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Rukongai West, District 1 – Junrinan.
As an area right next to Seireitei, District 1 was much more prosperous than District 38. The streets were clean and tidy, with various shops lining both sides.
"Thank you so much."
Watanabe-ossan rummaged in his pocket, pulled out five banknotes, and handed them to Ishikawa Katori, chuckling, "What did you do in your previous life? You can stir-fry dishes at a pub, help people farm, and even repair houses so beautifully. A few days ago, Granny Shirokane next door said you're also very good at fighting and helped her deal with the people who bullied her grandson."
"Hehehe, since you asked so sincerely, then I shall, with great mercy, tell you!"
Ishikawa Katori puffed out his chest and shouted towards Watanabe-ossan's pub, "From housework to finding people, I'm proficient in everything! Come find me with any difficulty! Whether it's one task or ten thousand, as long as there's money, I'm willing to do it! I am Ishikawa Katori, the Everything Store, famous in District 38!"
"…I asked what you did in your previous life, I didn't ask you to advertise in my shop." Watanabe-ossan waved his hand, his face dark. "Get out quickly. Many of my customers are Shinigami. If you provoke them, your fighting skills won't do you any good."
"Don't be so stingy, I'll just give you a discount next time you look for me."
Ishikawa Katori chuckled, stuffing the five thousand ring commission into his pocket. "Well, Boss, I'll be going now."
Watching Ishikawa Katori turn and leave, Watanabe-ossan couldn't help but chuckle. "That kid…"
"Boss, who is he?"
Just then, several people, male and female, of varying ages, walked out of the shop. The oldest looked to be over thirty, while the youngest seemed to be only in their teens.
These people were all wearing kimonos of the same style, though the men's were white on top and blue on the bottom, and the women's were white on top and red on the bottom. Both had two shuriken-like symbols on the chest of their kimonos.
"You can always see him in various districts of the West recently."
"Yeah, I saw him once during my last holiday. He was helping the auntie next door take care of her child."
"When I saw him, he was picking tea in a tea garden."
"…"
Upon seeing their attire, Watanabe-ossan's old face immediately broke into a bright smile. Having run a pub in Junrinan for over a decade, he naturally knew who he could offend and who he couldn't.
The people he absolutely couldn't offend were, without a doubt, Shinigami wearing shinigami uniforms.
Although these people in front of him weren't Shinigami, they also belonged to the category of people he couldn't offend, because these people were all students of the Central Spirit Arts Academy.
Even if they were from Rukongai, and he even knew some of them, as long as these people successfully graduated and joined the Gotei 13, they would transform into high and mighty Shinigami-sama.
"That kid is Ishikawa Katori. It's not a surname; he said it's his full name." Watanabe-ossan didn't hide anything and told them everything he knew. "He opened an 'Everything Store' in District 38. An Everything Store is a shop that takes on all kinds of commissioned work."
"I think Ishikawa Katori must have been a super talent in his previous life. From housework, farming, weaving, and house repairs to tracking, finding items, and delivering love letters, he does it all. He can even learn things he doesn't know in a short time, and he's even very good at fighting."
"He's helpful, charges cheaply, and women even get a discount, so in just three short years of opening, the entire Rukongai West knows about this shop. Whenever someone needs to hire help, they look for him."
At this point, Watanabe-ossan pointed to his pub. "Two days ago, two Shinigami-sama got drunk and broke my shop wall, so I asked him to help me fix it. Look how beautifully he repaired it. And sometimes, if the shop is busy, I even ask him to be a temporary chef."
"Is he that amazing?" A female student's eyes were full of curiosity.
The male student next to her, who was of similar age, said with some disdain, "Isn't he just good at odd jobs? How is that amazing?"
"Does he take on killing people?"
"What about killing Hollows?"
"…"
Their persistent questions made cold sweat break out on Watanabe-ossan's forehead. "Ah… these… I haven't heard of him taking those on, but he probably doesn't, after all, he's not a Shinigami."
"Then if we pay him to help us beat up an academy teacher, will he take it?"
Watanabe-ossan: "…"
Are these troublemakers really Central Spiritual Arts Academy students?
Anyone who can be a teacher at the Central Spiritual Arts Academy, even a fool would know that they aren't people these Rukongai residents could beat. Even if they could, unless that kid Ishikawa Katori was crazy, he wouldn't possibly accept such a commission.
"It's a holiday tomorrow, want to go check it out?"
A young-looking student said excitedly, "It sounds a bit like an adventurer's guild in an RPG. It feels really interesting."
"What's an RPG?"
"…When did you die?"
"Taisho 15."
"No wonder…"
…
After leaving West 1 District, Ishikawa Katori did not return to his shop in District 38. Instead, after leaving the residential area, he used Shunpo to rush for several hours, arriving at a relatively remote village.
