「 Either way, the bosses from the Kansai Yakuza don"t think that your father will do their work properly. They think of them as sacrificial p.a.w.ns that will do nothing but disturb Kouzuki house and Kouzuki SS., And then, Ichirou-san will come and s.n.a.t.c.h what he finds profitable when it shows up 」Minaho-neesan told Tendou Otome.
「 Then, what"s your plan? 」
Tendou Otome glares at Minaho-neesan with a blunt att.i.tude, but,
「 That"s my line, what"s your plan? 」
Minaho-neesan retorts.
「 Kouzuki house can just close down and take shelter like a turtle. They don"t have to do anything, and if they want to say that you or Mizus.h.i.+msan hasn"t returned home yet, we already talked to Mizus.h.i.+msan, and so they can"t use that as a method of hara.s.sment. They could use all their crooked lawyers and fake journalists to make an uproar, but they can"t do it at this moment, can they? 」
Yeah, they can make an uproar over the internet, saying, “Our daughter still hasn"t returned from the party in the Kouzuki mansion. I"m sure that she got involved in some incident inside.”
But it hasn"t been a few hours since the party ended.
They could start making a fuss now, but they"ll only look like trolls.
「 Or should I say that you"re the one who doesn"t have much time left? 」
Minaho-neesan said. Tendou Otome"s startled.
「 Your friends are hostages, after all. I think it would be problematic if you don"t make contact with your father, right? 」
Like, how was her infiltration inside the Kouzuki house"s party?
Like, what is she doing now?
The other Yakuza should be able to confirm that the party ended, and the young ladies are sent home safely using courtesy cars.
No.
「 We let one girl free to talk about the situation in the party 」
I remembered.
Other than Tendou Otome, there"s another girl who isn"t making direct contact with the Kansai Yakuza but is asked to report the state of the party.
That girl should have confirmed the Miko power.
「 Indeed, we purposely pretended to not notice her, but she probably couldn"t get in touch with the Yakuza. Those who attended the party today know the heavy punishments on the Mizus.h.i.+ma house and Takahama house. Kouzuki and Kaan house and all the other n.o.bility families may cut off their friends.h.i.+p with them 」
Mizus.h.i.+ma house, the family that allowed Tendou Otome to come.
And Takahama house joined the spreading of rumors since Tendou Otome instigated her.
Both of their punishments are decided.
With those circ.u.mstances in hand, one wouldn"t want to leak out the details of the party to some suspicious people.
「 Although, whether it"s your father or Irokuchou Ichirou-san, there are people who want to know your current status 」
Tendou Otome carried poison.
The plan was for her to commit suicide in the mansion.
If possible, do it during the party.
Using the young lady of Takahama products, and pouring slander on Kouzuki house.
Then, if Tendou Otome were to die from an unnatural cause during the party,
It will become a big scandal.
Worse, if she were to put poison on the food and drinks prepared for the young ladies.
Or trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate Misuzu, Ruriko, or another young lady.
They can escalate the scandal to something greater.
「 Indeed. If you didn"t infiltrate alone, and a few more useful girls were sent here, it would"ve been harder 」
Minaho-neesan"s right.
One could die from an unnatural cause, and the others will make an uproar, blaming Kouzuki house.
That way, it can make the young ladies panic.
「 But, you thought of doing all of it alone, don"t you? You don"t want your friends to get in danger from infiltrating Kouzuki house, do you? 」
Minaho-neesan said. Tendou Otome paused for a moment.
「 No, there"s no other choice but to have me infiltrate alone. It would be weird if Mizus.h.i.+ma house has multiple bodyguards 」
Yeah, it would be weird to see Karen-san having multiple bodyguards.
Mizus.h.i.+ma house doesn"t have that high social status.
And the party today is a gathering of the young ladies of n.o.bility.
For someone without much family status to do that, they will receive glares from the other families.
They will be on guard, and it becomes harder to do anything to frame Kouzuki house.
「 Either way, the people outside want to know your status. Their correspondence will change depending on whether you"re alive or dead 」
If Tendou Otome committed suicide when we captured her, then,
The enemy will use Tendou Otome"s corpse as their material and make an official announcement to cause a scandal.
If she"s restrained, then the information will be “A high school student is kidnapped.”
However, it"ll take time for that scandal to take off.
「 So, what do you want to do? 」
Tendou Otome looks at Minaho-neesan.
「 What can you do? 」
Minaho-neesan smiles.
「 What the h.e.l.l? You"re answering a question with another question?! 」
Tendou Otome speaks in displeasure, but,
「 Do you trust your father? 」
Tendou Otome fell silent.
「 What about Irokuchou Ichirou-san, the man above your father? 」
She"s still silent.
「 Well then, what do you think those people would do to your sisters? 」
Tendou Otome"s sisters, daughters of incompetent Yakuza. Girls who are in the same situation as her.
「 Therefore, I"m telling you that you don"t have much time. If this goes on, whatever results you have, the next step would be using another girl"s body as sacrifice 」
I see.
