Person With Inferior Ability Vol.3-Chapter-5-Part-1

[TN:  Surtr or Surt is someone from Norse Mythology, who is foretold as being a major figure during the events of Ragnarok; carrying his bright sword, he will go to battle against the Æsir, he will battle the major god Freyr, and afterward the flames that he brings forth will engulf the Earth. (Click this →link← if you want to get to the wiki page.)]


{Chapter 5} Sword of Surt

Part I

 Omine Hisae woke up with a call on her cell phone in the middle of the night.

 She subconsciously glances at her watch and realizes that the date has already changed. She confirmed that the caller was her secretary, Kakitate Shima, and picked up the phone, still in an unsteady state of consciousness.

“Yes, Shima-chan. What’s wrong? You still working? This late at night.”

{Omine-sama, sorry to disturb you so late! But it’s an urgent matter!}

 Hearing Shima’s tone alone, Hisae immediately woke up.

“…… what do you mean?”

{It’s after confirming the emergency report from Mizuho-san. If the contents of this report are true, then it’s the top-level protected information case at the agency, and it was a mandatory report to the Rome headquarters.}

“What the hell!?”

{As per regulations, we have already reported the matter to the Rome headquarters in the Higher Urgent Matters form. We will be able to connect the hotline with headquarters in a few hours at the earliest. Omine-sama-can …….}

‘Alright, I’m on my way over there right now! I’ll ask you how it went while on the way, so please be ready to pick up the phone. And …….”

{I know, Agency’s car is on its way there now}.

“Good job! See you later.”

 Hisae quickly got out of bed after hanging up her cell phone and hurried to get ready to head to Shinjuku, where the World Ability User Agency’s Japanese branch is located.

 When she stepped out of the front door of the skyscraper apartment, the Agency’s car had arrived, and she quickly climbed into the back seat of it to contact Shima on the Agency’s highly confidential dedicated line.

{Yes, Kakitate here. Omine-sama, have you already left?}

“I just got in the car. So tell me the situation. What did Mizuho-chan’s report say?”

 Shima explained what had happened. Mizuho had sent an urgent request for an investigation by e-mail using the emergency service.

 And among the information, there was the name of the enemy ability user’s group, and she wanted to find what kind of people they were.

“Fumu, those enemy ability users were some bad guys, weren’t they?”

{Yes. I checked the Agency’s database under the name Niezbeck and Rokiarum and found out that they were under the Agency’s top-level information matters, and that if any of their information was obtained, the Agency should immediately contact the Rome headquarters.}

“Neizbeck? Rokiarum ……hmm? Rokiarum …… where.”

{Do you recognize it?}

“No, I don’t recall. Just something I heard somewhere…”

{I see. …… Ah, another thing, only the name of that enemy organization was disclosed.}

“Organization’s name? Is that ……?”

{Yes, it said, the Sword of Surt.}

“The Sword of Surt …… Sword of Surt!? No way! Oh my God, Shima-chan! Contact Mizuho-chan and others! Prepare to move out immediately! If the information’s true, Mizuho-chan and the others are in danger!”

{Please calm down, Omine-sama, since we have already accepted the request, that would be a violation of the agency’s contract! And what do you mean by that? What is the Sword of Surt ……}

“Don’t tell me, the Chinese and Indian branches must have received this information, suspected this possibility, and asked the Japanese branch for support. …… No, it’s too early to assume that, but it would leave them with a huge geographical problem left unresolved.”

{Omine-sama?}

“Ah, sorry, Shima-chan. I will take the details from the database myself over there to get more information. Just assume that, if the Sword of Surt, is true, this mission is at the level of an S-class demon god.”

{Waa! What the hell kind of people are they ……}

“Shima-chan, are you familiar with the horrific battles between ability users a hundred years ago?”

{Yes, I learned this when I joined the Agency’s executive ranks and received classified information training. As I recall, …… something about …… conflicts behind the scenes of the First World War between us Ability users.}

“That’s right,…… I also know only from information from the agency and stories passed down to me from my grandparents, but I’ve heard that it was more than just a conflict. And it was this battle that led to the founding of this Agency’s predecessor, the Ability Users Guild.”

{So, the agency’s philosophy of publicly engaging ability users and integrating them into the public and playing a part in society’s role is ……}

“Actually, I’ve heard that the idea took shape at that time. No, to be precise, the idea was around even before that. But there were a lot of ability users who didn’t like it. These two different groups were in a position of power, and in a sense, there was a balance between them. But as time went on, the two groups had many small differences, which grew and grew until they came to see each other with a feeling of near hatred. ……”

{……}

“Then World War I broke out on the surface. I heard that the growing dissatisfaction among the ability users who had been working behind the scenes finally exploded in the wake of the Great War, leading to a …… bloodbath.”

{Something like this ……}

“Shima-chan, remember this. That neither we, the ability users nor the Agency, can maintain our current state without effort. ……”

{…… I understand …….}

“So the Sword of Surt was the spearhead organization that stood on the side of the anti-guilds in that battle of the ability users a hundred years ago. They were the most radical thinkers on the anti-guild side ……. They were also one of the best in the group, as I recall.”

{Such …… hundred-year-old organization still exists today.}

 Shima was astonished and speechless after hearing what Hisae had said.

