IGTL Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Depending on Degree and Circumstances, Extortion Becomes Robbery Resulting in Injury. Life Imprisonment Is Possible, You Know (2)

“R-Robbery resulting in injury… you’re kidding, right?”

At the officer’s words, even Serizawa from Student Guidance and the Vice Principal Endo looked stunned. When I pushed back, the officer shook his head.

“Unfortunately, as things stand, that’s what it is. Like I said, a victim’s report has already been filed in this case. The loss is substantial, and the victim submitted a medical certificate. Unless the report is withdrawn, this will be difficult.”

“N-No way! What are you saying we did!?”

All we did was rough up an adult and shake him down. And we only hurt him to the point he could still walk with a cane. Calling that robbery resulting in injury was way overboard.

“…That’s what I came to hear, from your own mouths.”

I glanced at the guys, every one of them had shrunk into himself.

‘Hey… what do we do?’

‘W-We’ll be fine. Even if they treat it as robbery with injury, we’re minors, right?’

‘N-No, but we could get sent to a juvenile facility…’

‘D-Don’t screw with me! Then what are we supposed to do!?’

‘That’s obvious, we settled with the old man! I’ve heard cops, prosecutors, and courts put a lot of weight on how much the victim wants punishment. If we settle, our sentences might get lighter!’

‘R-Right. Let’s go with that. No point acting tough now!’

“Boys… are you listening to me? I need you to tell me what happened.”

Prompted by the officer, we stood, bowed, and apologized.

“““W-We’re sorry!”””

Even the officer’s eyes went wide.

“…And what exactly are you ‘sorry’ for? Tell me that.”

“Yes, sir! Yesterday, in front of the Aeon lottery kiosk, we assaulted an older man and took his wallet with thirty hundred-thousand yen and a thirty-million-yen scratch ticket. We’re truly sorry!”

“The other four as well?”

“““Yes, sir. That’s right.”””

Serizawa and the vice principal both clutched their heads.

“…So you’re saying that yesterday, in front of the Aeon lottery kiosk, you assaulted the male victim and robbed him of his wallet and a thirty-million-yen scratch ticket.”

“““Yes, sir!”””

As we answered with pep, the officer’s gaze hardened.

“I see. And what did you do with the wallet and scratch ticket you took? Still have them?”

“Y-Yes!”

I pulled four scratch tickets from my pocket.

“…I don’t see the wallet.”

“A-About the wallet… I’m sorry! We emptied it and tossed it in the river!”

“…I see. Then let me at least check the tickets.”

He took them and inspected each.

“…I see one for 300 yen, one for 1,000, one for 10,000, and one for 100,000. Where’s the thirty-million-yen ticket?”

“““Huh?”””

T-That’s all of them…?

While I panicked inside, the guys shot me knives with their eyes.

‘Hey, Yocchan!’

‘This isn’t funny! Hand over the thirty-million-yen ticket, now!’

‘Don’t tell me you lost it!’

‘Quit messing around!’

“N-No, I swear I kept it on me the whole—”

The officer fixed me with a sharp look.

“…So you’re saying you lost the thirty-million-yen ticket, just like the wallet?”

“N-No… sir. That’s not it! I had four tickets, and the thirty-million-yen one was definitely among them!”

Last time I checked yesterday, the thirty-million-yen ticket was there. I’d kept them on me all day. There’s no way I lost it! But the officer clearly didn’t buy it.

“Be that as it may, the reality is it isn’t here. Which means the only conclusion is: you lost it.”

“B-But I really—”

“Okay, okay, I hear you. You kept it on you, but you lost it. Right?”

No, that’s not what I— But with no ticket in hand, I had to shut up.

“…”

The officer suddenly smiled gently and stood.

“Well then. Since we have your confession, let’s be on our way.”

“Eh? W-Where are we…?”

Before I could finish, several officers entered the classroom.

“W-What’s going on—?”

“What else? You all just confessed together. Robbery resulting in injury is a serious criminal offense. Sorry, but you’re under arrest.”

“W-What!?”

N-No one said anything about this! No one!

“Now, don’t resist. If you interfere with us, you could be charged with obstruction of official duties. We’ll contact your parents for you.”

“W-Wait, we didn’t really confess, we just—”

“Details can wait for the station. Let’s go.”

“W-Wait! P-Please—what’s going to happen to us?”

He thought for a moment.

“…This case is irregular in every respect. You’re going to be questioned at the station. That’s as much as I can say here.”

