Chapter 164: The disadvantage of using ghouls is that you don’t get complete corpses!
Vagrants are a common sight in the parks of Neon City. They are usually unable to bear heavy debts, or for their own reasons, cannot survive in their original cities, or come to the big city to pursue their dreams but cannot afford the high rents in the city center.
So they choose parks, which are free and open to citizens, as their resting places to get through the difficult days and welcome the arrival of a new day.
Overall, it is a product of rapid economic development and a slightly deformed social class. The rigid occupational ratios make it impossible for people with low abilities and qualities to find suitable work, and the lack of social welfare protection systems only allows parks, as public facilities, to bear functions that do not belong to them.
In Wadami Park, under the dim streetlights, a thin and messy shadow slowly walked from the end of the road. The dirty clothes and messy hair proved his true identity, but the exceptionally excited expression on his face and the eyes filled with the light of hope did not seem to originate from this person who was originally a vagrant.
Xiao Yamada, Zebei, cautiously looked at his surroundings, tightened the bulging thing wrapped in the clean inner lining, as if protecting something very precious, followed the route in his memory, curled up his body, and walked into the park.
He skillfully walked to the public toilet by the park entrance, and Xiao Yamada, Zebei’s cautious expression finally relaxed a little. He took out the convenience bag that he had been holding in his arms, tapped twice on the wall next to the toilet with his other hand, and softly called out into the wall.
“Lord [Coffin]? Lord [Coffin]? I’ve brought what you wanted.”
The middle-aged man’s hoarse, low voice sounded particularly abrupt in the silent darkness, but it quickly dissipated into the silent stillness, finally being replaced by the faint chirping of insects in the surrounding grass.
He knocked on the wall again with some disbelief, and Xiao Yamada, Zebei’s face became a little strange, but he still clenched the bag in his hand and called out a couple more times towards the toilet wall.
“Strange… are they not here?”
Looking at the wall with no reaction and the pitch darkness around, if it weren’t for the weight of the things in his hand and the long-lost satisfaction from the bread he ate at the convenience store, Xiao Yamada, Zebei would not believe that all this was real.
He was woken up halfway through his sleep by a strange man in black, who gave him a stack of money and asked him to buy him some things at a nearby convenience store, and even gave him a long list cut and pasted from a supermarket price list.
This was not the first time Xiao Yamada, Zebei had done such a errand for someone. Usually, the things or tasks that vagrants like him were asked to buy or do were not good things, but so what?
He was a dregs of society abandoned by the world. Even if he died the next day, no one would cry for his death. So, thinking about it that way, it was better to use the reward to eat and drink well, so that even if he died, he would die a satisfied ghost.
Of course, all of the above was just Xiao Yamada, Zebei’s fantasy. In Kyoto, the base of the Heroes Association, there were very few so-called criminal activities. The limited people who asked for his help to buy things were either a naive child who asked him to buy toys at a love shop, or a middle-aged man controlled by his wife who secretly gave him money to buy cigarettes.
“Well… I’ll come back here tomorrow…”
Looking at the bag full of various items in his hand, from batteries to knives, he didn’t know what the strange figure hidden in the black cloak wanted him to buy these things for.
But even as a vagrant now, Xiao Yamada, Zebei had his own bottom line. Even though he had lived alone for so long, he had never stolen or picked pockets. He mostly found odd jobs to do, living in this world in a daze.
He picked up the bag and looked around again. After all, this was the place where the man in black had arranged to meet him. He was a useless person now, so he cherished the places where he could be a good person.
But there was still no sound around. The night at two in the morning was exceptionally quiet. Even the noisy insects seemed to be threatened and lowered their voices.
Turning his head towards where he came from, Xiao Yamada, Zebei thought that the respected person must have been delayed by something, so he stopped waiting and decided to go back to his small nest to sleep today and come back to find the person tomorrow night.
But as soon as Xiao Yamada, Zebei turned around, his slightly tired expression suddenly froze. He subconsciously opened his mouth wide and looked at the man in black who was standing quietly behind him, looking at him.
“Ah—”
“[Coffin]… Lord [Coffin]? These are the things you wanted me to buy.”
A frightened gasp gushed from his throat, but Xiao Yamada, Zebei quickly adjusted his state. Although the person in front of him was a bit strangely dressed, he was still a living person, not a ghost or anything. Considering the high reward the other party had given him, Xiao Yamada, Zebei endured the unpleasant feeling in his heart and handed over the things in his hand.
The man in black was not very tall, about the same height as Xiao Yamada, Zebei. He reached out and took the things handed over by the thin man, flipped through them twice, nodded slightly, and looked at the man in front of him.
“Where did you buy it?”
The hoarse, sharp voice was like glass with burrs rubbing against a blackboard, making people feel physically uncomfortable.
“Sir… the supermarket you mentioned closed long ago, and there’s no other place open at this hour, so I went to the Flower Field Supermarket next door.”
Hearing the man in black’s question, Xiao Yamada, Zebei quickly put on a smile and responded to the other party’s question. After all, this generous adult had promised him an extra reward after the items were bought, so he had to treat him well.
“Hmm… was there anyone on the road?”
After a moment of silence, the man in black nodded and then, as if casually asking, threw out a question. Above their heads, a crow with scarlet eyes quickly flew by.
“No, who would come to the park at this hour…”
Xiao Yamada, Zebei answered subconsciously, but he quickly realized that something was wrong with the question. His previously flattering gaze instantly turned into panic. He shielded himself with his hands and looked at the man in black in disbelief.
“You, you, you, you… what are you going to do?! I’m very familiar with Officer Kitajima! Don’t do anything rash, don’t do anything rash!!”
His hands waved in front of him non-stop, and Xiao Yamada, Zebei seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying. He looked at the man in black in front of him and retreated backward, finally retreating to the side of the path and desperately running into the darkness.
Looking at Xiao Yamada, Zebei, who was rushing away in a panic, the man in black did not react at all until his shouting stopped in the darkness.
He turned his head back again, shook his head at a black shadow in the distance, raised his hand and conjured a dark coffin. Kazumi, hidden under the cloak, finally said helplessly.
“Little Black, eat a little less!”
