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Long-awaited sunshine…
Standing outside the Comprehensive Relief Station, Ishikawa actually felt like he had seen the light of day again.
Half a month had passed since the battle in the Human World with Ginjō Kūgo and the others. Although Ishikawa had regained his mobility in less than a week, Kotetsu Isane had kept him tied to the bed for a full half-month.
"Speaking of which…"
Ishikawa's eye twitched slightly: "Why are you here?"
"I came to pick you up from the hospital. It's fine if you don't say thanks, but what's with that disgusted expression?" Ōmaeda said in a huff.
Ishikawa squinted and said, "Well, thank you for your concern. Though if you had been faster back then, I wouldn't have had to lie here for half a month."
"You've been complaining about this for half a month. Isn't it annoying?"
Ōmaeda paused, then continued: "Besides, when the limitation was imposed, I reminded you that the procedure for applying for 'Limitation Release' is extremely complicated; if I hadn't persuaded Soi Fon to skip a lot of procedures and directly ordered the Technology Development Bureau to perform the 'Limitation Release,' where would you even have the chance to stand here and complain to me?"
"Hehe—"
Ishikawa chuckled. He didn't believe a single word Ōmaeda said.
Having been together for so long, Ishikawa had a deep understanding of Soi Fon's personality. In terms of rigidity, she was arguably second only to Commander Yamamoto among the thirteen Captains; she considered it her duty and honor to strictly obey regulations, absolutely without mixing in personal emotions…
At least with the current favorability, she wouldn't violate regulations for Ishikawa.
The reason Soi Fon skipped a lot of procedures was not for Ishikawa, but to allow Ishikawa to hold off the wanted criminal 'Ginjō Kūgo' for as long as possible, until she arrived in the Human World with the Onmitsukido.
Although somewhat cold and ruthless, Soi Fon's personality was indeed very suitable for serving as the Commander of the Onmitsukidō. This was also one of the reasons why the Shihōin Family chose to support Soi Fon after Yoruichi left, instead of having a family member serve as the Onmitsukidō Commander.
"Let's go. Since you're discharged, come back to the Squad with me."
"I knew it, you never come to me for anything good."
Despite saying that, Ishikawa didn't refuse. Instead, he asked with some confusion: "Haven't those young masters and ladies already reported? Do I still need to report again?"
"The three of them don't know the details at all. Hiding far away, they were completely clueless about the battle process." Ōmaeda curled his lips, then continued: "The information they brought back has no reference value for analyzing the strength of 'Ginjō Kūgo' and the other person."
"Both Central 46 and Commander Yamamoto attach great importance to this incident."
"According to normal procedure, you would have been sent to the Central 46 for questioning as soon as you regained consciousness." Ōmaeda said this, and his gaze towards Ishikawa became a bit strange: "But you're simply too popular. Besides Soi Fon, Captain Unohana also reported that your physical condition was not suitable for questioning."
"In addition, the Nagano family spent a lot of money to commission the Golden Seal Association to lobby the Central 46, and the Ukitake family went to request Commander Yamamoto, which is why the questioning was exceptionally delayed until now."
Ishikawa was stunned by the words. During his half-month stay in the intensive care unit, he had also wondered why no one had come to question him, but he hadn't thought much of it, simply assuming that after Ukitake Hiro and the other two had reported, he no longer needed to report himself.
Otherwise, with those old fogeys in the Central 46, it would have been impossible for him to stay in the intensive care unit for half a month.
He really hadn't expected that his half-month of recuperation was obtained with the help of so many people.
"So, do I still need to go to Central 46 for a report?" Ishikawa frowned slightly.
"No, you don't."
Ōmaeda shook his head: "After you thoroughly describe the battle process to Soi Fon, she will organize and analyze it, then report it to the Central 46 and Commander Yamamoto."
Ishikawa nodded upon hearing this. If possible, he really didn't want to directly interact with those people from the Central 46.
The two walked and talked, and before they knew it, they had arrived outside the Second Division.
"Lord Ishikawa."
Before the two could enter the Second Division, an Onmitsukido member acting as a guard suddenly bowed to Ishikawa and said, "Thank you for saving us three."
Ishikawa looked at the Onmitsukido member in front of him, stunned for a moment, and only after a long while did he recognize the other party's identity through their Reiatsu fluctuations. This Onmitsukido member was one of the three he had saved from the Human World half a month ago.
"You are… Hachiun Hane?"
Hachiun Hane nodded vigorously upon hearing this, and said with reverence, "Yes, Lord Ishikawa." After saying that, he paused and continued, "The incident half a month ago made me realize the importance of the Onmitsukidō, so I have passed the Squad entry exam and become a member of the Onmitsukido."
