Chapter 259 - Filial Son
"Mano-chan, go somewhere safe... yeah. Please go back inside the hotel."
I couldn't exactly show a middle school girl a bloody fight.
Even I have at least that much common sense left.
However, Mano-chan refused to leave my side.
"What's wrong? Are your legs giving out so you can't move?"
"...It's because of me."
"Because of you?"
"I think those people were chasing me. So, if Nakamoto-san is acting on my behalf, I feel like I have to see this through."
"...I see. But if you start feeling unwell, go back immediately."
Good girl, I thought, lightly patting Mano-chan's head before starting to walk forward with a steady gait.
At that same moment, a Mercedes and a van screeched to a halt, and their doors were flung open violently.
"Don't go running around like a bunch of Yakuza bastards!"
The ones stepping out of the van were, as expected, the Han-gure group I had seen at the hotel. As for their numbers... there were roughly fifteen of them.
While I was confirming the enemy's strength, Gondo and his private driver came running toward us.
"Sorry, Boss. Looks like our non-regular driver couldn't shake their tail."
"A driver for a gang office is 'non-regular'...?"
"I told you this industry is in bad shape, didn't I? No matter how much we recruit, no skilled drivers ever show up. Thanks to that, as you can see, our driver is a frail old man. Well, maybe being at an age where people give you a pass even if you run someone over is a strength."
Hehe. If it's by President Gondo's order, we've got a plan in place to pretend I have Alzheimer's after I hit someone, the white-haired driver laughed.
It's true that the "senile old man card" is powerful.
In this country, which is lenient toward the elderly in all sorts of ways, it might as well be a license to kill.
...These guys really are natural scumbags. Why aren't they arrested?
While I was feeling exasperated, setting aside my own status as a sex offender, a man approached.
His age... he looked to be in his late twenties. He had a beard on his chin and mouth, and his short, styled hair was dyed brown.
His insolent expression and muscular build radiated an intimidation that was on a different level from his followers.
There was no mistake. This guy was the leader of the Han-gure.
"Hey, old man. Yeah, you, you failed comedian."
A raspy, hoarse voice. He had probably ruined his throat from repeated cycles of drinking, smoking, and intimidation.
"You said your name was Nakamoto, right? Sorry, but we already put an order in for that middle schooler. I don't know how much money you laid on the table, but cutting in line is a no-go, ya know?"
"You, despite looking so tough, are a lolicon?"
"You talking? Even though you're treated like a handsome comedian in the public eye, you're buying minors behind the scenes? Ah-ah. I wonder what would happen if I sold this to a weekly magazine?"
"Nothing will happen. Because you all are going to forget everything you saw here."
"O-oh? What, you gonna pay us hush money?"
"No, I have no intention of giving you money. But I might use my hands."
"Holy crap. That's so cool. Hey, you guys, did you hear that? This old man says he's gonna beat us all up by himself."
Unbelievable, seriously hilarious. A smirking laugh, characteristic of ill-mannered youths, spread through the group.
"We were planning on bagging you anyway, so it helps that you're making it easy."
The Han-gure pulled knives and metal bats from their vehicles and surrounded me in a circle.
In broad daylight, such incredible audacity. ...No, that's not it. Looking closely, they were using the cars and their own bodies to hide my figure.
A minimum level of concealment. If that's the case, contrary to their violent words, they might not intend to take my life.
If they intended to kill, they would have attempted a more serious concealment.
"So, you got any last words? If you got buddies, old man, I'll make sure to pass on your final words properly, okay? Look, we might be bad guys, but we value comrades and bonds, so we're understanding about that stuff."
To the man asking provocatively, I asked the thing that had been bothering me.
"What is a junior high school girl to you? Why are you so obsessed with Mano-chan?"
"It's not like I'm obsessed. I'm just thirsty."
"Thirsty?"
"A junior high school girl is a drink, right? Since I can drink all the liquid that comes out."
