not yet fallen, there were few customers, and the interior lighting was just a normal, soft yellow glow.
The commotion Hoshino Gen made upon entering naturally drew attention. The moment he stepped inside, the gazes of both the patrons and the staff members instantly converged on him.
Yet, there was no uproar, and not even a single person spoke. Only a towering, bald black man, who looked to be nearly two meters tall, stood up and silently walked over.
The faces of the others held varying expressions—some scrutinizing, some mocking—but the vast majority displayed a cold, detached indifference.
The massive man arrived in front of Hoshino Gen. Without a word, he raised his hand, clenched his fist, and threw a direct punch right at Hoshino Gen's face.
Bang!
Following a muffled thud, blood light erupted.
This expected sound and sight, however, caused sudden astonishment among the bar's occupants, who should have been long accustomed to such violence. The muffled thud did not come from Hoshino Gen's face as they had anticipated, and the blood light certainly did not burst from his body.
The burly man's lips quivered slightly as dense beads of sweat rolled down his dark skin, a clear testament to the terrifying agony he was enduring. Yet, even so, he didn't utter a single sound. He held back any scream, merely hunching over and clenching his jaw as his intact left hand tightly gripped the bleeding stump of his right arm.
But soon, he couldn't even maintain that posture. His massive body floated into the air, completely outside of his control. An unseen, irresistible force pulled his frame taut, rendering him completely immobilized. Even if he wanted to scream, he could no longer make a sound.
A deathly silence fell over the bar. This was entirely different from the earlier atmosphere where everyone either watched with amusement or sheer disdain. Now, the relaxed expressions on their faces had vanished. Their muscles grew taut, their eyes turned dangerous, and they adopted combat-ready stances, prepared to rush forward and attack at any moment.
However, whether they were deterred by the terrifying strength Hoshino Gen had just displayed, or for some other reason, no one stepped forward, and no one spoke.
It was as if everyone in the bar were mute, as though a silent pantomime had been playing out from the moment Hoshino Gen walked through the door.
The atmosphere was incredibly bizarre.
Hoshino Gen completely ignored this. Even though he knew the instant he entered that everyone sitting here was a Transcendent, and highly likely members of the supernatural organization known as Kirakai, he simply did not care.
With his bag-carrying assistant, Shimizu Yu, trailing behind him—trembling and too afraid to look at the bloody mess on the floor—he strolled toward the bar counter. The smile on his face never faded.
Even as he walked, the one-armed black man, whom he suspended in mid-air through his control, moved along with him.
Hoshino Gen sat down in an unconstrained manner on a high chair in front of the bar counter. Looking at the sexy female bartender who wore an expression as if facing a mortal enemy, he ordered, "Ten glasses of mizuwari."
Smiling, he pointed at the burly man floating beside him, whose face was ferocious but completely muted. "I'll give you ten minutes. Make them well, and he is your tip. If you don't, the heads of everyone in here will pay for the drinks."
The bartender opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but before she could speak, a voice rang out, accompanied by the clacking of high heels on the wooden stairs. "Forcing your way into my establishment, injuring my bouncer, crippling my bodyguard, dirtying my floor, and now intimidating and harassing my employee... Isn't that a bit too impolite?"
The first thing to appear in Hoshino Gen's line of sight around the staircase corner was a long leg clad in black silk stockings and stepping in black high heels. Following that, a stunningly beautiful woman who delivered a powerful visual impact stepped fully into view.
She wore a burgundy bodycon dress, and her voluminous, beautiful hair tumbled in large waves. With fiery red lips and a cool, pale complexion reminiscent of snow, she was the kind of woman who instantly embodied the full meaning of the term "mature beauty" the moment you laid eyes on her.
Even Shimizu Yu, who had remained entirely silent while desperately trying to minimize her presence, stared in a daze. She only felt that this older woman had an incredible temperament and was remarkably beautiful. She had probably already forgotten why Hoshino Gen had brought her here in the first place...
