Chapter 100: My Stomach Is in Knots

Maybe Masuo-san¹, too, gets low-kicked by Namihei somewhere out of sight.

Not the face. Never the face.

Not the body either. Never the body.

That is why the low kick exists.

Namihei Kick. The reaper’s scythe that further swells Masuo-san’s legs after he is already exhausted from the daily packed train.

But surely Masuo-san does not simply take it forever. Under the training of Katsuo, the next-generation strongest man who inherited Namihei’s genes, he rises again.

That is the story of History’s Strongest Husband, Masuo.

“…”

The weather was nice, so I found myself thinking about that.

“…Too hot. To think you cannot even properly make a retort pouch that only needs warming.”

“You’re pale, aren’t you? This is the thoughtfulness of a ‘wife’ trying to warm you up even a little. The wife of your son Touji, meaning me!”

“Wife? Hm? Aren’t you his friend? Did you not know? Men cannot marry each other.”

“…Hey. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Ah, I see. My apologies. You are technically a woman. Or since you are a Tooth, should I say female? I was looking at your back, so I failed to notice. Sorry.”

“…”

“Hm? What is it? You are facing me properly, aren’t you? My apologies. I am not that way inclined, you see. I did not notice.”

“～～!”

Yes. I only thought about that because the weather was nice.

It had nothing to do with the scene in front of me, where a woman sitting up in bed was exchanging words with the woman standing beside her.

Exactly. It had nothing to do with Yuri, who was practically going, “Ah, my shoulders are so stiff. I won’t say why, but my shoulders are stiff. I envy people who never get stiff shoulders,” or Eevee, who was grinding her teeth at her. I was not thinking of the phrase “mother-in-law problem” while looking at those two.

I was not.

Which meant there was no reason for me to be here. Yuri seemed to be recovering well, so I would go visit Alex.

And so I turned around. I spun on my heel and started walking. Started walking, started wal… could not.

Why was that?

Strange. Could it have something to do with the fact that someone had grabbed me around the waist? Would she please let go?

With that feeling, I sent her a protesting look.

“Touji, tell her! Tell her how charming I am!”

Eevee was half in tears.

What should I do?

She was half sobbing and saying, “Tell her boobs aren’t the only thing that makes someone attractive!”

Seriously, what should I do?

“Ah, you came, Touji. Wipe the sweat from my back.”

And Yuri said that while lifting and emphasizing a very specific part of herself.

“…”

My gaze was stolen by the feat, one impossible for Eevee.

“…Eevee.”

“…”

“My foot hurts. Could you stop stepping on it, please?” I asked.

“Why did you bring her here!”

Eevee demanded.

I let out a sigh and scratched my head.

I had no idea how many times I had explained this. But every single time, Eevee threw a tantrum like this, so I repeated the same explanation I always gave.

“For the ransom.”

So please accept it. Actually, if you are going to fight every single time, would it not be better not to go near her?

“That is humiliation against the defeated! The defeated should be properly killed!”

And yet this young lady, who growled “Uuu” while saying such dangerous things, would pick at Yuri whenever she saw an opening, only to be counterattacked like this.

Calling it straightforward would sound nice.

But with the Tooth race, simple seemed more accurate. Apparently, they were not very good at verbal fights.

“Hm. I see. That makes sense. By the way, Touji, let me confirm what you told me before about your first encounter with that thing there. If I remember correctly, you fought, and then… what happened to that thing?”

“～～!”

Even now, Yuri shot back with ease.

“Ow. Stop that.”

And after losing the argument, Eevee took it out on me by smacking my back over and over.

Then came the impossible demand.

“Say something back!”

“I’m not very good at arguing either.”

Impossible.

As I said that, I took out the apples I had brought as a get-well gift and glanced around. Rudo had come along hoping for scraps, but not a single one of my Monoz was here. Lately, for some reason, I felt like I had not seen them much.

“…”

Were they on strike? If so, that was bad. I should catch Dog Unit or Rat Unit sometime soon.

Yuri’s small gray Monoz, Daikon, was there, so I beckoned it over and put an apple into its mouth. Less than two seconds later, its mouth opened, and out came a peeled, sliced apple. I gave the peel and core to Rudo. Once he had gotten what he came for, he had no more business here. He ate the peel on the spot, then trotted off to his bed with the core in his mouth.

Unfair.

“Here you go.”

As I was handing the plate to Yuri, one slice vanished from it.

The apple meant for the patient went straight into Eevee’s mouth.

“…”

“…”

“…Could you two please not glare at each other over something that small?”

I wanted to spend an hour asking why they got along this badly. No, that sounded like a pain. Never mind.

“Touji, feed me.”

“No. Eat it yourself.”

“I only have one arm, remember?”

Yuri lifted the empty left shoulder.

“You manage daily life just fine with that arm.”

I said that, but when Yuri opened her mouth anyway, I fed her a slice of apple. Shori, went the bite. Yuri smiled with a satisfied little “fufu.”

“…”

Someone silently tugged my sleeve. When I looked over, Eevee had opened her mouth like a baby bird.

I ignored her.

“Touji.”

“…”

“I’ll bite you.”

