Chapter #10: [BLACK ZODIAC

I must say, the Kazuto Family really has some connection, judging by their impressive amounts of guests. Today's occasion seemed to be a celebration of the 'Union', an organization that was created to unite and protect not just the households, but also normal humans. Funnily, the Ancient Gods they followed are CulturedOjiisan, Plotter, and CheckYourInventory.

There’s Kazuto Hiro, Heir of the Kazuto Clan. A genius who’s born once within a century, and the guy who wields the Blade of the Tyrant. Nahh… Who’re you kiddin'. Genius? The guy's so dense, a rock would be much better in finding out whether a girl's in love with him or not. He doesn’t notice anything strange on their behavior, even though his arms are buried with mountains of pliable pleasure that other guys wouldn’t mind climbing.

“Hiro-kun~ If you’re tired, then we should go to my room. I’ll nurse you back to health~”, The Class President, Emilia, whispered seductively to Hiro, though it was still loud enough for all of us to hear, all while burying his arm on her impressive assets.

I lightly frowned at the sight, and the girls looked like they wanted to tear her to pieces. In response, she just sent them a cocky smirk, and as for the other boys… Well, they really couldn’t do anything about it.

“I’m alright, Emilia-sama. It’s a gathering organized by my family, and other Union members would be here soon”, Hiro replied with a glowing smile, which seemed to have great effect on the girl, ducking her face as it turned slightly red. Damn bastard…

Meanwhile, I’m standing at the side where there’s only a few people, drinking my wine and minding my business. They’re all glancing at me curiously, I guess that’s because I’m new here. From what it seems, they all look like they belong to the Kazuto Clan, with only a few belonging to other Clans here and there.

“Oh my! You must be Hori Kaede, right?”, A gentleman suddenly approached me, making me blink in surprise. He was white, I mean really white. From his hat, suit, pants, and even shoes, all of them are white. What a strange guy.

“Yes… I’m Hori Kaede.”, I replied, slightly bowing at him in respect despite his odd attire.

“Ohhh~ So you’re really the one with Plotter's Discernment…”, He said in what appeared to be amazement. Like time, news sure do fly quick.

“Yes, I do have it.”

I know how Schemer's Blessing worked. The Plotter's Discernment negates any stealth magic if honed enough, and allows it’s user to feel the emotions, intentions, as well as the presence of others. It’s also capable of deciphering runes and information not known by it’s wielder, as well as boosting their mind. Schemer even said the possibility of seeing a bit of the future if one could take it to an extreme level of mastery, which I honestly wouldn’t mind.

“Yeah… Anyways, that skill is obtained by people who possess high luck and intellect. Looks like you’re more lucky and intelligent than Hiro after all.”, He grinned at me.

Huh? Looks like there’s many fortunate and smart individuals who also possess this skill. Despite that info appearing as useless, it would help me in the future to know that other people is also capable of obtaining this skill.

While it’s true that I’m smarter than Hiro, what do you mean about my luck being stronger than his?! Can’t you see?! The guy’s surrounded by a bunch of girls who wants his D.

Well, whether you’re lucky is determined by individual viewing after all. While these guys has to worship the 'Ancient Gods' in order to receive their blessings, I only need to chat these guys and they’ll give me one. Also, I have seen many protagonists being bullied by their harems.

…

“B-BAKA!”, Kurumi, who’s face was glowing red, slapped Hiro's face and ran away.

…

See what I meant?

“Since you’re my rival’s friend, what’s your attribute?”

“Rival? Who are you again?”, My eyebrows twitched, this idiot didn’t even have the courtesy of introducing himself first.

“Haha! Sorry for the late introduction. My name’s Matsamune Shido! I’m Kazuto Hiro's rival. My main attribute is light and my expertise lie on swordsmanship.”, He stated.

Huh? It seems that he likes light colors so much that the element actually became his attribute.

“My attribute is also light… While my expertise lie on healing magic, information gathering, and I know slight world languages .”, I answered, carefully making up the information. It appears that what I’ve said had satisfied him.

“Ho? I see… With those expertise, it’s no wonder that you’ve received the Plotter's Discernment. Anyway, thank you for entertaining me. I should go and greet the others as well…”, He said, before turning away and waving his hand lazily. I can tell that he’s a good guy, even though he’s also weird.