If Tendou Otome"s plan failed, then,
They will go with their first plan, using their daughters to kidnap and rape the young ladies.
Tendou Otome"s actions prevented them from forcing the other girls so far, and yet,
If Tendou Otome"s gone, then,
「 A moment, Minaho-oneechan 」
Nei gets in between.
「 It"s about time you stop that confrontational att.i.tude. If you keep that, Tendou-san will keep her guard, and we won"t make progress 」
She advised while showing a bright smile.
「 Tendou-san, to be honest, why don"t you join us? 」
Join?
「 You can cooperate with us, and the results will benefit us both, it"s a WIN-WIN situation, don"t you think? 」
Tendou Otome.
「 You"re telling me to betray them? 」
Nei.
「 I mean, what"s the use of fulfilling your honor? Like, with your father, or with Iorkuchou Ichirou-san 」
Nei continues to smile despite Tendou Otome glaring at her.
「 Tendou-san, if you want to free your friends, then don"t you think that this proposal is for the better? 」
「 T-This is foolis.h.!.+ 」
Tendou Otome rejects.
「 I couldn"t do that. I"m the daughter of Yakuza. I was born in the Yakuza world since birth. No matter how nasty people they are, I know that they"ll chase after me even if I run away 」
That"s…
「 I"m sure that the woman there is correct. If we"re going to run away from home, we have nothing to do but prost.i.tution. And that is within Yakuza"s domain. We could earn small change once or twice, but they will discover it right away. Once it"s exposed, they"ll confiscate the money. And if it goes badly, our fathers will force us to prost.i.tution 」
The underground society is a small world.
And Tendou Otome and the girls" fathers are sc.u.ms.
「 Therefore, we will not sell out. We"ve hung out as a sisters group to make sure that someone"s parents don"t force us or rape us 」
Then.
「 Uhm, what is “prost.i.tution?” 」
Torii-san, who can"t read the mood, asked.
「 It"s a crime. Her group"s parents are criminals, and so they do criminal acts without care, and even involving their daughters 」
Adelheid-san explained.
「 Well, it sometimes helps out people too. One of my friend"s father has a martial arts dojo. That"s our hang-out spot since childhood. We gather in the dojo in large numbers to prevent our father"s to do anything with us 」
Tendou Otome said.
「 And where is that person now? 」
Nei asks.
「 She died last year. That"s why we"re in danger now 」
Oh, so that"s why they"re used this time.
「 Then that means, Tendou -san"s father and the Yakuza group your father works for are never your allies? 」
「 What do you mean? 」
She glared at Nei.
「 No, I mean. Why have you not thought of cutting off Yakuza and your father and live free people? 」
「 That"s obviously impossible! They"re… 」
Tendou Otome speaks in a choked voice.
「 They will always haunt me! I can"t run away from them! 」
「 Because he"s your father? 」
Torii-san asks.
「 It"s because they"re Yakuza! Dammit! 」
Tendou Otome replied bitterly.
「 No, it"s not that absolute 」
I said.
「 W-What did you say?! 」
Now she"s throwing her anger at me.
「 I mean, we have the power to make that possible 」
I looked at Misuzu.
「 Kouzuki house"s power on the surface 」
Next, Minaho-neesan.
「 Kuromori"s bargaining power on the underground society 」
Lastly, Tsukiko.
「 And Miko power 」
Tendou Otome"s startled.
「 We can use Tsukiko"s power to remove the memories of you from your father. If your father thinks that he doesn"t have a father, he will no longer haunt you 」
If we manipulate her family register, the Yakuza father will not notice that he had a daughter.
「 Why not change the father completely? I mean, instead of Yakuza, we could manipulate his memories to make him a homeless wandering around the country 」
Edie said.
「 Make him forget about his name and his past as Yakuza. And live as a different person. Besides, we can send him off to Kamchatka peninsula or some unpopulated island and never see him again 」
If we don"t want to see him, then we can make it so there will be no encounters for the rest of their lives.
「 Yes. I can do that 」
Tsukiko said calmly.
「 Tendou-san, we do have the power to change the fate for you and your friends 」
I said. Tendou Otome.
「 I-I don"t trust that! 」
「 Err, what do you not trust? 」
I asked.
「 I mean, if you have that power, then you won"t go to this conversation, and just change us to what"s convenient for you? Won"t you? 」
Oh, I see.
So that"s how she thinks.
「 Well, Dannsama isn"t your ordinary man 」
Misuzu smiles wryly.
「 Indeed, Onii-sama hates it when fate twists the lives of people 」
Ruriko said.
「 Huh?! You"ve got the nerve to say that?! You"re born from a good house, and all those who are blessed are always messing up the fates of us, who are crawling in the ground 」
Tendou Otome screams.
「 Even now, I don"t know how big Kouzuki house is, and yet, we"re dispatched from Kansai because of you! Going through all this 」
「 Your reasoning is different. We don"t care about the world of Yakuza 」
Edie said.
「 I mean, all humans crawl on the ground 」
I said.
