The sound of rattling came from next to me.
“Calm down, Kaido. For now.”
“How can I possibly calm down?!”
This car was provided by the company.
Originally, we were supposed to use a black sedan designated for guards, but doing so would have provoked the Japanese government and foreign spies. So, they hastily modified a transport truck, and though it’s not ideal, we managed to fit a car inside.
Kaido and I are riding in that car with a bodyguard and the driver, heading towards Kaido’s home.
Kaido’s house is located on the border between Tokyo and Kanagawa.
We will travel by transport truck for most of the way, and once we confirm there’s no one around, we’ll transfer to the vehicle we’re in now. This vehicle, which appears ordinary but is actually reinforced to withstand practice sessions with Giants, boasts strength and horsepower comparable to a heavily modified armored car.
We’re still inside the truck, and various preparations are underway, considering the possibility of pursuit.
“Once you’ve come this far, you have to make up your mind.”
“I can’t, senpai! You don’t know how scary my mom is, so you can still be calm.”
“My own mother is pretty eccentric, I’d say. Just the other day, I received a postcard from the Guiana Highlands with her arm in arm with what looked like indigenous people.”
“…Hearing that, my mom actually sounds quite normal.”
“Compared to my mother, perhaps.”
Kaido was constantly looking around, fidgeting, and exhibiting suspicious behavior.
Perhaps reporting to Amili-san, a woman who looks incredibly young, that she’s pregnant, was too much for Kaido.
Or maybe he’s afraid of his mother’s scolding, given how rarely he contacted her.
We wonder which it is.
“Are you that scared?”
“Yes, senpai. My mom used to be the leader of a biker gang.”
“Ah, that was the heyday for that sort of thing.”
It seems she belongs to the intimidating type.
“Ever since I was little, if I ever made a mistake, I’d get a beating. I can’t even count the number of bruises I had; I’m more than half my mother’s fault for being stupid. I’m certain she destroyed eighty percent of the brain cells I lost.”
“Doing that nowadays would be a bit problematic, though.”
“Ugh, why wasn’t the era kinder to me?”
“You can only curse your fate of being born when you were.”
Kaido’s childhood trauma was triggered, and his face grew paler.
It seems the relationship between Kaido’s mother and Kaido is clearly hierarchical, both physically and mentally.
“But the fact that you intend to report it properly means you don’t dislike your mother, right?”
“Yes. I get scared of her quite a bit, but I know she loved me. Even if she was clumsy, she always made my lunch boxes for field trips and came to events like parent-teacher conferences and sports days.”
“I see.”
If you were to ask if they had a bad relationship, it doesn’t seem so.
Despite the trauma, she appears to be a good mother, and Kaido also has parts of her he likes as a mother.
His embarrassed gesture of scratching his head showed that.
In my case, my parents, who knew my annual schedule, would be in Dubai one day and return to Japan the next, only to fly to Slovakia. Compared to them, I’m a bit envious of Kaido’s mother, who seems like a strong, capable mother.
“Human King-sama.”
“Yes?”
As we were chatting, the man who was the leader of this escort detail spoke to me.
He belongs to my faction and volunteered through Muil-san.
He appears Western at first glance, but he is actually a wolf beastkin.
He uses magic tools to transform into a human form and uses his unique sense of smell and senses to keep watch over our surroundings.
He’s the kind of talent you’d call a specialist in bodyguarding.
Since we’re going outside the company premises this time, we’ve primarily assembled guards with excellent observational skills.
There are five guards accompanying me.
The driver, the leader sitting in the passenger seat, two men riding in the truck, and one in the back seat.
“The two ahead have reported no pursuit. We will move to a secluded area and retrieve the car from the container.”
“Understood. Continue towards our destination while maintaining vigilance.”
“Certainly.”
If it were in the past, I would have traveled in my own car or by train or bus. Now, even going out is a considerable effort.
Truly, one’s position can change so quickly, I thought with a wry smile.
Watching the communication with the guards via the communicator attached to my ear.
“Senpai.”
“Yes?”
“I suddenly thought about something.”
Kaido spoke to me, and when I looked beside me, I saw Kaido, whose face was even paler than before, hesitantly asking me something.
“If some burly guys get out of a black car and come to my house, won’t they think I borrowed money from a dangerous place?”
“…”
I briefly pondered his words, wondering what he was getting at.
It’s impossible for the captain, the driver, or even the other guards to change their physique, even if they can change their appearance.
In other words, it would be a scene of Kaido and me surrounded by muscular men.
What’s more, they’re all dressed in black suits modified for ease of movement.
They look like a group that would pull a gun from their pocket at any moment.
At first glance, they might seem like bodyguards, but the problem lies in my attire.
I am here to meet Kaido’s parents in my capacity as his superior, so I am wearing a proper suit, not casual clothes.
This isn’t a cheap, ready-made suit like a new working adult might wear, but something completely custom-made.
The overall gray tone emits a calm atmosphere.
However, the fabric, buttons, and even the subtle embroidery clearly indicate it’s a high-end item.
With the ceremonial makeup applied, Kaido said I look like some mafia executive.
