Chapter 1: You Can Do It

—All yakuza can be divided into two types: yakuza holding a blade, and yakuza who aren’t.

“Personally, I prefer the yakuza who aren’t holding blades.”

Even when I voiced those words, they were like pushing against a curtain or hammering a nail into rice bran. They had no effect whatsoever on the enraged Resina.

Now this was a problem.

Before me, Resina had drawn her dosu several centimeters from its sheath. She wildly tossed her beautiful silver hair, like a goddess of the moon, and her blood-red eyes gleamed as she slammed her raging mana against me.

Be still, I beseech you.

“Heh heh heh… Crow, you’re taking your joke too far. It can’t be helped, so I’ll give you just one more chance. Think very carefully before you speak.”

“Yes.”

“I would very much like to hear your opinion regarding the schedule for the rest of the tour.”

And Resina’s mana raged.

Yes.

The Cineraria Family’s Winter Tour was a major annual event in which produce gathered in the cities was processed and redistributed throughout the territory. Apparently, villages in various regions with insufficient supplies for the winter were craning their necks as they waited for our arrival.

To be honest, one problem after another had delayed the tour considerably.

On top of that, some kind of trouble appeared to be occurring in the Silva Frontier Territory ahead. At this rate, completing the tour itself might be in jeopardy.

That was why—

“—I’ll go to the frontier alone, so I’d like you to lead everyone and continue the tour, Resina.”

At that moment, Resina’s dense mana poured out like a volcanic eruption and enveloped the small village where we were staying.

Yes… We would need to check the damage later. Were all the villagers all right?

Poor Penne was huddled inside the room, her pink twin-tails vibrating rapidly. Garnet fled into her alchemy workshop and transformed into a box girl. Kiko remained expressionless and quiet, but the fact that she didn’t move a single muscle probably meant she was frightened.

Probably.

“Why? Why? Why are you trying to go to the frontier alone, Crow? Are you planning to run away from me? Even if you’re going to begin your dream slow life, why choose this exact moment? Why won’t you take me with you? Tell me, why—”

It was a misunderstanding.

My slow life on the frontier was a dream I absolutely intended to achieve, but even I wasn’t thinking of starting it immediately. After all, it would be frightening afterward unless I first withdrew from the Cineraria Family on peaceful terms.

“Crow can’t survive without me.”

“That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”

“In other words, separating from me means you intend to die. I won’t allow that. If you’re going to die somewhere beyond my knowledge, then while I still have the chance, with my own hands—”

Resina… You’re normally extremely calm and intelligent, yet when it comes to me, your ability to think plummets and your words become incoherent. Why is that?

I find that point remarkably puzzling.

The reason this happened in the first place was—

◆　　　◆　　　◆

Every year, on the day when the night grew longest—the winter solstice, as it had been called in my previous life—temples throughout the land held an event known as the Ring Ceremony.

This world had no custom of celebrating birthdays. Instead, everyone became one year older simultaneously during the annual Ring Ceremony. Babies turning one received naming celebrations, while men and women turning eighteen celebrated their coming of age.

Although we were in the middle of the tour, we gathered at the village’s small temple for the ceremony. We listened to an elderly priest’s tall tales and watched the babies being introduced and the newly recognized adults offer their greetings.

A village Ring Ceremony felt rather novel. I’d always lived in cities, where each family visited the temple at its own convenience to celebrate namings and coming of age.

When we returned to the empty house we’d borrowed, Resina stretched tall and smiled faintly.

“We’re eleven beginning today. I wonder what sort of year it will be.”

“Ten was turbulent, so I’d like to spend this year peacefully.”

“Heh heh heh… But amid all that turbulence, I was able to meet you, Crow. I can’t say it was entirely bad.”

Well, it certainly hadn’t been nothing but bad.

Although I had been made an executive in a yakuza organization.

Beginning today, everyone was one year older. Resina, Penne, and I were eleven. Garnet was thirteen, and Kiko was fourteen.

Incidentally, people were steadily settling on “wife army” as the collective name for the girls, but anything involving marriage was on hold until adulthood, all right?

I still hadn’t given up on my slow life on the frontier.

Truly.

Now then.

