7 Chapter 6 Preparation

Following behind the young shrine maiden, Zero was led to an empty room in which he would be living for the next year or so. Passing by her to enter the room, he took a close look at his new fake cousin, Mina Hakuba. She had a relatively cute face, medium-length brown hair that flowed to her shoulders, and was dressed in a white and red Japanese shrine maiden outfit. This was the girl who would become Soma Cruz's love interest and a human with healing powers.

Entering the room, he bid her farewell and went towards the futon. As he laid down on it, exhaustion began to overtake his whole body. The events of the day flashed through his mind. He had woken up as a soul with fragmented memories, been adopted by a goddess, been transported to the world of Castlevania, located and stole the skill of a vampire, and finally found a place to stay that would put him near his target. He had done quite a lot on this first day, so it wasn't a surprise that he passed out within seconds of laying down.

Hearing a knock on the door, Zero was woken up, and looking out the window, he realized that the sun was already high in the sky, meaning it was already midday. He stood up, walked towards the door, and opened it. He found Mina standing outside, smiling. "Since you must have been tired from the trip over here, we let you sleep in today. It's almost time for lunch now, so please get ready and come to the dining hall, which is through that door over there." Having relayed her message, she left to allow Zero time to get ready.

Zero felt refreshed after taking his first shower and got dressed. Although he had no other clothes besides the ones he had worn the previous day, he wore them again. After getting dressed, he proceeded to the dining hall, where he met the old man from yesterday named Yuto Hakuba, the head priest of the shrine. He looked like an unremarkable man with gray hair who wore a shrine outfit similar to that of Mina.

Zero took a seat at the table next to Mina and Yuto. In front of him was a simple Japanese breakfast of salmon, rice, and miso soup. He took a bite of his breakfast, and it tasted amazing. As he was eating, Yuto spoke to him. "We'll go register you for school tomorrow. I don't know if they'll let you enter so late since school begins in 2 weeks, but we'll still try."

"Okay, that's fine, and don't worry. I've already spoken to the school principal, and I'm still able to register for the school," said Zero.

"You spoke to the principal, not your parents?" asked Mina.

"No, sorry, I misspoke. I meant my parents spoke to the principal," Zero rushed to correct himself to avoid any suspicion from the two. Now that he had finished his breakfast, he had a few things he needed to take care of. He bid farewell, saying that he needed to go buy some things in the city. He then walked to the city and, as he passed by the alley from yesterday, he noticed it was blocked off with caution tape.

He then walked into what looked like the slums, and within 10 minutes of walking, he was approached by a middle-aged man and woman. The man held a gun aimed at Zero and said, "Give me all your money if you don't want to die."

"Why don't you give me all your money instead and that gun too? Afterward, why don't you two kill yourselves?" said Zero with eyes that glowed purple. The two robbers then gave him about 200,000 yen plus a gun. After doing that, they started to attack and choke each other. Zero hid the gun and walked away with an indifferent look, heading to the shopping district of the city.

As he walked, he thought to himself, 'I don't understand why I let the previous two live but decided to kill these guys. System, do you know?'

UNABLE TO ACCURATELY ANSWER QUESTION WHILE USING DEDUCTIVE REASONING. HOST IS BASICALLY TWO DAYS OLD AND MOST LIKELY HAS NOT FULLY DEVELOPED PERSONALITY. HOST WILL MAKE IMPULSIVE DECISIONS AS HE TRIES TO FIGURE OUT HOW HE WISHES TO ACT. 'Is it wrong to kill people?' wondered Zero.

HOST IS CURRENTLY HUMAN, AND HUMANS FIND KILLING MORALLY WRONG UNLESS IN CERTAIN CASES SUCH AS SELF-DEFENSE. SYSTEM ADVISES HOST TO AVOID KILLING FOR THE DURATION OF THE YEAR NEEDED TO OBTAIN OBJECTIVE AS IT WILL CALL UNWANTED ATTENTION TO HOST.

After arriving at his destination, Zero stopped a person passing by and asked him where he might find the stores he was looking for. Walking through the town, he arrived at his destination and bought some clothes and a bicycle. Putting the clothes and the gun in a bag that he bought, he then proceeded to leave the area. He then headed to the red-light district, which held most of the city's criminal element.

He stopped a random man who looked like a thug and, with his purple eyes glowing, asked him who the most powerful person in town was. The thug told him about the Edo gang, which controlled all the crime in the city. The boss was a 32-year-old woman named Hikaru Ito, who was known to be ruthless, with rumors of her having killed her father to take over his gang. He also mentioned that she lived at a hotel she owned near the outskirts of town. Zero then told the thug to forget ever meeting him and walked away.

Going to the hotel that the thug mentioned, Zero headed towards the main lobby desk. A male receptionist then asked him who he was looking for. "I'm looking for Miss Hikaru Ito; please tell her that I'm our father's illegitimate child." The receptionist paled when he heard Zero's words and with a shaky voice, told him to have a seat while he sends someone to inform the gang boss.

After 10 minutes of waiting, a man exited the elevator and walked towards Zero. He then requested that Zero leave his bag and follow him into the elevator, which he did. After riding the elevator for a few seconds, the door opened to the penthouse suite. The man walked to the door, opening it for Zero to enter. As he did, the door was closed behind him, and the man waited outside.

"Come in and take a seat," called out a woman's voice.

Walking towards the area the voice originated from, Zero saw a woman sitting in one of two couches. She was a Japanese woman with black hair and brown eyes. She had a scar on her neck that looked like a burn mark. She wore a black kimono and had her hair in a bun.

Zero sat across her and waited for her to speak. "So you're one of that bastard's children. We look nothing alike, so you'll have to forgive me for not believing you without proof," said Hikaru with a disgusted look on her face.

"Well, I take after my mother, so I look like her. Anyway, I'm curious, did you really kill that man?" asked Zero in curiosity.

"Yes, I did. He was an abusive man, and he got what he deserved. Are you here to take revenge on me or to beg for money?" asked Hikaru.

"Neither. I have no need for an excessive amount of money. I also have no reason to avenge a man I've never met. No, I simply came here to meet you, that's all," said Zero as he smiled at Hikaru.

"What do you need from me that you would come all the way here?" asked Hikaru, feeling disturbed by Zero's carefree nature.

"I'm just here to tell you that I'm now your master and that you now work for me and will provide any aid or information I require of you, understand? Also, you are never allowed to betray me," said Zero with glowing purple eyes.

"Yes, I understand, master," said Hikaru with a dead look in her eyes.

"Good. Now that we've got that out of the way, I need information on three individuals. Their names are Soma Cruz, Genya Arikado, and Graham Jones. Gather information on them and inform me immediately when they arrive in town," said Zero.

"Yes, I understand. I will start investigating them as soon as possible, master," said Hikaru with a calm, dignified look, now that the zombie-like expression had faded from her face. She now saw Zero as her boss, although she didn't seem to understand why and how this young man in front of her became her boss.

"Ah, I almost forgot. If anyone looks into that is not one of the three people I mentioned, kill them. As for your subordinates, if they inquire about me, I'm simply your half-brother whom you've decided to take guardianship of. I will also need a phone; get me one with your number programmed into it and have it sent to Hakuba Shrine," said Zero.

"Yes, master, I will prepare it immediately," said Hikaru as she got up, bowed towards Zero, and proceeded to walk away.

'Okay, my preparations are complete now, so I can relax a bit. The only thing left to do is sign up for school tomorrow and wait until I encounter Soma Cruz,' thought Zero as he got up to head back to Hakuba Shrine.