V1C2

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Chapter 2, Kuroto

” Oi, there’s a Yap in the mix! The blackboard is yellowing, get rid of him!”

The store was crowded with ladies and gentlemen in suits, and such a shout echoed in the air. The target was a boy who turned his back on the men and single-mindedly wrote numbers on the blackboard with chalk.

“This store is hiring Yaps? It’s a bad omen, even my stock will turn yellow!”

A fat, middle-aged man with a pockmarked face, who looked like a country gentleman, complained to the manager of Max Harper’s, a stock exchange sub-branch, reeking of alcohol.

The manager, his blond hair slicked back and his suit ruffled, shrugs at the source of the loudest voice in the store, which is abuzz with the cheers, calls and screams of the customers.

“It’s quite useful. The yellow one is not contagious, so please bear with me.”

“What the fuck is that? This store is for whites only, and if there are colored people here, I’ll feel sick!”

With the tip of his cigar, he pointed to a large blackboard in the store and shouted angrily. The blackboard was six meters wide and two meters high, and six boys called “chalk boys” climbed up and down the scaffolding to write down on the blackboard the stock prices of the stocks that Kohler was in charge of reading. He didn’t like the fact that one of them was a Hinoo boy with dark hair, yellow skin, and raised eyes.

“It’s a pity about his complexion, but he has a very good head. I can’t let him go.”

“What? I don’t care how smart he is, I want to beat him, that yellow monkey!”

The fifty or so customers in the store, unconcerned with the two men’s argument, stared at the stock price the chalk boy was writing on, and when they realized the time was right, they shouted.

[Denver Dynamics, buy 200 shares!] [Arthur and Company, sell one hundred shares!]

[I’ll do it, Thomas Energy, buy a thousand shares!]

The brokers lined up in front of the customers listened to each of their calls and relayed them to the stock exchange on the other end of the line. With their own fortunes at stake, the narrow, hotly-contested store was blurred by the smoke of cigarettes and cigars, with the overpowering smell of body odor and alcohol. In the midst of all this: the sound of chalk being scraped off the blackboard, a communication device called a “ticker” spitting out a punched tape of the current stock price, the screams and cheers of the customers, and the curses of the pockmarked faces echoed through the air.

“Hey, you hear me, Yap! I’m talking to you, you black-haired, squinty-eyed kid!”

But the boy grabbed a piece of chalk with an unconcerned face and lined up the price movements of the fifty stocks he was in charge of on the blackboard without hesitation.

Annoyed at being ignored, he was about to shout even louder when he saw an investor dressed in an expensive looking suit.

“It’s your first time here? Shut up for a minute. He’s a friend of mine.”

The pockmarked face looked up with a half-opened mouth at a white gentleman in his fifties with an elegant white beard. The suit he wore and the leather shoes he wore were first-rate, and the Gamerian, who belonged to the upper class by all accounts, had never thought of himself as a Hinoo man.

“Are you insane?”

When the pockmarked face man asked another question, the rough-looking investors beside him turned their faces into a scowl.

[You’re making too much noise! If you have a problem with that, get out of here!] [That Yap is a special case, so shut up and watch!]

One by one, the regulars at Max Harper’s return the abuse. Not one, but several Gamerians sided with the Hinoo, a sight he had never seen before in Gameria.

“Don’t worry, little monkey, I’ll be counting on you today!”

One of the regulars gives him a shout of encouragement, but the boy brushes the cheers aside and, with the graceful movement of an orchestra conductor, writes on the blackboard a tapestry of corporate values that today’s stock market has woven.

The pockmarked face doesn’t understand the significance of this event. The most cocky, cowardly, and cunning of all the people of color, the Hinoo boy, is being cheered on by the upper class white man . And he’s only a chalk boy.

“If he can pull it off, you’ll know what I mean.”

The manager smirked and said this to the stunned face. The pockmarked face looked at the manager and the boy’s back in turn with an absent-minded expression.

At four o’clock in the afternoon, the day’s securities transactions were closed, and the gloomy customers, some elated, some discouraged, some having lost their retirement savings, went home one by one. The chalk boys, who had been listening to the caller’s voice for a long time, got off the scaffolding with tired expressions, put on their hunting caps, and pocketed their $10 wages. The store has begun to be cleaned, but the Hinoo boy remains alone on the wooden scaffolding, looking over the day’s final figures on the blackboard.

“…………?”

Three of the well-dressed regulars were watching the boy with bated breath. At the manager’s request, the pockmarked face stayed behind, but he couldn’t understand the meaning of this strange scene.

After staring at the blackboard in silence for about two minutes, the boy finally got off the scaffolding, put on his own hunting cap, and held out one hand to the manager.

The manager handed him a copy of today’s business newspaper and ten dollars in wages, gave him a meaningful look at the pockmarked face beside him, and asked him a question.

“What stocks have broken higher today?

The boy gave the manager a look that seemed to say, “Not again,” before answering.

“Dasney. …….58.25, 55.19, 63.2”.

The pockmarked face widened its eyes. The manager chuckles and continues with the test.

“Also, who broke the bottom?”

“……CBBI. 28.55, 32.58, 26.21.”

The three remaining regulars listen to the answer with rapt attention, while the pockmarked face looks at the closing price on the blackboard, confirms that the answer is correct, and opens his mouth with a big smile. The two stocks I just mentioned are both stocks that other chalk boys are in charge of. The boy was able to write down the price movements of the 50 stocks he was in charge of on the blackboard, while at the same time observing and accurately memorizing the movements of the other 250 stocks.

One of the regulars handed the boy a paper bag with a look of admiration on his face.

“I bought what you asked for. Check it out.”

The boy nodded silently as he confirmed that the bag contained ten new notebooks, twenty pencils, and three erasers.

The regular coughed, put three ten-dollar bills in the boy’s hand, put his face close to his, and whispered.

“……, where would you buy now?”

He asked the boy, who was three years younger than him, to give him stock advice.

The Hinoo boy puts the three ten-dollar bills in his pocket and prefaces them as usual in fluent Gamerian.

“I’m not a god. Don’t complain if you lose.”

“I know. I’m just using it as a reference.”

Without blaming the boy for his arrogant behavior, the three regulars looked at each other as if they were talking in private.

The boy turns his attention back to the ocean of numbers written on the blackboard and extracts from the ocean the stocks that are likely to move the most.

“Today, Ramsen Pharmaceutical suddenly raised fifty cents on the dollar. There are signs of a rubella epidemic in Kelfonia, and Ramsen is a pharmaceutical company that is particularly strong in rubella. The company has succeeded in developing an effective new drug, which may explain the sudden rise in the price of a stock that had not moved at all over the past year.

Oh …… and the regulars looked at each other and tapped the boy on the shoulder.

“He has a really good memory. I’ll give you a share of the profits.

“…… I repeat. There are no absolutes in the market. It can go wrong.”

“I know, I do it at my own risk, so don’t worry. There is no such thing as a market maker who can predict the market perfectly.”

The blond-haired, blue-eyed adults dressed in custom-made suits surrounded the shabbily dressed boy, praising him and pleading for his cooperation. The manager smiled sarcastically as he stood beside the pockmarked faced man who had lost his mind.

“About a year ago, he came to me and asked if he could be my chalk boy. Of course, I chased him away because he was a Yap. I didn’t want to get into any unnecessary trouble, and of course the customers wouldn’t like it. But even after I kicked him out of the store, he came back and insisted that he could recite the price movements of 300 major stocks for a month. When I asked him to recite the closing prices of 50 stocks for the day, he said he could recite 300 stocks without asking me. Yeah, I hired him on the spot. There are not many chalk boys available, despite their skin color. When I asked him how old he was, he said he was eleven, which surprised me once again. When I was eleven, all I had in my head was poop and dicks, but this guy had the whole market in his head. When he first started working, people like you booed him a lot, and when the store was over, he would get beaten up, but he didn’t mind coming in the next day with a bruised face. He’s cocky and pompous, but he’s got guts, he’s accurate in his work, and now he can recite the price movements of 300 stocks for the past year. He’s a god. If I had that kind of brain, I’d just go out and buy stocks, but he wants to study the market while working as a chalk boy for a while. He’s a strange guy, isn’t he? Thanks to him, the store is saved, but I’m sure someone will pull him out and he’ll go to Fall Street. He’s that good, so he won’t stay in this stupid store forever.”

The pockmarked face could only listen to the words of the chatty manager with a look of disbelief.

” What the hell is that? Reciting a year’s worth of price movements for three hundred stocks? Even Delai Lama can’t do that.”

As he mentioned the name of a legendary market maker who had made a fortune in one generation that rivaled the national budget of a small country, the boy walked past the pockmarked face.

He was wearing a sooty hunting cap, a saggy coat, a frayed cotton shirt, and cheap cloth shoes. His dockworker’s pants, hung from suspenders, were torn at the knees.

“Oh, hey, you …….”

But the boy didn’t stop and put his hand on the doorknob, as if he didn’t hear what the man said.

He tightened his loosened tie, straightened his back, and raised his voice.

“I- I’m Gary Trafford! I’m the president of Gary Transportation. I’ll like to know your name, if you don’t mind.”

He introduced himself and asked for the boy’s name. If the manager is indeed as good as he says he is, this yellow boy may soon become the king of Fall Street, the world’s largest financial district.

The boy turned his head to look at his profile. His face was thin, bruised, and stained with mud and dust, but somehow it conveyed a clear elegance and dignity.

He wore a transparent coat that was impenetrable to others, giving him an air of aristocratic dignity, and he had a fearless smile on the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t have a name to call myself.

The shabbily dressed colored boy declared to the upper class white man, and walked out of the store without losing his arrogant smile.

When he heard the doorbell ringing, the manager sent a wry smile to his side.

“……Heeh? Pretty cool, right?”

Gary could only stand there and stare at the closed door in horror. Who the hell is that kid?

◆

Los Angeles, a large city on the west coast of the United States of Gameria.

The February sunlight pours diagonally across the gray surface of the road from between the skyscrapers. At the bottom of the dry air, automobile exhaust and sooty smoke from coal stoves. Wearing a hunting cap to keep as much of his skin tone as possible out of sight, twelve-year-old Kuroto carried a paper bag under his arm that he had received from a regular customer as he walked home alone.

Streetcars, school buses, and many cars pass by on the wide streets. The smell of baking bread drifted up from the streets lined with colorful signs of clothing stores, ice cream stores, restaurants, and record shops. Kuroto’s hunger rumbled. Only whites could buy the bread in the show windows, and if a person of color entered the store, he would be thrown out or reported. The only way to buy daily necessities is to go to a store reserved for people of color, or ask a white friend to buy them for you, like the stationery he received today. Public facilities such as parks, libraries, and public restrooms are also segregated by race, and if you violate the segregation, you will be beaten by the police.

“The slogans of the United States of Gamelia, “the land of freedom and equality” and “the fairest parliamentary democracy on earth,” came with the proviso, “but only for whites”. The blessings of democracy are given only to whites, and other people of color are like “cattle” without human rights. Whites could kick or beat up a colored person without blame, but if they did the opposite, they would be sent to jail and imprisoned for nearly ten years. In the one year and three months since he arrived in the country, Kuroto has come to realize that the United States of Gameria is a strictly caste-based state with whites at the top.

It’s really annoying.

