Chapter 38: Negotiation

“Nice to meet you. I’m Karys Arawn. I look forward to a long and happy relationship.”

“Hey, Touji. Explain.”

“This is your wife.”

“Yaaay!” Karys threw her arms up with a cheerful “Yaaay!” She was surprisingly into it.

“Hey, idiot. Details.”

The way he was treating me had taken a nosedive. Truly a tragic turn.

“It’s a political marriage. To form a connection with the Arawn Corporation. Give it up.”

“Why not you?”

“Our strongest asset said she’d turn on me if I accepted.”

“Also, if I’m being honest, between the two of you, I find Mr. Shinzo more to my taste.”

“Well, uh… thanks for that.”

Shinzo turned bright red, ears and all.

“…”

And I, caught in the crossfire, was left emotionally bruised and quietly crushed.

***

Two days had passed since Karys arrived.

During my usual three-day work rotation, I was based out of Uraba. No way was I going to spend a whole day just traveling back and forth to the camp.

Given the current circumstances, Shinzo and I had been alternating shifts, while Eevee, Mr. Howard, and Karys stayed behind to watch over the camp.

By my estimate, it was about time. They’d be coming soon. I might need to head back early. Tomorrow’s the final day of my shift—maybe I’ll pick up a job near the camp or just head back while thinning out some hostile aliens along the way.

That was the plan forming in my mind as I ate dinner at Doggy House.

Tonight’s menu: fried chicken. I tore into the meat without caring how greasy my hands got. My fingers were slick with oil as I ripped off chunks of bread and shoved them in my mouth. It was cheap oil, but that’s what made it good.

Across from me, Rudo was devouring a bowl of special dog food with chicken skin mixed in. His ears suddenly perked up, eyes locking onto the entrance. His tail wagged three times in a puzzled rhythm; he’d picked up the familiar presence of someone who shouldn’t be here.

The swing door creaked open.

And in walked Shinzo.

“Dinner?”

“Not yet.”

In that case, please, help yourself. I handed over the remaining fried chicken on my plate and asked Potato Man for extra. Soon enough, he brought over more chicken along with a mountain of fries.

Shinzo and I tore into it like wild beasts. We knew we were being rude, but we started talking anyway.

“…They’ve come, huh?”

“Yeah. They’re here.”

“Scale?”

“A Tatara Heavy Industries subsidiary is handling the fron—”

“With the city backing them? Were they trying to hide it?”

“They showed up with city officials from the start.”

“Their demands?”

“Return the stolen Sleepers.”

“And the abuse?”

“Of course, they’re not admitting to it.”

“Their claim?”

“‘Those individuals are property of our city. Return them immediately.’”

My hand stopped mid-bite. Damn, that’s bold. Brazen. I love it. No need to hold back.

“Prep?” / “Okay.”

“Resolve?” / “All good.”

“Status?” / “Fucked.”

“Hah!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Prep: okay. Resolve: solid. Status: totally fucked. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

“Well then, Shinzo? You up for it?”

“Hell yeah. Situation’s on, rock and roll.”

***

Even in the era I came from, I remember child abuse regularly making the news.

Speaking from the utterly irresponsible standpoint of someone who wasn’t even sure if he’d ever had a girlfriend, let alone kids, I always felt the fault lay with the education system, or maybe the media.

Maternal instinct. Paternal instinct. That word “instinct” is the real problem. As if the moment a child is born, a parent’s love is automatic and unconditional. Schools never taught that motherly and fatherly care were things you learned and cultivated.

That’s why there were parents who killed their own children.

That’s humanity for you. As society evolved, people realized that in the worst case, even their own kids would be taken care of by “the system.” So there was no need for motherly or fatherly instincts anymore. It stopped being instinctual.

With that in mind, the idea of using Sleeper children—weak, unprotected, and without advocates—for profit isn’t all that shocking. It’s not, if profit is all you care about.

Amaz was, unusually for this era, a city that owned its own mine. And not just any mine. It was a root-level Tree Crystal mine—source of the most vital resource in the world.

