The Corrupted Daily Life of an Alchemist Who Returned on His Own - Episode 9: Kamishiro

Episode 9: Kamishiro

“Shiranami is amazing. There are a bunch of centers like this, right?”

“Yeah. Papa owns several of them.”

As I was killing time with Shiranami while taking a break…

“Ah, I’ll step away for a moment.”

The flip phone in Kamishiro’s chest pocket vibrated.

He gave a slight bow as if to say “go ahead” and left… yep, he’s gone.

“By the way.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Shiranami—why are you avoiding that Kamishiro guy? He seems like a really good person.”

There was something I just had to ask Shiranami.

“…There’s a lot of things.”

“A lot, huh.”

I spun the chair around and looked up at the inorganic ceiling.

“Well, I guess everyone has their stuff. But—”

“But?”

“You might not be old enough to understand this yet, Shiranami, but it’s something I need to know. Just tell me that much. I’m not trying to pry or anything.”

“Is it really that important, about me?”

“Well, yeah. It concerns the future.”

As I said that, Shiranami’s demeanor changed.

She even stopped resting her cheek on her hand.

“W-what do you mean, the future!!”

“Why are you getting all embarrassed?”

“Because…!”

“Come on, keep it short!”

“O-okay! …I’m technically engaged to that Riki-san. It’s like a political marriage.”

“Ohh, I see.”

“Wait, more importantly—”

Sigh. I let out a deep breath.

She gets all red in the face every single time.

Well, we are only in our third year of middle school.

Before I knew it, I naturally leaned my whole body on the office desk with my chin in my hand. I was ignoring this loudmouth shouting behind me.

“Yes, understood. Well then. Yes. Yes, that’ll be all.”

A faint voice could be heard from a bit of a distance.

I didn’t need to look. I knew.

“Was the phone call okay, Kamishiro-san?”

“Yes. And you two—what were you talking about?”

Kamishiro Riki… I see.

So it’s you.

He looks the part… I thought maybe he had some kind of special background. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“We were just chatting.”

A few seconds of silence passed.

Shiranami nervously watched as Kamishiro and I stared at each other without looking away.

“I see. Saki-san?”

“Yes.”

Man, Kamishiro’s got it tough.

Babysitting a teenage girl.

Even though she’s reacting in such an obvious way, he still has to keep a straight face.

“Come on, Shiranami. Time to go.”

“Okay!”

Seriously, you’re too easy to read.

“……”

*

“That about does it.”

Almost an hour had passed since then.

More and more people had started to show up (probably because this’s connected to the chairman). And it ended up feeling like a hospital round. It was a bit annoying, but not unpleasant.

Well, I’m in a good mood.

“Thank you for taking the time to stay this late.”

“No, not at all. Since you’re one of Saki-san’s ‘friends’, I felt it was my duty to show you around.”

“Right. The ‘friend’ effect sure is strong.”

“But the chairman is cruel. He came without any notice.”

Kamishiro said with a bitter smile as he wrote something in his notebook.

“I was the one who brought it up out of the blue. Said I probably couldn’t finish my independent study assignment.”

“…The chairman did?”

Kamishiro stopped writing and looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Is that so surprising?”

“Yes… The chairman isn’t the kind of person to act on something so quickly, no matter who it is.”

Huh. Maybe I shook him up a bit.

“No, more importantly, it’s ‘late’.”

“Huh? Late?”

Kamishiro tilted his head curiously as I kept looking at my flip phone display.

“Yes. It should be about time now.”

——“Chairman!! That must be some kind of mistake!”

——“What is, Kamihara-kun?”

Oh, I can hear them now.

The two of them looked in the direction I was facing.

“Eh—”

Kamishiro couldn’t hide his shock.

His gaze fell on the chairman and several executives heading this way. They were leading dozens of people.

…By the way.

Chairman Shiranami, upon seeing my face, had a huge smile like he was looking at his grandchild.

Where did that cold demeanor from our first meeting go?

“Well well, Izaki-kun. So this is where you were. I had to walk around quite a bit to find you.”

“You were late, Chairman.”

“You were right, just like you said.”

The chairman gave a knowing look to one of the aides, Kimura. It was as if he was asking “You understand, don’t you?” And Kimura quickly handed over a document file.

“—!!!”

Kamishiro stood up instinctively after reading the title written on the file.

“Now then. Izaki-kun, I’d like to speak with you privately. Everyone else, please remain where you are.”

“Understood, Chairman.”

Kimura bowed gracefully, and the other aide—Abe—was glaring.

“Izaki-kun, come with me.”

“Sure.”

As I passed by, I caught a glimpse of Kamishiro’s twisted expression.

He looked like he was about to bite through his own lips.

As we walked, the Chairmanlooked down at me.

“Izaki-kun—”

*

“What?”

“Is it true, Izaki-kun?”

“Yes. It will happen.”

When I proposed the deal, I had only told the couple.

Even the future I know is fragmented.

Just that—by channeling magic into my brain (which gave me horrific headaches and nausea), I recalled a TV conversation with my mom. It was saying that the explosion was due to deterioration in some part of the center.

So even if not everything, the explosion would definitely originate from somewhere inside the center—

That’s all I told the chairman.

“N-no way!”

