kscans

Chapter 96 - Interlude: The Vice-Chairman is Still in the Game

Interlude: The Vice-Chairman is Still in the Game

Side: None

A certain location in Kanagawa Prefecture. A rented building.

"I'm here."

"Ugh..."

The vice-chairman of the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club had come to visit the guild master of the Walkers, Yamashita.

"It's been a while, Yamashita-kun. You look well... no, not quite. Your fur looks a bit rough."

"Please don't comment on my fur. I'm just a little tired from being busy with all sorts of things."

"Oh, that won't do, Yamashita-kun. They say you should seek out hardship in your youth, but it's not good to shoulder too much. You should take proper rests. Maintaining your own condition at a high level is also the job of a leader, you know."

"You're right. I've been trying to get enough sleep, though..."

"It's said that in addition to sleeping at night, a moderate nap is also good for the body. Now, look at this."

"Yes?"

The vice-chairman abruptly took out his smartphone and thrust the screen at him.

A kaleidoscopic pattern was writhing on it, and Yamashita frowned.

"Um..."

"Behold, hypnosis!"

"Huh?"

"...Did it work?"

"Excuse me?"

The vice-chairman peered into the bewildered Yamashita's face, smartphone in hand.

"I'm asking if you've been hypnotized."

"...No. I haven't been."

"I see. It worked."

The vice-chairman nodded, for some reason looking satisfied.

"No, no. I'm telling you, it didn't work."

"No, no, no. That's exactly what someone who has been completely hypnotized would say."

"Hypnosis isn't even real. Are you tired or something?"

"Alright. This one is deep under...!"

"Listen to me."

The business-like smile vanished from Yamashita's face as the suspicious individual in black started doing a victory pose.

Ignoring him, the vice-chairman took out a small vial filled with a purple liquid.

"Now, Yamashita-kun. Drink this 'Beastliness-Enhancing Potion' that I created...!"

"I'm not drinking that crap."

"...What?!"

"I'm the one who should be surprised here."

Yamashita stared with cold eyes as the vice-chairman staggered backward, vial in hand.

"You deceived me...! You pretended to be hypnotized to trick me!"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Impossible...! To think that my plan, which I spent three days and three nights sleeplessly devising, was seen through...!"

"So much for doing a leader's job, old man."

Yamashita debated whether to call for help as the trembling deviant shivered.

However, he decided to put it on hold for now, concluding that this level of perversion wasn't worth making a fuss over.

Getting used to things is a scary thing.

"Anyway, what is that potion?"

"Mm. It's something I'm researching in parallel with the production of my homunculus bride. It has the effect of increasing a beastman's beastliness."

"Throw that stuff away."

"I haven't done animal testing yet, but I'm sure it's fine. Let's do a human trial."

"Where did you leave your ethics?"

The vice-chairman fumbled to put the smartphone and vial back in his pocket, then turned to face Yamashita.

"Alright. Let's get to the main topic."

"Excuse me, can you give me ten seconds? My brain can't keep up with your bizarre behavior."

"My, my. You're quite helpless, aren't you?"

"I'll kill you in five seconds."

"My sincerest apologies."

Yamashita's eyes were dead serious. The kind of serious you spell out.

Or so the vice-chairman would later recount. The other club members he told just let it go in one ear and out the other.

"...So, what's the main topic?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just heard you received a recruitment offer from another organization. I came to check on you."

"Oh, that."

Yamashita recalled the events of the previous day.

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The Walkers is a mutual aid organization for adventurers. Therefore, its guild master, Yamashita, is also an adventurer.

In this line of work, fighting ability is crucial. To avoid being looked down on by your subordinates. And to survive in this increasingly dangerous world. He made it a point to go to dungeons regularly.

In particular, he actively took on requests from the local government that offered little reward for a lot of effort.

His party members this time were close to his level. His sister and childhood friend were busy with guild work and university classes, respectively.

This kind of level grinding was going smoothly, and Yamashita had recently been promoted to D-Rank. With the golem on loan from the club, he was able to explore dungeons with stability.

