Chapter 121: Kidnapping

“Let’s talk business, Father-in-law.”

“I have no obligation to be called father by you!”

“…Well, you know. It’s the proper form.”

It was not as if I especially wanted to call him that either. I simply wanted to do it once.

In any case, there had been a perfectly solid reason behind Mr. Howard and E.B.’s strange behavior.

E.B. had been watching the meeting between the man she had chosen and her father with a broad, smug grin. Mr. Howard, meanwhile, had been dealing with a powerful Tooth who was supposed to be friendly, only for a parent-child issue to get tangled in and keep the conversation from going smoothly. Then I had arrived halfway through and started picking a fight, which had apparently been murdering his stomach.

“All right, I’m done here. I’m going back to my room.”

“Yes, of course. This seems to be a business matter, so we should be fine, but—”

Are you sure I can accept it?

I asked Mr. Howard with my eyes while he held his stomach. He nodded firmly. Apparently, it was fine. Then let us move things along. And let me escape before Mr. Howard noticed the number of children had increased.

“E.B., the people gathered in the park are getting anxious. Please go explain the situation.”

“Ehh? I wanted to watch Papa and Touji be awkward with each other a little longer.”

“It makes it hard to talk…”

Go already.

I chased the two of them out and, for what felt like the hundredth time, threw the words at Mr. A.B.

“Shall we talk business?”

“I don’t mind, but… is your representative all right with this?”

“Our representative?”

What did he mean?

“Yes. This job concerns a kidnapping case, does it not? The recent string of incidents involving human and Tooth children.”

“I see.”

—Ah.

So that was why it was me.

I did not hold that much hatred toward Tooths. I was capable of weighing profit against everything else and deciding to not see the atrocities committed by Tooths—by Rikan and his people.

Which meant that even if I found Tooth children while rescuing human ones, I was someone who would still protect them properly.

No wonder Potato Man had picked me.

A person merely having no resistance to Tooths would not be enough for this job.

There were a fair number of mercenaries who, while not exactly friendly, had no particular resistance to dealing with Tooths. But mercenaries like me—who had no resistance and, as long as it caused no harm to me, did not particularly care—were rare.

The more skilled they were, the rarer that became.

The reason was simple. Humans and Tooths were still skirmishing even now, and the ones fighting on that front line were mercenaries.

“…This is the first I’ve heard of the case itself, but yes. I am probably the representative.”

“The culprit is most likely human.”

“Right.”

“Can you do it?”

“Ah. I see.”

So that was what he meant.

“I can, and I will.”

My master drilled me properly, so I am capable of killing people.

…Ah. I could not bring Shinzo on this job either. Rikan… no, impossible. Nothing for it. I would move alone.

“I don’t like leaving my daughter to a man who can’t even love his own kind.”

“In that case, please find your daughter a man who will overlook scum just because they happen to be his own kind.”

“—”

He fell silent, a crease forming between his brows.

Then he beckoned one of his guards over and whispered something. One guard left the room, then returned with one half of the pair who looked like twins at the entrance—the woman.

Mr. A.B. whispered to her this time.

“Ah… what am I supposed to call you?”

“As your daughter’s future husband, Touji-kun. As a business partner, Hound. My personal recommendation is my son. Choose whichever you like.”

“Stupid dog.”

“…Gau, gau.”

Since I had apparently been called, I answered for the time being.

“I can’t help seeing you through a filter. Shameful as it may be for the head of an organization, I am still a father. When it comes to the man stealing my precious daughter away—my killing intent comes first.”

“…”

I would very much prefer that it did not.

“So I’ll leave the job to her. —C.J.”

At Mr. A.B.’s words, the woman in the suit stepped forward.

“I look forward to working with you, Lord Hound.”

She bowed smoothly. When she raised her face, she looked straight at me.

“Incidentally, I am a lesbian, and the princess’s childhood friend, so I hate you.”

“…”

For the moment.

For the moment, I tried nodding in silence. I had no idea why I nodded. It had no particular effect.

Never had an introduction hit me that hard before.

***

Fine.

Apparently even Mr. A.B. had not known. His startled “Wait, seriously?” as he checked with the other half of the twins carried all the way down here into the basement, but fine.

Lesbian, hated me—whatever. Honestly, I did not care all that much.

“Earlier, you said the culprit is human.”

What did you mean by that?

“There have been several cases where rescue arrived in time and combat occurred. The enemy in those cases was a robot.”

“I see?”

The word robot caught on something in my mind. Meaning—

“Not Monoz?”

“Correct. They were, well, cylindrical things—ah, they are broken, but here are photographs.”

Tooth terminals did not have terminal covers so much as mysterious parasite creatures attached to them, so, honestly, I did not want to touch it. But she had offered it to me, so I had no choice but to take it. I accepted the terminal and peered at the screen. Where a camera might have been, there was a small snake-like eye on the top edge.

“…”

Our eyes met.

Terrifying.

“…Hm?”

Oh?

Just as C.J. had said, the machine in the photograph was broken.

Broken, yes—but familiar.

“Rat Unit, you recorded today’s combat data, didn’t you?”

Response: Video data available. Confirming → Do you require a zoomed image of the enemy?

“Correct. Please.”

Less than ten seconds after I said it, an electronic tone sounded. My terminal vibrated.

“Was this what it looked like before it broke?”

I returned C.J.’s terminal while showing her mine.

“Yes. Yes, that’s it. What is this?”

“We fought them today on the way back here. Excellent timing. We captured one.”

“May I confirm it?”

“I’ll show you.”

This way, I said, rising to my feet.