I got back from the dungeon yesterday, but I’m tired because I haven’t stayed the night in the dungeon in a while. I didn’t even tidy anything up.
I put stuff in the washing machine, clean things, and tend to my tent while I wait for it to finish.
I start with tableware, wipe dirt off the tent, and hang it outside to dry. It takes up room, but I need to tend to it if I’m going to use it for a long time. Not to mention that this is an over ten million yen tent, so I can’t have it growing mold.
I spend the morning servicing it very carefully and hanging the laundry out to dry.
I leave for the station in the afternoon, and remember this is the day the son of god is said to have been born.
There are couples everywhere. So that’s where that strange feeling of alienation comes from.
Dammit, why are they taking advantage of someone else’s birthday to get all rowdy? It has nothing to do with you! I get people who worship him doing it, but not couples! People with wicked thoughts shouldn’t be celebrating! Dammit it all!
After much complaining in my mind, I wait at a traffic light, and my eyes meet those of a kid next to me.
I take a step back, embarrassed, because it feels like those eyes see through how I really feel.
I-I’m not jealous!
I say as a poor loser, and run to the station.
◇ ◇ ◇
I stop at the station closest to the guild, and head to a convenience store to get hot coffee.
I go to the counter as always, grab a cup, place it on the machine, and press the button.
It takes a minute or so to be done, so I look around the store in the meantime, and see someone I recognize.
It’s Master Azabu’s kid, Watari, I think. I remember him telling me his kid would be in grade school next year.
He’s crouching with a friend, doing something. I have a bad feeling, so I focus on my Spatial Grasp while pretending not to look.
Then I sense a man and woman holding each other in the back room.
What’s wrong with you? I don’t care about you!
I focus again, Watari and his friend grab some product, pocket it, and head for the exit.
An employee sees it, and at this rate, they’ll be caught shoplifting and the police will be called.
I grab them to stop them from leaving, and they look at me, surprised.
If you’re going to turn back, now’s the time.
What am I talking about? If you take out what you put in your pocket and apologize, I think they’ll still forgive you.
You don’t know what I mean? I saw it all. Don’t make me say it, idiots.
At this point, they face down and go quiet.
It’s like they don’t know what to do, but as I’m about to continue talking, the friend shakes off my hand and tries to run.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the strength to loosen my grip.
A kid’s strength is nothing compared to an adult’s, much less an adult that’s been hardened in the dungeon.
Give it up. This is your last chance, be honest and apologize.
I look over at the employee, try to get them to resign themselves, and then I hear a quiet sorry.
They put what they took on the counter, and run out of the store. I also hear ‘die fatso’ as they run off somewhere.
The employee looks troubled because I forced this situation into a conclusion, but he responds when I say to add that to my bill.
I say something towards the backroom, and head for the exit.
At least wait until your shift is over!
I hear the sound of something falling. The door to the backroom opens slowly, and a middle-aged man and woman peek out.
…You can’t let kids see this.
I guess this sort of thing doesn’t have an age limit, but I want to tell them to pick a better time and place.
I grab what I bought, and go after the kids.
Watari Azabu and his friend ran from the convenience store into a back alley.
“Ahh, ahh, ahh, what’s with that fat guy, getting in the way?”
“I’ve seen him before. He calls my dad master.”
Both were out of breath and angry at the fat guy. It was going well. They pocketed it without being seen, and all that was left was to leave.
That was what they thought, and that a fat man ruined everything.
If Tanaka did not stop them, the employee would have called the police and their parents would have been contacted. They were unaware of this, so they grumbled their discontent.
“Master? Is your father a teacher or something?”
“No, but he calls him that.”
“Hm. Then can’t your father get mad at that fat guy?”
“No, then he’ll know we were stealing.”
“Ah, yeah. Dammit! Die fatso!”
“Who are you telling to die, damn kid?”
A fat man appeared behind them as they complained.
The fat man, Tanaka, had a plastic bag in his right hand, and looked down at them with arms crossed and stomach sticking out.
For two grade schoolers, Tanaka was very imposing.
“Oh no! Watari, run!”
“Yes!”
“You’re not!”
Both tried to escape, but Tanaka kicked the ground, kicked a wall, and stood in front of them. It was like an action scene in a movie, but the surprise still didn’t make them stop.
They turned around and tried to escape the other way, but Tanaka did the same thing and stood in front of them again.
This repeated ten times, until Tanaka felt it was enough and caught them.
“What’s your deal fatso!? Lemme go!”
“You’re that guy from before, right? I’m gonna tell my father!”
“Shut up. Eat a steamed bun and behave.”
He took two from the bag and shoved them in their mouths.
