A few beams of light swept over, shining directly onto Souta's face.
He didn't blink or flinch as he looked straight into the lights, his vision unaffected.
Up ahead, several armed individuals were aiming their weapons in his direction, clearly on high alert.
A man and a girl walked down from the stairway illuminated by the lights.
The man had shoulder-length blond hair, a sharp, handsome face, and a cold expression. Souta was certain, this was Gai Tsutsugami.
Beside him, the girl looked about fourteen, with a mechanical headpiece shaped like cat ears. Her delicate features were tinged with arrogance, and her energetic stride made her seem full of life.
"That's Gai in front, and behind him is Tsugumi."
After adjusting to the light, Inori spotted them and quietly introduced them to Souta.
"I know," Souta nodded.
He remembered Tsugumi well, Funeral Parlor's hacker and tech support specialist, in charge of intel warfare.
A proud, no-nonsense girl who never used honorifics even with Gai, always speaking as an equal.
In a word... a high-and-mighty loli.
As the two approached, Souta said:
"By the way, Inori... your voice reminds me of someone I used to know."
Inori tilted her head slightly, waiting for him to explain who Schwi was.
But Souta said nothing more. Instead, he stood and said:
He began walking forward.
Inori followed, clutching Fyu-Neru in her arms.
She thought Souta was going to negotiate, but his idea of "negotiation" was a little different from hers.
Once bitten, twice shy—Souta had been burned by his "Speech skill" one too many times.
He no longer trusted in his negotiation skills.
Could it work? Maybe. But it wasn't likely.
Besides, Gai was the leader of an organization. The idea that he'd be swayed by a few smooth words was laughable.
More likely, he'd treat Souta as a threat and try to subdue him before prying information out.
Huh. Maybe that's why my negotiations always fail, Souta mused.
As he thought about this, Gai stopped in front of him and spoke:
Before he could finish, Souta suddenly threw a punch, landing it squarely in Gai's stomach.
The pain was instant and overwhelming. Gai nearly passed out, knees buckling as he dropped to the ground, staring at Souta in shock.
"Gai!" Tsugumi cried out, rushing forward as if to attack.
Souta looked at her and suddenly, her body froze.
She could no longer move. Her brain still worked, but her limbs wouldn't respond.
The armed members of Funeral Parlor fired without hesitation.
At this close range, they were confident they wouldn't hit their own.
But as the bullets entered a five-meter radius around Souta, they simply... stopped. Suspended in midair, motionless.
And like Tsugumi, the armed men also froze in place—conscious, but unable to move.
"What the hell did you do!?" a girl's voice shouted from a distance.
Souta turned to see a massive mech charging toward him.
That was the "Ultimate Roar"—a remotely controlled exosuit and one of this world's high-tech weapons.
It looked similar to a Knightmare Frame from Code Geass.
But the resemblance was purely superficial. Performance-wise, it was one of the worst mechs Souta had ever seen.
The pilot had to be Ayase Shinomiya, the wheelchair-bound girl from Funeral Parlor.
Souta instinctively pointed at the machine. A flash of golden light sparked at his fingertip.
The towering mech came to an unnatural halt mid-charge, standing still like a deactivated statue ten meters away.
"Why... can't I move!?"
"Who are you?! Why did you attack Gai!?"
Ayase's voice boomed from the mech's speakers.
"It seems... my control over matter trumps your conscious will."
Souta glanced at the mech and spoke calmly:
"I suggest you stop struggling. Otherwise, I'll disable you next."
At that very moment, back in Funeral Parlor's headquarters, Ayase gasped.
She was piloting remotely, watching through the transmission feed.
Souta turned and looked directly at the camera.
Despite the distance, she felt like he was staring right into her soul.
Like she could reach out and touch him.
She was anxious, but didn't dare move a muscle.
Behind Souta, Inori stood frozen, wide-eyed at the sight.
Her comrades had been completely subdued in seconds.
What... what's going on?
Weren't they supposed to negotiate?
Was Souta sent by GHQ to trick her?
Souta turned around and met her eyes, silently telling her not to worry. Then he looked down at the blond teen—no, "boy" kneeling before him.
"Hello, leader of Funeral Parlor—Gai Tsutsugami."
He gave a faint, courteous smile and said:
"Now, shall we talk?"
Gai looked up at him, brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, clearly unsure what to say.
He'd seen a lot in his time.
But this was his first time dealing with someone who opened negotiations... by beating the crap out of him.
What kind of face was he even supposed to make?
"Don't look at me like that," Souta shrugged. "I've got plenty of experience with negotiations. If I had just walked up and said I wanted to cooperate, odds are you'd suspect my motives, capture me, and try to interrogate me."
"So," Gai asked, "you showed your power by subduing us all?"
Souta nodded and continued:
"This way, I'm proving that I have the ability to be a worthy partner. We skip all the time-wasting suspicion and back-and-forth. As you can see, if I wanted to kill you, it'd be easy. So you'll talk, whether you want to or not."
Beside Gai, Tsugumi let out a muffled, angry whimper, her pale cheeks puffed up like a balloon.
Souta had sealed her ability to speak.
She must've had something to say and was now furiously trying to express it.
(TL Note: Schwi Dola(Schwi) is a character from no-game, no-life. Who also voices Inori.)