Episode 229: A Person to Be Feared

"W-what the hell are you doing...!"

Yoshida stands up, shouting the phrase many would think or utter upon being punched by the masked pervert.

Indeed, one might call him a "player"—he seems hardly affected by the damage.

At the same time, all his henchmen stiffen with alertness.

The night street is enveloped in a tense, ominous atmosphere.

Sorry, but I think anyone who'd shoot a kid is fair game to beat senseless without hesitation.

"He's not just some kid! That guy is...!"

"Just to be clear, he's not even a 'player,' you know."

"What...?!"

Then, Mr. Yoshida checked Meiyan-chan with his《Skill Inspection》for confirmation,

"Wha— he was just... an ordinary person...?"

and stared in disbelief.

To be fair, Meiyan-chan's movements were convincing enough to make anyone believe she was a 'player.'

"Got lucky, that's all. If he'd been a killer, I couldn't have let it slide so easily."

Yoshida muttered incoherently, spitting out words to cover up his own embarrassment.

"B-but! There's no denying that brat killed his companion!"

"He was already mutated—turned into a monster."

"There's no proof of that!"

True enough.

To be honest, we still don't even know the enemy's true identity.

"Whether her judgment was correct or not will become clear over time. It's not something we should rush to decide now."

"But! If we just let Toba die for nothing, how are we supposed to explain that to our comrades?...Right?"

Whatever. That's your problem, not mine.

...How much easier it would've been if I could just say that and walk away.

"Uh, sorry. Could you fill me in on the situation, please?"

It was "King" — Nakamichi En — who stepped in at that moment.

According to Asada, he was here because "we figured it'd be faster to wake everyone up with En's power than ringing the bell one by one."

In truth, if she hadn't acted so cleverly, Miharu might have died. So, well played, really.

"Um, well—"

Various details omitted for brevity.

"…That's the situation."

When I finished explaining, En nodded thoughtfully, saying, "Hm."

After a brief moment of quiet sorrow over the fact that Kotō Ryouba had been transformed into a monster,

"...So, a new kind of 'hostile lifeform,' is it?"

"Yeah. After using 'Skill Identification,' I only managed to confirm the term 'Kijin.' It's written with characters meaning 'hungry person'—'Kijin.'"

Not a strange person, nor a demon god, nor a demon man.

"'Kijin'...?"

"Any idea what that might be?"

"No, not at all."

That's right.

"Still, from what I've heard, it doesn't seem like the 'Warrior' side is at fault this time."

"Hey!"

Yoshida-san's eyes widened in shock.

"You... you damn fatso. Which side are you on?"

"Which side? Well... I'm on the side of justice."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Don't go spouting off that weird crap!"

"Um... yeah..."

There it is—the classic gap in understanding between otaku and delinquent speech.

Yuan-san, (´・ω・`)←literally that face in real life.

"Look, we're still barely holding it together out here. We've gotta keep rotating shifts, even with one down. You can't just ignore that, can you? Think about it logically."

This time, I can't hold back anymore.

"Isn't that your problem, not ours?"

"No, that's wrong. Since it was your companion who did it, taking responsibility is only natural."

"Natural...? What kind of world are you talking about? If we'd left him alive, there could have been second and third victims. Worst case, a pandemic could have wiped us all out."

"Tha-aaat's why..."

With an intimidating tone that seemed to imply everyone who extorts should be an example to follow,

"That's just your opinion....From what I can see, you're players from a different community, right? Then, contact your own community and get supplies. Is that alright?"

For a brief moment, I thought maybe that would be fine—but no, not really.

If I go ahead and do this myself, I'll undoubtedly cause immense trouble for everyone in the Sakagō community.

Just as I was at my wit's end, "Hmm. Well, I guess there's no other choice," Enya said, pulling something out of his pocket—a small piece of paper.

"I really didn't want to do something like this, but... Yoshida-san, for today, please accept this..."

"What?...What is this?"

The moment he cast his gaze upon the words written on the paper.

"Yikes!"

The moment his face turned sharply pale.

He hastily crumpled the paper into a ball and incinerated it with a Fire Spell I.

"You... Where did you even get this...?"

"Aaah, I'm not trying to threaten you or anything!"

"You're threatening me, aren't you?"

His tone was stern, but his voice was kept low.

Though their positions had clearly reversed, Enji still kept his posture low,

"Then, you can think that way. …But I’ll give you a piece of advice—things like that should be done somewhere a little more discreet, don’t you think?"

"Mind your own business!"

"Also, one more thing. I’d like us to build a relationship going forward where we show each other more respect. …Alright, right?"

"Huh… hah… hah…"

Yoshida placed a hand over his chest, trying to calm his racing heartbeat,

"Y-yeah… I understand…."

Eventually, he accepted the request.

"Thank you. Oh, I almost forgot—these people have a debt to us since they freed Akihabara. So this time, let's call it even—no debts owed."

"Shut up. No need to make excuses."

Yoshida said that much and left with his companions somewhere else.

It seemed the matter with Torihara was now settled.

I let out a sigh of relief.

Now that I've become Superman, I thought I wouldn't be scared of people with that kind of bullying attitude anymore... but nope, still can't help it. I'm totally shaken.

"Phew. I'm glad it didn't come to a fight..."

It seemed to be the same thought for Enzan, who pulled out his fifth handkerchief of the day from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his face.

"What did you show him?"

"Information."

"Information?"

Something like "it tastes good when you put surimi with cucumber," was that kind of thing?

Ena let out a slight苦笑.

"Typical kind of guy. He's got his main wife, Aiko, his second, Biko, and his third, Ciko. When Aiko finds out, he gets stabbed to death while asleep—something like that."

Ah, yeah... that kind of thing.

"I'm not really into violence. I plan to take control of the city this way for a while....As you know, I'm pretty good at gathering information."

"Hmm."

That's seriously scary, you know.

Still, perhaps one cannot be a "king" without being feared.

To stand above others is truly no simple matter.

"Come, let's head back underground for now. We've got an early morning tomorrow... Isn't that right, 'Warrior'?"