Chapter 51 – Revenge?

“….! I see… Did Kishimoto-san’s wife hide you here?” (Komon)

“Woof.” (Tasuke)

Tasuke barked as if he was affirming what I’d said. Most likely, when the monsters were chasing Kishimoto’s wife down, she had made an effort to at least protect Tasuke by hiding him in the underground storage. Then, she was probably killed by the monsters right above the underground storage.

That was why her bones were around here. All just for a dog’s sake. Even though it would have been better to just run away. Well, that was probably what cruel, heartless people would say. But to her and Kishimoto, this dog was no different from their child. In her final moments, she must have been thinking, ‘at least let this child live on’.

“You… she kept you alive. So you have to live a nice, long life for her sake, alright?” (Komon)

“Woof, woof!” (Tasuke)

Tasuke replied as if he seriously understood what I was saying. Then, Sol and Shiki came back, staring wide-eyed at the existence in my arms.

After explaining to them what had happened, they nodded and said, ‘I see’.

We went out into the yard and dug out a hole, threw some straw and other flammable kindling into it, and then lit a fire and put Kishimoto’s wife’s bones in. After having Sol and Shiki watch over the fire, I went into the house and began to scour the place.

I had the homeowner’s permission, so I started to sell things like the TV, fridge, carpets, shoes, and so on, as if I were a mover, until there was hardly anything left. But sure enough, I decided to leave the photo albums and other items that seemed to have sentimental value.

Even still, I ended up selling most of the things in the house, which amounted to a considerable amount of money.

“Nearly ¥5,000,000 in total. Not bad. I sold some of the broken things too even though they ended up selling for less. Still, the wife’s jewelry sold for a pretty good amount.”

Even despite her age, she was still a woman. Gems and other valuables were still attractive to her in the end. There were some reasonably expensive pieces of jewelry in her collection.

There were also the drops, like the [Core Fragment] and monster parts, so the overall result was a sizable profit. A grin rose to my face at the unexpectedly large harvest.

I knew that the more work I did as Komon, the more profitable it would become. It looked like an ordinary house, but I found that if I sold everything inside of it, it would be worth a considerable amount of money.

“Well, the cost of your medicine was a bit unexpected though,” I said quietly, patting Tasuke, who was standing by my feet. The [Nutrition Potion (Dogs)] was ¥50,000, but even still, I earned quite a lot.

After hearing from Sol and Shiki that the cremation process had wrapped up, I gathered all of the ashen remains and went to go find Kishimoto.



After having a [Copy Doll] posing as Torimoto call Kishimoto out of the university, I waited with Tasuke in the form of Komon. Tasuke was sitting there quietly on his haunches, but he suddenly stood up and started barking.

“Woof, woof!” (Tasuke)

Tasuke started to run off while barking enthusiastically.

“―Tasuke!?” (Kishimoto)

As Kishimoto approached and saw Tasuke bounding towards him energetically, he caught him in his embrace while shedding tears of joy.

“Tasuke… Tasuke…! Thank goodness… I’m so glad you’re safe…!” (Kishimoto)

“Woofwoofwoof!” (Tasuke)

Tasuke was happy to be in the warm arms of his beloved family for the first time in over 10 days. He was wagging his tail while snuggling up indulgently in Kishimoto’s arms.

I quietly approached the two of them.

“…Oh, Komon-san! Thank you so much for saving my child!” (Kishimoto)

He was practically on his knees while thanking me. If anyone saw it, it would be a pretty bad sight.

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, please, stand up.” (Komon)

I started to drag Kishimoto back to his feet, almost forcing him back into a standing position.

“And as you requested… But this is the best I could do.” (Komon)

I pointed to a box that was placed on the ground. He took off the lid and looked inside.

“Unfortunately, I could only bring back your wife’s cremated remains.” (Komon)

I explained to Kishimoto about where she had died and my conjecture on how Tasuke had survived.

“…I see… My wife… protected you, is that right?” Kishimoto said while stroking Tasuke’s fur, his voice sounding glad.

“It’s terribly unfortunate that she lost her life, but I think it was very admirable of your wife to be able to fulfill her duty as a parent.” (Komon)

“Komon-san… Really, thank you so much for everything.” (Kishimoto)

For now, I also told him that it was dangerous to go to the area near his house since there were still monsters in the area. If he immediately went back to his house with Tasuke and was killed right away, I wouldn’t be able to swallow that lightly.

I hoped that he would at least cherish the life of Tasuke, whom I’d gone through the pain of rescuing. Well, I only thought this way because Tasuke was an animal.

Kishimoto said that he planned to keep some of his wife’s bones in an urn and scatter the rest in the ocean. He said that his wife loved the ocean.

As an after-sales service, I had [Copy Doll] Torimoto help him with the rest, and with that, his request was completed. With this request as the start, word of Komon began to spread rapidly.

After a few days, there were rumors that Komon was a ruthless and miserly person, which was probably due to refusing to help that couple that was in debt. But at the same time, there were people saying that Komon was a kind-hearted woman who helped save Kishimoto’s pet and retrieve his wife’s remains.

Then one time, while I was wandering the town as Torimoto, I was suddenly surrounded by strangers.

Most of them looked like hot-blooded guys and girls in their teens. All of them were glaring at me in a clearly unfriendly manner.

Meanwhile, Sol was circling above, ready to act on my orders at any moment.

“…Do you need something from me?” I asked them without breaking my smile. If they did want something from me, it wasn’t going to be anything good anyway.

“…Ah, I see. It’s you guys, huh?” (Torimoto)

I realized that among these people were Takasu and Tengawa, whom I had given a bit of a lesson to at the university.

“Hmph, let’s see how long you can keep that easygoing look on your face!” Takasu said with a smile that oozed with an arrogant sense of superiority.

There were about 10 people in total, and all of them were carrying a weapon of some sort.

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Normally, I would have immediately thrown my hands up in the air and surrendered, but after gaining experience with fighting monsters, these guys weren’t a threat. It would have been a different matter if they had a highly lethal weapon like a gun though.

“Hmm. So in other words, after I beat you guys into a pulp that time, you felt embarrassed so you came back with a bunch of friends to try and get revenge? Do I have it right?” (Torimoto)

“…Tch, whatever. Hey, handsome guy! Just be good and come along with us.” (Takasu)

As he pointed his wooden sword at me, he said something rather strange.

I thought it was strange for them to come and pick a fight with me. These guys wouldn’t normally care about the people around them. I thought that it was highly likely that this would turn into a battle, but…

“Come with you? What do you mean?” (Torimoto)

“Shut up! Stop asking questions back every time!” (Tasuke)

“That’s rather unreasonable, isn’t it? I have no obligation or reason to follow you guys.” (Torimoto)

Takasu was becoming more and more pissed off by my aloof, easy-going attitude. He was about to attack me at any moment. However, Tengawa, who was standing nearby, stopped him.

“H-Hey, Takasu. You can’t act violently here. It’s that person’s orders.” (Tengawa)

“Tch! …Fine. Then you explain it. I don’t want to talk to this piece of shit.” (Takasu)

That makes two of us, Takasu.

As Takasu turned away, Tengawa said ‘fine’ and switched roles with him.

“Err… Actually, our leader wants to speak to you…” (Tengawa)

“Leader?” (Torimoto)

“We’re in a community called Inochi-shirazu.” (Tengawa)

…What?