Tree Crystals, by nature, grow using light as nourishment, but there’s a subspecies, or rather, an environment-adapted variant that develops underground in darkness. Compared to regular Tree Crystals, these subterranean ones are inferior in almost every way. Almost, except when used as an energy source. In that one regard, they surpass the norm: their peak instantaneous output is higher.

In my squad, both Tiger Unit and Dragon Unit use this type of crystal as their core.

And to mine those deep-earth crystals, children are extremely useful.

Small bodies.

Which means smaller tunnels.

That’s it. That’s the whole reason.

And for that reason, children died in narrow, dimly lit holes. Treated as disposable.

And the ones who accepted that… No, at least when it came to Sleeper children, the ones who actively promoted it were the city of Amaz.

I asked Alice, the scout Puppy who compiled this report, about it.

—Do the other cities, or corporations, know about this?

—Ah… sucks to say it, but yeah, they know. Thing is, if they were to shut it down—

—The price of the variant would skyrocket.

—Exactly. I’m sorry, Sleeper Hound-san, but… Sleeper human rights are kind of a gray area.

So that’s how it is.

If cheap and low-quality products get criticized, then you need to cut costs somewhere other than performance. The burden falls on labor. And the ones made to bear it were the children.

Right now, I’m standing in front of a corporate building in the heart of Amaz. Here for negotiations.

My Hound-model headgear is feeding me visuals of the surroundings. I’m in front of a fifteen-story building—the headquarters of Amatsu Mining, the central company in this city of Amaz.

We’re here to discuss the fate of the children we rescued and the camp we built to protect them.

“You’re really going with that, huh?”

Shinzo, dressed in a suit, gave me a skeptical side glance.

『Yes, yes, caution is important, let’s go with that.』

My response came through the Hound model helmet’s mechanical speaker, the source of his suspicion.

『Anyway, the negotiations are in your hands, alright?』

“Why the hell am I the one representing us? Shouldn’t Howard be doing this? He’s the oldest, you know?” Shinzo muttered.

『But you, who just took Karys as your bride, are the most suitable representative.』

Give it up, I said without saying it.

“I’m not nearly as twisted as you are.”

『Oh, come now. Just look at these pure, innocent eyes.』

“I can’t see them.”

『Ah, right. Forgot.』

Well, regardless, if we’re thinking long-term, Shinzo’s going to find himself in this kind of role more and more. He might as well get used to it.

“Looks like they’ve arrived.”

“Hey there, Shinzo-kun! How are things with Karys?”

As Shinzo spoke, my visuals adjusted.

Two men came into view.

And of course, it was Edrum again—glasses in tow as always—calling out cheerfully.

“Should I be calling you Father-in-law now?”

“Hahaha, call me whatever you like. So then?”

Shinzo had tried to dodge the topic, but Edrum had cornered him neatly. No escape. He glanced at the Hound model, silently pleading for help. I said nothing.

“She’s far too good for a guy like me.”

At those words, the three others present all nodded in satisfaction.

***

We were led to the only room on the top floor of the building—a glass-walled conference room with a panoramic view.

At the head of the table sat Edrum Arawn, here in his role as witness.

On our side, only Shinzo and the Hound model took seats. In that serene, high-class space, the sight of just the two of them seated across from such weighty authority felt deeply surreal.

Apparently, the other side thought so too.

Even with the sheer presence of a VIP like Edrum Arawn, that odd imbalance couldn’t be entirely smoothed over.

Representing the other side were the president of Amatsu Mining and the mayor of Amaz—two men who looked, frankly, like fat tanuki statues sitting side by side. I was genuinely startled when they moved and spoke. In other words, they carried a certain impact too, just not the flattering kind.

—Well then, shall we begin?

Someone said those words to start.

“Alrighty, let’s get this goin’. Now, we ain’t lookin’ to waste good ol’ Edrum-han’s time, so let’s keep it snappy. Here.”

