PMC Acquisition
So why the hell did you call us all together like this?
The massive, sumo-wrestler-built Sawayanagi Tobe asked in a slightly grumpy tone. Of the ten kids Sawayanagi Ryuta had taken in, six were gathered here, excluding the four who couldn’t make it. All six had just finished their latest missions and were supposed to be resting, which explained the irritation hanging in the air.
There was an unwritten rule that they weren’t called in during downtime unless it was absolutely necessary. They’d all been relaxing properly until Azuma’s sudden summons dragged them back in.
“We earned a ton this time! Azuma-chan! What are you gonna do with it?”
The Kiyona Hori and Kiyona Mari sisters puffed out their cheeks as they asked. They didn’t use the Sawayanagi surname because they still remembered their original names from before becoming test subjects. Both wore matching gothic lolita dresses and looked so similar that people often mistook them for twins. The one with the generous chest was the older sister Hori; the flat-chested one was Mari.
After missions, they usually worked part-time at a gothic lolita café in Tokyo to earn extra cash. Azuma’s sudden call had forced them to waste an entire day off.
The eternally youthful and adorable Seari sat there along with the equally young-looking vice president Sawayanagi Shinya, who could have passed for an ordinary boy his age. The other four members, currently on different assignments, naturally couldn’t attend. In those cases, the four absentees had to accept whatever the six present decided.
“This meeting concerns Black Tech,” Sawayanagi Azuma said calmly.
Everyone’s faces hardened at once. Ever since Gomisawa Renya had tried to forcibly drag away the test-subject children four years ago, any matter involving Black Tech required the largest possible gathering.
“Sato Tojima transferred the debt to Gomisawa Renya.”
“....”
Silence swallowed the room. The memories of their childhood abuse as test subjects, combined with the trauma of Renya’s attempted kidnapping four years earlier, still sat raw in everyone’s minds.
“How much is the total debt?”
“One hundred thirty million yen…”
Sawayanagi Shinya answered Tobe’s question. Tobe nodded at Azuma’s confirmation.
“The original debt was two hundred fifty million, so you’ve paid back a decent amount over the years…”
After Sawayanagi Ryuta’s death, they had managed to repay roughly one hundred twenty million yen across six years. But now it was impossible. Yesterday they had received word that the debt had been transferred to Gomisawa Renya, along with a three-day repayment notice. That left them with only two days.
“The notice demands repayment within two days. If we fail, they’ll seize the office, the warehouse, and everything inside.”
“Isn’t Gomisawa Renya going too far? We used to be colleagues—how can he treat us like this?” Kiyona Hori burst out angrily.
Most of the people in the room already knew the truth: Gomisawa Renya had never once considered the remaining Seryu members as real colleagues. Still, knowing that didn’t solve anything. How were they supposed to produce one hundred thirty million yen in two days?
“You were still holding out hope? The moment he tried to turn us back into test subjects four years ago, he became our enemy.”
“S-sorry.”
Unlike her younger sister Mari, Hori had been a test subject but never developed esper powers. She apologized to the group, worried her comment had sounded naïve because she lacked abilities.
“I know what you meant. There’s no need to apologize.”
The office fell deathly quiet. They had no way to repay the debt immediately, and without a solution they would lose both the office and warehouse. They were completely trapped.
“One option is to hand the office and warehouse over to Gomisawa Renya and have everyone work as independent agents.”
“Is that really our only choice…?” Tobe answered Shinya’s suggestion in a heavy, gruff voice.
If Azuma hadn’t experienced that strange precognitive dream, they would have followed Shinya’s plan—surrender the assets, declare Seryu Military Company bankrupt, work solo for a few years, then regroup and rebuild. But that bizarre dream had changed the future.
Everyone stared at Azuma, waiting. She remained silent for a long moment.
“Actually… I had a precognitive dream. That this situation would be resolved…”
“Oh, really?”
“Then we’ve got nothing to worry about.”
The mood in the room instantly brightened. Among the Seryu members, Azuma’s foresight was absolute. Every single one of them had been saved by her predictions at least once or twice. They trusted her visions completely.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Just as everyone began to relax, heavy knocking sounded at the office door.
