Lost Children Arc (1) : Reward.

Arriving home, Tachibana found the letter that his dad and mom had written to him for this week. He set it aside to read it later and first took a shower so that he could refresh himself after the spar.

Once he was done, Tachibana cooked a bowl of instant ramen and sat down with the letter.

"Dear son,

I hope this letter reaches you in the best of health. Mom is fine, she's just lost a little weight worrying about you since you haven't visited us in a long time.

I was surprised that your name came up during my meeting with the Land of Iron Daimyo. Colour me surprised when I heard that you were the one who stopped the group of rouge samurai who escaped the Land of Iron to harm innocent people in the Land of Fire.-"

Tachibana frowned when he read the letter since this meant that the matter had grown beyond the village and the mission he had completed.

While he had expected other shinobi to take up the mission to rescue the other children who had already been sold away and couldn't be rescued in time, this meant that those children hadn't been rescued yet.

'Troublesome…'

'Is he hinting at me wanting to learn more about this situation?'

'So basically he wants me to participate in the mission relating to rescuing the missing children.'

'But why did the mission become so important all of a sudden?'

'This…I doubt this mission is going to end up with anything pleasant.'

Tachibana continued reading the letter.

"-I would praise you to tell you good job, but your mother has me worried, especially since you didn't mention much about killing someone…So as the Daimyo, I order you to inform us about everything that happens in those missions!

I hope you are able to complete this mission successfully so that your mother can reward you and your team. I wish you luck."

Tachibana was about to stop there, but then he noticed the small writing at the bottom corner of the page.

"P.S: Please keep your explanations about your missions to a minimum, your mom will only get more worried if you are detailed. You're doing a good job, I hope I see you soon since I've been missing you a little too."

Tachibana's eyes teared up a little since although they weren't his 'real' parents, they had been the first people to handle him after he was brought into this world.

'*Sigh* I wouldn't love to be squished by her…but it's not like I hate her or something…an I miss Tora too…the damn cat was the only thing that kept me sane earlier.'

'But this mission…it's going to be a tough one isn't it…'

'I wonder why everyone wants to complete this mission so quickly…'

Tachibana tossed the letter aside and collapsed in his bed. He wondered about random things for a few minutes like-

'If the moon in this world was created by mortals…did this planet not have tides before?'

And things like-

'Can I talk to Kaguya in some way?'

'What about Hagoromo?'

'Can I use the messenger summoning ritual to summon them somehow? Kaguya probably won't respond since she is not in Pureworld but Hagoromo? Where's that bastard who is depending on the pure ball of sunlight a thousand years into the future to change the planet?'

'Hmm…system is it possible to communicate with Hagoromo using the contract?'

[ The system must inform the host that it does not know everything about this world and so it can only say that if Hagoromo is still alive he cannot be contacted by the messenger summoning ritual. ]

'Got it. Not an omnipotent system.'

'Would be nice if I had Arrodes in this world…'

'System…what mission do I need to do to get Arrodes as a reward?'

[ According to the systems calculations, if the host is able to save a country, then the host can get the special Mirror Arrodes as a reward. ]

'A country!? Seriously? Wouldn't that just be saving the village from Pain or something? That's long…'

[ The system must remind the host that there are no shortcuts to power. ]

'Says the thing that is literally a shortcut itself…'

'Do I get any rewards from the mission last time? The Land of Snow one?'

[ The Host has already been granted that reward. ]

'Huh? What was it? How come I don't know about it?'

[ The messenger contracting ritual would not have allowed the host to learn from his messengers, it has been modified to help the host better. ]

'I see…that's helpful.'

'Anyway, what rewards will my next mission get me?'

[ Since the system does not know what is going on, the system cannot perfectly evaluate an appropriate reward, but studying the lines of fate, the system comes to the conclusion that if the host can do the most damage to his opponent he can get the Sefirah Castle in return.]

'I see….I see…-wait what!?'

"THE SEFIRAH CASTLE!!!???" Tachibana shouted out loud.

[ Yes, the host heard correctly, the host will be rewarded with the Sefirah Castle if he deals the maximum amount of damage to his opponent.]

'Da faq…'

'Who exactly is my opponent going to be that if I simply damage them enough I'll be given the Sefirah Castle?'

'But…if I have the Sefirah Castle…I won't really be able to do much anyway…'

'I mean Klein did have a legit reason for using the castle…it was to collect Roselle's papers and learn more about the world he was in.'

'But me?'

'What will I do? It's not like my divinations will get any better since there are no anti-divination techniques in this world anyway…'

'Now that I think about it…I could use the Sefirah Castle to create my own secret village…'

'But to do what?'

'I don't want to do something as grand as, 'Ridding the world of all evil' or 'I Will Become The Great Emperor!''

[ If the host allows, the system has a fantastic suggestion for him. ]

'Oh? Sure…let's hear it.'

[ If the host decides to, he can set up an organisation of elite people to keep track of the villain that killed the host in the future. ]

Tachibana looked at the message and then with a frown on his face thought for a while about it.

'Well…I don't really want to reveal information about someone betraying me and capturing me to the world…'

'What's to say that by revealing such information I won't cause someone to betray me in the first place?'

Tachibana thought about it before pulling out his trusted pendulum and performing a divination.

'It will be good for me to set up a secret organisation that will help me bid my time and gain power to fight against the person who will betray me.'

Tachibana repeated the statement seven times before opening his eyes and looking at the result.

'The pendulum is spinning clockwise…'

'Interesting.'

'Then I have to do my best in this mission then…'

'Let's start by figuring out who I'm up against.'