21: A Moment’s Rest
For an hour now, he had been sweating profusely.
He wore a wide-brimmed hat and breathable long sleeves to protect himself from sunburn, but even so, the scorching sunlight was relentless.
“Haa… It’s hot.”
He was drenched from head to toe.
The occasional sea breeze provided some relief, but he was nearing his limit.
“Everyone!”
A female volunteer waved from a turquoise beach tent.
Bottles of water were lined up on the table.
“Let’s take a break!”
Perfect timing.
Ryugo fanned himself with his sweat-soaked shirt and jogged over.
He grabbed a bottle of sports drink and took a swig. The cold liquid sawped into his dehydrated body.
It felt like he had just stumbled upon an oasis.
“Whew…”
“You’re really going for it.”
Haruyoshi, who had arrived a bit later, also opened his bottle with a slight sense of urgency and half drank of it in one go.
He must have been just as thirsty.
“That’s good!”
“Well, with all this sweating…”
“Look at me… My back is drenched. This is bad.”
“You can see the sweat stains clearly.”
“I bet I could wring it out.”
“Don’t, that’s gross.”
He scolded Haruyoshi, who was about to take off his shirt.
Misato took her bottle and moved away from Ryugo and the others to drink.
Did she not want to interact with them?
If so, it was strange that she had agreed to come with them as a volunteer.
“――Hey, they’re cleaning something over there.”
A voice from a distance drew their attention.
They turned their upper bodies and looked towards the road behind them.
Two frivolous-looking young men were walking along.
They seemed to be college students, mature in appearance but lacking the air of working adults.
They were holding potato chips and hamburgers that they had probably bought from a nearby store.
“That’s so cool.”
“Should we have them clean this up too?”
“Oh, good idea. Let’s give them some work.”
“Man, we’re so nice,”
they said, laughing boisterously as they tossed their wrappers and empty Coke cans onto the beach.
From Noble mtl dot com
The trash landed on the sand with a thud, and the papers fluttered in the wind.
Ryugo and the other volunteers watched in stunned silence.
They couldn’t believe someone would litter right in front of them.
They were so shocked by the sight of these human apes—no offense to actual apes—that they couldn’t move for a moment.
“They’ve got some serious guts. Are they idiots?”
“Maybe we should say something,” Haruyoshi suggested, and Ryugo nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. I’ll go talk to them.”
“I’ll come too. It’s dangerous to confront those guys alone.”
“Thanks.”
The two of them set out to tame the creatures that were even lower than apes.
The volunteer staff tried to stop them, but they shook them off. They couldn’t let this go.
Ryugo inspired at the backs of the two men who were about to leave.
“Hey! You! Don’t litter!!”
“What?”
The two idiots turned around, their faces contorted in annoyance.
“What’s your problem, kid? Where are we supposed to throw it, then?”
“You’re old enough to know where the trash cans are. Or is this your first time in a civilized area because you’re apes?”
“Are you looking for a fight?! It’s just trash. Why don’t you pick it up and throw it away yourself! I’ll kill you!!”
Their responses were not very intelligent.
Were they jocks? Ryugo knew it was prejudiced of him to think so, but this kind of behavior was typical of them.
“Hey,” Haruyoshi whispered in his ear.
“What are you going to do? Piss them off?”
“I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t. If this keeps up, there’s going to be a fight.”
“We’ll deal with it when it happens.”
“I’ll back you up, but you’d better think of a good excuse.”
Ryugo had never expected to negotiate his way out of this from the start.
These college students probably realized that what they were doing was wrong.
But being lectured by some unknown younger guy had triggered their childish rebelliousness.
In this situation, persistence was almost impossible.
No matter how logical his arguments, they would just resort to meaningless sophistry to justify their actions.
In the end, they would probably resort to violence.
“Listen up! Pick up your trash! Or I’m calling the cops!”
“What the…?!”
The college students clenched their fists.
A dangerous atmosphere enveloped the surroundings.
Since I had anticipated this, I activated the hypnosis I had set up in advance.
I tapped my smartphone discreetly and made eye contact with them.
“……………………”
The college students seemed momentarily stunned, and then,
“Ah… well, it was our fault. Sorry.”
“Yeah…”
They reacted completely differently from before.
They lowered their heads apologetically and started picking up the trash they had thrown away earlier.
Ryugo had cast the “Junior” “Attitude” hypnosis on them.
People like this are vulnerable to hierarchical relationships.
There are those who live like lone wolves, not bound by such things, but they are extremely rare.
Incidentally, the hypnosis can affect ‘2 people,’ but since the ‘command’ had not been executed yet, I was able to hypnotize two more people.
A little trick.
“Well, I’m glad I’m talking to reasonable people.”
Ryugo smiled pleasantly, and the college students shrank back in fear.
“Yes… sorry.”
“Don’t ever litter again. Swear it.”
“S-swear! I swear it…”
“Then hurry up and pick up that trash and get out of here.”
