LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 285.1
Chapter 285.1. Cleanup
The abandoned city district in Kanagawa Prefecture had been largely untouched. Shingen, Baba, Sanada, and their team had circled the outskirts from the outer city and brought the main bases under control, gathering them in the Amatsugahara Special Zone. However, they left smaller bases unaddressed.
The unlucky people living in these untouched bases had heard rumors of the Amatsugahara Corporation and the Special Zone. Yet, many dismissed the dreamlike claims of a paradise offering jobs, food, housing, and security. Doubting the reality of such stories, they remained hidden and stayed put.
It wasn’t hard to understand why. The story sounded too good to be true. Claims about enslaving people sounded far more believable.
If I heard a story like that, I’d probably think it was fake too. Verifying the truth would require the people of the abandoned district to make a long detour around Kanto and travel all the way to the Amatsugahara Special Zone in the northeast. The residents of the district didn’t have that luxury. So, like any urban legend, they simply let the rumors pass by.
Among the people hiding in the untouched ruins, Nobuhiro Oda had set up a secret base in an abandoned building.
In his usual thoroughness, he even rigged dynamite to collapse the building and erase evidence if necessary. His overwhelming combat ability left destruction and rubble in his wake, forcing the hidden residents to evacuate in panic.
“This is such a hassle. Truly, what a pain.”
“President Sakimori goes too far sometimes. What a troublesome individual.”
When I shrugged and lamented Nobuhiro’s reckless actions, the gentle woman in front of me responded with a soft voice, using magic as she spoke with a wry smile.
[Refresh]
A soft white light enveloped me, healing my battered body. The wounds from blades that pierced everything but my heart began to close. While [Mana Conversion] negates fatal hits, other injuries remain, and I’d nearly died from blood loss.
“Thanks, Sei. Sorry for calling you out like this.”
“It’s nothing, President Sakimori. For you, this is no trouble at all. Magicians are fragile beings, after all. Please be more careful. I do wonder what your bodyguards were doing.”
Sei replied, bowing her head faintly, with a delicate and slightly pained expression. As she mentioned the last line, her eyes briefly opened to glare at me, her discontent clear.
[It was a man-to-man battle. Afterward, we shook hands and became friends—it was one of those events. As the delicate heroine Shizuku, all I could do was watch my husband’s heroic moment. Duels are like that, after all.]
Shizuku, flustered and sensing she’d said too much, waved both hands in a slightly nonsensical explanation. She likely hadn’t expected me to be injured this badly.
[Don’t turn a scuffle into a duel. You’re a bodyguard. Next time, even if your employer insists on fighting, step in and fight for them. You’re a bodyguard, after all.]
[If someone who rarely shows their face decides to criticize me, I don’t mind. But as a wife, I want to protect my husband. Not as a bodyguard, but as a wife.]
Shizuku, puffing out her modest chest with pride, smirked triumphantly at Sei, who threw out repeated jabs about her role as a bodyguard. Sei’s shoulders twitched in irritation, but she said nothing. She was an adult, after all.
“Well, with that physique, it’s just playing house, isn’t it? Let’s focus on healing the injured, President Sakimori.”
Scratch that. Sei casually threw in a jab but refrained from bickering further. She turned to the injured around us, her gaze scanning the crowd. Many were watching. Not just watching—thanks to Karin running around shouting about meals and treating the injured, people were gathering. I’d have to thank her later.
As I watched Sei walk over to cast healing magic on the group, I murmured, a bit lonely at the thought of what was to come.
“Yoko will probably distance herself from now on.”
After all, I’d killed her father. My role as her muffler had come to an end. That thought made me a bit sad, but I didn’t regret killing Nobuhiro. He was dangerous. Left unchecked, he would’ve eventually harmed people in the Amatsugahara Corporation.
Reality isn’t kind. Unlike anime or novels, there are no near-misses where a powerful enemy escapes, only to return later. You kill dangerous enemies when you have the chance. There are no last-minute heroes in this world.
“In fact, I foresee her using Sakimori’s guilt to get closer to you. She’ll surely use this incident to rebuild the Oda clan.”
Karin, done with her announcements, approached me, looking up as though she’d seen something rare.
“Reality’s harsh, huh? It’d be easier if she hated me.”
The worst part was the vision of a grieving fox girl approaching me with sad eyes, trying to gain my favor.
“A heroine torn between her duty and love for the man who killed her father, wrestling with her inner turmoil—it’s the stuff of stories. In reality, such a character doesn’t exist.”
As Karin danced, hands clasped in front of her chest, her mockery stung with painful accuracy.
“Thanks for the reality check. Here’s your reward.”
“Fwaah! No tail-petting! Stop stroking so gently-nya!”
“You don’t like it when I go against the grain.”
“Myaah! Sakimori’s name starts with ‘S’—for Sadist! …Mnyaaah.”
Gently stroking her tail, Karin grew weak, collapsing to her knees with a flushed face and ragged breaths. It was oddly soothing to see her like that, but any more and my guardian angel might turn into a vengeful deity. I stopped at the right moment.
“Well, now that my spirit’s healed, I’ll help with the cooking.”
[My spirit’s anything but healed.]
I released Karin’s tail, noticing her swishing it as if inviting more attention. Though she seemed a bit disappointed, there was work to be done. My guardian spirit would have to rest.
“Time to prepare food and check for casualties.”
Thanks to pre-emptively surrounding Nobuhiro’s base with familiars, there shouldn’t have been any deaths. The injuries ranged from falls during the escape to wounds from flying debris. If there were any deaths, I’d have to offer condolences with a heavy heart.