Chapter 10: Wonder Drug for an Incurable Disease

The next morning, in the cabin of Executive One.
I am enjoying the breakfast made by Shiho.

The menu is coffee, ham and egg, and toast toasted to perfection.

“Mm, it’s delicious.”
“I’m sorry, there were no ingredients, and I didn’t have money either.”
“…… Hm? Oh right, my bad.”

It had completely slipped my mind. The fault lies entirely with me.
I lightly brush off the crumbs that had gotten onto my clothes, then grab the jacket that I’d hung up on the wall. I take out a few notes from a pocket and hand them over to Shiho.

“Here you go.”
“Eh? Um, what is this?”
“A million yen. A wad of million yen is surprisingly thin, isn’t it? Even though I’d dreamed of it when I was young.”
“That’s not what I meant. I, um, why……?”
“Petty cash. Use it as you see fit.”
“Eh? But……”
“Living expenses, food expenses, that sort of thing. The master’s supposed to pay for it, right? Not the maid. It’s the same for tools and operating expenses of a farm, right?”
“Ah……”

Shiho comes to a start, then looks convinced.
Since her family used to run a farm and she had experienced it first hand ever since she was a child, she understands immediately.

“I understand. I will use it appropriately.”
“That’s good. While we’re at it, can I make requests for the food? Tonight I want to eat white rice and hot miso soup.”
“Not a problem! ……Oh but what will I do about the rice……”
“Just buy one. A rice cooker.”

I point up at the indoor air con.
It maintains the temperature inside the car even during driving.
Executive One is a camping car, but it can also do whatever a normal house can.

“This car really is amazing……”
“It is the world’s most exclusive camping car, after all. Incidentally, it’s worth 300 million yen.”
“FUEEEEEEE?! Th-, that’s incredible!”

I chuckle at Shiho’s surprised face, then return to my seat to shovel down the rest of the food.
Well then, it’s about time to head out.
I have to earn more skill points, and also have to confirm the efficacy of throwaway skills.

Among skills, there are those that can only be used once.
The effects are incredible in light of the points they cost, but they can only be used once.
That’s what I need to confirm at least once.

I reach out to the panel on the wall to open the car garage and press a switch.

“Oops, not that one.”

It apparently wasn’t the switch for the garage, but the one for the 100 inch TV.

“This…… is a game?”

Shiho looks at the TV and tilts her head in puzzlement.

“Oh, the all-directional feed was on. Well, I can see how it looks like a game.”
“All-directional feed? What’s that?”
“When the car is this big, it’s impossible to see behind, right?”
“Yes, it’s impossible.”

Shiho answered in a heartbeat.

“You get it?”
“Yes! I’ve been riding on tractors ever since I was a child, so I get it.”
“I see. As expected of a farmer’s daughter.”

Incidentally, a driver’s license is ‘license to drive on public roads,’ and does not cover driving on private property like a farm.
The fact that farming kids ride on farming equipment since young is something that I’d heard already long ago.

“So because of that, in order to make it easier to see all around, cameras have been installed in all directions outside the car. The feed from all those cameras are displayed in a game-like interface like this, making it easier to park and see the back and things like that.”
“Fuaaa…… that’s amazing…… as expected of 300 million yen.”

The all-directional feed worth several million is also installed on the passenger car, but I opt to not mention it.

“Eh?”
“Anything the matter?”
“Do you see something near one of the back wheels?”
“Hm? …… You’re right, there really is…… is that a tail?”
“Is it a cat, maybe?”

I exit Executive One, with Shiho in tow.

At the area where we saw something on the camera, we find a puppy.
The little ball of fur curled up near the wheel is dirtied here and there.
From its appearance, it seems to be quite weak.

“Did it get abandoned?”
“It looks to me like it’s a step away from a fully grown dog.”
“I agree. The poor thing. How could this……”
“Do you have experience keeping dogs?”
“Yes, we had guard dogs at the farm. It helped us chase away a lot of birds and vermin.”
“Heeh? Such as?”
“Mice, for example.”
“Mice? Guard dogs can catch them too?”
“Yes! Unlike cats, they only hunt them, they don’t eat them.”
“Heeh.”
“But this one…… really looks so pitiful.”

Shiho murmurs while looking at the puppy.
……

“Shiho.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Give this guy some food. A shower too, while you’re at it.”
“——Leave it to me!”

☆

I gave a lot of thought to how I can earn skill points in Tokyo.
Of course, there are bear sightings every once in a while. Yes, in Tokyo.
Tokyo is a really interesting place. It is a preeminent global metropolis, but also includes uninhabited islands in the south, and unexplored mountain forests in the west.
Those forests are where those bears are from.

But with that said, if I’m looking for bears, it’d be much easier to just go back to Iwate.
Due to the circumstances of that puppy, Executive One will have to stay put today. So my circle of activity would have to be within a distance that I can return to Executive One by nighttime.

As a result of much consideration——

☆

“Who the fuck are you? Do you even fucking know where you fucking are?”

At a certain location in the city, at the headquarters of a certain yakuza syndicate.
Upon stepping in, I am immediately glared at by six rough-looking men.
They are all smoking, and there are cards and bills on the table.
It seems that they were gambling.

All of them stop what they are doing to glare at me.

“Where’re you from? And what’s with that retarded getup?”

Retarded getup——well, I can’t fault them for that comment.
At the moment, I have a stocking over my head in the common style (?) of bank robbers.

“I’m here to meet your boss.”
“The old man? He’s inside.”

The men who’ve been glaring at me just now readily allow me in.
They readily allowed in a man with a stocking over his head.