Whenever he was treated in a discriminatory manner, he would pretend to be fine on the outside, but inside he would boil over. Today, a middle-aged man with a pockmarked face was shouting abuse at him behind his back, and many times he thought about jumping on him and sticking chalk in his eyes. But if he did that, he would be the one who would be imprisoned. All he could do was eliminate his emotions and not despise those who discriminated against him in his heart. And one day, he will make up his mind to give them a painful payback. That’s all he can do now.

Soothing himself, he walked in silence until he came to a port area lined with shipyards. New warships are being built in the covered dry dock, which is in constant motion day and night. Off shore, two light cruisers and eight destroyers belonging to the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria were kicking off across the ocean toward the training area.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared in the sky.

At the same time, a roaring propeller sound came down from above Kuroto’s head.

As he looked up, he saw two huge flying battleships over 270 meters long, with eighteen destroyers surrounding them, flying in a floating zone at an altitude of 1,200 meters around the entire earth, cutting through the reddish sky.

“Gorgoroth” and “Voivod”.

The Gorgoroth and Voivod are flying battleships of the First Flying Battleship Squadron of the Gamerian Grand Ocean Fleet.

The huge floating body hung down from a hull that looked like an upside-down marine vessel with a total weight of 50,000 tons.

The ” floating body,” a cigar-shaped superstructure, is responsible for buoyancy. Almost all large amphibian ships are made from ” floating rocks,” which are naturally occurring flying rocks in the floating sphere. The hull is then suspended downward by ” suspension cables” in accordance with the buoyancy of the rocks, and flies by the thrust generated on the hull side.

It is both absurd and majestic to see a steel hull of 30,000 to 50,000 tons suspended in the air by a “floating body” with the same buoyancy. ” For more than a hundred years since the discovery of the Cerasus particle in the “floating sphere,” airships have reigned over the world as the “kings of the sky.”

The semi-circular gun turrets protruding from both sides of the hull have four 40 centimeter semi-swivel main guns, twelve guns on each side, anti-aircraft machine gun turrets and sagging turrets arranged like rats in needles in various parts of the hull, and two huge bomb tanks protruding from the bottom of the hull in a semi-cylindrical shape. If that door were opened, more than 3,000 one-ton bombs would rain down on the ground, burning down cities and fortifications without leaving a trace.

Kuroto clicked his tongue.

He knows where these huge ships will be heading in the future.

These guys are very motivated.

He asked a regular customer of Max Harper’s to review the financial plans and stock exchange data of major countries, and found that in recent years, the United States of Gamelia, the Commonwealth of Rukia, and the Ringland Empire had suddenly invested money equivalent to the national budget of Hinoo. In recent years, the United States of Gamelia, the Commonwealth of Rukia, and the Ringland Empire have suddenly found that money equivalent to Hinoo’s national budget has been invested in previously unseen items.

In Rukia, the cost of developing a frozen region where there is nothing, and in Gamelia, the cost of developing infrastructure in the desert……. If they spent this much money, of course the market would react, but the relevant sectors did not show any movement. He wondered if the budget appropriated for peaceful purposes was being secretly used for military expenditures. One day, they will beat Hinoo into a pulp and twist their unilateral demands into the mouth of a corpse.

In the back of Kuroto’s mind, the hidden national policy of Gameria emerges.

Might is Right.

Might is Right.

If you are strong, you can kill millions of innocent people without being accused of a crime. If you are weak, you will be condemned even if you are fighting to save tens of millions. It is such a cruel and unreasonable world that Kuroto and his friends live in.

But is it okay to just let them get away with it?

Do I accept being called a yellow monkey?

I don’t want to do that.

As if to mock Kuroto’s feelings, the squadron flies away to the west, distorting the sunset sky. I want to start a war with Hinoo as soon as possible, open the bomb tank to the big city, and kill all the yellow monkeys. Such was the confident attitude of the world’s strongest fleet as the voices of the Gamerian soldiers could be heard.

Unknowingly, Kuroto clenched both fists as the frustration rose from the bottom of his stomach.

Don’t underestimate the Hinoo people.

In the past, when he was a member of the royal family of Hinoo, he had never had this feeling. When he came to the country of Gameria, he was discriminated against because of the color of his skin. For the first time, he was aware of himself as a Hinoo person.

How can I beat Gameria ……?

As he continued his walk, suffering from anguish far beyond his size, he entered a poor neighborhood where many immigrants lived, hugging the outer edges of the port facilities.

The sea breeze that blew through the area was thick with the smell of rotting vegetables, fish, and burning coal.

In the yellow-skinned residential area, where about seven or eighty shacks made of scrap wood, plywood, and slate roofs stood side by side, Sun, Tanzanian, and Saianese people were building fires here and there, staring at the flames with deflated expressions. The bodies of these people, who had come to Gameria with dreams of making a fortune and now lived as manual laborers at the port facilities, bore the marks of whipping. These scars were inflicted by a white foreman. Looking at them like shells of human beings, Kuroto bought milk and two loaves of leftover bread at a store for people of color, and reached his “home” a little further out.

The house was a mere shelter against the wind and rain, constructed from a combination of miscellaneous wood, plywood, tin, and slate. When he passed through the entrance draped with fabric, he found himself in a four-and-a-half-mat room. On the floor, which was covered with empty burlap bags, there was a wooden box that served as a desk.

After placing the paper bag on the floor, he put the money he had earned today in a can, hid it in a hole he had dug in the ground, and covered it with dirt. Then he put some bread and milk in a wooden box and ate quietly by himself.

◆

It has already been more than a year since his father, Takehiko Kurono, lost all his money in the Fall Street stock market and disappeared after a three-month tour of Gameria.

Kuroto was left alone in a foreign country, but without any particular sadness or despair, he took it upon himself to assume that his father, who had not returned to the hotel even after a week, was dead. He took the transcontinental railroad by himself, visited a mutual aid society for Hinoo immigrants in Los Angeles, and was assigned this shack.

He had no intention of relying on his father from the beginning. He was determined that the only way he could make a living was to work and earn money on his own. Now that he was abandoned by his parents and became an orphan, Kuroto finally realized that his own adventure had begun.

From the moment he arrived in Gameria, he had decided to make money in the stock market. With his identity and family gone, the only thing he had left was his brains and guts, and the only way to get rich was through the stock market.

While Takehiko was traveling around Gameria, Kuroto was reading the economic newspapers and writing down the price movements of 300 major stocks in his notebook. He thought that by accurately memorizing these price movements, he would be able to understand the overall trend of the market. His efforts were rewarded on the day he arrived in Los Angeles at Max Harper’s, where he got a job as a chalk boy.

Currently, he has about six hundred dollars deposited in the account his father created. He would like to have at least $100,000 to invest in stocks, but he has a long way to go.

He lights a small candle, spreads out a notebook on a wooden box, and writes down in pencil the closing prices of today’s three hundred major stocks. After finishing this, he opens today’s economic newspaper and checks the trends in each sector. If there were any noteworthy developments, he would reprint them in his notebook.

Even though I was indoors, it was as cold as outside. Still wearing his coat and occasionally blowing on his chapped hands, Kuroto compares the descriptions in the nearly thirty notebooks he has written so far, looking down at the current global situation, the financial situation, and the performance of each company, and continues to deduce future price movements.

Late at night, when his eyelids became inexplicably heavy, he wrapped himself in a blanket with his coat on and slept alone. The roots of my teeth chatter from the cold, but he has no choice but to endure until the sleepiness overcomes the cold.

Suffering from the cold and hunger sometimes brings back memories of a year and a half ago, when he was a legitimate son of the imperial family in Hinoo and was living in luxury. The soft bed, the unconditional cuddling of the servants, the full-course dinner served every day. White fish with starchy sauce, herb-roasted chicken thigh, steak ……. The feast that was common at that time floated on the wall of the small room. He almost reached for it but came back to himself.

Sniffling, he threw a thin blanket over his head to drive out the hallucination.

I’ll crawl back up. I promise.

He encourages himself and sets his eyes on the darkness. He is not going to be defeated by this kind of loneliness. With his ability, things will get better soon. As he continued to tell himself this, the hallucination of food faded and for some reason Izaya’s face came into his mind.

Kuroto didn’t know why he was remembering Izaya. He doesn’t even remember his parents’ faces, but when he is in pain and feeling overwhelmed, he strangely remembers Izaya’s face with nostalgia.

Ever since he could remember, Kuroto had always played with Izaya. Whenever the royals met at a garden party or social gathering, they would wrestle and argue together, or leave the gathering to go out and play on their own.

It was fun to be with Izaya. Unlike the more sophisticated adults and well-behaved ladies of the house, Izaya was strong and violent, and was good at using her strange abilities to outsmart her servants.

He was a student at the Kitagawa Royal Academy, a school for children of royalty, nobility, and high taxpayers.

Izaya was always accompanied by three or four attendants to ensure she was safe, She also had a private car to get to and from school, so she could not take any detours. However, Izaya used her mysterious power of “detaching his perspective from her body” to observe the servants stationed at the front and back gates, and exploited any opportunity to escape.

Izaya, who had detached herself from the school, would relay information to Kuroto about the servants. Kuroto would then use that information to lead the servants to the designated locations where he would throw rocks, deliver false alarms, or use his classmates as decoys in order to secure Izaya’s escape route. After leaving the school, Izaya would meet up with Kuroto in front of a bakery in the city center, where the two of them would enjoy a stroll together.

Just walking around the city with Izaya made him feel like he was on an adventure. Kuroto had never been happy at home or at school, but he was so excited to be on an adventure with Izaya that he was sad whenever the sun went down.

Now that he was alone, starving and lonely in a faraway land, the only thing he could look forward to was the memory of the good times he had spent with Izaya.

He wondered how Izaya was doing now.

She must have hated him when he followed his mother’s advice and suddenly proposed to her. She must be enjoying her life surrounded by her friends and doesn’t even remember him now that he was gone.

Izaya is the first princess of the royal family, and Kuroto is an orphan with an empty stomach in a foreign country, having committed a crime of high treason.

In a short period of time, the two of them have become as far apart as heaven and earth.

Even if they were to meet again, they would not be able to enjoy each other’s company as before.

He knew that, but he would at least like to be allowed reminisce with his memory of Izaya in times of pain and suffering.

“I will not lose.”

Muttering to himself, he curled up under the blanket, closed his eyes tightly, and surrendered himself to the memories of happy times.

Replaying Izaya’s smile over and over again in the darkness, he waited for sleep to come.

That’s right. Don’t lose, Kuroto.

He felt as if the Izaya of his memories had given him those words.

◆

The next day…

At four o’clock in the afternoon, the closing bell rang, and the customers at Max Harper’s left the floor with their usual sighs and hot snorts.

After finishing his work on the wooden scaffolding, Kuroto memorized the closing prices of three hundred stocks as usual, took the economic newspaper and his wages from the manager, and put on his hunting cap.

The three regulars surrounded him and approached him with excited faces.

“Ramsen, it’ s going up! Thanks to you, we’ve made a lot of money! “I’m glad I believed in you, we made 13,000 dollars today alone!” “I’m still buying. What would you do?”

With great enthusiasm, he bent down and looked at Kuroto. Kuroto kept his usual blank expression and held out one hand. I can teach you, but you have to give me your share.

A man in his fifties understood Kuroto’s silent request and gave him thirteen hundred dollar bills to hold along with a generous smile.

“…… will go up again tomorrow, but not as explosively as it did today. The day after tomorrow will depend on the Kelfonia Rubella. At present, it is not as contagious as expected. Keep an ear out for rubella news and sell if it seems to be ending.”

