Chapter 1170

<Episode 1170> Day 15

“Is anyone there?!”

A man’s voice echoes.

Morii Masahiro inhales sharply.

“…I’ll go out first. I’d appreciate it if someone could come with me. Or maybe all of us going together wouldn’t be so bad.”

I raised my hand.

“I’ll go with you, Morii-senpai.”

“Good. Thanks, Gender.”

Walking towards the entrance with Morii Masahiro. His steps are heavy with tension.

I recall the story Morii told me last time about last year’s disappearance case in this village. Looking at the terrified Tanaka Hiroshi, it’s possible – no, almost certain – that the villagers themselves might be involved.

‘Well, this world is pretty much that genre.’

With a trembling hand, Morii Masahiro forcefully pushes open the door.

Around twenty villagers are gathered outside. More than half are elderly, and the rest middle-aged. The middle-aged man at the front wears a police uniform but has a scar on his face, making him look more like a yakuza.

“I am Shimada, head of the Ookaruma Village substation. We know Tanaka Hiroshi fled here. Hand him over. Or step aside so we can arrest him.”

“Shimada-san, Tanaka said the villagers were trying to kill him.”

Shimada wrinkles his face as if hearing something absurd. The scar on his face seems to wriggle grotesquely.

“Did the criminal say that?”

“Criminal… What exactly did Tanaka do?”

“TANAKA HIROSHI. That bastard is a rapist.”

“…What?”

“I can’t give you details. Where is he? Surely you’re not planning to protect a criminal?”

“Ah, no. Please explain further. Is Tanaka really a criminal? Tanaka…”

“Whatever lies that bastard told you… He escaped from the holding cell and came here. I don’t want to have to arrest you for obstructing justice, so please step aside.”

Shimada tries to force his way in. Clenching his teeth, Morii Masahiro resists and shouts.

“Tanaka! He said Gonjo and Sakurai were murdered by the villagers! Are you all gathered here to kill him?!”

Shimada hesitates.

“…Oh, I see. I haven’t informed you yet.”

He sighs in frustration before continuing.

“Gonjo and Sakurai ran in a different direction. Another officer is chasing them.”

“…Should we believe that?”

“Why would I lie about information you could easily verify with a little investigation? I’m a policeman.”

Shimada shows his police notebook.

Morii Masahiro relaxes his stance. Logically speaking, it makes sense that Tanaka Hiroshi is lying.

“Hold on.”

I step forward in front of Morii.

“…What now?”

“What about those people behind you?”

“They’re village elders. They’ve come to assist me.”

“I hate the smell of old people. If they enter the dorm, I won’t be able to stand it. You’re the only cop, so just you come inside.”

The elders bristle at my tone.

“Wh-what insolence!!”

“This disrespectful young whelp has no manners!”

“Just look at how he talks! What kind of upbringing did his parents give him?”

“Please calm down, elders. Since I cannot let the criminal escape, I will go in alone while you wait here.”

Shimada enters.

“Morii-senpai.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Go help that cop. If Tanaka is a criminal, we need to catch him.”

“Y-yeah.”

Morii Masahiro heads upstairs too.

I face off against those outside. Slowly scanning their faces, I notice they’re tense, unlike before, tightly shutting their mouths and carefully observing my reactions.

‘These guys, why are they so scared?’

All of them are elderly.


It’s not just anyone here. There are middle-aged people mixed in. But they’re still sizing me up like I’m some fresh-faced kid.

“…You know, don’t you?”

I said it while thinking of a movie serial killer. Then I gave them a sly grin and got the expected reaction.

“……!”

They flinched.

Everyone immediately took a step back in shock.

I calmly told them, “Sit down.”

“…….”

“I said sit.”

I grabbed the shoulder of the old man in front of me and pushed him down.

“AAAHHH!”

The old man screamed as he hit the ground.

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be… Is this really what you’ve come to?”

