Chapter 4: “The Contract with the Maharaja”
Chapter 4: “The Contract with the Maharaja”
In the back garden of the Gifted Academy.
The lawn, warmed by the sunlight, was pleasantly soft—but I couldn’t honestly feel that gentle atmosphere.
Why not?
Because right beside me, several men in suits were lying unconscious on the ground.
The ones who had attacked the Maharaja. They looked elite on the outside. Inside—they were nothing but incompetents.
The moment Hachi and I crashed down from the sky on my Harley, all their carefully laid plans went up in smoke. And just a few minutes later, this was the scene we had.
“…Once again, I’m in your debt,” murmured the Maharaja. His voice carried a hint of frustration, yet also a touch of joy.
What a complicated personality, I thought, but I laughed and told him:
“You’ll pay me back someday. That debt.”
Next to us, Hachiko was baring his fangs, growling low.
The shrill beeping from the enemy’s equipment was probably due to Hachi’s “vibration waves.”
“Your dog… he’s strong.”
“Hachiko? He was my very first partner. My mom and dad gave him to me on my third birthday.”
When I said that, the Maharaja fell silent for a moment, then took off his golden pendant.
“This is my ‘seal.’ I intend to form a contract with you.”
“A contract?”
“A contract as a ‘Walker.’ I want you to act as my representative. Go into the field under the name ‘Maharaja Walker.’”
I frowned slightly. Lending out a name? For what purpose?
“…It’s a game,” he said.
But his eyes were different from when he was joking. They were straight, earnest—and carried a faint loneliness.
“I watched your scores from the Gifted Academy’s ‘Field Combat Course.’ You have the talents required. Judgment, deduction, marksmanship, and above all… the intuition that can move destiny.”
“And if I win, what do I get?”
“Status, information, and influence. I’ll provide as much money as you want. Keep the name ‘Maharaja Walker’ at the top of the rankings.”
I laughed.
“…I see. You really are a genius at information warfare.”
“No. I just want to bet on you.”
I grasped his hand firmly in return.
⸻
That night, at the Bird Estate.
“What?! You made a contract with the Maharaja!?”
Katie shrieked while clutching a flowerpot. Behind her, Fei Taro—with his nose black from dirt—was once again trying to dig up the “Michelangelo No. 3” flowerpot.
“Stop it already, you black-nosed weasel!!”
“It’s just a ferret’s instinct,” Rafaela laughed.
…This place was its own kind of battlefield, in its own peaceful way.
Sitting quietly on the sofa, Emil said nothing, but his face showed he was thinking hard.
(The Maharaja’s proposal… He isn’t swallowing it whole. Just like me, he’s looking for the ‘other side.’)
⸻
A few days later.
I stood on the official battlefield as part of “Team Maharaja Walker.”
That was the beginning.
Ranked No. 1.
Constant surveillance by artificial intelligence.
Rival conspiracies.
The Academy’s undivided attention.
Even bearing all of that, I chose to step forward.
Because I was searching for my mother’s killer.
Because I had decided to protect my friends.
And above all—
…because someone had staked everything on this “name.”
No one knew it then.
That the boy straddling a Harley would one day be called a “God.”
