Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 118: The Ravens
In Tokyo’s underworld, the shadow organization that controls the black market is known as the “Ravens” The leader of this group traditionally takes on the name “White Raven”.
The first White Raven was a formidable woman who survived the turbulent times following the Gremlin Disaster and laid the foundation of what the Ravens are today.
She bleached her hair white, which is where the title “White Raven” originated.
The second White Raven, who grew up watching the first from behind, inherited the name out of respect. Instead of bleaching her hair, she made wearing a white suit her signature.
The third White Raven, Kisuke Nishiura, also follows this tradition and always wears a starched, high-end white suit.
There are no blood ties between the generations of White Ravens. The first leader had no biological children.
But the cups of sake they exchanged as a bond were stronger than blood, and this ritual cemented the unity of the Ravens.
A key tenet passed down through generations of the Ravens is the protection and salvation of orphans.
During the chaotic era, countless children lost their parents. The Ravens used much of their bloodstained and dirty earnings to support these orphans.
They dragged countless adults into the underworld—but the number of orphans they saved was even greater.
In modern times, there aren’t as many orphans, but they still exist. The third White Raven, too, was raised in a Raven-run orphanage.
Kisuke Nishiura’s parents lived on Tsushima Island, where they were saved from hellish suffering by the Hell witch. Grateful, they named their newborn son “Kisuke”, using the character for “Oni” (demon). Kisuke was raised lovingly by his kind parents.
However, both of his parents died from Shadow Loss Syndrome, and Kisuke became an orphan with no relatives. He stowed away on a merchant ship to the mainland.
The world was in chaos due to the Shadow Loss pandemic, and Kisuke had no choice but to survive alone.
He stole, killed, lied—he did whatever it took.
In winter, he slept in boiler rooms at public baths. In summer, he got food poisoning from nearly rotten scraps.
All the adults were too busy saving themselves or their families during the pandemic, and no one had the time to help a delinquent stranger.
Kisuke kept moving to avoid being caught and eventually ended up in Tokyo.
There, he was taken in by the second White Raven, received an education, and transformed from a wild street child into the boss of a massive criminal organization.
As the third White Raven, Kisuke Nishiura now controls Tokyo’s black market. He is the boss raven, commanding over a thousand “ravens”.
He still steals, kills, lies—he does everything.
But he cherishes orphans.
That is the Ravens’ law of blood. And for Kisuke, protecting orphans is also a way of honoring the suffering he endured in his own childhood.
So when three little stoats returned sneakily from the Takamine Auction, which he had strictly forbidden them from going to, the White Raven greeted them with a hard knuckle to the head.
“You stupid brats!”
“Ouch!”
“Ode!”
“Bok!”
Had they been adults, it wouldn’t have been a fist but a bullet. But because they were orphans, he let them off with a scolding in the lecture room instead of the torture room.
Tearing up and rubbing their heads with their tiny hands, the stoats flinched as the White Raven raised his fist again.
“S-s-sorry! It was my fault! I dragged the other two along!”
“Idiot! That auction had the Blue Witch and the Dragon Witch present! How many times have I told you to stay away from Transcendents?! Were you trying to get all three of you killed?!”
“B-b-but, the Blue Witch gave us her autograph! She was way nicer than the rumors said!”
Wrapped in fluffy white fur, Bokk’n clutched the autograph to his chest like it was the most precious thing in the world.
His carefree remark nearly made the veins in White Raven’s forehead burst.
There are rumors that the Blue Witch can kill people just by glaring at them—and judging by her extreme history, that doesn’t sound far-fetched. She’s a one-woman national military asset.
While she’s reportedly mellowed in recent years compared to her rowdy days, if you step on the wrong landmine, she’ll kill anyone—child, woman, or family member—without hesitation.
She isn’t kind. You three just happened to meet her on a good day.
If she had been in a foul mood, she would’ve turned you all into ice sculptures.
“It turned out okay! Ode’s Backcrossing technique probably wasn’t even noticed by the Blue Witch! We didn’t get caught!”
