Kays Translations

Chapter 64: Albert

　The day after Karin and her husband’s  visit.

　In the evening, Karin-san came to the restaurant with Sophia-chan. It was early for dinner and there were no other customers.

“About those young monkey-type beastmen, one of them might be the son of a friend of mine. I had heard that his son was often out late at night. When I told him about what your boyfriend had seen, he turned pale and said, ‘He came home late that day.’”

“Can I meet the son?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’d love to go with you, but I can’t go out until Victor comes back because Sophia is with us.”

“If you tell me where the house is and the boy’s name, I will go there with my witness . Then… if anything happens, I will contact you, Karin-san. . Depending on the story, I would like you to pass it on to Victor. There is something I would like you to have with you so that we can contact each other.”

　I went into the kitchen and brought out the pendant I had made. I transformed a copper mug, made a frame and a chain to attach the copper coin pendant, and imbued it with my magic. If I keep sending magic, we can have a two-way conversation at any time. My magic shouldn’t run out at this level.

　If I give this to them, they’ll know that I can use magic, but I don’t care. I know that the Karin-san  and the others are beastmen. They trust me. So I will trust them too. That’s how I’ve decided to live my life.

“If you have that, you can talk to me when you need to. Like this.”

　I stepped back a little and spoke to the pendant, “Karin-san, can you hear me?”, and Karin, holding the pendant in her hand, flinched.

“I heard a voice coming from the copper coin. Mai, what is this?”

“I’ll explain in detail later.”

“Okay then. I’ll keep the pendant.”

　Sophia kept asking, “Grandma, what is it?　Why is there a voice? But Karin-san pretended not to understand and said, “I wonder what it is.” Karin-san quietly said the monkey-type beastman’s address and the name of his son before leaving.

　Sophia-chan kept shouting “I want to touch it too, Fee-chan!”. But she was told she can’t. “Grandma! Fee-chan too! Fee-chan too!” her voice gradually got quieter.

　The young monkey-type beastman’s name was Albert. When I told Henry-san the story using message magic, he replied without any delay.

“I’ll accompany you. Please wait for me at the store. Don’t go out on your own.”

“Okay.”

　A little while later, Henry arrived.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go to that house right away.”

“If I see a young beastman who looks like him, I will check him with my sensing magic, and if I am right, I will tap you twice on the arm or back. If I’m wrong I’ll do nothing.”

“Got it”

　I hurried to the address that Karin-san had given me. On the way there, I told him that I had given the pendant to her. Henry said, “I respect your decision.”

　The address I was given was an apartment complex. The boy lives on the third floor of this building.

　I went up the stairs to the third floor and walked down the hallway. I knocked on the door of the room I was heading for, and a young boy of about 16 or 17 years old with bright eyes opened the door for me. I quickly released a detection spell, and the young man’s body started glowing orange, mainly around his stomach. I tapped Henry’s arm twice. Henry spoke to the boy.

“Are you Albert?”

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“I want to talk to you about running on the roof.”

　The boy suddenly tried to close the door, but Mr. Henry put his hand on the door and did not let him close it. Then the boy tried to push Mr. Henry away. Henry quickly dodged it, grabbed the boy’s arm, and pulled him towards himself.

“Whoa!”

　The boy fell to the floor as he tried to push him away, and Henry quickly got behind him, grabbed his arms and held him down.

“Let go of me!”

“Don’t make a scene. You don’t want the neighbors hearing what you’re doing late at night, do you?”

　While Mr. Henry is saying this, several doors facing the hallway open and the residents look at us. When the residents see a man in a civil servant uniform holding down Albert, they immediately pull a face and close the door. They didn’t want to get involved in anything related to government officials.

　We helped Albert up and we entered his house.

“You were walking on the roof of a building on Main Street late at night.”

“No, I, I didn’t do that.”

　Mr. Albert, who had been cornered, was understandably upset.

“I have good eyesight at night. I saw you running across the rooftops. I want to hear your reason for vandalizing someone else’s house. If you lie to me, I can’t help you. So I need you to be honest with me. The guards know you’re up to no good.”

“That’s a civil servant’s uniform, right? Why would a civil servant stick his neck out like that?”

“Do you want to give all beastmen a bad reputation?”

　The moment Albert heard the word “beastman,” he stopped moving and looked at Henry and me with fear in his eyes. Henry folded on his agitation.

