Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Ningen heard the noises outside Tsukishima's apartment. He twisted the doorknob, no one heard the sound due to the shouting. Someone had already called the police, while others were trying Tsukishima's phone.

A man banged his arm on the door, he lifted it again but he lost his balance when his hand pushed the door inside.

Ningen was standing by the side, he had already expected this to happen. "Careful, sir," Ningen said, "what are you doing, banging on someone's door?"

Everyone went silent, and the people who were calling pulled their phones down. The man who was banging took a step back and a peek inside.

"W-what was going on inside?" he asked the same question everybody wanted to ask.

Ningen just smiled and shrugged. "What happened? Everything is fine." Ningen tried to walk out but the man did not let him.

"You can not fool us, we heard some screams... what were they? And who are you?"

Ningen was wearing his long coat and his suit was polished as a new one. "I am a delivery man, sir, when I handed Tsukishima-san his parcel, he was overjoyed and hence, screamed. Now, if I may..." The man was still frowning but he let Ningen pass through.

When another man stopped him. Ningen lifted his eyes at the man who had put his hand against Ningen's chest. "Why were you INSIDE his house?"

"Oh," Ningen started, "it seemed as if the parcel was from someone important, he was overjoyed, and called me inside to take a coffee and thank me for delivering the parcel."

Ningen smiled and walked out of the crowd.

"Hey! Why did not anyone answer us? We were banging the door like fools, shouting, and getting suspicious. Where is Tsukishima-Kun?"

Ningen stopped, he turned, and lifted his arm. "He wanted to take a shit and told me to wait, but, you see," he said, as he gestured at his wristwatch, "I am a very busy delivery man, so I had to leave."

A man went inside, taking one step at a time, he checked the hall first. The crowd looked at Ningen suspiciously but then they thought: If someone had to get away, they would at least try and come up with a better excuse than that, and moreover, he is not scared at all, he is rather smiling!

"He may have come out by now, you may go and check on him," Ningen told them, by lifting his arms, "my time ends here, I have got loads of deliveries to make. Later!"

Ningen turned and casually walked to the elevator and pressed the button to summon the elevator, then he heard a terrified shout.

The man who had entered the house to inspect, shouted, "C-catch him! He is a murderer! He is not a delivery man, a murderer! He has killed Tsukishima, his body is lying in the bedroom, covered in blood!!"

A few men from the crowd jerked their heads with a frown. The elevator arrived and the doors slid open.

"Hey! Come back here!" They took off running on the slippery floor.

Ningen stood still, showing his back, before turning, and displaying his sinister smile-- full of murderous intent.

"F-Fuck!" A man slid on the floor and brought himself to a stop, and so did the other men. Their frowns disappeared when they saw Ningen's smile. They all hesitated, should we go, or shall we not? Will he kill us? He will!

Their time was over, they could not make a decision in time. The elevator's door closed, and Ningen still stood smiling at them.

A man from the crowd was talking with the cops. "Yes, sir, he is coming down. He is wearing a long coat and has yellow eyes and black hair, he looks like a criminal. And he... he has tattoos on his hands. An-and he has this... this strange... smile."

Just because Ningen's whole body was covered, they did not notice, but Ningen's hands were not the only spot with tattoos.

The elevator's door opened and the policemen cocked their guns. "Hands behind your head, do not move, or we will shoot---" the man's voice faded when Ningen casually took a step forward.

"Do not move! I repeat, do not---" he stopped once again when Ningen walked out of the apartment's main entrance. "F-fuck."

Ningen dropped his head and lifted his eyes to take a peek. Police cars, policemen, guns, and the useless crowd. He dropped his head down and walked to one of the policemen.

He leaned down and covered his smile with his hand. "May I ask why I, a normal delivery man like me, is being treated like a criminal? I did no wrong, sir."

The man flipped open his helmet's flap. "Who is a delivery man?" he frowned, Ningen nodded. "How can you prove it?"

"I just delivered a parcel on the fourth floor, you may ask them." Ningen, again, casually took off to walk through the crowd of police.

Guns cocked around him but he did not stop walking, covering his smile with a mouth tattoo on his left hand.

The civilian said, "He told us he was a delivery man, but do not believe him, sir, he is a murderer!"

"Oi! Stop right there." Ningen came to a stop and looked over his shoulder. "There has been a murder on the fourth floor and the witness accuses you to be the murderer."

Ningen removed his hand from his mouth and scoffed. "And a murderer will take the elevator and the stairs to escape, yeah right. Shame on your policemen to accuse an innocent."

The leader froze and so did his men. Ningen dropped his head and continued to walk away from the crime scene.

The leader gulped and shouted, "Tell our men at the back door, the murderer might still be in the apartment! And I want ten men to advance, now!"

The policemen got up from the snow and charged inside the apartment, five took the elevator and five took the stairs. The rest, including the leader, watched as Ningen crossed the street.

The leader felt guilty, after all. "Sorry, sir, have a great winter!" shouted the leader.

Ningen raised his right hand, revealed the tattoo on his hand, and waved back to the police.

