The Island Village, Murder, and the Daughter of the Abyss

I exorcised the ghost that had been haunting the island village and slept for about two hours. When I woke up, the rescue incident from yesterday had become a massive topic of conversation. It was even broadcast on the 9 o'clock news, creating an absolute frenzy. Both Kazuhiro and Kiyohira had shot to fame overnight. After all, two members of the group that had saved six people turned out to be a rising rookie fighter from America and a promising new star tearing up the J-League. It would have been stranger if it hadn't blown up.

The 7channel post Kazuhiro had made was now legendary. The moment people realized that the user KZHRSMITH was actually Kazuhiro Smith and that he really had rescued those people, the thread exploded. Even now, it was being treated like a holy site, flooded with comments where people prayed for their own wishes to come true.

In that thread, some users pointed out that the fighter friend was Kiyohira and the poster was Kazuhiro, then wondered who the third friend was—the one who had supposedly saved them from being possessed by a ghost. A few people raised the question, but the general consensus was that he must have just been an ordinary civilian friend who didn't warrant any attention. My involvement quickly faded from discussion. That was a relief. I still didn't need any fame.

“Ryuta, I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry, Boss!”

When I stepped outside after checking the public reaction, the two of them were standing there with their hands pressed together in apology. What was this about?

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like we’ll have to do interviews for a few days, so the island trip is off… My manager won’t let me go to the island.”

“My agent says I need to raise my value, so I have to do at least a week’s worth of interviews.”

Ah, of course. With this much buzz, there was no way Kazuhiro and Kiyohira could pass up the opportunity. In their industries, a single big incident could make a massive difference in salary. I understood.

“It’s fine. Things turned out this way, so there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go on the trip next time.”

I was a little disappointed, but in a way, it was fortunate we couldn’t go together. I had received something like coordinates from the Daughter of the Abyss. There was no way I could drag my friends there. Who knew what kind of danger might be waiting? Besides, if I ditched her to go on a trip with my friends, I couldn’t even begin to predict what she might do. It was definitely a risky situation.

Before parting ways with my friends, we ate a somewhat late breakfast. That was when a call came from Taira Danjo.

“Hello.”

As soon as he picked up, the old man started yelling. Why was he angry about this?

“I did a good thing. Why are you calling it trouble?”

“I wasn’t planning on doing any interviews in the first place.”

When Taira Danjo had given me permission to run a PMC, he’d said I had to complete several missions. The fact that he was telling me my face couldn’t be known if I wanted to carry them out suggested he was planning to use me for infiltration work, like a spy.

“Yes. Take care, Grandfather.”

I ended the call and was about to finish my remaining breakfast when Kazuhiro and Kiyohira stared at me with sparkling eyes.

“What?”

“Boss, was that really Taira Danjo?”

“To be honest, I only believed about fifty percent that you’d really become a Taira. But after seeing the police chief bowing to you yesterday and hearing that phone call, I’m up to about seventy percent now.”

What? They still didn’t fully believe me?

Kazuhiro just seemed fascinated that the chairman of the Taira Group—who only appeared on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠TV occasionally—had called me. Kiyohira, on the other hand, had apparently been half-doubting the whole time that I was actually part of the Taira family.

“Seventy percent? What else do I have to show you to get it to a hundred?”

“Hmm… I guess I’d believe it if you introduced me to someone actually connected to the Taira family.”

I didn’t particularly need to earn a full hundred percent of Kiyohira’s trust, but it was starting to piss me off… Then again, Aris was also a blood relative of the Taira family. Introducing her to my friends would work perfectly.

“Then you can just meet Aris.”

“Huh? Aris is connected to the Taira family too?”

“Yeah. She’s my cousin.”

When I mentioned Aris, Kazuhiro asked in surprise. Come to think of it, I had only introduced her as a model back then. And since she looked Caucasian on the outside, they probably never imagined she had any connection to the Taira family.