「 Humans don"t fly. Me. You. Misuzu or Ruriko. They"re all standing on their feet, desperate for their lives. There"s no difference between the daughter of Yakuza and the daughter of n.o.bility. To tell you the truth 」
「 What do you know about me?! 」
Tendou Otome asked.
「 Asking back the same question, what do you know about Misuzu or me? 」
「 Hmph, I don"t want to know anything from people like you 」
Tendou Otome said.
「 Then, that"s it. We all just let Tendou-san and her friends die without help? 」
Nei said.
「 Now you"re making threats? 」
Tendou Otome told Nei.
「 Threats hold no meaning. We already have you captured, Tendou-san. If you"re not willing to make a deal, then we"ll only abandon you. What"s the benefit of saving Tendou-san and your friends? 」
Nei doesn"t break that smile on her face.
「 Tonight, we will crush down your father, Tendou Sadao"s group, and the group of Irokuchou Ichirou-san. They will have no hope of recovery. And perhaps, death awaits them 」
I said. Torii-san"s surprised.
「 D-Death!? 」
「 I can understand if they prowl after us, but getting young ladies of other families is a bit too cruel. We need to punish them hard to make sure that this kind of stupid plan will not show up again 」
I replied to her.
「 It"s basically making an example for others. Just like how Jii-chan decided that Kurama house is beyond help to warn others to not take advantage of Kouzuki house. We also have to make the same resolve 」
I said. Then looked at Tendou Otome again.
「 For us, you and your friends are just secondary. We"re already doing all the best we can do for ourselves. There will be a bloodbath with the real Yakuza. Anyway, this isn"t a game 」
Tendou Otome stares at me.
「 That"s why, if you can give us merit while we fight off the Yakuza, then we might help out you and your friends. Although it"s just “might.” Our priority is to take down the Yakuza that they can"t recover, not to save your friends 」
I show the fair card.
If logic doesn"t go through her, we have to give up.
「 Even so, I want a guarantee. If I help you out, I don"t care about myself. I only want you to save those girls 」
Tendou Otome speaks with a serious face.
「 No. There are no guarantees 」
I told her clearly.
「 Our deal with you isn"t 50-50 」
「 I"m putting my life on the line! 」
「 Your life alone isn"t a good balance 」
「 What did you say?! 」
Tendou Otome glared at me.
「 I carry the fates of this family, it"s not just Misuzu or Ruriko, all these people you see in here, and still more people you haven"t seen. I cannot bring sorrow to them 」
I look at Mao-chan and Agnes, who"s drinking cold drinks on the other side of the room.
「 My family is more precious than my own life. Also, I know that I can"t cause trouble with the other n.o.bility to make sure that Misuzu and the girls live happily. Therefore, I cannot prioritize you and your friends 」
「 You"re not the only one who"s putting your life on the line 」
Edie told Tendou Otome.
「 That"s right. We can only cooperate with Tendou-san out of similar interests 」
Nei said.
「 If you don"t mind that, lend us a hand. That"s all we can tell you 」
Tendou Otome looks at me. Torii-san;
「 Kuromori-san, why are you so honest at fault? 」
She speaks with an amazed look.
「 You know, you could use her while promising her whatever she wants, despite not trying to do it 」
Oh, for Torii-san.
She thinks that Tendou Otome is a low life that it"s okay to do that with her.
「 We"re fellow humans, and so I don"t lie 」
I said.
「 Humans who lie about it are useless, no matter how smart, superior, skilled they are 」
「 What useless? 」
Torii-san asks me curiously.
「 One cannot cooperate and risk their life with people who will eventually betray them 」
「 Then, just monitor if the person will betray you or not 」
「 Wrong. Torii-san 」
I said.
「 It"s a problem within oneself 」
Torii-san only thinks about her own point of view.
I point at Tendou Otome.
「 If she doesn"t want to fight together with me, then he will never risk her life for it, will she? 」
Right.
「 I"m telling her to cut off her father from herself 」
Then, I look at Tendou Otome.
「 Tendou-san, would you let your father die without helping him? 」
Tendou Otome trembles.
「 If you want to save your friends and yourself, that"s your only choice. We could end without killing your father, but we will transform your father using Miko power. He will never remember you again 」
「 I don"t care about him 」
「 Are you sure? 」
I push further.
「 We"re not talking about “what ifs” We"re about to make that happen. Even so, are you sure about that? 」
Tendou Otome.
「 I mean, I can"t do anything, can I? 」
「 I couldn"t come up with other plans to free Tendou-san from the Yakuza 」
Should we kill them? Or kill off the memories using Miko power?
「 Then I can"t do anything 」
I…
「 That"s not what I"m talking about 」
I speak sharply.
「 It"s inevitable, it can"t be helped…It"s not about that, I"m asking about your resolve 」
「 That doesn"t matter, does it?! 」
Tendou Otome gets angry at me.
But.
「 If you don"t make your resolve, go with the flow, and abandon your father, you will regret it for the rest of your life 」
I said.
「 I don"t think you should live with such a miserable thought forever 」
「 You? 」
Tendou Otome"s surprised. Nei;
「 You know, Yo-chan made his resolve to abandon his parents 」