When Kuroto told them his prediction, they broke into a smile and asked him to shake their hands. In response, he fixed the brim of his hunting cap with one hand and left the store. Today alone, he had almost doubled his savings. Kuroto’s reputation was slowly spreading among the investors in the neighborhood.

He walked out into the street and looked up at the towering skyscrapers.

A group of white boys passed him and shouted, “Go back to your country, Yap!” but Kuroto didn’t give them a second thought and continued to look up at the skyscraper.

Although he was making good money, his heart was not in the right place.

If I don’t make a lot of money, I’ll be destitute. ……

If he is only paid ten percent of the profits, he will not be able to save enough money. It’s time for him to graduate from being a chalk boy and use the money he’s saved to buy stocks, but at the same time, he’s risking his own financial ruin. Kuroto was aware of his current weakness.

I don’t have enough experience …….

If he is overconfident in himself and tries a big gamble without having any experience in stock trading, he will eventually be ruined. He would like to learn from a good teacher, but there is no such thing as a white man who would take a Hinoo person as a disciple.

He let out a sigh. The future was still long. If possible, he would like to hit it big soon and live in a decent room, but that will probably take another three or four years.

Three more years in that shack …….

To be honest, he’s not too thrilled about it. If he doesn’t come up with a quick way to make money, he’ll die of hunger and cold.

“I’m sure you’re capable of making a melancholy expression, Kurono Kuroto-kun.”

He was looking up at the skyscraper, lost in thought, when the words suddenly struck him in the ear.

“I thought you were just trying to keep your emotions out of it. Maybe you’re worried about the future of your life.”

He sent a pointed gaze to the end of the road.

One person…

A beautiful young man, who looked as if he had been cut out of the world, was shimmering in a circle.

Underneath his slightly long blond hair that fluttered in the breeze, his pale blue eyes stared at Kuroto with an unfathomable depth.

He is in his late twenties, wearing a well-tailored brown suit with vertical stripes and leather shoes so polished that they almost reflect his face. He looks more like an ice statue than a human being, with little scent of living things. He was instantly recognizable as an upper-class white investor.

Suddenly, a strange melody reached Kuroto’s ears. It was a beautiful melody, but it was a broken tune with a few dissonant notes here and there. Even though he didn’t have a musical instrument, the destructive melody, filled with sorrow, was transmitted through the young man to Kuroto’s consciousness.

This guy is dangerous.

He felt it. Kuroto’s inner self warns him not to get involved, but for some reason he can’t move from the spot.

The young man continued with a slight smile on the edge of his mouth.

“I’ve been observing you for three days now. My name is Kyle McVille. I am not an investor …… but a market maker. I want to work with you.”

“……………………”

“I’ll give you a ride home. I’ll tell you what I want on the way. Get in.”

“……………………”

Kyle walked over to a red convertible parked on the side of the road and opened the passenger door.

There is no clear line between an investor and a market maker. Those who invest for the sake of profits are called investors, while those who use their own devices to fluctuate stock prices to gain profit are called market makers. Some are investors in normal times, while others become market makers when the market gets rough, so the distinction is vague.

Kuroto glared at Kyle disapprovingly and slowly slid his small body into the leather seat in silence. For a moment, he almost rejected the young man intuitively, but when he cooled down a bit, he realized that this was an opportunity.

I was able to catch a white market maker.

It’s fortuitous. There is no way not to take advantage of this opportunity. ……

People on the street stared suspiciously at the poorly dressed man sitting in the passenger seat of the brand new luxury convertible. Kyle, sitting in the driver’s seat, started the engine and the car slowly paddled out onto the open road.

The low rumble of the engine carried under their feet. Kyle adjusted the gears and spoke in a calm tone.

“I have a pretty good idea of your current situation. I’d like to help you get out of that shack as soon as possible and make a decent living, but the discrimination against Hinoos is so severe that you can’t even rent an apartment. You want to make some money, but you don’t know how, so you just keep working as a chalk boy, waiting for good luck to come your way. …… You’ve almost given up. Isn’t that right?”

He was right, but it was frustrating to give him a straightforward nod, so Kuroto just looked ahead and didn’t answer.

“I want to use your brains to make money. In return, I will teach you the know-how of a market maker. You have the qualities to be a successful market maker, but you lack the experience. If you throw yourself into Fall Street as you are now, you will be eaten up to the bone.”

Kuroto was not amused by the fact that he was told exactly what he had been secretly worried about. He fell silent, his expression showing his dissatisfaction.

“You can use my experience. I want to use your natural abilities to make money that will turn the world upside down. It’s a no-brainer deal for you and me.”

Kuroto kept his eyes forward.

“…… I’m Hinoo. If you work with me, your reputation will be tarnished.”

“Lesson one.”

Kyle held up his forefinger in a pretentious gesture and sent one eye to Kuroto.

“A marketeer’s reputation is irrelevant. It’s a good thing for marketers to have a bad reputation.”

“…… With me, you have to be prepared to go through a lot of agony to get into the stock exchange. It’s not unusual for customers to hurl abuse at me. I’ve even had things thrown at me.”

“Lesson two. Gamerians are more concerned with the inside of their wallets than your skin color. The reason you’re being abused is because you’re a poorly-dressed Hinoo man. I have a gift for you, take it.”

Kyle pointed his thumb at the back seat. When Kuroto turned his head, he saw a large paper bag with the logo of a prestigious brand.

“A fine suit is a ticket to transcend race, it will get you into restaurants, the stock exchange, even the library.”

Kuroto listened to Kyle’s words with one ear as he pulled out several children’s suits, outfits, and everyday clothes from the bag. It was true that during the three months his father had been alive, he hadn’t been discriminated against that badly while traveling around Gameria. He realized now that they were able to use restaurants and hotels run by white people because they were judged to be wealthy by their clothes.

He put the clothes back in the paper bag and asked Kyle.

“…… Why are you doing this to me, a complete stranger?”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“You already have a lot of money without working with me. Why do you want to make even more money by teaming up with a Hinoo?

Kyle laughed and told him.

“I may look like a rich man, but I’m actually broke. I got beat up in Fall Street the other day. It’s hard to get up from scratch on your own, so I need your genius to help me.”

“………… Broke? Are you?”

It doesn’t look that way.”It’s a common thing for marketers. By the way, I bought your clothes with borrowed money. I’m sorry to interrupt your …… conversation, but I have arrived. It’s a good idea to change your clothes and get your luggage. Let us depart for our new home.”

Before he knew it, the car was parked in front of the yellow human settlement in the port area. A poorly dressed man who had been huddled in the vicinity looked at the luxury sports car with resentment, and his eyes widened when he noticed Kuroto getting out of the passenger seat.

Kuroto walked through the cloth doorway of his house and changed into the normal clothes Kyle had given him. A cashmere coat, a fluffy sweater, children’s slacks, white socks and brand new leather shoes. About a year and a half ago, when he was still a member of Hinoo’s royal family, he had worn such clothes as a matter of course, but now, when he tried them on again, he felt a bit self-conscious.

Kuroto put the canned goods he had saved and the thirty stock research notebooks he had written into a burlap sack and left the shack where he had spent nearly a year.

“I’m glad it fits. I hope you like it.”

“Not bad.”

He returned to the passenger seat and tossed the burlap bag into the back cabinet. The car returned to the road and drove eastward as the residents looked at him with envy.

“Where to now?”

Hmm? Kyle turned to Kuroto and smiled.

“It’s obvious. My office in Fall Street.”

“…………………………”

“You want to be an investor, don’t you? You can use my power to be whatever you want to be.

Kuroto stared ahead, somewhat dissatisfied, and gave only a nod. He had thought it would take him another three years to become an investor, but with Kyle’s arrival, the road to becoming an investor opened up in an instant, and he felt a bit out of sorts.

“I’m broke now, but I’m going to borrow some money from a friend in Fall Street and start investing again. While we’re crossing the continent, I suggest you pick a stock to target. I have a company directory on my dashboard.”

“…………………….”

Without saying a word, Kuroto pulled out the company directory from under the car registration file and looked at the cover.

“You can make a lot of money if you use your head. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that I’m not the only one who’s a fan of your work.”

Kuroto took a glance at Kyle, who was holding the steering wheel, and pondered.

He felt unreliable, but not extravagant. In this country, you can’t even shop satisfactorily without the help of a white man. What’s more, he has an office in Fall Street and is ready to resume his investment as soon as he returns.

I’m going to join forces with him, make some money, and absorb the experience of this man.

He nodded, deciding to do so.

“Nice to work with you, Kyle.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Kuroto.”

Kuroto shook Kyle’s right hand, which was offered to him while holding the steering wheel.

“Our victory has been decided. Let’s go, towards a glorious future.”

Kyle said like a soothsayer as he looked ahead.

Kuroto was fed up with this nonsense, but his prediction came true.

◆

[What is Kronos, the group of investors who dominate Fall Street?]

[The leader of the group is a sixteen-year-old man with precognitive powers!]

[Los Angeles chalk boy has over $50 million in assets in just four years.]

[Child prodigy or oriental magic? A closer look at the true identity of Kuroto Kurono, a genius market maker]

March of 1936.

About four years after Kuroto and Kyle’s encounter, a newspaper and magazine with such a headline appeared in New York City, a major city on the eastern coast of the United States of Gameria. The name of the mysterious investor “Kuroto Kurono” and the group of young investors he leads, “Kronos”, had become well known and influential among the investors and brokers who gathered in the Fall Street.

In Fall Street, there is always someone who has risen to the top, but in Kuroto’s case, it was not an ordinary rise.

Ambitious investors and entrepreneurs now crowded in front of his humble office on the Lower East Side, a poor longshoreman’s quarter about a 30-minute walk from Fall Street, and stood in line from the stairs to the outside of the building for a five-minute meeting with him.

If you present your abilities to Kuroto and are accepted, you can become a member of the fast-growing Kronos. If you get the membership card, you will be the first to buy the stocks recommended by Kuroto, and you are sure to make a lot of money. Kronos is open to anyone, regardless of race, who is capable, creative and ambitious, and there were many people of color in the line.

All of them were fascinated by the rumors and legends that had been circulating about Kuroto for the past four years.

According to the rumors, Kuroto Kurono can recite the price movements of 300 major stocks over the past five years. He uses a special formula to quantify the value of a company and compares it to the actual stock price to decide which stocks to target. He has already made millions of dollars by perfecting an option price optimization formula that minimizes risk and maximizes profit.

The rumors could have been dismissed as mere speculation, but the fact that Kuroto had actually amassed over $50 million in financial assets in just four years gave credence to the rumors. Kuroto, who is only 16 years old, must have had a special way of making that much money. Whether it’s a magic wand or a hammer, there’s no shortage of people in front of Kuroto’s office today, all looking for a chance to make a fortune.

“It’s very depressing.”

Kuroto said with a sigh as he looked down through the glass windows of his cozy office at the people who wanted to visit him that stretched out into the street today.

I didn’t rise to prominence by magic. All I did was to read the economic newspapers every day, memorize the market prices, and study the habits of the stock market. What I needed to do was to find out the gap between corporate value and stock price, and the only way to find out corporate value was through careful research and management analysis. It is true that I have developed several original formulas and used them to calculate corporate value, but they are only a means of assessment and I do not have a magic wand to generate money.