This was West 54 District. From this area onwards, most of the areas further back were places with extremely poor public safety.
The streets were littered with all kinds of trash, and in the shadows of the houses, there were many people with fierce expressions, holding opium pipes. However, upon seeing Ishikawa Katori, these people couldn't help but shrink back into the shadows.
Ishikawa Katori ignored them and went straight into the depths of District 54, finally stopping in front of a dilapidated building far from the village.
"Ah, it's the Everything Store's big brother!"
As soon as he arrived nearby, the residents in the dilapidated building discovered Ishikawa Katori and rushed out of their homes.
They were all children, the oldest looking fifteen or sixteen, and the youngest only about five or six. There were exactly thirty of them in total, with more than half being little girls.
These children were all homeless.
Some had run away from forced foster families because they couldn't get used to them; others had nowhere to go after their families had dissipated into Reishi.
"Ishikawa-nii."
Looking at the timid little girl in front of him, Ishikawa Katori reached out and rubbed her small head, saying gently, "I took a job in Junrinan today, so I bought some candies there. They're all your favorite flavors, you know."
Hearing about candy, the children's eyes lit up, and they all surged towards Ishikawa Katori.
"Don't push, everyone gets a share. If anyone pushes, I won't give them any."
At these words, the children consciously lined up.
Ishikawa Katori nodded in satisfaction. First, he took out some clean drinking water from a sack, then distributed the bags of candy to the children present.
[Nayura's favorability +1, gained 7 experience points.]
[Hanako's favorability +1, gained 4 experience points.]
[Katakura's favorability +1, gained 2 experience points.]
[…].
The continuous prompts in his mind made Ishikawa Katori's smile grow even gentler.
Although the values were small, the quantity was large.
In just this short while, Ishikawa Katori had gained over a hundred experience points.
Current experience points: 654.
Ishikawa Katori had discovered this place two months ago. In these two months, whenever Ishikawa Katori worked in the first few numbered districts, he would buy snacks for children and bring them to these kids.
Compared to adults, these pure-minded children were much easier to increase favorability with.
After distributing the candies, Ishikawa Katori chopped some wood and made some beds, tables, and chairs for these children before leaving under the watchful eyes of the group of children.
…
By the time Ishikawa Katori returned to his shop in District 38, it was already nearing night.
Generally, at this time, there would be no customers in the shop, but today was a little different.
Ishikawa Katori had just finished tidying up the shop and was about to head upstairs with a bottle of wine when his steps suddenly halted.
Boom!
Almost simultaneously, the shop's sliding door was violently shattered, and a figure tumbled into the shop, stopping only after crashing into the sofa.
Ishikawa Katori: "…"
The customer is God, the customer is God, the customer is God…
Muttering the shop rules a few times, Ishikawa Katori suppressed the murderous intent he felt towards the customer, forcing out a somewhat stiff smile, and said, "Customer, please pay me 1000 ring for repair costs before placing your order… Hmm?" Ishikawa Katori's words caught in his throat, his gaze fixed blankly on the outside of the shop.
His reaction was entirely due to a 'very special' customer who walked into the shop from outside: an elegantly trotting, bow-tied… pig?
"A ready-made drinking snack?"
"Hiss, ouch ouch ouch… Ah, my little piggie threw me off again."
The figure who had crashed into the sofa now climbed up from the ground. Ishikawa Katori turned his head and, by the moonlight, saw the person's appearance, a strange look flashing in his eyes.
Why did he come to my place?
"Are you the recently famous Everything Store owner?"
The newcomer sized up Ishikawa Katori, saying disdainfully, "I don't see anything amazing about you… Never mind. Do you take on moving commissions?"
With that, he didn't wait for Ishikawa Katori's reply and pointed to himself.
"Oh, by the way, I am Shiba Ganju, self-proclaimed…"
"That's enough."
Ishikawa Katori waved his hand, interrupting the person's words, and said lazily, "I've heard of you. You don't need to introduce all your self-proclaimed titles one by one."
Actually, he hadn't heard anyone talk about him at all. If he hadn't seen him in person, Ishikawa Katori would have forgotten there was such a person in West Rukongai.
Shiba Ganju.
A member of the Shiba, one of Soul Society's Five Great Noble Families. However, that was a long time ago; the Shiba had long since fallen, and now only the Four Great Noble Clans exist in Soul Society.
"I'll take the moving commission. When do we start?"
Ishikawa Katori wasn't interested in this person, but he was very interested in his sister.
Of course…
It wasn't that kind of interest; it was just that if he could find a way to befriend his sister, it would definitely bring him a large amount of experience points.
"Huh?"
Ganju, whose self-introduction had been interrupted by Ishikawa Katori, was clearly a bit slow to react. After a few seconds, he said somewhat blankly, "Ah… right… We're moving first thing tomorrow morning."
…
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