Chapter 73: The Fuma (風魔) Ninja Corps
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 73: The Fuma (風魔) Ninja Corps
"Welcome home, Master!"
The line gave me a strange sense of déjà vu.
Suppressing the instinctive revulsion and cringey feeling, I stepped into the shop. The café's interior, which hadn't changed much since my visit two months ago, greeted me.
Fuma-senpai, who had led the way inside, approached a maid who was clearing a table a customer had just left.
"Manager, this is the friend I told you about, Kim Yoo-Sung."
"Oh my, the one who defeated the God of Destruction?"
As she spoke, she turned her head, and I saw a familiar face.
"Ah."
It was the black-haired maid who had guided Sasha and me last time.
Recognizing me as well, she covered her mouth with her hand in surprise.
"You're the one who came last time…"
I quickly bowed my head.
"My name is Kim Yoo-Sung."
"I'm Fuma Kaori."
"Huh? Fuma?"
Hearing the familiar surname, I turned my head. Fuma-senpai nodded and explained.
"The manager is my cousin. To be precise, every maid working in this café is a former kunoichi of the Fuma clan."
Taking in this rather significant piece of information, I scanned the inside of the café.
"Now, repeat after me! Make it yummy~ make it yummy~ moe moe kyun♡"
"I-it's not like I brought this for you because I like you or anything!"
"Oh my, you want to eat the cake I baked that badly? How adorable."
"Listen to my song, nyan!"
These people are all actually ninjas?
I felt my head spin.
*
Fuma-senpai led me to a room in the back of the shop.
A single steel table stood in the middle, and the walls were lined with lockers, suggesting it was the maids' break room.
"Have a seat. What would you like to drink? We have tea, coffee, juice, soda—everything."
"A cider, please."
"Got it."
Fuma-senpai told me to wait a moment, then closed the door and left.
Left alone, I sat there awkwardly with nothing to do and opened my phone.
My messenger, which would normally be empty since I have few friends, was filled with messages from my junior, Nao.
I was reading through them and replying one by one.
Bang!
"Ah! That was so damn fun!"
Another maid I felt like I'd seen before appeared.
Flowing brown hair, a cat-ear headband, and that distinctive apron with a cat's paw print.
With a cigarette in her mouth, she seemed to have entered the break room without a second thought. When her eyes met mine, she froze like a statue.
"Huh? H-huh? Um, this area is for staff only, nyan?"
She hastily spat out the cigarette and tried to stammer out an excuse, but just then, Fuma-senpai returned and asked in a puzzled voice.
"What are you doing at the door, Hyoneko-san?"
The cat-maid, Hyoneko, quickly clung to her.
"Help me, Yukika!"
"…?"
Fuma-senpai's eyes asked what was going on.
I shook my head and silently pointed to the cigarette on the floor.
When Fuma-senpai spotted it, her brow furrowed.
*
"You used to be the vocalist for an indie band?"
"That's right."
This was the story Fuma Hyoneko candidly confessed.
She had moved from the countryside to Tokyo with the dream of becoming a singer, which was all well and good, but she soon found that dreams and passion alone weren't enough to survive in the harsh, unforgiving city.
So, on days when she didn't have a live performance, she worked part-time at this café run by her older cousin to make ends meet.
Well, everyone's just trying to make a living. Who was I to judge?
When I told her I would pretend I hadn't seen anything, Hyoneko looked at me with a deeply moved expression.
"You… you're a really good guy!"
Then she turned to Fuma-senpai.
"Yukika! You have to lock him down! A guy like this is rare!"
"Wh-what are you suddenly talking about, you idiot!"
Fuma-senpai's face flushed red as she said this. She then cleared her throat with a few coughs and looked at me.
"Anyway, the reason I called you here today is because I'm finally ready to tell you about the underworld."
Her serious atmosphere made me sit up straight.
This was about the world of 'Scramble Love' that I didn't know, so I had to listen intently, without missing a single word.
Clatter!
