Chapter 99: Herzog Got Drunk and Plans to Send a Little Femboy to Deal with Daniel (Patreon)

"Urgh!" At that moment, freed from Daniel's pressure, Chisei Gen dropped to his knees, retching.

The others didn't waste time worrying about themselves. They scrambled up and rushed to support his back.

"Young Lord, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I just saw some things I shouldn't have. Give me a moment."

Chisei Gen closed his eyes and forced down the dark emotions surging up in him again. It took a good while before he lifted his head, looking worn out.

"There are too many problems. I don't know what to do about them yet."

Yasha hesitated, then asked, "Should we investigate the Patriarch?"

"No. Don't alert him for now. I'll go and probe him myself first."

"But Young Lord," Yasha said anxiously, "according to what that man said, doesn't the Patriarch have some kind of contingency planted in you?"

Eyes still closed, Chisei Gen stood up with Yabuki Sakura's support. "I know. That's why I need one day."

"Little Sakura, find me a hospital that isn't controlled by the Serpent Eight Families. I want my body examined."

"Understood. I'll arrange it right away."

Yabuki Sakura nodded immediately at his order.

Yasha reminded him, "The Patriarch has Kaguya's authority. If he finds out, will it cause trouble?"

Chisei Gen fell silent for a moment. "Yasha, go back to Genji Heavy Industries and protect my sister. If anything goes wrong, take Erii and go to the man in that room."

"Yes, Young Lord."

Once Chisei Gen felt his body had mostly recovered, they hurried out of the hotel building without a moment's rest.

Before coming, none of them could have imagined that recruiting a single hybrid would blow up into something this big.

They got into the car, and under Yabuki Sakura's arrangements they went straight to a hospital in Chiba without stopping anywhere.

In the car, Chisei Gen's thoughts turned to Tachibana Masamune.

If what that man said was true, then many of the strange incidents of recent years suddenly had answers. That included the death of his younger brother, who had died at his hands.

Chijo, if Tachibana Masamune really is rotten, your brother will make him join you in the grave.

Beneath Genji Heavy Industries, in an underground room no one could find…

The laboratory was lined with transparent tanks of Death Servitors. Their grotesque, twisted bodies floated in an unidentified liquid, and many of them were still alive.

Herzog, who went by the name Tachibana Masamune, stood beside the lab table, converting a Death Servitor into his body double.

But just then, for no reason he could name, an ominous premonition seized him.

That kind of premonition had saved him many times during the Second World War, so Herzog spoke without thinking.

"Kaguya, how is Erii?"

An elegant synthesized voice rang out in the laboratory. "The Head of the Uesugi Family is stable. She is asleep in her bedroom and has not yet woken."

"And Chisei Gen?"

"The Young Lord left the Genji Heavy Industries building at eight this morning. According to the call records, he went to meet a newly awakened hybrid."

Herzog frowned all the same. He couldn't find anything wrong, but the feeling would not go away.

Was Chime Gen up to some mischief again?

Never mind. As long as the two most important pieces were safe, nothing else mattered.

"Soon, very soon. The moment when I shed this mortal body and ascend as a dragon is almost here."

Greed and madness flashed in Herzog's eyes as he turned the Death Servitor in front of him, which had just undergone brain bridge surgery, into his body double.

He only had to endure a little longer.

Just then, Herzog noticed the text file of the call records that Kaguya had pulled up.

"Hm? An awakened hybrid who may possess a King's Authority Speech Spirit?!"

"There was an S-rank hybrid right under my nose? How convenient. He can't be used to filter vessels, but another trump card in my hand wouldn't hurt."

Herzog's interest in Daniel was piqued. He quickly asked Kaguya, "Did Chisei Gen bring him back?"

"According to surveillance, the Young Lord arrived at the target hotel at 8:15 and left at 8:25. No one left with him."

"Oh?" Herzog's eyes lit up. If Chisei Gen hadn't won him over, that made things much easier.

If Chisei Gen had really brought him into the Serpent Eight Families, it would have taken considerable effort to deal with.

As things stood, it all worked out in Herzog's favor.

Herzog placed a mask on the Death Servitor before him, picked up a pair of black hardwood clappers, and began knocking them together and rubbing them against each other.

An eerie clacking sound rang out.

The Death Servitor's body convulsed at the sound. The next moment it sat bolt upright and opened a pair of Golden Pupils filled with savagery.

Herzog handed it a set of clothes.

"Have Kazama Ruri bring the man in this file back to the Fierce Ghosts and keep him confined. Just in case, he can take plenty of men."

The Death Servitor double said nothing. It put on clothes that hid its mutated body, rode the elevator, and slipped out of the Genji Heavy Industries building through a secret passage. Keeping to the shadows, it headed for the Kabuki-za.

Backstage at the Kabuki-za, Kazama Ruri had just finished his performance and had not yet changed out of his pink kimono. His lightly powdered, bewitching face was reflected in the dressing mirror.

If he never spoke, hardly anyone would guess that someone so beautiful was a man.

Creak…

The wooden door backstage swung open, and Osho, wearing a pale white mask, walked in as though no one else were there.

Kazama Ruri saw Osho's figure in the mirror. His pupils contracted instinctively, and fear and hatred flickered across the depths of his eyes. Yet his face stayed calm as he spoke.

"Go on. Who do you want me to kill for you this time?"

"Bring this man back."

Osho pulled a paper file from his coat. It bore a photo of Daniel and his current location.

Kazama Ruri took the file and skimmed it. When he saw that the target had a Speech Spirit that might be a King's Authority, his grip tightened instantly and nearly crushed the pages.

"Don't disappoint me. Move before Chisei Gen gets to him. Bring plenty of men, and bring the drugs too."

Kazama Ruri looked up at Osho in the mirror. He badly wanted to drive an eyebrow pencil through that damned creature's eyes.

But experience had taught him that such things were useless. That thing was a monster.

It simply could not be killed.

And then there was that eerie clacking sound.

Kazama Ruri took a deep breath to steady himself. "Understood."

With that, he prepared to call his men and pick up his equipment on the way.

As for the poor bastard named Daniel, he could only hope the man would die quickly once he fell into Osho's hands.

Otherwise, judging by that Speech Spirit, he would most likely end up just like Ruri himself, a puppet in Osho's hands.

After Kazama Ruri left the dressing room, the look in his eyes suddenly turned soft. Chime Gen's personality had surfaced.

"Kazama Ruri, please don't go on with this…"

"Idiot! Do you think I have a choice? Coward, stay hidden where you belong!"

The coldness in his eyes instantly swept over that trace of softness.

"Don't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame this world. The fate of the weak has never been in their own hands."