Sakiko shouted, "Father, what are you saying!"
"How could I possibly sell my body for money? This is all earned through part-time work!"
"Nonsense!"
Sakiko's father slammed the table with a bang, his expression becoming ferocious.
He had already remembered.
Ever since Sakiko found a new job more than a month ago, she often came home late. Sometimes she would even text that she wasn't coming home and would stay out overnight.
Originally, Sakiko's father thought she had come to her senses and was preparing to abandon him, this useless person, and start a new life.
As it turned out, the truth was the opposite.
"If you weren't being kept, how could you earn so much in just over a month!"
"I worked so hard to raise you, and this is how you repay me! Huh!"
Sakiko frowned and repeated herself again, "Father, I'm not being kept. This is all money I earned from normal part-time work."
However, by the end, her confidence suddenly wavered a little.
Thinking carefully, Tatsuma seemed to have said something about buying her future life before.
At the time, it sounded quite romantic, but now that she thought about it, didn't the true meaning of that sentence mean to keep her long-term?
No, I'm being led astray!
She signed a work contract, and this was all just an advance on her salary!
That's right, that's how it is!
"This is all money I earned from part-time work." Sakiko reiterated, deceiving herself.
"Utter nonsense!"
Sakiko's father had been observing his daughter's expression. Upon noticing her guilt just now, he confirmed his guess.
"Call that bastard who's keeping you over here! I want to teach him a good lesson!"
"I told you it's not being kept! It's a job!"
"Then tell me what kind of job it is!"
"...That's a secret, I can't say."
"Hmph, I see you just don't dare to say it."
"I..."
Seeing that she couldn't convince her father no matter what she said, Sakiko finally lost her temper fully.
Her father was indeed very important, but she didn't want anyone to slander Tatsuma. He was a good person and shouldn't receive such malicious comments.
"Since you're so insistent, father, then I'll tell you the truth. I hope you won't be scared."
"Scared? Who do you think I am? What kind of storms haven't I seen..."
Bang!
Before he could finish his sentence, Sakiko suddenly clenched her fist and heavily slammed the table.
With a dull thud, cracks slowly spread from her fist as the center.
"Signing a contract with a devil, and then training and getting stronger through various methods, collecting relevant data."
"Father, this is the content of my job. Is there anything else you want to ask?"
The moment her words fell, the already dilapidated table finally reached its limit.
With a crack, the table between Sakiko and her father split into two pieces and slowly fell to both sides.
Looking at this astonishing scene, Sakiko's father was like someone who had been splashed with cold water. His anger instantly vanished.
What kind of scene haven't I seen?
I really haven't seen this scene.
As a coping mechanism, he took out a cigarette.
Sakiko frowned slightly and reminded him, "Don't smoke. It's bad for your health."
"...Okay."
Sakiko's father silently put the cigarette back.
Seeing this, Sakiko suddenly froze for a moment, a hint of shock flashing in her eyes.
Since moving out, she had given similar reminders countless times. But this was the first time her father had obediently listened and cooperated.
Why did such a change occur?
Sakiko lowered her head and looked at the table that had broken into two pieces in front of her.
Subconsciously, she recalled what Tatsuma had said to her one day.
Only strength is everything.
—
Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for school to end.
Tatsuma left the classroom with Asia, who had recently transferred, and headed to the Occult Research Club in the old school building.
However, just then, his phone rang.
Letting Asia go ahead alone, Tatsuma took out his phone and answered the call.
"Hello, what's up?"
"Tatsuma, I'm sorry. I told my father about my job."
Sakiko's slightly awkward voice came from the other end of the phone.
After hearing what had happened, Tatsuma was a bit surprised. "Did you only tell him today? I thought you had already told him."
"Huh? But didn't you say...?"
"That devil matters should be kept secret?"
"Yes."
"You misunderstood. What I meant was to not widely publicize the existence of devils online."
"..."
Is that how it was?
On the other end of the phone, Sakiko breathed a sigh of relief.
After impulsively revealing the contents of her job this morning, Sakiko actually regretted it very much.
She was very worried that after violating the rules, she would have her memory erased and be fired by Tatsuma. It was precisely because of this emotional influence that she hesitated until evening to call Tatsuma to report.
However, she didn't expect to receive an unexpected reply.
Just then, Tatsuma's voice rang out. "Speaking of which, what's your father's situation now? Has he cheered up a bit?"
Sakiko replied subconsciously, "He's still a bit dejected, but compared to before, he's already listening to me."
But the next second, she was suddenly startled. "Tatsuma, you know about my family?"
"Yes, after all, I investigated you."
"..."
"Are you upset?"
"No, I was just suddenly thinking, what was your real purpose in giving me that ten million?"
"There are many reasons, but I've already mentioned the most important one: buying your life."
"...Thank you."
Sakiko's expression became complicated.
As someone with strong self-esteem, Sakiko would normally not accept pity from others. However, Tatsuma was very clever on this point, using the reason of buying her life.
"Tatsuma, I will work hard to become stronger. At least I will prove that my life is worth that ten million."
You are already worthy of it.
Glancing at the active trait effect, Tatsuma replied in his heart.
For him, as long as it could increase training efficiency, even an increase of 1% was worth spending money on, let alone an increase of 100% in one go.
Problems that can be solved with money are never problems.
Of course, this matter, just like the purpose of establishing Akatsuki, involved the system and could not be spoken of externally.
Tatsuma asked, "If you want to increase your value, would you like to work part-time for Akatsuki?"
Sakiko was confused. "Akatsuki?"
"It's a supernatural organization I recently established. It's currently developing and needs trustworthy people to help manage it."
"But... I can't, right? After all, I'm just an ordinary person."
"You just need to answer if you're interested or not. I'll handle the rest."
"...Then I'll give it a try."
Sakiko hesitated for a moment and chose to agree.
"If I can't do this job, I will resign voluntarily."
"No problem. I'll talk to you about the specific work content later when I get home."
Tatsuma made the final decision and hung up the call.
***
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