Tokyo Soft Rice King

At least until now, Hei Yuming has never seen anyone with empty hands.

Perhaps only newborn babies would be in such a blank state. After all, even elementary school students have things they are good at.

It’s just that the level of proficiency that each person has at each stage of life is different. For those skills that have been learned but not used for a long time, the proficiency will indeed slowly decline until it becomes so unfamiliar that it cannot be recorded by the left hand.

Just like Kuroba Ming took the driving test and learned to drive before going to college, but because he hadn't driven a car for more than ten years, his driving proficiency had deteriorated to the point where it was not recorded on his left hand.

But because I have learned it before, it will be much faster to get started again.

All I can say is that Kuroba Akira's ability is still not as obvious as Saotome Fuyumi's.

After exchanging the rules between the person with the ability and the person with the ability, Saotome Fuyumi drank the coffee in one gulp and started to move on to the next stage of the conversation.

"Well then... I don't want to keep you in suspense or beat around the bush. Let's just get straight to the point."

"Do you want to tell us openly?"

"Yeah, the ability itself is not just about 'observation', so I guess you're still hiding some of your abilities, right?"

As expected, both sides had reservations.

Hei Yuming had already expected this and raised his eyebrows.

"Miss Saotome, you're the same way, right? If you can only see obsessions, it's impossible for you to give detailed advice and help Aunt Akiko find the 'right path'."

"Oh, the 'right' path..."

Saotome Fuyumi tried to force a smile, but her lips ultimately failed to cooperate, revealing a bitter taste.

Kuroba Akira thus realized that Saotome Fuyumi might not think that guiding Aunt Akiko was a good positive example, and it might even be a bit 'ironic'.

But he didn't know the reason, so Hei Yuming continued to speak as planned.

"Yes, that's completely beyond the advice of professionals. Focusing on only one type of character is a crazy suggestion... So I guess Miss Saotome, your behavior must be related to your abilities."

"You are indeed not a simple high school student..."

Saotome Fuyumi slowly raised her hand and rubbed her temple a little tiredly. She had originally planned to "negotiate" first, but now it seems that she has to "confess" first.

"Your judgment is basically correct. In fact, in addition to being able to see gaseous obsessions, I can also see the 'content of the obsession.' Everyone has some obsessions, to a greater or lesser extent. Even something like 'I want to eat beef today' can form a faint obsession, and I can see the specific 'words' floating within that obsession."

"Amazing!"

I can actually see the content of obsession!

This is equivalent to mind reading!

"And besides the 'observation' part, the ability itself also has the 'carving' part."

"carve?"

"Yes, engraving words. All the abilities that I know of that gods bestow upon their agents are related to 'words'."

"Writing... Perhaps it's because writing originated in rituals, and its main function was to communicate between humans and gods."

"That's a pretty good explanation... Anyway, the obsessions I've seen are actually divided into 'stages,' just like the talents and proficiency you've seen. I just can't see a clearer division."

Hei Yuming took another look at the words on his hand. At the beginning, he complained that this system was too simple. Now it seems that his is relatively detailed.

Saotome Fuyumi said as he extended his first finger.

"I generally only divide obsession into two types. One is the ordinary obsession, wanting to do something, wanting to get something... This kind of obsession will either dissipate when it is achieved, or fade away with time."

Then she continued to stretch out the second one and said.

"But some people develop an obsession with something they want to accomplish or obtain no matter what, but can't do or get. And when this obsession grows stronger over time, I call it a 'demon's thought.'"

"Evil thoughts... is that also called being possessed?"

"You could even say they're possessed by a demon. These demonic thoughts rarely disappear naturally, and they severely consume a person's energy and affect their mind, driving them mad and ultimately causing them to collapse... The ultimate outcome is often self-destruction."

"A life of paranoia, a death of regret..."

Isn't this a 'devilish person'?

"Generally speaking, this kind of obsession is difficult to dispel through external forces except for a profound enlightenment of the individual... and this is where the ability of 'carving' comes into play."

Saotome Fuyumi took the initiative to mention the abilities that she truly possessed.

"I can instill a 'word' into them as a thought, giving these evil thoughts a 'direction' to vent. This is what you call segmented advice."

"...!"

That's it!

If you think about it carefully, it is incredible that Aunt Akiko can completely and unconditionally trust Miss Saotome, whom she just met.

