Chương 14: Apartment

Don't forget to give stars to the story, and comment too.

____________________________________

Ayana funnily tilted her head, probably because it's an anime world, so it was a natural thing to do.

Bruce did not interrupt her thought process.

"But, as you say, it is indeed suitable for mages who are in the modern world. The mana core will serve as a battery for the mage when using magic," she said after a moment of thought.

Bruce listened to Ayana seriously, a small smile formed on his face when he heard the answer that matched his expectations.

"My choice turned out to be not wrong, at first I did have such intentions."

"But after pondering for a while, it made me think there's nothing wrong with asking other people's opinions," Bruce said with relief as he talked about what cultivation methods he would learn.

"What is it all for, Bruce-san? Write a novel?" Ayana asked with a very curious expression.

Bruce's efforts touched her heart, he had read several books in this cafe, maybe in other cafes as well.

Bruce rose from his chair, wiped the dust off his shirt, and took out 200 yen, pinning the money to the bottom corner of the coffee cup. He walked over to Ayana, who was too focused to hear an answer from him, bending over and bringing his mouth closer to the girl's ear.

"I'm a mage, keep it a secret, okay?" Bruce whispered in her ear quietly and walked away from the cafe.

*Ting... ting... ting*

After a while, until Ayana regained consciousness, she doubted the truth of Bruce-san's words. These words usually come out of the mouth of a Chunibyo.

After all, he had made jokes too often the last few days with her, it would be foolish for her to believe his new jokes just like that. Ayana took the glass that Bruce-san used and smiled happily when she saw the huge amount of money for a cup of coffee. Her heart warmed when there was someone who cared about her. Even if it's a stranger like Bruce-san.

She still remembers her first meeting with him.

"You're still in school? Here, take a tip from me, study diligently," Bruce told her at that time and gave some tips.

- Hmm, Bruce-san is a good man. Although he was a bit perverted, his eyes often glanced at my oppai. Hehe, - Ayana thought when she saw the size of her plump chest.

"Hajime-ojisan, Bruce-san paid even more for a cup of coffee, can I keep it for me?" she shouted at the cafe owner.

"Huh? Take it, I'm not bad enough to take your allotment. Go away, you're interrupting my afternoon news session," Mr. Hajime said as he drove Ayana away.

The old man didn't even know what amount of tip Bruce gave Ayana, he thought it was only a few yen. If he knew that hundreds of yen were already in Ayana's pocket, it would be interesting to see how he would react.

"Hai"

While Ayana is happy with Bruce's high tip, many Tokyo residents who lost money as a result of Bruce's act cry at the police station.

Bruce, who did not care in the least about it, walked leisurely through the streets. His mind was filled with mana core cultivation methods and various ways of applying them.

- I'll practice tonight- he thought to himself.

Bruce ordered a taxi and drove back to the apartment, where he had rented a room for the past three days. On the way back to the apartment, he saw a large number of people heading in the same direction. A tingling sensation radiated to the back of his head, the premonition was also unpleasant.

Bruce immediately stopped the taxi car, paid the fare, and went on foot towards his apartment.

When he walked to the apartment, he walked stealthily like a thief, his instincts sensed something was off.

Therefore, he did not take a taxi, if something bad happened and disappeared from the public's view, it would be easy and without any witnesses noticing.

On the way to the apartment, he changed his clothes for new ones, just in case. His neighbors probably remember the color of the clothes he wore today.

Sure enough, when Bruce arrived at the location, he noticed several police cars stopped in front of his apartment. The door to his room had been forcibly opened, and various items he had stolen had been secured by police.

They were hauling all his stolen goods like a worker ant.

"Fuck, I got caught. Is it because of the CCTV or the neighbors reporting me?" Bruce is frustrated.

The katana he stole was somewhat unique in that it had a certain amount of mana in the metal blade, either because of the expensive materials used or a different way of forging than usual that made the sword have a certain amount of mana, Bruce didn't know.

By the way, where will he sleep tonight?

The sun's about to set in a minute.

Bruce took out his smartphone, opened the internet, and searched for apartments available for rent. He searched and found there were empty rooms for rent in the area in Tokyo.

"I think I need a new persona, the identity of Tom Bruce is no longer to be used," Bruce said when looking at his apartment.

Taking off his blonde wig and the softlens he had been wearing since arriving in this world.

…

The sun was shining orange in the distance. In the beautiful view, there was a man who was probably 30 years old walking down the path, and a hunched, trembling grandfather was walking beside him.

They walked at a slow pace, talking and laughing together.

"You're too late to tell me, Jack. If you come early, I can give you a clean room," the old man said to the young man who was walking with him.

"It's okay, Yoshida-san. I don't have too much stuff, and I need a room as soon as possible to ease my work," Jack said politely to the older man.

They walked leisurely before stopping in front of a 2-story building. The apartment was small, and the number of rooms available was limited.

"Here's your room key. It was unit 202, the room that was in the middle." grandpa pointed to the middle room on the second floor.

"Don't you want to stop by Yoshida-san first?" Jack invited the owner of the apartment to stop by.

"No need, I'm just going to be troublesome. So when will your goods be delivered?"

"I will buy it at the nearest store, for personal use, I will bring it tomorrow," he replied to the question of the grandfather.

"Please get along with the other residents, they are all kind people."

"On the 1st floor of Unit 101, there are high school students. Next to your room lives Doma's brother, and his sister is also a student."

"Please take care of them," the old man said, begging Jack.

"I'll do it with my best," Jack said with a smile.

Then the old man left and went home to his own house after delivering Jack to the location of his new apartment, leaving Jack, or what we used to call Bruce, standing in front of the apartment.