Unemployment is a common middle-aged crisis.
Fortunately for Mister Sato, he didn’t have to deal with the other common middle-aged crises — like a cheating wife or disobedient children…
After all, he had been divorced for a long time!
Although she was trying to comfort him, Cuiyue’s mind went to a dark place as she thought about this.
She turned her head slightly to suppress a smirk.
“Cuiyue… I… I’m just a loser…”
Sato choked out.
“Stop looking after me! Go back to your home.”
Even now, Sato still believed that Cuiyue was a Kamimachi Girl who had run away from home.
Cuiyue remained silent.
‘Where else do I have a home?’
She didn’t even have an identity, and she couldn’t even afford a plane ticket back to her homeland…
“I… when I first found you…”
Sato let out a hiccup and confessed with a grimace, “In my heart… I really did have those impure thoughts… but… hic!”
“Alright, you don’t need to say anymore.”
Cuiyue didn’t react much.
Instead, she offered some guidance.
“The ancient sages said that humans have three major desires. I can understand why you would have such thoughts.”
“Really?”
Facing the charming face of the young girl standing so close to him, Sato’s tears fell like rain.
Suddenly, he felt an impulse to hug this girl, who was many years younger than him, and call her “mama.”
“So.”
As if by magic, Cuiyue pulled a smoked chicken and a few cans of beer from her storage space.
This was originally supposed to be her “wage slave meal” to celebrate starting work in this world.
“Come! Drink! Then rub one out! After you’re done, go to sleep!”
Sato stared blankly at the beer and murmured, “Cuiyue, you don’t really act like a girl.”
***
A while later, she carried Mister Sato, who was drunk enough to look dead, into the main bedroom.
Cuiyue rubbed her eyes, rolled up her sleeves, and began cleaning the trash in the living room.
Returning to the room that originally belonged to Sato’s daughter, Cuiyue sat in the computer chair and stared blankly at the dark screen.
The incident at noon today… that “Jiang Jian Yue.”
She seemed to have quite a background, something related to the DRG.
Judging by her tone… she seemed to hold a significant position.
However…
‘…She looks like she’s only a high school student, right?’
To be so young yet hold so much power, there was only one possibility: she was either part of a family business or the daughter of a high-ranking executive.
She turned on the computer.
The old tower made a buzzing sound, and after struggling to boot up, she used English to search for more information on the DRG.
The Japanese sites were basically flooded with news about the GSAC, so she decided to switch languages.
The information she found this time, though still mostly about the GSAC, contained a few “discordant notes.”
[DRG uses missiles from the Kingdom of Zhong to shoot down Rafale fighters; Central African conflict escalates] — ‘It’s you again, Rafale.’
[Central African nations form joint force, equipped with Russian-made tanks and drones] — ‘The difference between them and the VGCF is practically the same as the difference between a garrison and the gendarmerie.’
[European Union Navy intercepts DRG arms ship, seizes large batch of Serysians anti-ship missiles] — ‘Oh, those Serysians are so naughty.’
[Chad election manipulated, pro-Europe candidate mysteriously disappears] — ‘They wouldn’t have gotten many votes anyway. If they’re gone, they’re gone.’
[UN Security Council emergency meeting condemns DRG’s “state capture” in Central Africa] — ‘The Kingdom of Zhong and Russia actually abstained. This DRG seems to have a lot of influence.’
[UN Human Rights Report: DRG recruits child soldiers in Darfur, Sudan] and [BBC Documentary: “Dawn Death Camps”] — ‘Classic.’
[Human rights organizations accuse DRG of using famine as a weapon; data quality questioned] — ‘The four major grain traders aren’t from Central Africa either, are they?’
[DRG monopolizes Central African diamond mines, EU increases battery tariffs, Tokyo University takes countermeasures, supply chain crisis imminent] — ‘Ah, I told you Mother was playing a big game of chess.’
[Hollywood movie “Blood Diamond 2” banned by DRG, accused of “demonizing Africa”]
The more Cuiyue read, the more she wondered if this DRG was pro-Serys.
In fact, after the Homecoming Faction moved its main force back to Japan, their say in the headquarters had dropped significantly.
The original cooperation couldn’t be canceled, of course, but their interest in Japan had diminished.
They were prioritizing more cost-effective partners.
Thus, there was the maneuver of kicking Tokyo University out of Central Africa last year, only to pull them back in this year.
It was truly because after the GPRI fell, the DRG had expanded too rapidly after inheriting a vast amount of assets.
A tall tree catches the wind…
And as a partner, Japan simply had too little to offer.
After reading all this, Cuiyue felt the mystery and power of the Dawn Resources Group even more.
However, the top level of the DRG seemed to remain shrouded in mystery.
It appeared they always acted as a collective Board of Directors, with individuals in key leadership positions keeping a very low profile.
Unable to find any useful information, Cuiyue felt a bit frustrated.
She should focus on how she was going to survive now that Mister Sato was unemployed.
A job at a cafe wouldn’t be enough to support herself in Tokyo without a place to live — Cuiyue was calculating based on the premise that Sato might end up on the streets.
Sizzle—
A small flame flickered in her hand for a moment.
Cuiyue looked down at her chest thoughtfully and then shook her head.
‘I have hands and feet, and I have superpowers… I shouldn’t starve, right?’
***
“Message from the moles. Internal searches for the term ‘Jiang Jian Yue’ within the Headquarters surged last week. They must know something… Also, this is the information on that person’s registration.”
