【author-san said: by the time i realized it, it was already like this…………skipping this chapter wont have any effect for the future, maybe. even so pls do read.】【be advised of kanna"s slight cruelty】
100% accuracy and grammatically correct not guaranteed. revisions, corrections and edits are periodically done. only on my site tho. corrections are welcome. text inside { } is kanji reading provided by author-san
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Communication that begins with head◯
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There was no katsudon in the interrogation room.
In the first place, does pork cutlet even exist in this world? I"ve eaten a variety of meat dishes but I haven"t tasted a meat that I could confidently proclaim as [pork].
Also, there"s no [rice].
Although my eating habits in this fantasy world is frankly more fulfilling (in terms of taste) than back on earth, it"s not at all surprising to miss the taste of j.a.panese home cooking from time to time.
.
.
.
Despite undergoing a light questioning, my innocence wasn"t confirmed and they decided to chuck me into the patrol garrison jail.
During the questioning, I lay down the fact almost exactly as it was, save for gaudy. I testified the man we got involved with was a frivolous gaudy, instead of a n.o.bleman"s son. Having talked about him in detail, he was clearly guilty for being an affront to n.o.bility even before my case of taking Faima around.
hn?
Then I noticed, wouldn"t that make the captain calling me a [ruffian] something uncalled for? Not a problem I guess, because I don"t intend to tell the truth unless the opportunity arrives.
The group of soldiers withdrew after they"re done questioning me.
As for me, I"m being pushed into an underground jail by a patrol guard stationed here. It"s a cleaner environment than what I thought it"d be. Maybe they clean it periodically. The size of this place is too large to be called a [jail].
However, there is a bundle of rough-looking cloth in the corner of the cell instead of a bed and there"s only a minimum amount of light. Reading a book under this condition for a long period of time would worsen my eyesight.
In such a place, there"s already a previous occupant. He"s a grim-looking young man with a [893] tattoo covering over half his face. As soon as I step into the jail, he sends a sharp gaze at me without moving a muscle in his p.r.o.ne position.
「………Change.」
「Shut up and get in.」
My wish was mercilessly cut down by the patrol guard, who then locks the door and quickly climb up the stairs to go aboveground, leaving me and [893] alone. Not exactly the combination I prefer to be sleeping in the same s.p.a.ce together.
If it"s impossible to change the prison, I would like to request an inmate change…
If at all possible, a ponytailed onee-san with ample breast would be nice.
While I"m still being dejected, tattoo face stands up slowly. He walks straight towards me and grabs my shirt without warning.
「Sorry. I"m broke right now. Give me some pocket changeー(gusha!)」
The return of [crushing introductory remark].
When he grabbed my shirt, I immediately reciprocate the action of tattoo face who"s trying to intimidate me and headb.u.t.t him without hesitation.
「hebua!!」
hmm The voice is different but I"ve heard a similar scream very recently. Leaving that aside, there"s no doubt that I need to prepare for a lot of things.
Tattoo face who ate my headb.u.t.t lets go of my shirt and backs away. While he"s still confused from the pain, I trip his feet.
Staggered as he was, I manage to make him fall down with surprising ease. Then, with tattoo face lying face up like he did when I came in, I straddle him.
My mounting position is now complete.
「Bb.a.s.t.a.r.d! What are you doー」
gushari
「Yo-You! Who do you think Iーー」
gushari
「WWait, listen toーーー」
gushari
「Pl-Please, listenーーーー」
gushari
From there, every time tattoo face tries to say something, I silently drive a headb.u.t.t into his face.
.
.
.
As the intent to be defiant gradually fades from his eyes, I grab the guy whose face is dyed red from his nosebleed and coldy says…
「I didn"t do anything to you.」
「gahak……… Wh-What are you saying?」
「You slammed your face against the wall on your own accord, resulting in that nosebleed. I haven"t done anything that would inflict injury on you. Do you understand?」
I shake my head at that, preparing for another serving of headb.u.t.t.
「Ok, okay! I got it so stop it!」
「……………Stop it?」
「N-No! Please! Please stop! You won"t hear me being rude again!」
「Good, obedience is nice.」
When I say that and nod with a smile, his face turns pale white despite being bloodstained. Tattoo face then jerks his head up and down like a broken doll. Seems like he was overwhelmed by my angelic smile.
