Job 1 - So You Gonna Show Us a Magic Trick

These kids can't be older than 16. Maybe five years ago I would've been scared by a knife being pulled on me, but now it's a bit amusing. The blade is clearly wobbling in the teenager's hand, though I have to give him props for keeping a straight face. He's probably trying to impress his friends.

"You're Ryugi Igarashi, right?" He stammers out. Ah, so that's why they cornered me. The trio wants to be the ones to say they defeated a member of the Inazuma Clan.

"Yeah, that's me alright." I flash the trio with a sly grin. The two behind the leader grimace, taking a step back trying to escape.

"Hey!" The leader grabs their shirts and pulls them forward. "You two ain't going anywhere!"

"Dude!" The heavier kid turns to his boss, trying to reason with him. "If this really is Ryugi Igarashi, we could get in serious trouble!"

"And if we defeat him, we'll get some serious riches! Plus, it's not like he's done anything yet."

I haven't done anything because adults who beat up kids are assholes. I kind of feel bad for the two. They obviously don't want to be here; they probably got dragged along by their idiot of a leader.

"Oi, kid." That seems to break the three out of their squabble. The leader begins to shake, his once fierce demeanor beginning to slip.

"W-who, me?"

"Yeah, you." I smile. I'm not gonna hurt them, but I can give them a good scare. "What's your name?"

"Uh, it's Daichi." He gulps. "Daichi Sato."

"Well, Daichi. You want to see a magic trick, right?" The leader, or Daichi I guess, doesn't stop his friends this time. They step back as I rifle through my coat pocket. It doesn't take long to find what I need: my pouch of salt.

This trick is gonna need a long string of mana. A salt chunk is probably better than a pinch of granulated salt. The mana will flow into my system slowly, but all I need is something flashy. Nothing dangerous.

"Here's one to tell your friends, kid." I pop the chunk of salt in my mouth. As soon as the crystal hits my tongue, I faintly taste lemon as it coats my mouth. As my body starts to absorb the mana, electrical stings spark on my gums, my tongue, and my teeth. It's as if I ate something poisonous.

It's not hard to create a ball of electricity. Just imagine electrons hitching a ride from your brain to your fingertips. Once the sparks shoot out of your fingers, they come together to create lightning magic. And when you have enough of it, you can make some fun spectacles.

I create another ball in my other hand, bringing the two together to concentrate my energy. The kids are already scared shitless by seeing my magic alone, but Daichi is my main target. I need to steer him as far away from the Inazuma as possible. It's been a while since I've pulled this trick out, but I'm sure I can do it again.

Slamming my hands against the pavement causes strands of electricity to crawl across it, almost reaching the kids. It's not even five seconds before the two behind Daichi scram.

"Just... just tiny sparks?!" Daichi screams through the static-filled air. "Is that all the 'mighty Igarashi' has for us?!' The main attraction hasn't come yet, though.

All the electricity flows back to me and a moment of silence lingers through the air, albeit brief. My ears ring as a giant blast accompanies what I've made: a giant electric dragon. An expert in lightning magic would easily know this is harmless. It could maybe cause your hair to puff up, but there's so much being spread around that no real damage could happen. An ordinary civilian though...

Daichi's eyes widen as the dragon towers over us, a whirlwind beginning to form the more I keep this up. Shit, just run, kid! I can't attract more attention than I already have! Plus, if he doesn't run before this salt crystal runs out, I won't any mana to defend myself with if people do come.

A scream pierces through the flurry of wind as Daichi falls back, fear all over his face. He gets up to run, just to fall back down. It seems I've frightened the kid enough, though. Instead of trying to get up again, he scurries away on all fours. I count for ten seconds.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

Once I'm certain he's far enough away, I stop my magic. I bring my fingers into my palms as the heat from the electricity subsides. Despite having decent control of my magic, I still get cuts and blisters whenever I use it. I need to practice more.

"Stupid kid. Hopefully that scares him from joining any of the clans."

My thoughts as interrupted by the buzzing of my cell phones. The device is ancient, even by Majutsushi standards. While we still favor flip phones over smartphones due to them being harder to track, my model severely needs updating.

Of course it's the boss. Word doesn't take long to spread here. We're just one city, after all. That, and we have a lot of double agents roaming about. I'm close to Hyoga territory right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if a member just saw what happened. Time for a mouthful of expletives.

"Yo."

"Having fun out there, Igarashi?" His voice is as gruff and stern as usual. I can easily sense the venomous sarcasm he loves to dish out to me whenever shit like this happens.

"Just some local teens who thought they'd try to be tough." I wave my hand around, a habit of mine when I'm on the phone. I tend to forget the person on the other end can't see me. "Nothing major."

"Well, save your talents for when you're actually in danger, kid. Salt isn't cheap, you know." I'm not gonna tell him that I wasted a chunk of my salt on that.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't need to remind me, old man."

"This 'old man' helps pay for your apartment, you know. Anyway, I need you to come to Cafe Au Sel. I have a job for you."

Finally, I'm able to leave the alley. It seems like no one is paying mind to my stunt, so I guess the coast is clear.

"How much does it pay?"

"500,000 yen." I stop in my tracks. "250K upfront, the rest when the job is finished." He's joking with me, right? We've never had a job that paid this much. The highest we've gotten was 100K and we were stiffed on that!

"Not funny, boss. What's the actual amount?"

"Just get to the Cafe, Ryugi. I'd prefer it if we could talk about this in person."

Before I can respond, he hangs up the phone. What kind of job is this? The boss is usually pretty lax, especially compared to the other ones from what I've heard. The other bosses fear about somehow being tracked, so they never talk about jobs on the phone. Our boss, the leader of the Inazuma, usually gives us the job over call, we do it, and then he wires us the cash.

For him to summon me to the Cafe... this must be a pretty serious job.

...

And if I don't take it, someone else will. I don't care what kind of job this is, it's mine.

---

I get the key from under the mat and unlock the back door. As much as I would prefer entering through the front, the boss likes to avoid as much suspicion as possible. I wave to the bakers, also Inazuma members, as I stroll in. Ten minutes until closing. I decide to sit on a pile of flour bags as I wait for the patrons to shuffle out. It helps that I arrived fairly late, at least.

My eyes scan what little of the dining area I can see through the kitchen and it doesn't take me long to notice an oddity in the room. A wolven beastman, fur as blue as ice. I notice the symbol on his hand as he reaches for his cup of tea: the insignia of the Hyoga. The boss usually doesn't let any clan members in the front, Inazuma or otherwise. To say my curiosity is piqued is an understatement.

Despite the fact the cafe closes at six, the boss is usually generous enough to treat patrons who come in a bit late. It takes an extra ten before I can come to the front, but to my shock...

The beastman is still here.

Light bounces off his fur, turning the blue a bright orange, as he lights a cigarette. His gaze sticks on me like glue, watching my every move. Finally, the boss, still in his chef attire, comes out. Despite him looking like a baker, his demeanor would strike fear into any normal person. His muscles and stomach can make him either a cuddly teddy bear or a bulldozer who would kill you in an instant. It all depends on the cadence of his voice and the look in his eyes.

He clasps his hands and leans on the counter, looking straight at me.

"Now," he begins. "Let's talk about that job."