In the evening, Akimoto Miki made a special trip to the shared apartment to deliver the documents.
Jiang Jian Yue curled up on the sofa and casually flipped through the papers.
Pointing at the address Cuiyue had left, she asked, “This address…”
“It’s fake, but we have already obtained the person’s real address. She is currently living with a divorced, middle-aged man. It’s likely a sugar-baby-style relationship.”
‘Bastard, what is this guy doing with my face?!’
Jiang Jian Yue looked at the entry for the superpower, which was named “Wanhua” — a pale gray flame.
She was certain it couldn’t be a coincidence that two similar people had appeared.
After all, that girl had her superpower too.
Jiang Jian Yue stared at the girl in the photo for a long time before letting out a long breath.
When they had met at noon today, Cuiyue hadn’t shown any special reaction toward Yuki Asahi.
‘Is that one of the few… pieces of good news?’
After Akimoto Miki left, the file on “Cuiyue” was tossed carelessly onto the coffee table.
Jiang Jian Yue curled up on the sofa, her blood pupils staring at the silent, flickering images on the TV, but her mind was elsewhere.
Meiguan was chattering incessantly in her head, analyzing the possible origins and intentions of that “busty version of herself,” ranging from clones to parallel universes.
The more she talked, the more Jiang Jian Yue suspected she was behind it.
Eventually, the topic circled back to Yuki Asahi.
“I’m telling you, the way Little Yuki looked at that ‘Cuiyue’ today, tsk tsk…”
Meiguan intentionally dragged out her tone.
“But men being men, they’re bound to take a few extra peeks at a body like that.”
“Shut up.”
Jiang Jian Yue interrupted her coldly, grabbing a throw pillow and pressing it against her face, trying to block out the annoying voice.
She was absolutely certain that Yuki had been a perfect gentleman today and hadn’t looked too much, but with Meiguan saying it, she wasn’t so sure anymore.
However… she didn’t really care if Yuki looked or not.
Putting aside the fact that they weren’t in a relationship yet, even if they were, based on her knowledge of men… it was indeed hard not to take a few extra peeks.
‘After all, the greater the mass, the greater the gravitational pull.’
“Oh my, are we getting angry? Scared of being outshone?”
“I said shut up!”
Jiang Jian Yue bared her teeth and said hatefully, “Why can’t you just stay quiet?”
Just then, the door to the second bedroom opened softly.
Yuki Asahi walked out wearing loose loungewear, a clear look of distress on his face, clutching an exercise book in his hand.
“Yue…”
He spoke somewhat sheepishly, his voice hesitating.
“Um… do you have a moment?”
Jiang Jian Yue looked up at him, the irritation in her blood pupils still lingering.
Her tone was stiff.
“What is it?”
“It’s… this problem…”
Yuki walked to the side of the sofa, leaning over to hold the exercise book out to her.
He pointed at a 3D geometry proof problem.
“I’ve been looking at it for ages, but I can’t draw the auxiliary lines right… I’m completely stuck. Yue, you’re one grade higher than me, so your math must be great, right? Could you… teach me?”
His eyes were full of expectation and trust, with a tiny bit of anxiety about disturbing her.
Jiang Jian Yue looked at the book he was holding out, then at his pleading golden eyes.
The irritation that had arisen in the afternoon because of “Cuiyue” and Meiguan’s chatter seemed to be diluted slightly by this clumsy plea for help.
She didn’t speak.
She just scooted over on the sofa, leaving an empty spot.
Yuki’s eyes lit up, and he immediately sat down beside her.
The sofa wasn’t large, and their arms inevitably brushed against each other.
“Which one?”
Jiang Jian Yue reached out to take the workbook, her fingertips secretly scratching the boy’s palm.
“Th-this one.”
Yuki pointed at the problem, his ears turning slightly red as he tried to focus on the question.
Jiang Jian Yue lowered her eyes and looked at the problem.
She took a pen, drew a diagram on a piece of scrap paper, and began her explanation.
“Look, here, connect AC and BD. They intersect at point O. O is the center of the base…”
Her voice was cool but clear and logical.
Yuki leaned in closer, focusing intently on the diagram she was drawing.
His warm breath brushed against Jiang Jian Yue’s ear and neck.
The fingers she used to hold the pen tightened slightly, and the speed of her explanation unconsciously slowed down.
“Then, prove that PO is perpendicular to the base…”
Jiang Jian Yue continued, using the pen to point things out on the diagram.
To see more clearly, Yuki leaned even further toward her.
His shoulder was almost completely pressed against her arm.
Through their thin clothing, they could clearly feel the heat of each other’s bodies.
Jiang Jian Yue’s heart rate quickened uncontrollably.
She could feel Yuki’s gaze shifting between her profile and the scrap paper.
That focused look made her cheeks feel a little hot.
‘Oh? Is today’s youth playing foreplay like this? Is doing math problems part of the play?’
‘Shut up! You’re so annoying!’
Jiang Jian Yue roared in her heart, but on the surface, she only pursed her lips tightly and tried to maintain her teaching posture.
“…So, you just need to prove that PEO is a right-angled triangle. Do you understand?”
Jiang Jian Yue finally finished, put down the pen, and turned her head slightly toward Yuki to confirm if he understood.
As she turned, the distance between the two of them instantly became extremely small.
Yuki was busy digesting the logic.
When he looked up, he slammed right into those blood-red eyes that were now within reach.