Collect Debts One by One

What a cute and charming villain.

Threats like that wouldn’t sound like the words of a good guy in any book.

At least, that was exactly the kind of character Zhafu was at this very moment.

He himself had no such awareness.

As far as he was concerned, he was simply making himself clear.

The people on the ground were still rolling around, choked cries forcing their way from their throats.

Koji Takeda stood to the side, gripping his sword.

He looked at the people on the ground, then at Zhafu.

Zhafu didn’t urge him on.

There was no point in urging him.

If he really wanted to save them, he would naturally compromise.

In the end, Koji Takeda threw his sword onto the ground.

The scabbard struck the pavement with a soft clack.

“What exactly do you want?”

Zhafu sneered. “You want to know? Then come with me.”

With that, Zhafu turned around and continued toward his destination.

Having a few spectators along for the show seemed like a good thing.

Otherwise, taking everything apart by himself would lack a certain sense of ceremony.

Koji Takeda stood there for two seconds before bending down to pick up his sword.

Throwing it down was a statement. Picking it back up was common sense.

He wasn’t generous enough to leave his most precious possession lying in the street.

The people on the ground were still crawling. One of them reached out and grabbed at the hem of his trousers.

Koji Takeda glanced down but didn’t stop.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to save them.

It was that he already had—now he could only hope Zhafu really wouldn’t kill them.

He caught up with Zhafu and followed two paces behind.

It was an awkward distance.

Any closer, and he was afraid Zhafu might suddenly reach back and strike.

Any farther, and he was afraid of losing him.

“Why did you attack them?”

Zhafu raised a hand and waved it through the air like a conductor.

It was as if he were directing an orchestra.

Hearing the question, he didn’t lower his hand. He merely answered in an unhurried tone.

“Because they wanted to kill me.”

“That’s it?”

“What else? They came to kill me. Was I supposed to invite them out for coffee? He who kills will be killed in turn. That’s easy enough to understand, isn’t it?”

Zhafu looked at Koji Takeda.

Koji Takeda couldn’t understand him, but there was nothing he could do except watch Zhafu continue walking ahead.

All he could think was that Zhafu was a lunatic—one who could kill people with ease.

Meanwhile, on the surrounding high-rises, snipers arranged by the Armaments Bureau were taking aim.

They had all received proper training and had seen their fair share of outrageous targets.

But today’s target was outrageous beyond reason.

One sniper had just lowered the barrel of his rifle, leaving only Zhafu’s back in the scope.

Before he could pull the trigger, a hole appeared in his forehead.

A white bone drilled out through the wall, passed through the railing and his skull, then withdrew.

The second sniper. Then the third.

Chaos began spreading over the radio.

“Number Seven is unresponsive.”

“Number Nine isn’t responding either.”

“The target hasn’t even turned around.”

“Don’t fire. Hold your fire!”

In the Armaments Bureau’s command room, several people stood around the screens, sweat layering over their faces.

A large portion of the headquarters’ core combat force was not in Tokyo, while the few who remained behind were forbidden from leaving headquarters.

That was the rule.

Normally, rules could save lives. Today, those same rules were choking them.

“Call in outside support.”

“We already have.”

“Who can get here the fastest?”

“The one from the Sakamoto family is on the way. Also, the Onmyō Bureau says they need to verify the paperwork.”

“Paperwork?”

Someone pulled off his headset and swore.

“Are they planning to present the Emperor’s funeral arrangements with the paperwork?”

The room fell silent for a moment.

No one contradicted him.

Even worse, Koji Takeda was still alive.

Zhafu had killed so many people, yet he had kept Koji Takeda by his side.

It looked strange.

Someone said quietly, “Is he using Takeda as a hostage?”

Another person stared at the screen and shook his head.

“Takeda’s following too closely. He doesn’t look like he’s being held captive.”

“Then what does he look like?”

“Like a spectator.”

On the screen, Zhafu had stopped outside a convenience store.

Koji Takeda stopped as well.

“What are you going to do?”

“Buy something.”

“Now?”

“I’m thirsty.”

Zhafu pushed open the door and went inside.

As the automatic doors opened, the clerk looked up and gave the customary greeting.

Only after saying it did he notice the man with a sword following behind.

The smile froze on his face.

Koji Takeda didn’t dare relax either. He went straight in after Zhafu.

He was probably afraid Zhafu might slip out the back and play a disappearing act.

Zhafu picked up a bottle of marble soda. Imitations of the drink had once appeared in Huaxia as well, but people there eventually realized they weren’t particularly interested in such flashy novelties, so the drink became uncommon. The market simply wasn’t very large.

Koji Takeda followed behind, keeping his sword at his side and doing his best not to look like a robber.

The effect was poor.

The clerk glanced at him even more often than he glanced at Zhafu.

Still, convenience stores in Japan generally didn’t see many robberies, so the clerk was more curious than afraid.

After paying, Zhafu walked out while drinking his soda and looked up at the distant Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace had already been placed under heightened security.

Vehicles had been redeployed, intersections were under control, and plainclothes agents were mixed in among the crowds.

Ordinary citizens were being kept at a distance. Many of them were holding up their phones to film, without the slightest idea what they were actually recording.

Zhafu looked at the arrangements and sighed.

“Not to put too fine a point on it, but why haven’t your people shown up yet? Does the Armaments Bureau not have any experts left?”

Koji Takeda watched Zhafu warily.

“What will you do if they come?”

“If they’re like you, I can let them live.”

The words were carefully measured, but Koji Takeda still understood the meaning.

If they charged straight at Zhafu, then Zhafu certainly wouldn’t spare them.

Damn it.

Once those people arrived, most likely their first move wouldn’t be to negotiate. They would thrust first and ask questions later.

Zhafu continued forward.

Koji Takeda could only follow.

He didn’t dare leave now, nor could he.

He had to relay Zhafu’s movements to headquarters, and he also had to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t start killing ordinary people indiscriminately.

The problem was, Zhafu truly hadn’t touched a single ordinary person along the way.

When someone blocked his path, he went around them.

When someone took pictures, he even tilted his head aside to avoid the camera.

For a moment, Koji Takeda couldn’t tell whether this man was insane or simply far too clear about what he wanted.

The two of them went around the outer perimeter of the Imperial Palace.

Koji Takeda had originally assumed that the Imperial Palace was Zhafu’s target.

That was how their defenses had been arranged as well.

Everyone had concentrated their forces in that direction.

But then Zhafu turned at an intersection.

He headed northwest.

Koji Takeda stopped and called out to him.

“Wait. Aren’t you going to the Imperial Palace?”

Zhafu turned to look at him.

“Who told you I was going to the Imperial Palace?”

“You’ve been heading this way the whole time.”

“The road is over here. That doesn’t mean I’m going there.”

Koji Takeda was momentarily at a loss for words.

“There’s no need to attack a mascot. You’ve piled everyone over there, making quite a spectacle, but I never planned on going in the first place.”

The skin on Koji Takeda’s face twitched.

If those words were relayed back to the command room, someone there would probably smash a desk.

Zhafu didn’t care.

He had already made plans before coming here.

There had been a few minor complications along the way: Koji Takeda had joined him, and several groups had come to throw their lives away.

It made no difference.

Debts had to be collected one at a time.

The debts that needed to be paid would still have to be paid.

For now, he would collect a little.

The larger ones could wait.