Then the leader remembered something the witness had told him, "He has tattoos on his hands."

Leader's eyes widened, and Ningen crossed the road. "Fuck! Behind him!" he pointed and three men took off while others started shooting and soon stopped due to the fear of killing someone innocent.

"That motherfucker." The leader cocked his gun and fired a few shots but, obviously, they missed.

Ningen took a turn around the corner and walked past a dry maple tree. He pulled his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

He heard an engine start, then a car screeched in from the turning. The car turned when the driver pulled the handbrake, the passenger seat's door swung open, and Ningen jumped inside.

"You might want to speed up, there are policemen behind us."

"Did you evaporate his body?" a boy, in his late teens, asked, "did you wait till his body was---"

"Oh, my inventions always work," he laughed again.

"Alright." He turned the car, shifted the gears on a digital pad, and took off, leaving nothing but smoke behind. "Ah, someone wants to hire us for another killing."

"Who?" Ningen was looking at the tattoos drawn on his forearm.

"And they say it would not be a one-time thing, this chase might last long."

"The longer it is, the better it is for us. Is it a war, though, that will last long? If yes, then tell them we do not interfere in wars."

"It is a war, from what it sounded to me, apparently, our target is said to be an intelligent person who would not be able to fight but be able to flee as long as it takes, he has his strategies in place, he said."

"Who was it, Sukoshi?!" Ningen pulled down his sleeves.

"Onogi! And Kuzu," Sukoshi exclaimed while navigating through the snow-covered street.

"Wait," he scoffed, "Masao? And Erabu? Why-- hah. Ha, ha!"

"Yes. Onogi Masao and Kuzu Erabu. Onogi has warned us, that this should not reach his father. This is personal and is a war." Sukoshi glanced at his brother. "Our target will be Saibai Hitori, a second-year student at the mage academy."

Ningen stopped laughing and narrowed his wide eyes. "A mage? Why are they having a war with a nobody?"

"Well, they say, if this NOBODY is taken care of, he will take care of them. Not right now, but he will." Sukoshi took a turn. "But if you say that we do not interfere in wars, then perhaps I shall call Kuzu and tell him---"

"No," he chuckled, "no, no, no, brother." Ningen, staring at the road, shook his head. "We have been wars between Scientist and Mage families but never a war between their kids. This is a war that will go down in history-- the first war between a bigshot scientist and a nobody mage."

Ningen threw his hands in the air and laughed.

"So?"

"SO yes!" Ningen slapped Sukoshi's thigh. "Yes, tell them, we are ready, and we are on our way to meet them. A war, an unofficial war that will turn professional soon!"

"Yeah---"

"Imagine!" Ningen started.

Sukoshi sighed. 'Not again.' and shook his head.

"That mage will hire hitmen, he will gather his mates, he will assemble an army of other mages to fight the army of Onogi's scientists! This will be epic!" Ningen shouted. "Epic, my brother, epic!" and laughed. "And, and you know we will enter the Mage prefecture! It will be fun! And the war will..."

Ningen continued boring his brother till they reached their house.

Kuzu knocked on a door that read: Onogi. The door opened and Kuzu walked inside. He saw Onogi standing out on the balcony, having his cocktail.

"What is it, Erabu?"

"Ah, I collected info about them. Hitori's parents have not been home for a while, his maid was killed recently, and he spends his day in the city Vr-cade, where I first met him. And... well, we know everything about Kamiya."

"Oh, you should have killed them while you were on business there, we do not get to enter the mage prefecture too often."

"Ah..." Kuzu was speechless.

"At least my territory would have been in my hands and so would have my reputation. That bastard threw my name away like nothing."

"We will get back our territory, Onogi-san, I have been planning for something big. Both for the game and for the real life."

"Big? Oh, it should be big enough to conquer our territory back and kill them."

"Leaving that aside, sir, I found where Akemi is living, in the city hospital room 333."

"I do not care about her. When we will kill both of them, I will kill Akemi too. This must end. These two brats." Onogi walked to his table. "They are not powerful, they do not have any protection, yet we are having trouble killing them. Only if they lived on this site."

"Actually, sir, one does. I found about a girl who plays with them."

Onogi emptied his glass. "Is she a scientist?"

"Hm. Scientist, yet playing with a bunch of mages."

"Oh, fuck her. Tell me more about her. She shall die, too."

"Her name is Rion Reonine, she lives with her elder brother (four-year) and elder sister (third-year), a kid brother (just got his first pubic hair). Her mother and father work for a guild company named: Acquisitions Inc. They work full hours yet can not support Reonine's education."

"Alright. Erabu, I want you to enter the mage prefecture on New Year, the defense will be weak that day (fuck, we should have done this on Christmas), and kill Hitori and Kamiya either in their house or in the Vr-cade."

Onogi lifted the bottle of single malt and of Amazake.

"Got it, Onogi-san. I will take Gigi with me."

"Take four, five, or even ten men; but kill them for this time. The end." Onogi mixed them two after thorough swirling. "And, I want to meet this girl."