It's as if Saotome Fuyumi has some kind of magic... a magic that convinces people.

But now I know, it’s not magic, it’s ability!

"This is what I meant by 'carving'. I carve 'words' into the obsessions of those possessed by the devil. They will vent their obsession in that direction until they achieve 'results', or the evil thoughts are 'digested' in the process, and eventually they will return to normal."

After explaining his true abilities, Saotome Fuyumi concluded.

"Actually, I think my ability is more like 'exorcism' for living people."

"It does look a bit like..."

Exorcists eliminate the resentment of evil spirits to help the dead to be reborn, while Saotome Fuyumi eliminates the evil thoughts of the living to help them start a new life.

"Of course there are no vengeful spirits in this world... well, they shouldn't exist, right?"

Since even gods exist, it seems reasonable that ghosts also exist.

There really aren't Sadako or Kayako in the Neon world of this world, right?

No! I hate unreasonable female disaster ghosts the most!

Fortunately, Saotome Fuyumi seemed to notice what Kuroba Akira was worried about and kindly explained.

"You're overthinking it. If it's a female ghost in white like in the movies, or a so-called 'ghost', then it doesn't really exist... Strictly speaking, at least I haven't seen one in my life."

"Huh...that's good."

Hei Yuming patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Neon is a place full of urban legends and supernatural events. If those are true, he should consider escaping from this ghost place.

"Of course, I'm not doing this out of kindness, but because of the reason I just mentioned. If those who gain abilities don't exercise them, they will be cursed by the gods."

"Do you know what the curse is?"

"Yes, when I gained this ability, I was told the details and conditions of the punishment. That is, if I mislead someone with evil thoughts, the gods will take away my ability... and my eyes as well."

"This is too serious! Even misleading people will be punished!"

"This is my personal situation. The god who gave me my ability has a strong sense of justice. Even if I don't use it, I can't use it carelessly. If I use my ability for reasons other than helping someone get rid of their thoughts, I will be punished."

Hearing this, Hei Yuming suddenly became a little worried about the punishment for his ability.

Am I really able to use it normally so far?

What will the punishment be?

"Actually, because of the mistakes I made in the past, I've already had one of my eyes taken away..."

Saotome Fuyumi pointed to her right eye and said.

"My right eye looks like a normal eye, but I can't actually see anything."

"...!"

So that's why. No wonder there's golden light only in the left eye. It's because he's already been punished once.

It’s just that people without special abilities can’t see the condition of her eyes, so they didn’t notice this.

"If both of my eyes were to be robbed of their sight by the gods, I would have to spend the rest of my life in darkness. I don't want to be blind, so I run the office while also doing the work of 'removing thoughts'. The latter is even more important to me."

From this point of view, Saotome Fuyumi's ability is simply a troublesome job for her. When she sees someone with evil thoughts, she has to help to remove them. If she deliberately leads them in the wrong direction, she will be punished so severely that she will go blind.

"I've taken on a lot of people who are caught up in obsessive thoughts in my firm, and I've given them a direction to work towards. However, this has also led to serious internal competition within the firm, and ordinary people who can't keep up will easily resign."

No wonder Ms. Arisugawa looks so tired and has to force herself to smile all the time, as if she works in a shady company. It's because the office is full of a bunch of hard-working, crazy people, and crazy people.

If an ordinary person like her wants to keep up with those crazy people, or even manage them, she will definitely have to spend more energy.

"Until now, the only person I've ever felt sorry for is Qiuzi. That's why I was punished by the gods... Because I didn't do it for Qiuzi, but to solve my own problems, I instilled in her a 'thought' that had nothing to do with her evil thoughts."

Hei Yuming was completely shocked by these words.

He had always thought that Saotome Fuyumi gave Takanashi Akiko specific instructions on segmentation in order to make her famous, but now it seems that it was just a 'coincidence'.

"Could it be that...! You instilled in her the idea of ​​becoming a mother?!"

"...Yes, I was looking for a foster mother for Mirai, who had just been born. Because I couldn't raise Mirai myself for some reason, I left that responsibility to her. As a result, I was punished by the gods and lost my right eye."

This is why Miss Qiuzi’s maternal love is overflowing!

That's also the reason why she easily accepted this crazy plan!

Saotome Fuyumi is the culprit!