“Yy-yes, sir!!”
They hurriedly gathered the trash, their faces pale, and left in a panic.
I guess upperclassmen were really that terrifying to them.
They ran away like scared mice.
Anyway, I’m glad it worked.
If the hypnosis hadn’t worked and the college students had remained hostile, I would have had no choice but to call the police.
“That was amazing, Tanuki.”
Haruyoshi clapped his hands in admiration.
“To convince those guys like that.”
“It’s just that they were willing to listen.”
“Is that so… well, maybe. They were surprisingly obedient.”
They would never guess that I had brainwashed them.
Haruyoshi’s behavior was even stranger.
I thought he must be a real scumbag since he was hanging out with Makoto, but he had come to my aid without hesitation.
Even though it was a problem that could have affected him too, I don’t think his quick thinking was motivated by such selfish concerns.
“Hey, why are you hanging out with Makoto?”
Ryugo asked, and he answered immediately, looking puzzled.
“Because he’s interesting.”
“What’s so interesting about him?”
“He wants to be free more than anything, but he has no choice but to obey Era. He had so many other options, but he keeps going down the wrong path. Water flows downhill, but… his behavior is fascinating.”
“You think like an alien observing humans.”
“Also, I really enjoyed your little spat with him.”
“Is that why you were laughing…”
After that――.
After finishing cleaning up the beach, Ryugo and the others received some souvenirs from the volunteer staff and headed home.
The three of them walked towards the station with the sunset at their backs.
The sweat that had poured like a broken dam had dried, but it still left an unpleasant feeling, and every time a breeze blew, an unpleasant coldness ran down their backs.
“I’ll probably be sunburned and have dark skin by tomorrow.”
Ryugo spoke to Misato while looking at his slightly reddened arms.
“I don’t care because I applied sunscreen.”
“If you have some, lend it to me.”
“There’s no reason for me to lend it to you!”
“It’s obvious because you didn’t want to get sunburned.”
“I’m not asking why you want me to lend it to you, I’m asking why I should it lend to you!”
“I’ll lend you money?”
“Don’t just fabricate the past!”
If he teased her too much, she might hit him again.
He’d better stop here.
“You two are interesting.”
Haruyoshi had a pasted-on smile on his face.
“We’re not interesting!”
“You are. You don’t have to fight, but you use strong words on purpose. Even from the sidelines, it looks like you’re just messing around.”
“What’s so interesting about that?”
“Isn’t it funny?”
“Bastard…!”
It seemed like they were about to start fighting, but he ignored it because it was none of his business.
Still, even after observing Misato for a whole day, she never touched her smartphone.
Was she being cautious of him?
If so, was she the possessor after all?
The same went for Haruyoshi.
He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him and had only been diligently cleaning up the garbage.
It was a day that didn’t contribute to solving the mystery at all, but there was a minimal reward.
Hypnosis Level: 54
It was a stroke of luck to have gained more than ten levels in a single day.
Honestly, he had thought that around five would be the limit, so this was a pleasant surprise.
The additions were “Attitude: Fear, Hostility” and “Command: Level 2”.
He could now perform higher-level commands, and the consumption level required for lower-level commands would be reduced.
If possible, he wanted to proceed without relying on commands, but their ease of use was appealing. There would be times when he would have to use them even if it cost him levels.
Ryugo and the others took the train back to their town.
“That’s right. Raccoon dog.”
As they walked past the station, Haruyoshi clapped his hands as if he had a brilliant idea.
“Why don’t we go to that arcade up ahead? I heard they got some new games.”
“That’s so random.”
“Well, I thought it might be awkward if I went alone.”
“I don’t really care.”
“What about Misato?”
“I’m good. I’m going home.”
She answered quickly and walked off in the opposite direction, soon disappearing into the crowd.
Despite her attitude when invited, it was no wonder she was so popular with Aira’s followers.
“Let’s go then.”
“Okay. Oh, this way is a shortcut.”
Guided by Haruyoshi, they walked through a narrow alleyway with pipes running overhead.
It had been a long time since he had hung out with someone.
It felt like a distant memory, even though it had only been a few months ago. Before Aira and her gang took over the class, it was always just him, Kouki, and her—
“Three people?”
—Who’s that?
An image popped into his head.
It was of three people walking shoulder to shoulder, but the third person, who he couldn’t remember, was blurry and indistinct.
It felt like that part had been erased.
Something important… something he shouldn’t forget…
“YOU BASTaaaRD!”
A scream from the right startled him, and he reacted too slowly to the metal pipe that was suddenly in front of him.
“Wha!?”
There was a loud clang as bone met metal, and a searing pain shot through his shoulder.
The impact sent him flying, and he landed hard on a pile of garbage bags. Plastic bottles and chopsticks pierced his back, causing even more pain.
His mind reeling from the agony, Ryugo looked up to see his attacker.
“You… Makoto…!!”