In the trading room of the office, there are three chalkmen working on a large blackboard, writing down stock price movements using earphones and pin microphones connected wirelessly to the New York Stock Exchange. The ticker machine on his desk ticked and spat out the price of the stock, which lagged behind the radio by about thirty minutes. Apparently, the volume of transactions had increased dramatically recently and the system could not keep up.

“You’re a guru, after all. They think you’re a wizard or a messenger of God.”

JJ, a white man standing beside Kuroto, made fun of him as he looked down at the queue outside the window. With his blond hair pulled back in a tight pomade, his athletically trained body clad in an absorbent high-class suit. He looks like a Hollywood actor with his dashing appearance and lively dialogue. He is an ambitious young investor with a sharp mind, great energy, and a willingness to do anything illegal to gather secret information through his own channels.

“The leader of Kronos is Kyle. They should go see him. I don’t want to see anyone.”

Kuroto had no choice but to complain. He wanted to work steadily as a lone wolf, but Kyle took the liberty of turning him into a panda, selecting the best investors he could find, bringing them into the fold, and giving them a name like “Kronos” to liven things up. The name ” Kronos” is a combination of the word “Chrono” meaning “time” and the word “Kuro” meaning “black. Because of this name, the leader of the group has somehow become Kuroto instead of Kyle. Kuroto had no intention of leading such a group.

JJ shrugged his shoulders.

“‘Complain to Kyle. I’ve been making a lot of money off of it.”

About three years ago, JJ came to his office, curious about Kuroto’s winning streak in the investment game. He had no intention of meeting him, but Kyle took the liberty of interviewing him and bringing him into the fold, making him the number one member of Kronos. Since then, he has been supporting the activities of Kronos by screening applicants and conducting the first round of interviews on behalf of Kuroto and Kyle.

“There are already eighteen of us. We’re about to get some strange ones. What are we doing with that many people?”

“The more friends we have, the better. Kronos will have more money as a result. If you have more money, you can set up a speculative war. You’ve never done that before, have you? It’s fun, and you should do it soon to show off the power of Kronos.”

Both Kyle and JJ are marketeers, so they like to trade to pick fights with other investors. Kuroto didn’t want to be bothered with such games, and was committed to winning as much as he could.

“I don’t care. You guys are on your own.”

He says, and stares at the price movement on the blackboard.

About six months ago, Kuroto received information that Gameria and the governor of Ringland’s central bank had secretly met in Malta Island to discuss monetary easing, and he quickly invested about two million dollars in real estate junk bonds, resulting in a huge profit. As interest rates fell due to monetary easing and people took advantage of cheaper mortgages, real estate junk bonds, which had never been considered before, soared fifty or sixty-fold. Later, the Fall Street Journal, which received Kyle’s tip, ran a big headline about “Kuroto Kurono, the boy investor who foresaw the real estate bubble,” and called him a “Magician of the East” and a “Prodigy with Precognition”. So other newspapers and magazines followed suit, and the situation has reached this point. When he complained to Kyle, Kyle just laughed and said, “Name recognition is power for marketers.”

“I’ll take care of the interview. You’re going to Kyle’s office, right?”

JJ said, and Kuroto snorted.

“He’s been nagging me for a favor or something.”

“Go ahead. He’s your best friend, you know.”

The office that Kuroto now occupies originally belonged to Kyle. After meeting in Los Angeles, the two of them quietly started trading stocks in this office, and with Kuroto’s help, Kyle quickly made a huge fortune in just one year, handing over the ramshackle office to Kuroto and setting up his own office in the Empire State Building. The two continued to work together as members of Kronos, and they are now the dominant force in Fall Street.

“I’m sorry, but you take over.”

Kuroto put on a tight suit, a custom-made outer garment, and a hunting cap, walked out the back door of the office and hailed a cab.

He soon arrived in front of the Empire State Building, where Kyle’s office was located. He announced his visit at a desk staffed with strong black security guards, and took the elevator up to the 85th floor to an entrance with no plaque. The couches were already filled with five men in expensive suits, and three others, who seemed to be out of work, standing bored and looking out the window.

Estella, the receptionist, recognized Kuroto and gave him a youthful smile. The blonde, one of Kyle’s many lovers, knew her priorities.

“He’s been waiting for you. Come in.”

The eight people waiting to be interviewed glared at the boy with a grudge, and a ripple of whispered conversation spread. They seemed to have noticed that the boy in front of them was Kuroto, and silly words such as “psychic powers” and “oriental magic” faintly penetrated the ripple. Feeling fed up, Kuroto bypassed the security guards and opened the oak door.

The spacious office was located three hundred meters above the ground, with a large window to the south overlooking the island of Manhattan. The Hudson River was on the right, the East River on the left, and the skyscrapers on Fall Street were just at the intersection of the two rivers, hazy in a spring mist.

“Don’t you feel like you’re in control of New York?”

Kyle greeted Kuroto with these words.

Kuroto frowned in displeasure.

“Do you want to feel like that?”

“It’s a natural feeling. Humans live to dominate others. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an important matter to attend to.”

Kyle offers Kuroto the couch, and stares at the words the chalkman writes on the blackboard, as the ticker machine spits out tape.

Estella brings him a cup of tea and walks away with an elegant smile. The phone rings incessantly around him, and on the three large boards against the wall, three chalkmen with earphones and intercoms silently write down stock price fluctuations. The two brokers in front of them shouted anxiously into their handset, occasionally glancing and sending hand signals to Kyle, who was giving them aggressive instructions one after the other.

It seems that there is no time to get down to business, and Kuroto watches his partner’s work with a sense of dismay.

It seems that Kyle is in the midst of a counterattack against the market maker who shorted his main stock. It seems to be going well, and soon they will lose all of their assets. Unlike Kuroto, Kyle preferred the method of kicking his opponents down the road and taking everything they had.

“You’ re still …… worse than ever, you know.”

While Kyle has finally finished giving his instructions, Kuroto tells him in a dumbfounded tone.

“This is what a marketer does. If you don’t take what your enemy has, someone else will. In order not to be taken, you must continue to expand your power.”

He said this in a firm tone of voice and did not even defend himself. It’s a typical Gamerian business tactic of attacking without conscientious consideration for the circumstances of others, just for the purpose of seizing them.

“Does it make you feel good?”

“How can it not be fun to dominate others and be worshipped?”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t get it. So what did you want?”

“Two things. The first. Have you heard of Thorn Dark Corporation, which was recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange? The president of the company is a country boy from Tennessee who is upset that the stock price hasn’t gone up, so he came to me with $10 million and asked me to use the money to buy Thorn Dark stock. He thought that since I was well known, investors would follow suit and buy the stock, causing it to soar. I could have sent him away for being a shallow country bumpkin, but I had an idea for a little profit. I’d like to put on a play with all eighteen members of the Kronos.”

“………………”

“If I buy enough and Thorn Dark’s stock rises, I want the remaining seventeen Kronos to sell short. When the time is right, I will betray the president and sell off the Thorn Dark stock. Naturally, the stock price will plummet, I will make a huge profit from the sale, all the Kronos who sold short will also make a huge profit, and everyone will be happy except the president. What do you think, it’s a fun plan, do you want in?”

Kuroto made a blatantly disapproving face. Short selling is a business that uses falling stock prices to make money, and while it carries the risk of financial destruction, it also makes a lot of money when it succeeds.

“I’ll pass. I don’t need any more money.”

“Am I mishearing you? You don’t need the money?”

“Kronos is your organization. I have no problem with you being in charge, you can run it. I won’t do it.”

Kyle was reluctant, but agreed to bring up the matter to the other sixteen at the next study session.

“Are you bored with the market?”

“I’m not bored, I’m tired. I don’t want to make money off of other people’s resentment.”

“…… Hmm. Your abilities are good enough to succeed as a market maker, but you may not be the right person for the job. There is no such thing as a market maker who doesn’t kick others down the road.”

“I have no motive to go that far to make money.”

“Motive? I’m sure there are plenty of motivations: big houses, sports cars, luxury yachts, fancy parties, Hollywood actresses on the rise, never-ending accolades, ever-expanding businesses and influence. I’m sure there are plenty.”

“I’m not really interested.”

“I don’t understand the thinking of people like you at all. If wealth and honor are not your goals, then why are you making all this money?”

“I don’t understand what you’re living for. So, what’s the second thing you want?”

Kyle shrugged his shoulders and sat back on the couch, his expression softening slightly.

“Someone I met by chance at a party hosted by the Gamerian Navy and Air Force last month wants to meet you. Do you know who it is?”

“The Gamerian Navy and Air Force ……?”

I don’t know anyone in the military in this country.

“I’ll give you a hint. A very attractive woman.”

“A …… soldier and a woman?”

Getting more and more confusing. Kyle smiled brightly and spoke.

“I called you here today. The reason is to use you as an excuse for the girl and I to get to know each other better. When night falls, you can go home, and the lady and I will stay here and enjoy the scenery and other things until morning.”

Kuroto nodded profoundly and lifted his face in disgust.

“I’m calling it a night. Can I leave now?”

“No.”

“You’re just trying to seduce her. Don’t use me as an excuse.”

“You can help me, right? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, and I’m in love at first sight. She is undoubtedly one of the most interesting, lovely and intelligent girls I have ever met.”

He had no idea who she knew. Generally speaking, Kyle is very popular. In the last two years alone, when he began to make a name for himself on Fall Street, he has been involved with more than a dozen models and actresses, and has had more lovers than he can count on two hands.”

“Models and actresses are like dull country girls in front of her. She has a different level of grace and intelligence. I want to make her mine, even if I have to leave all my current lovers.”

Kuroto looks at Kyle from afar with a suspicious look on his face as he coolly expresses his shallow desire. He knew that Gamerian men were fond of women, but even so, they had no sense of control.

And then the phone rang. Kyle lifted the phone, nodded twice, and smiled.

“She’s here. When she’s enraptured by my authority and wealth, I’ll send a signal, and you can leave right away. Is that clear?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be leaving as soon as you say hello.”

Just as he was replying with a disappointed look on his face, the oak door opened and the invited guests stepped into the office.

“…………?”

The guest was beyond Kuroto’s imagination.

But at a glance, he knew who it was.

“You ……!?”

“Hey. Long time no see, Kuroto.”

The woman who walked into the office was none other than Izaya, dressed in the uniform of the Anasting Naval and Air Force Academy, the most difficult school in Gameria.

Even Kuroto was flabbergasted to see his childhood friend, who had kicked him down an embankment after proposing to her six years earlier.

Why is Izaya in Gameria? And why is she wearing the uniform of the enemy academy?

“What’s with that face? It is not unusual for royalty to study abroad.”

A corner of his mind understood what was going on when he was told this while slumping over. Since the opening of the country, the royal family has been encouraging royal children to study abroad, and Gameria’s Anasting Naval and Air Force Academy was a particularly popular destination. The reason why Gameria accepted a princess from a hypothetical enemy country was because after the war, they could say, “We asked for friendship, but you came at us. As proof of this, we accepted your princess to study abroad before the war started.”

“Welcome Izaya, you look even more beautiful today.”

Before Kuroto could react, Kyle walked up to Izaya and smiled flatteringly.

Izaya gave Kyle a quick glance and, without changing her expression said,

“Thank you for the invitation. It’s a lively office. I guess this is what an investor’s office looks like.”

Izaya looked at the chalkman scribbling quotes on the blackboard, the broker on the phone, and the ticker machine rhythmically spitting out tape, and nodded.

