WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Our Precious Demon King ◈
Chapter 53: Operation Failed!
──────
Japan's Superhuman Awakening Agency.
“What?”
The director jumped at the report.
“Where did you say he's going?”
“To a private club.”
“Which one?”
“You know the place the opposition leader visited last month?”
“Oh, that one.”
It was a nice place. No, that wasn't the point!
“Why is that hunter suddenly going there?”
“Perhaps he wants to enjoy Japan's nightlife too?”
“No. Someone gave him a free ticket.”
“What? A ticket? Since when did that private club have tickets?”
“According to the agent watching from a distance, the man looked like a yakuza.”
“We checked with the Metropolitan Police Department and confirmed that he's a member of Orochigumi.”
“What? The yakuza?”
“You know who owns that private club, don't you?”
The director of the Superhuman Awakening Agency frowned.
The yakuza were like the shadows of Japanese society.
Everything in the world had a shadow, and countless people in politics and business were entangled with the yakuza, knowingly or not.
“This is going to be a headache.”
Those cancers on society hadn't merely survived. They held enormous influence. And now they'd suddenly lured the special adviser to their private club.
“Perhaps they're planning to give him a lavish welcome, just like us?”
“Ryusuke.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Stop talking and go fetch Sasaki.”
“Yes, Director.”
Japan's Superhuman Awakening Agency had no SR-rank hunters.
Its best ranker was Sasaki Yoichi, an R-rank hunter ranked 999th.
Japan was one of the countries with the greatest gap in treatment between government hunters and those working for private companies.
All the capable hunters belonged to private guilds.
Sasaki Yoichi had joined Japan's Superhuman Awakening Agency purely for the honor.
The Sasaki family had long been involved in politics. They were also wealthy enough that he didn't need the money, and his father was a sitting member of the National Diet.
“Director! Sasaki Yoichi reporting for duty!”
“Oh! Yoichi. Come in.”
“Hahaha, what mission do you have for me this time?”
“You know about that hunter who recently appeared in Korea, I assume?”
Sasaki Yoichi's face twisted into an exaggerated scowl.
“I certainly do. Isn't he the one suspected of being that damned Mad Sovereign?”
“Ahem. Your mission this time is to become friends with him.”
The creases on Sasaki Yoichi's face vanished.
He even wore a faint smile as he answered.
“In fact, I've never met the Mad Sovereign. His achievements in battle are astonishing. My personal view is that the things people say about him are really praise mixed with fear and envy.”
“Very good, Sasaki. He's here in Japan right now.”
“This must be a bond sent from heaven. Perhaps we'll even become sworn brothers today.”
“If that happens, you'll be a hero of Japan.”
Sasaki Yoichi's eyes gleamed at the words “hero of Japan.” It was the very title he longed for. That goal was why he'd turned down an enormous salary to remain a government hunter.
“The people would support me.”
“Exactly! Perhaps the Sasaki family will produce a prime minister someday.”
“...!”
“Perhaps even the youngest ever.”
“Gasp!”
Yoichi looked so happy just imagining it that his heart seemed about to stop. The director hurried to calm him down.
“Steady, Sasaki. First, you need to build a friendship with the man who will become a key hunter in East Asia!”
“Of course. I've always respected the Mad Sovereign.”
“There are suspicions, but we don't know for certain that he's the Mad Sovereign. And even if we did, there's no need to say it aloud.”
“Naturally. I've never even heard of the Mad Sovereign. I can simply make friends with anyone I meet on the street.”
“I'm counting on that friendly nature of yours.”
The expression on Director Kuroda Yunosuke's face grew solemn.
“But someone is getting in the way.”
“Who? Who dares stand in the way of my election as prime minister?”
“...”
After a brief pause, Yunosuke continued.
“We suspect Orochigumi.”
“Hah! A bunch of yakuza?”
“We don't know what they're after. Perhaps they want to befriend him, just as we do.”
“How underhanded. Instead of trying to earn popularity themselves, they want to exploit a friendship.”
“...”