The woman's powerful aura and unparalleled presence made her the center of attention the moment she appeared. Furthermore, Hoshino Gen noticed that from the instant she spoke, all the patrons who had been tense and ready to pounce completely relaxed their postures.
However, Hoshino Gen's gaze rested on her for only a split second before shifting away. He looked back at the bartender, who was visibly relieved but still hadn't started mixing the drinks, and calmly stated, "You have nine minutes left."
The bartender hurriedly looked at her boss as if begging for help.
As the woman walked over, she lifted her exquisite, lovely chin. "Make it for him."
The bartender froze, staring at her boss as if she had misheard. The woman merely looked back at her expressionlessly. Only then did the bartender gulp, lower her head, and frantically scramble to grab her tools and ingredients to begin working.
Without so much as a glance at the giant black man suspended in mid-air by Hoshino Gen, the woman walked straight over and took a seat on the high chair beside him, bringing with her a delightfully fragrant perfume.
"Hoshino Gen, right? I know who you are. You're very powerful. You defeated the High Priest of the British Holy See and are considered one of the top experts in the entire world. There is almost no one in this country who can keep you in check."
"But... that is only 'almost'."
Hoshino Gen ignored her. He didn't even look at her, simply watching the bartender mix the drinks quietly. He nonchalantly remarked, "Eight minutes."
The woman choked on her words slightly. She took a soft breath. "Put my man down. Whatever you want, we can negotiate."
"Seven," Hoshino Gen said calmly.
The bartender's hands trembled, spilling a little of the base liquor.
"You should at least state your purpose for coming here, and tell me exactly how my Kirakai has offended you."
"Six."
The woman fell silent. She stared intently at Hoshino Gen for quite a while before finally speaking again. "You're friends with that playboy named Asaba, aren't you? He owes me a favor. I can ask him to step in. Surely, you'd give your friend some face..."
"Five."
"You...!" The woman almost slammed her hands on the table and stood up. But remembering the absolutely terrifying strength hidden beneath this boy's exquisite and beautiful exterior, she held herself back. Deciding to abandon the negotiation, she pulled out her mobile phone.
However, before dialing the telephone, from the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of a figure she hadn't paid attention to earlier—the girl wearing the same school uniform as the boy. Looking closely, she knew at a glance that this was an ordinary girl without any special ability.
Coming to a place like this, and specifically bringing along an ordinary girl?
Realizing something instantly, she turned her head toward a round-faced woman in the booth area who looked visibly lost and panicked. "Bring me the recent commissions we've accepted."
The round-faced woman hastily stood up, grabbed the tablet computer in front of her, and jogged over. She handed the tablet to the boss, who scrolled through a couple of pages before spotting the photo of the girl named "Shimizu Yu."
Breathing a soft sigh of relief, she clicked open the details of the commission and placed the tablet directly in front of Hoshino Gen. Tapping her slender white fingertip on the client section, she asked, "Is this what you're looking for?"
Hoshino Gen glanced at it, then turned his head to Shimizu Yu and asked, "Do you know someone named Wadagawa Shu?"
"..." Hearing the familiar name, Shimizu Yu's eyes widened slightly. "Uncle Wada? He's my dad's friend and colleague... Could it be..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but even she had realized the truth of the situation in that moment.
Hoshino Gen left his seat and turned around. Without any warning, the burly black man floating beside him suddenly slammed into the wall behind the bar counter. With a deafening boom, the wall caved in. The hulking man lost consciousness, embedded within the rubble and covered in blood.
Slipping his hands into his pockets, Hoshino Gen led the stunned Shimizu Yu toward the door. As he walked, he said calmly, "Since you deal in the trade of human lives, you should always be prepared for your own lives to be placed on the shelf as well. I've spared your lives this time, so you should know what to do. If I don't receive a satisfactory response within twenty-four hours, I will be back."