Mutagen

In Shinonome, a scary incident happened in a well-known nighttime entertainment business. It was not well-known because of its service but because of its target customers. And the incident that happened within its walls immediately spread out into all corners of the city.

The sudden death of an entire faction of the Yakuza Group, Dawn, was a piece of big news for everyone. Furthermore, it happened too suddenly, and the current assumptions were not making much sense.

This incident should have been the biggest one for a long while. However, the following incident buried it under the mud.

Much bigger than murder within a nightclub, a pillar of light appeared outside the Reclaimed City. A pillar of light that almost turned night into day.

And unlike the incident in Shinonome, the pillar of light had no explanation the people of the Reclaimed City could think of. This fact made it even scarier.

The fear of the unknown was deep-seated within humanity\'s existence. And even if a light was associated with good and hope most of the time, people still feared it. It did not matter whether the light was a giant pillar or just a dot in the darkness of the night. If it had no explanation, it was something to be feared.

Of course, the sheer scale and visual impact of that pillar of light that appeared only left people with nothing but fear.

Due to these events, everyone in the Reclaimed City barely had any sleep and was restless even after the morning of the next day came.

And as if the events of the previous evening were not enough, the Temple made a statement regarding that pillar of light.

"It was the Priestess who finally recovered after several months of recuperation. As a celebration for it, she decided to vanquish a dangerous threat and free the nearby forbidden zone from its control."

The negativity of the people\'s restlessness diminished due to that statemate from the Temple.

One of the worries of the people of the Reclaimed City since the world changed was the Priestess\' health. It was no secret that she expended her energy and became weakened after she protected Japan\'s humanity\'s last defense from having the same fate as most of the rest of the world.

Now that the people learned their worshipped Priestess had finally recovered, their hearts felt relief. Unfortunately, it was not all because they felt thankful for what the Priestess had done for them. Part of it was the fact that the Reclaimed City would be much safer now from all threats from outside.

Most importantly, the Forbidden Zone in Oshiage suddenly became accessible due to the Priestess\' actions. It was still far from being a safe place. No place was safe on Earth right now, after all. Even settlements were not that safe of a place to stay inside. Nonetheless, the unkillable [Boss of Oshiage] was now killed. Its corpse was even retrieved by the Temple. With the most dangerous enemy gone, the army and the [Freelanccers] could slowly clear it up, making it a less dangerous place than it was now.

However, it was not the only statement that the Temple released. There were two.

The first statement was released to the public, explaining the circumstances around that pillar of light. It was to appease the public, although some smart people were suspicious of it.

On the other hand, the second statement was only spread among those with statues within the Reclaimed city. And it left all those who heard of it baffled.

"The [Freelancer Group] named Evernight is now under the Temple\'s protection."

This single sentence caused turmoil among those above the common people. In the first place, that group was already under the high interest of various powers and factions in the Reclaimed City. And, all of a sudden, that group of interest was under the Temple\'s protection.

Being under the Temple\'s protection meant that the other factions keeping an eye on that group should cease their agendas. Any attempt to put spies to observe that group would be tantamount to offending the Temple. Worse, the agents of the Temple, their Shinto Priests and Shrine Maidens, had uncanny abilities. They would easily find hidden spies. Due to this, those keeping eyes on the Evernight group immediately pulled out their information gatherers as soon as they heard the statement. They might not see this favorably, but they had no choice unless they wanted the Temple to be on their tail.

***

"So, what did you people do?"

Early in the morning, this question was posed by Mitsui Ren to Mark and his group over breakfast.

And Mark\'s answer was...

"Ask the Priestess. You\'re close with her, right?"

Ren mentioned this fact before. She had a close relationship with the Priestess, although it was unclear what their relationship was exactly.

"I wish I could..." Ren frowned. "Unfortunately, the Temple is pretty strict when it comes to meeting the Priestess. That is why I\'m asking what you did to receive such a favor from her? The Temple doesn\'t just go taking people under their protection, not to mention an entire group of unrelated people. Moreover, you\'re a group of foreigners. This action from the Priestess was far more unthinkable due to that."

And Ren stared straight at Mark.

"And that incident in Shinonome. Is it your doing? We already investigated things, and that same faction of Dawn is the one that caused trouble at your doorstep and the one that sent those missing assassins. It\'s too much of a coincidence."

Mark had his morning coffee with those questions aimed at him. And as an initial response, he only gave the guest before him a shrug.

"What\'s the result of the investigation?"

Mark asked Ren back.

"It\'s infighting, they said."

Ren replied.

"Then, why would I have something to do with it? I\'m pretty sure the guards you posted around us didn\'t see us going out in the middle of the night."

