The Corrupted Daily Life of an Alchemist Who Returned on His Own - Episode 15: Raid

Episode 15: Raid <1>

(Note: Special for this chapter, dialogues from the telephone are in this bracket: ‘……’ .)

The rooftop of a mixed-use building.

It’s a scene often shown in anime or imaginary settings.

And there, on that rooftop──I sit cross-legged, leaning on one elbow, breathing in the fresh air.

“Hmm! Not bad at all. Now that I look at it like this.”

Crowds of people coming and going, young and old, in all kinds of clothing.

From up here, people look like tiny specks.

And I, looking down from above, feel an overwhelming sense of dominance.

…Don’t you think so, too?

“I wanna smoke, I wanna drink, I wanna sleep with a woman, I even wanna go to school—there’s a ton of things I wanna do──but still.”

Age gets in the way.

I’m still just 15. A minor.

Whatever I try to do, age is a chain that holds me down.

“Hmm… yeah, I was really torn about where to use it, but…”

As for where to use it, yeah, I guess here’s best.

Spinning a bottle I took out one-handed from a mini-space.

On the flip phone’s net news, an article reads: “Moroboshi Conglomerate Current Chairman──Moroboshi Michitaka-san in Critical Condition”.

“──Heh.”

I can’t help but grin wickedly.

“Finally out in the open again, guess I’ll head home.”

Still with my hands in my pockets, I lightly push off the ground──and leap.

No sound.

But I maintain an obviously inhuman speed and height…

And fly through the midday sky straight back to my secret base.

*

“…Hm?”

As I slowly descend near the area, the air feels strange.

My presence detection picks up quite a few people.

Four, five… no, more.

There’s quite a lot. What’s going on?

I further materialize their presence. Silhouettes are appearing in my eyes.

“Oy oy. Knives, huh?”

Why the hell would anyone be doing something like this near my base?

I hurriedly tap in numbers and make a call.

‘Izaki-kun. What is it? You’re calling quite a lot today.’

“I just have a quick question.”

‘*Ahem*… What is it?’

Sensing something, his tone reverts to his usual formal one.

“The only people who know about the base are you and Kimura-san, right?”

‘Of course. There’s no way anyone else would know.’

Wrong guess, huh.

“I see. By the way, do you know anyone who might have… ah.”

‘Hm? Izaki-kun?’

“Sorry, Chairman, I actually do know someone. I’ll call you back.”

*Beep.*

Sorry, Chairman.

There’s one guy I definitely recognize.

＊

“Damn it, he’s not here!”

“Makabe-san!”

“Hah? What are you doing, Ishida?!”

“There’s nothing on the other side either!”

“What year and class are you in, dumbass!!”

Ishida was standing with hands behind his back. A perfect open-handed slap then smacks his face. And the echo rings out powerfully.

“…Sorry.”

“Tch. Ishida, go keep watch around the area.”

“Y-Yes!”

With a click of the tongue, Makabe messily punches in a number, snuffs out his cigarette with his fingers, and tosses it on the ground.

‘…What’s the situation?’

“He’s not here.”

‘…What the hell are you doing, you bastard?!’

“S-Sorry!”

Makabe apologizes immediately. He pulls the phone away from his ear.

‘So? Anything else of note?’

“It doesn’t feel like much time has passed since he got here.”

‘I already know that!!’

Clicking his tongue and pulling the phone away, he puts it back to his ear as the yelling stops.

“Sorry.”

‘Tch. Useless brat. Makabe, your career’s riding on this. If you screw this up, you know what’s coming, right?’

His tightly clenched fist grows whiter with pressure.

Makabe’s rage looks like it could kill a man. But he takes a deep breath──and responds calmly.

“Yes.”

‘Good. Hurry up and catch that Izaki brat. The client’s starting to lose patience.’

“I understand.”

‘If you understand, move your ass!! Do you know how much they already paid just in advance?!’

*Beep.*

“Piece of sh1t.”

Makabe snaps the flip phone shut and immediately starts moving.