“Assuming it’s true—”

Chairman Shiranami held out a hand to stop his panicking wife, Kumiko.

“If it turns out to be true, then I would have to suspect you as well… What then?”

Well, that makes sense when you put it that way.

“Hmm…”

As I touched my chin, the chairman’s aura of intimidation vanished in an instant.

“I see. So you really aren’t involved.”

Leaning back, the chairman settled into his chair with a wrinkled yet pleased expression.

“Hmm? I haven’t proven anything yet though.”

“I can tell. Do you know how many years I’ve remained at the top of this industry? Me?”

…Fair enough.

“My apologies, Chairman.”

“‘Advice,’ huh… I thought your attitude was just youthful arrogance.”

He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.

“Let’s assume what Izaki-kun said will happen. How bad would the damage be?”

“Not too extensive. But several workers nearby would be seriously injured.”

“Oh?”

“Well… from my side—”

I couldn’t be bothered to stand anymore. So I threw myself onto a nearby sofa, hands still in my pockets, and crossed my legs.

Kumiko’s expression was intense for a moment. But honestly, I was tired—mentally and otherwise.

“For me—it doesn’t change much whether I say this or not. I called it a deal, but it’s more of a bonus.”

Yes. I wouldn’t be affected.

This advice was a bonus.

But even if it’s just a bonus for me, for the Shiranami family, this wasn’t just damage.

It was life or death.

ーーHey.

“…….”

To me now, it’s a curse.

Even though I came back, I still sometimes hear that voice like a ghost.

And most importantly, in the past, this information would eventually be spread as an internal leak.

Blamed for ignoring the issue, the stock price crashed.

This is a huge facility.

Lose public trust and it’s all over.

The entire family vanished like ghosts.

“You said it earlier too.”

“Yes. You can trust the source of this information. Even if I’m wrong, I can make up for it. Either way—”

Yes. I—

“Eventually, I think you’ll be bowing to me.”

Even if I’m former, I was an alchemist from another world.

One of only two of the highest rank.

So what if someone’s a big shot here?

At most, they have the authority of a duke.

That’s nothing.

“I have no idea where that confidence and attitude come from. But judging by your behavior, it must be true.”

“It’s not that I chose Shiranami… or rather, it just happened to be the closest.”

“I see. Hm? What is it?”

ーーHey.

Spacing out like this… isn’t like me.

“No, it’s nothing. So, we can’t let the explosion happen, right?”

“Of course. If we do, it’s all over.”

“If that’s the case, then having the logs saved might be useful. Let’s gather specialist engineers and have them work behind the scenes.”

“Hey, dear? Does it really mean we need to go that far?”

“Don’t worry so much, Kumiko. Izaki-kun must have had a reason for talking to just the two of us, right?”

Looks like they figured it out.

“Yes.”

Exactly. That’s what this is.

*

“We’ve finished checking the logs and documents.”

“What did the engineers say?”

“No doubt about it, it’s a ‘deliberate’ omission in the report. A few people, including supervisors, knew but kept quiet. It’s probably due to aging, deterioration, and pressure buildup, then something triggered it. Even though several abnormal values were detected in the data, this is the result.”

The chairman is seriously pissed.

His face is too serious—but that’s expected.

“Never thought I’d feel this way toward people I trusted. It feels awful.”

“Do you know who’s responsible?”

“Yeah. Remember Kanbara-kun, the one you met at the start of your visit to this center?”

“Yes.”

“He’s close to the father of that Kamishiro-kun you were talking to earlier. The father is my subordinate. But he has quite a faction behind him. I’m sure a perceptive guy like you understands what that means.”

I see. That clears it up.

Even in the past, I remember seeing a similar face on TV after another guy took over.

I had a weird feeling from the start. But I didn’t expect this.

“Did my advice have any value?”

The chairman stopped walking some distance away.

Then, he gave a faint, calm smile.

“Thank you.”

“No need to go that far.”

There’s no reason to bow your head like that.

Ah, so that’s why he changed the location.

“No, I finally understood what you meant. That ‘bonus’… it sounds simple when said aloud. But I didn’t expect it to be this serious.”

“Well, for me, just this is enough for our deal to be considered fulfilled. So it helps.”

Yeah. I was just giving them a heads-up.

“Don’t be modest.”

He laughed softly through his nose, denying it.

“I don’t know how you see it, but this information is probably worth as much as the entire Shiranami Holdings.”

True enough.

With his hands folded behind him, the chairman looked up and continued.

“It’s worth far more than a few hundred million. As you said, Izaki-kun. Of course, as an adult, I will immediately follow through on what I promised you. That’s a guarantee.”

…And then.

The chairman glanced at me with eyes like a hungry wolf.

“Hehehe. Recently, I’ve had a lot on my mind. Time to do some ‘cleaning.’ Izaki-kun, finish your independent research and go home. I’ve got things to do. The details—tomorrow or the day after—I’ll send someone to your house.”

“Thanks.”

“Heh.”

As he passed by, the chairman’s face turned fierce.

Baring his teeth like a predator, he grinned and boldly headed back toward the site.

Watching the scene silently until he was out of sight, I then left the center with a group of people who must’ve been arranged in advance. And I went home.

Honestly, I wanted to witness the moment on-site, but…

I’m starting to feel my age.