"If you need anything, you can summon me at any time."
Ishikawa looked at the respectful Hachiun Hane, nodded gently, but couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
If only he were a woman.
The reverence and gratitude of a male creature were really useless to Ishikawa.
After casually encouraging Hachiun Hane a few words, Ishikawa and the other person entered the Second Division and went straight to the Captain's Office.
Regarding the battle process, except for Tsukishima's ability, Ishikawa did not conceal anything else, but reported the battle process in extremely detail.
As for Tsukishima's ability, Ishikawa certainly didn't want to help him conceal it, but he didn't know how to explain the source of the information.
After meticulously recording everything Ishikawa said, Soi Fon picked out some key points and repeatedly questioned and recorded them.
This questioning lasted for several hours.
It wasn't until Ishikawa became a bit impatient that Soi Fon nodded in satisfaction: "That's enough!"
Ishikawa couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
When Soi Fon was in work mode, her style of action was truly meticulous to the extreme. Many details that Ishikawa himself had overlooked and not mentioned were recalled one by one under Soi Fon's questioning.
"Captain Soi Fon."
After the questioning ended, Ishikawa did not leave immediately. Instead, he showed gratitude and said, "I have already heard about the matter from Da 前田, and I am truly grateful that you spoke up for me. If you need anything, please…"
However, before Ishikawa could finish speaking, Soi Fon waved her hand impatiently: "If there's nothing else, go down. Don't disturb my record keeping."
"Uh…"
Ishikawa's eye twitched slightly, feeling a bit helpless in his heart.
Her favorability was truly as difficult to raise as ever.
Ever since he came to the Second Division, Ishikawa had tried countless methods, but no matter what he did, he couldn't increase Soi Fon's favorability towards him.
Of course, it wasn't entirely without a solution.
As long as he went to the Human World and brought back a Kuroneko, he would definitely be able to greatly increase Soi Fon's favorability towards him.
Unfortunately…
With Ishikawa's current strength, if he dared to do that, he would be scratched to death by that Kuroneko in minutes.
Shaking his head and casting aside the unrealistic thoughts in his mind, Ishikawa didn't continue to disturb Soi Fon's work, turned around, and left the Captain's Office.
After leaving the Second Division, Ishikawa walked towards the outskirts of Seireitei and returned to Rukongai after a long absence.
He had just started his business, but before the news of his opening could fully spread, he was back in the Comprehensive Relief Station for half a month. Although unlike last time, this time there was no closure, and he had been continuously accepting commissions, which Ganju-nii then completed.
However, Ganju-nii and his few subordinates could only handle commissions that didn't require skill and only needed effort. Many technical commissions could only be completed by Ishikawa.
Ishikawa planned to work hard in the coming months to clear all the accumulated commissions in Rukongai and Seireitei.
…
Stepping into the tavern, the familiar clamor made Ishikawa feel incredibly close.
Although Seireitei was a good place to gain experience, being in Seireitei always gave Ishikawa a strange sense of oppression.
Rukongai, however, was a place where he could feel relaxed.
"Ishikawa-sama, you're back!!"
"Ishikawa-sama, I got some good wine, do you want to drink some together?"
"I heard from Sister Uzuki that you've been recovering from injuries recently. You didn't get into another fight with that Kenpachi lunatic, did you?"
"No, I heard that bald guy say that Ishikawa-sama fought a wanted criminal from Seireitei in the Human World."
"The guy who could injure Ishikawa-sama must be very strong, right?"
"…"
Ignoring the various ruffians in the tavern, Ishikawa sat at the bar. Looking at Uzuki, who was observing him up and down with concern, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, my injuries are almost healed. I'll be fully recovered after another half-month of recuperation at most."
Upon hearing this, Uzuki finally breathed a sigh of relief, then said in an annoyed tone, "Why do you always encounter some inexplicable enemies?"
"Hehe, I wonder too."
Ishikawa chuckled, then looked around the tavern and asked, "Are Ganju-nii and the others out working?"
"Mm."
Uzuki nodded and said, "If you're uncomfortable anywhere, just recuperate for a few more days. Anyway, it's planting season now, and most of the commissions we receive are for things like sowing, which Ganju and the others can handle."
"It no longer affects my work. Are there any commissions that Ganju-nii and the others can't do? Show them to me."
"I don't know either."
Uzuki shook her head: "While you were away these past few days, someone came here. According to him, he and his wife also ran an Everything Store in the Human World before he died, so after hearing about our Everything Store, he came to us voluntarily, hoping to work here."
