Telos Karma Meta Gacha

[Hajime POV]

While I followed the scent around town, I visited several places this person had.

The first place I passed that they had been in was a laundromat, which had a more recent smell.

The next building was a supermarket, followed by several residential buildings. The more I followed the scent, the more I believed this might've been Tsubaki. I'm not a detective, but the buildings this person is visiting would make sense given her situation.

The laundromat is to clean the few clothes she probably has, while the supermarket is for food. The houses she visited were likely how she got money for the supermarket, using her clan knowledge to purify houses cheaply. Well, either that or begging, but not even regular humans beg door to door.

As I walked, I felt the scent change through the air at specific points. I smelled a past route they had taken, but I only followed the most recent one.

After walking for a few hours, it was getting dark. I hadn't eaten since before the ritual, but that ritual used a lot of energy. I went to the park across the street, sat on a bench, and pulled out some stored food.

Taking out a sandwich, I started to eat. I figured it was time when I was about a quarter of the way into eating the sandwich.

"You can come out now. I know you're there."

I sensed them a while ago, and their scent almost exactly matched the one I was following. When I first smelled them, I thought about confronting them since it might've been Tsubaki, but they were hiding when I tried to spot them.

While I did believe it was Tsubaki, the fact that she hid meant she likely wondered why a random person with so much magic would be here. She also likely had trust issues after being exiled from her family, so confronting her would upset her.

After speaking, I heard movement from the building across the street and saw someone appear. A black-haired girl about my age emerged from behind the corner and made her way across the street.

"How did you know I was there?"

"I have a great sense of smell," I said, pointing at my nose. Dragon Slayer senses were powerful, just like their magic.

"Oh."

Pulling another sandwich out of my inventory, I put it down next to me.

"Here."

She moves for it before stopping. She looks at me like I was going to do something before her stomach growls, causing her to accept the sandwich.

She picks up the sandwich and looks at it before taking a bite.

"Why are you giving me food?"

"You're hungry, aren't you?"

"Yes, but you shouldn't be talking with me."

"Why?"

"My family is very strict, and everyone follows strict rules. I broke one of their most important rules a few months ago, so they kicked me out." 

"Your family is unhinged if they kick out a child over some rules. Unless you accidentally killed someone, there shouldn't be a reason they left a child to fend for themselves."

She clearly didn't want to talk about what happened. The fact that she doubted someone would give her food means she had trust issues because of what happened. She even avoided naming her clan despite the fact we both know magic. If she wasn't going to talk about it, there wasn't much I could do for her.

Standing up and stretching, I prepare to leave when she speaks again.

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah. I've got some business in the city, but it's getting late."

"Aren't you a kid, too? What kind of business would you have?"

"I'm making the team, and I heard someone interesting lived here, so I was planning on recruiting them for it."

"Really? What kind of team?"

"Top secret." She pouted hearing that.

She had a strange look on her face for a second before mustering up some courage to speak again. "Is this team a magic team?"

"Yeah, you have magic, right?"

"How can you tell?"

"The same way I noticed you following me. My senses are pretty strong."

"So, who are you looking for? Maybe I know them."

"A member of the Shinra clan. They had a kid who awakened a sacred gear recently. I figured if they wanted to throw that kind of potential away, then I might as well profit if I can."

"Why would someone with a sacred gear have potential?"

"All sacred gears can achieve a balance breaker given enough time, effort, and emotion. Those balance breakers are like a glimpse at a possible evolution of the sacred gear. Theoretically, the only limit should be the wielder, possibly letting them evolve it into a Longinus, making them capable of fighting gods."

Though it was risky to tell her this since she was still just a stranger, this was also a way to get past her trust issues. She was thrown out of her family because she broke their rules, so there were few ways to have her trust me. The first was to befriend her slowly, but I didn't have the time for that.

Sona will likely recruit Tsubaki within the year. As a devil, she would need to wait long enough for Tsubaki to be desperate enough to accept a deal. After so long without companionship or a comfortable living situation, any child would likely take a deal that promised to fix everything.

While I could help with those problems for a bit, I have only so much money. If Sona were to come during that time, Tsubaki might even accept, thinking she was a burden on me.

By sharing something important like this while also showing her value to me, I could cheat a little and make her believe that I wouldn't throw her away as her family did.

"I think I know where they are."

"Really? Can you bring me to them?"

Finishing her sandwich, she stood up before walking in front of me.

"I am Shinra Tsubaki. I believe you might have been talking about me." 

"Suko Hajime. So, you already know I want you on my team. Wanna join?"

"I don't think I should. My family kicked me out; they would likely hate you for helping me if I joined you."

"Well, it's a good thing I don't care about what child abusers think."

"Why me, though? Surely there are people with stronger sacred gears than mine."

"True, but I didn't come here because your sacred gear was strong, and I already said they can grow stronger."

"But there's probably others who are more experienced."