“Sit down.”

I glared at the middle-aged man with irritation. He swallowed hard and sat on the floor. The others quickly followed suit.

I scanned them and said, “Stand up.”

“…….”

They stood.

“Sit.”

“…….”

“Stand up.”

“…….”

“Sit.”

“…….”

“Stand up. Ah, damn it. Stop being so arrogant and sit properly already. Do I have to teach you how to sit? Sit!”

After my outburst, they finally knelt respectfully. Only then did I nod in satisfaction.

“Mori senior!! Are you insane?! That’s the police! Those bastards killed Gonjo and Sakurai! You’re bringing a murderer here?! Are you crazy?!”

“Calm down, Tanaka! I’ll do my best to help! Let’s talk first!”

“The rapist is now writing novels too, huh.”

Upstairs was noisy. Various sounds of breaking things could be heard. Well, not my problem.

I pointed at one of the kneeling men with my index finger.

“You, stand up.”

“…….”

The old man who was called out rolled his eyes around nervously.

“I said stand up! Understand the first time! Please!”

BAM.

I mercilessly kicked the old man in the gut. He rolled on the ground and curled up.

“Ugh…! A, I get it… I’ll stand, please stop hitting me…”

The old man shakily stood up. I looked around. Not a single person came forward to help him.

“Stand straight.”

The old man put strength into his legs. Though his back was straight, his body was visibly trembling.

“Say what you said earlier again.”

“I, I’ll stand, please stop hitting me…?”

“Not that.”

“…….”

“Shit. Did you suddenly become mute?”

As I raised my fist, the old man spoke. His voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.

“Wha, What kind of home education did your parents give you…?”

“This.” I delivered a powerful kick to the old man’s knee.

“AAAAAAHHHH!”

The old man screamed as he collapsed. I kicked his knees several more times. His leg bent in an unnatural direction.

I crouched down, grabbed his head, and slammed it into the muddy ground. PLOP. The ground was still wet with mud.

“My parents used to say, don’t do anything that will bring shame to us… Right? Or maybe not? Either way, I thought about it. If we make someone who disrespects our parents eat mud, they won’t insult them again.”

“HUUURGH, KERCHHOK! Pl-please… spare… KHEECHK!”

I grabbed a handful of mud and forcefully shoved it into his mouth.

“Eat mud, bastard. It’s better than eating rocks, right?”

“Eat.”

After smacking his head a few times, his throat moved.

I stood up and stomped on the old man’s head, burying his face in the mud.

“Keep eating.”

CRASH!

A window upstairs broke and someone fell down.

It was Tanaka Hiroshi. He stood up, looked around once, seemed confused by the scene before him, shook his head, and started running towards the mountain.

“Tanaka!!”

“Stop!!”

Mori Masahiro and Shimada shouted from above before jumping down from the second floor.

I chased after Tanaka Hiroshi into the mountains faster than them.

‘Tanaka. This little shit has been annoying me by flirting with my girl, Ryoiko. Good opportunity to beat him up.’

Chasing the exhausted Tanaka wasn’t difficult. I caught up to him in less than 30 meters.

“Damn chosunjin! Get lost right now! I need to escape!”

The guy swung a punch at me. It was so laughable that I burst out laughing. I caught his punch and threw him backwards. He crashed into a tree and fell down.

I ran to Tanaka. Mori Masahiro and Shimada were approaching from a distance.

“We don’t have much time.”

“Se, Sex! Pl, Please help me! I made a mistake… AAAAH!”

I shattered both his arms and legs and gave him a brutal face stomp.

“Sex! Stop!”

Mori Masahiro grabbed onto me as I held Tanaka…


I dropped Nakai’s head.

“…No matter how necessary chasing criminals was, that was going too far.”

Shimada said this while looking at Tanaka.

“This guy resisted too much, so I had no choice. He’s not dead, so please let it slide?”

“……I didn’t see anything.”