Please do not bite me. Please stop. I shifted the plate sideways and set it in front of Eevee.

“Feed me too.”

“…You don’t have any problem eating by yourself.”

“You fed her!”

“Yuri is… well, it can’t be helped.”

She was a hostage, and she only had one arm, and technically, she was my mother.

“Which one of us is more important, me or Yuri!?”

Hahaha.

What was with this woman? What a pain.

“Obviously you’re both important.”

The line came out completely flat.

“Idiot!”

As a result, she slapped me hard on the back. With Tooth strength. It hurt a lot. Tears came to my eyes. When I turned to glare at the culprit, she had already fled.

Cruel. Truly cruel.

“Touji, a woman who gets jealous and immediately resorts to violence is the worst.”

“That is very true.”

“I would never do anything like that.”

“…”

What was she talking about?

With that feeling, I looked at Yuri on the bed.

Yuri looked straight back at me with red eyes.

“Well, give me your answer while I am still here.”

“No, I’ll give it now.”

“Oh?”

“Apparently, I’m dense.”

“…”

“So that much is just right for me.”

I shrugged.

Sorry.

She had her cute points too, in her own way. So, well, it was fine.

Five minutes later, I left Yuri’s room. A small impact hit me from behind. Someone small pressed her head into my back and rubbed against it.

“…”

I said nothing and let that easy-to-understand, adorable girl do as she liked.

***

In this era, if you captured a mercenary from an enemy force, and that mercenary happened to be human or Tooth, you had a chance to make a little more money.

Ransom.

You sent a message to the captive’s organization. Pay this much, and we will release your soldier. Then you set up negotiations and exchanged money for the hostage.

“…”

Which was why I was now in a private room at Doggy House, with Alex and Yuri standing behind me in handcuffs.

Potato Man had told me not to negotiate in the bar area.

At first, I had not really understood what he meant.

Thank you for coming all this way. Now then, let us make the exchange for the amount discussed beforehand. Done and done.

That was the flow I had imagined.

I had not even gouged them on the ransom. My thinking had been, If I can make some pocket money, that is enough, so even Yuri, who was Hero-class, had been kept to one million C.

Honestly, I would have been fine with giving them back for free.

I had picked too many fights with companies under Tatara Heavy Industries. I wanted to lighten my load for once. So honestly, I had even been willing to haggle.

But,

“…I am sorry, but could you say that again?”

“Certainly.”

The man in front of me, dressed in black with square glasses and slicked-back hair, the Double C negotiator, spoke in a stiff tone.

“Regarding Alex, our company will not agree to a transaction with you.”

“…”

This.

I let out a long breath and rubbed between my eyes.

I bought myself a little time while my thoughts raced.

Huh? Why? Do you not want Alex? No. I do not understand. Maybe we are using different languages?

“If this is a matter of negotiating the amount…”

“As compensation, if I may call it that, we are prepared to pay ten times the amount for Yuri, our company’s ace.”

“…”

Ten times.

Ten million C.

In other words, the negotiator was saying,

“This is not about money?”

“Correct. It is for the sake of both our dignity and yours.”

I did not quite follow.

I tilted my head slightly and prompted him to continue with my eyes.

“Why did you not kill Alex and Yuri this time?”

“Because I am a pacifist. I do not kill unnecessarily.”

“…”

The negotiator in front of me gave me a very nice smile.

Ah. That would not work. No, it definitely would not. In that case, I would be honest.

“Because they were acquaintances.”

“Hound-san, that will be taken as softness.”

“…I see.”

If that much was enough to survive, people would start sidling up to me.

I would suddenly have a lot more relatives and close friends.

“So you want me to make an example of Alex?”

“Of course not! What a waste that would be!”

A waste.

A waste, he said.

If he used those words, then the negotiator in front of me was the type who moved for profit. That was what I thought.

“Hound-san, are you aware of your position with our company, or rather, with Tatara Heavy Industries?”

“I assume I’m hated?”

“To put it mildly.”

“…How sad.”

“Yes, truly.”

The negotiator smiled, looking not at all saddened by my words.

“So we have a proposal for you. Let us get along.”

“Shall we shake hands?”

“A kind offer, but no.”

No, thank you, said the negotiator.

“The Craftsmen’s Guild has built a good relationship with you by having you belong to them. Arawn Company has done so through blood ties. Is that correct?”

“Yes. And Tatara Heavy Industries and I have a fairly hostile relationship because they were using Sleeper children as slaves.”

“…Pardon me, but every organization does that.”

“Then please do not do it where I can see.”

If I could not see it, if I could not hear it, I would ignore it.

But if I saw it and heard it, then there was no helping it.

“…Let us speak of the future, Hound-san.”

“By all means.”

There was no point in arguing in circles. The negotiator and I quickly decided to forget the past.

“Our company would like to build a relationship with you, or rather, with all of you, by supplying personnel. We have looked into your circumstances. You are putting effort into education in order to help the children become independent, yes?”

In other words,

“We would like to dispatch our training unit as instructors.”

The negotiator smiled.

“Is that an order from the secret trading company, Abacus?”

The eyes behind his glasses wavered at that single sentence.