Chapter 18: You Cannot Live Off a Wealthy Woman

Amuro Tooru had actually seen Natsuka before and knew he was a member of the Organization.

—As a busy official member, he occasionally had uses for peripheral members.

About a year ago, the two had had a brief encounter during a mission.

Amuro Tooru felt that if he could remember Natsuka from a crowd of peripheral members, there was no reason Natsuka wouldn't remember an official member with such distinctive blonde hair, tanned skin, and striking features.

Therefore, Amuro Tooru felt there was something very wrong with Natsuka.

Most peripheral members harbored fear toward the executives. How could one possibly come to him looking for a part-time job, and even stay stubbornly after he had clearly told them to leave?

...Suspicious. Too suspicious.

Regardless, he couldn't let the man go before getting clear answers.

With that thought, Amuro Tooru let out a dark, villainous smirk. Gripping his gun, he approached with an overwhelming sense of pressure: "Who sent you? Are you a dog for those police?"

Natsuka: "..." There were quite a few flaws in that statement, but he couldn't exactly call him out on them.

However, Natsuka understood. Amuro Tooru's words were essentially a warning.

—For a peripheral member to trespass into Bourbon's territory was suspicious enough.

If Natsuka couldn't provide a reasonable explanation, Amuro Tooru could kill him on the spot as a "spy sent by the enemy," and no one would be able to hold him accountable.

Peripheral members without codenames were that easy to kill; they were the cannon fodder among cannon fodder.

But fortunately.

The thing in front of him was a fake bottle of alcohol.

The chances of him firing were low.

Moreover, with a ghost in hand, Natsuka wasn't actually very afraid of death.

Or, to be precise, as a professional medium with a professional English certification, he wasn't afraid of "being killed by an excellent person."

The souls of the dead are born with a layer of resentment, and this resentment is highly targeted—it points directly at the killer.

Combined with the inherent traits of a medium, after death, they could maximize the advantages of their spiritual form.

In other words, if anyone dared to kill a medium to their face, the success rate of that medium seizing the killer's body would be ridiculously high.

It was just that the process of body-swapping caused great damage to the soul. Furthermore, during this process, ghosts might slip away due to being over-exploited or because the contract became fragmented.

Thus, mediums went to great lengths to avoid death.

...

But right now, Natsuka only had one ghost. Even if he were killed, he wouldn't lose much.

Plus, every time he ran into Gin, he ended up having a gun pointed at him for a while... to be honest, he was used to it.

Facing a loaded gun, Natsuka maintained a good mindset

"No one assigned me; I came here on my own. I'm looking for a stable source of income.

"In the past, because of Organization missions, I offended some local thugs. They didn't dare confront me directly, so they kept playing dirty—no matter where I went to work, the place would get trashed after a while. After it happened enough times, no boss dared to hire me."

Natsuka let out a sigh as he spoke. "Now I can only work in very distant places. After deducting travel expenses, the wages are very low and barely enough to live on."

...

Amuro Tooru was also someone who worked many part-time jobs.

Of course, his purpose was different from Natsuka's: Amuro didn't need a salary; he did it primarily to gather intelligence.

But the difficulties encountered when looking for work were actually quite similar.

For some reason, Natsuka's story was very immersive.

As Amuro listened, his grip on the gun unconsciously loosened a little... this peripheral member was truly too miserable.

But when Natsuka's voice stopped, Amuro suddenly felt something was off: "The Organization..."

"The Organization rarely gives me missions," Natsuka said, shaking his head slightly and lowering his eyes. "An official member with a codename thinks I have psychological issues and shouldn't be stressed, so they rarely assign me work. If I can't find a stable part-time job soon, I'll have to sell my parents' house. But that's the last thing they left behind..."

Amuro Tooru: "..." Is it... is it really that difficult?

However, speaking of psychological issues and withholding work...

Amuro Tooru suddenly wondered if this "member" was referring to Sherry.

...

Because of certain events in his childhood, Amuro Tooru held Sherry's mother in high regard.

Consequently, he couldn't help but pay attention to Sherry's situation.

Amuro Tooru had indeed heard that over the past year, Sherry had been quite protective of a certain peripheral member.

If that person happened to be Natsuka...

Then Natsuka probably wasn't lying.

Sherry was a researcher; she didn't have authority over operational matters.

But her status was important, after all. If she were willing to speak up, it could indeed result in Natsuka not receiving missions.