The tanuki-like company president spoke in a syrupy drawl and scattered several photos across the table.

They showed the children from our camp.

“We had a little look into y’all,” said the tanuki-like president in his syrupy Kansai drawl. “A Hound, and a Puppy from the Shepherd Dog—you’re real strong. But see, me? I don’t got nothin’ to do with all that rough stuff. Just a simple man. Real scary stuff, y’know. But hey, look at this.”

He tapped one of the photos on the table. It showed a child sleeping inside a building. It hadn’t been taken with a telephoto lens.

In other words—

“No matter how strong y’all are, you can’t protect everything. That’s just how it is. You understand, right?”

“We came here to talk,” Shinzo growled. “So what the hell is this? Huh? Answer me, what kind of stunt are you pulling?”

The air itself seemed to groan, like something straining under pressure. In that moment, Shinzo wasn’t a man, he was a beast, baring its fangs.

“Ohh, scary~! Don’t be like that now,” the tanuki president crooned.

But he wasn’t shaken. None of them were. They all wore smug, sneering grins. Because in their minds, there was no way this soft-hearted do-gooder could ever do anything. That was their absolute confidence.

“Then negotiations are off, is that what you’re saying?”

“Now, now, what’re you sayin’, son? If you don’t give back the stolen property, things are gonna get real messy, y’hear?”

“That’s right, real messy~” chimed the second tanuki, practically gleeful.

They were having a grand old time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t enjoying this at all.

And Shinzo… he was nearing his breaking point.

“We came here to talk. You’re the ones who spat on that. Are we clear?”

“Ahhh, damn! What a pain in the ass you are! And if I do say ‘fine,’ then what? Huh? What’re you gonna do, tough guy?! Keep puffin’ up your chest like that and see where it gets you!”

“War.”

“Puhaha! Ohhh, you really said it! Fine then, bring it on!”

“—”

And at that moment, Shinzo… grinned.

“Touji.”

『Whoa, now, let’s not jump the gun. We gathered a whole pile of dirt to use as leverage, remember? Shouldn’t we at least try to use it?』

Like this one, for example—the evidence that the tanuki CEO and the tanuki mayor are in a secret romantic relationship. I really didn’t want to see those graphic images, but I still made sure to confirm their authenticity. Come on, let’s use it.

“Send it around later as chain mail.”

『…』

Savage.

“Let’s go. Prepared?” / 『…All set.』

“Resolve?” / 『Solid.』

“Status?” / 『Utterly fucked.』

The same ritual questions as before—only this time, our roles were reversed. And with that—

“Situation start. Rock and roll. Hit it.”

I moved.

Fifteen minutes passed.

“Pfft! All that dramatic talk, and nothin’ even happened!”

With that smug remark from the tanuki mayor, the room erupted into a chorus of jeers. Mostly along the lines of ‘Now’s your chance to apologize, Don’t push your luck, Get down and grovel.’ That sort of thing.

As the tanuki president looked on with a triumphant smirk, his terminal rang. Still brimming with confidence, he casually answered the call—

“Shut it down! Right now!”

—Then lunged at Shinzo.

“Back off. I’ll break it.”

Unfazed, Shinzo caught the man’s fingers in a vice-like grip and, with his warning, snapped them. Not that the warning meant anything. He probably just felt like saying it.

“Gggggghhhhhhhhhh—!”

The president let out a voiceless scream, cold sweat pouring down his face as he tried to endure the pain. To his credit, he still managed to glare up at Shinzo. Gotta hand it to him, he was a president.

“W-What the hell, man? Did that guy do somethin’ to you?!”

“Our warehouses! They’re being raided! Hit after hit! Led by some damn skilled Tooth woman with a Monoz strike team! S-Stop her! Now! If you stop her right now, maybe—!”

“You moron.”

“Huh? Haaahhh? Who you callin’ moron, bastard?! You think you’ll get away with—”

“No, you’re the idiot. We’re at war, remember?”

