A Sincere Apology (2)
A Sincere Apology (2)
Suguru Nakanowatari. Prime Minister of Japan.
Yujin's quick thinking had saved his political life, but...
'I was sorry to Yujin, but thanking him could wait! Ninomiya came first, no matter what!!'
He refrained from thanking Yujin too soon.
At that moment, he was a grave offender who had come to beg Ninomiya's forgiveness.
How could he thank Yujin first?
That might offend Ninomiya.
What was this? She had gone out of her way to spare him for her disciple's sake, and he wasn't immediately dropping to his knees? Did he not know his place?
Wait. Come to think of it, he had embezzled from her too.
She might have to desert after all... right?
It was probably a needless worry, but one never knew.
The prime minister had set aside his thanks for the moment.
—Glance, glance. Fidget.
'Apologizing in the car would not feel right, so the moment we reached Seol Hayeon's office...!!'
That was why he kept signaling his intentions throughout the ride.
He stole glances at Ninomiya, fidgeted with his hands and feet, and bit his nails.
It was a silent message that said, I am walking on eggshells around Ninomiya.
"......"
'Wearing that would solve the problem, but the size did not fit....'
'What the hell? Was this bastard looking at another man's wife that way...? Nah. He was a devoted husband.'
Aika and Yujin themselves paid him no attention at all.
After they arrived at the Chairwoman's office,
the prime minister cast aside his dignity and immediately prostrated himself on the floor.
Their only emotion was pure bewilderment.
"Ninomiya!! I'm sorry!!!"
"......?"
'What are you doing, Suguru?'
The prime minister's perfectly executed prostration.
The master-and-disciple pair merely blinked.
[Master, why is the prime minister doing this? It looks like he is apologizing.]
[I do not know either. I'd understand if he was angry that I left the country without permission, but why apologize...?]
"After being embezzled from for so long, it was only natural for you to become disillusioned with Japan. I'd have felt the same."
"...Embezzlement?"
But before long, the word 'embezzlement' surfaced.
Aika's eyes flew open in surprise.
She had no idea what he meant.
"I won't make excuses about having only recently taken office. This is something I should have investigated first...."
"......"
[Disciple, he is saying they siphoned off my money behind my back...?]
[Aha.]
The prime minister continued his explanation.
Aika froze in disbelief while Yujin understood everything and exclaimed inwardly.
'So that was why he was acting like this. In the First Round, it was already ancient history, so I had not noticed.'
Before his regression, Yujin had met Master during his second year.
By then, the embezzlement and all such problems had already been resolved.
The unusually upright prime minister had not taken a cut for himself. Instead, he had flown into a rage and overturned the entire scheme.
That was why Yujin had never considered it...
Now he understood why someone of Suguru's stature was acting this way.
He'd investigated why his Strategic Nuke had deserted, only to have evidence of embezzlement come tumbling out.
No wonder he had been horrified enough to prostrate himself.
'If I explained that she had not left for that reason... No, wait. Could I use this?'
Realization dawned, and the corners of Yujin's mouth curled upward.
It was quite a wicked smile.
[Master, what will you do?]
[This bald man is probably innocent. He has even prostrated himself, so I should forgive him. The people who defrauded me will have to be severely punished under the prime minister's authority, though.]
[That goes without saying. But we have a rare weakness to exploit, do we not? It should be fine to ask for a few things.]
[There is nothing in particular I want from this bald man....]
[———Wouldn't you like to wear whatever you want?]
"......!!!"
Aika's eyes lit up as well.
Why did she always wear hakama?
Was it not because a contract from her youth forced her to?
But now, with the prime minister begging for forgiveness,
what if she offered to forgive him in exchange for having him take responsibility and void that contract?
A wicked smile spread across Aika's lips, too.
[My disciple is a genius, is he not?]
[Heh. Whose disciple do you think I am? Oh, while we are at it, let's get permission for you to teach me in Korea too.]
[Yes, yes. Let us settle everything at once. This bald man is exceptionally capable at getting things done. He will find a way.]
Aika grew excited by the unexpected opportunity.
Yujin merely delighted in the thought of seeing his wife in casual clothes.
And so Operation Make the Prime Minister Their Patsy began, but...
"First, punish everyone involved in the embezzlement under the prime minister's name...."
"They threatened national security. Do you think I would stop at embezzlement? I am already planning to charge them with every applicable crime, so do not worry."
"And cancel the contract forcing me to wear hakama."
"I tore that ridiculous contract to pieces long ago. Wear whatever you like from now on."
"......!!? Really? I can wear anything now?"
"...Pfft. Of course. No one will object even if you wear something cute."
The prime minister accepted every demand far more readily than expected.
"I-I am going to stay in Korea for a while, you know? I'll teach my disciple here."
"Treat it as an extended overseas trip and relax. No, from now on, I won't object no matter where you choose to live."
"...What'll you do if an S-rank Gate appears while I'm away?"
"I'll send a private jet immediately, so I ask only that you handle it. Naturally, you will receive a business-travel allowance as well."
"......"
He even took the initiative to accommodate her convenience.
Aika blinked.
It was completely different from how she had always been treated.
'As expected of Ninomiya. A true patriot. After everything she endured, her wishes were still this modest.'
The prime minister, meanwhile, considered even those requests modest.
Their Strategic Nuke would be roaming abroad.
It sounded like an impossible condition to accept, but...
Was Aika not a person? A person before she was an Awakener.
To the prime minister, her requests were entirely reasonable.
She wanted to wear pretty clothes, travel occasionally, and marry the person she loved.
