Chapter 190: Japan's Strongest
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 190: Japan's Strongest
Fujiwara Sai was a man born to rule over others.
Exceptional charisma, intellect, authority, and even strength.
Had he been born in an older era, he would have surely succeeded his father as a great lord.
But the man before him was his superior in every conceivable way.
A realm beyond his reach.
A man born with the disposition of an emperor, someone he could never hope to equal.
Though they had never exchanged a single word, just from the aura the man naturally exuded, Fujiwara Sai had no choice but to admit defeat deep in his heart.
'Is this why Kumiko so firmly rejected my advances? Because a man like that was in her life?'
It was, in a word, inevitable.
For a man who had never met another with more superior qualities than himself, it was the first time in his life he had felt such a profound sense of defeat.
And so, he was jealous.
"What the hell are you doing! You can't even take down three people with all these numbers! Do you think I'm paying you all that money to stand around?!"
As he shrieked hysterically, the security guards, who had been hesitant to charge in due to the unexpectedly fierce resistance, hurriedly joined the fray.
But their opponents were simply on another level.
"Weak! Weak!"
"You worthless scum!"
"Everyone, get out of the way!"
Their adversaries were, quite literally, walking natural disasters.
He didn't know what kind of sorcery it was, but fire, wind, and ice shot from their hands.
As if that wasn't insane enough, the strongest-looking enemy had skin so tough that not even metal could pierce it.
Literally impregnable.
Before long, the final line of defense was breached as over a hundred security guards were annihilated by just three people.
Having lost his fiancée right before his eyes, Fujiwara Sai shouted at the large, slowly retreating back.
"You bastard! Who the hell are you!"
The man glanced back over his shoulder and replied.
"An ally of the President."
*
Pshhhhhh!
Exactly five minutes.
The moment the time limit ended, white steam erupted from my entire body.
But thankfully, I wasn't alone.
I had reliable comrades, the Vice President and Ryuji, so I could entrust my back to them without worry, even if my strength waned.
We continued to knock down the security guards blocking our path until we finally reached the first floor.
Any delay here could get us caught, so we decided to split up immediately.
"I'll handle things here. Kim Yoo-Sung, you take the young lady and go."
"But Vice President, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Characters who say things like that usually die, nine times out of ten.
"From the moment I dragged you into this, I was prepared. If it came down to it, I was ready to sacrifice myself to ensure you and the young lady escaped."
"...I will never forget your sacrifice, Vice President."
"Anyone would think I was going off to die."
The Vice President said, wiping a finger under his nose, before looking at Ryuji, who was standing next to me.
"We've only just met, but I'm in your debt today as well. If we ever meet again, I'll buy you a meal."
"That's good enough for me."
With Mahes's possession released, Ryuji, now back in control of his body, said this and wished the Vice President good luck as he stayed behind.
With a ding!, the elevator doors opened, and a flood of security guards poured out from the upper floors.
"Go, now! There's no more time!"
"...Let's go."
"Right."
And so, still in the middle of our school trip, we escaped the Kyoto Continental Hotel with the President slung over my shoulder.
*
Ryuji, who had escaped with us, left first, saying he had to go before Yaguchi got any angrier, which ultimately left just me and the President alone in the park in front of the hotel.
"What do we do now?"
The President, sitting beside me, answered my question.
"First, we need to hide somewhere. To avoid my family's eyes."
"Do you have a place you can stay for a while? A safe house, or a villa?"
"Unfortunately, my family has eyes on all of them. If we go to a place like that, I'll definitely be caught and dragged back."
"Then what should we do?"
The President hesitated, fidgeting with her lips, before speaking.
"Please don't misunderstand, Yoo-Sung."
"Misunderstand?"
"Yes. I'm saying this beforehand because you might interpret it the wrong way."
Then, after a brief pause, she said.
"For the time being... until the situation stabilizes a bit... could I possibly stay at your house, Yoo-Sung?"
It was a truly unexpected proposal.
"My house?"
If I lived alone, it might be different, but with my parents at home, it was obvious what would happen if the President became our houseguest.
When I asked back with a bewildered expression, the President nodded and said, "It's the only place I can think of right now. I'm begging you."
"...Alright, I understand. I'll try to explain it to my parents."
"Thank you. I knew I could count on you, Yoo-Sung."
