This was far from an ideal assignment.
Kurumi Tokisaki pretended to skim through the documents while her mind raced.
Looks like my little butterfly wings fluttering have changed the plot. What was originally Akutagawa Ryūnosuke's mission had now fallen into her lap.
Not that she was the type of isekai'd protagonist obsessed with maintaining the original storyline. So what if things changed? Sure, she'd lose the advantage of foreknowledge, but with her Spirit powers, she was no pushover either. If it came down to it, she'd just have to rely on her own skills.
What did bother her was the possibility that if the plot strayed too far, her system-assigned missions might become impossible to complete.
The North American ability organization, The Guild, wanted Nakajima Atsushi captured—and they'd outsourced the job to Yokohama's most powerful underworld syndicate, the Port Mafia.
In the original story, the Port Mafia's repeated failures had pushed The Guild's leader to personally storm Yokohama to take matters into his own hands.
That was the scenario Kurumi needed. Only if The Guild came to Yokohama could she complete Side Mission #2—defeating one of their members.
But now, thanks to her interference, she was the one sent to capture Atsushi.
If she actually succeeded and handed him over, The Guild would have no reason to step foot in Yokohama. Side Mission #2 would be kaput.
And that was not an outcome she could accept.
So, to complete the mission, she'd have to intentionally fail to catch Atsushi.
But if she half-assed it too obviously, Mori Ōgai might catch on to her slacking and lose trust in her.
Kurumi didn't particularly care what others thought of her, but completing her main mission required the Port Mafia's stage. Mori's approval was non-negotiable.
If only I could just refuse this job...
But she couldn't think of a single plausible excuse.
With no other choice, the only option was to accept the mission now and figure things out later.
So, with a practiced smile, she neatly stacked the documents and said, "Leave it to me, Mori-san. I'll do my best."
"Excellent. In that case, take this."
Mori produced a sleek black phone and handed it to her. "This is the organization's dedicated line. Use it to request backup or report in. If I need you at headquarters, I'll contact you through it as well."
"Oh? It does look different from commercial models." She flipped it open, noting the sparse selection of pre-installed apps. "You wouldn't happen to have loaded it with trackers and bugs to monitor my every move, would you?"
"For anyone else, I probably would." Mori admitted without hesitation. "But for someone like Tokisaki-san—an Ability user who can read memories—that would be an amateurish mistake. Trust is a fragile thing."
"Trust, huh?"
Kurumi's gaze lingered on him, sharp and assessing. "I don't believe for a second that you actually trust me. But by all means, do try to earn mine, Mori-san."
"I can only promise to do my best." Mori shrugged. "After all, winning Tokisaki-san's trust sounds like a Herculean task."
"All it takes is sincerity." Her lips curled playfully. "Once, twice, thrice—I'm already your person, after all. We've got all the time in the world."
"Tokisaki-san, please spare this middle-aged lolicon from your teasing." Mori sighed, patting the sulking Elise's head. "Elise can't stand hearing things like this. Look, she's jealous."
"My apologies. I nearly forgot about Mori-san's… unique tastes." Kurumi chuckled lightly. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
"One last thing, Tokisaki-san."
"Hmm?"
"About your personal secretary." Mori's expression turned wry. "Previously, the Port Mafia only had one Strike Squad captain—Akutagawa. Hence, only one secretary: Higuchi Ichiyō, whom you met yesterday."
"Ah, yes. A rather gentle woman. She doesn't quite seem cut out for the mafia life."
"I thought so too. Yet for some reason, she insists on staying—even when I've hinted she could leave." Mori shook his head. "But I digress. My initial plan was to have her assist you alongside Akutagawa. However, last night, she refused, citing that 'supporting Akutagawa-sama already drains me—I have no energy left to aid anyone else.'"
"What a shame. We had such a pleasant chat in the car yesterday. I thought we got along famously."
"Higuchi seemed to disagree. When the topic of working for you came up, her voice was shaking." Mori's tone was dry. "Tokisaki-san, as a doctor, I must advise against traumatizing my employees. Psychological wounds are notoriously hard to treat."
"My, I don't recall frightening her at all." Kurumi tapped her chin innocently. "Perhaps Mori-san misunderstood?"
"If you say so."
Mori didn't press further, instead pulling out a folder and spreading several photos across the desk. "Since Higuchi is unavailable, it's no trouble. There are plenty of others qualified to assist you. Please choose one as your personal secretary."
Kurumi's first instinct was to refuse outright.
First, she didn't need a secretary. Her combat style meant any bystander would just be dead weight.
Second, she certainly didn't want one of Mori's lackeys shadowing her every move, reporting back on her activities. If he caught even a hint of her true intentions, things could get messy.
But just as she opened her mouth to decline, her eyes caught a familiar face among the candidates.
After a brief pause, she changed her mind.
"Since I'm still new to the Port Mafia, having an assistant would be helpful."
Picking up the photo of a dull-eyed girl, Kurumi smiled.
"I'll take this one."
--+--