Behind him, officers leveled stern looks at me.

“We’ll talk through the details at the station… slowly. We’ve got plenty of time. Thank you for your cooperation, teachers.”

“Y-Yes…”

At that, we turned on the vice principal.

“Vice Principal… you bastard!”

“You were in on it with the cops!”

“Selling us out to the police, some teacher you are!”

“Yeah! Don’t screw with us!”

“I won’t be satisfied till I punch you in the face!!”

When we moved toward him, the officers blocked us.

“Don’t add more to your crimes.”

“B-But—”

We’re getting arrested anyway, right!? Then landing one punch ought to—

“Come on. Move.”

“D-Dammit!”

It hit me then: robbery resulting in injury, hurting someone in the course of a robbery, carried “imprisonment for life or six years or more,” if I remembered right.

T-This was bad. Really bad. We’d have to get our parents to do whatever it took to secure a settlement… But we’d blown the wallet’s cash at an arcade, and the thirty-million-yen scratch ticket… was gone.

Wait… would he even agree to settle?

If I were the guy who’d hit the jackpot and then got beaten up and robbed, and on top of that the thirty-million-yen ticket got lost, and then the punks who did it begged for a settlement “for our futures,” I’d leap to my feet and roar, “No way in hell!”

Uh… uh-oh…? This was really bad, wasn’t it?

Best case, even if he did settle, he’d demand at least thirty million in settlement money. D-Damn it! We shouldn’t have confessed! If we’d insisted there was never any thirty-million-yen ticket, maybe we could’ve—

“Don’t worry. It’s during class. We came in an unmarked patrol car to avoid attention. Alright, get in.”

“U-Urgh…”

As soon as we were in, the car pulled out. It looked like they’d be taking us to the police station one by one.

“What’s going to happen to us…”

The officer patted my shoulder lightly, but said nothing.

With a heavy, clouded feeling, we were all hauled off to the police station.

◇◆◇

I headed for the net cafe, booked an appointment online with a law firm known for wage-claim cases, then used the National Tax Agency’s “Information on Unassessed/Uncollected Taxes” tip form to report that the president of Amazing Corporation was using meeting and entertainment expenses for personal wining and dining every day. After I wrapped all that up, I put on the headgear, reclined my seat, and said:

“—Connect: ‘Different World’!”

I dove into the world of Different World.

“W-What the—?”

The moment I transferred into the game world, I found myself in a room engulfed in flames. The building before my eyes was blazing scarlet.

If I hadn’t been wearing the “Mob-Fenrir Suit”, I might have been badly burned.

…Then again, despite the inferno, I felt no heat at all; maybe I wouldn’t have gotten burned anyway!

I’d wondered for a while, was the game’s system different just for me?

…No time for that. I had to get out of this burning room.

I leveled the “Mob-Fenrir Bazooka” at the wall and pulled the trigger.

With a “Waooon!” a hole the size and shape of a Mob-Fenrir silhouette opened in the wall.

“That’ll do.”

DW was a game where you could even destroy buildings. Since DW felt like reality now, I honestly hadn’t wanted to do this. But if I didn’t escape, I’d be forced to log in at this same spot every time.

Only later did it occur to me that I could have logged out and waited for the flames to die down. It’s too late now.

What was done was done. I’d exit through the hole.

When I stepped out through the breach I’d made with the “Mob-Fenrir Bazooka,” I saw the innkeeper, eyes brimming with tears, staring at the roaring inn.

“Y-You’re safe, sir…?”

“Uh, yes. More or less… What on earth happened?”

“Well, actually…”

From the story, it seemed the land shark had set the inn on fire.

“T-That bald bastard!”

He’d burned down the alibi inn I had gone to the trouble of finding! Unforgivable!

I gripped the innkeeper’s shoulders and demanded the thug’s whereabouts.

“Y-You’re going to storm the land shark’s place!? Behind him there’s—”

“Just tell me where! I can’t forgive him for burning down this inn!”

The innkeeper burst into tears.

“Y-You care that much about our inn…”

“Of course I do! Now tell me where he is!”

“Y-Yes! Go straight down this road, you’ll find it. There’s a sign that says ‘Land Shark Main Office.’”

…“Land Shark Main Office,” huh. Subtle. Whatever!

“Wait for me, old man! I’ll settle the score for burning this inn to the ground!”

With the location in hand, I sprinted toward the Land Shark Main Office.