Chapter 55: CH 54

Chapter 54 – Kuzuhara Saito

“I see. So Ryudou was involved in all of this.” (Torimoto)

“After looking into the matter, one of his underlings spit it out.” (Kuzuhara)

In fact, this place where Kuzuhara and his group had set up their base now had once been taken over by Ryudou and his men after they attacked and robbed the original residents here. This was originally the family home of an acquaintance of Kuzuhara, and he was convinced that Ryudou moved in here to get back at him.

He also said that he had heard about it from the people who had been captured by Ryudou.

Because of what Tengawa had said, I thought he had forcefully taken this house from someone else, but that apparently wasn’t the case. As long as I believed his words, that is.

But it did seem believable. After all, it did solve the answer to a certain question… About them moving their base away from the love hotel, which I had been wondering about earlier.

In other words, the leader and members of Inochi-shirazu who were in that love hotel weren’t actually them, but the imposters pretending to be the Inochi-shirazu―Ryudou and his gang.

If that was the case, everything lined up and his words made sense. Of course, this was still in the domain of conjecture.

“So you’re saying that the acts that are causing others to be fearful of the Inochi-shirazu aren’t real and that you haven’t been involved in it at all?” (Torimoto)

“Yeah. At the very least, I didn’t give my guys such messed up instructions.” (Kuzuhara)

The men standing beside him nodded deeply in agreement.

To think there was an imposter Inochi-shirazu out there… In that case, aside from Takasu and his guys, which group did those people belong to…?

I was talking about the people who tried to kidnap me as Komon by acting like police. Those guys mentioned that they were ordered by Kuzuhara.

I guess I should ask about as much as I can. Anyway, there was one thing that I was most curious about.

“…I understand the situation with you and your group now. For the moment, let’s put aside whether that’s all true or not.” (Torimoto)

“…Well, I guess I didn’t expect you to believe me right away.” (Kuzuhara)

It seemed that Kuzuhara knew that I would probably say something like that, but the people beside him looked frustrated.

“So I want to ask you. Why did you bring me here? I don’t see any connection between me and what you just talked about.” (Torimoto)

“….The katana user in the hakama.” (Kuzuhara)

…! Could it be…?

“You know her, right? That woman who’s known as the Monster Hunter.” (Kuzuhara)

“How did you know?” (Torimoto)

“Some of my boys saw you two together the other day.” (Kuzuhara)

…So that’s what happened. It was probably when I had given Tasuke back to Kishimoto. Or before that, when I had introduced Kishimoto to Komon…?

Regardless, that meant that they had seen us together.

“I see. So you’re not looking for me, but Komon-san… Is that right?” (Torimoto)

“Nope. I have some business with you, too.” (Kuzuhara)

As he sat there, he bowed his head again.

“I’m sorry.” (Kuzuhara)

“….Huh? About what?” (Torimoto)

Not really understanding what he was getting at, I stared at him wide-eyed.

“Takasu and the others caused you a lot of trouble.” (Kuzuhara)

“I’ve already accepted your apology for dragging me to this place already, though.” (Torimoto)

“That’s not it. I’m talking about what happened at the university. If I say that much, you probably already know what I mean, right?” (Kuzuhara)

“….Yeah, I see.” (Torimoto)

Come to think of it, there was that too. I only had some vague recollection of it, since it wasn’t an important event.

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“Those boys are still too young and have too much energy. They’ve only been in the Inochi-shirazu for a short time, and they have the wrong idea about trying to make themselves seem bigger than they really are. That’s why they try to show off their strength like idiots.” (Kuzuhara)

“They have no training, huh?” (Torimoto)

“Exactly. As their leader… I’m sorry.” (Kuzuhara)

That just leaves whether this is really a sincere apology or not, but…

Even though Kuzuhara had the word ‘evil’ written on his back, he didn’t seem much like a villain at all after talking to him all this time. He was a man who knew how to own up to his comrades’ mistakes.

To be honest, I thought that the head of such a group would be a nasty and unpleasant person, but Kuzuhara in particular didn’t give off that sort of feeling. However, I couldn’t say for certain if he had told any lies to me.

It was more than possible that he was trying to trick me into doing something. Especially if he knew about Komon. He might be trying to take advantage of her strength, or he might even be trying to make advances on her as a woman. It was still too early to believe everything Kuzuhara said.

“…Fine. I accept your apology.” (Torimoto)

“So? What business did you have with me?” (Torimmoto)

“Ah, right.” (Kuzuhara)

“I’m guessing it has something to do with Komon then.” (Torimoto)

After looking me in the eyes and prefacing that he would be direct about it, Kuzuhara spoke.

“―Would you introduce me to that hakama-wearing katana user?” (Kuzuhara)

I wasn’t surprised because I already figured that he would ask me this. However, I was curious about his reasons behind this.

“…May I ask why?” (Torimoto)

“Of course. This time, we, Inochi-shirazu, are going to be moving to clear a dungeon.” (Kuzuhara)

“A dungeon?” (Torimoto)

“That’s right. It’s a big dungeon, and the monsters in it are all really strong.” (Kuzuhara)

“Why would you go out of your way to take on such a reckless challenge?” (Torimoto)

Small-scale dungeons weren’t so bad, but when it came to large dungeons, even the Apostles of Peace, whom I had sold weapons to, would find it nearly impossible to clear them.

Large-scale dungeons were the kind that required the full might of the JSDF. After all, these dungeons were inhabited by monsters that were all B-Rank and higher. If there were even one S-Rank monster in there, it would be difficult to defeat it without mobilizing the efforts of the entire country.

“We’re gonna conquer the dungeon and make it our base, you see. There are gonna be even more people joining. We’re gonna need a bigger base.” (Kuzuhara)

…Well, I didn’t really care about their motives. The only thing that mattered to me was whether it was beneficial to me or not.

“I see. So in order to conquer the dungeon, you’re going to need Komon’s combat power, is that right?” (Torimoto)

“Yeah. She’s been able to clear monsters on her own, and she has experience clearing dungeons. She’d be perfect to team up with on this.” (Kuzuhara)

“You don’t mind that she’s a woman?” (Kuzuhara)

“Hah, I’m no prepubescent brat. Woman or not, what I need right now is someone strong. That’s all.” (Kuzuhara)

“….There’s one thing I have to mention though.” (Torimoto)

“What is it?” (Kuzuhara)

“Komon-san isn’t someone who will ever work for free. You said that you saw me and Komon-san together, but that was because there was a client in question. That client requested Komon-san’s help by paying her suitable compensation. You don’t intend to make her help you for free, do you?” (Torimoto)

“No damn way. I always prepare a reward for the work I put forward. It doesn’t matter if they’re an outsider or one of us. Even if it’s a hakama-wearing katana user we’re talking about here, I’m definitely planning to compensate her if she does her job.” (Kuzuhara)

For now, I would take his word for it, but I didn’t think that just a verbal promise would suffice with a guy like this. Well, it would be better to negotiate the rest with him as Komon.

“I understand. Then I’ll contact Komon-san and let her know that you want to meet.” (Torimoto)

“Aight, you’ll do that for us?” (Kuzuhara)

“Yeah. But she’s a rather peculiar person. And… she’s strong. You’d be better off not putting her in a bad mood.” (Torimoto)

“I’ll keep that in mind. I have no intention of making pointless enemies. I’ve had enough of that with Ryudou after all.” (Kuzuhara)

He seemed to be somewhat at a loss on how to deal with Ryudou.

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