“The night view from here is beautiful, though not as beautiful as you. Take some time to relax with your friend Kuroto. Have a seat on the sofa. Would you like a drink?”

Izaya’s expression and demeanor did not change at all as she continued to breathe through Kyle’s words.

“No, actually, I don’t have time. I’d like to borrow Kuroto for a while. You don’t mind, do you?”

Her crimson eyes were fixed on Kuroto.

The look in her eyes unintentionally overwhelmed Kuroto.

It was not only the shock of Izaya’s sudden appearance here that had prevented him from speaking earlier.

He was intimidated by the appearance of the sixteen-year-old Izaya.

What the hell, man.

Grayish-white short jacket, skirt and boots, the appearance is that of an ordinary female Gamerian officer, but her presence is indeed that of the first princess, with an extraordinary radiance overflowing from within, like a spirit, angel or goddess.

Since ancient times, the royal families of Hinoo have had the most beautiful princesses of their time serve in their palaces to pass on their genes of beauty. Beauty was one of the most important qualities for a ruler, as he needed to rule the people with sanctity. In the Middle Ages, villages were established to produce beautiful girls for the royal court, and as time went on, the practice took on a more magical aspect. It is said that the birth of an ugly girl could even be traced back to the third degree of kinship and would be abandoned.

Izaya was also clad in a beautiful robe of feathers that had been woven over 2,600 years by the persistence of the royal family.

Her silvery white hair was like a mountain stream, her red eyes were filled with thousands of burning stars, and her lips were tight and glossy. There is something unique about Izaya in the way each part of her is put together, as if her mere presence here cleanses the atmosphere. If you stare at her, you can almost see through her, and if you poke her, she will shatter in a splash of seven colors.

He knew about it from his childhood, since she and Kuroto share the same bloodline. He’s used to the beauty that makes the common people bow down to her, so he’s not going to be pressured now. ……However, Kuroto was now using all of his willpower to remain calm and unaware of his quickening heartbeat.

Izaya, however, was unconcerned with Kuroto’s inner turmoil and looked at him suspiciously.

“What’s with your face?”

“…… Nothing ……. You caught me off guard…… .”

Izaya smiled triumphantly with a snort and said,

“You’ve grown taller. Your eyes are even worse than before.”

She stares straight at Kuroto from up close with a pleasant smile on her face.

This time, Kuroto rebuffed Izaya’s words with a snort.

“What’s this about……?”

“Hmm. Well, it can’t be done here. Let’s talk outside.”

Without even the slightest hint of Kyle’s intentions, Izaya easily lost interest in the office and tried to lead Kuroto out.

“……………………”

Kuroto only looked at Kyle. Kyle, with disappointment evident on his face,

“Don’t tell me you’re leaving already? At the very least, have a cup of tea.”

“I’m sorry, I really don’t have time for that, thank you for the invitation. Let’s go, Kuroto.”

After cutting off Kyle’s invitation, Izaya got Kuroto’s approval and quickly left the room. When Kyle looked at him with resentment, Kuroto shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’ve done nothing wrong,” and got into the elevator with Izaya.

“Since we’re in the Empire State Building, let’s go to the observation deck. It’s my first time in New York.”

Izaya got off the elevator at the 80th floor and presented the attendant with two tickets to the observation deck on the 86th floor, which she had apparently prepared in advance.

Overruling Kuroto’s complaint that they should have stayed in Kyle’s office if they wanted to see the view, Izaya silently walked over to the open-air observation deck of the Empire State Building accompanied by Kuroto.

“Mmm. It feels good.”

Izaya smiled with satisfaction as she looked over the high iron fence that faced the Manhattan skyline.

“………………”

Kuroto, meanwhile, silently looked down at the New York skyline below. In the blue sky of March, a tapestry of skyscrapers resembled a forest of swords being thrust up by soldiers. The endless expanse of concrete buildings is so high and so cold, that it perhaps represented the never-ending desires of the Gamerian people.

Izaya gazed into the distance.

“About two months ago, I read an article about you in the newspaper. To be honest, I was surprised. I’d heard that you’d moved to Gameria, but I didn’t expect to find you trading stocks in Fall Street. It seems that you are quite active.”

Kuroto bent his mouth into a frown, shrugged his shoulders and said,

” It’ s only natural, given my abilities.”

“You’re as confident as ever.”

” My confidence turned to certainty. I am after all an all-powerful genius, and my ideals will always come true.”

Izaya laughed a little as he spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

” Your body has grown, but you are still the same inside. I’m relieved. I was worried that you might have turned into a real monster after being tortured in a foreign land, but my fears were unfounded. Is Uncle Takehiko all right?”

“I haven’t heard from him since he disappeared five years ago. I hope he is still alive.”

Izaya’s expression grew weary when he answered.

“Five years ago, you were eleven years old at ……. I don’t know how you’ve managed to live on your own.”

“I’m a genius, so it’s no problem. It was rather convenient for me to have less baggage.”

He said with a slumped look, and then asked.

“So, what do you want?”

“What? Oh, …… um. It’s …… something.”

Izaya was unusually stuttering to say something.

Kuroto waited for her to continue with a slightly dubious expression.

After a while, Izaya gave Kuroto an unsettled look.

“…… I thought you might have a grudge against me.”

“…………?”

“…… That time. ……I told my family members about what you did, and as a result…… the Kuronomiya family was forced to leave the royal family.”

Kuroto immediately understood what Izaya was trying to say.

Six years ago, Kuroto had proposed to Izaya and was kicked down the embankment. Later, a representative of the royal family visited the Kuronomiya family and decided to destroy them. When Kuroto had proposed to Izaya, he had told her that he would eliminate Prince Kazuma and that he would become the King.

Kuroto’s face reflected his disgust.

“You’re worried about that?”

Izaya lifted her eyes upward as if to examine him.

“But……. If I didn’t tell them, you might not have been forced to leave the kingdom.”

Kuroto chuckled.

“I’m not going to lie, my parents’ cowardice is first class. That evening’s dinner at the Kuronomiya household was a bad-mouthing contest by the royal family. Whether you told them or not, the servants would have tipped them off and the house would have been destroyed anyway.”

He retorted. The fact that the Kuronomiya family was accused of high treason by the mass media was caused by his father, Takehiko, and his mother, Kaoru. It was their fault. There was no need for Izaya to worry about it.

Izaya looked up at Kuroto for a moment, then nodded and said,

“………… I see. If that’ s what you believe ……”

“I didn’t remember any of that. I was so busy living my life that I didn’t have time to look at the past.”

He didn’t even bother to mention that he was wrapped up in a thin blanket in a shack in Los Angeles on cold and hungry nights, reminiscing about Izaya’s smile.

Izaya’s expression softened a little.

“…… I see. That’s good. I’m relieved.”

She then smiled faintly at him.

Kuroto’s innermost thoughts creaked at that smile. For some reason, the fact that Izaya had been troubled by a trivial past that he had forgotten had softened his heart.

“You came all the way here from Anasting for such a trivial errand?”

He tried to shake off the sentimentality by talking down on the subject.

“I have a graduation ceremony in two weeks. After the graduation ceremony, I’m going to go back to Hinoo. I thought it would be a good idea to see you before I go back. I’ll be working on a warship at Hinoo, so I might not see you again.”

“……………………”

Kuroto listened to the words of his childhood friend in silence. If Kuroto remained in Gameria, they would certainly never see each other again. In the event that he returns to Hinoo, he will be a criminal guilty of high treason, while Izaya will a target of suspicion for usurping the throne. In a country that respects the dignity of the royal family, it is impossible for a rebel and a princess to meet face to face.

“Are you finished with your business?”

“Aah. It was good seeing you.”

They both looked directly at each other and said that.

There was a gust of wind.

He hesitated, wondering if he should just raise his hand and leave.

I might not be able to see her again.

That’s what he thought. When he had been at the academy, Izaya had always been accompanied by her servants, and the two of them had explored the city together until nightfall, using various means to outsmart the servants in order to spend time together. Wandering the streets with Izaya was a joyous time, and many times he wished the sun would never set.

Now, Izaya and him are in a foreign land with no servants, with the wind blowing in their faces.

No matter how many times he and Izaya wandered around the city, there was no one to stop them.

“……………………”

Izaya is silently looking at Kuroto in her crimson eyes.

Kuroto looked out of the corner of his eye, staring at the city in the distance.

“You’ve come all this way on a trivial errand ………….”

He tried to prolong the conversation.

“That’s not the main reason I’m here. Mr. McVille kept asking me to come, and I wanted to see New York before I left. I came to see you while I was there, that’s all.”

Izaya protested in frustration. Kuroto sniffled.

“You’re so carefree. In the past, you had to have a servant with you wherever you went.

” They’ re still following me. They are waiting for my return at the foot of this building.”

Kuroto understood what was going on. That’ s why Izaya had invited him to the observatory.

“You used to be able to outsmart the servants.”

“Aaah. It brings back memories.”

It was thrilling and fun to fool the adults, and they even ate and saw plays, which was forbidden in those days. Every time she came home, Izaya would get scolded, but she never gave up and the two of them worked out a plan together again and again, succeeding each time, and having a good time.

“Can we still do that?”

“Yes. Shall we?”

“Hmm. I can help you.”

All right, said Izaya, holding out one hand. Kuroto grabbed her hand back.

“Okay. Don’t let go.”

Then Izaya closed her eyes and stopped moving.

As a child, he didn’t think anything of it, but now he felt a little embarrassed. He stood there with one hand clasped together, careful not to let anyone speak to Izaya. Kuroto knew that Izaya’s mind and body would be affected if she lost concentration in this state.

After a while, holding hands and closing her eyes, Izaya announced.

“There are three of them in the lobby on the second floor and one at the entrance on the first floor. If you take the elevator down, we’ ll be caught.

“Okay.”

“I’ll be back. Hold my hand.”

Izaya was talking right in front of Kuroto, but her perspective was down in the first floor lobby. If Kuroto lets go of Izaya’s hand, she will not be able to return to her perspective, and Izaya will fall into unconsciousness for a day or a week.

Five minutes later.

Izaya’s long eyelashes lifted as she exhaled a long, puffy breath. She unclasped her hands, and with a hint of youthful exhaustion in her crimson eyes, told him.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done this. I’m a little tired.”

“Are you still doing this with Rio?”

“Only when I have to. I don’t want to risk it because of the physical and mental discomfort. So what do we do now?”

“We can take the stairs down and get around the servants. It’s a bit of a long walk down.”

“The boots are all right, let’s go.”

Izaya and Kuroto looked at each other and chuckled.

Izaya is able to detach her perspective from her body to get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area and examine the situation at specific points in detail. However, because Izaya will not be able to return without someone she trusts to hold her hand, she does not tell anyone about her abilities. Only her childhood friends, Kuroto and Rio, know about it.

“It’s still a ridiculous power.”

As they walked safely out of the Empire State Building and down Madison Avenue, Kuroto told Izaya beside him.

” I’ m tired from using it. Now I’ m hungry.

Izaya blurted out, not paying attention to the luxury brand stores that lined the street. Incidentally, Izaya lost her hair color in exchange for this remote clairvoyant ability.

“I lost my hair pigment in exchange for this remote clairvoyant ability. Don’t complain.”

“I am not complaining. In Hinoo, it’s hard for you to stand out. Your sensitive skin can’t be exposed without touching it or rubbing it.

“Hey!!”

