Saikyou Series

Jinrui Saikyou no Jun"ai –Nisioisin
p. 11-15

Well,I’ve gotten busy again. Not quite enough to say I’m in vogue, or thatI’m working nonstop, but I’ve been receiving so many commissionslately that I can talk about the time when I was cut off from work asif it were a fond memory. Nah, it’s a bit much to call being shunned by the whole world a fondmemory, but in any case, it wasdefinitely an extraordinary experience. A lot happened after that; Ivery nearly got banished from Earth in the guise of contract work.Too much happened, enough to make me do some rare self-reflectionabout whatever the heck I did to become so disliked. Well, I might doself-reflection, but I don’t do self-restraint; isn’t that one of mycharm points? But they say gossip only lasts 75 days, and when allthe commotion had died down, some real work, the time when I can feelmy life’s purpose, started coming back to me. That said, though; Iknow it’s odd—or rather, I know it’s selfish—but the busier Iget, the more I think it’d be nice if I had a bit more free time.

“Iwonder about that, my dear friend. One could say that the world ismore stable when you’re busy.”

That’show the great thief Kouta Ishimaru appraised my current situation,when we met on the job (as enemies). Are you one of my critics? No,you’re just having a laugh at me, aren’t you. Even so—well, if Ican maintain world peace by working hard, then it would be my honor.

“No,that is not what I meant, my dear friend. If you aren’t working, thenaliens start arriving, and G.o.d himself becomes desperate to keep youoccupied. You really ought to have something to do, regardless ofwhat it might be. It seems G.o.d is aware of how unpredictable you arewhen bored.”

G.o.d?Hmph. That’s not like you. If a wonderful guy like him exists, thenpeople like you and me would never have been born in the first place.

“G.o.dsare not omnipotent, after all. Surely he feels responsible forproducing a failed creationlike you, and has devised various measures to keep you fenced in. Soyou won’t destroy the world in a fit of boredom.”

Thatis the purpose forwhich you were originally created.

SaidKouta, as if I were some kind of ultimate weapon. Well, I can’t arguewith that point. But if you say I’m a failed creation of my fathers’,and a failed creation of G.o.d’s… I think a ladylike phantom thiefliable to steal the halo off of G.o.d himself would be more of a failedproduct, one created on a whim, than me.

“Hmm.Still, that is quite perfect. Failure and success are just differentperspectives, after all—either way, if the business is thrivingthen all is well. While you gaily toil away, my dear friend, I simplysneak around taking your leftovers.”

Theleftover she was stealing was a bronze statue valued at severalhundred million dollars—though, for a bronze statue, it was as bigas a building. What part of that is “simple”? Is she some kind ofmagician? Even I couldn’t do that. …Anyway, I don’t know howserious Kouta was being (in the first place, it’s rather doubtfulwhether that ill-natured, slippery woman is ever really “serious”),but if world peace is brought about by me being swamped, then my workstarts seeming more and more meaningful. I took any sort of job Icould get my hands on, big jobs and small jobs, from mediating warsto looking for lost kittens. And then, one day…

“YouJun Aikawa?”

Duringone of the teensy bits of free time I had between jobs, someonecalled out to me—with a voice precise enough to pa.s.s through theeye of a needle, but still rough.

“You’reso red, I could tellfrom five kilometers away.”

Liar.No way you could tell from five kilometers away; I’m not luminescent.I wanted to give that as a retort, but I held back. Why? Because Iwas happy—happy at the respect the guy was showing me. As if to snarl, he was glaring at me through glittering sanpakueyes that looked like they might really be gazing from fivekilometers away. His hair was garishly spiked, as if prodding theheavens themselves; it seemed to be a vivid a.n.a.logy for an aggressivepersonality.

“Whatare you grinning for? Something funny?”

Helooked puzzled, so I apologized. Sorry, sorry, I just got a littlehappy; I couldn’t help it. I mean, work has gone back to normal, butit’s been a while since a character appeared who knew who I was andstill was this hostile.

“Youtrying to say I’m young?”

Well,actually, I’d say he’s veryyoung. With the exception of the sanpakueyes, nothing about his appearance suggests he’s anything but a youngteenager; there’s no doubt he’s a youngster. One of those kids fromthe generation that knows nothing of the Great War, where I startedbeing called “Overkill Red”. These generations are advancingsmoothly, aren’t they… So, what do you want to do? Gonna fightright here?

“IfI didn’t want to change location, I’d have attacked you from the backwithout saying anything. I waited for you to be done working.”

Hmph.That’s pretty stalker-ish. I didn’t sense him watching me while I wasworking, though… Doesn’t seem like concealing his presence is aspecialty of his, but does this mean he’s a pro player? Which familyare you from?

“I’mme. Just me. I’m not from the Killing Names or the Cursing Names, orthe Kunagisa Organization, or the Four G.o.ds and One Mirror—just aprivate citizen. Same as you and Kouta Ishimaru.”(1)

Oh,he knows about Kouta too? Really? So there areyoungsters like that around. He’s got some backbone in him, for ayouth these days—even if saying that makes me seem all the moregrown-up. And it’s my nature to want to smash that backbone of his topieces (I really haven’t grown up). All right, fine. Escort me towherever it is you want to go. Ah, before we go, can I ask your name?Even if there’s no one to tend to it, a gravestone needs a name,right?

“MatsuriShimegiwa. Seventeen years old.”

Young,aren’t you. And that’s a good name too.

Footnotes:
(1)In the Zaregoto-Saikyou-Ningen universe, there are four “layers”of society.
Those not born into special power are the “outer”layer, which is where most people are, including Ii-chan, Jun, Kouta,most of ER3, etc.
The “economic” layer consists of five largebusiness conglomerate families (zaibatsu),together called “Four G.o.ds and One Mirror” after the charactersin their family names. Iria Akagami is an exiled “princess” ofone of these zaibatsu.
The“political” layer also consists of several zaibatsu,all of which are under the control of the Kunagisa Organization. TomoKunagisa is of course a member of the Kunagisa family that operatesthe organization, and her older brother Nao is its leader.
The“violence” layer is made up of a large number of a.s.sa.s.sin clansand their branch families, who generally work as mercenaries andboast near-supernatural powers. The “Killing Names” clans killpeople up front—though the Zerozaki clan is an exception, as theymostly kill for sport—while the “Cursing Names” clans kill moreindirectly, through deception and poison and such. Hitoshiki Zerozakiand the Niounomiya siblings are members of Killing Names clans.