Kami-sama no Memochou

Volume 2, Chapter 6

The next morning, I brought the money to Hello Palace myself. Besides cooling myself off with the cold air of the morning, I felt that I must thank Yi Ling-san personally.

"Ah, you're here, come in."

Yi Ling-san pulled me into the room after opening the door.

In the house that had two rooms and a hall, big for a single lady, there were about ten women in it. Because of the indescribable fragrance in the room, I could only stand blankly at the door. Some of them were even wearing sexy clothing, as if they just finished working. Their skin colors and outlines looked somewhat different, just like I'm looking at a thumbnail of Asia. Of course, Jennifer and Hua-san were among them.

"So sorry, asking you people to help out with the strange problem."

Yi Ling-san forcefully slapped my cringing back.

"But we don't feel troubled about it. We just need to bank in the money, right?"

I nodded, distributing the envelopes with the money in it while saying.

"Do we have to bank them into our own accounts, then change it to another account?" Hua-san asked.

"Ah, that's right. From the sum of money, you might not be able to bank them in using an ATM machine."

"Though I don't know what you're trying to do, do your best!"

"You're doing this to save Kusakabe-san, right?"

"Meo and Kusakabe-san are in your hands!"

Being requested like that by the different people, a sudden happiness welled up in me, and I nodded.

"Well, that's all for now. The people from Hirasaka-gumi would be here later."

"To give you the receipt, right?" Yi Ling-san said. She's indeed quick, so it's quite reassuring.

I called Yondaime after walking out of the building.

'My side is finished.'

Isn't he a bit too quick!? I couldn't help but feel taken aback. Raising my head to look at the dark skies of April. It's just past six right now, so probably he finished distributing them late night? The young people in this city really don't sleep at night.

'We'll be able to collect all of the receipts before noon. When are you planning to attack?'

The timing is hard to grasp.

"Two."

'You really know how to dawdle. Then who's going to go?'

"What do you mean who's gonna go……? Of course it's going to be me. We must tell them about it clearly, the only people who know about the plan clearly besides me is only Alice. You aren't planning to tell Alice to go, are you?"

'You should get this clear, we're going to the enemy headquarters. Think of how dangerous it would be. Do you think they'll just let you walk out in one piece after saying all that?'

"That's why we're going to contact Mikawa, and not Tabara-gumi. At least the yakuza wouldn't be too daring in the office of Hello Corporation, right?"

Yondaime stayed silent. I felt that I could heard sounds of teeth gnashing.

'I'm going too. Do you hear that?'

"Eh? But aren't you in charge of the action team?"

'Shut up! There wouldn't be any problem there. Wouldn't it be okay if we just meet up later? Stop fussing!'

He hung up, and I sighed while looking at the screen.

Well, it's true that the plan is rather far-fetched. But we can't just inform them about it after sending over the information. This shallow method wouldn't work at all, there must be someone willing to charge inside.

The fact that Yondaime was willing to accompany me bolstered my confidence a bit.

I looked at the foggy sky. There's no room for us to turn back now.

'Mikawa is now at Hello Corporation. The senior executives are at work now.'

At eleven in the morning, Hiro sent the news. At that time, I had already returned to the NEET Detective Agency.

"Nobody else is with him? For instance, people from Tabara-gumi?"

'No, just him. He can't just bring bodyguards to work, right?'

He has a point. That's good.

Turning my head around to took at the side of the bed, Alice was already giving orders to Major through the phone, probably because she heard the conversation between Hiro and I.

"…… Mnn, we'll do it at Hello Corporation as planned. Please prepare to obstruct the phone signal…… Hmm? No, the starting time is two in the afternoon. Standby before that."

She put down her phone and turned to me:

"We're counting down now, are you ready?"

I gave her the thumbs up. A screen among the many screens hung on the walls behind the pajamas-clad Alice showed the bomb that Alice cooked up for Hello Corporation's system.

