IGTL Chapter 40

Chapter 40 – Meanwhile, the Assailant High Schoolers…

“Oh? If it isn’t Lord Kakeru.”

“Huh? Mr. Raynel, what’s up? I thought I’d counted today as a day off, at least…”

At dusk, after I’d repelled Refri Jilator’s attack and returned to the Drowsing Inn, Raynel Goodjob was standing guard.

Raynel let out a hearty laugh and started smacking my back.

“I drank an elixir, so I don’t need any rest. And the others will be arriving tomorrow. Once they’re here, we’ll rotate breaks.”

“Is that so?”

Personally, I wanted him to rest properly, but when I made a worried face, Raynel just thumped my back again.

“Well, after losing my arm, I couldn’t move for a long time. I’d like to get my body moving again, as a bit of rehabilitation.”

“I see… alright. Just don’t push yourself. Use that guard room over there for breaks.”

“Aye. I’ll take you up on it.”

“Great. Then I’ll leave the security to you.”

With Raynel guarding the Drowsing Inn, I went to the room I was staying in and let my body sink into the bed. With an S-rank adventurer like Raynel on watch, I could relax.

“Maybe I’ll pop back to the real world for a bit…”

If I was going to rest, I’d rather do it in a Simmons bed, beloved as the bed brand of the world, than some bed in a game world. Honestly, I wanted a bath, too.

Lying on my back, I opened the menu bar and tapped the logout button. My vision blacked out for a moment, but I was used to it by now.

Back in the real world, I lazed around on my Simmons bed for a while. Then, to wash off the grime and fatigue, I decided to soak in the open-air bath closest to the night sky: Sky Spa.

“Haaah… I’m alive again…”

By sheer luck, the large bathhouse was empty. I luxuriated alone in the tub.

Open-air baths really were the best. Soaking while staring up at the night sky was unbeatable.

After a good long soak and a solo sauna session, I washed up and returned to my room.

I took a canned highball from the mini-fridge, cracked it open, and took a small sip. Then I turned on the TV and checked my phone… only to find my call history had turned into something ridiculous.

Thirty-four missed calls from Attorney Noume. Fifty-six missed calls from unknown numbers. Ten missed calls from my former workplace, Amazing Corporation, specifically from Director Ishida, the head of the administrative division.

Exactly one hundred missed calls. I nearly sprayed my highball.

“Ghk, khk! W-What the hell is this…?”

The calls from Attorney Noume were probably about the settlement talks with the high school kids, right?

And Director Ishida was calling too… which meant he’d probably gotten the lawyer’s certified letter and was panicking.

Well, that side was already in my lawyer’s hands, and I had them blocked anyway, so it wasn’t an issue…

“The real problem is this…”

Even as a bad feeling crept up my spine, I dialed my voicemail and listened to the recordings.

“Hey, you! You wrecked our lives, and you’re having fun!? Hiding in a hotel and refusing to come out… do you have any idea what we’ve been going through!?”

“Why aren’t you answering your phone!? I went out of my way to come over because you wouldn’t pick up, and you had the nerve to hand us over to the cops! Do you even have a heart!? It was our first offense, so we only got a severe warning, but we could’ve been fired from our jobs! If that happens, what are you going to do about it!?”

“……”

Two messages. Just two. And my mood had already curdled into something foul.

At this point, it was almost impressive.

To the kind of people who left messages like that, I had one phrase to offer:

Serves you right.

If I met them face-to-face, it’d just be “You did this,” “Settlement this,” and other garbage. Nothing productive would come of it.

More importantly, they weren’t arrested?

From the messages, it sounded like they’d been released because it was their first offense.

Unbelievably disappointing.

I would’ve preferred those deranged lunatics stay right where they belonged: behind bars.

They were the kind of people who hired a private investigator and showed up at my hotel without permission. Honestly, I hoped they got fired. I was sure their workplace treated them like a live grenade already.

Still… it was something.

Listening to those voicemails, not once did they even mention their kids’ settlement situation anymore. All I could hear was a single obsession:

“You dared to report us to the police… I’ll never forgive you!”

For a moment, I almost felt sorry for those high school kids, having toxic parents like that.

Almost.

I still wasn’t settling.

I ended the call, plugged my phone into a USB charger, grabbed another highball from the fridge, cracked it open, and downed it in one go.

Then I lay back on my Simmons bed and slowly closed my eyes.

Mentally… I was exhausted.

For today, I’d just sleep.

“Good night, Elementals…”

And with that, I drifted off.

◇◆◇

One of the high schoolers arrested for robbery causing injury, Minato Mirai, listened to what Attorney Noume told him and went pale with shock.