Izaya suddenly tickled his side, and Kuroto turned his voice around and jumped back. Izaya laughed happily and said,

“You’re still the same. Good.”

“What’s good about that? Don’t do it again. Next time I’ll be angry.”

“All right, I’m sorry. I just got nostalgic.”

Laughing, Izaya faked a smile and looked up at the sky.

It was almost five o’clock in the afternoon, and the narrow sky, cut off from the rest of the world by the sky tower, was about to take on a reddish hue.

“There’s a place that serves good hot dogs. Shall we go?”

” Oh, that sounds good. I’d like to go to a place like that.”

Izaya agreed with a twinkle in his eye.

“Let’s take a short walk.

Izaya nodded happily and lightened her step as Kuroto told her.

The two of them soon entered the Lower East Side, where many dockworkers lived. The people on the street were becoming less well-dressed, and the number of stores for people of color was increasing. The area seemed to be unsafe, but Kuroto didn’t show any sign of fear as he walked nonchalantly.

“You still can’t eat what you want?”

“Yeah. As usual, I just eat what I’m told and do what I’m told.”

According to Izaya, she was given special treatment at the Anasting Military Academy, where the dormitories were luxurious and reserved for noblemen, and her personal care was still taken care of by the servants who came with her from Hinoo.

“It’s a confining situation.”

“You’re free, aren’t you?

“Yea. I’m completely free. I’m so glad I left the kingdom.”

Izaya’s eyes darkened with envy as she said this sincerely and slumped down.

“I wish I could be free.”

Kuroto didn’t fail to overhear Izaya’s true feelings.

“That’s a problematic statement.”

“It’s off the record. Let it slide.”

“I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. We’re here.”

Kuroto stopped at an old, narrow store in a back alley with a sign that read, “Jesse’s”. Beer kegs were lined up in front of the store, and dockworkers were using the kegs as tables to wash down their hot dogs with beer. It was a diner for the low-income class, with stray dogs waiting to take a bite out of customers, but the eyes of the first princess of the royal family sparkled.

“Ooh …… yes, this is the kind of place I wanted to come to!”

Kuroto understood that as an eldest son of the old imperial family. It was only after he came to this country that he himself began to enter the stores of the common people. He now prefers the hot dogs at this store to the more formal and expensive restaurants.

The restaurant is small, with only counter seats, and men with badly shaped beards. They stare at each other and whistle at the lovely Izaya. Thanks to his silvery-white hair, she doesn’t look like a Hinoo person, and she gives Kuroto a look of resentment, saying, “You’re a Yap, and you’ve got a white woman with you.”

When they sat down on the chairs at the counter, they were so close to each other that their shoulders bumped into each other. Izaya inhaled the cigarette smoke and the smell of alcohol without complaint. They ordered two chili dogs, chicken gumbo, and two Cokes from the black lady behind the counter.

“Their chili dogs are the best.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Do you ever go out on your days off?”

“I sometimes go out under the watchful eye of the servants, but I can’t go into any of the common stores. This is the first time in the two years I’ve been in Gameria that I’ve been out without a servant.”

”I see,” Kuroto said, giving a short nod and looking back on his five and a half years in Gameria. There was racism everywhere, but they were free. He felt sorry for Izaya, who was bound by her status even after coming abroad.

With a smile on her face, the hostess handed them a loaf of bread with a thick sausage between it, chopped onions, pickles, and their signature thick chili sauce.

“Ooooo ……. It looks good, but it’s big. Will we be able to eat it?”

Izaya looked at the chili dog, which was as big as her face, for a moment with a shocked expression.

“Itadakimasu”

Izaya opened her mouth wide and took a bite. She took a big bite and chewed it several times, then her white cheeked face shone brightly.

“It’s delicious!”

“Right! I was surprised the first time, too!”

“What’s in this? It’s so good!”

Izaya pounced on the chili dog with all the vigor of a wild dog and ate half of it in no time at all.

“Isn’t a chili dog a miracle?”

“By the way, the gumbo is good too.”

Kuroto also recommended Izaya to try the southern Gameria specialty, a soup full of spices.

“Aaaa! It’s delicious.”

Izaya gobbled up everything that was served to him with innocent glee.

“It was the best meal I’ve had in Gameria.

Izaya smiles at Kuroto as she sips her Coke with satisfaction.

“Mmm. I also think this place is far better than those expensive restaurants.”

“I envy you. You get to eat this kind of food every day.”

“Your words sound like those of a poor man.”

“If I could eat like this, I wouldn’t mind it. I I wish I could eat like this in Hinoo.”

“I miss Hinoo’s food. I want to eat salmon onigiri, pork cutlet on rice and curry.”

Remembering Hinoo’s food, Kuroto got a faraway look in his eyes. He hasn’t eaten hot, freshly cooked rice in years.

“What are you going to do now? Are you going to live in Gameria forever?”

Izaya asked from up close with a straw in her mouth.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and slumped down.

“I don’t actually have anything in mind.”

“What?”

“I’ve already made enough money. If I cash out all of my financial assets, I can live the rest of my life in a lavish fashion. I feel like that would be fine, but it’s also true that it’s not satisfying.”

“Hmm.”

“In the five and a half years since I came to Gameria, I’ve convinced and proven that I have a special ability. The next question is what should I do with this power, but there isn’t anything I want to do.”

“Don’t you plan to continue being a market maker?”

“No. I’ve got it all figured out. That’ s the honest truth.I don’t want to end up like the evil spirits of rivers and mountains of Fall Street. I realized that those people who live in mansions and drive luxury cars are really just pathetic monsters who are constantly adding to their own possessions and need to kick others down. I don’t want to be like that.”

Izaya looked at Kuroto curiously as he stared into the void and told her such a thing.

“I’m surprised. I was expecting you to be a wealthy man, making a big deal out of yourself and stomping on everyone around you.”

“I’ve seen people like that in real life, and I don’t want to be like them. It’s not beautiful.”

Izaya chimed in admiringly.

“You’ve changed a bit, haven’t you?”

“Yeah? Well, I’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah. You’re just a little more mature.”

Izaya’s expression softened slightly, and she smiled at Kuroto.

Kuroto spat and turned his head away.

“…… What about you? What are you going to do when you get back in Hinoo?”

“I’m going to spend a year or so aboard the “Ibuki”, a ship that reports directly to the royal family. What I will do after that has not yet been decided. If the commander-in-chief approves of my work, I’ll be made captain, but I’m not sure what will happen.”

Kuroto knew the name “Ibuki”. The genius shipbuilder, Dr. Izuru Yamaga, received special permission from the Minister of the Navy to design a heavy-lightning, flying destroyer, which he designed with the full realization of his long cherished fantasy. It has an extraordinary strike power of forty guns with ten ports. However, its design concept is too different from other ships and its maximum speed is too slow to join the air and navy squadron, so it is an “outlier” that was forced to be allowed to act alone on the battlefield as a ship directly under the imperial family. The crew was also a collection of people who had been bullied or ostracized on other ships. For naval and air force officers, being assigned to the Ibuki meant the end of their careers.

“I think I can become a captain. The “Ibuki” is mostly a public relations ship. The military commanders are going to make me and Rio captain and vice-captain and use us as propaganda, saying that the people should give their blood money because two princesses are giving their lives.

There was a hint of self-mockery in Izaya’s words. The cool Izaya and the energetic Rio go well together. The three of them would sometimes play together, with Kuroto joining in.

Kuroto muttered to himself as he compared Rio’s cheerful smile to Izaya’s profile, who was now standing beside him.

“It’s a sacrificial goat, isn’t it?”

“I will not deny it. The Queen said to me, ‘In this war, you will die.'”

In other words, Izaya would become the captain of the Ibuki after her mother told her to die. It’s not easy being a member of the royal family, but Kuroto realized that a part of him was in terrible pain.

I don’t want you to die.

Hearing his own whispering, Kuroto was perplexed. He did not know why he was thinking such a thing. However, the bottom of his heart was tightening up and he could not speak.

Izaya looked at the clock on the wall. It was 6:30 pm.

“If we don’t get back to the hotel, the servants might go crazy. I have to go now.”

When he asked for the address of the hotel, Kuroto realized it was just past his office and home. He paid and tipped the hostess and left.

“It’s the same way. I’ll walk you home.”

“Sure. Please.”

It was completely dark outside, and the street lights were on. There were a lot of headlights on the street, and workers who had been ejected from their buildings were walking home fast.”

It was a short time, but he enjoyed talking and eating with Izaya. Kuroto wished this time would never end, but he didn’t show it in his attitude. The two of them walked along the street at night, exchanging light words with a feeling of loneliness in their hearts.

As they walked along the street at night, a group of white boys suddenly shouted at him.

“Hey, Yap has a human woman!”

They probably didn’t find it amusing that Kuroto, who was about the same age as them, was wearing an expensive suit and carrying a pretty girl with silvery white hair. He ignored them and walked on by, but a series of harsh words were thrown at his back.

“Don’t wear a suit, monkey!” “Don’t breathe, you’ll yellow the air!” “This is a human town, get your ass back to Monkey Mountain!”

Kuroto is so used to this that he decides to ignore it, but Izaya’s expression at his side quickly turns angry.

Izaya, who is always protected by his servant, does not look like a Hint woman, and is given special treatment as a foreign guest at the Anasting Academy, has no tolerance for this kind of racism. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand why I’ve been so impressed with your work.

“!?”

“Stop it. Let’s go.”

He pulled Izaya’s hand away and left the scene. From behind him, ” Don’t you dare run away, you cowardly monkey!” “Don’t you regret it, monkey!”. But Kuroto didn’t pay any attention to them, and simply grabbed Izaya’s hand and walked away.

” Kuroto ……”

“If you take him on, you lose. If it turns into a brawl, we are the ones who will be punished.”

“That’s not true …….”

“That’s the way it is in this country. Be patient.”

Kuroto walked quickly, not looking back. Izaya, with Kuroto’s hand on his shoulder, lifted her face in frustration.

“…… is something like this normal?”

Kuroto took one look at her expression and looked forward again.

“There are stupid kids in every country.”

“Even so.”

“You’ll have to teach them a lesson one day. Hinoo people are humans just like them.”

Izaya gazed at Kuroto’s back as he walked with his head firmly forward.

His back looked much stronger than it had in the past.

Izaya grasped his hand once more and walked side by side with Kuroto.

“Nuuu.”

Kuroto finally realized that they had been holding hands for a while and hurriedly let go.

Izaya looked at Kuroto with some dissatisfaction.

Then suddenly, words came out of her mouth that even Izaya had not expected.

“Isn’t that what you should do?”

She asked.

Hmm? Izaya looked back at Kuroto with a straight face.

“To remind the Gamerians that Hinoo people are human.”

“……………………”

“It is up to you to decide what means you will use. You have a special ability to do that.”

He said straightforwardly, without a hint of mockery.

Kuroto returned his grim eyes to the end of the road.

“…… Fumu.”

He replied with the tip of his nose and continued on his way.

There’s something buzzing in his chest.

It was a strange feeling, as if Izaya’s words had become a wedge, and something huge that had been sleeping inside of him had quietly awakened.

No matter how many victories he had in the Fall Street, his inner self had not moved a muscle, but now it was about to make a big move. He could feel it.

“………… Kuroto?”

Izaya, who may have noticed the change, called out suspiciously.

Kuroto walked around, trying to determine the identity of the intense feeling that was rising from within.

” Izaya?”

