SLKD – Volume 3 Chapter 10Previous Chapter | Project Page | Next Chapter
Yorikawa Naohito, Centenaire Éguilles Gra.s.s, Bank
“I am really grateful to you, President-san!”
After both of the young and old fatties got taken away by the police, Nagisa took a deep bow towards the perverted old man, and the swaying of her b.o.o.bs almost made his eyeb.a.l.l.s pop out from how intently he was staring.
He laughed lightly, “No problem, after all, am I not the medical saint? Besides, helping you has also helped our hospital by giving us cause to be rid of that Akahoshi family from this place, so personally curing your father is only natural.”
“No! No matter what, I must repay the President’s kindness.”
“Oh? No matter what? Must repay me?” The corner of the old man’s mouth slightly curved up, a very lewd smile. How did he infer that based on what Nagisa just said? Did Nagisa even say she must repay him no matter what?
“Hey! Perverted old man, don’t get any funny ideas about Nagisa…”
s.h.i.t… I shouted out the nickname I gave him in the heat of the moment… the people present also averted their gaze from me… It appears that I have offended their respected President.
“Oh? Kid, what did you just call me?” The perverted old man’s expression darkened, his eyes unceasingly glaring at me. I must say, those sharp eyes can definitely put pressure on people.
It was the slip of the tongue… now what? Don’t tell me I should respectfully call him President? Impossible, I will not be afraid just because of this.
“I just called you…PERVERTED! OLD! MAN! ” I said it resolutely without missing a word. s.h.i.t! Screw death, why should I be afraid of you?
“Pu…Hahaha~~~! Oi! Michita, although his spirit is not even a sliver of Lin Fan’s, this defiant att.i.tude of his is definitely similar to that of his father’s.” The perverted old man laughed suddenly… so, he’s not angry?
“Right, in this world, only that brat Lin Fan dared to call you a perverted old man to your face. Even so… Haa~~even his son addresses you as such. Can’t you just change your perverted nature? Even though your morals are good, and you have not committed any crimes of indecency..”
“Ha~~? Of course my morals are good, furthermore, I am not perverted… I mentioned this multiple times, I am observing their breathing pattern.”
Observing their breathing? Even if that’s the case, from the time you met us until now, how many times have you checked Nagisa’s breathing pattern? Could it even be that Nagisa was sick?
“Then why did you smile so lewdly just now?”
As expected of the Headmaster, he hit the nail on the head!
“Ugh… Hey! Why are you people still here? Slacking off from your duties, are you? Hurry and get back to work.” The perverted old man could not find any excuses, so he vented all his frustration on the hospital personnel that were still in the room.
All the high-up personnel scrambled out of the fatty’s office, after receiving the perverted old man’s rebuke, without a hint of complaint… It seems like this perverted old man’s authority must be rather great.
“Okay, it’s fine, little girl, you don’t need to repay me with anything. Just promise me you will take good care of your dad.”
He really deserved the t.i.tle of perverted old man… Can’t you just talk normally and look at the girl’s face instead of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s? Although at the start… I also stared at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, but I didn’t look with perversion as you did, right?
d.a.m.n it! I really wanted to viciously give this shameless and perverted old man a good scolding! I have never felt such a strong urge to vomit before… but against this unique old man… the urge just came naturally.
“Thank you, Mr. President.” Nagisa once again bowed, she can actually forgive the unruly behaviour of this perverted old man? …Haaa~~ Forget it, since the person in question did not complain, then I shouldn’t say anything.
—————————— Patient Ward
“Oh, Nagi-chan, you came… this… these people are…”
A man lay on the bed, ashen-faced and lifeless, his eyes filled with suffering and determination. He first looked at Nagisa and smiled, then showed a face of cautious surprise when we followed in.
“Father… this is the President, this is my Headmaster… and… this is… Lin Xiang.” Nagisa stuttered somewhat when she mentioned my name.
“Lin Xiang?! You are Lin Xiang?” Nagisa’s father gave his attention not to the President, but to my name? What is happening? In addition, he was also staring intently at me.
“Uh… that’s me… is there a problem?” Faced with the intense scrutiny of Nagisa’s father, my whole body felt uneasy…
Nagisa’s father merely nodded with appreciation, “So it’s you? Mhmm~~ Not bad, you have a righteous aura about you. No wonder you were willing to unconditionally help Nagisa.”
“Uh… I don’t quite understand.”
“Actually… it’s just… my daughter… she… ”
“Dad! Do you know? I brought along the President. Why don’t you greet him? The President will be the one who is going to cure your illness.” Nagisa’s dad was interrupted suddenly by the embarra.s.sed Nagisa.
Looks like she was hoping for the President to cure her father first~~~ What a good daughter.
