Acquiring a PMC

The city of Fussa in Tokyo's western district was home to Yokota Air Base, a major U.S. military installation. Because of that, it had become a hub for numerous small-scale PMCs.

After the Japanese government's mass release of PMCs following World War III, countless tiny outfits had flocked here. They figured that sticking close to the Americans might at least land them some minor contracts. The result was what locals called "Fixer Street"—a stretch packed with these fledgling military companies.

It wasn't called PMC Street because most of the outfits in Fussa were too small to handle proper military contracts. Instead, they mostly took on work better suited for fixers: bodyguard gigs, chasing off yakuza, that sort of thing.

Seryu Military Company was one of those tiny PMCs that made up Fixer Street.

Despite the imposing name, the unit was mostly made up of people in their early twenties. That was because the previous president had taken in war orphans.

After the former president died from lingering war trauma, his adopted daughter Sawayanagi Azuma took over. Last night, she had a strange dream—one where all those annoying debt collectors vanished, replaced by a warm, hopeful feeling.

Sawayanagi Azuma immediately recognized it as a precognitive dream. Only a handful of people in Seryu Military Company knew her secret: she possessed a rare ability. It was a precognitive-type esper power, exceptionally uncommon. That was how she knew the dream was a genuine vision of the future.

She had told her late adoptive father, Sawayanagi Ryuta, about her ability. But he had sternly warned her never to reveal that any of the Seryutai—the name the company's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people used for themselves—were espers. The children he had rescued from an unknown research facility mostly possessed supernatural powers, which meant Seryutai had an unusually high ratio of espers. Sawayanagi Ryuta had feared that if word got out, the children would be taken away again. So he had made them swear to keep it secret.

As the years passed and Seryu Military Company continued to decline, those without powers quickly jumped ship to other companies. But the espers, scarred by their time in the lab, stayed. They believed that if they scattered, they would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunted down and turned back into test subjects.

The massive debt Sawayanagi Ryuta had taken on to found the company, plus the additional burden of feeding all those war orphans, had become the company's full responsibility after his early death from war trauma.

His former colleagues, seeing no future in the company, left to start their own outfit. They even took the apprentice war-orphan boys with them. That new company was now the most successful PMC on Fixer Street: Black Tech. It was far too large to belong among the small-timers, and rumor had it that some massive conglomerate was backing them.

Sawayanagi Azuma hated every single person at Black Tech. She could understand them leaving and betraying the company, but she could never forgive them for taking on part of Seryutai's debt and using it to seize the company's facilities.

All that remained of Seryu Military Company now was a small warehouse building that held weapons and equipment, plus a shabby two-story office attached to it. They couldn't even dream of the tanks or heavy machinery that large PMCs possessed. All they had were personal firearms.

"Azuma-chan! The payment for this mission just came in!"

The door burst open and a girl walked in. She looked like a cute girl in her mid-teens, but she was actually twenty-three years old. In Azuma's opinion, the aftereffects of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being a lab experiment had drastically slowed her aging.

Her name was Sawayanagi Seari. With her adorable appearance and energetic personality, she served as Seryutai's mascot. She also possessed the ability to manipulate wind on a microscopic level, making her excellent at tracking and guerrilla tactics.

"If we use that money to pay the interest, replenish equipment, and cover repairs... we'll have about 140,000 yen left."

Azuma had gone on the mission too, and it had been incredibly difficult. The request had been so brutal that several of them had nearly died. If Azuma hadn't foreseen the danger, at least three would have been killed.

The mission had paid two million yen, but with so much debt already and the cost of repairing damaged equipment, only about 140,000 yen remained. At Azuma's words, Sawayanagi Seari's face immediately fell.

"Eh!? That's all? If we split it between the six of us, that's only about 20,000 yen each?"

"I'm sorry. Still..."

Azuma had been about to tell her about the dream, but she closed her mouth. It wasn't a confirmed reality yet. There was no point giving her false hope.

"I'll give you 30,000 yen, Seari."

"Really?! I wanted to buy something! Thank you, Azuma-chan!"

As Seari threw herself into her arms, Azuma's eyes were filled with quiet hope.

"This is the amount after taxes."

