NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15
At the very least, during the time I lived in what should have been a peaceful Japan, I was inwardly astonished by Ms. Akira, whose aura of hostility was sharper than even the assassins from Asphial.
The car that Ms. Akira and I were riding in was equipped with a transparent partition, much like a taxi, separating the front and back seats.
“…Three years ago, after school had ended for the day, young lady Shizuku, who was supposed to be waiting for her ride home, suddenly disappeared without a trace. Despite the full resources of the Saiouji Group being mobilized, it was as if she had vanished into thin air, like a modern-day ‘kami-kakushi’ (spirited away), and they couldn’t find her.”
Ms. Akira, who somehow obtained this information, suddenly displayed a sharp, assassin-like gaze that rivaled those in the Asphial world, and from inside her black attire, she pulled out a handgun.
The handgun was not a revolver like the ones the police use, but clearly a semi-automatic weapon imported from abroad.
“Calm down, Ms. Akira. I’m not your enemy, nor am I opposed to Saioji. In fact, I’m her ally… the only one in this world.”
To be honest, with the power of reincarnation, I’m confident that I could kick open even a tightly locked car door, and even if I were shot at close range, I believe I have enough endurance to withstand it.
Though, I might get injured if it were a Magnum or something.
Usually, people from other worlds wouldn’t be able to do that, but those who have been teleported or reincarnated seem to be compensated for being brought to this inconvenient world of Asphial by being given strong bodies, abundant magical power, and powerful skills.
Therefore, a mere handgun is no threat to me, but if I were to try and escape, it could be seen as a clear act of hostility, so I raised my hands in surrender.
However, Ms. Akira didn’t soften her stern expression.
“What kind of monster are you? Even though the backseat is filled with high-concentration sleeping gas, why are you so calm?”
Ms. Akira’s words, which had become somewhat coarse, made it clear that the transparent partition, which looked like it belonged in a taxi, was tightly sealed to prevent gas from reaching the driver’s seat.
In other words, it was like a cage specifically designed to incapacitate suspicious individuals like me.
…
The narrow and treacherous mountain road was made much more comfortable thanks to Ms. Akira’s skilled driving, and we were heading towards the neighboring town of Saiwa.
Saiwa, the town next to Akane Village, is a residential area with a population slightly exceeding ten thousand, though commercial facilities are few. The Etsumi-minami Line passes through it, and despite the scarcity of businesses, there is a nostalgic shopping street, a hotel for visiting businessmen, a hall used for various events, and even a free multi-story parking lot nearby.
(This is incredible. It’s like something straight out of a manga.)
That said, there were few people walking around the town in the middle of a weekday, and the taxi drivers parked in front of the station seemed bored, sipping canned coffee bought from a vending machine.
In one corner of this otherwise unremarkable place, several imposing black luxury cars were parked, the kind you’d expect to see in Nagatacho or Kabukicho. It was a bizarre sight, and the few passersby couldn’t help but stare from a distance.
After spending a long time in the back seat, which was still filled with sleeping gas, and unable to make any small talk due to the tense atmosphere, we finally arrived at a certain building in Saiwa.
Around the building stood several burly men in black suits, making it look like a gathering of people from the underworld. They all stared intently at the car Ms. Akira and I were in.
“Get out. Our boss is waiting for us here.”
Ms. Akira spoke briefly and concisely as the door to the backseat I was sitting in opened with a click.
“This way. President Ryugen is waiting.”
Standing in front of the door, breathing heavily, was a man even larger than me, wearing a full-face gas mask.
(Oh yeah, the backseat is filled with sleeping gas.)
I don’t know how they acquired or modified it, but for the Saiouji Group, something like this might be easy to manage.
I was told that the sleeping gas I had inhaled was powerful enough to put even an excited bear into a deep sleep. It’s odorless, tasteless, and invisible, even when it fills the air.
Because of that, Ms. Akira seemed very surprised that I was unaffected by the gas, and her level of caution had been extremely high ever since.
…
The building we were led to was a five-story structure near Saiwa Station.
In the city, a building like this wouldn’t be unusual, but even though Saiwa is more developed than Akane Village, it’s still mostly residential.
On the top floor of the building, we were shown to a spacious, functional conference room with long tables arranged evenly, and a large projector installed at the front.
From the farthest point from the entrance of the conference room, the view stretched out over the entire town of Saiwa, and the only building taller than the one we were in was a hotel close to the station.
“I’ve brought him. President Ryugen.”
The large man in black, who had removed his gas mask after entering the building, led me to the conference room, where a middle-aged man in a navy blue suit stood by the window.
Unlike the large man in black standing beside me, President Ryugen, as he was called, was a slender man.
He was probably in the late 170s in height? Compared to me, who was around 190, and the large man in black, who was probably over two meters, he seemed somewhat less imposing.
“So, you must be Allen… You match the description in the letter my daughter wrote.”
While his physical presence couldn’t compare to me or the large man in black, the aura emanating from him was something far beyond that of an ordinary person.
The suffocating, oppressive aura, similar to the one possessed by the Saiouji daughter he mentioned, was even more intense in the middle-aged man standing before me.
(Damn, I might have gotten involved with someone seriously dangerous.)
The moment I met the man called President Ryugen, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of regret.