Fuma-senpai stood up for a moment and retrieved a package with foreign stamps on it from her locker.
As if it were something precious, she untied the string around the box, took a deep breath, and then took out the object inside.
"This is called a Honwongyeong. It's an artifact that shows the nature of a person's Ki when they look into it."
Hyoneko, who was beside her, chimed in.
"It's an item invented during the Ming Dynasty in China. It's incredibly hard to get now because there are hardly any craftsmen left who can make it, even in its country of origin."
"Is this why you said it would take a while to prepare?"
Fuma-senpai nodded at my question.
"I had to get permission from the elders back home, but acquiring this item itself was quite difficult."
With that, Fuma-senpai held out the Honwongyeong to me.
"Go on, touch it. You should be able to feel the Ki inside your body."
I nodded with a tense expression and carefully touched the Honwongyeong she offered.
Thump!
At that moment, my quiet heart pounded loudly.
It was a sensation similar to what I'd felt when I took the red pill Fuma-senpai gave me before.
But it was slightly different this time.
When I fought Sasha's father, Ivan, my whole body felt like a raging volcano. Now, it was more like a calm, dormant one.
I felt a ticklish sensation in my chest, and something warm moved within my body.
This must be the 'Ki' Fuma-senpai was talking about.
Fuma-senpai, who had been quietly observing my state, spoke up.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, you were born with a constitution called an Extreme Yang Body."
"Extreme Yang Body…?"
"Simply put, it's a constitution that produces far more Yang energy than a normal person. In the philosophy of Yin and Yang, Yang represents masculinity. The fact that you could become such a powerful fighter at a young age was likely thanks to this constitution."
I felt my head spin at her words.
'Scramble Love' was supposed to be a romantic comedy, yet it had this kind of hidden backstory, like something out of a martial arts manga.
This was beyond anything I had vaguely imagined.
"A normal person must undergo long, arduous training to handle Ki. But in your fight with Russia's God of Destruction, Ivan, you demonstrated the ability to freely control the Ki in your body. Even with the help of the Ghost Pill, that's something that should never have been possible."
"Um… what exactly is this 'Ki' you're talking about, Senior?"
"It's the power that originates from the soul, what people commonly call the spirit. In the underworld, those who wield this Ki are called martial artists."
Thanks to all the manga I'd read, I had a rough idea of what she was talking about.
"I think I mostly understand what you're saying. But what does my ability to use Ki have to do with the story of the underworld?"
Fuma-senpai nodded.
"Because the underworld itself is an order created by those who wield 'Ki.' The historical figures and great people you know of were able to enjoy such power and authority because they had deep connections to the underworld from long ago."
The idea that a secret power had been ruling the country from the shadows for ages, completely unknown to the general public, felt like something straight out of a shonen manga.
"Kim Yoo-Sung, you are undoubtedly a civilian. But because you've obtained a power unimaginable for a civilian, you can no longer remain one. That started the day you defeated Russia's God of Destruction, Ivan."
"But you yourself said that the power I showed back then was a one-time thing."
Fuma-senpai nodded again.
"That's certainly true. But to the people who witnessed it, such details don't matter. The only thing that matters to them is the fact that you defeated Ivan and rose as a new star in the underworld."
"Which means?"
"Those seeking fame and power will come for you, one after another. By defeating you, the one who defeated Ivan, they can prove that they are the truly strong one."
Back then, I had fought simply to survive.
But now, that very act was coming back like a boomerang, aimed at my life.
"Then what should I do from now on?"
Fuma-senpai's tone was firm.
"Get stronger. So strong that no one can touch you."
"That's not as easy as it sounds."
"I know. Just going to the gym like you are now won't guarantee you can win against the 'real deal,' not just some small fry. That's why, at this point, I'd like to make you a proposal."
"…What kind of proposal?"
Fuma-senpai took a short breath, then looked me straight in the eyes and said,
"Kim Yoo-Sung, become the successor to the Fuma Style Assassination Art."