"You know me?" Kisuke Urahara's eyes flickered with curiosity.
"Heard of you," Roy nodded.
"Well, that's a surprise," Urahara chuckled, his lips curling. "Since the famed Red Dragon Emperor trusts me so much, it'd be rude to refuse."
"I'll take Ichigo Kurosaki. I'll have him controlling his new power in a week."
Roy glanced at Ichigo. "You cool with that?"
Ichigo nodded. "As long as I can control it and not mess with Dad and the others at home, I'm good."
Roy: "Relax. He's a former Gotei 13 captain. His teaching's solid."
"He was a captain?!" Rukia gasped.
"Old news, Miss Kuchiki. Don't sweat it," Urahara waved off, trying to dodge.
But Rukia, already at odds with him, wasn't letting it slide. "Kisuke Urahara, why'd you give me a gigai that suppresses my recovery? Got a grudge with the Kuchiki clan?"
"Er, you've got it wrong. I'm on decent terms with Captain Kuchiki, personally."
"Then why sabotage me?!"
"…Sorry, that's private. Please forgive me, Miss Kuchiki."
"???"
Forgive you, my foot.
No explanation, and you expect a pass? Think I'm a pushover?
Oh, wait, maybe I am.
Recalling the gap between her and captain-level fighters, Rukia fell silent.
"Ahem, one more thing," Urahara coughed, his face turning serious. "Rukia Kuchiki, could you give up recovering your powers and hide as a normal human?"
"Don't push it, Urahara!" Rukia snapped, rejecting him outright.
She couldn't beat him, but that didn't mean she was scared.
If Urahara kept pulling stunts, she'd go all out!
"Hold on, let me expl—"
"Enough," Roy cut in as Urahara tried to spin another excuse. "Rukia Kuchiki's my commission target. Whatever your reasons, I'm taking her back to Soul Society."
"…Fine, I get it," Urahara hesitated, then backed off.
If Rukia's return was set, he'd plan around it.
Glancing at Ichigo, Urahara mused. At least he had a trump card against Aizen now.
Turning to Roy, he asked, "I hear devils take all kinds of commissions. That true?"
"I don't like people who beat around the bush. Next time, be direct," Roy tossed him a postcard.
Urahara caught it, giving an awkward smile.
His intent was obvious, but the Red Dragon Emperor seemed easygoing.
With his help, things would be simpler.
Handing Ichigo a reiatsu-suppressing device, Urahara waved goodbye.
As they left, Rukia relaxed her tense expression, looking at Roy. "That guy's shady. Is it really okay to leave Ichigo with him?"
"There's some risk, but it's better than letting Ichigo train alone."
Ichigo was a walking missile now—one slip could wreck everything around him.
Roy didn't want to babysit.
Dumping him on Urahara was easier.
He'd just reap Ichigo's progress dividends.
[Ding! Host strength reached Level 4, unlocking new feature: Entry Fusion!]
Noting the alert triggered by Ichigo's breakthrough, Roy's lips curved into a smile.
Solid investment.
One White entry for a potential-packed tool.
With Ichigo and other hard-working tools, Roy's strength would climb fast, even if he did nothing.
Shifting from his attribute panel, Roy looked at Orihime, who'd been quiet. "Interested in getting stronger?"
"Huh? Me?" Orihime blinked, caught off guard. "If I could be like Ichigo-kun, I'd love that."
"Forget it. You'll never match Ichigo Kurosaki."
If Shigeo Kageyama was a genetic fluke, Ichigo was a bloodline prodigy.
Even among bloodline-obsessed devils, few could rival him.
But…
"Ichigo's an outlier."
"Your abilities and base potential are top-tier for a human."
"If you're interested, I can unlock your potential."
"Not for free, though."
"Huh? But I can't afford payment," Orihime deflated.
She couldn't even cover her rescue fee, let alone this.
"Um… can I pay later?"
"I'm a devil, not a charity."
"But I see potential in you. I've got a middle ground."
Roy pulled out a contract, scribbling terms, and handed it to Orihime. "My group, Akatsuki, handles dangerous entities like Hollows."
"Sign this… er, employment contract, and I'll make you stronger. You work for me."
"Do well, and you'll get promotions and perks."
"We're growing fast. Join early, reap the benefits."
"Work hard a few years, and you could coast later."
"Sounds pretty good," Orihime mumbled, taking the contract.
A naive high schooler, she was dazzled by Roy's pitch.
Buying his spiel, she signed without reading.
"Mr. Roy, this okay?"
"Yup, perfect."
Roy pocketed the contract, patting her head with a grin. "Welcome to wage-slave hell."
"Work hard. My Lamborghini fragments depend on you."
Orihime: o.O?
That's a compliment… right?
Underworld, Lilith Capital.
"Sazeks, commission report's in," Grayfia placed a report on the desk.
"That fast?" Sazeks blinked, surprised.
The commission wasn't tough, but it leaned on search and rescue.
Normally, it'd take weeks to crack.
Yet, from sending it to Rias to now, barely an hour had passed.