Both chewed the steamed buns thrust into them. They had no intention of eating them, but they were already in their mouths, and the growing kids were hungry.
Tanaka dragged the now quiet kids, looking for a place to sit down. There was a small park nearby, so he sat them on an empty bench and crouched in front of them.
“Is this what you wanted?”
Tanaka took a trading card pack of a certain anime from the bag. It had exploded in popularity recently, and rare cards were going for high prices.
“Yes. Did you come to brag?”
“An adult into cards? Lame.”
“Shut up. This is five hundred yen, right? Why did you try to steal this? Don’t your parents have money?”
“Are you making fun of us? Of course they have that much!”
Both were angry, feeling like Tanaka was mocking their parents, and clenched their fists.
After a nod, Tanaka continued.
“I’m not making fun, so sit down. So why did you try to steal? If you have money, just buy them.”
“…”
“Was it for the thrill? Did you think doing a bad thing would make you cool? Now that’s really lame.”
“…”
“I’m not gonna tell you to think about the store. I know kids your age don’t care about stores going out of business, or whoever owns them.”
“That’s…!”
“Do you get it? Probably not. If you did, you wouldn’t steal. So think of your parents. Wouldn’t they be sad if you were caught and went to prison?”
“You don’t go to prison for shoplifting.”
“You do, theft is a crime. Do you want to make your parents sad? Watari, your father is a decent man, a respectable man who works for his kids. And your friend, hum, what’s your name?”
“Keita.”
“Okay, I’m Tanaka. Keita… your parents work for your sake too…”
“They don’t.”
“…Eh?”
“My family are big landowners, so they say they don’t have to work.”
“So your family’s rich?”
He did not expect that.
He was going for a sincere and sober lecture for the kids, as an adult, but he did not expect his parents to not work.
Keita Majima’s family owned a lot of land. They rented real estate, such as condominiums and apartment buildings, and earned money from parking lots they built.
It looked like his plan to lecture them using the sad image of their parents working hard for them was not going to work.
“My dad says people that work are idiots.”
“Don’t believe what he says, working people are fine people.”
Unlike me, was what Tanaka almost said, but he cleared his throat and continued.
“Ahem! Anyway, shoplifting is a crime. If you don’t want to see your parents sad, don’t do it again. And your friends at school would make fun of you too. Got it!?”
The last part was out of desperation, but it was all Tanaka could do. He had nothing more to teach.
Tanaka chased them because Azabu was good to him, and it was his kid, so he could ignore the other kid.
Now it was up to their families to deal with it, he thought.
He looked at them one last time. Keita picked his nose, not regretting what he did at all, and Watari seemed pensive as he faced down.
Tanaka was glad he got him to think about it a little, and left.
Ahh, I wanted to lecture them, but they just looked down on me.
For some reason, this society won’t let me act all mature. It was like that with the university students and Kazuya’s group too, they always look down on me.
Whether it’s my appearance or income, they always hit me where I can’t help it.
I might not have the power to set kids straight.
Well, at least Watari seemed to be thinking about it seriously, so let’s call that a win.
Keita… It might be too late for him. His parents are rich, so they should do something about it. If he keeps committing crimes, it’s their responsibility, geez.
And what’s with teaching his kid to look down on working people?
I don’t like bad things happening to kids, but his parents sure could use some.
But that’s not gonna happen.
Property values surrounding the dungeon have gone up lately, and apparently they own a lot of land.
If you have money, life is easy. And if they really need to, they can always just sell land.
It’s a waste of time to even think about it.
I turn around once more, and head to the shopping mall to check on the progress with the armor.
◇ ◇ ◇
The eleventh floor.
The owner of the weapon store wasn’t there, so I talked to someone else.
Apparently my guardian beast armor will be ready tomorrow.
The employee told me it was rare to see the master having fun. That’s nice, but I asked to tell him to do a good job.
I said I was coming back tomorrow at noon, and left.
Now I’m on the eleventh floor, but there aren’t many people here. Actually, I haven’t seen anyone.
Today’s a big event, so that’s probably why. I’d usually hear clanking noises here and there, but not today.
It’s quiet enough that I hear the small rustling sound of monster footsteps.
I walk for a bit, and then hear the sound of a cart being pulled.
A middle-aged man is pulling it. His face is dirty, and the cart has ore and mining tools.
I raise my hand to greet him, and he responds with a tired smile as we pass each other.
Words aren’t needed for me to understand something.
This is a day for lovers, and he’s here mining alone. I don’t think he’s lame. That would make me lame too.
He’s cool.
He’s cool.
So I’m cool too.
I spend this day making big holes.
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