Will I Eventually Become a Capitalist Tycoon?

"Will I really become Hokage in the future?"

He grinned foolishly at Russell, then got a thumbs-up in return.

"Mm, by the way, Naruto, do you want to know who your future wife is? And what your son and daughter will be named?"

He shot back.

Those words instantly turned Naruto-kun's face the color of a monkey's rear.

"Ah... th-this, is something like that okay to talk about?"

He flushed crimson, his gaze darting around nervously.

For a rookie, this kind of question was a bit too much to handle.

"Looks like you don't want to know. I'll be off then."

Russell smiled, casually turning to head back inside and sleep.

"Don't go, Bro!!"

Naruto grabbed Russell's arm in an instant, his expression frantic like he was about to become the Gigi King.

"Didn't you say you didn't want to know?"

Russell's smile carried a hint of amusement.

"...I do."

Naruto admitted honestly.

"Finish the mining quota, and I'll tell you."

Russell pointed at the warehouse packed with over three hundred sets of protective gear.

"If you don't, keep wondering."

Amid the other group members' stares, as if they were looking at a vampire, Russell led Whirlpool Donkey—motivated by the carrot dangled before him—to pull off the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. Then they suited up, loaded grain and water with a puffing effort, and rode the donkey cart toward the mine.

[Well done! Regularly dangling carrots in front of subordinates boosts their work efficiency. Host, you've used just a bit of gossip to fire up your subordinate's motivation—absolutely brilliant!!]

The Prompt Device frantically buttered up Russell.

If I'm doing so well, then at least give me a lottery card!

Russell mentally cursed the Prompt Device, then turned his gaze to the remaining two, only to find that Skadi had already slipped away.

"No battle happened this time. There shouldn't be anything I can help with next."

A private message from Skadi popped up.

She just left like that?

Really, what's there to say.

She clearly longs for friends, but after meeting them, she's afraid of bringing misfortune, so she chooses to leave without a word?

Russell sighed.

Parasitizing Skadi's body was the Sea Born's god. To hasten its awakening, the Sea Born would torment her spirit as much as possible—including killing those close to Skadi, breaking her down until she became the vessel for the god's revival.

That was the truth behind Skadi bringing bad luck.

Those Sea Born... really piss me off.

Tch—

Russell pulled his focus back and looked at the Young Lady, who seemed to have little presence.

"Excuse me, Russell, can you tell me about my father?"

That maiden asked nervously.

Chapter 10: Huihui, Enraged!

Megumin.

The famous Cook.

Her famous lines were "I can't do anything" and "Pots, pans, and bowls, obey me."

Right now, she was crying and fussing over her father's situation.

Russell nodded, quickly rubbed his cheeks, and softened his expression as much as possible.

Facing a sugar mama, I've got to put on a good show.

"Your father's situation?"

Russell looked at the maiden, murmuring for a moment.

After a long pause, he spoke.

"Your father is perfectly safe. Before the Herrscher Experiment is complete, even that lunatic Cocolia would fear the man behind him. If not for the need to consider the bigger picture, perhaps in the Script's ending, the entire Anti-Entropy radical faction would have been purged by your father."

?!

Megumin's face was filled with utter disbelief.

Wait, didn't her own father embezzle three point four billion US dollars and get betrayed by all his subordinates?

How could he still be settling scores after the fact?!

"Your father is extremely capable. If the person he served hadn't been severely wounded, he would have been Japan's shadow emperor."

"Ah?!!"

Megumin felt as though her entire worldview was shattering.

"In truth, the truly dangerous person is you."

That boy thought for a moment, then said this.

Megumin, a natural Stigma holder.

Stigmas are gifts from the previous era within the Honkai world.

Those who bear Stigmas are born as exceptionally gifted warriors, capable of resisting the greatest calamity of that world—the natural disaster known as the Honkai.

But Megumin awakened her Stigma too early, and her body couldn't withstand the enhancement it brought.

Her father had no choice but to suppress her Stigma with a far more terrifying artifact, one called the Conqueror Gem.