[Free Visit]

It’s a skill that guarantees me an audience with whoever I want, even if it’s the American president or the Catholic pope.
It doesn’t matter what my appearance is. Even though I’m looking 120% suspicious with a stocking over my head and standing in the headquarters of a yakuza syndicate, I still get a free pass.

Among the mountain of skills, this one is a particularly cheat-level one.

I open the door that leads deeper in.
Within a lavishly decorated office, a man is applying maintenance to a katana.
His eyes, which I can see from a distance are infatuated with the blade, suddenly fall on me.

He then reacts in a very ordinary way.

“Who are you? Hahhh?!”

Well, my getup being what it is.

“Takayama! Ooshidaa!”

The man — the boss — shouts out in a voice filled with menace, at which the yakuza outside the room rush in.

“Old man!”
“The fuck are you guys doing? Get that man out of here.”
“Y-, yes sir!”
“Bastard, come this way!”

Having met the man I wanted to meet, [Free Visit] loses its effect. The other side bares hostility towards me and attempts to throw me out.

I simultaneously bury a punch into the stomachs of Takayama and Ooshida.
The two of them go “Gahah!” before crumpling to the ground.

——You have earned 2 skill points.
——You have earned 2 skill points.

As expected, it’s really little.
I guess normal humans, especially third rate chumps, really do only yield the bare minimum of 2 points.
But this is the headquarters of a rather sizeable syndicate.

The commotion has drawn the other members towards the room.

“You fool…… don’t even dream of leaving this place alive today.”

The boss threatens me. With a naked blade in his hand, he does seem somewhat menacing, but——

☆

Inside the car, I take off the stocking.
I only had it on for several tens of minutes, but the inside has already gotten so stuffy as to be rather uncomfortable.
I take a moment to enjoy the cool, fresh, open air.

The reason why I was wearing a stocking—why I disguised myself was because of, no, thanks to Shiho.

Shiho having successfully found me through the video where I exposed Arai alerted me to the possibility of my identity being discovered, which would lead to my location being exposed.

Executive One can move, and I’ve also acquired quite a few skills already, so it’s not like it would be the end of the world if that happens. But it’s just that I would like some time when I can rest.
That’s why I disguised myself before stepping into that headquarters to earn skill points by taking down yakuza.

－－－－－Skill－－－－－
Skill Points: 97/999

Acquired Skills (8/10)
[Close Combat VII]
[Increase Attack Power (Evade) I]
[Invisibility II]
[Counter]
[Lower Point Cost] (80%)
[Double Skill Points] (200%)
[Complete Translation]
[Free Visit]
－－－－－－－－－－－－－

I wasn’t able to earn that much. I guess hunting bears really is a lot more efficient.
But oh well, I don’t see any immediate need for more at the moment.
Let’s brainstorm other ideas to earn points on a later day.

I steer my passenger car back to where Executive One is parked.

“Ah, welcome home, Kazama-san.”
“Yep, I’m back. How’s the puppy?”

I take a look at the puppy lying on the floor.
There’s a dish filled with dog food in front of it, but it’s not even looking at it.

“I tried to give it food, but it won’t eat……”
“Maybe it’s just gotten that weak. How about offering it water or liquid food?”
“That’s a brilliant idea! I’ll get the water now!”

Shiho heads into Executive One, then quickly returns with a deep dish filled with water.
She places it in front of the puppy.

“Little doggy, here’s some water.”

The change occurs in a flash.
The instant the puppy’s half-closed eyes see the water, it jumps up as if spooked and dashes off.

It didn’t simply dash off. That moment when it saw water, there was definitely fear in its eyes.

“A dog afraid of water…… don’t tell me……”
“Rabies……”

Shiho looks at a loss for words. Having kept dogs at her house before, she understood the situation almost immediately.
She is familiar with what kind of sickness it is, and the severity of it.

“But that’s……! Oh no……”
“I guess it didn’t get vaccinated……”
“That’s just……”

Shiho deflates in sorrow.

Rabies. A contagious disease that affects both dogs and humans. Once contracted, the rate of death is almost 100%. In a way, it is a disease far more terrifying than cancer or AIDS.
No, not ‘in a way.’

Even now, it is a disease for which there is no cure, for which there isn’t even a way to prolong the victim’s lifespan.
Judging by appearances, the puppy has already contracted it, so the only thing left for it to do is to wait for death.

“Doggy……”
“This is convenient.”
“Eh?”

Shiho looks at me in surprise as I take a step forward.
It’s not a severe wound, but encountering an incurable disease suits my needs perfectly too.

I acquire a skill. It’s one of those throwaway ones that I’d thought to test this morning.

[Absolute Recovery (Disease)]

The cost is 120 points, discounted to 96.
In spite of its cost, it can only be used once. But true to its name, this skill can heal any disease.

I then apply the skill to the puppy.
Light emits from my hands, enveloping the little dog.

“Eh? Wh-, what is that?”
“A rather special ability. Never tell anyone.”
“U-, understood! But what is……”
“Just keep watching.”

The light developing the puppy gradually fades.
When it’s completely gone, the puppy looks up nonchalantly, as if the fear from a moment ago was a lie.

The panicked, maddened air surrounding the dog has changed into a cute and lovable one in an instant.
The puppy inquisitively looks all around, then takes tiny steps towards the dish held out by Shiho and begins lapping up the water.

“It’s drinking water! Is, is it healed?!”
“As you can see.”
“B-, but that was rabies! It healed…… no, it got healed??”
“…… As you can see.”
“That’s amazing……”

Shiho’s eyes are wide open in astonishment.
Good, it seems that there’s no problem with the usage of throwaway skills in this world as well.