“Oh? The President? Please excuse me, because of some things on my mind, I forgot to offer a greeting when you entered, only… you… why did you agree to help such an ordinary commoner like me? If I remember correctly, you are the renowned medical saint.”
“Ha~~ Regardless of my t.i.tle, I am just a normal old man…”
That’s right, just a normal perverted old man. I added on an extra line in my heart. Regarding this old man, I really felt like puking.
“…The truth is, your daughter has done the hospital a huge favor and so, to express my thanks, I have come to personally help cure you of your illness.”
“Oh? My girl has even provided the hospital with a huge favor?” Nagisa’s father directed his gaze at Nagisa, hoping to get an answer out of her.
“About that… Dad, that doctor… He has been put behind bars.”
“Really? I have long thought of leaving this hospital but, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he wouldn’t allow it. Hahaha~~ This really makes me very happy! Wait. Daughter, he went to jail… don’t tell me you… ” Nagisa’s father revealed a face of dread after talking up to this point.
“No, never, that doctor did not succeed… you don’t have to worry… Lin Xiang and the others are the ones who helped me… they got hold of evidence of that doctor’s wrongdoing and had him sent to jail.”
“Oh~~~ it is fortunate that you are fine… President, Headmaster, Lin Xiang, your kindness is too great, I, Yorikawa Naohito, will never forget what you have done for the rest of my life.”
“Okay, it’s not too late to say your thanks after I cure your illness, for now, lie down. You might feel some pain later on but it will be over very fast.” The perverted old man yawned a few times. It seems he is tired of listening to the patient’s grat.i.tude after hearing it so many times from other patients.
After listening to the perverted old man, Uncle Naohito did not get angry but instead lay down quickly. From the looks of it, he really hopes to be cured as soon as possible.
“Mmm~~ Then…” The perverted old man closed his eyes while he spoke, inhaling deeply, then he slowly opened up his arms, chanting an incantation… following which, I saw Uncle Naohito being enveloped by a green light. He began floating in mid-air… the expression on his face alternating between discomfort and ease.
Nagisa’s small hands were firmly grasping mine, her vision was locked on her father and her expression also changed in accordance to his.
————————
About five minutes had pa.s.sed when Uncle Naohito slowly descended onto the bed, his forehead was drenched with sweat.
The perverted old man was also sweating a little. He slowly opened his eyes and said, with a smile which seemed to laugh, “To heal your disfigured lungs back to their original state was no simple matter… However, your illness has been cured. You only have to recuperate for a few days in order to be back in full health. Later on, I will have a nurse bring you the Éguilles Gra.s.s, you just have to eat it to remove the discomfort in your chest.”
“Hey, perverted old-… uh… President… if you are talking about Éguilles Gra.s.s, I have it right here, no need to trouble the nurse.” I took out the Éguilles Gra.s.s in my pocket while saying.
But who could have guessed, that the moment part of the Éguilles Gra.s.s was revealed, the perverted old man would tightly grab onto my right hand. His expression was as if he had seen a naked, beautiful, young lady. That is to say, he was extremely excited.
“Let go… Let me go… you perverted old man…” I used force to try to throw him off, but this pervert was still firmly grabbing onto my arm, rendering me helpless.
“Oi, Onion Head, what are you doing? It can’t be… don’t tell me your other s.e.xual preferences that were kept hidden somewhere in you have finally awoken?”
Headmaster… Are you serious in what you said?
“Indeed~~~” After a long pause, the perverted old man finally opened his mouth, looked at my hands and nodded, “It is Indeed the Centenaire Éguilles Gra.s.s… I really was shocked for a moment there… ”
Oh~~~ So it was the gra.s.s in my hand? I had really believed for a moment there that it was as the Headmaster had said, a different s.e.xual preference had awoken… If it was really like that… too scary, even just thinking about it… but… Centenaire Éguilles Gra.s.s? What does this mean?
“Oi, perverted old man, I will give you the gra.s.s, just let me go this instant.”
The perverted old man realised his loss of self-control after what I said… Although he already has no kind of self-control normally, but the realization of touching a guy’s hand still resulted in some awkwardness. He laughed sheepishly, “So sorry, kid, I got too excited. Do you know how difficult it is to get the gra.s.s in your hand right now?”
“Nope.” Who would know how hard it is to obtain this gra.s.s? It was randomly plucked from beside a brook. Furthermore, Yalide even said he used it often to make tea.
“Haa~~ It is useless to explain it to you. You just have to know that this gra.s.s you have is equivalent to twenty-three stalks of the Éguilles Gra.s.s the hospital had just received.”
