As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback Lifestyle~ - Chapter 210

Chapter 210 – Another Sign of Trouble?

“….Kei-chan.” (Saniwa)
Saniwa called out her name uneasily. I also couldn’t help but think that Shakuhara seemed a little off right now.

What was strange was that Shakuhara, who hated men, had just left her best friend all alone with a man. Judging by her past behavior, she never would have allowed such a thing. And yet…

“U-Umm, Torimoto-san!” (Saniwa)
“…Ah, you can go ahead. I won’t run away.” (Torimoto)
“…! Thank you!” (Saniwa)
Saniwa bowed deeply, then turned on her heel and went after Shakuhara.

Well then. Even though I said I wouldn’t run away, what should I do now?

At that moment…

“―Torimoto-sama.”

Somebody called out my name.

I turned my head and saw a woman in a blue bandana, one of Sayuri’s personal guards.

This person wasn’t the one who had brought me here but the one who was always quietly assessing the scene.

“You are…?” (Torimoto)
“I apologize for the late introduction. I am one of the higher-ups of the order, Aoyama Kanade.”
“What business do you have with me, Aoyama-san?” (Torimoto)
“…There’s something I would like to discuss with you in private.” (Aoyama)
…Huh? Why does this situation seem familiar?

A confidential talk with a person of authority in the middle of a hostile environment.

…Ah right, it was the same as that time with old man Rajie.

However… I saw Aoyama looking at me with cold eyes, which gave off a different impression from that of Rajie. After all, I didn’t see the slightest bit of warmth in her eyes when she looked at me. It was as if she wasn’t even looking at a human.

It wasn’t a condescending look, like that of Ohsaka and Ryudou. It just seemed… different. Different from me. It was like the gaze you would direct at a monster, whose existence you didn’t acknowledge.

She probably didn’t trust men either and wanted them to disappear from this world, no doubt. And yet, for her to want to talk with a man confidentially…

…It seemed like more trouble was headed my way.

I sighed inwardly and decided to listen to what she had to say.

“You want to talk in private?” (Torimoto)
“Yes. But right now it is too conspicuous, so I will visit you in the evening. Would that be alright?” (Aoyama)
“…Yes, that’s fine.” (Torimoto)
The woman bid farewell and quickly left.

“Shiki, what do you think?” (Torimoto)
“That woman smells like danger. Milord is a really trouble generator.” (Shiki)

“I know, right? …Hey wait, isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration though? Anyway, it seems safer to just run away.” (Torimoto)
“This one would recommend that you retreat as soon as possible.” (Shiki)
“But I would rather wait until the talks are over.” (Torimoto)
It was a potentially lucrative business deal. It would be a shame to let it go.

“It can’t be helped then. She said evening, right…?” (Shiki)
“Yes, that seems to be the case.” (Torimoto)
“Let’s just listen to what she has to say for now.” (Shiki)
Just like that time with Rajie, there was a chance this could be yet another opportunity for a big profit. In the end, I decided to wait until the evening to hear her out.

I was alone once again. Which reminds me, what about those two who went to the infirmary…?

I decided to go inside the building to check on them and kill some time. Saniwa had already shown me where the infirmary was, so I headed straight there.

The moment I arrived in front of the door of the infirmary…

“―Wait, Kei-chan… What did you say just now?” (Saniwa)
I heard her trembling voice through the door that was slightly ajar. They seemed to be in the middle of something, so I leaned against the wall next to the door and listened carefully.

“I told you… to get out of here.” (Shakuhara)
It seemed that Saniwa was talking with Shakuhara. But by ‘get out of here’, did she mean the infirmary, or…?

“Why? Why are you saying that?” (Saniwa)
“Then you’re okay with it? Can you kill a man? A war is about to start, you know?” (Shakuhara)
“Well, t-that…” (Saniwa)
Hm? It’s about the war? I couldn’t quite grasp what they were talking about.

“This time will be different from before. We’re dealing with the yakuza, a large-scale organization. This time, it’ll probably be an all-out war. Even if we team up with the Inochi-shirazu or the Apostles of Peace, we’ll still be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers.” (Shakuhara)
Shakuhara was right. According to my investigations, the yakuza had many horizontal connections with other organizations, and that didn’t apply to only the Hosen Group. If they wanted to, they could gather a huge number of thugs.

If things went poorly, they could be up against an army on the scale of over a thousand people.

In comparison, the combined strength of the three forces on this side was only 200 to 300 people. There was no room for them to hold anything back. They would have no choice but to throw their full strength into the battle.