She was only asserting rights every human being deserved.
He gladly decided to grant them.
'Truthfully, I was in no position to refuse anything she asked. If Ninomiya simply left, there was nothing we could do.'
He had just learned all too well that he could not force anything upon her.
Aika's expression softened.
"H-hmph. Fine. I'll let you off with this much. For my disciple's sake. As a special favor."
"Thank you, Ninomiya. And... Yujin."
Only then did the prime minister turn toward Yujin.
His expression changed completely from the one he had worn while facing Aika.
Unlike the gorilla who possessed nothing but strength, the young man before him had ability, wisdom, and character.
He personally liked the young man a great deal.
'Though he was extremely dangerous to a non-Awakener like me....'
In truth, Prime Minister Suguru found him more than a little terrifying.
According to public knowledge, a non-Awakener could not resist his hypnosis.
Was he not someone a national leader should avoid meeting altogether?
That was also why politicians did not hound Yujin.
Even so...
'There was no way that wholesome young man would do such a thing.'
The intuition of a man who had risen to prime minister through his eye for people cried out.
It told him this young man could be trusted.
He did not ignore his intuition.
"I owe you a tremendous debt, Yujin. You saved my life."
"Prime Minister Nakanowatari says..."
The thanks came straight from his heart.
You saved my life. Thank you, truly.
It was a simple expression of gratitude, nothing more.
But its sincerity reached Yujin in full.
That was how Suguru tended to speak at moments like this.
The wholesome young man smiled.
"He says that if there is anything you want, you need only ask...."
"When Master and I travel to Japan someday, please treat us to something delicious. It'll have to be after I graduate from the academy, though."
"...Pardon? Y-you'll come to Japan? Seo Yujin himself?"
"Of course. Master is teaching me swordsmanship, so I should do something for Japan in return."
He smiled and extended his hand.
The handshake carried a promise of future cooperation.
After hearing the interpretation, the prime minister immediately clasped it.
—Clasp.
"I suspect we will know each other for a long time. Keep calling me your older brother."
"Of course, Brother Suguru. I look forward to working with you."
It was the moment a national leader and Yujin began addressing each other as brothers.
* * *
After the talks ended,
the prime minister's party returned to Japan with a grand send-off.
He departed not as a warmonger who had illegally entered the country with a nuclear weapon, but as a pro-Korea prime minister who had risked himself for Korea.
"...Will you truly be all right? Now that you've met him, conspiracy theories will claim you were hypnotized."
"Domestic public opinion may turn against you as well. This happened so early in your term."
The officials accompanying him only voiced their concerns after boarding the private jet.
They voiced their worries in unison.
A national leader meeting a hypnotist was dozens of times more dangerous than Yujin realized.
But the smile on the prime minister's lips did not waver.
Compared with the worst-case scenario he had imagined before leaving Japan—Aika emigrating to Korea—this was thousands of times better...
"It is fine. He helped me until the very end. As his older brother, how could I complain about something this minor?"
Hadn't Yujin subtly conveyed his intentions when they shook hands?
Depending on how their relationship developed, he might use his ability for Japan as well.
The prime minister understood the implication immediately.
It was a highly political proposal to use Yujin and Ninomiya as a bridge and further strengthen diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan.
'He would have made an excellent politician. It came naturally to him.'
The prime minister marveled anew. If he made Yujin's words public,
he could fend off the political pressure that would immediately follow.
He would become the man who had personally risked danger to build a bridge between Japan and the powerful Awakener Yujin.
Would his approval ratings fall because he appeared pro-Korea? This was not just any Korean. It was Yujin—the katana-wielding Yujin.
He had even declared that he would use his ability for Japan.
Even the far right would have no choice but to accept it. Yujin's hypnosis was irreplaceable.
Thanks to a single statement from Yujin,
the weight pressing on the prime minister's shoulders
had grown much lighter.
'The only remaining problem....'
"Even so, leaving Ninomiya in Korea is extremely dangerous."
Of course, one problem remained.
Aika Ninomiya—the strongest sword in Japan, no, in the world, and the only person capable of clearing an S-rank Gate alone.
He had left her behind in Korea.
But the prime minister smiled this time, too.
"Then should we tie her to Japan and forbid her from going anywhere? Should we do that to a hero who has saved Japan several times, all because an S-rank Gate might appear someday?"
"Of course. Every other country does the same."
"That logic applies to someone merely powerful. At Ninomiya's level, there is no point trying to hold her."
What should they do, forbid her from leaving?
From the look in her eyes, she was truly ready to desert.
And if she did, could we even stop her?
The officials' expressions twisted at those weighty facts.
"That is true, but...."
"More importantly, she is a woman too. A woman in love."
"...Excuse me?"
Their faces went slack again at the prime minister's declaration.
"What do you mean...?"
"There is someone."
Amid the puzzled silence,
the prime minister merely smiled,
recalling the scene he had just witnessed.
[R-really? I can wear anything?]
'Goodness. Could you make your feelings any more obvious, Ninomiya?'
Aika's face had lit up when she was told she could wear whatever she liked.
Then she had stolen a glance at Yujin without even realizing it.
To a married man like Suguru, her feelings were painfully obvious.
—Heh.
'Well, it was her first love at thirty-two, so perhaps it couldn't be helped. Wear pretty clothes and go on dates from now on, Ninomiya.'
At the front of the aircraft, the prime minister silently blessed the future of the man and woman.
"D-disciple. Touch me as much as you like..."
"......!!!!?"
Had he known what was happening in Korea at that very moment, even the prime minister would have recoiled at how shamelessly she was behaving.