“D-Detention!? What do you mean detention!? And my parents got arrested!? What’s going to happen to us now!?”

“Easy, easy. Calm down first… let’s talk calmly…”

“C-Calm down!? How am I supposed to calm down!?”

Inside a room divided by a perforated acrylic panel, I, Minato, raised my voice.

“I said calm down. If the visit gets cut short, the one who suffers is you, Minato-kun. You.”

“…Tch.”

When meeting with a lawyer, there was no detention officer sitting in, and you could talk freely for hours. But if I pissed him off and he ended the visit, I’d be screwed.

Regaining a sliver of composure, I took a deep breath, pressed both hands to the acrylic divider, and pleaded.

“I-I don’t want to go to prison! C-Can’t you do something!? During questioning, the cops said it looks like we’ll be processed under the same criminal procedures as adults!”

“…It pains me to say this, but after your parents stormed the hotel where Mr. Takahashi Kakeru is staying, the settlement negotiations have completely run aground. I will do everything I can, but…”

“‘Everything I can’—what the hell does that mean!? Say it! Say the rest!”

When I pressed him, Attorney Noume looked apologetic and murmured, almost like he didn’t want to voice it out loud.

“In the worst-case scenario, you’re looking at six years or more in prison. There will be no suspended sentence. As things stand, you could also be sent to juvenile training school…”

“S-Six years…”

It was too heavy. The words wouldn’t come.

“N-No way… I-I mean, we just mugged some old guy, and for that…?”

To get slapped with something like that…

As I sat there in numb disbelief, Attorney Noume spoke again, this time with a firm, admonishing tone.

“You still don’t understand the gravity of what you did. Mugging someone in the way you did constitutes robbery causing injury. …However, there is still a way.”

“R-Really!?”

“Yes. Robbery resulting in injury is one of the heaviest categories of offenses under the Penal Code, but juvenile dispositions aren’t decided solely by the severity of the incident. The scratch-ticket amount was high, but fortunately, the victim, Mr. Takahashi Kakeru, only suffered a minor injury expected to heal in two weeks… I will explain to the prosecution that the practical nature of this act was closer to a comparatively lighter offense, on the level of extortion.”

“Huh? S-So what does that…”

“Simply put, I will push for a change in charges, from robbery causing injury to extortion and assault. However, your cooperation is essential…”

“C-Cooperation?”

“Yes. Even my efforts can be rendered meaningless by your own actions. You must reflect sincerely on your offense, and you must sever ties with your accomplices. If you do that, I will do everything possible to secure a probation disposition for you.”

W-What!?

“W-Wait a second! By ‘accomplices,’ you mean I have to cut off Yocchan and the others!?”

“…Yes. In any case, if probation is granted, special conditions will be imposed, including a prohibition on contacting your accomplices. Do you really need to think about which is better: serving six years or more in prison, or accepting probation and cutting contact with the others?”

“B-But… Yocchan and them are my friends…”

When I hesitated, Attorney Noume fixed me with an icy stare.

“…Then shall you all go to prison together, as one big happy group?”

That hit like a punch.

But it seemed there really wasn’t another choice.

“F-Fine. I’ll reflect. I’ll distance myself from them…”

“Yes. I don’t like saying this either, but I’m glad you understand. I will inform the other boys on my end.”

“…Please.”

“Oh, and one more thing. After your detention period ends, you will likely be sent to a juvenile classification home.”

“A juvenile classification home?”

What even was that?

And after being detained, I’d get locked up in yet another facility?

“Yes. A juvenile classification home is where they observe your behavior and daily attitude under a structured routine. I strongly advise you not to live there with an arrogant demeanor… If they judge that there is a high risk of reoffending and that rehabilitation in society is difficult, you could be sent to a juvenile training school, and in the worst case, even face criminal trial…”

“O-Okay… I got it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Right then, the visiting time ended.

Wearing a grim expression, I returned to the detention area, where Yocchan and the others crowded in.

“H-Hey, how’d it go with the lawyer!?”

“…Next is a juvenile classification home.”

“A juvenile classification home? What’s the difference from a juvenile training school?”

“…I dunno. He just said to behave.”

“No way… this is still going to keep going…?”

“We graduate next year, man. Are we screwed…?”

“What else can we do? The lawyer said he’ll try to get us probation. We’ve got no choice but to trust him. For now, let’s just keep our heads down.”

“Yeah… probation means we can get back outside. Let’s just behave for a little while…”

“Y-Yeah… that’s right…”

With a vague dread still clinging to me, my detention period began ticking down, and we ended up being sent to a juvenile classification home.