“Hey! How many guys are out here?! There’s gotta be at least one thing you’ve figured out!”

““““Sorry!!””””

After just one shout, the surrounding young men in suits bow sharply and yell their apologies with bitter faces.

Makabe bites his lip, lights another cigarette, and starts searching again.

“Aniki, nothing on our side either.”

“Same here.”

“Tch, did you search thoroughly?”

““Yes.””

“Did you really search?”

““Probably…””

“Damn it, do you guys even understand? This is a matter of our organization’s pride! We stand to make a huge profit from this!”

““Yes!!””

“Sigh… Still, how huge is this place? Even if it’s Shiranami’s land, it’s way too big just for one brat.”

“Seriously. Is this some kind of warehouse? There are tons of containers piled up. Could be useful for our work too.”

“For real! And it’s actually pretty clean. Easy to surveil too.”

“Quit yapping and search already!”

““S-Sorry!!””

“──Damn it.”

Even as Makabe kept digging through trash bags crouched down,

after 30 to 40 minutes…

He started to sense something was off.

“…Huh?”

He stood up instinctively.

“What is it?”

Tilting his head and scanning the area, he couldn’t find anything unusual.

Something… something’s here.

That primal instinct lit up in his brain.

And then—

“A-Aniki!!”

Ishida comes running in from afar. He’s gasping violently for breath.

His suit is tattered.

His waxed hair is a mess.

“Ishida?”

“W-We need to pull out!!”

“What the hell are you saying?!”

This guy would *never* normally say that.

As he yells, Ishida flinches hard and──

“I-I’ll cut off a finger if you want! Please, Aniki, let’s just run!! We’ll be killed!!”

Ishida’s usually useless. But he’s not normally this much of a coward.

“What happened? Pull yourself together, stay calm.”

He grabs Ishida’s shoulder, trying to calm him down──and then it happens.

——*WHOOOM… BOOOMMMM!!!*

“Huh? A tremor? An earthquake?”

Both ears hear it clearly—

The sound of something flying and crashing into the ground at insane speed.

“Ahh… hurry!!”

Upon hearing it, Ishida starts shaking violently and wets himself.

On top of that, he crushes his new expensive suit in his fists and clings to Makabe like a scared woman.

“What the hell, damn it.”

“That guy… he’s a monster!!”

“…That guy?”

So it’s just one.

Makabe pushes Ishida aside and glares toward where he came from.

“Oh, Yam──”

A single figure.

That would’ve been fine.

But the figure wasn’t anyone Makabe recognized.

Messy black hair.

White jersey like sweatpants.

From his height, clearly a kid.

But then he notices what’s wrong.

“…!!”

Coming closer, the boy Makabe assumed was just some brat──is gripping the heads of two unconscious men with both hands.

Looking closer, they’re his subordinates.

Dragging them along, the boy walks forward with a feral wolf’s glare.

The reason the gravel sounded so loud… was probably that.

Yeah, if someone like that is coming, it makes sense.

In nature, sometimes everything suddenly goes silent.

All the bugs and background sounds vanish in an instant.

They say that’s when a wild predator has set its sights on nearby prey.

“…Ah.”

The moment the words escape Makabe’s mouth,

the distance between him and that beast was already gone.

“Gin… a…sa…”

“Maka…a…ni…”

The two being dragged mutter weakly with missing teeth.

——*THUD.*

The boy Makabe thought was just a brat casually tosses the two away with a sluggish motion.

“You──who are you?”

His heart pounds annoyingly loud.

Even after walking through many life-or-death moments, this brat still rattles him.

“Finally found you. You’re Makabe, right?”

A crescent-moon-shaped twisted smile.

The crazed tone makes it obvious.

No—life experience makes it obvious.

…He’s strong.

“Makabe Ginjo, under the Hashimoto Group of the Owada Syndicate──and you are?”

“Izaki Minato Shō. The brat your client’s looking for.”

This was their first encounter──and at the time,

Makabe never would have thought…

this would be the first person he’d swear loyalty to in the future.