Confinement King-Chapter 405: Date Start

[Protagonist MC]

　I wanted to ask Lili's opinion, but she did not appear when I called her.

　Apparently, she is away at the moment.

「Well, then, do me a favor」

　I had no choice but to tell this to the maids, and they each bent down deeply with their weapons in their hands.

「「「「Pleave leave it to us」」」」

「Ah, hwah...」

　Ulrich is the only one who bends over in a hurry, lagging behind the other maids.

　I don't know why she is so scared of one of the junior girls, but there is nothing wrong with being cautious.

　I ask the maids to stand ready in the rooms, and when the time comes, I open the door and summon them. With these preparations in place, I activate and arrive at Suematsu Park.

「It's been a long time since Ryoko's walk-play...」

　The last time I visited this park was right after Ryoko's corruption.

　This park is quite large, though it is called "Suematsu Park" in a word.

　There is a long walking path around a wide gourd-shaped pond. In addition, there are soccer grounds and futsal courts, even a BBQ area, and an open-air concert hall.

「It was on the north side, wasn't it?」

　I heard that Shima-san said the meeting place at the open-air concert hall.

　I had never been to the open-air concert hall, so I walked down to the nearest walking path and looked around.

　It was still 8 o'clock in the evening. I could see couples chatting on benches, people running, and the elderly walking their dogs.

　Even though it is the beginning of autumn, the wind is still warm.

　The asphalt was warmed by the midday sun, and the heat radiated from the asphalt made me feel hot and humid.

　Following this walking path straight to the north, I could see the open-air concert hall on my right.

　The walking path was slightly inclined and went uphill toward the north.

　After walking for a while, the open-air concert hall could be found at the end of the slope.

　The seating area was shaped like a bowl, taking advantage of the slope. It looked like a cheaper version of the Delphi open-air Theatre.

　On the stage, two boys of high school age were playing and talking to each other, shining themselves with flashlights on the floor. In the audience near the stage, there are a few figures who seem to be their friends.

　And I saw a woman sitting alone in the middle of the audience.

　She was wearing a white one-piece dress and a light blue cardigan. I walk up to the neatly dressed woman and take a seat next to her.

　The clock on the side of the open-air concert hall read 8:16.

「You're late, King」

「I don't remember making a promise...」

「But... you're here. Then, late is late.」

　Shiratori-san looks blankly at the high school students on stage without looking at me.

「Besides, when you have a date with a girl, you should first compliment her on her outfit, shouldn't you? Even though I'm trying to look reasonably stylish」

　I had never seen Shiratori-san's daily clothes except when she was summoned by Fujiwara-san's father, but I don't remember that she was dressed so girly.

　However, as a person at the height of alertness, I don't feel like making a casual remark to the extent of "even a horse boy is dressed like a horse boy."

（But... the color that clings to her word is blue...）

　I didn't understand.

　But I couldn't let myself be led astray.

「Shiratori-san, you are up to something, aren't you?」

「To be precise, I've "been" plotting...」

（It's blue? But why in the past tense?）

「Let me tell you an old story」

　She says this in a mumbling way, and I gulp.

「...That was more than ten years ago. It was the night of a starless storm. Twin babies were born in a hospital near here. Twins, a boy, and a girl. The girl was beautiful, and the boy was, well... no comment. But the poor young couple could not afford to raise two children. So the girl was taken, and the boy was given up for adoption. As for why it was the boy... well, no comment」

　The color red clings to the words.

「When the girl was in elementary school, she found out she had a twin brother. And she's been searching for him ever since. And then, finally, she met him, big brother」

「...」

　What is this? I can't help but be puzzled. Of course, from the beginning to the end, it's all red, with not a shred of truth.

「Um... Shiratori-san. Aren't you setting up the story too far-fetched with twins who are different in age?」

「Well, I just thought it would be interesting」

「That's it?」

「The point of this story is that if this is true, King and Shima-senpai would have a forbidden relationship as aunt and nephew」

「Um... are you trying to confuse me?」

「No, I'm just making fun of you」

　Is this some kind of a ploy, or am I too cautious?

　However, Shiratori-san seemed somewhat excited today, although her facial expression was the same as usual.

「I'm going to ask you one more time... what are you up to?」

　When I asked her this question, she looked annoyed, although her face was already in a bad mood.

「I've been plotting. I had said that, right? Honestly, I don't want to talk about it because it's not cool, but... it can't be helped. I made two mistakes」

* * *

[Junichi Teruya (Junichi Kasuya) ? POV]

　The old man puts his hand into the empty plastic bag of the convenience store and makes a rustling sound.

（Can't he just sit still...? So this is why he's in the middle of a "dopon"...）

　This guy is a doped-up person (Dopon)—in other words, a drug addict. He's sober but has no money and is constantly on edge.

「Yamada-san, could you please go away? You don't have any money, right?」

「T-Teruya-kun, I'll see what I can do. The day after tomorrow, I should have some money」

「No. I value my life too」

　On the side of Kokusai Dori (International Street), two streets over.

　I sit on a bench made of beer cases and boards and stare at the old man.

　He is a customer of mine, but he is just trash without money.

　The old man used to work as a writer for a backstage magazine in Tokyo, but he got hooked on drugs after he tried it once, thinking that people would laugh at him if he hadn't done it before. He was a total idiot and ruined his life.

「I-Isn't it okay, T-Teruya? We're both strangers in Okinawa, and I hope we can get along」

「I was born and raised in Naha」

　The old man points his trembling fingertips at me.

「T-That's a lie. You have no accent, you shave your hair and your eyebrows, and change your looks, you're just one of me, right?」

　At this remark, I grab his chest and glare at him.

「Yamada-san, if you persist too much, I'll tell the higher-ups. I don't want to pollute the beautiful ocean of Okinawa either」

　But just as the old man's face scrunches up, a scooter stops next to him.

「Teru, you should meet the manager (胴元)」 (*Note: or Drug Lord?)

　The guy driving the scooter is called Mike among us, the pushers. He looks like a foreigner, a juvenile delinquent whose parents I don't know where he comes from.

「What? Why?」

「I don't know, but... some foreign bigwig wants to meet Teru」

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