It looks like [893] but I quickly found out that it was a badly made tattoo. Tattoo face looking like a hardcore outlaw aside, the faux-hoodlum becomes obedient once I firmly establish the pecking order.
For someone who suddenly grabs another"s clothes in their first time meeting, a headb.u.t.t is the most effective counter to them. Following that is piling up [body language{words}], persistently and patiently until it miraculously birth a new underling.
The blood staining my forehead and his face is wiped off with the sorry excuse of a blanket and smeared at an appropriate position on the wall. With this, if a third party were to see this sight, they"ll think [tattoo face smashed his face against the wall].
Yep. I haven"t done anything.
Would this be enough set up for a comfortable prison life?
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.
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「So, tattoo-face. What did you do to end up in a place like this?」
Having achieved one of the conditions -[let"s get along with the inmates]- for a comfortable prison life, I start talking with him to pa.s.s the time.
「err………um, my feet hurts……」
I"m standing in front of tattoo-face with my arms crossed while he is doing [seiza]. For those who are not used to the unique j.a.panese sitting method, it can only be a form of penance.
His initial air of intimidation has gone who knows where. Tattoo face is trembling like a newborn fawn from the agony transmitted from below his knees. It"s not so bad when doing so on a soft tatami mat, but I imagine it"d be painful to sit directly on the stone floor. I"m the one who told him to do so though.
「Who says you can talk back? Answer the question and nothing else.」
「Y-Yes! Understood!」
Putting in a bit of a cold tone in my voice made tattoo face startled before he proceeds to recount his history. That said, it"s not a big deal.
Tattoo face seems to be a member of a gang under the thumb of a certain n.o.bleman"s son. He was summoned by the gang to search the city for a red-haired woman with a ponytail who had humiliated their leader, the n.o.bleman"s son.
They found the woman but she was with company and ultimately, they couldn"t capture her. Which led to them being scolded severely by gaudy. And then a big scuffle to avoid being held responsible for various things began. In the end, patrol guards who noticed the commotion rushed in. The unfortunate tattoo face got caught while the others managed to escape.
………That"s an awfully familiar story. His reason for being chucked into jail was only slightly different than mine. On closer inspection, he got a number of bruises on his face besides what I inflicted.
「hn? Speaking of which, one of my friends said [the woman"s companion is a white-haired man]………」
「Don"t make me repeat myself. Speak nothing elseーー」
「Ye-Yes, I won"t speak another word!」
………Should be no problem here.
Incidentally, reason he tried to earn [pocket change] from me is because he"s strapped for cash. Tattoo face usually spends his days getting some spare change from gaudy and thought he could earn a considerable amount from today"s summon.
However, he was unable to carry out gaudy"s order and that made him angry because at the end of the day, he had no income to speak of. That is one of the causes that leads to the scuffle. It appears that there are a lot of people within his gang depending on the income they received from gaudy for their daily bread.
「Hey, get an honest job.」
「guhoo!?」
My callous words lands a critical hit on tattoo face"s heart.
「He-Headb.u.t.ting a person you just met and the unforgiving words just now. You"re not an ordinary person, aren"t you?」
「I wonder if there"s a bargain sale on it.」
《yep. i dont get the pun. sappari wakaran》
「Do a tsukkomi, would you.」
「Isn"t that unreasonable!?」
Jokes aside.
「Don"t you think it"s pathetic for a man chasing a woman"s a.s.s to get paid? If I find such a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Imma throw a german suplex at em.」
「I-I think so, too but, there"s only so much work a bottom feeder like me can do………」
He seems to have some consideration about his own circ.u.mstances as tattoo face hangs his head down.
「a.s.suming that you continue to a.s.sociate with a worthless n.o.ble"s [amus.e.m.e.nt], I"m sure you will reach the end of the line someday.」
A household would certainly be troubled if say, their kin commands a group of hooligans or some such. Those sort are dealt either by being handed a handful of money and expelled afterwards or even worse, thrown out without being handed anything. If tattoo face follows that kinda guy, he will also suffer the same fate.
「If you do a poor job of immersing yourself from head to toe in a genuine underground society, you will eventually find yourself cut off like a lizard"s tail.」
As far as such a leader is concerned, tattoo face is only one of his many subordinates. Even if there hasn"t been a problem until now, in the future, he may be forced to act as a scapegoat.
