7. An Ordinary Day
7. An Ordinary Day
For the first time in a long while, we had a meal with the entire family gathered.
"......."
Ayeong still looked awkward, and Mom and Dad were the same.
"It's not like we're at a funeral. Isn't it good that the family is finally all together, no matter what? Why is everyone making such a long face?"
Shingen tried his best to lighten the mood among them.
"Things will work out fine from now on, I don't know why you're all so worried tha-"
"Geon-hyeok-ah."
Cutting him off, Dad put down his spoon and chopsticks.
"What on earth happened all this time?"
"......."
"However much I, your father, tried to pretend not to know and let it slide, this one thing I want to be sure about before we move on."
The father who said he wouldn't ask about what happened had quickly changed his mind.
Frankly, it was understandable.
His son, who had suddenly appeared, had said he was just going out for a walk one night and came back with his younger sister who had been part of a criminal organization.
He did something an ordinary person could absolutely never do in an instant, so it made sense.
"It'll be a long story, is that okay?"
"Doesn't matter. We have nothing but time anyway."
If they wanted to know that much, telling them was probably the duty of a child.
Shingen also put down his spoon and chopsticks and laid out the long, long story of what he had experienced to his father and mother.
From the very first moment he was dropped into a new world, to soaking his hands in countless lives and blood to return here.
He told them everything about those events truthfully.
"...A Returnee. So that's why you disappeared so suddenly."
"How, in a world like that...."
Dad nodded as if he finally understood everything, and Mom shed tears from the shock.
"I saw the Japanese sword at your waist and pretended not to know. I thought, since you were back after so long, it was better to pretend not to know rather than ask what happened."
"......."
"But from the moment you brought Ayeong, I couldn't help but ask. What kind of power do you have to be able to bring Ayeong back?"
Now he could understand.
That's how Dad seemed to be saying it.
"I should have told you from the beginning..."
"No. I was the one who said it was okay. Geon-hyeok, you don't need to feel sorry."
"......."
The atmosphere started to sink again.
"Ah, no! I finally lightened the mood, what are you all doing bringing it back down like this!"
Then Ayeong squeezed in between them and cut through the quiet atmosphere.
"Dad, if you knew just how strong Oppa is, you'd be super surprised! With a single footstep the ground splits, and he smashes knives with his finger!"
Trying to lighten the mood somehow, she bravely blurted out whatever came to mind, which from Shingen's perspective was funny.
As he lifted the corner of his mouth slightly, Ayeong didn't miss that timing and latched on immediately.
"Eh, you smiled! See, how nice is it to smile! After the family is all together for the first time in so long, are we all just going to sit here with dead faces?"
"Alright, alright. I get it."
Finally, Dad also smiled as he calmed her down.
As the atmosphere gradually improved, Mom also stopped crying and started talking about everyday things, one by one.
They talked about how they had lived during the vanished ten years, saying there were good things and bad things, but not to worry about it.
After all, it was the past.
Because the present was much more important than the past.
Covering a finite life with good memories was the right choice, rather than covering it with sadness.
For the next few days, he spent time leisurely, eating meals with his family and talking.
The ten-year gap wouldn't be filled in an instant, but if they both made an effort for each other, they would surely overcome the chasm.
"Phew...."
When night fell, Shingen went outside, put a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it.
It was the last cigarette he had brought from that other world, so he tried to savor the taste as much as possible.
'Don't know if cigarettes here are the same... but better than nothing.'
"What. Wondered where you went, you were here?"
Smack!
Just as the cigarette was almost burned out, Ayeong's voice came along with a palm smacking his back.
"Not sleeping, what are you doing."
"I'm always awake at this time, you know, I was active at dawn and slept in the morning."
Ayeong, taking a cigarette pack from her bosom, pulled one out, put it in her mouth, and poked Shingen.
"What."
"Light it for me, I didn't bring a lighter."
"You should at least carry fire."
Shingen threw the lighter to Ayeong.
She caught the lighter skillfully, immediately lit her cigarette, and naturally put the lighter into her own pocket.
"Phew...."
"You fucking naturally put the lighter in your pocket. Do you wanna die?"
"Just give it to me, I don't smoke much anyway. It's not like it's a lot."
Giggle giggle giggle.
She laughed but didn't hand over the lighter.
It was actually a cheap lighter, so he could buy another one. It wasn't like he had no money.
"You weren't a model student, but your dorky Oppa even smokes now, the world has changed so much."
"Is that something you should say? Where did the model student younger sister go, and a human butcher appears..."
"Butcher? You wanna die?"