“You idiot! You used that in front of her, didn’t you? In three days, some fancy professor will figure out how it works! You wasted a valuable trump card on some dumb stunt…!”
Like Bokuta, Odemaru was equally carefree.
The White Raven scratched his head in frustration.
Odemaru had been blind until he was seven. He was neglected in a rundown apartment by awful parents until a young debt collector, moved by pity, fed the parents to a monster and took Odemaru to the orphanage.
As soon as he arrived, Odemaru was treated by a proper doctor and cured using high-level healing magic.
The cost of treatment was astronomical, enough to make a rich family flinch—but it was fully paid for by the Ravens.
Odemaru was smart. He adored the young man who had saved him and started mimicking his speech, which made him sound a bit dumb—but in truth, he was the most academically gifted among the three troublemakers.
It was Odemaru who discovered the hidden ability of the Stoat Transformation Magic known as “Backcrossing (Urawatari).”
A stoat transformed via the spell isn’t just a regular stoat—it becomes a magic creature called a white beast.
By repeatedly jumping to stir up magic energy, and then diving at a sharp angle, they can slip into the back world (a parallel dimension).
In places where there are sharp angles—like the corner of a room, the tip of a triangle ruler, the point of a pencil, or between the half-open pages of a book—one can slip into the underside world and emerge again.
The White Raven couldn’t transform into a stoat because of his low magic power, so he didn’t know firsthand what “back-crossing” felt like. According to the three kids, it was like “disappearing from the surface world, being able to pass through anything. But you can’t go very deep, and if you stay too long, you feel like you’re drowning.”
It was a power that was somehow understandable and yet not.
But basically, just bouncing around and diving into corners would let them disappear or reappear.
Just as even someone who can’t control magic can fly and breathe fire if they transform into a dragon, transforming into an stoat allows one to back-cross even without magic control.
Despite a few constraints, it was an incredibly practical and convenient ability.
Odemaru had immediately shared his discovery with his two close friends. The White Raven also learned of it through the younger members and promptly instructed them to keep it secret.
The stoat’s back-crossing was a critical piece of information that needed to be handled with care.
Because it was such an easy-to-use power—one that anyone could mimic once they understood how—it was currently an enormous advantage for the White Raven. But once word got out, that advantage would vanish in an instant.
He considered back-crossing to be a valuable asset for shaping Odemaru’s future.
If he studied a bit more and acquired high school-level knowledge, he could probably skip grades and enter the university of magic. If he then publicly revealed back-crossing and made a name for himself as a researcher, his future would be secure. His dark past could even be turned into an inspiring story, depending on how it was told.
The White Raven had worked hard to help Odemaru step out from the darkness and walk proudly in the light.
And yet, Odemaru, too caught up in fooling around with his friends, had thrown away his ticket to the surface world.
The Blue Witch was closely acquainted with the famous Professor Ohinata. If she had seen the back-crossing, it was only a matter of time before the professor would figure out how it worked.
Of course, despite his miserable beginnings, Odemaru was a straight-laced kid who never flaunted his intelligence, shared his secrets generously with his friends, and valued gratitude and friendship above all else—that much made the White Raven incredibly proud.
Odemaru was a good kid.
So was Bokuta, though he had a bad habit of using clever words to talk circles around people. He still acted when those close to him were in danger. He was a good kid who cherished harmony within the group.
And that was exactly why their careless actions were so frustrating.
These kids had the potential to succeed in the proper world—so why wouldn’t they give up their mischief?
“C’mon, Boss, calm down. We made a promise to the Blue Witch too. We’re all done doing bad stuff.”
“You little idiot! How many times do you have to break the same promise before you’re satisfied?! How many times now, huh? And it’s not just about the auction—you were skimming enhancement drugs too!”
“Ack… I mean, I kinda can’t transform without boosting my magic power. So, yeah…”
Trying to deflect with a cute little tongue-out face, Atsushi was met with a forehead flick from the White Raven.