“Alright. Introduce me next time. Then I’ll believe you.”

“Honestly, whether you believe me or not doesn’t matter, but it’s annoying me, so I’ll introduce you.”

“Look at you, Genbaki. Who the hell are you to act like you’re doing me a favor by letting me believe you?”

We bickered back and forth while finishing breakfast. I drove the two of them to a spot near Tokyo, dropped them off, and returned to the Human Resources Development Center.

Yukiko said she had a meeting with the board of directors and would be away on a two-day business trip. Since neither of us was around, the housekeeper auntie wasn’t there either. I bought some packaged food for lunch and dinner and headed home.

As soon as I got back, I received a call from Mimata Chieri. It seemed she had seen the news article and was calling to ask what on earth had happened.

“It wasn’t anything major.”

It seemed Chieri was calling to scold me, just like old man Taira Danjo. I needed to change the subject before she kept going.

“How is the East Weapon acquisition proceeding?”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

That made sense. Since the president’s son owed a massive debt to the dark merchants, time was indeed on our side. If the president kept resisting, he risked losing his precious son to them. Eventually, he would have no choice but to accept our terms.

“Make sure he doesn’t try any strange tricks.”

“Since it was a vacation anyway, I’ve decided to go alone. I’ll just change the destination.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

After ending the call with Mimata Chieri, I put the lunch and dinner I’d brought into the refrigerator and went to my room.

“First, let’s check where those coordinates the Daughter of the Abyss sent actually are.”

Muttering to myself, I turned on the computer and opened Google Maps. Then I unfolded the note I had kept.

Hmm… When I entered the coordinates directly into Google Maps, an island appeared. It was Choten Island. The exact location was a shrine in a village called Choten Island Village.

Interesting. Choten Island was a small island located west of Hachijo Island, the largest island in the southern Izu Islands. It was apparently named that because it sat at the vertex point between Hachijo Island and Mikura Island to its north. The population was only about four hundred people. From the map, the island itself was shaped like a triangle.

Since the island trip with my friends had fallen through, I might as well treat this as a solo island getaway and visit the place. I sent Mimata Chieri a Line message saying I was heading to Choten Island for fun. Since I planned to leave tomorrow, I needed to check transportation options right away.

After searching various routes, it seemed the fastest way was to fly to Hachijo Island—which had Hachijo-jima Airport—and then take a boat from there to Choten Island.

“Then I’ll book the flight first…”

There were only three flights a day from Haneda Airport. Even though Hachijo Island had an airport, it didn’t feel like Jeju Island in Korea. Maybe its recognition was a bit lower because Okinawa was such a famous tourist destination within Japan.

The flight was settled, but what about the boat to Choten Island? After more searching, I found there was a ferry from Hachijo Island and booked that as well. Finally, I made a reservation at the one ryokan on Choten Island. Since it wasn’t exactly a famous tourist spot, the owner was extremely welcoming when I called. She even gave me some TMI about how there happened to be a group booking tomorrow, which was rare. I just replied with a polite “I see” and moved on.

To get from Hachijo-jima Airport to the port, renting a car would be difficult and I wasn’t familiar with the public transport. I decided to use the folding bike I had bought specifically for this island trip. A small foldable electric bike should work fine. If I brought a few spare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠batteries, moving around for a few days wouldn’t be a problem. The ryokan should have somewhere to charge them too.

After finishing the reservations, it was time to repack my luggage. Since the small folding electric bike didn’t have a trunk, I had to fit everything into a single backpack. The luggage I had originally packed was meant for traveling with friends and included a lot of shared items that had been loaded into a trunk, so I needed to simplify it considerably.

By the time I finished repacking, lunchtime had long passed and it was nearly evening. It was still a little before the people from the Human Resources Development Center’s Education Support Team 2 got off work. In that case, I should give her a call.

“Hello?”

“Miss Sinoe Misano, would you like to have dinner together?”

I decided to satisfy both my appetite and my sexual desire at the same time.