Chapter 66: Chapter 66

Chinatsu’s POV
   Chinatsu was ordered by Captain Yamasaki to bring back Fukuma Ryota to their station so that he could be questioned. Everyone else is to stay back and clean up for the mess the boy has created, Date included. Since Minase refused to ride along with them, Chinatsu and Fukuma are the only ones inside her car now.

   The two of them didn’t speak a single word ever since Chinatsu has started driving her car. She intends to leave her questioning when they reach the station, and the boy Fukuma isn’t the talkative type.

   Occasionally, Chinatsu sneaks a glance at him through the rear-view mirror. He’s staring at the view outside the car with a passive expression. If she wasn’t told by Minase, she would have thought that Fukuma is just a regular boy. She has so many questions for him, but all of them would have to wait.

   They managed to reach the police station that she was assigned to without any issue. Chinatsu parks her car at an empty spot in the car park. Once that’s done, she gets out of the car and opens the door of the backseat so that Fukuma can leave the car as well.

   Minase was already there waiting for them at the entrance. On the other side of the entrance sits Ash, a worg assigned to the station.

   Ash became alert the moment Fukuma approaches the entrance. He’s glaring daggers at the boy, all his furs are standing up, and he’s growling quite loudly. Looks like he could tell that Fukuma is dangerous.

   “At ease, Ash. This boy doesn’t pose a threat to us.” she tells the worg.

   Upon hearing that, Ash ceases his growling and sits down one again. That said, he’s still glaring at Fukuma.

   “Did the two of you have a pleasant journey?” Minase asks casually.

   Chinatsu gives him a look.

   “I’m glad you asked. Just as you have predicted, it was very awkward.”

   “And that’s why I refused to join you.”

   “Let’s just go inside and get this over with.”

   “Of course. I shall be right behind you.”

   Once inside, Chinatsu wastes no time in ushering Fukuma into an unused interrogation room. Naturally, Minase is inside the room with them.

   Chinatsu gestures Fukuma to sit down on one side of the table, while she’s sitting down opposite him. Minase, on the other hand, is leaning against one side of the wall.

   “Would you like something? Coffee, tea, those sort of things?” she asks Fukuma.

   “Is it okay if I have a katsudon?” he requests timidly.

   “Of course you can. Would you like something to eat as well, Silver Wolf?”

   “No thanks. I’ve already eaten.”

   The cafeteria located inside the police station has already been closed for the day, so she had to make do with calling for a delivery. While waiting for the food to arrive, she begins the questioning.

   “I need you to tell me everything.” she requests from Fukuma. “There’s no need to rush. Just make sure that you don’t leave out a single detail.”

   “Got it. It all started when-”

   Suddenly, Minase hands Fukuma a dustbin which was placed next to the table.

   “Hold this just in case you might need it.”

   “Um, sure.”

   While confused, Chinatsu gestures Fuuma to continue. He clears his throat.

   “As I saw saying, it all started when…”

   At first, Fukuma was saying how he was constantly being extorted by the delinquents of his class. One day, he met Bouchard after another of such shake down. He recalled how Bouchard offered him a chance to become stronger, and how he took the offer without giving much thought to it.

   It didn’t take long for the tale to turn dark. Fukuma continued to tell them how the pills he had been taking eventually gives him a desire to devour human flesh, and that he’s slowly losing control over himself. And then it happened. He ended up devouring Tajima Reina, whom were reported to be missing around the same time as Fukuma.

   “I-BLERGH~!!!”

   Fukuma started retching without a single warning. Thankfully, the bin given to him by Minase was there to to contain the vomit. He retched for quite a while before stopping. The smell is getting so overwhelming she had to take the bins and have a cleaner take care of it. She sure hopes that the cleaner will stay. The last time a cleaner had to clean up the mess caused by the explosions of the terrorists who kidnapped Chieko-san, the cleaner was so traumatized he ended up quitting his job.

   “Are you okay?” Chinatsu asks when he was finally done. “We can continue this some other time if you need to calm down.”

   He shakes his head.

   “No, I’m fine. The worst part is already over, and I’m almost done anyway.”

   “Alright, if you insist. Just don’t-”

   Someone knocks on the door. Chinatsu gets up to answer it. It’s one of her colleagues, who’s on the night shift.