The tanuki president and mayor both stared in blank confusion, mouths slightly agape. In their minds, the earlier conversation was surely playing on loop:

—War.

—Puhaha! Ohhh, you really said it! Fine then, bring it on!

“You’re the idiot, youuuu!”

“J-Just one sentence, and all that…!”

The Super Tanuki Brothers screamed in perfect unison.

“I declared war. You accepted. That means the war’s on, doesn’t it?”

“Damn brat! You want a war? I’ll kill you right here!”

The tanuki roared, and one of their enforcers—disguised among the executives—reached inside his coat and pulled a gun.

“Oh, by the way, Touji, I thought I’d let you in on a little secret.”

『Huh? Why now, of all times?』

“Turns out I’m not such a nice guy after all.”

『That’s hardly a revelation.』

What’s he even saying? I didn’t get the chance to voice it. Shinzo was already on the move.

“Get up, Goz the Ox-Head. Mez the Horse-Head. Time to work.”

His pant legs tore open—that was fine. He’d been wearing centipede-style Monoz leg armor beneath them. In one fluid motion, he slid across the floor, ran up the wall, then sprinted along the ceiling before launching himself down at one of the nearest goons.

—That was the problem.

『Monoz?!』

“Damn right. I’m not limited to two units; I can contract with four.”

『Liar.』

“Appreciate the compliment.”

As he spoke, Shinzo swiftly subdued the soldier.

He drove an elbow into the man’s face, disarmed him, and used him as a human shield against the other raised guns. Then, with fluid force, he shoved the soldier’s head toward the glass wall that lined one side of the conference room.

“Come on, hurry up already.”

『You know, we didn’t have to take it this far.』

“Even as a Puppy, I’m still a Shepherd Dog. It’s instinct. Do it, Hound.”

『Grr, grr.』

Following Shinzo’s command, I lay prone on the rooftop of a building three hundred meters away… and gently squeezed the trigger.

“—!”

A spiderweb crack bloomed across the glass. A sniper shot. The soldier Shinzo was holding let out a scream, but that was it.

“Huh? H-Hah! Idiot! Like hell a bullet’s getting through, this is bulletproof glass—”

『Oh, I know.』

I cut him off mid-sentence.

Yes. I knew.

I knew that glass was bulletproof. I knew it was laminated with resin sheets designed to absorb and diffuse impact, to keep bullets from passing through.

That’s why I fired a second shot.

Both bullets dropped to the floor inside the room.

“……No way.”

The tanuki president muttered in disbelief. Poor guy. The soldier he’d used as a shield could no longer speak—just tremble in terror at what was coming.

『…』

I ignored it.

Pulled the trigger.

Crack!—the sharp report echoed, and the soldier’s head burst open.

“Oh? A one-hole shot, was it?”

In the stunned silence that followed, it was Edrum’s voice that rang out, sounding genuinely entertained. It was grotesquely out of place.

“W-What the hell?! The sniper Hound is supposed to be in here!”

『Ashtray.』

I owed him no explanation. Instead, I pulled the trigger three more times, shattering the ashtray on the table. Screams erupted.

“M-Move! If we just move, he won’t be able to—!”

As the soldier shouted and made a run for it, his head exploded mid-stride.

A commotion broke out near the entrance. A squad that had noticed the abnormality inside tried to storm in, only for Shinzo to meet them with a brutal kick, sending them flying back. He rolled every stolen grenade he had toward the door and slammed it shut.

The explosion boomed. The door creaked open with a metallic screech and revealed a heap of corpses.

Another soldier’s head burst apart. That was me. The bulletproof glass had begun to degrade, and now I could punch through it with two rounds. Shinzo darted around the room, scattering enemy soldiers, forcing them into confusion, even tricking them into friendly fire. One by one, he maneuvered them into my line of fire. And I pulled the trigger.

Before long, the room’s security detail had vanished.

Our war-minded opponents were now huddled in the corner, paralyzed. The tanuki president’s terminal continued to blare with emergency alerts, demanding action as reports of attacks streamed in.