...This is the very definition of making one's stomach turn.
Junior high school girls are drinks. It was an unbelievable statement.
—Even though girls under eighteen should be treated as mothers, he treats them as beverages?
What do you think a mother is?! I felt like lecturing him from the perspective of filial piety.
"How dare you speak to a Mother like that!"
I unleashed a powerful roundhouse kick, blowing away the men's weapons in an instant.
Today, due to Ayako-chan's debuff, my strength has been suppressed to about three times that of an ordinary person.
If I were to play Superman on Earth, this would be the perfect balance.
"What?! Is it Karate!?"
I grabbed a fist swung from behind and threw him forcefully.
"This guy... he does Judo too!?"
No.
This was a self-taught martial art I had naturally acquired while fighting demi-humans.
Even so, the reason it felt somewhat similar to Judo was likely because, as long as the user is human, there are a limited number of optimal movements.
"Don't get cocky! I've got experience too!"
The leader-type man took a fighting stance with a face of fury.
This stance, with the shoulder opposite his dominant hand forward—is it boxing?
"Stop it. You can't win against me."
"Come at me, old man! Are you getting scared now!?"
"It's not a matter of technique or physical strength. You are moved by sexual desire, but I am moved by parental love. To me, Mano-chan is a candidate for a new Mother. A son fighting for his Mother is invincible."
"Stop your damn rambling!"
I dodged the left hook the man threw and drove in a right straight as a counter.
"Bugwah...!? S-so fast...!?"
The man could barely remain standing, staggering while blood leaked from his nose.
The surrounding Han-gure watched the proceedings with eyes of astonishment, thinking, "That Yuji...!?"
It seemed this leader named Yuji was recognized as quite a powerhouse.
"...Impossible... I... even have experience... competing in the Inter-High..."
"So what? I'm at this age and I'm acting spoiled and babbling to a teenage girl, you know? I think I'm more amazing in many ways."
"...You, what the hell have you been saying...!"
I caught the high kick the man threw and destroyed his joint with a parrying motion.
"Gyaaaaaaaaah!"
"Your kicking accuracy is mediocre. Didn't you learn kickboxing?"
"Y-you, despite being a criminal... despite being a sex offender who bought a junior high school girl, why are you so strong...?"
"It's not a crime. It's legal for me to flirt with Mano-chan."
"...Huh?"
"You might not understand, being a youngster like you, but once a man passes thirty, a baby takes up residence in his heart. As age and social status rise, the impulse to act spoiled toward a Mother grows stronger. To be blunt, aren't old men more short-tempered and ill-mannered than young men? That's all because of baby regression. I'm already more than half baby myself. Therefore, if Mano-chan and I flirt, it effectively becomes One-shota. Naturally, if it's a shota and a junior high school girl, it's a completely legal combination, right?"
"Is-is this guy on drugs?! I can't understand a single word of what he's saying!"
"As if I'd do drugs. I'm the kind of man who would suck on a baby bottle rather than smoke marijuana... Oh, reinforcements."
I punched away the men jumping at me from the left and right without hesitation.
The two Han-gure, sent flying while spinning like drill bits, landed on the hood of the van and stopped moving entirely.
"I wanted to live a normal life too. I wanted to marry a woman my own age and work as a salaryman."
"W-what is this old man...? What has he been talking about this whole time...?"
"But that's impossible... there's no turning back! I've been tamed by the 'Blue Bird of Babumi' old man, wandering around seeking maternity from younger girls! Even though true maternity is found in the Mother back at my parents' house... Whose fault is it that I became like this? It's your fault!"
"That's definitely not it! You're just taking out your anger on us because of some shitty treatment you received elsewhere!"
"Shut up!"
Behind me, as I continued to exert unreasonable violence, Gondo was muttering deeply.
"What great reverse-anger and special fetish. I really do think the Boss has a talent for being Yakuza."