“Yes.”

“Who should I be from now on?”

He asked, unsure of his own state.

Izaya, who was walking beside him, said with a sincere expression.

“I don’t know.”

“……………………”

“But you’re free. You can be anything you want to be.”

She said this with a serious look and then relaxed her cheeks, looking a little embarrassed.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to have been born a princess of Hinoo. I may be limited, but I know the way forward.”

“…… Is a war death the way to go?”

“Oh. It is the destiny of those born into the royal family.”

As he looked into Izaya’s eyes, Kuroto thought back on his own life and felt unworthy. Even though he was born with an abundance of abilities, he could not see any way forward.

He couldn’t even grasp what the unidentifiable urge that was surging from within was trying to say to him.

As he walked along, feeling frustrated, they finally arrived in front of Kuroto’s office. Izaya’s hotel was just up ahead.

“This is my office.”

His office was a tall, rented tenement. It was one of those long, narrow buildings you see all over the Lower East Side. On the outside, the building looks like a rundown apartment building, but all the windows are bulletproof because sometimes the residents of Fall Street who are jealous of Kuroto’s success throw stones at him or shoot at him. All the staff had gone home by now, so there was no one around.

“It’s pretty shabby.”

“Hmm. It’s a pain in the ass to move in.”

Izaya and him stood side by side and looked up at the office.

It would be a shame to leave her here.

Do you want to go up? He thought about asking her, but was too embarrassed to say anything.

As the two of them stood side by side looking at the rundown apartment in silence like two dumb children, a poor man suddenly jumped out in front of him.

” Kuroto ……? It’s Kuroto, isn’t it?

A middle-aged poor man in rags, thin, with overgrown hair and beard, and a foul odor, tried to shake Kuroto’s hand, with tears streaming down his face.

“…………!”

The poor man’s face was crumpled in tears of emotion.

“I’ve been waiting for you since I read about you in the newspaper, don’t you recognize me?”

The poor man stroked his face, pulled his long hair back with his hand, and smiled, tears and snot staining his face.

He recognized this lax, sloppy smile.

“Father, ……?

It was his father, Takehiko, who disappeared five years ago, leaving eleven-year-old Kuroto behind. The former head of the Kuronomiya family, who has become a complete pauper, approaches Kuroto with his stick-like arms outstretched, ready to embrace him.

Kuroto rejected his father by stepping back and said to his father,

“You are alive!? That’s …… it’s. I’m glad to hear that……”

With no particular emotion, he alternately looked at his father, who was dirty and thin, and Izaya, who stood pouting. He tried to introduce them to each other.

” Izaya. This is my father. He’s alive. Father, as you probably know, this is Princess Izaya Shironomiya.”

“Oh, yes. …… It’s been a while, Uncle.”

Takehiko looked at Izaya with a startled expression.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is this, Your Highness? Why are you in Gameria? Did you by any chance accept Kuroto’s proposal?”

Without sensing the mood, he relentlessly rehashed the past, which he didn’t need to. He paid no attention to Kuroto, while Izaya had stopped moving.

“It’s a good match for you! Please accept Kuroto as an adopted son-in-law of the royal family, please, please!”

It seems that his brain, which has always been bad, has gotten worse over the past five years. He just slammed his delusions straight down on Izaya.

” Oh, uh, ……. No. It’s not like that at al,…….”

Izaya’s cheeks blushed and she looked at Kuroto as if she was troubled.

Kuroto looked at the street with a sigh and stopped the cab that was coming.

“I’m sorry, Izaya. You can leave now. I’ll take my father into the office.”

“Oh, yeah…….”

“See you soon. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

Izaya looked down a little sadly, but quickly regained her sturdy expression and smiled at Kuroto.

“……Ah. I’ll see you again. It was a short time, but I had a lot of fun today.”

She has a smile that makes the atmosphere itself glow, which is different from her usual interesting and tight expression.

The smile, which came as a surprise, shot through the center of Kuroto.

He groaned inaudibly.

Tskk, Cute.

He put on his best face to keep his inner turmoil from being perceived.

“Take care of yourself.”

“Yes. I hope you find your way.”

With that, Izaya settled into the back of the cab and drove off into the night.

“Oh, Kuroto. Kuroto……. I’m glad to see you’re doing so well,……, stopping a cab all by yourself. I heard that you have fifty million dollars? That’ll pay off my debts in no time at all. You’re my son, Kuroto ……”

“Father, I understand. Please come to the office. ……”

He took his crying father in his arms and walked up the stainless steel stairs in front of the rundown apartment building. Rather than being happy to see him again, he was more worried about leaving Izaya and hoped he wouldn’t bring any trouble with him.

◆

Four months later…

July had arrived, and as the air conditioning in the rickety office began to roar, Kuroto’s angry voice echoed through the trading room.

“Father! Another arbitrary transaction!”

With his nape hanging in the air, he shouted at his father from up close.

He spat out the orange juice he had been drinking, wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his expensive suit, and lifted his puzzled eyes from the sofa.

“No, don’t worry, Kuroto. It’ s going to be profitable, after all, it has Kyle’s seal of approval. You’ll make money, I promise you.”

Kuroto’s eyes bared in anger.

“I hear you’re shorting Thorn Dark! I told you not to do that!”

“But how can I not do it when everyone else in Kronos is doing it……?”

“I told you not to use my money without my permission! Father is penniless, isn’t he? And that’s a lot of money!”

Kuroto’s main account is diverted from the account that Takehiko opened when he immigrated to Gameria, so Takehiko can take Kuroto’s money in and out at will. This has happened several times in the past, but the amounts were so small that we turned a blind eye. But this time it was more than $10 million, and he couldn’t overlook it.

“You can’t talk to your father like that! I’m broke and I’m trying to win! Don’t worry, if this works, you’ll get your money back plus 20 million dollars! You’ve got to ride this big wave, Kuroto! Trust your father!”

Takehiko finally relented and gave him a thumbs up with a smile on his face.

Kuroto was tempted to lament why this man was his father, but he suppressed his emotions when he noticed JJ and the other staff members looking at them with amusement.

Once you’ve shorted a stock, you can’t buy it back before the price drops. Once you sell a stock, you have to wait for the right time to make a profit.

“When is the deadline for buyback?”

” Let’s see, August 8th.”

“What!?”

There’s only a little less than a month left. Kuroto hurriedly checked the price movements of Thorn Dark’s stock in the brokerage firm’s data. For the past month, the price has been hovering around seven hundred dollars and has not moved. Four months ago, the stock price was $350, but after Kyle’s massive buying spree, it nearly doubled. But now it has stopped moving and is showing signs of going down.

It’ s time to sell.

If Kuroto was Kyle, he would sell his Thorn Dark shares now. Kyle would make twice as much as he invested, the price would collapse even more, and all of us, including Kronos who sold short, would make a lot of money. And yet, for some reason, Kyle refuses to budge. If the price doesn’t collapse in another month, he’ll have to buy back the shares he shorted at a higher price, and Kronos will be dealt a fatal blow.

“Why isn’t Kyle moving?”

He asked JJ, the number one member of Kronos.

“He’s reluctant to sell, saying it’s still going up. I’d like to see him sell soon, but he’s the chief, so he must have an idea.”

JJ was at ease, putting all his trust in Kyle.

Kuroto couldn’t help but be curious. The 28,000 shares that his father had bought were the source of a huge profit, but also brought with it the risk of financial ruin. The losses from buying are limited to the amount invested, but the losses from short selling have no ceiling, and once you lose, you could be saddled with a huge debt.

“I’m going to Kyle’s.”

Unable to stay, Kuroto put on his hunting cap and called a cab.

“Okay, I’ll go with you.”

“Don’t follow me!”

Rejecting his father like a plague god, he left the office alone.

◆

In his office on the eighty-fifth floor of the Empire State Building, Kyle welcomed Kuroto with a smile and offered him a couch.

“Mr. Takehiko did a short sale of $10 million. He’s the biggest investor in Kronos. You’ve got a great father. He’ s so bold, he’s not afraid of risk at all.

Kuroto couldn’t have looked more disappointed.

“He doesn’t have any idea what he’s doing. I’m concerned about it, so just sell already.”

Kyle scratched his head apologetically as he began to explain his problem.

” About that. The company president who approached me about this was quite a pest.”

“…………?”

“There are 300,000 shares of Thorn Dark stock on the market. I’ve already bought 290,000 of them. There are only 10,000 shares left, so there’s no way the price will fall any further.”

“……………………”

“When the deadline comes, Kronos will have to buy back what he sold short. The stock price will go up as he buys back the few remaining shares on the market, and it will quickly reach an unbelievably high price. If I sell my 290,000 shares at that point, Kronos will have to buy them back, no matter how expensive they are. In other words, all of Kronos will have to take on an astronomical debt in order to buy my overpriced shares.”

As he listened, Kuroto’s back began to swell. If Kyle doesn’t do anything, Kronos will go beyond broke and become one of the biggest debtors in Fall Street.

“Sell it quickly!”

He shouted at him, but Kyle didn’t lose the calm and relaxed demeanor typical of an upper-class white man.

“That’s the point. If I care about my friends, I should sell now, but if I don’t and wait for the deadline, I can probably make a profit of 300 million to 1 billion dollars. If I betray my friends and take all their assets, I’ll be one step closer to becoming the King of Fall Street. God is cruel, isn’t he? What a tough choice. It’s been really bothering me lately, I couldn’t sleep until after ten o’clock at night.”

Kuroto turned pale and looked at Kyle, who said this with a healthy complexion.

” …………………… Hey. ……………… You can’ t be serious ……… ……………”

“You can take Kronos’s friends or you can take a billion dollars. Now, Kuroto, if you were in this situation, what would you do?”

Kyle said smilingly and looked at Kuroto.

The smile on his face indicated that he had already made his decision.

Kuroto replied slowly, his face pale.

“I’m not going to pretend to be a good guy. But I’m not going to act shallowly either. A person who cheats others and steals their wealth to enrich himself is no better than an animal.”

But Kyle’s smile never faltered.

“The demonic spirits that live in the Fall Street are not strangers. The evil spirits of rivers and mountains living in Fall Street are just like that.”

“Do you know what shame is?”

“Use your head to outsmart your rivals and make money. Isn’t that the basis of business?”

Kyle’s choice was already apparent.

He would not sell his shares until Thorn Dark’s stock had skyrocketed, and he would use the Kronos members as a pawn to make himself a few hundred million dollars. It is not humanly possible for Kronos to take on an astronomical debt for his feelings, even though Kronos responded to Kyle’s request for help and initiated the short sale.

This guy is possessed by a monster.

A pathetic monster whose goal is to expand itself …….

Kuroto was more than stunned. He was weak.

He even lost the will to look up.

What the hell is this guy?

What the hell is this town?

“Kuroto, this is your last lesson. Do not believe in friendship on Fall Street. Congratulations, you’ve completed your studies at Fall Street University. I know you will rise again. Don’t let this stop you from getting back up and coming at me. I’ll take you seriously and get you into debt again.”

In spite of the fact that he had pushed his partner ( Kuroto ) who had been with him for more than four years to the depths of hell, Kyle put on a fresh smile and put his pride on his chest as if to say that this was the way of life of a market maker.

Kuroto’s consciousness involuntarily left his body and almost wandered into the air.

His humanity is so far removed that he can’t understand it at all.

“Are you insane?”

“Maybe I’m crazy. But I’ m having a great time.”