When I do it, it's romance.
When someone else does it, it's adultery.
“Korea's special adviser is now heading to the private club run by Orochigumi.”
“Hah! Those wicked scoundrels!”
Clap! Kuroda Yunosuke clapped.
“Now then! Sasaki Yoichi! As director of the Superhuman Awakening Agency, I give you this order!”
“Your servant, Sasaki Yoichi, stands ready!”
“Infiltrate the private club at once. Find out what Orochigumi is after, and forge a close friendship with Korea's special adviser!”
“Sasaki Yoichi, moving out!”
Tap-tap.
Sasaki Yoichi burst through the door, full of fighting spirit. Kuroda Yunosuke's face relaxed with relief.
“He'll do a good job.”
He was so honest and endearingly dim that he might make mistakes, but people would have a hard time disliking him.
“Now, focus all the agency's resources on that private club! Work with Sasaki inside and find out every last detail of what's happening in there.”
“Yes!”
While Japan's Superhuman Awakening Agency bustled with activity...
* * *
Pew, pew, pew. Tap-tap, tap-tap.
Holding an arcade mallet, Remi was happily whacking moles.
“Ooooooh!”
“Incredible!”
“She's that beautiful and that good?”
“Is she a Korean celebrity? Are they filming something?”
“Ah, she's a goddess.”
As the spectators marveled, Remi easily set a new high score.
“Meow, my turn.”
“Heh. You might as well hand over the luck stone now.”
“Hmph, you won't know who wins until we try, meow.”
Diddle-diddle-ding!
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Ed didn't swing the mallet once. He merely wiggled his fingers as if playing a piano in midair.
Thump, thump, thump.
His telekinesis slammed the moles down the instant they raised their heads.
Ding!
Remi and Ed both looked at the scoreboard.
When it showed another new record, Remi scowled.
“That's cheating.”
“We never said we couldn't use our abilities, meow.”
“Then play another round.”
“You don't replay a game you've won, meow.”
Shing.
Remi quietly drew her sword a little, and Ed hurried to stop her.
“A-all right, meow. Let's play just one more game before we go.”
“That one.”
Remi put a coin into the punching machine.
“Ooh, the goddess is going for it!”
“Will she be good at that too?”
“A punch from that slender body?”
“By the way, is that sword real? I saw a little of the blade earlier, and it looked unusual.”
“It's cosplay, you idiot. But what character is she supposed to be?”
None of the spectators' chatter reached Remi's ears.
All she cared about were the punching bag sliding down with a whirr and the luck stone she would get for winning the bet.
'A luck stone!'
She was going to take it, no matter what.
Whoooosh, ka-boom!
Remi's all-out punch didn't merely break the punching bag. It burst it apart. “Tore it to shreds” would have been a better description.
Drrrrring...
Instead of displaying a new high score, the scoreboard malfunctioned and broke. Remi turned triumphantly to Ed.
“Your turn.”
“How am I supposed to play when it's broken, meow?”
“Hmph. Then I win.”
“That's ridiculous, meow.”
Kim Junyong finally stepped into their childish fight.
“Oh, stop fighting. Ed, just give her one.”
“Ugh. If you say so, Master, I'll let her have it, meow.”
Grumbling, Ed held out a green bead. Remi took it with delight.
“Remi, you can't go around causing trouble like this. It makes sightseeing difficult.”
Hadn't she drawn far too much attention?
Remi didn't care about Kim Junyong's complaint.
“Does it matter? We're about to cause an even bigger commotion anyway.”
“Well, that's true.”
“I'm looking forward to it.”
“Then let's go work off some of that food.”
“Let's go, meow! Booze, meow!”
Kim Junyong chuckled.
His gaze turned to the tattooed man who had been hovering nearby.
* * *
Ryoma, a midlevel officer in Orochigumi, had been given a crucial mission.
Bring the target to the private club.
He'd successfully handed over a free ticket under the pretense of an ordinary promotional event, but the targets seemed uninterested. They were busy sightseeing.
