kscans

Chapter 120 - A Gentle, Ordinary Night

"Oh, welcome home, Hero Uncle."

"...Yeah, I'm back."

When I got home, Saku-chan greeted me. She must have just gotten out of the bath. Saku-chan's skin had a faint reddish glow, and she was wearing a tracksuit. When I picked her up at noon, she said she'd be staying over... Well, it looks like she's settling in nicely. I'm the type who can relax comfortably even in other people's homes, but Saku-chan is more sensitive. Even though this is a relative's house, I thought she might be nervous, but it seems my worry was unnecessary.

"...You look tired?"

Saku-chan naturally took my suit jacket and asked with concern. It would be easy to say it's nothing, but... this could be a learning experience for her too, so I might as well tell her.

"Yeah. I've been making apology rounds to various places."

"Apology rounds... does that mean there was some kind of scandal at your company?"

"Yeah."

It happened during lunch break. As soon as I got back to the company after dropping off Saku-chan, bad news came flying in.

"Compliance violations. You've probably heard about them on the news, right Saku-chan?"

"Yeah. Harassment and inappropriate use of social media... for celebrities, it includes affairs too, right?"

"That's right. You study well. That's what happened at our company."

The perpetrator was an employee from a branch office, but that doesn't mean it has nothing to do with us.

"What makes it even worse is that it wasn't just one thing, but multiple incidents that all exploded at the same time."

It wasn't the same person doing multiple things, but different people doing separate things. The silver lining was that our company president excelled at that kind of balance. He was able to immediately set a policy and take action to put out the fires.

"There are cases that haven't gone public yet, but if we try to handle them internally and they get exposed later, it'll be troublesome."

Instructions were given to apologize to business partners and explain future countermeasures, not just for incidents that had already gone public, but also for cases that had just come to light. I agreed with this approach, so I immediately created a template for apologies and responses to this incident. I shared it with the apology tour team (my name for it) and went out to make apologies based on it.

"Tomorrow I have more apology rounds, and I need to adjust my work schedule for training sessions that were suddenly arranged... It's just chaos."

"Y-you're working so hard."

"Well, this is part of the job too. But more importantly..."

This was just the setup.

"Among the employees who messed up, there was a young one. When I looked into it, he actually had a pretty good reputation."

What he did wrong was inappropriate use of social media. He probably did it lightheartedly, never thinking it would turn into something like this.

"It might be painful to hear, but I think young people's failure stories can be educational."

"...Yeah, I think so too. Could you tell me the details?"

"That's my Saku-chan."

I spent about thirty minutes using that employee as a teaching example, explaining various things. Even though entering society is still far off for her, it won't be a waste.

"By the way, since you were so busy, what about dinner..."

"Haven't had it yet."

"Then should I make something? There's a supermarket nearby that stays open late, right?"

It was just past ten o'clock now. Regular supermarkets would have closed long ago, but the supermarket in our neighborhood stays open until around midnight. I appreciate Saku-chan's thoughtfulness, but...

"It's okay. I haven't eaten yet, but dinner arrangements are already made."

"Did you order delivery?"

"Delivery, well... Oh, perfect timing."

My phone started ringing.

"Saku-chan, two guests are coming over now. Is that okay?"

"Y-yeah... it's okay, but... at this hour?"

"We originally had plans to meet about something else."

I said this and used teleportation to summon Takahashi and Suzuki.

"Oh, so you're the famous Saku-chan."

"You give off such a good kid vibe that it's hard to believe you're related to Satou-kun."

"Hero Uncle? Who are these people..."

"They're my buddies, and they're also on my team in the supernatural world. Come on, introduce yourselves."

"Who do you think you are... I'm Takahashi Alice. I've had a long, complicated relationship with this guy."

"I'm Suzuki Mio. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Ayase Sakuya."

Good, now they've all met. If she's going to stay here, she'll probably interact with these guys from time to time, so it's better to get the introductions out of the way quickly.

"Actually, since Sakuya-kun is here, shouldn't we go to the other house?"

"If we were drinking it might get noisy, but today we're going alcohol-free."

If it gets too rowdy, we can always change venues.

"Oh, please don't worry about me. I'm not particularly studying or doing anything special today."

"Is that so? Sorry about this."

"More importantly, you two, food! Food!"

Since I was going to be late, I had asked them to bring food.

"Yes, yes. I made various things just like Satou-kun requested."

"Sakuya-kun, would you like some as a late-night snack?"

"Oh, is that okay?"

"I made plenty. It's totally fine."

"Then I'll take you up on that offer."

"Hehe, don't hold back."

Saying this, Suzuki laid out containers of my favorite side dishes on the table, while Takahashi arranged containers of rice balls.

"Ooh, my depressed mood is starting to lift!"

"You're easy to please... Well, if it cheered you up, then it was worth making."

"You've got it rough too, cleaning up after those idiots who screwed up."

"Bowing your head is part of a manager's job, so it can't be helped."

I toss in some fried chicken, bite into a rice ball, chew thoroughly and swallow, wash it down with tea. Just this alone feels like I've completed some kind of perpetual motion machine. I could keep this up forever.

"By the way, why did you all gather today?"

"Hmm? Oh, actually our team got a job request... is it okay to talk about this?"

"We weren't told to keep it secret, so it should be fine. Saku-chan isn't the type to go blabbing either."

"Um, if it's inconvenient, then..."

"It's fine, it's fine. The request is to attack the afterlife."

"I see... the afterlife... the afterlife?!"

Ah, I hadn't explained that part yet. I added a supplementary explanation that afterlife worlds like hell and paradise, which are talked about in the human world, actually exist. Her surprised reaction was so fresh that we all felt a bit warm and fuzzy.

"By the way, just so you know, when I say attack, it's just an exercise, okay? We're not doing anything bad."

"The request came from King Enma himself."

"Eh, King Enma..."

"Anyway. We decided to have a strategy meeting to prepare for that exercise."

Well, the strategy meeting comes after we eat. We need to recover our physical and mental gauges before we can even think about strategy meetings.

"Our story is fine and all, but since we have the chance, let's hear about Sakuya-kun too."

"Eh, me?"

"If you don't want to, just say so. These two old hags have no sense of delicacy."

"You're the one to talk!"

"Ahaha, you really are good friends."

Ah... what a nice atmosphere...

(My mental fatigue is gradually lifting...)

Tomorrow will be tough too, but... yeah, I'll do my best.