The red color painted on the whole screen. The abstract picture of the man with the little finger cut off his right hand and his right ear cut off. Though I finished it in just half an hour, I felt that it was actually quite good. Below these two pictures were large words: 2.00 p.m. , no other words.

The plan for saving Kusakabe Masaya would start at two in the afternoon.

The simple and clear symbols that only people who are in the know would understand, is now shown on the screen of the computers in Hello Corporation after Alice hacked into the system of Hello Corporation through the loopholes in their firewalls.

The plan had started. I only noticed after quite some time that large amounts of sweat was trickling down my hand holding the phone.

It was already after noon when Yondaime brought a few of his underlings to the NEET Detective Agency. Large stacks of bank transaction records were taken out from bags or plastic bags and were placed in front of me. I'm starting to have a headache.

"I really should've asked you to sort them out first……"

"It's too late for you to say that!" Yondaime's attitude was cold.

After using nearly thirty minutes, we finally got out the receipts used only for reference from the stack of over five hundred transaction records. I was too careless. Things would always turn out like this if we think of ways to solve problems only when the problem arises.

After categorizing them, we filled the bank transaction records into the bag that we lent from Meo. Completely using up the two hundred million yen, leaving only papers recording the flow of money. Carrying the bag for awhile, it really felt much lighter than when it was filled with the twenty thousand pieces of ten thousand yen notes.

Unreliable-- but it's the only weapon that I have.

No, the true weapon is some other thing, right?

I stood up after picking up the bag.

"Well, I'm off." I told the silhouette wearing the teddy bear pajamas.

Alice turned her head over, kneeled on her bed and waved her hand, calling me over. Eh? What is it?

When I went closer to her, I was lightly patted on the head like another time before this, making me spring back almost two meters in surprise.

"Good luck."

That's quite a short sentence for Alice. And because of this, it continued to linger in my ears.

"Hmm, what is it? You want it too, Yondaime?"

She suddenly moved forward, waving towards Yondaime, who was behind me.

"Stop dreaming."

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"Ane-san, please pat us too!"

"Me too!"

"Stop that idiocy! We're moving out!"

On the large steel bucket behind the kitchen backdoor of the ramen shop, Tetsu-senpai was sitting there with a displeased expression on his face.

"Why am I the only one to be excluded……" He said deliberately in an audible voice.

"…… Nobody is excluding you."

"But you didn't even tell me the details."

"Didn't I tell you about that on the phone yesterday?" I even asked your help for the bank transactions.

"My mind is all muddled up, I really don't understand."

Oioi, is that really my fault? Did I do anything wrong?

"So I'll go along with Narumi, is that okay?"

"Erm…… But you'll have to stay in the action group."

"Can't we just meet up later?"

Why are those two so similar in these matters!? I turned my head over to look at Yondaime, who was leading his underlings down the stairs.

"Second Brother Tetsu is going too!?"

"Taking the strongest duo to charge into enemy ground, as expected of aniki!"

"We'll defeat all of the workers!"

The lackeys were excited after hearing senpai's words. No, no, are they misunderstanding something? We're not there to have a fight!

"Then we're going first!"

"Remember to change your clothes first, don't take action with the group emblem on."

"Understood!"

The lackeys rode their motorbikes and left.

"These guys really don't have a sense of crisis." Yondaime muttered. I agree with that too.

At that moment, Min-san poked her head out of the kitchen backdoor.

"Hey, do you want to have something to eat before going?"

"You probably haven't eaten lunch yet, right? Narumi, why are you walking so unsteadily? You should at least have a meal first."

There weren't any people in the shop though it was lunch time. From left to right, Yondaime, me and Tetsu-senpai sat on the seats. Bowls emitting white smoke were placed in front of us. There weren't any pieces of roast pork(chashu) on it, but thick slices of deep fried pork chop(tonkatsu).

"This is for good luck. (Note: Katsu(victory) is part of tonkatsu)" Min-san said. "You're probably going to take part in something dangerous again, right? Really, you're just kids, too."