Pulling myself together, I placed several traditional Ring Celebration dishes in Storage and entered my subspace.

My subspace Prison currently held thirteen yakuza.

Twelve were members of the Nemophila Family, whose territory lay in the empire’s north. They were the men Penne had carefully put to sleep during the recent attack. Although they’d been rough in the beginning, they had now become like model prisoners.

No, after I made them practice targets for Mana Intimidation, they ended up submitting to me somehow.

Their accommodations had therefore been upgraded from their original individual cells to a large communal room. They appeared to enjoy days resembling a vacation, exercising and gambling in the spacious area.

Honestly, they were living more of a slow life than I was.

How enviable.

“How is everyone? Today’s the Ring Ceremony, so I’ve brought food for the celebration. It’s all standard fare, though.”

When I set the food out on a large table, they gathered around with slightly bewildered expressions.

What was wrong? Had something strange happened?

Ah, I had alcohol too. I’d bring out the glasses now.

“Have a drink with us too, Leading Candidate.”

“Yes. Just one cup, then.”

The muscular man who poured for me was named Muscari, and he seemed to be their leader. Still, if I stayed too long, my presence would make things awkward for them. The correct choice would be to join them for a toast, then withdraw promptly.

Incidentally, ever since I became the leading candidate for the next underboss, they’d started calling me “Leading Candidate” as well… Was that all right?

Technically, I was an executive of an enemy organization. Was it really safe for them to treat me with that much respect?

Well, if they were satisfied, it wasn’t my place to complain.

“Then enjoy yourselves. Get along.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

With that, I left their room.

Next, I visited the individual cell of the other man living in my subspace Prison.

He was my former colleague who’d worked under Medis and poisoned the soup intended for me.

Yes. Hyadal.

Recently, he’d borrowed various books from the Library and immersed himself in reading them. It didn’t seem as though he were researching anything with a particular goal. Rather, he appeared to enjoy learning new things in and of itself. Apparently, if he hadn’t been born into a yakuza family, he would’ve liked to become a teacher.

He probably loved studying.

Also, no matter how I looked at it, he was living more of a slow life than I was.

How enviable.

“Hyadal. I’ve brought you celebration food.”

“Ah… Is it already time for the Ring Ceremony?”

Hyadal was the grandson of Chief Administrator Serge.

That made him Penne’s cousin.

…Or it should have.

Today, however, I had to give him a rather unfortunate piece of news.

As I set out the celebration dishes, I felt slightly depressed. I poured the alcohol, and we both raised our glasses lightly.

While we shared food from the large plate, I exhaled a little longer than usual and prepared myself to speak.

“Actually, a letter addressed to you arrived from headquarters.”

“Don’t look so concerned. It was an expulsion notice, I assume. Expulsion from the Cineraria Family and… probably banishment from the Banksia family as well. Compared with what I did, that’s an excessively lenient punishment.”

He was right, but… I thought he seemed remarkably calm as I handed him the expulsion notice.

All he’d actually done was poison my soup, and even that attempt had failed. Medis had also planted a poisonous insect on him, leaving him unable to disobey.

For my part, I didn’t think his punishment needed to be especially severe.

Though expulsion from the Cineraria Family itself had probably been unavoidable.

“Isn’t banishment from your family too harsh?”

“Is it? Honestly, I feel refreshed. At last, I’m free of that family… The Banksia family is twisted in various ways. I could easily foresee this ending, so I don’t find it especially regrettable.”

Hyadal drained his glass in one gulp.

“My punishment has been entrusted to you, hasn’t it?”

“Yes. Although—”

“If you give me a lenient punishment here, people will question whether you possess the qualities of a candidate for the next underboss. It’s fine. I turned twenty-one today. In this line of work, I’ve lived long enough… Don’t hold back. Cut off my head, Crow.”

Hmm…

Sorry to interrupt when he’d prepared himself so completely.

“I don’t know why you’re deciding your own punishment… but I would never give you anything as lenient as dying and bringing everything to an end. Sorry, but I intend to make you live and atone, even if you have to crawl through the mud.”

“Specifically?”

“I’ll decide that from now on.”

When I declared that, he looked ready to burst out laughing and merely answered, “I’ll prepare myself.”

