Rayleigh had been patiently waiting for Kyoma to use his ability, but instead, he watched as Kyoma suddenly ran to the door and picked up an umbrella.
"Kyoma, the weather in the Sabaody Archipelago has been quite cool and pleasant recently. I don't think you'll need it at all."
He was confused and puzzled for a moment.
"Or is this perhaps prepared for the companion you're about to summon?" Rayleigh asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.
"Uh... I think?"
Kyoma's tone was uncertain and hesitant.
He himself wasn't entirely clear about the specific relationship between the summoning medium and the summoned person.
Through some extra information that had suddenly appeared in his mind, he knew that his ability could only summon characters when a medium was needed, and there would be a cooldown period after each summoning.
As for how long the cooldown period would last, he didn't know yet.
He would only find out after completing the first summon.
'In short, I hope whoever comes is easy to get along with,' he thought to himself.
'I'm not exactly great with people.'
[The summoning conditions have been met, and the summoning medium has been gathered. Do you want to perform the character summoning?]
"Yes."
Whoosh.
As Kyoma finished speaking, a hazy blue light suddenly appeared in the dim warehouse that was only illuminated by a few flickering candles.
'Oh wow, there are even summoning effects?'
He had thought it would be instantaneous, appearing out of thin air, but he hadn't expected it to be much more elaborate and impressive than he'd imagined.
Kyoma looked down in the direction of the light and discovered that at some point, a blue summoning array had covered and spread across the area several meters beneath his feet.
Before he could properly observe and examine the summoning circle, the space in front of him suddenly trembled violently, as if something was about to emerge and come through from it.
With a sharp crack, a fissure appeared in the air, reminiscent of Whitebeard's earthquake-inducing punch.
Immediately after that…
A small hand stretched out from the crack and grabbed the umbrella.
'Wow, what incredible strength.'
Kyoma suddenly felt a terrifying force pulling at the umbrella.
He was almost yanked forward by it and quickly released his grip.
Tap, tap, tap.
As he heard the sound of nimble and light footsteps, Kyoma raised his head and stared at the girl standing before him.
She was holding the umbrella and wearing a curious expression on her face.
The girl wore a red cheongsam that matched her hair, which was tied into a bun.
She was quite small and young. At this moment, she was gazing at him with her cat-like blue pupils.
Kyoma took in her appearance carefully.
Umbrella. Cheongsam. Orange bun. Girl.
With such striking and distinctive features, a name popped into his mind almost immediately.
Kagura.
The heroine from the anime Gintama.
She was from the Night Rabbit Clan, one of the most powerful races in the Gintama world.
They looked exactly like humans, but their physical capabilities and appetites were on another level entirely.
Their weakness was that they couldn't be exposed to direct sunlight for extended periods, so members of this clan typically carried umbrellas wherever they went.
[Successfully summoned Kagura from the Gintama World. The host gains access to some of the character's attributes. For details, please check your character panel.]
'Attribute sharing?'
Kyoma tried to sense the change and found that compared to his previously weak body, worn down by years of overwork and inactivity, his body was now many times better and stronger. Not only did he feel lighter, but he also possessed a sense of strength he'd never experienced before.
He felt like he could take down a cow with a single punch.
He opened his character panel.
[Character: Kyoma]
[Age: 24]
[Race: Human (95%) Night Rabbit (5%)]
[Ability: None]
[Evaluation: With this initial improvement, you may be able to catch Morgan's axe with your bare hands, relying on the superhuman defense and recovery ability granted by the partial Night Rabbit bloodline.]
'Hiss... To be able to block Axe-Hand Morgan's attack with my bare hands, that's actually a decent evaluation. I could probably handle myself fairly well in the East Blue with this.'
But he wasn't in the East Blue.
He was in the Sabaody Archipelago, in the first half of the Grand Line, where any pirate with a bounty of tens of millions was far more dangerous and threatening than Morgan.
Therefore, with his current strength, he could only be considered a small fry on this island.
For a moment, the inflated feeling that had come with his sudden increase in strength disappeared entirely.
Kyoma had to accept the fact that he was still relatively weak in the grand scheme of things.
"I heard that I can get a lot of food by following you?"
The orange-haired girl stared at Kyoma for a long moment.
Seeing that he didn't speak, she finally couldn't help but ask.
Her voice sounded both anxious and expectant.
She hadn't had a proper meal in quite some time since running away from home.
Earlier today, when she'd been rummaging through a trash can on the streets of Edo, she had suddenly heard a voice.
It said that as long as she went to a faraway place to be someone's companion, she wouldn't have to worry about food anymore.
So, without any hesitation, she followed the voice and came here.
But now, looking at this guy, it seemed unlikely that he could actually support her.
After all, she knew that her appetite was... substantial.
'Follow me? Get food?'
Hearing this, Kyoma's expression became somewhat surprised.
There was an indescribable sense of contrast when such blunt words came from the mouth of a young girl.
But when he considered that the person before him was the heroine of the Gintama world, he instantly understood.
In that world full of absurdity and chaos, it would be strange if she wasn't a bit peculiar herself.
Unlike a certain perpetually broke silver-haired samurai, he now had over a billion Belly in his possession.
"Sure, I can get you meat, soup, fish…"
Kyoma patted his chest confidently.
Thud.
After hearing what Kyoma said, Kagura froze. The umbrella in her hand fell to the ground, and tears gradually welled up in her eyes.
After a long moment, an extremely excited voice echoed through the warehouse.
"I'll follow you, boss!"
****
"Eh? What are you doing?"
Looking at the girl who threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly with tears of joy, Kyoma didn't know what to do.
However, before he could process the situation for more than a few seconds, he felt something was wrong.
The arms wrapped around his waist seemed to be gaining strength as their owner's emotions fluctuated.
"Let go... let go... ah..."
Crunch.
He heard the sound of his bones being compressed.
His breathing became difficult, and his face paled rapidly.
'I might actually die here,' he realized with growing panic.
'Crushed to death by the very companion I just summoned.'
This way of dying was humiliating, no matter how he looked at it.
"Hey, hey, kid, Kyoma doesn't seem to be in good condition. You'd better release him quickly."
Fortunately, there was a third person in the warehouse.
Rayleigh had originally been watching the interaction between the two with great interest.
As he'd gotten older, he'd developed a fondness for observing energetic young people, reminiscing about his own youth through them.
But what he hadn't expected was that although the partner summoned by Kyoma was small in stature, she possessed strength in her body that even he couldn't underestimate, and she seemed unable to control it properly.
"Huh?" Hearing this, Kagura looked up in confusion, only to discover with horror that the boss she'd just acknowledged had a frighteningly pale face, as if he were on the verge of death.
Panicking, she quickly released her grip.
Kyoma seemed to deflate, collapsing to the ground powerlessly, with white foam forming at the corners of his mouth.
"Boss, what's wrong with you?"
"Did you suddenly fall ill?"
"Don't be lazy and sleep here. Wake up and take me to eat like you said."
For a moment, Kagura was at a complete loss.
In her panic, her body fell heavily onto Kyoma's chest, shocking Rayleigh so much that his eyes widened in alarm.