Hearing the perverted old man’s explanation, I can’t help but be shocked. “What!? Twenty-three stalks!? I say, old man, is your brain temporarily malfunctioning due to an overuse of magic just now? You actually said that this small gra.s.s here is comparable to your twenty-three stalks of the same species plant?”
“You are not in the alchemic field, of course you wouldn’t know. The medical effects, as well as the many other uses of the Centenaire Éguilles Gra.s.s, exceeds that of normal Éguilles Gra.s.s by more than a hundred-fold. Moreover, yours is one that has grown for more than two hundred years… Hey, where did you find this? If I recall properly, this kind of stuff can only be found in the depths of the Demon World.”
The depths of the Demon World? Actually… is the Demon World really as scary as other people had depicted? After all, I traveled around the Demon World and didn’t encounter any danger… excluding the encounter with Derecho…
‘Brat, you did not encounter any danger because I blocked off your human aura, and you said you traveled all around the Demon World?’ At this moment, my mind was filled with Yalide’s disdainful laughter.
‘Isn’t that so? It has to be around ten kilometers to travel from that whatever-you-call-it forest to Silent Water’s house, right?’
‘Alright, boy, let me tell you; the size of the land in the Demon World is actually four times that of the Human World… do you understand the meaning of that?’
‘Wait a second, did you say four times? The dry land of the Human World covers about 20% of the whole planet, then, are you saying the landma.s.s of the Demon World occupies the equivalent of 80% of the whole Human World?’
‘You don’t say! … The Demon World is the lowest layer, therefore, it has more land than the other two worlds. Not only that, the total plant ma.s.s is also three times that of the Human World, and-… Never mind. If you want to know more, I’ll tell you later. You still haven’t answered the old man’s question. If you continue to be silent, it will be seen as a form of disrespect to him.’
‘You are the one who started talking to me suddenly, now you want to push the blame onto me?’ I scolded Yalide, then quickly regained my senses.
“Aha~~ I am not too sure myself, I picked it up from the roadside. Oh right, why don’t you go and instruct the nurse to bring Uncle the Éguilles Gra.s.s, and since you like this gra.s.s so much, why don’t you just take it…”
“What?! You want to give it to me? Really? You aren’t lying to me, right?” The perverted old man at this moment was like a little kid… jumping around in front of me, totally forgetting about asking how I got the high quality Éguilles Gra.s.s.
“Yup.” I replied with certainty.
“Then you have my thanks, kid! Looks like today is my lucky day, not only did I clear out the pest of this hospital, I also obtained a specimen of Centenaire Éguilles Gra.s.s? Ha ~~ I’m so happy, I’ll ask the nurse to bring the Éguilles Gra.s.s later, why don’t we go for our dinner now? It’s getting quite late.” The perverted old man looked at the clock showing 5:58pm and suggested we go and eat dinner.
“No, thank you. You can go together with the Headmaster… Grandpa Mitsu, you need not mind us, I’ll have my dinner when I go home later.”
“Kid? Do you really have to be like this?” The perverted old man stiffened his expression, but unfortunately, that won’t work on me.
“It’s not that I am not paying my respects, I really have to eat at home. If you still continue to dawdle, I will take back the gra.s.s from you.”
“Alright, alright. I can see that you have somewhere else you want to go. You don’t have to go, it’s not like you’re doing me a favor, anyway. You have no idea how many people want the chance to dine with me. Contrary to them… you don’t want to go, even when I’ve threatened you, but instead, you turned the tables and threatened me… Truly, you are just like your old man.”
Mentioning Dad again…
“Okay, okay, Onion Head, stop mentioning his dad.” Has the Headmaster noticed the change in my demeanor?
Every time they mentioned my dad so intimately, it made me feel as though I, as his biological son, didn’t know him nearly as well as these elders did… I am such a failure of a son…
“Fine… Kid, Mitsu and I will go get our dinner first. Come find me if you need help next time, I will definitely not fail to come to your aid.”
“I understand, perverted old man. I would consider it a favor if you could just change your perverted nature.”
“Ha~~ I can’t help you with that.”
Afterward, the perverted old man and the Headmaster pushed open the door and walked off.
————————
After the treatment, Uncle Naohito had a change from his previously ashen face to a natural, healthy, color and was full of grat.i.tude, “Little Xiang, you don’t mind me calling you that, do you? Even though you are our family’s benefactor…”
“No, I don’t mind… and I didn’t really help much, did I? All the credit should go to the pervert-… the President.”
