"Let me put it this way: for now, I intend to remain neutral. Selling out people's identities is the sort of thing that, if I did it now, someone might come smash up my shop before you even got around to tearing this place down. Could you be a little understanding?"
"Don't let me find out you've committed any crimes." Misaki Kirihara gave a neither-warm-nor-cold snort, suppressing the urge to smash her cup as she turned and left. In truth, there was one more thing she had come to confirm: whether Jiu Ming was a Contractor.
"I'll be sure to obey the law properly. Goodbye."
"Neutral? What are you planning to do?" After everyone else had left, Mai Kashiwagi asked in confusion. From the beginning until now, Jiu Ming's actions had been a mystery, as though he simply did whatever came to mind, one step at a time, leaving no trail to follow.
"Exactly what it says. You didn't really think there was some huge power backing me, did you?"
"There isn't? I remember you said there was."
"If I said there wasn't, would you leave?" Rather than answer her question directly, Jiu Ming posed another one.
"Without the support of that kind of power, beings like us would be in a dangerous and passive position," Mai Kashiwagi said blandly.
"Then just think of us as a faction."
Jiu Ming waved a hand and casually pulled out a bottle of liquor from behind him, taking a taste. But after only a small sip, he put it away again. He was not much of a drinker, and since he could not get drunk, drinking seemed utterly meaningless to him.
The taste it offered him was not even as enjoyable as a glass of fruit juice. "Want some?"
"No need."
Mai Kashiwagi