I wonder if he understood what I was trying to say as tattoo face looks mortified while biting his lips. Contrary to his frighteningly grim exterior, he"s not fatally lacking on the inside.
When I noticed, it seems that my [whoever-it-is sensei] mode has been ignited. Whenever I see [someone who has fallen to the bottom], I can"t help but to be meddlesome. Like I did with Ruks. Maybe it"s pity for someone with the same condition. Well, even if that"s true, it"s mostly limited to ones I had a confrontation with.
「If so………」
Temporarily forgetting his fear of me, tattoo face reveals his anger.
「So what?! What can I do! I got no education, no connections and no talent! What am I supposed to do! What can I even do when I"m forced to b.u.t.ter up a disgusting n.o.ble kid or I"ll have trouble finding food on my table the next day!?」
In the face of tattoo face"s unmistakable indignation, I came to a conviction.
ーーーThe [root] of this guy hasn"t gone bad yet. A tree with a healthy root will grow splendidly if its environment is in order.
In response to tattoo face who looks like he"s getting angrier, I take out something from my chest pocket and thrust it in front of his face.
「A recommendation just for you. You can earn money daily and eat delicious meals. While I"m at it, it"s also an attractive occupation that offers discounts on lodging fees.」
My abrupt action dampened his anger and tattoo face"s gaze locks onto the [guild card] I shoved in front of his face.
「Y-You"re an adventurer?」
「If you become an adventurer, at least you won"t have trouble with money.」
It"s impossible to accept requests for hunting and subjugating magic beasts without any equipment but adventurer"s job doesn"t consist solely of those types. By receiving miscellaneous type of request, he can earn living expenses to an extent with less risk to his life. I too, accepted requests for mowing gardens once in a while.
「Depending on your effort, achieving success in life won"t be just a dream, even without education nor connections. It"d be much better than being a minion for a worthless n.o.ble.」
「E-Even I thought of becoming an adventurer at least once. But it costs money to become one. One silver coin isn"t much but I still can"t afford it.」
Oh right. A single piece of silver is considered a small fortune for an ordinary family. For those less fortunate, like tattoo face here, that"s a lot of money.
「Here ya go.」
I return the guild card to my chest pocket. In its place, I take out two silver coins from my leather bag, a subst.i.tute for wallet.
Tattoo face doesn"t immediately respond to the silver coins I present to him but instead looks at my face and the coins alternately.
「Eh? Wha? Huh?」
「Of course it won"t be free of charge. You"ll repay me after achieving success. If you manage to become an adventurer, gimme back triple the amount.」
「E-Even so, just a single piece of silver would be………」
「If it"s only a piece of silver, it"ll all be gone into your stomach after some time. One is to cover your living expenses for a while and the other is for the guild"s application fee.」
「………I-Is this okay? It might be a waste, you know?」
Tattoo face might waste it all on useless expenditures. And even if he submit an application to the guild, he may fail the registration exam. Or he could spend it in ways that don"t make any sense or reason.
「Well, it would be best for you to return it.」
I crouch down in front of tattoo face, grabs his clothes and draw him close. Then I start speaking to tattoo face in a low voice that refreshes his memory of what happened a short while ago and made him go pale again.
「However, I believe this is your final chance to crawl up. If you let go of this chance, you"ll end up as a bottom feeder for the rest of your life. Don"t like the sound of that? Then take the guild"s registration exam with the intention to pa.s.s it at all costs, even your life.」
Tattoo face nods slowly after my words permeates fully into his mind. His complexion is still the same but his eyes has a glint of determination now.
I gave him the chance. Whether he rise or fall later is all up to himself.
「By the way, your name?」
「Now of all time!? ah I"m Tamar, aniki.」
「………Who"s your aniki?」
「Of course it"s you, aniki! You have my utmost admiration. From now on, please let me call you aniki!」
「………My name is Kanna.」
「Please treat me well, Kanna aniki!」
I was only talking about underling figuratively but it seems like I literally have an underling now.
「By the way aniki, how long should I do this [seiza]? I"m losing the sense of my legs.」
「…………………tei.」
「hogyiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!」
For a while, I"m gonna enjoy myself poking Tamar"s numb legs.
《onizuka or zetsubou is my guess》
《pls do comment if there"s any incomprehensible part. tried my best to proofread but some might still escape my notice. this applies for past n future chapters as well》