Kairos looked towards his father and nodded.
“Knowing the basics would be pretty helpful.”
Sam smiled bitterly.
“Haha, I wish that there was someone that could’ve taught me how things worked, but alas, I had to learn it myself.”
Kairos held onto his chin.
“Was there a lot of power struggle in your company?”
Sam let out a sigh.
“There is a power struggle in pretty much every company. I highly doubt that there is one that has had moderate success, but no power struggle. Even the startups have violent back and forths between its members.”
Kairos narrowed his eyes, thinking about it.
“Huh…”
Though he had seen the surface of such a climate, he really didn’t understand it, especially because he was never directly within it. The most he had seen was indirect versions or vague versions of power struggle in school.
Sam used a second to gather his thoughts.
“Though I have climbed up the ladder to a certain extent, there was always someone above me. The majority of the time, you are trying your very best not to provoke your boss in any way, which can be quite hard when they are unreasonable people.”
He rubbed his knuckle against his temple, clearly a little stressed by the experiences he remembered.
“If you want to increase your power, that will always be the condition required, not provoking the one above you.”
Sam leaned back into the sofa.
“From there, you can prove your abilities, that you are calm in stressful situations and show off your capability while keeping good relations. Especially so in situations where a hasty decision is required, but it is also gravely important. The second aspect is how good you are at persuasion, whether it is flattery, having a dominant personality, and maintaining relationships.”
Kairos nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Sam chuckled.
“Though you probably won’t have to worry about that considering that you are starting near the top already. The only thing you have to be careful of is to maintain your relationship with Talia, since it seems she is the one governing everything.”
He raised a finger.
“Just know that the chances of beating a person that is above you in a position of power is impossibly difficult if you have a conflict. There are a few exceptions, but they are incredibly rare. Understand that any conflict you have will likely end up as a pyrrhic victory at best. Though you shouldn’t really care about increasing your position of power given you are already quite high.”
Sam cleared his throat.
“Though considering this is the apocalypse and people now have dynamically different power ranges, it gets a bit more complicated. I’m not sure exactly how it will work, but physical power will be quite important. My recommendation is to intimidate, but not frighten. In other words, show that you are more powerful, but do not pressure the other side.”
Kairos tapped his chin.
“Hm. It does get far more complicated.”
Sam chuckled.
“This would be the part where I would tell you to always get ready to transfer to some other company, especially when relations begin to sour, but…”
Kairos laid back on the couch.
“There is not exactly a place to transfer.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, worst case scenario I would be forced to flee the city without anyone noticing. I imagine it will be quite difficult to survive without a sustainable food source, but that was just our situation before.”
Sam nodded with a smile.
“Haha, yeah.”
His expression faltered slightly.
“…Basically, the gist of it is to not make that girl upset, and everything should be fine. Your mother and I both did not even make our marriage known or even shared that we knew each other for the sake of not provoking certain people.”
Kairos’ eyes widened slightly.
“You couldn’t even talk about that?”
Sam shrugged his shoulders.
“We learned that the hard way, haha.”
Kairos rubbed his temple with the tip of his finger.
“…This sounds like a huge pain.”
Sam laughed.
“Because it is.”
Kairos took a deep breath.
“So the first steps seem to be going out to fight some monsters. Though only after I fulfill my responsibilities. Could you gather the others while I go ask Tiana about some stuff?”
Sam nodded.
“Sure.”
With that, they left the room. Sam went up the stairs to go to the third floor, while Kairos went to the room opposite to his and knocked on it.
Soon after, Tiana came out.
She raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t we just talk? Or do you have some more questions you would like to ask?”
Kairos shook his head while keeping his back straight.
“It’s nothing like that. I desire to leave the city soon, thus wish to fulfill my required responsibilities now, so that I do not neglect my work.”
Tiana smiled.
“It seems your father told you a few things, huh?”
The corner of Kairos’ lip twitched. He didn’t know how to respond.
In the end, Tiana brushed it off with a laugh.
“Well, there isn’t much to report as of now. So far, we are planting partially sprouted potatoes. From what I’ve been told it should take roughly a month or more for them to grow. With roughly one hundred farmers, they need quite a bit to be fed. And that’s pretty much the extent of the situation.”
Kairos nodded.
“I suggest that you provide a relatively generous amount of food for them to eat, stating that you will give enough for perhaps the first month and a half. This way, they won’t be too afraid. As people that are too afraid will likely try to find ways to avoid giving their ninety percent so they can feel a bit more secure in their food.”
Tiana put a finger on her chin, contemplating it for a moment.
“Alright, that sounds pretty reasonable. You can go off on your little journey then, just come back in a week or so!”
Kairos bowed.
“Thank you.”
Tiana smiled strangely.
“You don’t have to be so polite in front of me.”
She began closing the door and peeked out of the crack.