“You can’t say it like that, without giving yourself any credit. Hmph~~~ If not for you, the aftermath will be… I think you have somewhat already guessed, I have no qualms leaving my daughter in your care.” Uncle Naohito took a glance at my left hand at this point… left hand? At that moment I realised my left hand was holding onto something soft and warm… It’s Nagisa’s hand. No wonder I felt something moving just a moment ago, it was Nagisa trying to let go of my hand, but I didn’t realise…
Thinking about what just happened, I promptly released Nagisa’s small hand. Embarra.s.sed, I touched the back of my head and smiled, “Sorry, Nagisa, I did not notice…”
“No… No problem… As long as you like it.” Nagisa bashfully lowered her head.
“Uh…” It’s okay as long as I liked it? Why did the phrase sound so strange to my ears?
The sudden awkwardness left us speechless, not knowing what to say next.
“*Cough* *Cough*~~ Stop dragging this uncle into your game of awkwardness. I have just started to recover from my illness and still have some discomfort in my chest. When you two remain quiet like that, I will feel even more uncomfortable. Young people should be more lively, right?”
“Dad… actually… Lin Xiang and I… have nothing between us… we are just good friends…” Nagisa got all nervous all of a sudden.
“Hey~~, daughter, I also didn’t say anything alluding to that. Are you bothered by what I said just now? Oh~~ actually, my meaning just now is only that I feel at ease with you making friends with Lin Xiang, what are you being so fl.u.s.tered for?”
“Geez~~~, Dad… it’s better when you are sick …”
“Aiya? You are hoping that I will fall ill again?” Uncle Naohito laughed loudly.
…
———————— On the way home
After some chatting with Uncle Naohito, I remembered Silent Water and the others who were still at home waiting for me, thus I excused myself and went home.
Walking along the densely packed streets, I remembered that I needed to withdraw some money from the bank. So long as they have some cash on hand, even if I were not at home, Silent Water and the others could go out by themselves to buy their own things.
While having this thought, I arrived at the National Bank.
Walking up to the entrance of the National Bank, I saw the waves of people inside. I grumbled, “It is already 6:20pm, even though it is still bright out, aren’t there just too many people here?” After some thought, I realized that today was Sunday. For banks to have this many people on Sundays is quite normal, so I pushed open the door and walked in.
…
Because I saw that there was a long queue at the ATM, I decided to wait my turn with the bank teller in the main lobby. After having lined up for approximately twenty minutes or so, it was finally my turn.
“Greetings, sir. What may I help you with today?” The teller asked me politely.
“I would like to withdraw some cash. May I have five hundred thousand?”
“Alright, sir. Please swipe your card here, and enter your security pin here.”
“No problem.”
I took out my credit card, and swiped it through the machine, then I entered my pin.
“Alright, sir. Please wait a moment.”
“Uhuh.” I nodded my head, then randomly looked around, and at the moment I turned my head, I realised Kamiki Kuji was actually just behind me… This isn’t a joke, right?
“Yo~~~ How are you?…” I smiled awkwardly.
Since I needlessly glanced around and met her eyes, it would be rude if I didn’t greet her.
“Hmph~~” Kamiki Kuji snorted, then proceeded to ignore me, facing away, providing a nice view of her profile.
She doesn’t seem to be in a good mood, looking at her face… the reason probably being me… I had better just take the money and leave quickly… speaking of which… that person was being very slow… isn’t it just a bit of money? I would have used the ATM if I had known the teller would be this slow…
Suddenly, I heard a “Bang!”, followed by people screaming. I turned my head to see seven tall men wearing masks and black suits, each with a gun in their hands, standing at the main entrance.
“This is a robbery!”
The moment the middle guy finished speaking, everyone started to panic and tried to escape. Some tried to escape through the front door while some ran deeper into the bank.
Seeing the chaotic crowd, the seven robbers shot at some of the people who were trying to run past them and escape through the front door—- the lobby was splattered with blood everywhere – following the sounds of gunshots, I could see several bodies lying on the floor, bleeding profusely.
The sound of loud screaming filled the whole lobby. Even though a few of the women were still hysterical, seeing what had happened to the people from before, everyone pretty much gave up on the idea of trying to run away. The robbers’ method of shooting a few people to demonstrate their readiness to kill anyone uncooperative was very effective in controlling the crowd.
The guy in the middle pointed his machine gun at the ceiling and squeezed the trigger, riddling the ceiling with holes. Then, he roared, “All of you, shut up! Whoever makes a sound, I’ll blow their head off! I am only here for the money, not to kill people! So long as you all cooperate, you will all be alright!”
Following the leader’s declaration, everyone inside the bank shut their mouth, bringing silence. It was so silent that one could hear another’s heartbeat and, occasionally, the sound of someone sobbing…
—
Editor’s Notes: In the USA, banks close on Sundays and usually close around four or three o’clock in the afternoon. Some stay open later on Friday (as most people receive their paychecks on Fridays). So, it seems really weird [to me] how the bank is open that late, and on a Sunday at that.