{So, Mizuho-san and the others?}

“If this enemy information is true, even with two A-ranks, it’s going to be a tough and dangerous case! Even though I didn’t know it, I also sent Domori-kun, a rank D, there. A rank D will only be cannon fodder for them.”

{I will give the order to withdraw immediately! Else the rookies!}

“Calm down, Shima-chan …… I said as much, but you’re right, Shima-chan, it’s difficult to revoke a request for this reason.  So, we have no choice but to replace the dispatched competent person.”

{Replacements? Then …….}

“We’ll send in someone with rank S or better ability. Immediately request Takenari-sama for mobilization. Also, this is an institution-wide problem. Send a direct request for support to each country’s branch under my name, emergency request form. And make sure that the Rome HQ gives their approval immediately. Depending on the situation, our valuable rookies may be in danger at this very moment. And, of course, please instruct them to exercise utmost caution.”

{Understood! We will be ready immediately. Ah, …… just received a reply from headquarters!”

“What does it say?”

{Please wait a moment. …… Omine-sama, HQ is stating almost the same thing as you! It seems that the headquarters will be sending out notices to the branches in each country. And ……Eh!? Seems like they have already sent out a request to an SS Rank ability user!}

“What? Who?”

{This is from the China Branch…… [Flawless] Wang Yun Hao! He says he can move immediately, depending on the conditions!”[TN: The name is weird in Japanese “王俊豪” with furigana ‘おうし ゆんごう’ (‘Oushi Yun Gou’ or ‘O Shun Gou’) and ‘ワンジユンハオ'(Wang Yun Hao). The former one is used here and later at another dialogue, I am confused, but since it’s a Chinese name Wan Jiyun Hau also works, so I will be using this one ]

“Is that true!? That [Flawless] is going to move? That’s a …… tedious one …… ……”

{Yes, it says so. But it says it depends on the conditions and …… what are these conditions?}

“Yeah, Shima-chan doesn’t know about it yet …… Wang Yun Hao has another name. Well, everyone says it around here.”

{Another name? It would be …….}[TN: Nickname if you may]

“It’s a simple name. They call him a [Cheap Stake]. Well, some call him an extreme money-worshiper.”[TN: I knew it! China-Japan verbal war, if you guys have read some modern Chinese Novels, you may be familiar with how they hate Chinese, similar here. If you wanna learn more about it follow this →link←]

{That’s ……  SS Rank …… is a money worshiper. ……}

“The fees this guy demands are always off the charts. Naturally, cases handled by the top-ranked SS originally come with a commensurate fee. …… But even if you look at it that way, this Wang Yun Hao won’t budge unless the reward is nearly ten times that amount.”

{Jeez, ten times, huh}

“It’s just that he’s ……  SS Rank. I’ve only seen him once in the Dortmund Demon God subjugation. I saw him fighting the Demon God at Dortmund with a single spear from behind and wondered why he didn’t come earlier.”

{He didn’t come right away? No way, even then, it was an important time  ……and this Rank SS guy}

“Yes,…… this guy didn’t show up right away because he had difficulty asking for a price, even though it was a mandatory request issued by the Agency in an emergency, as stated in the terms of the contract.”

{What the …… SS Ranks are all kinds of problem children …… No, they should change ………………………}

“Ah, Shima-chan, I’m already on my way. We will discuss the rest of the story in person.”

{Understood! Omine-sama, HQ says they will connect you to the hotline in 30 minutes! They are very quick to respond this time.}

“If there is a possibility that the opponent could be the Sword of Surt, then …… umm? Considering they sent requests to a SS Rank, this should be seen as a fact by now. ……”

 Hisae cuts the line and looks out the car window at West Shinjuku in the middle of the night and thinks of the rookies she has sent to Miramar.

“Everyone, please be safe…….”

 Upon arriving at the building where the Japan Branch is located, Hisae quickly made her way to the branch manager’s office where Shima was stationed.

 When she arrived at the branch manager’s office, a communication monitor prepared by Shima was coming down from the ceiling, and Hisae sat in front of the screen, with Shima waiting behind her. Then, within a few seconds, the screen switched.

 On the screen appeared the head of the Rome headquarters, namely Rank SS [Salvatore] George Bortolotti, the head of the World Ability Users Agency as well as the highest rank of the Agency itself.

“It’s been a long time, Hisae. Things turned disastrous this time.”

 George gently brushed his slightly dusky blond bangs and smiled a very personable smile.

 Hisae responded politely with a slight bow and a sociable smile.

“No, George-sama, I thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to see me.”

“You can just call me …… George, you know. Hisae and I get along, don’t we?”

 Smiling, George shows his white teeth and brushes his hair up with his face turned at a slight slant to the left, perhaps his favorite pose.

 Hisae moved only her mouth expressionlessly at the confident look on George’s face.

“Ah, yes, since we are just boss and subordinate, George-sama will do.”

“Hahahaha, really already, Hisae ….is a shy person, huh.”

 George, the head of the Agency who was smiling briskly, slides sideways off the screen and disappears along with his chair.

—Part I end—


Join me on —>discord<— to get update notifications.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is patreon-logo.png
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ko-fi-logo.png

Previous—–ToC—–Next

3 thoughts on “Person With Inferior Ability Vol.3-Chapter-5-Part-1

Leave a Reply