They'd stopped at a café and gulped down an absurd amount of drinks, tried every street food they could find, and even visited an arcade.
The woman with the target was especially beautiful. More and more spectators were gathering, looking almost like a crowd of followers.
'This isn't good. They're drawing more and more attention.'
That was how crowd psychology worked.
One or two people stopped to watch, and then others gathered to see what was happening. At some point, it grew beyond anyone's control.
Just like that arcade packed with spectators.
'I can't approach them. No, nothing good will come of approaching them.'
There were too many eyes watching.
What should he do?
Try another promotional event?
No.
'I'll call it a special pickup service.'
Yes. That would seem natural.
Just as he made up his mind and was about to approach, the punching machine exploded with a deafening crash.
'I-I can't do this!'
One wrong move could cost him his life.
How could someone so slender have such monstrous power?
The talking cat was surprising enough, but the beauty with them was incredible too.
Surely the man who was their target was no ordinary person either.
He was calming his pounding heart when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around.
“Who is it? Gaaaah!”
“Let's go.”
“Wh-what?”
“Aren't you the guy who gave us the ticket earlier?”
“Gasp.”
“We've given you plenty of time, so you must have everything ready by now, right? Hurry up and show us the way.”
What was going on?
This counted as completing his mission properly, right?
Ryoma called over a low-ranking member who was waiting nearby and ordered them to bring the limousine.
* * *
The owner of the private club.
The boss of Orochigumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization.
Saiga Kazuma arrived at the private club with a group of subordinates.
“Boss!”
Saiga waved off the club manager's respectful greeting.
“Don't make a fuss.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take me to our distinguished guests' room.”
“Yes, sir.”
The manager straightened from a ninety-degree bow.
The boss's bodyguards were all hunters, but there was one face among them the manager hadn't seen before.
'Have we met?'
A new bodyguard, yet such a familiar face.
While leading them toward the room where the distinguished guests were drinking, the manager paused in realization.
'That's Takahashi Kenchi!'
One of Japan's leading hunters!
An SR-rank hunter, no less!
'History is being made here today.'
No wonder the chairman had come in person. A gathering of big shots was taking place right here.
“This is the room.”
“Good. Announce us.”
“Yes, sir.”
The manager went inside, spoke politely to the guests, then came back out.
“They said you may enter.”
“Good.”
Saiga Kazuma opened the door, walked in, and beamed at the men.
“Hahaha, when I heard that the pillars protecting our world had come to visit, I simply had to greet you as the club's owner.”
“...?”
Logan Hayes paused in the middle of his drink.
The old man's English was rough, but clear enough to understand.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don't worry. Your identities haven't been revealed to anyone.”
Logan's face hardened.
Jose and Arjun released their auras as a precaution, and the atmosphere in the room instantly grew heavy.
The chairman's bodyguards, who usually boasted of being invincible, were suddenly less useful than decorations.
“Wait. We didn't come here to fight.”
Takahashi Kenchi stepped forward.
“Hmm? You're Takahashi Kenchi?”
“So you do know me.”
Of course he did.
Kenchi had become famous worldwide for calling for the Mad Sovereign's defeat.
“First, allow me to thank you for coming here in response to my appeal.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Haven't you come to hunt the Mad Sovereign?”
Logan exchanged looks with Jose and Arjun.
Well, now.
They said the enemy of your enemy was your friend. This Japanese hunter had apparently come to see them because he, too, held a grudge against the Mad Sovereign.
“Well, that is our goal.”
Takahashi Kenchi knelt and bowed his head.
“You have my sincere thanks for your help.”
“We just happen to share a goal.”
“At any rate, we've successfully lured the Mad Sovereign here.”
“...?”
“His party entered another room twenty minutes ago.”
“His party?”
Uneasy, Logan tilted his head.
“Don't tell me you mean the woman with the sword?”
“That's right.”
Logan and Arjun were both taken aback.
“Wasn't our plan to take them out one at a time?”
Both nodded at Jose's question.
For now, that plan had failed.
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