Memory Reaper's Ascension

Chapter 229: New Attendant

Ishiki was a little shocked by that… and seeing his expression Miura-san leaned forward slightly and whispered to him.

“Today is the 15th of October,” she said quietly. “Under the new Central Reform, every Player with a title, is to be provided with a designated personal attendant, dispatched from the central government.”

Ishiki looked at her with a look of enlightment. ’Right… I almost forgot that.’

Well the notification came almost six weeks ago and he had a habit of forgetting things, that he considered unimportant.

“Thank you, Miura-san,” he said.

She nodded and returned to her screen, while Ishiki walked toward his office.

He took the elevator to the third floor and then walked down to the end of the east corridor. He opened the room with his card and stepped inside.

The room was very luxurious by any standards. It had two Air conditioners, a fridge of its own and a connected bathroom as well. Three of the walls were covered with black tiles, while the floor and the ceiling were completely white… creating a serene contrast.

The fourth wall that faced the front of the building was made up of glasses, these were one way glasses… nothing was visible from the outside but the one sitting inside could look over the streets of Ward 9 in front of the building.

There was a dark in one corner of the room, its surface carrying the faint embedded glow of integrated display panels running beneath it, currently inactive. His chair sat behind it adjusted to his exact specifications. Two chairs faced the desk from the front for the visitors.

Today he found that one of the chairs was not at its usual place and instead it was placed in front of the glass wall and in it sat a man.

He was looking out at Ward 9 below — at the layered streets, the building clusters, and at the far edge of the skyline where it met with the barrier wall.

Ishiki closed the door behind him and the man heard it.

He stood up from his chair and turned around with a faint smile. He looked perhaps, thirty years old. He was lean, his suit was deep charcoal, his tie was perfect.

He bowed at a precise angle and greeted Ishiki.

“Welcome,” he said in a voice that was measured. “It is an honor to meet you… Night Walker.”

Ishiki stopped at his place for a second before catching up with everything.

Night Walker was his false, government registered Title. He absolutely could not provide them with ghost blade or anything related to his original self so he took the name of another one of the Shinobi’s skill.

Well, it was still a surprise to hear it from others.

“Kashima Ryou,” he said, and shook the man’s hand.

“Shiro,” the man straightened. He was a bit taller than Ishiki. “Dispatched by the Central Government’s Player Registry Office as your designated personal attendant, effective from today under Reform Code 15-C.”

“You know my Title,” Ishiki said.

“It’s in your government file, sir,” Shiro replied with a faint smile. “Night Walker, Epic rank. Ward 9 field operative. The Registry Office provides a complete briefing before dispatch… and honestly, your reports are very clear and unique.”

’That’s because I have a skill suitable for that thing.’ Ishiki made a comment inwards. He nodded and moved around the desk to his chair. “I see.”

“You’re a Player? What Level are you?” Ishiki asked. “What is your Synth Reactor Tier? When if your next Scenario?”

Shiro who had sat in front of the desk found himself bombarded with questions all of a sudden… but he managed his composure and answered them one by one.

“Yes, I am a player… Level 31. My Synth reactor Tier is that of Adept rank, I do not have a title and I have completed two scenarios… my next scenario still has four more years.”

Ishiki looked at the person in front of him as he heard the answers… but his mind had gone adrift.

’He… he is an Adept rank. That means he has completed his second trial and two scenario’s as well.’

The person in front of him was way more experienced that Ishiki himself was… but the same could not be said about physical and combat power. Ishiki was close to reaching level 35 and the difference between 31 and 35, may not seem too much. But in a battlefield it was more than enough.

Still, that was not what Ishiki was concerned about. The man in front of him was like a mirror to problems he has been trying to hide for three years now.

He had completed one trial and entered one Scenario. The system had actually provided them with the option if they wanted to accept the second trial or not… but at the same time, you had no choice but to be pulled into the scenario when the Timer struck zero again.

It was the special way the system did things… it was really cruel. If you don’t accept the trial and enter the Scenario without getting stronger you will most likely die.

So, you were left with no option but to accept the trial and complete it before you enter the scenario.

And even after knowing that, he had been running from it… The timer ran whether he accepted or not. He had always known this.

’Stop, damn it. don’t think about it,’ he cursed himself inwardly and once again turned to ask more questions.

“How old are you? What weapon do you specialize in?”

“I am twenty six, and I mostly use firearms as my skill is related to that.” Shiro answered honestly.

Hearing the guy’s age, Ishiki remembered another detail that he did not wish to think about. At first he had thought that the time you spend inside a scenario and in real world were not the same.

Apparently that was not the case!

If you spend 2 years inside a scenario, then only two years would have passed in the real world as well.

From that information he could infer that back when they were transported back from their scenario, they had somehow traveled further in time!

“Okay… that’s good.” Ishiki said and sighed. “My field work is mostly observation like walking through ruins occasionally and looking at Xenon corpses.”

“I understand.”

“You’ll carry documents more than anything else.”

“That’s fine.”

“And if I tell you to stay somewhere—”

“I stay,” Shiro said simply

Ishiki looked at him for a moment and shrugged. That was an efficient man.

He was, Ishiki decided, going to be manageable.

“The files on last night’s Dusk Event,” he said. “Bring them to me.”

Shiro stood, buttoned his jacket in the automatic motion, and walked out.

Ishiki slumped back in his chair and let out a heavy breath. ’Nina grows horns, I ruin breakfast, and now the government sends someone to follow me around. Extraordinary morning. Really firing on all cylinders.’

Following this train of thought he decided to face what he had been ignoring. He summoned his system screen and looked at it with narrowed eyes and gritted teeth.