Nagumo Sian's Request
"Godmother! Take cover!"
The gunshot cracked like thunder, leaving ears ringing as a bullet streaked past Nagumo Sian. Her gray hair whipped violently in the bullet's pressure wave, and a bright arc of blood sprayed up behind her.
Her secretary came sprinting over in a panic. The rest of the security detail guarding her opened fire without hesitation, pouring bullets into the shooter until he was nothing but a perforated corpse.
"Are you all right, Godmother?"
"I'm fine. It only grazed me."
Blood dripped steadily from her ear where the bullet had clipped the lobe, yet Nagumo Sian's face showed no fear whatsoever. Only a faint trace of annoyance flickered across her features.
"For Kurotsukidoo to commit this many people to Akita Prefecture... what the hell are they thinking?"
Nagumo Sian muttered the words while staring at the Chinese soldier's body. In his final desperate act, he had managed to nick her earlobe.
After the Third World War, China had fractured. The original People's Republic, the Republic of China that had absorbed southern mainland territories, and the Tibet-Uyghur Liberty Federation that had seized Sichuan all stood as separate powers. Once the war ended, many conscripted soldiers never returned to civilian life. Instead they slipped into the shadows, and the Black Moon Hall—Heiyuetang—was one of those underground collectives.
The organization had been founded by conscripts from both the People's Republic (now commonly called North China by other nations) and the Republic of China (likewise referred to as South China). Through illegal takeovers of corporations they had grown rapidly, eventually becoming a global conglomerate. While they operated as Heiyuetang on the mainland, they localized their name when expanding abroad. In Korea they were the Black Moon Hall, in Japan they were Kurotsukidoo, and in America they became Black Moon Company.
Their preferred method of entry was as brutal as it was effective. They would use their greatest strength—overwhelming numbers—to flood a district with violence and narcotics, turning it into a slum. Once they controlled the entire area, they would reverse the decay, clean up the streets, and sell the now-valuable real estate at premium prices. Their core business had always been property. In simple terms, they created chaos to drive prices down, bought everything cheap, then sold it high. That was their signature business model.
This time they had tried the same tactic in Akita Prefecture and run into Taira Food. The resulting proxy war was fierce. If Taira Food lost ground, Akita would slide into slum conditions at terrifying speed.
What truly bewildered Nagumo Sian was the sheer scale of Kurotsukidoo's deployment. They had committed far more personnel than usual. Taira Food's own forces were beginning to buckle under the pressure, so she had requested reinforcements from headquarters. The reply had been disappointing. Recent tensions with the Minamoto family meant they could not move troops freely.
Instead, Taira Danjo had given her a single piece of advice.
"My grandson recently acquired a PMC. Commission him. East Weapon, I believe that's the name."
It was valuable information. East Weapon might lack elite quality, but their manpower was impressive—the perfect counter to Kurotsukidoo's swarm tactics. The revelation that Taira Ryuta owned the company had been genuinely surprising.
"If I hire East Weapon and bring in a few elite PMCs as support, we should be able to win."
Nagumo Sian murmured the words quietly, then dialed the number for East Weapon's president that Taira Danjo had provided. Only after the call began to connect did she realize it was not the direct number she had saved for Taira Ryuta.
"The number of the figurehead president, I suppose."
Having served as president of Taira Food for many years, she understood PMC operations well enough to grasp the situation immediately. It was hardly unusual. Most companies would simply appoint their recommended candidate as president, but Taira Danjo despised the idea of any high-ranking executive outside his direct bloodline wielding military power. Such arrangements were common only within the Taira Group.
Without the slightest hesitation, Nagumo Sian pressed the call button.
After returning from Chooten Island, I took a single day to rest. Wano Haruto contacted me to say the old innkeeper had been taken in for police questioning and would soon stand trial for murder.
Wano Haruto's reasoning ability seemed exceptional. I had a feeling I might need to commission him for something one day, so we exchanged business cards before parting ways. That card would probably come in handy eventually.
When he saw my card, Wano Haruto had looked mildly startled. The words Taira Group Talent Development Center — Taira Ryuta had obviously allowed him to deduce my identity. He probably considered it a useful connection.
After that one day of rest, I was on my way to meet Aris, Kazuhiro, and Kiyohira. It seemed Kazuhiro was bringing Kagawa Umi along to introduce her to Kiyohira as well.
I stopped the car in front of TERT where I had promised to meet Aris. A moment later, someone rapped sharply on the window. I opened the door and Aris slid into the passenger seat.
The moment she sat beside me, the bright, citrusy scent of her signature perfume filled the car. Like one of Pavlov's dogs, the smell alone sent blood rushing straight to my cock. I was half-hard in seconds.
