61: Missions

"I'm going to ask it one more time..." - Cloud said with a frown. He was wearing a sleeveless polo shirt and black tight military pants as he looked closely at the beautiful purple-haired woman sitting in front of him - "What do you want, Shinonono Tabane?"

"Well, there are many things I'd like to talk about, C-chan, like for example, about Project R" - Tabane replied with a small smile as she slightly opened her eyes, revealing cold purple eyes - "We can save that for another time though, right now there's something more important to talk about."

Cloud simply remained silent as he folded his arms.

"First, I want to thank you for saving Houki-chan, if it wasn't for your help, and your parents' sacrifice, my younger sister would have been captured by those sons of bitches" - Tabane said with a hatred so deep that Cloud was sure he wouldn't be able to see the bottom if it had physical form - "Second, I want to apologize for not find you sooner"

Cloud simply snorted with disdain, after all, he knew that if this woman had wished to find him, she would have done so during the first year - "Don't try to fool me, Tabane, we both know that you left me locked in that place for a reason unknown to me."

Tabane gave him a slightly embarrassed smile before letting out a sigh - "Ok, I have my reasons for leaving you in that place, if you want I can explain"

"No need" - Cloud replied as he shook his head.

Tabane simply shrugged, as for why she let Cloud inside the facility, it's simple, she wanted to check how far he could go, and honestly, the end result was better than she expected. She had found all the [Project R] reports, to the point that some of these ideas were implemented in the latest [IS] she was working on.

"Anyway, I'm going to get straight to the point, I want you to get into the [IS Academy]" - Tabane said as she smiled slightly as she saw that the food she had ordered, was already on the table - "Some contacts just informed me that there will be a lot of incidents this year"

Cloud frowned slightly as he heard this - "To get into that place, I need to pilot an [IS] first, but that's impossible"

"Oh, I know, the [IS] were specifically designed to stop functioning when they detect male Y chromosomes" - Tabane replied simply - "It's a configuration that's hidden deep inside the core of the [IS]"

Cloud simply nodded because this was one of his hypotheses.

"What do you say, do you think you can accept this mission?" - Tabane asked as she looked at this guy with a smile, after all, he was one of the few people she actually tolerated, even when this was the romantic interest of her beloved younger sister.

Was she jealous?

Of course, she was!

Did she hate Cloud for stealing Houki's attention from her?

Not in the least, after all, he had been the person who had saved her from an uncertain fate, not to mention that he had paid more than enough inside the military facility.

Did she have feelings for this guy?

Hmm, he was handsome, but from Tabane's perspective, she was far more interested in incest, specifically with her beloved Houki-chan.

Cloud was sunk in his thoughts as he thought about how to get away as fast as possible, though his expression changed when he saw a group of pop-up screens appear one after another and start to cover almost his entire range of vision.

- - - - - - - - -

[World Mission [Supremacy over mortals] has been assigned]

[Target 1 [Student]: Enter the [IS Academy] for at least six months, and defeat at least 3 representatives from different nations (Defeating more representatives will increase the final grade)]

[Objective 2 [Hero]: Discover the secret identity of the spies of [Phantom Task] who are inside the academy and repel their attack].

[Objective 3 [Wings of Freedom]: Succeed in defeating the final enemy [????]...]

* * *

[Assigning Side Quests]

1- [Discover the hidden secret of the Orimura family]

2- [Solve the problem that is troubling the Sarashiki sisters]

3- [Recruits Tabane Shinonono]

4- [Help to increase Ichika Orimura's emotional intelligence]

5- [Solve the problems of at least 5 national representatives]

6- [Increases affinity with at least 4 female leads]

- - - - - - - - -

Cloud frowned before letting out a sigh - "Tell me the terms and my pay."

"Oh, does that mean you accept the mission?" - Tabane asked with a huge grin - "I knew I could trust you, C-chan ~!"

"Just talk" - muttered Cloud with annoyance.

"Ok, it's simple, I want you to protect someone you know quite well, she's my younger sister, the beautiful Houki Shinonono ~" - said Tabane with a huge smile, though it quickly disappeared - "The other students I don't give a shit about and the teachers can protect them. Outside of her, I want you to protect I-kun, though I'm sure Chi-chan is going to be keeping an eye on him"

"Understood" - Cloud nodded calmly as he remembered the blurry past where he was playing with Ichika and Houki before he was kidnapped - "My pay"

"It's simple, I'll deposit you half a million yen per month, I'll also upgrade your suit, so it can be more useful in different situations" - replied Tabane as she folded her arms - "I'll also give you a direct contact number, although I recommend you not to call me too often because I'm going to be busy with my projects"

"I understand" - nodded Cloud as he thought carefully - "You'll be in charge of the account."

"Meh, it's not like it will take me too long" - replied Tabane as she nodded calmly - "Take this cell phone, with this I'll contact you with the rest of the information"

Cloud took it before as he put down a briefcase on the table - "Here's the suit, I recommend you don't do anything stupid because this one is directly connected to my weird internal energy"

Tabane nodded calmly before watching as the young man took another briefcase, only this one contained money, and left the place.

"Tch, he didn't even eat with me" - Tabane muttered in annoyance, though she quickly let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the young man wasn't as cold as she thought - "Better contact Chi-chan..."

* * * * *

"Who's calling me so early?" - muttered a beautiful black-haired woman with sharp eyes. She was wearing a black business suit that clung to her curvaceous body - "Tabane?"

She quickly answered the call, only to shake her head at the sound of her animated best friend's voice.

[Yahoo ~! This is Tabane-chan, desu~!]

"Stop the games, Tabane, we both know you only call me when something serious is involved" - sighed the black-haired woman. Her name was Chifuyu Orimura, Ichika's older sister, as well as formerly the strongest woman in the world, and currently one of the teachers at [IS Academy].

[As cold and straightforward as ever... Anyway, I called you for two reasons, one, I succeeded in discovering C-chan's whereabouts after spending more than two years hacking all the government groups]

"Really?" - Chifuyu asked in surprise.

[Yes, although he has changed more than you think... It's like watching you during the first few years of service in the army]

Chifuyu's expression changed with these words before she frowned - "I see..."

[As for the second point of the call, it's because I'm going to send him to the academy as protection for Houki-chan]

"Is there anything else I need to know?" - Chifuyu asked while shaking her head. Normally, she would tell Tabane that another boy's presence at the academy was impossible, but she didn't because she knew that her best friend knew about this, so it was obvious that she would do something about it.

[The truth is that the facility he was locked up in was one that was trying to create a new type of male soldier. Normally, I would scoff at their attempts, but they succeeded in what I thought was impossible, they created a biomechanical armor, one that uses as its power source the strange energy within C-chan]

"That's a bit worrying" - Chifuyu said with a frown - "They tried to clone him?"

[Yes, they even tried to fuse his genetic code with some samples of yours to create the ultimate human, but to no avail, it seems that this strange energy makes it impossible for C-chan to reproduce or be cloned, it's interesting...]

"Get to the point, Tabane" - sighed Chifuyu because again Tabane was beating around the bush.

[What I'm trying to say, is that Cloud has this new type of light armor that is directly comparable to my [IS], it's even slightly superior to the latest version of these.]

"And you're furious about this?" - Chifuyu asked while raising an eyebrow.

[Of course I am! C-chan is equal to or even stronger than you at your most powerful moment! He has all his basic abilities bordering on inhuman level, and with no need for nanomachines like you, in other words, he's a natural ultimate soldier!]

"When is he coming?" - Chifuyu asked with mild curiosity.

[At most three days, I need a little time, so I can check the suit and modify it so that it can move in the air, because that's currently its only weakness]