On this day too, he had come to the Dungeon Store to enter a dungeon.

"Guild Master..."

"Hm?"

A party member called out in a low voice and pointed. He looked in that direction and his eyes widened.

There stood a group of men wearing matching equipment.

It wouldn't be unusual if their Arcane Gear were merely similar. For Awakened Persons who are related by blood, the appearance of their Arcane Gear can be almost identical.

But the equipment of these men was exactly the same. They were as uniform as manufactured products.

That's when Yamashita realized. That wasn't Arcane Gear. It was mana-infused armor, but it was man-made.

As if that wasn't rare enough, the men also had golems with them, one for each person.

They weren't made by just any alchemist or Civil Engineering Magic user. They were something Yamashita was familiar with: products of the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club.

The Magi Battery-equipped golems sold by the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club. They were so expensive that the Walkers could only afford to rent them.

Rumor had it that the ones for sale were being bought up by rich foreigners.

"Those guys... they didn't just come back from the dungeon, did they...? Are they going in dressed like that?"

"They're going in with such high-end gear...? I wonder how much one of those sets costs."

As his members whispered among themselves, a figure approached Yamashita.

"Hello there. The gentleman over there, could you be the guild master of the Walkers, Yamashita-sama?"

"...I am, but who are you?"

Smiling, Yamashita stepped forward to shield his other members.

In response, the slender-eyed man who had spoken to him smiled and took out a business card.

"My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Li Junyu. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, how polite of you. I am Yamashita."

"Yes, I am well aware."

As they exchanged business cards with smiles, Yamashita saw the name of a major Chinese corporation on the man's, Li's, card.

Yamashita inwardly raised his guard. This encounter was likely no coincidence.

"The founder of the rapidly growing, large-scale clan... no, guild, the Walkers. To be able to meet you like this is an honor."

"It's nothing so grand, I assure you."

"No, no, you are too modest. Ah, that's right. What did you think of them? Our company's adventurers."

So saying, Li watched the men from before as they entered the gate room.

"They are Awakened Persons employed by our company. They usually work in our security or research departments, but they sometimes come to Japan like this to level up. A low-ranking employee like myself accompanies them as their errand boy."

As if a department head of a major corporation is a low-ranking employee, Yamashita thought, his cheek twitching.

"I see. In that case, did your company perhaps provide that equipment?"

"Yes! It is just existing bulletproof vests and military helmets with plates made from drop item coins attached in the manner of scale armor, but their defensive power is guaranteed. We have production-class skill users involved, you see."

Li spoke boastfully in fluent Japanese.

"On top of that, each of them is provided with a guardian golem purchased from the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club. They also have spears derived from drop items, so they can level up safely. Furthermore, they have enough healing potions for everyone... oh, but of course, regarding the 'magic potions,' we received them as an act of 'goodwill.' Just like you."

Yamashita kept his smile fixed as Li spread his hands theatrically.

"I see. Our fighting styles are quite similar, then."

"Indeed. A vanguard of expendable golems, with stable attacks from the rear using polearms. A wonderfully humane tactic. And we both use it..."

Li took a step closer to Yamashita.

"This must be fate. The Walkers and we could surely join hands and elevate each other. What do you say? Shall we have a drink together someday soon? I know a good place."

"That's a kind offer, but it is not something I can decide on my own. I must be going now."

"Oh, have I been rejected?"

Li shook his head with a sigh, then extended his right hand.

"Well then, let us meet again. I look forward to the day I can share a drink with you."

＊　　　　　＊　　　　　＊

"He was Chinese, but he had a lot of exaggerated reactions like an American,"

Yamashita muttered with a grim face, taking Li's business card from his case.

"He was so shady, I couldn't figure out his intentions. Honestly, I didn't like the way he was sizing me up."

"As for his intentions, it was almost certainly to 'show off,'"

the vice-chairman stated flatly, his voice muffled by his hood.

"The Walkers has a large number of Awakened Persons. Foreign countries would love to poach the entire organization, but poaching individual members is a more reliable approach."