A well-built man with slicked-back hair and a neat mustache—Gomisawa Renya—opened the door and stepped inside.
“Long time no see…! I was getting sick of this shabby little office. Seeing it again after so long, it actually feels kinda nostalgic.”
“The repayment deadline is still two days away, isn’t it? What exactly are you doing here?”
When Renya casually dropped into an empty seat, Azuma asked in an ice-cold voice. Killing intent threaded through her words, but Renya simply shrugged, completely unbothered.
“What are you talking about? Looks like the bureaucrats screwed up the paperwork. It’s not three days from now—it includes yesterday, so the total is three days. If you can’t pay by tomorrow, the warehouse and this filthy office become mine.”
Despite the freezing stares from everyone in the room, Renya wore a smug, oily smile.
“Who are those people outside the office? There must be at least thirty of them, right?”
Seari, eyes still closed, asked the question. Her specialty was sensing presences, so her count was almost certainly accurate.
“Seari, you’re still adorable as ever. You’re correct. I brought roughly thirty-three of our people. We came to protect our assets. After all, desperate people who know they can’t repay the debt might try to empty the warehouse and disappear in the middle of the night. We’re just standing guard to prevent that.”
“How insulting.”
“Insulting? I’m simply well acquainted with the psychology of desperate people.”
In truth, Shinya’s earlier suggestion about working as independent agents was essentially the same idea Renya had just implied. Seeing Azuma only counter with “how insulting,” Renya smiled thinly and pulled a document from his bag.
“Let’s not complicate things. Keep it simple. Just sign here and all your troubles end.”
Acquisition Price: 130 million yen (exact amount of outstanding debt)
Personnel Conditions (Seryu Military Company):
- No resignation permitted for five (5) years following acquisition
- Must participate in joint operations with Black Tech agents three (3) times per year
Clause 34: Black Tech shall not perform medical or experimental procedures on Seryu Military Company personnel, excluding minimal routine health examinations.
Azuma read the document aloud so every Seryu member could hear clearly.
“Don’t stop there. There’s the most important part, isn’t there? Something like line thirty-four…”
“Black Tech cannot perform medical or experimental acts on Seryu Military Company personnel except for minimal health checkups…?”
“You all hate us because of the experiments, right? We’re even adding an explicit no-experiment clause. Let’s keep this friendly.”
When Renya framed the decision not to conduct human experiments as some grand concession, the Seryu members were left utterly speechless. The sheer audacity of treating basic human decency as a generous gift left them without words.
“Please leave for now. I need to discuss this with my colleagues.”
“That won’t do. Discuss it right here and sign immediately. If I walk out empty-handed, the friends waiting outside might get a little… excited.”
“Are you threatening us?”
“Who can say…”
“You shouldn’t forget that you’re standing alone in our office.”
“If you want to try something, go right ahead.”
At Azuma’s veiled threat, Renya grinned, showing his teeth. He was not an esper, but a heavily modified human who had incorporated every possible result from the laboratory’s research. After multiple precise augmentations, his body itself functioned at the level of an esper ability.
He was confident he could defeat every person currently inside the Seryu office even if they all attacked at once. The members still remembered how, during the kidnapping attempt four years ago, the five off-duty members had barely managed to win. So when Renya smiled with open killing intent, tension gripped the room.
That was when the noise started outside.
BAM!THUD! “UAAAAGH!”
The unmistakable sounds of fighting echoed from beyond the door. Everyone inside froze in confusion. There shouldn’t be anyone in this area reckless enough to pick a fight with Black Tech. The sudden violence made no sense.
The moment Renya stood up to check, the commotion outside abruptly ceased. Steady footsteps approached. The door opened.
A handsome man with a solid, powerful build and a height around 185 centimeters stepped inside. An orange-haired beauty followed right behind him.
“I’ve come because I want to acquire Seryu Military Company.”
Under everyone’s stunned gazes, the man spoke with a bright, refreshing smile.