Chapter 50: CH 49

Chapter 49 – A Discussion with Kishimoto

After being bombarded by questions for a grueling 30 minutes, I was finally able to escape from the kitchen. The women weren’t happy, but in the end they couldn’t prolong the break any longer. They soon returned to working after Okuda told them off.

I slipped away, saying that there were some other places I wanted to visit. Well in the end, the conversation with the group of women wasn’t a complete waste of time.

I got some decent information that could be useful to me in the future, and I also found out where Kishimoto was. So right now, I was heading to the place where Kishimoto was supposedly staying.

“…Over there, huh?”

All of the temporary housing looked the same, so I almost got lost. But in the end, I managed to arrive at Kishimoto’s place without any problems.

I knocked and said ‘excuse me’, but there was no response from the other side. I tried several times, but there was still no answer.

Not home…? Or so I thought.

“Huh? What are you doing here?”

I looked towards the sudden voice and noticed the girls that I had given rice crackers to a little while ago.

“You two are…” (Torimoto)

“Hanayama Iyo!”

“Hanayama Chiyo!”

“Are you two twins by any chance?” (Torimoto)

““That’s right!””

“Ahaha, were the rice crackers yummy?” (Torimoto)

““Yeah!””

“I see, I’m glad to hear that. Umm.. Do you know the person who lives here?” (Torimoto)

“Yeah~. White grandpa?” (Iyo)

“White?” (Torimoto)

“Yeah! His head is completely white!” (Iyo)

I see. So he has white hair. I didn’t know if it was the right person, but if they were calling him ‘grandpa’, then he might be the one.

“Do you know where he is?” (Torimoto)

““We do! Over here!””

As expected of a pair of twins, they each grabbed one of my hands and began to pull me along.

Yup, I guess it pays off to do good things every once in a while.

Guided by the twins, we left the sports field and headed towards a plaza, where there was an old man with white hair sitting alone on a bench.

““It’s that person!””

“Ooh, thanks for showing me the way. I’ll give you this as thanks.” (Torimoto)

I took some chocolate out from the <Box> and gave it to the girls.

““Yay! Thank you!!””

The twins accepted the chocolates with big, innocent smiles on their faces. After saying ‘see you later’, they ran off.

…Anyway.

There were elderly people sitting around here and there in the plaza. Some were reading, some were writing, while others were sitting around, looking blankly at nothing in particular.

But the old man with white hair had been sitting there and sighing frequently with a melancholic expression on his face.

“…Excuse me.” (Torimoto)

“…! Who are you?”

“I just happened to drop by here today. My name is Torimoto.”

“Sigh, is that so. My name is Kishimoto.”

He seemed to be a mellow, gentle-mannered old man.

“May I sit next to you?” (Torimoto)

“Eh? Ah, yes. Please go ahead.” (Kishimoto)

“It’s some beautiful weather today, isn’t it?” (Torimoto)

“Indeed. A day like this is best for basking in the sun.” (Kishimoto)

….How am I supposed to start the conversation? Should I just go right into it?

“…I apologize for coming to speak to you out of the blue.” (Torimoto)

“Oh no, no. Please don’t worry about it.” (Kishimoto)

“I was just curious because I saw you sighing a lot since some time ago. Is there something troubling you? I have an acquaintance who is a doctor, so if you’d like, I could introduce you.” (Torimoto)

On the off chance that he does ask something, I hope you’ll bear with me, Jouichirou-san.

“Ah, no, that’s not it. My condition is totally fine. It’s just…” (Kishimoto)

“Just?” (Torimoto)

“…No, it’s not worth talking to others about.” (Kishimoto)

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“Sometimes, it’s easier to just talk it out. If you want, you can talk about it to me.” (Torimoto)

If he turned me down here, I would surely have to think about my next move, but…

“…Actually, the other day, I met with that group, the Apostles of Peace.” (Kishimoto)

I recalled the people in the kitchen talking about that.

“I tried to ask them for a favor, but they didn’t accept.” (Kishimoto)

There it is, that favor!

“May I ask what this favor was about?” (Torimoto)

“Yes. The house I was staying in at the time was attacked by monsters. I barely managed to survive, but my wife was killed…” (Kishimoto)

“…I’m terribly sorry to hear that. So you asked the Apostles of Peace to help you defeat those monsters?” (Torimoto)

My guess seemed to be incorrect, however, as Kishimoto shook his head in response.

Eh? I was wrong…? Then what was it about…?

Before I could ask, Kishimoto spoke again.