I didn’t notice that someone was behind me till he tapped my shoulder. Tsk, looks like the skill was already off.

“So you’re a healer huh? Hori~!”, Kogi spoke and sent a cocky smirk to me as I turned around to face him. Tch, I really want to punch him right now.

“Yes, what about yours?”, I asked, irritation tinting my voice slightly.

“My specially lies on marksmanship, and my attribute's wind.”, He said, pausing and continuing.

“Hiro’s specialized in using a sword and uses fire and dark elements. Since he also wields the Tyrant's Blade, an artificial abyss attribute is added.”

“Emiya is a mage who possesses 3 attributes: water, earth, and poison. Being a mage allows her to use several elements.”

“Kurumi is a master in hand to hand combat, with her attributes being fire and earth.”

“Emilia is a mage with dark attribute, who also specializes in dark arts.”

“Misa is a summoner, who currently possesses 3 summons.”

“Yuki is also a holy healer like you.”

“Yumi specializes in swordsmanship and has a light attribute.”

“Ayumi is a support, who boosts our team with her voice.”

“Sota is a marksman like me.”

“Arima specializes in stealth and infiltration. He never tells us his attribute though…”

“And finally, Maki's our tank, who possesses rock and steel attribute.”

After Kogi introduced and explained their group's abilities, I can’t help but be impressed. If we’re in a game, their party would be a balanced one. After contemplating for a bit, I just said.

“There seems to be no problem, your party's quite balanced. I think you can handle your own quite a bit.”

Kogi grins in victory.

“So… You wanna—”

I immediately held my hand up before he could finish. I know what he was about to say.

“No. I won’t join your party. First, you have your healer, along with a support. Second, I don’t like fighting, but I could still hold my own pretty well. To what extent? You’ll have to push me too far to find out. Third, if you’re gonna point out that your group could help, or use my other specialties, I have my connections, and Arima could do the same thing as what I do with some study. And finally, I never liked working with other people.”

Plus, who needs a team when you’re the whole team anyways? Healing magic is just one within my plethora of abilities. I’m curious though, what’s the difference between magic and attributes?

Kogi, who was a bit overwhelmed with what I said, stood still for just a few moments. He appeared to be thinking of what to say, though he eventually receded, sighing silently as he did so.

“Ahhh… I have one thing to ask though, I have never known the difference between the magic and the attribute.”, I asked. Kogi appeared to be in thought for a moment, before explaining.

“Well, Magic utilizes mana, which is mind power. One can be quite a good mage when they have large mana reserves and are well versed in magic. Attributes however, are a person's affinity. One which is already aligned towards themselves, that’s why it never uses mana when used. It uses a person's spiritual aura or force instead, and the stronger your aura or force is, the more powerful your attribute becomes.”

“I see…”, I nod in acceptance. I haven’t explored these abilities yet so I don’t know what my attributes are, though I know that I possess fire, wind, light, and thunder magic. I really need to see my other powers soon to use them at their full potential.

–?!

An eerie tension suddenly washed over me, though it appeared to be barely noticeable to others. Strange, I sense negative feelings all over, like someone was about to attack or ambush someone…

[Plotter's Discernment: Active]

The dangerous feeling I had suddenly spiked higher. Tracing it’s source, I looked up to the ceiling. My eyes immediately narrowed, a man was there. His body was covered in a cloak of darkness and only his glowing red eyes and mouth was visible. He seemed to be surveying the party from above.

Then, our eyes suddenly met, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. Wait? Was he using stealth magic? It only lasted a few moments though, as he disregarded me and removed his cloaking magic and blasted his ill intent, making the others aware of him.

He held up his hand, and suddenly, dozens of magic circles appeared in thin air, with more cloaked men exiting within them. Everyone in the hall, though startled, began to release their own power in response to the situation. They seem to know who those guys are and what’s going on.

Kogi's growl resounded behind me. Turning to him, I could see the rage on his face as he glared at the hooded men. Then, he uttered scathingly.

“Black Zodiac…!”

[•END•]

Revised and beta-read by BaNaeNae.