I don't know how long I was unconscious for, but I felt my head throbbing from the impact I received.
"Oh, look who's waking up." My eyes began to flutter open and in front of me, was a girl with pink hair tied into pony tails.
Both of them were being held together with a pair of bandanas, with two black clips hanging on her hair.
She wore an odd short jacket with the shoulders being exposed. Her shirt was just a white shirt with black symbols that I don't understand, barely holding back her… uh… breasts.
While at the same time, she wore black shorts with a miniature bangboo hanging on the side.
Finally, she wore high boots with one leg with legging that reached her calf, while the other reached to her thigh.
"Um, hello." The girl didn't bother to respond, only pulling me up and placing me on a bench.
"Listene here pretty boy, since you were rescued by my fine staff, it's only fair that you pay for their efforts. Three hundred thousand dennies, pay now." She held out her hand, motioning for me to pay.
"Um, I'm sorry to let you know, but I don't have the money." Her face then began to show a smug grin, her hand raised to her mouth while she looked down on me.
"Oh, I see, then I guess we can do something for you to pay." But before she could say anything else, I pulled out my ID and held it in front of her, causing her to pale.
"I'm the chief of the MBCC, please don't try to use my debt in anyway to work for you." Hearing this, caused the girl to flinch.
"I-I see, pleas forgive my rude behavior just now, and no need to pay me back, this rescue is on the house." Seeing her attitued switch made me surprise, but decided to strike while the iron was hot.
"I see, thank you." I smiled and stood up, looking at my surroundings and noticed I was in what looked like a run down apartment.
The walls had paint pealing off the walls, the couch I laid on was worn down, with some of the cushions cut.
On the floor, there were some empty instant noddle cups, and plastic wrapping all across the floor.
And in front of me, was an old coffee table with one of the legs being shorter that the others, causing it to tilt.
'Ah, this reminds me of those three, always buying the cheap stuff.' I thought and soon looked at her with pity, causing her to flinch at my look, but she quickly composed herself.
"A-Ahem, anyways, my name is Nicole Demara, founder of the cunning hares, at your service." She held out her hand.
"Well, my name is Eros, Eros Voss." I took it and shook her hand, smiling in a polite manner.
"With introductions out of the way, I would like to hire you for your services." Nicole beamed in delight and soon left to a room, only to come back with a pair of glasses and a large pile of paper.
"What a wise decision, however our services are not cheap mind you, but since this is your first time, I can give you a five percent discount." She then placed the pile of paper and a pen on the coffee table.
"You know, I would be willing to sign this, but your staff must have told you about the situation I am in, is there another form of payment that I can do?" I asked, she hummed at my request and soon had an idea.
"How high is your ether aptitude?" She asked me, only to receive a confused look from me.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what that means." I replied while my hand rubbed the back of my neck nervously.
"T-that's fine, we can go check it later once my staff return with my supplies." After mentioning the staff, a door soon opened, and standing outside was both Billy and Anby.
"Nicole, we're back." Anby spoke with her usual flat voice and emotionless look.
"Great, good timing, we're heading to Lumina square to check on his ether aptitude!" She stood up and placed one hand on her hips, while the other was pointing towards me.
"Oh, and I held back to not eat my burger." Anby looked at the floor, but I couldn't tell if she was actually sad, or was being sarcastic.
"Well, you can't say no anyways, so let's get going!" She then grabbed me by the collar and began to drag me outside.
"Nicole, are you sure it's wise? We still have to pay off our debts from loan sharks." Anby voiced out her concern.
"We can deal with them later, for now, I want to get this man tested." Both Billy and Anby stared at each other, but then soon followed.
"Alrighty then, I do need to buy some new gun oil, I can feel the girls struggling to turn." He patted both of his revolvers.
"Maybe I can eat my burger along the way." Anby muttered and pulled out what looked like a chicken burger and took a bite. "Nom nom nom."
"Hey, I told you, no eating in the car!" Nicole scolded Anby, but stopped when she saw Anby looking at her, her faced stuffed with the chicken burger.
"J-just don't let me see any crumbs in the car." The four of us soon went outside and entered the car that Nicole owns.
However, the inside was bad as the apartment, some of the seats were stained and the inside smelled like mother oil and burgers.
What's worse, there's multiple receipts. All ranging from restaurants, entertainment, and even from fashion stores.
"Oh uh, hehehe don't mind the mess." She laughed nervously and began to grab all the wrappers and receipts, stuffing them in the glove box.
Only for more receipts and wrappers to appear, this caused all three of them to stiffen at the sight, while I just looked at them with pity.
"You know, I won't judge you for it." I tried to lie, but with how im barely hiding my pity, it was hard to say.
"At least try to hide your look of pity!" Nicole shouted and punched me on my chest. Knocking the wind out of me.
"A-ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you!" She quickly ran to my side and pulled me up, placing her hand on my back as I gasped for air.
"N-no, it's… it's my fault. I didn't mean to look at you guys like that." I waved off her apology and sighed.
"Boss, the car is now empty, and we can head out!" Billy called out to us, Nicole then harshly pulled me onto my feet and began to shove me inside.
"Good, now sit next to our newest client, we don't want anything bad happening to him now, do we?" She said while gently dragging her finger under my chin.
My spine shivered at the touch and sight her eyes held, she was planning to work me to the bone.
I was then pushed inside, with Billy sitting next to me like an excited child. He was leaning to close to me, staring at me with wide eyes.
"So, how important is your position, how many sinners did you catch, is the mania like the hollows, are you interested in watching the starlight knights with me?!" He asked multiple questions.
"Billy, don't bother the newbie, but yeah, I'm interested on this story about your position." She asked.
