Chapter 49: CH 48

Chapter 48 – Client Candidate

“….Here you go, help yourself.” (Torimoto)

“…! Are you sure…?” (Twin)

“Yeah, it’s fine. Be nice and share them, okay?” (Torimoto)

““Yeah! Thank you!”” (Twins)

After taking the rice crackers, the two little girls went away happily.

Good, good. Just don’t become like those gyarus when you grow up, okay?

It would be nice if they stayed that pure and innocent as they grew up. Well, I knew that was impossible though.

“Are you sure? Those were prepared for you though.” (Gutsy Auntie)

“It’s fine. I’ll just have this green tea.” (Torimoto)

With a quiet slurp, I took a sip of the green tea. It was just the right temperature, warming my body up nicely.

“You’re quite a softie, aren’t you? I don’t mean to be rude after you just saved me, but you won’t last long in this world if you’re like that, you know?” (Gutsy Auntie)

“Haha, I appreciate your advice. But this is just how I am.” (Torimoto)

Rather, I had an ulterior motive for saving her, so it was all part of the plan. Now, the residents here would know who I was. If they were too on guard against me, it would be difficult for me to gather information.

I was a complete outsider so I thought that might make it difficult to gather information, but thanks to those idiots, I was able to get my foot in the door without much effort.

I also didn’t think that there would be people from my school at this shelter. Then again, Totoki had been at that community center. There might be other people from my school that were still alive, and it was possible that I might meet them somewhere in the future.

But I had no intention of doing anything about it. Even if my classmates were still alive, I didn’t want to get involved with them. To be frank, I didn’t care about them whatsoever. I just wanted to use them for my own purposes.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Okuda, the one in charge of this kitchen,” the gutsy auntie said while cutting vegetables at the table.

It wasn’t just her listening to the conversation, but everyone around us as well. I could feel that everyone seemed to be keenly interested in Torimoto.

“My name is Torimoto. Torimoto Kentaro.”

“Hmm, then I’ll call you Torimoto-kun. By the way, I heard earlier that you were traveling, but why did you come here?” (Okuda)

“I used to live with my family in the mountains of Gifu prefecture, but my family lost their lives when the world transformed. I had never been out to see the world before, so I decided to take this opportunity to travel around.” (Torimoto)

“I see… So you lost your family, too.” (Okuda)

Okuda directed a gaze at me that spoke not of sympathy, but of loneliness. This…

“So it happened to you too, Okuda-san?” (Torimoto)

“Yes. The house that we were living in suddenly turned into a dungeon. My husband died while protecting me and our child.” (Okuda)

“So that’s what happened… Your child survived, too?” (Torimoto)

“It was all thanks to my husband. The people who’ve gathered here have all lost their homes. Some of them had also lost family.” (Okuda)

The house that they were living in suddenly became dungeonized. No one could immediately respond to the appearance of monsters that they had never seen before. Plus, those monsters were more brutal and hostile than any bear or lion. She and her child were lucky to have been able to escape and survive.

“But we haven’t given up!” (Okuda)

“…? What do you mean by… you haven’t given up?” (Torimoto)

“Lately, there’ve been more people showing up in this city who are going into the dungeonized buildings and helping to defeat the monsters. Especially the Apostles of Peace, as of late.” (Okuda)

So she was talking about Otaka.

“Thanks to them, more and more people are slowly getting their homes back, and the number of people who’ve been able to return to living in their homes has increased.” (Okuda)

They were really doing a great job. They weren’t even getting compensated at all for helping out complete strangers.

“Maybe one day, this city will be saved by brave people like them. Besides, the police and JSDF are also hard at work. I’m sure the world will be restored back to normal one day.” (Okuda)

Well, I dunno about that. But it was definitely true that dungeons were being cleared thanks to armed groups like the police and Otaka’s group. However, the rate at which the dungeonization was occurring was only increasing.

There was a limit to the number of humans and weapons, so there would surely come a time when humanity reached a plateau. And yet, there were enemies out there that humanity could never hope to defeat.

