Maintaining the Balance: Ch. 14 (Patreon)

"I will go to Republic City."

Surprised by Kahn's sudden change in tone and behavior, Katara couldn't help asking, "Did something happen? You were against the idea just a few moments ago."

Though he didn't provide any details, Kahn nodded his head, answering, "Yes." before rising to his feet and adding, "I changed my mind."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

After a moment of stunned silence, Tenzin decided to take advantage of the situation, stating, "You're welcome to stay on Air Temple Island. We have more than enough room to accommodate you."

Though he was tempted to refuse, Kahn didn't have so much as a single yuan to his name. He could always make money by traveling around and working as a mercenary, but only the nefarious and unlawful would even think of hiring a nine-year-old child. He may be setting off to start his own journey, but he didn't want to put Korra in a difficult position by increasing his infamy...at least for now.

"Very well. In exchange, I will transcribe some of my knowledge and help guide your children during their training. As one of the Five Councilmen of the United Republic, I imagine you can afford the wages of a professional tutor."

Without waiting for Tenzin's response, Kahn made his way to his bedroom. He needed to organize his thoughts, but, more importantly, he wanted to learn more about his newly acquired System.

Seeing Kahn walk away, Tenzin raised his hand to stop him but ultimately decided against it. His original plan was to convince Kahn to enroll in the Republic City Bending Academy. With Kahn's knowledge and abilities, he would quickly garner a name for himself as a prodigy. After that, not only would Kahn have an easier time finding work, he would be well on his way to climbing the sociopolitical ladder.

With Kahn's knowledge and power, it was only a matter of time until he became someone of significant import. Rokr had gone from a peasant to someone who was seriously considered for the position of Earth King by the time he was twenty-seven. If the incumbent Earth King had been the tyrant people made him out to be, the Monarchy of the Earth Kingdom, a dynasty that had persisted for thousands of years, would have ended at the hands of a single person.

While it was difficult to imagine Kahn caring about such things, getting him actively involved in politics was better than leaving him to his own devices. If he were allowed to run rampant, it wouldn't be long before he either stepped on someone's toes, resorted to vigilanteism, or became a criminal. 

The curious thing about socioeconomics and politics was that the same actions committed by a crime syndicate would be ignored if perpetrated by a member of the social elite or someone holding a public office. If the White Demon, for example, had joined the Republic City Police Force as a First Grade Special Consultant, most of their activities would be regarded as meritorious deeds rather than crimes. Instead, they were considered a criminal since their actions undermined or outright embarrassed the ruling body of Republic City.

Tenzin had hoped to convince Kahn to attend the Republic City Bending Academy before recommending him to the Republic City Police Force. An ordinary person would need to wait until they were sixteen to attend the Police Academy, but Kahn essentially had four Council Members and one of the largest organizations in the entire world backing him. So long as he had the merits to support it, it wouldn't take much to convince the general public he was an exception to the rules.

With Kahn declaring his intentions from the start, Tenzin understood that changing his mind would be difficult, if not impossible. Kahn was the type of person that chose his path and stuck to it unless something forced him to change. You could make suggestions or offer advice to him, but, unless you had a very compelling reason, he would, basically, just ignore you.

"Haaaaaa..."

Exhaling an exasperated sigh, Tenzin looked toward his mother, asking, "What are we going to do with that boy? While he is incredibly mature for his age, I'm worried about his and Korra's futures. If he can't learn to care for others, I fear it's only a matter of time before a tragedy occurs..."

Shaking her head, Katara adopted one of her grandmotherly smiles as she said, "Kahn is a lot more considerate than most people think. He may be a little standoffish, but he goes out of his way to help Toph and me without being asked. I think the reason he acts the way he does is because of the way adults treat him. Around children or people who have no expectations for him, he is a lot calmer."

Supporting Katara's statement, Toph added, "Sugar Queen's right. Kahn is a brat and a half, but he's a good kid. If he were to encounter someone in need of aid, he would probably help them without stopping to think about the merits or consequences of his actions. It's honestly a good thing, but he's bound to rustle a lot of jimmies. People addicted to power absolutely hate people like Kahn. They only know how to use their status and power to benefit themselves, so they despise talented people who refuse to play the games they've rigged in their favor. It's the reason I basically told my father to shove it when he wanted me to take over the family and support Rokr's claim to the throne. Politics are stupid."

Finished with what she had to say, Toph loudly yawned before waving her hand and saying, "You've got your work cut out for you, brat. At least you don't have any hair to pull out."

With those parting words, Toph disappeared into her room at nearly the exact same moment that Senna entered to inform everyone that Korra was too tired to participate in the discussion...

...

..

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After retreating to the relative privacy of his quarters, Kahn blocked off his senses in order to focus on the faint whirring sound emanating from the back of his mind. When he did, he felt as though his consciousness was briefly sinking into an abyss of darkness before finding himself in an arena-like kitchen filled with tables, tools, and various cooking utensils.