The President said this as she looked at me, her face flushing slightly as she continued.
"By the way, could you repeat what you said earlier?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The part where you said you liked me."
"...That's a little embarrassing."
"Come on."
At the President's repeated urging, I had no choice but to repeat what I had said before.
"I like you, President."
"...Hehe."
Hearing my confession, the President wore an expression as if she had the whole world in her hands.
"Thank you. Thanks to you, I feel like I've regained a lot of my strength."
"I'm glad to hear that, but are you really sure about this? Staying at my house."
"Actually, I'd love that. It's something I've always wanted to experience at least once."
"If you put it that way, then alright."
When I reluctantly agreed, the President nodded and stood up from the bench.
"Then let's get moving. If we linger here any longer, I think people from my family and the Fujiwara family will catch up to us."
"How do you plan on getting to Tokyo?"
"Oh, you're asking the obvious. Shouldn't we naturally travel with the other second-year students on the school trip?"
The President looked at me and said with a coy smile.
"So, I'll be in your care tonight, Yoo-Sung."
*
At that very moment.
Contrary to Kumiko's belief that both families would be searching for her, the situation was unfolding in a completely different direction.
"Father! What in the world are you saying! You're giving up on getting Kumiko back?!"
Faced with the strong opposition from his son, Fujiwara Sai, Fujiwara Yorimoto spoke with a deeply contemplative expression.
"This is my decision as the head of the family. Accept the outcome, Sai."
"Kuh!"
Although he was considered a strong candidate to be the next head, it wasn't set in stone.
Yorimoto looked at the resentfully silent Sai with a hint of pity before speaking again after a moment.
"It's not that I'm not frustrated either. But, pragmatically speaking, our family has nothing to gain by making an enemy of a man that powerful."
"Why are you so afraid of him? He's just one man!"
"Because that one man possesses power comparable to an army."
Yorimoto recalled the face of Hattori Hanzo, who had been carried off to the infirmary earlier.
"Hanzo, whom I assigned as your guard, was undeniably the strongest man in Japan today. And yet, he was defeated without being able to inflict a single proper wound. If they had at least been evenly matched, I might have reconsidered. But what did you see? That man's body? Did he have so much as a scratch on him?"
Fujiwara Sai was at a loss for words at his father's sudden question.
Now that he thought about it, that was true.
The man who had abducted Kumiko truly didn't have a single wound on his body.
Even after fighting Hattori Hanzo, one of the strongest ninja known in the underworld as one of the Three Uniques.
"......"
Sai couldn't help but realize it.
The man he held such animosity toward was nothing short of a superhuman who had fallen from the sky.
"It is better to break our alliance with the Saionji family than to make an enemy of such a man. That is my conclusion, Sai. What do you think?"
At his father's question, Sai had no choice but to concede.
"...Your judgment is correct, Father."
"Good. I'm glad you understand."
Fujiwara Yorimoto said this and rose from his seat.
"I'm going to visit President Harunobu, who collapsed. What will you do, Sai?"
"I will remain here."
"Very well. Do as you wish."
Yorimoto patted his son's shoulder and left the room.
"......"
Left alone in the room, Fujiwara Sai, unable to contain his rage, began grabbing and throwing whatever objects were nearby.
*
"...Hey, Yoo-Sung-ah. I don't get what's happening right now. Can you explain a little?"
"I was wandering around Kyoto during free time and happened to run into the President. That's it."
"Sorry, but I'll be staying for just one night."
"No, you don't look sorry at all?!"
Evening.
When I returned to our room with the President, who had nowhere else to go for the time being, Satoru immediately called me out.
He complained that while some people were suffering from being single, both of his so-called friends were bringing girls around.
He wasn't wrong, but it was strangely annoying, so I gave him a light stomp.
"Aargh! I surrender! Surrendeeer!"
"Should've done that sooner."
Having lightly quelled Satoru's rebellion, I told him that the President would be sleeping in our room for the night.
Satoru, though half-doubting, said he understood for now.
"Setting me aside, does Ryuji know about this?"
"More or less? He'll probably understand if I tell him."
"You're a really incomprehensible guy, you know that?"
"A bit late to be realizing that now."
I casually brushed off Satoru's grumbling and, together with the President, waited for Ryuji, who had not yet returned to the room.
Completely unaware that a new nickname for me was being created in real-time on the internet.