Chapter 564: Meeting Itsuki
"I need to get as much information about him as I can without letting him know about me. If I go with the stealthy route like last time, I might make it easier. Let me find his weakness," he muttered as he glanced at the tall building.
On the route here, he had read more about Itsuki. He tried to find as much as he could and what came before him was an even more shocking story than him. Just like he had become a rich guy after meeting Janus and became a businessman, Itsuki seemed to be similar.
From what Ryder could find, Itsuki wasn’t from a business family. In fact, he was believed to be an orphan, and his journey from that point on to here seemed extraordinary. He took over many companies in Japan and merged them to make his business empire.
"I need to get close to him to understand him. I can’t track him like I did Aluren. And it doesn’t seem like Janus will give any more help either. He straight refused to give me more help and more origin points as a loan. I’m on my own here."
Without thinking much, he started stepping towards the Itsuki Corporation.
He was going to break inside while impersonating their staff.
As he reached near the tall building, he tapped the shoulder of one of the employees that were coming out of the building.
"Yes?" The employee asked Ryder, curious.
"I want you to come with me," Ryder told the man as he looked deep into his eyes.
"What? Why would I-" the man seemed confused why Ryder wanted him to follow him when his eyes suddenly started closing as if he was sleeping.
In his sleepy state, he agreed as he started following after Ryder.
Ryder and the man walked away from the building and traveled on foot as they advanced towards an unknown place.
Ryder with the man to a small hotel where he booked a room for three days.
The receptionist at the hotel couldn’t help but smile as she gave a look to Ryder, believing he was here to have fun with his boyfriend. She was surprised to know that it was going to last for three days.
As Ryder received the keys, he went into the room with the man and locked the door.
"This is better," he muttered as he picked up a chair and sat on it. "You go sit on the bed."
The man he commanded walked to the bed and sat as if he was hypnotized to listen to Ryder’s every command.
As the man sat down, Ryder started asking about the place he worked at.
He asked what the position of the man in the organization was and how the place worked. What were the rules and how to get to Itsuki? He especially asked as much as he could about the security precautions of the organization and about Itsuki.
He asked about the arrival time of Itsuki, his departure, and any distinguished activities he liked doing.
After a five hour long interrogation, he finished up before he gave the man his last command.
"For the next three days, you’ll live here one a normal guest. You’ll stay in the room, eat what they served, sleep, and repeat. You aren’t allowed to go out and speak," Ryder commanded the man. "After three days, you’ll wake up from this and get back to the normal you, forgetting everything that happened here. You understand?"
"I understand," the man answered.
"That’s better. Give me your ID card and your clothes. You can wear the robes of the hotel."
The man took off his clothes and gave them to Ryder.
Ryder wore the man’s clothes and left that room, using a treasured mask to disguise himself as the man.
He walked out of the hotel, making sure he wasn’t seen by many people before he walked back to the headquarters of Itsuki Corporation.
The massive building was the tallest building in the area. As for its entrance, it was heavily guarded.
Ryder showed the ID card that he had taken from the man before he walked through the scanner. He finally entered the building.
He walked to the lift through which he went to the top floor.
As Ryder was interrogating the man, he was surprised to know that his luck was too good. The random man he had nabbed to get the information happened to work on the top floor. It was also the place where Itsuki’s office was.
It was his great luck that he just happened to catch the man when he left the building to get lunch.
Ryder reached the top floor and stepped out of the lift as he walked through the corridors.
Soon, he was standing before the room, which had seven written on it. From what he knew, this was where he sat. As for Itsuki, he was in room number one.
Ryder couldn’t go to that area as he saw a few guards standing there. They were surely going to ask why he was going there.
He knew that the first two days were just going to be for investigation. He was going to understand Itsuki better while staying out of his radar. He didn’t want to be caught.
Ryder walked inside the office of his own to see two tables placed there. As he had already heard, a woman was also sitting there who worked in the same office.
Moreover, that woman was Itsuki’s personal assistant. As for the person Ryder was impersonating, he worked here as an analyst but a bit different
Seeing Ryder, Itsuki’s assistant couldn’t help but ask, "What are you doing here?"
"Me? What do you mean?" Ryder asked, surprised. Did he recognize him from somewhere? Was his disguise not good?
"Yeah. What are you doing here so fast? Normally you don’t come back until lunch is over, but now you’re here so fast. Did something happen?" The lady asked Ryder.
"Nothing. I just felt like coming back and resting in the office," Ryder replied in Japanese in the same accent as the man he was impersonating.
He walked to the table on the left, which he believed to be his own, and sat on it.
"Did you finish lunch?" He asked the girl.
"Not yet. I need to do something for the boss. This Ryder Flynn stuff is troubling me so much. Boss wants me to find him and Aluren but both of them are missing. Even our spies there aren’t able to find any clues about them," the lady answered, sighing.
"Boss asked me to find his location and what happened to that Aluren guy, but I don’t think I’ll be able to. He only gave me the deadline of today. If I don’t give him the report today, I’ll be scolded," she continued as she tapped a few keys on her laptop.
’Itsuki is trying to find Aluren and me? So he knew about me just like Aluren? Could it be that he has the same misunderstanding? That I’m a hidden god-son? How can these guys be such big idiots?" Ryder thought, stunned at the information that he was wanted by Itsuki too?
’So that’s why Ryder told me to hurry and get here. He’s in my tail, and I need to be in his tail. The one who gets to victory faster will survive, and the other will die. And I can’t be the other in any case. I need to take Itsuki out at any cost.’
’I doubt if I could kill him in one shot. He might have healing like Aluren too. Killing him will take special means. Either I need to take his divine protection out like I did with Aluren, or I need to kill him with other methods.’
Just as Ryder was wondering what to do, the door opened suddenly as a young man barged inside.
"Did you find Aluren?" The man asked the lady, who stood up in shock.
Ryder also stood up as he recognized the face. It was Itsuki himself. He had come to this room to take an update.
"N-not yet, sir. We are still trying," the lady answered.
"Well, it doesn’t seem like you’re trying hard enough if you can’t even find what happened to him in that city," Itsuki told the woman as he glanced around the room and noticed Ryder.
As soon as his gaze fell on Ryder, he couldn’t help but be surprised as a smile spread across his face.
"You, come with me to my office," he told Ryder as he stepped out of the room.
Ryder also followed behind him, wondering if the guy had recognized him. If this was the case, it was going to be a mess, but he was prepared
He still hoped that the man hadn’t recognized him.
Ryder walked behind Itsuki as he soon stepped inside the office.
While Itsuki walked to his chair, he gestured for Ryder to sit as well.
After sitting, he stared into Ryder’s eyes as he said, "Ryder Flynn if I’m not wrong?"