“Frankly, that hypocritical shit pisses me off.”
Kairos flinched as the door slammed shut. He stood there in silence for a few moments.
“…Somehow I messed up already.”
He shook his head and began walking up the stairs.
“Whatever.”
He was greeted with the sight of Sam talking to Sydney. Tori and Chase were standing off to the side passively.
“Are you sure? Wouldn’t it be better to consolidate your strength?”
Sydney looked conflicted, furrowing her brows intently.
“I don’t think I should get stronger. I’m not sure if I can control myself…”
Kairos let out a soft sigh.
“Yes, but don’t you remember?”
Sydney looked over to him and blinked a few times.
“Ah, remember what?”
Kairos looked her straight in the eye.
“If you want to remain in control of yourself, you also need to improve your strength. Don’t you remember the difference it made before?”
Sydney blinked a few times with her mouth slightly agape, as though she finally came to that realization.
“I understand.”
Tori looked between the two of them.
“Remember what?”
Kairos shrugged his shoulders.
“Nothing too important.”
He then walked over to Nicole’s door and knocked on it.
It did not take look for a set of footsteps to rush over.
Nicole opened the door with a wide smile on her face.
“Ah, Kairos!”
Kairos nodded.
“We are going out to kill some monsters.”
Nicole’s smile froze on her face.
“But… why?”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“To get stronger.”
Nicole looked confused, tilting her head to the side.
“But we already have the shelter we need, right?”
Kairos paused for a moment.
“Shelter is more of a symbolic thing, and is only guaranteed when one is powerful.”
Nicole’s lips parted ever so slightly, like she never expected that to be the answer.
“Y-You are going outside to get stronger?”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, didn’t I just say that?”
Nicole looked down to the ground and fidgeted slightly.
“…Alright, I will join you.”
Kairos was a little surprised as he somewhat expected her to either decline or try to convince him otherwise. Though he wasn’t going to go against it, as it was better this way.
Chase cracked his neck.
“Can we go already? I really can’t sit right while I’m still not even at the E rank.”
Kairos let the sharpened bone rest on his shoulder.
“Yeah, let’s go then.”
The group then left the apartment complex and walked out towards the entrance of the place.
Along the way, they passed by many people farming the fields. Many of those that noticed the group had gotten out of the apartment complex shot hateful glares in their direction.
Kairos couldn’t help but feel that these people weren’t very welcoming.
It was then he recalled his father’s advice. To intimidate, but not frighten. He thought that this was a method one was supposed to use in order to fend off someone in a higher position.
And that was also what his father meant.
However, it seemed like that it would also be beneficial to prevent an uprising. Most of the people farming already seemed bitter even without his intervention. It seemed that the preferential treatment that he had gotten sparked jealousy within the others.
Though he didn’t want to attract attention, it was already too late for that.
Kairos assessed how much mana he had.
It was roughly a half, which was not a lot by his standards. Though he wanted to save it for the sake of going out, he figured that there shouldn’t be too many fights immediately.
And so, he walked over to a boy who was trying to clear a large pile of rubble away. He seemed to be a bit younger than Kairos, and was heaving greatly just trying to move away the stones.
Kairos waved casually.
“Do you need some help in moving these stones?”
The boy looked up to him with a bit of surprise.
“O-Oh, it’s ok! I got this.”
Kairos tilted his head to the side.
“Why exactly are you clearing these stones?”
The boy scratched the back of his head.
“Ah, this is the plot of farmland I was assigned and if I want to farm, then I have to clear away this rubble.”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“But it doesn’t look like the others have to do the same?”
The boy looked down at the ground with an awkward smile on his face.
“Um… some people moved their rubble onto my farmland even though we were supposed to bring it out towards the city borders.”
The corner of Kairos’ lip turned up.
“Could you tell me who did that?”
The boy hurriedly shook his head.
“Ah, it’s no problem, haha.”
Kairos surveyed the area, and noticed that a few people in the distance were noticeably tense. He pointed towards them.
“I see that you are the people that neglected your responsibilities.”
Those people seemed rather defensive.
“What? I didn’t do anything!”
“This is a false accusation without any proof!”
“You can’t just boss us around! What makes you think you have the right?”
Nicole clenched her fists and walked up.
“Kairos…”
In response, Kairos gave her a gentle push back.
“Don’t worry.”
He then faced forwards once more.
“That is a good question. I wonder, what makes me have the right to boss you around?”
The people seemed to get more confident at first, not noticing the sarcasm behind his words.
Kairos raised his hand, which gradually began glowing blue. He didn’t inject so much that his hand began vibrating violently like before, but it was still nothing to scoff at.
The people speaking out earlier quickly realized that something was wrong, becoming somewhat afraid.
“W-What are you doing?”
A strange smile appeared on Kairos’ face.
“Answering your question.”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh yeah, duck if you want to live.”