LIGHTNOVELONLINE Arc 2: Experiments – Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Arc 2: Experiments - Chapter 3
An hour later*
Daisuke pats himself on the back for creating a social cloaking field device in the form of a bracelet that Justeaze is wearing to blend into the crowd, making others unable to perceive Justeaze, Altera, and himself as nobodies worthy of attention. In fact, this is so powerful that any corrupt person with strong backing would pick someone else off the street to do them harm.
Like what happened a few seconds ago, when a guard wanted to have some fun and harass a random woman until she was unwilling to be dragged away, everyone didn't blink an eye and moved on with their business. Some were interested in joining, but held back for whatever reason.
Now, he has only one problem to deal with. And he knew very well that he had brought this upon himself, but he did it anyway.
"Altera. Stop trying to destroy someone's food stall." Daisuke said in a monotone as he pulled her away from almost cutting the poor man trying to run a business here. "Just wait a little longer before you go on a rampage."
"Why are we out here, Master?" Justeaze asks Daisuke. She looks around with an emotionless expression.
"We're going shopping for something I need." Daisuke replied; he continued to drag Altera away from another stall selling pork buns. Although, judging by the drool at the corner of her mouth, she might be hungry.
"Must be something very important if it means we have to leave the mansion." Justeaze bumped into someone, but they didn't seem to care, and neither did Justeaze, except for a brief use of the Third Magic to bring out the soul of the person she bumped into, causing that person to collapse in the middle of the street. "Would this help us find the person or lead us to the person we're trying to find? Because we've been walking around for over an hour."
A group of people in the crowd rush to the collapsed person and rob the person of everything, including their underwear. To make matters worse, some even begin to drag the body away. Then, guards show up and rush over to deal with this group. Eventually, it becomes a game of who gets the person's things.
"This place reminds me of home." Altera finally looks away from the food stall.
"Lots of robbing, killing, and dying?" Daisuke raises an eyebrow.
"No, everyone smells really bad. Almost made me forget I'm in another world." Altera answers blankly.
"It reminds me of the commoners of my world." Justeaze chimes in. "Lots of hunger, too."
Daisuke remembers his world, but the only people who smell are those who don't want to take a bath and those who are homeless and barely have access to water sources to survive. Let alone taking a bath.
"Anyway, back to your previous question, Justeaze. Why would I need the soul of a random stranger?" Daisuke stares at the floating ghostly orb that seems to have a facial expression of pain. "And why do you think it was a good idea to take someone's soul out of their body in the first place?"
"Because it's a local soul, and that would save us from having to torture the information out of the person. Any questions we ask will be answered truthfully without hiding any important details." Justeaze's face is still blank, but the way she looks at Daisuke suggests praise for her ingenious move.
"Hm. Good point." Daisuke didn't want to criticize Justeaze for that. After all, 99% of the people who lived in the Empire for so long were corrupt. Especially those who dressed as nice as the person Justeaze just ripped the soul out of. Of course, they might be spies from the Revolutionary Army. If so, he could only offer them a silent apology for having the misfortune to be picked out of the crowd to be killed for gathering information.
"Shall I begin the questions?" Justeaze begins to shake the soul, causing the soul's face to make an expression of agony and a soundless scream.
"Go ahead. No one will pay attention to anything that has to do with us." Daisuke replied as he walked on, hoping to see the familiar building he had in mind.
"Alright." Justeaze starts to ask a series of questions to the soul she is holding.
A few minutes later*
Daisuke watches as the soul fades from existence, either into the afterlife or permanently erased as a side effect of being held captive by the Third Magic for too long.
That, or Justeaze was having too much fun shaking the soul like it was a piggy bank and the coins were the answers that spilled out. All in all, the soul did not have a painless death.
Unfortunately, the soul didn't know where the building he was looking for was. Instead, he only knows about 10% of the entire Empire, and that's just the outer layer. Talk about a letdown, but on the bright side, some places are worth visiting.
Now, if Altera would stop trying to destroy everything around her, that would be great. Of course, the main reason he summoned Altera was because she was great in battle and could protect Justeaze from those who wanted to take her down. Once that was figured out, she'd cause more damage to everyone by being able to do long-range attacks.
Anyway, the way Altera was going. He might have to invest in a collar. She might be willing to wear it as a means to experience something new, especially if she was too eager to dress up as a maid.
"Shall I grab another soul, Master?" Justeaze begins to search for her new target.
