Chapter 524: This Might Be Love at First Sight
Chapter 524: This Might Be Love at First Sight
Hokkaido, Mechanical City.
Kujo Yuri pushed open the door, looking as fresh as a flower after rain.
“What perfect weather today!”
She glanced up at the cloudless sky before calling inside: “Hayato, the trade fair’s starting. Let’s go.”
A hesitant voice answered: “This… doesn’t feel right…”
“Don’t be silly! You don’t need to visit the Government Building today anyway.”
“No… What if someone recognizes me? I’d die of shame.”
“You wore this all the time before! Why the sudden shyness?”
Despite Kujo Yuri’s efforts, Sato Hayato stayed hidden.
She finally grabbed his wrist and yanked him outside.
A breathtaking beauty emerged – jet-black hair flowing like silk, snow-pale skin, long lashes brushing large eyes.
The princess-style pleated dress showed off slender legs clad in white stockings few women could wear gracefully.
“Hayato… no, Hayako now. You’re gorgeous!”
Though resisting at first, Sato Hayako had given in to Kujo Yuri’s demands about the cross-dressing.
Not that she truly minded, truth be told.
…
Today marked Mechanical City’s trade exhibition.
Merchants from Area 11’s Honshu flooded across the strait with samples.
Monsters too came bearing local goods, arranged by Iron Fortress.
This fair resulted from Kanzaki Rin’s miscalculation.
She’d assumed Mechanical City alone could satisfy the monster kingdom’s market. Wrong.
Factories running nonstop still couldn’t meet the monsters’ growing demands.
Kanzaki’s solution? Let Area 11 products fill the gap while collecting taxes.
Mechanical City would become a trade hub, shifting excess workers to service jobs.
With Fang Cheng’s terrifying power and Iron Fortress connections, neither Area 11 Government nor reckless capitalists dared interfere.
Merchants raced to the central square after unpacking. Monster goods sold out fast.
The Kujo family followed this pattern.
Father Kujo Tairou ran a Honshu processing plant, seeking new markets.
Son Kujou Arata had quit his Countermeasures Department intern work after the Tokyo Incident, reluctantly inheriting the family business.
His Mechanical City visit served dual purposes – protecting his father, and secret personal motives.
The masterminds behind the Tokyo Incident—Fang Cheng and Kanzaki Rin—had fled to Hokkaido and seized control of Mechanical City. This was no longer a secret within Tokyo’s government circles.
Even Kujou Arata, a mere intern, knew about it. Yet his focus remained fixed on another person—Sato Hayako.
Her real name might’ve been Sato Hayato, but in Arata’s heart, she’d always be Hayako.
Though Hayako’s whereabouts remained unknown, Arata reasoned she must be in Mechanical City since Fang Cheng and Kanzaki Rin were there.
After their long separation, he’d assumed he’d forget her completely.
He was wrong. The ‘woman’ haunted his thoughts more each day—her bashful anger, her every smile and frown.
This obsession drove him to accompany his father to Mechanical City. He needed to tell Hayako he’d create loopholes for her, secrets be damned.
He’d even resolved to settle here permanently if necessary.
After securing lodging, Arata tried slipping out. His father Kujo Tairou stopped him: “Where are you going?”
“To find cousin Yuri. Uncle said she’s hiding here.”
“Don’t lie. You two barely speak. You’re after that woman who dumped you!” Tairou scowled. “Why obsess over some pretty face?”
“Hayako’s different!”
“How? Two eyes, one mouth like anyone! No mystery woman enters our family!”
Their argument escalated until Tairou relented: “At least come to the trade fair first. What if monsters eat me?”
“If they do,” Arata clenched his fists, “I’ll dig your bones from their dung.”
“Such filial piety! Should’ve left you on the bedroom wall!” Tairou punctuated this with a fist to his son’s eye.
Thus the pair arrived at the bustling trade fair square, Arata sporting fresh bruises. Though police swarmed the area, only humans crowded the space—no monsters in sight.
“Strange. Where are the creatures?” Tairou muttered, dragging his son into the throng.
They soon got separated, forced to confirm safety via phone. Tairou found all stalls occupied, requiring days-long waits. Human vendors dominated, though some sold monster goods while maintaining human appearances.
Tairou grabbed a passerby: “This is the monster trade fair? Where are they?”
The man’s jaw suddenly split into a gaping maw: “Talking about me?”
(Unbeknownst to visitors, Kanzaki Rin had ordered Iron Fortress to send human-form monsters to avoid frightening merchants.)
“Gah!” Tairou stumbled backward, saved from falling by a delicate hand—pale as snow, graceful as carved jade.
His gaze traveled up to meet a stunning beauty with cascading hair and rosy lips. His heart stuttered.
“Sir? Are you hurt?” Her lark-like voice scattered his thoughts. When he gaped wordlessly, she waved slender fingers before his face: “Hello?”
Tairou jolted, dropping his samples. As they scrambled to collect them, he stole glances—her hair’s sheen, the curve of her neck as she tucked a strand behind a petite ear.
Catching his stare, Hayako smiled. Blushing, Tairou ducked his head, suddenly very interested in scattered trinkets.