kscans

Chapter 199 - One Step Closer to Adulthood

I just gave a high-and-mighty lecture to some parents struggling with their kids, but... well, yeah. I'm hardly one to talk. I have my own share of worries when it comes to children. And they are very much ongoing.

"..."

"Hiro, let's calm down, okay?"

Chika-san soothed me as I paced restlessly around the room. We were in a private room at the Mutual Aid Society facility, waiting with bated breath for the children to return. Yes, the time had finally come. It was here. The time for their graduation. They had certainly acquired a suitable level of skill, but their graduation kept getting postponed because they never had an opportunity to face truly rotten people.

But suddenly, no, that's not right. A subjugation request with just the right difficulty for a rookie isn't something you can just wait for. You can only rely on chance. And by chance, one had finally arrived. And because the children were under my wing, they were given priority to choose...

"We'll do it. It's a path we can't avoid."

That's what the leader, Hikaru, apparently answered, without a hint of hesitation. The other kids felt the same. They were not just going with the flow. They accepted the subjugation request of their own free will and headed to the site. Chika-san and I came to the Mutual Aid Society as soon as we received the report.

"I know, but still."

"Of course, I understand why you're worried, Hiro."

The targets for subjugation were a group running a human trafficking ring. Not that they were a large-scale organization. They were more like what you'd call semi-delinquents in the Surface World. Their operation wasn't that big either. Just a bunch of small-timers, working secretively so they wouldn't attract the attention of the Mutual Aid Society or the forces of order.

However, the only reason we can dismiss them as worthless scum with nothing to say for themselves is because we're so deeply entrenched in the Supernatural World. No matter what, the children will be scarred. I can't stay calm when I think about it. And yet, I can't keep them away from it either. As Hikaru said, it's a path they can't avoid. My head understands that. But even so, my heart is in turmoil.

"But..."

"Rika-chan, Hikaru, Sarna-chan, and Saku-chan are all perfectly normal people."

"That's..."

"They're different from us, you know."

Chika-san was a native of the Supernatural World from the very beginning. She had already experienced taking a life long before she ever met me. And as for me, Takahashi, and Suzuki... well, maybe those two are different. I was always a detached person. I don't intend to make light of human life. But if I kill some disgusting piece of trash, so what? That's where it ends for me. The same goes for people who aren't like that. If our interests clash and one of us has to die, I can accept that. I'd feel a strong sense of revulsion if it was someone I cared about, like Takahashi or Suzuki, but my heart wouldn't ache in the slightest if it was an enemy.

Come to think of it, even if it were Takahashi and Suzuki... let's say the TS Divine Fist was never created and killing them was the only way. I'd be hurt, of course. But in the end, I'd probably get over it.

"You've seen it too, haven't you, Chika-san? What happens to those whose spirits break on these kinds of requests."

If they don't die, the test ends there. They get the option to live in the Surface World, so they leave the Supernatural World behind. But it's precisely because they fled the Supernatural World after touching human darkness that the light of the Surface World stings them so much. If they can completely avert their eyes, it's not a problem, but being able to completely run away from unpleasant things is a talent in itself. Most of them become mentally ill. A person purely of the Surface World could rely on a psychiatrist, but that's not an option. They can't talk to people from the Surface World about what happened in the Supernatural World. So what about a doctor from the Supernatural World? Would someone who became sick in the mind from their experiences here want to get involved with it again, even for treatment? Very few can do that.

"Fortunately, those kids have us adults nearby, and we know their circumstances."

So, well, we can probably offer them counseling. But even so, if their spirits do break, I think it will take several years for them to recover. It's truly unbearable to think of them wasting their precious youth because of some scum.

"You're right. Everything you say is true, Hiro."

"See?"

"But, knowing all that, I'm going to say this anyway. Let's believe in the children, okay?"

Her expression was not that of the naive child she once was, nor that of the woman who once tried to have an affair with me. The face Chika-san showed me as she reasoned with me was that of a "mother". When she looked at me like that... there was nothing I could say.

"All right, I get it."

I sat down in a chair and leaned back.

"But I guess I'll make what preparations I can."

"Wait, what? After all that?"

"No, no. I'm not going to interfere directly. I'm talking about what to do after they get back."

Even I can read the room. If I did something to the kids while they're out there fighting right now, I'd be a completely clueless idiot.

"Looks like they're back."

About an hour later, the four of them returned. I sent a telepathic message to Yoshino-san, asking him to bring them to our private room, and he replied, "I'll see to it." As expected of my senpai, he gets it. Now that he's a father, he probably understands even more.

"...Ah, Mama."

"Welcome back, Rika. And everyone else, too."

The four who entered the room had dark expressions, but it didn't look like their spirits were broken. Each of them seemed to be feeling things a little differently, but that's fine.

"Um, excuse me... what did you want with us? We haven't even finished our report yet."

"Senpai will take care of the report. Why else do you think he brought you straight here?"

"To be honest, I'm not really in the mood for a chat right now."

Both Hikaru and Saku-chan's words were sharp. They must have gone through something harsh enough to make them act this way.

"I don't plan on talking your ears off either. Let's get right to the point. I'm sending you all to Okutama Island."

"Huh?"

"You can't go back to your daily lives with faces like that, can you?"

Even if they slept like a log for a night, it would still weigh on them. What they needed now was time.

"I've messed with the flow of time on Okutama Island. A year can pass over there, and it'll only be around dawn tomorrow back here."

"..."

"If you want it extended further, just ask this guy."

I produced an artifact I had just made in a pocket dimension and placed it on the table with a don!

"...Hm?"

"Just tell it you want an extension, and the message will get to me. Ah, but that's not its primary function..."

"W... wait, please wait. Satou-san? Uh, what is that?"

"A bust of Fukuzawa Yukichi, is it?"

"And it's solid gold..."

"Well look, my secret base has food, entertainment, and all sorts of things. But if you're going to be there for a long time, it won't be enough, right?"

That's where this Super Yukichi-kun comes in. It's a means of communication with me, but that's just a bonus. Its main function is something else entirely. For the record, I considered making it a bust of TINTIN Teieiichi-kun, but I decided to stick with the familiar Yukichi-kun.

"If it's something money can buy, just make a request to this thing and you can get as much as you want. Oh, and don't worry, I'm not getting it all for free. The system deducts the money from my bank account, forces the result of a purchase, and procures the goods from somewhere."

This means that once my account is empty, it won't be able to do anything, but... that shouldn't be a problem. If just the four of you can manage to spend all of that, I'd actually be impressed.

"No, we really can't..."

"It would be wrong to just spoil you for no reason, but doing nothing at a time like this would be wrong in its own way, right? Isn't that right, Chika-san?"

"You have a point. I'd be a little worried if it was just Rika, but with three reliable kids with her, I suppose it's fine for just this once."

"And there you have it. Go get some rest, body and soul."

The children still looked like they wanted to say something, but I ignored them and teleported them to the secret base on Okutama Island.

"Well then. How about we go to Shunranman, Chika-san?"

"Don't you think you're moving on a little too quickly?"

"We're supposed to believe in the children, right? Then let's believe and wait."

When I said that, Chika-san laughed as if she couldn't help it, and nodded.