Chapter 80

Volume 1: Chapter 51, Why Can Birds Fly?

South Rukongai, the border area between the fourth and fifth wards.

"Whoosh."

Haruto arrived at the agreed time to meet Byakuya and begin his grand plan.

But...

"What happened to our agreement to work together?"

By the time Haruto arrived, he had already bypassed several groups of Gotei 13 Soul Reaper were heading in the same direction as him.

Add to that the towering flames at the destination—

"You're just too slow."

Byakuya patted his bottom, sat down on the ground, and handed it over.

"I didn't expect them to be so easily defeated..."

"Don't worry, we agreed to split it equally, so you won't be shortchanged."

Byakuya pointed to several boxes of different sizes placed not far away, next to the bushes.

"Here."

Everything is here.

Haruto rolled his eyes at Byakuya.

"..."

This guy definitely didn't get a good fight last time, so he fooled me out and then went to fight alone; as for the things he seized from the auction, he really didn't care about anything other than what he needed for the mission.

Clang.

Haruto tossed the two Zanpakuto he was holding over.

"My spoils."

"... What about that one?"

Byakuya pointed curiously to the Zanpakuto that had appeared at Haruto's waist.

"This is Munechika's sword."

After hesitating for two seconds, Byakuya asked Haruto:

"Killed?"

"That shouldn't be the case. A corpse isn't worth as much as a living person. Although it's a good thing for us, but—"

Although he knew of this classmate, Byakuya, who was accustomed to life and death and whose relationship with him was too distant, did not feel anything particularly emotional.

"What are you saying?"

Haruto interrupted Byakuya.

"Of those two knives, one belonged to the attacker."

"..."

Byakuya clearly hesitated for a moment:

"Vice-Captain-level?"

The Kuchiki Clan's intelligence wouldn't be wrong in this kind of place:

Among the opponents Byakuya will face at the auction are Soul Reaper of the Vice-Captain-level —although it's not the same family that hosted the auction last time, the presence of Vice-Captain-level is practically a given—and among the attackers Haruto will naturally be Soul Reaper of the same level.

Otherwise, there would have been no need to ask Haruto for help with this at all.

"Vice-Captain-level."

Haruto nodded.

How did you kill him?

Byakuya was quite familiar with Haruto's fighting abilities.

Although his Rei'i Grade is not yet at Fifth Class, he can easily contend with Vice-Captain-level using his Kidō techniques.

"These are elite assassins trained by high-ranking nobles. We can't just stand there and let you slash them seven or eight times with your Zanka no Tachi, can we?"

Those Hadō Vice-Captain-level, but actually killing them requires a certain number of attempts.

His Zanpakuto is useless against me.

Haruto explained:

"Moreover, this guy's willpower isn't very strong; he took a full hit of my Hyōga Seiran."

"It would have taken even more effort."

"..."

This time, it was Byakuya who rolled his eyes at Haruto.

"You have absolutely no self-awareness."

"You're clearly benefiting from Kōga's influence. The existence of Hyōga Seiran is no secret to these high-ranking nobles."

"He probably mistook you for Kōga, which is why he was momentarily distracted."

As a rising star of the Kuchiki Clan, Kōga's Captain-level combat prowess has long been recognized by the nobles.

Haruto waved his hand and retorted:

That's why I said he lacked willpower.

When facing a strong opponent, what is needed is caution and prudence, not being intimidated and losing the will to fight.

Byakuya picked up the conversation:

"Then what?"

"You're going to hand this Zanpakuto over to the Gotei 13? How are you going to explain that? You can't exactly say you picked it up by the roadside, can you?"

Zanpakuto that has been liberated and is now without an owner is a treasure worth at least tens of gold coins, coveted even by mid-level nobles.

"No."

Haruto shook his head and said:

"I intend to give it to Juzu."

"... who?"

A question mark appeared above Byakuya's head.

"Munechika's girlfriend."

"..."

Byakuya's bewildered expression revealed his mental age: for Byakuya, who hadn't even developed romantic feelings yet, matters of love were clearly too early; in his eyes, classmates were basically divided into two categories: those who could fight and those who couldn't... Even among the latter, Juzu Izumi were at the bottom, so it was normal that he didn't remember them.

"Which noble family's transfer student is she from?"

Having spent a lot of time around Haruto in the past, Byakuya at least had some understanding of Munechika, and his starting point was naturally from that perspective.

"No, they're classmates from Class Two."

Haruto shook his head as always.

"Then she probably couldn't keep the sword... Wait, you haven't told me how Mikazuki Munechika died yet?"

The two argued for a long time, but somehow they went off-topic.

"I killed him."

"... You're actually a pretty nice person."

Byakuya found it hard to resist making sarcastic remarks about Haruto's succinct and concise answer.

"I am a walking embodiment of compassion."

"Vomit!"

This time I really couldn't resist.

Certainly.

Byakuya's words just now weren't just a sarcastic remark.

If you put him in Haruto's position, he would probably make the same choice.

However, if you were to ask Mr. Kuchiki for his evaluation, no matter how you look at it, he would only give the two of them a failing grade:

Munechika's value has not been fully exploited; the Kuchiki Clan can absolutely mold him into a pawn living for revenge.

"Alright, alright, let's leave it at that. This knife is indeed meant for Juzu."

"Do you two have a grudge?"

There might have been some minor disagreements in the past.

When did you become so petty?

"Isn't it a common physical fact that I have small eyes?"

"... You know that's not what I meant."

Within three rounds, Byakuya was defeated in the usual verbal sparring.

"All right."

Haruto shrugged.

"After all, my physical body is covered not with skin, but with etiquette."

Haruto borrowed one of the famous quotes from the Bloodbath MVP.

"As Munechika's dying wish, no matter how unreasonable it may seem, I will always try my best to help."

Haruto glanced at Munechika's Shiren.

"As for Juzu Izumi can withstand this immense wealth..."

"That's not something I should be thinking about."

――――

A few minutes later.

Byakuya collected all of their spoils from the trip using the Kukai Box.

"We'll have someone calculate the cost of these things when we get home. You can keep the money for now... I'll give you more if it's not enough next time we go out."

The large items were handed over to Byakuya, while the confiscated money was unceremoniously stuffed into Haruto's pouch.

Her already substantial savings were now even more than she could ever spend.

"No problem."

Haruto nodded in agreement.

He didn't really care who made money or who lost money, after all, being able to make money with the Kuchiki Clan was an opportunity that many nobles could only dream of in their lifetime.

Certainly.

The prerequisite is having that kind of capability.

Sixth-Class Spiritual Pressure —the Kuchiki Clan has plenty of Soul Reaper of this level; they could even count two vice-captains one rank higher.

The main reason Haruto was involved was because the Kuchiki Clan's overt strength was closely watched by the Tsunayashiro Clan, who were far superior to them. This allowed the Kuchiki Clan to create the illusion that they had no one else to rely on without using their trump cards, thus making Byakuya and Haruto their secret weapon.

They were able to successfully secure the auction despite the lax security.

At the same time, it is also the best stage to test Byakuya's recent training results, as well as Haruto friend".

Now it seems—

"Oh, right."

Byakuya cleaned up the piled-up battlefield thoroughly.