Despite constantly being told not to cause trouble, to study, to make friends outside the Ravens—the words never seemed to really stick with the three of them.
Atsushi especially had sticky fingers. He had a sharp eye for opportunities and was quick to jump into all sorts of trouble.
But if you looked at it positively, he was attentive, unafraid of hard work, and full of initiative. If he changed his ways, those qualities would become his greatest strengths.
However, if he continued using his talents to steal magic enhancement drugs, his future was at risk.
Each of the three had over 50K in magic power—plenty to make a living as mages.
With enhancement drugs, they could even transform into dragons. Even if they failed academically, they could fake a clean background and land a job with Dragon Delivery. It was hard, busy physical work, but it paid well and was popular.
Still, if they had no intention of walking the right path, then no matter how much support or guidance they were given, it was all meaningless.
“Please, Boss, cut us some slack. This time we really mean it. We even got a signature, after all.”
“I ain’t gonna skip my writing homework anymore!”
“Seeing Kyanos in real life was amazing! I seriously thought about becoming a staff craftsman in the surface world. Like, for real!”
The three stoat kids each voiced their regrets and promises to change.
The White Raven swallowed the curses rising in his throat.
You must never say things like, “Liar, you’ll just do it again,” to a child. Those words can deeply wound a child and destroy their trust in adults (or so the parenting books said).
It’s harder to raise three children than to discipline 300 gangsters.
Crossing his arms and wearing a sour expression, The White Raven listened to their appeals for a while. Then, with a deep sigh, he gave his judgment.
“Fine, fine. First, go to the treasurer and get your magic enhancement drugs. This time, you have permission. Once you’re back in human form, help out with the daycare kitchen every day for a week. Just breakfast and dinner is enough.”
When the kids started whining, “Ehh~?”, The White Raven poked each of their bratty cheeks.
“What? Can’t say ‘Yes, sir’? Fine. Two weeks instead. If you behave for two weeks, I’ll count it as proper repentance and only dock half your allowance. Skip even once, and no allowance at all. Now get moving.”
As the White Raven shooed them with a wave of his hand, the three stoat kids made faces that screamed they wanted to complain—but without arguing, they trotted out of the room.
As he watched them go and sank back into his chair, staring wearily up at the ceiling, the underboss came in right on cue.
The underboss grinned and said:
“I heard everything. Parenting’s tough, huh, Boss?”
“…Shut up.”
“What was that just now? That wasn’t a punishment at all. Way too soft. If it were me, I’d have dragged those brats to the Blue Witch and made them apologize—”
Before he could finish speaking, The White Raven struck the underboss across the face with a backhanded blow.
The underboss was sent flying, slammed into the wall, then crumpled to the floor. He clutched his nose in shock, blood dripping, clearly too dazed to even understand why he’d been hit.
To the fool who couldn’t grasp that much, The White Raven spoke coldly:
“When did you get the right to talk back to me, huh?”
“S-sorry…”
“Don’t get blood on the carpet. So, what’s your report?”
“Uh, we received word… they said they won’t pay the ransom.”
“I see. And?”
“I was wondering how we should respond…”
“Don’t ask me crap like that. Just do what we always do. Cut off the right hand and send it to them. If they still won’t pay, then send the left one too. Got it? Now get out of here.”
“Y-yeah…”
The underboss staggered out of the room.
As he lit a cigarette, the White Raven thought to himself: Maybe it’s my fault for trying too hard to shield the kids from the filthier side of things.
Those three seemed to think of the Ravens as some kind of dark hero group.
No matter how many times he told them the Ravens was just a bunch of scum, they wouldn’t listen. Even when he told them, be a scholar, be a staff craftsman, be whatever you want—just don’t become part of the Ravens—they still wouldn’t hear it. It was troubling.
If they knew both the good and evil of the world and still chose to walk the path of darkness, then so be it.
But still, the third-generation boss of a crime syndicate couldn’t help but hope… that maybe, just maybe, this time the three really had reformed.