As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback Lifestyle~ - Chapter 199

Chapter 199 – Intervention

“Saito…san?” (Chake)
“You keep quiet, Chake.” (Kuzuhara)
“B-But…” (Chake)
“It’s fine. This is my punishment.” (Kuzuhara)
After saying that, Kuzuhara stood in front of Sayuri and the others and surprisingly enough, knelt down on both knees.

“―I’m sorry.” (Kuzuhara)
He bowed his head and apologized. Chake and the other members of the Inochi-shirazu were astonished to see him like this.

“What… is the meaning of this?” Sayuri asked, questioning his true intentions.

“If there are people among you who fell victim to the Inochi-shirazu, it’s definitely my fault.” (Kuzuhara)
“S-Saito-san, that—” (Chake)
“I thought I told you to shut up, Chake!” (Kuzuhara)
“…..!?” (Chake)

“I told you. This is my punishment. I am the head of Inochi-shirazu. You understand?” (Kuzuhara)
“But… But…..” (Chake)
It seemed that Kuzuhara had no intention of making excuses at all.

His fault…? It was true that Ryudou’s reckless aggression was caused by Kuzuhara, but I felt like there was no need for him to bear all of the responsibility.

But there were people who were originally followers of Kuzuhara who had been blackmailed by Ryudou into dirtying their hands and committing an evil act. And there might have been women here whose lives had been destroyed by those people.

In this light, it could be said that Kuzuhara’s Inochi-shirazu wasn’t completely unrelated. That was probably why he had no intention of making any excuses.

I wasn’t sure if it was his pride as the head of the organization or the pride of Kuzuhara himself, as a human.

However, I felt that he was somewhat cool as a man taking responsibility, even if it was just a little.

There seemed to be a discrepancy between Kuzuhara’s honest apology, his exchange with Chake, and their own experiences, and the people who noticed this had looks of bewilderment on their faces.

There were many people who weren’t convinced.

“Y-Your apology won’t bring my little brother back!”
One of the followers angrily lunged at Kuzuhara with a knife. And this time, Kuzuhara showed no signs of trying to avoid it.

“Saito-san, watch out!” (Chake)
Chake cried out in alarm, but the follower moved quicker.

The knife was just in front of Kuzuhara’s face when I grabbed it, stopping it in its tracks.

“…?! Y-You’re…?!” (Kuzuhara)
Kuzuhara’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the familiar face… of me, as Torimoto Kentaro. Chake’s reaction was the same.

“It’s been a while, Kuzuhara-san. I was here for… business.” (Torimoto)
“B-Business?” (Kuzuhara)
“Well, talk of that can come later. For now, please calm down.” (Torimoto)
“L-Let go of me”! (Follower)
The follower tried to break free from my grasp with desperate jerks of her body, so I simply let go.

After creating some distance between us, the follower glared at me.

I didn’t pay any attention to their glare and addressed Sayuri.

“Sayuri-san, I apologize for butting in so suddenly.” (Torimoto)
“…You seem to be acquainted?” (Sayuri)
“…You seem relatively calm. You have every right to be just as upset as she is. Did you notice that he wasn’t the one who hurt you…?” (Torimoto)
I thought that Sayuri’s demeanor was strange.

She was one of the people who had been attacked by a bunch of looters who called themselves the ‘Inochi-shirazu’. Since that was the case, it wouldn’t be surprising for her to immediately try to seek revenge now that they were in front of her, but I didn’t feel any anger from her end.

When the followers heard my words, they seemed puzzled as they looked over at Sayuri.

“….You’re not unrelated to this, are you?” Sayuri said finally, with difficulty.

“Well, I know a bit about the situation. It’s true that I’m not completely unrelated to this though. It’s just that I can’t let one of my friend’s acquaintances die like this.” (Torimoto)
Of course, the reason was that he was a business partner of Torakado and Enjou Yuri, the ‘arms dealer of death’. It would be painful to lose him here when he was a good source of income. That was why I stepped in and intervened.

“Besides, if you kill him because of a misunderstanding, she’ll regret it, you know?” (Torimoto)
The person I pointed at was the follower who tried to attack Kuzuhara just now. She made a puzzled expression in response.

However, she lifted her gaze and said, “W-What are you misunderstanding…?! They killed my little brother! Right in front of my eyes! And I…!” (Follower)
As she spoke, tears began to stream down her face, and another follower came over to console her. She had probably gone through the same experience as Sayuri.

“I understand how you feel. But even if you kill him now, it’ll be meaningless, since you’re still misunderstanding him.” (Torimoto)
“W-What do you mean by misunderstanding?!” (Follower)
“These people are indeed the Inochi-shirazu, and their leader is a guy that definitely looks good on his knees.” (Torimoto)
“You…” (Kuzuhara)
Kuzuhara shot a glare at me. I was trying to lighten up the mood a bit, but no one seemed to be laughing.

“T-Then…!” (Follower)
“But the Inochi-shirazu that would have attacked you and the other followers was another organization entirely.” (Torimoto)
“…?! …W-What do you mean?” The crying believer asked.

The other followers looked like they were finally starting to listen to what I had to say.