"However, since you weren't here, I didn't agree, but he kept begging me to let him stay, even if he didn't get paid, just food and lodging would be fine; I couldn't get rid of him, and also, you said last time you wanted to hire a receptionist, so I let him temporarily stay at the Everything Store to record commissions.
"As a result, I found that he was indeed very familiar with the Everything Store's workflow and could even independently complete many commissions that Ganju and the others couldn't do, such as childcare and house cleaning. He's much more professional than I am, so I temporarily handed over the Everything Store's operations to him."
Ishikawa was stunned to hear this. Were there Everything Stores in the Human World too?
Ishikawa truly didn't know about this, because the inspiration for him opening an Everything Store didn't come from the Human World, but from a certain silver-haired natural perm who roamed the world with a wooden sword.
"How's his character?"
"Aside from crying about missing his wife and children when he's drunk, he's pretty good in other aspects." Uzuki paused, then continued: "Moreover, I also asked the guests in the tavern and Ikkaku Madarame to investigate, and he indeed died and arrived in the Soul Society not long ago, and there's nothing suspicious about him."
"Then I'll go take a look later."
Ishikawa nodded. Just as Uzuki said, he had actually wanted to find someone specifically to handle the Everything Store's customers for a long time, to lighten Uzuki's burden and prevent her from having to run between the tavern and the Everything Store.
Especially during peak commission seasons, Uzuki would run back and forth dozens of times a day. Because of this, Ganju-nii often came to talk to Ishikawa, even suggesting that Kin'en and Gin'en work at the Everything Store, but Ishikawa refused.
It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but…
The Shiba only had two servants in total. If they came to help him, then Sister Kukaku wouldn't even have anyone to order around.
But if he just found anyone, Ishikawa would find it very difficult to trust them.
After all, many of his Everything Store's commissions required confidentiality. In addition, both the Seireitei branch and the Golden Seal Association would transmit messages to the Rukongai Everything Store's person in charge via Denreishinki for recording, and then notify Ishikawa, who lived in Rukongai.
Therefore, Ishikawa had never found a suitable candidate.
If the other party was truly as Uzuki said, of good character and very skilled at handling Everything Store affairs, then Ishikawa could definitely keep him.
Leaving the tavern, Ishikawa went up to the second floor via the outside stairs, preparing to personally interview this new employee.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
As soon as he entered the Everything Store, a middle-aged man greeted him, saying gently, "Cheap, fast, reliable, we take on everything from cat-sitting to human-hunting, we Unagiya Oshiki… no, our Everything Store takes on all commissions, but because Ishikawa-sama is recovering from injuries, many services can only be recorded and cannot be… before he returns…"
"I am Ishikawa."
Ishikawa interrupted with a smile.
"Ah?"
The middle-aged man was stunned, then his expression changed, and he said nervously, "I'm… I'm sorry, Ishikawa-sama, I didn't know you were back…"
Ishikawa didn't speak, but carefully examined the middle-aged man.
From his Reiatsu, Uzuki's investigation was correct; this middle-aged man had indeed died not long ago. Although he possessed some spiritual power talent, it wasn't very good. If he worked hard, it wasn't impossible for him to graduate from the Shin'ō Academy and join the Gotei 13.
His appearance was unremarkable, giving off a somewhat honest impression, and he didn't seem like someone with a dark mind.
"Don't be nervous."
Ishikawa walked into the reception room and sat on the sofa, pointing to the sofa opposite and saying, "You sit down too, I want to ask you some things."
"Yes."
The middle-aged man sat down somewhat awkwardly.
"I heard some things about you from Uzuki. Did you also run an Everything Store in the Human World?"
"It wasn't mine."
The middle-aged man shook his head: "It was my wife's ancestors' shop, passed down through generations. The shop name is 'Unagiya Oshiki,' it's not a place that sells eel rice, but like yours, it's an Everything Store. Although the name is a bit strange, according to my wife."
As the middle-aged man spoke, a gentle smile appeared on his face: "She would not change either her surname or the shop name!"
Unagiya Oshiki?
Ishikawa was slightly taken aback, vaguely feeling that the shop name sounded familiar, but after recalling carefully, it seemed he had never seen a store named 'Unagiya Oshiki' in his memory.
"Oh, by the way, my name is Unagiya Oshiki, I took her surname after marrying my wife."
Ishikawa nodded: "It's not impossible for me to keep you, but there's one thing I hope you can abide by, otherwise I'll have no choice but to ask you to leave."
"No matter what the condition, it's fine. I really hope to be able to work in a place similar to my wife's shop."
"All commission content is forbidden to be disclosed. If you can do that, you can stay."
Ishikawa finished speaking, then changed the subject: "I advise you to think carefully before answering, because if you violate this, the consequences will be more than just being fired."
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