"Well, like I told the two of them, I'm the current chief to the MBCC, as for how many sinners? Well, their increasing day by day, so it's hard to say." I sighed.
Nicole just stayed silent, driving to who knows where, while Billy stared at me with his wide eyes.
"Must be tough with paperwork, huh." I nodded my head and soon felt exhausted when I remembered.
"You have no idea." I replied, remembering the amount of nights I stayed up for.
After talking for a few more minutes, we soon arrived at what looked like a town square. I was surprised that the city we were in was more relaxed.
Especially since they didn't have to worry too much about the hollows, from what I had learned from Nicole, hollows can form in random places, but the size depends on the amount of ether that is being produced.
The more ether there is, the bigger the hollow gets. Why I say they don't have to worry much, is because it doesn't move, only expands.
While mania itself is like a fog, trying to enter the city all the time. The only thing that repels it is hypercubes, however they are limited, causing the mania to leak in slowly.
"Well, we have arrived, now it's time to check on how well is your ether aptitude, newbie." We all began to exit the vehicle, but I was stopped before we left the parking lot.
"Yeah, I think we need to change your looks, don't want you to bring attention to yourself." She then began to drag me towards what looked like a mall.
"Shopping time~!" Nicole said with a happy smiled and rushed towards the clothing section.
After a few hours, I soon stepped out with my new clothing. A grey long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled back past my elbows, with black jeans, finally I wore a pair of black running shoes with red streaks that ran to the sides.
"Well, now that is done, I'll hold you accountable for when you are paid." She smirked and began to lead us to another building.
In front of us was a large building, a mix of orange and white with the letters H.I.A in front of us.
"Is this where I'll measure my aptitude?" I asked her, Nicloe nodded my head and soon guided me inside, Billy and Anby parted from us to do what they like.
"Welcome to H.I.A, how can I help you?" An attendee asked, she wore a large white one piece suit with both her arms having black sleeves.
"Oh, Nicole Demara, are you finally here to pay off your debts?" She asked, causing Nicole to flinch.
"Ahaha, n-no, I'm just here to test this man's ether aptitude, since he will be a temporary member for the cunning hares." Nicole explained, the woman then turned towards me with a look of pity.
"I see, then please, fill out this information and fill in the blank areas with your name, date of birth, once you filled it all, please come to me." As soon as she left us with the papers, Nicole just clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Stupid H.I.A and their stupid benefits, always looking at me like some homeless bum." She muttered.
'With how bad your home is looking, their not far off.' I thought and soon gave the paper to the attendant.
"Alright, please follow me." She then guided me past some double glass doors, however, I soon realized something.
"Why didn't they ask me for any I.D?" Nicole just grinned and rubbed her fingers together.
"Both Billy and Anby found your I.D, however, with you not being a resident in New Eredo, let's just say I have some connections." She placed her hand on top of her mouth, hiding a smile.
FLASHBACK
"I swear to god, if you don't make an I.D for this guy, I'll expose your internet history!" She shouted while hovering her hand over the enter key.
Both Billy and Anby held a guy down on a chair, both of his hands were tied down on both armrests.
"Waitwaitwaitwait, we can negotiate, three, no, four million dennies!" Nicole's eyes then changed from hostile to greed, only for her to lower her finger onto the key.
"Okay, okay, I'll have the I.D ready tomorrow!" He shouted trying to scoot the chair closer. Only to be held down by both of them.
"Not tomorrow, tonight." She said with a frown on her face.
"I can't do tonight, I'll be caught…" Nicole then tapped the enter key, however nothing happened.
"Okay, okay, I'll get it tonight!" He sobbed, Nicole then smiled and soon pulled out a thumb drive, inserting it on one of the slots and downloading the information.
"Just to be safe, wouldn't want you to double cross us now, would you?" She cooed, trailing her finger on the man's chest, the man shook his head and slumped down in defeat.
"Good boy."
FLASHBACK END
"Well, I can't say deny that you have good connections if you were able to get me an I.D." The both of us then stood in front of a large machinery, with multiple screens on the sides, while a large tube sat on the center.
"This here is where we will measure your ether aptitude, while you are inside the tube, we will slowly inject a minuscule amount of ether inside." The attendant explained while opening the pod.
"As long as you don't show any signs of discomfort, we will slowly inject more until you can't handle more, please step inside." She motioned for me to enter.
Once I stood inside, I looked around me, staring at the glass tube, however, when I looked up, I saw what looked like a large shower head.
"Alright, I will be starting the test, please let me know when you can't handle anymore." She began to push some buttons, causing the machine to slowly hum.
I suddenly felt the air inside feel heavier, but not by much, it was easy for me to move and breath.
I continued to wait for any changes to happen, to see where my limits lied, but nothing happened. No changes in the air, no changes in pressure, and I didn't feel any discomfort.
I was about to ask if they increased the amount or if their was a malfunction on the machine itself, but all I saw was the look of shock across their face.
"N-no way, that's…" She muttered and began to press on the screen, only to be shoved aside by Nicole.
Billy and Anby stood by her sides, staring at the screen with the same look as the attendant.
"He's…." Nicole began.
"Fully…"Billy spoke next.
"Immune." Anby finished, all of them where staring as the screen in front of them that showed a one hundred percent.
Soon, all four of them looked at me as if I was some unknown creature, all with mix emotions on their faces.
"Are you even human?"
[Hihihi, so they finally see the full extent of my chiefs ability, serves them right, but with this new information now on the open, I'll have to step in to keep it a secret, don't tell the author now, please? You won't? Great! For now, send in those stones to show support, and I'll see you all next time!]
LOG 3 END