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"So… since you know our past and future," Feng Baobao said, suddenly sounding sharp for once, looking at Sam with open anticipation, "can you tell me who I really am?"
She leaned in a little."Who's my family? Where are they?"
Sam: "…"
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Damn it, I actually don't know!!!
It wasn't just him, either. The Super-Dimensional Mercenary Guild's archive technically had data on this kind of thing, but that section hadn't been unlocked yet. So yeah, Feng Baobao's background was still a big mystery.
Just as Sam came up empty, an explanation popped up on the light screen.
According to the guild system, the world Feng Baobao came from only provided this much information so far. Nothing involving her origins had been revealed yet, so naturally the guild didn't have it either. After all, the Super-Dimensional Mercenary Guild aimed to be fair, honest, and consumer-friendly. Making things up to scam customers was a hard no, and barging into other worlds to forcibly collect intel was off the table too.
That said, Sam figured that if his original world ever updated Under One Person, then this side would probably update along with it.
"So… there really isn't any?" Feng Baobao's mood instantly sank. It was like all the energy had drained out of her.
"…"
Seeing her like that, Sam sighed. "Didn't you meet Zhang Xilin already? His grandson will help you recover your memories in the future."
Zhang 'Don't-Want-Face' was the protagonist, after all. Helping Feng Baobao get her memories back was basically set in stone.
Well, assuming nothing went wrong along the way.
"Zhang Xilin?" Feng Baobao blinked at him. "I don't know him."
"…???"
Sam froze. "You don't?"
"Nope." She nodded calmly.
"…Looks like the plot hasn't reached that point yet."
He'd totally overlooked that.
While Sam was busy processing this, Kurama finally lost patience."Hey, brat. What about my so-called future? Why does it just stop there?"
"Of course it stops," Sam said matter-of-factly. "The Super-Dimensional Mercenary Guild is stingy as hell. You think they'd just give you everything for free?"
"…"
Kurama narrowed his eyes. "Then how do I see the rest?"
"Pay for it."
"…Pay?"
Kurama paused. Back when he was sealed inside Uzumaki Mito, he'd seen humans use strange little things to buy stuff.
But buying the future with them?
Yeah, he wasn't convinced.
"We use a special currency here," Sam explained. "Dimensional Coins. Or just coins."
"He flipped a gold coin in his hand. It looked nothing like an ordinary one. One side was embossed with the prefix 'Di,' the other with 'mension,' and the edges were etched with intricate, mysterious patterns."
"I don't have that," Kurama said flatly.
"Oh? You don't?" Sam broke into a bright smile. "No worries at all. Our guild has proudly launched a recycling service."
Elsa, Kurama: "???"
This totally feels like a trap you've been waiting to spring.
As for Feng Baobao:?●ω●/? What's happening?
"For you, Kurama," Sam said after a moment of thought, "chakra crystals should be worth quite a bit."
In his memory, tailed beasts basically bulldozed everything with massive bodies and absurd amounts of chakra.
Oh, and there was also Tailed Beast Bombs. Those could probably be sold too.
He casually mentioned that even Kurama's techniques could be recycled.
"Chakra crystals…" Kurama fell silent. He was convinced this place was real now, but centuries of distrust toward humans didn't vanish that easily.
"Relax," Sam said. "The amount of chakra you provide isn't fixed. You can put in as little as a genin's worth or as much as a Kage-level powerhouse. The guild just prices it based on how much you give."
"So the more chakra I give, the more coins I get?" Kurama asked.
"Exactly. See? You're smart."(^_^)/
Sam gave him an exaggerated thumbs-up. "And it won't harm you at all."
"How much do I need for the rest of my future?" Kurama asked.
"Not much. Ten coins will do."
"…That's it?"
Was the future really this cheap?
"Fine," Kurama said after a brief pause. "I'll sell some chakra to the guild. But if anything feels off, I'll kill you first, brat."
A wave of killing intent surged toward Sam.
And then… nothing happened.
Under the guild's damage immunity rules, it was completely nullified.
"Who are you calling a brat?" Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm the guild master."
Hmph. Since you're about to bring me some nice income, I'll let it slide.
Once Kurama agreed to sell chakra crystals, Sam led him to the counter and placed a small mirror on the floor.
The moment the mirror landed in front of Kurama, it expanded, growing into a full-length mirror nearly as large as the Nine-Tails himself, perfectly reflecting his form.
Then Kurama's reflection vanished, replaced by a list of all his abilities.
"Hell, what is this?" Kurama cursed. "You've written out everything I can do."
"What's there to be shocked about?" Sam said. "These are all the things you own that have value. The prices on the side are what the guild offers. Just tap the box next to whatever you want to sell. When a checkmark appears, you're good to go."
He gave Kurama a quick rundown of the process.
"Chakra…"
Kurama tapped the box next to it. A bead immediately appeared in front of him.
"Please hold the energy storage stone."
Kurama did as instructed.
"Please begin transferring chakra."
He started, but stopped after sending out about a genin-level amount.
"…Huh. This really doesn't affect me much."
He clenched his fist, finally convinced Sam wasn't lying.
As the Nine-Tails, famed for his near-infinite chakra, Kurama could clearly feel the lost chakra slowly regenerating.
The only downside was that the recovery speed seemed a bit slower than usual.
"....."