Hmph.

My goal was to leave the Family peacefully and enjoy a slow life on the frontier. I couldn’t care less what other people thought of me. I absolutely refused to carry out a killing I couldn’t accept simply because of outside pressure.

That said, I couldn’t simply declare him innocent either, which made the matter somewhat troublesome.

“Never mind me… Look out for Penne.”

“Penne?”

“Yes. She’s probably still suffering because of the scum in the Banksia family. As her cousin, I’d heard various rumors… but it appears she was treated even worse in that household than I was.”

Hyadal sighed softly.

Was Penne’s family situation complicated in all sorts of ways too?

When I emerged from the subspace Prison, a man was waiting in the room.

He belonged to Jairo’s Chivalrous Band and should have been responsible for replacing purification barriers in this area.

“Leading Candidate. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“Yes. I have a matter to discuss…”

According to him, something suspicious appeared to be happening on the frontier.

The Silva Frontier Territory was located at the northern edge of the western Azukai Empire, which the Cineraria Family controlled. As the word “frontier” indicated, it stood at the very limit of the region where humanity could survive.

A miasma-filled forest known as the Tainted Forest spread throughout the territory, and all sorts of monsters roamed inside it. Any village they created would be swallowed in no time, so the people apparently gathered and lived in a single city.

“At the moment, it seems that anyone who identifies themselves as a member of the Cineraria Family at the checkpoint gets turned away. The knights handling the gate had a strangely tense air about them… And the frontier’s miasma also seemed thicker than before. I believe something may be happening.”

I see.

Because the Cineraria Family conducted its Winter Tour at this time of year, I’d heard that we were rarely stopped at checkpoints. After all, if anyone delayed the tour carelessly, the common people waiting for supplies might throw stones at them.

Yet they weren’t allowing us through now…

In that case, something truly must be happening.

The Silva Frontier Territory seemed unsettling. However, with the Winter Tour already delayed, we couldn’t afford to become strangely bogged down here again. Many villages eagerly awaited their winter supplies.

If so…

I would entrust the rest of the tour to Resina and deliver the Silva Frontier Territory’s supplies by myself. With my subspace, transporting them would pose no problem. I was also curious about the situation there.

◆　　　◆　　　◆

And so, when I consulted Resina about our plans, she erupted in magnificent fury.

I couldn’t understand why.

“—I didn’t say I would go to the Silva Frontier Territory alone because I planned to force my slow life on the frontier into motion. Do you understand now?”

“I understand. I don’t accept it, however.”

“Oh, it looks as though a little of your ability to think has returned. Good, good. Keep it up. Just a little farther.”

You can do it.

Do your best.

At present, our fingers were intertwined as though we were lovers. Unless we did this, her mind-reading magic wouldn’t take effect, making her difficult to persuade…

Somehow, it looked like the behavior of a terrible man trying to muddle through a fight by becoming affectionate, but that wasn’t what this was.

This was different.

“If you want me to accept it… then…”

“Stop waiting for a kiss. I think it’s wrong to take advantage of the situation to steer events exactly as you please. At least your ability to think has returned properly. Now, suppress your mana.”

“Oh, honestly. You truly are formidable.”

Heh.

I couldn’t allow myself to be defeated so easily.

“Very well. I don’t like it, but I’ll concentrate on continuing the Winter Tour, then come to collect you once everything is finished… However—”

“However?”

“You cannot go alone. At least two people must accompany you… Otherwise, they won’t accept it.”

Resina placed a hand on her chin and considered something.

At least two people?

Who did she mean?

“And although I understand that I’ll be leaving you temporarily… should I continue managing the money?”

“Managing the money? What’s that about?”

“Crow, you’re an executive of the Cineraria Family now. Naturally, headquarters will send ten gold coins each month as executive compensation. The wages of your direct subordinates—Penne, Garnet, and Kiko—will also be paid from that.”

Hmm. Who was supposed to explain those things to me?

I hadn’t known at all.

For the moment, if Resina was willing to manage it, perhaps I would simply ask her to do so. Even if I received that much, I doubted I could spend it all anyway.

And so, while discussing our future plans with Resina, I considered at length how I should conduct myself on the frontier.