If monsters began appearing in the streets, even the JSDF might find it difficult to achieve victory. If they concentrated their firepower, pouring in tanks, fighter planes, and so on…. Maybe. But if that were to happen, the city would definitely be burned to the ground.

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Even if those monsters were defeated, they would still have lost their homes. But if they could at least save peoples’ lives, that was a more than satisfactory outcome.

“Ah, but Okuda-san. There are more famous people out there these days than the Apostles of Peace, aren’t there?” another woman said, entering the conversation.

“Is that so?” (Okuda)

“Come on now, the men especially have been talking about the rumors. About a mysterious beauty in a hakama.” (Woman)

…! Without a doubt that’s me… no, Komon.

“Yeah… I suppose I’ve heard about that. They said she was defeating monsters all by herself.” (Okuda)

“Right, right. She’s amazing. As another woman, I really admire her~” (Woman)

“I wonder if she’ll ever come here. If she ever does, I’d like to ask for her help to clear a dungeon.” (Another Woman)

If she had the money, I’d take on that request any time.

“I wish there were more people like that woman in the hakama and the Apostles of Peace.” (Okuda)

Aside from Otaka and his group, not many people were willing to risk their lives to clear another dungeon for someone else’s sake. This wasn’t a game world or anything. If you failed, it was the end. And there was no such thing as a leveling system.

“Speaking of which, I heard that Kishimoto-san contacted the members of the Apostles of Peace.” (Okuda)

I was a little curious, so I pricked my ears up attentively and asked them a question.

""

“Excuse me, is this Kishimoto-san looking for a dungeon attacker?” (Torimoto)

“Ah, yes. It seems so. Apparently, he said that he would be willing to offer anything he has to the person who accepts his request.” (Okuda)

Ooh… Well, well, well.

“Anything…? What kind of job did Kishimoto-san do in the past?” (Torimoto)

“If I recall correctly… he was a funeral director before he retired.” (Okuda)

A funeral director… I dunno. Is that a lucrative line of work?

If it was, he might have a good amount of money saved up. It was hard to be sure since the job was most likely one where the paycheck wasn’t calculated by hourly wage. At times like these, I wish I had access to the internet so I could look it up right away.

….Should I meet and talk to him? If it looks like it could be worthwhile, I could take the job as Komon.

…Well, before that…

“Hey, hey, Torimoto-san. Do you have a girlfriend?” (Woman)

“Do you prefer the cute type or the pretty type?” (Girl)

“What do you think about a woman who can cook?” (Woman)

And so on and so forth. I was receiving a barrage of questions from the young women around me. So first, I had to get through this situation somehow. I turned a helpless gaze to Okuda, my eyes pleading for help.

“Come on now, you all…” (Okuda)

Alright, good going. Now go ahead and lay on the finishing touches and I’ll be out of here.

“…Well, we reached a decent stopping point for now, so I’ll let you all take a bit of a break.” (Okuda)

Eeeh? Are you joking with me right now? Why did you have to say that?!

Having received Okuda’s permission, the women crowded around me happily. So this was the fabled power of a handsome guy. I had no idea how the handsome guys of this world went about handling such situations.

In the first place, I’d never had any women squeal over me in delight or anything like that before, so I was seriously stuck. I was totally lost on what to do.

On top of that, I had no intention to get closer to people than I had to. Besides, if I started going out with a woman, I might end up splurging away all the money I had saved up so far. To say nothing of a relative, it was way too much of a waste for me to spend money on someone else.

But this pressure was no joke. The concentrated, energetic focus of all these women felt like it was pressing down on me. My calm and collected adult façade was on the brink of falling apart.

“But anyway, these kids are usually under a lot of stress. I know it’s a hassle, but please just go along with them for a little bit.” (Okuda)

Okuda-saaaan! I get how you feel, but please think about me a little bit too here!

My face contorted into a stiff expression of discomfort, I tried to keep my composure as I reluctantly answered the chaotic barrage of questions.

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