Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 201. The Bumpy Family And The Light Of Truth

A storm was raging in the eastern slums of Sevites, a den of vice.

The massive mafia group Zebras Galloping on the Crescent Moon, which dominated the area, had been annihilated, and the various smaller and affiliated organizations that relied on it had vanished within a few days.

Rumors spread of a trio—a black-haired human, a blond dreadlocked elf, and a dwarf carrying a massive hammer—roaming the eastern slums day and night.

Under normal circumstances, such tales would be dismissed as baseless rumors, but anyone with even the slightest connection to the western slums intuitively understood that this was the truth.

Moreover, it was said that the newly arrived mafia groups in Sevites had also been completely handed over to the military police.

And this, too, was true.

The criminals handed over to the military police confessed their misdeeds with expressions of terror.

What horrors had they experienced? No one would say, no matter how much they were pressed.

Then, one night, in a certain place.

“…Here are the documents.”

A stack of parchment was placed on the table with a rustle.

Written on them was the hidden information of Sevites.

In the dimly lit room, three elderly men furrowed their brows.

“The newcomers are doing well.”

“Messara… you’ve had it rough.”

“Who is this man named Akira?”

“I don’t know. But the Aegas Church seems unusually concerned about him.”

“The Aegas Church…? Why?”

“Unclear.”

“Hmph. We can ignore a weak church like that. More importantly, let’s talk about the future.”

“How’s the military police’s silence holding up?”

“…Not well. We can keep the higher-ups in check for a while, but it’s becoming impossible.”

“Then…”

“It might only be a matter of time before it all comes out.”

“Foolish…”

“Hmph. Even if it does, we acted with Sevites’ future in mind. No one has the right to complain.”

“How will public opinion move…”

“Depending on the situation, there might even be a motion for dismissal.”

“No, while the citizen council is one thing, we control the city council. There’s no problem there.”

“That’s true, but…”

“What is it, Sultan?”

“There are rumors that the former noble faction in the city council is making suspicious moves.”

“What? The former nobles are under your control, Sultan. Isn’t that your jurisdiction?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Listen. The annexation of Hanson Village is a crucial political strategy to support the expanding Sevites. We must succeed at all costs.”

“But wasn’t the Goblin Hazard going too far?”

“It’s too late for that, Gozil.”

“I know. I agreed to it. But…”

“The die has been cast. We can’t afford your incompetence now.”

“So, are we going to trigger another Goblin Hazard?”

“…No, as the documents say, we’ve lost all contact with the organization. We need to think of another way.”

“But then, how do we get Hanson to agree to the annexation?”

“Hmph. My grandson… Dodor Messara was dismissed as village chief, and they’re currently selecting a new one. We can slip in someone from Sultan or Gozil’s family.”

“Even so, that’s too much of a strong-arm tactic.”

“I know. But we can’t afford to be picky now!”

Messara, Sultan, and Gozil exchanged grim looks.

“Can a country be run on ideals alone?”

“Is it our job to dirty our hands…”

“Fine… this time, Sultan, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Understood. I’ll send one of my sons.”

“Good. That should settle that matter. More importantly, there’s this merchant named Akira.”

“There’s only one way to handle this…”

“Indeed. We can’t afford to be too flashy.”

“Should we mobilize the military police?”

“No… that would be a bad move. At this point, we have no choice but to eliminate him.”

“That’s fine, but…”

“Is there a problem?”

“The Zebras… they’ve been wiped out.”

“Ah…”

“What about other organizations?”

“Impossible. All the capable ones have been crushed.”

“Damn it! Fine, we’ll have to bring in an organization from outside again!”

“It’s risky, but… we have no other choice.”

“We don’t want another organization that’ll threaten us like last time.”

“We’ll manage.”

“Understood. I’ll handle the arrangements.”

“Leave it to you.”

“Let’s meet again once the arrangements are made.”

“Honestly… can a country really be run on ideals alone…”

Grumbling, Messara left the room.

The other two followed suit.

◆

“Hey… this can’t be real, right?”

“What is this, some kind of magic?”

“Who cares about that! Is this for real!?”

“The Three Elders?”

“More importantly, they’re planning to assassinate our benefactor, Akira!?”

“So the Zebras really were wiped out!”

“Did you hear? Messara’s grandson went bankrupt.”

“Wait, wasn’t he the village chief of Hanson?”

“Messara’s relatives, the Graha Trading Company, also recently suffered a major business failure…”

“Is there any connection to this?”

“The Three Elders… I believed in them!”

“Eliminating Akira… I can’t forgive this!”

“I knew it, the Three Elders are just a bunch of old fools!”

It was a little after sunset.

On a main street slightly away from Sevites’ central square, home to the famous infinite water jug, a projection was being displayed on the wall of the Three Elders’ building, the Triad Hall.

A large crowd of Sevites citizens looked up at it, seething with anger.

The area in front of the Triad Hall was packed with people, and chaos had erupted.

Just across from the Triad Hall, in the top floor of a restaurant called the Beautiful Water Jug Pavilion, we… were stationed.

We had asked the unusually busty waitress to lend us the top floor.

The wooden windows were wide open.

On display were objects that the people of this world had never seen before.

“Kukuku… Why not show off your exploits too? If we show your heroic deeds during the Goblin Hazard, you’ll become a celebrity.”

“No thanks. Let’s just start over from the beginning.”

I replayed the video on my smartphone.

Connected via a cable was a large projector… and a mini stereo system.

The projector’s image was displayed prominently on the white wall of the Triad Hall.

The conversation of the Three Elders blared loudly from the mini stereo.

The video played over and over, with a massive crowd of citizens looking up at it.

The rumors spread quickly, and people from all over the country were flocking to the scene.

Large Laser Projector = 1.8 million yen

Mini Stereo System = 36,800 yen

Drum Power Cable (30m) = 19,600 yen

Remaining funds: 1,694,925 yen.

It was nothing special. Faf, who had unusually cooperated, had secretly filmed the Three Elders’ meeting with a smartphone.

We had been playing it on loop ever since.

The power was being drawn from a nearby parked camper van.

How she managed to film it without being caught, and with such a perfect angle, was beyond me.

Originally, I had planned to ask Yaralai to do it, but Faf had taken a liking to the smartphone and refused to let it go.

Well, in this case, the result was all that mattered.

Eventually, the guards showed up and tried to disperse the crowd, but it was too late.

There was no way they could handle the massive influx of people, and they could only stand there in confusion, staring up at the projection.

“Akira, will this country change because of this?”

“I don’t know. But this is all we can do. It’s up to the people of this country to decide what happens next.”

“Yeah.”

“…Why are you two acting so sentimental?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“We’ve been so busy lately that we haven’t had a chance to talk. I have a lot of questions for you, Akira-sama.”

“Uh…”

This is strange… Shouldn’t a long-awaited reunion be a bit more… different?

I couldn’t help but hold my head in my hands.