Unsavory Ties — Being Protected Part 1
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
After the meal, the group had some dessert.
They went to a small food court, ordered their drinks, and chatted happily.
There were many Familiars and a few Therianthropes inside the establishment.
While the women were chatting away, Kou caught a glimpse of a trio of men passing by.
Aki and Nyanta immediately noticed Kou’s reaction.
「What’s wrong?」
「Is it an enemy?」
Aki asked as Nyanta warily scanned the surroundings.
For a brief moment, an aura of murderous anger seeped out from Kou. The two ladies had never felt Kou so angry until now.
「No, it’s nothing.」
Kou had forgotten that they were good at reading human emotions. He reflected on his lack of training.
If he lets his guard down, they’d immediately notice.
The other party must have already forgotten about him, or rather, they might not want to have anything to do with him anymore. Normally, that would be the case.
「You say it’s nothing, but…… Please do tell us right away if there’s something troubling you.」
「Yeah.」
They returned to chatting again.
However, the other party didn’t have normal sensibilities after all.
「Yoo. If it isn’t Kou. So you were alive eh?」
The owner of the voice who called out was Yoshikawa. He was the man who pushed Kou out of the transport plane when he first came to Planet Asia.
The ones following behind him like loyal lackeys were Yamaoka and Niijima.
They smelled of alcohol. Yoshikawa was holding a cup of booze in his hand.
Yoshikawa frowned as he scanned Kou. The other party was accompanied by three beautiful ladies. There was another girl, but she was still a child, so she didn’t count. But it was still too damn cheeky in Yoshikawa’s eyes.
「……Yeah.」
Kou answered while sporting a blank expression. Aki and Nyanta went fully alert, and Aimer glared at the three drunks. Blue still didn’t understand exactly what was going on.
Them being at this place meant the three were mercenaries, and probably came over to participate in the recruitment drive of Metal Iris.
They were unlikely to pass given the Familiar’s strict standards, but Kou still decided to make sure, just in case.
If he made the wrong move, the three will probably pick a fight with him immediately. A three-on-one fight was definitely going to be messy, and it would involve the girls as well.
Kou kept inwardly telling himself to cool his head and exercise patience.
The swordsmanship dojo he attended always used the same method to deal with situations like this. Basically, it’s to escape. Whether it was kenjutsu, iai, or kendou, the method was still the same.
It was very unlikely for people to carry weapons in Japan, and one probably wouldn’t have the resolve to kill in the first place. And precisely because of training, practitioners experience the disadvantages of one going against many quite often. That’s why they were first taught to run away at times like this.
However, Kou wasn’t alone right now. So that method can’t be used.
「So you also came to apply to Metal Iris? Just give up man. It’ll be impossible for a wimp like you!」
「Yeah. This guy’s a loner and can’t even work with anybody else.」
「How about you join us instead? We’ll even register you and get you an ID.」
They were really spouting anything they liked. Join them? Kou wanted to tell them to their faces that he didn’t have any interest in being their gofer, but he endured it.
「Let’s get along like before eh? I really wanna get along more with you, y’know?」
They were purposefully saying they wanted to get along for everyone to hear. Kou wasn’t sure if they were just provoking him, or if they wanted to create an alibi for themselves.
「I don’t think that’s true. And I’m already part of an Underground Force. So if you guys don’t have another business with me, can you just leave?」
「Ha! How high and mighty! Says the dunce who couldn’t even get on the escape shuttle!」
Was he seriously saying that, or was he just keeping up the act, Kou inwardly questioned.
He decided to ignore Yoshikawa’s words. Yoshikawa got even more annoyed, but he laid his eyes on Blue and gave her a vulgar look.
「Hey, it’s a beautiful elf! Oi, miss. We’re Kou’s senpais y’know. We’re far more impressive than this clumsy dunce. Why don’t you hang out with us instead?」
「I’m not an elf, so I’m sorry, but I refuse.」
「You’re not my senpai anymore. So just get lost.」
「You bastard!」
The moment Kou voiced his displeasure, the other party grabbed him by the collar and shook him violently.
「You sure like to posture even though you’re just a frustrated murderer.」
Kou finally couldn’t suppress his anger.
It was attempted murder that was more like an extension of his usual harassment. He didn’t really have any intent to kill. He simply thought maybe the other party would die and did it without thinking deeply.
For Yoshikawa, it was just for fun. Yoshikawa simply viewed Kou as someone utterly worthless. That’s why he could perform something like harassment that could have led to Kou dying without any sense of guilt on his part.
If Kou died, he’d just chalk it up as an unfortunate ‘accident’. That was it, as far as Yoshikawa was concerned. That’s why he couldn’t take the other party placing the blame on him. In his view, he didn’t do anything wrong.
He honestly didn’t think Kou’s life was worth anything. He didn’t feel guilty at all. In his view, Kou was just playing the victim.
「Don’t you dare falsely accuse me. –I’ll let you off if you get those three to come with us. Hand them over. Elves and beastmen are just the slaves of us humans anyway. Ah? Hand over your rights as their master right now.」
「Every word that comes out of your mouth is just utterly unpleasant. Nereids and Therianthropes aren’t slaves.」
「Trying to argue huh. In the first place, you fell from the plane yourself. So give me some compensation for falsely accusing me.」
Aimer suddenly got in front of Kou.
「You pushed Kou out. I saw it all.」
Aimer technically has been with Kou much longer than the rest of the girls because she inherited all of Master’s memories.
That’s why she was aware of what happened that day.
A wisp of anger lit up in the depths of her eyes.
「Stop, Aimer!」
「The heck is with this damn kid!? You were actually a disgusting lolicon, Kou?」
A new target of Yoshikawa’s malice had appeared. His mouth split into a wicked grin. Blue had also noticed the danger.
「Oops. Sorry, little lady. You seem to have misunderstood something. Ah!」
Yoshikawa splashed the contents of the alcohol cup in his hand on Aimer. It looked like he was quite used to such actions. But it was still obviously intentional.
He looked as if he was going to throw the glass cup and hit the edge of the desk with it. The top part of the glass cup shattered.
Nyanta and Aki stood up to come to the rescue, but they were on the opposite side of the table. It would take a few moments for them to come over to the other side.
Kou had moved to get in between Aimer and Yoshikawa, but the latter had acted faster.
「Sooorry! My hand slipped. Gyahaha! Here, I’ll wipe it off for ya!」
Yoshikawa stretched his hand out to Aimer. Even though Kou and Nyanta tried to get in his way, Yoshikawa just moved too fast for them to stop. He was too close to Aimer as well. He was so close that even the bird-type Familiar who tried to get in his way wasn’t able to make it.
He was definitely going to harass Aimer. Instead of continuing to butt heads with Kou, it felt more interesting for Yoshikawa to lay his hands on those Kou cared about. Women and children were prime targets. If they got hurt, then it was all Kou’s fault. He thought it would be great if he could give them scars that they would carry for the rest of their lives.
When Kou realized what Yoshikawa was up to, it was already too late. He inwardly cursed and wondered just how low the other party could get.
Yoshikawa grabbed Aimer’s hair, which prompted her to let out a short scream. Yoshikawa had likely wanted to pull her up by her hair. However, he failed to do so.
Aimer’s wig, which wouldn’t normally come off unless a lot of force was used, had come off. Aimer was afflicted with alopecia, which was an aftereffect of long-term cold sleep, and was still in the middle of treatment.
Kou’s eyes instantly blazed with intense fury.
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