   “Did you order a katsudon, sergeant?” he asks her.

   “I sure did. Is the delivery man here?”

   “He sure is. He’s waiting at the reception counter.”

   “Understood. I’ll go meet him at once.”

   She turns around to look at the two boys.

   “I’ll be right back. You boys just stay here, got it?” she says to them.

   The two of them nod silently.

   It didn’t take Chinatsu long to pay for the food and thank the delivery man for delivering the food. When she got back, both Fukuma and Minase are still as they were before she left.

   “Here you go. One katsudon. Just take your time to eat. Again, there’s no need to rush.” she tells Fukuma as she places the plastic bag which contains the food he ordered.

   The boy nods as his whole body is trembling. Once he has recovered, he starts eating the katsudon he ordered with a pair of wooden chopsticks provided by the restaurant.

   “It’s been so long since I’ve eaten decent human food…” he mumbles between bites.

   “That cow you ate was a food for human.” Minase points out.

   “Like I said, decent human food. I’m pretty sure that live cows are not exactly decent food for human consumption.”

   “Does that mean you’ve been eating nothing but monsters all this while?” Chinatsu asks.

   Fukuma nods his head.

   “Orcs, goblins, and some other creatures I can’t name.”

   “Looks like you’re doing your part on cleaning up the street.” Minase says drily. “Can you arrange an award ceremony for his sacrifice, sergeant?”

   “We can do without your sarcasm, Silver Wolf. Please ignore him and continue with your food, Fukuma-kun.”

   “Right.”

   After Fukuma is done with his meal, he tells them the rest of his story: how he had been on the run for weeks until he had a sudden urge to eat a whole cow and thus exposing himself.

   “...And you people know everything from here.” he concludes.

   “I, um, I honestly don’t know where I should start.” Chinatsu confesses.

   “Start with Bouchard. Taking him down is the only reason I kept Fukuma alive.” Minase tells her.

   “You know and I know that it won’t be that easy. I’m pretty sure that he has a countermeasure just in case one of his experiments went rogue and used against him. He’ll mostly just blame it on one of his subordinates like he did last time. There’s also Fukuma-kun’s existence as a whole.”

   “Am I going to be dissected?” the boy in question asks.

   He tries to sound calm, but Chinatsu could tell that he’s secretly afraid. And who could blame him?

   “Of course not. No one is going to dissect you.” she assures him.

   “I’m pretty sure Bouchard would love to disagree with you on that.” Minase mumbles.

   Chinatsu clears her throat loudly and glares at him. Seriously, just how cynical can he get?

   “Speaking of Bouchard, have you encountered any of his men while you were on the run?” Chinatsu asks Fukuma.

   He shakes his head.

   “None at all. I only moved around at night, and I always made sure to be careful.”

   “Still, it’s kind of odd that he’s not looking for you at all, considering the way he cared about you.”

   “I could think of two reasons for that.” Minase suddenly chines in his opinion. “One, Bouchard was just acting like he cared about Fukuma. Two, that he doesn’t have to look for him since he’s been constantly under observation.”

   “You think he’s watching us by using drones?” Fukuma asks fearfully while looking around.

   “Get real. He had lots of chance to mess with your body, right? That means he could have planted bugs the size of seeds in you without you realizing it.”

   That made Fukuma panic.

   “So he already knows where I am from the get-go? What should we do?”

   “I could give you a zap in order to fry the bugs inside you. After that, we could try to ship you to Bermuda or somewhere just as obscure.” Minase gives his opinion.

   “Don’t bother. The bug theory of yours is, in the end, just a theory. You would have zapped him for nothing if the theory turned out to be false.” Chinatsu stops him.

   “I still have one more solution to this.”

   “I’m kind of worried, but go on.”

   “It doesn’t matter whether Bouchard knows of Fukuma. We’re going to announce it regardless so that he could be baited to sent his men and try to capture or silence him.”

   Chinatsu narrows her eyes.

   “So you’re saying that we should use Fukuma-kun as a bait.”

   “Let’s face it. Someone will definitely come for him one day. Why not take advantage of that?”

   “How do you feel about this? About being used as a bait?” she asks Fukuma.

   “Well, like Silver Wolf just said, Director Bouchard might sent someone to capture me one of these days. Rather than be a sitting duck, I rather do something about it. Besides, I’m not as defenseless as some might think.”