I appreciate her thoughts, but who would ever put deep fried pork chop on noodles? This is really…… But we still silently picked up the chopsticks. The strongest person in the city would not be the ex-boxer or the young yakuza boss beside me, but--

"Ah, I deducted the fee for the meal from Narumi's pay."

So she's not treating us!

Using the chopsticks to slowly pick up the pork chop on top of the ramen, I realized that the soup of the ramen was stuffed full of pepper and garlic. Uwaa! I almost had a nosebleed just by seeing it. Sneaking a peek at Yondaime and senpai's bowl, I saw that theirs were just ordinary soupd. Why do I have to undergo this torture? Are you really telling me to eat all this!?

"You, have you forgotten what I told you? Didn't I tell you not to meddle in this?"

Min-san leaned over from the other side of the counter and came closer to my face. She caught hold of my chin, showing a cold smile that could even eat up a tiger. I froze, opening and closing my mouth again like a fish. I really did forget what she said. That's bad, I'm going to get eaten up.

"Listen closely, you- have- to- finish- all- of- them."

With a tone like she's holding a red hot metal stick to threaten me, Min-san released my face only after she said all that.

"Tetsu, Sou, he's my employee. Don't let him get hurt."

"We know."

The two people who had speedily finished their pork chop ramen answered at the same time.

*

We reached the opposite of the office of Hello Corporation after passing through the Shuto Expressway at one forty five, slightly earlier than the scheduled time. Yondaime parked his 'Smart' car by the road.

Looking at the five-storey building from the window of the car, it felt even larger than it was yesterday. No, calm down, this isn't a big company at all, and the people supporting them are just a bunch of small potatoes; and the plan that I'm going to execute isn't a large bet at all.

I leaned my back on the seat and heaved a large sigh. Ah, this is bad, my heartbeat is accelerating.

"Hey, aren't you going down?"

Tetsu-senpai said while sitting on the backseat:

"My current posture is very uncomfortable."

"You're the one who wanted to come."

Yondaime retorted with an annoyed voice:

"I never planned to bring three people, idiot."

Smart is actually a small, two-person car, but Tetsu-senpai just squeezed into the back of the car. I answered while trying to recover my breathing rate:

"We can't be too early. That'll give them an opportunity to think. We have to wait till two."

"Why must it be two?"

"Because the bank closes at three. I think that an hour would be the most suitable time…… Though it's just my intuition."

"How is this related to the time that the bank closes?"

"Well……"

Didn't I tell you on the phone yesterday!? I really did explain it!

I was about to think of something simple to say, indicating that it's already two. "Let's go!" Yondaime opened the door after saying that, and kicked me out to the road.

There weren't any services like a lady waiting at the counter to welcome us. Only a phone was in front of the glass doors of the office, used to ask about the appointment status.

"Hello, is Director Mikawa in? No, we don't have an appointment."

The person at the other side of the phone seemed somewhat harried. That couldn't be helped, as Alice already hacked into all of the systems in the company and froze them.

'Excuse me, but who are you?'

Yondaime snatched the receiver from my hands:

"Just tell him that I'm Hinamura Soichiro."

The effect was instantaneous, and we were invited inside immediately. Should I become more anti-social as well?

"Listen, Tetsu. Don't take action first."

"Same to you."

Tetsu-senpai brushed the comment away lightly and pushed open the glass doors.

A nervous man of about forty was sitting on the sofa of the reception room, waiting for us to walk in. It was the man that I saw yesterday-- Mikawa. But not only Mikawa was in the room. The person standing who was standing at the other side of the conference table, beside the windows was a man wearing a pair of light brown shades and two other men wearing similar attires. When I saw the scene, I couldn't help but to stand at the entrance, shocked.

So we still can't completely avoid coming in contact with Tabara-gumi. Probably Mikawa called them here after seeing the computer screens? Hiro can't grasp the locations of both Mikawa and Tabara-gumi alone, blast!