“I know you’re a monkey-type beastman. Just imagine. If ordinary people found out that it was beastmen who were causing trouble, ordinary people all over the country will start demanding that the beastman be driven out of the country.”

“That’s such an exaggeration…”

“It’s going to become such a big deal. It won’t just affect you and your family. It will become difficult for other beastmen races who live honest lives to live in this country. They will have to live with even more caution than they do now.”

　Albert’s eyes grew restless.

 “When you are asked to leave and run away to another country, it is hard to get a place to live, a job, and food. Do you think you will be welcomed where you go after being driven out of your country?　The elderly, the children, and the physically weak will starve and collapse. And when that happens, your group will be hated by both your fellow monkey-type beastmen and beastmen of other races.”

“That’s a lie!”

　Albert shouted loudly. Then an old woman with a cane came out of the back room. She seemed to be unable to see clearly because of the clouded white of her eyes. She spoke to a spot a little distance away from us.

“Albert, why are you shouting so loudly?　Are those people your guests?”

“Grandma, it’s nothing. it’s okay. I know these people.”

“Yes. Please make yourselves at home.”

　When the old woman pulled back, Mr. Henry lowered his voice and spoke to him.

“Because of you people, even my grandmother will be asked to leave the country.”

　Albert covered his face with his hands.

“It wasn’t our fault. We were just trying to get back at them. They were the ones who did the terrible thing to us in the first place!”

“Tell me who did what to you. If they are at fault, I can help you.”

　Albert hesitated for a while, but the thought after being told that his grandmother was going to be chased out of the country seemed to have taken its toll on him. He began to talk quietly.

“We’re light, so we’re good at jobs like window washing in high places, fixing roofs, and washing exterior walls. But our employer always threatens us, ‘If you don’t work, you’re fired,’ even on days with strong winds, and then he turns a blind eye when we get blown off balance by the wind and end up seriously injured. Ordinary people get compensation when they get hurt on the job, but we don’t. It’s because we’re beastmen.”

“Does your employer know you’re a beastman?”

“Well, I got the job through a good word from a senior monkey beastman.”

“Hmm. So?”

　Mr. Henry asks detailed questions about the job and wages, and I listen to Albert’s answers. The conversation went back and forth. I started to worry if I should take notes. I wondered if Mr. Henry could possibly remember everything he said.

　Albert took his time to tell us a horrible story that made my guts boil as I listened. Henry looked expressionless, but he was quietly and intensely angry. I could tell.

“Let me confirm what you have said. First, once you get a job, you are forced to work for half the wages of a normal person because you are a beastman. Second, if you complain about the wages, they threaten to expose you as a beastman. Third, beastmen are forced to work even on days when the general public is off work, such as in bad weather. Four, even if you get injured, you will not receive any compensation or medical treatment because you are a beastman. Five, if you want to quit your job, you can only quit if you bring in another beastman to replace you. Is this right?”

“Yes.”

　Albert has become completely docile.

“In retaliation, you broke into the building and, taking advantage of the fact that you wouldn’t leave any evidence behind, trashed your employer’s room. That’s really inefficient. There are more efficient ways to retaliate.”

“Huh?”

　I was the one who blurted out unintentionally. Albert was also gaping.  He had thought that Henry would turn him in to the security guard, but when Mr. Henry said, “I have a better way to retaliate,” it was no wonder he was surprised.

“Take me to your companions and I will persuade them. If things continue as they are now, when it is discovered that this was the work of the beastmen, all beastmen will undoubtedly be blamed. If we’re not careful, this could lead to a major incident.”

“We were just getting revenge!”

“I understand that. It’s not too late. But if we don’t, there’s going to be real trouble someday.”

　Albert, looking distraught,  turned to Henry pleading for help.

“What shall we do? We’re  going to set fire to my employer’s house tonight.”

“…What the hell? Someone might die. Albert, what time and where are you guys meeting?”

“We’ll be meeting at the abandoned dyeing factory in the West Ward at 10 p.m.”

　Then a voice came from the pendant around my neck.

“It’s Viktor. I have heard everything you have told me so far. I will gather my fellow beastmen and head there.”

“Please. We’ll take the boy and head there too.”

　Not wasting time, Mr. Henry replied to the pendant.  Albert was startled when he heard a voice coming from the pendant, but when I put my index finger in front of my mouth, he nodded with a puzzled look on his face.

　In the distance, the bell rang eight times to tell the time. Henry stood up. We don’t have much time left.

“Come on, let’s go. We have to get to the dyehouse before your companions make their move.”

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