Pain, intense pain. Ryouzan Etsuya's last memory in his mind was that he should have agreed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department sending more personnel for a carpet search, instead of being cautious and choosing internal handling just because they had just dealt with the corpse of the divine messenger and nothing unusual had happened last night.
When he regained consciousness, his vision was blurry.
The familiar feeling of glasses on his nose was gone. He tried hard to twist his body but found himself tied backward to a chair.
It's no wonder Totsuki Academy chose this location for its campus. The buildings are not connected, and various mountain paths are everywhere. Due to its terrifying elimination rate, the school has fewer students than a normal public school with a junior high and high school combined. It's characterized by vast land, sparse population, inconvenient travel, and suitability for hiding things and committing crimes.
Ryouzan Etsuya was a smart man. He took a few seconds to inhale and exhale, forcing himself to calm down.
The other party was very likely a Midnight Chef or something similar to a martial artist, or even a professional exorcist. He had heard before that the Fuyou and Mitsui zaibatsus had something called the Kengan Association, which allowed entrepreneurs to hire combatants to fight each other to resolve business disputes and avoid commercial wars that would make everyone lose money.
Each person in there was capable of taking on many ordinary people. Today, he was probably suffering because he had run into a formidable opponent found by that old man, Nekiri Senzaemon.
A quick glance around suggested this was some kind of place, and his nose could still smell mold.
However, it seemed the lights weren't on; there was only a light source behind him. Seeing the yellowish light, Ryouzan Etsuya inferred this should be some kind of storage cellar, and the time should be evening.
"He's awake."
A voice suddenly came out, startling Ryouzan Etsuya. He suddenly realized that the light could shine on him, meaning all his actions of surveying the surroundings had been seen by the other party.
However, he didn't panic immediately. Instead, he took a deep breath, trying his best not to let fear and anger affect his judgment.
"Teacher Danzo, is that you?"
Ryouzan Etsuya still remembered that brief encounter. At the time, he really didn't see that the guy had such abilities. He also couldn't imagine if someone had betrayed him, why the other party would find a flaw in one day.
He had once suspected if there was an internal mole among his staff, but all members of the Hesheng Dormitory, who were mainly responsible for the sacrifices, were unreachable. He wasn't sure if they had been taken out by Senzaemon, so he could only report them as missing to the police.
He probably couldn't figure out, even if he racked his brains, that in this godforsaken place where everyone was struggling to master cooking to avoid elimination, there could be a superhuman who, besides avoiding elimination, could also be active every day among the various bushes and trees on campus.
Seeing no response from the darkness, but knowing that the person should be nearby, Ryouzan Etsuya continued to speak.
"Two... are there two of you? They did hurt your companion before. I know straightforward people like you care most about these things. We will definitely compensate you!"
He was referring to Kazuma, whom he thought had been killed. After watching some surveillance footage that revealed their traces, Ryouzan Etsuya thought the other party was a group of three, just that two of them looked quite similar.
"Moreover, those were the fishmen's unauthorized actions, truly unrelated to us. We are also very troubled by those freaks."
Regardless of how respectful he had been to the priest before, when it came to disclaiming responsibility and lying, Ryouzan Etsuya wouldn't bat an eye.
"Furthermore, our cooperation with them is purely to improve our culinary skills. And what we previously gave them were merely some hearts, which were not taken from living people. They were only taken from unclaimed bodies at funeral homes, and we even paid to have those bodies cremated and paid for their urn storage fees. I don't think this is an unforgivable matter."
First, he proved that he had nothing to do with those fishmen, then he started talking about benefits.
"Moreover, we are also considering the Japanese culinary world. You two must have seen the current state of Totsuki Academy. The 'polishing the jade' mentioned by the Nekiri Senzaemon is too difficult for ordinary people, and it is really not conducive to chefs improving their social status.
However, Mr. Tsukasa Azami, whom we have chosen, is different. His philosophy is to have more people join a large organization, so that all chefs in Japan have a common direction, and to carry out more unified and refined coordination. He even uses this to interfere with some choices of bureaucrats and parliamentarians. I know that the two of you are not the kind of people who only care about profit, but this is truly a good deed for the country and the people. Moreover, Director Nekiri Senzaemon and Mr. Tsukasa Azami are, after all, family. One day, Miss Erina, who is Mr. Tsukasa Azami's blood heir, will take over the entire Japanese culinary world. If the two of you assist Mr. Tsukasa Azami now, he will certainly not lack sincerity… "
It was a long speech, but in the end, it was about this: following someone who is rebelling and will later be involved in politics will definitely give you more than an old man who sticks to the rules. If he succeeds in his rebellion, you will not lack benefits. Also, in the end, he is also the father of the future Director Erina. If you make things difficult for him now, you may not have a good outcome after the old man is gone.
Ryouzan Etsuya believed that he had explained the pros and cons quite clearly. In Japan, insubordination and turning powerful people were not a big deal.
"Ha… let's just start asking directly. You said earlier that if he set his own conditions, he might reveal that their advantageous content is simply unfeasible."
Was that… a yawn?
Ryouzan Etsuya couldn't quite believe his ears. He was talking about such tempting things and future culinary philosophies, so why would anyone not be interested? Even if they could resist being swayed, they should at least care a little inside, right?
"This isn't like those people before who would sit down and talk to us about immortality. What if he also said he could turn us into mermen and make us immortal?"
"Hey, those mermen really are immortal. It's just that it's probably very troublesome to transform people without the bloodline."
"Here we go again. I feel like you're really familiar with the settings of these things!"
Listening to what sounded like casual chatter, Ryouzan Etsuya felt a sense of panic for some reason. There was no mention of avenging anyone in their words, nor of what kind of life they would lead after finishing this job. There was only a sense of indifference towards these things, and instead, they were more interested in other things.
"Alright, tell us the specific intelligence about that Cult, and everything that all your subordinates have done."
Under the faint sunset, Ryouzan Etsuya saw a hand reaching out from the darkness, and in that hand was a bottle full of wriggling common insects.
"I'm not that guy, I don't have all those bloody torture devices, and I'm not very good at being ruthless. I've only watched some anime.
But I believe many accessible points on your body will really like these things."
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