Shimada turned his head, and Mori Masahiro looked at me with a complicated expression before averting his gaze.

We brought Tanaka back to the lodging.

They were still sitting on their knees. Shimada asked them:

“Why are you elders sitting?”

“A-ah, this is….”

They started to stand up.

“Did anyone say you could stand?”

Startled, they sat back down.

The eyes of both Shimada and Mori Masahiro, including them, turned toward me.

“Just kidding! It was just a joke. A simple joke.”

“……”

“……”

Needless to say, the atmosphere did not ease.

Shimada approached one elder. The elder whose knees I had shattered and who had eaten mud.

“Elder… Are you alright? Why are your knees like this… and there’s mud on your face… What happened to make it like this?”

“I fell earlier,” I said calmly. They stared at me in shock.

“That, that guy!!”

The mud-eaten elder trembled as he pointed a shaking finger at me.

Shimada gave me a sharp look.

I stared steadily at the elder.

“……”

The frightened elder lowered his hand.

“S-Shimada-kun. I just fell, that’s all. Could you take me to the hospital?”

“Ah, is that so? I’d like to personally escort you, Elder, but since I have to handle the criminal, it’s difficult. Would someone else kindly take the Elder to the hospital?”

“We’ll take care of it!”

The situation was quickly resolved.

Shimada took Hiroshi Tanaka to the police box, with Mori Masahiro following behind. The others took the mud-eaten elder to the hospital.

I stood in front of the lodging, watching Shimada’s retreating back.

‘He must’ve realized I shattered the elder’s knees… yet he pretended not to know.’

I looked at Shimada’s waist. There was a revolver holstered there—a Japanese police pistol.

“Shimada-san!”

I called out to him. Shimada turned around and looked at me.

“Do you have something to say?”

“I heard some old man named Zoroi or something went missing… Is he still missing?”

“…You mean Jiro Elder? Yes, he’s still missing.”

“What a shame.”

“……”

Shimada turned around again and walked away.

I watched his retreating figure and thought.

‘He knows I’m the one who killed that old man, yet he’s doing nothing about it… Hmm. Should I kill him tonight? That pistol would come in handy.’

•••

That night.

I spent until midnight drinking beer at the hole-in-the-wall shop. The elderly owner kept glancing at me.

“Young man, how long do you plan to stay? We’re already closed… It’s past midnight.”

“Ah, I gotta go. I need to split with Ryo-chan… Can’t hang here forever.”

As I threw the empty beer can on the floor and tried to leave, the old woman grabbed my arm.

“How can you leave like this?”

“Ah, what now? You were telling me to go earlier.”

“You need to pay first! That’s 8700 yen!”

“I don’t have money with me… I’ll pay later.”

“Huh? No credit for outsiders at our place!”

“Damn it.”

My anger surged.

My vision spun. Drunkenness had reached its peak. It had been a while since I last felt this drunk, and I was caught off guard by the overwhelming sensation, surrendering to the rising emotions.

I kicked the old woman. She flew backward, twitching on the ground. Groaning in pain, but she wasn’t dead.

“I’ll pay you back later!”

I grabbed another beer from the fridge. The drunken haze made me crave more alcohol. I wanted soju, but unfortunately, there was none in the fridge.

I waited in the hole-in-the-wall shop all night for those bastards to show up… but no one came. Guess I misjudged things.

Wobbly.

The world spun as I got drunk.

‘How long has it been since I got this drunk? This buzz feels great.’

[Great Luck (Lv. Master) activated.]

BOOM.

I bumped into something.

“Shoulder slap? Take THIS!”

I immediately clenched my fist and retaliated.

It was a telephone pole.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!”

The sudden pain snapped me out of my daze, screaming as I crouched to the ground. Damn pain completely wiped away the pleasant buzz.

I rubbed my red knuckles and looked up. Someone was sneaking toward me under the cover of darkness.