I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 107 Each Person's Opportunity

America

Woodbury, New York.

creak,

With the creaking of wooden axles, Anderson pushed open the gate to the courtyard in front of him.

This is a typical American 'working-class' house, a detached house but not far from the houses on either side. The flowers in the small yard are messy and obviously not well maintained. The house is basically an all-wood structure.

I took out my key and opened the front door. The first floor contained the living room, kitchen, dining room, and a small bathroom with a shower.

The second floor has three bedrooms: one for Colonel Anderson, one for his son, and one for his grandson.

As for the daughter-in-law, after her son squandered the family fortune several times, they eventually divorced.

If it weren't for Anderson,
Even their grandsons are being taken away.

"Father?"

Just as Anderson opened the door, a middle-aged man in a suit, dressed haphazardly, hurried down from the second floor carrying a briefcase.

Upon seeing Anderson at the door, a look of joy and pride appeared on his face!

“You’ve come back just in time,”

I have some good news to tell you!

To avoid disturbing his son sleeping on the second floor, the middle-aged man lowered his voice, but his excitement was hard to hide.

"The stocks I hold have gone up, not just by a few percentage points, but by several percentage points every minute!"

"And my little workshop... cough, the company: we just received a huge order, Father, can you believe it? I succeeded, we're about to become rich—"

The middle-aged man, like a child, gesticulated wildly, eager to show off his success to his father.

"Soon, we'll be back on the Upper East Side!"

"I want to make those dismissive investors regret missing out on a huge fortune."

"And those who once mocked you, I know, I know them all, they will soon discover: you have a son you can be proud of!"

Silly boy,
Do you think this is your own skill?

Looking at the excited middle-aged man in front of him, Anderson rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

"Well, good job."

He patted his son on the shoulder, a son he had spoiled excessively because he had spent many years in the military.

Colonel Anderson knew his son had little business acumen, but:

So what does it matter?
"Young man, don't be arrogant."

Take your time, more good luck is waiting for you.

"Yes, father!"

The middle-aged man playfully gave a military salute and pointed outside the door.

"Then I'm going to work."

"Go ahead,"

Watching his son excitedly and hurriedly leave, old Anderson went upstairs to the second floor.

He gently pushed open his grandson's bedroom door, walked to the bedside, and looked at his sleeping grandson. The old colonel reached out his hand, but stopped in mid-air.

"Nation, Faith, Glory"

I'm sorry.
He turned around and quietly closed the door.

Stepping out of his house, the old colonel's gaze swept across the street, where the sky was beginning to lighten, and he walked straight toward an inconspicuous car on the street corner.

"How about it?"

The rear door of the car was opened, and Dr. Ramley's voice came from inside.

Are you satisfied with the 'pay' for this job?

"Can I say no?"

He bent down and crawled into the car, then closed the door.

Colonel Anderson sat upright with his hands on his knees.

"Take me to meet my future 'subordinates' so I can have a detailed understanding of their combat capabilities."

Times have changed. Although he was parasitized, or rather, "blessed" by that 'mysterious lady,' Anderson also gained extraordinary powers: what kind of 'army' will he be commanding in the future?
Thinking of this, Anderson's blood as a 'soldier' ​​surged once again.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

island country,

Yamanashi Prefecture, south of Hayakawa Town, Nanami Mountain.

As a small town bordering Shizuoka Prefecture, it doesn't even qualify as a 'city'; a town can only be named as a 'town'.

The root cause is still the terrain:
Mountains!

Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures are characterized by dense mountain ranges, complex waterways, and various wild boars and bears.

Decades ago, children in these areas would wear bear-repelling whistles around their necks when they went to school: they would blow the whistle when they encountered danger, and the loud sound would scare away wild animals, and the local hunters' association would arrive immediately.

After decades of relentless hunting by hunters, even wild animals have ingrained the message of staying away from 'two-legged creatures' into their genes.

Anyone who dares to attack a two-legged cub will be hunted down by a large number of adult two-legged creatures.

Those two-legged creatures only need to point their sticks at each other,
Amidst the thunder, even the most ferocious beast would instantly fall to its death in a pool of blood.

"Today's PE class was so tiring~~"

On a mountain path, a girl with freckles on her face, holding up the hem of her skirt, complained.

"There's nothing we can do about it; they added the 'Extraordinary Risk Avoidance' course."