Poke. Poke poke.
Her tiny fist strikes my arm, but it doesn't hurt at all.
It doesn't even tickle; it just feels like a punch landing.
"Still, I'm glad you're back."
"...Is that so?"
"Of course. Even if our family was torn apart, no matter how much I resented you, my parents and I were waiting for you."
Ten years is not a short amount of time.
Of course, from Shingen's perspective, a much longer time had passed, but that wasn't important now.
"But, uh, what's with that? Why did you use a Japanese name over there? Why not just keep using the name you had?"
"The place I landed was Japan, and to join an organization there, I had no choice but to change my name entirely. You think I wanted to use a name like that?"
"But still, what kind of name is Iwamoto Shingen? Even for trying to sound cool, that's laying it on a bit thick, isn't it? Sounds like you just threw together some fancy-sounding words you knew."
"...Honestly, I can't even argue with that."
It was literally a name cobbled together from the scraps of Japanese I barely knew.
But in the end, that name became one that signified the world's strongest.
"Just know that I was that desperate. In that world, the power of criminals was stronger than public authority or nations."
"...You said all the criminals in the world you were in were incredibly strong, right? But is it really possible to cut a mountain in half or split the sky with just a single sword?"
It seemed A-yeong still had a lot of questions.
"I was shocked too when I first fell there. The idea that you could get that strong just through repeated training, without any special energy or anything."
But if it hadn't been such a crazy world, Shingen might not have been able to return to Earth.
"It worked out for me, though. It was a world where if you trained and had talent, you could gain immense power. If it had been a world crawling with ordinary criminals, I would've been jumped and beaten to death in no time, right?"
"...Yeah, I guess. Without that level of power, once you're outnumbered, death is pretty much guaranteed."
It was because it was a world with power far surpassing humanity that he could conquer it with just a sword.
"So then... you don't want to go back? You left everything you worked so hard to build over there."
"Hmm..."
He gave up everything and came back.
Of course, it wasn't entirely his own will, but if asked if he felt it was a waste...
"It's a waste, but I don't particularly want to go back."
"...Really?"
"If I thought losing everything I built in an instant wasn't a waste, that would be weird."
He risked his life to grow the organization.
Beneath Boss Shingen, countless direct lieutenants and their subordinates believed in and followed him.
What happened to that world when such a figure vanished in an instant?
'Maybe internal strife broke out and it fell apart.'
An organization that loses its head cannot last long.
There were many within the Gurenkai who harbored the desire to fill the void of vanished power themselves.
"Yeah, I see..."
Only then could A-yeong feel relieved.
"What do you plan to do about the Doksahoe? The boss and the executives are all dead, but their business fronts still remain."
"The Doksahoe, huh..."
"They must have a lot of money stashed away. If you sell off all their businesses cheaply, you'd get enough money coming in to build a huge personal villa right now and still have plenty left."
It was dirty money from criminals, so it wasn't exactly honorable, but still, this was a reward the victor rightfully deserved.
"I have no intention of dismantling the businesses for now, and even less intention of selling them off."
"Then what do you plan to do? It'd just be a shame to leave them as they are."
"I won't just leave them idle. Instead, I'll tear out the business itself and replace it."
In that other Earth too, the world ran on the logic of power.
And this Earth, while at a lower level and to a lesser degree, also runs on the logic of power.
"I plan to completely overhaul the Doksahoe and create an organization. Of course, I'll get rid of all the illegal activities and replace them with new, legitimate businesses."
"...Create an organization?"
A-yeong's eyes widened as she tilted her head.
Was she surprised by the unexpected answer?
"Yeah. Without power, you get looked down on here too, don't you?"
"Will you be okay? I thought you were disillusioned with this kind of work here."
"I'm doing it because it's necessary. Not because I want to."
To give back to his family what he couldn't before, he had to do things he didn't want to do.
Even if that wasn't the only reason, building a foundation and creating influence was a necessary task.
Aren't there things like Hunter Guilds in this world too? I'm thinking of making something similar.
"Then... would it be okay if I joined the organization you make?"
"It'd be fine."
"I knew it wouldn't be allowed... I figured as mu- Huh? Seriously...?"
Stammering, she seemed unable to believe the unexpected answer.
"Since our organization won't be doing anything illegal anyway."
Shingen disliked her for being part of a dirty, small-time crime syndicate, not for doing this kind of work itself.
"Of course, completely eradicating illegal activities will be impossible... but I intend to try my best."
He already had some ideas about which direction to grow the organization.
All that's left is to start implementing them, one by one.