"Yahoo, Ryuta!"
She leaned over, wrapped her arms around me, and planted kisses on both cheeks. Then she gave me a light kiss on the lips, her tongue teasing my teeth with playful mischief.
Even though we were inside a car, her boldness in the middle of Tokyo caught me off guard. When my eyes widened in surprise, Aris let out a mischievous "fufu" laugh.
"You're introducing me to a friend named Kiyohira, right?"
"Yeah. Kiyohira still thinks I'm lying about becoming a Taira. I figured if he saw you, Aris, he'd finally believe me. Sorry for setting it up without asking."
"It's fine! I like meeting your friends. Hehe. And don't worry—I'll prove everything for you!"
When I apologized for making the plans without consulting her, Aris simply clung to my arm and teased me playfully. For a while we fooled around in the kind of sugary, lovey-dovey way that would have earned tongue-clicks from passersby. Eventually we drove off.
The café we reached was in downtown Tokyo, not far from TERT. The moment Aris and I walked in holding hands, I felt the atmosphere shift. People were murmuring. With both of us looking the way we did, plenty of them seemed to wonder if we were celebrities.
Well, Aris actually was a celebrity. She was a fashion model, after all. I was just a company employee.
I spotted Kazuhiro and Kagawa Umi already seated at a large table. We headed over.
"Bro~! Over here!"
"Mr. Taira, Miss Aris, hello."
They greeted us warmly. We returned the greetings and sat down.
About two minutes later, Kiyohira arrived and took his seat.
"Hello. I'm Genba Kiyohira."
He offered a polite greeting to both Aris and Kagawa Umi before sitting.
"You two are the ones from that cult shrine rescue incident, aren't you?"
Aris asked with sparkling eyes, glancing between Kazuhiro and Kiyohira. Both of them had become minor celebrities after the media storm surrounding the pseudo-shrine rescue. What had once been known only to sports fans was now recognized by people on the street.
Kazuhiro in particular had become even more famous. Public opinion had turned into a debate over why he wasn't on the national team. The current coach, Manzawa Sanetada, had given a controversial interview saying, "What Kazuhiro did was admirable, but good deeds alone don't qualify someone for the national team." The remark had sparked heated discussion. Kazuhiro claimed he enjoyed the extra fame, but that interview had only strengthened his resolve to join the American team instead.
"Two people? Ryuta was with us that time too."
"Really?"
Aris turned to me with wide eyes. The look she gave me clearly asked why I hadn't mentioned it. Come to think of it, I had only told everyone that the incident prevented me from traveling with the group and that I had gone to the island alone. I hadn't given them the full story.
"Well, what happened was..."
Of course Aris and Kagawa Umi had seen the news reports, but hearing the details directly from those involved was clearly thrilling. They listened with rapt attention. I did most of the talking while Kazuhiro and Kiyohira added occasional comments, painting a vivid picture of the chaos.
"That's why these two suddenly had tons of interview requests. They were too busy to hang out, so I ended up going to the island by myself. We agreed to meet up later."
"So that's what really happened? Then the heroes of the Jukai Forest were actually three people? And our Ryuta was one of them?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to call us heroes..."
I answered modestly, and it was the truth. I hadn't been a hero. I had simply gone to pick up a friend and gotten dragged into the mess. If anyone deserved that title, it was Kiyohira. He had gone to the shrine from the very beginning with the intention of rescuing people.
"By the way, bro, how was the island trip?"
Kazuhiro's question made me grin. In its own way, the island episode had been just as intense as the cult incident. I knew they would all be hooked once I started talking.
"I wanted to visit somewhere less well-known this time, so I picked a place called Chooten Island."
Everyone leaned in, completely absorbed. When I mentioned how Uchitate Kanimi had first suggested riding bikes together, Aris frowned slightly. But the shock of the immediate murder that followed seemed to have wiped the moment from her memory.
I continued with the second murder, the tense confrontation with Professor Honmura Koga, our participation in the island's ritual, the professor's death—the third murder—and how Wano Haruto had solved the entire case. By the time I finished, no one had taken a proper breath. They finally exhaled in unison, looking stunned.
"Whoa, that sounds like a Conan episode. A murder at a rain-isolated inn..."
"To think something like that actually happened... You weren't hurt anywhere, were you?"
Kagawa Umi asked in amazement. Aris looked genuinely worried as she repeated the same question.
"Of course not. I just got caught up in everything by chance."
"That's a relief."
We chatted about a few more things before it was time to eat. We moved from the café to a nearby restaurant.