Yondaime pushed me into the room.

Shades observed our faces in turn, and showed an eerie smile, but he didn't speak. In contrast, Mikawa seemed to be rather flustered:

"You're the ones who did that?"

Not a word of greeting, not asking us to have a seat, he went straight to the point.

"Aren't you all just students? Why are you meddling in this?"

"Hinamura, haven't you heard what I said!?"

It seemed like Shades didn't want to pretend to be anyone else anymore, and he said in a low voice. The yakuza walked around the conference table and surrounded us.

"Damn, why are you holding the bag for? Do you think things will be alright if you just return the cash!?"

One of the yakuza hit the bag in my hands. My ears are starting to ring. This is bad, I feel like I'm going to faint because of anemia.

"We're not here to negotiate with you."

After saying that, Yondaime lightly pushed my back. I came to my senses, adjusted my breathing, then glared at Mikawa. That's right, just ignore Tabara-gumi for now.

"I've brought the things that you wanted, Mikawa-san."

"What? Where's the girl!?"

"Hey, don't start a fight! We're in the company!" Mikawa said, flustered. "Please stop talking, I'll handle this."

Tetsu-senpai pushed away the men in black suits, allowing me to sit on the sofa opposite to Mikawa. The sofa made of synthetic leather was colder than I thought. It felt as if my heart was going to melt, flowing out of my ears.

From now on-- it's my battle, nobody would help me anymore.

I placed the Boston bag at the center of the glass table.

"Just the money wouldn't do, bring the girl." Mikawa's attitude became rough. I shook my head:

"Let's talk about the money first. I've already handed the two hundred thousand yen to you."

"What?"

"I didn't bring the cash. Don't you have a guild formed from foreign workers? I banked in all the money into the account of the guild."

"What are you talking about?"

A sense of stickiness could be heard in Mikawa's voice, and his pale face started to redden.

"It's impossible for you to bank them in! It's two hundred million, how do you tell that to the person at the counter? The lies of kids without common sense are indeed absurd."

Is that so? Then you would probably understand from now on, what absurd things that kids like this can do in a large group.

I opened the zipper of the Boston bag.

"I didn't save them all in at the same time."

I took out a stack of receipts inside and scattered them on the table. Mikawa took out one of them and read it out, then his face paled immediately. Another, and another…… After confirming the accounts on the paper, Mikawa's face became deathly pale.

"…… Wha- What is this!?"

"It's because we know a lot of people. They just have to go to the bank and bank them in. All of them were quite willing to help."

"Idiot, why did you do that--"

"And also, not only this……" I interrupted Mikawa's words, striking while he's weak: "The money would probably flow overseas or to Kishiwada-kai, right? So we've eliminated the need for you."

Our last trump card. I took out a document from my pocket and showed it to Mikawa, and he took it with trembling hands, reading the contents again and again. Seeing his eyes moving uneasily, I could clearly see what he was doing.

"Wh……"

"We've dealt with it, and about next Monday, they'll transfer the two hundred million yen from the account of the guild to the account of the chairman of Kishiwada-kai as a donation."

"Idiot, how could you do that? It's a personal account, and the one who owns the account is Kusakabe!"

Mikawa was in a hysterical state.

"Oi, what did you people do! What is the meaning of this!?"

Originally standing silently at a side, Shades started to become agitated as well. My heartbeat was already so loud that even I, myself, was almost unable to hear what I said. Now's the time, it'll be okay after we finish this.

"So I advise you to learn more about internet security. Though it would probably be hard for people whose computer systems are hacked into so easily to understand all this." Every time I said another sentence, my dry mouth would feel bouts of pain: "The system in the bank is connected through the internet as well. As long as they're connected through the internet, there's nothing that a hacker can't do. Transferring the money wouldn't even need the confirmation of the owner of the account."