As for Kaido, though wearing a suit to visit his parents might seem odd, he is wearing one after all.
However, it’s not custom-made like mine; it’s the suit he wore for his interview when he first joined the company, and it’s been stored in his closet.
It’s not a bad suit, but the difference in quality right now is so vast that it feels incredibly incongruous.
Indeed, there’s a high possibility of misunderstanding, as Kaido mentioned.
From an outsider’s perspective, it would look like an ordinary person surrounded by mobsters.
“…Do your best.”
“Senpai, you’re going to clear up the misunderstanding!”
Just as things were becoming uncertain with the sudden greeting, the truck stopped.
The rear door of the truck opened, and the process of unloading the car began.
“What’s the estimated arrival time?”
“About twenty minutes.”
While we were talking, we had already made good progress. It seems we’ll be at Kaido’s home in less than thirty minutes.
“Thank you. So, Kaido, brace yourself for the next twenty minutes.”
“I… I’d like some stomach medicine, please.”
“Here you go.”
“…Thanks.”
When he felt the remaining time was short, he naturally began to try and find ways to prolong it.
Kaido’s stomachache was a futile attempt to buy time due to his sudden nervousness, but it was easily thwarted by the well-prepared guards.
I wouldn’t say he’s being difficult, but at this point, he really has to make up his mind. The car, quickly unloaded from the truck, was boarded by one of the guards, and the six of us headed towards Kaido’s house.
“It’s a normal apartment building.”
Kaido’s home was in an apartment complex built during the bubble economy.
“What did you imagine my house would be like, senpai?”
“Given you used to be in a biker gang, I imagined a detached house with a garage for motorcycles, or perhaps a slightly older apartment building.”
“The latter might have been the case before I was born, though I’m not sure about the former.”
Even though we work at the same company, we’ve hardly had the opportunity to visit each other’s homes.
Furthermore, both Kaido and I were living alone in apartments.
So, we never had any reason to visit each other’s family homes.
“Come on, let’s go. If we linger here, I’m scared the neighbors will start spreading strange rumors.”
“I feel like it’s a bit too late for that.”
“Please don’t say that!”
There was nothing particularly new about it, but we proceeded with a fresh feeling, with Kaido in the lead, stopping the car in the visitor parking lot of the apartment complex. We advanced through the complex surrounded by guards.
Of course, there were people walking by.
“Huh?”
Kaido suddenly tilted his head.
“Does their lack of reaction bother you?”
“Did you do something, senpai?”
The residents here reacted normally, which is why Kaido tilted his head.
“Well, it is a discreet visit, after all. I brought a magic tool for cognitive obstruction.”
If a group of burly men were walking around, it would naturally cause a commotion.
I did consider that and took precautions to avoid making a scene.
However, this magic tool loses its effectiveness when viewed through a camera.
It also doesn’t work outside its effective range even from a distance, so people looking from their balconies would have a strange gaze.
Kaido didn’t seem to notice the gazes felt from various directions, and he seemed relieved that there wasn’t an obvious strange reaction.
He probably thought it was good enough as long as we managed to get this far without incident.
“Thanks, that helped a lot.”
“I’m sure he’s relieved, patting his chest theatrically, but staying here will still draw attention.
“Well, this magic tool will turn into just a rock once its magic runs out, so let’s go quickly.”
“Okay! This way!”
We resumed our guidance and stepped into the slightly older building.
Using the elevator would make it impossible to deal with any potential issues, so I created an unusual scene by leading the group of men in black up to the third floor via the stairs, and then…
“This is it.”
A regular apartment entrance.
The black-clad group stopped there.
Thanks to the magic tool, the surrounding residents still only perceived it as a large group of people visiting Kaido’s home.
And as Kaido opened the door with his house key.
“Mom, I’m home! I brought guests!!”
He shouted loudly from the entrance.
We are, after all, guests, so it would be appropriate to wait near the entrance.
Kaido took off his shoes and started to enter the house.
Everyone except the guards watching the outside should have been looking into the room.
That is why we could see a silhouette approaching from the back of the hallway with light footsteps.
Upon seeing that figure, we all thought the same thing.
It must be Kaido’s sister.
But, at the same time, we realized, did Kaido have a sister?
“You ungrateful brat!! How dare you return here?!”
“Guh?!”
That question was answered by a flying knee kick, utilizing her small stature to its full potential.
She aimed directly for his stomach, as if to cling to his chest, delivering a blow with such power that it bent Kaido’s well-trained body into a U-shape.
And this woman, who could easily be mistaken for a young girl, called Kaido her “ungrateful brat.”
“Oh my! I didn’t realize we had guests. I’m Kaido Meguru, his mother. My son has been in your care.”
Concealing her previous fierce roar, she introduced herself, as if to confirm it wasn’t a hallucination.
And I thought.
Ah, Kaido’s preference for women must have been inherited from his father.
Today’s word:
It is precisely because one can objectively see the situation, even in haste, that one can remain calm.
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Pandora Pandemic Panic: Pandora’s Box Has Been Opened Again, But We’re Fighting Back with Various Schemes in Our Secret Base!!
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