"So, you're saying he wanted to show that he could provide a better environment than our guild and essentially say, 'Don't complain when I start picking your pockets'?"

"That's part of it. But he also wanted to show off to the Self-Defense Force members guarding the Dungeon Store."

The vice-chairman slowly sat down on the guest sofa.

"It's well known that you have connections not only with our club but also with the SDF recently. Enough for the weekly tabloids to make a fuss about collusion and whatnot. This Li fellow wanted to provoke the SDF, to suggest that the Walkers don't belong to Japan."

"Provoke...?"

"If the SDF were to panic and try to absorb the Walkers as a national organization, we, the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club, would be forced to distance ourselves from you. He must have remembered that you said you had no intention of forming official ties with any country when you were approached by China."

"And then, he'd try to recruit our now-unaffiliated club again."

"I wonder. I can't say if 'recruitment' would be such a lukewarm term for it. In any case, the SDF isn't that foolish. This provocation was just a 'we'll profit if it succeeds' kind of move. A jab, my boy, a jab."

"...That's a scary jab."

"You think so? This is child's play."

The vice-chairman shrugged lightly, then turned his gaze toward Yamashita from under his hood.

"Listen here, Yamashita-kun. From now on, the recruitment offers you receive will become more aggressive. I hear the Walkers have been actively taking on requests from the local government and participating in town cleanups lately... but a good reputation can easily be twisted into a bad one."

"........."

"For a country or a large corporation, isolating and devouring you is a piece of cake. In fact, hands are probably already reaching out from other countries. The movements you can see are just a fraction of the whole. Their arms must have spread quite far by now."

With a somewhat testing gaze, the vice-chairman stared at Yamashita.

"What will you do? Will you quit being a guild master and go back to being a regular adventurer? In your position, you should even be wary of assassination. I hear Turohorse has taken an interest in you recently, too."

"...No."

Yamashita met that gaze head-on, even managing a smile.

"This organization started on a whim... but even so, the 'me' of today is a guild master. I will see my duties through to the end. I won't abandon my guild members now. It's not just my guild anymore."

"...Immature. Still wet behind the ears. That resolve of yours is paper-thin."

Getting up from the sofa, the vice-chairman walked toward Yamashita.

Yamashita also stood from his chair and approached him. Though he had to look up due to the height difference, the 'guild master' did not avert his gaze.

"But it's interesting. I thought you still had eggshell on your face, but it seems you've grown enough for your greenness to be visible. It seems the position really does make the man."

"Keep talking about my backside like that and I'll sue you for sexual harassment, old man."

"It's only while I'm wearing this hood. That I can speak so freely, I mean."

The vice-chairman touched his pitch-black hood and let out a wry smile.

"...But, an old man, you say. You're right. Indeed, if I meddle any further, it would just be an old man overreaching himself."

Turning on his heel, the vice-chairman started walking toward the door.

"Farewell, young man. Do your best to swim through this world of those blinded by money and power."

"Don't talk like you're out of the game."

Yamashita said to his back, a defiant smile on his face.

"You're still active, aren't you?"

"...Oh?"

The vice-chairman twisted his neck, turning his head to look back.

"Are you trying to light a fire under an old man? Just when I was thinking of spending the rest of my life on my hobbies... I can't be held responsible for what I might do, you know?"

"This is my way of asking for your help. Besides, the Alchemy Enthusiasts Club would be in trouble if the Walkers collapsed, wouldn't it? Don't talk like it's someone else's problem."

Yamashita shrugged lightly, just as the vice-chairman had done earlier.

In response, a muffled laugh echoed through the room.

"Hee hee hee... You have a point, Yamashita-kun. I am still in the game. As a member of an allied organization, I shall support you from the shadows. What I'll do specifically is a secret, of course."

"Of course. I'm counting on you, Vice-Chairman of the club."

Their gazes met, burning with intensity.

And then, the vice-chairman took out his smartphone and the vial.

"With this level of favorability, I might just succeed...!"

"Get out of here already."