"How can this be!? I- if something like this really happened--"

I completely ignored Mikawa's words, picked up the bag and stood up. We've played all our cards, so it's time to leave.

"Don't move! Do you mean that you're running away just like that!?"

"That's exactly what we mean, scram."

"Don't spit, squirt."

Tetsu-senpai and Yondaime protected me at my side.

"What are you doing!"

The sound of collision echoed in my stomach. Yondaime who was punched in the face, Tetsu-senpai who was hit in the stomach with a knee, both of them didn't even flinch, but instead, I cowered on the floor with my eyes closed even though I wasn't hit. A trail of blood trickled down from the corner of Yondaime's mouth.

The yakuza took a step back in surprise though they're the ones who took action first. The man in the light brown shades widened his eyes, while Mikawa- sitting on the sofa- looked even more surprised. Even so, he still said:

"Wait a minute, you haven't finished yet, why are you doing such a meaningless thing!?"

"I've finished. We're just here to tell you that."

So that they wouldn't notice my trembling hands, I stuck my hands to the back and answered:

"The transaction will occur on Monday, do you understand? Please release Kusakabe-san before that time. Just handing you the money is too dangerous for us, so we chose to do that."

After I finished saying that, I walked past the chair and out of the reception room. "Wait, you people! Don't joke with us!" The angry roars of Shades were blocked by Yondaime, the last one to walk out.

"Let's go back."

While walking past the female employee who looked at us with a scared expression on her face, we ran in the corridors of the building. It was only after I rushed out of the glass door, that I noticed that my forehead and back was drenched in a large amount of sweat.

"Damn, I'll kill those people the next time I see them!" Yondaime said while wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Things haven't finished yet, right? Don't lower your guard."

I bit my lips and nodded after hearing Tetsu-senpai's words, then the three of us ran down the stairs.

*

"Oh yeah, Narumi. Why were those people so flustered?"

Tetsu-senpai's voice came from the back of the car. The Smart Yondaime was driving avoided the road in a traffic jam, then zigzagged through the complex alleys quite quickly.

"Because I told them that I donated the two hundred million yen to Kishiwada-kai."

Do they understand when I put it that way? I'm a bit worried.

"Which means, if I moved the money in that way, the National Tax Department would notice it immediately. They'll know after checking it out that the account is connected to Hello Corporation. After they start investigating, the method of their money laundering might be noticed. The thing that they want to protect is not the two hundred million yen, but Kishiwada-kai."

"Wha?" Tetsu-senpai made an unsure sound: "So you wanted to expose their illegal activities, right?"

"It's not like that."

If we just wanted to expose them, it'll be quicker to call the police. But NEET detectives are not polices. They just do their best to complete their client's request.

"We're here."

The Smart was parked at the borders of the large parking lot. Looking like he doesn't have much space, Tetsu-senpai stretched his head from the back to my side to look outside the windows. Flat buildings were at the opposite of the large space.

"…… The bank?"

"That's right. The branch where Kusakabe Masaya opened his guild account."

I noticed a white van parked at the other side of the parking lot.

"Isn't that Hirasaka-gumi's van?" Tetsu-senpai seemed to have noticed it as well. Yondaime took out his phone:

"We're here. I see you. Standby to rush out at any moment."

After the simple message, he didn't hang up.

"Oi, Narumi. I don't get it, hurry up and explain! What have you done!?"

Tetsu-senpai shouted in my ears.

"Shut up, Tetsu! Keep quiet!" Yondaime said. So that he can give orders at any moment, he didn't hang up on the phone just now. I quietly explained again:

"The donation haven't started yet. I told them that the transaction would occur first thing next Monday. It's Friday today, so the bank is going to end its business this week. If the money is donated, the National Tax Department would get to know about it. What would you do if you are Mikawa?"

"…… Think of ways to cancel the transaction."

"That's correct. But the thing is, Kusakabe Masaya is the owner of the account."

