Chapter 59: CH 58

Chapter 58 – Meeting With Komon

It was the early afternoon of the day after I made contact with Kuzuhara. As Komon, I had come to the magnificent mansion where Kuzuhara had set up base.

This time, instead of meeting in the garden, I was formally welcomed in and was guided to the tatami-floored guest parlor. It was a bleak, minimally decorated room with only floor cushions and a clock on the wall. To the left were paper sliding doors which led to the wooden balcony over the garden, but it was closed off at the moment.

I was sitting there on the floor cushion, waiting by myself when the sliding door on the other side of the room opened up, and Kuzuhara and Chake appeared.

“Sorry to make you wait.” (Kuzuhara)

“Please don’t worry about it.” (Komon)

Chake, who was carrying a tray, offered me a cup of tea. It was nice to have a cliche phrase like ‘please don’t worry about it’ to fall back on. In any case, Kuzuhara sat down on the floor cushion across from me, but…

“Aren’t you sitting a bit too far away?” (Komon)

“Y-You think so? It seems pretty normal to me though?” (Kuzuhara)

Is that so? He’s sitting really far away… Is he on guard against me or something?

“Please forgive him. Saito-san is not very used to women, or, should I say, he’s rather inexperienced. He doesn’t really have a concept on the right amount of distance to take.” (Chake)

“Shut up, bastard! Did you already forget the lesson I taught you yesterday?!” (Kuzuhara)

Ah, I see. It seems that he’s nervous about meeting with a woman.

Anyway, Chake was Chake as always. Without any remorse whatsoever, he got right to teasing his boss. I didn’t really mind it. It was pretty funny.

“A-Ahem! Anyway… That Torimoto guy didn’t come with you?” (Kuzuhara)

“Yes. He said it wasn’t any of his business anymore.” (Komon)

“…I wanted him too though.” (Kuzuhara)

“Fufufu. Then don’t use me as bait and go seduce him instead.” (Komon)

“So? I heard that you had a request?” (Komon)

“Before that. Let’s start with introductions.” (Kuzuhara)

Come to think of it, that was indeed the normal process. I had unintentionally skipped over it because I had talked to him once already as Torimoto. I had to reflect a little bit on that for next time.

“I’m Kuzuhara Saito, the head of the Inochi-shirazu.”

“I’m Komon Shiina―a dungeon-clearing contractor. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“A dungeon-clearing contractor…?” (Kuzuhara)

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” (Komon)

“…I see. I’ve only heard rumors about you. I’ll ask you straight. Are the rumors out there true?” (Kuzuhara)

“What kind of rumors?” (Komon)

“That you’re going around defeating monsters. I’ve heard that you’ve cleared many dungeons alone. And there were cases where you accepted requests from people in exchange for money and goods.” (Kuzuhara)

I see. It seems the rumors are spreading nicely. Everything is going as planned.

“Yes, that’s true. I’ve been engaging myself in such activities.” (Komon)

“…! I see. Certainly, I can tell just from meeting you like this. I felt likewise about Torimoto, but it seems like you’re quite capable yourself.” (Kuzuhara)

In the end, it seems that Kuzuhara had seen through Torimoto’s true strength at that time. Naturally, with the [Perfect Ring] equipped and abundant combat experience, it might be easy for people like him who were well-versed in strength to figure it out.

“Long talks don’t suit me, so I’ll just give you a brief explanation. We’re going to attack a dungeon in the near future. At that time, we’d like to request your help.” (Kuzuhara)

“…As I said before, I’m a dungeon-clearing contractor. So if any requests come my way, I’d be willing to accept them, but… will you be able to pay the compensation?” (Komon)

Indeed, that was my only requirement. As long as that requirement was met, I was willing to consider taking on the job as long as it wasn’t from a complete villain (like Ohsaka).

“I’ll give you what you want.” (Kuzuhara)

“Saito-san!?” (Chake)

“Chake, shut your mouth. This is a negotiation between me and Komon. Don’t go speaking out of turn!” (Kuzuhara)

Receiving a scolding, Chake shamefully apologized and stepped aside.