Walking in front of her was a boy with short, curly black hair, wearing a shirt and overalls, with his hands behind his head.

"Kaoru, you should work on your physical fitness."

"Although there are no bears or wild boars in the mountains now, we might encounter extraordinary beings."

"No, not all sweaty and smelly~~"

The girl holding up her skirt refused without even thinking; she was clearly the quiet type.

"Hehehe, those guys in the class will definitely say: Even sweat smells good."

"Dai, what are you saying?"

Two elementary school students, who looked to be around ten years old, walked and chatted, and soon arrived at the halfway point of the mountain: at the end of the road was a small shrine.

However, the torii gate has collapsed, and only the small main hall remains of the building: it is only the size of a single room.

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this shrine is perfectly clean.

that is because:

A boy and a girl, elementary school students, used this place as their 'secret base'.

This 'abandoned' little shrine is regularly cleaned and tidied up.

Ga,

Push open the main hall door,
The two children were startled, because a figure was sitting in the main hall.

open eyes--

The other person suddenly opened one eye.
红、

Crimson as blood;

黑、

Pitch black as ink!

In an instant, the two children seemed to see a dark red aura filled with negative wills such as distortion, ferocity, and destruction.

Like a thousand arrows, they shot densely in all directions; like waves of blood, they surged towards them wave after wave!
This isn't some kind of technique; it's simply killing intent.

He easily intimidated the two elementary school students, making them tremble and unable to move.

Fortunately, the other person lowered their eyes the next second, causing the two elementary school students to relax and fall to the ground.

"Whoohoo~~"

Amidst the girl's panting breaths behind him, the boy stood in front of her, wiping the cold sweat from his cheeks.

"Hainin. Sir?!"

That's right,

Sitting in the main hall was a sea ninja wearing a ninja headband, a simple ninja fishnet outfit, and bound with straps all over his body!
It is a 'great demon' that countless islanders have dug deep into the ground in an attempt to find its trace.

"you,"

With a slight lift of his eyelids, Hai Ren, whose lower half of his face was wrapped in bandages, revealing only one eye, spoke softly.

"know me?"

Upon hearing Hai Ren's question, the boy instinctively replied, "...Everyone who watched the live stream knows him."

"Ah, Lord Hairen, do you know what a cell phone is?"

The curly-haired boy pulled out his phone, pointed to the technological marvel, and explained after the other person nodded:
"I don't think anyone in the entire island nation has seen your battle with Lord Kyukira before."

The sea ninja leaning against the main hall had a dazed expression on his face.

"That--"

Why aren't you afraid of me?

The curly-haired boy looked conflicted when asked about this.

"Actually, my legs are just weak and I can't stand up."

Being hit head-on by that murderous aura, it takes a lot of nerve to not wet yourself on the spot; the girl behind him, on the other hand, recovered first because the boy was shielding her.

Not daring to get up, the two children simply knelt on the wooden planks of the main hall and answered respectfully.

According to "The Extraordinary Countermeasures Textbook," when faced with an extraordinary being, try to run away from 50 meters away, and try to communicate with them from within 20 meters.

The curly-haired boy's meaning was clear: the distance between them was no more than 2 meters; moreover, he was facing the infamous 'Sea Ninja', and any attempt to escape or resist would only be suicide.

"Remain calm and composed in the face of adversity,"

"He does have some courage."

Hai Ren, whose body was wrapped in bandages and who appeared to be 'seriously injured,' gave a faint compliment.

"Go ahead,"

"I do not kill nameless people."

However, the curly-haired boy and the freckled girl did not leave; instead, they exchanged a glance.

A few seconds later, it was the bolder boy who cautiously asked the question:
"Kai-nin-sama,"

"Don't you know that the entire island nation is looking for you?"

"Oh,"

With a raised eyebrow, a murderous aura once again emanated from Hai Ren.

"The humans of this era are quite audacious, actually attempting to hunt me—"

"No, no, no, you've misunderstood."

The little boy quickly denied it; he didn't want the 'sea ninja' to go on a killing spree because of a misunderstanding.

"Lord Hairen, you may not know this, but that 'Kani Hime' has exposed your background."

? ?
Under Hai Ren's questioning gaze, the boy picked up his phone, fiddled with it for a bit, opened a video, placed it on the floor, and pushed it forward:
"Look, this is the video from the live broadcast at that time."