Mark continued to feign ignorance.

However, it was clear that Ren was not convinced, although she stopped asking questions. She realized that she would not get any answer from Mark. And as she panned her eyes at the other members of Mark\'s group, she could only sigh. It was useless asking questions here.

In the first place, although Ren\'s thoughts made sense, there was no concrete evidence. Besides, she was not an official investigator. She was just curious.

Nonetheless, it did deepen the mysteriousness of Mark\'s group.

***

Mark did not expect the Priestess to fulfill her promise this way. However, it did solve the problem.

Without any eyes lurking around and people causing trouble, Mark had more time to focus on more important matters. Mark carefully managed his schedule for the next few days.

One was working and learning things with the elder blacksmith, Yasuo. Mark learned blacksmithing from the old blacksmith while working on the weapon he wanted to create. It was the same for Yasuo, learning things about magic circuits and the basics of creating an artifact.

Another was the artifact that Mako left in Mark\'s care. With the unpolished gem in his hand, he was one step away from fixing the thing. There was also the information that Magwayen gathered in her realm, which helped Mark learn about the actual function of the artifact.

That pendant that Mako had was called a [Life Channeller]. It was a protective artifact that would heal anyone from fatal injuries that had the artifact in their person. Furthermore, it would give the person high restorative abilities as long as the energy within the artifact was circulating within their bodies.

Unfortunately, the [Life Channeller] was a semi-single-use artifact. The pendant itself could be used repeatedly. However, upon usage, it would consume the embedded gem and should be replaced. The gem called [Life Essence] was extremely rare. Using the artifact repeatedly was pretty much impossible.

And that exact gem, although unpolished, came into Mark\'s hand due to some lucky circumstances.

After careful processing of the unpolished gem, Mark should be able to fix the artifact.

That was what exactly transpired after a few days. The [Life Chaneller] was fixed, giving it a luster as if it was given life. It was not glowing, and its markings remained the same. However, unlike when it was missing the gem, it looked more valuable, literally and metaphorically.

Mako\'s eyes almost teared up, seeing the luster of the artifact that she had not seen for years. And as promised, she was giving everything in exchange for the repair of the artifact, including herself.

Mark was actually interested in having Mako under his command. The members of the Black Lotus were ninjas, without a doubt. Such explained their adept stealth skills and information gathering. And that was what Mark wanted exactly. A person who could gather information for him on his call. He had Crimson as his eye, but the [Miasma Bloodchild] had limited intelligence as a non-human being and a literal baby. There was more Crimson could not do than he could.

And Mark, who had a knack for collecting things, was pretty much interested in having people with a variety of specialized skills, with combat and support, to be in his group. A ninja would definitely be a fine addition to his entourage.

Unfortunately, Mako had one last request before following Mark.

In a few days, Ren would be leaving on an expedition. The gathering of supplies was not going well for the Black Lotus Group. The supplies they were able to collect were far less than what they needed for the people in Kachidoki. As such, they had no choice but to outsource the supplies they needed before things went downhill.

With the expedition scheduled in the future, Mako would accompany Ren and the Black Lotus Group. And upon their safe return, Mako promised to leave the Black Lotus Group and join Mark\'s instead.

Mark had no problems with her request. Mako was loyal to Ren, after all. Still, Mark had something in mind when he accepted that deal.

A few days passed, and the weapon Mark wanted to create and commissioned Yasuo to create parts with was finished. Its creation was finished on the same day the Black Lotus Group left on their expedition.

Knowing that the Black Lotus Group was moving out for the sake of the people in Kachidoki, many people saw them off and prayed for their safety. The Black Lotus Group sure had the heart of the people in their territory.

Most of these people were permanently injured, old people, orphans, and those outcasted by most people. These people, who could not support themselves in the new life within the Reclaimed City, relied on the help and care of the Black Lotus Group.

And in return, these people were ready to support the Black Lotus Group wholeheartedly. What they could do might be limited, but they were all ready to stand in front and sacrifice themselves for the Black Lotus Group, just like how the Black Lotus Group were ready to plunge themselves into danger in order to support their lives.

Mark\'s group was also present when the members of the Black Lotus Group crossed the Sumida River into the dangerous ruins of Tokyo.

But while watching them leave, Mark stared at them with a sharp stare. His eyes had a purplish glow, seeing past what lay before him.

This day was a memorable day in ways more than one.

It was a day when the Black Lotus Group were charging into danger for their people.

But in Mark\'s purplish eyes...

It was also the day when the people of Kachidoki last saw the backs of the people they relied on for survival.

"Talk about a scam..." Mark murmured. "In exchange for fixing that artifact... All that I will get is a corpse of a ninja, huh..."