Amuro Tooru knew Sherry's intentions were likely good. But looking at Natsuka's current situation... she had clearly meant well but caused more harm than good.

Perhaps because Sherry had never lacked money since she was a child, she had forgotten to consider this.

...

Thinking about the daughter of his first childhood crush made Amuro Tooru feel somewhat helpless.

He looked at Natsuka and followed up on his previous words: "That executive only limits your missions but doesn't give you a subsidy?"

He was subtly reminding Natsuka to mention this to Sherry—once Sherry knew the truth, she certainly wouldn't remain indifferent.

However, after hearing his words, Natsuka gave him a strange look: "She has given me money, but I'm a man; how can I let a woman support me?"

Having said that, he looked at Amuro Tooru gloomily, hesitating as if to speak: "You wouldn't happen to be..."

Amuro Tooru: "..."

He felt a pot labeled "Professional Moocher" being conjured out of thin air and slowly approaching him.

The veins on Amuro Tooru's temple throbbed. "I was just asking casually."

He certainly wasn't encouraging anyone to live off a woman.

He simply felt that it was perfectly natural and reasonable for an adult to provide some living expenses for a child she was looking after.

But thinking about it now...

Sherry seemed to still be a minor.

Being supported financially by a girl of the same age—it was no wonder Natsuka firmly refused.

Minors are such a hassle... and he happened to run into two at once.

...

With Sherry suddenly inserted into the conversation, Amuro Tooru's attitude softened slightly.

But before agreeing, one thing still felt strange: "But what you just said, what does that have to do with you coming to me for a part-time job?"

Sensing the softening in Amuro Tooru's tone, Natsuka explained

"I accidentally saved a little girl who had been kidnapped before, and her father gave me a reward. Through that incident, I realized that being a private investigator seemed like a suitable industry for me.

"But I can't open an agency on my own, so I can only work as an apprentice under someone else.

"That's when I happened to see your advertisement in a detective handbook..."

At this point, Natsuka pointed to the detective handbook on the coffee table

"Among all the detective agencies, yours is the closest to the Metropolitan Police Department.

"That way, it's less likely to be targeted by vandals. Even if someone really comes to trash the shop because of me, the police can arrive quickly. So, I wanted to try my luck."

As he spoke, Natsuka looked up at Amuro Tooru again: "After coming in, I realized I had seen you before. Your skin tone and hair color are very distinctive... An Organization executive should be even less likely to fear those thugs, right?"

Natsuka looked at him with an expectant gaze that said, *You can do it.*

Amuro Tooru: "..."

After a moment of silence, he put away his gun and picked up the detective handbook on the table to flip through it.

There really was an advertisement for an agency.

He had even forgotten when he had published it.

...

Amuro Tooru didn't actually need to attract customers, nor did he need to worry about the agency's turnover—even if he lost money, he could request funds from the Organization.

He published advertisements from time to time simply to maintain a certain level of recognition for the "Amuro Detective Agency."

After all, as an undercover agent living under a pseudonym, Amuro Tooru couldn't make himself a famous detective; he could only use the agency as a front to get involved in useful cases.

He just hadn't expected that this measure would actually attract an apprentice looking for part-time work.

...

Normally, Amuro Tooru wouldn't bother with such things.

But now... Natsuka sounded truly miserable.

Especially since a significant portion of that misery seemed to be caused by Sherry.

When Amuro Tooru was a child, he had been cared for by Sherry's mother.

Now that Sherry's parents were both gone, although he knew rationally that he shouldn't interfere, since this matter had landed right in his lap, it was just a small favor...

It would feel wrong not to help.

Furthermore, as a member of the Organization, Natsuka's life was so difficult, yet he was still thinking about working honestly instead of turning to robbery or theft. He had even heard he saved a little girl.

This kid... might actually be worth saving.

After much internal conflict, Amuro Tooru ultimately lost to the conscience of a "good guy."

He sighed and looked at Natsuka

"You can start as an intern. I will pay you the standard hourly wage in the industry, but if any slip-ups occur that cause losses to the Organization... you understand the consequences, right?"

Natsuka was stunned.

He actually had several more follow-up persuasive arguments prepared.

He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

Was the "good side" of this world more conscientious than he thought?

Regardless, as long as he achieved his goal...

Natsuka nodded, signaling his understanding.