   “You don’t know where I’m going with this, do you?”

   “What do you mean?”

   “It won’t be enough to just capture your kidnapper, you know. They might just refuse to tell us anything helpful, or worse, they might commit suicide. If we want to make this work, we need you to be kidnapped on purpose.”

   “So, I might be dissected after all, at least for a bit.”

   “Most likely.”

   Fukuma starts to tremble.

   “Then again, ultimately it’s the sergeant’s call whether to execute this plan.”

   The two boys looks at Chintasu.

   “I can’t make this decision on my mine. I have to go through my superiors first.” she tells them.

   “What if he got kidnapped before they could reach a conclusion?” Minase asks.

You are reading story The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life at novel35.com

   “You know I can’t just decide things on my own, painful as it is.”

   He only shrugged at that.

   “Well, my hands are not as tied as yours. Worse comes to worst, I’ll do something about it.”

   “Thank you.”

   “By the way, where am I staying until something happens?” Fukuma asks.

   “I haven’t thought that far yet.” Chinatsu confesses.

   “Why not just let him sleep inside one of your holding cells? You have those, don’t you?” Minase suggests.

   “You can’t be serious.”

   “Actually, I don’t mind. I mean, I get to sleep on a bed after a long time. Besides, I’m technically a criminal” Fukuma says.

   Chinatsu hates locking a teenage boy behind bars, but this is the best solution available for now. She escorted Fukuma out of the interrogation room and brought him to where the holding cells are. All of them are unoccupied at the moment, so she chose a random one and tells him to go in.

   “I’ll make sure that you’re as comfortable as possible while you’re inside, so do you best in holding out.” she tells him while standing on the other side of the bar.

   “Thank you. However, your concern is unnecessary. It’s already a miracle that I’m still alive. I won’t ask for anything more. I don’t have the right to.”

   “...Well, good night. Let’s hope this is settle quickly so that you could see the light of day again.”

   “Thank you. Good night.”

   Fukuma lies down on the bed and proceeds to close his eyes. After watching over him for a few seconds, she leaves the place with Minase.

   “What do you think of him?” she asks him as they walk.

   “Remember when he said that there was a student who didn’t save him when he was being extorted inside the toilet?” he asks instead.

   “What’s this all of a sudden?”

   “That was me.”

   There was a few seconds of silence.

   “I see. Do you feel guilty that you didn’t save him?”

   “Maybe. And maybe that’s why I was rather hesitant to kill him, even though he’s dangerous.”

   Chinatsu raises her eyebrow.

   “Didn’t you suggest to use him as a bait?”

   “That was just one of the reason. Besides, I’m never going to admit that I sparred someone out of guiltiness. I have a reputation to keep.”

   “A normal Hero would have do something about his negative reputations.” she says pointedly.

   “That’s the problem, ain’t it sergeant? I’m not a normal Hero.”

   She sighs and shakes her head.

   “There’s just no talking to you.” she mumbles.

   Her phone rings all of a sudden. She takes it out of her pocket to see who’s calling. It’s Esty, the freeloader of her house.

   “What is it, Esty?”

   “I…need…something sweet…” Esty requests with a barely audible voice.

   “Didn’t I tell you not to bother onee-chan while she’s still working?” Chinatsu hears Chifuyu’s voice coming from somewhere further.

   “I can’t help it, you know? I feel like my brains about to burst from all the studying!”

   Now that she mentioned it, Chifuyu did mention that their exam is coming soon. If she’s not mistaken, it was tomorrow.

   “You’re in luck. I was just about finished here. You still have to wait for a while, though.” Chinatsu tells the demon.

   “I don’t care. As long as you buy me something.”

   “Ask Chifuyu whether she wants anything while I’m at it. And Anri-san too, if she’s there.”

   “Hey, Chifuyu and Anri. You girls want anything?”

   Chinatsu hears a faint mumble coming from the phone. She assumes that the voice belongs to Anri.

   “Tell onee-chan that I would like some matcha ice cream. And a canned coffee.” Chinatsu hears Chifuyu says.

   “Anri said she wants some oden, mostly quail eggs and radish.” Esty reports. “As for Chifuyu-”

   “I heard her.” Chinatsu interrupts. “What about you?”

