The Raven Dark Hero 20

Chapter 20 : The Jet-Black Birdman

TL:SummerPeanut

Thanks for the patron Shamir and Sham Knight! I just noticed some of the patrons are actually one time supporters lol. Maybe can use ko-fi instead. It will help me count as well if you add a comment with the title of the novel you prefer!

Author’s Note:

Thanks to everyone I was able to win first place in the daily and weekly ranking. Really appreciate everyone’s help. I also received many comments from the readers. Those comments became my motivation and also references for the future. I’m basically ok with everything except vague criticisms and if you compliment me, my motivation will explode sky high. Please treat me well from now on as well.

Three days have passed since he became a member of Kuroyume. On one Saturday, a day off, Kouki came to Kuroyume's hideout again.

There are six Kuroyume hideouts spread around the country, and the hideout where Kouki is in right now is the headquarters.

The HQ consists of five underground floors and is as big as a suburban shopping mall.

Since he doesn't want his identity to be exposed in Kuroyume, Kouki currently hides his face with a three-piece set of a hat, sunglasses, and mask. This was because all the cosplay goods he had bought at Ton Quijote had been destroyed in the combat with Kiryu.

"Are you Bright?”

As Kouki was standing in a daze at the entrance, a gentleman came to talk to him. He seemed to be a Western man with his blond hair.

"Bright? ...Bright! Yes, Bright!"[1]

Perhaps because he just got that second name, he didn’t realize that the other party was calling out to him for a moment and thus a panicky Kouki. By the way, his english ability is as you can see.

“I'm a fluent Japanese speaker, so I'm fine talking in Japanese you know."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"Anyway, let me introduce myself. My name is [Line]. I'm mainly in charge of mission-related matters in the HQ. Nice to meet you."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too."

"Oh~, Bright is so polite huh. According to the boss, you're a promising rookie, so I was wondering what kind of haughty person would come here but if it’s like Bright then I welcome you with open arms. Yo!"

He got a friendly hug from Line. Although he doesn’t really like hugging other men, since Line is technically his senior he decided to endure.

"Without further ado, I have your new equipment readied. Come try it out."

Equipments? Certainly the equipment from Ton Quijote was rendered unusable in a single day, so did the boss prepare it for as an apology? At least Kouki hoped so.

Then Line took Kouki to a room with some resemblance to a shop where all kinds of  ancient and modern weapons and armors were on display.

"[Cid]-san~! Is the rookie's equipment that the boss asked for ready~?"

Line shouted, and from the back of the store came out a burly and macho man.

"It's ready. ...You, that Bright? Get your ass moving with the new equipment."

With that, Cid handed Kouki a box that probably contained a complete set of equipment.

"The fitting room’s there. Try it on and let me know what you think."

Kouki went into the dressing room half-forcibly by that Cid.

"What forceful old man. Come to think of it, I've never even said hello to him yet."

While complaining so, Kouki immediately took out the equipment that was given to him.

The equipment is generally made of light materials and is tightly constructed with an emphasis on mobility. However, the fibers used in the material are sturdy and the construction is solid. ...Although he wondered why the cloak looked like it had wings sprouting from the back to the arms when unfolded.

The headgear is shaped like an open-face helmet, but the pitch-black upper shape makes it look like it was made with bird as the motif.

"Darkflash Bright huh... This looks a lot like the Nature Stranger costume. Well, I can’t really claim to be at the side of justice with this look though..."

For Kouki, Nature Stranger has always been his secret longing, but this suit that looks similar yet daunting… It was far from the image of hero that he imagined but as the middle school illness patient, he found himself quite liking his appearance.

As he left the fitting room, Cid smiled contentedly while Line laughed a little.

"Bright, you look like a crow."

"I thought so too..."

"What the heck are you saying? I was told by Shinichirou to prepare equipment that emphasizes mobility and shock-absorption. He also told me to make it like a jet-black birdman"

The creation of the equipment was supervised by the boss, who knew about Kouki's gifts. If that's the case, then there's no doubt about its performance. But it was unexpected for Kouki that both the boss and Cid have great taste in making this black bodysuit.

(Jet-black birdman... do these people have middle school disease or something? Well, I’m okay with this though...)

“The glove is designed to reduce impact by 25%. You can hit as hard as you like. The same goes for your boots. The cloak is not only sturdy, but it can also flap its wings on its own or make use of the wind to fly. The helmet has a radio function inside, so you can communicate with headquarters at any time, and it also has an infrared mode with the flip of a switch, so you can stay safe in the dark. What's more! The whole body is fireproof, electric proof, shockproof, and slash proof!”

It's designed to kill any kind of shock. It's definitely equipment suitable for Speed Star. On top of that, it’s made with various resistances.

Kouki thanked the boss in his heart for replacing his Ton Quijote cosplay equipment with such magnificent equipment.

"By the way, the boots and gloves both cost 30 million yen, the bodysuit 33 million yen, the cape 16 million yen and the helmet 26 million yen."

"...wait a minute! Isn't this a gift? I mean, the total is... 100 million yen?! Do you think I can afford it!!"

"What are you talking about? I already cut the price in half because this is Kiryu’s order. Don't worry, I'll deduct it from your successful missions’ reward, so don't worry about using it."

"How many successful missions do I have to complete to pay them then?!"

It is not surprising that he was surprised, since his household is not wealthy enough to suddenly accept a debt of 100 million.

Then, as if to reassure him, Line smiled.

"You don't have to worry about it. If we assume that 20 percent of all the missions reward is used to pay, then based on the average unit price of Kuroyume's missions, you should be able to completely pay it off after about 500 missions."

"500 missions!? I can only work on weekends for god’s sake! How many years will it take?!"

"Then you'll just have to complete missions with better rewards, but of course the difficulty level will increase. And since difficult missions are not likely to be handed out to newcomers, you have to quickly prove your abilities, I guess?"

"Ehh~~...seriously..."

In order to pay back the debt quickly, it is necessary to complete more missions at higher difficulty. However, this was not ideal for Kouki.

Originally, Kouki was the type of person who, even in RPG games, would raise his level to a level where he could definitely beat the boss before challenging the boss.

For such a cautious person like Kouki, suddenly taking on a mission of high difficulty without knowing the abilities of the Revived Hunter was not an option he really wanted to take.

(Let's just start out with a few simple missions to gain experience first. There's no deadline for clearing the debts after all.)

"By the way, the interest is ten percent every ten days, so pay up quickly."

"There's interest?! How hard are you planning to corner me, you old bastard!"

"What the fuck? Say that again, you little shit!"

Kouki and Cid glared at each other. Line looked at them while laughing.

...Anyway, from this day onwards, Kouki had to perform his duties half-forcibly because of his debts.

Author’s note:

Is it gatchaman? Or is it batman? Which is the model?! ...it’s actually just a black hawk.

As for the activity report, I have published the image illustration of the main protagonist Suou Kouki as Bright. I think it’s not a good idea to post it here...if you are okay with it, please take a look.

Also, if you like the story, please bookmark, give rating, comments, and reviews!

And if you like to read something similar please go down the link below!

I think it’s alright to announce it now? It’s a story about time slip to the past and soccer.

↓

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9923fo/

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TL’s note:

1. English