"Ah……"

It seems that senpai finally understood.

But all of these are empty talk. If we aren't able to get the results that we anticipated, then it will still be meaningless. Looking at the watch on my hand, it was already two fifty. Again, I felt as if my gut was shrinking.

Would it be successful? Would there be any loopholes? Did I successfully say what I should have? While opening and closing my sweaty palms, I siletnly stared at the cars driving on the road. Not yet? They're not here yet? Maybe my method wasn't right, is it because my method was seen through?

"Hey, but how do you donate it? The owner of the account is Kusakabe, isn't that right? If he, himself, don't go, how could you transfer a sum of money like two hundred million yen?"

"Aren't you listening?" YOndaime said: "Alice probably did something about that."

Just at that moment.

A car-- a black van, drove into the parking lot. I nearly cried out loud. A large part at the rear of the van was caved in. It's undeniable that it was caused by the collision with the van of Hirasaka-gumi. I said a weak voice that sounded like breathing, and even more like I'm trying to control my heartbeat:

"Even if it's Alice, she can't do that."

My tongue is almost starting to tremble. Hacking into the information of the bank archives and moving the money in the account, such a serious matter-- no, Alice might really be able to do it. But we don't have the time, or even the need.

The door of the van was opened forcefully. The silhouettes who walked down were wearing gray suits or some rather filthy feather jackets, there were four…… no, five.

"What I did was just to bank in the two hundred million yen into the account. The others were just fabrications."

Yondaime looked at me disbelievingly for an instant.

That's right , most of them were just bluffs. The golden rule for lieing to other people-- mix in a lie in a lot of truths. Using over a hundred receipts of bank transactions, with a truth like this, I covered the lie after that.

Our aim is to ensure Kusakabe Masaya's safety. Because we don't know where he's imprisoned at, at can't charge into enemy territory; so it's better to just let them bring him to a certain place instead. Telling them that critical harm would be caused if Kusakabe Masaya didn't appear himself, with this reason--

"I think you wouldn't be a NEET in the future, but a fraud."

Yondaime muttered that, but I didn't listen closely to him. Yondaime shortly gave a command again to the phone, then the sound of the back compartment of the car came. The door of the driver's seat opened too, and the cold wind blew onto my face.

The fifth man walked down from the van. I saw his face from a photo before this, but he looks extremely fragile at the moment, the capable look on his face gone.

Meo's father.

At the other side, the doors of the Hirasaka-gumi's van opened, and some youngsters wearing shades, safety helmets and masks that blocked their faces walked down. In the tense atmospheere, at the silent world of the other side of the car window, the yakuza started to fight.

After that, I saw two other people rushing out from the driver's seat and the seat next to it from the black van, then my innards started to hurt like they're entangled by steel wires. They have six people too, and they're holding retractable batons. In a flash, two of the lackeys in Hirasaka-gumi were lying on the asphalt road, while Yondaime and Tetsu-senpai were grappling with two other enemies, and were bing pulled further from the black van. I opened the lock of the car. But when faint roars came from the slightly open door, I froze. What could I do if I go? I can't help out with anything anyways.

The two staying near the van grabbed Kusakabe Masaya's collar, trying to pull him back into the van. That wouldn't do, it'll be game over if he's back on the van, there wouldn't be a second chance. I forcefully pushed open the door, rolling down onto the floor of the parking lot, piteous shouts and sounds of fighting came into my ears. At a distance of more than ten meters from the van, my legs- my legs couldn't move at all.

Just at that moment, my gaze met with Kusakabe Masaya's for an instant, separated by some distance.

All that surfaced from his expression were the two words: give up.

He sighed while giving in to their pulls to get back into the car. What's with him! At least try to resist a bit? We're here to save you, don't you understand!? While shouting in an incomprehensible language, I ran. In the hopeless distance between the van and I, the yakuza on the car were about to close the door. It's over, we can't make it--

"--DAD!"