"No need. I found the place." Daisuke shakes his head.
There is a bookstore in front of everyone, and looking through the windows, there is only one person inside.
To be precise, the person inside should be Lubbock. A member of the Revolutionary Army's assassination group. Night raid. In the Empire's Capital, his cover is the owner of a bookstore, which is the one Daisuke has been looking for this whole time.
"Are there any important books here that you couldn't find elsewhere, Master?" Justeaze looks at the front of the bookstore. "This place looks like it hasn't been maintained in years."
"Pretty sure it's because the person doesn't have enough money to afford to maintain the place." Altera spoke first. "I do wonder, though, why there is even a bookstore in a place like this. Of all the places we came across on our way here. Except the ones with money, or those who work for the people with money, are cleaner than all the others. There shouldn't be a bookstore open to the public."
"Well, this world is crazy and dark, but it is also crazy. Don't worry about the logic of this world. It will give you a headache." Daisuke knows very well that it's pointless to try to figure out the why and how of most things. Especially because of plot holes that the writers either didn't notice or couldn't think of a good reason why they should be there at all, except to help out a character. "Anyway, Justeaze. Adjust the setting on the social cloaking field device."
Justeaze did exactly as she was told, which took a minute.
Daisuke was the first to go in, followed by Justeaze and Altera.
Upon entering, they are greeted by Lubbock. And he looks exactly like his canon counterpart.
"Welcome. Do you need any help?" Lubbock asks everyone. Not paying too much attention to the outfits Justeaze and Altera are wearing. "Any books in mind you want to get? I might have them around here somewhere."
"No. Just looking." Daisuke replied, staring at all the manga that shouldn't exist. Not in the capital of the Empire. How in the world these manga are here confuse the hell out of him.
"Well, let me know if you need help with anything." Lubbock smiles at Daisuke, then winks at Justeaze and Altera, where they're looking around curiously.
Daisuke checks all the manga in his line of sight and is surprised to find that most of them are the ones he read back on Earth.
Honestly, he thought the manga here would just be knock-offs or completely different and of poor quality since this world is the Akame Ga Kill. However, there are manga here that he knows.
He started looking for ones that he knew would be great to help him with future uses of Omnifabrication, since he couldn't remember all the things he had seen and read in the past.
Justeaze and Altera don't seem to be very interested in the manga. As they walked by, they continued to look in Daisuke's direction, then at the door.
"Give me a few minutes, then we can go." Daisuke said to the two. "Hey, do you have a manga called Bleach?" He looks at Lubbock, who was reading his own manga at some point.
"Of course! All the way to volume 74!" Lubbock boasts, pointing to his left, where 74 volumes of the Bleach series hang on the wall.
Seriously, it makes him wonder how the hell this world has the complete series of Bleach. But overall, he will just accept it and grab the whole series. While it's available for him to grab. After all, who knows when he will have access to any manga once he leaves Akame Ga Kill?
Nevertheless, it's time to get all the manga he knows and some unknown ones. After stealing money from the corrupt rich. Because he's broke and has no money that belongs to this world. Of course, he has precious jewels and other valuable things in the Gate of Babylon. But that's a last resort.
A few hours later*
Back at the mansion, Daisuke is very pleased with all the manga he now has stored away in the Gate of Babylon. In particular, he finds many iconic manga that were a big hit at the time in the past and have many overpowered weapons that he would like to recreate.
"Master, Altera broke the front doors again." Justeaze reported as Altera jumped up behind her, shaking her head in denial and sweating like those anime people do when they are very nervous or scared.
"Right. I'll get that fix." Daisuke uses Omnifabrication to fix the front door again. "So, Altera. Do you want to tell me why you broke the front door this time? The first time was by accident because you didn't know how fragile they are to you."
"I saw a rabbit outside and thought it would be good for a snack before dinner." Altera explained, looking down at the ground while clasping her hands together, looking extra nervous even without a change in her blank expression and tone. But her body language alone is enough.
"Did you at least get the rabbit?" Daisuke raises an eyebrow as he sees Altera reach behind her and pull out a dead rabbit—holding it by the ears. "Okay, you did. Now, my next question is. Where is your sword?"
Altera looked around and quickly ran out of the living room in search of her sword.
"Do you think she will remember that she can just conjure it into her hands?" Justeaze asks Daisuke after seeing that Altera's shadow figure is no longer in sight.
"Maybe." Daisuke shrugs and continues reading the manga that caught his attention from the others.