Just then, a message came through from Rat Unit.

Report: currently raiding

Attached was a photo of an exploding factory, paired with a caption that looked like it was ripped straight from a clickbait post destined to go viral.

“Touji, looks like we’re out of soldiers.”

『Hm? Ah, then next up is Executive Director Umemichi over there.』

“W-What?! Why?!”

The one called out—Umemichi, a gaunt middle-aged man—let out a shriek.

『You’re the most replaceable. And you carry the least baggage for post-war negotiations.』

“I—I opposed the president’s decision! I swear! I never wanted to discriminate against Sleepers! P-Please! Please stop! Don’t do this!”

『I’m not the one you should be pleading with. That would be the president and the mayor… Fifteen seconds.』

What happened to Umemichi fifteen seconds later, I’ll leave unsaid. But I pulled the trigger. In cases like this, making it look like a deliberate execution amplifies the fear.

The tanuki president and mayor were trembling, unable to speak.

…And yet, they still weren’t saying the words we needed to hear.

That left us no choice.

『Mr. President.』

“Huh? Eh? M-Me?! N-No, no, you’ve got the wrong guy, brother! I—I can’t! Look, I’ve got, uh, y’know—oh! Right! We’ve still got the whole peace negotiation to—!”

That may be true. Even so—

『You don’t seem very responsive to threats.』

I said it calmly. Flatly.

“Wha—?! Edrum-han! Please, stop these guys! This is insane!”

“Well, you see. I was only asked to witness. I’m not supposed to interfere.”

“Yama—Yama-chan! Let’s give in! Let’s just accept their demands!”

“…But still, our pride… our dignity…”

“To hell with pride and scarecrows! If this keeps up, I—I’ll be—! Brother! I swear! I’ll do it! I’ll accept the terms! So please, please, have mercy!”

I pulled the trigger.

The mayor exploded.

『Mr. President, what was that you just said?』

“I meant it!! I meant every word!!”

The president’s scream echoed through the room. Shinzo grinned.

“Then let’s get to peace negotiations, loser.”

As promised, Shinzo really was a bastard.

The ceasefire negotiations held in that cracked, webbed-glass conference room—well, there’s no point sugarcoating it. It was blackmail, plain and simple. Even so, with Edrum Arawn acting as official witness, the president would find it very hard to go back on his word.

***

After leaving Amatsu Mining, Shinzo and I had arranged to meet up.

I made sure Eevee and the Monoz had withdrawn safely, then headed for the rendezvous point, where Shinzo was already bowing his head to Mr. Edrum.

“Thank you for everything today. And, uh… Father-in-law.”

“Hmm. I like that. The awkwardness suits you. I can tell you’re not used to it. I like that about you, Shinzo. So let me ask you something. You got angry for the sake of the children, didn’t you? That anger is just. But holding onto that anger, it’s not easy. Someday, you may lose hope. And when that day comes, will you still keep living this way?”

“Losing hope isn’t a good enough reason to give up.”

“Justice alone won’t carry you. There’ll be worse jobs than this one, dirtier work.”

“No problem. I’m too old to be playing hero anyway. And besides, I’ve got a partner who’s good at that stuff.”

Shinzo jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at me.

Edrum turned his gaze toward me.

Stop looking over here.

“Right. Tou-nyan’s got that covered.”

“…”

He accepted that far too easily. What a cruel world.

“Oh, by the way, who’s in that centipede armor? The voice fooled me, thought it was Touji, but that was just through a mic, wasn’t it?”

“Hmm? Oh, right. Yeah. You can take it off now.”

At Shinzo’s signal, she slowly removed the Hound model’s headpiece.

And the person most shocked by the sight was—Edrum.

“N-No… no, no, no, no, no!”

As Edrum stood there speechless, the girl in the armor looked him in the eye and declared, “I’m your daughter.”

“Noooooooooooo!”

I adore this ridiculous father-daughter duo. They pull off these little skits without any rehearsal.