Chapter 74

I'm deeply sorry for keeping you waiting for so long.

Since it's been quite a while, I'll provide a brief character introduction as a supplement.

○ Lloyd

A dedicated bodyguard for Kurenai Kuren. One of the top-class elite guards. During the part-time job interview, he was immediately knocked out when trying to gauge Kousuke's strength, but he is genuinely strong. Kousuke is just exceptionally powerful.

○ The Old Black-Clothed Man

Another member of the elite guard team. The head of security for a high-end cabaret located in a prime area of Susukino. Temporarily in charge of Kousuke's training. His skills are so advanced that he can see the incredibly fast uppercut Kousuke throws. He is extremely strong.

"Good morning, Yuki-san..."

"Good morning, Soji. Are you okay? You have quite a lot of dark circles under your eyes."

"I'm fine... If I start complaining about this, I won't get any stronger."

Today is Saturday, so we don't have school, and Soji and I met up early to go to work together. It's been 10 days since we started our part-time jobs, and both of us have gotten quite used to the work. Soji, like me, was recognized for his abilities on the first day and is assigned to a different location from regular part-time jobs. He is currently working for Yayo, a close friend of Kuren, who runs a place called 'Great Ultimate Yayoi' and has a rather intense appearance.

"Ha..."

"Yayo's place seems pretty tough, huh?"

Yayo, who looks like a military instructor at first glance, has a heart of a woman, and many of her subordinates share the same sentiment. Soji, who is serious and skilled, is very well-liked by Yayo and her subordinates, but the stress from non-work-related matters is building up.

"They're all good people... but when I chase away troublesome customers, they say 'thank you' and start touching me. I really wish they would stop. Also, Yayo teaches me military combat techniques during my free time, but whenever there's a chance, she uses ground techniques and touches me. I wish she would stop that too."

"That... is tough."

Still, the training with Yayo pushes him in a different way, and it seems to help him improve quickly. Soji is really working hard.

"By the way, if Yayo teaches military combat techniques, she must have been a soldier, right?"

"Probably. She doesn't tell me where she learned it, but Yayo can use military combat techniques at a professional level. She might be stronger in ground techniques than Dies. Also, while training to dodge bullets, she uses water guns filled with slippery liquid to target me continuously, and while saying that guns are just fast spears, she uses a vibrating strange rod to deliver rapid thrusts. It's mentally tough, but it's very beneficial..."

Yayo's combat techniques are interesting, but I'm not ready to learn them if it means being touched. I'll ask Soji to teach me later. We arrived at the office building Kuren manages while talking about this.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning. Hmm?"

When we went to the waiting room before work, all the bodyguards were already there. Dies, who usually has an unusually serious expression, was also waiting in the center. The atmosphere was tense.

"Is something wrong?"

"Good morning, both of you. It's good that you're here. I was planning to have an important discussion."

An important discussion? Usually, there's a 10-minute meeting before work, but this seems different. Something must have happened.

"Risa has been kidnapped."

"!!?"

At Kuren's calm announcement, Soji and I were shocked. The bodyguards and staff already knew and were not surprised. Some looked regretful, and others had hardened expressions from anger.

"The culprit is likely a man named Toujou, a subordinate of Hirugai. One of the bodyguards assigned to Risa saw him for a moment."

"Was she kidnapped while a bodyguard was present?"

"Yes. The five bodyguards assigned to her are part of the elite team, but they were all knocked out by that one man, Toujou."

The bodyguards Kuren employs are very skilled. The elite team, including Lloyd and the Old Black-Clothed Man, are so strong that it seems they might have special abilities. They don't lose because of their acquired abilities, but their enhanced physical abilities alone probably wouldn't be enough to defeat such a skilled fighter. It's that level of expertise.

By the way, there were bullet marks and traces of explosives at the scene, but all the bodyguards who were knocked out had only minor injuries and no life-threatening conditions. It's a miracle.

"Is this Toujou a superhuman? If he's just a regular human, he's a monster."

"We don't know yet. There's too little information. Also, the bodyguards who were only lightly injured despite the gunfire are monsters too."

"You're right."

I answered Soji's whispered question. If he's just a regular human, they are both incredibly strong. The goal is probably to gain control of Susukino. If that's the case, they would treat the hostage carefully, but we can't afford to be complacent. I'm worried about Risa.

"Kuren, I want to go to Hirugai's place. I'll rescue Risa right away."

"No, Dies. We don't know if Risa is with Hirugai, and we don't even know where Hirugai is."

Since the incident early in the morning, they haven't been able to find Risa or Hirugai's hiding place.

"It's fine. I'll destroy all the places Hirugai runs one by one."

"No, Dies. Doing that could provoke Hirugai into taking more drastic actions."

"Then what, just wait?!!"

"Hey, Dies, calm down!"

Soji and I stopped Dies, who was about to lunge at Lloyd. He didn't actually intend to attack, but his intensity was overwhelming. His serious and regretful expression was unlike the carefree Dies we usually see.

"Dies, calm down. Acting rashly could put Risa in more danger and worsen the situation."

"But... damn it..."

Dies was found living as a homeless person by Risa, who helped him get his current life. He feels deeply grateful to Kuren, who gave him this life, and to Risa, who provided the opportunity. He feels more responsible than anyone for failing to protect Risa.

'Nia, hack into the city's surveillance cameras and try to find Risa. Can you do it?'

'Possible. I will hack into the city's surveillance cameras.'

I gave Nia this instruction through the spirit thread. It would be troublesome if they were taken to a place without cameras, but Nia should be able to find some traces.

"Huh? Isn't that Yuki's black cat?"

"Huh?"

When the Old Black-Clothed Man pointed it out, I saw Kuro entering the room. Where are Shiro and Rin? They should already be in another room in the building since they left before me.

'Kuro, what happened to Rin?'

'Huh? Rin was kidnapped.'

Kuro reported this through the spirit thread. After Risa, Rin was also kidnapped... What's going on? Is Sapporo too dangerous?

I apologize for interrupting updates without any reports for so long.

Now that I'm free from the busyness of reality, I will resume updates!

If there are any issues with the updates in the future, I will post activity reports. I would appreciate it if you could check them when you have free time.

Thank you!