“This is fun?

“Oh, yeah. I’m very happy. Soon I will be the King of Fall Street. The king of world finance, the richest man in the world.”

Kyle’s eyes began to glow with a mysterious light as he wobbled his crossed legs.

The out of tune melody of a series of mismatched chords drifted into Kuroto’s ears. It was a broken melody, like a broken music box, that he had heard when he first met Kyle.

“I just couldn’t get Izaya out of my mind”

Kyle suddenly veers off on a tangent.

Kuroto lifted his tired face, looking suspicious.

“I liked her even more when she came to my office the other day with her curt attitude. I really like the way she behaved, her every gesture was like a particle of light. It must be the inherent desire of the male organism to dominate such a vivacious, intelligent and graceful woman.”

What the hell is this guy talking about?

“It seems that she is the first princess of Hinono, right? Now that I’ve got everything, I can’t help but want what I can’t have.”

He managed to understand what Kyle was trying to say, and once again, Kuroto felt weak from the bottom of his heart.

“Hey, pedophile.”

” What is it, yellow monkey?”

“Don’t call Izaya names with your rotten mouth. It’s disgusting.”

Kyle looked up at the ceiling and laughed.

“You’re jealous. That’s unusual. Are you also in love with Izaya after all?”

Kuroto with a barely perceptible sneer.

“She’s just a childhood friend. I know her well, but I also know her temperament. A despicable lowlife like you is not even in Izaya’s mind.”

Kyle glared at Kuroto’s anger with a superior glare.

“I see. Kuroto, it seems that we are in a love triangle.”

”Oh? A soundless breath escaped from Kuroto.

“Fall Street’s financial magnate, the first princess of Hinoo, and a penniless criminal. It’s a triangular relationship that transcends national borders, woven by three people with completely different positions and statuses. A love story on a grand scale is about to begin here and now.”

The moment he said that, he was pissed.

“There is no such relationship!”

“It’s about to begin, aren’t you excited?”

“That’s not going to happen! Let me tell you, a royal cannot enter into a marriage of his own free will. It is up to the royal family to decide who to marry, and Izaya has no choice in the matter. There is no way that such a horrible relationship can ever be established.”

Kyle smiled contentedly as he explained the conventions of the royal family.

“Don’t forget that in the near future I will be able to move the White House as well. At the touch of a finger, I can destroy Hinoo and destroy tradition.”

Kuroto glared at Kyle with a deadly look in his eyes.

This is not a bluff. Kyle’s victory in the Thorn Dark stock market will propel him to the top of Fall Street, where he will eventually be able to run the legislature, the media, and interest groups at will. This would give him the power to manipulate the president’s aides and intervene in national policy.

“If I can destroy the Hinoo army and dismantle the royal family. Izaya will be mine.”

“……………………”

“It’s a fun future indeed. With everything I have, what could be a better way to pass the time?

Kyle’s haunting smile illuminated Kuroto.

He would start a war to take Izaya alone, and then destroy Hinoo as well. It’s the dream of a complete idiot, but there’s no sign that Kyle is joking. In the bottom of his glowing jade eyes, you can see his abnormal obsession with Izaya.

This guy is serious.

He is really trying to cause a war between nations in order to get Izaya…….

A moment later, the image of Kyle toying with Izaya appeared in Kuroto’s field of vision.

Might is right.

Might is right.

Gameria’s national motto rang out in Kuroto’s head, and the transparent Izaya was dyed in Kyle’s despicable colors.

In a moment, a strong feeling comes up to him.

I can’t let that happen.

I’m not going to let that happen.

The edge of his mouth hung diagonally upward.

“You can’t.”

Kuroto’s eyes focused straight on Kyle with a fearless smile.

“As long as I’m here, you’ll never get what you want.”

Without any thought, a boiling thought gushes out of his mouth.

Kyle made a slight mocking smile with the tip of his mouth.

“What can you possibly do?”

“I’m an all-round genius. As long as I find a way to do it, I’ll get it done.”

“That’s a big statement. You’ve come a long way. How will you stop me?”

When he asked, he quickly gave the answer he had in mind.

“I will take command of the Hinoo Army with my own hands.”

” Ha…..”

“You’re right, if things continue as they are, Hinoo will be destroyed. In order to save that small, impoverished nation, they need a hero with superior intellect, oratory skills, and overwhelming charisma to lead the army. No one has those qualities except for me.”

With a confident look on his face, he proudly stated his idea at this moment, as if he had been thinking about it for a long time.

In other words, he was bluffing.

But if he didn’t call this kind of bluff, he wouldn’t be able to stop being angry.

Kyle surrendered himself deeply to the sofa as if to make fun of him, and lit a cigar.

He exhaled a long puff of smoke and smiled slightly at Kuroto.

“You said that you tried to get eliminate the crown prince, and that you were kicked out of Hinoo. In other words, you are a criminal, a bandit and an unpatriotic person. How can you hold command of the national army?”

“I have royal blood in my veins. I have enough qualifications to be crowned. Now, if I can show that I can do it without question and win over the people and the government, my dream will become a reality.”

“You’re so optimistic.”

“In four and a half years, I’ve risen from a ragged orphan to the top of Fall Street, and I’m convinced. Nothing is impossible for me. I can be the Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and I can even become the King myself.”

While bluffing with the momentum of the moment, Kuroto was beginning to realize that he was right.

Fortunately, at the age of ten, he qualified to board a warship as an ensign cadet through the special student system. He decided to return to Hinoo and join the navy and air force, first aiming to become an operations chief at the United Fleet Headquarters. It would be a decisive battle between the flying fleets that would decide the course of the war against Gameria. If a genius like himself is involved in the planning of the operation, he might gain some recognition. And if he can rise through the ranks of the military, become Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet, gain the support of the people, somehow oust the idiot Crown Prince Kazuma, and make himself King, then he can take control everything.

It’s a dream that’s too big, too dim, too vague, too hazy.

But even when he first came to this country, he couldn’t have imagined himself as a young investor in Fall Street.

For now, he’s going to dream big.

Then he could walk toward that dream.

It may not come true, but he can come close to it. It’s not a bad idea to try and see how close he could get.

Above all, he didn’t want Izaya to be toyed with by such a prick.

Hinoo is not going to be trampled by the Gamerians in the future.

“Well, yes, I’ve found my path. I thank you, Kyle, for your help.”

A new wind was blowing through Kuroto’s body. The heat that had been building up in his chest was now seeping into the ends of his limbs and into the corners of his soul.

With a fearless smile on his face, he declared once again.

“I will save Hinoo with my own hands.”

“……………………”

“I will wipe out the Gamerian fleet from this world and protect Hinoo’s independence.”

His heart leapt at the prospect.

He is not a market maker. The hero of Hinoo is the path he should take.

His own personal high road.

Kyle’s sneer deepened as he slowly exhaled a cloud of purple smoke and gave a sarcastic round of applause.

“I see. If you’re going to be a hero for saving the country, I might as well be the president of this country. It would make the love triangle more exciting.”

“Oh, I don’t mind at all. If you can do it, do it.”

“You, too, must not give up halfway. The hero of Hinoo and the President of Gameria are engaged in a fleet battle over Izaya, a beautiful princess. The game is selfish, romantic and grand. If this game is approved, it will keep me occupied for another decade or so.”

Kuroto responded with words of encouragement.

“Izaya will not be harmed as long as I am here.

“Great, things are heating up, the world’s most unwanted love triangle is about to go down in history.”

He’s afraid that this stupidity will become contagious if he keeps up with Kyle’s stupid talk. Kuroto sat up from the sofa and took his hunting cap from the hat rack.

“Farewell, Kyle. Next time I see you, you’ll be making me laugh with your funny crying face.”

“Goodbye, yellow monkey. The next time we meet, I will make Izaya mine right in front of you. Go ahead and cry out in your funny voice.”

After exchanging a few schoolboy taunts, Kuroto turned his back on Kyle and left the office. Without looking back, he boarded the elevator and headed for the ground.

◆

When he returned to his office, he told JJ all about Kyle’s scheme.

JJ, in a panic, immediately called the Kronos members to inform them, but it was already too late. With only 10,000 shares left on the market, there was no choice but to buy back Kyle’s shares at his asking price.

“What should I do, Kuroto? If we don’t do something, we’ ll be doomed again!”

As his father and JJ panicked, Kuroto shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s nothing we can do. We have to pay a painful tuition. I recommend bankruptcy.”

“Oh, come on, chief, don’t be so rash.”

“It was probably for this day that Kyle organized the group Kronos. It’s all a conspiracy carefully laid out by Kyle.”

With a look of desperation on his face, JJ decides to go into Kyle’s office with a few other members right now and hides a folding knife in his pocket. There was a security guard at the entrance of the building, so he couldn’t bring in any weapons, and there were strong guards inside the office as well. There was nothing they could do with their weapons.

After checking that the staff had left the office with angry expressions on their faces, Kuroto quickly began to pack up his belongings. A frightened Takehiko asked him what he was doing.

“I’m going back to Hinoo. All of my personal assets that I have built up here will be entrusted to your father, so please manage them as you see fit.”

“What? You’re going back? To Hinoo? Why?”

“I’ve done what I had to do. I’ll leave you to it.”

He packed up his belongings in a single handbag and handed the office key to Takehiko.

“So I can have the contents of the account, right? I’ll take care of it. I’ll multiply it tenfold or twentyfold in no time.”

He was tempted to question his father about the basis of his confidence, but decided not to. According to Kuroto’s readings, Thorn Dark’s stock would soar to nearly $14 million and he would lose all of his current $40 million in personal assets. It’s fortunate that he won’t be in debt, but he’s not sure how his father will survive after that.

“Please don’t just throw yourself overboard. If something goes wrong, you can just disappear again.”

“Yes, I know, I’ll leave you to it.”

Kuroto smiled wryly at his father, who for some reason was proud of him, and said goodbye.

He walked out into the street, hailed a cab, and headed for Pennsylvania Station. He would take the transcontinental railroad to San Francisco, and from there, after fifteen days on a freighter, he would return to his old home in Hinoo.

I guess I’ll have to say goodbye to Gameria.

Feeling somewhat sentimental, he looked out the window at the skyscrapers drifting by.

He had been kicked out of Hinoo, become an investor in this country, built up a huge fortune in five and a half years, and lost it in a day. But he learned a lot of things and found the real path to follow.

As he looked up at the narrow sky, the words Izaya had spoken to him on the road four months ago came flooding back to his ears.

[Isn’t that what you should do?]

[To remind the Gamerians that Hinoo people are humans.]

Yes, of course. I will use my innate power for that purpose.

“I will teach you, Gameria.”

Kyle’s sarcastic smile appeared in the narrow sky, and Kuroto hung up the edge of his mouth.

“Don’t underestimate Hinoo.”

Just as he was about to leave, the cab arrived at the station.

The taxi arrived at the station just as he was about to leave. In the blue sky, he could see himself leading the Hinoo United Fleet in an aerial battle against the Grand Ocean Fleet of Gameria.

Notes/Thoughts:

One thing that has been bothering me is that the story uses “made up” countries such Hinoo and Gameria, but uses real cities like Los Angeles and New York??? I don’t know if that is an MTL mistake or intentional, but when I doubled checked, it appears it’s intentional? I’d be more than willing to share this chapter’s raw to someone who can read Japanese to confirm this. Welp, I hoped you enjoyed this VERY LONG chapter.

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