Chapter 51: I Was Hoping We Wouldn’t Meet, You Know
My heartbeat had finally returned to normal.
Just moments ago, my heart had been hammering violently against my ribs, pounding hard enough to make my entire body tense with anxiety. Every beat had echoed in my ears like a drum. But now, little by little, that frantic rhythm had settled.
Calm had returned.
For the moment, at least.
Now then.
I was still standing on university grounds.
There was still some distance to travel before the interview, and enough time left that I could still choose another course of action.
Given the situation…
The option I should take was—
……Haah.
Letting out a sigh I made no effort to hide, I pulled out my phone.
After a brief hesitation, I dialed a familiar number.
The call connected almost immediately.
“Hello?”
A deep, dignified male voice answered from the other end.
“Hello? Gouto? What’s wrong? Calling out of nowhere like this?”
The owner of that voice was none other than Kirishiro Retsuya.
My father.
People often said that a voice transmitted through a phone wasn’t truly the same as hearing someone in person.
Even taking that into account, however, there was a weight to my father’s voice.
A pressure.
A presence.
This was the voice of the man who stood at the summit of the Kirishiro Group.
One of the most influential figures in the country.
A man whose authority reached farther than most people could imagine.
And that powerful voice said—
“Could this be about your allowance being reduced? I’ve heard about that, you know. Honestly, I told your mother it was a little too harsh. But she wouldn’t listen. She kept saying, ‘If we don’t go this far, he won’t change.’ Still, don’t worry. Your father can slip you a little spending money. How much do you need? Would a million yen last you a month?”
“…Father.”
Please.
Please don’t say things like that in such a majestic voice.
Just because Mother wasn’t around didn’t mean he should immediately revert to being an embarrassingly doting parent.
Certainly, Mother’s judgment had been severe.
The restrictions she had placed on me weren’t exactly gentle.
But Father’s solution apparently amounted to throwing money at the problem until it disappeared.
That was definitely not how this was supposed to work.
He had agreed to send me off to live independently at university.
He should at least follow the rules he himself had approved.
Moments like these made it difficult not to wonder whether he remained at the top of the Kirishiro Group only because Mother carried half the organization on her back.
Though, to be fair…
By bloodline, Father really was the direct heir.
Grandfather was unquestionably more similar to Mother and me in temperament.
Then again, Grandmother on the other side resembled Father quite a bit.
So the family resemblance wasn’t completely absent.
…My thoughts were drifting.
I hadn’t called Father to beg for money.
In fact, even if Father thought he could secretly transfer funds to me, Mother would discover it almost immediately.
At the very least, Meiko would report everything without hesitation.
And the future awaiting Father after that was easy enough to imagine.
No.
That wasn’t why I called.
There was simply something I needed to confirm.
“Father. I’m not calling to ask for money.”
“Hmm? Then is it about your summer vacation plans? When you’ll be coming home, perhaps?”
He still sounded completely relaxed.
Oblivious.
Which was why I decided to ask directly.
No detours.
No buildup.
“Father.”
I paused.
“Have you ever heard of the Light Jobs?”
“NGEHOO!?”
A bizarre noise exploded through the speaker.
“N-No!? Never heard of it! What’s that supposed to be?!”
“…You haven’t?”
“Never heard of it!!!! Certainly not some charitable organization that supports struggling young people!!!!”
The silence that followed was painful.
Was Father’s guard really this weak around family?
Publicly, he was the head of the Kirishiro Group.
An elite among elites.
A titan of industry.
Surely he wasn’t this transparent in business negotiations.
No.
The problem was simply that his defenses collapsed completely whenever family was involved.
“Father.”
I spoke slowly.
“I’m only going to ask one more time.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You’ve never heard of it. Correct?”
“If I don’t know it, then I don’t know it! Gouto-kun, why exactly are you asking about this Light Jobs?”
“If you don’t know it, then that’s fine.”
I immediately moved to end the call.
“Goodbye.”
“Gouto-kun!? Wait—!”
Click.
The line disconnected.
I lowered the phone.
At least now I knew Father’s position.
Whatever the truth was, he considered the matter important enough to hide even from his own family.
Why he wanted to hide it was another question entirely.
Though that didn’t really matter.
Honestly, I would have preferred not to use this method against family.
Still…
“Now then…”
A cold smile crept across my face.
“I wonder which is worth more. Father’s hush money… Or Mother’s information fee?”
I murmured the words while doing my best to freeze my emotions.
There was a decent chance Mother already knew everything.
But even if she did, that wasn’t a problem.
Mother wasn’t the sort of person who learned someone had been hiding information from the family and then simply let it go.
No.
If valuable information changed hands, compensation inevitably followed.
That was just how she operated.
“Nice to meet you. I’ll be conducting today’s interview.”
The man offered a polite smile.
“My codename is… Spade.”
“Nice to meet you as well. I’m Kirishiro Gouto.”
And thus the interview began.
I stared quietly at the man introducing himself with the blatantly fake alias.
Spade.
The café was calm and elegant.
More importantly—
We were the only customers present.
That was almost certainly not a coincidence.
At this point, it was safer to assume the entire establishment had been reserved.
Spade sat across from me without the slightest trace of nervousness.
His expression was steady.
His suit was tasteful and expensive without being flashy.
He was clearly not the sort of person who became tense simply because he was meeting a university student.
Still.
That was all I saw.
I had expected more from someone conducting these interviews.
He wasn’t particularly high-ranking.
He couldn’t even completely hide the subtle condescension behind his smile.
