Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Hoping We Get Closer (3)
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“Heh heh heh, how have you been lately?”
Iwamoto Yoshio extended a teacup with a kindly smile. Across the parlor table sat Dennis. Today, as usual, she stared at him with an extremely uncomfortable expression. Yoshio just blinked, clueless as to why she was looking at him that way.
Having greeted her with such a friendly face, Yoshio looked awkward at her silence.
He figured this woman named Dennis must be so nitpicky and foul-tempered that she never had reason to smile.
Only after Yoshio turned his head away did Dennis finally speak. She held some documents in her hand.
“Miss Iwamoto Serika has been assigned a mission. It's a simple one suitable for her age.”
“A mission?”
Iwamoto Yoshio expressed brief puzzlement at the word “mission,” then took the documents and nodded. The folder bore the name of the facility where Serika trained, and at the bottom were the words [Experiential Learning Program].
They were all cover documents designed for external release, but anyone in “the industry” could easily read between the lines to the hidden information.
Of course, Iwamoto Yoshio was no one from the industry. He found it amusing that they called experiential learning a “mission.” It made Dennis seem like someone from a secret organization. Grimacing playfully, he tossed out a joke.
“Ah, so that's how you phrase it over there. So, what kind of mission is it?”
“A simple one. You'll see when you look at the details.”
Dennis saw no need to explain it all verbosely to him. She assumed that if Yoshio was active in the underworld, he'd grasp it just from the map.
The mission was straightforward. A small organization registered as a daycare had recently been encroaching on Prophets territory without a clue.
With no strong ability users and a tiny scale, the task was simply to send Carmen and Serika to deliver a warning.
Iwamoto Yoshio thought Dennis must be in a really foul mood today. But accustomed to corporate bullying as he was, he said nothing and just flipped through the papers. The operation site was marked: a daycare. The name and location suggested it was in a fairly remote area, giving him pause for thought.
Yoshio flipped back to the front. There was a profile of the accompanying child. It was a kid named Carmen, an ability user who manipulated steel.
Only then did Yoshio start to get it. The orphanage he sponsored often had ability-user kids visit to show off their personal talents using their powers. Apparently, they were going to the daycare for Serika to put on some kind of metalworking show.
Come to think of it, she'd been coming home late lately, citing special classes at the facility. Was this why? The thought that Serika had been diligently training without even realizing it herself filled him with satisfaction.
She was always such an inscrutable child, but her heart was warm after all. He chuckled heartily.
“Heh heh heh! This'll be quite entertaining. Could you perhaps record it on video and show me?”
Dennis recoiled at his words and shook her head.
“What? No, we can't leave records like that for security reasons.”
Yoshio clicked his tongue regretfully.
“Ah, but wouldn't it help your image in various ways to have videos or photos of something like this? You might not need it since you're so big, but...”
“No need.”
Dennis replied even more firmly in a curt tone. From her perspective, Yoshio was utterly unhinged. His daughter was off to beat up undercover organization members, and not only did he not stop her—he was asking for photos. Where on earth had this devil of a man come from?
Yoshio, for his part, clicked his tongue in his own regret. Personally, he'd love to go watch himself, but with business finally hitting its stride lately, he had no spare time. He'd have to ask Serika to show him later or take pictures, he thought, nodding.
“Understood.”
With Yoshio backing down so easily, Dennis let out a sigh of relief. She gathered the documents again and said,
“That concludes what I had to say today. Do you have anything else to discuss?”
To Dennis's question, Yoshio smiled and replied,
“Isn't a child's growth the greatest joy for a parent?”
Dennis bit her lip at his words. Was this a jab at her past, knowing it? Or genuine delight at his daughter blossoming into a criminal? Either way, it grated on her. She nodded vaguely and said,
“Yes. Truly joyful. For parents, just seeing them grow up safe is immense happiness.”
“I think so too. They say a child is a parent's mirror, don't they? I must live diligently so I don't fall behind my own child.”
Dennis had to catch her breath at that. She gathered her papers and left the parlor.
Outside the company waited a black sedan.
She got in, fiddled with her phone, and held it trembling to her ear, leaning back against the seat.
The car pulled away.
Buildings around the company whipped by like a stage play.
Dennis closed her eyes and spoke into the phone.
“Honey, it's me. Just... felt like calling.”
The driver maintained silence, driving steadily. Wind slipped through the window crack, and Dennis gestured. The chauffeur raised the window at her signal, making her voice clearer.
Pressing a hand to her temple, she continued.
“Lately, my head's been a mess. I keep wondering if what I'm doing is right. Back when I killed those kids in court, I never thought I was turning into a monster. Because they deserved to die. That's why you brought the pistol too, right? You thought the same.”
Dennis took a breath. The world blurred with each blink. At this late hour, the sun moved chillingly fast—take your eyes off for a second, and darkness fell. The car lights came on, and she saw her reflection in the window.
“But thoughts I never had back then keep coming now. Maybe something inside me really broke then. Like you said, maybe I've been on an irreversible path ever since.”
The car crawled toward the company. Gazing at the distant building, Dennis said,
“Is it okay for me to keep living like this?”
Dennis asked. But no answer came from the phone. She set it down and closed her eyes. She hadn't expected one anyway.
“You two will head out on a mission together.”
Saburo's words had me straightening my shoulders. My instincts told me this was no ordinary mission.
It was time to test my villain potential. Training hard and showing talent wasn't enough. The Prophets weren't just an elite group—they were a crime syndicate brimming with malice.
They needed not just talented people, but those with criminal talent.
What was criminal talent? Surely the willingness to beat distasteful people without hesitation, plus ruthless mission execution.
But what if it was to kill innocents? Even I'd hesitate at that.
Brutal child abusers like Shinsuke deserved death, sure.
“I'll say it upfront: the targets aren't a big organization or pros. Just local riffraff stirring trouble. No need to tense up, and killing's forbidden. Dealing with bodies afterward is more hassle with trash like that. Got it? Go, scare 'em, and come back.”
Saburo gave me a mission that seemed to read my mind—nice and clean. No killing needed. And the targets were criminals too. Didn't that mean I could swing freely?
Unlike my surging enthusiasm, Carmen's face soured the moment she heard.
“Do I have to go with her? I can handle it alone.”
Saburo snorted at that and shook his head.
“You can't just pick partners because you don't like someone. That's how organizations work. Anyway, the higher-ups want to gauge your abilities simply through this. So. Do your best.”
“Yes!”
To show my motivation at his “do your best,” I replied loudly.
Saburo seemed pleased with my enthusiasm.
Carmen, meanwhile, glanced between me and him before mumbling in a deflated tone.
“...Yes.”
But since it's a simple mission, it'll go fine, right?