"That efficiency, I like," Sazeks said, flipping through.
A minute later, he set it down, rubbing his temples, retracting his words.
"Grayfia, you sure this report's legit?"
"You can doubt my strength, not my work," Grayfia replied coolly, pointing to the bottom right. "That's the Red Dragon Emperor's mana seal. Verify it if you want."
"…"
Sazeks went quiet.
He'd seen the seal and checked it.
No doubt, Roy wrote this.
But the content gave him a headache.
Hogyoku, Ichigo Kurosaki, Aizen's betrayal centuries ago as a Gotei captain…
Sazeks couldn't fathom how Roy dug this up in an hour.
This wasn't efficiency—it was like he had a script.
"Roy seems to want in on this. Should we stop him?" Grayfia, who'd read it, asked.
"…No, it could be a chance to connect with Soul Society," Sazeks replied after a pause.
Soul Society was insular, with little outside contact.
If the upcoming angel and fallen angel peace treaty went through, forming a three-way alliance, pulling Soul Society in could boost their strength, enough to fend off other mythologies' prying.
It'd take finesse, though.
"Grayfia, isn't Kuoh Academy's parent visitation day soon?"
"Ten days from now. A week after that is the three-way talks."
"Take leave then. We'll visit Kuoh for visitation day, and I'll talk to Roy myself."
Sazeks decided.
Meanwhile, Kuoh Town.
After fixing Orihime's house, Roy teleported back to the Occult Research Club with Rukia.
After some chat, Rukia hit it off with Rias and the crew.
Leaving Rukia with Rias, Roy checked on Gasper in the training area.
Seeing Gasper wasn't slacking, Roy let him off.
First day, after all—needed some adjustment.
As a cheering Gasper left, Roy opened his attribute panel.
Unlike Ichigo, whose panel spiked to Level 5 with entries, Roy's level had a separate metric.
It ignored entries and gear, focusing on base stats.
In raw power, Roy could slay gods and challenge mythic chief deities with all his cards.
But pre-buffs, his base stats were only high-class devil level.
Despite his strength, his panel stayed at Level 3.
After long training, his physique neared top-class devil.
This entry-granting session, plus Ichigo's breakthrough dividends, pushed him to Level 4, with a big jump within it.
More than the strength gain, Roy eyed the panel's new feature.
Level 2's entry upgrade and Level 3's entry granting were game-changers.
At Level 4, he got Entry Fusion.
[Entry Fusion: Once monthly, fuse two same-tier entries. Chance to upgrade tier.]
"Sounds solid."
Checking the feature, Roy scanned his entry vault.
The best bang-for-buck was fusing two Gold entries for a shot at a Prismatic one.
But…
Energy Fusion, Time Tyrant, Boosted Gear.
His three Golds were unrelated, with zero synergy.
Sighing, Roy looked at his Reds instead.
With more Reds to pick from, he chose Holy King's Sword and Demonic Sword Master.
[Entry Fusion successful. Congratulations, you obtained Gold Entry: Holy-Demonic Sword.]
Tier-up triggered!
Roy's eyes lit up, checking the stats.
[Holy-Demonic Sword (Gold): Swordsmanship talent + ignores conditions/negatives to wield any holy or demonic sword. Wielder's physical stats massively boosted with holy/demonic swords.]
Post-fusion, Holy-Demonic Sword inherited both entries' effects, with a buffed boost.
Equipping it, Roy drew Gram to test.
His physique jumped from top-class devil to Demon Lord territory.
"Not bad at all."
Roy grinned, satisfied.
Worthy of Gold-tier.
It spiked swordsmanship talent and base stats.
Paired with Boosted Gear, Roy's power dwarfed his past self.
Against Toichiro Suzuki again, he could floor him with boosted physique alone.
And that was just two Gold entries.
Glancing at the yet-untapped [Energy Fusion] and [Time Tyrant], Roy closed the panel, planning his daily schedule.
Weight training, magic practice with Lefi, learning sword styles, studying time power, experimenting with energy fusion…
"Daydreaming alone?" Rias approached.
"Scheduling," Roy said, mentally adding pay the wife tax. "Rukia settled?"
"Yup, she's staying at the house, sharing Asia's room."
"Getting crowded. Should we buy a bigger place?"
"No need. I'm having the villa expanded and renovated," Rias replied, then shifted. "Don't you need a personal secretary?"
Roy nodded. "Got someone in mind already."
"Who?"
"Shoko."
"Shoko? Good pick," Rias mused, agreeing.
A secretary needed trust and familiarity.
Rias had checked Shoko's background and knew her character.
For family, Shoko gave up a cushy life to stick with her father, never giving up.
Her personality was a perfect score.
With Roy's favor, she'd work diligently, acing attitude too.
Ability could be trained, no biggie.
But…
"Shoko's strength is lacking," Rias noted her key flaw.
As Roy's power grew, he'd attract more terrorists.
A secretary needed character, trust, and strength.
"No worries, I'll fix her strength," Roy said, eyeing his entry vault.
Weak? Just throw in some entries.
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