The assumption that he was dealing with “just a college student” leaked through every so often.
“So, Kirishiro-kun.”
Spade folded his hands.
“You’re acquainted with Aoba-kun, right? I hear you’ve already completed one assignment.”
“That’s correct.”
I nodded.
“I imagine you’ve already received the report regarding how that assignment concluded.”
“Oh, certainly.”
His smile widened.
“I heard you performed exceptionally well. To be honest, we’d love to build a good relationship with someone as capable as you.”
A harmless conversation starter.
Ordinarily, I would have played along.
A few hours ago, my plan had been exactly that.
Win their trust.
Build rapport.
Advance gradually.
Climb the ladder one step at a time.
But circumstances had changed.
Now I knew what waited at the top.
And once you knew your destination, there was no reason to keep pressing the brakes.
Well then.
What do you think, hallucination?
I’d do this with or without your help.
But if you’re cooperating…
It certainly makes things easier.
──────
“Spade”
Real Name: Takahagi Masaya
Occupation: Welfare Foundation Employee
Family: Recently welcomed his first son, Masafumi
──────
I smiled.
“By the way, Mr. Spade…”
The man looked up.
“…Or should I say, Takahagi Masaya-san?”
His face froze.
“…What?”
“Congratulations, by the way.”
I continued pleasantly.
“I hear your son Masafumi was recently born.”
“…”
“Just making conversation, of course.”
I smiled warmly.
“As an ordinary university student, I occasionally think about things like family and the future. It must be wonderful. He’s at the age where everything he does is adorable, isn’t he?”
I leaned back slightly.
“No hidden meaning whatsoever.”
“……………!?”
The color drained from his face.
By the time his full attention—and every ounce of his caution—had shifted toward me, I continued.
“My request is simple.”
I folded my hands.
“Introduce me to someone higher up in the Light Jobs organization.”
The smile never left my face.
“That’s all. Nothing more. No ulterior motives. I simply wish to talk.”
After all—
“I’m just an ordinary university student.”
I tilted my head.
“My schedule is quite flexible. So…”
I smiled.
“What will you do?”
After that…
How many people had I gone through?
I lost count.
Clover.
Shakunage Izuru.
Apparently his niece had just been scouted by the entertainment industry.
Heart.
Sarusuberi Hataya.
His son had recently begun a career as a livestreamer.
Diamond.
Chisaki Sumio.
His daughter was attending Heidan University.
My university.
Each time, I merely shared harmless little pieces of information.
Trivial things.
Family matters.
Ordinary topics.
Completely innocent conversation.
And somehow, after hearing those innocent facts, every single one of them felt strangely compelled to grant my request.
Curious.
Very curious.
Things became even smoother once I casually mentioned that I happened to have ties to the Nekoyanagi Clan—a family line of shinobi.
For some reason, that detail worked wonders.
And so.
One person became two.
Two became three.
Three became four.
And after passing through four layers of intermediaries—
I finally secured a meeting with the individual known as King.
The entire process took barely a week.
Probably the fastest promotion through their interview system in history.
Granted, during that week Meiko had repeatedly contacted me in a panic.
“Gouto-kun! Why are we suddenly getting flooded with inquiries from all over the place!? You definitely did something, didn’t you!? You absolutely did something!”
But I had done nothing.
Truly.
I had merely acted on information provided by my hallucinations.
And casually advertised the Nekoyanagi Clan.
That was all.
And then came today.
The restaurant where King awaited was on an entirely different level from the café where I had met Spade.
The sheer atmosphere of the place screamed prestige.
It made that first interview feel like a joke.
It was just after six in the evening.
There were almost no other guests visible.
Renting out a restaurant of this caliber should have been difficult.
Yet somehow, they had managed it.
I had instructed Diamond not to reveal my identity.
It appeared he had honored that promise.
Which was fortunate.
If they had learned beforehand that the visitor was Kirishiro Gouto…
There was a high probability King would have refused the meeting entirely.
Not that I intended to do anything to Chisaki-san’s daughter even if he had broken the promise.
Still.
I walked deeper into the restaurant.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Covering my face was a Venetian mask borrowed from Kuwajima.
Not because of any dress code requirement.
No.
This was an act of kindness.
I wanted to give the other party at least a little time to prepare themselves mentally.
When I arrived at the reserved table, my counterpart was already waiting.
A middle-aged man.
Dignified.
Authoritative.
One of the leaders behind the Light Jobs.
One of its founders.
A man who had eagerly agreed to this meeting after being told that some passionate young man had been deeply moved by the organization’s ideals.
The man smiled.
“Ah, so you’re the famous—”
He paused.
Then laughed.
“I’m King. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
His eyes moved to my mask.
“…Though that’s certainly an impressive mask you’re wearing.”
I looked at him.
And what did I feel?
Disappointment?
Resignation?
I had spent the entire week hoping the hallucination was wrong.
Praying it was mistaken.
But now that I stood here, face-to-face with reality…
I could only accept it.
The hallucination had been right.
Again.
“I was actually hoping we’d never meet.”
The smile on King’s face faltered.
“Hm?”
Slowly, I reached up.
Removed the Venetian mask.
And spoke.
“It’s been a while, Father.”
Silence.
Then I smiled.
“Now then. Allow me to ask once more. Do you know anything about the Light Jobs?”
“…”
For a single frozen second, the world stopped.
Then—
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!”
Father let out a scream unlike anything a dignified business magnate should have been capable of producing.
His expression looked exactly like a child who had suddenly turned around and found a demon standing behind him.