Chapter 6: Backroom Business

Getting into my car, I head towards the headquarters of those ‘scary people’ that Shiho described.
It is a small, three-story building in the outskirts of the urban area, with a signboard reading ‘Kanai Enterprises’ out front.

On paper it seems like a normal company, but anyone with a shred of common sense would know by the name alone that this company is far from normal.
As proof, the area around it is eerily devoid of people, and the few who do pass by do so with hurried steps.

There’s no doubt, I think to myself as I push the door open and walk in.

The first floor is a lobby, with a manager’s office outfitted with a small window.
Inside is a young man watching TV. I ignore him and proceed inside.

“Oi, wait a second. Who the fuck are you?”

The man flies out of the manager’s office.
His clothing is normal, but his bearing and tone is exactly that of a hoodlum’s.

“Where the fuck do you think this pla——pugeh!”

Making short work of him, I climb the stairs.
Incidentally, I got 2 points from that.

“The fuck? Who the hell——”
“What the fuck is Daigo doi——”

Along the way, I encounter two more people, who I immediately take down, no questions asked.
At the very top floor, I find a room that seems like what I’m looking for.

The interior of the room is just, wow.

There’s a huge president’s desk, behind which a framed calligraphy piece of the word ‘Chivalry’ is hung on the wall.
All I have to say about all this is, well, even gangster movies nowadays put more thought into their set designs.

“Coming in.”

When I step in, I see a man sitting in front of ‘Chivalry,’ and another on the sofa for guests positioned in front of him.
There are a total of 2 men in the room.

“Who the fu——Oi, someone! The fuck are you shits doing?!”

The master of the room, who is probably the boss, shouts in a loud voice.
In response, hoodlums begin flying into the room in succession.

I came straight here, so those guys are probably from the other rooms that I didn’t touch.

The hoodlums who look very much like hoodlums quickly understand the situation.

“Oi, you bastard! What do you think you’re doing here!”
“Come here!”

The instant one of them reaches a hand towards me, I swivel my head, then insta-KO five of them.
These literal third-rates only need a single punch to be reduced to 2 skill points each.

I once again turn back towards the boss and address him.

“You the boss here?”
“Wh-, who are you?”
“Who I am is not relevant. Sayama Shiho. You remember the name?”
“Sayama……”

The man frowns and tilts his head.

“Daughter of a farm. I heard you guys are going after her for her parents’ debt.”

After saying this much, the man finally makes a ‘ohhh, that one’ face.

“So what if we are?”
“A parent’s debt is unrelated to their children. That’s all I came to say.”
“Hah!”

The man snorts.
I’m sure this is something that the other side is all too aware of. It is in full knowledge of this that they are going around demanding repayment.

Snorting in laughter at those words is, in a manner of speaking, the expected reaction.

“Youngster. It seems you do have some ability, but don’t you dare look down on us pros.”

After he says that, several more hoodlums rush in.

The ones this time are emanating stronger bloodlust than the ones before, and are even baring yakuza knives.

“Oi.”
“Yessir!”

The man jerks his chin, then the hoodlums bring their knives to their waists, then charge with full intention of stabbing me.
I have no defensive skills, so it would be quite serious if I get stabbed…… not that I’m going to be stabbed, though.
Rather than getting stabbed, this situation is one that will only make me stronger.

I smoothly dodge the first knife, then punch the hoodlum in the side of his face.
He rotates twice, then beautifully plants his face into the floor.

As the other hoodlums come at me simultaneously, I dodge everything carefully while taking them down one by one with punches boosted by [Counter] and [Increase Attack Power (Evade)].
That’s 10 more skill points in the bag.

Finally, I turn to the boss again.

“Wh-, what are you?! Where are you from?!”
“Civilian. Just your everyday busybody.”
“Fuck that shit!!”

“Boss.”
“Eh?”

All of a sudden, the man who’s been sitting on the sofa the entire time speaks up.
His tone is calm and composed.
I take a second look at him, my curiosity perked.
He is a young man in a suit. He looks completely out of place here.

If I met him on the streets, I would totally think him an average salaryman. The contrast with this place and what’s been happening just now almost paints him as an earnest and upright person.

“That girl’s——ah, that’s not it. That girl’s parents’ debt, how much is it?”
“If I remember correctly, it is five million, but……”

‘What of it?’ is clearly visible upon the boss’ face.

“Bill that to me.”
“What?”

This time, I’m the one who reacts.

“Mr. Respectable might not know this, but even if there is no repayment obligation by law, that doesn’t matter when borrowing from places like these.”

Doesn’t matter, huh.
Words sure are convenient. It is indeed true that it doesn’t matter to guys like these.

“And so, Boss, transfer that debt to me.”
“But——”
“——Or are you fine with your kidnapping business being exposed?”

I tilt my head, because that last line was suddenly in a different language.

That is why I tilt my head.
On purpose.
As if I don’t understand what was said.
Because the content of that line was such that I felt a powerful impulsion to do so.
Though in actual fact, I do understand thanks to [Complete Translation]. But that is why I pretend to not understand.

Upon being reminded by the young man, the boss comes to a start, then grimaces as if he’d swallowed something bitter.

“……Alright.”
“And there you have it. I will be taking over possession of the deed. And I won’t be chasing the girl for repayment, so you can rest easy.”
“You sure about this? How generous of you.”
“Of course. All I have to do is chase the parents for the money. You don’t mind that, right?”
“…… I don’t mind. They borrowed it, so they should be the ones to repay it.”
“That’s a relief to hear. For the sake of becoming closer to someone like you, this amount is but a cheap investment.”
“…… I won’t thank you hough.”
“That’s a pity indeed.”

With this, the matter of Sayama Shiho’s debt has been settled.
To be honest, if I hadn’t heard that extra line, I would have just thought that there happened to be a respectable person here, and that would have been that.

But after I leave the room, I hear the boss’ voice through the wall.

“How many are we to send to our motherland this time?”

If only I hadn’t heard that. Then everything would have been wrapped up with a nice ribbon tied on top.

Yakuza. Foreign language. Motherland. Kidnapping.
…… How am I supposed to walk away now?