'Sister Hainin and Uncle Kujira fought a thousand years ago; it's impossible for a winner to be decided in a short time.'

As the video began to play, the 'Kani-hime' on screen spoke eloquently, recounting the origins, life story, and desires of the sea ninja in a stream of words.

puff!
A short knife was plunged into the phone, deeply embedded in the floor, leaving only the handle.

"That bastard, Kani-hime!!"

The short knife pierced the phone, and Hai Ren, head bowed, trembled all over.

"It's none of our business~~"

"Don't kill us!"

Looking up at the curly-haired boy with his hands raised and the freckled girl hiding behind him, Hai Ren took a deep breath.

"Feel sorry,"

I shouldn't have damaged your phone.

"It's nothing, it's just a cell phone, Lord Hairen, don't worry about it."

The curly-haired boy waved his hands repeatedly, but his smile seemed forced: it would be a lie to say he wasn't worried, but compared to his life, it was nothing. Besides, he had to protect Kaoru.
"Since that's the case,"

The sea ninja, who had sheathed his short sword and revealed only one eye, glanced at the boy and girl in front of him.

"So, do you want to try to 'reclaim' me?"

Shake your head! X2
?

"why?"

This puzzled Hai Ren.

"With me as your help, you can do whatever you want."

"Money, power, beautiful women... well, maybe you don't have those desires, but what about the others—"

"Kai-nin-sama,"

The curly-haired boy scratched his head. The other person didn't seem to have any ill intentions, which made him gradually relax.

"We're just elementary school students. Money and power are too far removed from our lives."

"Yes, we still have to go to school."

The girl hiding behind the boy answered softly.
"Are we supposed to ask Lord Hairen to do our homework for us?"

???

I'll write a damn thing.
"Sorry, I don't know how to do my homework."

Hai Ren decisively refused. Homework?!
"But I can help you kill the teacher, or the whole school."

The conditions that might arise from addressing the 'homework' problem at its source.

"No no no no!!"

The two children shook their heads frantically again. After all, they were well-behaved children with both parents and a grandfather to take care of them. The idea of ​​attacking the teacher and the school was just something they said casually when joking around.

They were already in fifth grade, and they knew very well that this 'Sea Ninja' in front of them didn't joke around; he only knew how to kill!
Even street buildings can be cut in two.

"So, are you going to tell the adults where I am?"

Regarding Hai Ren's question, the curly-haired boy and the freckled girl exchanged another glance:

"No," X2
?

This surprised Hai Ren somewhat.

"why?"

"Well, because we don't want to cause trouble."

After thinking for a moment, the curly-haired boy gave this answer.

"Sister Hai Ren, you don't know, there are bounties for you all over the internet now."

"Just provide your real location information, and you can get hundreds of millions of dollars!"

"Then you don't want to—"

"In no mood!"

The curly-haired boy and the freckled girl shook their heads in unison again.
"Hundreds of millions of dollars may seem wonderful, but it's just a 'paper ball'."

The term "paper twisted dumpling" is a proverb in island nations that means "to abandon superficiality for practicality."

"Our family isn't rich, but we're not poor either. Besides, even if we were given that much money, we couldn't keep it all, could we?"

"Yes, yes,"

The freckled girl also mustered up the courage to join the chat.

"I heard someone won a 100 million yen jackpot, and not long after, their body was found in Tokyo Bay."

"How could gangsters, high-ranking officials, and capitalists possibly be willing to spend such a large sum of money?"

No, no, no, if those gangsters, high-ranking officials, and capitalists knew, they would be begging you to accept this money, but:
The two children's concerns were not unfounded; hundreds of millions of dollars were enough to make the whole family disappear countless times!

Mercenaries in war-torn regions only earn a couple thousand dollars a month.

Such a large sum of money is simply impossible for an ordinary person to hold onto.

"The little devils of this era are interesting."

The bandages on her face stretched into a slight smile as Hai Ren looked at the two children in front of her:

"State your names, you little devils."

“I am the older sister, Isoya Dai.”

The 'boy' with black curly hair was the first to introduce himself.

“I am the younger brother, Kaoru Isoya.”

The somewhat shy freckled girl also spoke up.

"Sister Hai Ren, what's wrong?"

"Don't make any noise, I'm thinking."

(End of this chapter)