   “Hmm, most of the bakeries are already closed at this hour, right? Just get me some chocolate, then. And I want a canned coffee too.”

   “Sure. Just wait for a while, then.”

   “Being forced to run an errand, sergeant?” Minase asks after she has put away her phone.

   “I won’t exactly call it an errand since I don’t mind doing it. Do you want to drop by for a while?”

   “Oh, I don’t know. I assume that all of them are studying right now. It would be bad if your sister insists on me joining too.”

   “You’re taking the same exams as they are.” she reminds him.

   “I know that, sergeant.”

   “Is it me, or I don’t sense a shred of urgency from you at all?”

   “You’re correct in that regard.”

   “Just so you know, we’re not going to help you to get out of supplementary lessons just because you work for us.”

   “Of course I know that, sergeant.”

   In the end, Minase agrees to tag along.

   When they’ve reached the reception counter, Minase makes his helmet on his head and the suit of armor on his body disappear. Chinatsu remember him mentioning that a Spell called Vault allowed him to do it. This is the first time she has seen it with her own eyes, and it really opened her eyes about the unknown world of Ifezan. That said, this is but a very small part of that world.

   There’s a convenience store nearby the police station, so that’s where they’re headed.

   “You can pick something you want to. My treat.” she tells him along the way.

   “Thank you.”

   Chinatsu first took the items requested by Chifuyu and Anri before going to the display racks where all the chocolates are. When she got there, she sees Minase holding a bar of chocolate and a can of coffee. He casually puts the items on his hands to the basket she’s holding.

   “They’re for Von Mantus.” he tells her.

   “...Did you managed to hear what she wanted?”

   “No. I just had a feeling that she wants them.”

   “I, see.”

   Chifuyu has told her that the two of them are somehow able to read each other’s mind. Looking at this now, all of a sudden Chinatsu thinks that her sister was telling the truth all along.

   When the two of them arrived at her house, Esty is there to open the door for them while looking hungry, sleepy and tired. She is wearing her sleepwear right now, even though it is nowhere near bed time.

   “About time you showed up-”

   All her drowsiness disappeared the moment she saw Minase. Her face got red in an instant too.

   “W-W-W-W-What are you doing here?” she stutters.

   Minase hands over the things she ordered to her. Esty manages to calm down at the sight of the refreshments.

   “Wow, you actually got me the exact brand of chocolate and coffee that I wanted? Thanks, Chinatsu!”

   “Actually, they were chosen by Minase-kun.”

   Esty’s face blushes up again.

   “Um, thanks.” she tells him bashfully.

   “Don’t mention it.”

   Esty totally has the look of a maiden in love. Wow, this is more entertaining than Chinatsu thought. She definitely made the right choice of inviting Minase over.

   “Would you like to come in for a while, Minase-kun?” Chinatsu invites next.

   Esty flinches at that.

   “What are you saying, Chinatsu?”

   “I’m pretty sure Minase-kun here needs to do some revision before the exam tomorrow.” Chinatsu replies with a barely managed straight face.

   “Um, I kind of do. But the problem is, I didn’t bring any of my books with me. And before you ask, no. I didn’t store them inside my Vault. It has better things to store.”

   “There you have it, Esty. Maybe you could borrow your reference books to him. It’s not like you use them a lot anyway.”

   “Hey, I do too!”

   “Uh-huh.”

   Father and mother, who heard the commotion caused by Esty and are standing near the entrance, were completely stunned when they saw Minase. The boy bows at them.

   “My apologies for my sudden intrusion. My name is Minase Jin. I’ve been quite indebted to both your daughters.” he tells hem politely.

   Mother is the faster one to recover.

   “Welcome, Minase-kun. Please treat this place as your own home-”

   Suddenly, she narrows her eyes. She noticed Esty’s flustered face and Chinatsu’s expression of expecting a good show. Her smile became blinding in an instant.

   “Enough talk! Let’s get you inside right now!” she says with enthusiasm that a bit over-the-top.

   “Um, okay.”

   Chinatsu could barely hold in her laugh. This is going to be a fun night.

 

My discord server: https://discord.gg/EwHe2y3Q9k

You can find story with these keywords: The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life, Read The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life, The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life novel, The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life book, The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life story, The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life full, The Hero who returned from Another World Hates His Current Life Latest Chapter