That thing originated from the Second Herrscher, containing the authority of a Herrscher within it. Once awakened, its power would spread and erupt into a Great Eruption.

In that calamity, the person with the best compatibility with Honkai energy would become the Herrscher of Thunder.

Mm, Megumin was an exceptionally suitable Herrscher Candidate.

This was discovered by Cocolia, the infamous civil war specialist. Cocolia longed for the emergence of a controllable Herrscher, and that undoubtedly required preliminary experiments—creating a Herrscher.

Megumin naturally became the best test subject in her eyes.

"I... am dangerous instead?"

Megumin pointed at herself, her expression utterly bewildered.

"Yes. My personal suggestion is that you don't return to your world anytime soon. Stay here with me, or at another group member's place."

Russell said.

But Kiana is still waiting for me to bring her food.

Megumin thought of her friend and wanted to say something.

Megumin had a friend.

Her name was Kiana. That girl's bright smile had been one of the few comforts Megumin had over the past year.

That maiden wandered around constantly, so her meals were naturally irregular.

Whether out of gratitude or simply a desire to help her, Megumin had chosen to learn how to make bento.

Kiana's meals were all provided by her.

If it weren't for her...

Kiana, Kiana would starve to death!!

"Isn't this a bit too... I still have a friend I need to take care of."

Megumin chose her words carefully, at least wanting to go back and send Kiana some money for food.

"Mm, think of it as a Cannon Fodder trying to turn you into a killing machine. If you were transformed into a half Herrscher of Thunder, you'd wipe Changkong City off the map. If you transformed into your full form, you could take out the Far East, Korea, the Korean Peninsula, and eastern Shenzhou in one go."

This was no exaggeration.

When the Herrscher of Thunder from the previous era in the Honkai world view was born, it took Changkong City as its center and drew a circle with Shenzhou's Canghai as its radius.

Megumin's face suddenly changed.

World War I had a direct death toll of ten million.

World War II had a direct death toll of seventy million.

The population of the region Russell mentioned was measured in hundreds of millions. The intensity of this disaster directly exceeded the total of both world wars combined.

Under these circumstances, going back even for a second would be a disrespect to life!

"If your friend really needs your support, well, I can go in your place."

Russell thought for a moment, then said.

Just toss some money to Kiana and let her fend for herself.

"...Sorry for the trouble. I hope it won't be too much of an inconvenience."

Without much deliberation, Megumin took out her wallet, handing over her bank card, house keys, and Kiana's contact information to Russell.

"Mm, then just pick any guest room upstairs."

Russell handed Megumin a key, letting her settle into his temporary lodging.

Megumin hesitated for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

[Oooh, she agreed to stay over at your place.]

[Megumin is the type who is wary yet afraid of loneliness. This kind of girl is hard to win over because their guard is high, and they rarely give anyone a chance to get close. But once you do get close, their soft side easily shows.]

[You've successfully crossed the hardest step to conquer her—getting close. Now, press the advantage and steal Kiana away!!]

[When that happens, the entire Raikou family will be yours!]

The prompt device grew outright excited.

Damn.

What kind of Habsburg Simulator is this?

Russell pressed his forehead.

A perfectly good Surplus Value Prompt Device, and here it was going wild with "I Swear Enmity with Gambling and Drugs"—what was that about?

Not afraid that Megumin might one day go dark, transform into the Herrscher of Thunder, and hit his dick with a "Mugen no Kensei"?

Russell rolled his eyes and handed the Dragon Talisman to Huihui beside him.

"What's this?"

Huihui was a bit confused.

"The Dragon Talisman. It grants the holder the power of explosion and combustion. A gift from Valmont. Honestly, its ceiling should be pretty high, since it's the Fire Demon's favorite magic."

Huihui tensed up for a moment.

Her boss, whom she'd only known for a short while, suddenly giving her something so precious...

She recalled Russell's earlier intense gaze and couldn't help but think of some strange possibilities.

Was her boss some legendary perverted lolicon?

"Boss, I'm only fourteen. If you have any dirty thoughts, you'll end up in jail."

[What is this means of production thinking about?]