"However, the development of the matter was completely beyond my expectations. I had originally hoped that she would gradually realize that she no longer had any hope of becoming famous. I even arranged some work for her that no one else wanted to do, hoping that she would give up her obsession with her career and focus more on her daughter and family..."

"Who would have thought she would actually become famous in such a narrow niche as 'wife and mother'? Her long-held wish came true, and her obsession naturally dissipated... I can only say that fate really likes to play tricks on us."

"Akiko still thinks I was the one who arranged for her to meet Ms. Takagi, the voice actress for 'Miss Kaisen,' but I was just giving her a job. She was able to establish this relationship because she made a good impression on the other person, and it had nothing to do with me."

"Although the results were good, that was just Qiuzi's good luck and her own hard work. I'm not the perfect 'mentor' you and she think I am. I'm just an asshole who wantonly changed her life."

"So after that, I also vowed in my heart that I would take care of Qiuzi and the future for the rest of my life... No matter what they want, I will satisfy them."

Akiko Takanashi feels deeply guilty towards her daughter because she chose to become a future mother for the sake of her career.

Saotome Fuyumi also feels guilty towards Takanashi Akiko, because she also has her own reasons for choosing Takanashi Akiko to be her mother.

Therefore, they all confessed their selfishness to Kuroba Akira, who happened to be the one who could listen.

"So, things like the house and the various job opportunities are all 'compensation' you gave to Aunt Qiuzi?"

“…Exactly.”

Perhaps Saotome Fuyumi told him these things in the hope that someone would blame her and tell her that even if the result was good, it did not mean that what she did was right.

But after Akiko Takanashi's obsession disappeared, the gods did not return her right eye to her, which may have indicated that the gods did not think this was her achievement.

So Hei Yuming didn't say anything more, just nodded, indicating that he knew the whole story.

"Well, let's get back to the point. I'm telling you all this because, on the one hand, I've been keeping these things to myself for a long time, and now that I've met someone like me, I want to confide in you. On the other hand, I also want to tell you that this isn't a 'normal firm.' You should understand what I mean, right?"

"……I see."

In fact, Saotome Fuyumi said so much just to tell Kuroba Akira that she had no interest in making money or expanding the firm, and that these were just achievements that were achieved by the way.

Her starting point for cultivating talents is completely different from that of Hei Yuming. She doesn't want to see the talents blossom and bear fruit, but is just helping the other party eliminate their obsession.

She had also explained before that Ziyin had no obsession with fame, nor was she a crazy person who needed her to instill ideas in her, so she had absolutely no reason to accept Ziyin as a "trouble".

Yes, in any other firm, Ziyin would be a super popular person, but in this unique Four Seasons Firm, Ziyin is just an "unnecessary trouble".

There was no need for Saotome Fuyumi to waste time on a person who was 'not a target'.

But she did not send the guest away directly. Instead, she kept Hei Yuming, a fellow human, and started a secret conversation between the two of them. She told him so much information for free and even talked about her past... This was not because she fell in love with Hei Yuming.

She said this to ask for 'reward' from him.

I can accept Ziyin from Zizhigong, but what is the price?

Hei Yuming didn't expect that he would have to pay a little money. He originally thought that finding an agency for Ziyin was a very easy task and it would not take any effort at all. As long as he brought Ziyin to the agency, people would definitely come to him and beg Ziyin to join. But here, he had to beg others to accept Ziyin.

Kuroba Akira could have just turned around and left, sending Shione to another voice actor agency, but the fact that 'Saotome Fuyumi doesn't care about Shione at all' has become the 'advantage' of this agency.

Because other agencies want Ziyin because of her beauty and talent.

Only in this Four Seasons Office can Ziyin be free from interests, interference and coercion.

Hei Yuming certainly knows that the entertainment industry also has a dirty side and unspoken rules are everywhere. How to protect Ziyin, who belongs to him, in such an environment is a topic that requires long-term thinking.

And here her personal safety can be guaranteed.

In fact, this is also the bargaining chip held by Saotome Fuyumi.

She had already explained the basic logic of her own operation of the firm, and was also indirectly telling Hei Yuming...

I know you love that girl very much, but you are afraid that she will be harmed. I can train and protect her not as a tool to make money, but you have to give me a reason to accept her.

So Hei Yuming must pay the price.

"Let's make a deal, Director Fuyumi."