Though he was interested in his surroundings, the thing Kahn focused on was the young woman with maroon-red hair rinsing potatoes over one of the nearby sinks. More specifically, he focused on the cat-like ears poking out of her head and the tail swaying behind her as she happily hummed a song to herself.

"Rindo...Kobayashi...?"

Hearing Kahn's voice, the Rindo-like figure's ears began to twitch as her other actions ceased. The faucet she was using suddenly turned off, so, for a very brief moment, it was like everything except for the woman's ears had frozen in time.

Just as he was about to break the silence, Kahn's instincts compelled him to leap backward, lightning enveloping his body as he took evasive action. What he never expected was for the redheaded woman to teleport behind him, the back of his head impacting her unfathomably soft breasts as she wrapped her arms around him and squealed, "Kyaaaaa~! I was wondering when you were going to stop by!"

Seemingly impervious to the lightning coursing through and across Kahn's body, the redheaded beauty enthusiastically rubbed her cheek against his with a silly, cat-like smile on her face. Kahn attempted to free himself, but she was both larger and, apparently, stronger than him.

"Let...me...go...!"

"Okay~!"

Without any hesitation whatsoever, the redhead released Kahn from her grasp. Her action was so unexpected that he nearly fell onto his bottom, but, thanks to his accelerated reaction and response time, Kahn managed to avoid embarrassing himself as he turned around, glared at the woman, and asked, "Who are you?"

Pointing at herself, the Rindo lookalike adopted an 'OwO' like expression as she answered, "I'm whoever you want me to be, cutie pie. This is just my default appearance. If you want..."

Transforming into a copy of Korra, the overly playful woman teased, "I can even look like this. My name, appearance, and the way I address you are all for you to decide. If it were up to me...I would probably go with da-na-sa-ma~?"

Though he was used to Korra staring at him with a competitive look on her face, Kahn felt extremely uncomfortable seeing the strange woman licking her lips as she eyed him with a playfully predatory expression. It would have been fine if she elected to resemble the adult Korra; Seeing a nine-year-old girl emulate such an adult expression just felt wrong.

"Never do that again..."

Reverting to her original form, albeit around the same age as Kahn, the redheaded cat woman covered her mouth and snickered playfully before responding with a playful, "Hai, hai~!"

After exhaling a sigh, Kahn took a brief moment to analyze the strange girl's current appearance. There were no natural blondes or redheads in the Actualized World of Avatar, so, even without cat ears, visible fangs, and a tail, the girl had a very exotic appearance. Even her golden eyes, a surprisingly common feature among members of the Fire Nation, gave off a unique vibe due to her slit-like pupils.

"This appearance is acceptable. As for your name...Rindo will do for now. If I'm not mistaken, that was the name mentioned by our Creator when he gave me the System Template..."

Nodding her head in affirmation, Rindo explained, "That's correct. My Ego is copy-pasted from parts of the Templated Rindo Kobayashi. Right now, I can only teach you how to cook and prepare meals. If you want to unlock my other features, you'll need to defeat me in a series of Shokugekis, food wars. Be warned, though. I won't go easy on you~!"

Thumping her now flat chest, the chibi Rindo gave off an even haughtier impression than Korra when the latter insisted she would one day defeat him. However, the roles were reversed this time as Kahn had no hope of defeating even a shadow of the Templated Rindo Kobayashi. Unless she limited herself to his approximate skill level, even the rice she prepared would exceed the taste of his most delicious dish.

Seeing Kahn's expression sour, Rindo snickered before spontaneously appearing next to him and linking her arm around his neck as she said, "You're really uptight, aren't you? It's no wonder Vahn sent me to look after you. How do you expect to cook delicious food and make people smile if you look so glum? Come. Time flows differently here than in the outside world. We also have virtually unlimited ingredients since they're all imaginary. I'll teach you how to cook something and if you do well, I'll give you access to your Inventory. Deal?"

Though he was a little annoyed by the prospect that Rindo could restrict him from accessing the functions of his System, Kahn didn't say anything. Instead, he shrugged off Rindo's arm before making his way to one of the tables to familiarize himself with the available utensils. Rindo followed him with her glistening amber eyes, her cat-like smile growing ever-wider until he turned around to say, "I challenge you to a Shokugeki..."

With the most predatory expression she had shown thus far, Rindo licked her lips before cautioning, "Careful, Kahn. While it is good to take pride in your cooking, I get bitey when people give me bad food. Are you sure you want to challenge me to a Shokugeki?"

Turning to meet Rindo's gaze, Kahn's eyes emanated a fierce glow as he said, "I have tens of thousands of years' worth of knowledge in my mind. I will confirm the distance between us directly..."

Smiling in a manner that showed off her rather prominent fangs, Rindo's expression revealed a mixture of glee and amusement as she remarked, "Oh, this is going to be so much more fun than I expected. Just try not to cry when I wipe the floor with you, brat!"