N. Chuuya X Fem! Reader: The Territory of Gravity

10.8 - The Dark Era

A small sightseeing ship floated in the Yokohama Bay. Gentle waves glittered in the rays of sun from a crystal-clear sky. The ship quietly drifted through the waters as it bathed in the reflected glare.

Only a few people were on board the vessel. In the center stood a young man with scholarly features and round glasses—Ango Sakaguchi, an agent with the Special Division for Unusual Powers. A man was sitting to his right.

"Ango, it's been a while. Thanks for inviting me. How have things been since returning to your real job?"

A man with slicked-back black hair and a white coat—the Port Mafia boss, Ougai Mori—spoke to Ango in a friendly manner.

"......" Without saying a word, Ango simply lowered his gaze nervously.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't pick on my youngster here, Mafia leader."

Sitting on Ango's other side was a tall, middle-aged man with white hair who towered over the rest of the people on the boat. He was Chief Taneda, the commander in chief of the Home Affairs Ministry's Special Division for Unusual Powers.

Behind the Mafia boss and the Division chief respectively were men in black suits standing guard and the Special Forces in black. However, not a single soul was armed. The same way how Chief Taneda had his protégé sitting by his side, you were sitting next to Mori, poised to aid him in any way necessary.

His expression strained with tension, Ango said, "Thank you for coming today. Once again, this is an unofficial meeting. All audio and visual recordings or physical intervention by anyone other than those present will be treated as acts of treachery, and the meeting will be immediately terminated."

Ango glanced at the bay as he spoke. Men from each organization secretly, or perhaps openly, waited on land off in the distance. In the unlikely case that one party decided to betray and kill the other during the meeting, the injured party's subordinates on the coast would immediately annihilate the enemy. This meeting was created on a state of delicate balance with each party holding a knife to the other's throat.

"My little Elise has been nagging me to buy her ice cream on the way home. Do you know of any good places, Chief Taneda?" Mori hummed.

"Ha-ha-ha. Well, isn't that sweet." Chief Taneda laughed while cooling himself off with the fan in his hand. "Maybe I should pick something up for the bureaucrats waiting for my report back at the Home Affairs Ministry, too. They'd love to have your head, I'll tell ya."

Two Mafia subordinates waiting behind their boss started to shake with rage. However, the boss simply smirked with an air of indifference.

"Feigning concern for the higher-ups at the Home Affairs Ministry to boost your reputation? Government officials always seem to have something to worry about, don't they, Chief Taneda?"

"Oh, it's a trifling concern when compared with someone who has to hide in the sewers in fear of getting squashed by the government."

The two men spoke and looked as if they were playing shogi under the eaves of a house together. But the designated mediator, Ango, who was standing in the middle, couldn't stop himself from breaking into a cold sweat. If the two men before him seriously went at it, then Yokohama would become a city of corpses before three days had passed.

"Now, let's talk business," said Ango. Even the Division's elite needed to exercise utmost caution when interrupting these two. "Mr. Taneda of the Special Division for Unusual Powers has two requests for Mr. Mori of the Port Mafia. First, you are to neither concern yourself with nor inflict harm on me, Ango. Next, you are to wipe out the European crime syndicate, Mimic, that illegally entered Japan. Do you accept?"