"Also true, but I don't care. While your ability is valuable, I want you partly because you were a former member of the Shinra clan. I plan on changing the world and need competent people to do that. You were a member of one of Japan's most prominent magic clans, so I don't have to bother explaining what magic is.

I also need people I can trust. I can't risk future enemies knowing what I want to do, so I need people who won't tell anyone. The only people you know are your clan, and I doubt you'd say anything to them after what they did. Plus, you already know how harsh the supernatural is because of your exile; if you join me, I can help make them regret it."

She furrowed her eyebrows, staying silent. I stood there with her for a few minutes while she thought about what to say. Rather than a yes or a no, which I thought she'd say, she did something completely different.

"Could I have a few days to think about it? I mean, if you wouldn't mind, of course."

"That won't be a problem. I had planned to stay here for a few days to look for you. Staying to wait for an answer won't be that much different."

"Thank you," she bowed. "I don't want to say no; what you said sounds nice, but I don't know if I feel comfortable accepting just because your deal sounds nice. I want to talk with you more before agreeing to anything."

It seems like Sona chose a good ally in Tsubaki. Clearly, before even meeting Sona, she was already a somewhat capable person. Though she wasn't some master strategist or something, the fact she was considering the value of my offer and felt it wasn't sufficient for her showed her intelligence.

"That's fine with me. I'll stay for a few days before I leave."

"Okay."

"Now, do you happen to know where a nearby inn is? I've been exploring the city all day, so I don't have a place to stay."

"I can show you one."

She turns to leave the park, with me following shortly behind.

-----

[Tsubaki POV]

When I first saw this strange boy, he seemed strong. His mana leaked from him like crazy, and I almost thought he was doing it intentionally. However, as I followed him, I realized he was unaware it happened.

Though I was embarrassed following someone else, I was curious about him. I knew he didn't live here, or I would have sensed him before.

As he wandered around, it seemed like he was retracing the path I took yesterday, but I might have just imagined it.

He eventually stopped in a park and started eating.

My stomach growled when I saw the sandwich; I hadn't eaten since yesterday. Since I've already performed the purification ritual on most houses in the neighborhood, I'll probably have to try a different one tomorrow.

"You can come out now. I know you're there."

!!!

How'd he know I was here? He shouldn't have seen me.

Walking out from behind the wall I hid behind, I walked over to him. I hope he isn't angry at me.

-----

While I brought him towards an inn I'd stayed at, I thought about what he said. Was he planning on changing the world? He wouldn't just go against my family but every major faction.

It sounded great. I knew how arbitrarily cruel the supernatural was. For centuries, the five clans had kicked out anyone who didn't meet their strict criteria, even though that criterion wasn't something that wasn't controllable.

Because I was given something from what they labeled a pagan god, they exiled me.

I plan on asking him more tomorrow. Hopefully, he meant what he said about my sacred gear.

If I make myself strong enough, I want to rub it in those elders' faces about the mistake they made.

----------

Omake: Excalibur Thief 2

[Francisco POV]

I had been sitting in this cell for days, barely being given any food.

Why are they doing this to me? I already explained what happened to them.

There was nothing I could do about it!

I trained, but I was only a mid-class fighter. Even then, the weapon I used was one made by the church.

I don't know who could've taken the Excalibur fragment, but how could I have stopped them?

It could've been the wielder of Dimension Lost, but that takes the form of a mist. There is a devil clan with the Clan Trait: Hole, but they wouldn't have been able to take it from here; besides, it was a holy sword.

As I sat in my cell, one of the cardinals approached it.

"Francisco-"

"Cardinal, please!" I got onto my knees, literally praying. "I already said everything I remember from the incident. I will admit I failed, but there was nothing I could-"

He put his hand up to silence me. "It's okay. Due to the incident, we had to inform the angels. From what I heard, Uriel came down to inspect it, and whatever happened left magic even he didn't recognize. There was little someone like you could've done to stop it."

Despite what he said, I didn't feel much better. I still failed to protect the one thing I swore I'd keep safe.

"Anyway, we made a consistory to decide what to do, and we've decided to execute you."

"What?!" My heart dropped. I know I failed, but how did that warrant my death?

"It's embarrassing that Excalibur Blessing was stolen under our noses without any leads, so we've decided to execute you for 'aiding' the thief. It should calm everyone down until we get some proper leads."

The cardinal left seconds later, but I just sat there, frozen.

I couldn't believe it. I dedicated myself to this religion, and they're executing me to avoid looking incompetent! What kind of god would allow that?

As I sat there, stewing in rage and despair, my thoughts swirled like a storm, clouding all logic, and a feeling overtook my body.

Seconds later, the feeling got too big to ignore. As my energy drained, I could feel something forming. Pushing my energy into that vortex, I felt something quickly forming in front of me.

As the object appeared before me, I wondered if I had a sacred gear.

When it had materialized, I was baffled by what I saw.

Is that a blender?!

__________

Author's Note:

The blender is a custom sacred gear idea of mine. I shall reveal more next time.

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next time.