“That house is certainly important. If I could get it back, that would be for the best. But there’s something even more important than that… that I don’t want to lose.” (Kishimoto)

“And what is that?” (Torimoto)

“….My wife’s remains. I want to give her a proper burial.” (Kishimoto)

“….!? I see…” (Torimoto)

I could definitely understand his desire to recover his beloved wife’s body and give her a proper burial.

“I asked the police, but they simply refused, saying that they didn’t have the time for that.” (Kishimoto)

The police didn’t have the manpower to deal with individual cases. In fact, they didn’t even spend any time investigating the incident with the Tanaka family. Normally, an incident like that would take a lot of work, especially with the preservation of the crime scene and the interrogation of witnesses. The number of cases that the police would have no choice but to overlook would only continue to increase in the future.

“But that… I’m sorry, it’s extremely difficult for me to say this directly, but…” (Torimoto)

“I know what you mean. You’re trying to say that my wife’s body has probably already been eaten by the monsters, right? The Apostles of Peace told me the same thing.” (Kishimoto)

Exactly. Monsters ate people. If there were corpses left inside of a dungeonized environment, there would surely be nothing but bones remaining before long. And even those bones might…

“But I still want to confirm her remains.” (Kishimoto)

Well, I could understand those feelings as well. But I had a feeling that it would very likely be a painful confirmation.

“So… your goal is to retrieve your wife’s remains?” (Torimoto)

“Yes. There’s also one more thing…” (Kishimoto)

Oh, there’s more?

“….My hopes on this matter are also running thin, but we had a pet that we adored like a child.” (Kishimoto)

“A pet…” (Torimoto)

“Yes. It was our dog, Tasuke. After our child left the nest and it was just my wife and I living alone together again, we started to feel a little lonely. So we decided to get a dog together. Ten years have already passed since then.” (Kishimoto)

Ten years… If they had been together for that long, the familial bonds must have been really deep. He surely thought of that dog like his own child.

“I wonder if Tasuke is safe… If he’s alive, I want to rescue him.” (Kishimoto)

It seemed that his two requests were related to the body of his wife and the whereabouts of his dog, Tasuke.

He had lost his wife, who was practically his other half, but he was still clinging onto hope because there was a chance that Tasuke was still out there. He might have even been wishing for Tasuke’s safety more than recovering his wife’s remains. If there was a chance his dog was still alive, I could understand why he felt this way.

He was lonely. It couldn’t be helped, after losing someone that has always been by his side. But even so, his family member, Tasuke, might still be alive. For that reason, he wanted to figure out whether Tasuke was dead or alive. If he was still alive, he would want to rescue him, and then they could be together again just like before…

However, it might be a bit hopeless considering that it was a dog we were talking about here.

If it were a cat, it would still be likely for it to escape due to how agile it was. If need be, a pet cat would just abandon the house it was staying in and go outside alone in an emergency.

But what about dogs? Dogs were very faithful to their owners and homes. They had a strong sense of loyalty, and it was somewhat unrealistic to think that they would abandon their master and leave their home.

At least, that was what I thought based on the image I had of cats and dogs. In other words, if his dog still hadn’t left his home, there was a very good chance it had already fallen prey to a monster.

Under such circumstances, it was more than likely that neither of this person’s wishes would be fulfilled.

Then, Kishimoto took a picture out of his pocket and showed it to me. In the picture was Kishimoto, his wife, and his dog, Tasuke. Anyone would think that it was a great picture.

It was certainly a sad story that evoked pity, but I wouldn’t take action without compensation. I wasn’t that emotionally attached to this person after all.

So if I were to take action, there were some things I had to ask him first.

“….Kishimoto-san, what would you do if someone were to accept your request?” (Torimoto)

“…?! Do you have any idea of someone who might?” (Kishimoto)

“…Potentially. Even supposing there was someone, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t accept your request without any compensation.” (Torimoto)

“I guess so… But if they do accept my request, I’m willing to offer anything I have.” (Kishimoto)

“Anything… That means you wouldn’t mind offering literally anything, including the things in your house, right?” (Torimoto)

“Eh? Yes… I don’t even need most of it anymore.” (Kishimoto)

In that case, that meant any televisions, fridges, or other electrical appliances. There might even be other things that could be worth a fair amount of money if sold.

As expected, I would feel a little bad if I took his entire house. But he had a decent amount of money saved up, so I might as well take advantage of that.

“….Kishimoto-san, there’s one person I would like to introduce you to.” (Torimoto)

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