ch321-ch340 · 334-ch334

Chapter 334: The Masked Man, Matsumoto 【Umemoto Atsushi】 Part 4

SIDE: Umemoto Atsushi (【Berserker】)

"Go, or not go...... that is the question."

It's been a few days since Yukiya left.

Today is the first time Hiramatsu-san has been at the shrine since.

Miko-san sent word that they'd be waiting for me, but I'm still debating.

Haruki-kun will surely be there.

And Mimiko-chan......

Without Yukiya, would they even welcome me?

Even as I dithered, my feet started moving on their own—out of the room and downstairs.

Stepping out of the entrance, I noticed a black car pulled up at the curb.

Ai-san?

I remembered riding in this car, the one Ishikawa-san always drove.

Thinking back on it now—a person ferried around in a chauffeured car was suspicious from every angle.

What was I, some rich man's daughter?

I was so consumed with my own problems that I never saw what was around me.

"Get in."

The car door opened, and the voice that came from within belonged to...... the Chairman of the Adventurer's Association.

"After you."

Before I could even ask why, I had slid quickly into the car.

Yukiya had said it.

He'd talk to the Chairman about my license.

So of course I let myself hope.

"Pull out."

The door shut, and the car began to move.

At the same time, the Chairman turned on the TV with a remote.

This car has a screen in the back seat.

'And now for our next story...... we go live to the front of the Adventurer's Association headquarters. Maeda-san, please.'

'Yes. I'm standing in front of the Association's headquarters building. Today, Fuyumi Ai—the new 【Saint】—held a public healing session, and we covered the scene. First, please have a look at this footage.'

Ai-san's story.

The footage showed her casting recovery magic on the legs of a boy in a wheelchair.

The moment the treatment took, the boy stood up and started juggling a soccer ball.

No, no—nobody should stand up and start exercising that fast......

"Isn't this going too far?"

"We chose an easy-to-understand patient. Look at those parents weeping in the background. Staging aside, there's no question a miracle occurred, is there? Burnishing the image of adventurers is part of her job as well."

Apparently doctors had told the boy he would never stand again.

That he'd never play the soccer he loved, either.

The news anchor said he was a patient the other 【Saint】, Kuwashima-san, alone hadn't been able to reach.

From now on, with a two-person system, they can save more people than ever......

'Oh—it's Blue Ocean! The Quadruple party Blue Ocean— all five members have just come out of the dungeon. Sword Saint-chan! A word, please! One comment on the new Saint, Fuyumi-san!'

Oh—there's Yukiya.

The press corps' flashes all go off at once, but without so much as a glance he walks deep into the building.

That piece of work, playing the big shot......

When just the other day he was at my place crying into his booze......

"Quite the crowd of reporters, hm? I didn't gather them, I assure you. When Fuyumi-kun announced she would hold a public healing, they simply came. And even after the healing ended, there they are, waiting for her to come out. Everyone wants to know about her."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

What did this man even come here for?

He came because he has business with me, didn't he?

"It seems the press wasn't satisfied with what the Association released, and they've been sniffing around her. Where she came from. When she became a 【Saint】. What she did before. A beauty like that. The fact that she was at Dr. Amamiya's clinic will come out eventually—no, she's already famous on the net as the beautiful nurse. The press will descend on the Chiba branch any day now. And when that happens...... you understand, don't you?"

"You mean it would be a problem if it came out that she treated a man like me?"

Right—I'm a murderer.

From the looks of the news and the reactions online, plenty of people still aren't satisfied with the verdict.

If people like that raise an outcry, it would stain Ai-san's record......

"Being treated by her is no problem in itself. She treats anyone and everyone alike. Isn't that precisely what a 【Saint】 should be? The issue is that every time she has a day off, she files an outing request. She's trying to see YOU. And that is causing us difficulty."

"Huh?"

What is this man thinking?

Why would he go this far for someone like me......

"There's the image Kuwashima-kun has built as the 【Saint】 to consider. No small number of people have begun to see her as a national idol. That's exactly why the press is in such a frenzy. This is a critical time for her. A scandal this early would stain Kuwashima-kun's name as well."

"So what do you want me to do? Disappear, is that it?"

Hiding from Ai-san would be no trouble......

My job isn't settled anyway.

We were in different worlds from the start......

"I thought I'd have you go a little far away."

A little far away?

Does that mean he'll cover moving costs?

It'd be a great help if he'd also introduce me to work wherever I end up......

(No, wait. Where is this car headed?)

The Chairman's guard is just the driver and one more in the passenger seat......

"Now, it's not a bad offer. You haven't found work yet, I hear? And you want your adventurer's license back, was it? That much, I can manage."

"Huh? Really?! Please! I'll do anything I can!"

No sooner had I been on my guard than the word "license" hooked me completely.

I surprise even myself.

"The condition is that you have no further contact with Ai-kun. Are you still willing?"

"I was already planning to disappear after what I just heard, so that's no problem. There was never anything between us to begin with."

"I see. Do you know anything about her past?"

"Her past? No—we first met at the doctor's clinic, and beyond that I know nothing. I learned she was a 【Saint】 from the TV, just now."

"Hmm. Well, fine. To put it bluntly: I'm making you an employee of the Association."

"An employee of the Adventurer's Association?"

Is that allowed?

I hear Association staff are paid extremely well.

It's exactly what I'd wish for.

Did Yukiya ask him for me?

I'll never be able to look up at that guy again.

"Becoming staff is no problem in itself, you see. But entering a dungeon requires a license. And under the current law, I can't issue you so much as an entry permit for treatment, let alone a license. Which brings us to this. You will throw away your name—and live as another man."

"Another man, you say?"

"Yes. Here."

The Chairman produced something and handed it to me.

"A mask? You want me to wear this?"

"For appearances. You will say you have a terrible scar on your face, and so normally wear a mask. You're an adventurer—say it was burned by an orc and the story holds. I did consider plastic surgery. But erasing the existence of a man on suspended sentence entirely would be problematic. When you are summoned, you will remove the mask and become Umemoto-kun again."

Fair enough.

Becoming someone else doesn't mean my crime is fully forgiven—and I don't wish it to be.

All I want is to be an adventurer once more. To be able to enter the dungeon.

"I...... understand."

I put on the mask.

A pitch-black mask.

Is this the Chairman's taste?

Throw a black hood over it too, and it would be just right for hiding my face in the dungeon.

"Suits you. As for a name...... Takemoto...... no, let's make it Matsumoto—might as well. Well then, Matsumoto-kun. In three days, Fuyumi-kun's outing permits will be approved. Have every trace of yourself erased by then."

"Three days?! But where am I going? You're making me Association staff, right? Which branch?"

This is all terribly sudden.

"Ah, I hadn't mentioned? Your posting is Hokkaido. With the new dungeons appearing, we've been stationing Triple-Ranks at every branch—and nobody wants Hokkaido. It's January, the depths of a northern winter, you see. New dungeons surface all across that vast land, so your movements between them will be brutal. Bear it, and do your best."

Hokkaido......

'Oh, she's coming out! The new 'Holy Maiden'! It's Fuyumi Ai! Fuyumi-saaan, a word, please! To the nation! Say something to your fans!'

Harsh light from the camera flashes spills from the TV.

Far fiercer than when 'Blue Ocean' came out earlier.

Ai-san looks radiant.

She was always a person who lived in a different world from mine.

And I'm going back to the world I came from.

That's all there is to it......