A sudden shout came from a young girl in this tense situation. Coffee colored wind. I have absolutely no idea where Meo's delicate body flew out from. It was as though her outstretched hand pierced through the body of the black car, poking into the seams of the van that was about to close.

The sounds of bone fracturing echoed over to my position, while Meo couldn't even scream. A yakuza walked over and roughly pulled on her braids, planning to pull away from the van. Stop it! Stop it!

Just at that moment, the shrill shout of a man came from inside the black van. I planned to leap towards the yakuza holding Meo's hair, but was knocked down by him, and rolled on the asphalt road while seeing the next scene.

The door of the black van springed open, only to see the men in gray suits kicked out of the van and the hand of the man that Meo was holding with her arms.

"Dad!"

In the confusing screams, for some reason, only Meo's voice was the clearest. Jumping down from the car, Kusakabe Masaya used the opportunity to knock down the yakuza grabbing his daughter's hair, while that guy's body rolled towards me and flattened me into pancake.

I don't really remember what happened after that moment.

I vaguely remember that Tetsu-senpai and Pole carried the father and daughter to the white van of Hirasaka-gumi; while I dimly remember Yondaime shouting in my ears as well.

When I woke up, I was already stuffed into the seat beside the driver's seat in the Smart. The ringing in my ears kept spreading to somewhere near my waist, and my scratched right cheek felt hot and wet, and even my breathing wasn't smooth.

On the driver's seat, Yondaime seemed to be panting as well. The Smart suddenly accelerated, while the time that passed in my heart seemed to feel the acceleration as well. Vigorously turning the steering wheel, then both the white and black vans vanished from my vision. When he drove to the driveway, the nostalgic sound of the city surrounded me.

As if being absorbed by the accelerating car, my heartbeat slowly, gradually slowed.

"…… Erm, where is Tetsu-senpai?"

It felt like my voice was somewhat fuzzy.

"He's in the other car. We have to get Kusakabe in hiding for some time."

Ahhh, that's right.

We saved Kusakabe Masaya. I, myself, wasn't too sure about the things that happened just now. Why was Meo there? Is her hand okay? Did anyone get caught? Did everyone escape?

Kusakabe…… Did Kusakabe Masaya treat Meo--

I sank into fatigue and slow aches, it felt as though nothing matters now. My task is completed. Though it was really a win, I just felt like having a good nap at that moment.

"Oi, get a hold of yourself. You used five hundred people to deceive the yakuza. Do you understand?"

Yondaime's voice seemed fuzzy as well.

"…… I know that. Though I didn't really do anything, and I wasn't even confident that we would succeed."

I wasn't sure if it was my voice trembling, but I wasn't even sure if it's my consciousness that's fading instead.

"I never thought that it would actually succeed. People probably feel like that when they're deceived."

"…… Letting Alice hack into their system was to show our power. Because of that, those people misunderstood that we could even do something with the bank accounts. Asking Major to block the telephone signals was to ensure that our phone number wouldn't be found out. I think they probably weren't completely intimidated by me, and they might be suspicious as well. But if things were really true…… Then there's no turning back."

And then, we waited until time was almost up before we rushed in. This is to let Mikawa think 'To be safe, it's better if we bring Kusakabe Masaya to the bank'. I was betting on his 'to be safe' thought.

With the help of a large amount of people, using their misunderstanding, suspicion, self-protection-- finally, we managed to achieve our objective.

But it would've failed if Meo didn't appear.

What am I doing? Involving hundreds of people, but I only took action through other people. At the last instant, I couldn't even do anything.

I think, the person who won was Meo, not me.

A flattened Boston bag was placed below the passenger's seat. Alice said that before, we must bring the bag back to Meo, as all the answers are inside.

But this doesn't matter now.

Anyways-- so tired. I'm just thinking that I want to have a break today. Leaning my head on the seat, I closed my eyes. While listening to the sounds of the engine of the Smart, I sank into a temporary slumber.