I took the small note from Yukiko. It looked like the Helth Miracle stock had been completely liquidated today. Let's see... one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... 128 billion yen. Whoa! Even in the game, making this kind of profit was difficult. This was a jackpot. In won, that was 1.28 trillion.

With this much money, I could buy seven mid-sized PMCs. If I had subordinates capable of taking over multiple companies, that would be one thing, but right now the only person I had who could handle acquiring a PMC was Mimata Chieri. So it looked like I could only take one.

"Thank you, Yukiko. When can you take time off? I managed to get ten extra days of vacation from Grandfather, so I'm pretty free."

"Hmm... I think I can only manage four or five days in mid-July."

Yukiko checked her schedule on her phone, then looked at me with an apologetic expression.

"Even four days together will be fun. Have you decided where we're going?"

"I have a villa with a private beach, so let's just relax there♥"

There really was a private beach? How fascinating. It felt like something straight out of a manga. Looking into Yukiko's hot pink eyes, it was clear she planned to spend most of those four or five vacation days having sex. As expected from a succubus mom...!

"Yes. I remembered you saying you like clay shooting, so I was thinking of a shooting range."

"You remembered that?"

"Of course."

Of course, the place we would actually go to wouldn't be a clay shooting range but a live-fire one. Since her abilities and skills were too valuable to waste, I needed to get her doing some real shooting practice. I should buy her a proper gun for self-defense too.

Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Yukiko looked deeply moved that I had remembered even such a small detail. Her expression suggested she wanted to pounce on me right then and there, but she seemed disappointed that her next schedule prevented it. Not to mention the secretary waiting just outside the house.

"Hehe, I'll work hard for you tonight, so go take care of your business."

"Huh? Was it that obvious?"

"Yes. You were staring really hard at my... place, you know?"

Yukiko's face turned red at my words. Her desires seemed to have grown even stronger lately. I wasn't sure if it was the succubus power gradually awakening or simply her love for me exploding, but recently her face had become brighter and her skin had taken on a healthy glow.

"I'll head out now."

"Have a safe trip."

As Yukiko was leaving, she poked her head back in. What was it? Did she forget something?

"You have to keep your promise from earlier, okay?"

"Hm? What promise?"

"The one about working hard tonight...♥"

Having said that, a blushing Yukiko-mom dashed away. This wouldn't do. Tonight, I would have to show her exactly what I was capable of. I'd make sure her legs were trembling tomorrow.

After firmly resolving to completely exhaust Yukiko that night, I stepped outside as well. I had asked Mimata Chieri to investigate the PMC I was planning to acquire. Since we had agreed to meet at her house soon, I needed to leave now.

Mimata Chieri was still on sick leave under the pretext of a traffic accident, so she hadn't returned to work. Come to think of it, Suzuki Chisami probably started working again yesterday. I should stop by later and reinforce her loyalty with my body. Thinking about it, today was going to be incredibly busy, wasn't it?

"Junior! You're here?"

When I parked and entered, Mimata Chieri greeted me with a bright smile. I followed her into the room she had set up as a conference room. A massive screen covered one wall, displaying a map along with several photographs.

"First, let me give you my opinion... I am against this acquisition."

The moment I sat down, Mimata Chieri voiced her opposition.

"I don't know exactly how much capital you have, Junior, but after looking into it, the state of Seryu Military Company is very poor. They have a staggering debt of 135 million yen, their facilities are pathetic, and they only have about ten people. It's an extremely small operation. Wouldn't it be better to acquire a similar-sized company that doesn't have any debt and has better facilities?"

The facilities certainly looked terrible in the photos. The entire company consisted of a small warehouse and a two-story office next to it. Of course, I wasn't buying this PMC for its facilities. I wanted it precisely because of those ten people Mimata Chieri had mentioned.

"Proceed as planned, Senior."

"But still..."

For Mimata Chieri—a former agent trained in absolute obedience—to oppose me like this, it must be because she was genuinely thinking of my best interests. In that case, I had no choice but to show her that I trusted her.

"Senior. I'll tell you one of my secrets. But once you hear it, you can never escape me."

"Ever since you pierced me with your massive cock two days ago, I've been yours completely, Junior."

Pierced, huh... I chuckled and used psychokinesis to pinch her nipples.

"Ah, mmmh! What is this?"

"The truth is, I'm an esper."