“Sorry about that guy. As I said before, I’ll give you as much as you want. Of course, if you asked me for something like ¥1 billion or ¥10 billion, that would be impossible though.” (Kuzuhara)

“Fufu, then how about ¥999,990,000?” (Komon)

“C-Come on now… aren’t you being a bit mean now?” (Kuzuhara)

“Ara, I already deducted ¥10,000. I was showing you a bit of pity there.” (Komon)

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“…..” (Kuzuhara)

“I’m joking. Then how about I turn the question on you instead? How much would you be willing to pay me?” (Komon)

“Mm? …Let’s see. How does ¥20,000,000 sound?” (Kuzuhara)

“Ara? Since you suddenly mentioned 1 billion and 10 billion earlier, I thought you were going to at least offer ¥100,000,000 or so.” (Komon)

It depended on the scale of the dungeon, but as long as it wasn’t a large-scale dungeon, the amount he offered would be acceptable.

“Don’t get me wrong. That’s just an advance payment. I’m just glad you’re willing to take on the request. The rest will be on a performance basis. After the job is done and we assess your work, I’ll pay you the remaining amount. Depending on how you do, I’ll even pay you ¥100,000,000 if you want.” (Kuzuhara)

“Well, well. That sounds quite promising.” (Komon)

There was a smile on my face, but inside, I was filled with suspicion and doubt. In other words, this was a request that involved a sum over ¥100,000,000. Did that mean that the dungeon was just that difficult to clear…? If that was the case, then that would be…

“Do you mind if I ask where this dungeon is?” (Komon)

Based on the location he told me, I could tell if it was a small, medium, or large-scale dungeon.

“―Ohsaka High School.” (Kuzuhara)

Trying not to show anything on my expression as much as possible, I asked him why he wanted to clear the dungeon there.

Then, Kuzuhara let out a light sigh as he answered.

“It was originally the high school that I went to.” (Kuzuhara)

Oh? This is new information to me. I had no idea that he was an alumni of my school…

“Well, I dropped out. Rather, I was forced to.” (Kuzuhara)

“…! Did something happen by any chance?” (Komon)

“….So you knew, huh?” (Kuzuhara)

“You’re my client after all. I hadn’t looked too deeply into it, but I’d heard a bit about it.” (Komon)

That said, I had only heard about it before from Ryudou’s men who attacked me before.

“If I remember correctly, when you were 18 years old, in your third year of high school, you were sent to juvenile prison due to some incident. And that incident was related to… murder.” (Kuzuhara)

“No! Saito-san didn’t kill anyone! He was just framed by someone else!” (Chake)

“Chake! Don’t say anything unnecessary!” (Kuzuhara)

“No, I can’t keep quiet about this! Why do you always have to carry the burden by yourself, Saito-san?! It wasn’t your fault, it was Ryudou―” (Chake)

“Chake!!” Kuzuhara shouted loudly, causing his voice to echo throughout the entire house. There was so much pressure that even Shiki, who was lurking in the shadows, became alarmed.

“…S-Sorry. I’m gonna go cool my head…” (Chake)

""

“Again, I’m sorry.” (Kuzuhara)

“No, don’t worry about it. But was that not for the best? He was saying that to try and defend your honor.” (Komon)

“…It’s fine. That incident was brought about by my own naiveté. That’s why I…” (Kuzuhara)

It seemed that there were complicated circumstances behind the incident that landed him in juvenile prison. Well, it wasn’t any of my business, so I didn’t pursue it any further.

“I don’t care about your past. More importantly, I want a more constructive conversation. I don’t care why you want to conquer the dungeonized Ohsaka High School. Instead, clearly tell me what I need to do during that dungeon attack.” (Komon)

“Of course, to eliminate the monsters.” (Kuzuhara)

“As I expected. By the way, you do know how to clear a dungeonized place, right?” (Komon)

“Yeah, you have to destroy the crystal thing, then the monsters will stop coming out. That’s how you clear it, right?” (Kuzuhara)

“Yeah. By the way, that thing is called a Dungeon Core.” (Komon)

“A Core… I see. Then I’ll call it that as well.” (Kuzuhara)

“Is it fine if I don’t destroy the Core?” (Komon)

“Yeah. In fact, I don’t want you to. That’s what I…” (Kuzuhara)

For some reason, Kuzuhara held his tongue as a grim expression appeared on his face. Sure enough, this guy still seemed to be hiding something about the request.

In the first place, if he wanted to clear the dungeon, anyone would suffice to destroy the Core. That would be the most efficient and surefire way. No matter who destroyed it, there would be no personal benefits to that person.

I was the only person who knew that the sole reward from destroying it was the [Core Fragment]. Even the Apostles of Peace hadn’t obtained a [Core Fragment] before.

It was impossible for those who didn’t have skills to obtain a [Core Fragment]. But why does he not want me to destroy the Core?

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