Chapter 433: The People Tailing Him

“If you want something, Rias, just pick whatever you like. I can mass-produce all of this now.”

“I’d suggest choosing only one or two things you really want. What you should actually be digging into are the skills inside the Divine Envoy piece.”

Takumi spoke seriously, pointing Rias in the right direction.

At this point, ordinary Sacred Gears were far less useful to him than Ultimate Skills.

Even the lower-level branch skills derived from Ultimate Skills were far more valuable than standard Sacred Gears.

With Takumi’s reminder, Rias finally noticed just how drastically the Divine Envoy piece had changed.

“What is this skill tree with more than a hundred pages?!”

“And these Ultimate Skills… aren’t they way too ridiculous!!”

Looking at one absurdly overpowered Ultimate Skill after another, Rias could barely hold herself together.

Compared to these, her innate ability, the Power of Destruction, suddenly felt like nothing.

Under Takumi’s guidance, Rias first unlocked [Great Sage].

In an instant, she felt as though an intelligent AI had appeared inside her mind, capable of assisting her in analyzing and learning almost anything.

On Xenovia’s side, Takumi guided her toward an alternative Berserker-style class system he had created by combining [Sword Saint] with the [Authority of Slaughter].

As Xenovia and Rias happily immersed themselves in choosing skills, Irina, who had been left out, looked even more miserable.

Seeing his childhood friend looking so lost, Takumi moved over and sat beside her.

“You’re afraid of the future because you don’t understand what comes next and you don’t know what to do, right?”

“Then for now, just focus on living. You’ll find your answer eventually.”

“Judging by your situation, you probably won’t have anywhere to stay later either.”

“While you’re figuring things out, how about staying at my place for a while?”

Takumi’s gentle invitation immediately brought tears to Irina’s eyes.

“Uuuh… I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do anymore.”

“I want to be like Xenovia, but at the same time, I don’t want to be like her.”

Irina’s heart was truly in chaos.

Her faith in God had always been devout, far more fervent than Xenovia’s.

Even after learning that God was gone, Irina still clung tightly to that devotion in her heart.

What she was truly struggling with now was that she had no idea what choice she ought to make.

Becoming one of Takumi’s dependents like Xenovia was not something Irina rejected.

If anything, she was quite willing, but as his childhood friend, what she truly hoped for deep down was to become Takumi’s wife.

Because those two desires pulled her in different directions, she couldn’t bring herself to choose.

And now Takumi’s comforting words only made that decision even harder.

Seeing Irina’s confusion, Takumi offered another idea.

“Before long, the three factions should hold a summit.”

“When that happens, Irina, you can come with me.”

“I’ll talk things over with the angel side then.”

“After that, you can make your choice based on what you truly want.”

“Mm~ Thank you, Takumi.”

Irina buried her face in Takumi’s chest, grateful for everything he was doing for her.

Takumi gently stroked her back, though his emotions were nowhere near as intense as hers.

After all, they had been extremely close when they were children.

She had even played those games with him, and her first kiss had been with him.

Takumi still remembered that bond.

Naturally, as long as it was within reason, he would try to treat her a little better.

Hearing Takumi mention the three-faction summit, Rias looked rather surprised.

“You already heard about that? I didn’t even know yet.”

“I already discussed it with Serafall some time ago.”

Takumi gave only a simple answer, with no intention of revealing his real plans.

There was no point in Rias and the others knowing too much.

Once everything had settled, there would still be plenty of time to explain it.

He could also use this summit as an opportunity to formally step into the public eye.

His trip to the world of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime had taught Takumi something.

If he did not make his status and strength known, then certain vile vermin would never show him any respect.

Those who bullied the weak and feared the strong also tended to hate anyone stronger than themselves.

They would exhaust every possible method to drag that person down.

Only when Takumi stood at the very top—so high that they no longer dared act recklessly—would they finally become afraid and retreat into the shadows.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Takumi raised his gaze toward a corner of the street.

A group hiding in the shadows was silently watching him.

Since Takumi had made no attempt to conceal his movements on the way here, they had found him almost immediately.

And besides that group, there was another one.

At this point, the moment I show even the slightest trace of myself, a whole crowd starts tailing me. This is getting ridiculous.

Takumi sighed inwardly.

Killing intent stirred in his heart, but he suppressed it for the moment.

It wasn’t because he was worried about anything.

The main reason was that he recognized several people among those following him.

And aside from following him, they had not actually done anything yet.

There was only one person among them radiating faint hostility, and Takumi found that one irritating.

That person is… someone sent by the Hero Village.

Their strength is at least somewhat respectable.

Are they planning to use this guy to kill me?

Takumi muttered inwardly without changing expression, a trace of speechlessness flashing through his eyes.

“Server, check please.”

“Rias, you can talk with Xenovia alone from here.”

“If she’s willing to fight for you, you can temporarily count her as part of your peerage.”

“Irina, you can head to my place. My maid Tohru can be a little territorial, so just tell her I sent you. She won’t refuse.”

After giving those instructions, Takumi stood up and left.

He intended to find somewhere secluded and deal with everyone tailing him at once.

As he walked through the shopping district and was just about to use [Amenotejikara] to transfer all of them to an empty area, the appearance of Yuki Nonaka disrupted his plan.

She was also among the people who had been following him today.

Unlike the others, however, it was obvious that Yuki harbored no hostility.

She was wearing a simple, light jacket over casual clothes, but neither plain nor modest clothing could conceal her translucent beauty or her full, striking figure.

The instant she appeared, most of the pedestrians nearby had their attention stolen by her.

However, as those gazes followed Yuki while she approached and eventually landed on Takumi himself—

His beauty, transcending ordinary standards and even gender, instantly drew all of their attention instead.

“…”

Noticing that some pedestrians had actually stopped walking and were simply staring at him in a daze, Takumi silently strengthened his cognition barrier.

In the next moment, the pedestrians shook their heads as though waking from a trance and stopped paying attention to him.

Only then did Takumi turn his focus back toward Yuki Nonaka, who had approached his side.

“Yuki, you followed me specifically today.”

“Were you hoping to go on a date with me?”

Yuki had originally come to warn Takumi, but hearing those words made her expression freeze.

After hesitating for several seconds, the normally quiet and composed Yuki softly murmured,

“Mm~”

As for the real reason she had come…

Yuki decided she could tell him later.

At least for this moment, she wanted to enjoy it a little longer.